JP6398925B2 - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention travels in the vicinity of the host vehicle and travels immediately before the host vehicle from other vehicles that transmit information to the host vehicle by wireless communication (inter-vehicle communication). The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus that specifies a communication follow-up target vehicle to be followed and travels using the transmitted information, and causes the vehicle to follow the communication follow-up target vehicle.

  One conventionally known vehicle control device of this type (hereinafter referred to as “conventional device”) is the position of the other vehicle included in the GPS information of the other vehicle acquired from the other vehicle by inter-vehicle communication. And the vehicle position where the relative position of the front vehicle acquired by the front sensor of the host vehicle and the position of the front vehicle estimated from the position of the host vehicle included in the GPS information of the host vehicle are substantially matched The vehicle is selected as a candidate vehicle, and a communication follow-up target vehicle is specified from the candidate vehicles (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-221653 A

  However, the accuracy of the GPS information may temporarily decrease, for example, when the vehicle is traveling in a tunnel, between high-rise buildings, mountainous areas, or the like. At this time, if a candidate vehicle for the communication follow-up target vehicle is selected based only on the GPS information, the true communication follow-up target vehicle may be excluded from the candidate vehicles.

  The present invention has been made to address the above-described problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can select a candidate vehicle for communication follow-up with higher accuracy while using GPS information.

The vehicle control device of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as “the device of the present invention”)
GPS means (70) for acquiring GPS information including the vehicle position which is the position of the vehicle;
Own vehicle speed detecting means (42, 40) for detecting the own vehicle speed which is the speed of the own vehicle;
Relative information acquisition means (61, 60) for acquiring a relative speed of the other vehicle traveling immediately before the own vehicle with respect to the own vehicle;
From each of one or more other vehicles existing around the own vehicle, the other vehicle speed that is the respective speed of the other vehicle, the other vehicle position that is the respective position of the other vehicle, and the other vehicle by wireless communication. Wireless means (81, 80) for acquiring other-vehicle communication information including acceleration-related values related to the respective accelerations;
Using the own vehicle position, the own vehicle speed, the relative speed, and the other vehicle communication information , select candidate vehicles up to the upper limit number from the one or more other vehicles, and select the candidate vehicles from the selected candidate vehicles. A specifying means (20, the routine of FIG. 7 and the routine of FIG. 8 ) for repeating the process of specifying the communication follow-up target vehicle that the vehicle should follow,
Travel control means for controlling the acceleration of the host vehicle based on the acceleration-related value acquired by the wireless communication from the specified communication tracking target vehicle to cause the host vehicle to follow the communication tracking target vehicle ( 20, the routine of FIG.
Is provided.

Furthermore, the specifying means includes
When it is determined whether the other vehicle position included in the other vehicle communication information is within a specific range determined based on the host vehicle position, and when it is determined that the other vehicle position is within the specific range Position-based candidate selection means (20, step 230 , step 240, and step 720 ) for selecting another vehicle that has transmitted the other vehicle communication information as a first-stage candidate vehicle of the communication follow-up target vehicle;
The own vehicle sensor-based preceding vehicle speed, which is the speed of the other vehicle traveling immediately before the own vehicle, estimated based on the own vehicle speed and the relative speed, and the other vehicle speed included in the other vehicle communication information. A speed similarity index value representing a degree of similarity between a certain communication vehicle speed is calculated, and the own vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed and the communication vehicle speed are similar for the speed similarity index value , Speed-based candidate selection means (20, step 260 and step 720 ) for selecting the other vehicle that has transmitted the other vehicle communication information as a first-stage candidate vehicle of the communication follow-up target vehicle;
including.

Furthermore, the specifying means includes
Selecting the previously selected candidate vehicle as the current candidate vehicle (step 810);
When the number of the selected current candidate cars is less than the upper limit number, the first stage candidate cars selected by the position-based candidate selection means and the first stage selected by the speed-based candidate selection means The current candidate vehicle is selected from the candidate vehicles until the upper limit number is reached (step 820 “Yes”, step 840).

  The position-based candidate selection means uses the position information included in the GPS information of the own vehicle and the other vehicle, and determines that the other vehicle position is within a specific range based on the own vehicle position. The other vehicle that has transmitted the other vehicle communication information including is selected as a “candidate vehicle for communication follow-up target”. However, as described above, the accuracy of GPS information may decrease.

  Therefore, the speed-based candidate selection means is similar based on the similarity index value between the own vehicle sensor-based preceding vehicle speed acquired without using GPS information and the communication vehicle speed acquired without using GPS information. If it can be determined that the vehicle is communicating, the other vehicle that has transmitted the other vehicle communication information including the communication vehicle speed (other vehicle speed) is also selected as the “candidate vehicle for communication follow-up”.

  The apparatus according to the present invention is configured to identify the communication follow-up target vehicle from among the candidate vehicle selected by the position-based candidate selection unit and the candidate vehicle selected by the speed-based candidate selection unit.

  Therefore, even if the accuracy of the GPS information is lowered, the possibility of excluding the true communication follow-up target vehicle from the candidate vehicles can be reduced. Therefore, the device of the present invention can specify the communication follow-up target vehicle with higher accuracy.

  In the above description, in order to help understanding of the present invention, names and / or symbols used in the embodiment are attached to the configuration of the invention corresponding to the embodiment described later in parentheses. However, each component of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment defined by the reference numerals. Other objects, other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the description of the embodiments of the present invention described with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle control device (communication follow-up target vehicle identification device) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the CPU of the vehicle control ECU shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the host vehicle and other vehicles. FIG. 4 is a graph showing an example of the own vehicle traveling direction distance and the speed similarity index value over time. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the CPU of the vehicle control ECU shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the CPU of the vehicle control ECU shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the CPU (second CPU) of the vehicle control ECU included in the vehicle control apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the second CPU. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the contents of the state transition determination performed by the second CPU. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating various times measured by the second CPU. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a selection situation of candidate cars performed by the second CPU.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle control device according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, main terms used in the present specification, drawings, and claims will be described.

・ Own vehicle: Own vehicle (vehicle of interest)
・ Other vehicles: Vehicles other than the own vehicle ・ Previous vehicles: Other vehicles and other vehicles traveling immediately before the own vehicle captured by a sensor (own vehicle radar sensor, that is, relative information acquisition means) included in the own vehicle Communication information: Information about the other vehicle that the vehicle acquires from another vehicle via wireless communication (inter-vehicle communication) / Communication vehicle: Other vehicle that transmits other vehicle communication information Based on other vehicle communication information acquired via wireless communication, the acceleration of the host vehicle is controlled, so that the host vehicle that the host vehicle should follow

  As will be described later, the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a device that identifies a communication follow-up target vehicle from one or more other vehicles (that is, a communication follow-up target vehicle identification device). Can do. Further, the other vehicle will be described as including a vehicle control device similar to the “vehicle control device mounted on the host vehicle”.

<First Embodiment>
(Constitution)
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control device VC according to the first embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, may be referred to as “first device”) ”is mounted on the host vehicle 10.

  The first device VC includes a vehicle control ECU 20, an engine control ECU 30, a brake control ECU 40, a steering control ECU 50, a sensor ECU 60, a GPS device 70, and a wireless control ECU 80. These ECUs are capable of exchanging data (communicable) via a communication / sensor system CAN (Controller Area Network) 101. The ECU is an abbreviation for an electric control unit and is an electronic control circuit having a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an interface, and the like as main components. The CPU implements various functions to be described later by executing instructions stored in a memory (ROM).

  The vehicle control ECU 20 is connected to a “plurality of vehicle control sensors 21” and a CACC switch 22 other than the sensors described later, and receives signals from these sensors 21 and the switch 22.

  The CACC switch 22 is an ON-OFF switch that is operated by a passenger of the host vehicle 10. The CACC switch 22 outputs a CACC request signal when its position is set to the ON position. Note that CACC means Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control.

  The engine control ECU 30 is connected to an accelerator operation amount sensor 31 and a plurality of other engine control sensors (not shown), and receives detection signals from these sensors.

  The accelerator operation amount sensor 31 detects an operation amount (hereinafter referred to as “accelerator operation amount”) AP of an accelerator pedal 91 as an accelerator operation element, and outputs a signal representing the accelerator operation amount AP.

  The engine control ECU 30 is connected to an engine actuator 32 such as a throttle valve actuator and a fuel injection valve. The engine control ECU 30 drives the engine actuator 32 to change the torque generated by an engine (not shown) and adjust the acceleration of the host vehicle 10.

  The brake control ECU 40 is connected to a brake operation amount sensor 41, a vehicle speed sensor 42, and a plurality of other brake control sensors (not shown), and receives detection signals from these sensors.

The brake operation amount sensor 41 detects an operation amount (hereinafter referred to as “brake operation amount”) BP of a brake pedal 93 as a brake operation element, and outputs a signal representing the brake operation amount BP.
The vehicle speed sensor 42 detects the speed of the host vehicle (own vehicle speed) Vj and outputs a signal representing the host vehicle speed Vj.

  The brake control ECU 40 is connected to a brake actuator 43 including a hydraulic control device. The brake actuator 43 is arranged in a hydraulic circuit (both not shown) between a master cylinder that pressurizes hydraulic oil by the depression force of the brake pedal 93 and a friction brake device including a well-known wheel cylinder provided on each wheel. Established. The brake actuator 43 adjusts the hydraulic pressure supplied to the wheel cylinder. The brake control ECU 40 generates a braking force on each wheel by driving the brake actuator 43 to adjust the acceleration (negative acceleration, that is, deceleration) of the vehicle 10.

  The steering control ECU 50 is connected to a steering angle sensor 51 that detects the steering angle α of the steering wheel of the host vehicle 10 and a plurality of other steering control sensors (not shown), and receives detection signals from these sensors. It has become.

  The steering control ECU 50 is connected to a steering actuator 52 which is a motor of an electric power steering device (not shown), and drives the steering actuator 52.

  The sensor ECU 60 is connected to the own vehicle radar sensor 61. The own vehicle radar sensor 61 is a well-known millimeter wave radar sensor. The own vehicle radar sensor 61 transmits a millimeter wave in front of the own vehicle 10 in accordance with an instruction from the sensor ECU 60. The millimeter wave is reflected by the preceding vehicle 11. The own vehicle radar sensor 61 receives this reflected wave.

  The sensor ECU 60 is based on the phase difference between the millimeter wave transmitted from the vehicle radar sensor 61 and the received reflected wave, the attenuation level of the reflected wave, the time from when the millimeter wave is transmitted until the reflected wave is received, and the like. The relative speed Vr, the inter-vehicle distance Dr, the relative azimuth θp, and the like are acquired every predetermined time. The sensor ECU 60 stores (stores) the relative speed Vr, the inter-vehicle distance Dr, the relative azimuth θp, and the like in the RAM in time series. The “information (data) including the relative speed Vr, the inter-vehicle distance Dr, the relative orientation θp, etc.” acquired by the own vehicle radar sensor 61 and the sensor ECU 60 is also referred to as “own vehicle sensor information”.

The relative speed Vr is a difference (= SPDs−SPDj) between the speed SPDj of the host vehicle 10 and the speed SPDs of the preceding vehicle 11.
The inter-vehicle distance Dr is a distance between the host vehicle 10 and the preceding vehicle 11.
The relative azimuth θp is the azimuth (angle) of the preceding vehicle 11 with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10 with respect to the position of the host vehicle 10.

  The GPS device 70 is well-known, and acquires the position where the vehicle 10 is traveling (the vehicle position) based on the GPS signal transmitted from the GPS satellite every time a predetermined time elapses. The data included in the included GPS information is stored in the RAM in time series. The position of the host vehicle 10 is specified by longitude X and latitude Y.

  The wireless control ECU 80 is connected to a wireless antenna 81 for performing wireless communication (inter-vehicle communication) with other vehicles. The wireless control ECU 80 identifies information on other vehicles (that is, other vehicle communication information) transmitted from other vehicles (the other vehicles 11 to 13 in FIG. 1), and identifies other vehicles that have transmitted the other vehicle communication information. Received every time a predetermined time elapses with the ID (other vehicle ID). The radio control ECU 80 stores information received by inter-vehicle communication in the RAM for each other vehicle ID and in time series.

The other vehicle communication information includes the following information indicating the driving state of the other vehicle (that is, the communication vehicle).
(A) The vehicle speed (other vehicle speed) Vc of the communication vehicle acquired by the brake control ECU 40 of the communication vehicle.
(B) The position Pc of the communication vehicle acquired by the GPS device 70 of the communication vehicle.

(C) The vehicle control ECU 20 of the communication vehicle when the vehicle control device of the communication vehicle is not executing any of “coordinated follow-up running control (CACC) and inter-vehicle distance control (ACC: Adaptive Cruise Control)” described later. Is a required acceleration Gc that is an estimated acceleration of the communication vehicle calculated based on the “accelerator operation amount AP and brake operation amount BP” of the communication vehicle.
(D) When the vehicle control device of a communication vehicle is executing any one of the “coordinated follow-up running control and the inter-vehicle distance control”, the calculation is performed to perform the control (request to the communication vehicle) Required acceleration Gc which is acceleration.
(E) The actual acceleration Ga (= dVc / dt) of the communication vehicle acquired by time-differentiating the vehicle speed (other vehicle speed) Vc of the communication vehicle by the vehicle control ECU 20 of the communication vehicle.

  The radio control ECU 80 transmits (transmits) the other vehicle communication information about the host vehicle 10 to the outside for a subsequent vehicle (a vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle 10) every time a predetermined time elapses. It is like that.

(Operation)
The CPU of the vehicle control ECU 20 (hereinafter referred to as “CPU” indicates the CPU of the vehicle control ECU 20 unless otherwise specified) when the CACC switch 22 is set to the ON position. Each time the routine is executed, the routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is executed. When the CACC switch 22 is set to the OFF position, the engine control ECU 30 controls the engine actuator 32 based on the accelerator operation amount AP, the engine rotation speed, and the like, and the brake control ECU 40 controls the brake operation amount BP and the self-operation amount. The brake actuator 43 is controlled based on the vehicle speed Vj (or the wheel speed of each wheel) or the like.

  When the CACC switch 22 is set to the ON position, when the predetermined timing comes, the CPU starts processing from step 200 in FIG. 2 and proceeds to step 210 to update the latest information on other vehicle communication information of the communication vehicle (n). Is received from the radio control ECU 80. The communication vehicle (n) means any other vehicle (n) that performs the vehicle-to-vehicle communication when the host vehicle 10 receives the other-vehicle communication information transmitted by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

  Next, the CPU proceeds to step 220 to perform coordinate conversion based on the processing described below. As described above, the position of the vehicle 10 acquired by the GPS device 70 from the GPS satellite is specified by the longitude X and the latitude Y shown in FIG. The position of the communication vehicle (n) is also specified by the longitude X and the latitude Y.

  (Process 1) The CPU sets the “traveling direction of the host vehicle 10” indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 3 to the latest position (= (Xjnew, Yjnew)) of the host vehicle 10 and And the position (= Xjold, Yjold). The CPU sets the determined traveling direction of the host vehicle 10 as a new coordinate axis x, and sets a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10 (that is, the x-axis direction) as a new coordinate axis y. The x-axis is an axis having a value “+” in the forward direction of the host vehicle 10 and an axis having a value “−” in the backward direction of the host vehicle 10. The y-axis is an axis having a value of “+” in the left direction when the forward direction of the host vehicle 10 is used as a reference, and a value of “−” in the right direction when using the forward direction of the host vehicle 10 as a reference. Is the axis.

(Process 2) The CPU sets the following values for the communication vehicle (n) to the latest position of the vehicle 10 (= (Xjnew, Yjnew)) and the latest value of the communication vehicle (n) acquired in step 210. The position Pc (n) is calculated from (= (Xcnew, Ycnew)).
The distance Dx between the communication vehicle (n) and the host vehicle 10 in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10 (x-axis direction). This distance Dx is also simply referred to as “own vehicle traveling direction distance Dx”.
A distance Dy between the communication vehicle (n) and the host vehicle 10 in a direction (y-axis direction) orthogonal to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 10. This distance Dy is also simply referred to as “own vehicle travel orthogonal direction distance Dy”.
The angle (azimuth) θp of the traveling direction of the other vehicle with respect to the traveling direction of the communication vehicle (n). This direction θp is also simply referred to as “relative direction θp”. The azimuth θp has a value “+” in the clockwise direction when the forward direction of the host vehicle 10 is used as a reference, and a value “−” in the counterclockwise direction when the forward direction of the host vehicle 10 is used as a reference. Is defined to be

  Next, the CPU proceeds to step 230 to determine whether or not the communication vehicle (n) is located in the vicinity of the own vehicle 10, that is, the communication vehicle (n) is “a specific range determined based on the position of the own vehicle 10”. It is determined whether it is located within. This specific range is a rectangular range indicated by a one-dot chain line C1 in FIG. More specifically, the CPU determines in step 230 whether or not both condition 1 and condition 2 described below are satisfied.

(Condition 1) The own vehicle traveling direction distance Dx of the communication vehicle (n) is not less than the first threshold (−Dx1th) which is a negative value and not more than the second threshold Dx2th which is a positive value. In this case, the value Dx1th is a positive value and smaller than the positive value Dx2th.
(Condition 2) The own vehicle travel orthogonal direction distance Dy of the communication vehicle (n) is not less than the third threshold value (−Dy3th) which is a negative value and not more than the fourth threshold value Dy4th which is a positive value. In this case, the value Dy3th is a positive value and is equal to the positive value Dy4th, but they may be different.

  If at least one of the condition 1 and the condition 2 is not satisfied, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 230 to proceed to step 260 described later. On the other hand, when both the above condition 1 and the above condition 2 are satisfied, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 230 to proceed to step 240 where the traveling direction of the communication vehicle (n) is the own vehicle. It is determined whether or not the traveling direction is close to 10. More specifically, the CPU determines in step 240 whether condition 3 described below is satisfied.

  (Condition 3) The relative azimuth θp of the communication vehicle (n) is not less than the first azimuth threshold (−θ1th) which is a negative value and not more than the second azimuth threshold θ2th which is a positive value. In this case, the value θ1th is a positive value (for example, 60 °), and is equal to the positive value θ2th. However, they may be different.

  If the condition 3 is not satisfied, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 240 to proceed to step 260 described below. On the other hand, if the condition 3 is satisfied, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 240 to proceed to step 250 where the communication vehicle (n) in question is “candidate for communication follow-up target vehicle”. (Hereinafter, simply referred to as “candidate vehicle”), the fact is stored in the RAM. In other words, the CPU recognizes the ID of the communication vehicle (n) as the candidate vehicle ID and stores the ID in the RAM. Since the candidate vehicle in this case is a candidate vehicle selected based on the position, it is also referred to as a “position-based candidate vehicle”.

  On the other hand, when the CPU proceeds to step 260, the CPU determines whether or not the possibility that the communication vehicle (n) is a communication follow-up target vehicle is medium or higher in step 260. Determination is made based on “comparison result (comparison result between speed similarity index value and threshold)”. More specifically, the CPU determines in step 260 whether or not at least one of the following conditions 4 and 5 is satisfied. The speed similarity index values (first speed similarity index value e1 and second speed similarity index value e2) used in step 260 are calculated using the following parameters.

-Own vehicle sensor-based preceding vehicle speed Vfr: "Running immediately before own vehicle 10" estimated based on the sum of own vehicle speed Vj acquired by vehicle speed sensor 42 and relative speed Vr acquired by own vehicle radar sensor 61 Speed of other vehicle in operation (Vfr = Vj + Vr).
Communication vehicle speed Vc: “vehicle speed of communication vehicle (n) detected by vehicle speed sensor of communication vehicle (n)” transmitted from communication vehicle (n) to host vehicle 10 by inter-vehicle communication.

第１速度類似度指標値ｅ１は、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒと通信車速度Ｖｃとの平均２乗誤差である。よって、第１速度類似度指標値ｅ１は、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒと通信車速度Ｖｃとが、過去の時点（例えば、車車間通信の開始時点）から現時点までの期間において近しい値を取り続けているほど小さくなる。即ち、第１速度類似度指標値ｅ１の平均値ａｖｅ（ｅ１）は、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒと通信車速度Ｖｃとが類似している程度を表す指標値（誤差統計量の一つ）である。 (Condition 4) The nearest n average values ave (e1) of the first speed similarity index value e1 calculated separately according to the following equation (1) are smaller than the first similarity threshold e1th.

The first speed similarity index value e1 is an average square error between the vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the communication vehicle speed Vc. Therefore, the first speed similarity index value e1 is a value in which the own vehicle sensor-based preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the communication vehicle speed Vc are close in the period from the past time point (for example, the start time of inter-vehicle communication) to the current time point. The smaller it gets, the smaller it gets. That is, the average value ave (e1) of the first speed similarity index value e1 is an index value (one of error statistics) indicating the degree of similarity between the vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the communication vehicle speed Vc. ).

上記（２）式においてｄＶｃは、通信車速度Ｖｃの最新値Ｖｃ（ｔ）と所定時間（Δｔ）前の通信車速度Ｖｃ（ｔ−Δｔ）との差（＝Ｖｃ（ｔ）−Ｖｃ（ｔ−Δｔ））である。
上記（２）式においてｄＶｆｒは、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒの最新値Ｖｆｒ（ｔ）と所定時間（Δｔ）前の自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒ（ｔ−Δｔ）との差（＝Ｖｆｒ（ｔ）−Ｖｆｒ（ｔ−Δｔ））である。
第２速度類似度指標値ｅ２は、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒの変化量と通信車速度Ｖｃの変化量との差の絶対値の正規化値であると言える。よって、第２速度類似度指標値ｅ２の直近ｎ個の平均値ａｖｅ（ｅ２）は、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒと通信車速度Ｖｃとが同じような変化をしている場合に小さくなる。即ち、第２速度類似度指標値ｅ２の直近ｎ個の平均値ａｖｅ（ｅ２）は、自車センサベース先行車速度Ｖｆｒと通信車速度Ｖｃとが類似している程度を表す指標値（誤差統計量の一つ）である。 (Condition 5) The nearest n average values ave (e2) of the second speed similarity index value e2 calculated separately according to the following equation (2) are smaller than the second similarity threshold e2th.

In the above equation (2), dVc is the difference between the latest value Vc (t) of the communication vehicle speed Vc and the communication vehicle speed Vc (t−Δt) before a predetermined time (Δt) (= Vc (t) −Vc (t −Δt)).
In the above equation (2), dVfr is the difference between the latest value Vfr (t) of the own vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the own vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr (t−Δt) before a predetermined time (Δt) (= Vfr (t) −Vfr (t−Δt)).
It can be said that the second speed similarity index value e2 is a normalized value of the absolute value of the difference between the change amount of the own vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the change amount of the communication vehicle speed Vc. Therefore, the nearest n average values ave (e2) of the second speed similarity index value e2 become smaller when the own vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the communication vehicle speed Vc change in the same way. . That is, the nearest n average values ave (e2) of the second speed similarity index value e2 are index values (error statistics) indicating the degree of similarity between the vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the communication vehicle speed Vc. One of the quantity).

  If at least one of the condition 4 and the condition 5 is satisfied, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 260 to proceed to step 250 where the communication vehicle (n) in question is “candidate vehicle”. Is stored in the RAM. Since the candidate vehicle in this case is a candidate vehicle selected based on the vehicle speed, it is also referred to as a “speed-based candidate vehicle”.

  On the other hand, if neither the condition 4 nor the condition 5 is satisfied, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 260 to proceed to step 270.

  Note that the CPU may proceed to step 250 when both of the condition 4 and the condition 5 are satisfied, and may proceed to step 270 when one of the condition 4 and the condition 5 is not satisfied.

  When the CPU proceeds to step 270, the CPU determines whether or not the communication vehicle (n) is another vehicle that has already been specified as a communication follow-up target vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “currently specified vehicle”). . If the communication vehicle (n) is currently a specific vehicle, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 270 to proceed to step 250 to indicate that the communication vehicle (n) is a “candidate vehicle” in the RAM. (In other words, the communication vehicle (n) that is currently the specific vehicle is selected as a candidate vehicle.)

  On the other hand, if the communication vehicle (n) is not currently a specific vehicle, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 270 to proceed to step 280 to exclude the communication vehicle (n) from the “candidate vehicle”. In this case, if the communication vehicle (n) has already been registered in the RAM as a candidate vehicle, the CPU deletes the ID from the RAM. Thereafter, the CPU proceeds to step 295 to end the present routine tentatively.

  The CPU executes processing according to the routine of FIG. 2 for all communication vehicles that have transmitted other vehicle communication information by wireless communication (inter-vehicle communication). As a result, for example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the other vehicle T3 is excluded from the candidate vehicle according to the condition 1 (see step 230), and the other vehicle T4 is excluded from the candidate vehicle according to the condition 2 (see step 230). The other vehicle T5 is excluded from the candidate vehicles according to the condition 3 (see step 240). As a result, the vehicle control ECU 20 sets “various values used when specifying the communication follow-up target vehicle (for example, a candidate vehicle (n) described later is a communication follow-up target vehicle” for all communication vehicles (n). Compared with the case of “calculation of a certain probability”, the calculation load of the vehicle control ECU 20 is reduced.

  However, even in these other vehicles (T3 to T5), the communication vehicle (n) is left as a candidate vehicle if both of the conditions 4 and 5 (or at least one) are satisfied (see step 260). . This corresponds to a case where the reliability of the GPS information is lowered, for example, when the communication vehicle (n) enters a tunnel. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the communication vehicle (n) enters the tunnel near the time t1, the communication vehicle (n) cannot accurately acquire the position of the communication vehicle (n) from the GPS satellite. Cases arise. Therefore, for example, at time t2, the vehicle traveling direction distance Dx does not satisfy the condition 1 that “the first threshold value (−Dx1th) or more and the second threshold value Dx2th or less”. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 4, after time t1 before time t2, the speed similarity index value calculated without using a signal from the GPS satellite is smaller than the similarity threshold (ie, E1 <e1th and e2 <e2th). Therefore, the communication vehicle (n) should not be excluded from the candidate vehicles. Therefore, if the process of step 260 is not performed, as shown in FIG. 4C, the communication vehicle (n) is excluded from the candidate vehicles after time t2, but by performing the process of step 260, As shown in FIG. 4D, the communication vehicle (n) continues to be recognized as a candidate vehicle. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the communication vehicle (n) that is originally a candidate vehicle cannot be recognized as a candidate vehicle. In addition, a vehicle that has already been identified as a communication follow-up vehicle at the time of selecting a candidate vehicle is also left as a candidate vehicle. Thereby, the possibility that other vehicles that are highly likely to be true following vehicles are excluded from the candidate vehicles can be further reduced.

  Further, when the CACC switch 22 is set to the ON position, the CPU executes the routine shown by the flowchart in FIG. 5 every time a predetermined time elapses.

  Therefore, when the predetermined timing is reached, the CPU starts processing from step 500 in FIG. 5, sequentially performs the processing from step 510 to step 560 described below, and proceeds to step 570.

Step 510: The CPU receives other vehicle communication information from the candidate vehicle (n) from the radio control ECU 80.
Step 520: The CPU proceeds to step 520, where time-series data of the own vehicle sensor-based preceding vehicle speed Vfr, time-series data of the communication vehicle speed Vc (in this case, the speed of the candidate vehicle acquired by inter-vehicle communication), The correlation coefficient (velocity correlation coefficient) coef between is calculated. The calculation method of the correlation coefficient is well known. The speed correlation coefficient coef has a positive correlation between the time-series data of the vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed Vfr and the time-series data of the communication vehicle speed Vc, and approaches “1” as the correlation increases. .

  Step 530: The CPU converts the speed correlation coefficient coef into a probability Pcoef from 0 to 1. More specifically, the CPU obtains the probability Pcoef by applying the velocity correlation coefficient coef to a lookup table MapPcoef (coef) determined by a previous experiment. The probability Pcoef is a “probability that the candidate vehicle (n) is a communication follow-up target vehicle” represented by a speed correlation coefficient. According to the lookup table MapPcoef (coef), the probability Pcoef is calculated as a value that approaches “1” as the velocity correlation coefficient coef approaches “1”.

  Step 540: The CPU converts the “average value ave (e1) of the first speed similarity index value e1 of the candidate vehicle” calculated in step 260 of FIG. 2 into a probability Pe1 from 0 to 1. More specifically, the CPU applies the average value ave (e1) of the first speed similarity index value e1 to the look-up table MapPe1 (ave (e1)) determined by a previous experiment, thereby calculating the probability Pe1. Ask for. The probability Pe1 is a “probability that the candidate vehicle (n) is a communication follow-up target vehicle” represented by the average value ave (e1) of the first speed similarity index value e1. According to the lookup table MapPe1 (ave (e1)), the probability Pe1 is calculated as a value that approaches “1” as the average value ave (e1) of the first speed similarity index value e1 decreases.

  Step 550: The CPU obtains the probability Pother using other parameters. The probability Pother is a “probability that the candidate vehicle (n) is a communication follow-up target vehicle” represented by another parameter. The probability Pother may be a product of any combination of one or more of the probabilities α1 to α7 described in Japanese Patent No. 5522193, or may be “1”.

  Step 560: The CPU calculates the product of the probability Pe1, the probability Pcoef, and the probability Pother as “the final probability Pn that the candidate vehicle (n) is a communication follow-up target vehicle”.

  Step 570: The CPU determines whether or not the probability Pn has been calculated for all the communication vehicles (n) stored as candidate vehicles in the RAM. If the probability Pn has not been calculated for all the communication vehicles (n) stored as candidate vehicles in the RAM, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 570 to return to step 510. On the other hand, if the probability Pn has been calculated for all the communication vehicles (n) stored as candidate vehicles in the RAM, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 570 to proceed to step 580, where the probability A candidate vehicle having the highest probability Pn among candidate vehicles having Pn equal to or greater than a threshold value Pth is specified as a communication follow-up target vehicle. When there is no candidate vehicle having a probability Pn equal to or greater than the threshold value Pth, the CPU determines that there is no communication follow-up target vehicle.

  Further, the CPU executes the routine shown by the flowchart in FIG. 6 every time a predetermined time elapses.

  Therefore, when the predetermined timing comes, the CPU starts processing from step 600 in FIG. 6 and proceeds to step 610 to determine whether or not the position of the CACC switch 22 is set to the on position. If the position of the CACC switch 22 is set to the OFF position, the CPU proceeds directly from step 610 to step 695 to end the present routine tentatively.

  If the position of the CACC switch 22 is set to the on position, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 610 to proceed to step 620 to determine whether or not the communication follow-up target vehicle has been identified at step 580. judge. When the communication follow-up target vehicle has been specified, the CPU sequentially performs the processing from step 630 to step 660 described below, proceeds to step 695, and once ends this routine.

  Step 630: The CPU calculates, as the feedforward required acceleration FFG, a value obtained by multiplying the required acceleration Gc transmitted from the communication tracking target vehicle by inter-vehicle communication by a predetermined gain Kg. The gain Kg is “1” in this example, but may be set according to the driving state of the host vehicle 10 by the method described in JP-A-2015-51716. If the other vehicle communication information transmitted from the communication follow-up target vehicle includes the actual acceleration Ga of the communication follow-up target vehicle, the CPU applies a value obtained by applying a high-pass filter to the requested acceleration Gc and the acceleration Ga. The sum of the value subjected to the low-pass filter and the feedforward required acceleration FFG may be obtained.

Step 640: The CPU calculates a feedback required acceleration FBG according to the following equation (3). ΔD is the inter-vehicle deviation, Dtgt is the target inter-vehicle distance, and Vr is the relative speed described above.

  Step 650: The CPU calculates the sum of the feedforward required acceleration FFG and the feedback required acceleration FBG as the final target acceleration Gtgt of the host vehicle 10. The CPU may calculate the weighted average value of the feedforward required acceleration FFG and the feedback required acceleration FBG as the target acceleration Gtgt.

  Step 660: The CPU transmits the target acceleration Gtgt to the engine control ECU 30 and the brake control ECU 40 so that the actual acceleration of the host vehicle 10 matches the target acceleration Gtgt. The engine control ECU 30 and the brake control ECU 40 control (drive) the engine actuator 32 and the brake actuator 43, respectively, according to the target acceleration Gtgt. As a result, the actual acceleration of the host vehicle 10 is matched with the target acceleration Gtgt. CACC is executed by the above processing.

  On the other hand, when the CPU performs the process of step 620, the communication follow-up target vehicle is not specified (including the case where the communication follow-up target vehicle does not exist and the case where the communication follow-up target vehicle no longer exists). The CPU makes a “No” determination at step 620 to proceed to step 670, sets the value of the feedforward required acceleration FFG to “0”, and then proceeds to step 640 and thereafter. As a result, ACC is executed. When the inter-vehicle deviation ΔD is equal to or greater than the threshold inter-vehicle deviation, the feedback request acceleration FBG is changed so that the own vehicle speed Vj becomes a predetermined speed.

Second Embodiment
Next, a vehicle control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, may be referred to as “second device”) will be described.

  The CPU (vehicle control ECU 20) of the second device executes the routine shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 instead of FIG. The routine shown in FIG. 7 is shown in FIG. 2 only in that Step 710 is arranged after the determination of “Yes” in Step 240 and Step 250 is replaced with Step 720. It is different from the routine.

  More specifically, when the CPU determines “Yes” in step 240, the CPU proceeds to step 710 and determines whether or not the communication vehicle (n) is designated as a prohibited vehicle. The prohibited vehicle is a communication vehicle in which the communication state of inter-vehicle communication is unstable, as will be described later. If the communication vehicle (n) is not a prohibited vehicle, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 710 to proceed to step 720 to select the communication vehicle (n) as a “first stage candidate vehicle” and store it in the RAM. Remember that. On the other hand, if the communication vehicle (n) is a prohibited vehicle, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 710 to proceed to step 260.

  Further, the CPU of the second device executes the routine shown by the flowchart in FIG. 8 every time a predetermined time elapses. Therefore, when the predetermined timing comes, the CPU starts the process from step 800 and proceeds to step 810, and the communication vehicle (n) selected as the candidate vehicle in the previous process (previous time when the routine of FIG. 8 was executed). Is selected as a candidate vehicle for this time.

  Next, the CPU proceeds to step 820 to determine whether or not the number of currently selected candidate vehicles (the number of selected candidate vehicles) is less than the upper limit number (for example, 8). If the number of selected candidate vehicles is less than the upper limit number, the CPU makes a “Yes” determination at step 820 to perform the processing from step 830 to step 880 described below in order, and proceeds to step 895 to end the present routine tentatively. To do.

  Step 830: The CPU sorts the communication vehicles that are not selected as candidate vehicles and are selected as the first-stage candidate vehicles in the order of the shortest distance dn. The distance dn is a linear distance between the “position Pc (n) of the communication vehicle selected as the first stage candidate vehicle” and the “position Pj of the host vehicle 10” acquired by the inter-vehicle communication.

  Step 840: The CPU selects candidate cars from the first stage candidate cars in order of decreasing distance dn until the number of candidate cars matches the upper limit number. At this time, the CPU deletes the ID of the first-stage candidate car that has not been selected as the candidate car from the RAM (deletes it from the first-stage candidate car).

  Step 850: The CPU sets the previous value of the other vehicle communication information of the communication vehicle (n) that is not selected as the first-stage candidate vehicle and whose state to be described later is “one of the valid state and the disruption inspection state”. (Value received effectively in the previous processing).

Step 860: The CPU makes a state transition determination described later (see FIG. 9).
Step 870: The CPU designates the communication vehicle (n) determined to be in the disruption state by the state transition determination as a prohibited vehicle.

  Step 880: If the communication vehicle (n) designated as the prohibited vehicle in Step 870 before the previous processing of this routine and a predetermined time has passed since the designation, the communication vehicle (n) Cancel the prohibited vehicle designation.

  When the number of already selected candidate vehicles is equal to or greater than the upper limit number at the time of executing the process of step 820, the CPU makes a “No” determination at step 820 and proceeds directly to step 850 and subsequent steps.

  Here, the state transition determination will be described with reference to FIG. There are five states to be determined: an uninspected state, an effective inspection state, an effective state, a disruption inspection state, and a disruption state.

-When in an uninspected state The other vehicle in which the own vehicle 10 has not started to receive other vehicle communication information is defined as being in an uninspected state. When the own vehicle 10 receives other vehicle communication information (data) transmitted from another vehicle (target vehicle) in an uninspected state, the other vehicle is recognized as a communication vehicle (n), and the communication vehicle (n) It is determined that the state of a certain target vehicle is an effective inspection state.

When in the effective inspection state When it is determined that the state of the target vehicle is in the effective inspection state, the CPU measures the following time shown in FIG.
・ Time tng when other vehicle communication information (data) from the target vehicle cannot be received continuously,
・ Time tok when other vehicle communication information (data) from the target vehicle can be received continuously,
A duration tcheck during which the target vehicle is in the effective inspection state.
Then, when the time tng is equal to or greater than the threshold value tngth, the CPU determines that the state of the target vehicle is an uninspected state. At this time, both the time tok and the time tcheck are reset to “0”. In contrast, when the time tok is equal to or greater than the threshold value tokth, the CPU determines that the state of the target vehicle has become an effective state. Further, when the time tcheck is equal to or greater than the threshold value tcheckth, the CPU determines that the state of the target vehicle has become a valid state.

-When in the valid state When it is determined that the state of the target vehicle is in the valid state, if a situation occurs in which the other vehicle communication information (data) from the target vehicle cannot be received once, the CPU Is determined to be in a discontinuation inspection state.

-Discontinuation inspection state When it is determined that the state of the target vehicle is in the discontinuation inspection state, the CPU measures the time tng described above, and when the time tng is equal to or greater than the threshold value tngth, the state of the target vehicle is discontinuation state. It is determined that
On the other hand, if the other vehicle communication information (data) from the target vehicle can be received once when it is determined that the state of the target vehicle is in the disruption inspection state, the CPU determines that the state of the target vehicle is valid. Is determined.

-Disruption state When it is determined that the state of the target vehicle is in the discontinuation state, if the determination result of the previous state transition determination of the target vehicle is in the discontinuation state, the CPU determines that the state of the target vehicle is in an uninspected state. judge.

  According to this second device, a communication vehicle that has already been selected as a candidate vehicle is selected as a candidate vehicle preferentially over a communication vehicle that has newly started inter-vehicle communication with the host vehicle 10 (FIG. 8 step 820). Thereby, for example, as shown in FIG. 11A, the upper limit number of candidate vehicles is eight, and eight communication vehicles have already been selected as candidate vehicles ((1) in the figure). (See (8). The vehicle is a vehicle indicated by reference numeral 10.) As shown in FIG. 11B, vehicle-to-vehicle communication is newly started with the vehicle 10 ( Even if communication vehicles A, B, and C, where own vehicle 10 has started to receive data), vehicles (1) to (8) that have already been selected as candidate vehicles continue as candidate vehicles. Selected. As a result, there is a high possibility that the communication follow-up target vehicle (1) can be continuously specified as the communication follow-up target vehicle.

  Furthermore, according to the second apparatus, when there are a plurality of communication vehicles that have newly started inter-vehicle communication with the own vehicle 10, the second device is preferentially selected as a candidate vehicle in the order of a short distance dn from the own vehicle 10. Selected (see steps 830 and 840 of FIG. 8). As a result, as can be understood from FIG. 11B, the vehicle B that is relatively less likely to be a communication follow-up vehicle among the communication vehicles A, B, and C that have newly started inter-vehicle communication. The vehicle A, which is relatively likely to be a communication follow-up vehicle, can be preferentially selected as a candidate vehicle (however, in this example, the upper limit number is nine, for example). .

  Furthermore, the second device makes a state transition determination (see step 860 in FIG. 8), and as a result, the communication vehicle in an interrupted state (that is, the state of inter-vehicle communication with the host vehicle 10 is unstable). Vehicle) is designated as a prohibited vehicle for a certain period of time, and such vehicle (prohibited vehicle) is not selected as a candidate vehicle (see step 710, step 870, and step 880). As a result, when there is a vehicle that has newly started a stable inter-vehicle communication with the host vehicle 10, the vehicle can be selected as a candidate vehicle with priority over the prohibited vehicle.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be employed within the scope of the present invention. For example, the host vehicle speed Vj may be acquired based on a detection signal from a wheel speed sensor provided on each wheel (not shown). Furthermore, the vehicle radar sensor 61 may be a sensor that transmits and receives light waves (for example, laser) or ultrasonic waves.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Own vehicle, 11-13 ... Other vehicle (communication vehicle), 20 ... Vehicle control ECU, 22 ... CACC switch, 30 ... Engine control ECU, 31 ... Accelerator operation amount sensor, 32 ... Engine actuator, 40 ... Brake control ECU , 41 ... Brake operation amount sensor, 42 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 43 ... Brake actuator, 50 ... Steering control, 60 ... Sensor ECU, 61 ... Own vehicle radar sensor, 70 ... GPS device, 80 ... Radio control ECU, 81 ... Wireless antenna , Dx: own vehicle traveling direction distance, Dy: own vehicle traveling orthogonal direction distance, θp: relative orientation.

Claims (1)

GPS means for acquiring GPS information including the position of the vehicle that is the position of the vehicle;
Own vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the own vehicle speed which is the speed of the own vehicle;
Relative information acquisition means for acquiring a relative speed of the other vehicle traveling immediately before the own vehicle with respect to the own vehicle;
From each of one or more other vehicles existing around the own vehicle, the other vehicle speed that is the respective speed of the other vehicle, the other vehicle position that is the respective position of the other vehicle, and the other vehicle by wireless communication. Wireless means for acquiring other vehicle communication information including acceleration related values related to each acceleration;
Using the own vehicle position, the own vehicle speed, the relative speed, and the other vehicle communication information , select candidate vehicles up to the upper limit number from the one or more other vehicles, and select the candidate vehicles from the selected candidate vehicles. A specifying means for repeating a process of specifying a communication tracking target vehicle that the vehicle should follow,
Travel control means for controlling the acceleration of the host vehicle based on the acceleration-related value acquired by the wireless communication from the specified communication tracking target vehicle to cause the host vehicle to follow the communication tracking target vehicle; ,
In a vehicle control device comprising:
The specifying means is:
When it is determined whether the other vehicle position included in the other vehicle communication information is within a specific range determined based on the host vehicle position, and when it is determined that the other vehicle position is within the specific range Position-based candidate selection means for selecting the other vehicle that has transmitted the other vehicle communication information as a first-stage candidate vehicle of the communication follow-up target vehicle;
The own vehicle sensor-based preceding vehicle speed, which is the speed of the other vehicle traveling immediately before the own vehicle, estimated based on the own vehicle speed and the relative speed, and the other vehicle speed included in the other vehicle communication information. A speed similarity index value representing a degree of similarity between a certain communication vehicle speed is calculated, and the own vehicle sensor base preceding vehicle speed and the communication vehicle speed are similar for the speed similarity index value A speed-based candidate selection means for selecting the other vehicle that has transmitted the other vehicle communication information as a first-stage candidate vehicle of the communication follow-up target vehicle,
Including
Select the previously selected candidate vehicle as the current candidate vehicle,
When the number of the selected current candidate cars is less than the upper limit number, the first stage candidate cars selected by the position-based candidate selection means and the first stage selected by the speed-based candidate selection means A vehicle control device configured to select the current candidate vehicle from the candidate vehicles until the upper limit number is reached .

Images