CN113050452A

CN113050452A - Vehicle lane change control method and device, computer equipment and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN113050452A
Application number: CN202110319091.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杜海宁
Original assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-25
Filing date: 2021-03-25
Publication date: 2021-06-29

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a vehicle simulation control method, apparatus, computer device, and computer-readable storage medium, which may be applied to the fields of automatic driving and intelligent transportation. The method comprises the following steps: controlling a target virtual vehicle to run on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, wherein the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction; calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished; responding to the time length reaching a first preset time length, and judging whether a lane changing control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met; and controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulation lane to an adjacent second simulation lane under the condition that the lane changing control condition is judged to be met. By the method, the operation efficiency of simulation can be improved, the simulation performance is guaranteed, the simulated automatic driving vehicle can better adapt to an intelligent traffic scene, and the traffic transportation efficiency and safety can be improved.

Description

Vehicle lane change control method and device, computer equipment and storage medium

Technical Field

The disclosed embodiment relates to the technical field of automatic driving simulation, in particular to a method and a device for controlling lane changing of a vehicle in microscopic traffic simulation, computer equipment and a computer readable storage medium.

Background

Nowadays, with the increasing development of artificial intelligence, the application of artificial intelligence technology in life is more and more extensive, including the application in automatic driving technology. The automatic driving technology is applied to an actual road, so that the running safety of the vehicle can be ensured while the running speed of the vehicle is ensured to be higher.

In the related art, in order to maintain the superior performance of the automatic driving technology in practical application, simulation experiments may be performed in microscopic traffic simulation software (e.g., TAD Sim) before practical application.

Therefore, there is a need for a lane change control method for a vehicle that can improve the operation efficiency of simulation while ensuring the simulation performance.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the disclosure provides a method and a device for controlling lane changing of a vehicle, a computer device and a storage medium, which can provide a scheme for simulating lane changing control of a virtual vehicle in the computer device, improve the running efficiency of simulation and ensure the simulation performance at the same time. The technical scheme is as follows:

according to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle simulation control method including: controlling a target virtual vehicle to run on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, wherein the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction; calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished; responding to the time length reaching a first preset time length, and judging whether a lane changing control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met; and controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulation lane to an adjacent second simulation lane under the condition that the lane changing control condition is judged to be met.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also disclosed a vehicle simulation control apparatus including: the driving control module is used for controlling a target virtual vehicle to drive on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, and the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction; the timing module is used for calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished; the judging module is used for responding to the time length reaching a first preset time length and judging whether a lane changing control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met or not; and the lane change control module is used for controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulation lane to an adjacent second simulation lane under the condition that the lane change control condition is judged to be met.

In a possible implementation manner, the determining module is further configured to: under the condition that the lane change control condition is judged to be not met, repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is met or not according to a preset interval until the preset condition of termination judgment is reached or the lane change control condition is judged to be met, and under the condition that the preset condition of termination judgment is reached, judging whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met again after waiting for a second preset time length, wherein the second preset time length is the same as or different from the first preset time length, and the preset interval is less than or equal to the first preset time length and the second preset time length.

In one possible implementation manner, the determining module may include: an instruction judgment submodule configured to judge whether an instruction to control the target virtual vehicle to change lane from the first simulated lane to the second simulated lane is received; and the distance judgment submodule is configured to acquire a first distance between the target virtual vehicle and a leading vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a following vehicle in the second simulation lane, and judge whether the first distance is greater than a first preset safety distance and whether the second distance is greater than a second preset safety distance.

In a possible implementation manner, the termination judgment preset condition includes one of the following items: judging that the lane change control condition is not met through preset times; and repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is met or not according to a preset interval and the third preset time duration is passed.

In one possible implementation, the vehicle simulation control apparatus may further include a determination module that includes: the excitation degree determining submodule is used for determining the corresponding excitation degree of the target virtual vehicle; the lane change type determining submodule determines lane change types according to path planning, wherein the lane change types comprise active lane change and passive lane change; and the time length determining submodule is used for determining a first preset time length based on the excitation degree and the lane change type.

In one possible implementation, the aggressiveness determination submodule is configured to: acquiring virtual attributes of the target virtual vehicle, wherein the virtual attributes comprise at least one of reaction time of a driver, familiarity to road conditions, psychological factors, age, gender, vehicle type, area where the vehicle is located and travel purpose; and determining the corresponding degree of aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle based on the virtual attribute of the target virtual vehicle.

In one possible implementation, the lane change type determination submodule is configured to: determining whether a driving path of the target virtual vehicle to finish driving the target comprises a specific position according to path planning, wherein the specific position comprises a diversion lane entrance, a turning intersection or a turning position, and the target virtual vehicle must reach the corresponding specific position through a side simulation lane, wherein the side simulation lane is the same as or different from the first simulation lane; determining that the lane change type is an active lane change if it is determined that the travel path does not include the specific position; and determining a lane change type of lane change of the target virtual vehicle within a road section having a distance threshold value from the specific position in the driving path in the road direction as a passive lane change and determining a lane change type of lane change of the target virtual vehicle outside the road section in the road direction as an active lane change, in the case where it is determined that the driving path includes the specific position.

In one possible implementation, the duration determination submodule is configured to: setting the first preset time length in a negative correlation with the degree of aggressiveness under the condition that the lane change type is active lane change; and, in case the lane change type is a passive lane change, determining a side-side simulated lane corresponding to the nearest specific position based on path planning; under the condition that the side simulation lane is different from a first simulation lane currently driven by the target virtual vehicle, determining the first simulation lane and the latest lane change point on each simulation lane between the first simulation lane and the side simulation lane; starting from the first simulation lane until changing lane to the side simulation lane, aiming at the simulation lane currently driven by the target virtual vehicle: determining the distance between the current position of the target virtual vehicle and the latest lane change point on the currently running simulation lane; and updating a current first preset duration in negative correlation with the aggressiveness and the distance.

In one possible implementation, the vehicle simulation control apparatus further includes a lane change cancellation module that includes: the monitoring submodule is used for continuously monitoring a first distance between a target virtual vehicle and a front vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a rear vehicle in the second simulation lane during lane changing operation; the cancellation submodule is used for canceling the lane changing operation and controlling the target virtual vehicle to return to a first simulation lane before the lane changing operation is executed under the condition that at least one of the first distance is monitored to be smaller than a first preset safety distance and the second distance is monitored to be smaller than a second preset safety distance; and an indicating submodule for indicating the judging module to judge whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied again after the time elapsed after the target virtual vehicle is controlled to return to the first simulated lane before the lane change operation is executed reaches a fourth preset time.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored therein at least one instruction, at least one program, a set of codes, or a set of instructions, which is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the operations in the steps of the vehicle simulation control method as described above.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer readable storage medium having stored therein at least one instruction, at least one program, set of codes, or set of instructions that is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the vehicle simulation control method as described above.

The technical scheme provided by the disclosure can comprise the following beneficial effects:

in the scheme shown in the embodiment of the disclosure, a lane change cooling period with a first preset time length is introduced as the waiting time between the continuous lane changes of the vehicle, and when the vehicle is in the lane change cooling period, the computer device does not perform the decision judgment of lane change on the vehicle, so that when a large number of simulated vehicles exist, the operation efficiency can be greatly improved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIGS. 1A-1B show schematic views of various lanes.

FIG. 1C shows a schematic diagram of a vehicle control simulation platform, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the distance between vehicles on a simulated lane.

3A-3C illustrate a flow diagram of a vehicle simulation control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4A-4B and 5 show schematic views of a portion of a scene in a vehicle simulation control process according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a control flow diagram of a vehicle emulation lane-change control in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of the structure of a vehicle simulation control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more apparent, example embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely a subset of the embodiments of the present disclosure and not all embodiments of the present disclosure, with the understanding that the present disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments described herein.

In the present specification and the drawings, steps and elements having substantially the same or similar characteristics are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals, and repeated description of the steps and elements will be omitted. Meanwhile, in the description of the present disclosure, the terms "first", "second", and the like are used only for distinguishing the description, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or order.

According to the embodiment of the disclosure, in order to keep the automatic driving technology to have better performance in practical application, a simulation experiment is performed in microscopic traffic simulation software (e.g., TAD Sim) before practical application. For example, in actual practice, the driver may choose to drive off the road in order to pursue faster vehicle speeds, freer drive space vehicles, or to accomplish their normal driving objectives. Accordingly, in the simulation system, there is a need to simulate the driving behavior of each simulated vehicle included in the simulation system to better serve the intelligent traffic system. When a large number of simulated vehicles exist in the simulation system, lane change behaviors of the large number of simulated vehicles need to be simulated, and accordingly, a vehicle lane change control method capable of improving the running efficiency of the simulation and ensuring the simulation performance is needed.

Before describing in detail various embodiments of the present disclosure, a brief explanation of some terms that may be used in the context of the present disclosure is first provided.

Distance: in this context, the distances mentioned are all distances based on the flenne (Frenet) coordinate system. The distance between the vehicles refers to the distance between the tail of the front vehicle and the head of the rear vehicle along the road direction.

Frenet coordinate system: in the Frenet coordinate system, a coordinate system is established using the center line of the road as a reference line, and using a tangent vector t and a normal vector n of the reference line. With the vehicle itself as the origin, the coordinate axes are perpendicular to each other, divided into an s-direction (i.e., a direction along a reference line, commonly referred to as Longitudinal) and a d-direction (i.e., a current normal to the reference line, referred to as transverse).

A main lane: in the present disclosure, if not specifically mentioned, the mentioned lanes are main lanes, i.e. a first simulated lane, a second simulated lane, a side simulated lane, etc.

Auxiliary lane: also called a side road, refers in this disclosure to an additional lane arranged in parallel outside the main lane.

A transition lane: under the condition of high-speed lane descending, the transition lane is parallel to the main lane within a certain distance, one end of the transition lane is branched from the main lane, and the other end of the transition lane is connected with the ramp.

And (3) ramp: the present disclosure also refers to a section of a highway for a high-speed descent, which is connected to one end of an auxiliary lane.

Lane diversion: in this disclosure, to an auxiliary lane or ramp. The diversion lane entrance may refer to one end of a transition lane connected to the auxiliary lane or ramp, and the other end of the transition lane is connected to the main road.

The above definition of the various lanes may be better understood with reference to fig. 1A-1B, infra.

The automatic driving technology comprises the following steps: the method generally comprises the technologies of high-precision maps, environment perception, behavior decision, path planning, motion control and the like, and the automatic driving technology has wide application prospect.

The simulation technology comprises the following steps: simulation hardware and simulation software are applied to reflect the simulation model technology of the system behavior or process through simulation experiments by means of some numerical calculation and problem solving. Road traffic simulation is an important tool for researching complex traffic problems, and particularly, when a system is too complex to be described by a simple abstract mathematical model, the traffic simulation is more prominent. The traffic simulation can clearly assist in analyzing and predicting the sections and reasons of traffic jam, and compare and evaluate the relevant schemes of city planning, traffic engineering and traffic management, so that the problems are avoided or prepared as much as possible before the problems become realistic.

With the research and progress of artificial intelligence technology, the artificial intelligence technology is developed and applied in a plurality of fields, such as common smart homes, smart wearable devices, virtual assistants, smart speakers, smart marketing, unmanned driving, automatic driving, unmanned aerial vehicles, robots, smart medical care, smart customer service, and the like.

The scheme provided by the disclosure relates to technologies such as artificial intelligence automatic driving, and is specifically explained by the following embodiments:

FIG. 1C shows a schematic diagram of a vehicle control simulation platform, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle control simulation platform is applied to a computer device 10, and the computer device 10 comprises a database 11, simulation software 12 and a simulation result display window 13.

In one possible implementation, the simulation software 12 is a micro-simulation software.

For example, the simulation software 12 may be an autopilot simulation platform, such as TAD Sim.

The logic algorithm involved in the vehicle control simulation method is embedded in the simulation software 12, so that the vehicle is controlled by the simulation software according to the logic algorithm.

The vehicle information and the driver characteristics corresponding to each vehicle may be stored in the database 11, where the vehicle information and the driver characteristics corresponding to each vehicle may be simulation data or actual data may be stored in the database 11 according to the data collection device collecting the actual data from the actual road.

The simulation result display window 13 may display the simulation result in the form of characters, or may simulate the simulation result in the form of animation for display.

By embedding a logic algorithm for controlling the vehicle to change lanes in the simulation software, as will be described later, the degree of fit of the simulation result to the actual situation can be improved. The logic algorithm can control the vehicles to change lanes, so that the process of controlling the vehicles to orderly drive into a ramp to complete shunting can be realized, and the logic algorithm can also be applied to the process of controlling the vehicles to change lanes on a common road. In the present disclosure, lane change refers only to lane change between adjacent simulated lanes in the same direction, i.e., lane change in a straight direction, i.e., lane change from one straight lane to another adjacent straight lane.

In the current microscopic traffic simulation, the lane change behavior of the vehicle is mostly based on rules, that is, the vehicle starts and completes a lane change process based on the judgment of the rules such as lane change will and safety conditions. On the premise that the vehicle intends to change lanes, safety conditions that are usually considered include the distance G between the vehicle and a leading vehicle TP in a target lane (the lane to which lane change is intended)_TPDistance G from rear follower TR_TRShould be greater than a certain preset safety distance.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the host vehicle (E) changes lane from the current lane to the adjacent lane, the distance G between the tail of the leading vehicle (TP) in the target lane and the head of the host vehicle is used_TPIs expressed by G, the corresponding preset safety distance_SPAnd the distance between the head of the following vehicle (TR) in the target lane and the tail of the vehicle is represented by G_TRIs expressed by G, the corresponding preset safety distance_SRTo indicate that G is required_TP>G_SPAnd G_TR>G_SRIn the case of (3), the host vehicle can change lanes.

3A-3B illustrate a flow diagram of a vehicle simulation control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle simulation control method may be executed by a computer device. The computer device may be the computer device 10 shown in fig. 1C. As shown in fig. 3A, the vehicle simulation control method includes the following steps.

In step S310, the control target virtual vehicle travels on a first simulated lane of a simulated region including at least two simulated lanes in the same direction.

The simulation area may refer to a city area or a road section on a highway.

In one possible implementation, the simulated lane includes a first simulated lane and a second simulated lane adjacent to the first simulated lane. The target virtual vehicle may be controlled to change lanes from the first simulated lane to the second simulated lane.

Wherein, in addition to the target virtual vehicle, there is at least one virtual vehicle traveling in the same direction on the simulated lane.

In step S320, the time period that the target virtual vehicle has elapsed after the end of the last lane change is calculated.

The target virtual vehicle may need to change lanes many times during traveling, for example, in order to pursue a faster vehicle speed, to drive the vehicle in a freer space, or to accomplish its normal traveling purpose (for example, to go off a ramp, to divert a flow, or to turn a corner or turn around, etc. to change lanes to a side lane while traveling on a highway). Timing may be started after each determination to complete a lane change to determine the length of time that has elapsed after the lane change.

In step S330, in response to the time period reaching a first preset time period, it is determined whether a lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied.

For example, the first preset time period may be used to specify the length of the lane change cooling period of the target virtual vehicle, i.e., the target virtual vehicle should set the lane change cooling period between every two lane changes in a continuous lane change process under the control of, for example, the computer device, and during the lane change cooling period, the computer device does not determine whether to control the target virtual vehicle to make a lane change. More details on how to determine the first preset duration of the designated lane change cooling period will be described in more detail later.

Alternatively, the lane-change control condition may be considered from at least two aspects, such as lane-change willingness and safety. Therefore, the determining whether the lane change control condition is satisfied may include the steps of: judging whether an instruction for controlling the target virtual vehicle to change lane from the first simulation lane to the second simulation lane is received; and acquiring a first distance between the target virtual vehicle and a leading vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a following vehicle in the second simulation lane, and judging whether the first distance is greater than a first preset safety distance and whether the second distance is greater than a second preset safety distance.

First, as for the instruction to control the target virtual vehicle to make a lane change, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the computer device may receive an instruction to control the target virtual vehicle to make a lane change to the second simulated lane when the target virtual vehicle travels to a specified position during normal travel of the target virtual vehicle.

For example, in one possible implementation, when the target virtual vehicle finds an obstacle in the driving direction of the current simulated lane, or finds congestion ahead of the current first simulated lane, and needs to change lanes, the computer device receives an instruction to control the target virtual vehicle to change lanes to the second simulated lane.

In another possible implementation, for a scenario where the target virtual vehicle needs to enter the transition lane from the main lane and then descend from the ramp (e.g., a scenario of a high speed descent) or needs to enter the transition lane from the main lane to travel to the auxiliary lane to complete the diversion, the computer device acquires the position of the target virtual vehicle in real time, and acquires the distance in the road direction between the target virtual vehicle and the start point of the transition lane (the acquired distance may also be the distance between the target virtual vehicle and the end point of the transition lane (the connection point with the ramp entrance)) and the travel lane information in real time, when the acquired distance in the road direction between the target virtual vehicle and the start point or the end point of the transition lane is a preset distance and the target virtual vehicle does not travel on the lane required to complete the high speed descent or the diversion, and receiving an instruction of changing the lane of the control target virtual vehicle to the second simulation lane.

Of course, the above two implementations are merely examples, and the computer device may also receive an instruction to control the target virtual vehicle to change lane to the second simulated lane in other ways.

Second, for the above distance relationship reflecting security, the first distance may be G as described with reference to FIG. 2_TPTo indicate that the first preset safe distance is usedG_SPIs indicated with G, and the second distance is indicated with G_TRIs shown and the second preset safe distance is G_SRTo indicate. The computer equipment can acquire the first distance G in real time_TPAnd a second distance G_TRAnd is at G_TP>G_SPAnd G_TR>G_SRIn the case of (2), it is determined that the target virtual vehicle can be controlled to change lane from the first simulated lane to the second simulated lane, otherwise, even when a lane change instruction is received, the target virtual vehicle is not controlled to perform a lane change operation.

Optionally, a first preset safety distance G_SPAnd a second preset safety distance G_SRMay not be fixed but may be related to the speed of the target or surrounding virtual vehicle (e.g., leading and trailing vehicles on a simulated lane to which lane changes are desired), the probability of yielding for the surrounding related vehicles, and so forth. For example, if the speed of the leading vehicle on the simulated lane to which the target virtual vehicle desires to change lane is relatively slow, the first preset safe distance G may be set_SPSet to a larger one. For another example, if it is determined that the yield probability of the following vehicle on the simulated lane to which the target virtual vehicle is expected to change lane is low (e.g., the yield probability may be determined inversely related based on the degree of aggressiveness of the driver driving the following vehicle), the second preset safe distance G may be set_SRSet to a larger one. Of course, the first preset safety distance G_SPAnd a second preset safety distance G_SROther factors may also be relevant and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In step S340, in a case where it is determined that the lane change control condition is satisfied, the target virtual vehicle is controlled to change the lane from the first simulated lane to the second simulated lane.

That is, if the lane change control condition is satisfied, it is indicated that, for example, a lane change instruction is received as described above and the safety condition is also satisfied, and therefore, the computer apparatus may control the target virtual vehicle to perform the lane change operation.

In the vehicle simulation control method described above with reference to fig. 3A, a lane change cooling period having a first preset duration is introduced as a waiting time between consecutive lane changes of the vehicle, and when the vehicle is in the lane change cooling period, the computer device does not perform decision-making judgment on the lane change of the vehicle, so that when there are a large number of simulated vehicles, the operation efficiency can be greatly improved. Alternatively, if it is determined in step S330 that the lane-change control condition is not satisfied, the vehicle simulation method may further include step S350 and step S360, as shown in fig. 3B.

In step S350, it is repeatedly determined whether the lane change control condition is satisfied at preset intervals until a termination determination preset condition is reached or it is determined that the lane change control condition is satisfied.

For example, if the computer apparatus determines in step S330 that the lane-change control condition is not satisfied, it is determined that the target virtual vehicle is in a state ready for lane change, and repeatedly determines whether the lane-change control condition is satisfied at preset intervals, and when it is determined that the lane-change control condition is satisfied, the target virtual vehicle may be controlled to start a lane-change operation.

Further, when the process of this repeated judgment reaches the termination judgment preset condition, as described in step S360, in the case where the termination judgment preset condition has been reached, the computer device waits for a second preset time period, which is the same as or different from the first preset time period, before re-judging whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied, wherein the preset interval is equal to or less than the first preset time period and the second preset time period. In some embodiments, the preset interval may be in units of simulation steps and may include a preset number (e.g., 1) of simulation steps.

According to some embodiments, the termination judgment preset condition includes one of: judging that the lane change control condition is not met through preset times; and repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is met or not according to a preset interval, wherein a third preset time length indicating the maximum waiting time is passed. Alternatively, the third preset time period may be inversely related to the degree of aggressiveness (as will be described later) corresponding to the target virtual vehicle, i.e., if the degree of aggressiveness is higher, the third preset time period is shorter.

For example, when the lane change control condition is not satisfied when the predetermined number of times of determination has elapsed or the repeated determination process has elapsed for a third predetermined period of time (e.g., the set maximum waiting time), the determination may not be continued, but may be resumed after waiting for the second predetermined period of time.

The second preset duration may be the same as the first preset duration, i.e., upon reaching the end judgment preset condition, the computer apparatus re-enters the lane change cooling period, i.e., recalculates the experienced show from that time on, and re-judges whether the lane change control condition is satisfied when the calculated duration reaches the second preset duration (i.e., the first preset duration). Of course, the second preset time period may be set to any value greater than 0 according to practical situations. Therefore, the lane change judgment operation is not performed within the second preset time period, so that the simulation efficiency can be improved.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the set first preset time period for specifying the lane change cooling period may be fixed, and in other embodiments, different drivers of the target virtual vehicle may have different driving habits, and different driving manners may also exist according to whether the lane change is necessary to complete the driving purpose, so that the first preset time period may also be set differently for different drivers driving the target virtual vehicle and the lane change necessity, so that the lane change process difference possibly caused by the driver driving difference and the lane change necessity may be considered in the simulation process, thereby reducing the simulation result difference from the actual application difference, and further improving the simulation performance.

Based on this, a flow schematic of a vehicle simulation control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is further described with reference to fig. 3C. Fig. 4A-5 show schematic views of portions of a scene during vehicle simulation control.

As shown in fig. 3C, the vehicle simulation control method may further include steps S301, S302, and S303.

In step S301, the degree of aggressiveness corresponding to the target virtual vehicle is determined.

The corresponding aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle may be determined according to at least one of the following two ways.

Mode 1): the computer equipment acquires the virtual attribute of the target virtual vehicle, and sets the corresponding aggressive degree of the target virtual vehicle based on the virtual attribute of the target virtual vehicle.

The virtual attribute includes at least one of a reaction time of a driver driving the target virtual vehicle, a familiarity degree with a road condition, a psychological factor, an age, a gender, a trip purpose, a model of the target virtual vehicle, a simulation region (e.g., a city, a district) where the target virtual vehicle is located, and the like.

For example, the faster the reaction time of the driver of the virtual vehicle, the more familiar it is with the road conditions, or the greater the degree of aggressiveness should be for better psychological quality; the corresponding degree of the virtual vehicle with the type of the convertible sports car is set to be larger than the corresponding degree of the virtual vehicle with the type of the nanny car; the value of the degree of aggressiveness corresponding to a driver with a small age corresponding to the virtual vehicle should be set to be greater than the value of the degree of aggressiveness corresponding to a driver with a long age; when the gender of the driver corresponding to the virtual vehicle is male, the corresponding value of the degree of acceleration should be larger than the corresponding value of the degree of acceleration of the virtual vehicle when the gender of the driver is female; the corresponding value of the degree of aggressiveness of the virtual vehicle when the area is in a relatively congested area should be set to be smaller than the corresponding value of the degree of aggressiveness of the virtual vehicle when the area is in a relatively open area; the incentive degree set when the travel purpose corresponding to the virtual vehicle is traveling should be smaller than the value of the incentive degree corresponding to the travel purpose when the travel purpose is going to the hospital.

By way of example and not limitation, the value of the aggressiveness is a random floating point number greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1, and it can be considered that a aggressiveness of 0 represents the most conservative of the driver of the virtual vehicle and a aggressiveness of 1 represents the most aggressive of the driver of the virtual vehicle. Of course, other metrics may be used to measure the aggressiveness.

Mode 2): and the computer equipment randomly sets the corresponding aggressive degree of the target virtual vehicle.

For example, before the simulation process is performed, the computer device generates a random floating point number Ai which is greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1 for the ith virtual vehicle, and similarly, it can be considered that the jerk is 0 and represents that the driver of the virtual vehicle is most conservative, and the jerk is 1 and represents that the driver of the virtual vehicle is most aggressive, and the random number Ai is set as the corresponding jerk of the ith virtual vehicle. Similarly, the degree of aggressiveness set based on the virtual attribute of the target virtual vehicle may be a floating point number greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the value indicating the degree of aggressiveness corresponding to the target virtual vehicle does not change with the operation of the simulation, that is, the value is always fixed once set.

In step S302, lane change types are determined according to the path plan, where the lane change types include active lane change and passive lane change.

As previously mentioned, lane change may be a lane change behavior that occurs in pursuit of faster vehicle speed, freer driving space, which is referred to as active lane change in this disclosure. Furthermore, lane changing may also be a lane changing action that the vehicle must take in order to accomplish its normal driving purpose, which is referred to as passive lane changing in this disclosure.

A path plan for the target virtual vehicle, e.g., a travel route for the target virtual vehicle from a first location to a second location (including roads to be traveled, where to turn, where to descend, etc.), may be stored in the computer device.

The computer device may perform the following operations to determine the lane change type.

First, it is determined whether a driving path of the target virtual vehicle to complete driving the target includes a specific location according to the path plan, wherein the specific location includes a diversion lane entrance, a turning intersection, or a turning location, and the target virtual vehicle must reach the corresponding specific location via the side-simulated lane. Wherein the side emulation lane is the same as or different from the first emulation lane.

For example, the target virtual vehicle may have to reach the destination via the rightmost simulated lane to the diversion lane entrance, to the right turn intersection, and have to turn around at the turn around location via the leftmost simulated lane.

The specific location as the diversion lane entrance may be associated with a transition lane, for example, the target virtual vehicle enters the auxiliary lane via the diversion lane entrance (end point of the transition lane) to complete the diversion (fig. 1B), or enters the diversion lane entrance to facilitate entry into the ramp (fig. 1A). In the present disclosure, the transition lane associated with the diversion lane entry is also referred to as the target emulation lane in the present disclosure, i.e., the target virtual vehicle must eventually enter the target emulation lane from the side emulation lane in order to complete the diversion or the high-speed descent.

Then, in a case where it is determined that the travel path does not include a specific position (i.e., the destination can be reached by performing only along one lane), it is determined that the lane change type is an active lane change; and determining a lane change type of lane change of the target virtual vehicle within a road section that is a distance threshold value away from the specific position in the road direction as a passive lane change, and determining a lane change type of lane change of the target virtual vehicle outside the road section in the road direction as an active lane change, in the case where it is determined that the travel path includes the specific position.

The road section at a distance threshold from each specific location may be preset by the computer device.

For example, if the travel path has been determined and includes a right-turn intersection and a left-turn intersection in turn, the computer device may determine in advance a road section one kilometer from the right-turn intersection in the road direction, and may determine in advance a road section one kilometer from the left-turn intersection in the road direction after a successful right-turn, as shown in sections a1 and a2 in fig. 4A. The target virtual vehicle is in the intervals a1 and a2, the lane change type is a passive lane change, and in the remaining intervals, the lane change type is an active lane change. If it is determined that the target virtual vehicle enters the A1 and A2 intervals based on the current position information of the target virtual vehicle, the lane change type becomes a passive lane change.

In addition, the road section with a distance threshold from each specific position can also be prompted according to environmental information (such as a ramp entrance notice board, a turning notice board, a speed limit notice board and the like) of the target virtual vehicle during driving so as to determine the lane change type as passive lane change.

For example, when the computer device acquires information of "1 KM from the entrance of the B-ramp" from the ramp entrance notice board via, for example, the acquisition device of the target virtual vehicle, the lane change type may be determined as a passive lane change until the lane has been successfully exited from the ramp, and the lane change type is an active lane change in a section before the prompt is received, according to the path planning that the target virtual vehicle needs to descend from the B-ramp.

For example, it may be determined based on path planning that a target virtual vehicle needs to travel a certain distance straight from a first location to a second location, and then to descend from a certain ramp or turn right at a certain intersection. The lane change type of the target virtual vehicle may be determined as an active lane change, i.e., a lane change is not necessary at present, immediately after the target virtual vehicle departs from the first location, until it is determined that the target virtual vehicle needs to turn right at a next ramp down or next intersection based on the current position of the target virtual vehicle (e.g., it is determined that the target virtual vehicle is only a preset distance away from the ramp down or intersection based on the current position of the target virtual vehicle) or the acquired environmental information includes a sign for the distance to the ramp down or intersection, the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle is determined as a passive lane change. Likewise, after the target virtual vehicle has successfully driven into the ramp or successfully turned, if it is determined based on the path plan that the target virtual vehicle only needs to travel straight or is relatively far from the next specific location, the lane change type may be switched back to the active lane change.

As shown in fig. 4B, the target virtual vehicle goes from the first location to the second location, and while the target virtual vehicle is traveling in the first section ds1, the computer device sets the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle as an active lane change, and from point P (point P needs to be 1KM from the entrance of the ramp below it, and has a notice board reminding of 1KM from the entrance of the ramp) to acquire information of the entrance of the ramp below it, the computer device sets the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle as a passive lane change, and after traveling a certain distance after successful lane change (not shown), may switch the lane change type from the passive lane change back to the active lane change again.

In step S303, a first preset time period is determined based on the degree of aggressiveness and the lane change type.

Optionally, in a case where the lane change type is an active lane change, the first preset time period is set in negative correlation with the degree of aggressiveness. That is, if the target virtual vehicle corresponds to a higher degree of aggressiveness, the first preset time period is certainly shorter. The first preset duration may be set as a function of the aggressiveness.

Alternatively, when the lane change type is a passive lane change, and the section in the road direction in which the lane change type is determined as the passive lane change is set in advance by the computer device as described above, the first preset time period may also be set in negative correlation with the degree of aggressiveness, and also the latest lane change point on a part of the lanes (as will be described later) needs to be considered.

Alternatively, in the case where the lane change type is a passive lane change, and this is whether it is a passive lane change determined by environmental information during driving, the target virtual vehicle needs to enter, for example, a transition lane, a lane after turning, or the like through a side-side simulated lane (typically, a rightmost lane or a leftmost lane, collectively referred to as a side-side lane or a side-side simulated lane in the present disclosure) to complete the driving target, and if the target virtual vehicle is not currently driving on the side-side simulated lane, the target virtual vehicle needs to change to the side-side simulated lane so that, for example, the transition lane, the lane after turning, or the like can be driven in. Further, in the case where the target virtual vehicle needs to make a lane change to be able to enter, for example, a transition lane, a lane after a turn, or the like, if the target virtual vehicle makes a lane change too late, even if the lane change is made to the side-side dummy lane, the target virtual vehicle may no longer be able to enter the transition lane, the lane after a turn, or the like, and therefore, it should be considered whether or not the lane change is possible in time in addition to the degree of excitement corresponding to the target virtual vehicle when the first preset time period of the lane change cooling period is set.

Thus, step S303 may include the following sub-steps.

First, a side-side simulated lane corresponding to the nearest specific position is determined based on the path plan.

Secondly, under the condition that the side simulation lane is different from a first simulation lane currently driven by the target virtual vehicle, determining the first simulation lane and the latest lane change point on each simulation lane between the first simulation lane and the side simulation lane.

For example, if the side-side simulated lane corresponding to the nearest specific position (next specific position) is the same as the first simulated lane on which the target virtual vehicle is currently traveling, that is, the target virtual vehicle can reach the specific position through the first simulated lane, lane change of the target virtual vehicle is not required (in the present disclosure, lane change is merely lane change between adjacent simulated lanes in the same direction, that is, lane change in the straight direction, that is, lane change from one straight lane to another adjacent straight lane).

If the first simulated lane is directly adjacent to the side simulated lane, the target virtual vehicle only needs to change lanes once to reach the side simulated lane to drive on the side simulated lane so as to finally reach the nearest specific position. If the first simulated vehicle is not directly adjacent to the side simulated lane, i.e. there are one or more other simulated lanes (middle simulated lanes) between the first simulated vehicle and the side simulated lane, the target virtual vehicle needs to change lanes at least twice to reach the side simulated lane to travel on it, so as to finally reach the nearest specific position. Meanwhile, the latest lane change point on the first simulated lane and each middle simulated lane relative to the side simulated lane needs to be determined. The latest lane change point may be understood as a latest position point at which the target virtual vehicle starts to perform a lane change operation if it is to be ensured that the lane change is successful to the side-side simulated lane corresponding to the nearest specific position when the target virtual vehicle travels on the first simulated lane and the respective middle simulated lanes. Alternatively, the latest lane change point on each of the simulated lanes may be determined based on at least one of the positional relationship (how many simulated lanes are apart) of the simulated lane and the side simulated lane corresponding to the closest specific position and the average time required for lane change of the target virtual vehicle.

Then, starting from the first simulated lane until changing lane to the side simulated lane, aiming at the simulated lane currently driven by the target virtual vehicle: determining the distance between the current position of the target virtual vehicle and the latest lane change point on the currently running simulation lane; and updating the current first preset duration in negative correlation with the degree of aggressiveness and in positive correlation with the distance.

Alternatively, in a case where the lane change type is a passive lane change and the target virtual vehicle travels on the same simulated lane, the first preset duration may be determined and updated at a preset period before controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane, and the preset period may be set longer than a period for acquiring the current position, so that the first preset duration when on the same simulated lane may not be updated too frequently. For example, when the target virtual vehicle travels on the first simulated lane, the period of acquiring the position information thereof may be t1, the sequence of position acquisition time points is t1, 2t1, 3t1, …, nt1, and the period of updating the first preset duration may be 3t1, and then the distance may be determined using only the position information acquired at the 3t1, 6t1, … acquisition time points to update the first preset duration, so the frequency of updating the first preset duration may be reduced. After the target virtual vehicle changes lane to the second simulated lane, if the change to another simulated lane is needed, the position acquisition and the first preset duration update can also be performed in the same manner before the change again.

Optionally, the first preset duration may be a function of the aggressiveness and the distance. The function may be constructed in any form.

Furthermore, the first preset time period when the lane change type is the passive lane change can be made shorter than the first preset time period when the lane change type is the active lane change, that is, for the same target virtual vehicle, the target virtual vehicle is controlled with a shorter lane change cooling period when the lane change type is the passive lane change, so that the target virtual vehicle enters the target lane as soon as possible.

For example, fig. 5 shows a partial scene schematic diagram when the computer device determines that the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle switches to the passive lane change. As shown in fig. 5, a second simulated lane (lane 2) exists between the first simulated lane (lane 3) and the side simulated lane (lane 1) where the target virtual vehicle (a) is currently traveling, and it can be seen that the target virtual vehicle needs to make two lane changes to enter the transition lane connected with the ramp for the following lane, that is, to change from the first simulated lane (lane 3) to the second simulated lane (lane 2) and then to change from the second simulated lane (lane 2) to the side simulated lane (lane 1). For another example, no dummy lane exists between the second dummy lane (lane 2) and the side dummy lane (lane 1) where the target dummy vehicle (B) is currently traveling, and it is seen that the target dummy vehicle needs to make a lane change from the second dummy lane (lane 2) to the side dummy lane (lane 1) once to enter the transition lane.

The target virtual vehicle (A) needs to change the lane before the first latest lane change point (P1) on the first simulation lane (lane 3) which is currently running to successfully realize the lane change twice and finally enters the transition lane (so as to enter the ramp). And the target virtual vehicle (B) runs on the second simulation lane (lane 2) currently, lane change is required before the second latest lane change point (P2) to successfully realize the lane change once, and finally the target virtual vehicle enters the transition lane.

For each target virtual vehicle, taking the target virtual vehicle (a) in fig. 5 as an example, the computer device may start determining the distance between the current position of the target virtual vehicle at that time and the first latest lane change point (P1) on the currently-traveling first simulated lane (lane 3) upon switching the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle to a passive lane change (e.g., recognizing that there is a prompt of 1KM away from the ramp entrance), and update the first preset duration of the current lane change cooling period (e.g., the current first preset duration may be the first preset duration of the lane change cooling period corresponding during the lane change type being an active lane change) based on the corresponding degree of aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle and the distance, and store it for the next lane change cooling period, and as the distance from the first latest lane change point (P1) on the first simulated lane becomes closer and closer, the first preset duration stored last time may be further updated. Further, when the target virtual vehicle has lane-changed onto the second simulated lane, the computer apparatus may start determining a distance of the current position of the target virtual vehicle at this time from a second latest lane-change point (P2) on the second simulated lane (lane 2) currently traveling, and further update and store the first preset duration of the current lane-change cooling period based on the corresponding degree of aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle and the distance, and may further update the stored first preset duration as the distance from the second latest lane-change point (P2) on the second simulated lane becomes closer and closer.

That is, when the first preset duration of the specified lane change cooling period is set, a parameter of the corresponding aggressiveness degree of the target virtual vehicle can be introduced, and active lane change or passive lane change is also considered, so that the lane change process difference possibly caused by the driving difference of a driver and the lane change necessity can be considered in the simulation process, the difference between the simulation result and the actual application is reduced, and the simulation performance is improved.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, if a following vehicle or a leading vehicle on a second simulation lane suddenly accelerates or decelerates during a process in which a computer device controls the target virtual vehicle to change lanes from a first simulation lane to the second simulation lane, so that a distance between the target virtual vehicle and the following vehicle and/or the leading vehicle is less than a preset safety distance, a safety hazard may exist.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 3C, the vehicle simulation control method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include the following steps.

In step S304, a first distance of the target virtual vehicle from a leading vehicle in the second simulated lane and a second distance from a trailing vehicle in the second simulated lane are continuously monitored during the lane change operation.

For example, the computer device continuously acquires the first distance G_TPAnd a secondDistance G_TRAnd whether G is determined_TP>G_SPAnd G_TR>G_SR。

In step S305, in the case that at least one of the first distance is monitored to be smaller than a first preset safe distance and the second distance is monitored to be smaller than a second preset safe distance, canceling the lane change operation, and controlling the target virtual vehicle to return to the first simulated lane before the lane change operation is executed.

That is, if it is monitored that the safety condition is not satisfied, it is indicated that the lane change will be continued at this time, so that the lane change operation is cancelled, and the target virtual vehicle is caused to return to the first simulated lane before the lane change.

In step S306, after the elapsed time after the target virtual vehicle is controlled to return to the first simulated lane before the lane change operation is performed reaches a fourth preset time period, it is newly determined whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied.

That is, after canceling the lane change operation, the computer apparatus may control the target virtual vehicle to enter a lane change canceling cooling period having a fourth preset duration during which the determination of the lane change control condition is not made until the lane change canceling cooling period has expired. Thus, the judgment is not needed to be carried out in each simulation step, and therefore the operation efficiency of the simulation can be improved.

In conjunction with the foregoing, for the lane change type being a passive lane change or an active lane change, the computer device may set at least a part of parameters to be used in the lane change of the control-target virtual vehicle differently (for example, a first preset time period specifying a lane change cooling period, a third preset time period and a preset number of times specifying a maximum waiting time for repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is satisfied, and a fourth preset time period specifying a cancellation of the lane change cooling period). For example, for the same target virtual vehicle and the same corresponding degree of aggressiveness, a first preset time period when the lane change type is a passive lane change is shorter than a first preset time period when the lane change is an active lane change (i.e., it may be desirable to make a lane change as soon as possible to enter a lane required to complete the driving target, such as a transition lane, in the case of a passive lane change), a third preset time period when the lane change type is a passive lane change is longer than a third preset time period when the lane change is an active lane change or a preset number of times when the lane change type is a passive lane change is smaller than a preset number of times when the lane change is an active lane change (i.e., it may be desirable to wait for a longer time to make a judgment on the lane change to enter a transition lane, for example, as soon as possible), and a fourth preset time period when the lane change type is a passive lane change is shorter than a fourth preset time period when the lane change operation is an active lane change (i.e., it may be desirable to wait for a shorter time to make a judgment on the lane change again if the lane change operation, to enter e.g. a transition lane as early as possible). Therefore, by setting each parameter differentially between the passive type and the active type, the actual scene is better simulated, the difference between the simulation result and the actual application is reduced, and the simulation performance is improved.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a vehicle emulation lane-change control in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In step S601, the target virtual vehicle starts traveling or the target virtual vehicle has just finished changing lanes.

In step S602, the lane change type (active lane change or passive lane change) of the target virtual vehicle at this time is determined.

In step S603, a first preset time period for specifying the lane change cooling period is determined. As described above, the first preset time period may be set based on the lane change type and the corresponding aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle (in the figure, the first preset time period corresponding to active lane change is represented by Tcd1, and the first preset time period corresponding to passive lane change is represented by Tcd 2).

In step S604, it is determined whether a first preset time period has elapsed since the start of travel of the target virtual vehicle or the end of the last lane change (whether the lane change cooling period has ended), and if the first preset time period has not elapsed, the timer is continued and determined.

If it is determined in step S602 that the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle is an active lane change and it is determined in step S604 that the lane change cooling period (Tcd1) has elapsed, it is determined in step S605 whether the lane change control condition is satisfied. As previously mentioned, the lane-change control condition may include both consideration of lane-change will and safety conditions.

If it is determined in step S605 that the lane-change control condition is satisfied, lane change is initiated in step S606. In the lane change process, it is necessary to determine whether the safety condition is satisfied in real time to determine whether to cancel the lane change, as shown in step S607. If the safety condition is not satisfied during the lane change, the lane change is cancelled and the lane to be driven before the lane change is returned to, in step S608, and as shown in step S609, a lane change cancellation cooling period is started, that is, a timer is restarted to determine whether a lane change cancellation cooling period (denoted by Tc 1) having a fourth preset time length has elapsed, and after the lane change cancellation cooling period ends, the operation of determining whether the lane change control is satisfied is resumed as in step S605. If the safety conditions are satisfied during the lane change process, the lane change operation is successfully completed as shown in step S610.

If it is determined in step S605 that the lane-change control condition is not satisfied, the target virtual vehicle is controlled to wait for a lane change in step S611, and it is repeatedly determined whether the lane-change control condition is satisfied at preset intervals. If it is determined in step S611 that the lane change control condition is satisfied, it goes to step S605. In step S612, it is determined whether the repeated determination process in step S611 satisfies the termination determination preset condition (the preset number of times has been performed or has continued for a third preset time period (the maximum waiting time, denoted by Tw 1)), and if not, the process proceeds to step S611, and if so, the lane change is abandoned, as shown in step S613. After the lane change is abandoned, as shown in step S614, a second preset time period (which may or may not be equal to the first preset time period of the lane change cooling period) may be waited to resume the operation of determining whether the lane change control is satisfied as in step S605.

Likewise, if it is determined in step S602 that the lane change type of the target virtual vehicle is a passive lane change and it is determined in step S604 that the lane change cooling period (Tcd2) has elapsed, it is determined in step S655 whether the lane change control condition is satisfied. As previously mentioned, the lane-change control condition may include both consideration of lane-change will and safety conditions.

If it is determined in step S655 that the lane-change control condition is satisfied, lane-change is initiated in step S656. In the lane change process, it is necessary to determine whether the safety condition is satisfied in real time to determine whether to cancel the lane change, as shown in step S657. If the safety condition is not satisfied during the lane change, the lane change is cancelled and the lane to be traveled before the lane change is returned to, in step S658, and as shown in step S659, the lane change cancellation cooling period is started, that is, the timer is restarted to determine whether the lane change cancellation cooling period having the fourth preset time length (denoted by Tc 2) has elapsed, and after the lane change cancellation cooling period is ended, the operation of determining whether the lane change control is satisfied is resumed as in step S655. If the safety conditions are satisfied during the lane change process, the lane change operation is successfully completed, as shown in step S660.

If it is determined in step S655 that the lane change control condition is not satisfied, the target virtual vehicle is controlled to wait for a lane change in step S661, and it is repeatedly determined whether the lane change control condition is satisfied at preset intervals. If it is determined in step S661 that the lane change control condition is satisfied, it goes to step S655. In step S662, it is determined whether the repeated determination in step S661 has been made a predetermined number of times or has been continued for a third predetermined period of time (maximum wait time, denoted as Tw 2), and if not, step S661 is continued, and if so, the lane change is aborted, as shown in step S613. After abandoning this lane change, as shown in step S664, a second preset time period (which may or may not be equal to the first preset time period of the lane change cooling period) may be waited to resume the operation of determining whether the lane change control is satisfied as in step S655.

Therefore, with the vehicle simulation control method as described above with reference to fig. 3A-6, a lane change cooling period having a first preset duration is introduced as a waiting time between successive lane changes of the vehicle, and when the vehicle is in the lane change cooling period, the computer device does not make decision-making judgment on the lane change of the vehicle, so that when there are a large number of simulated vehicles, the operational efficiency can be greatly improved. In addition, by setting the maximum waiting time with the third preset time length, the lane change judgment can be abandoned under the condition that the lane change is not started after the maximum waiting time, and the operation efficiency can be further improved by waiting again (the second preset time length can be equal to the first preset time length); in addition, a fourth preset time period for canceling the lane change cooling period is introduced, so that the running efficiency of the simulation can be improved. Meanwhile, when time parameters such as a lane change cooling period, a maximum waiting time, a lane change cooling period cancellation and the like are set, parameters of the corresponding aggressive degree of the target virtual vehicle are introduced, and active lane change or passive lane change is considered, so that lane change process differences possibly caused by driving differences of drivers and lane change necessity can be considered in the simulation process, the difference between the simulation result and actual application is reduced, and the simulation performance is improved.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle simulation control device is also provided. Fig. 7 shows a block diagram of the structure of a vehicle simulation control apparatus 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The vehicle simulation control apparatus 700 may be implemented as all or part of a computer device in hardware or a combination of hardware and software to perform all or part of the steps of the method shown in the corresponding embodiments of fig. 3A-3C.

The vehicle simulation control device 700 may include: the driving control module 710 is used for controlling a target virtual vehicle to drive on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, wherein the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction; the timing module 720 is used for calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished; the judging module 730, configured to respond to that the duration reaches a first preset duration, and judge whether a lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met; and a control lane changing module 740 for controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulated lane to an adjacent second simulated lane if it is determined that the lane changing control condition is satisfied.

In one possible implementation, the determining module 730 may be further configured to: under the condition that the lane change control condition is judged to be not met, repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is met or not according to a preset interval until the preset condition of termination judgment is reached or the lane change control condition is judged to be met, and under the condition that the preset condition of termination judgment is reached, judging whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met again after waiting for a second preset time length, wherein the second preset time length is the same as or different from the first preset time length, and the preset interval is less than or equal to the first preset time length and the second preset time length.

In one possible implementation, the determining module 730 may include: an instruction judgment submodule configured to judge whether an instruction to control the target virtual vehicle to change lane from the first simulated lane to the second simulated lane is received; and the distance judgment submodule is configured to acquire a first distance between the target virtual vehicle and a leading vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a following vehicle in the second simulation lane, and judge whether the first distance is greater than a first preset safety distance and whether the second distance is greater than a second preset safety distance.

In one possible implementation, the vehicle simulation control apparatus may further include a determination module 750, and the determination module 750 includes: the excitation degree determining submodule is used for determining the corresponding excitation degree of the target virtual vehicle; the lane change type determining submodule determines lane change types according to path planning, wherein the lane change types comprise active lane change and passive lane change; and the time length determining submodule is used for determining a first preset time length based on the excitation degree and the lane change type.

In one possible implementation, the vehicle simulation control apparatus further includes a lane change cancellation module 760, where the lane change cancellation module 760 includes: the monitoring submodule is used for continuously monitoring a first distance between a target virtual vehicle and a front vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a rear vehicle in the second simulation lane during lane changing operation; the cancellation submodule is used for canceling the lane changing operation and controlling the target virtual vehicle to return to a first simulation lane before the lane changing operation is executed under the condition that at least one of the first distance is monitored to be smaller than a first preset safety distance and the second distance is monitored to be smaller than a second preset safety distance; and an indicating submodule for indicating the judging module to judge whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied again after the time elapsed after the target virtual vehicle is controlled to return to the first simulated lane before the lane change operation is executed reaches a fourth preset time.

Therefore, with the vehicle simulation control apparatus as described above with reference to fig. 7, a lane-change cooling period having a first preset duration is introduced as a waiting time between successive lane changes of the vehicle, and the computer device does not make a decision-making judgment of lane change for the vehicle when the vehicle is in the lane-change cooling period, so that when there are a large number of simulated vehicles, the computational efficiency can be greatly improved. In addition, by setting the maximum waiting time with the third preset time length, the lane change judgment can be abandoned under the condition that the lane change is not started after the maximum waiting time, and the operation efficiency can be further improved by waiting again (the second preset time length can be equal to the first preset time length); in addition, a fourth preset time period for canceling the lane change cooling period is introduced, so that the running efficiency of the simulation can be improved. Meanwhile, when time parameters such as a lane change cooling period, a maximum waiting time, a lane change cooling period cancellation and the like are set, parameters of the corresponding aggressive degree of the target virtual vehicle are introduced, and active lane change or passive lane change is considered, so that lane change process differences possibly caused by driving differences of drivers and lane change necessity can be considered in the simulation process, the difference between the simulation result and actual application is reduced, and the simulation performance is improved.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer device.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram of a computer device 800 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to fig. 8, the computer device 800 may be the computer device 10 as described with reference to fig. 1C. The computer device 800 includes a processor, memory, network interface, input means, and display screen connected by a system bus. Wherein the memory includes a non-volatile storage medium and an internal memory. The non-volatile storage medium of the terminal stores an operating system and may also store a computer program that, when executed by the processor, may cause the processor to implement various operations as described in the steps of the vehicle simulation control method previously described with reference to fig. 3A-3C. The internal memory may also have stored therein a computer program that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform the various operations described in the steps of the same vehicle simulation control method.

For example, these operations may include: controlling a target virtual vehicle to run on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, wherein the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction; calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished; responding to the time length reaching a first preset time length, and judging whether a lane changing control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met; and controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulation lane to an adjacent second simulation lane under the condition that the lane changing control condition is judged to be met. Further operation and specific details may be had with reference to the previous description of the various steps of the vehicle simulation control method of fig. 3A-3C.

The processor may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented or performed. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like, which may be of the X74 or ARM architecture.

The non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. It should be noted that the memories of the methods described in this disclosure are intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

The display screen of the computer equipment can be a liquid crystal display screen or an electronic ink display screen, and the input device of the terminal can be a touch layer covered on the display screen, a key, a track ball or a touch pad arranged on a shell of the terminal, an external keyboard, a touch pad or a mouse and the like.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in one or more of the examples described above, the functions described in embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-device-readable medium. Computer device readable media includes both computer device storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer device program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer device.

According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a computer program product or computer program is provided, the computer program product or computer program comprising computer instructions, the computer instructions being stored in a computer readable storage medium. The processor of the computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to cause the computer device to perform the vehicle simulation control method provided in the various alternative implementations of the above aspect.

It is to be noted that the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises at least one executable instruction for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems which perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in detail above are merely illustrative, and not restrictive. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and combinations of these embodiments or features thereof may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, and that such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure.

Claims

1. A vehicle simulation control method, comprising:

controlling a target virtual vehicle to run on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, wherein the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction;

calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished;

responding to the time length reaching a first preset time length, and judging whether a lane changing control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met; and

and controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulation lane to an adjacent second simulation lane under the condition that the lane changing control condition is judged to be met.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

under the condition that the lane change control condition is judged not to be met, repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is met or not according to a preset interval until the preset condition is judged to be terminated or the lane change control condition is judged to be met, and

re-determining whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied after waiting a second preset time period, which is the same as or different from the first preset time period, in a case where the termination determination preset condition has been reached,

and the preset interval is less than or equal to the first preset time length and the second preset time length.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining the corresponding degree of aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle;

determining lane change types according to path planning, wherein the lane change types comprise active lane change and passive lane change; and

and determining the first preset time length based on the degree of aggressiveness and the lane change type.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining a lane change type from the path plan comprises:

determining whether a driving path of the target virtual vehicle to finish driving the target comprises a specific position according to path planning, wherein the specific position comprises a diversion lane entrance, a turning intersection or a turning position, and the target virtual vehicle must reach the corresponding specific position through a side simulation lane, wherein the side simulation lane is the same as or different from the first simulation lane;

determining that the lane change type is an active lane change if it is determined that the travel path does not include the specific position; and

in a case where it is determined that the travel path includes the specific position, a lane change type of lane change of the target virtual vehicle within a road section that is a distance threshold value from the specific position in a road direction is determined as a passive lane change, and a lane change type of lane change of the target virtual vehicle outside the road section in the road direction is determined as an active lane change.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a first preset duration based on the aggressiveness and the lane-change type comprises:

and setting the first preset time length in a negative correlation with the degree of aggressiveness under the condition that the lane change type is active lane change.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a first preset duration based on the aggressiveness and the lane-change type comprises: in the case where the lane change type is a passive lane change,

determining a side simulation lane corresponding to the nearest specific position based on path planning;

under the condition that the side simulation lane is different from a first simulation lane currently driven by the target virtual vehicle, determining the first simulation lane and the latest lane change point on each simulation lane between the first simulation lane and the side simulation lane;

starting from the first simulation lane until changing lane to the side simulation lane, aiming at the simulation lane currently driven by the target virtual vehicle:

determining the distance between the current position of the target virtual vehicle and the latest lane change point on the currently running simulation lane; and

updating the current first preset duration in negative correlation with the degree of aggressiveness and in positive correlation with the distance.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether a lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is satisfied comprises:

judging whether an instruction for controlling the target virtual vehicle to change lane from the first simulation lane to the second simulation lane is received; and

and acquiring a first distance between the target virtual vehicle and a leading vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a following vehicle in the second simulation lane, and judging whether the first distance is greater than a first preset safety distance and whether the second distance is greater than a second preset safety distance.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the termination judgment preset condition includes one of:

judging that the lane change control condition is not met through preset times; and

and repeatedly judging whether the lane change control condition is met or not according to a preset interval and the third preset time duration is passed.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

continuously monitoring a first distance between a target virtual vehicle and a leading vehicle in the second simulation lane and a second distance between the target virtual vehicle and a trailing vehicle in the second simulation lane during a lane change operation;

under the condition that at least one of the first distance is monitored to be smaller than a first preset safety distance and the second distance is monitored to be smaller than a second preset safety distance, canceling the lane change operation, and controlling the target virtual vehicle to return to a first simulation lane before the lane change operation is executed; and

and after the time elapsed after the target virtual vehicle is controlled to return to the first simulated lane before the lane change operation is executed reaches a fourth preset time period, whether the lane change control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met is judged again.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein determining a corresponding degree of aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle comprises:

acquiring virtual attributes of the target virtual vehicle, wherein the virtual attributes comprise at least one of reaction time of a driver, familiarity to road conditions, psychological factors, age, gender, vehicle type, area where the vehicle is located and travel purpose; and

and determining the corresponding degree of aggressiveness of the target virtual vehicle based on the virtual attribute of the target virtual vehicle.

11. A vehicle simulation control apparatus comprising:

the driving control module is used for controlling a target virtual vehicle to drive on a first simulation lane in a simulation area, wherein the simulation area comprises at least two simulation lanes in the same direction;

the timing module is used for calculating the time length of the target virtual vehicle after the last lane change is finished;

the judging module is used for responding to the time length reaching a first preset time length and judging whether a lane changing control condition of the target virtual vehicle is met or not; and

and the lane change control module is used for controlling the target virtual vehicle to change the lane from the first simulation lane to an adjacent second simulation lane under the condition that the lane change control condition is judged to be met.

12. The vehicle simulation control apparatus according to claim 11, the determination module further configured to:

13. The vehicle simulation control device according to claim 12, further comprising a determination module that includes:

the excitation degree determining submodule is used for determining the corresponding excitation degree of the target virtual vehicle;

the lane change type determining submodule is used for determining lane change types according to path planning, and the lane change types comprise active lane change and passive lane change; and

and the time length determining submodule is used for determining a first preset time length based on the excitation degree and the lane change type.

14. A computer device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory having stored therein at least one instruction, at least one program, set of codes, or set of instructions, the at least one instruction, the at least one program, set of codes, or set of instructions being loaded and executed by the processor to perform operations comprising:

15. A computer readable storage medium having stored therein at least one instruction, at least one program, a set of codes, or a set of instructions that is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the vehicle simulation control method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.