Autonomous driving apparatus and method

1. An autonomous driving apparatus comprising:

a sensor unit configured to detect a surrounding object including a surrounding vehicle around an autonomously-traveling ego vehicle;

a memory configured to store map information; and

a processor configured to control autonomous driving of the ego vehicle based on an expected driving trajectory generated based on the map information stored in the memory,

wherein:

the processor is configured to:

correct the expected driving trajectory of the ego vehicle, based on results of detection of a surrounding vehicle around the ego vehicle by the sensor unit, and perform trajectory-based control over the autonomous driving of the ego vehicle; and

perform group following control over the autonomous driving of the ego vehicle such that the ego vehicle follows a driving of a platooning group configured with a plurality of group vehicles, when a first driving path of the ego vehicle up to a destination overlaps a second driving path of the platooning group;

when performing the group following control, the processor is configured to control a sensing parameter of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle to have a value mutually dependent on a sensing parameter of a sensor unit mounted on each of the group vehicles;

the sensing parameter of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensing parameter of the sensor unit mounted on each of the group vehicles comprise a field of view (FOV); and

the mutually dependent relation between the FOVs of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor units of the group vehicles is optimized to:

minimize an overlap range of the FOVs of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor units of the group vehicles; and

when a blind spot occurs in which a surrounding object is not able to be detected by the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor unit of another vehicle of the group vehicles, extend one or more of the FOVs of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor unit of the another vehicle of the group vehicles to remove the blind spot.

2. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

when performing the trajectory-based control, the processor is configured to:

generate an actual driving trajectory of the surrounding vehicle based on driving information of the surrounding vehicle detected by the sensor unit;

generate an expected driving trajectory of the surrounding vehicle based on the map information stored in the memory; and

correct the expected driving trajectory of the ego vehicle, when a trajectory error between the actual driving trajectory and expected driving trajectory of the surrounding vehicle is a preset threshold value or more; and

when performing the group following control, the processor is configured to perform the group following control from a joining point, at which an overlap between the first and second driving paths is initiated, to a breakaway point, at which the overlap between the first and second driving paths is terminated, in a direction in which the ego vehicle travels up to the destination.

3. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 2 , wherein:

the processor is configured to interchangeably perform the trajectory-based control and the group following control based on whether a predefined control changeover condition is satisfied; and

the control changeover condition comprises a group following control changeover condition for a change from the trajectory-based control to the group following control and a trajectory-based control changeover condition for a change from the group following control to the trajectory-based control.

4. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to:

determine that the group following control changeover condition is satisfied and perform the group following control when the ego vehicle reaches the joining point in a process of performing the trajectory-based control from a current location of the ego vehicle; and

determine that the trajectory-based control changeover condition is satisfied and perform the trajectory-based control when the ego vehicle reaches the breakaway point in a process of performing the group following control from the joining point.

5. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 4 , wherein:

the processor is configured to determine the joining point and the breakaway point for performing the group following control among a plurality of candidate joining points and a plurality of candidate breakaway points; and

the processor is configured to determine, as the joining point and the breakaway point, a candidate joining point and a candidate breakaway point, respectively, at which a total time required is a minimum, the total time required indicating a sum of a time taken for the ego vehicle to reach from the current location to the candidate joining point based on the trajectory- based control, a time taken for the ego vehicle to reach from the candidate joining point to the candidate breakaway point based on the group following control, and a time taken for the ego vehicle to reach from the candidate breakaway point to the destination based on the trajectory- based control.

6. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, when performing the group following control, the processor is configured to change a surrounding object detection area of the sensor unit based on a relative location of the ego vehicle for a group vehicle belonging to the platooning group.

7. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 6 , wherein, when performing the group following control, the processor is configured to:

divide the platooning group into a preceding driving group, a middle driving group, and a following driving group using a predefined group classification algorithm;

determine a driving group to which the ego vehicle belongs among the driving groups; and

change the surrounding object detection area of the sensor unit based on a result of the determination.

8. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to:

detect a surrounding object ahead of the ego vehicle through the sensor unit when the ego vehicle belongs to the preceding driving group;

detect a surrounding object on either side of the ego vehicle through the sensor unit when the ego vehicle belongs to the middle driving group; and

detect a surrounding object behind the ego vehicle through the sensor unit when the ego vehicle belongs to the following driving group.

9. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the processor is configured to control the sensing parameter of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle in response to a sensor control signal transmitted by a leader vehicle of the platooning group; and

the sensor control signal is generated for each of the group vehicles and transmitted to each of the group vehicles by the leader vehicle, based on a driving environment of the platooning group and a location of each of the group vehicles within the platooning group, such that a detection area and detection performance for a surrounding object are optimized at a level of the platooning group.

10. The autonomous driving apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to generate the sensor control signal for each of the group vehicles belonging to the platooning group and transmit the sensor control signal to each of the group vehicles, based on a result of detection of a surrounding object by the sensor unit and the location of each of the group vehicles within the platooning group, when the ego vehicle has a position of the leader vehicle of the platooning group.

11. A method of controlling autonomous driving in an autonomous driving system including a sensor unit configured to detect a surrounding object comprising a surrounding vehicle around an autonomously-traveling ego vehicle, a memory configured to store map information, and a processor configured to control autonomous driving of the ego vehicle based on an expected driving trajectory generated based on the map information stored in the memory, the method comprising:

correcting, by the processor, the expected driving trajectory of the ego vehicle, based on results of detection of the surrounding vehicle around the ego vehicle by the sensor unit, and performing, by the processor, trajectory-based control over the autonomous driving of the ego vehicle, and

performing, by the processor, group following control over the autonomous driving of the ego vehicle so that the ego vehicle follows a driving of a platooning group configured with a plurality of group vehicles, when a first driving path of the ego vehicle up to a destination overlaps a second driving path of the platooning group,

wherein:

in the performing of the group following control, the processor controls a sensing parameter of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle to have a value mutually dependent on a sensing parameter of a sensor unit mounted on each of the group vehicles;

the sensing parameter of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensing parameter of the sensor unit mounted on each of the group vehicles comprise a field of view (FOV); and

the mutually dependent relation between the FOVs of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor units of the group vehicles is optimized to:

minimize an overlap range of the FOVs of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor units of the group vehicles; and

when a blind spot occurs in which a surrounding object is not able to be detected by the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor unit of another vehicle of the group vehicles, extend one or more of the FOVs of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle and the sensor unit of the another vehicle of the group vehicles to remove the blind spot.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

in the performing of the trajectory-based control, the processor generates an actual driving trajectory of the surrounding vehicle based on driving information of the surrounding vehicle detected by the sensor unit, generates an expected driving trajectory of the surrounding vehicle based on the map information stored in the memory, and corrects the expected driving trajectory of the ego vehicle when a trajectory error between the actual driving trajectory and expected driving trajectory of the surrounding vehicle is a preset threshold value or more; and

in the performing of the group following control, the processor performs the group following control from a joining point, at which an overlap between the first and second driving paths is initiated, to a breakaway point, at which the overlap between the first and second driving paths is terminated, in a direction in which the ego vehicle travels up to the destination.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:

the processor interchangeably performs the trajectory-based control and the group following control based on whether a predefined control changeover condition is satisfied; and

the control changeover condition comprises a group following control changeover condition for a change from the trajectory-based control to the group following control and a trajectory-based control changeover condition for a change from the group following control to the trajectory-based control.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the processor:

determines that the group following control changeover condition is satisfied and performs the group following control when the ego vehicle reaches the joining point in a process of performing the trajectory-based control from a current location of the ego vehicle; and

determines that the trajectory-based control changeover condition is satisfied and performs the trajectory-based control when the ego vehicle reaches the breakaway point in a process of performing the group following control from the joining point.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

in the performing of the group following control, the processor determines the joining point and the breakaway point for performing the group following control among a plurality of candidate joining points and a plurality of candidate breakaway points; and

the processor determines, as the joining point and the breakaway point, a candidate joining point and a candidate breakaway point, respectively, at which a total time required is a minimum, the total time required indicating a sum of a time taken for the ego vehicle to reach from the current location to the candidate joining point based on the trajectory-based control, a time taken for the ego vehicle to reach from the candidate joining point to the candidate breakaway point based on the group following control, and a time taken for the ego vehicle to reach from the candidate breakaway point to the destination based on the trajectory-based control.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein, in the performing of the group following control, the processor changes a surrounding object detection area of the sensor unit based on a relative location of the ego vehicle for a group vehicle belonging to the platooning group.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein, in the performing of the group following control, the processor divides the platooning group into a preceding driving group, a middle driving group, and a following driving group using a predefined group classification algorithm, determines a driving group to which the ego vehicle belongs among the driving groups, and changes the surrounding object detection area of the sensor unit based on a result of the determination.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein, in the performing of the group following control, the processor:

detects a surrounding object ahead of the ego vehicle through the sensor unit when the ego vehicle belongs to the preceding driving group;

detects a surrounding object on either side the ego vehicle through the sensor unit when the ego vehicle belongs to the middle driving group; and

detects a surrounding object behind the ego vehicle through the sensor unit when the ego vehicle belongs to the following driving group.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

in the performing of the group following control, the processor controls the sensing parameter of the sensor unit of the ego vehicle in response to a sensor control signal transmitted by a leader vehicle of the platooning group; and

the sensor control signal is generated for each of the group vehicles and transmitted to each of the group vehicles by the leader vehicle based on a driving environment of the platooning group and a location of each of the group vehicles within the platooning group, such that a detection area and detection performance for a surrounding object are optimized at a level of the platooning group.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein, in the performing of the group following control, the processor generates the sensor control signal for each of the group vehicles belonging to the platooning group and transmits the sensor control signal to each of the group vehicles, based on a result of detection of a surrounding object by the sensor unit and the location of each of the group vehicles within the platooning group, when the ego vehicle has a position of the leader vehicle of the platooning group.