JP2023168477A - Autonomous travel control device, autonomous travel control method, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

To automatically determine a travel plan of an automatic driving vehicle after a user gets off, on the basis of next schedule.SOLUTION: An autonomous travel control device is mounted on a vehicle capable of autonomous traveling and controls the autonomous traveling of the vehicle. The autonomous travel control device acquires a schedule indicating a destination at which the vehicle arrives and a scheduled time to arrive at the destination. Next, the autonomous travel control device departs from a first destination indicated by a first schedule on the basis of a plurality of acquired schedules and acquires a plurality of travel plans to arrive at a second destination indicated by a second schedule. Then, the autonomous travel control device controls the autonomous traveling of the vehicle according to one travel plan selected from the plurality of acquired travel plans on the basis of a predetermined criterion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to control of an automatic driving vehicle.

Patent Document 1 describes a method for setting the behavior of an autonomous vehicle after a user gets off the vehicle. Specifically, in Patent Document 1, the user's behavior after getting off the self-driving car is to move to a preset default parking lot, wait until a nearby parking lot is called, and return to the alighting position after a predetermined time. You can set settings such as returning to the destination, waiting at a specified point after a predetermined amount of time, etc.

Patent No. 6320496

However, with the above method, each time the user gets off the self-driving car, the user needs to set the subsequent behavior, which is cumbersome.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to make it possible to automatically determine the travel plan of the self-driving car after the user gets off the vehicle, based on the following schedule. purpose.

The claimed invention is an autonomous driving control device that is installed in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving and controls the autonomous driving of the vehicle, the device being configured to control the destination where the vehicle should arrive and the schedule to arrive at the destination. Based on a schedule acquisition means for acquiring a schedule indicating a time, and a plurality of schedules acquired by the schedule acquisition means, departure from a first destination indicated by a first schedule and arriving at a second destination indicated by a second schedule. a travel plan acquisition means that acquires a plurality of travel plans for arriving at the vehicle; A control means for controlling autonomous driving.

The claimed invention is an autonomous driving control method that is carried out by an autonomous driving control device that is mounted on a vehicle capable of autonomous driving and controls the autonomous driving of the vehicle, the method comprising: a destination to which the vehicle should arrive; a schedule acquisition step of acquiring a schedule indicating the estimated time of arrival at the destination; and a second destination, based on the plurality of schedules acquired in the schedule acquisition step, departing from the first destination indicated by the first schedule, and a travel plan acquisition step of acquiring a plurality of travel plans for arriving at a second destination indicated by the schedule; and one travel plan selected based on predetermined criteria from among the travel plans acquired in the travel plan acquisition step. The present invention is characterized by comprising a control step of controlling autonomous running of the vehicle according to a plan.

The claimed invention is a program that is installed in an autonomous vehicle, includes a computer, and is executed by an autonomous travel control device that controls autonomous travel of the vehicle, the program being executed by an autonomous travel control device that controls the autonomous travel of the vehicle, and a schedule acquisition means for acquiring a schedule indicating the estimated time of arrival at the destination, based on the plurality of schedules acquired by the schedule acquisition means, departing from the first destination indicated by the first schedule, and departing from the first destination indicated by the first schedule, a travel plan acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of travel plans for arriving at a second destination indicated by the schedule; one travel plan selected from among the travel plans acquired by the travel plan acquisition means based on a predetermined criterion; The computer is characterized in that the computer functions as a control means for controlling autonomous running of the vehicle in accordance with the above.

1 shows a schematic configuration of an automatic driving vehicle control system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a terminal device. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a server device. An example of a parking lot database is shown. An example of a user database is shown below. It is a flowchart of trip plan generation processing. It is a flowchart of cost calculation processing. An example of a trip plan is shown. This is an example of cost calculation results for multiple travel plans.

One preferred embodiment of the present invention is an autonomous driving control device that is installed in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and controls the autonomous driving of the vehicle, the device comprising: a destination to which the vehicle should arrive; a schedule acquisition unit that acquires a schedule indicating the scheduled time to depart from a first destination indicated by a first schedule, and a second destination indicated by a second schedule based on a plurality of schedules acquired by the schedule acquisition unit; a travel plan acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of travel plans for arriving at a destination; and one travel plan selected from among the travel plans acquired by the travel plan acquisition means based on a predetermined criterion, A control means for controlling autonomous running of the vehicle.

The autonomous driving control device described above is installed in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving, and controls autonomous driving of the vehicle. The autonomous driving control device obtains a schedule indicating a destination at which the vehicle should arrive and a scheduled time at which the vehicle should arrive at the destination. Next, based on the plurality of acquired schedules, the autonomous driving control device creates a plurality of travel plans for departing from the first destination indicated by the first schedule and arriving at the second destination indicated by the second schedule. get. Then, the autonomous driving control device controls autonomous driving of the vehicle according to one driving plan selected from among the plurality of acquired driving plans based on a predetermined criterion. Thereby, an appropriate travel plan starting from the first destination and arriving at the second destination can be obtained based on predetermined criteria.

In one aspect of the above autonomous driving control device, the driving plan acquisition means includes a driving plan for departing from the first destination, parking at a predetermined parking place, and arriving at the second destination; a travel plan in which the vehicle departs from a first destination, parks at a nearby parking place that is within a predetermined range from a route from the first destination to the second destination, and then arrives at the second destination. Get a trip plan. In this aspect, a travel plan is generated in which the vehicle departs from the first destination, parks and waits at a parking location, and then heads toward the second destination.

In another aspect of the above autonomous driving control device, the predetermined parking place is a home or a regular parking place where the vehicle can be parked at all times. In this aspect, a travel plan for waiting at a regular parking spot is generated.

Another aspect of the autonomous running control device described above includes a setting unit that allows a user to set the predetermined standard. In this aspect, the user can arbitrarily set the predetermined criteria for determining the travel plan.

In a preferred example, the predetermined standard is a toll calculated for each of the plurality of travel plans based on at least one of an energy consumption cost due to travel of the vehicle, a toll road fee, and a parking lot fee. This is a standard related to cost.

In another preferred example, the predetermined criteria include travel time and travel distance of the vehicle from leaving the first destination to arriving at the second destination for each of the plurality of travel plans. , the number of accident-prone points passed, the number of intersections passed, and the travel time on roads where the speed limit is a predetermined speed or higher.

In yet another preferred example, the predetermined standard is calculated based on an average value of the distance from the scheduled position of the vehicle to the second destination at each predetermined time for each of the plurality of travel plans. This is a standard regarding costs that are brought forward.

In yet another preferred example, the predetermined standard is a standard regarding the total cost calculated based on at least two of the fee cost, risk cost, and advance schedule cost.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an autonomous driving control method carried out by an autonomous driving control device installed in an autonomous vehicle and controlling the autonomous driving of the vehicle includes: and a schedule acquisition step of acquiring a schedule indicating the estimated time of arrival at the destination; and a schedule acquisition step for departing from the first destination indicated by the first schedule and departing from the first destination indicated by the first schedule based on the plurality of schedules acquired by the schedule acquisition step. a travel plan acquisition step that acquires a plurality of travel plans for arriving at the second destination indicated by the second schedule; and one travel plan selected based on predetermined criteria from among the travel plans acquired in the travel plan acquisition step. and a control step of controlling autonomous travel of the vehicle according to a travel plan. Also with this method, an appropriate travel plan starting from the first destination and arriving at the second destination can be obtained based on predetermined criteria.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a program executed by an autonomous travel control device that is installed in an autonomous vehicle, includes a computer, and controls the autonomous travel of the vehicle is configured to execute a program that is executed by an autonomous travel control device that controls autonomous travel of the vehicle. a schedule acquisition unit that acquires a schedule indicating a destination and a scheduled time of arrival at the destination; and a schedule acquisition unit that acquires a schedule indicating a destination and a scheduled time of arrival at the destination; a travel plan acquisition means for acquiring a plurality of travel plans for arriving at a second destination indicated by the second schedule; one travel plan selected based on predetermined criteria from among the travel plans acquired by the travel plan acquisition means; The computer is caused to function as a control means for controlling the autonomous running of the vehicle according to the plan. By executing this program on a computer, the above-mentioned autonomous travel control device can be realized. This program can be stored and handled in a storage medium.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Autonomous driving system]
(overall structure)
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an automatic driving vehicle control system according to an embodiment. The self-driving vehicle control system includes a terminal device 1 installed in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving (hereinafter referred to as "self-driving vehicle V"), and a server device 2 that communicates with the terminal device 1 via a network. Be prepared.

The server device 2 communicates with the terminal device 1 of the self-driving vehicle V, and supplies various data necessary for the self-driving vehicle V to autonomously travel. The terminal device 1 acquires the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V at predetermined time intervals and transmits it to the server device 2. The terminal device 1 receives map data, feature data, etc. around the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V from the server device 2, and controls autonomous driving of the automatic driving vehicle V.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the server device 2 determines a travel plan for the automatic driving vehicle V after the user gets off the vehicle according to a predetermined schedule of the user, and transmits the plan to the terminal device 1. The terminal device 1 causes the automatic driving vehicle V to travel according to the travel plan received from the server device 2.
(Configuration of terminal device)
FIG. 2 shows a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the terminal device 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 1 mainly includes a communication section 11, a storage section 12, an input section 13, a control section 14, an interface 15, and an output section 16. Each element within the terminal device 1 is interconnected via a bus line 98.

The communication unit 11 transmits the current position of the self-driving vehicle V to the server device 2 and receives various data necessary for autonomous driving of the self-driving vehicle V from the server device 2 under the control of the control unit 14. do. The communication unit 11 may also perform a process of transmitting a signal for controlling the vehicle to the vehicle, and a process of receiving a signal regarding the state of the vehicle from the vehicle.

The storage unit 12 stores programs executed by the control unit 14 and information necessary for the control unit 14 to execute predetermined processes. In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores a plurality of map DBs 4, a sensor data cache 6, and vehicle attribute information IV.

The map DB 4 is a database including, for example, road data, facility data, feature data around the road, and the like. The sensor data cache 6 is a cache memory that temporarily holds output data (so-called raw data) of the sensor section 7. The vehicle attribute information IV indicates information regarding attributes of the vehicle in which the terminal device 1 is mounted, such as vehicle type, vehicle ID, vehicle size such as vehicle length, vehicle width, and vehicle height, and vehicle fuel type.

The input unit 13 is a button, a touch panel, a remote controller, a voice input device, etc. for the user to operate, and includes, for example, an input for specifying a destination for route search, and an input for specifying on/off of automatic driving. etc., and supplies the generated input signal to the control unit 14. Alternatively, it may be communicatively connected to a mobile terminal owned by the user and receive operations performed by the user via the mobile terminal. The output unit 16 is, for example, a display, a speaker, or the like that outputs based on the control of the control unit 14.

The interface 15 performs an interface operation for supplying the output data of the sensor section 7 to the control section 14 and the sensor data cache 6. The sensor unit 7 includes a plurality of external sensors such as a lidar 31 and a camera 32 for recognizing the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and internal sensors such as a GPS receiver 33, a gyro sensor 34, a position sensor 35, and a 3-axis sensor 36. include. The lidar 31 discretely measures the distance to an object existing in the outside world, recognizes the surface of the object as a three-dimensional point group, and generates point group data. The camera 32 generates image data taken from the vehicle. The position sensor 35 is provided to detect the position of each external sensor, and the 3-axis sensor 36 is provided to detect the attitude of each external sensor. Note that the sensor section 7 may include arbitrary external and internal sensors other than the external and internal sensors shown in FIG. 2. For example, the sensor unit 7 may include an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, a microphone, etc. as an external sensor.

The control unit 14 includes a CPU that executes a predetermined program on one or more platforms, and controls the entire terminal device 1 . Specifically, the control unit 14 measures the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V and transmits it to the server device 2 via the communication unit 11. Further, when the user gets off the self-driving vehicle V and issues a departure instruction, the control unit 14 transmits a signal indicating this (hereinafter referred to as a "departure instruction signal") to the server device 2. . Note that the departure instruction signal is generated, for example, when the user operates a door button or a remote control after getting out of the self-driving car, and is transmitted to the server device 2.

Further, as will be described later, the control unit 14 receives a travel plan after the user gets off the self-driving car V from the server device 2, and receives the autonomous driving plan of the self-driving car V (not shown) via the communication unit 11 or the like. Supplied to the travel control section. The autonomous driving control unit executes autonomous driving of the automatic driving vehicle V according to the driving plan.

(server device)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server device 2. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the server device 2 mainly includes a communication section 21, a storage section 22, and a control section 23. Each element within the server device 2 is interconnected via a bus line 99.

Under the control of the control unit 23, the communication unit 21 receives the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V and the departure instruction signal transmitted from the terminal device 1, and transmits the travel plan determined by the server device 2 to the terminal device 2. I do things.

The storage unit 22 stores programs executed by the control unit 23 and information necessary for the control unit 23 to execute predetermined processes. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the storage unit 22 stores a map database (hereinafter, "database" will be referred to as "DB") 24, a toll DB 25, a parking lot DB 26, and a user DB 27.

The map DB 24 stores map data to be distributed to the terminal device 1. The map DB 24 stores various data used in autonomous driving of the self-driving vehicle, such as road data, facility data, and feature data around the road.

The toll DB 25 mainly stores tolls for expressways and toll roads. The control unit 23 can obtain the toll between specific interchanges by referring to the toll DB 25.

The parking lot DB 26 stores information regarding parking lots. FIG. 4 shows an example of the parking lot DB 26. The parking lot DB 26 stores the "name", "position", "fee", "vacancy status", and "availability of automatic vehicle parking" of each parking lot for each "parking lot ID." "Parking lot ID" is identification information that uniquely identifies each parking lot, and "name" is a name indicating the parking lot. "Position" is the geographical location of the parking lot, and is indicated by latitude and longitude. "Charge" is the parking fee for the parking lot, and is indicated, for example, in units of time. "Vacancy state" indicates the current vacant state of the parking lot.

“Autonomous driving vehicle entry permission” indicates whether or not the parking lot allows entry of self-driving cars. Generally, in order to receive parking for self-driving cars, various facilities are required to safely drive and park the self-driving cars in the parking lot. Parking lots that are fully equipped with such facilities and allow self-driving cars to enter are set to "allow" for self-driving cars, and parking lots that do not allow self-driving cars to enter are set to "allow". Whether or not the driver's vehicle can be parked is set to "Not allowed."

The user DB 27 stores information regarding users of the automatic driving vehicle V. FIG. 5 shows an example of the user DB 27. The user DB 27 stores "vehicle ID", "schedule", "regular parking ID", "vehicle fuel efficiency", and "priority cost" for each "user ID". "User ID" is information that uniquely identifies each user, and is assigned to each user. The "vehicle ID" is identification information of the automatic driving vehicle V used by the user, and for example, a vehicle number or the like can be used.

"Schedule" indicates the user's future schedule. Specifically, one schedule includes a "scheduled time" and a "destination." In the example of FIG. 5, the next schedule for the user whose user ID is U00001 has a scheduled time of "10:00 on June 22, 2018" and a destination of "A Station." If there are multiple future schedules, they are all memorized.

"Regular parking lot ID" is identification information indicating the parking lot that the user usually uses. Note that the ID used in the parking lot DB 26 can be used as the parking lot ID. Generally, parking lots that do not require new users to pay usage fees are registered as regular parking lots, such as the user's home parking lot, company parking lot, or parking lot for which the user has already signed a usage contract. . Note that multiple regular parking lots may be registered for one user. For example, a user may register both his home and work parking lots as regular parking lots.

"Vehicle fuel efficiency" is the fuel efficiency of the vehicle indicated by the vehicle ID. Note that the fuel efficiency value may be a general value for that type of vehicle, or may be a value specific to the user calculated based on the user's actual driving history.

"Priority cost" indicates the cost that the user prioritizes when determining the travel plan of the automatic driving vehicle V after the user gets off the vehicle, and as described later, "toll cost" and "risk cost" , "Advanced cost", and "Comprehensive cost" selected by the user are stored.

In the above configuration, the terminal device 1 is an example of the autonomous driving control device of the present invention, the control unit 14 is an example of the schedule acquisition means, the driving plan acquisition means, and the control means of the present invention, and the input unit 13 is an example of the autonomous driving control device of the present invention. This is an example of a setting means.

[How to generate a trip plan]
Next, a method of generating a travel plan will be explained. In this embodiment, when the user gets off the self-driving car V, the server device 2 takes into consideration the user's next schedule and determines a travel plan that defines the subsequent actions of the self-driving car V. .

(Basic policy)
First, the basic policy for determining a travel plan will be explained. In this embodiment, the user sets in advance, through the input unit 13, which cost is important to the user regarding the actions of the automatic driving vehicle V after the user gets off the vehicle. Specifically, the user selects one of the four costs of "fee cost,""riskcost,""advanced schedule cost," and "overall cost" as the priority cost that he or she prefers. The selected cost is registered in the user DB 27 as a priority cost, as shown in FIG.

Here, "toll cost" is a cost indicating the toll that is incurred when the self-driving car V runs, and is based on the energy consumption cost (fuel cost) used during driving, parking lot fee, toll road fee, etc. Calculated. "Risk cost" is a cost indicating the degree of risk, probability of an accident occurring, etc. when the automatic driving vehicle V travels, and is calculated according to the route the automatic driving vehicle V travels. "Advanced schedule cost" is a cost that indicates the possibility of responding when the scheduled time stipulated in the schedule is moved forward (earlier than scheduled), and is the cost that indicates the possibility of responding to the case where the scheduled time specified in the schedule is moved forward (earlier than scheduled). Calculated based on the distance between "Comprehensive cost" is the cost when all of the above "fee cost", "risk cost", and "advanced schedule cost" are considered, and it is based on the respective values of charge cost, risk cost, and cost ahead of schedule. Calculated.

When the user gets off the automatic driving vehicle V with the priority cost set by the user, the server device 2 determines a travel plan based on the user's next schedule. At this time, the server device 2 first generates the following three types of travel plans as candidates.
(A) Regular parking lot usage plan In this travel plan, the self-driving car V will move from the point where the user gets off the self-driving car V (hereinafter referred to as the "drop-off point") to the user's regular parking lot. , wait there, then head to your destination from the regular parking lot.
(B) External Parking Lot Usage Plan In this travel plan, the self-driving vehicle V moves from the drop-off point to an external parking lot around the destination, waits there, and then heads to the destination from the external parking lot. "External parking lot" shall refer to a parking lot other than the user's regular parking lot. The external parking lot is preferably a parking lot near the destination, but if there is no suitable parking lot near the destination, a parking lot that exists within a predetermined range from the route from the current location to the destination. You can also use it as
(C) Circulation Plan In this driving plan, the self-driving vehicle V heads from the drop-off point to the destination without waiting in the parking lot, and when it arrives near the destination, it circles the roads near the destination until the scheduled time.

When the three candidates for the travel plan are obtained in this way, the server device 2 calculates the above four costs, namely toll cost, risk cost, advance schedule cost, and , calculate the total cost. Then, among the three candidates, the server device 2 determines the one with the smallest value of the cost set by the user as the priority cost as the travel plan. For example, if a certain user has set toll cost as a priority cost, the server device 2 determines the candidate with the lowest toll cost among the three candidates as the travel plan. As a result, a travel plan suitable for the cost prioritized by the user can be obtained.

(Traveling plan generation process)
Next, the travel plan generation process performed in accordance with the above basic policy will be explained in detail. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the trip plan generation process. This process is executed by the server device 2. Specifically, this is realized by the control unit 23 of the server device 2 executing a program prepared in advance.

First, the server device 2 determines whether a departure instruction signal has been received from the automatic driving vehicle V (step S10). As described above, the departure instruction signal is generated by the terminal device 1 when the user gets off the automatic driving vehicle V, and is transmitted to the server device 2.

Upon receiving the departure instruction signal (step S10: Yes), the server device 2 acquires the vehicle ID and current position of the automatic driving vehicle V that is the source of the departure instruction signal, and refers to the user DB 27 to enter the vehicle ID. The user is identified based on the information, and the user's next schedule is acquired (step S11). Next, the server device 2 determines whether there is a next schedule within a predetermined period (step S12). Here, the "predetermined period" is a predetermined period, and is set to, for example, 24 hours (one day).

If there is no next schedule within the predetermined period (step S12: No), that is, if there is no next schedule or if the next schedule is after 24 hours, the server device 2 simply returns to the regular parking lot. A return trip plan is generated and transmitted to the terminal device 1 (step S13). As a result, if there is no schedule within the predetermined period, the self-driving car will return to the regular parking lot and wait. Note that if the user has registered a plurality of regular parking lots, it is desirable that the server device 2 generates a travel plan for returning to the regular parking lot that is closer to the current location of the automatic driving vehicle.

On the other hand, if there is a next schedule within the predetermined period (step S12: Yes), the server device 2 searches for a route from the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V to the destination indicated by the next schedule, and returns to the destination. The time required to arrive is calculated (step S14).

Next, the server device 2 determines whether the surplus time is longer than a first predetermined time (step S15). Here, the "surplus time" is the time remaining until the scheduled time of the next schedule when the automatic driving vehicle V moves from the current position to the destination, and is obtained by the following formula.
Surplus time = (scheduled time - current time) - required time Further, the "first predetermined time" is set to, for example, about 10 minutes.

If the surplus time is not longer than the first predetermined time (step S15: No), there is not much time left until the next schedule, so the server device 2 generates a travel plan for the next destination and sends the terminal to the terminal. The information is transmitted to the device 1 (step S16). As a result, the automatic driving vehicle V immediately starts traveling toward the next destination.

Note that in this case, if the surplus time is shorter than the first predetermined time (10 minutes) but still exists, for example, the surplus time is shorter than the second predetermined time (here, "5 minutes"). If the route is long, the server device 2 may generate a travel plan so that the self-driving vehicle travels on a route that takes a detour by that length. On the other hand, if the surplus time is shorter than the second predetermined time (5 minutes), the self-driving car will travel on the normal route (a route that does not take a detour) and arrive at the destination several minutes (5 minutes or less) earlier. All you have to do is wait.

On the other hand, if the surplus time is longer than the first predetermined time, there is some time margin until the next schedule, so the server device 2 performs cost calculation processing (step S17). FIG. 7 is a flowchart of cost calculation processing. The cost calculation process calculates the toll cost, risk cost, advance schedule cost, and total cost for each of the three travel plan candidates described above, namely, regular parking lot usage plan, external parking lot usage plan, and round trip plan. Calculate.

First, regarding the regular parking lot usage plan, the server device 2 searches for a route from the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V to the destination using the regular parking lot as a waypoint (step S31). Next, the server device 2 determines whether the automatic driving vehicle V can arrive at the destination by the scheduled time based on the obtained route (step S32). A regular parking lot is a parking lot at a user's home or company, and is not necessarily close to the destination, so if you go through a regular parking lot, you may not be able to arrive at your destination by the scheduled time. If it is not possible to arrive at the destination by the scheduled time (step S32: No), the server device 2 excludes the regular parking lot usage plan from the travel plan candidates (step S33). On the other hand, if it is possible to arrive at the destination by the scheduled time (step S32: Yes), the server device 2 calculates the toll cost, risk cost, advance schedule cost, and total cost based on the route obtained in step S31. Calculate (step S34). The process then returns to the main routine of FIG.

Next, regarding the external parking lot usage plan, the server device 2 first searches for external parking lots around the destination (step S35). At this time, the server device 2 refers to the parking lot DB 26 and selects an external parking lot whose vacant status is "vacant". Further, as shown in FIG. 4, for parking lots that specify whether or not autonomous vehicles can enter, an external parking lot is selected in consideration of whether or not autonomous vehicles can enter. Then, the server device 2 searches for a route to the destination using the obtained external parking lot as a waypoint (step S36).

Next, the server device 2 refers to the parking lot DB 26 and calculates the parking fee based on the required parking time (step S37). Next, the server device 2 calculates the fee cost, risk cost, advance schedule cost, and total cost based on the route obtained in step S36 (step S38). Note that the fee cost includes the parking fee obtained in step S37. The process then returns to the main routine of FIG.

Next, regarding the circuit plan, the server device 2 searches for a circuit route around the destination (step S39). A loop route is, for example, a route that loops between a destination and a route stop (stations, facilities, etc. in the vicinity). The loop stopover points are points around the destination set according to predetermined standards. Examples of the predetermined criteria include a point within a predetermined distance from the destination, a point adjacent to a road such as a highway where an autonomous vehicle can safely travel, and the like. By referring to traffic congestion information, etc., a point where the road between the destination and the destination is not congested may be set as a route point for the circuit. As an example, if the round trip point is a facility X near the destination, the round route is a route from the destination via the facility X and back to the destination. The self-driving vehicle V travels the circular route once or multiple times to adjust the arrival time to the destination. In addition, in the circuit plan, if the destination is a place where parking is possible, the vehicle may park and adjust the time instead of going around the circuit route.

Next, the server device 2 calculates the number of rounds of the obtained round route (step S40). Specifically, the server device 2 calculates how many times it is necessary to travel the circuit route based on the surplus time and the time required for traveling the circuit route once. Next, the server device 2 calculates the fee cost, risk cost, advance schedule cost, and total cost based on the route obtained in step S39 (step S41). The process then returns to the main routine of FIG.

Returning to FIG. 6, the server device 2 acquires the priority cost selected by the user from the user DB 27, and determines one travel plan based on the priority cost (step S18). That is, the server device 2 determines, as the travel plan, one candidate with the minimum priority cost for the user among the plurality of travel plan candidates obtained in the cost calculation process. Then, the server device 2 transmits the determined travel plan to the terminal device 1 (step S19). In this way, the automatic driving vehicle V will travel to the destination according to the travel plan that minimizes the priority cost selected by the user.

(Example of driving plan)
Next, an example of a travel plan generated by the travel plan generation process will be explained. FIGS. 8A to 8C show examples of travel plans. In addition, these travel plans are based on a scenario in which the user with the user ID "U00001" shown in Figure 5 gets off the self-driving car V at Station A at 10:00 on June 22, 2018, as shown in the schedule, and This schedule is generated when the next schedule is to go to station B by 15:00 on the same day.

FIG. 8(A) shows an example of a regular parking lot usage plan. In the regular parking lot usage plan, the self-driving car V waits in the user's regular parking lot and then heads to the destination. In the example of FIG. 8(A), the automatic driving vehicle V departs from A station at 10:00, arrives at the regular parking lot at 10:10, and waits in the regular parking lot. After that, the self-driving car V leaves the regular parking lot at 13:00 and arrives at Station B at 15:00.

FIG. 8(B) shows an example of an external parking lot usage plan. In the external parking lot usage plan, the self-driving car V waits in the external parking lot and then heads to the destination. In the example of FIG. 8(B), the automatic driving vehicle V departs from A station at 10:00, arrives at an external parking lot near the destination at 11:50, and waits at the external parking lot. After that, the self-driving car V leaves the regular parking lot at 14:55 and arrives at Station B at 15:00.

FIG. 8(C) shows an example of a circulation plan. In the circuit plan, the self-driving vehicle V immediately heads to the destination from its current location, and after arriving at the destination, circles around the route near the destination. In the example of FIG. 8(C), automatic driving vehicle V departs from station A at 10:00 and arrives at station B, which is the destination, at 13:40. Thereafter, the self-driving vehicle V travels around the route near the destination and arrives at Station B at 15:00.

In addition, although FIG. 8 illustrates one regular parking lot usage plan, one external parking lot usage plan, and one lap plan each, if there are multiple routes for the autonomous vehicle V to travel, multiple travel plans may be used. A plan may also be generated. For example, if there are multiple routes from the current location to the regular parking lot or from the regular parking lot to the destination, multiple regular parking lot usage plans are generated. If there are multiple routes from the current location to the external parking lot or from the external parking lot to the destination, multiple external parking lot usage plans are generated. Further, if there are multiple routes from the current position to the destination, or if there are multiple routes around the destination, multiple route plans are generated.

(Example of cost calculation)
Next, an example of calculating costs for each travel plan will be explained. FIG. 9 is an example of cost calculation results for multiple travel plans. In this example, it is assumed that two regular parking lot usage plans, three external parking lot usage plans, and two lap plans are generated by the travel plan generation process.

The toll cost is indicated by the amount of money required when the automatic driving vehicle V moves according to the travel plan, and includes the fuel cost, toll road fee, parking lot fee, etc. necessary for the travel of the automatic driving vehicle V. Specifically, in the regular parking lot usage plan, since the regular parking lot is free to use, the toll cost is the sum of the fuel cost and the toll road fee when using a toll road. In the external parking lot usage plan, the toll cost is the sum of the fuel cost, the toll road fee when using a toll road, and the parking fee for the external parking lot. In the round trip plan, there is no parking fee, so the toll cost is the sum of the fuel cost and the toll road fee if you use a toll road. The smaller the required fee, the smaller the value of the fee cost.

As a specific calculation method, the server device 2 calculates the fuel cost based on the distance traveled by the automatic driving vehicle V according to the travel plan, the fuel efficiency of the vehicle stored in the user DB 27, and the price of fuel. do. The fuel price may be stored in the server device 2 as a national average or an average price for each region. Further, the server device 2 may refer to the toll DB 25 to obtain the toll road fee, and refer to the parking lot DB 26 to obtain the parking fee.

Risk cost is an index that indicates the risk of accidents when the self-driving car V is traveling, and includes the total driving time of the self-driving car V, the total distance traveled, the number of accident-prone areas passed, and roads with high speed limits (hereinafter referred to as (referred to as "high speed limit roads") and the number of intersections passed. Specifically, the number of risk points per hour of driving time, per kilometer of driving distance, per accident-prone spot, per kilometer of high speed limit road, and per intersection is determined in advance, and the number of risk points is determined in advance for each driving plan. All you have to do is calculate. The fewer risks such as accidents, the smaller the risk cost value. Note that a high speed limit road is, for example, a road with a speed limit of 80 km or more. Since the speed limits of expressways, toll roads, etc. are stored in the map DB 24, the server device 2 only has to calculate the travel time when traveling on those roads at the speed limit.

The advance schedule cost is an index that indicates whether the automatic driving car V can arrive quickly when the scheduled time in the next schedule is earlier and the user suddenly summons the automatic driving car V. It is indicated by the average distance from the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V. Specifically, the server device 2 estimates the scheduled position of the automatic driving vehicle V every predetermined time (for example, 20 minutes) according to the travel plan, and calculates the distance between the scheduled position and the destination. Then, the average distance is calculated by averaging these distances. The shorter the average distance is, the closer the automatic driving vehicle V will be to the next destination, and the faster it will be possible to respond to the advance of the schedule, so the value of the cost of bringing the schedule ahead of schedule will be smaller.

The total cost is the total cost of fee cost, risk cost, and cost of moving ahead of schedule. The total cost is selected when the user does not want to give particular priority to any one of these three costs, but rather decides on a travel plan by comprehensively evaluating these three costs. In order to calculate the total cost, a conversion formula or conversion rule for converting the values of fee cost, risk cost, and scheduled advance cost into total points is determined in advance. Then, the server device 2 converts each of the fee cost, risk cost, and scheduled advance cost into total points according to the conversion formula or conversion rule, and calculates the total cost by summing them.

Note that instead of using the total points, the total cost may be calculated by converting the remaining two into any one of the fee cost, risk cost, and scheduled advance cost. For example, by preparing a conversion formula in advance that converts the value of risk cost (risk points) and the value of ahead of schedule cost (average distance) into the value of toll cost (i.e., amount), you can convert risk points and average distance into amounts. It is also possible to convert it and show the total cost in monetary terms.

Further, in the above example, the total cost is calculated based on the fee cost, the risk cost, and the schedule advance cost, but the total cost may be calculated based on only two of these three. For example, the total cost may be calculated based on the fee cost and the risk cost.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, when the cost is calculated for each travel plan, the server device 2 selects one travel plan according to the priority cost selected by the user. For example, if the user selects the toll cost as the priority cost, the server device 2 will select the regular parking lot usage plan 1 with the lowest toll cost. Furthermore, if the user has selected risk cost as the priority cost, the server device 2 will select the external parking lot usage plan 3 with the lowest risk cost. Note that if there are multiple travel plans with the lowest priority cost value, the server device 2 may select a travel plan with a lower cost or overall cost.

[Modified example]
Modifications of the above embodiment will be described below. Note that the following modifications can be applied to the above embodiments in appropriate combinations.
(Modification 1)
In the above embodiment, when the user gets off the self-driving car V, a travel plan is generated from that point to the destination in the next schedule. Regardless, a travel plan between any two schedules may be generated. For example, if a first schedule and a subsequent second schedule are determined as the next day's schedule, the destination and scheduled time in the first schedule and the destination and scheduled time in the second schedule are different. A travel plan may be generated between the two. This allows the user to check the travel plan in advance based on the future schedule.

(Modification 2)
In the above embodiment, the server device 2 generates the travel plan, but instead, the terminal device 1 installed in the automatic driving vehicle V may generate the travel plan. In this case, the toll DB and parking lot DB are stored in the storage unit 12 of the terminal device 1, and the control unit 14 of the terminal device 1 executes the above-described travel plan generation process to determine the travel plan. good. In this case, since real-time performance is required for the parking lot DB, an external server device that collects information regarding the availability of parking lots can collect information about the area around the current location of the self-driving car V and the route to the destination. It is desirable to update the contents of the parking lot DB stored in the terminal device 1 by periodically downloading information regarding the availability status of the parking lot.

(Modification 3)
As described above, one driving plan is determined according to the priority cost selected by the user, and after the automatic driving car V starts taking actions according to the driving plan, the traffic condition of the road on which the vehicle is scheduled to be traveled, the availability of the parking lot where it is planned to park, etc. When the state or the like changes, it is desirable that the server device 2 re-executes the travel plan generation process based on the current position of the automatic driving vehicle V at that time and the next schedule. As a result, even if the surrounding environment changes, the automatic driving vehicle V can be driven with an optimal travel plan. For example, after the self-driving car V starts traveling according to the external parking lot usage plan, if the planned external parking lot becomes full and cannot be used, by re-executing the driving plan generation process, An external parking lot usage plan that uses another external parking lot may be selected, or a detour plan may be selected instead of the external parking lot usage plan.

(Modification 4)
The above example shows an example of using an external parking lot in the external parking lot usage plan, but the external parking lot is not limited to a paid parking lot, for example, a free parking lot attached to a park or public institution, etc. It may be. Furthermore, if there is an area or space other than a so-called parking lot where a vehicle can be parked without violating traffic laws, it may be used. From this point of view, the locations where these vehicles can be parked are collectively referred to as "parking locations."

(Modification 5)
In the above embodiment, a travel plan for the automatic driving vehicle V is generated, but the present invention can also be applied to a normal vehicle. In that case, a travel route corresponding to the travel plan determined by the server device 2 may be set in a car navigation device or the like.

1 Terminal device 2 Server device 4, 24 Map DB
14, 23 Control unit 25 Toll fee DB
26 Parking lot DB
27 User DB

Claims (1)

An autonomous driving control device that is installed in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving and controls autonomous driving of the vehicle,
a parking lot information acquisition unit that acquires parking lot information regarding each of the plurality of parking lots, including information regarding whether or not an autonomous vehicle can enter the parking lot, and vacancy information;
schedule acquisition means for acquiring a schedule indicating a destination at which the vehicle should arrive and a scheduled time at which it should arrive at the destination;
Traveling to obtain a plurality of travel plans for departing from a first destination indicated by a first schedule and arriving at a second destination indicated by a second schedule based on a plurality of schedules obtained by the schedule obtaining means. A plan acquisition means;
A control means for controlling autonomous driving of the vehicle according to one travel plan selected based on a predetermined criterion from among the travel plans acquired by the travel plan acquisition means;
Equipped with
The travel plan acquisition means exists within a predetermined range from a route from the first destination to the second destination among available parking lots that are determined to be available for the vehicle based on the parking lot information. An autonomous driving control device characterized in that the autonomous driving control device acquires the plurality of travel plans including a driving plan for arriving at the second destination after parking the vehicle in an available parking lot.

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