CN116057598A

CN116057598A - Mobile body control device and mobile body control method

Info

Publication number: CN116057598A
Application number: CN202080105165.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 山田雄作
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 2020-09-25
Filing date: 2020-09-25
Publication date: 2023-05-02
Also published as: JPWO2022064649A1; WO2022064649A1; JP7297166B2

Abstract

The mobile body control device of the present invention comprises: an indoor condition information acquisition unit (11) for acquiring indoor condition information; a surrounding situation information acquisition unit (12) for acquiring surrounding situation information; a moving object information acquisition unit (13) for acquiring moving object information; a navigation information acquisition unit (14) that acquires navigation information; a passenger condition determination unit (15) for determining whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition; an acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit (16) for predicting whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration has occurred within the event determination time; a avoidance/avoidance determination unit (17) that determines, based on the determination result of whether or not the passenger's condition obtained by the passenger condition determination unit (15) is an unstable condition and the determination result of whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration has occurred obtained by the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit (16), whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of automatic driving when sudden acceleration/deceleration has been predicted; and an output control unit (18) for outputting information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not abrupt acceleration/deceleration can be avoided.

Description

Mobile body control device and mobile body control method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a mobile body control device and a mobile body control method for controlling the automatic driving of a mobile body capable of performing the automatic driving.

Background

In recent years, vehicles and the like having an autopilot function are becoming popular. In general, automatic driving includes assisting the driving of a driver and driving a vehicle or the like without substantially requiring the operation of the driver.

As a technique for assisting the driving of the driver, the following technique is known: when the driver is driving the vehicle by himself, the driving concentration of the driver is determined, and the driver driving direction is determined so as to correspond to the determined driving concentration of the driver (for example, patent literature 1).

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1

Japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2019-197522

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

In automatic driving in which a vehicle or the like is driven without substantially requiring a driver's operation, a passenger can freely move while the vehicle or the like is driven, and it is not necessary to confirm a situation other than the vehicle or the like. There are thus the following problems: if the vehicle or the like suddenly accelerates or decelerates due to movement of the vehicle or the like or other conditions, the passenger may take unexpected actions depending on the action taken by the passenger.

In the prior art disclosed in patent document 1, for the purpose of driving assistance when the driver is driving the vehicle by himself, the automatic driving is not considered to be assisted when the vehicle is driven automatically without the driver's operation. Therefore, the conventional technique disclosed in patent document 1 cannot solve the above-mentioned problems.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a mobile body control device capable of performing automatic driving control so that passengers do not get into unexpected situations when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs in automatic driving in which a vehicle or the like is driven without basically requiring an operation by a driver.

Technical means for solving the technical problems

The present disclosure relates to a moving body control device for controlling automatic driving of a moving body capable of automatic driving, the moving body control device including: an indoor condition information acquisition unit that acquires indoor condition information relating to a condition in the mobile body; a surrounding situation information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding situation information related to a situation of the surroundings of the mobile body; a moving body information acquisition unit that acquires moving body information on a moving body; a navigation information acquisition unit that acquires navigation information; a passenger condition determination unit that determines, based on the indoor condition information acquired by the indoor condition information acquisition unit, whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition in which the passenger may possibly fall into an unexpected situation when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs; an acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit that predicts whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs within the event determination time, based on the surrounding situation information acquired by the surrounding situation information acquisition unit, the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit, and the navigation information acquired by the navigation information acquisition unit; a avoidance/avoidance determination unit that determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration is predicted, based on the determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger obtained by the passenger condition determination unit is an unstable condition and the prediction result of whether or not the sudden acceleration/deceleration is generated obtained by the acceleration/deceleration generation prediction unit; and an output control unit that outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the determination result being obtained by the avoidance/non-avoidance determination unit.

Effects of the invention

According to the present disclosure, in automatic driving in which a vehicle or the like is driven substantially without the need for an operation by a driver, automatic driving control can be performed in the event of sudden acceleration and deceleration so that a passenger does not get into an unexpected situation.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile body control device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an unstable state in embodiment 1 in which a passenger can stop himself/herself by himself/herself without unexpected situation, or an unstable state in which the severity of unexpected situation is not high even if sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs, which can be assumed to be unexpected for the passenger.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the mobile body control device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operations of step ST307 to step ST308 in fig. 3 in further detail.

Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining an operation in which the notification unit determines the ease of transition to a state in which the passenger who performs the unstable behavior does not perform the unstable behavior and changes the timing of outputting the notification information according to the determined ease in embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining an operation in which the output control unit sets the severity of unexpected situations in which a passenger performing an unstable motion is involved and outputs control instruction information in which the degree of control change for automatic driving is changed according to the set severity in embodiment 1.

Fig. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing an example of a hardware configuration of the mobile body control device according to embodiment 1.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a mobile body control device 1 according to embodiment 1.

In embodiment 1, the mobile body control device 1 is mounted on a vehicle capable of autonomous driving, and controls the autonomous driving of the vehicle.

In general, autopilot is classified according to the techniques that can be implemented.

In embodiment 1, when the mobile body control device 1 performs the control of the automatic driving, it is assumed that the vehicle is in a state of performing the automatic driving in the "full automatic driving under specific conditions (level 4)" or the "full automatic driving (level 5)" in the above-described level division of the automatic driving. In addition, in level 4 and level 5 of automatic driving, there is substantially no need for the driver's operation of the vehicle.

The mobile body control device 1 is connected to an indoor condition detection device 2, a surrounding condition detection device 3, a mobile body information detection device 4, a navigation device 5, an automatic driving system 6, an output device 7, and an input device 8.

The indoor condition detection device 2 is provided in a vehicle and detects a condition in a cabin. Specifically, the indoor condition detection device 2 includes, for example, a camera (hereinafter referred to as an "in-vehicle camera") that photographs the interior of the vehicle cabin, a temperature sensor, and a weight sensor.

The in-vehicle camera photographs at least an area including the seat. The in-vehicle camera may be used in common with a so-called "driver monitoring system (Driver Monitoring System, DMS)". In embodiment 1, the indoor condition detection device 2 includes at least an in-vehicle camera.

The temperature sensor measures the temperature in the vehicle cabin. The temperature sensor may be an infrared camera. The weight sensor may be provided in a seat or a beverage holder, for example, and may measure the weight of a passenger or a beverage placed in the beverage holder.

The indoor condition detection device 2 outputs information (hereinafter referred to as "indoor condition information") on the detected condition in the vehicle cabin to the mobile body control device 1. The indoor condition information includes at least a captured image captured by an in-vehicle camera (hereinafter referred to as "indoor captured image"). The indoor condition information may include thermal imaging, or weight related information.

The surrounding situation detection device 3 is provided in the vehicle and detects a situation outside the vehicle. Specifically, the surrounding situation detection device 3 is, for example, a camera (hereinafter referred to as an "off-vehicle camera") or an ultrasonic sensor that captures the surroundings of the vehicle. The ultrasonic sensor detects an object present around the vehicle.

The surrounding situation detection device 3 outputs information (hereinafter referred to as "surrounding situation information") related to the detected situation outside the vehicle to the mobile body control device 1. The surrounding condition information includes, for example, a captured image captured by an off-vehicle camera (hereinafter referred to as an "off-vehicle captured image"), or information on an object detected by an ultrasonic sensor.

The moving body information detection device 4 is provided in the vehicle, and detects information about the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "moving body information"). Specifically, the moving body information detection device 4 is, for example, a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a steering angle sensor, or an accelerator opening sensor.

The moving body information detection device 4 outputs moving body information to the moving body control device 1. The moving body information includes information on the traveling condition of the vehicle, such as the vehicle speed, acceleration, steering angle, and accelerator opening.

The navigation device 5 is installed in a vehicle, and performs route guidance and the like. Specifically, the navigation device 5 is a car navigation device.

The navigation device 5 outputs navigation information to the mobile body control device 1. The navigation information includes current position information, destination information, route information, map information, or the like of the vehicle.

The automated driving system 6 performs automated driving of the vehicle.

Specifically, for example, an automatic driving system has a function of controlling steering, a throttle valve, braking, shifting, lights, and the like, and controls them to perform automatic driving of a vehicle.

The output device 7 is provided in the vehicle and outputs various information. Specifically, the output device 7 is, for example, a display, a speaker, or an actuator.

The input device 8 is a device for inputting various information by the passenger. Specifically, the input device 8 is, for example, a touch panel type display, an input button, a microphone, or the like provided in the navigation device. The input device 8 may be, for example, an in-vehicle camera, and may be shared with the indoor condition detection device 2.

The mobile body control device 1 determines, based on the indoor condition information output from the indoor condition detection device 2, whether or not the condition of the passenger in the vehicle cabin is a condition in which the passenger may possibly fall into an unexpected situation (hereinafter referred to as "unstable condition") when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs. Further, the mobile body control device 1 predicts whether or not sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs in the vehicle based on the surrounding situation information output from the surrounding situation detection device 3, the mobile body information output from the mobile body information detection device 4, and the navigation information output from the navigation device 5. The mobile body control device 1 determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is predicted based on the determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition and the prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration and deceleration is occurring in the vehicle. Then, the mobile body control device 1 outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided. In embodiment 1, details of the unstable state determined by the mobile body control device 1 will be described later. In embodiment 1, details of sudden acceleration and deceleration predicted by the mobile body control device 1 will be described later. In embodiment 1, a determination as to whether or not abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving performed by the mobile body control device 1 will be described later.

When it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the mobile body control device 1 outputs information (hereinafter referred to as "notification information") for notifying the passenger of the change of the control of the automatic driving to alleviate the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration. The output device 7 outputs the notification information output from the mobile body control device 1. After that, when receiving an answer from the passenger to the outputted notification information to the effect of allowing the control of the automated driving to be changed, the mobile body control device 1 outputs information (hereinafter referred to as "control instruction information") for changing the control of the automated driving to the automated driving system 6. The automated driving system 6 changes the control of automated driving based on the control instruction information output from the mobile body control device 1. The passenger operates the input device 8 to input the answer. Details of changing the control of the automatic driving to mitigate the occurrence of acceleration and deceleration will be described later. The notification information and the control instruction information are information that is output as information corresponding to a determination result of whether or not abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided when the mobile control device 1 determines that abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving.

On the other hand, when the mobile body control device 1 determines that the sudden acceleration/deceleration is unavoidable, information (hereinafter referred to as "notification information") for notifying the passenger that the sudden acceleration/deceleration is to be generated is output to the output device 7. The notification information is information that is output as information corresponding to a determination result of whether or not abrupt acceleration or deceleration can be avoided when the mobile control device 1 determines that abrupt acceleration or deceleration cannot be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving. Details about the notification information are set forth later. The output device 7 outputs the notification information output from the mobile body control device 1.

As shown in fig. 1, the mobile body control device 1 includes an indoor condition information acquisition unit 11, a surrounding condition information acquisition unit 12, a mobile body information acquisition unit 13, a navigation information acquisition unit 14, a passenger condition determination unit 15, an acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16, a avoidance possibility determination unit 17, an output control unit 18, and an answer reception unit 19. The output control unit 18 includes a notification unit 181.

The indoor condition information acquiring unit 11 acquires indoor condition information from the indoor condition detecting device 2.

The indoor condition information acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired indoor condition information to the passenger condition determination unit 15.

The surrounding situation information acquiring unit 12 acquires surrounding situation information from the surrounding situation detecting device 3.

The peripheral condition information acquisition unit 12 outputs the acquired peripheral condition information to the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16.

The moving body information acquisition unit 13 acquires moving body information from the moving body information detection device 4.

The moving body information acquisition unit 13 outputs the acquired moving body information to the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16.

The navigation information acquisition unit 14 acquires navigation information from the navigation device 5.

The navigation information acquisition unit 14 outputs the acquired navigation information to the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16.

The passenger condition determination unit 15 determines whether or not the condition of the passenger in the vehicle cabin is an unstable condition based on the indoor condition information acquired by the indoor condition information acquisition unit 11.

In embodiment 1, the "unstable situation" includes an action (hereinafter referred to as "unstable action") performed by the passenger, which may cause the passenger to enter an unexpected situation when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs.

Specifically, the "unstable condition" refers to, for example, a condition in which a passenger is holding a hot drink, a condition in which a passenger is eating, a condition in which a passenger is making up and touching the eyebrows, or a condition in which a weight is placed at the passenger's side.

The passenger condition determination unit 15 uses a conventional technique to determine whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition. Specifically, the passenger condition determination unit 15 performs known image recognition processing on the in-vehicle image and the thermal image included in the indoor condition information, for example, to determine a condition in which the passenger is on a hot drink, a condition in which the passenger is eating, or a condition in which the passenger is making up and touching the eye. The passenger condition determination unit 15 may determine, for example, a condition in which the passenger holds chopsticks as a condition in which the passenger is eating. The passenger condition determination unit 15 may determine that the passenger is making up and touching the eyebrow, as a condition in which the passenger places his/her handle on the eyebrow or a condition in which the passenger places a cosmetic tool such as a pen on the eyebrow. The passenger condition determination unit 15 may determine a condition in which a weight is placed near the passenger, for example, based on the in-vehicle image and the weight information included in the indoor condition information. The weight information includes information indicating the spatial position in the vehicle cabin, and the passenger condition determination unit 15 performs a known image recognition process on an in-vehicle image, for example, to detect the sitting position of the passenger. The passenger condition determination unit 15 can determine a condition in which a weight is placed near the passenger by comparing the weight information with the detected sitting position of the passenger.

The passenger condition determination unit 15 outputs the result of determination as to whether or not the passenger condition is an unstable condition to the avoidance determination unit 17. When it is determined that the passenger's condition is an unstable condition, the passenger condition determination unit 15 outputs information on the determined unstable condition (hereinafter referred to as "unstable condition information") to the avoidance determination unit 17 together with the determination result.

The acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs within a predetermined time (hereinafter referred to as "event determination time") based on the surrounding situation information acquired by the surrounding situation information acquisition unit 12, the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit 13, and the navigation information acquired by the navigation information acquisition unit 14.

In embodiment 1, the "sudden acceleration and deceleration" is acceleration and deceleration to such an extent that the passenger may possibly get into unexpected situations. In embodiment 1, specifically, "sudden acceleration and deceleration" is assumed to be ±0.3g, for example.

For example, when it is predicted that there is a sharp turn on the travel path of the vehicle and the vehicle enters the sharp turn at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed within the event determination time, when it is predicted that there is a sudden insertion from an adjacent lane within the event determination time, or when it is predicted that the vehicle travels at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed and congestion occurs ahead within the event determination time, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that sudden acceleration/deceleration, more specifically, sudden deceleration occurs within the event determination time.

Specifically, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 can predict that a sharp turn exists on the travel path of the vehicle and that the vehicle enters the sharp turn at a speed equal to or higher than a preset speed within the event determination time, based on the moving object information and the navigation information. The moving body information includes information such as a vehicle speed. In addition, the navigation information includes current position information, path information, and map information of the vehicle. For example, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 may perform a known image recognition process on the vehicle exterior captured image included in the surrounding situation information to determine that a sharp turn is present on the travel path.

For example, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 may perform a known image recognition process on the captured image outside the vehicle to determine that another vehicle traveling on an adjacent lane within the event determination time is suddenly inserted in front of the vehicle.

For example, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 can predict that congestion has occurred in the front based on the moving object information and the navigation information. In this case, the navigation information also includes congestion information. For example, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 may perform a known image recognition process on the vehicle exterior captured image included in the surrounding situation information to predict that congestion has occurred in the front.

For example, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that sudden acceleration/deceleration, more specifically, sudden acceleration, occurs within the event determination time when the vehicle is traveling on a highway where the vehicles are directly converging on the highway main line in a straight line with a short ramp, based on the moving object information and the navigation information. On such an expressway, in order to smoothly merge with the expressway, the vehicle needs to accelerate to about 80 km/or so in a short time when passing through a toll station.

For example, when the vehicle leaves a eating house or the like along the road and merges with the main road, if it is predicted that the flow of the vehicle on the main road is fast, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that sudden acceleration/deceleration, more specifically, sudden acceleration occurs within the event determination time. For example, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 can perform known image recognition processing on the captured image outside the vehicle to determine that the surrounding vehicle flow is fast.

Here, examples of the event that causes the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 to predict occurrence of "sudden acceleration/deceleration" include, for example, a case where it is predicted that there is a sharp turn on the travel path of the vehicle and the vehicle enters the sharp turn at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed within the event determination time, a case where it is predicted that there is a sudden insertion from an adjacent lane within the event determination time, or a case where it is predicted that the vehicle travels at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed and congestion occurs ahead within the event determination time, but this is only an example. The acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 can appropriately set what event has occurred, and predicts that "sudden acceleration/deceleration" has occurred.

The acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 outputs a prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration has occurred to the avoidance determination unit 17. When it is predicted that sudden acceleration or deceleration has occurred, the acceleration or deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 outputs information on an event that causes sudden acceleration or deceleration (hereinafter referred to as "acceleration or deceleration cause information") to the avoidance determination unit 17 together with the prediction result.

The avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is predicted based on the determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger obtained by the passenger condition determination unit 15 is an unstable condition and the prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration and deceleration is generated obtained by the acceleration and deceleration generation prediction unit 16.

Specifically, when the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is an unstable condition and the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving.

For example, when the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is an unstable condition, the acceleration/deceleration generation prediction unit 16 predicts that there is a sharp turn on the travel path of the vehicle and the vehicle enters the sharp turn at a speed equal to or higher than a predetermined speed within the event determination time to generate sudden acceleration/deceleration, and in this case, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving.

For example, when the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is an unstable condition and the acceleration/deceleration generation prediction unit 16 predicts that the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher and that a sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs due to a congestion occurring ahead of the event determination time, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving. The passenger condition determination unit 15 can determine that the sudden acceleration and deceleration as described above is predicted to occur by the acceleration and deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16, for example, based on the acceleration and deceleration cause information output from the acceleration and deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16.

For example, it can be predicted that there is a sharp turn on the travel path of the vehicle or that congestion occurs in front of the vehicle relatively in advance. For example, if the vehicle is traveling at a high speed such as 60km/h, it can be predicted that there is a sharp turn or that congestion occurs in front of the vehicle before 10 seconds or more. That is, it can be assumed that there is a margin for alleviating the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration by changing the control of the autopilot. Therefore, for example, if it is predicted that there is a sharp turn on the travel path of the vehicle or that sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs due to congestion occurring in front of the vehicle, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving. If the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the possibility of the passenger getting into unexpected situations can be reduced even if the situation of the passenger is an unstable situation.

When it is determined that the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines to perform control for changing the control of the automatic driving so as to alleviate the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration. In embodiment 1, the control of the automatic driving to alleviate the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration is, for example, control to turn the vehicle sideways in a manner that the speed of the vehicle is slower than that in the normal control. Specifically, the automatic driving control for alleviating abrupt acceleration and deceleration is, for example, control for applying stronger braking than in the normal control or performing steering operation more slowly than in the normal control while the vehicle is traveling straight.

Further, the control of the automatic driving to alleviate the abrupt acceleration and deceleration may be, for example, control to start deceleration of the vehicle at a timing earlier than that in the normal control in the control to reduce the speed of the vehicle. In embodiment 1, the normal control is control that is predetermined as control to be performed in response to a scene such as a curve being entered during automatic driving.

For example, the control of the automatic driving to alleviate the abrupt acceleration and deceleration may be, for example, control of making a lane change to a lane with fewer vehicles, or may be control of making a lane change to an adjacent lane with a slower limiting speed even if the limiting speed is slower than the lane in the current driving.

The avoidance possibility determination unit 17 may determine the specific change content of the automatic driving control performed by moderating the occurrence of acceleration and deceleration according to the vehicle speed, the degree of curve, and the like. The avoidance determination unit 17 may acquire the surrounding situation information, the moving body information, and the navigation information via the acceleration/deceleration generation prediction unit 16, and determine the vehicle speed, the degree of curve, and the like based on the surrounding situation information, the moving body information, or the navigation information.

For example, the content of change of the control of the automatic driving to alleviate occurrence of acceleration and deceleration may be determined in advance based on an event that causes abrupt acceleration and deceleration, and the avoidance determination unit 17 may determine the content of change of the control of the automatic driving based on the content. The avoidance determination unit 17 may determine an event that causes abrupt acceleration and deceleration based on the acceleration and deceleration cause information output from the acceleration and deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16.

On the other hand, for example, when it is predicted that the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition and sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs due to sudden insertion from an adjacent lane, it is assumed that there is not enough margin for the passenger to mitigate the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration without causing unexpected situations even if the control of the automatic driving is changed. As a specific example, if the vehicle is traveling at a high speed of 60km/h or the like, for example, if there is a sudden insertion from an adjacent lane, the sudden insertion can be predicted only 3 seconds before the sudden insertion is about to occur.

Therefore, even if the automatic driving control is changed when the abrupt insertion is predicted, the abrupt acceleration and deceleration is not avoided. Therefore, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration is unavoidable even if the control of the automatic driving is changed.

When the avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the determination result is output to the output control unit 18. At this time, when it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the avoidance determination unit 17 outputs the determination result and the determined information (referred to as "avoidance control information") related to the control content for changing the control of the automatic driving to the output control unit 18.

In addition, when the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is not an unstable condition, the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the automatic driving control does not need to be changed, and does not need to output notification information. In addition, when the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that abrupt acceleration/deceleration does not occur, the avoidance possibility determination unit 17 determines that the automatic driving control does not need to be changed, and does not need to output notification information. In the case where the condition of the passenger is not an unstable condition or sudden acceleration and deceleration does not occur, the possibility that the passenger falls into an unexpected situation is inherently very low.

When it is determined that the automatic driving control is not required to be changed and the notification information is not required to be output, the avoidance determination unit 17 does not output the determination result and the avoidance control information to the output control unit 18.

The output control unit 18 outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, which is obtained by the avoidance determination unit 17, based on the determination result of whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided, which is output from the avoidance determination unit 17.

The output of information by the output control unit 18 is classified into a case where it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, and a case where it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration cannot be avoided even if the control of the automatic driving is changed, and will be specifically described.

First, the output of information by the output control unit 18 when the avoidance/avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving will be specifically described.

When the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the notification unit 181 of the output control unit 18 outputs notification information notifying the occurrence of the control of the change of the automatic driving to the output device 7 based on the determination result that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving. Specifically, the notification unit 181 causes the display to display a message, a video, an icon, or the like for notifying the control of the scheduled change automatic driving, for example, based on the notification information. The notification unit 181 may cause a speaker to output a voice message notifying a control of the scheduled change automatic driving, for example, based on the notification information. The notification unit 181 may notify the control of the scheduled change automatic driving by outputting notification information and vibrating the actuator, for example.

The timing to be the reference for outputting the notification information by the notification unit 181 is set in advance. For example, when the sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs because there is a sharp turn, the notification unit 181 outputs notification information at the time when the vehicle is driving into the sharp turn. The notification unit 181 may determine that the vehicle is driving into a sharp turn, for example, based on the surrounding situation information, the moving object information, and the navigation information. The notification unit 181 may acquire the surrounding situation information, the moving object information, and the navigation information from the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 via the avoidance determination unit 17, for example.

The passenger confirms the display of the display, the output voice message, or vibration to grasp the situation of the scheduled change of the control of the automatic driving.

When a passenger grasps a control of a scheduled change autopilot, the passenger answers whether the change of the control of the autopilot is permitted. Specifically, the passenger operates the input device 8 to input information (hereinafter referred to as "answer information") indicating whether or not to permit a change in control of the automatic driving. For example, if the input device 8 is a selection button displayed on the display, the passenger inputs the answer information by touching the selection button. The selection button is displayed when the notification unit 181 outputs notification information, for example. For example, if the input device 8 is a microphone, the passenger inputs the answer information by making a sound to the microphone whether or not the control of the automatic driving is permitted. For example, if the input device 8 is an in-vehicle camera, the passenger inputs the answer information by making a gesture indicating whether or not to permit a change in the control of the automatic driving. In addition, the gesture that allows the change of the control of the automatic driving and the gesture that does not allow the change of the control of the automatic driving are predetermined.

When the passenger operates the input device 8 to input the answer information, the answer receiving unit 19 of the mobile body control device 1 receives the answer information. For example, when the input device 8 is a selection button displayed on the display, the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information from the display. For example, when the input device 8 is a microphone, the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information from the microphone. In this case, the answer receiving unit 19 performs, for example, voice recognition using a known voice recognition technique on answer information, in other words, the uttered voice of the passenger. When the input device 8 is an in-vehicle camera, the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information from the in-vehicle camera. In this case, the answer receiving unit 19 detects the gesture using a known image recognition technique for the received answer information, in other words, for the captured image.

For example, even if sudden acceleration or deceleration is predicted, the passenger can stop the unstable behavior and prevent the passenger from unexpected situations, depending on the unstable behavior performed by the passenger. In addition, for example, even if unexpected situations are involved, the severity of the unexpected situations may not be high for passengers.

Here, fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an unstable situation in which a passenger can stop himself/herself without unexpected situation or an unstable situation in which the severity of unexpected situation is not high even if sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs, which can be assumed to be unexpected for the passenger, in embodiment 1. In fig. 2, the unstable situation is assumed to be an unstable behavior performed by the passenger, and an example is shown.

For example, as shown in "example 1" of fig. 2, in the case where a cup containing a hot beverage is attached to the passenger side, if sudden acceleration or deceleration is assumed to occur, it is conceivable to spill the hot beverage or the like as an unexpected situation in which the passenger is involved. However, for example, the passenger can avoid unexpected situations by receiving a notification to change the control of the automatic driving and putting down the cup.

For example, as shown in "example 2" of fig. 2, when a cup having a small remaining amount of beverage is placed on the passenger side, if sudden acceleration or deceleration is assumed to occur, the beverage may be spilled out as an unexpected situation in which the passenger is involved. However, in practice there is a lower likelihood of a smaller residual quantity of beverage being spilled from the cup, which is less severe.

For example, as shown in "example 3" or "example 4" of fig. 2, when the passenger makes up around the cheeks or makes up the eyebrows but is applying the foundation, if sudden acceleration or deceleration is assumed to occur, the passenger may be considered as an unexpected situation in which the passenger is involved, such as touching the face with his/her hands, but the passenger does not make up the eyebrows with a make-up tool or the like having a thin tip, and the severity of the situation is low.

For example, as shown in "example 5" of fig. 2, when a passenger is eating but is not holding chopsticks, if sudden acceleration or deceleration is assumed to occur, an unexpected situation in which the passenger falls into is a degree of sprinkling food, and the severity of the situation is low.

In the above example, the passenger determines that the automatic control of the vehicle does not need to be changed. Then, the passenger operates the input device 8 to input answer information indicating that the control change of the automatic driving is not permitted.

On the other hand, if the passenger determines that the current situation is a situation in which the passenger falls into an unexpected situation, the passenger inputs answer information to the effect of allowing the control of the automatic driving to be changed.

When receiving the answer information, the answer receiving unit 19 outputs the received answer information to the output control unit 18.

When the answer information is acquired from the answer receiving portion 19, the output control portion 18 outputs control instruction information for performing a change in the control of the automatic driving in accordance with the answer information received by the answer receiving portion 19. Specifically, when the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information indicating that the control change of the automatic driving is permitted, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for causing the control change of the automatic driving to alleviate the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration to the automatic driving system 6. The output control unit 18 may change the control of the automatic driving so as to alleviate the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration, and may follow the avoidance control information output from the avoidance determination unit 17. For example, when the avoidance determination unit 17 outputs avoidance control information indicating that the speed of the vehicle is being turned left and right more slowly than in the normal control, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information to the automated driving system 6, the control instruction information changing the automated driving control in the control of turning left and right of the vehicle such that the speed of the vehicle is being turned left and right more slowly than in the normal control, in the control of turning left and right of the vehicle. The automated driving system 6 performs automated driving control in accordance with the outputted control instruction information.

When the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information indicating that the control change of the automatic driving is not permitted, the output control unit 18 does not output the control instruction information.

Thus, when it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automated driving, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for changing the control of the automated driving so as to alleviate the occurrence of acceleration/deceleration. Thus, when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, the mobile body control device 1 can perform automatic driving control so that the passenger does not get into an unexpected situation. As a result, the mobile control device 1 can pass the passenger freely without being aware of the situation around the vehicle. Further, the mobile control device 1 can improve the comfort of the passenger during riding of the vehicle.

When receiving the response information indicating that the control change of the automatic driving is permitted from the passenger, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for changing the control of the automatic driving. If no response information is received from the passenger to the effect of permitting the control change of the automatic driving, the output control unit 18 does not output the control instruction information. Thus, the mobile body control device 1 can suppress an unnecessary speed drop or the like caused by a control change of the automatic driving of the vehicle. As a result, the mobile body control device 1 can reduce the influence of the automated driving on the movement time to the destination.

Next, the output of information by the output control unit 18 when the avoidance/avoidance determination unit 17 determines that abrupt acceleration and deceleration cannot be avoided even if the control of the automatic driving is changed will be specifically described.

When the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration is unavoidable even if the control of the automatic driving is changed, the output control unit 18 outputs notification information to the output device 7 based on the determination result that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration is unavoidable even if the control of the automatic driving is changed. Specifically, the output control unit 18 causes the display to display a message or a video or the like notifying the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration, for example. For example, the output control unit 18 may output a voice message notifying the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration to the speaker by voice, or may output a notification sound. The output control unit 18 may vibrate the actuator, for example.

In this case, the output control unit 18 changes the control of the autopilot system 6 to, for example, control of applying an emergency brake or the like.

Thus, the mobile body control device 1 enables the passenger to grasp in advance that the vehicle suddenly accelerates and decelerates. Further, the output control unit 18 outputs the notification information only when the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that abrupt acceleration and deceleration cannot be avoided even if the control of the automatic driving is changed. Therefore, the mobile control device 1 can suppress the excessive notification and reduce the annoyance of the passenger due to the excessive notification.

The operation of the mobile body control device 1 according to embodiment 1 will be described.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the mobile body control device 1 according to embodiment 1.

The mobile body control device 1 performs the operation described using the flowchart of fig. 3 in a state where the vehicle is automatically driven in a state where the operation of the vehicle by the driver is not substantially required.

The in-vehicle condition information acquisition unit 11 acquires the indoor condition information from the indoor condition detection device 2 (step ST 301).

The passenger condition determining unit 15 determines whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition based on the indoor condition information acquired by the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11 in step ST301 (step ST 302).

The passenger condition determination unit 15 outputs the result of determination as to whether or not the passenger condition is an unstable condition to the avoidance determination unit 17. When it is determined that the passenger's condition is an unstable condition, the passenger condition determination unit 15 outputs unstable condition information to the avoidance determination unit 17 together with the determination result.

The surrounding situation information acquiring unit 12 acquires surrounding situation information from the surrounding situation detecting device 3 (step ST 303).

The moving body information acquiring unit 13 acquires moving body information from the moving body information detecting device 4 (step ST 304).

The navigation information acquiring unit 14 acquires navigation information from the navigation device 5 (step ST 305).

In the flowchart of fig. 3, the steps ST303, ST304, and ST305 are performed in this order, but this is only an example. The order of the operations of step ST303, step ST304, and step ST305 may be exchanged, and the operations of step ST303 to step ST305 may be performed in parallel.

The acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration has occurred within the event determination time based on the surrounding situation information acquired by the surrounding situation information acquisition unit 12 in step ST303, the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit 13 in step ST304, and the navigation information acquired by the navigation information acquisition unit 14 in step ST305 (step ST 306).

The acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 outputs a prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration has occurred to the avoidance determination unit 17. When it is predicted that sudden acceleration or deceleration has occurred, the acceleration or deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 outputs the acceleration or deceleration cause information together with the prediction result to the avoidance determination unit 17.

The avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automated driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is predicted based on the determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger obtained by the passenger condition determination unit 15 in step ST302 is an unstable condition and the prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration and deceleration is generated obtained by the acceleration and deceleration generation prediction unit 16 in step ST306 (step ST 307).

When determining whether or not the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the avoidance possibility determination unit 17 determines a control corresponding to the determination result.

When the avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the determination result is output to the output control unit 18. At this time, when it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the avoidance determination unit 17 outputs the determination result and the avoidance control information to the output control unit 18 in association with each other.

Based on the determination result of whether or not the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration is avoidable outputted from the avoidance/avoidance determination unit 17 in step ST307, the output control unit 18 outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration is avoidable by changing the control of the automatic driving, which is obtained by the avoidance/avoidance determination unit 17 (step ST 308).

Fig. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operations of step ST307 to step ST308 in fig. 3 in further detail. The operations of step ST307 to step ST308 in fig. 3 will be described in further detail with reference to fig. 4.

The avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is an unstable condition in step ST302 in fig. 3, and whether or not the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that a sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs in step ST306 in fig. 3 (step ST 401).

If the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is not unstable in step ST302 in fig. 3 or if the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that no abrupt acceleration/deceleration occurs in step ST306 in fig. 3 (no in step ST 401), the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the automatic driving control is not required to be changed, and does not need to output notification information. Then, the operation of the mobile body control device 1 returns to step ST301 and step ST303 in fig. 3.

In step ST302 of fig. 3, when the passenger condition determination unit 15 determines that the passenger condition is an unstable condition and the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 predicts that an abrupt acceleration/deceleration occurs in step ST306 of fig. 3 (yes in step ST 401), the avoidance determination unit 17 determines whether or not the abrupt acceleration/deceleration occurrence can be avoided by changing the control of the automated driving when the abrupt acceleration/deceleration occurrence is predicted (step ST 402).

In step ST402, when it is determined that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving (yes in step ST 402), the avoidance determination unit 17 determines to perform control for changing the control of the automatic driving so as to alleviate the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration. The avoidance possibility determination unit 17 outputs a determination result that can avoid occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration by changing the control of the automatic driving to the output control unit 18 in association with the avoidance control information. Then, the operation of the mobile body control device 1 proceeds to step ST403.

The notification unit 181 of the output control unit 18 outputs notification information notifying the change of the control of the automated driving to the output device 7 based on the determination result outputted from the avoidance/avoidance determination unit 17, which is determined to be that the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by the change of the control of the automated driving (step ST 403).

When a passenger grasps a control of a scheduled change autopilot, the passenger answers whether the change of the control of the autopilot is permitted. Specifically, the passenger operates the input device 8 to input answer information.

When the passenger operates the input device 8 to input the answer information, the answer receiving unit 19 receives the answer information (step ST 404).

When the answer information is acquired from the answer receiving portion 19 in step ST404, the output control portion 18 outputs control instruction information for changing the control of the automatic driving in accordance with the answer information received by the answer receiving portion 19. Specifically, when the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information indicating that the control change of the automatic driving is permitted (yes in step ST 405), the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for causing the control change of the automatic driving to alleviate the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration to the automatic driving system 6 (step ST 406).

When the answer receiving unit 19 receives the answer information indicating that the control change of the automatic driving is not permitted (no in step ST 405), the output control unit 18 does not perform the operation in step ST 406.

Then, the operation of the mobile body control device 1 returns to step ST301 and step ST303 in fig. 3.

On the other hand, in step ST402, when it is determined that the sudden acceleration and deceleration cannot be avoided even if the control of the automatic driving is changed (no in step ST 402), the avoidance determination unit 17 outputs the determination result that the sudden acceleration and deceleration cannot be avoided even if the control of the automatic driving is changed to the output control unit 18. Then, the operation of the mobile body control device 1 proceeds to step ST407.

The output control unit 18 outputs notification information to the output device 7 based on the determination result output from the avoidance determination unit 17 that sudden acceleration and deceleration cannot be avoided even if the control of the automatic driving is changed (step ST 407). In this case, the output control unit 18 changes the control of the autopilot system 6 to, for example, control of applying an emergency brake or the like.

Then, the operation of the mobile body control device 1 returns to step ST301 in fig. 3.

In this way, the mobile body control device 1 determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is predicted based on the determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger determined based on the indoor condition information is an unstable condition and the prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration and deceleration is generated within the event determination time predicted based on the surrounding condition information, the mobile body information, and the navigation information. Then, the mobile body control device 1 outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided.

Thus, in automatic driving in which a vehicle or the like is driven without substantially requiring a driver's operation, the mobile body control device 1 can perform automatic driving control so that a passenger does not get into an unexpected situation when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs. As a result, the mobile control device 1 can pass the passenger freely without being aware of the situation around the vehicle. Further, the mobile control device 1 can improve the comfort of the passenger during riding of the vehicle.

In embodiment 1 above, when the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided, the notification unit 181 of the output control unit 18 of the mobile body control device 1 can determine the ease of transition to a state where the unstable behavior is not performed by the passenger who performs the unstable behavior, and can change the timing of outputting the notification information according to the determined ease. In this case, in step ST403 in fig. 4, the notification unit 181 changes the timing of outputting the notification information.

The operation of the notification unit 181 for determining the ease of transition to a state in which the unstable operation is not performed by the passenger, and for changing the timing of outputting the notification information according to the determined ease will be described with reference to fig. 5 as a specific example. .

For example, as shown in fig. 5, information (hereinafter, referred to as "easiness information") relating to the unstable behavior example and the easiness corresponding to the unstable behavior example may be stored in a storage unit (not shown), and the notification unit 181 may determine the easiness of transition to a state where the unstable behavior is not performed by the passenger based on the easiness information stored in the storage unit.

The notification unit 181 may determine unstable behavior of the passenger based on the indoor condition information acquired from the passenger condition determination unit 15 via the avoidance determination unit 17.

For example, even if a passenger is eating, if the container and chopsticks are in a state of being placed on a table in a car, the passenger's hands are free, and it can be assumed that no time and effort are spent for shifting to a state in which the passenger does not eat. The notification unit 181 determines that transition to a state in which the passenger does not eat is relatively easy, in other words, that transition to a state in which the passenger does not eat is relatively easy (see the lowest part of the table of fig. 5).

In contrast, for example, when a passenger takes a meal with the container and chopsticks, the passenger's hands are occupied, and it is assumed that it takes time and effort to shift to a state where the passenger does not take a meal, as compared with a case where the passenger does not take the container and chopsticks. The notification unit 181 determines that it is difficult to shift to a state in which the passenger does not eat, in other words, that it is less easy to shift to a state in which the passenger does not eat (see the uppermost part of the table of fig. 5).

On the other hand, the passenger is in a state of making up the surrounding of the cheek with only one hand. It can be assumed that the transition from this state to the non-cosmetic state is more difficult for the passenger than the transition from the state of not holding the container and chopsticks to the state of not holding the chopsticks and is easier than the transition from the state of holding the container and chopsticks to the state of not holding the chopsticks. The notification unit 181 determines that the ease of transition to the state where the passenger does not make up around the cheeks is lower than the ease of transition from the state where the passenger does not hold the container and chopsticks to the state where they do not eat, and higher than the ease of transition from the state where the passenger holds the container and chopsticks to the state where they do not eat (refer to the middle part of the table of fig. 5).

When it is determined that the passenger is not performing the unstable behavior, the notification unit 181 changes the timing of outputting the notification information according to the determined easiness. Specifically, the notification unit 181 delays the timing of outputting the notification information as the determined easiness is higher. Using the example of fig. 5, for example, when a passenger holds a container and holds chopsticks for eating, the notification unit 181 outputs notification information after the vehicle enters a sharp turn for 1 second. When the passenger holds the make-up tool with both hands and makes up the eyebrows, the notification unit 181 outputs notification information after the vehicle is driven into a sharp turn for 2 seconds. In the case where the passenger uses only one hand to make up the surrounding cheek, the notification unit 181 outputs notification information after the vehicle is driven into a sharp turn for 3 seconds. In the case where the passenger drinks the hot drink placed in the cup, the notification unit 181 outputs notification information after the vehicle is driven into a sharp turn for 4 seconds. In the case where the passenger puts down the container and the chopsticks to eat, the notification unit 181 outputs notification information after the vehicle is driven into a sharp turn for 5 seconds.

In addition, regarding the unstable behavior example of the passenger and the ease corresponding to the unstable behavior example defined in fig. 5, only one example is provided. In the case where the passenger performs an unstable behavior, the ease of transition to a state where the passenger does not perform the unstable behavior can be appropriately set.

The output timing of the notification information by the notification unit 181 described in the above example is merely one example. In the case where the passenger performs an unstable behavior, the notification information can be set appropriately at which timing to output.

The notification unit 181 changes the timing of outputting the notification information according to the easiness, and thereby the mobile body control device 1 can notify the passenger that the control of the automated driving is changed at an appropriate timing according to the actual actions of the passenger. In this way, in the mobile body control device 1, when the ease of determination is low, notification information is output earlier than when the ease of determination is high. Therefore, the passenger can ensure the time margin for judging whether to permit the control change of the automatic driving or the time margin for preparing for the abrupt acceleration and deceleration.

In embodiment 1 above, when the control instruction information for changing the control of the automatic driving to mitigate the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is output to the automatic driving system 6, the output control unit 18 may determine the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger performing the unstable behavior falls, and may output the control instruction information after changing the degree of control of the automatic driving based on the determined severity. In this case, in step ST406 of fig. 4, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information after changing the degree of control of changing the automated driving.

In embodiment 1, the degree of change in the control of the automatic driving refers to the degree of how much change is made to the control content compared to the control of the normal automatic driving. As a specific example, the degree of change in the control of the automatic driving refers to, for example, the degree of turning the vehicle to the left or right by making the speed of the vehicle slower than that in the normal control in the control of turning the vehicle to the left or right in the automatic driving.

The degree of change in the control of the automatic driving refers to, for example, a degree of how much earlier the time to start deceleration is compared with the time of the normal control in the control of reducing the speed of the vehicle during the automatic driving.

The operation of the output control unit 18 to determine the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved in unstable behavior and to output control instruction information after changing the degree of control of changing the automatic driving according to the determined severity will be described with reference to fig. 6 as a specific example.

For example, as shown in fig. 6, the unstable behavior example, information (hereinafter referred to as "change degree information") relating to the severity of the unstable behavior example and the change degree of the control of the automatic driving may be stored in the storage unit, and the output control unit 18 may determine the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger performs the unstable behavior and the change degree of the control of the automatic driving according to the severity based on the change degree information stored in the storage unit.

The output control unit 18 may determine unstable behavior of the passenger based on the indoor condition information acquired from the passenger condition determination unit 15 via the avoidance determination unit 17.

For example, when a passenger is eating but the container and chopsticks are placed on a table in the vehicle, if sudden acceleration or deceleration is assumed, the unexpected situation in which the passenger is involved is considered to be a container turning over or the like, but the severity of the situation is assumed to be low. When the output control unit 18 determines that acceleration or deceleration has occurred in a state where the passenger puts down the container and the chopsticks eat, the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls is low (see the lowest part of the table of fig. 6).

On the other hand, for example, when the passenger is making up the eyebrows and both hands are using the make-up tool, if sudden acceleration or deceleration is assumed to occur, the make-up tool hits the eyes of the passenger in consideration of unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved. The severity of this situation is assumed to be higher than the unexpected situation that the passenger falls into if he/she were to put the container and chopsticks at a meal. The output control unit 18 determines that the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls when the passenger is making up the eyebrows and sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs in the case where both hands use the make-up process is higher than the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls when the passenger takes the container and the chopsticks to eat (see the uppermost part of the table of fig. 6).

On the other hand, for example, when a passenger holds a container and chopsticks to hold the container and chopsticks to eat, when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, the passenger is knocked over the container or the chopsticks are poked to the face, or the like, in consideration of unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved. The severity of this situation is assumed to be high compared to the severity of an unexpected situation in which the passenger falls when he or she is taking the container and chopsticks. However, the severity of the unexpected situation in which the passenger falls is assumed to be low compared to the severity of the unexpected situation in which the passenger uses the make-up tool with both hands. The output control unit 18 determines that the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls when the passenger takes the container and the chopsticks to eat is higher than the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls when the passenger takes the container and the chopsticks to eat, and that the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls when the passenger uses both hands of the passenger to eat the chopsticks is lower than the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger falls when the passenger uses both hands of the cosmetic instrument (refer to the middle of the table of fig. 6).

When determining the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved in unstable behavior, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information after changing the degree of control for changing the automated driving, based on the determined severity. Specifically, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information that changes the degree of change of the control of the automatic driving to be stronger as the determined degree of severity is higher. Using the example of fig. 6, for example, in a case where there is a sharp turn in the front, as in the above-described example, in a case where a passenger eats while putting down a container and chopsticks (see the lowest part of the table of fig. 6), the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information to change the degree of change in the control of the automated driving so that the acceleration is suppressed to ±0.35G or less. On the other hand, for example, as in the above example, when a passenger takes a meal while holding a container and chopsticks (see the middle of the table of fig. 6), the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for changing the degree of change in the control of the automatic driving so that the acceleration is suppressed to ±0.30g or less. For example, as in the above example, when the passenger is making up the eyebrows and both hands are using the make-up tool (see the lowest part of the table in fig. 6), the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for controlling the degree of change in the control of the automatic driving so that the acceleration is suppressed to ±0.25G or less.

In addition, the unstable behavior example of the passenger and the severity corresponding to the unstable behavior example defined in fig. 6 are merely one example. In the case of what kind of unstable behavior the passenger takes, the severity of unexpected situation that the passenger is involved in due to sudden acceleration or deceleration can be appropriately set.

The degree of change of the output control unit 18 described in the above example is merely one example. The degree of change in the automatic driving can be appropriately set when the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved is high.

The output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information obtained by changing the degree of control for changing the automatic driving according to the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved in unstable behavior, whereby the mobile body control device 1 can realize appropriate vehicle control according to unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved in the case where sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, and can suppress control such as a drop in speed more than necessary, as compared with the case where the degree of control for changing the automatic driving is not changed. As a result, the mobile body control device 1 can reduce the influence on the movement time to the destination for the vehicle in automatic driving.

Fig. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing an example of a hardware configuration of the mobile body control device 1 according to embodiment 1.

In embodiment 1, the functions of the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the moving object information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance determining unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19 are realized by the processing circuit 701. That is, the mobile body control device 1 includes the processing circuit 701 for outputting information corresponding to a determination result of whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is predicted, which is determined based on a determination result of whether or not the indoor unstable condition and a prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration and deceleration is occurring.

The processing circuit 701 may be dedicated hardware as shown in fig. 7A, or may be a CPU (Central Processing Unit: central processing unit) 704 that executes a program stored in the memory 705 as shown in fig. 7B.

In the case where the processing circuit 701 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 701 corresponds to, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit: application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array: field programmable gate array), or a combination thereof.

In the case where the processing circuit 701 is the CPU704, the functions of the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the moving body information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance determining unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19 are implemented by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software or firmware is expressed in the form of a program and stored in the memory 705. The processing circuit 701 reads and executes programs stored in the memory 705 to execute functions of the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the moving object information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance determining unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19. That is, the mobile body control device 1 includes a memory 705 for storing a program that, when executed by the processing circuit 701, finally executes the steps ST301 to ST308 of fig. 3, and more specifically, the steps ST401 to ST407 of fig. 4. The program stored in the memory 705 may be a program that causes a computer to execute the steps or methods of the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the moving object information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance determining unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19. The Memory 705 may be, for example, a nonvolatile or volatile semiconductor Memory such as RAM, ROM (Read Only Memory), flash Memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory: erasable programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory: electrically erasable programmable Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc: digital versatile disk), or the like.

The functions of the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the moving body information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance determining unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19 may be partially implemented by dedicated hardware, and partially implemented by software or firmware. For example, the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the moving body information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, and the answer receiving unit 19 may be implemented by a processing circuit 701 that is dedicated hardware, and the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance determining unit 17, and the output control unit 18 may be implemented by the processing circuit 701 by reading and executing a program stored in a memory 705.

The memory 705 is used for a storage unit not shown. In addition, this is an example, and the storage unit may be constituted by an HDD, an SSD (Solid State Drive: solid state disk), a DVD, or the like.

The mobile body control device 1 includes an indoor condition detection device 2, a surrounding condition detection device 3, a mobile body information detection device 4, a navigation device 5, an automatic driving system 6, an output device 7, an input device 8, and the like, and an input interface device 702 and an output interface device 703 that perform wired communication or wireless communication.

In addition, although embodiment 1 above has been described as having the mobile body control device 1 provided with the notification unit 181 and the answer receiving unit 19, this is merely an example. The mobile body control device 1 does not necessarily have to include the notification unit 181 and the answer receiving unit 19. If the mobile body control device 1 does not include the notification unit 181 and the answer receiving unit 19, the operations of step ST403 to step ST405 are not performed in the operations described with reference to fig. 4. When the avoidance possibility determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving, the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information for controlling the automatic driving so as to alleviate the occurrence of acceleration or deceleration.

In embodiment 1 above, the mobile control device 1 is an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, and the mobile control device 1 includes the indoor condition information acquisition unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquisition unit 12, the mobile information acquisition unit 13, the navigation information acquisition unit 14, the passenger condition determination unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16, the avoidance determination unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the vehicle control system may be configured by mounting some or all of the indoor condition information acquiring unit 11, the surrounding condition information acquiring unit 12, the mobile object information acquiring unit 13, the navigation information acquiring unit 14, the passenger condition determining unit 15, the acceleration/deceleration occurrence predicting unit 16, the avoidance/non-avoidance determining unit 17, the output control unit 18, and the answer receiving unit 19 on a vehicle-mounted device of the vehicle, and by providing the other part on a server connected to the vehicle-mounted device via a network.

In addition, in the above embodiment 1, the mobile body control device 1 is configured to control the automatic driving of the vehicle. But this is just one example. For example, the mobile body control device 1 can control the automatic driving of a mobile body in various mobile bodies that can be automatically driven without a need for a human operation, such as an automatically driven electric car, an automatically driven personal watercraft, or an automatically driven yacht.

As described above, according to embodiment 1, the mobile body control device 1 is configured to include: an indoor condition information acquisition unit 11, the indoor condition information acquisition unit 11 acquiring indoor condition information relating to a condition in the mobile body; a surrounding situation information acquiring unit 12, wherein the surrounding situation information acquiring unit 12 acquires surrounding situation information related to a situation of the surrounding of the mobile body; a moving body information acquisition unit 13, the moving body information acquisition unit 13 acquiring moving body information relating to a moving body; a navigation information acquisition unit 14, the navigation information acquisition unit 14 acquiring navigation information; a passenger condition determination unit 15 that determines whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition in which the passenger is likely to fall into an unexpected situation, based on the indoor condition information acquired by the indoor condition information acquisition unit 11; an acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit 16 for predicting whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration has occurred within the event determination time, based on the surrounding situation information acquired by the surrounding situation information acquisition unit 12, the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit 13, and the navigation information acquired by the navigation information acquisition unit 14; a avoidance/avoidance determination unit 17 that determines whether or not the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of automatic driving when the occurrence of sudden acceleration/deceleration is predicted based on the determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger obtained by the passenger condition determination unit 15 is an unstable condition and the prediction result of whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration is generated obtained by the acceleration/deceleration generation prediction unit 16; and an output control unit 18, wherein the output control unit 18 outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, which is obtained by the avoidance determination unit 17.

Therefore, in automatic driving in which a vehicle or the like is driven without substantially requiring a driver's operation, the mobile body control device 1 can perform automatic driving control so that the passenger does not get into an unexpected situation when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs.

Further, according to embodiment 1, in the mobile body control device 1, when the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration is unavoidable, the output control unit 18 outputs notification information for notifying that the passenger will experience sudden acceleration and deceleration. Therefore, the mobile body control device 1 enables the passenger to grasp in advance that the vehicle suddenly accelerates and decelerates. Further, the mobile control device 1 can suppress excessive notification and reduce the annoyance of the passengers caused by the excessive notification.

Further, according to embodiment 1, the mobile body control device 1 includes: a notification unit 181 that outputs notification information for notifying that the control of the automated driving is changed when the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided; and an answer receiving unit 19, wherein the answer receiving unit 19 receives answer information of whether or not to permit the change of the control of the automatic driving corresponding to the notification information outputted from the notification unit 181, and the output control unit 18 outputs control instruction information when the answer receiving unit 19 receives the answer information indicating that the change of the control of the automatic driving is permitted. Therefore, the mobile body control device 1 can suppress an unnecessary speed drop or the like caused by a control change of the automatic driving of the vehicle. As a result, the mobile body control device 1 can reduce the influence of the automated driving on the movement time to the destination.

Further, according to embodiment 1, in the mobile body control device 1, when the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the notification unit 181 determines the ease of transition to a state in which the unstable behavior is not performed by the passenger performing the unstable behavior, and changes the timing of outputting the notification information according to the determined ease. Therefore, the mobile body control device 1 can ensure the passenger with a margin of time for judging whether to permit the control change of the automatic driving or a margin of time for preparing for the abrupt acceleration and deceleration.

Further, according to embodiment 1, in the mobile body control device 1, when the avoidance determination unit 17 determines that the occurrence of sudden acceleration or deceleration can be avoided, the output control unit 18 determines the severity of unexpected situations in which the passenger performing the unstable behavior falls when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, and outputs control instruction information after changing the degree of control of the automatic driving according to the determined severity. Therefore, the mobile body control device 1 can realize appropriate vehicle control according to unexpected situations in which the passenger is involved when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, and can suppress control such as a speed drop more than necessary, as compared with a case where the degree of control for changing the automatic driving is not changed. As a result, the mobile body control device 1 can reduce the influence on the movement time to the destination for the vehicle in automatic driving.

In addition, the present disclosure may be modified to any of the components of the embodiments, or any of the components may be omitted in the embodiments.

Industrial applicability

The present disclosure relates to a mobile body control device that can be applied to a mobile body control device that performs control of automatic driving of a mobile body that can perform automatic driving.

Description of the reference numerals

1. Mobile body control device

11. Indoor condition information acquisition unit

12. Peripheral condition information acquisition unit

13. Moving object information acquisition unit

14. Navigation information acquisition unit

15. Passenger condition determination unit

16. Acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit

17. Avoidance determination unit

18. Output control unit

181. Notification unit

19. Answer receiving unit

2. Indoor condition detection device

3. Peripheral condition detecting device

4. Mobile body information detection device

5. Navigation device

6. Automatic driving system

7. Output device

8. Input device

701. Processing circuit

702. Input interface device

703. Output interface device

704CPU

705 memory.

Claims

1. A control device for a moving body is provided,

the present invention provides a mobile body control device for controlling an automatic driving of a mobile body capable of automatic driving, comprising:

an indoor condition information acquisition unit that acquires indoor condition information on a condition in the mobile body;

A surrounding situation information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding situation information related to a situation of the surroundings of the mobile body;

a moving body information acquisition unit that acquires moving body information on the moving body;

a navigation information acquisition unit that acquires navigation information;

a passenger condition determination unit that determines, based on the indoor condition information acquired by the indoor condition information acquisition unit, whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition in which the passenger may possibly fall into an unexpected situation when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs;

an acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit that predicts whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs within an event determination time based on the surrounding situation information acquired by the surrounding situation information acquisition unit, the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit, and the navigation information acquired by the navigation information acquisition unit;

a avoidance/avoidance determination unit that determines whether or not the occurrence of abrupt acceleration/deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of the automatic driving when the occurrence of abrupt acceleration/deceleration is predicted based on a determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger obtained by the passenger condition determination unit is an unstable condition and a prediction result of whether or not the abrupt acceleration/deceleration is generated obtained by the acceleration/deceleration generation prediction unit; and

And an output control unit that outputs information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not the abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the determination result being obtained by the avoidance/non-avoidance determination unit.

2. The mobile body control device according to claim 1, wherein,

when the avoidance determination unit determines that the occurrence of the abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the output control unit outputs control instruction information for changing the control of the automatic driving so as to alleviate the occurrence of the abrupt acceleration and deceleration.

3. The mobile body control device according to claim 2, wherein,

the automatic driving control for moderating the occurrence of the abrupt acceleration and deceleration is control for turning the speed of the moving body to the left and right slower than the normal control in the control for turning the moving body to the left and right, and for starting the deceleration of the moving body or the lane change at a timing earlier than the normal control in the control for lowering the speed of the moving body.

4. The mobile body control device according to claim 1, wherein,

when the avoidance determination unit determines that the occurrence of the abrupt acceleration and deceleration is unavoidable, the output control unit outputs notification information for notifying the passenger that the abrupt acceleration and deceleration is to occur.

5. The moving body control device according to claim 2, comprising:

a notification unit that outputs notification information for notifying that the control of the automatic driving is changed when the avoidance possibility determination unit determines that the occurrence of the sudden acceleration/deceleration can be avoided; and

an answer receiving unit that receives answer information on whether or not to permit a change in the control of the automatic driving, the answer information corresponding to the notification information output from the notification unit,

the output control unit outputs the control instruction information when the answer receiving unit receives the answer information indicating that the change of the control of the automatic driving is permitted.

6. The mobile body control device according to claim 5, wherein,

the unstable situation includes an unstable behavior by the passenger that may be involved in an unexpected situation in the event of sudden acceleration and deceleration,

when the avoidance determination unit determines that the occurrence of the sudden acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the notification unit determines the ease of transition to a state in which the passenger who performs the unstable behavior does not perform the unstable behavior, and changes the timing of outputting the notification information according to the determined ease.

7. The mobile body control device according to claim 1, wherein,

the unstable condition includes unstable actions performed by the passenger that may be involved in unexpected situations,

when the avoidance determination unit determines that the occurrence of the abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided, the output control unit determines the severity of an unexpected situation in which the passenger performing the unstable behavior falls when the abrupt acceleration and deceleration occurs, and outputs control instruction information after changing the degree of control of the automatic driving based on the determined severity.

8. The mobile body control device according to any one of claim 1 to 7,

the mobile body is a vehicle.

9. A method for controlling a moving body, which comprises the steps of,

the present invention provides a method for controlling an automatically driven mobile body, the method comprising:

an indoor condition information acquisition unit that acquires indoor condition information on a condition in the mobile unit;

a surrounding situation information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding situation information related to a situation around the mobile body;

a step of acquiring navigation information by a navigation information acquisition unit;

a step of determining whether or not the condition of the passenger is an unstable condition in which the passenger is likely to get into an unexpected situation when sudden acceleration or deceleration occurs, based on the indoor condition information acquired by the indoor condition information acquisition unit;

an acceleration/deceleration occurrence prediction unit configured to predict whether or not sudden acceleration/deceleration occurs within an event determination time based on the surrounding situation information acquired by the surrounding situation information acquisition unit, the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit, and the navigation information acquired by the navigation information acquisition unit;

a avoidance possibility determination unit that determines whether or not the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration can be avoided by changing the control of automatic driving when the occurrence of abrupt acceleration and deceleration is predicted based on a determination result of whether or not the condition of the passenger obtained by the passenger condition determination unit is an unstable condition and a prediction result of whether or not the abrupt acceleration and deceleration is generated obtained by the acceleration and deceleration generation prediction unit; and

And outputting, by an output control unit, information corresponding to the determination result of whether or not the abrupt acceleration/deceleration can be avoided, the determination result being obtained by the avoidance/avoidance determination unit.