CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0101635, filed on Aug. 20, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle and a method of controlling the vehicle, and more particularly, to a technology for controlling a vehicle in consideration of a driver's position and a driving mode when switching from autonomous driving to a manual operation of a driver.

BACKGROUND

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.

Generally, vehicles are driven on roads or tracks to transport people or goods to destinations. Vehicles are able to move to various locations on one or more wheels mounted onto the frame of the vehicle. Such vehicles may be classified into three- or four-wheel vehicles, a two-wheel vehicle such as a motorcycle, construction machinery, bicycles, trains traveling along rails on tracks, and the like.

In modern society, vehicles are the most common transportation means, and people using the vehicles are ever increasing. With the development of automotive technology, there are advantages of traveling long distances, but problems also often arise in traffic conditions worsen and traffic jams increase where population densities are high.

To relieve burdens and improve convenience of a driver, recent studies regarding vehicles equipped with an Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS) that actively provides information regarding a state of the vehicle, a state of the driver, and surrounding conditions are actively ongoing.

In addition, autonomous driving is becoming common in the control of vehicles, and platooning in which multiple vehicles collectively drive while maintaining a constant distance is frequently performed. The platooning is a collective term for a method of driving the multiple vehicles on the road in dense groups with a minimal or reduced spacing between the vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and increase the transport capacity of highway systems.

In the platooning, it is important to secure safety when controlling an inter-vehicle distance and a driving mode between the multiple vehicles. On the other hand, when the platooning is performed by the autonomous driving, the autonomous driving may be released in specific situations and the driver may switch to a manual operation mode. We have discovered that it is desired to develop a technology to safely switch a vehicle control mode in consideration of a driver's position and the driving mode.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a vehicle with a safe control based on a driver's position and a driving mode when switching from autonomous driving to a driver's manual operation, and a method of controlling the vehicle.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle includes: a capturer configured to capture a driver of the vehicle driving in an autonomous driving mode and obtain position information of the driver; a driver state detector configured to detect a state of the driver; and a controller configured to: determine a first time period to change from the autonomous driving mode to a manual operation mode of the vehicle based on the position information and the state of the driver, and control a driving state of the vehicle to be changed based on the first time period to change from the autonomous driving mode to the manual operation mode.

In one form, the controller may determine whether the driver is located in one of a driver seat, an assistant seat, a rear seat, a passage of the vehicle, or a bed provided in the vehicle, based on the position information of the driver, and determine differently a second time period to change to the manual operation mode based on the determined location of the driver in the vehicle.

The driver state detector is configured to detect a direction of eye gaze of the driver and obtain gaze information of the driver from the detected eye gaze direction. The controller may determine a degree of risk of driving the vehicle based on the obtained gaze information of the driver, and further determine differently a third time period to change to the manual operation mode based on the determined degree of risk.

In another form, the vehicle may further include a seat belt fastening detector configured to detect whether a seat belt of the vehicle is fastened. The controller may determine differently a fourth time period to change to the manual operation mode based on whether the seat belt is fastened.

In other form, the controller may sum up each time period (e.g., the first, second, third and fourth time periods) for the change to the manual operation mode determined based on each of the obtained driver's position information, the detected driver state, and whether the detected seat belt is fastened, and then may determine a total time based on the calculated sum for the driver to sit in the driver seat and to start the manual operation mode of the vehicle.

The controller may maintain the autonomous driving mode when the total time is less than or equal to a first reference time.

When the total time is greater than a first reference time and is less than or equal to a second reference time, the controller may increase a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving in front of the vehicle by a predetermined first rate of increase.

When the total time is greater than a second reference time and is less than or equal to a third reference time, the controller may increase a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving in front of the vehicle by a predetermined second rate of increase, decrease a braking amount of the vehicle to a predetermined braking amount, and limit a lane change of the vehicle.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the vehicle may further include a communicator configured to exchange driving information with surrounding vehicles driving around the vehicle. When the total time is greater than a second reference time and less than or equal to a third reference time, the controller may transmit a request signal for increasing a distance between the vehicle and a rear vehicle, among the surrounding vehicles, driving behind the vehicle through the communicator.

When the total time is greater than the third reference time, the controller may increase a distance between the vehicle and a front vehicle driving in front of the vehicle by a predetermined third rate of increase, limit a lane change of the vehicle, and transmit the request signal for increasing the distance between the vehicle and the rear vehicle driving behind the vehicle through the communicator.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a method of controlling a vehicle includes obtaining, by a capturer, position information of a driver of the vehicle by capturing the driver driving in an autonomous driving mode; detecting, by a driver state detector, a state of the driver; determining, by a controller, a first time period to change from the autonomous driving mode to a manual operation mode of the vehicle based on the obtained position information and the detected state of the driver; and controlling, by the controller, a driving state of the vehicle to be changed based on the first time period.

The method may further include: determining, by the controller, whether the driver is located in one of a driver seat, an assistant seat, a rear seat, a passage of the vehicle, or a bed provided in the vehicle, based on the position information of the driver obtained by the capturer; and determining, by the controller, differently a second time period to change to the manual operation mode based on the determined location of the driver in the vehicle.

In another form, the method may further include: determining, by the controller, a degree of risk of driving the vehicle based on gaze information of the driver obtained by detecting a direction of eye gaze of the driver; and determining differently a third time period to change to the manual operation mode based on the determined degree of risk.

The method may further include detecting, by a seat belt fastening detector, whether a seat belt of the vehicle is fastened; and determining, by the controller, differently a fourth time period to change to the manual operation mode based on whether the seat belt is fastened.

The method may further include: calculating, by the controller, a sum of the first, second, third and fourth time periods for the change to the manual operation mode determined based on each of the obtained driver's position information, the detected driver state, and whether the detected seat belt is fastened; and determining, by the controller, a total time based on the calculated sum for the driver to sit in the driver seat and to start the manual operation mode of the vehicle.

The method may further include maintaining, by the controller, the autonomous driving mode when the total time required to change to the manual operation mode is less than or equal to a first reference time.

When the total time to change to the manual operation mode is greater than a first reference time and is less than or equal to a second reference time, the method may further include increasing, by the controller, a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving in front of the vehicle by a predetermined first rate of increase.

When the total time to change to the manual operation mode is greater than a second reference time and is less than or equal to a third reference time, the method may further include increasing, by the controller, a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving in front of the vehicle by a predetermined second rate of increase; decreasing, by the controller, a braking amount of the vehicle to a predetermined braking amount; and limiting, by the controller, a lane change of the vehicle.

The method may further include: exchanging, by a communicator, driving information with surrounding vehicles driving around the vehicle; and when the total time to change to the manual operation mode is greater than a second reference time and less than or equal to a third reference time, transmitting, by the controller, a request signal for increasing a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving behind the vehicle.

When the total time to change to the manual operation mode is greater than the third reference time, the method may further include increasing, by the controller, a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving in front of the vehicle by a predetermined third rate of increase; limiting, by the controller, a lane change of the vehicle; and transmitting, by the controller, a request signal for increasing a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle driving behind the vehicle.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

