Apparatus and method for controlling turn signal for electronic multifunction switch

An apparatus for controlling a turn signal for an electronic multifunction switch, comprising:

• the multifunction switch including a turn switch;
• a steering angle provision device configured to provide information about a steering angle of a vehicle;
• a path provision device for configured to provide information about a location and a path of the vehicle;
• a lane information provision device configured to provide information about lanes around the vehicle;
• and
• a controller configured to receive manipulation state information of the multifunction switch, the steering angle information from the steering angle provision device, the location and path information from the path provision device, and the lane information from the lane information provision device, controller further configured to control a blinking state of a turn signal light of the vehicle, and
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• execute an auto-on subroutine of blinking the turn signal light by automatically turning on the turn signal when the turn switch is off, and
• execute an auto-off subroutine of turning off the turn signal light by automatically turning off the turn signal when the turn switch is turned on,
• wherein the auto-on subroutine comprises:
• a path acquisition operation acquiring the information about the location and the path of the vehicle from the path provision device;
• a direction change determination operation of determining that a current situation is a direction change situation when a current location of the vehicle is present within a first reference distance from an approaching turning point on a travel path of the vehicle, based on the information about the location and the path of the vehicle;
• a turning direction determination operation of determining whether a turning direction is for left turn or right turn when the current situation is the direction change situation as a result of performing the direction change determination operation;
• and
• a direction change blinking initiation operation of blinking the turn signal light for the corresponding direction, based on a result of performing the turning direction determination operation, and
• wherein the auto-on subroutine further comprises:
• a steering level determination operation of, when the current situation is not the direction change situation as the result of performing the direction change determination operation, determining whether the steering angle is equal to or greater than a reference steering angle that is set to determine a lane change of the vehicle;
• a lane information acquisition operation of, when the steering angle is equal to or greater than a first reference steering angle as a result of performing the steering level determination operation, acquiring the lane information from the lane information provision device;
• a lane change determination operation of determining that the current situation is a lane change situation when a distance between the vehicle and a lane that the vehicle is approaching is within a second reference distance which determines a lane change of the vehicle, based on the lane information acquired in the lane information acquisition operation;
• a lane change direction determination operation of, when it is determined in the lane change determination operation that the current situation is the lane change situation, determining whether the lane change is a change to a left lane or to a right lane;
• and
• a lane change blinking initiation operation of, based on a result of performing the lane change direction determination operation, blinking the turn signal light for the corresponding direction.