CN112208534A - Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a storage medium capable of appropriately suppressing control in a scene where automatic overtaking is inappropriate. A vehicle control device is provided with: an identification portion that identifies a surrounding situation of the vehicle including a surrounding object; and a driving control unit that controls a speed and a steering direction of the vehicle, performs automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is recognized by the recognition unit, and suppresses the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

Description

Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and storage medium

Technical Field

The invention relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a storage medium.

Background

In general, a host vehicle that attempts to overtake a preceding vehicle may urge deceleration of the preceding vehicle by displaying an indication of the overtaking of the preceding vehicle. In connection with this, there is known a technique of outputting a warning for overtaking from an own vehicle to a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is of a predetermined type, the time at which the presence of the preceding vehicle is detected is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and the vehicle speed of the own vehicle within the time at which the presence of the preceding vehicle is detected is equal to or longer than a predetermined value (for example, refer to patent document 1 (japanese patent application laid-open No. 2010-238053)).

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In recent years, the practical use of automatic overtaking has been advanced, but in the conventional technology, no consideration has been given to control of how to handle automatic overtaking when the traveling environment of the host vehicle is inappropriate for automatic overtaking.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a storage medium that can appropriately suppress control in a scene where automatic overtaking is inappropriate.

Means for solving the problems

The vehicle control device, the vehicle control method, and the storage medium according to the present invention have the following configurations.

(1): a vehicle control device according to an aspect of the present invention includes: an identification portion that identifies a surrounding situation of the vehicle including a surrounding object; and a driving control unit that controls a speed and a steering direction of the vehicle, and performs automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is recognized by the recognition unit, wherein the driving control unit suppresses the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving location of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

(2): in the aspect of the above (1), the driving control unit may suppress automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the wind speed at the travel point of the vehicle is a predetermined value or more and the recognition unit recognizes that the preceding vehicle is a predetermined vehicle type.

(3): in the aspect (1) or (2) described above, the driving control unit may perform automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the vehicle is traveling at a place where wind break facilities exist, even when the wind speed at the traveling place of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

(4): in the aspect of the above (3), the drive control unit may suppress the preceding vehicle from overtaking automatically when the vehicle is traveling in a first region or a second region in the wind break even when the vehicle is traveling at a point where the wind break exists, the first region being a region having a length of a first distance in the road length direction with reference to a start point of the wind break, and the second region being a region having a length of a second distance in the road length direction with reference to an end point of the wind break.

(5): in the aspects of (1) to (4) described above, the driving control unit may increase the speed of the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle and perform automatic lane change to the original lane when the wind speed at the traveling point of the vehicle becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined value after the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is started and the automatic lane change to the adjacent lane is performed.

(6): in the aspect of the above (5), the driving control unit may stop the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a first predetermined time has not elapsed since the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle even when a wind speed at a traveling spot of the vehicle becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined value after the automatic lane change to the adjacent lane is performed after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle.

(7): in the aspect of (6) described above, the driving control unit may continue the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the travel distance of the vehicle from the wind shield facility is less than a second predetermined distance, even when the wind speed at the travel point of the vehicle becomes equal to or greater than the predetermined value after the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is started and the automatic lane change to the adjacent lane is performed.

(8): in the aspects (1) to (7), the driving control unit may perform automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle even when a wind speed at a traveling location of the vehicle is a predetermined value or more when the speed of the vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or more.

(9): in the aspects (1) to (8) described above, the driving control unit may promote overtaking of the following vehicle to the vehicle when the wind speed at the travel point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value when it is estimated that the following vehicle will overtake.

(10): in a vehicle control method according to another aspect of the present invention, a computer executes: identifying a surrounding condition of the vehicle including a surrounding object; controlling a speed and a steering of the vehicle, and performing automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle on the same lane as the vehicle is recognized; and suppressing automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

(11): a storage medium according to another aspect of the present invention stores a program that causes a computer to execute: identifying a surrounding condition of the vehicle including a surrounding object; controlling a speed and a steering of the vehicle, and performing automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle on the same lane as the vehicle is recognized; and suppressing automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

Effects of the invention

According to (1) to (11), it is possible to appropriately suppress control in a scene in which the automatic overtaking is inappropriate.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle system 1 using a vehicle control device according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the first control unit 120 and the second control unit 160.

Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the first region R1 and the second region R2 of the wind break.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a series of processes performed by the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of a series of processes performed by the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a series of processes performed by the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a series of processes performed by the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the third embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a series of processes performed by the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the modification.

Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.

Description of reference numerals:

1 … vehicle system, 10 … camera, 12 … radar device, 14 … detector, 16 … object recognition device, 20 … communication device, 30 … HMI, 40 … vehicle sensor, 50 … navigation device, 60 … MPU, 80 … driving operation device, 100 … automatic driving control device, 120 … first control section, 130 … recognition section, 132 … wind speed recognition section, 134 … wind break recognition section, 140 … action plan generation section, 142 … overtaking control section, 160 … second control section, 162 … acquisition section, 164 … speed control section, 166 … steering control section, 200 … running driving force output device, 210 … brake device, 220 … steering device.

Detailed Description

< first embodiment >

[ integral Structure ]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle system 1 using a vehicle control device according to a first embodiment. The vehicle on which the vehicle system 1 is mounted is, for example, a two-wheel, three-wheel, four-wheel or the like vehicle, and the drive source thereof is an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, an electric motor, or a combination thereof. The electric motor operates using the generated power of the generator connected to the internal combustion engine or the discharge power of the secondary battery or the fuel cell.

The vehicle system 1 includes, for example, a camera 10, a radar device 12, a probe 14, an object recognition device 16, a communication device 20, an hmi (human Machine interface)30, a vehicle sensor 40, a navigation device 50, an mpu (map Positioning unit)60, a driving operation unit 80, an automatic driving control device 100, a driving force output device 200, a brake device 210, and a steering device 220. The automatic driving control apparatus 100 is an example of a vehicle control apparatus. These devices and apparatuses are connected to each other by a multiplex communication line such as a can (controller Area network) communication line, a serial communication line, a wireless communication network, and the like. The configuration shown in fig. 1 is merely an example, and a part of the configuration may be omitted, and another configuration may be further added.

The camera 10 is a digital camera using a solid-state imaging device such as a ccd (charge Coupled device) or a cmos (complementary Metal Oxide semiconductor). The camera 10 is mounted on an arbitrary portion of a vehicle M (hereinafter, referred to as a host vehicle) on which the vehicle system 1 is mounted. When shooting the front, the camera 10 is attached to the upper part of the front windshield, the rear surface of the vehicle interior mirror, or the like. The camera 10 repeatedly photographs the periphery of the own vehicle periodically, for example. The camera 10 may also be a stereo camera.

The radar device 12 radiates radio waves such as millimeter waves to the periphery of the vehicle, and detects radio waves (reflected waves) reflected by an object to detect at least the position (distance and direction) of the object. The radar device 12 is attached to an arbitrary portion of the vehicle. The radar device 12 may detect the position and velocity of the object by an FM-cw (frequency Modulated Continuous wave) method.

The detector 14 is a LIDAR (light Detection and ranging). The detector 14 irradiates light to the periphery of the vehicle and measures scattered light. The probe 14 detects the distance to the object based on the time from light emission to light reception. The light to be irradiated is, for example, pulsed laser light. The probe 14 is mounted on an arbitrary portion of the vehicle.

The object recognition device 16 performs sensor fusion processing on a part or all of the detection results of the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the probe 14 to recognize the position, the type, the speed, and the like of the object. The object recognition device 16 outputs the recognition result to the automatic driving control device 100. The object recognition device 16 may output the detection results of the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the detector 14 directly to the automatic driving control device 100. The object recognition device 16 may also be omitted from the vehicle system 1.

The communication device 20 communicates with the server device 300 using, for example, a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth (registered trademark), dsrc (dedicated Short Range communication), or the like. The server 300 includes, for example, a server that manages weather information for each area.

The HMI30 presents various information to an occupant of the host vehicle, and accepts input operations by the occupant. The HMI30 includes various display devices, speakers, buzzers, touch panels, switches, keys, and the like.

The vehicle sensor 40 includes a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle, an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the vehicle, a yaw rate sensor for detecting the angular velocity of the vehicle about the vertical axis, an orientation sensor for detecting the orientation of the vehicle, and the like.

The Navigation device 50 includes, for example, a gnss (global Navigation Satellite system) receiver 51, a Navigation HMI52, and a route determination unit 53. The navigation device 50 holds first map information 54 in a storage device such as an hdd (hard Disk drive) or a flash memory. The GNSS receiver 51 determines the position of the own vehicle based on the signals received from the GNSS satellites. The position of the host vehicle may also be determined or supplemented by an ins (inertial Navigation system) that utilizes the output of the vehicle sensors 40. The navigation HMI52 includes a display device, a speaker, a touch panel, keys, and the like. The navigation HMI52 may also be partially or wholly shared with the aforementioned HMI 30. The route determination unit 53 determines, for example, a route from the position of the vehicle (or an arbitrary input position) specified by the GNSS receiver 51 to the destination input by the occupant using the navigation HMI52 (hereinafter, referred to as an on-map route) with reference to the first map information 54. The first map information 54 is information representing a road shape by, for example, a line representing a road and nodes connected by the line. The first map information 54 may include curvature of a road, poi (point of interest) information, and the like. The map upper path is output to the MPU 60. The navigation device 50 may also perform route guidance using the navigation HMI52 based on the on-map route. The navigation device 50 may be realized by a function of a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal held by the passenger. The navigation device 50 may transmit the current position and the destination to the navigation server via the communication device 20, and acquire a route equivalent to the route on the map from the navigation server.

The MPU60 includes, for example, the recommended lane determining unit 61, and holds the second map information 62 in a storage device such as an HDD or a flash memory. The recommended lane determining unit 61 divides the on-map route provided from the navigation device 50 into a plurality of blocks (for example, divided every 100[ m ] with respect to the vehicle traveling direction), and determines the recommended lane for each block with reference to the second map information 62. The recommended lane determining unit 61 determines to travel in the first few lanes from the left side. The recommended lane determining unit 61 determines the recommended lane so that the host vehicle can travel on a reasonable route for traveling to the branch destination when there is a branch point on the route on the map.

The second map information 62 is map information with higher accuracy than the first map information 54. The second map information 62 includes, for example, information on the center of a lane, information on the boundary of a lane, and the like. The second map information 62 may include road information, traffic regulation information, address information (address/zip code), facility information, telephone number information, and the like. The second map information 62 can be updated at any time by the communication device 20 communicating with other devices.

The driving operation members 80 include, for example, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shift lever, a steering wheel, a joystick, and other operation members. A sensor for detecting the operation amount or the presence or absence of operation is attached to the driving operation element 80, and the detection result is output to some or all of the automatic driving control device 100 or the running driving force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220.

The automatic driving control device 100 includes, for example, a first control unit 120 and a second control unit 160. The first control unit 120 and the second control unit 160 are each realized by executing a program (software) by a hardware processor such as a cpu (central Processing unit). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuit units) such as lsi (large Scale integration), asic (application Specific Integrated circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), gpu (graphics Processing unit), or the like, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD or a flash memory of the automatic drive control device 100, or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and the storage medium (the non-transitory storage medium) may be attached to the HDD or the flash memory of the automatic drive control device 100 by being attached to the drive device.

Fig. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the first control unit 120 and the second control unit 160. The first control unit 120 includes, for example, a recognition unit 130 and an action plan generation unit 140. The first control unit 120 realizes, for example, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) function and a predetermined model function in parallel. For example, the function of "recognizing an intersection" can be realized by "performing the recognition of an intersection by deep learning or the like and the recognition based on a predetermined condition (presence of a signal, a road sign, or the like that enables pattern matching) in parallel, and scoring both sides to evaluate them comprehensively. Thereby, the reliability of automatic driving is ensured.

The recognition unit 130 includes, for example, a wind speed recognition unit 132 and a wind break recognition unit 134.

The recognition unit 130 recognizes the surrounding situation of the vehicle including the surrounding object based on information input from the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the probe 14 via the object recognition device 16. The recognition unit 130 recognizes, for example, a preceding vehicle traveling in the same lane as the vehicle in the same direction as the host vehicle, as an example of a peripheral object. Examples of the peripheral objects recognized by the recognition unit 130 include bicycles, motorcycles, four-wheel vehicles, pedestrians, road signs installed on roads, etc., road signs formed on road surfaces, dividing lines, utility poles, guard rails, and falling objects. The recognition unit 130 recognizes the state of the peripheral object such as the position, velocity, and acceleration. The position of the peripheral object is recognized as a position on relative coordinates with the origin at a representative point (such as the center of gravity and the center of the drive axis) of the host vehicle (i.e., a relative position with respect to the host vehicle), for example, and used for control. The position of the peripheral object may be represented by a representative point such as the center of gravity and a corner of the peripheral object, or may be represented by a region represented by the representative point. The "state" of the peripheral object may also include acceleration, jerk, or "behavior state" of the peripheral object (e.g., whether a lane change is being made or will be made).

The recognition unit 130 recognizes that the road section on which the host vehicle travels is the automatic driving permission section with reference to the second map information 62. For example, the recognition unit 130 recognizes the automatic driving permission section by comparing the pattern of the road segment lines (for example, the arrangement of the solid lines and the broken lines) obtained from the second map information 62 with the pattern of the road segment lines around the host vehicle recognized from the image captured by the camera 10. The recognition unit 130 recognizes the own lane in which the own vehicle is traveling and the adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane based on the comparison of the patterns of the road dividing lines.

The recognition unit 130 may recognize the automatic driving permission section and recognize the own lane and the adjacent lane by recognizing the road division line and a traveling road boundary (road boundary) including a shoulder, a curb, a center barrier, a guardrail, and the like, without being limited to the recognition of the road division line. In this recognition, the position of the vehicle and the processing result of the INS acquired from the navigation device 50 may be considered. In addition, the recognition part 130 recognizes a temporary stop line, an obstacle, a red light, a toll booth, and other road phenomena.

The recognition unit 130 recognizes the relative position and posture of the host vehicle with respect to the host lane when recognizing the host lane. The recognition unit 130 may recognize, for example, the deviation of the reference point of the host vehicle from the center of the lane and the angle formed by the traveling direction of the host vehicle with respect to a line connecting the centers of the lanes as the relative position and posture of the host vehicle with respect to the host vehicle. Instead, the recognition unit 130 may recognize the position of the reference point of the host vehicle with respect to any one side end (road dividing line or road boundary) of the host vehicle as the relative position of the host vehicle with respect to the host vehicle.

The wind speed recognition unit 132 recognizes a wind speed at a traveling location of the vehicle. The wind speed identification unit 132 identifies the wind speed at the travel point of the vehicle based on, for example, meteorological information acquired from the server device 300 via the communication device 20. For example, when the host vehicle is equipped with an air velocity sensor, the air velocity recognition unit 132 may recognize the air velocity at the traveling point of the host vehicle based on a signal output from the air velocity sensor.

The wind break recognition unit 134 recognizes a wind break located on the travel path of the host vehicle. In wind protection installations, for example, wind walls, wind fences, tunnels, etc. are included. The wind break recognition unit 134 recognizes the wind break on the travel path of the host vehicle, for example, with reference to the second map information 62.

The action plan generating unit 140 includes, for example, a overtaking control unit 142.

The action plan generating unit 140 generates a future target trajectory for automatically (independently of the operation of the driver) traveling the host vehicle in a predetermined traveling mode in order to basically allow the host vehicle to travel on the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determining unit 61 and to cope with the surrounding situation when the host vehicle travels on the recommended lane. The target track includes, for example, a position element that specifies a position of the host vehicle in the future, and a speed element that specifies a speed of the host vehicle in the future. The action plan generating unit 140 determines a target velocity and a target acceleration at predetermined sampling time intervals (for example, about several fractions of sec) as a velocity element of the target trajectory. The trajectory point may be a position to which the host vehicle is to arrive at the sampling time at every predetermined sampling time. In this case, the target speed and the target acceleration are determined by the sampling time and the interval between the track points. The action plan generating unit 140 outputs information indicating the generated target track to the second control unit 160. The overtaking control unit 142 has such a function. These are described later.

The second control unit 160 controls the traveling driving force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220 so that the host vehicle passes through the target trajectory generated by the action plan generation unit 140 at a predetermined timing.

The second control unit 160 includes, for example, an acquisition unit 162, a speed control unit 164, and a steering control unit 166. The configuration in which the overtaking control unit 142 and the second control unit 160 are combined is an example of the "driving control unit".

The acquisition unit 162 acquires information on the target track (track point) from the action plan generation unit 140 and stores the information in the memory.

The speed control unit 164 controls one or both of the running drive force output device 200 and the brake device 210 based on a speed element (for example, a target speed, a target acceleration, or the like) included in the target trajectory stored in the memory.

The steering control unit 166 controls the steering device 220 based on a position element (for example, a curvature indicating a curved state of the target track) included in the target track stored in the memory.

The processing of the speed control unit 164 and the steering control unit 166 is realized by, for example, a combination of feedforward control and feedback control. For example, the steering control unit 166 performs a combination of feedforward control according to the curvature of the road ahead of the host vehicle and feedback control based on the deviation from the target trajectory.

The running drive force output device 200 outputs running drive force (torque) for running of the vehicle to the drive wheels. The travel driving force output device 200 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, a motor, a transmission, and the like, and a power ecu (electronic Control unit) that controls the combination. The power ECU controls the above configuration in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 or information input from the driving operation element 80.

The brake device 210 includes, for example, a caliper, a hydraulic cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor so that a braking torque corresponding to a braking operation is output to each wheel, in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 or information input from the driving operation element 80. The brake device 210 may include a mechanism for transmitting the hydraulic pressure generated by the operation of the brake pedal included in the driving operation tool 80 to the hydraulic cylinder via the master cylinder as a spare part. The brake device 210 is not limited to the above-described configuration, and may be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that controls an actuator in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 and transmits the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the hydraulic cylinder.

The steering device 220 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. The electric motor changes the orientation of the steering wheel by applying a force to a rack-and-pinion mechanism, for example. The steering ECU drives the electric motor in accordance with information input from the second control unit 160 or information input from the driving operation element 80 to change the direction of the steered wheels.

[ automatic overtaking ]

The overtaking control unit 142 performs automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the condition for performing automatic overtaking is satisfied. The automatic overtaking means that the host vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle by performing a first automatic lane change from the first lane to a second lane (adjacent lane) adjacent to the first lane and then performing a second automatic lane change from the second lane to the first lane (original lane). The condition for performing the automatic overtaking includes, for example, a condition in which the relative speed of the host vehicle with respect to the preceding vehicle is equal to or higher than a threshold value. The conditions for performing the automatic overtaking include, for example, conditions relating to the relative speed of the host vehicle with respect to the preceding vehicle, conditions relating to the surrounding situation of the host vehicle, and the like.

Even when the condition for performing automatic overtaking is satisfied, the overtaking control unit 142 suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed. The overtaking control unit 142 suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle by, for example, changing a threshold value relating to the relative speed of the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle. The overtaking control unit 142 suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the recognition unit 130 recognizes that the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle is a predetermined vehicle type. The predetermined vehicle type includes, for example, a large vehicle such as a truck or a bus. Further, the overtaking control unit 142 performs automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the host vehicle is traveling at a point where wind break facilities exist even when the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value. Further, even when the host vehicle is traveling at a point where the wind break exists, the overtaking control unit 142 suppresses the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the host vehicle is traveling in the first region R1 or the second region R2 in the wind break. Further, the overtaking control unit 142 performs automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle even when the wind speed at the traveling point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value in a case where the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or higher.

Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the first area or the second area in the wind break facility. Fig. 3 illustrates an example in which the wind break is a tunnel TL. In the illustrated example, the first region R1 and the second region R2 are set as the lane change prohibited regions in the tunnel TL. The first region R1 is a region having a length of the first distance a in the road longitudinal direction with reference to the entrance TL1 (starting point) of the tunnel TL in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. In this example, the first region R1 is set from the front side of the entrance TL1 of the tunnel TL toward the rear side. However, the entrance TL1 of the tunnel TL may be set as a starting point, or a position slightly inside may be set as a starting point. The second region R2 is a region having a length of the second distance B in the road longitudinal direction with reference to the exit TL2 (end point) of the tunnel TL in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. The second region R2 is set from the front side of the exit TL2 of the tunnel TL toward the rear side. However, the exit TL2 of the tunnel TL may be set to an end point, or a position slightly before the exit TL may be set to an end point.

[ Process flow of vehicle control device ]

The flow of a series of processes of the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart. Fig. 4 shows an example of the start determination process of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle. Fig. 5 shows an example of the automatic overtaking process of the preceding vehicle.

First, the flowchart shown in fig. 4 will be explained. The processing of the flowchart shown in fig. 4 may be repeated at a predetermined cycle when the condition for performing automatic overtaking is satisfied, for example.

The overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the preceding vehicle identified by the identification unit 130 is a large vehicle (step S10). When determining that the preceding vehicle is a large vehicle, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle identified by the wind speed identification unit 132 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (step S12). When determining that the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or more (step S14).

When determining that the speed of the host vehicle is not faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by the first predetermined speed or more, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the host vehicle is traveling in the wind break identified by the wind break identification unit 134 (step S16). When determining that the host vehicle is traveling in the wind break facility, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the host vehicle is traveling in the first region R1 or the second region R2 in the wind break facility (step S18). When it is determined that the host vehicle is not traveling in the first zone R1 or the second zone R2 in the wind break, the overtaking control unit 142 starts automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S20). This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart.

The overtaking control unit 142 starts automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle even when it is determined that the preceding vehicle is not a large vehicle, when it is determined that the wind speed at the traveling site of the host vehicle is smaller than a predetermined value, or when it is determined that the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or more (step S20). This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart.

The overtaking control unit 142 suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when it is determined that the host vehicle is not traveling in the wind break or when it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling in the wind break and is traveling in the first region R1 or the second region R2 in the wind break (step S22). This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart.

Next, a flowchart shown in fig. 5 will be described. The processing of the flowchart shown in fig. 5 may be executed, for example, when automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle is started.

The overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the first automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S30). When determining that the first automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle recognized by the wind speed recognition unit 132 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (step S32). When determining that the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is less than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 continues the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S36). On the other hand, when determining that the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or more (step S34).

When it is determined that the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by the first predetermined speed or more, the overtaking control unit 142 continues the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S36). On the other hand, when determining that the speed of the host vehicle is not faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by the first predetermined speed or more, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the first predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the automatic overtaking (step S38). When determining that the first predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the automatic overtaking, the overtaking control unit 142 increases the speed of the host vehicle and overtakes the preceding vehicle (step S40). Next, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the second automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S42). When the overtaking control unit 142 determines that the second automatic lane change is completed, the processing of 1 cycle of the present flowchart ends.

On the other hand, when determining that the first predetermined time has not elapsed since the start of the automatic overtaking, the overtaking control unit 142 suspends the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S44). The suspension of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle includes, for example, the driving of the host vehicle to continue overtaking the lane and the backing-up of the host vehicle to the rear of the preceding vehicle and returning to the original lane. This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart.

According to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment described above, it is possible to appropriately suppress control in a scene in which automatic overtaking is inappropriate. For example, when the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, it is preferable to avoid execution of automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle. Therefore, according to the automatic driving control device 100 of the first embodiment, when the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is suppressed. This makes it possible to appropriately suppress control in a scene where the automatic overtaking is inappropriate.

In addition, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, it is easy to ensure the opportunity of automatic overtaking. For example, even when the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the execution of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle does not need to be avoided when the influence of the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle on the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is small. Therefore, according to the automated driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, even when the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the automated overtaking of the preceding vehicle is executed when the host vehicle is traveling in the wind break facility. This makes it easy to ensure the opportunity of automatic overtaking.

In addition, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, it is possible to appropriately suppress control in a series of processes of automatic overtaking. For example, even if the wind speed at the travel location of the host vehicle is low before the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle, the wind speed at the travel location of the host vehicle may be intensified after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle. Therefore, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, when the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is increased after the start of the automatic overtaking, the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is suspended. This makes it possible to appropriately suppress control in a series of processes of automatic overtaking.

In addition, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, it is possible to stably perform automatic overtaking. For example, when the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the parallel traveling time between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle is not likely to be prolonged. Therefore, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, when the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is increased after the start of the automatic overtaking, the speed of the host vehicle is increased, and the parallel traveling time between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle is shortened. This makes it possible to stably perform automatic overtaking.

In addition, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, it is possible to stop the automatic overtaking in a scene in which the automatic overtaking continues to be inappropriate. For example, when the wind speed at the traveling site of the host vehicle is increased immediately after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle, it is preferable to avoid continuation of the automatic overtaking. Therefore, according to the automated driving control apparatus 100 of the first embodiment, even if the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the automated overtaking of the preceding vehicle is stopped when the first predetermined time has not elapsed since the initiation of the automated overtaking of the preceding vehicle. Thus, the automatic overtaking can be appropriately stopped in a scene where the automatic overtaking is continued and is inappropriate. In particular, when the speed of the host vehicle is reduced and the host vehicle is moved backward in the traveling direction of the host vehicle to the rear of the preceding vehicle and then the host vehicle is returned to the original lane, the automatic driving control device 100 can stabilize the traveling posture of the host vehicle and appropriately stop the automatic overtaking.

< second embodiment >

Hereinafter, a second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the processing method for automatic overtaking is changed according to the travel distance of the host vehicle from the wind break facility after the start of automatic overtaking. Hereinafter, the difference will be mainly described.

The flow of a series of processes of the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart. Fig. 6 shows an example of processing for automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle. The flowchart shown in fig. 6 may be repeated at a predetermined cycle after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle, for example.

The overtaking control unit 142 of the second embodiment determines whether or not the first automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S50). When determining that the first automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle recognized by the wind speed recognition unit 132 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (step S52). When determining that the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is less than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 continues the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S58). On the other hand, when determining that the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or more (step S54).

When it is determined that the speed of the host vehicle is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by the first predetermined speed or more, the overtaking control unit 142 continues the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S58). On the other hand, when determining that the speed of the host vehicle is not faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by the first predetermined speed or more, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the travel distance of the host vehicle from the wind break facility is shorter than the second predetermined distance (step S56). When determining that the travel distance of the host vehicle from the windshield facility is less than the second predetermined distance, the overtaking control unit 142 continues the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S58). Next, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the second automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S60). When the overtaking control unit 142 determines that the second automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed, the processing of 1 cycle of the present flowchart ends.

On the other hand, when the overtaking control unit 142 determines that the travel distance of the host vehicle from the windshield facility is equal to or longer than the second predetermined distance, the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is stopped (step S62). This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart.

According to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the second embodiment described above, it is possible to appropriately suppress the suspension of the automatic overtaking in the scene in which the automatic overtaking is continued appropriately. For example, even when the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is intensified after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle, it is preferable to continue the automatic overtaking when the influence of the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle on the automatic overtaking is small. Therefore, according to the automatic driving control apparatus 100 of the second embodiment, even when the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined value after the start of the automatic overtaking, the automatic overtaking is continued when the traveling distance of the host vehicle from the wind break facility is shorter than the second predetermined distance. This makes it possible to appropriately suppress the suspension of the automatic overtaking in the scene in which the automatic overtaking is continued.

< third embodiment >

The third embodiment will be explained below. The third embodiment differs from the first and second embodiments in that, when the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value when it is estimated that the following vehicle overtakes the host vehicle, overtaking is promoted. Hereinafter, the difference will be mainly described.

The flow of a series of processes of the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to the third embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart. Fig. 7 shows an example of processing for overtaking of a following vehicle. The flowchart shown in fig. 7 may be repeated at a predetermined cycle when a following vehicle is recognized, for example.

The overtaking control unit 142 of the third embodiment estimates whether or not the following vehicle will overtake (step S70). The overtaking control unit 142 estimates whether or not the following vehicle will overtake, for example, based on a blinking state of a blinker of the following vehicle, a relative speed of the following vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, and the like. For example, the overtaking control unit 142 estimates that the following vehicle will overtake when the blinker of the following vehicle is on the adjacent lane side and the relative speed of the following vehicle with respect to the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the threshold value (the following vehicle is faster).

When it is estimated that the following vehicle will overtake, the overtake control unit 142 determines whether or not the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle identified by the wind speed identification unit 132 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (step S72). When determining that the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142, for example, reduces the speed of the host vehicle or makes the host vehicle approach the side opposite to the overtaking lane in the host vehicle traveling lane, thereby promoting overtaking of the following vehicle (step S74). This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart.

According to the automatic driving control device 100 of the third embodiment described above, overtaking of the following vehicle can be smoothly performed. For example, when the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the following vehicle may not successfully overtake. Therefore, according to the automated driving control apparatus 100 of the third embodiment, when the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, overtaking of the following vehicle is promoted. This makes it possible to smoothly overtake the following vehicle.

< modification of embodiment >

In each of the above embodiments, the overtaking control unit 142 may perform the processing shown in the flowchart of fig. 8, for example. The flowchart shown in fig. 8 may be repeated at a predetermined cycle after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle, for example.

In this example, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the first automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S80). When determining that the first automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle identified by the wind speed identification unit 132 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value (step S82).

When determining that the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is less than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the second automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S84). If it is determined that the second automatic lane change of the host vehicle is not completed, the overtaking control unit 142 returns the process to step S82. The overtaking control unit 142 determines whether or not the wind speed at the traveling point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value until the second automatic lane change of the host vehicle is completed (step S82).

When determining that the wind speed at the travel point of the host vehicle is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, the overtaking control unit 142 stops the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle (step S86). This completes the 1-cycle processing in the flowchart. On the other hand, if the overtaking control unit 142 determines that the second automatic lane change is completed while the wind speed at the traveling location of the host vehicle is maintained at less than the predetermined value, the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is continued, and the 1-cycle processing of the present flowchart is ended.

[ hardware configuration ]

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the automatic driving control apparatus 100 according to each of the above embodiments. As shown in the figure, the automatic driving control apparatus 100 has a configuration in which a communication controller 100-1, a CPU100-2, a RAM100-3 used as a work memory, a ROM100-4 for storing a boot program and the like, a flash memory, a storage apparatus 100-5 such as an HDD, a drive apparatus 100-6, and the like are connected to each other via an internal bus or a dedicated communication line. The communication controller 100-1 performs communication with components other than the automatic driving control apparatus 100. A removable storage medium (for example, a non-transitory storage medium that can be read by a computer) such as an optical disk is mounted on the drive device 100-6. The storage device 100-5 stores a program 100-5a executed by the CPU 100-2. The program is developed into the RAM100-3 by a dma (direct Memory access) controller (not shown) or the like, and executed by the CPU 100-2. The program 100-5a referred to by the CPU100-2 may be stored in a removable storage medium attached to the drive device 100-6, or may be downloaded from another device via a network. This realizes a part or all of the functions of the automatic driving control apparatus 100.

In the first embodiment, the process in step S10 in the flowchart shown in fig. 4 may be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the processing of steps S38 and S40 in the flowchart shown in fig. 5 may be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the overtaking control unit 142 may restart the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle after the vehicle passes through the first region R1 in the wind break when the traveling distance of the vehicle from the wind break is less than the second predetermined distance.

In the above embodiments, the flowcharts shown in fig. 4 to 8 do not necessarily require all the determination processes, and a necessary determination process may be appropriately selected and used.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The embodiments described above can be expressed as follows.

A vehicle control device is provided with:

a storage device that stores a program; and

a processor for processing the received data, wherein the processor is used for processing the received data,

the processor performs the following processing by executing the program:

identifying a surrounding condition of the vehicle including a surrounding object;

controlling the speed and steering of the vehicle, and performing automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is identified; and

and suppressing automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

Claims (11)

1. A control apparatus for a vehicle, wherein,

the vehicle control device includes:

an identification portion that identifies a surrounding situation of the vehicle including a surrounding object; and

a driving control unit that controls a speed and a steering of the vehicle, and performs automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is recognized by the recognition unit,

the driving control unit suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

2. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1,

the driving control unit suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the wind speed at the driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value and the recognition unit recognizes that the preceding vehicle is of a predetermined type.

3. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit performs automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the vehicle is traveling at a place where wind break facilities exist, even when a wind speed at the traveling place of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

4. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 3,

the driving control unit suppresses automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when the vehicle is traveling in a first region or a second region in a wind break even when the vehicle is traveling at a point where the wind break exists,

the first region is a region having a length of a first distance in a road length direction with reference to a starting point of the wind break,

the second region is a region having a length of a second distance in the road length direction with respect to the end point of the wind break.

5. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit increases the speed of the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle and performs an automatic lane change to an original lane when the wind speed at the traveling point of the vehicle becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined value after the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is started and the automatic lane change to an adjacent lane is performed.

6. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 5,

the driving control unit stops the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a first predetermined time has not elapsed since the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle, when a wind speed at a traveling point of the vehicle becomes equal to or higher than the predetermined value after the automatic lane change to an adjacent lane is performed after the start of the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle.

7. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 6,

the driving control unit continues the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a travel distance of the vehicle from a wind shield facility is less than a second predetermined distance, even when a wind speed at a travel point of the vehicle becomes equal to or greater than the predetermined value after the automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle is started and the automatic lane change to an adjacent lane is performed.

8. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit performs automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle even when a wind speed at a traveling point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value in a case where a speed of the vehicle is faster than a speed of the preceding vehicle by a first predetermined speed or higher.

9. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

the driving control unit promotes overtaking of a following vehicle to the vehicle when a wind speed at a traveling location of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, when it is estimated that the following vehicle will overtake.

10. A control method for a vehicle, wherein,

the vehicle control method causes a computer to execute:

identifying a surrounding condition of the vehicle including a surrounding object;

controlling a speed and a steering of the vehicle, and performing automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle on the same lane as the vehicle is recognized; and

and suppressing automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

11. A storage medium storing a program, wherein,

the program causes a computer to execute:

identifying a surrounding condition of the vehicle including a surrounding object;

controlling a speed and a steering of the vehicle, and performing automatic overtaking of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle traveling in the same direction as the vehicle on the same lane as the vehicle is recognized; and

and suppressing automatic overtaking of the preceding vehicle when a wind speed at a driving point of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined value.

Images