Apparatus, system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control

Abstract

Provided are an apparatus, system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control. When a velocity of a vehicle is determined to be a control-involved velocity or higher, blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle is recognized, and one or more of driver warning and deceleration control are performed on the basis of recognition of blinking of the hazard light of the preceding vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to recognize a probability of vehicle collision and avoid vehicle collision.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for vehicle collision avoidance control, the system comprising:
 a sensing module including at least an image sensor, which is disposed in a corresponding vehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, and captures image data, and configured to sense an object nearby the vehicle; and   a controller including a processor configured to process the image data captured by the image sensor,   wherein the controller recognizes blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle of the vehicle at least partially based on processing of the image data captured by the image sensor and performs one or more of driver warning and deceleration control accordingly.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system includes an adaptive cruise control (ACC) module and an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) module, and the controller performs the deceleration control by controlling at least one of the ACC module or the AEB module according to a required deceleration rate. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the controller controls the AEB module for a relatively high deceleration rate and the ACC module for a relatively low deceleration rate. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller includes an apparatus for vehicle collision avoidance control, and
 the apparatus for vehicle collision avoidance control includes:   a control-starting module configured to determine whether a velocity of the vehicle is a control-involved velocity or higher;   a hazard-light blinking recognition module configured to recognize blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle when the velocity of the vehicle is determined to be the control-involved velocity or higher; and   a control processing module configured to perform one or more of driver warning and deceleration control when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein at a point in time when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, the preceding vehicle is traveling at a certain velocity or lower or has stopped in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the control processing module issues a driver warning when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, determines whether the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle, and performs deceleration control when it is determined that the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein when a braking amount of the vehicle is currently smaller than a threshold value, which is a braking amount required for avoiding collision with the preceding vehicle, the control processing module determines that the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, the control processing module issues a rear warning for notifying a front situation of the vehicle to a following vehicle of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the rear warning includes one or more of blinking of hazard lights of the vehicle, sounding of an alarm, and transmission of a warning signal to the following vehicle through vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized and then stopped, the control processing module maintains the preceding vehicle as a control target and performs deceleration control or target-following control. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is not recognized, the control processing module performs deceleration control based on a time-to-collision (TTC) with the preceding vehicle. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for vehicle collision avoidance control, which processes image data captured by an image sensor, which is disposed in a vehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, and captures image data, and recognizes, when a velocity of the vehicle is a control-involved velocity or higher, blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle based on front image data captured by the image sensor and performs one or more of driver warning and deceleration control accordingly. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein at a point in time when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, the preceding vehicle is traveling at a certain velocity or lower or has stopped in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein a driver warning is issued when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, whether the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle is determined, and when it is determined that the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle, deceleration control is performed. 
     
     
         15 . A method for vehicle collision avoidance control, the method comprising:
 a first operation of determining whether a velocity of a vehicle is a control-involved velocity or higher;   a second operation of processing front image data captured by an image sensor, which is disposed in the vehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, and captures image data, and recognizing blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle of the vehicle when the velocity of the vehicle is determined to be the control-involved velocity or higher; and   a third operation of performing one or more of driver warning and deceleration control when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the third operation includes:
 issuing a driver warning when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized;   determining whether the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle; and   performing deceleration control when it is determined that the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the third operation includes issuing a rear warning for notifying a front situation of the vehicle to a following vehicle of the vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein at a point in time when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, the preceding vehicle is traveling at a certain velocity or lower or has stopped in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane. 
     
     
         19 . A system for vehicle collision avoidance control, the system comprising:
 a sensing module configured to include one or more of an image sensor which is disposed in a vehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, and captures image data and a non-image sensor which is disposed in the vehicle and captures sensing data to sense one of objects nearby the vehicle;   a vehicle movement control module configured to control one or more of a velocity, a braking force, and a steering angle of the vehicle;   a warning module configured to output a warning signal to a driver; and   a domain controller configured to process one or more of the image data captured by the image sensor and the sensing data captured by the non-image sensor and control the warning module or the vehicle movement control module,   wherein the domain controller recognizes blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle of the vehicle at least partially based on processing of the image data captured by the image sensor and performs one or more of driver warning through the warning module and deceleration control through the vehicle movement control module.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the system includes an adaptive cruise control (ACC) module and an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) module, and the domain controller performs the deceleration control by controlling at least one of the ACC module or the AEB module according to a required deceleration rate.