Control device and method for calibrating an automated driving system

1 . A control device for calibrating an automated driving system of a vehicle during driving, configured to:

receive sensor information of at least one sensor of the automated driving system, the at least one sensor being configured to sense the environment of the vehicle,

determine based on the received sensor information, whether calibration of the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor is necessary,

determine the processing load of a processor unit of the automated driving system, the processor unit controlling automated driving of the vehicle,

calibrate the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor only, in case the determined processing load is below a predetermined load threshold; and

control the automated driving system such that the processing load of the processor unit for automated driving control is reduced without stopping automated driving, when it is determined that calibration of the automated driving system and/or the sensor is necessary and the determined processing load exceeds the predetermined load threshold.

2 . An automated driving system for a vehicle comprising:

at least one sensor configured to sense the environment of the vehicle and generate respective sensor information,

a processor unit configured to control automated driving of the vehicle based on the sensor information, and

a control device according to claim 1 .

3 . A vehicle comprising an automated driving system ( 10 ) according claim 2 .

4 . The control device according to claim 1 , further configured to, when the processing load of the processor unit is reduced such that it falls under the predetermined load threshold, calibrate the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor.

5 . The control device according to claim 1 , further configured to:

calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor based on the received sensor information, and/or

detect at least one predetermined static lane object, based on the received sensor information and calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor based on the detected predetermined static lane object, wherein

the static lane object comprises in particular a lane marker, the lane marker comprising a dashed line, another periodic object, or a continuous line.

6 . The control device according to claim 5 , further configured to:

determine a quality of the received sensor information and/or detect the predetermined static lane object based on the received sensor information by using a respectively trained neural network.

7 . The control device according to any one of claim 6 , further configured to, when a calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane objects is increased such that it exceeds the predetermined calibration quality condition, calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor.

8 . The control device according to the preceding claim 5 , further configured to:

calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor only, in case the quality of the received sensor information exceeds a predetermined sensor quality condition, and/or in case a calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane object exceeds a predetermined calibration quality condition.

9 . The control device according to claim 8 , further configured to:

control the automated driving system such that the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane object is increased without stopping automated driving, when it is determined that calibration of the automated driving system and/or the sensor is necessary and the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane objects is below the predetermined calibration quality condition.

10 . The control device according to claim 9 , wherein the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane objects is increased by at least one of:

a lane change of the vehicle to a lane where at least one of the left and right lane markers comprises a continuous line,

controlling the vehicle speed such that the distance to a front vehicle exceeds a predetermined distance threshold.

11 . The control device according to claim 8 , wherein the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane object comprises at least one of the quality of the sensor information representing the detected object, a spatial extent of the detected predetermined static lane object and a minimum number of detected predetermined static lane objects, and/or

the predetermined calibration condition requires at least one of a predetermined minimum quality of the sensor information representing the detected object, a predetermined minimum spatial extent of the detected predetermined static lane object in the sensed vehicle environment, and a predetermined minimum number of detected predetermined static lane objects.

12 . The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the processing load of the processor unit is reduced by at least one of:

reducing the vehicle speed,

prohibiting vehicle acceleration,

prohibiting a lane change of the vehicle, and

keeping the vehicle in the center of the driven lane.

13 . A control device for calibrating an automated driving system of a vehicle during driving, configured to:

receive sensor information of at least one sensor of the automated driving system, the at least one sensor being configured to sense the environment of the vehicle,

determine based on the received sensor information, whether calibration of the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor is necessary,

determine the processing load of a processor unit of the automated driving system, the processor unit controlling automated driving of the vehicle,

calibrate the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor only, in case the determined processing load is below a predetermined load threshold,

determine a quality of the received sensor information and/or detect the predetermined static lane object based on the received sensor information by using a respectively trained neural network, and

when a calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane objects is increased such that it exceeds the predetermined calibration quality condition, calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor.

14 . A method for calibrating an automated driving system of a vehicle during driving, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving sensor information of at least one sensor of the automated driving system, the at least one sensor being configured to sense the environment of the vehicle,

determining based on the received sensor information, whether calibration of the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor is necessary,

determining the processing load of a processor unit of the automated driving system, the processor unit controlling automated driving of the vehicle,

calibrating the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor only, in case the determined processing load is below a predetermined load threshold; and

controlling the automated driving system such that the processing load of the processor unit for automated driving control is reduced without stopping automated driving, when it is determined that calibration of the automated driving system and/or the sensor is necessary and the determined processing load exceeds the predetermined load threshold.

15 . A control device for calibrating an automated driving system of a vehicle during driving, configured to:

receive sensor information of at least one sensor of the automated driving system, the at least one sensor being configured to sense the environment of the vehicle,

determine based on the received sensor information, whether calibration of the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor is necessary,

determine the processing load of a processor unit of the automated driving system, the processor unit controlling automated driving of the vehicle,

calibrate the automated driving system and/or the at least one sensor only, in case the determined processing load is below a predetermined load threshold, calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor based on the received sensor information, and/or

detect at least one predetermined static lane object, based on the received sensor information and calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor based on the detected predetermined static lane object,

calibrate the automated driving system and/or the sensor only, in case the quality of the received sensor information exceeds a predetermined sensor quality condition, and/or in case a calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane object exceeds a predetermined calibration quality condition, and

control the automated driving system such that the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane object is increased without stopping automated driving, when it is determined that calibration of the automated driving system and/or the sensor is necessary and the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane objects is below the predetermined calibration quality condition,

wherein the static lane object comprises in particular a lane marker, the lane marker comprising a dashed line, another periodic object, or a continuous line.

16 . The control device according to claim 15 , wherein the calibration quality of the detected predetermined static lane objects is increased by at least one of:

a lane change of the vehicle to a lane where at least one of the left and right lane markers comprises a continuous line,

controlling the vehicle speed such that the distance to a front vehicle exceeds a predetermined distance threshold.