JP2021049894A - Automatic operation system - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent erroneous detection of gripping while properly instructing a grip position of a steering wheel to an operator, at the time of operation takeover from automatic operation to manual operation.SOLUTION: An automatic operation system 1 is equipped with a grip position deciding portion 10a that decides a grip position of a steering wheel on the basis of a recognition result of a traveling environment by an external environment recognition unit 20 and a locator unit 30 and a detection result of a state of an operator by an operator monitoring unit 40, and a grip position presenting portion 10b that presents the grip position of the steering wheel decided by the grip position deciding portion 10a to the operator, in an automatic operation unit 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic driving system including an automatic driving mode in which the vehicle is automatically driven and a manual driving mode in which the driver operates the vehicle to drive the vehicle.

In recent years, in vehicles such as automobiles, an automatic driving system for automatically traveling the vehicle has been developed. This automatic driving system generally includes a manual driving mode in which the driver grips the steering wheel to perform a driving operation, in addition to an automatic driving mode in which the driver does not need to grip the steering wheel to perform a free-hand driving. ing.

In such an automatic driving system, the driver grips the steering wheel when it becomes difficult to continue the automatic driving due to an abnormality in the system or when the vehicle is out of the operation area targeted for the automatic driving. It is required to take over the operation. Further, when the driver desires manual driving by his / her own operation and performs an override operation of gripping the steering wheel during driving in automatic driving, the automatic driving is canceled and the driver takes over the manual driving.

When taking over the operation from the automatic operation to the manual operation, it is a condition that the driver can perform an appropriate operation. Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, the occupant can operate the steering wheel depending on whether or not the end of the operation task is detected within a predetermined time after requesting the operation task to grasp the designated position of the steering wheel. A technique for determining whether or not a condition is present is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-55632

Generally, whether or not the driver grips the steering wheel is detected by a touch sensor provided on the steering wheel. However, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, when taking over the driving from automatic driving to manual driving, if only the gripping position of the steering wheel is uniquely specified, a part of the body is steered due to the driver's failure. There is a risk that the touch sensor will make an erroneous detection due to touching the designated position of the wheel or moisture adhering to the designated position of the steering wheel.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is capable of preventing erroneous detection of gripping while properly instructing the driver on the gripping position of the steering wheel when handing over the driving from automatic driving to manual driving. The purpose is to provide a system.

The automatic driving system according to one aspect of the present invention has an automatic driving mode in which the driver automatically drives the own vehicle without touching the steering wheel, and the driver operates the steering wheel by grasping the steering wheel. An automatic driving system including a manual driving mode for driving a vehicle, the driving environment recognition unit that recognizes the driving environment in the traveling direction of the own vehicle, and the state of the driver while driving in the automatic driving mode. The gripping position of the steering wheel is determined based on the driver monitoring unit that monitors and at least detects the state of the driver's face and hands, the recognition result of the driving environment, and the detection result of the state of the driver. A gripping position determining unit is provided, and a gripping position presenting unit that presents the gripping position of the steering wheel determined by the gripping position determining unit to the driver.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of gripping while properly instructing the driver of the gripping position of the steering wheel when taking over the driving from automatic driving to manual driving.

Schematic configuration of the autonomous driving system Explanatory drawing showing arrangement of driver surveillance cameras Explanatory drawing showing the change of the steering gripping position Explanatory drawing showing change of steering gripping position according to steering angle Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when traveling on a curve Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when the driver is facing the left side in the vehicle traveling direction Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when the driver is facing the right side in the vehicle traveling direction Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when the driver is looking down Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when the driver's left hand is in the device operating state Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when the driver's right hand is in the device operating state Explanatory drawing showing the steering gripping position when both hands of the driver are in the device operating state Explanatory drawing showing notification when the driver grips the steering wheel Flowchart of steering wheel grip position notification processing Flow chart of steering wheel gripping position determination process Flowchart of steering wheel grip position conversion process

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic driving system. The automatic driving system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and has an automatic driving mode in which the driver automatically drives the vehicle without touching the steering wheel, and the driver grips the steering wheel for driving operation. It is equipped with a manual driving mode in which the vehicle is driven.

Specifically, the automatic driving system 1 is centered on the automatic driving control unit 10, and has an external environment recognition unit 20, a locator unit 30, a driver monitoring unit 40, a control drive control unit 50, a steering control unit 60, and an information notification unit. It is configured to include 70 and the like. The individual units include a computer having a single or multiple processors, and a computer system including peripherals thereof, and are communicatively connected to each other via an in-vehicle network.

The external environment recognition unit 20 includes various devices for environment recognition such as a camera unit 21, a radar device 22 such as a millimeter-wave radar and a laser radar, and travels to recognize the traveling environment of the own vehicle in the traveling direction together with the locator unit 30. Form an environmental awareness unit. The external environment recognition unit 20 is positioned by the locator unit 30, detection information of objects around the own vehicle detected by the camera unit 21, radar device 22, etc., traffic information acquired by infrastructure communication such as road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The external environment around the own vehicle is recognized based on the position information of the own vehicle.

For example, the external environment recognition unit 20 mounts a stereo camera composed of two cameras that capture the same object from different viewpoints as a camera unit 21 on its own vehicle, and captures a pair of left and right images captured by the stereo cameras. By performing stereo processing, the external environment is recognized three-dimensionally. In the camera unit 21 as a stereo camera, for example, two shutter-synchronized color cameras having an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS near the rear-view mirror inside the front window in the upper part of the vehicle interior have a predetermined baseline length in the vehicle width direction. It is configured by being arranged on the left and right.

The pair of left and right images captured by the camera unit 21 as a stereo camera are matched, and the amount of pixel shift (parallax) at the corresponding position between the left and right images is obtained, and this amount of pixel shift is converted into brightness data or the like. A distance image is generated. Based on the principle of triangulation, the points on the distance image are coordinate-converted to points in the real space centered on the own vehicle, and the left and right white lines, obstacles, and own vehicle that divide the driving lane of the road on which the own vehicle travels. Vehicles and the like traveling in front of the vehicle are recognized three-dimensionally.

The white lines on the left and right of the road can be recognized by extracting a point cloud that is a candidate for the white line from the image and calculating a straight line or a curve connecting the candidate points. For example, in the white line detection area set on the image, edges whose brightness changes by a predetermined value or more are detected on a plurality of search lines set in the horizontal direction (vehicle width direction), and one set of white lines is detected for each search line. By detecting the start point and the white line end point, an intermediate region between the white line start point and the white line end point is extracted as a white line candidate point.

Then, the white line is recognized by processing the time series data of the spatial coordinate position of the white line candidate point based on the amount of vehicle movement per unit time and calculating a model that approximates the left and right white lines. As the approximate model of the white line, an approximate model in which the linear components obtained by the Hough transform are connected, or a model approximated by a curve such as a quadratic equation can be used.

The locator unit 30 forms a traveling environment recognition unit that recognizes the traveling environment of the own vehicle in the traveling direction together with the external environment recognition unit 20, and signals from a plurality of navigation satellites such as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites. The position of the own vehicle is detected mainly based on the positioning based on. Further, when the positioning accuracy deteriorates due to the capture state of the signal (radio wave) from the satellite or the influence of multipath due to the reflection of the radio wave, the locator unit 30 uses an in-vehicle sensor such as a gyro sensor 32 or a vehicle speed sensor 33. The position of the own vehicle is detected by using the positioning by autonomous navigation.

In positioning by a plurality of navigation satellites, a signal including information on the orbit and time transmitted from the navigation satellite is received via the receiver 31, and the self-position of the own vehicle is determined based on the received signal in longitude, latitude, and so on. Positioning is performed as an absolute position including altitude and time information. In addition, positioning by autonomous navigation is performed as a relative position change based on the traveling direction of the own vehicle detected by the gyro sensor 32 and the moving distance of the own vehicle calculated from the vehicle speed pulse or the like output from the vehicle speed sensor 33. Position your vehicle.

Further, the locator unit 30 is provided with a map database DB, and identifies the position of the map database DB on the map data from the position data of the own vehicle that has been positioned. The map database DB is a database that holds a high-precision map created for driving control including automatic driving, and is stored in a large-capacity storage medium such as an HDD (hard disk drive) or SSD (solid state drive). ..

In detail, a high-precision map is a multidimensional map that holds static information such as road shapes and connections between roads and dynamic information such as traffic information collected by infrastructure communication in multiple layers. It is configured as (dynamic map). The road data includes the type of white line on the road, the number of lanes, the width of the lane, the point sequence data indicating the center position in the width direction of the lane, the curvature of the lane, the azimuth of the lane, the speed limit, and the like. It is included and is retained along with attribute data such as data reliability and data update date.

Further, the locator unit 30 maintains and manages the map database DB, tests the nodes, links, and data points of the map database DB to always keep the latest state, and also newly covers the area where no data exists in the database. Create / add data and build a more detailed database. The data update of the map database DB and the addition of new data are carried out by collating the positioned position data with the data stored in the map database DB.

The driver monitoring unit 40 includes a driver monitoring camera 41 that captures an image of the driver, and uses the driver monitoring camera 41 to monitor the state of the driver and at least detect the state of the driver's face and hands. Functions as a person monitoring unit. Specifically, the driver monitoring unit 40 processes the image captured by the driver monitoring camera 41 to detect the direction of the driver's face, the direction of the line of sight, the movement of the driver's hand, the operating state of various devices, and the like. To do.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the arrangement of the driver monitoring camera. For example, the driver monitoring camera 41 is installed on the instrument panel in front of the driver's seat of the own vehicle M. The driver monitoring camera 41 is set so that the driver D is imaged from the front and the upper body including the driver's face and hands is mainly within the imaging range.

The driver monitoring unit 40 detects the direction of the driver D's face, the direction of the line of sight, and the state of the hand based on an image of the driver D sitting in the driver's seat without gripping the steering wheel H. To do. For example, in the driver monitoring unit 40, from the image of the face Df of the driver D, the driver D faces the traveling direction of the own vehicle and gazes at the front, or faces either the left or right side of the traveling direction and looks aside. Detect if it is. Further, from the image of the driver D's hand Dh, it is detected whether or not the driver D is grasping or operating the device T such as a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant with one or both hands.

In addition to the driver monitoring camera 41, the driver monitoring unit 40 includes a biosensor that detects biological information such as the driver's respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and brain wave, and also detects the driver's health condition. To do.

The control drive control unit 50 controls the traveling driving force generated by the electric motor or the internal combustion engine, and also controls the traveling speed of the own vehicle, switching between forward and reverse, braking, and the like. For example, the control drive control unit 50 controls the operating state of the engine based on signals from various sensors that detect the operating state of the engine and various control information acquired via the in-vehicle network, and also controls the operating state of the engine. The four-wheel braking device (not shown) is controlled independently of the driver's braking operation based on the four-wheel wheel speed, steering angle, yaw rate, and other vehicle information. Further, the control drive control unit 50 calculates the brake fluid pressure of each wheel based on the braking force of each wheel, and performs anti-lock braking control, side slip prevention control, and the like.

The steering control unit 60 controls the steering torque by the electric power steering (EPS) unit 61 provided in the steering system based on, for example, the vehicle speed, the steering torque of the driver, the steering angle, the yaw rate, and other vehicle information. This steering torque control is executed as current control for the electric motor of the EPS unit 61 that realizes the target steering torque for matching the actual steering angle with the target steering angle. The EPS unit 61 uses the target steering torque from the steering control unit 60 as an instruction torque, and controls the drive current of the electric motor corresponding to the instruction torque by, for example, PID control.

The information notification unit 70 outputs an alarm for calling attention to the driver when an abnormality occurs in various devices of the vehicle, and various information to be presented to the driver. Further, the information notification unit 70 presents the control state to the driver while executing the driving control including the automatic driving, and when the driving control including the automatic driving is suspended by the driver's operation, the driving control at that time is stopped. Notify the driver of the driving status. Information is presented by the information notification unit 70 using at least one of visual output such as a monitor, display, and lamp, auditory output such as a speaker / buzzer, and tactile output such as a vibration mechanism by a motor. Be told.

In the present embodiment, in order to directly and effectively notify the driver holding the steering wheel H, a light emitting body such as an LED is arranged on the steering wheel H over the entire circumference, and a motor and an eccentricity are provided. A vibration generator made of weights, etc. is attached. The light emitting body of the steering wheel H is controlled by the steering light emitting controller 71 connected to the information notification unit 70. Further, the vibration generator of the steering wheel H is controlled by the steering vibration controller 72 connected to the information notification unit 70.

Next, the automatic operation control unit 10 which is the core of the automatic operation system 1 will be described. An operation mode switch 11 for the driver to select an operation mode is connected to the automatic operation control unit 10. When the driver operates the operation mode switch 11 to turn on the operation support mode or the automatic operation mode, the automatic operation control unit 10 is a control drive control unit based on the information from the external environment recognition unit 20 and the locator unit 30. The operation control is executed via the 50 and the steering control unit 60.

The driving support mode is a mode that supports a part of the driving operation of the driver, and in the present embodiment, the driving mode is a driving mode in which the driver needs to grip or steer the steering wheel H. Further, the automatic driving mode is a driving mode on the premise of letting go driving in which the driver does not need to grip the steering wheel H, and acceleration / deceleration control and steering control are performed in a design operation area in which the automatic driving function operates normally. It is a conditional automatic operation mode that automatically performs all of the above.

Further, the automatic driving control unit 10 is connected to a steering grip sensor 12 that detects that the driver has gripped the steering wheel H. The steering grip sensor 12 is, for example, a capacitance type touch sensor in which an electrode layer is formed by using a flexible conductive material, and is arranged over the entire circumference of the rim portion of the steering wheel H.

The automatic driving control unit 10 drives the driver when the condition for continuing the automatic driving (automatic driving condition) is not satisfied during the control in the automatic driving mode in which the driver does not need to touch the steering wheel H. Outputs a takeover request requesting takeover of.

For example, when it becomes difficult to continue automatic driving due to an abnormality in a part of the system or outside the operating range of automatic driving, or when the driver monitoring unit 40 detects that the driver is in poor physical condition. If it is determined that the vehicle is not in a state where it can be operated normally, it is determined that the automatic operation conditions are not satisfied and a takeover request is output.

When the automatic driving control unit 10 detects that the driver has gripped the steering wheel H in response to the takeover request by the signal from the steering grip sensor 12, the automatic driving control unit 10 stops the control of the automatic driving mode and operates the own vehicle. To the driver.

Further, when the automatic driving control unit 10 detects that the driver has gripped the steering wheel H by a signal from the steering grip sensor 12 during the control in the automatic driving mode, the driver manually operates by his / her own driving operation. It is determined that this is an override operation in which it is desired to drive the own vehicle. When the automatic driving control unit 10 detects the overriding operation of the driver, the automatic driving control unit 10 stops the control of the automatic driving mode and takes over the driving of the own vehicle to the driver.

The request for handing over to manual driving by such a system and the request for handing over to manual driving by the driver's override operation are accepted based on the signal from the steering grip sensor 12. However, when the steering grip sensor 12 detects that the driver has gripped the steering wheel H, there is a possibility that erroneous contact with the steering grip sensor 12 due to the driver's failure or erroneous detection due to moisture adhesion or the like may occur. ..

Therefore, the automatic driving control unit 10 avoids being continuously instructed to the same gripping position by changing the gripping position (steering gripping position) of the steering wheel H at any time, and causes the steering gripping sensor 12 to be instructed. We try to prevent false contact and false detection. As a function related to the change of the steering gripping position, the automatic operation control unit 10 includes a gripping position determining unit 10a, a gripping position presenting unit 10b, and a gripping notification unit 10c.

The gripping position determining unit 10a determines the steering gripping position based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the external environment recognition unit 20 and the detection result of the driver's state by the driver monitoring unit 40. The steering grip position is basically handed over to manual driving when it is detected that the driver is facing the direction of travel of the own vehicle and the driver's hands are not operating the device in the open state. It is randomly changed for each request and every time a certain period of time elapses at one position.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a change in the steering gripping position. As shown in FIG. 3, when the region R11 on the upper right side and the region R12 on the lower left side of the steering wheel H are determined as the steering grip positions at the time of the first takeover request (n = 1), the next takeover request (n) In = 2), the steering gripping position is changed to the upper left area R21 and the lower right area R22 of the steering wheel H. Further, in the third takeover request (n = 3), the upper region R31 and the lower region R32 of the steering wheel H are set as the steering gripping positions. The same applies when a certain period of time has elapsed at a predetermined steering gripping position.

In this case, the gripping position determining unit 10a shifts the steering gripping position in the circumferential direction according to the steering angle or the steering speed with the steering angle of 0 degrees as a reference position, and the steering angle θ is other than 0 degrees. Even so, the steering gripping position is adjusted to be the same position when viewed from the driver.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a change in the steering gripping position according to the steering angle. In FIG. 4, the steering gripping position is adjusted so that the steering angles θ are the same regions R11 and R12 when viewed from the driver even when the steering angles θ are different from θ = 0, θ = θ1, and θ = θ2. .. The same applies when the steering speeds are different.

Further, when determining the steering gripping position, the gripping position determining unit 10a determines the road shape in the traveling direction of the own vehicle, the state of the driver's hand, and the driver, as shown in the following (1) to (3). The steering gripping position is determined based on the detection result of the face orientation.
(1) Road shape in the traveling direction of the own vehicle When the gripping position determining unit 10a detects that the road shape in the traveling direction of the own vehicle is a curve having a curvature equal to or greater than a preset curvature, the steering gripping position is set to the steering wheel H. Determine the upper position of. The road shape in the traveling direction of the own vehicle can be detected by the recognition information from the external environment recognition unit 20, the map information from the locator unit 30, and the self-position information.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position during curve traveling. In FIG. 5, the two upper regions Rcv1 and Rcv2 of the steering wheel H are the steering gripping positions. This makes it possible to improve the operability when the driver grips and steers the steering wheel H when traveling on a curve.
(2) Orientation of the driver's face When the driver monitoring unit 40 detects that the driver is facing either the left or right direction with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle, the gripping position determining unit 10a grips the steering wheel. Determine the position in the direction the driver is facing. The direction of the driver's face here includes the direction of the driver's line of sight.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position when the driver is looking at the left side in the traveling direction. In FIG. 6, the upper and lower regions Rl1 and Rl2 on the left half side of the steering wheel H are set as the steering grip position, and it becomes easy to recognize the grip position of the steering wheel H in the left view facing the driver. , It becomes possible to quickly grasp the steering wheel H and take over the operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position when the driver is looking at the right side in the traveling direction. In FIG. 7, the upper and lower regions Rr1 and Rr2 on the right half side of the steering wheel H are set as the steering grip position, and it becomes easy to recognize the grip position of the steering wheel H in the view on the right side facing the driver. , It becomes possible to quickly grasp the steering wheel H and take over the operation.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position when the driver is looking down. In FIG. 8, the left and right regions Rd1 and Rd2 on the lower half side of the steering wheel H are the steering gripping positions, and it is easy to recognize the gripping position of the steering wheel H in the lower view toward which the driver is facing. Therefore, it becomes possible to quickly grasp the steering wheel H and take over the operation.
(3) State of driver's hand When the driver monitoring unit 40 detects that the driver is operating the device with either the left or right hand, the gripping position determining unit 10a operates the steering gripping position. Decide on the side of the hand that is not operating the person's device.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position when the driver's left hand is in the device operating state. In FIG. 9, since the driver operates the device T with the left hand Dhl, the regions Rtr1 and Rtr2 of the steering wheel H on the right hand Dhr side where the device is not operated are set as the steering gripping positions. As a result, the driver can quickly grasp the steering wheel H with his right hand Dhr in a free state and take over the driving.

Further, FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position when the driver's right hand is in the device operating state. In FIG. 10, since the driver operates the device T with the right hand Dhr, the regions Rtl1 and Rtl2 of the steering wheel H on the left hand Dhl side where the device is not operated are set as the steering gripping positions. As a result, the driver can quickly grasp the steering wheel H with his left hand Dhl in a free state and take over the driving.

Further, when the driver monitoring unit 40 detects that the driver is operating the device with both hands, the gripping position determining unit 10a determines the steering gripping position on the entire steering wheel H.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a steering gripping position when both hands of the driver are in the device operating state. In FIG. 11, since both hands Dhl and Dhr of the driver are in the operating state of the devices T1 and T2, the gripping position determining unit 10a sets the entire region Rall of the steering wheel H as the steering gripping position. As a result, the steering wheel H can be quickly gripped at the position where the driver can easily grip the steering wheel H to take over the driving.

The gripping position presenting unit 10b transmits the steering gripping position determined by the gripping position determining unit 10a to the information notification unit 70. In the present embodiment, the information notification unit 70 emits light from a portion of the steering wheel H corresponding to the steering grip position via the steering light emitting controller 71, and notifies the driver of the grip position.

The steering gripping position may be notified by using a display panel or a HUD (head-up display) provided on an instrument panel or the like. For example, the steering wheel H may be graphically displayed on the display panel or the HUD, and the steering gripping position as shown in FIGS. 3 to 11 may be highlighted by blinking or increasing the light emission intensity.

When the grip notification unit 10c detects that the driver has gripped the grip position of the steering wheel H presented by the grip position presentation unit 10b by the signal from the steering grip sensor 12, the information notification unit 70 is notified. In the present embodiment, the information notification unit 70 vibrates the steering wheel H via the steering vibration controller 72 to notify the driver.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a notification when the driver grips the steering wheel. As shown in FIG. 12, when the driver properly grips the gripping position of the steering wheel H presented by the system, the entire steering wheel H vibrates. As a result, it is possible to tactilely notify through the driver's hand that the system has recognized that the driver has grasped the steering wheel H. In this case, even if the driver grips or touches a portion other than the presented portion of the steering wheel H, the system does not recognize the grip and the steering wheel H does not vibrate.

Next, the operation of the automatic operation system 1 will be described focusing on the operation of the automatic operation control unit 10 shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 13 to 15. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the steering wheel grip position notification process, FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the steering wheel grip position determination process, and FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the steering wheel grip position conversion process.

First, the steering wheel gripping position notification process of FIG. 13 will be described. In this steering wheel gripping position notification process, the automatic driving control unit 10 checks whether or not the automatic driving mode is turned on based on the signal from the driving mode switch 11 in the first step S1. When the automatic operation mode is OFF, it waits until the automatic operation mode is turned ON, and when the automatic operation mode is ON, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2.

In step S2, the automatic driving control unit 10 executes the steering wheel gripping position determination process of FIG. 14 to determine the steering wheel gripping position. Further, the automatic driving control unit 10 executes the steering wheel gripping position conversion process of FIG. 15 in step S3, and converts the determined steering gripping position into a position corresponding to the steering angle and the steering speed.

Here, the steering wheel gripping position determination process in step S2 and the steering wheel gripping position conversion process in step S3 will be described.

First, in the steering wheel gripping position determination process in step S2, as shown in FIG. 14, the automatic driving control unit 10 owns the vehicle based on the information from the external environment recognition unit 20 and the locator unit 30 in the first step S11. Executes the process of detecting the road shape in the direction of travel.

Next, the automatic driving control unit 10 executes a process of detecting the direction of the driver's face in step S12 based on the information from the driver monitoring unit 40, and detects the state of the driver's hand in step S13. Execute the process to be performed. Further, the automatic operation control unit 10 executes the random number calculation process in step S14, and proceeds to the position determination process in step S15.

In step S15, the automatic operation control unit 10 determines the steering gripping position based on the detection processing result of steps S11 to S13 and the random number calculation processing result of step S14. When determining the steering gripping position, the detection results of steps S11 to S13 and the random number calculation processing result of step S14 are appropriately selected.

For example, as described above, when the road shape in the traveling direction of the own vehicle is a curve having a curvature equal to or greater than the set curvature, the steering gripping position is limited to the upper part of the steering wheel H and is determined. Further, when the driver is facing either the left or right side or the lower side with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle, the steering gripping position is determined to be the side of the steering wheel H facing the driver.

When the driver is operating either the left or right hand device, the steering gripping position is determined on the side of the hand on which the driver of the steering wheel H is not operating the device, and the driver has both hands. When operating the device with, the steering gripping position is determined on the entire steering wheel H.

Further, when the road shape is a straight road, the driver faces the traveling direction of the own vehicle, and the driver does not operate the device with both hands open, the steering gripping position is determined by random number calculation processing. It is determined at a random position to be obtained.

Next, in the steering wheel gripping position conversion process in step S3, as shown in FIG. 15, the automatic driving control unit 10 acquires the steering gripping position information in the first step S21, and the current steering angle and the current steering angle in step S22. Acquires steering speed information. Then, in step S23, the automatic driving control unit 10 executes a steering grip position conversion process that converts the steering grip position into a position shifted in the circumferential direction by a predetermined angle based on the current steering angle and steering speed.

After that, the automatic driving control unit 10 returns to the steering wheel gripping position notification process, and in step S4, executes the steering gripping position display process of displaying and designating the previously determined steering gripping position. In this steering grip position display process, the automatic driving control unit 10 transmits the steering grip position to the information notification unit 70, causes the driver to emit light at a designated position of the steering wheel H via the steering light emitting controller 71, and the like. The gripping position is presented.

Next, in step S5, the automatic driving control unit 10 determines whether or not the steering wheel H is gripped at the steering grip position presented in step S4 based on the signal from the steering grip sensor 12. When the automatic driving control unit 10 determines that the steering wheel H is not gripped at the presented steering gripping position, it proceeds to the process of step S6 and checks whether or not the set time has elapsed.

In step S6, if the set time has not elapsed, the automatic operation control unit 10 returns from step S6 to the process of step S3, and changes the steering gripping position when the steering angle or steering angular velocity changes. When the set time has elapsed, the automatic operation control unit 10 returns to the process of step S6 from step S6, and resets the steering gripping position to a new position.

On the other hand, in step S5, when the automatic driving control unit 10 determines that the steering wheel H is gripped at the presented position, the process proceeds from step S5 to step S7. In step S7, the automatic driving control unit 10 notifies the information notification unit 70 that the steering wheel H has been gripped, and returns to the process of step S1. The information notification unit 70 vibrates the steering wheel H via the steering vibration controller 72, and notifies the driver that the system has recognized the grip of the steering wheel H.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the operation is handed over from the automatic operation to the manual operation, the result of recognizing the driving environment by the external environment recognition unit 20 and the locator unit 30 and the result of detecting the driver's state by the driver monitoring unit 40. Since the gripping position of the steering wheel H is determined based on the above and the determined gripping position of the steering wheel is presented to the driver, erroneous detection of gripping is prevented while properly instructing the driver of the gripping position of the steering wheel. be able to.

1 Automatic operation system 10 Automatic operation control unit 10a Grip position determination unit 10b Grip position presentation unit 10c Grip notification unit 11 Operation mode switch 12 Steering grip sensor 20 External environment recognition unit 30 Locator unit 40 Driver monitoring unit 41 Driver monitoring camera 50 Control drive control unit 60 Steering control unit 70 Information notification unit 71 Steering light emission controller 72 Steering vibration controller

Claims (9)

An automatic driving mode in which the driver automatically drives the own vehicle without touching the steering wheel and a manual driving mode in which the driver grips the steering wheel and operates the vehicle to drive the own vehicle. It ’s a driving system,
A driving environment recognition unit that recognizes the driving environment of the own vehicle in the traveling direction,
A driver monitoring unit that monitors the state of the driver while driving in the automatic driving mode and detects at least the state of the driver's face and hands.
A gripping position determining unit that determines the gripping position of the steering wheel based on the recognition result of the driving environment and the detection result of the driver's state.
A gripping position presenting unit that presents the gripping position of the steering wheel determined by the gripping position determining unit to the driver, and a gripping position presenting unit.
An automatic driving system characterized by being equipped with. When it is recognized that the driver has gripped the gripping position of the steering wheel presented by the gripping position presenting unit, the steering wheel is further vibrated to notify the driver of the gripping position. The automatic driving system according to claim 1. When the traveling environment recognition unit recognizes that the road shape in the traveling direction of the own vehicle is a curve, the gripping position determining unit determines the gripping position of the steering wheel to the upper position of the steering wheel. The automatic operation system according to claim 1 or 2. When the driver monitoring unit detects that the driver is operating the device with either the left or right hand, the gripping position determining unit does not operate the device at the gripping position of the steering wheel. The automatic driving system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination is made on the side of the hand. When the driver monitoring unit detects that the driver is operating the device with both hands, the gripping position determining unit determines the gripping position of the steering wheel over the entire steering wheel. The automatic driving system according to claim 1 or 2. When the driver monitoring unit detects that the driver is facing either the left or right direction with respect to the traveling direction of the own vehicle, the gripping position determining unit sets the gripping position of the steering wheel to the driving. The automatic driving system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the driver determines the direction to which the person is facing. When the driver monitoring unit detects that the driver is facing the traveling direction of the own vehicle and both hands of the driver are in the open state, the gripping position determining unit determines the gripping position of the steering wheel. The automatic driving system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the position is determined at a random position. The automatic driving system according to claim 7, wherein the gripping position determining unit adjusts the gripping position of the steering wheel according to the steering angle or the steering speed of the steering hole. Claims 1 to claim 1, wherein the gripping position presenting unit presents the gripping position of the steering wheel determined by the gripping position determining unit to the driver by emitting light at the corresponding position of the steering wheel. The automatic operation system according to any one of 8.

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