Driving assistance apparatus in view of lane curvature determination and method of controlling the same

1 . A driving assistance apparatus comprising:

one or more sensors configured to sense at least a portion of an environment of a vehicle; and

a processor connected to the one or more sensors,

wherein the processor is configured to:

acquire information about a current curvature of a traveling lane, on which the vehicle is currently traveling, based on sensor data of the one or more sensors;

verify validity of the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane by comparing the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane and information about a previous curvature of the traveling lane on which the vehicle previously traveled, during execution of a lane keeping assist function of the vehicle; and

control the vehicle based on a result of verification of the information about the current curvature,

wherein the processor is configured to:

when the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane is verified to be valid, output one or more signals for controlling the lane keeping assist function to a steering device of the vehicle based on the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane; and

when the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane is determined to be invalid, selectively control the vehicle to output one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on information about a current curvature of an opposite traffic lane traveling in an opposite direction to the traveling lane of the vehicle, or stop execution of the lane keeping assist function.

2 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to, when a difference between a current traveling lane curvature value of the current curvature of the traveling lane and a previous traveling lane curvature value of the previous curvature of the traveling lane is smaller than a predetermined first error reference value, verify the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane to be valid.

3 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

when the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane is determined to be invalid, verify validity of the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane; and

when the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane is verified to be valid, output the one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane.

4 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is configured to, when a difference between a current opposite lane curvature value of the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane and a previous opposite lane curvature value of a previous curvature of the opposite traffic lane is smaller than a predetermined second error reference value, verify the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane to be valid.

5 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to, when the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane is verified to be valid, replace the current traveling lane curvature value with the current opposite lane curvature value and output one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the current traveling lane curvature value replaced with the current opposite lane curvature value.

6 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 5 , wherein:

the one or more sensors include a camera,

the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane includes information about a curvature of the traveling lane in a current image frame at a current time point acquired through the camera, and

the information about the previous curvature of the traveling lane includes information about curvatures of the traveling lane in a predetermined number of previous image frames acquired before the current image frame.

7 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to:

when the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane is verified to be valid, store a curvature value of a curvature of the traveling lane in an image frame acquired immediately before the previous image frames as a reference value in a memory;

determine whether a result value reflecting a predetermined margin value in an average value of the current opposite lane curvature value and the reference value is smaller than or equal to a previous traveling lane curvature value of the previous curvature of the traveling lane;

when the result value reflecting the predetermined margin value in the average value of the current opposite lane curvature value and the reference value is less than or equal to the previous traveling lane curvature value, revert the replacing of the current traveling lane curvature value with the current opposite lane curvature value and output one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the current traveling lane curvature value which is the current traveling lane curvature value before being replaced with the current opposite lane curvature value; and

when the result value is larger than the previous traveling lane curvature value, re-perform an operation of replacing the current traveling lane curvature value with the current opposite lane curvature value.

8 . The driving assistance apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to delete the margin value stored in the memory in response to the one or more signals based on the current traveling lane curvature value which is the current traveling lane curvature value before being replaced with the current opposite lane curvature value.

9 . A method of controlling a driving assistance apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring information about a current curvature of a traveling lane, on which a vehicle is currently traveling, based on sensor data of one or more sensors of the vehicle;

verifying validity of the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane by comparing the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane and information about a previous curvature of the traveling lane on which the vehicle previously traveled, during execution of a lane keeping assist function of the vehicle; and

controlling the vehicle based on a result of verification of the information about the current curvature,

wherein controlling of the vehicle includes

when the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane is verified to be valid, outputting one or more signals for controlling the lane keeping assist function to a steering device of the vehicle based on the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane,

when the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane is determined to be invalid, selectively controlling the vehicle to output one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on information about a current curvature of an opposite traffic lane traveling in an opposite direction to the traveling lane of the vehicle, or stopping execution of the lane keeping assist function.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the verifying of the validity of the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane includes when a difference between a current traveling lane curvature value of the current curvature of the traveling lane and a previous traveling lane curvature value of the previous curvature of the traveling lane is smaller than a predetermined first error reference value, verifying the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane to be valid.

11 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

when the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane is determined to be invalid, verifying validity of information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane; and

when the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane is verified to be valid, outputting the one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the verifying of the validity of the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane includes, when a difference between a current opposite lane curvature value of the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane and a previous opposite lane curvature value of a previous curvature of the opposite traffic lane is smaller than a predetermined second error reference value, verifying the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane to be valid.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the outputting of the one or more signals for controlling the vehicle based on the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane includes, when the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane is verified to be valid, replacing the current traveling lane curvature value with the current opposite lane curvature value and outputting the one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the current traveling lane curvature value replaced with the current opposite lane curvature value.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein:

the one or more sensors include a camera,

the information about the current curvature of the traveling lane includes information about a curvature of the traveling lane in a current image frame at a current time point acquired through the camera, and

the information about the previous curvature of the traveling lane includes information about curvatures of the traveling lane in a predetermined number of previous image frames acquired before the current image frame.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the outputting of the one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane includes:

when the information about the current curvature of the opposite traffic lane is verified to be valid, storing a curvature value of a curvature of the traveling lane in an image frame acquired immediately before the previous image frames as a reference value in a memory;

determining whether a result value reflecting a predetermined margin value in an average value of the current opposite lane curvature value and the reference value is smaller than or equal to a previous traveling lane curvature value of the previous curvature of the traveling lane; and

when the result value reflecting the predetermined margin value in the average value of the current opposite lane curvature value and the reference value is less than or equal to the previous traveling lane curvature value, reverting the replacing of the current traveling lane curvature value with the current opposite lane curvature value and outputting one or more signals for controlling the steering device based on the current traveling lane curvature value which is the current traveling lane curvature value before being replaced with the current opposite lane curvature value.