JP2019039930A - Route searching device, control method, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a route searching device with which it is possible to suitably notify a point for which periphery information needed for automatic driving, etc., cannot sufficiently be obtained.SOLUTION: A sophisticated map information processing unit 14 of a driving assist device 1 acquires peripheral information around the vehicle needed for automatic driving from a determination unit 13 and acquires environment information around a route from a server device 2 along which automatic driving is exercised. The sophisticated map information processing unit 14 extracts, on the basis of the acquired environment information, a position where the acquisition accuracy of a sensor unit 12 is predicted as not satisfying a criterion for acquiring the peripheral information needed for automatic driving, as an automatic driving difficult point Pn. Meanwhile, a notification unit 18 notifies a user about the extracted automatic driving difficult point Pn.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic driving technique.

  Conventionally, automatic driving for automating driving of a vehicle using a sensor such as a camera or a radar is known. And in patent document 1, when it detects that the conditions for performing an automatic driving | operation are no longer satisfy | filled during an automatic driving | operation, the technique which performs notification to a safety point and guidance to a safe point is performed. It is disclosed.

JP 2014-106854 A

  When it comes to a point where automatic driving is not possible, such as a point where a sensor required for automatic driving does not function, it is necessary to switch from automatic driving to manual driving. In this case, as in Patent Document 1, if notification or the like is performed when the conditions for performing automatic driving are not satisfied, the driver may not have sufficient room for handling manual driving.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a route search device capable of suitably notifying a point where peripheral information necessary for automatic driving or the like cannot be sufficiently obtained. Is the main purpose.

  The invention described in claim is a route search device, comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information of a moving object; a route search unit that searches or estimates a moving route along which the moving object moves; and the route search unit. An environment acquisition unit that acquires environment information around the travel route that has been searched or estimated, and acquisition of the acquisition unit in the travel route that has been searched or estimated by the route search unit based on the environment information that the environment acquisition unit has acquired An extraction unit that extracts a position where accuracy is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined standard, and a notification unit that notifies a user of the position extracted by the extraction unit are provided.

  Further, the invention described in the claims is a control method executed by the route searching apparatus, an acquisition step of acquiring peripheral information of the moving body, and a route searching step of searching or estimating a moving route along which the moving body moves. And an environment acquisition step of acquiring environment information around the movement route searched or estimated by the route search step, and a movement searched or estimated by the route search step based on the environment information acquired by the environment acquisition step An extraction step of extracting a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion in a route, and a notification step of notifying a user of the position extracted in the extraction step, To do.

  The invention described in claim is a program executed by a computer, an acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information of a moving object, a route search unit that searches or estimates a moving route along which the moving object moves, An environment acquisition unit that acquires environment information around the movement route searched or estimated by the route search unit, and the movement route searched or estimated by the route search unit based on the environment information acquired by the environment acquisition unit The computer is caused to function as an extraction unit that extracts a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion, and a notification unit that notifies the user of the position extracted by the extraction unit. .

It is a schematic structure of an automatic driving system. The block structure of a driving assistance device is shown. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of route setting. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence at the time of driving | running | working by automatic driving | operation. It is a display example which presents an avoidance route. It is an example of a display when approaching a point where automatic driving is difficult.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the route search device includes an acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information of a moving object, a route search unit that searches or estimates a moving route along which the moving object moves, and the route search unit. An environment acquisition unit that acquires environment information around the travel route searched or estimated by the step, and the acquisition unit in the travel route searched or estimated by the route search unit based on the environment information acquired by the environment acquisition unit. An extraction unit that extracts a position where the acquisition accuracy is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion, and a notification unit that notifies the user of the position extracted by the extraction unit.

  The route search apparatus includes an acquisition unit, a route search unit, an environment acquisition unit, an extraction unit, and a notification unit. The acquisition unit acquires peripheral information about the moving object. The route search unit searches or estimates a moving route along which the moving body moves. The environment acquisition unit acquires environment information around the movement route searched or estimated by the route search unit. Based on the environmental information acquired by the environment acquisition unit, the extraction unit extracts a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion in the movement route. The notification unit notifies the user of the position extracted by the extraction unit. According to this aspect, the route search device can notify the user in advance of the presence of a point where the peripheral information necessary for automatic driving or the like cannot be acquired with sufficient accuracy.

  In one aspect of the route search device, the route search device further includes an automatic driving control unit that performs automatic driving of the vehicle based on the peripheral information acquired by the acquiring unit, and the predetermined reference is that of the automatic driving. This is a reference for determining whether or not the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit necessary for execution is satisfied. In this aspect, the route search device can appropriately predict and notify the user of a point where the peripheral information cannot be obtained with the accuracy required for performing the automatic driving.

  In another aspect of the route search device, the notification unit outputs a warning that the automatic driving cannot be continued when the moving body approaches within a predetermined distance from the position extracted by the extraction unit. . According to this aspect, the route search device can appropriately prevent the automatic operation from being suddenly disabled and the driver from switching to the manual operation without a margin.

  In another aspect of the route search device, when the automatic driving is not canceled even after notifying the input to cancel the automatic driving, before the moving body enters the position extracted by the extraction unit, Guidance is made to a point where the moving body can stop. Thereby, the route search apparatus can make a user wait for a safe point before switching from automatic driving to manual driving.

  In another aspect of the route search device, the route search device is configured to detect the parking spot when the extraction unit extracts a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion. It further has a safety point search unit for searching. Thereby, the route search apparatus can be smoothly guided to a predetermined safe point.

  In another aspect of the route search device, the route search unit, when the position extracted by the extraction unit is included in the movement route, the movement route of the mobile body not including the position extracted by the extraction unit. Explore. According to this aspect, the route search device can suitably avoid traveling in a section where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit does not satisfy a predetermined criterion.

  In another aspect of the route search device, the route search device further includes a communication unit that communicates with a server device that receives and stores information generated by a plurality of moving bodies based on outputs of sensors of the moving bodies. And the said environment acquisition part acquires the information which the mobile body which passed the said movement path | route periphery produced | generated based on the output of a sensor from the said server apparatus as said environmental information. According to this aspect, the route search apparatus can appropriately acquire environment information around the moving route, and can accurately extract a position predicted that the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit does not satisfy a predetermined criterion.

  In another aspect of the route search device, information related to the position extracted by the extraction unit is transmitted to the server device.

  According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a control method executed by the route search apparatus, the acquisition step of acquiring peripheral information of the moving object, and the search or estimation of the moving route on which the moving object moves. Search or estimate by the route search step based on the route search step, the environment acquisition step of acquiring environment information around the travel route searched or estimated by the route search step, and the environment information acquired by the environment acquisition step An extraction step of extracting a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion in the travel route, and a notification step of notifying the user of the position extracted in the extraction step. By executing this control method, the route search device can extract a point where the peripheral information necessary for automatic driving or the like cannot be acquired with sufficient accuracy, and can notify the user of its presence in advance.

  According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a program executed by a computer, an acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information of a moving object, and a route search unit that searches or estimates a moving route along which the moving object moves And an environment acquisition unit that acquires environment information around the movement route searched or estimated by the route search unit, and a movement that is searched or estimated by the route search unit based on the environment information acquired by the environment acquisition unit The computer is caused to function as an extraction unit that extracts a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion in a route, and a notification unit that notifies a user of the position extracted by the extraction unit. By executing this program, the computer can extract a point where the peripheral information necessary for automatic driving or the like cannot be obtained with sufficient accuracy, and can notify the user of its presence in advance. Preferably, the program is stored in a storage medium.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Outline of automated driving system]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration of an automatic driving system according to the present embodiment. The automatic driving system includes a driving support device 1 that moves together with each vehicle, and a server device 2 that communicates with each driving support device 1 via a network 9. Then, the automatic driving system updates the advanced map DB (Database) 21 held by the server device 2 based on the information measured by each driving support device 1, so that information necessary for determining whether automatic driving is possible, etc. Accumulate.

  The driving support device 1 is, for example, a stationary navigation device or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, and detailed map information including information necessary for automatic driving (also referred to as “advanced map information D1”) is the server device 2. Get from. Then, the driving support device 1 performs driving support such as route guidance and automatic driving based on the received advanced map information D1 and the like. In addition, the driving support device 1 transmits output information of the sensor unit 12 such as a camera or information recognized based on the output information (also referred to as “sensor information D2”) to the server device 2. The sensor information D2 includes time information and position information indicating the time and place where the driving support device 1 generates the sensor information D2. Further, preferably, the driving support device 1 is caused by the absence of a mark such as a white line on the road necessary for automatic driving, or the accuracy of the sensor unit 12 being less than the accuracy required for automatic driving. When there is a point where the automatic driving cannot be performed, information indicating the point is transmitted to the server device 2 as actual driving performance information.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the driving support device 1 is based on the received advanced map information D1 or the like, or a point or section where automatic driving is difficult on the set route (also referred to as “automatic driving difficult point Pn”). Predict. The driving support device 1 is an example of the “route search device” in the present invention.

  The server device 2 stores the advanced map DB 21 and updates the advanced map DB 21 by receiving sensor information D2 and the like from each driving support device 1. Here, in the advanced map DB 21, road data that is map information on the position and shape of roads, lanes, intersections, signs, buildings, etc., traffic information indicating traffic conditions such as road congestion, accident occurrence, construction, etc. The surrounding situation information indicating the surrounding situation of each road, such as the lane blockage accompanying the road, the weather information indicating the current or predicted weather on each road, and the like are included. Then, in response to a request from the driving support device 1, the server device 2 extracts data corresponding to the area where the driving support device 1 exists or the route periphery set by the driving support device 1 from the advanced map DB 21, The map information D1 is transmitted to the driving support device 1.

[Block configuration]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the driving support device 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the driving support device 1 mainly includes a communication unit 11, a sensor unit 12, a determination unit 13, an advanced map information processing unit 14, a route setting unit 15, a user interface (“ 16) (noted as “user I / F”), an automatic operation control unit 17, and a notification unit 18.

  The communication unit 11 communicates with the server device 2 and executes a reception process of the advanced map information D1, a transmission process of the sensor information D2, and the like. Note that the communication unit 11 may perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication with the driving support device 1 of another vehicle and exchange position information and the like.

  The sensor unit 12 includes an external sensor 20 and an internal sensor 30, and generates information related to a vehicle (own vehicle) that moves together with the driving support device 1. The external sensor 20 is a sensor for acquiring surrounding information of the host vehicle, and includes a camera 22, a laser sensor 23 such as a lidar (Lidar: Light Detection and Ranging), a radar 24, and the like. And sonar 25. The inner world sensor 30 is a sensor that detects the state of the host vehicle. Various information from the vehicle such as a satellite positioning sensor 31 such as a GPS receiver, a gyro sensor 32, a vehicle speed sensor 33, and a direction indicator. Vehicle control signal sensor 34 for obtaining Output signals from the external sensor 20 and the internal sensor 30 are supplied to the determination unit 13 and the route setting unit 15. The sensor unit 12 is an example of the “acquisition unit” in the present invention.

  The determination unit 13 determines the own vehicle position, the state of the own vehicle, and the surrounding situation of the own vehicle based on the output signal of the sensor unit 12. For example, in order to estimate the position of the vehicle with high accuracy required for automatic driving, the determination unit 13 determines the position of the white line of the running lane based on the output of the external sensor 20 such as the camera 22 in addition to the output of the satellite positioning sensor 31. The vehicle position is estimated by recognizing the position of the sign in front of the vehicle and the vehicle. Further, the determination unit 13 recognizes the traveling state and operation state of the vehicle such as the traveling speed and traveling direction information of the host vehicle based on the outputs of the internal sensors 30 such as the vehicle speed sensor 33 and the vehicle control signal sensor 34. Furthermore, the determination unit 13 recognizes the surrounding situation of the road on which the lane such as the accident occurrence place, the blocked lane, etc. is running based on the output of the external sensor 20 or the like. Then, the determination unit 13 supplies information recognized based on the output of the sensor unit 12 to the advanced map information processing unit 14. Moreover, the determination part 13 supplies the output information of the sensor part 12, the information recognized based on the said information, etc. to the communication part 11 as sensor information D2.

  The advanced map information processing unit 14 executes predetermined processing based on the advanced map information D1 received from the server device 2, the information received from the determination unit 13, and the like. It has a situation storage unit 42, a traffic information storage unit 43, a weather information storage unit 44, an automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45, and a safe point search unit 46. The advanced map information processing unit 14 is an example of an “environment acquisition unit” in the present invention.

  The road data storage unit 41 stores road data, facility information, and the like stored in advance as map information. The road data storage unit 41 may appropriately update the stored road data and the like based on the advanced map information D1.

  The surrounding situation storage unit 42 stores information indicating the surrounding situation of the road based on the advanced map information D1 or the information received from the determination unit 13. Moreover, the surrounding condition memory | storage part 42 memorize | stores the said information, when the information which shows the track record of the propriety of the automatic driving | operation on the road where the other vehicle drive | worked is contained in the advanced map information D1. In addition, the surrounding state storage unit 42 includes information on whether or not there is a mark along the road that the sensor unit 12 needs to recognize when performing automatic driving such as a white line or a sign in the advanced map information D1. If so, the information is also stored.

  The traffic information storage unit 43 stores traffic information such as traffic jams and traffic restrictions included in the advanced map information D1. The traffic information storage unit 43 may receive and store traffic information such as traffic congestion and traffic regulations distributed from a VICS (registered trademark, Vehicle Information Communication System) center. The meteorological information storage unit 44 stores the meteorological information included in the advanced map information D1 or the meteorological information around the vehicle position received by the communication unit 11 from a server (not shown) that manages the meteorological information of each place.

  The automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 is based on information stored in the road data storage unit 41, the surrounding situation storage unit 42, the traffic information storage unit 43, and the weather information storage unit 44 (collectively referred to as “environment information”). The automatic driving difficulty point Pn on the route set by the route setting unit 15 described later is predicted. In this case, the automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45 detects traveling marks such as white lines recognized based on the output of the sensor unit 12 and obstacles such as front vehicles and pedestrians around the set route ( The section estimated that “sensor accuracy” is not reached the accuracy required for automatic driving (also referred to as “reference accuracy”) is recognized as the automatic driving difficulty point Pn. The above-described reference accuracy is an example of the “predetermined reference” in the present invention.

  In this case, in one example, the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 is based on the information stored in the surrounding situation storage unit 42 or the weather information storage unit 44, a section having a rain amount or snow cover amount greater than the reference value, road surface freezing, In the section where the dense fog is generated, it is determined that the sensor accuracy is less than the reference accuracy, and the section is recognized as the automatic driving difficult point Pn. In this case, the automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45 calculates the predicted arrival time of the vehicle for each point on the route, and each point is an automatic driving difficult point Pn based on the weather forecast at the calculated predicted arrival time. It may be determined whether or not there is. In another example, the automatic driving difficult point predicting unit 45 detects a section where a mark such as a white line, a sign, or other structure that the sensor needs to recognize when performing automatic driving is not detected based on environmental information. In this case, it is determined that the sensor accuracy is less than the reference accuracy in the section, and the section is recognized as the automatic driving difficulty point Pn. In yet another example, when the automatic driving difficulty point predicting unit 45 detects a section in which automatic driving is not possible when another vehicle travels based on the environment information, the sensor accuracy does not satisfy the reference accuracy in the section. And the section is recognized as the automatic driving difficulty point Pn.

  Preferably, the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 may transmit information regarding the detected automatic driving difficulty point Pn to the server device 2 via the communication unit 11 when the automatic driving difficulty point Pn is detected. In this case, the server device 2 may store (update) information on the transmitted automatic driving difficulty point Pn in the advanced map DB. The automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45 is an example of the “extraction unit” in the present invention.

  The safe point search unit 46, when there is an automatic driving difficult point Pn along the set route, before the vehicle enters the automatic driving difficult point Pn, a point where the vehicle can be safely stopped (simply “ Also called “safety point”). Here, the safety point is a point where parking is possible safely, and corresponds to, for example, a parking lot, a vacant lot, a parkingable facility, and the like. The safe point search unit 46 searches for a point in the vicinity of the difficult automatic driving point Pn that can be used at the time when the vehicle is expected to arrive based on, for example, facility information stored in the road data storage unit 41. The safe spot search unit 46 preferably transmits information on the detected safe spot to the server device 2 via the communication unit 11 when a safe spot is detected.

  The route setting unit 15 searches for a route to the destination input by the user I / F 16. In this embodiment, as will be described later, when the destination is set, the route setting unit 15 determines a recommended route that takes into account the conditions (for example, time, distance, fee, etc.) excluding the conditions related to whether automatic driving is possible. Explore. Then, when the automatic driving difficult point Pn exists on the route set by the route setting unit 15, the route setting unit 15 routes to the destination avoiding the automatic driving difficult point Pn (also referred to as “avoidance route”). Search further. The route setting unit 15 is an example of the “route search unit” in the present invention.

  The user I / F 16 is a user interface such as a button, a switch, a touch panel, and a remote controller for a user to input a destination and to specify setting or cancellation of automatic driving.

  The automatic driving control unit 17 performs automatic driving of the vehicle based on the route set by the route setting unit 15 when automatic driving is set. During automatic driving, the automatic driving control unit 17 controls the vehicle by controlling the accelerator amount, the brake amount, the steering angle, and the like based on, for example, the surrounding situation of the host vehicle recognized by the determining unit 13.

  Based on the control of the advanced map information processing unit 14, the notification unit 18 displays a predetermined display on a display or performs predetermined audio output by an audio output device. In the present embodiment, for example, when the automatic driving difficulty point Pn exists in the set route, the notification unit 18 notifies the existence of the automatic driving difficulty point Pn or the avoidance route searched by the route setting unit 15. Or present it. A display example by the notification unit 18 will be described in detail in the section [Display Example].

  In addition, CPU which comprises the determination part 13, the advanced map information processing part 14, the route setting part 15, the automatic driving | operation control part 17, and the alerting | reporting part 18 is an example of the computer which performs the program in this invention.

[Processing flow]
Next, processing executed by the driving support device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

(1) Processing before traveling based on automatic driving FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when setting a route before traveling based on automatic driving. The driving support device 1 executes the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 when the destination is designated by the user I / F 16.

  First, the route setting unit 15 of the driving support device 1 sets a driving route for automatic driving by searching for a route to the destination designated by the user I / F 16 (step S101). In this case, the route setting unit 15 searches for a recommended route in consideration of conditions (for example, time, distance, fee, etc.) excluding conditions regarding whether automatic driving is possible. Then, the determination unit 13 estimates the own vehicle position, the state of the own vehicle, and the surrounding situation based on the output of the sensor unit 12 (step S102). Moreover, the determination part 13 transmits the information which shows the above-mentioned estimation result, or the output information of the sensor part 12 to the server apparatus 2 by the communication part 11 as sensor information D2.

  Next, the advanced map information processing unit 14 receives the advanced map information D1 from the server device 2 via the communication unit 11 (step S103). And the advanced map information processing part 14 memorize | stores the received advanced map information D1 in the road data storage part 41, the periphery condition memory | storage part 42, the traffic information storage part 43, and the weather information storage part 44 as environmental information. Let

  Then, the automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45 of the advanced map information processing unit 14 predicts the automatic driving difficult point Pn around the route set in step S101 based on the received environment information reflecting the advanced map information D1. This is performed (step S104). Preferably, the automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45 transmits information of the detected automatic driving difficult point Pn to the server device 2 when detecting the automatic driving difficult point Pn.

  Then, the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 determines whether or not the automatic driving difficulty point Pn exists on the travel route set in step S101 (step S105). And when the automatic driving | operation difficult point Pn exists on the set driving | running route (step S105; Yes), the route setting part 15 searches an avoidance route (step S106). On the other hand, when the automatic driving difficulty point Pn does not exist on the set travel route (step S105; No), the automatic operation control unit 17 starts traveling of the vehicle based on the route set in step S101 (step S111). .

  After searching for the avoidance route in step S106, the notification unit 18 displays the travel route in step S101 in which the automatic driving difficulty point Pn is clearly indicated and the avoidance route so as to be selectable (step S107). Thereby, the alerting | reporting part 18 makes a user grasp | ascertain the position of the automatic driving | operation difficult point Pn, and makes a user select whether it drive | works based on either the driving | running route of step S101, or an avoidance route. A display example of step S107 will be described later.

  When the avoidance route is selected (step S108; Yes), the automatic driving control unit 17 starts traveling of the vehicle based on the avoidance route (step S109). Thereby, the driving assistance device 1 can suitably start the automatic driving based on the route that does not need to be switched to the manual driving.

  On the other hand, when the avoidance route is not selected (step S108; No), that is, when the travel route of step S101 is selected, the safe point search unit 46 can stop before entering the automatic driving difficult point Pn. A safe point is searched (step S110). As will be described later, the safety point searched in step S110 is used as a guide destination when the vehicle approaches the point where automatic driving is difficult Pn. In addition, the safe spot search unit 46 transmits information on the searched safe spot to the server device 2. And the automatic driving | operation control part 17 starts driving | running | working of a vehicle based on the route | root set by step S101 (step S111).

(2) Processing at the time of traveling based on automatic driving FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the driving support apparatus 1 at the time of traveling based on automatic driving. The driving support device 1 executes the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 when traveling based on automatic driving is started.

  First, the automatic operation control unit 17 executes automatic operation based on the set travel route (step S201). Then, the determination unit 13 estimates the own vehicle position, the state of the own vehicle, and the surrounding situation based on the output of the sensor unit 12 (step S202). Moreover, the determination part 13 transmits the information which shows the above-mentioned estimation result, or the output information of the sensor part 12 to the server apparatus 2 by the communication part 11 as sensor information D2.

  Next, the advanced map information processing unit 14 receives the advanced map information D1 from the server device 2 via the communication unit 11 (step S203). And the advanced map information processing part 14 memorize | stores the received advanced map information D1 in the road data storage part 41, the periphery condition memory | storage part 42, the traffic information storage part 43, and the weather information storage part 44 as environmental information. Let

  Then, the automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45 of the advanced map information processing unit 14 predicts the automatic driving difficult point Pn around the set route based on the received environment information reflecting the advanced map information D1 ( Step S204). Preferably, the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 transmits information of the detected automatic driving difficulty point Pn to the server device 2 when the automatic driving difficulty point Pn is detected.

  Then, the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 determines whether or not the automatic driving difficulty point Pn exists on the set route (step S205). Then, when the automatic driving difficulty point Pn exists on the route (step S205; Yes), the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45 determines whether or not the automatic driving difficulty point Pn has approached within the predetermined distance (step S206). ). The above-mentioned predetermined distance is set in consideration of the time required for performing an operation for switching to manual driving and the time required for the driver to switch to manual driving and prepare for manual driving. On the other hand, when the automatic driving difficulty point Pn does not exist on the route (step S205; No), the driving support device 1 executes steps S201 to S205 again, and the automatic driving difficulty point Pn is on the route as time elapses. Determine if it has occurred.

  When the vehicle approaches the automatic driving difficulty point Pn within a predetermined distance (step S206; Yes), the notification unit 18 notifies the user of switching to manual driving by voice or display (step S207). Then, the driving support device 1 determines whether or not the user I / F 16 has detected an operation for switching to manual driving (step S208). When the driving support device 1 detects an operation to switch to manual driving within a predetermined time after the notification in step S208 (step S208; Yes), the driving support device 1 ends the automatic driving and ends the processing of the flowchart.

  On the other hand, if the driving support device 1 does not detect an operation to switch to manual driving within a predetermined time after the notification in step S207 (step S208; No), the driving support device 1 starts guiding to a safe spot (step S209). In this case, the driving assistance device 1 preferably performs guidance to the safety point detected in step S110 of FIG.

[Display example]
FIG. 5 is a screen example displayed by the notification unit 18 in step S107 of FIG. 3 at the time of route setting. In FIG. 5, a mark 50 indicates the current position of the vehicle, and a position 51 indicates the position of the destination.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the notification unit 18 displays the avoidance route 52 while displaying the set route 53 set in step S <b> 101 on a map (not shown). In the example of FIG. 5, the notification unit 18 displays the set route 53 in different modes (for example, different colors) in the automatic driving difficult point Pn and the sections other than the automatic driving difficult point Pn. Thereby, the alerting | reporting part 18 can make a user recognize the position of the automatic driving difficult point Pn suitably.

  Furthermore, the notification unit 18 displays a window 55 including buttons 56 and 57 for selecting whether or not the avoidance route 52 is set as a travel route instead of the set route 53 on the screen of FIG. . When the automatic operation control unit 17 detects that the YES button 56 is pressed, the automatic operation control unit 17 starts automatic operation based on the avoidance route 52, and when it detects that the NO button 57 is pressed, the automatic operation control unit 17 switches to the setting route 53. Based on this, automatic operation is started.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a screen displayed by the notification unit 18 in step S207 of FIG. In the example of FIG. 6, the NO button 57 is selected in FIG. 5, and the driving support device 1 performs automatic driving based on the set route 53 including the automatic driving difficult point Pn.

  In this case, the notification unit 18 displays a window 59 that displays a message prompting the user to switch to manual driving based on step S207 because the vehicle has approached the automatic driving difficult point Pn within a predetermined distance. Further, in the window 59, when the notification unit 18 does not perform an operation of switching to the manual operation within a predetermined time (here 1 minute), the safety point previously searched in step S110 of FIG. A warning to guide you to the parking lot)) is displayed. Further, in the example of FIG. 6, the notification unit 18 clearly indicates the position of the “OO parking lot”, which is a safe spot, and the route to the spot on the map. In the example of FIG. 6, as in the example of FIG. 5, the notification unit 18 displays the set route 53 in a manner that is different between the automatic driving difficult point Pn and the sections other than the automatic driving difficult point Pn.

  As described above, the advanced map information processing unit 14 of the driving support device 1 according to the present embodiment acquires the surrounding information of the vehicle necessary for the automatic driving from the determination unit 13 and the route around the route where the automatic driving is performed. Environmental information is acquired from the server device 2. Then, based on the acquired environmental information, the advanced map information processing unit 14 automatically determines a position where the acquisition accuracy of the sensor unit 12 is predicted not to satisfy the criteria for acquiring peripheral information necessary for automatic driving. Extracted as a difficult driving point Pn. And the alerting | reporting part 18 alert | reports the extracted automatic driving difficult point Pn to a user. According to this aspect, the driving assistance device 1 extracts the automatic driving difficult point Pn where the peripheral information necessary for the automatic driving cannot be acquired with sufficient accuracy based on the environmental information, and notifies the user of the presence in advance. Can do.

[Modification]
Next, a modified example suitable for the embodiment will be described. The following modifications may be applied in any combination to the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 1)
The driving support device 1 searches for a route to the destination designated by the user I / F 16 and performs automatic driving. Instead, the driving support device 1 estimates the route traveled by the vehicle by referring to the past vehicle travel history even when the destination is not specified, and automatically operates based on the estimated route. You may drive. In this case, the driving support device 1 stores road information transmitted by the vehicle as a travel history, and predicts a travel route based on a known statistical method with reference to the travel history. For example, when the accuracy of the predicted route is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the driving support device 1 performs automatic driving based on the predicted route.

(Modification 2)
The flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4 are examples, and the processing procedure to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this.

  For example, in FIG. 3, the driving support device 1 may search for a safe spot together with the prediction of the difficult driving point Pn instead of searching for a safe spot only when the avoidance route is not selected. . In this case, the driving support device 1 searches for a safe point regardless of whether or not the automatic driving difficult point Pn is detected. In another example, the driving support device 1 may constantly search for a safe point suitable for stopping from the current position when traveling by automatic driving. In yet another example, the driving support device 1 may search for the difficult driving point Pn only at the time of route setting, and may not search for the difficult driving point Pn again at the time of automatic driving. That is, in this case, the driving support device 1 does not execute the process of step S204 in FIG.

(Modification 3)
The server device 2 may execute the prediction process of the automatic driving difficulty point Pn executed by the automatic driving difficulty point prediction unit 45.

  In this case, the server device 2 refers to the advanced map DB 21 and detects the automatic driving difficult point Pn on each road registered in the advanced map DB 21 based on the same method as the automatic driving difficult point prediction unit 45. . And the server apparatus 2 memorize | stores the information of the detected automatic driving difficult point Pn in the advanced map DB21 as information which shows a road condition. And the server apparatus 2 includes the information of the automatic driving difficult point Pn in the advanced map information D1, and transmits it to the driving support apparatus 1. Also according to this aspect, the driving support device 1 can preferably acquire the automatic driving difficulty point Pn predicted based on the environment information and notify the user of the point.

(Modification 4)
The driving support device 1 may perform a warning to alert the driver when the vehicle approaches a predetermined place where it is estimated that caution other than the difficult driving point Pn is necessary during automatic driving. . Examples of the predetermined place include a school zone, a silver zone, and a residential area.

(Modification 5)
The processing of the server device 2 described in the embodiment may be executed by a server system including a plurality of server devices. In this case, each server apparatus appropriately receives information necessary for executing a process assigned in advance from another server and executes a predetermined process.

(Modification 6)
When the weather information is not registered in the advanced map DB 21 and the weather information is not included in the advanced map information D1, the driving support device 1 is a server device other than the server device 2 that manages information related to the weather. Weather information may be received and stored in the weather information storage unit 44.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Driving assistance apparatus 2 Server apparatus 9 Network 11 Communication part 12 Sensor part 13 Determination part 14 Sophisticated map information processing part 15 Route setting part 16 User I / F
17 Automatic Operation Control Unit 18 Notification Unit 21 Sophisticated Map DB

Claims (1)

An acquisition unit for acquiring peripheral information of the moving object;
A route search unit for searching or estimating a moving route along which the moving body moves;
An environment acquisition unit for acquiring environment information around the movement route searched or estimated by the route search unit;
An extraction unit for extracting a position where the acquisition accuracy of the acquisition unit is predicted not to satisfy a predetermined criterion in the travel route searched or estimated by the route search unit based on the environment information acquired by the environment acquisition unit; ,
A notification unit for notifying a user of the position extracted by the extraction unit;
A route search apparatus comprising:

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