JP2003030777A - System and method of array travel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an array travel system capable of relieving a burden of a driver. SOLUTION: The array travel system is provided with an on-vehicle device 2 to control automatic travel of a vehicle 200 by providing a lane 102 exclusive for automatic travel, a road facility 3 to guide travel of the vehicle 200 traveling on the exclusive lane 102, a communication facility 4 to perform communication between the on-vehicle device 2 and the road facility 3, the on-vehicle device 2 is provided with an automatic travel switching means 21, an automatic traveling device 22 and a communication means 23 between road and vehicle and the road facility 3 is provided with a vehicle information detecting means 31, an entering vehicle discriminating means 32, a vehicle managing means 33, an array organization determining means 34, a vehicle speed determining means 35 and a communication means 36 between road and vehicle.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a platooning system and method for driving a plurality of vehicles by forming a platoon on a lane dedicated to automatic travel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, it is general to use a highway when traveling a long distance by an automobile. However, if there are many curves, slopes, and confluences, the driver must always drive with great care, and if the driver is driving for a long time, the driver becomes tired. On the contrary, if the route is monotonous, the driver gets tired of driving. Also, even if you want to take a break from driving, you cannot take a break on the highway unless you go to the service area or parking area.

[0003]

As described above, in the past, a heavy burden has been placed on the driver especially in long-distance driving, and the appearance of a system has been strongly desired to reduce the burden.

An object of the present invention is to provide a platooning system and method capable of reducing the load on the driver.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, a platooning system according to the present invention controls automatic driving of a vehicle in a system in which vehicles are organized in a platoon and run on a lane dedicated to automatic driving. And an on-board device for starting and ending the automatic driving mode and controlling the traveling of the vehicle at a speed instructed by the road facility side, and guiding the traveling of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane. A road facility that detects the identification number, position and speed of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane, and generates information for controlling the vehicle as a platoon vehicle, the on-board device and the road. A platooning system comprising: a communication facility for communicating between facilities.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a platooning method according to the present invention is an on-board device for controlling automatic running of a vehicle, a road facility for guiding the running of a vehicle on a dedicated lane, and a vehicle. A method for forming a vehicle in a platoon and driving the vehicle on a lane dedicated to automatic driving, the method comprising: an upper device and a communication facility for performing communication between road facilities. An automatic driving switching procedure for applying to the road facility side and receiving permission or instructions to start / end the automatic driving mode, an automatic driving procedure for driving the vehicle at the speed instructed by the road facility side, and a road facility through the communication facility. And the vehicle information detection procedure for detecting the identification number, position, and speed of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane by the road facility, and the newly detected vehicle. It is determined whether the vehicle has entered the lane, the vehicle that has applied for automatic driving is collated, the identification number is given and the vehicle is entered as a controlled object, and the automatic driving mode is started for the newly added vehicle. Vehicle management procedure that gives permission and deletes from the control target by giving permission to end the automatic driving mode to vehicles leaving the dedicated lane when arriving at the destination or stopping automatic driving, and the speed, position, interval, progress of each vehicle A platoon formation determination procedure for deciding a vehicle that should form a platoon based on direction, speed of each platoon, position, length, interval, joining and joining, joining / separation of vehicles to the platoon, and the like.
Vehicle speed determination procedure that determines the speed of each vehicle and instructs each vehicle through the communication facility so that platooning and participation / separation of the platoon can be performed smoothly, and road-vehicle communication procedure for communicating with the on-board device through the communication facility It is a platooning method, which is characterized by the fact that it is executed.

According to the platooning system and method according to the present invention, the information of the vehicles traveling on the lane dedicated to automatic driving is detected, the vehicles to be formed into a platoon are determined, the speeds of the respective vehicles are determined, and according to the information. By running the vehicles in a row, the vehicle that desires the automatic driving can be automatically driven until reaching the destination or quitting the automatic driving, and the burden on the driver can be reduced. In addition, since the inter-vehicle distance can be shortened by platooning, the upper limit of the number of vehicles that can travel in the lane can be increased as compared with the case of manual traveling, and the road can be efficiently operated.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a platooning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Also, FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an operating section of a platooning system to which a platooning method according to the present embodiment is applied.

The platooning system of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, is an on-board device 2 mounted on an automatically traveling vehicle.
2 and a communication facility 4 for communication between the on-board device 2 and the road facility 3 installed on the road shown in FIG.

The on-board device 2 includes an automatic travel switching means 21 and
The automatic traveling device 22 and the road-vehicle communication unit 23 are included.

The automatic traveling switching means 21 applies to the road facility 3 to start / end the automatic traveling mode and obtains a permission or an instruction to start / end the automatic traveling mode.

The automatic traveling device 22 drives the vehicle 200 at a speed instructed by the road facility 3.

The road-vehicle communication means 23 communicates with the road facility 3 through the communication facility 4.

The road facility 3 includes vehicle information detecting means 31 and
It includes an approaching vehicle determination means 32, a vehicle management means 33, a formation formation determination means 34, a vehicle speed determination means 35, and a road-vehicle communication means 36.

The vehicle information detecting means 31 detects the identification number, position and speed of the vehicle 200 traveling on the dedicated lanes 102 and 104 shown in FIG.

The approaching vehicle judging means 32 detects the detected vehicle 2
00 is a vehicle 200 that has newly entered the dedicated lanes 102 and 104, and this is compared with the vehicle 200 that has applied for automatic driving, an identification number is given, and the vehicle is added as a control target.

The vehicle management means 33 gives permission to start an automatic driving mode to the vehicle 200 newly added as a control target, and arrives at the destination or stops the automatic driving to set the exclusive lanes 102 and 10.
The vehicle 200 exiting from No. 4 is given permission to end the automatic driving mode and is deleted from the controlled objects.

The platoon formation determining means 34 determines the speed, position, interval and traveling direction of each vehicle 200, speed, position, length, interval, merging and merging of each platoon, and participation of the vehicle 200 in the platoon.
Vehicles 200 that should form a formation are determined based on separation or the like.

The vehicle speed determining means 35 determines the speed of each vehicle 200 so as to smoothly run the platoon and join / separate the platoon, and gives an instruction to each vehicle 200 through the communication facility 4.

The road-vehicle communication means 36 communicates with the on-board device 2 through the communication facility 4.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the lanes of the road 100 are provided with dedicated lanes 102 and 104 in addition to the manual lanes 101 and 103 which are normal lanes. On this dedicated lane 102, 104, a plurality of vehicles 200 automatically run by forming a row. In FIG. 2, the dedicated lane 10
Each of 2,104 has only one lane, but a plurality of lanes may be dedicated lanes for automatic driving.

In this platooning, a plurality of vehicles 200 are connected to each other at regular intervals by automatically controlling the distance between the vehicles 200 and the forward vehicle to be substantially constant. Such a system in which the vehicles 200 are connected at regular intervals for traveling is not only easier to connect and separate the vehicles 200, but also to travel as compared to a case where the vehicles are mechanically connected like a train. The vehicle 200 can be connected and disconnected even in the middle.

An upper limit is set for the number of vehicles 200 around one formation, and this upper limit is hereinafter referred to as the "maximum platoon number". The vehicle 200 is automatically driven on the dedicated lanes 102 and 104.

Next, the operation of the platooning system shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Now, when the driver of the vehicle 200 equipped with the on-board device 2 traveling on the manual traveling lane 101 shown in FIG. 2 wants to start automatic traveling, the automatic traveling dedicated lane 10
Change lane to 2. Automatic traveling switching means 21 of the on-board device 2
When it judges that the vehicle is entering the lane 102 for exclusive use of the automatic driving by the steering wheel operation, the accelerator / brake operation, the road-vehicle communication (step 21-1), it applies to the road facility 3 side for the automatic driving permission (step 21-). 2).

On the other hand, the vehicle information detecting means 31 of the road facility 3
Then, for example, the identification number, position, and speed of the vehicle 200 traveling on the lanes 102 and 104 for automatic traveling are detected by detecting means such as a route camera and an infrared sensor (step 32-1).

In the approaching vehicle determination means 32, when a vehicle 200 without an identification number is detected (step 32-
2) A vehicle 20 that has newly applied for automatic driving because it is determined that the vehicle 200 has newly entered the automatic driving lane.
After checking the position etc. recognized by the on-board device 2 of 0,
An identification number is given and added to the controlled object (step 33-3).
~ 33-6).

The vehicle management means 33 gives permission to start the automatic driving mode to the vehicle 200 to which the new identification number is given (steps 33-2 to 33-3).

The automatic traveling switching means 21 on the on-board device 2 is
When the automatic traveling mode start permission is given, the automatic traveling device 22 is instructed to start the automatic traveling (step 21-3 to
21-4). If permission to start the automatic driving mode is not given, a warning that entry into the dedicated lane 101 is prohibited is issued (step 21-5).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When the driver wants to stop the automatic driving, the driver can move from the automatic driving exclusive lanes 102, 104 to the manual driving lane 10
Change lanes to 1,103.

When the automatic traveling switching means 21 determines that the dedicated lanes 102 and 104 are out of the automatic traveling lanes due to steering wheel operation, accelerator / brake operation, road-vehicle communication (step 21-6), the vehicle automatically travels to the road facility 3 side. Apply for mode end (step 21-7).

The vehicle management means 33 of the road facility 3 gives the automatic traveling mode end permission to the vehicle 200 that has applied (steps 33-4 to 33-5).

The automatic traveling switching means 21 on the on-board device 2 is
When the permission to end the automatic traveling mode is given, the automatic traveling device 22 is instructed to end the automatic traveling (step 21-
8).

Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the driver of the leaving vehicle and the front and rear of the leaving vehicle can be changed by the formation formation determining means 34 and the vehicle speed determining means 35 so that the leaving vehicle can safely change lanes. An appropriate speed is instructed to each vehicle 200 in the platoon (including the independent traveling vehicle), as described later. When the leaving vehicle 200 departs from the dedicated lanes 102 and 104, the vehicle management unit 33 deletes the vehicle 200 from the control targets.

All vehicles 2 detected by the vehicle information detecting means 31
When the identification number is assigned to 00, the formation formation determining means 34
Then, the speed, position, interval, and traveling direction of each vehicle 200,
Vehicles that should be formed into a platoon based on the speed, position, length, interval, merging / merging of each platoon and participation / separation of vehicles in the platoon 2
00 is determined (step 34-1 to step 34-5).
That is, while traveling, the vehicles 200 whose relative positions are close to each other are
Make a formation within the maximum number of formations.

When the vehicle 200 that has newly started automatic traveling enters the dedicated lanes 102 and 104 for automatic traveling, the position and speed of the vehicle 200 in the vicinity are compared to determine which platoon to participate in or the independent traveling. , Is determined. When participating in a formation, it is determined whether the new vehicle 200 should be added to the beginning or the end of the formation (step 34-6 to step 34-11).

At the merging point, the vehicle information detecting means 31 detects the vehicle 200 entering the main line from the merging lane to some extent from the front side and assigns an identification number.

When there are platoons (including single vehicles) and merging vehicles that arrive at the merging point almost at the same time, if there is still room in the number of vehicles in the platoon, the merging vehicle is allowed to participate in this platoon, and which one joins earlier. Predict if you will arrive at the point,
Decide whether to join the joining vehicle at the beginning or the end of the formation.

It is not always necessary to form a platoon at the merging point, and in order to merge more safely, the merging vehicle arrives at the merging point before or after the merging point passes through the merging point, and then joins the platoon. You may let me do it.

When the merged vehicle does not want to travel automatically, the merged vehicle is once merged with the main line, and then the manually driven lanes 101, 10
Change lane to 3.

If there is a vehicle 200 that wants to leave the platoon at the end of automatic driving or at a diversion point, the platoon is once divided before and after the diversion vehicle 200.
After the separation of 0, they are reassembled into one formation.

The vehicle speed determining means 35 determines each vehicle 2 based on the formation of the formation determined by the formation formation determining means 34.
00 speed is determined (step 35-1 to step 35-
2), the speed instruction is output to the on-board device 2 of each vehicle 200. Each vehicle 200 indicates the vehicle 200 to follow along with the speed, or indicates only the vehicle 200 to follow other than the leading vehicle and the independent traveling vehicle of the row, and the speed is set to each vehicle 200.
Alternatively, the automatic traveling device 22 may be made to judge.

When a vehicle 200 that has started a new autonomous drive enters the dedicated lanes 102, 104 for automatic driving, consider the speed difference between the vehicle 200 and the vehicles 200 that form the platoon so that the vehicle can join the platoon safely and smoothly. Then, the target speed of each vehicle 200 is determined and instructed, for example, based on the idea of movement blockage.

At the merging point, the merging vehicle and the main line vehicle (platoon)
However, in order to join the vehicle safely and smoothly at the merge point, both the main line vehicle and the merge vehicle are instructed with appropriate speed. When determining the speed, for example, the concept of moving block can be used when joining vehicles at a merge point to join a row, and fixed block can be used when joining vehicles at a merge point after joining.

The merging vehicle is not automatically driven until merging, and even if the vehicle speed is instructed, the vehicle may not have a means for informing the driver or the driver may not follow. Therefore, the speed change instruction will be issued exclusively to the main vehicle (platoon) side.

When the vehicle leaves the formation at the end of automatic driving or at a shunting point, the vehicle information detecting means 31 should detect a certain number of points after the shunting so as to decelerate the shunting vehicle or congest the shunting lane. If necessary, change the instruction speed to the main line vehicle (platoon) in consideration of the situation.

Even if the shunt vehicle starts to run manually because it is out of the dedicated lane for automatic driving, the shunt vehicle is also notified of the target speed for the driver's reference until the shunt vehicle comes out of the dedicated lane.

Next, a platooning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the destination specifying means 24 is added to the on-board device 2 and the route information storage means 37 and the route setting means 38 are added to the road facility 3, the driver who wants to start the automatic traveling is By setting the destination using the destination designating means 24 before entering the self-propelled lane, the automatic traveling switching means 21 starts the automatic traveling mode.
When the application is made to the side, the destination is also notified at the same time, and the route setting means 38 retrieves the route information stored in the route information storage means 37 to find the route to the destination (where to proceed at the branch point, which exit is the end point). ,, etc.) is set.

Based on this route, the automatic traveling device 22 advances the vehicle in an appropriate direction at the branch point even if the driver does not operate the steering wheel. Further, when approaching the exit at which the automatic traveling should be approached, the driver is notified of that fact, and if it is confirmed that the driver has started the driving from the operation of the steering wheel or accelerator / brake, the automatic driving switching means 21
Applies for the end of the automatic driving mode to the side of the road facility 3, receives the end permission of the automatic driving mode from the road facility 3, and ends the automatic driving. If the driver does not start even after reaching the point just before making a shunt at the exit where automatic driving should be terminated, the road facility 3 instructs the driver to exit the exit or manually drive the lane (diversion lane). Stop the vehicle safely on the road shoulder.

Based on this route, the vehicle management means 33 can know the behavior of the vehicle at a branch point or the like in advance, and the formation formation determining means 34 or the vehicle speed determining means 3 can be used.
In step 5, it can be used as a judgment material when arranging a formation and determining the target speed of each vehicle. Further, the vehicle management means 33
When the driver approaches the exit at which the automatic traveling should be ended and the driver starts driving, the automatic traveling mode end permission is given, and when the vehicle departs from the lane dedicated to automatic traveling, the vehicle is deleted from the controlled object.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information of the vehicle traveling on the lane dedicated to automatic driving is detected, the vehicle to be formed into a platoon is determined, the speed of each vehicle is determined, and the vehicle is accordingly calibrated. By platooning the vehicle, the vehicle that desires the automatic driving can be automatically driven until reaching the destination or ending the automatic driving, and the burden on the driver can be reduced. Further, since the inter-vehicle distance can be shortened by platooning, it is possible to increase the upper limit of the number of vehicles that can travel in the lane as compared with the case of manual traveling, and a platooning system and method capable of operating the road efficiently. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a platooning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining an operating section of a platooning system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a platooning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an automatic travel switching means, a vehicle management means, and an approaching vehicle determination means when a new vehicle enters an automatic travel dedicated lane.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of an automatic travel switching means and a vehicle management means when a vehicle traveling in an automatic travel dedicated lane stops the automatic travel.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a formation formation determining unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of vehicle speed determination means.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an on-board device when an automated vehicle reaches a route end point in a platooning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 platooning system 2 On-board equipment 3 road facilities 4 communication facilities 21 Automatic travel switching means 22 Automatic traveling device 23 Road-to-vehicle communication means 24 Destination designation means 31 Vehicle information detecting means 32 Approaching vehicle determination means 33 Vehicle management means 34 Formation formation determination means 35 Vehicle speed determining means 36 Road-to-vehicle communication means 37 Route information storage means 38 Route setting means

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoshiro Seki             1-1 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo Co., Ltd.             Toshiba headquarters office F-term (reference) 3D044 AA21 AB01 AC55 AC59 AE14                 5H180 AA01 BB04 CC12 LL04 LL09

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A system in which vehicles are organized in a platoon and traveled on a lane dedicated to automatic travel, which controls automatic travel of the vehicle, starts and ends an automatic travel mode, and from the road facility side. An on-vehicle device for controlling the traveling of the vehicle at an instructed speed, and for guiding the traveling of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane, the identification number, position and speed of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane. Platooning system that includes a road facility that detects information about the vehicle and generates information for controlling the vehicle as a platooning vehicle, and a communication facility that communicates between the on-board device and the road facility. . 2. The on-vehicle device applies an automatic driving mode start / end to the road facility side, obtains permission or an instruction, and starts / ends the automatic driving mode. The platooning system according to claim 1, further comprising: an automatic traveling device for traveling the vehicle at an instructed speed; and a road-vehicle communication means for communicating with a road facility through a communication facility. 3. The road facility is a vehicle information detecting means for detecting an identification number, a position and a speed of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane, and whether the detected vehicle is a vehicle newly entering the dedicated lane. It judges whether or not it matches the vehicle that has applied for automatic driving and gives an identification number to the approaching vehicle judgment means to add it to the control target, and gives the newly added control target vehicle an automatic driving mode start permission, to the destination Vehicle management means that gives permission to end the automatic driving mode to vehicles leaving the dedicated lane when arriving or stopping automatic driving and deleting them from control targets, speed, position, interval, traveling direction of each vehicle, speed of each platoon,
A platoon formation determining means for deciding the vehicles that should form a platoon based on position, length, interval, joining / separation and participation / separation of vehicles in the platoon, etc., so that platooning and joining / separation of the platoon can be performed smoothly. The vehicle speed determining means for determining the speed of each vehicle and instructing each vehicle through the communication facility, and the road-vehicle communication means for communicating with the on-board device through the communication facility. Platooning system. 4. The on-board device further comprises destination designating means for communicating the destination of the vehicle to the road facility side, and the road facility comprises route information storage means for storing information on a network configuration of the route, 4. The route setting means for searching route information and setting a route according to a destination when a vehicle has applied for automatic driving, further comprising: route setting means. Platooning system. 5. An on-vehicle device for controlling automatic traveling of a vehicle,
A method for driving a vehicle traveling on an exclusive lane, comprising: a road facility for guiding the traveling of a vehicle traveling on a dedicated lane; , An automatic driving switching procedure for applying the start / end of the automatic driving mode to the road facility side by the on-board device and obtaining the permission or instruction to start / end the automatic driving mode, and a speed instructed by the road facility side. The automatic running procedure for driving the vehicle in the vehicle and the road-to-vehicle communication procedure for communicating with the road facility through the communication facility are performed, and the identification number, position, and speed of the vehicle traveling on the dedicated lane are determined by the road facility. The vehicle information detection procedure to be detected and whether or not the detected vehicle is a vehicle that has newly entered the dedicated lane, and the vehicle that has applied for automatic driving are collated and given an identification number to give a control pair. The procedure for determining the approaching vehicle to be added to the elephant and the permission to start the automatic driving mode to the newly added vehicle are given, and the permission to end the automatic driving mode is given to the vehicle that arrives at the destination or stops the automatic driving and leaves the dedicated lane. Vehicle management procedure to be deleted from the control target, speed of each vehicle, position, interval, traveling direction, speed of each platoon,
A platoon formation determination procedure that determines the vehicles that should form a platoon based on the position, length, interval, joining / separation and participation / separation of vehicles in the platoon, etc., so that platooning and joining / separation of platoons can be performed smoothly. A platooning method comprising: a vehicle speed determination procedure for determining the speed of each vehicle and instructing each vehicle through a communication facility; and a road-to-vehicle communication procedure for communicating with an on-board device through the communication facility.