JP2023101547A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a new technique for determining a travel track of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device 10 includes: a detection section 12 for detecting a predetermined behavior of a preceding vehicle; and a control section 11 for executing one of first control to allow an own vehicle to move along a standard track set along a road and second control to allow the own vehicle to move by control different from the first control when the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle is detected. The detection section 12 detects, for example, a behavior to move rightward after moving leftward with respect to a travel direction within a predetermined time or a behavior to move leftward after moving rightward with respect to the travel direction within the predetermined time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device, vehicle control method and program.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose technologies related to automatic driving.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a travel locus generation device that generates a movement strategy for positioning within a road area according to the travel environment. This document discloses, for example, that when a vehicle parked in front is detected, a travel trajectory that avoids the vehicle is generated.

Patent Literature 2 discloses a travel route generation device that detects the travel locus of a preceding vehicle and determines the travel locus of the host vehicle so as to follow the travel locus of the preceding vehicle.

JP 2010-198578 A JP 2015-191553 A

In the case of the technique described in Patent Document 1, for example, when the detection of an obstacle on the road is delayed due to the shadow of a preceding vehicle, generation of a travel locus that avoids the obstacle is delayed. As a result, accidents caused by obstacles may occur.

According to the technique described in Patent Document 2, when the preceding vehicle takes a travel locus for avoiding the obstacle, the obstacle can be avoided by following the locus. Therefore, the obstacle can be avoided even if the detection of the obstacle is delayed.

However, since the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle have different destinations, etc., if the preceding vehicle always follows the trajectory of the preceding vehicle, there is a possibility that the vehicle will behave unnecessarily. For example, when a preceding vehicle changes lanes to the right for a right turn, the own vehicle, which is scheduled to proceed straight ahead, may not need to change lanes. If the vehicle always follows the trajectory of the preceding vehicle, unnecessary lane changes will occur in such cases.

One example of the object of the present invention is to provide a new technique for determining the travel locus of a vehicle.

The invention according to claim 1,
a detection unit that detects a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle;
a control unit that performs one of a first control for moving the own vehicle along a standard trajectory set along a road, and a second control for moving the own vehicle by a control different from the first control when the predetermined behavior is detected;
It is a vehicle control device having

In addition, the present invention
the computer
a detection step of detecting a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle;
a control step of executing one of a first control for moving the own vehicle along a standard trajectory set along a road, and a second control for moving the own vehicle by a control different from the first control when the predetermined behavior is detected;
is a vehicle control method for executing

In addition, the present invention
the computer,
detection means for detecting a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle;
A control means for executing one of a first control for moving the own vehicle along a standard trajectory set along a road, and a second control for moving the own vehicle by a control different from the first control when the predetermined behavior is detected,
It is a program that functions as

It is a figure which shows an example of the functional block diagram of the vehicle control apparatus of this embodiment. It is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware constitutions of the vehicle control device of this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the standard locus|trajectory of this embodiment. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the flow of processing of the vehicle control device of the present embodiment;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, in all the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

First, the outline of the vehicle control device of this embodiment will be described. A vehicle control device according to the present embodiment is mounted on a vehicle and controls the operation of the vehicle (operation of a steering wheel, an accelerator, a brake, etc.). The vehicle control device moves the subject vehicle (vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device; the same shall apply hereinafter) along the route determined according to the destination.

Note that the vehicle control device selectively executes a plurality of controls to determine the travel locus on the road. First, the vehicle control device can execute the first control to move the host vehicle along a preset standard trajectory along the road. The standard trajectory indicates the trajectory (position) to be driven on the road (in each lane). The standard trajectory is predetermined based on, for example, road conditions (width of each lane, number of lanes, straight line, gentle curve, sharp curve, uphill, downhill, sidewalk width, etc.) and embedded in the map data. For example, on a straight road with wide lanes, the standard trajectory may be set in the middle of the lane. A detailed example of moving the ego vehicle along the standard trajectory is described below.

In addition, when the vehicle control device detects a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle (predetermined behavior that is considered to have avoided an obstacle on the road), the vehicle control device can execute second control for moving the own vehicle along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle.

In the case of the vehicle control device of this embodiment, unless a predetermined event (for example, a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle) is detected, the own vehicle can be moved along a preset standard trajectory along the road (first control). Therefore, by constantly moving the own vehicle along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience of the own vehicle making unnecessary behaviors (unnecessary lane changes, etc.).

In addition, in the case of the vehicle control device of the present embodiment, when a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle (predetermined behavior that is considered to have avoided an obstacle on the road) is detected, the own vehicle can be moved along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle accordingly (second control). Therefore, for example, even if detection of an obstacle on the road is delayed due to being behind the preceding vehicle, the obstacle can be avoided by moving along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle.

Next, the configuration of the vehicle control device of this embodiment will be described in detail.

A vehicle control device is a device that is mounted on a vehicle and controls the own vehicle. The vehicle control device is, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

FIG. 1 shows an example of a functional block diagram of a vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment. As illustrated, the vehicle control device 10 has a control section 11 and a detection section 12 .

First, an example of the hardware configuration of the vehicle control device 10 that implements these functional units will be described. Each functional unit is realized by an arbitrary combination of hardware and software centering on a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of an arbitrary computer, memory, a program loaded into the memory, a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program (in addition to the program stored in advance from the stage of shipping the device, a storage medium such as a CD (Compact Disc) or a program downloaded from a server on the Internet can also be stored), and an interface for network connection. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle control device 10 has a processor 1A, a memory 2A, an input/output interface 3A, a peripheral circuit 4A and a bus 5A. The peripheral circuit 4A includes various modules. Note that the peripheral circuit 4A may not be provided.

The bus 5A is a data transmission path for mutually transmitting and receiving data between the processor 1A, memory 2A, peripheral circuit 4A and input/output interface 3A. The processor 1A is, for example, an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The memory 2A is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The input/output interface 3A includes an input device (keyboard, mouse, microphone, touch panel display device, touch sensor, gesture interface, etc.), an interface for acquiring information from an external device, an external server, an external sensor, etc., an output device (display, speaker, printer, etc.), an interface (mailer, etc.) for outputting information to an external device, an external server, etc. The processor 1A can issue commands to each module and perform calculations based on the calculation results thereof.

Next, the function of each functional unit shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.

The detection unit 12 detects a predetermined event that switches the control content of the control unit 11 (the above first and second controls, etc.). The detection unit 12 can detect a predetermined event based on the output of a sensor (camera, lidar (LIDAR: Laser Illuminated Detection And Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging or LiDAR: Light Detection And Ranging), radar, etc.) mounted on the own vehicle or information obtained from an external device.

For example, the detection unit 12 can detect a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle as the predetermined event. The predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle is a predetermined behavior that is considered to have avoided an obstacle on the road. The detection unit 12 may detect a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle based on the output of a sensor mounted on the host vehicle, or may acquire a notification of the predetermined behavior from the preceding vehicle itself that has performed the predetermined behavior through inter-vehicle communication.

For example, the detection unit 12 may detect "moving leftward with respect to the direction of travel within a predetermined time period and then moving rightward, or moving rightward with respect to the direction of travel within a predetermined time period and then moving leftward" as the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle. In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect, as a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle, "moving leftward with respect to the direction of travel without a blinker (with the blinker off) and then moving rightward, or moving right with respect to the direction of travel without a blinker (with the blinker off) and then moving leftward".

In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect, as a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle, "moving leftward with respect to the direction of travel within a predetermined time without a turn signal and then moving rightward, or moving rightward with respect to the direction of travel within a predetermined time without a turn signal and then moving leftward". In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect "moving leftward with respect to the direction of travel within the same lane and then moving rightward, or moving rightward with respect to the direction of travel within the same lane and then moving leftward" as the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle.

In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect, as a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle, "moving leftward with respect to the direction of travel within the same lane within a predetermined time period and then moving rightward, or moving rightward with respect to the direction of travel within the same lane within a predetermined time period and then moving leftward". In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect, as a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle, "in the same lane without a turn signal, the vehicle moves to the left with respect to the direction of travel within a predetermined period of time and then moves rightward, or within the same lane without a turn signal, within a predetermined period of time without the turn signal, the vehicle moves right with respect to the direction of travel and then moves leftward."

All of these are behaviors when the vehicle avoids an obstacle in front of it with a small deviation in the left-right direction.

The above conditions "movement to the left with respect to the direction of travel" and "movement to the right with respect to the direction of travel" respectively mean "action deviating leftward from the direction of travel" and "action deviating rightward from the direction of travel". "Movement to the left with respect to the traveling direction" and "Movement to the right with respect to the traveling direction" of the above conditions may be a movement of a reference value or more (a deviation of a reference value or more). That is, when the forward vehicle moves rightward (or leftward) with respect to the traveling direction by the reference value or more, the detection unit 12 may determine that the forward vehicle has moved rightward (or leftward) under the above conditions. By appropriately setting the reference value, it is possible to accurately detect the movement of the vehicle to avoid an obstacle in front of it.

The "predetermined time" in the above condition is a matter of design, but is assumed to be a relatively short time (several seconds, etc.).

The above condition "horizontal movement with respect to the direction of travel within the same lane" may be a horizontal movement with the entire vehicle body remaining in the same lane, or a horizontal movement with at least part of the vehicle body remaining within the same lane.

In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect "circular motion with a predetermined radius of curvature (reference value) or less" as the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle. The reference value for this condition is a matter of design, but here it is assumed to be abruptly moved (shifted) to the right or left due to a sudden steering operation, so the value is relatively small.

The detection unit 12 may detect the predetermined behavior based on, for example, the travel locus of the preceding vehicle. The travel locus of the preceding vehicle may be obtained from the preceding vehicle through inter-vehicle communication, or may be calculated based on the output of a sensor mounted on the own vehicle. In any case, the detection unit 12 acquires the travel locus of the preceding vehicle by real-time processing. In this case, the detection unit 12 may sequentially calculate the radius of curvature of a plurality of measurement points on the travel locus of the preceding vehicle according to a predetermined rule. Then, if there is a portion where the curvature radius is less than the reference value, it may be determined that the circular motion has been performed with a predetermined curvature radius (reference value) or less. In addition, the detection unit 12 may determine that the circular motion has been performed with a radius of curvature equal to or less than a predetermined radius of curvature (reference value) when a predetermined number or more of locations with curvature radii below the reference value continue. In addition, when the statistical value (average value, maximum value, minimum value, mode value, median value, etc.) of the radius of curvature of each of a plurality of recent measurement points is below a reference value, the detection unit 12 may determine that a circular motion has been performed with a predetermined radius of curvature (reference value) or less. The reference value of the radius of curvature may be changed according to the speed of the preceding vehicle.

In addition, the detection unit 12 may detect, as a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle, "the behavior of maintaining the moved position (position in the width direction of the road) for a predetermined time (design matter) or longer after moving rightward or leftward with respect to the traveling direction."

The predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle detected by the detection unit 12 may be any two or more of the plurality of predetermined behaviors exemplified above.

The control unit 11 controls the own vehicle. For example, the control unit 11 controls steering, acceleration, braking and other operations of the own vehicle. Control of the own vehicle can be realized using any technology.

After obtaining the route to the destination, the control unit 11 moves the own vehicle along the route. The route to the destination is determined based on the destination set by the user, the current position of the host vehicle, the user's selection from among a plurality of calculated routes, and the like. Setting the destination, obtaining the current position of the own vehicle, and determining the route can be realized using any technology.

The control unit 11 can selectively execute a plurality of controls to determine the travel locus on the road.

First, the control unit 11 executes the first control to move the own vehicle along the standard locus set in advance along the road. The control unit 11 controls the own vehicle such that a predetermined position of the own vehicle (for example, the center in the vehicle width direction) moves on the standard locus.

The standard trajectory indicates the trajectory (position) to be driven on the road (in each lane). The standard trajectory is predetermined based on road conditions (width of each lane, number of lanes, straight line, gentle curve, sharp curve, uphill, downhill, sidewalk width, etc.) and embedded in the map data. For example, on a straight road with wide lanes, the standard trajectory may be set in the middle of the lane.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a standard trajectory A set along a straight road. The standard trajectory may be indicated by a set of points specified by a distance D1 from a landmark located on the right side of each lane in the direction of travel or a distance D2 from a landmark located on the left side of the same direction. Alternatively, the standard trajectory may be indicated by a set of points specified by the ratio of D1 and D2 (eg, 1:1). The mark may be a line separating each lane (such as a white line drawn on the road), or may be another mark.

The control unit 11 can calculate the position of the vehicle in the lane width direction based on the output of the sensor mounted on the vehicle. The position of the vehicle in the lane width direction may be indicated by a distance d1 from a mark positioned on the right side of each lane in the traveling direction to a predetermined portion of the vehicle (for example, the center in the vehicle width direction), a distance d2 from a mark positioned on the left side of the lane to a predetermined portion of the vehicle, or a ratio of d1 to d2. The mark may be a line separating each lane (such as a white line drawn on the road), or may be another mark. Any technology can be used to calculate the position of the vehicle in the lane width direction based on the output of the sensor mounted on the vehicle.

Then, the control unit 11 adjusts the position of the vehicle in the lane width direction so that the position of the vehicle in the lane width direction is on the standard locus. For example, the control unit 11 adjusts the position of the vehicle in the lane width direction so that D1 and d1 match, D2 and d2 match, or the ratio of D1 and D2 matches the ratio of d1 and d2. The match here may be an exact match, or a slight difference may be allowed.

Here, when a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle is detected during execution of the first control, the control unit 11 executes second control different from the first control. In the second control, the control unit 11 moves the own vehicle along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle. Any technique can be used to move the own vehicle along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle.

When the preceding vehicle enters another lane and moves while the own vehicle is being moved under the second control, the control unit 11 may confirm the existence of other vehicles in the other lane before the own vehicle enters the other lane.

Then, for example, when there is no other vehicle within a predetermined area of the other lane including the position where the preceding vehicle enters the other lane, the control unit 11 may cause the own vehicle to enter the other lane.

On the other hand, if there is another vehicle in the predetermined area of the other lane including the position where the preceding vehicle enters the other lane, the control unit 11 may decelerate or stop the own vehicle before entering the other lane along the trajectory of the preceding vehicle. Then, the control unit 11 may confirm a predetermined state in the other lane and then allow the own vehicle to enter the other lane. Examples of the predetermined state include, but are not limited to, a state in which there is no other vehicle in the predetermined area of the other lane, and a predetermined state of a vehicle behind the own vehicle in the predetermined area (an act of giving way such as stopping or decelerating).

Note that the control unit 11 can switch back to the first control when the return condition is satisfied after switching from the "first control for moving along the standard locus" to the "second control for moving the own vehicle along the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle".

The return condition may be, for example, "identification of the cause of the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle" and "confirmation of avoidance of the identified cause". Based on the output of a sensor mounted on the host vehicle, the control unit 11 may determine that one or a plurality of obstacles that hinder the progress of the vehicle are the cause of the predetermined behavior of the vehicle in the vicinity of the position where the vehicle ahead has performed the predetermined behavior, for example, within the lane of the vehicle ahead and within a predetermined distance from the position where the vehicle ahead has performed the predetermined behavior. The control unit 11 may determine that the cause has been avoided when the host vehicle passes through the obstacle.

Alternatively, the return condition may be the lapse of a predetermined time after the preceding vehicle performs a predetermined behavior. In addition, the return condition may be that the distance traveled by the own vehicle after passing "the position of the preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle performs a predetermined behavior" exceeds a reference value.

Next, an example of the flow of processing of the vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

When the control unit 11 obtains the route to the destination (S10), the control unit 11 controls the own vehicle to start moving along the route. At the start, the control unit 11 moves the host vehicle under the first control. That is, the control unit 11 acquires from the map data a standard locus set in advance along the road, and controls the own vehicle to move along the standard locus (S11).

While the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle is not detected (No in S12) and while the vehicle does not arrive at the destination (No in S13), the control unit 11 continues the first control.

When the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle is detected (Yes in S12), the control unit 11 switches from the first control to the second control. That is, the control unit 11 starts control to move the host vehicle along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle (S14). While the return condition is not satisfied (No in S15), the second control is continued. When the return condition is satisfied (Yes in S15), the control unit 11 switches from the second control to the first control. That is, the control unit 11 starts control to move the own vehicle along the standard locus (S16). The control unit 11 repeats the above process until the destination is reached (No in S13).

When the destination is reached (Yes in S13), the control unit 11 stops the host vehicle and terminates the process.

A modification will now be described. In the above description, the detection unit 12 detects a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle as a predetermined event for switching from the first control to another control. However, the detection unit 12 may detect other events in addition to the predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle. For example, the detection unit 12 may detect a predetermined obstacle (for example, a parked vehicle, a falling object, etc.) that hinders movement on the standard trajectory based on the output of a sensor mounted on the own vehicle. In this case, the control unit 11 may determine a travel trajectory (a trajectory that deviates from the standard trajectory) for avoiding the detected predetermined obstacle in response to the detection of the event, and perform control (third control) to move the host vehicle along the travel trajectory. That is, the first control may be switched to the third control in response to detection of a predetermined obstacle (a parked vehicle, a falling object, etc.) that hinders movement on the standard trajectory.

Any technology can be used to determine a travel trajectory that avoids obstacles (a trajectory that deviates from the standard trajectory). The travel locus of the third control is determined as a locus of a section from before the obstacle (start point) to a predetermined position (end point) after passing the obstacle. Both the start point and the end point may be located on the standard trajectory. Then, the control unit 11 may switch from the first control to the third control when reaching the starting point, and switch from the third control to the first control when reaching the ending point.

According to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment described above, unless a predetermined event (for example, a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle) is detected, the own vehicle can be moved along a preset standard trajectory along the road (first control). Therefore, by constantly moving the own vehicle along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience of the own vehicle making unnecessary behaviors (unnecessary lane changes, etc.).

Further, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, when a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle (predetermined behavior that is considered to have avoided an obstacle on the road) is detected, the own vehicle can be moved along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle (second control). Therefore, for example, even if detection of an obstacle on the road is delayed due to being behind the preceding vehicle, the obstacle can be avoided by moving along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle.

Further, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, when the host vehicle deviates from the standard trajectory and moves along the travel trajectory of the preceding vehicle, the host vehicle can be controlled to move again along the standard trajectory when a predetermined return condition is satisfied. By appropriately setting the predetermined return condition, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience caused by continuing the second control for an unnecessarily long time and the inconvenience caused by switching from the second control to the first control too quickly.

Further, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, when the host vehicle is moved along the travel locus of the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle enters and moves into another lane, the host vehicle can enter the other lane after confirming the safety of the other lane by checking the situation of the other lane or decelerating the host vehicle. Therefore, safety can be ensured.

Although the embodiments and examples have been described above with reference to the drawings, these are examples of the present invention, and various configurations other than those described above can be adopted.

1A processor 2A memory 3A input/output I/F
4A peripheral circuit 5A bus 10 vehicle control device 11 control unit 12 detection unit

Claims (1)

a detection unit that detects a predetermined behavior of the preceding vehicle;
a control unit that performs one of a first control for moving the own vehicle along a standard trajectory set along a road, and a second control for moving the own vehicle by a control different from the first control when the predetermined behavior is detected;
A vehicle control device having

Images