Control system and method for a vehicle
Embodiments of the present invention provide a control system for a vehicle. The control system is configured to receive speed profile data indicative of a speed profile of the vehicle, wherein the speed profile represents one or more speeds at which the vehicle will be automatically controlled to travel at on a route ahead of the vehicle; receive route data indicative of the route ahead of the vehicle; determine, using the received speed profile data and the received route data, a representation comprising a relative position of the vehicle with respect to the route ahead and an indication of the speed profile on the route ahead; and output a signal indicative of the representation for provision to an output device.
1 . A control system for a vehicle, the control system comprising at least one controller configured to:
receive speed profile data indicative of a speed profile of the vehicle, wherein the speed profile represents one or more speeds at which the vehicle will be automatically controlled to travel on an off-road route ahead of the vehicle following adaptive setting of a variable target speed, the setting of the variable target speed performed according to one or more characteristics of the off-road route ahead sensed during motion of the vehicle;
receive route data indicative of the off-road route ahead of the vehicle, the route data comprising route terrain data corresponding to the off-road route ahead and recorded in real-time by at least one sensor of the vehicle;
determine, using the received speed profile data and the received route data, a representation comprising a relative position of the vehicle with respect to the off-road route ahead and an indication of the speed profile on the off-road route ahead;
output a signal indicative of the representation for provision to an output device, the representation providing an indication to a driver or passenger of the vehicle of how the vehicle will behave on the off-road route ahead; and
control the vehicle to travel on the off-road route at the variable target speed in accordance with the speed profile.
2 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein
the representation comprises at least one of a visual representation, an audio output, and a haptic output;
the output device comprises at least one of a display, an audio output device, and a haptic feedback device; and
the signal indicative of the representation is configured for provision to the corresponding at least one of the display, the audio output device and the haptic feedback device.
3 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the speed profile comprises a marker configured to indicate a speed of the vehicle on the off-road route ahead at the position indicated by the marker on the route.
4 . The control system of claim 3 , wherein the marker is configured to indicate
a speed at an indicated distance on the off-road route ahead, or
a speed at an indicated time on the off-road route ahead.
5 . The control system of claim 3 , wherein the marker comprises one or more of:
a plurality of contour lines spaced to represent a speed of the vehicle;
a plurality of contour lines spaced to represent a change of speed of the vehicle;
a color-coded speed indicator including a color that represents the speed of the vehicle;
a color-coded speed indicator including a color that represents the change of speed of the vehicle; and
a flag to indicate that the vehicle will change speed at the position indicated by the marker on the off-road route.
6 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one controller is configured to
determine the representation in real time or at predetermined time, distance, speed or acceleration intervals; and
output the signal indicative of a latest determined representation for provision to the output device.
7 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the speed profile represents one or more of:
the one or more speeds at which the vehicle will be automatically controlled to travel on the off-road route ahead following setting a fixed target speed prior to determination of the speed profile; and
the one or more speeds at which the vehicle will be automatically controlled to travel on the route ahead following adaptively setting a variable target speed, the setting of the variable target speed being performed according to one or more characteristics of the off-road route ahead sensed during motion of the vehicle.
8 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the received route data is indicative of:
a gradient of the off-road route ahead;
a route width of the off-road route ahead;
a curvature of the off-road route ahead;
a route surface of the off-road route ahead;
a speed limit of the off-road route ahead;
a current weather condition;
a geographical location identifier;
whether the vehicle is currently braking;
whether the vehicle is currently accelerating;
whether the vehicle will come to a stop on the off-road route ahead; and
whether there is a further vehicle proximate to the vehicle.
9 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the representation comprises one or more indicators configured to indicate, one or more of:
a gradient of the off-road route ahead;
a route width of the off-road route ahead;
a curvature of the off-road route ahead;
a route surface of the off-road route ahead;
a speed limit of the off-road route ahead;
a current weather condition;
a geographical location identifier;
whether the vehicle is currently braking;
whether the vehicle is currently accelerating;
whether the vehicle will come to a stop on the off-road route ahead; and
whether there is a further vehicle proximate to the vehicle.
10 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein
the received speed profile data is indicative of a speed limit; and
the one or more speeds at which the vehicle will be automatically controlled to travel on the route ahead of the vehicle are below the speed limit.
11 . The control system of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the off-road route ahead comprises
a schematic representation of a generic route, or
a representation of the current off-road route ahead indicating one or more real world features of the off-road route ahead.
12 . A vehicle comprising the control system of claim 1 .
13 . A method, comprising:
receiving speed profile data indicative of a speed profile of a vehicle, wherein the speed profile represents speeds at which the vehicle will be automatically controlled to travel on an off-road route ahead of the vehicle following adaptive setting of a variable target speed, the setting of the variable target speed performed according to one or more characteristics of the off-road route ahead sensed during motion of the vehicle;
receiving route data indicative of the off-road route ahead of the vehicle, the route data comprising route terrain data corresponding to the off-road route ahead and recorded in real-time by one or more sensors of the vehicle;
determining, using the received speed profile data and the received route data, a representation comprising a relative position of the vehicle with respect to the off-road route ahead and an indication of the speed profile on the off-road route ahead;
outputting a signal indicative of the representation for provision to an output device, the representation providing an indication to a driver or passenger of the vehicle of how the vehicle will behave on the off-road route ahead; and
controlling the vehicle to travel on the off-road route at the variable target speed in accordance with the speed profile.
14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising:
displaying, on a display screen, the received representation; and/or
automatically controlling the vehicle to travel on the off-road route ahead according to the speed profile.
15 . A non-transitory storage medium containing computer software which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform the method of claim 13 .