CN210554769U

CN210554769U - Vehicle control device

Info

Publication number: CN210554769U
Application number: CN201921360862.XU
Authority: CN
Inventors: 野口智之; 足立崇; 贞清雅行; 石川尚
Original assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honda Motor Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-26
Filing date: 2019-08-21
Publication date: 2020-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2029-08-21
Also published as: JP2020066383A

Abstract

The utility model discloses a vehicle control device, the passenger's carsickness when restraining to turn and go with the autopilot mode. The vehicle control device includes: an action plan generating unit that generates an action plan including a target acceleration of the autonomous vehicle; and a travel control unit (46) that controls the travel actuator in such a manner that the autonomous vehicle travels autonomously according to the action plan generated by the action plan generation unit. The action plan generation unit has a target acceleration determination unit (52), and the target acceleration determination unit (52) determines, as target accelerations, a first acceleration at the start of turning travel, a second acceleration after the start of turning travel and before the end of turning travel, and a third acceleration at the end of turning travel. A target acceleration determination unit (52) determines the first acceleration to be a predetermined value or less, and determines the second acceleration and the third acceleration so that the difference from the first acceleration is a predetermined value or less, respectively.

Description

Vehicle control device

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a vehicle control device of the action of traveling of control autopilot vehicle.

Background

As such a device, a device that performs automatic driving control in accordance with a car sickness state of an occupant has been known (for example, see patent document 1). In the device described in patent document 1, a vehicle state related value that is a correlation between a motion sickness state and a vehicle state is learned in advance, a driving control target value (upper limit speed or upper limit acceleration) for reducing motion sickness is set based on the vehicle state related value, and automatic driving is performed in accordance with the control target value. Particularly, when the vehicle is running while turning, the upper limit speed is set based on the yaw rate (yaw rate) and the lateral acceleration of the vehicle and the curvature radius of the road.

[ Prior art documents ]

[ patent document ]

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2012-59274

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

[ problem to be solved by the utility model ]

However, if only the upper limit speed is set to perform the turning travel as in the device described in patent document 1, it is difficult to optimally suppress the car sickness during the turning travel.

[ means for solving problems ]

An embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle control device that controls a traveling operation of an autonomous vehicle having a traveling actuator, the vehicle control device including: an action plan generating unit that generates an action plan including a target acceleration of the autonomous vehicle; and a travel control unit that controls the travel actuator so that the autonomous vehicle travels by autonomous driving according to the action plan generated by the action plan generation unit. The action plan generating unit includes a target acceleration determining unit that determines a first acceleration at the start of turning travel, a second acceleration after the start of turning travel and before the end of turning travel, and a third acceleration at the end of turning travel, which are target accelerations, respectively, and the target acceleration determining unit determines the first acceleration to be a predetermined value or less and determines the second acceleration and the third acceleration so that a difference from the first acceleration is a predetermined value or less, respectively.

In the vehicle control device, the target acceleration determining unit may determine the first acceleration such that a change amount per unit time of the first acceleration is equal to or smaller than a first predetermined amount, and may determine the second acceleration and the third acceleration such that a difference between the change amount per unit time of the second acceleration and the third acceleration and the change amount per unit time of the first acceleration is equal to or smaller than a second predetermined amount.

[ effects of the utility model ]

According to the present invention, the driver's carsickness during turning in automatic driving can be suppressed most appropriately.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a running system of a vehicle to which a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of a vehicle control device that controls the autonomous vehicle of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the action plan generated by the action plan generating unit in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a shift map stored in the storage unit of fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a change in position during turning of the vehicle.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the controller of fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a timing chart showing an example of the operation of the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the symbols

45: action plan generating unit

46: running control unit

52: target acceleration determining part

100: vehicle control device

201: entrance interval

202: section of turning

203: outlet interval

AC: actuator

Ga1, Ga2, Ga 3: target acceleration

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 8. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a travel drive system of a vehicle 101 to which a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. The vehicle 101 is an autonomous vehicle having an autonomous driving function. Further, the vehicle 101 can realize not only traveling in the automatic driving mode in which driving operation by the driver is not necessary, but also traveling in the manual driving mode in which driving operation by the driver is used. As shown in fig. 1, a vehicle 101 has an engine 1 and a transmission 2.

The engine 1 is an internal combustion engine (for example, a gasoline engine) that generates rotational power by mixing intake air supplied via a throttle valve 11 and fuel injected from an injector 12 at an appropriate ratio, igniting the mixture with a spark plug or the like, and combusting the mixture. Various engines such as a diesel engine may be used instead of the gasoline engine. The intake air amount is adjusted by a throttle valve 11, and the opening degree of the throttle valve 11 is changed by driving a throttle actuator 13. The opening degree of the throttle valve 11 and the injection amount (injection timing, injection time) of the fuel from the injector 12 are controlled by a controller 40 (fig. 2).

The transmission 2 is an automatic transmission provided in a power transmission path between the engine 1 and the drive wheels 3, and is configured to change the speed of rotation from the engine 1 input via an input shaft, convert torque from the engine 1, and output the converted torque. The rotation shifted by transmission 2 is transmitted to drive wheel 3, and vehicle 101 travels. Alternatively, vehicle 101 may be configured as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle by providing a travel motor as a drive source instead of engine 1 or in addition to engine 1. The vehicle 101 is braked by a brake device 4 provided at the drive wheel 3. The brake device 4 includes, for example, an oil pressure disc brake.

The transmission 2 is, for example, a stepped transmission capable of changing a transmission ratio in stages corresponding to a plurality of gear positions (for example, six positions). A continuously variable transmission that can change the transmission ratio without a step may be used as the transmission 2. Although not shown, the power from the engine 1 may be input to the transmission 2 via a torque converter. The transmission 2 includes an engagement element 21 such as a dog clutch (dog clutch) or a friction clutch, for example, and the hydraulic control device 22 controls the flow of oil to the engagement element 21, thereby making it possible to change the gear position of the transmission 2. The hydraulic control device 22 includes a valve mechanism such as a solenoid valve (referred to as a shift actuator 23 for convenience of description) operated by an electric signal, and can set an appropriate gear position by changing the flow of pressure oil to the engagement element 21 in accordance with the operation of the shift actuator 23.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of the vehicle control device 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the vehicle control device 100 mainly includes: the controller 40, and an external sensor group 31, an internal sensor group 32, an input/output device 33, a Global Positioning System (GPS) device 34, a map database 35, a navigation device 36, a communication unit 37, and a travel actuator AC, which are electrically connected to the controller 40, respectively.

The external sensor group 31 is a general term for a plurality of sensors that detect external conditions as peripheral information of the vehicle 101. For example, the external sensor group 31 includes: a laser radar that measures scattered light of the vehicle 101 with respect to the irradiation light in all directions to measure a distance from the vehicle 101 to a surrounding obstacle; a radar that detects another vehicle, an obstacle, or the like in the periphery of the vehicle 101 by irradiating an electromagnetic wave and detecting a reflected wave; the camera is mounted on the vehicle 101, includes an imaging Device such as a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), and captures the periphery (front, rear, and side) of the vehicle 101.

The internal sensor group 32 is a general term for a plurality of sensors that detect the traveling state of the vehicle 101. For example, the internal sensor group 32 includes: a vehicle speed sensor that detects a vehicle speed of vehicle 101, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in the front-rear direction and acceleration in the left-right direction (lateral acceleration) of vehicle 101, an engine speed sensor that detects a speed of engine 1, a yaw rate sensor that detects a rotational angular velocity of the center of gravity of vehicle 101 about a vertical axis, a throttle opening sensor that detects an opening degree (throttle opening degree) of throttle valve 11, and the like. The internal sensor group 32 also includes sensors for detecting driving operations of the driver in the manual driving mode, for example, an operation of an accelerator pedal, an operation of a brake pedal, and an operation of a steering device.

The input/output device 33 is a generic term for a device that inputs an instruction from a driver or outputs information to the driver. For example, the input/output device 33 includes: various switches through which a driver inputs various instructions by operation of an operation member, a microphone through which a driver inputs instructions by sound, a display that provides information to the driver via a display image, a speaker that provides information to the driver by sound, and the like. The various switches include a manual automatic changeover switch indicating any one of an automatic driving mode and a manual driving mode.

The manual/automatic changeover switch is configured as a switch that can be manually operated by a driver, for example, and outputs a changeover command for an automatic driving mode for activating the automatic driving function or a manual driving mode for deactivating the automatic driving function in response to a switch operation. When the predetermined running condition is not established by the operation of the manual/automatic changeover switch, the instruction may be made to change over from the manual driving mode to the automatic driving mode or from the automatic driving mode to the manual driving mode. That is, the mode switching may be performed automatically, not manually, by automatically switching the mode by a manual/automatic switching switch.

The GPS device 34 includes a GPS receiver that receives positioning signals from a plurality of GPS satellites, and measures the absolute position (latitude, longitude, and the like) of the vehicle 101 from the signals received by the GPS receiver.

The map database 35 is a device that stores general map information used in the navigation device 36, and includes, for example, a hard disk. The map information includes position information of a road, information of a road shape (curvature, etc.), and position information of an intersection or a branch point. The map information stored in the map database 35 is different from the map information stored in the storage unit 42 of the controller 40 with high accuracy.

The navigation device 36 is a device that searches for a target route on a road to a destination input by a driver and performs guidance along the target route. The input of the destination and the guidance along the target route are performed via the input/output device 33. The destination may be automatically set without going through the input/output device 33. The target route is calculated from the current position of the vehicle obtained by the GPS device 34 and the map information already stored in the map database 35.

The communication unit 37 communicates with various servers not shown via a network including a wireless communication network such as an internet line, and acquires map information, traffic information, and the like from the servers periodically or at an arbitrary timing. The acquired map information is output to the map database 35 or the storage unit 42, and the map information is updated. The acquired traffic information includes signal information such as congestion information or a remaining time until a signal changes from red to green.

The actuator AC is a travel actuator for operating various devices related to the travel operation of the vehicle 101. The actuator AC includes a throttle actuator 13 for adjusting an opening degree (throttle opening degree) of a throttle valve 11 of the engine 1, a shift actuator 23 for changing a gear position of the transmission 2, a brake actuator for operating a brake device, a steering actuator for driving a steering device, and the like.

The controller 40 includes an Electronic Control Unit (ECU). Further, although a plurality of ECUs having different functions, such as an engine control ECU and a transmission control ECU, may be provided separately, fig. 2 shows a controller 40 as a set of these ECUs for convenience of explanation. The controller 40 includes a computer having a calculation Unit 41 such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a storage Unit 42 such as a hard disk, and other peripheral circuits (not shown) such as an input/output interface.

The storage unit 42 stores highly accurate detailed map information including information on the center position of the lane, information on the boundary of the lane position, and the like. More specifically, as the map information, road information, traffic control information, address information, facility information, telephone number information, and the like are stored. The road information includes information indicating the type of a road such as an expressway, a toll road, and a national road, and information such as the number of lanes on the road, the width of each lane, the gradient of the road, the three-dimensional coordinate position of the road, the curvature of a turn of the lane, the positions of a merging point and a diverging point of the lane, and a road sign. The traffic control information includes information for restricting or prohibiting the travel of a lane by a construction or the like. The storage unit 42 also stores information such as a shift map (shift line map) serving as a reference of the shifting operation, programs of various controls, and thresholds used in the programs.

The calculation unit 41 includes a vehicle position recognition unit 43, an external recognition unit 44, an action plan generation unit 45, and a travel control unit 46 as functions related to automatic travel.

The vehicle position recognition unit 43 recognizes the position of the vehicle 101 (the vehicle position) on the map based on the position information of the vehicle 101 obtained by the GPS device 34 and the map information of the map database 35. The vehicle position may be identified with high accuracy by identifying the vehicle position using the map information (information such as the shape of the building) stored in the storage unit 42 and the information on the surroundings of the vehicle 101 detected by the external sensor group 31. In addition, when the vehicle position can be measured by an external sensor provided on the road or near the road, the vehicle position can be recognized with high accuracy by communicating with the sensor via the communication unit 37.

The environment recognition unit 44 recognizes an external situation around the vehicle 101 based on signals from the external sensor group 31 such as a laser radar, a radar, and a camera. For example, the position, speed, or acceleration of a nearby vehicle (a preceding vehicle or a following vehicle) traveling around the vehicle 101, the position of a nearby vehicle that is stopping or parking around the vehicle 101, the position or state of another object, and the like are recognized. Other objects include signs, semaphores, boundary lines or stop lines for roads, buildings, guardrails, utility poles, signs, pedestrians, bicycles, and the like. The state of the other object includes the color of the traffic signal (red, green, yellow), the moving speed or direction of the pedestrian or the bicycle, and the like.

The action plan generating unit 45 generates a travel track (target track) of the vehicle 101 from the current time point to a predetermined time point, for example, based on the target route calculated by the navigation device 36, the vehicle position recognized by the vehicle position recognizing unit 43, and the external situation recognized by the external environment recognizing unit 44. When a plurality of tracks that are candidates for the target track exist on the target route, the action plan generating unit 45 selects an optimum track that satisfies the compliance act and that efficiently and safely travels, and the like, and sets the selected track as the target track. Then, the action plan generating unit 45 generates an action plan corresponding to the generated target trajectory.

The action plan includes travel plan data set per unit time Δ T (for example, 0.1 second) from the current time point to a predetermined time T (for example, 5 seconds), that is, travel plan data set in association with the time per unit time Δ T. The travel plan data includes position data of the vehicle 101 and data of a vehicle state per unit time Δ t. The position data is, for example, data indicating a target point of a two-dimensional coordinate position on a road, and the vehicle state data is vehicle speed data indicating a vehicle speed, direction data indicating a direction of the vehicle 101, and the like. The data of the vehicle state can be obtained from the change of the position data per unit time Δ t. The travel plan is updated every unit time Δ t.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the action plan generated by the action plan generating unit 45. Fig. 3 shows a travel plan of a scene in which the vehicle 101 travels while turning on the curve 200. Each point P in fig. 3 corresponds to position data per unit time Δ T from the current time point to a predetermined time T. The action plan generating unit 45 generates the target track 103 by connecting the points P in time series.

When generating the target trajectory 103, the action plan generating unit 45 first determines a travel pattern, and generates the target trajectory 103 based on the travel pattern. For example, when an action plan corresponding to lane keeping running is created, first, running modes such as constant speed running, follow-up running, deceleration running, and turning running (cornering running) are determined. Specifically, the action plan generating unit 45 determines the running mode as constant speed running when there is no other vehicle (preceding vehicle) ahead of the host vehicle, and determines the running mode as follow-up running when there is a preceding vehicle. The start of the turning travel is determined based on the vehicle position on the map recognized by the vehicle position recognition unit 43, and when the start of the turning travel is determined, the travel pattern is determined as the turning travel. In this case, it is determined that the turning travel is started when it is determined that the vehicle 101 has entered the curve 200 or when it is determined that the vehicle has entered the curve 200 after a predetermined time from the current time point or after traveling a predetermined distance. When the external world recognizing unit 44 recognizes the travel of the curve 200, the travel mode may be determined as the curve travel.

In the automatic driving mode, the travel control unit 46 controls each actuator AC so that the vehicle 100 travels along the target track 103 generated by the action plan generating unit 45. For example, the throttle actuator 13, the shift actuator 23, the brake actuator, and the steering actuator are controlled so that the vehicle 101 passes through each point P in fig. 3 per unit time Δ t.

More specifically, in the automatic driving mode, the travel control unit 46 calculates the required driving force for obtaining the target acceleration per unit time calculated by the action plan generating unit 45, taking into account the travel resistance determined by the road gradient and the like. Then, the actuator AC is feedback-controlled so that, for example, the actual acceleration detected by the internal sensor group 32 becomes the target acceleration. That is, the actuator AC is controlled so that the vehicle 101 travels at the target vehicle speed and the target acceleration. In the manual driving mode, the travel control unit 46 controls the actuators AC in accordance with a travel command (an accelerator opening degree, a steering angle of the steering wheel 5, and the like) from the driver acquired by the internal sensor group 32.

The control of the transmission 2 will be explained. The travel control unit 46 outputs a control signal to the shift actuator 23 using a shift map stored in advance in the storage unit 42 and serving as a reference of the shifting operation, thereby controlling the shifting operation of the transmission 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the shift map stored in the storage unit 42. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the vehicle speed V, and the vertical axis represents the required driving force F. The required driving force F corresponds to the accelerator opening (pseudo accelerator opening in the automatic driving mode) or the throttle opening in a one-to-one correspondence, and increases as the accelerator opening or the throttle opening increases. Therefore, the vertical axis may be referred to as the accelerator opening degree or the throttle opening degree.

The characteristic f1 (solid line) is an example of a downshift line corresponding to a downshift from the n +1 th stage to the n th stage in the automatic drive mode, and the characteristic f2 (solid line) is an example of an upshift line corresponding to an upshift from the n th stage to the n +1 th stage in the automatic drive mode. The characteristic f3 (broken line) is an example of a downshift line corresponding to a downshift from the n +1 th stage to the n th stage in the automatic driving mode, and the characteristic f4 (broken line) is an example of an upshift line corresponding to an upshift from the n th stage to the n +1 th stage in the automatic driving mode. The characteristic f3 and the characteristic f4 are set on the high vehicle speed side, respectively, compared with the characteristic f1 and the characteristic f 2.

As shown in fig. 4, for example, in the case of a downshift from the operating point Q1, if the vehicle speed V decreases while the required driving force F remains constant and the operating point Q1 exceeds the downshift line (characteristic F1, characteristic F3) (arrow a), the transmission 2 downshifts from the n +1 stage toward the n stage. When the required driving force F is increased while the vehicle speed V is kept constant, the operating point Q1 also exceeds the downshift line, and the transmission 2 downshifts.

On the other hand, for example, in the case of an upshift from the operating point Q2, if the vehicle speed V increases while the required driving force F remains fixed and the operating point Q2 exceeds the upshift line (characteristic F2, characteristic F4) (arrow B), the transmission 2 is upshifted from the n-stage to the n + 1-stage. When the required driving force F is reduced while the vehicle speed V remains fixed, the operating point Q2 also exceeds the upshift line, and the transmission 2 is upshifted. Further, the downshift line and the upshift line are set so as to move to the higher vehicle speed side as the gear shift stage increases.

The characteristics f3 and f4 of the manual driving mode are characteristics that allow both power performance and fuel efficiency performance. On the other hand, the characteristics f1 and f2 of the automatic driving mode place more importance on fuel consumption performance and quietness performance than on power performance. Since the characteristics f1 and f2 are set on the low vehicle speed side compared to the characteristics f3 and f4, the timing of upshift is earlier and the timing of downshift is later in the automatic drive mode, and it is easier to travel at a higher speed than in the manual drive mode.

A characteristic configuration of the present embodiment will be described. The vehicle control device 100 of the present embodiment is characterized in the configuration of the calculation unit 41, and particularly in setting a target acceleration such as a reduction in the passenger's carsickness when traveling on a curve (cornering) by automatic driving. That is, when the vehicle 101 travels on the curve 200, the behavior of the vehicle 101 greatly changes due to changes in the acceleration in the vehicle front-rear direction and the vehicle left-right direction. Further, the occupant of the vehicle 101 traveling in the automatic driving mode may not expect to travel in a curve and may have an unstable riding posture, and hence, the vehicle may be more likely to be sick than in the manual driving mode. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the vehicle control device is configured as follows, which can optimally suppress the driver's carsickness during the turning travel in the automatic drive mode.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the vehicle control device 100 according to the present embodiment, particularly a configuration of a main part of the controller 40. As shown in fig. 5, the controller 40 includes a function configuration including an acceleration calculation unit 51, a target acceleration determination unit 52, and a travel control unit 46. The acceleration calculation unit 51 and the target acceleration determination unit 52 form part of the action plan generation unit 45 shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a change in position during turning of the vehicle 101. As shown in fig. 6, the curve 200 having the turning radius R is divided into an entrance section 201, an exit section 203, and a turning section 202 between the entrance section 201 and the exit section 203 of the curve 200. The entrance section 201 is a section in which the turning travel is started, and the exit section 203 is a section in which the turning travel is ended, and these sections are sections in which the curvature radius of the curve 200 changes by a predetermined value or more, for example. On the other hand, the turning section 202 is a section in which the amount of change in the curvature radius is equal to or less than a predetermined value. In front of the entrance section 201, a preparation section 204 for preparing for turning is defined.

The acceleration calculation unit 51 calculates the acceleration G of the vehicle 101 based on the signals from the internal sensor group 32. As shown in fig. 6, during cornering, a resultant force F3 of a forward driving force F1 in the vehicle front-rear direction and a centrifugal force F2 in the vehicle left-right direction acts on the vehicle 101. The acceleration computing unit 51 calculates the forward driving force F1 from the engine speed, the engine output torque, the gear ratio of the transmission 2, and the like. Further, the turning radius R of the curve 200 is obtained from the map data stored in the map database 35, signals from the external sensor group 31 (such as a camera), and the like, and the centrifugal force F2 is calculated from the turning radius R, the vehicle speed, and the mass of the vehicle 101. The acceleration calculation unit 51 calculates the acceleration G during cornering by obtaining a resultant force F3 of the forward driving force F1 and the centrifugal force F2 and dividing the resultant force F3 by the mass of the vehicle 101.

The target acceleration determining unit 52 determines a target acceleration Ga of the vehicle 101 during turning. That is, the target acceleration Ga0 in the preparation section 204, the target acceleration Ga1 in the entrance section 201, the target acceleration Ga2 in the turning section 202, and the target acceleration Ga3 in the exit section 203 are determined, respectively.

more specifically, when the vehicle 101 enters the preparation section 204, the target acceleration determining unit 52 sets the target vehicle speed at the start of the curve running, that is, the target vehicle speed of the vehicle 101 at the start point of the entrance section 201, in consideration of the situation (the inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle ahead, etc.) around the vehicle 101 detected by the external sensor group 31 and the curve radius R of the curve 200, and sets the target acceleration ga0 in the preparation section 204 for setting the vehicle speed to the target vehicle speed, and the target acceleration Ga0 can be gradually reduced so as to become equal to or less than the predetermined value α 1 without being a fixed value throughout the preparation section 204.

then, the target acceleration determining unit 52 sets the target acceleration Ga1(Ga1 ≦ α 1) in the entrance section 201 within a range that is stored in the storage unit 42 in advance and is equal to or less than the predetermined value α 1, sets the predetermined value α 1 to a value that is lower than the acceleration at which the occupant causes motion sickness, that is, a value that suppresses the degree of motion sickness of the occupant to or less than the predetermined degree, the predetermined value α 1 can be determined in advance by, for example, performing an experiment in which the occupant is placed in a vehicle and the vehicle 101 is caused to turn, and sets the target acceleration Ga1 in the entrance section 201 such that the deviation Δ Ga1 of the target acceleration Ga1 becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value α 2(Δ Ga1 ≦ α 2) that is determined in advance.

then, the target acceleration determining unit 52 sets the target acceleration Ga2 in the turning section 202 (Ga 1- α 3 ≦ Ga2 ≦ Ga1+ α 3) so that the difference from the target acceleration Ga1 in the entrance section 201 (the absolute value of Ga 1-Ga 2) becomes equal to or smaller than the predetermined value α 3 determined in advance, sets the target acceleration Ga2 in the turning section 202 (Δ Ga 1- α 4 ≦ Δ Ga2 ≦ Δ Ga1+ α 4) so that the difference Δ Ga2 in the target acceleration Ga2 becomes equal to or smaller than the predetermined value α 4 determined in advance with respect to the difference Δ Ga1 in the target acceleration Ga1 in the entrance section 201 at this time, and sets the predetermined value α 4 to be equal to or smaller than the predetermined value α 2, for example, smaller than the predetermined value α 2.

then, the target acceleration determining unit 52 sets the target acceleration Ga3 in the exit section 203 to the same value as the target acceleration Ga2 in the turning section 202, that is, sets the target acceleration Ga3 so as to satisfy Ga 1- α 3 ≦ Ga3 ≦ Ga1+ α 3 and Δ Ga 1- α 4 ≦ Δ Ga3 ≦ Δ Ga1+ α 4.

The acceleration acting on the entire vehicle 101 during cornering has a component in the vehicle traveling direction (component corresponding to the forward driving force F1) and a component perpendicular to the traveling direction (component corresponding to the centrifugal force F2), corresponding to the resultant force F3 of fig. 6. Therefore, the target acceleration determining unit 52 decomposes the target accelerations Ga1 to Ga3 during cornering into a component in the vehicle traveling direction and a component perpendicular to the traveling direction, taking into account the centrifugal force F2 determined from the vehicle speed and the cornering radius R. Then, forward target acceleration Gb, which is a component in the vehicle traveling direction, i.e., forward target acceleration Gb1 to forward target acceleration Gb3 corresponding to target acceleration Ga1 to target acceleration Ga3 are set together.

The travel control unit 46 controls the actuator AC so that the vehicle 101 travels at the target acceleration Ga determined by the target acceleration determination unit 48. That is, the forward driving force F1 of the vehicle 101 corresponding to the target acceleration Ga (forward target acceleration Gb) is calculated, and the throttle actuator 13, the steering actuator, and the like are controlled so that the vehicle 101 travels with the forward driving force F1 and turns the curve along the curve 200. The travel control unit 46 controls the shift actuator 23 so that the shift is not performed during turning travel, for example, in the control of the transmission 2.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the controller 40 of fig. 5. For example, when the vehicle 101 traveling in the automatic driving mode enters the preparation section 204 immediately before the curve 200, the processing shown in the flowchart is started, and the processing is repeated at a predetermined cycle before the curve traveling is finished (before the exit section 203 is exited). The starting point of the preparation section 204 is determined in accordance with the vehicle speed, the turning radius R, and the like of the host vehicle 101.

first, in step S1, the current position of the vehicle 101 is determined based on a signal from the GPS device 34, and it is determined whether the vehicle 101 is traveling in the preparation section 204, if yes in step S1, the routine proceeds to step S2, where a target acceleration ga0 corresponding to the target vehicle speed at the start of turning traveling is set, on the other hand, if no in step S1, the routine proceeds to step S3, where it is determined whether the vehicle 101 is traveling in the entrance section 201, if yes in step S3, the routine proceeds to step S4, if no in step S3, the routine proceeds to step S5, and in step S4, the target acceleration ga1 is set such that Ga1 ≦ α 1 and Δ Ga1 ≦ α 2 (where α 1 and α 2 are predetermined values) are satisfied, and in this case, the collective forward target acceleration Gb1 is set.

if yes in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6, if no in step S5, the process proceeds to step S7, in step S6, the target acceleration ga2 is set so as to satisfy Ga1 — α 3 ≦ Ga1+ α 3 and Δ Ga 1- α 4 ≦ Δ Ga2 ≦ Δ Ga1+ α 4 (where α 3 and α 4 are predetermined values), at which time, the forward target acceleration gb2 is set together, in step S7, the process determines whether the vehicle 101 is traveling in the exit interval 203, if yes in step S7, the process proceeds to step S8, the target acceleration Gb is set so as to satisfy Ga 1- α 3 ≦ Ga1+ α 3 and Δ Ga 1- α 4 ≦ Δ 4642 ≦ Δ 1+ Gb, at which time, the target acceleration Gb is set together.

When the target acceleration Ga is set in any one of step S2, step S4, step S6, and step S8, the routine proceeds to step S9, where the actuator AC is controlled in accordance with the target acceleration Ga (forward target acceleration Gb) so that the actual acceleration of the vehicle 101 becomes the target acceleration Ga. On the other hand, if the result is negative in step S7 because the vehicle 101 has passed through the exit section 203, the process ends. In this case, the running operation of the vehicle 101 is controlled by the normal automatic driving control.

Fig. 8 is a time chart showing an example of the operation of the vehicle control device 100 according to the present embodiment, and particularly an example of a change in the acceleration G with time. In fig. 8, the operation in the automatic driving mode is indicated by a solid line, and the operation in the manual driving mode is indicated by a broken line.

as shown in fig. 8, when traveling in the automatic driving mode, the vehicle 101 travels with an acceleration Ga0 when entering the preparation section 204 in front of the curve 200 at time point t1 (step S2 → step S9). when the vehicle 101 reaches the entrance section 201 of the curve 200 at time point t2, the vehicle 101 travels with an acceleration Ga1 lower than the predetermined value α 1 (step S4 → step S9). when traveling in the entrance section 201, the deviation of the acceleration Ga1 is suppressed to the predetermined value α 2 or less.

when the vehicle 101 reaches the curve section 202 at the time point t3, the vehicle 101 travels at the acceleration Ga2 (step S6 → step S9) — at this time, the difference from the acceleration Ga1 of the entrance section 201 is suppressed to the predetermined value α 3 or less, and when the deviation Δ Ga1 of the acceleration Ga1 of the entrance section 201 is 0, the deviation Δ Ga2 of the acceleration Ga2 is suppressed to the predetermined value α 4 or less while the curve section 202 travels.

when the vehicle 101 reaches the exit section 203 at the time point t4, the vehicle 101 travels at the acceleration Ga3 (step S8 → step S9) — at this time, similarly to when traveling in the turning section 202, the difference from the acceleration Ga1 of the entrance section 201 is suppressed to the predetermined value α 3 or less, further, when the deviation Δ Ga1 of the acceleration Ga1 of the entrance section 201 is 0, when traveling in the exit section 203, the deviation Δ Ga3 of the acceleration Ga3 is suppressed to the predetermined value α 4 or less similarly to when traveling in the turning section 202, and when the vehicle 101 passes through the end point of the exit section 203 at the time point t5, the turning travel is ended.

According to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.

(1) the vehicle control device 100 is a travel operator that controls an autonomous vehicle 101 having a travel actuator AC, and includes an action plan generating unit 45 that generates an action plan including a target acceleration Ga of the vehicle 101, and a travel control unit 46 that controls the actuator AC so that the vehicle 101 travels by autonomous driving according to the action plan generated by the action plan generating unit 45 (fig. 2). the action plan generating unit 45 includes a target acceleration determining unit 52 that determines a target acceleration Ga1 in an entrance section 201 at the start of turning travel, a target acceleration Ga2 in a turning section 202 after the start of turning travel and before the end of turning travel, and a target acceleration Ga3 (fig. 5) in an exit section 203 at the end of turning travel, respectively.a target acceleration Ga1 in the entrance section 201 is determined to be equal to or less than a predetermined value α 1, and a target acceleration Ga2 in the exit section 202 and a target acceleration Ga3 in the exit section 203, respectively, so that a difference from the acceleration Ga1 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value α 3.

as described above, in the present embodiment, the curve 200 during turning travel is divided into three sections (the entrance section 201, the turning section 202, and the exit section 203) according to the behavior of the vehicle 101, the target acceleration Ga1 is set to the predetermined value α 1 or less in the entrance section 201, and the target acceleration Ga2 and the target acceleration Ga3 of the turning section 202 and the exit section 203 are set such that the deviation from the target acceleration Ga1 becomes the predetermined value α 3 or less with reference to the target acceleration Ga1, whereby the vehicle 101 is turned at a low acceleration of the predetermined value α 1 or less and at a substantially constant acceleration from the start to the end of turning travel, and thus the driver can be optimally restrained from getting sick, that is, the size of the acceleration during turning travel is reduced and the variation of the acceleration is restrained, and therefore, the driver can be restrained from getting sick even during automatic driving that is easy, and comfortable automatic driving of the vehicle 101 can be provided for the driver.

(2) the target acceleration determining unit 52 further determines the target acceleration Ga so that the change amount Δ Ga per unit time of the target acceleration Ga in the entrance section 201 becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value α 2, and determines the target accelerations Ga2 in the turning section 202 and the target acceleration Ga3 in the exit section 203 so that the differences between the change amounts Δ Ga2 and Δ Ga3 per unit time of the target acceleration Ga3 in the turning section 202 and the change amount Δ Ga1 per unit time of the target acceleration Ga1 in the exit section 203 and the predetermined value α 4 or less, respectively.

for example, the target acceleration Ga1 may be determined such that the change amount Δ Ga1 per unit time of the target acceleration Ga1 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value α 2 (a first predetermined amount), and the target acceleration Ga2 and the target acceleration Ga3 may be determined such that the difference between the target acceleration Ga2 and the change amount Δ Ga2 per unit time of the target acceleration Ga3 and the change amount Δ Ga3 per unit time of the target acceleration Ga1 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value α 4 (a second predetermined amount), that is, the target acceleration 2 and the target acceleration Ga3 may be configured as long as the target acceleration is determined such that the target acceleration is any one of the first acceleration at the start of the turning, the second acceleration after the start of the turning, and the second acceleration at the end of the turning.

The above description is only an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment and the modified examples described above as long as the features of the present invention are not impaired. One or more of the embodiments and the modifications may be arbitrarily combined, or the modifications may be combined with each other.

Claims

1. A vehicle control device that controls a traveling operation of an autonomous vehicle having a traveling actuator, the vehicle control device comprising:

an action plan generating unit that generates an action plan including a target acceleration of the autonomous vehicle; and

a travel control unit that controls the travel actuator so that the autonomous vehicle travels autonomously according to the action plan generated by the action plan generation unit;

the action plan generating unit includes a target acceleration determining unit that determines a first acceleration at the start of turning travel, a second acceleration after the start of turning travel and before the end of turning travel, and a third acceleration at the end of turning travel, as the target acceleration, and the target acceleration determining unit determines the first acceleration, the second acceleration, and the third acceleration, respectively

The target acceleration determining unit determines the first acceleration to be a predetermined value or less, and determines the second acceleration and the third acceleration so that a difference between the first acceleration and the second acceleration is a predetermined value or less.

2. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1,

the target acceleration determination unit further determines the first acceleration such that a change amount per unit time of the first acceleration is equal to or less than a first predetermined amount, and determines the second acceleration and the third acceleration such that a difference between the change amount per unit time of the second acceleration and the change amount per unit time of the third acceleration and the change amount per unit time of the first acceleration is equal to or less than a second predetermined amount.