Method for assisting a user of a vehicle during an automated lateral guidance of the vehicle on a road with a branch, computing device and driver assistance system

A computing device for a driver assistance system of a vehicle, comprising:

• at least one processor and at least one non-transitory memory storing program instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:
• during an automated lateral guidance of the vehicle:
• receive satellite-based position data and high-resolution map data;
• determine map-based position data that describes a present position of the vehicle in relation to lanes on a basis of the satellite-based position data and the high-resolution map data;
• receive sensor data from at least one environment sensor of the vehicle, the sensor data describing boundaries of the lanes;
• determine the lane with a highest probability of occupancy for the vehicle on a basis of the map-based position data and/or the sensor data;
• recognize a branch in the road on a basis of the map-based position data and/or the sensor data, the branch resulting in at least one of the lanes branching off from the other lanes;
• determine a distance between the lane with the highest probability of occupancy and the at least one branching lane and determine probabilities of occupancy for lanes neighboring the lane with the highest probability of occupancy;
• and,
• actuate an output device to output a takeover request to the user when the distance is less than a predetermined minimum distance and when at least one lane neighboring the lane with the highest probability of occupancy has a probability of occupancy above a predetermined threshold and is adjacent to the branch.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising commands that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to carry out a method comprising:

• receiving satellite-based position data and high-resolution map data;
• determining map-based position data that describes a present position of the vehicle in relation to lanes on a basis of the satellite-based position data and the high-resolution map data;
• receiving sensor data from at least one environment sensor of the vehicle, the sensor data describing boundaries of the lanes;
• determining a lane with a highest probability of occupancy for the vehicle on a basis of the map-based position data and/or the sensor data;
• recognizing a branch in the road on a basis of the map-based position data and/or the sensor data, the branch resulting in at least one of the lanes branching off from the other lanes;
• and
• actuating an output device for outputting a takeover request to the user according to a situation of the lane with the highest probability of occupancy relative to the at least one branching lane;
• wherein actuating the output device comprises outputting the takeover request when (i) a distance of the lane with the highest probability of occupancy to the at least one branching lane is less than a predetermined minimum distance, and (ii) at least one lane neighboring the lane with the highest probability of occupancy has a probability of occupancy above a predetermined threshold and is adjacent to the branch.