JP7303521B2 - vehicle controller - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to vehicle control devices.

BACKGROUND ART As a vehicle control device, when detecting a stopped vehicle on a travel route, there is known a device that changes the travel route so as to avoid the stopped vehicle. Since it is preferable to maintain the travel route as much as possible, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle that acquires start notice information for notifying the start of a stopped vehicle by wireless communication, and changes the travel route according to the start notice information. Techniques for determining are described.

JP 2008-282378 A

However, if the stopped vehicle does not have a device for transmitting the start notice information by wireless communication, the start notice information cannot be acquired, and there is a possibility that the start of movement of the stopped vehicle cannot be estimated. Therefore, there is a demand for another technique that can estimate the start of movement of a stopped vehicle.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above problems, and can be implemented as the following modes.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a vehicle control device (110) for automatically driving a vehicle (10) is provided. The vehicle control device includes a travel route setting unit (111) that sets the travel route of the vehicle, a peripheral information recognition unit (112) that recognizes peripheral information of the vehicle using a detection signal of a peripheral sensor (120), A stopped vehicle detection unit (113) for detecting a stopped vehicle on the travel route using the surrounding information, and a movement estimation unit for estimating whether or not the stopped vehicle starts moving using the surrounding information. (114), and a control determination unit (115) that determines the control content of the vehicle according to the estimation result of the movement estimation unit. The movement estimator performs the estimation based on the movement of the driver in the stopped vehicle. When it is estimated that the stopped vehicle will start moving, the control determining unit waits for the stopped vehicle to move and determines to perform control to travel on the travel route, and the stopped vehicle stops moving. When it is estimated that it will not start, the travel route setting unit is caused to change the travel route, and the travel route setting unit decides to perform control to travel on the changed travel route.

According to the vehicle control device of this aspect, the peripheral information detected by the peripheral sensor is used to detect a stopped vehicle and estimate the start of movement of the stopped vehicle, so it is possible to estimate the start of movement of the stopped vehicle.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an automatic driving system; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing vehicle control determination processing; It is a figure showing an example of peripheral information. It is a flow chart showing vehicle control decision processing in a 2nd embodiment. It is a flow chart showing vehicle control decision processing in a 3rd embodiment.

A. First embodiment:
As shown in FIG. 1 , the vehicle 10 has an automatic driving control system 100 . In this embodiment, the automatic driving control system 100 includes a vehicle control device 110, a peripheral sensor 120, a vehicle position sensor 126, a road information storage unit 130, an automatic driving control unit 210, a driving force control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 220 , a braking force control ECU 230 and a steering control ECU 240 . Vehicle control device 110 , automatic driving control unit 210 , driving force control ECU 220 , braking force control ECU 230 , and steering control ECU 240 are connected via in-vehicle network 250 .

Perimeter sensor 120 includes camera 122 and object sensor 124 . The camera 122 acquires an image by imaging the surroundings of the own vehicle. Object sensor 124 detects the surroundings of the vehicle. Examples of the object sensor 124 include object sensors using reflected waves such as laser radar, millimeter wave radar, and ultrasonic sensors.

The own vehicle position sensor 126 detects the current vehicle position of the vehicle 10 . Examples of the vehicle position sensor 126 include a Global Navigation Satellite System(s) (GNSS), a gyro sensor, and the like.

The road information storage unit 130 stores detailed road information and the like regarding roads on which the vehicle is scheduled to travel. Road information includes, for example, the number of lanes, lane width, center coordinates of each lane, curve curvature, stop line position, traffic light position, guardrail position, and the like.

The vehicle control device 110 includes a travel route setting unit 111 , a surrounding information recognition unit 112 , a stopped vehicle detection unit 113 , a movement estimation unit 114 and a control determination unit 115 . The vehicle control device 110 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a microcomputer configured with a RAM and a ROM, and the like. The microcomputer executes pre-installed programs to realize the functions of these units. However, some or all of the functions of these units may be realized by hardware circuits.

The travel route setting unit 111 sets a route along which the vehicle 10 travels. More specifically, the travel route setting unit 111 uses road information stored in the road information storage unit 130 to set a travel route to a predetermined destination. The “driving route” in the present embodiment does not mean a mere route to a destination, but indicates a detailed route such as a driving lane or a driving position on a road.

The surrounding information recognition unit 112 uses the detection signal of the surrounding sensor 120 to recognize surrounding information of the vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as “surrounding information”). More specifically, based on the image captured by camera 122 and the output signal of object sensor 124, peripheral information recognition unit 112 recognizes the presence and position of left and right lane markings on the road on which the vehicle is traveling, and the presence and presence of traffic lights. Recognizes the location and instruction content, the presence, position, size, distance, direction of travel of other vehicles, the presence and behavior of drivers of other vehicles, the presence and positions of people around other vehicles, etc. as peripheral information. . Note that the peripheral information recognition unit 112 may acquire and recognize part or all of this information through wireless communication with a traffic light, an external server, or the like.

The stopped vehicle detection unit 113 uses the surrounding information recognized by the surrounding information recognition unit 112 to detect stopped vehicles on the travel route determined by the travel route setting unit 111 . In this embodiment, a "stopped vehicle" is a vehicle that has been parked for a predetermined time or longer, and includes parked vehicles.

The movement estimation unit 114 uses the peripheral information recognized by the peripheral information recognition unit 112 to estimate whether or not the stopped vehicle detected by the stopped vehicle detection unit 113 will start moving. In this embodiment, the movement estimation unit 114 uses the surrounding information recognized by the surrounding information recognition unit 112 to determine the presence or absence of the driver of the stopped vehicle, the movement of the driver of the stopped vehicle, and the lighting of the hazard lamps of the stopped vehicle. , the position of the stopped vehicle in the driving lane, the instruction content of the traffic signal in front of the stopped vehicle, and the movement of people around the stopped vehicle, and based on these, the stopped vehicle moves. Estimate whether to start

The control determination unit 115 determines the control details of the vehicle 10 according to the estimation result of the movement estimation unit 114 , and outputs to the automatic driving control unit 210 through the in-vehicle network 250 to control the vehicle 10 . More specifically, when the movement estimating unit 114 estimates that the stopped vehicle starts to move, the control determining unit 115 waits for the stopped vehicle to move and maintains the running of the travel route. unit 210, and when the movement estimating unit 114 estimates that the stopped vehicle will not start moving, the traveling route setting unit 111 changes the traveling route, and the traveling route newly set by the traveling route setting unit 111 is traveled. It outputs to the automatic operation control part 210 so that it may carry out.

The automatic driving control unit 210 is composed of a central processing unit (CPU), a microcomputer composed of a RAM and a ROM, and the like, and the microcomputer executes a pre-installed program to realize an automatic driving function. The automatic driving control unit 210 controls the driving force control ECU 220, the braking force control ECU 230, and the steering control ECU 240 so that the vehicle travels along the route determined by the travel route setting unit 111, for example. For example, when the vehicle 10 changes lanes to the next lane, the automatic driving control unit 210 performs merging support so that the vehicle 10 travels from the reference line of the lane in which the vehicle 10 is traveling to the reference line of the next lane. good.

The driving force control ECU 220 is an electronic control unit that controls actuators such as the engine that generate the driving force of the vehicle. When the driver manually drives the vehicle, the driving force control ECU 220 controls the power source such as the engine or the electric motor according to the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal. On the other hand, when performing automatic driving, the driving force control ECU 220 controls the power source according to the required driving force calculated by the automatic driving control section 210 .

The braking force control ECU 230 is an electronic control unit that controls the brake actuator that generates the braking force of the vehicle. When the driver manually drives the vehicle, the braking force control ECU 230 controls the brake actuator according to the amount of operation of the brake pedal. On the other hand, when performing automatic operation, the braking force control ECU 230 controls the brake actuator according to the required braking force calculated by the automatic operation control section 210 .

The steering control ECU 240 is an electronic control unit that controls a motor that generates steering torque for the vehicle. When the driver manually drives the vehicle, the steering control ECU 240 controls the motor according to the operation of the steering wheel to generate an assist torque for the steering operation. As a result, the driver can operate the steering wheel with a small amount of force, thereby achieving steering of the vehicle. On the other hand, when performing automatic driving, the steering control ECU 240 performs steering by controlling the motor according to the required steering angle calculated by the automatic driving control section 210 .

The vehicle control determination process shown in FIG. 2 is a series of processes in which the control determination unit 115 determines the details of the control of the vehicle 10 . More specifically, it is a process in which the control determination unit 115 determines whether to maintain or change the travel route. This process is a process that is repeatedly executed by the vehicle control device 110 while the vehicle 10 is running, and is a process that is repeatedly executed, for example, every 100 ms. It is assumed that the travel route has been set at the start of this process.

First, the peripheral information recognition unit 112 recognizes peripheral information in step S100. More specifically, peripheral information is recognized from the peripheral image of the vehicle 10 captured by the camera 122 and the peripheral situation of the vehicle 10 detected by the object sensor 124 .

Next, the stopped vehicle detection unit 113 determines whether or not there is a stopped vehicle in step S110. More specifically, the stopped vehicle detection unit 113 detects the stopped vehicle using the peripheral information recognized in step S100. If there is no stopped vehicle, the process proceeds to step S140. On the other hand, if there is a stopped vehicle, the movement estimation unit 114 proceeds to the process of step S120.

Subsequently, in step S120, the movement estimation unit 114 estimates whether or not the stopped vehicle detected in step S110 may move. More specifically, the movement estimation unit 114 uses the peripheral information recognized in step S100 to estimate whether the stopped vehicle detected in step S110 will start moving. Details of the estimation by the movement estimation unit 114 will be described later. If there is a possibility of moving, the control determination unit 115 proceeds to the process of step S130, waits for the stopped vehicle to complete its movement, and travels along the travel route determined by the travel route setting unit 111 in step S140. determine the control to maintain On the other hand, when there is no possibility of moving, the process proceeds to step S145, the travel route setting unit 111 is caused to change the travel route, and the automatic operation control unit 210 is controlled to travel along the changed travel route. The travel route setting unit 111 changes the travel route to, for example, a lane change to avoid a stopped vehicle.

The movement estimation unit 114 estimates whether or not the stopped vehicle will start moving according to the pattern of the surrounding information. The pattern of the peripheral information defines the relationship between the peripheral information and the estimation result, and for example, any one or more of the following conditions can be adopted as the pattern of the peripheral information.

<Condition 1>
If there is no driver in the stopped vehicle, it is assumed that there is no possibility of moving.
Note that if the stopped vehicle is an unmanned vehicle, it may not be estimated that there is no possibility of movement.
<Condition 2>
If the driver of the stopped vehicle is operating the car navigation system, it is estimated that the vehicle may move.
<Condition 3>
When the traffic signal in front of the stopped vehicle instructs to stop, that is, when the red light is on, it is estimated that there is a possibility of moving.
<Condition 4>
If the hazard lights are on, it is assumed that there is no possibility of movement.
<Condition 5>
If the stopping position of the stopped vehicle in the driving lane is on the opposite side of the road shoulder and the direction indicator on the opposite side of the road shoulder is lit, it is estimated that there is a possibility of the vehicle moving.
<Condition 6>
It is estimated that there is a possibility of movement when people are getting on and off the stopped vehicle or when cargo is being loaded and unloaded.

Also, the above conditions 1 to 6 and other conditions can be appropriately combined to form a peripheral information pattern. The patterns of surrounding information can also be generated from past surrounding information and the presence or absence of start of movement of stopped vehicles using machine learning. In this embodiment, the movement estimation unit 114 estimates whether or not the stopped vehicle will start moving according to the pattern of the surrounding information as shown in FIG.

According to the vehicle control device 110 of the present embodiment described above, the stopped vehicle detection unit 113 uses the peripheral information detected by the peripheral information recognition unit 112 using the detection signal of the peripheral sensor 120 to determine whether the vehicle is stopped on the travel route. Since the vehicle is detected and the movement estimation unit 114 estimates the start of movement of the stopped vehicle, it is possible to estimate the start of movement of the stopped vehicle without using inter-vehicle communication. When the movement estimating unit 114 estimates that the stopped vehicle will start moving, the control determining unit 115 waits for the stopped vehicle to move and determines the details of the control so that the vehicle travels along the travel route. Therefore, the travel route set by the travel route setting unit 111 can be maintained.

B. Second embodiment:
The vehicle control determination process of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 differs from the vehicle control determination process of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 in that it is determined whether or not to stop the vehicle at the target stop position. In this embodiment, the "target stop position" is the destination on the travel route. Since the configuration of the automatic operation control system of the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the automatic operation control system of the first embodiment, the explanation of the configuration of the automatic operation control system is omitted.

In the second embodiment, when it is estimated that there is a possibility of movement of the stopped vehicle in step S120 (FIG. 4), in step S150 instead of step S140 shown in FIG. Stop at the parking lot. On the other hand, if it is estimated that there is no possibility of the stopped vehicle moving, in step S155 instead of step S145 shown in FIG. The automatic operation control unit 210 is controlled to do so. The travel route setting unit 111 changes the target stop position, for example, to the front or back of the stopped vehicle, and changes the travel route so that the vehicle stops at the changed target stop position.

According to the vehicle control device 110 of the present embodiment described above, the stopped vehicle detection unit 113 uses the peripheral information detected by the peripheral information recognition unit 112 using the detection signal of the peripheral sensor 120 to determine whether the vehicle is stopped on the travel route. Since the vehicle is detected and the movement estimation unit 114 estimates the start of movement of the stopped vehicle, it is possible to estimate the start of movement of the stopped vehicle without using inter-vehicle communication. When the movement estimating unit 114 estimates that the stopped vehicle will start moving, the control determining unit 115 waits for the stopped vehicle to move, and determines the content of control so that the vehicle stops at the target stop position on the travel route. Therefore, the vehicle can be stopped without changing the travel route set by the travel route setting unit 111 .

C. Third embodiment:
In the vehicle control determination process of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 5, when it is estimated that there is no possibility of movement of the stopped vehicle, re-estimation is performed depending on whether or not the estimation confirmation condition is satisfied. is different from the vehicle control determination process of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Since the configuration of the automatic operation control system of the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the automatic operation control system of the first embodiment, the explanation of the configuration of the automatic operation control system is omitted.

In the third embodiment, when it is estimated that there is no possibility that the stopped vehicle will move in step S120 (FIG. 5), the movement estimation unit 114 sets a predetermined condition (hereinafter referred to as "re-estimation condition") in step S135. ) is satisfied or not. If the re-estimation condition is not satisfied, the movement estimation unit 114 proceeds to the process of step S145. On the other hand, if the re-estimation condition is satisfied, the movement estimation unit 114 returns to the process of step S120. That is, the movement estimation unit 114 performs estimation again. As the re-estimation condition, for example, any one or more of the following conditions can be adopted.

<Re-estimation condition 1>
A predetermined threshold time has not elapsed since the stopped vehicle was detected.
<Re-estimation condition 2>
The distance to the stopped vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold distance.
<Re-estimation condition 3>
The presence of people around the parked vehicle.

The threshold time in the above re-estimation condition 1 is, for example, the time required for the vehicle 10 to stop, and can be determined according to the running speed of the vehicle 10 .

The threshold distance in the re-estimation condition 2 is, for example, a distance at which the vehicle 10 can change the route, and can be determined according to the running speed of the vehicle 10 .

If the above re-estimation condition 3 is satisfied, there is a high possibility that the driver will get into the stopped vehicle and move the vehicle. Therefore, by adopting this condition and estimating again by the movement estimating unit 114, there is a possibility that the stopped vehicle will be estimated to move, and the traveling route set by the traveling route setting unit 111 can be maintained.

Further, the above re-estimation conditions 1 to 3 and other conditions can be appropriately combined as re-estimation conditions.

According to the vehicle control device 110 of the present embodiment described above, the movement estimator 114 performs control to travel the travel route changed by the travel route setting unit 111 when it is estimated that the stopped vehicle will not start moving. Re-estimation is performed before and when re-estimation conditions are satisfied. Therefore, even after it is estimated that the stopped vehicle does not start moving, the estimation result may change if the stopped vehicle moves, and the running along the running route set by the running route setting unit 111 can be maintained.

D. Other embodiments:
In the above-described embodiment, the control determination unit 115 proceeds to step S145 or step S155 to proceed to step S145 or step S155 when the stop vehicle does not complete movement even after waiting for a predetermined time or longer in step S130 of the vehicle control determination process. The route setting unit 111 may be caused to change the travel route or the target stop position.

The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various configurations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the outline of the invention are In addition, it is possible to perform replacement and combination as appropriate. Moreover, if the technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be deleted as appropriate.

10 vehicle, 100 automatic operation control system, 110 vehicle control device, 111 travel route setting unit, 112 peripheral information recognition unit, 113 stopped vehicle detection unit, 114 movement estimation unit, 115 control determination unit, 120 peripheral sensors

Claims (7)

A vehicle control device (110) for automatically driving a vehicle (10),
a travel route setting unit (111) for setting the travel route of the vehicle;
a peripheral information recognition unit (112) for recognizing peripheral information of the vehicle using a detection signal of a peripheral sensor (120);
A stopped vehicle detection unit (113) that detects a stopped vehicle on the travel route using the surrounding information;
a movement estimation unit (114) that estimates whether or not the stopped vehicle will start moving using the surrounding information;
a control determination unit (115) that determines the details of control of the vehicle according to the estimation result of the movement estimation unit;
The movement estimation unit performs the estimation based on the movement of the driver in the stopped vehicle,
The control determination unit
when it is estimated that the stopped vehicle will start moving, determining to wait for the stopped vehicle to move and perform control to travel on the travel route;
A vehicle control device that, when it is estimated that the stopped vehicle does not start moving, causes the travel route setting unit to change the travel route, and determines that the travel route setting unit travels on the changed travel route. The vehicle control device according to claim 1,
When the movement estimating unit estimates that the stopped vehicle will not start moving, the movement estimating unit satisfies a predetermined condition before executing control to travel the travel route changed by the travel route setting unit. In the above, the vehicle control device performs the estimation again. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle control device, wherein the movement estimation unit performs the estimation based on the presence or absence of a driver of the stopped vehicle. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The vehicle control device, wherein the movement estimating unit performs the estimation based on whether or not a hazard lamp of the stopped vehicle is lit. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The vehicle control device, wherein the movement estimator performs the estimation based on the position of the stopped vehicle within the travel lane. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The vehicle control device, wherein the movement estimation unit performs the estimation based on whether or not a traffic light ahead of the stopped vehicle instructs to stop. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
The vehicle control device, wherein the movement estimation unit performs the estimation based on movement of people around the stopped vehicle.

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