CN110271544B

CN110271544B - Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN110271544B
Application number: CN201910179148.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 贾璐维; 户田明祐; 上田雄悟; 梅田弹; 杉原智衣
Original assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-03-15
Filing date: 2019-03-08
Publication date: 2022-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-08
Also published as: JP2019156269A; CN110271544A

Abstract

The invention provides a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method and a storage medium, which can make the vehicle smoothly run even if other vehicles outside the road where the vehicle runs enter the road. A vehicle control device (100) is provided with: a recognition unit (130) that recognizes the surrounding situation of the vehicle; and a driving control unit (142, 160) that automatically controls acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the host vehicle based on the surrounding situation recognized by the recognition unit, wherein the driving control unit determines whether or not another vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road based on the positional relationship between the other vehicle outside the road on which the host vehicle is traveling and the host vehicle recognized by the recognition unit, the state of the other vehicle, or the state of the driver of the other vehicle, and, when it is determined that the vehicle enters, causes the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation based on the entry route of the other vehicle.

Description

Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and storage medium

Technical Field

The invention relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a storage medium.

Background

In recent years, research into automatically controlling a vehicle has been progressing. In connection with this, the following techniques are known: the host vehicle estimates an area where an accident occurs at an intersection for future traffic and displays the area to the driver (see, for example, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2003-14474). According to the technique described in patent document 1, accident information of an accident that has occurred in the past is stored in association with a location, and the approach to the accident occurrence location is warned based on the current location of the host vehicle and the accident information, thereby making it possible to prompt the driver to pay attention.

However, in the conventional technology, the motion of another vehicle existing outside the road on which the own vehicle travels is not estimated so as to avoid the contact between the own vehicle and the other vehicle. As a result, the host vehicle may not be able to travel smoothly.

Disclosure of Invention

An aspect of the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a storage medium that enable a host vehicle to smoothly travel even when another vehicle present outside a road on which the host vehicle is traveling enters the road.

Means for solving the problems

The vehicle control device, the vehicle control method, and the storage medium according to the present invention have the following configurations.

(1): a vehicle control device according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a recognition unit that recognizes a surrounding situation of the host vehicle; and a driving control unit that automatically controls acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the host vehicle based on the surrounding situation recognized by the recognition unit, wherein the driving control unit determines whether or not the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road based on a positional relationship between the other vehicle and the host vehicle, the positional relationship being outside the road on which the host vehicle travels, the state of the other vehicle, or the state of a driver of the other vehicle, recognized by the recognition unit, and, when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road, causes the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation based on an entry route of the other vehicle.

(2): in the aspect of (1) above, the driving control unit may cause the host vehicle to perform a lane change based on an entry route of the other vehicle when it is determined that the other vehicle identified by the identification unit enters the road from outside the road to inside the road.

(3): in the aspect (1) described above, the driving control unit may cause the host vehicle to perform a deceleration operation as the avoidance operation when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from outside the road into the road and a distance between a following vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle and the host vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance.

(4): in the aspect (3) described above, the vehicle control device further includes an output unit that outputs information, and the driving control unit causes the output unit to output, to the other vehicle, information for prompting the other vehicle to enter the road when the host vehicle is caused to perform the deceleration operation as the avoidance operation.

(5): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes an entry road provided on a curb extending along a road, and the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the other vehicle is present in an area near the entry road.

(6): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes a heat generation region of the other vehicle existing outside a road, and the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters the road from outside the road to inside the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the temperature of the heat generation region of the other vehicle recognized by the recognition unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

(7): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes at least one of changes in state including sound, vibration, and light emission generated from the other vehicle existing outside the road, and the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters the road from outside the road based on the change in state recognized by the recognition unit, and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation.

(8): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes the presence of the driver in the another vehicle present outside the road, and the driving control unit determines that the another vehicle enters the road from outside the road when the recognition unit recognizes that the driver is present in the another vehicle, and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation.

(9): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes a change in the vehicle height of the another vehicle, and the driving control unit determines that the another vehicle enters the road from the outside toward the inside of the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the recognition unit recognizes the change in the vehicle height of the another vehicle.

(10): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes the presence of another vehicle that is parked across a sidewalk and a road, and the driving control unit determines whether or not the other vehicle enters the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the recognition unit recognizes the other vehicle that is parked across the sidewalk and the road.

(11): in the aspect (1) described above, when the recognition unit recognizes another vehicle that stops across a lane marker marked on a road, the driving control unit determines whether or not the other vehicle enters the road, and causes the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation.

(12): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes the presence of a display indicating an entrance/exit of a parking lot existing outside a road and recognizes the vicinity of the recognized display as the entrance/exit, and the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle near the entrance/exit enters the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the recognition unit recognizes the display indicating the entrance/exit of the parking lot existing outside the road.

(13): in the aspect (1), the vehicle control device further includes an acquisition unit that acquires information of the other vehicle via a communication unit that communicates with the other vehicle, and the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters a road based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit and causes the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation.

(14): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes an angle formed by a traveling direction of the other vehicle entering from outside the road into the road and an extending direction of the road, and the driving control unit causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation based on the angle formed by the traveling direction of the other vehicle entering from outside the road into the road recognized by the recognition unit and the extending direction of the road.

(15): in the aspect (1) described above, the driving control unit may cause the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation based on an angle formed between a traveling direction of the other vehicle entering from outside the road to inside the road, which is recognized by the recognition unit, and an extending direction of the road.

(16): in the aspect (1) described above, the recognition unit recognizes that the other vehicle existing outside the road is stopped at the parking frame, and the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle does not enter the road from outside the road to inside the road and restricts the avoidance operation of the host vehicle when the other vehicle recognized by the recognition unit as existing outside the road is stopped at the parking frame.

(17): a vehicle control method according to an aspect of the present invention causes a computer to perform: recognizing the surrounding situation of the vehicle; automatically controlling acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the host vehicle based on the recognized surrounding situation; determining whether or not the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road based on the recognized positional relationship between the other vehicle located outside the road on which the own vehicle is traveling and the own vehicle, and the state of the other vehicle or the state of the driver of the other vehicle; and causing the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation according to an entry path of the other vehicle when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road.

(18): a storage medium according to an aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to perform: recognizing the surrounding situation of the vehicle; automatically controlling acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the host vehicle based on the recognized surrounding situation; determining whether the other vehicle enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road based on the recognized positional relationship between the other vehicle located outside the road on which the own vehicle travels and the own vehicle, and the state of the other vehicle or the state of the driver of the other vehicle; and causing the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation in accordance with an entry route of the other vehicle when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road.

Effects of the invention

According to the aspects (1) to (18) described above, even when another vehicle present outside the road on which the host vehicle is traveling enters the road, the host vehicle can be caused to travel smoothly.

According to the aspect (4) described above, it is also possible to provide information on the motion of the own vehicle to another vehicle.

According to the aspects (5) to (16), the operation of the other vehicle can be predicted from the state of the other vehicle recognized from the outside.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle system using a vehicle control device according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the first control unit and the second control unit.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of another vehicle m recognized by another vehicle recognition unit.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a change in the body height of another vehicle m.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which another vehicle m enters in a direction crossing the road R.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which another vehicle m enters in a direction converging with respect to the road R.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the avoidance controller.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed in the automatic driving control apparatus.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed in the automatic driving control apparatus.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the automatic driving control device according to the embodiment.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a storage device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, a case where the right-hand traffic law is applied will be described, but the left and right may be reversed.

[ integral Structure ]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle system 1 using a vehicle control device according to an embodiment. The vehicle on which the vehicle system 1 is mounted is, for example, a two-wheel, three-wheel, four-wheel or the like vehicle, and the drive source thereof is an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, an electric motor, or a combination thereof. The electric motor operates using generated power generated by a generator connected to the internal combustion engine or discharge power of a secondary battery or a fuel cell.

The vehicle system 1 includes, for example, a camera 10, a radar device 12, a probe 14, a microphone 15, an object recognition device 16, a communication device 20, an hmi (human Machine interface)30, a vehicle sensor 40, a navigation device 50, an mpu (map localization unit)60, a driving operation unit 80, an output unit 90, an automatic driving control device 100, a driving force output device 200, a brake device 210, and a steering device 220. These devices and apparatuses are connected to each other via a multiplex communication line such as a can (controller Area network) communication line, a serial communication line, a wireless communication network, and the like. The configuration shown in fig. 1 is merely an example, and a part of the configuration may be omitted, and another configuration may be added.

The camera 10 is a digital camera using a solid-state imaging device such as a ccd (charge Coupled device) or a cmos (complementary Metal Oxide semiconductor). The camera 10 is mounted on an arbitrary portion of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the host vehicle M) on which the vehicle system 1 is mounted. When shooting the front, the camera 10 is attached to the upper part of the front windshield, the rear surface of the vehicle interior mirror, or the like. The camera 10 repeatedly captures the periphery of the host vehicle M periodically, for example. The camera 10 may also be a stereo camera.

The radar device 12 radiates radio waves such as millimeter waves around the host vehicle M, and detects radio waves (reflected waves) reflected by an object to detect at least the position (distance and direction) of the object. The radar device 12 is mounted on an arbitrary portion of the vehicle M. The radar device 12 may detect the position and velocity of the object by an FM-cw (frequency Modulated Continuous wave) method.

The detector 14 is a LIDAR (light Detection and ranging). The detector 14 irradiates light to the periphery of the host vehicle M and measures scattered light. The detector 14 detects the distance to the object based on the time from light emission to light reception. The light to be irradiated is, for example, pulsed laser light. The probe 14 is attached to an arbitrary portion of the vehicle M.

The microphone 15 collects sounds around the vehicle M.

The object recognition device 16 performs a sensor fusion process on the detection results detected by some or all of the camera 10, the radar device 12, the detector 14, and the microphone 15 to recognize the position, the type, the speed, and the like of the object. The object recognition device 16 outputs the recognition result to the automatic driving control device 100. The object recognition device 16 may directly output the detection results of the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the detector 14 to the automatic driving control device 100. The object recognition device 16 may also be omitted from the vehicle system 1. The camera 10 includes an infrared camera that captures a change in the surface temperature of an object in addition to a normal image. The normal imaging and the infrared imaging may be switched according to the function of the camera 10.

The communication device 20 communicates with another vehicle present in the vicinity of the host vehicle M or with various server devices via a wireless base station, for example, using a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth (registered trademark), dsrc (dedicated Short Range communication), or the like.

The HMI30 presents various information to the passenger of the host vehicle M and accepts input operations by the passenger. The HMI30 includes various display devices, speakers, buzzers, touch panels, switches, keys, and the like.

The vehicle sensors 40 include a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed of the host vehicle M, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, a yaw rate sensor that detects an angular velocity about a vertical axis, an orientation sensor that detects the orientation of the host vehicle M, and the like.

The Navigation device 50 includes, for example, a gnss (global Navigation Satellite system) receiver 51, a Navigation HMI52, and a route determination unit 53. The navigation device 50 holds the first map information 54 in a storage device such as an hdd (hard Disk drive) or a flash memory. The GNSS receiver 51 determines the position of the own vehicle M based on the signals received from the GNSS satellites. The position of the host vehicle M may also be determined or supplemented by an ins (inertial Navigation system) that utilizes the output of the vehicle sensors 40. The navigation HMI52 includes a display device, a speaker, a touch panel, keys, and the like. The navigation HMI52 may also be shared in part or in whole with the aforementioned HMI 30. The route determination unit 53 determines a route (hereinafter, referred to as an on-map route) from the position of the host vehicle M (or an arbitrary input position) specified by the GNSS receiver 51 to the destination input by the passenger using the navigation HMI52, for example, with reference to the first map information 54. The first map information 54 is information representing a road shape by, for example, a line representing a road and nodes connected by the line. The first map information 54 may also include curvature Of a road, poi (point Of interest) information, and the like.

The map upper path is output to the MPU 60. The navigation device 50 can electronically perform route guidance using the navigation HMI52 based on the on-map route. The navigation device 50 may be realized by a function of a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal held by a passenger. The navigation device 50 may transmit the current position and the destination to the navigation server via the communication device 20, and acquire a route equivalent to the route on the map from the navigation server.

The MPU60 includes, for example, the recommended lane determining unit 61, and holds the second map information 62 in a storage device such as an HDD or a flash memory. The recommended lane determining unit 61 divides the on-map route provided from the navigation device 50 into a plurality of sections (for example, 100[ m ] in the traveling direction of the host vehicle), and determines the recommended lane for each section with reference to the second map information 62. The recommended lane determining unit 61 determines to travel in the first lane from the left.

When there is a branch point on the route on the map, the recommended lane determining unit 61 determines the recommended lane so that the host vehicle M can travel on an appropriate route for traveling to the branch destination.

The second map information 62 is map information with higher accuracy than the first map information 54. The second map information 62 includes, for example, information on the center of a lane, information on the boundary of a lane, and the like. The second map information 62 may include road information, traffic regulation information, address information (address, zip code), facility information, telephone number information, and the like. The second map information 62 can be updated at any time by the communication device 20 communicating with other devices.

The driving operation member 80 includes, for example, operation members such as an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shift lever, a steering wheel, and a joystick. A sensor for detecting the operation amount or the presence or absence of operation is attached to driving operation element 80, and the detection result is output to automated driving control device 100 or a part or all of running driving force output device 200, brake device 210, and steering device 220.

The output unit 90 outputs information provided from the host vehicle to another vehicle, for example. The output unit 90 is controlled by, for example, the automatic driving control device 100, and outputs information prompting entry into the road to another vehicle when the own vehicle is caused to perform a deceleration operation as avoidance operation as will be described later. The output unit 90 is interlocked with the lamps, the horn, the speaker, the external display device, the communication device 20, and the like, and outputs light, sound, message display, information transmission, and the like to other vehicles via these devices.

The automatic driving control device 100 (vehicle control device) includes, for example, a first control unit 120 and a second control unit 160. The first control unit 120 and the second control unit 160 are each realized by a hardware processor such as a cpu (central Processing unit) executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuit units) such as lsi (large Scale integration), asic (application Specific Integrated circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), gpu (graphics Processing unit), or the like, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device such as an HDD or a flash memory of the automatic drive control apparatus 100, or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and the storage medium may be attached to the HDD or the flash memory of the automatic drive control apparatus 100 by being attached to a drive apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the first control unit 120 and the second control unit 160. The first control unit 120 includes, for example, a recognition unit 130 and an action plan generation unit 140. The first control unit 120 implements, for example, a function implemented by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) and a function implemented by a model provided in advance in parallel. For example, the function of "recognizing an intersection" is realized by executing, in parallel, recognition of an intersection by deep learning or the like and recognition based on a condition (presence of a signal, a road sign, or the like that can be pattern-matched) provided in advance, and adding scores to both of them to perform comprehensive evaluation. This ensures the reliability of automatic driving.

The recognition unit 130 recognizes the position, speed, acceleration, and other states of an object in the vicinity of the host vehicle M based on information input from the camera 10, radar device 12, and probe 14 via the object recognition device 16. The position of the object is recognized as a position on absolute coordinates with the origin at the representative point (center of gravity, center of drive axis, etc.) of the host vehicle M, for example, and used for control. The position of the object may be represented by a representative point such as the center of gravity and a corner of the object, or may be represented by a region represented by the representative point. The "state" of the object may include an acceleration, jerk, or "state of action" of the object (e.g., whether a lane change is being made or whether a lane change is to be made).

The recognition unit 130 recognizes, for example, a lane in which the host vehicle M travels (a travel lane). For example, the recognition unit 130 compares the pattern of road dividing lines (for example, the arrangement of solid lines and broken lines) obtained from the second map information 62 with the pattern of road dividing lines around the host vehicle M recognized from the image captured by the camera 10, and recognizes the traveling lane. The recognition part 130 is not limited to the road division line, and may recognize the driving lane by recognizing a driving road boundary (road boundary) including a road division line, a shoulder, a curb, a center barrier, a guardrail, and the like. In this recognition, the position of the own vehicle M acquired from the navigation device 50 and the processing result by the INS process may be added. The recognition unit 130 recognizes a stop line, an obstacle, a red light, a toll booth, a road structure, another vehicle, and another road item.

The recognition unit 130 recognizes the position and posture of the host vehicle M with respect to the travel lane when recognizing the travel lane. The recognition unit 130 may recognize, for example, a deviation of a reference point of the host vehicle M from the center of the lane and an angle formed by the traveling direction of the host vehicle M with respect to a straight line connecting the centers of the lanes as the relative position and posture of the host vehicle M with respect to the traveling lane. Instead, the recognition unit 130 may recognize the position of the reference point of the host vehicle M with respect to any one side end portion (road dividing line or road boundary) of the traveling lane, as the relative position of the host vehicle M with respect to the traveling lane.

The recognition unit 130 includes, for example, another vehicle recognition unit 132 and a surrounding environment recognition unit 134. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes other vehicles entering from the outside of the road to the inside of the road. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the surrounding environment of the other vehicle, and recognizes an element of the other vehicle entering from the outside of the road to the inside of the road. The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes an environment such as a road structure in the vicinity where another vehicle stops. The detailed processing of the other-vehicle recognition unit 132 and the ambient environment recognition unit 134 will be described later.

The action plan generating unit 140 generates a target trajectory for causing the host vehicle M to automatically (independently of the operation of the driver) travel in the future so as to travel on the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determining unit 61 in principle and also to be able to cope with the surrounding situation of the host vehicle M. The target trajectory includes, for example, a velocity element. For example, the target track is represented by a track in which the points (track points) to which the vehicle M should arrive are arranged in order. The track point is a point to which the host vehicle M should arrive at every predetermined travel distance (for example, several [ M ] or so) in terms of a distance along the way, and unlike this, a target speed and a target acceleration at every predetermined sampling time (for example, several zero-point [ sec ] or so) are generated as a part of the target track. The track point may be a position to which the vehicle M should arrive at a predetermined sampling time at the sampling time. In this case, the information on the target velocity and the target acceleration is expressed by the interval between the track points.

The action plan generating unit 140 may set an event of autonomous driving when generating the target trajectory. The event of the automatic driving includes a constant speed driving event, a low speed following driving event, a lane change event, a branch event, a junction event, a take-over event, an avoidance event, and the like. The action plan generating unit 140 generates a target trajectory corresponding to the started event.

The action plan generating unit 140 includes an avoidance controller 142 and an information acquiring unit 144.

The avoidance controller 142 determines whether or not the other vehicle m enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road based on the recognition results of the other vehicle recognition unit 132 and the surrounding environment recognition unit 134. The avoidance controller 142 determines whether or not the host vehicle M avoids another vehicle M entering from the outside of the road to the inside of the road, based on the determination result. The processing of the avoidance controller 142 will be described later. The information acquisition unit 144 acquires information of another vehicle via the communication device 20 (communication unit) that communicates with the other vehicle.

The second control unit 160 controls the running driving force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220 so that the host vehicle M passes through the target trajectory generated by the action plan generating unit 140 at a predetermined timing.

Returning to fig. 2, the second control unit 160 includes, for example, an acquisition unit 162, a speed control unit 164, and a steering control unit 166. The acquisition unit 162 acquires information on the target trajectory (trajectory point) generated by the action plan generation unit 140, and stores the information in a memory (not shown). The speed control unit 164 controls the running drive force output device 200 or the brake device 210 based on the speed element associated with the target track stored in the memory. The steering control unit 166 controls the steering device 220 according to the curve of the target track stored in the memory. The processing of the speed control unit 164 and the steering control unit 166 is realized by, for example, a combination of feedforward control and feedback control. For example, the steering control unit 166 performs a combination of feedforward control corresponding to the curvature of the road ahead of the host vehicle M and feedback control based on deviation from the target trajectory.

Returning to fig. 1, running drive force output device 200 outputs running drive force (torque) for running the vehicle to the drive wheels. The travel driving force output device 200 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, a motor, a transmission, and the like, and an ECU that controls these. The ECU controls the above configuration in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 or information input from the driving operation element 80. The avoidance controller 142 and the first controller 160 together are an example of a driving controller.

The brake device 210 includes, for example, a caliper, a hydraulic cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 or information input from the driving operation element 80, and outputs a braking torque corresponding to a braking operation to each wheel. The brake device 210 may be provided with a mechanism for transmitting the hydraulic pressure generated by the operation of the brake pedal included in the driving operation element 80 to the hydraulic cylinder via the master cylinder as a backup. The brake device 210 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that transmits the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the hydraulic cylinder by controlling the actuator in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160.

The steering device 220 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. The electric motor changes the orientation of the steering wheel by applying a force to a rack-and-pinion mechanism, for example. The steering ECU drives the electric motor in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 or information input from the driving operation element 80 to change the direction of the steered wheels.

[ Admission of other vehicles outside the road, etc. ]

Hereinafter, a process in which the automatic driving control apparatus 100 determines whether or not to cause the host vehicle M to avoid another vehicle entering from the outside of the road to the inside of the road will be described. When the host vehicle passes through a main road or the like with a large amount of traffic, there are stores or the like that the host vehicle enters or exits from the vehicle in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and therefore other vehicles may enter the road from the outside of the road.

When another vehicle M parked in an area outside the road starts to enter the lane of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, there is a possibility that the vehicle M may be influenced by traveling. In the case where there is another vehicle entering from the outside of the road into the inside of the road, it is important to predict the operation of the other vehicle and smoothly travel the host vehicle M.

The automatic driving control device 100 determines whether or not another vehicle enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road based on the state of the another vehicle recognized by the recognition unit 130, and causes the host vehicle M to perform the avoidance operation when it is determined that the vehicle enters. First, various kinds of recognition processing for causing the host vehicle M to perform the avoidance operation will be described.

[ other vehicle identification parts ]

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of another vehicle m recognized by another vehicle recognition unit 132. As shown in the drawing, other vehicles are present in an area W outside a road such as a main road on which a sidewalk Q is provided. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the other vehicle m in, for example, an area W outside the road R existing facing the road. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 extracts the road R and an object other than the road R based on an image captured by the camera 10 or the like, for example, and recognizes the state of the other vehicle m. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize a vehicle stopped in the parking frame P outside the road R as the other vehicle m, or may recognize a vehicle stopped at a shoulder or the like as the other vehicle m including the vehicle. The another vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize another vehicle m in a state of being parked across a lane marker or a sidewalk.

The another-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes, for example, another vehicle M that has stopped in a direction substantially orthogonal to the traveling direction of the own vehicle M. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize the other vehicle M that has stopped in the traveling direction of the host vehicle M, or may recognize the other vehicle M that has stopped in the oblique direction. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 also recognizes a change in the operation or state of the element that the other vehicle m stopped enters the road R.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize the movement itself of the other vehicle m entering the road R, or may recognize an element such as a change in a state predicted to enter based on the appearance of the other vehicle m. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes, for example, the motion of the other vehicle m as an element expected to enter the road R by the other vehicle m.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 generates, for example, a three-dimensional model indicating the relative positional relationship between the recognized other vehicle M and the host vehicle M at the position of the host vehicle M at a certain time point. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 compares, for example, the position of the other vehicle M in the model in the three-dimensional space, in which the appearance has changed when viewed from the host vehicle M after traveling to some extent, with the already acquired position of the other vehicle M in the image, and recognizes or predicts the movement and traveling direction of the other vehicle M entering the road R from the area outside the road R. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes or predicts the presence or absence of a turn, the turn start point, the turn angle, and the like based on the generated three-dimensional model and the recognition result of the travel track of the other vehicle m.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 derives the posture of the other vehicle m from the image captured by the camera 10, and compares changes in the position and posture of the other vehicle m in the plurality of images within a predetermined sampling period to derive the turning angle. The different-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes a point where the derived turning angle of the different vehicle m exceeds the threshold value as a turning start point. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may perform the same processing as described above also for a following vehicle traveling behind the own vehicle M. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes an angle formed by the other vehicle m that moves or stops and the extending direction of the road R.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes various operations, changes, and the like of the other vehicle m described below as elements of the other vehicle m entering the road when the other vehicle m is stopped.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the heat generation region of the other vehicle m based on, for example, a change in brightness of an image captured by an infrared camera or the like. The heat generation region refers to, for example, a position near a mounting position of an engine, a mounting position of a muffler or a catalyst, or the like when another vehicle m is operated by the engine of the internal combustion engine.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize the sound or vibration of the other vehicle m based on the recognition result of the microphone 15 or the like, in addition to the heat generation region. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 extracts engine sound and vibration sound such as idling sound generated by the other vehicle M by analysis using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) from the data of the peripheral sound of the host vehicle M collected by the microphone 15, for example. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize an engine sound of the other vehicle m, an inverter sound generated when the motor is driven, an audio alarm such as "departure", and the like.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes, for example, the direction of the sound source of the extracted engine sound. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 estimates the direction in which the sound source of the engine sound is present, for example, based on the reception timing of the engine sound collected by the microphones 15 provided at a plurality of positions of the vehicle M. For example, when the engine sound is extracted from the direction in which the other vehicle m exists among the sounds collected by the microphone 15, the other vehicle recognition unit 132 determines that the other vehicle m starts.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize that lights of the other vehicle m, such as a lamp or a turn signal, are turned on (emitted) based on the recognition result of the camera 10. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize that the winker of the other vehicle m is blinking. The another-vehicle recognition unit 132 compares a plurality of images of another vehicle m output from the object recognition device 16 at predetermined sampling intervals, for example, and recognizes that the blinker of another vehicle m is blinking when recognizing that the blinker and the blinker are repeatedly turned off.

The winker is any one or all of a front winker, a side winker, a rear winker, and the like of the other vehicle m. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may recognize the turning on of the brake lamp of the other vehicle m.

As an element recognized from the appearance of the other vehicle m, the other vehicle recognition unit 132 may analyze the image captured by the camera 10 to recognize a change in the angle of the steered wheel of the other vehicle m.

The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes whether or not the driver is riding in the other vehicle m based on the recognition result of the camera 10. The another vehicle recognition unit 132 may estimate the state of the passenger in the another vehicle m by recognizing whether the height of the another vehicle m has changed based on the recognition result of the camera 10.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a change in the body height of another vehicle m. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes a change in the vehicle height of the other vehicle m based on the recognition result of the camera 10, for example. As shown in the figure, when a passenger such as a driver gets on another vehicle m, the weight in the vehicle interior increases, and the vehicle height changes to be lower than that in a normal state. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 analyzes the image captured by the camera 10, for example, and estimates the amount of sinking (h0-h1) from the reference vehicle height (h0) of the other vehicle m. The reference vehicle height of the other vehicle m may be acquired from the other vehicle m by inter-vehicle communication via the communication device 20, or may be acquired from a network based on information of the vehicle type of the identified other vehicle m. The different-vehicle recognition unit 132 may set the reference vehicle height of the different vehicle m based on information obtained by traveling.

When the inter-vehicle communication with the other vehicle m is possible, the other-vehicle recognition unit 132 may communicate with the other vehicle m, acquire information on the motion of the other vehicle such as start, stop, and concessional of the other vehicle m, and recognize the motion of the other vehicle m.

[ surrounding Environment recognition part ]

The ambient environment recognition unit 134 analyzes the image acquired by the camera 10, analyzes the image based on the difference in brightness of the image, and recognizes the ambient environment in which the other vehicle m is stopped. The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes, for example, a place where the other vehicle m stops.

Returning to fig. 3, the ambient environment recognition unit 134 recognizes, for example, the parking frame P in the area W provided outside the road. The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes white lines or the like marked at predetermined intervals in the area W outside the road as the parking frame P.

The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes the road structure around the position where the other vehicle m stops.

The road structure is a structure that is artificially installed, such as a center isolation zone, a curb, and a sidewalk, and includes a pattern marked on a road surface, such as a lane marker. The ambient environment recognition unit 134 recognizes, for example, a curb G extending at the left end of the road. The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes, as the sidewalk Q, a region extending along the road R adjacent to the left side of the curb G. The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes, for example, a sidewalk provided as a structure.

The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 recognizes a roadside band that is divided by a predetermined lane mark at an end of a road in addition to a sidewalk provided by a structure, and estimates the roadside band as a pedestrian road.

The ambient environment recognition unit 134 may also recognize the entering road S formed on the curb G. The entrance S is a road structure provided on the curb G and allowing vehicles to pass between the road R and the area W outside the road. The inlet passage S is formed as a break in the curb G, for example. The entry path S is provided only at the broken portion of the curb G, and may be provided with a slope S1 formed by making a part of the curb G lower in height than the other parts. The entrance path S may be a slope S2 provided on the road side adjacent to the curb G.

The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 may recognize display contents such as "P" displayed on a signboard K or the like indicating an entrance of a parking lot existing outside the road, and recognize an area connected to the road R in the vicinity of the signboard K as an entrance path S (entrance). The vicinity of the signboard K is, for example, an area within a predetermined distance from the signboard K, and the vicinity of the entrance is a space connected to the entrance and a position within the predetermined distance. The surrounding environment recognition unit 134 may recognize, as a display indicating an entrance, a color of an electronic bulletin board, a road surface, or a sidewalk, a mark printed on the road surface or the sidewalk, or the like, in addition to the signboard K.

[ avoidance control part ]

The avoidance controller 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is present in the area outside the road based on the recognition results of the another vehicle recognizer 132 and the surrounding environment recognizer 134. When determining that the other vehicle m is present, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the other vehicle m enters the road from the outside of the road to the inside of the road, based on the state of the other vehicle m and the recognition result of the surrounding environment in which the other vehicle m is stopped. The avoidance control unit 142 causes the host vehicle M to perform a predetermined avoidance operation in accordance with the state of the other vehicle M, the entry route, and the like, when it is determined that the other vehicle M enters the road based on the determination result. The avoidance operation includes at least one of a lane change operation and a deceleration operation. The deceleration action is deceleration or stopping.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which another vehicle m enters in a direction crossing the road R. The other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the other vehicle M present in the vicinity of the entry route S, and also recognizes the distance between the other vehicle M and the own vehicle M and the direction of the other vehicle M with respect to the road R. The vicinity of the entry route S is, for example, a position within a predetermined distance of a space connected to the entry route S.

When it is determined that the distance between the other vehicle M and the host vehicle M is within the predetermined distance and the other vehicle M enters the road R, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the other vehicle M enters at least the direction crossing the host vehicle L1 on the road R on which the host vehicle M is traveling. The avoidance controller 142 determines whether or not another vehicle enters the own lane L1, the overtaking lane L2, or the opposite lane L3, based on, for example, the presence or absence of a turn, the turn start point, and the turn angle of the another vehicle m recognized or predicted by the another vehicle recognition unit 132. For example, when another vehicle m merges into the own lane L1, the turning start point CP1 of the turning trajectory C1 is located in the vicinity of the entrance S.

When the other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the turning start point CP1 of the turning trajectory C1, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that the other vehicle m enters the road in the direction converging to the own road. When another vehicle m merges into the overtaking lane L2, for example, the other vehicle travels in a direction crossing the own lane L1, and the turning start point CP2 on the turning track C2 is located at a position separated in the road R side direction from the turning start point CP 1. When the other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the turning start point CP2 of the turning trajectory C2, the avoidance controller 142 determines that the other vehicle m has entered the road in a direction crossing the own lane L1.

For example, when another vehicle m merges into the opposite lane L3, the other vehicle m travels in a direction crossing the own lane L1 and the overtaking lane L2, and the turning start point CP3 of the turning track C3 is positioned on the road R side of the turning start point CP 2. When the other-vehicle recognition unit 132 recognizes the turning start point CP3 of the turning trajectory C3, the avoidance controller 142 determines that the other vehicle m has entered the road in a direction crossing the own lane L1.

When the other vehicle m stops near the entering road S, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that the other vehicle m enters the road in a direction crossing the own lane L1 because the turning start point is not recognized.

The avoidance control unit 142 may assist in the determination of the entry path of the other vehicle m with the recognition result of the change in the angle of the steered wheels of the other vehicle m.

The avoidance control unit 142 decelerates or stops the own vehicle M when determining that the other vehicle M enters in a direction crossing the own lane L1. The other vehicle M entering in the direction crossing the road R is predicted to enter either one of the lanes of the road in the direction in which the host vehicle M travels, or to enter the opposite lane by crossing the road in the direction in which the host vehicle M travels. Therefore, when the state of another vehicle is recognized, it is desirable to preferentially enter another vehicle into the road. The avoidance control unit 142 decelerates or stops the own vehicle M when determining that another vehicle M enters in a direction crossing the road R.

However, when the following vehicle is traveling behind the host vehicle M and the distance between the following vehicle and the host vehicle is equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the avoidance control unit 142 restricts the avoidance operation and causes the host vehicle M to travel without decelerating or stopping. Here, the predetermined distance is a distance at which the following vehicle can decelerate or stop without colliding with the host vehicle when decelerating or stopping the host vehicle. The predetermined distance may be set in advance to a value corresponding to the speed at which the host vehicle travels, or the time until the host vehicle reaches the vicinity of another vehicle may be used instead of the predetermined distance.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a state in which another vehicle m enters in a direction converging with respect to the road R. The avoidance control unit 142 determines that the other vehicle m enters in a direction inclined with respect to the road R, for example, based on the moving direction of the other vehicle m recognized in the vicinity of the entering road S. The avoidance control unit 142 determines an angle formed by the traveling direction of the other vehicle m entering from the outside of the road into the road and the extending direction of the road based on the recognized turning angle of the other vehicle m, and determines that the other vehicle m enters in a direction inclined with respect to the road R.

When the avoidance control unit 142 recognizes the turning start point CP5 in the vicinity of the entrance S, it determines that the other vehicle m is oriented in a direction inclined with respect to the extending direction of the road R. When the avoidance controller 142 recognizes the turning start point CP5A of the different vehicle m in the area W outside the road, it determines that the different vehicle m has entered in a direction inclined with respect to the road R.

The avoidance control unit 142 may recognize the angle formed by the other vehicle m and the extending direction of the road R based on the recognition result of the image captured by the camera 10. The avoidance control unit 142 may assist in the determination of the entry path of the other vehicle m with the recognition result of the change in the angle of the steered wheels of the other vehicle m.

The other vehicle m entering in a direction inclined with respect to the road R is predicted to enter so as to merge into the own road L1. Therefore, when the state of another vehicle is recognized, it is desirable to preferentially enter another vehicle into the road. When it is determined that the vehicle enters in a direction inclined with respect to the road R, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not a lane change to another lane is possible. When the overtaking lane is present adjacent to the lane in which the host vehicle M is traveling and the lane change is possible, the avoidance control unit 142 causes the host vehicle M to change the lane from the traveling lane to the overtaking lane. However, on roads to which a traffic regulation for which overtaking is prohibited or the like is applied, the avoidance control unit 142 prioritizes traveling according to the traffic regulation.

Even when the direction of another vehicle M is determined in the vicinity of the incoming road S that another vehicle M is entering in a direction inclined with respect to the road R, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle M enters the overtaking lane L2 in the road while crossing the own lane L1 when the turning start point merging in the traveling direction of the own vehicle M is recognized at a point not in the vicinity of the incoming road S. The avoidance control unit 142 decelerates or stops the own vehicle M when determining that the other vehicle M crosses the own lane L1.

Even when the direction of the other vehicle M is recognized as the oblique direction in the vicinity of the approach path S, if the turning start point merging in the traveling direction of the opposite lane L3 is recognized in the own lane L1 or the overtaking lane L2, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that the other vehicle M crosses the own lane L1 to enter the opposite lane L3, and decelerates or stops the own vehicle M.

[ avoidance control for avoiding other vehicles ]

Next, the flow of the avoidance control executed by the avoidance controller 142 will be described.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the avoidance control unit 142.

The avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is present in an area other than the road on which the host vehicle M travels, based on the recognition result of the another vehicle recognition unit 132 (step S100). If a negative determination is made in step S100, the process of step S100 is repeated. If an affirmative determination is made in step S100, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not another vehicle enters the road based on the state of another vehicle m recognized by the another vehicle recognition unit 132 (step S110). The avoidance controller 142 causes the host vehicle M to perform an avoidance operation based on the determination result (step S130).

Next, the process of determining whether or not the other vehicle m starts to move executed in step S110 in the automatic drive control device 100 will be described in detail. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed in step S110 in the automatic driving control apparatus 100. The avoidance controller 142 performs the following determination process based on the recognition results of the other-vehicle recognition unit 132 and the surrounding environment recognition unit 134.

The avoidance controller 142 determines whether or not the distance between the recognized other vehicle and the host vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined distance (step S111). The predetermined distance is a distance that, when another vehicle enters the road, affects the traveling of the host vehicle and requires some avoidance operation. The predetermined distance may be, for example, a distance between a position predicted to be entered into the road by another vehicle and the host vehicle, or may be a distance between the host vehicle and another vehicle. The predetermined distance may be set in advance according to the speed, or the time until the host vehicle reaches the vicinity of another vehicle may be used instead of the predetermined distance.

If a negative determination is made in step S111, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle is not entering the road (step S117). When the distance between the host vehicle and the other vehicle is longer than the predetermined distance, the travel of the host vehicle is not affected even if the other vehicle enters the road, and therefore, for the sake of convenience of the processing to follow, the determination result of this case is included in step S117 in which it is determined that the other vehicle does not enter the road.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S111, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is moving in the direction of the road (step S112). If an affirmative determination is made in step S112, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle is entering the road (step S119). This is because, when the distance from the host vehicle is equal to or less than the predetermined distance and the other vehicle m moves in the direction from the outside of the road to the inside of the road, the other vehicle m is highly likely to enter the road R, and the host vehicle needs to perform the avoidance operation.

When a negative determination is made in step S112, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not an entrance is formed in the road (step S113). If an affirmative determination is made in step S113, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is stopped in the vicinity of the entry path (step S114). This is because, when the other vehicle m stops near the entry path S, the other vehicle m is highly likely to enter the road.

If a negative determination is made in step S113, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S115. When the position of the other vehicle m is not in the vicinity of the entry path S, the avoidance controller 142 acquires other information recognized from the external appearance state of the other vehicle and the state of the surrounding environment, and determines the entry of the other vehicle into the road.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S114, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not a heat generation region is present in the other vehicle (step S118). If an affirmative determination is made in step S118, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle is entering the road (step S119). This is because, when another vehicle m has a heat generation area, the engine and the like are already in operation, and the possibility that another vehicle m enters the road is high.

If a negative determination is made in step S118, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not sound or vibration is generated from another vehicle (step S120). This is because the hot zone may not necessarily be identified when the other vehicle m is immediately after the engine is started or when the other vehicle m is an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. Therefore, when a factor such as lighting of lights or an inverter sound of the motor is recognized, there is a high possibility that the other vehicle m starts.

When at least one of the state changes related to acoustics, such as sound and vibration, of the other vehicle m is recognized, the other vehicle m is determined to enter the road. If an affirmative determination is made in step S120, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S119. If a negative determination is made in step S120, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the driver is present in the other vehicle (step S121). This is because, when the driver is present in the other vehicle, the other vehicle m is highly likely to enter the road.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S121, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S119. If a negative determination is made in step S121, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether the vehicle height of the other vehicle is decreased (step S122). This is because the driver is not necessarily recognized from the outside of the other vehicle, and therefore, when it is recognized that the vehicle height of the other vehicle is lowered, the driver is highly likely to take the vehicle.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S122, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S119. If a negative determination is made in step S122, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the lights of the other vehicle are on (step S123). If an affirmative determination is made in step S123, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle is entering the road (step S119). This is because, in addition to recognizing the driver present inside the other vehicle, recognizing a change in the external state of the other vehicle becomes a determination factor for starting the other vehicle, and for example, when the winker blinks, there is a high possibility that the other vehicle enters the road.

If a negative determination is made in step S123, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is stopped near a signboard such as a doorway (step S124). If an affirmative determination is made in step S124, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S119. This is because, when another vehicle stops near a signboard or the like displayed at an entrance of a facility or parking lot, there is a high possibility that the vehicle enters the road.

If a negative determination is made in step S124, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle is not entering the road (step S117).

If a negative determination is made in step S114, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the other vehicle is stopped in the parking frame in the area outside the road (step S115). If an affirmative determination is made in step S115, the avoidance controller 142 determines that another vehicle does not enter the road. This is because, when another vehicle stops in the parking frame, the possibility of entering the road is low.

If a negative determination is made in step S115, the avoidance controller 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is stopped near a shoulder, a roadside belt, or a sidewalk (step S116). In the determination at step S116, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not another vehicle is stopped at the left shoulder, and whether or not another vehicle is stopped across a roadside (lane marking) or a sidewalk.

If a negative determination is made in step S116, the avoidance control unit 142 determines that another vehicle is not entering the road (step S117). If an affirmative determination is made in step S116, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S118.

In the flowcharts described above, the order of steps S111 to S124 is not limited to this, and may be appropriately changed. In the flowchart described above, it is determined that another vehicle enters the road when one condition is satisfied, but instead, it may be determined that another vehicle enters the road when a plurality of conditions are satisfied.

Next, the process of causing the host vehicle M to perform the avoidance operation based on the determination result determined in step S110 in the automatic driving control device 100 will be described in detail. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed in step S130 in the automatic driving control apparatus 100.

The avoidance control unit 142 starts processing according to whether or not another vehicle enters the road based on the determination result determined in step S110 (step S131). If step S131 is negative, the avoidance control unit 142 causes the own vehicle to travel while keeping the same (step S140). If step S131 is affirmative, avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not communication with another vehicle is possible (step S132). This is because, when another vehicle can perform inter-vehicle communication, for example, the control of the host vehicle according to the operation of another vehicle can be performed by referring to information on the future operation of another vehicle from another vehicle, which is acquired in advance by the acquisition unit 144.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S132, avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not information indicating "yield" related to the travel control has been received from another vehicle (step S139). If an affirmative determination is made in step S139, the avoidance control unit 142 causes the own vehicle to travel while keeping (step S140).

If a negative determination is made in step S139, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not information indicating "start" related to the travel control is received from another vehicle (step S141).

If a negative determination is made in step S141, the avoidance control unit 142 returns the process to step S140. If an affirmative determination is made in step S134, the avoidance control unit 142 advances the process to step S135.

When the other vehicle does not have the inter-vehicle communication function and is determined negatively in step S132, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the other vehicle is traveling in a direction crossing the own lane (step S133). If an affirmative determination is made in step S133, the avoidance controller 142 advances the process to step S135. If a negative determination is made in step S133, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not a lane change to another lane is possible (step S134). If an affirmative determination is made in step S134, the avoidance control unit 142 causes the own vehicle to perform a lane change (step S138).

If a negative determination is made in step S134, the avoidance control unit 142 determines whether or not the distance between the following vehicle and the host vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance (step S135). If a negative determination is made in step S135, the avoidance control unit 142 causes the own vehicle to travel while keeping (step S140). At this time, avoidance control unit 142 may transmit information indicating "forward" to another vehicle that can communicate.

If an affirmative determination is made in step S135, the avoidance control unit 142 decelerates or stops the own vehicle (step S136). When decelerating or stopping the own vehicle, the avoidance controller 142 outputs information prompting entry into the road to another vehicle via the output unit 90 in the own vehicle (step S139). The information to be outputted includes, for example, information indicating that "yield" is to be transmitted by inter-vehicle communication, in addition to information display such as turning on of a passing light, a horn, an audio message, and an external display device.

In the flowcharts described above, the order of steps S131 to S140 is not limited to this, and may be appropriately changed. In the flowchart described above, it is determined that another vehicle enters the road when one condition is satisfied, but instead, it may be determined that another vehicle enters the road when a plurality of conditions are satisfied.

According to the above-described embodiment, the automatic driving control apparatus 100 can smoothly run the host vehicle even when another vehicle present outside the road on which the host vehicle is traveling enters the road.

[ hardware configuration ]

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment. As shown in the figure, the automatic driving control apparatus 100 is configured such that a communication controller 100-1, a CPU100-2, a ram (random Access memory)100-3 used as a work memory, a rom (read Only memory)100-4 storing a boot program and the like, a storage apparatus 100-5 such as a flash memory or hdd (hard Disk drive), a drive apparatus 100-6 and the like are connected to each other via an internal bus or a dedicated communication line. The communication controller 100-1 performs communication with components other than the automatic driving control apparatus 100. The storage device 100-5 stores a program 100-5a executed by the CPU 100-2. The program is developed in the RAM100-3 by a dma (direct Memory access) controller (not shown) or the like, and executed by the CPU 100-2. This realizes a part or all of the other-vehicle recognition unit, the peripheral-environment recognition unit, and the avoidance control unit.

The above-described embodiments can be expressed as follows.

A vehicle control device is configured to include:

a storage device in which a program is stored; and

a hardware processor for executing a program of a program,

the hardware processor performs the following processing by executing a program stored in the storage device:

identifying the surrounding condition of the vehicle;

automatically controlling acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the host vehicle based on the recognized peripheral condition;

determining whether or not the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road based on the recognized positional relationship between the other vehicle located outside the road on which the own vehicle is traveling and the own vehicle, and the state of the other vehicle or the state of the driver of the other vehicle; and

when it is determined that the vehicle enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road, the host vehicle is caused to perform an avoidance operation according to an entry path of the other vehicle.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the avoidance operation required when another vehicle enters from an area outside the left side road of the road has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to avoidance control when another vehicle located on the opposite side of the road enters from the right side through a break in the center barrier zone or the like.

Claims

1. A control apparatus for a vehicle, wherein,

the vehicle control device includes:

a recognition unit that recognizes a surrounding situation of the host vehicle; and

a driving control unit that automatically controls acceleration/deceleration and steering of the host vehicle based on the surrounding situation recognized by the recognition unit,

the driving control unit determines whether or not the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road based on the positional relationship between the other vehicle and the host vehicle outside the road on which the host vehicle is traveling, the state of the other vehicle, or the state of the driver of the other vehicle, the positional relationship being recognized by the recognition unit, and when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road, the driving control unit causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation based on an entrance route of the other vehicle,

the recognition unit recognizes a heat generation region of the other vehicle existing outside the road, the heat generation region being a position near a mounting position of an engine and a mounting position of a muffler and a catalyst when the other vehicle is operated by the engine of the internal combustion engine,

the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road when the temperature of the heat generation region of the other vehicle identified by the identification unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

2. A control apparatus for a vehicle, wherein,

the vehicle control device includes:

the recognition unit recognizes at least one of changes in state including sound, vibration, and light emitted from the other vehicle that is present outside the road while the other vehicle is traveling,

the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road based on the state change recognized by the recognition unit.

3. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit may cause the host vehicle to perform a lane change as the avoidance operation when it is determined that the other vehicle recognized by the recognition unit enters the road from outside the road.

4. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit may cause the host vehicle to perform a deceleration operation as the avoidance operation when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from outside the road into the road and a distance between a following vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle and the host vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance.

5. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 4,

the vehicle control device further includes an output unit that outputs information,

the driving control unit causes the output unit to output information for prompting the other vehicle to enter the road to the other vehicle when the host vehicle is caused to perform the deceleration operation as the avoidance operation.

6. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the recognition unit recognizes an entry road provided to a curb extending along a road,

The driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the other vehicle is present in the area near the entrance path.

7. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the recognition portion recognizes the presence of the driver in the other vehicle existing outside the road,

the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the recognition unit recognizes that the driver is present in the other vehicle.

8. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the recognition unit recognizes a change in the body height of the another vehicle,

the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters from outside the road to inside the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation when the recognition unit recognizes a change in the vehicle height of the other vehicle.

9. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the recognition portion recognizes the presence of other vehicles parked across a sidewalk and a road,

When the recognition unit recognizes another vehicle that is stopped across the sidewalk and the road, the driving control unit determines whether or not the other vehicle enters the road, and causes the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation.

10. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

when the recognition unit recognizes another vehicle that is stopped across a lane marker marked on a road, the driving control unit determines whether or not the other vehicle enters the road, and causes the host vehicle to perform an avoidance operation.

11. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the recognition unit recognizes the presence of a display indicating an entrance of a parking lot existing outside a road and recognizes the vicinity of the recognized display as the entrance,

when the recognition unit recognizes the display indicating the entrance of the parking lot existing outside the road, the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle near the entrance enters the road and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation.

12. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

The vehicle control device further includes an acquisition unit that acquires information of the other vehicle via a communication unit that communicates with the other vehicle,

the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle enters the road based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit, and causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation.

13. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the recognition unit recognizes an angle formed by a traveling direction of the other vehicle entering from outside the road to inside the road and an extending direction of the road,

the driving control unit causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation based on an angle formed by a traveling direction of the other vehicle entering from outside the road to inside the road and an extending direction of the road, which is recognized by the recognition unit.

14. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit causes the host vehicle to perform the avoidance operation based on an angle formed between a traveling direction of the other vehicle entering from outside the road to inside the road and an extending direction of the road, which is recognized by the recognition unit.

15. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

The recognition unit recognizes that the other vehicle existing outside the road is stopped at the parking frame,

the driving control unit determines that the other vehicle does not enter from outside to inside the road when the other vehicle identified by the identification unit as being present outside the road is stopped at a parking frame, and restricts the avoidance operation of the host vehicle.

16. A control method for a vehicle, wherein,

the vehicle control method causes a computer to perform:

recognizing the surrounding situation of the vehicle;

automatically controlling acceleration, deceleration, and steering of the host vehicle based on the recognized surrounding situation;

when it is determined that the other vehicle enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road, the host vehicle is caused to perform avoidance operation according to an entrance route of the other vehicle,

the vehicle control method further causes the computer to perform:

Recognizing a heat generation region of the other vehicle existing outside the road, the heat generation region being a position near a mounting position of an engine and a mounting position of a muffler and a catalyst when the other vehicle is operated by the engine of the internal combustion engine,

and determining that the other vehicle enters from the outside of the road to the inside of the road when the temperature of the heat generation region of the other vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

17. A storage medium which is a non-transitory storage medium readable by a computer storing a program, wherein,

the program causes a computer to execute control of:

recognizing the surrounding situation of the vehicle;

The program also causes the computer to perform: