Method for planning the behavior of a vehicle

1 . A computer-implemented method for planning a behavior of a vehicle with respect to one or more occluded areas along a navigation path of the vehicle, the method comprising:

Identifying, with a processor, one or more occluded areas; and

generating, with the processor, at least one phantom object for at least one of the one or more occluded areas; and

automatically operating, with the processor, the vehicle along a navigation path based in part on the at least one phantom object for the at least one of the one or more occluded areas along the navigation path;

wherein the one or more occluded areas are defined based on information from a predefined occlusion scenario catalog;

wherein generating the at least one phantom object comprises calculating, with the processor, an appearance probability for the at least one phantom object, wherein the appearance probability describes a probability for the phantom object to emerge from its occluded area into a field of view of the vehicle; and

wherein the appearance probability comprises a dynamic component,

wherein the dynamic component at least indirectly takes into account a geometric modification of the occluded area between two moments in time, and

wherein the dynamic component depends on a one-phantom-object-length, wherein the one-phantom-object-length is defined as a length inside an occluded area in which exactly one phantom object is expected, wherein the one-phantom-object-length is preferably measured in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and

wherein the dynamic component depends on a field of view increase, wherein the field of view increase is a length measured in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, wherein the one-phantom-object-length and the field of view increase are typically directed in a parallel manner.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the occlusion scenario catalog comprises different occlusion scenarios and scenario information for each occlusion scenario.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the appearance probability comprises a static component, wherein the static component takes into account a map and/or road topology information, and/or wherein the static component depends on an initial environmental probability and/or on a phantom object distance and/or on a distance threshold.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein:

a static component is calculated according to the equation

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the dynamic component is calculated according to the equation

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the appearance probability is preferably calculated according to the equation

P a ( d,u )=min(( P env ( d )+ P FoV ( u )),1).

5 . A system for planning a behavior of a vehicle with respect to one or more occluded areas along a navigation path of the vehicle, comprising:

at least one processing device configured to:

identify the one or more occluded areas;

generate at least one phantom object for at least one of the one or more occluded areas;

define the one or more occluded areas based on information from a predefined occlusion scenario catalog; and

automatically operate the vehicle along a navigation path based in part on the at least one phantom object for the at least one of the one or more occluded areas along the navigation path;

wherein to generate the at least one phantom object, the at least one processing device is configured to:

calculate an appearance probability for the at least one phantom object, wherein the appearance probability describes a probability for the phantom object to emerge from its occluded area into a field of view of the vehicle;

wherein the appearance probability comprises a dynamic component,

wherein the dynamic component at least indirectly takes into account a geometric modification of the occluded area between two moments in time, and

wherein the dynamic component depends on a one-phantom-object-length, wherein the one-phantom-object-length is defined as a length inside an occluded area in which exactly one phantom object is expected, wherein the one-phantom-object-length is preferably measured in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and

wherein the dynamic component depends on a field of view increase, wherein the field of view increase is a length measured in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, wherein the one-phantom-object-length and the field of view increase are typically directed in a parallel manner.

6 . A vehicle comprising:

the system according to claim 5 .

7 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer program code that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to execute a method comprising:

identifying one or more occluded areas;

generating at least one phantom object for at least one of the one or more occluded areas; and

automatically operating the vehicle along a navigation path based in part on the at least one phantom object for the at least one of the one or more occluded areas along the navigation path;

wherein the one or more occluded areas are defined based on information from a predefined occlusion scenario catalog;

wherein generating the at least one phantom object comprises calculating an appearance probability for the at least one phantom object, wherein the appearance probability describes a probability for the phantom object to emerge from its occluded area into a field of view of the vehicle; and

wherein the appearance probability comprises a dynamic component,

wherein the dynamic component at least indirectly takes into account a geometric modification of the occluded area between two moments in time, and

wherein the dynamic component depends on a one-phantom-object-length, wherein the one-phantom-object-length is defined as a length inside an occluded area in which exactly one phantom object is expected, wherein the one-phantom-object-length is preferably measured in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and

wherein the dynamic component depends on a field of view increase, wherein the field of view increase is a length measured in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle, wherein the one-phantom-object-length and the field of view increase are typically directed in a parallel manner.

8 . The system according to claim 5 , wherein the occlusion scenario catalog comprises different occlusion scenarios and scenario information for each occlusion scenario.

9 . The system according to claim 5 , wherein the appearance probability comprises a static component, wherein the static component takes into account a map and/or road topology information, and/or wherein the static component depends on an initial environmental probability and/or on a phantom object distance and/or on a distance threshold.

10 . The system according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one processing device is configured to:

calculate a static component according to the equation

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calculate the dynamic component according to the equation

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calculate the appearance probability according to the equation

P a ( d,u )=min(( P env ( d )+ P FoV ( u )),1).