JP2006277117A - Vehicle support technique - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a running support technique permitting suitable detection of an obstacle according to road environment. <P>SOLUTION: A running support device 10 comprises a storage part 120 for storing road map information Irm including obstacle information DPn, DPk indicating the possibility that the obstacle which obstructs passage of a vehicle 800 exists on a road, a reference value setting part 114 for setting a reference value Dcr for determining an object 950 on the road existing on the road to be the obstacle based on the obstacle information DPn, DPk, a road object detection part 160 for detecting the object 950 on the road, and an obstacle discrimination part 116 for discriminating whether or not the object 950 on the road can be the obstacle based on the reference value Dcr. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support technology for supporting a vehicle traveling on a road.

  Conventionally, as a driving support technique, there is known a technique for detecting an obstacle on a road in order to avoid an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when the vehicle passes. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for performing vehicle control based on detection of an obstacle by a radar.

JP 2004-224093 A

  However, although the type and presence frequency of obstacles differ depending on the road environment, in the conventional technology, standard values for judging roadside objects on the road as obstacles are uniformly set. Therefore, there are cases where obstacles cannot be detected properly. For example, if the reference value is set with a margin, a road object that is not an obstacle may be judged as an obstacle. On the other hand, if the reference value is set without a margin, There was a case where the obstacle was overlooked.

  In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a driving support technology that can appropriately detect an obstacle according to a road environment.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the driving support device of the present invention is a driving support device that supports a vehicle traveling on a road, and there may be an obstacle on the road that becomes an obstacle when the vehicle passes. A storage unit for storing road map information including obstacle information indicating the nature, a reference value setting unit for setting a reference value to be determined as an obstacle on the road based on the obstacle information, An on-road object detection unit that detects an object and an obstacle determination unit that determines whether the detected road object is an obstacle based on a set reference value. According to the driving support device of the present invention, since it is possible to set a reference value for detecting an obstacle based on the obstacle information included in the road map information, the obstacle is appropriately detected according to the road environment. can do.

  The driving support apparatus of the present invention described above can also take the following aspects. The obstacle information may be information indicating that there is a possibility that at least one of a person, a vehicle, and a fallen object falling from the vehicle exists on the road as an obstacle. Thus, the reference value can be set according to the type of obstacle to be detected.

  The road map information includes information defining road nodes indicating reference points on the road, and information defining road links indicating section modes between road nodes, and obstacle information is indicated by road nodes. It may be information indicating the possibility that an obstacle exists in at least one of the sections indicated by the reference point and the road link. Thereby, the obstacle information for each road can be incorporated into the road map information.

  The road map information includes information defining lane nodes indicating reference points on each lane included in the road, and information defining lane links indicating section modes between the lane nodes. It may be information indicating the possibility that an obstacle exists in at least one of the reference point indicated by the lane node and the section indicated by the lane link. Thereby, the obstacle information for each lane can be incorporated into the road map information.

  The reference value may indicate at least one of the size of the road object to be determined as an obstacle, the moving speed of the road object to be determined as an obstacle, and the position of the road object to be determined as an obstacle. . Thereby, the detection accuracy of an obstacle can be improved.

  The on-road object detection unit includes a millimeter-wave radar that detects an on-road object using millimeter waves, an infrared image sensor that detects an on-road object based on an image obtained by imaging the road with infrared rays, and an image obtained by imaging the road with visible light. It may be at least one of visible image sensors that detect objects on the road. As a result, road objects can be detected appropriately.

  The aspect of the present invention is not limited to the driving support device, and a program for causing a computer to realize a function for supporting a vehicle traveling on a road, a driving support method for supporting a vehicle traveling on the road, and the like. The present invention can be applied to various aspects.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the data structure of the present invention is a data structure of road map information indicating a road map, information defining a node indicating a reference point on the road, and a section mode between the nodes And information indicating the possibility that an obstacle exists in at least one of the reference point indicated by the node and the section indicated by the link. In order to solve the above-described problems, the recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium on which road map information having the data structure of the present invention is recorded. According to the data structure and the recording medium of the present invention, since the reference value for detecting an obstacle can be set based on the obstacle information, the obstacle can be detected appropriately according to the road environment. . The obstacle information included in the road map information of the present invention is also used in various road facilities such as AHS (Advanced Cruise-assist Highway System) for detecting obstacles on the road. By using, obstacle detection accuracy can be improved. In this case, the road facility may include a storage device that stores obstacle information in advance, or may be connected to a network and acquire obstacle information from a server on the network.

  In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a driving support technology to which the present invention is applied will be described below.

A. Configuration of the driving support device 10:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the driving support device 10 mounted on the vehicle 800. A driving support apparatus 10 that is one of the embodiments of the present invention is a car navigation system that is mounted on a vehicle 800 that travels on a road and supports driving of the vehicle 800 such as route search and route guidance. The travel support device 10 exchanges information with a control unit 110 that controls each unit of the travel support device 10, a storage unit 120 that stores road map information Irm indicating a road map, and a vehicle control device 810 that controls the vehicle 800. The vehicle interface unit 130 for performing the operation, the user interface unit 140 for exchanging information with the user driving the vehicle 800, and the GPS reception for receiving the GPS signal from the GPS satellite 910 in order to determine the position where the vehicle 800 exists. Unit 150 and an on-road object detection unit 160 that detects an on-road object 950 on the road in the traveling direction of the vehicle 800. The control unit 110 is connected so as to be able to receive various information from the GPS receiving unit 150 and the on-road object detection unit 160, and is connected so as to be able to exchange various information with the storage unit 120, the vehicle interface unit 130, and the user interface unit 140. ing.

  The storage unit 120 of the driving support device 10 is a storage device that includes a recording medium 125 that records road map information Irm. In this embodiment, the storage unit 120 is a hard disk drive (Hard Disk Drive, hereinafter referred to as HDD) that employs a hard disk as the recording medium 125, and data stored in the recording medium 125 is based on an instruction from the control unit 110. Updated. The road map information Irm includes a node table TRn and a link table TRk in which various data for indicating a road map based on a road and a reference line along each lane is stored. The node table TRn includes obstacle information DPn, and the link table TRk includes obstacle information DPk. The obstacle information DPn and the obstacle information DPk are both information indicating the possibility that an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when the vehicle 800 passes is present on the road. In this embodiment, the obstacle information DPn and the obstacle information DPk have different data structures. Details of the data structure of the road map information Irm will be described later.

  In the present embodiment, the road object detection unit 160 of the driving support device 10 is a millimeter wave radar that detects the road object 950 using millimeter waves, and transmits the millimeter wave while scanning in the horizontal direction of the road. The reflected wave reflected on 950 is received, the speed of road object 950 is measured from the Doppler shift of the reflected wave, and the distance between road object 950 and vehicle 800 is measured from the delay time of the reflected wave. 950 is detected. The on-road object detection unit 160 is not limited to the millimeter wave radar, but based on an infrared image sensor that detects an on-road object 950 based on an image obtained by imaging a road with infrared light, and on an image obtained by imaging a road with visible light. Various devices capable of detecting the road object 950 such as a visible image sensor that detects the road object 950 can be employed.

  The control unit 110 of the driving support device 10 searches for a route on which the vehicle 800 should travel based on the road map information Irm, and generates route information for guiding the vehicle 800 according to the searched route. Unit 112. The guidance information includes data for outputting at least one of an image and sound recognizable by a user driving the vehicle 800, and data used by the vehicle control device 810 to control the vehicle 800. The control unit 110 further sets a reference value Dcr for setting the road object 950 existing on the road as an obstacle based on the obstacle information DPn, and based on the set reference value Dcr. In order to avoid an obstacle when it is determined that the road object 950 is an obstacle, the obstacle determination unit 116 that determines whether the road object 950 detected by the road object detection unit 160 is an obstacle. And an obstacle avoiding unit 118 for generating the avoidance information. The avoidance information includes data for outputting at least one of an image and sound that can be recognized by a user driving the vehicle 800, and data used by the vehicle control device 810 to control the vehicle 800.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 110 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU) that performs various arithmetic processes, and a read-only memory (Read) that stores in advance a program that defines the arithmetic processes executed by the CPU. This is a one-chip microcomputer provided with only memory (hereinafter referred to as “ROM”) and random access memory (hereinafter referred to as “RAM”) that temporarily stores data handled by the CPU. In this embodiment, the functions of the route search unit 111, the route guidance unit 112, the reference value setting unit 114, the obstacle determination unit 116, and the obstacle avoidance unit 118 in the control unit 110 are realized by arithmetic processing of a CPU based on software. Is done. Details of the operation of the control unit 110 will be described later.

  The user interface unit 140 of the driving support device 10 includes a remote controller 142 that receives input of information from a user driving the vehicle 800, and a display for outputting guidance information and avoidance information as an image to the user driving the vehicle 800 144 and a speaker 146 for outputting guidance information and avoidance information as voice to a user driving the vehicle 800.

  The vehicle control device 810 of the vehicle 800 controls a traveling participation device (not shown) involved in traveling such as an engine, a power transmission device, a braking device, and a steering device in the vehicle 800, and guide information and avoidance from the control unit 110. When information is received, control according to the information is performed. For example, the vehicle control device 810 performs control for the vehicle 800 to travel an appropriate route according to the guidance information, and control for the vehicle 800 to avoid an obstacle according to the avoidance information. Connected to the vehicle control device 810 are a gyro sensor 812 for detecting the traveling direction of the vehicle 800 and a vehicle speed sensor 814 for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle 800 as sensors for detecting the behavior of the vehicle 800. Has been. Information regarding the behavior of the vehicle 800 detected by the gyro sensor 812 and the vehicle speed sensor 814 is transferred from the vehicle control device 810 to the control unit 110 via the vehicle interface unit 130, and the control unit 110 measures the position where the vehicle 800 exists. Used for.

B. Data structure of road map information Irm:
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the node table TRn included in the road map information Irm. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the link table TRk included in the road map information Irm. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating the data structure of the road map information Irm. The node table TRn of the road map information Irm shown in FIG. 2 stores a plurality of node attribute information ARn that defines a road and a node Rn that is a reference point on each lane, and the node attribute information ARn includes an obstacle. Information DPn is included. The link table TRk of the road map information Irm shown in FIG. 3 stores a plurality of link attribute information ARk that defines a link Rk indicating a road section mode between a plurality of nodes Rn. Item information DPk is included. In the present specification and drawings, when each element of the node attribute information ARn, link attribute information ARk, node Rn, link Rk, obstacle information DPn, DPk is indicated individually, a number is added after these symbols. (For example, ARn1, ARn2, ARn3...). Further, in the present specification and drawings, when the same number is added after the signs of the node attribute information ARn, the node Rn, and the obstacle information DPn, the node attribute information ARn is the node Rn with the same number. And includes the obstacle information DPn with the same number (for example, in FIG. 2, the node attribute information ARn2 is information that defines the node Rn2 and includes the obstacle information DPn2). Further, in the present specification and drawings, in the present specification and drawings, when the same number is given after the signs of the link attribute information ARk, the link Rk, and the obstacle information DPk, the link attribute information ARk is the same. Numbered link Rk and information including obstacle information DPk with the same number (for example, in FIG. 3, link attribute information ARk12 defines link Rk12 and obstacle information DPk12). Including information.)

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the nodes Rn1 to Rn9 are defined as characteristic reference points on the road and its lanes, for example, a tolerance point, a branch point, a point where the width changes, etc. A road map is constructed by connecting between two nodes Rn. In the present specification and drawings, the numbers after the link Rk are assigned the numbers after the two nodes Rn to be connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the node attribute information ARn includes “node ID” for identifying the node Rn specified by the node attribute information ARn, and “coordinates” indicating the position of the node Rn on the map. Point "," connection link number "indicating the number of links Rk that contact the node Rn," connection link ID "for specifying the link Rk connected to the node Rn, and on the road indicated by the node Rn “Obstacle information DPn” indicating the possibility that an obstacle exists at the reference point. The obstacle information DPn does not have to be included in all the node attribute information ARn, and can be set as appropriate according to the road environment. In the present specification and drawings, the codes assigned to the nodes Rn and Rk are used as the identification codes (ID) (for example, the identification code (ID) of the node Rn1 is “Rn1”). .)

  As shown in FIG. 3, each of the link attribute information ARk indicates a “link ID” for identifying the link Rk specified by the link attribute information ARk, and a node Rn to which the link Rk is connected as a starting point. “Start point node ID”, “End point node ID” indicating the node Rn to which the link Rk is connected as the end point, “Width” indicating the width of the road or lane, and the section shape of the road or lane indicated by the link Rk And “obstacle information DPk” indicating the possibility that an obstacle exists in the section on the road indicated by the link Rk. The obstacle information DPk does not need to be included in all the link attribute information ARk, and can be set as appropriate according to the road environment.

  The section shape data included in the link attribute information ARk includes coordinate point sequence data and polygon data. In the case where the link attribute information ARk indicates the section mode of the lane, the “lane number” indicating the lane number from the left side in the vehicle traveling direction and the type of the lane “ Lane type "," Right side line type "indicating the line type that divides the right side of the lane toward the vehicle traveling direction, and" Left side area "indicating the line type that divides the left side of the lane toward the vehicle traveling direction. The link attribute information ARk may include “line type” and “traffic regulation information” indicating the traffic regulation status in the lane.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the obstacle information DPn included in the node attribute information ARn. In this embodiment, in the obstacle information DPn, there are three levels, “Large”, “Medium”, and “Small”, indicating the possibility that a human, a vehicle, and a fallen object falling from the vehicle exist as obstacles on the road. The information indicated by is stored. The possibility that an obstacle is present decreases in the order of “large”, “medium”, and “small”. For example, regarding the node Rn on the highway, the possibility of falling objects can be set to “large” in consideration of the fact that there are many falling objects from the loading platform of the vehicle for high speed driving, and walking on the highway Considering that is prohibited, the human possibility can be set to “small”. In addition, for example, the possibility of human beings can be set to “large” for a node Rn at an intersection where a pedestrian crossing is installed or a point that is a school route for children. In addition, regarding the node Rn near the railroad crossing and the tunnel, the possibility of the vehicle can be set to “large” in consideration of the occurrence of the traffic congestion.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the obstacle information DPk included in the link attribute information ARk. In this embodiment, in the obstacle information DPk, there are three levels of “large”, “medium”, and “small” that indicate that there is a possibility that a human, a vehicle, and a fallen object dropped from the vehicle exist on the road as obstacles. Is the same as the obstacle information DPn in that information indicated by is stored, but information indicating these possibilities is set for each range obtained by dividing the section indicated by the link Rk into several sections. And different from the obstacle information DPn. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 6, when the start point of the link Rk is 0% and the end point is 100%, the link Rk falls within the range of 0 to 30%, 30 to 75%, and 75 to 100% of the link. Information indicating the possibility of an obstacle is set for each range.

C. Operation of the driving support device 10:
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the obstacle detection process executed by the control unit 110 of the driving support device 10. The obstacle detection process by the control unit 110 is a process for finding an obstacle present on the road ahead of the vehicle 800 in order to avoid the obstacle in advance. In the present embodiment, the cumulative error correction process of FIG. 7 is a process that is repeatedly realized at a predetermined timing by an operation based on software in the CPU of the control unit 110.

  When starting the obstacle detection process of FIG. 7, the control unit 110 of the driving support device 10 is based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiving unit 150 and the information on the behavior of the vehicle 800 transferred from the vehicle control device 810. The position where the vehicle 800 exists is specified, and the obstacle information DPn, DPk corresponding to the specified position of the vehicle 800 is read from the storage unit 120 (step S110). For example, when the position of the specified vehicle 800 is located in front of the node Rn2, the control unit 110 obtains the obstacle information DPn2 from the node attribute information ARn2 stored in the node table TRn illustrated in FIG. read out.

  After reading the obstacle information DPn and DPk (step S110), the control unit 110 determines whether the road object 950 existing on the road is an obstacle based on the read obstacle information DPn and DPk. A reference value Dcr, which is a discrimination criterion used in the above, is set (step S120). In this embodiment, as the reference value Dcr, the size of the road object 950 to be determined as an obstacle, the moving speed of the road object 950 to be determined as an obstacle, the relative of the road object 950 to be determined as an obstacle to the road. It is a value that indicates a specific position.

  After setting the reference value Dcr (step S120), the control unit 110 receives the detection data of the road object 950 detected by the road object detection unit 160 (step S130), and the detected road object 950 is an obstacle. Is determined based on the reference value Dcr (step S140). If it is determined that the road object 950 is not an obstacle (step S150), it is not necessary to avoid the obstacle, so the control unit 110 ends the obstacle avoidance process of FIG. When it is determined that the road object 950 is an obstacle (step S150), the control unit 110 executes an obstacle avoidance process for generating avoidance information for avoiding the obstacle (step S160). ), The obstacle avoidance process of FIG.

  According to the driving support device 10 of the embodiment described above, the reference value Dcr for detecting an obstacle can be set based on the obstacle information DPn and DPk included in the road map information Irm. Obstacles can be detected appropriately according to the situation.

D. Other embodiments:
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to such embodiment at all, Of course, it can implement with various forms within the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. is there. For example, the obstacle information DPn, DPk is not limited to the information indicating the possibility that an obstacle exists on the road in three stages of “large”, “medium”, and “small”. "Or two more detailed steps may be used. The types of obstacles indicated in the obstacle information DPn and DPk are not limited to humans, vehicles, and fallen objects, and further, those that can be obstacles such as trains and animals may be further subdivided. . Further, the obstacle information DPn and DPk may be information indicating the presence of obstacles including all types, instead of being set for each type of obstacle.

  Further, the obstacle detection process shown in FIG. 7 is realized based on software in this embodiment, but may be realized based on hardware. The recording medium 125 for storing the road map information Irm is not limited to a hard disk, and any recording medium that can store the road map information Irm may be used. A DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), a CD (Compact Disk), a semiconductor A memory or the like can be used.

  In addition, a server for storing the road map information Irm is provided on the network, and the driving support device 10 further includes a network communication unit for connecting to the network by wireless communication, so that the road map information is transmitted via the network. Irm may be acquired. In addition, a server having the functions of the route search unit 111, the route guidance unit 112, the reference value setting unit 114, the obstacle determination unit 116, and the obstacle avoidance unit 118 of the present embodiment is provided on the network, and the driving support device 10 Furthermore, by providing a network communication unit for connecting to a network by wireless communication, necessary information may be transmitted to the server via the network and guidance information may be received from the server. Moreover, guidance information is not restricted to what produces | generates both user data and control data, Only user data may be produced | generated and only control data may be produced | generated.

  The obstacle is determined by comparing the three-dimensional image data indicating the road condition ahead of the vehicle 800 created based on the road map information Irm and the image data indicating the actual road condition acquired by the road object detection unit 160. Also in the case of determination, a reference value for identifying an obstacle from image data indicating an actual road state may be set based on the obstacle information RPn, DPk. Thereby, the identification accuracy of the obstacle from the image data indicating the actual road state can be improved. The three-dimensional image data created based on the road map information Irm may be created based on the three-dimensional image data included in advance in the road map information Irm, or the two-dimensional data included in the road map information Irm. Alternatively, pseudo three-dimensional image data may be created.

  In this embodiment, the obstacle information DPn, DPk is incorporated into the road map information Irm. However, the obstacle information indicating the possibility that the obstacle exists on the road is configured separately from the road map information Irm. It may be associated with the road map information Irm. For example, the obstacle information can be associated with the road map information Irm by incorporating information indicating the node ID and the link ID into the obstacle information. Thereby, the obstacle information can be handled by diverting the existing road map information Irm.

  In the present embodiment, the obstacle information DPn and DPk are associated with the node attribute information Arn and the link attribute information ARk, respectively. However, the obstacle information is associated with each type of road indicated by the node Rn and the link Rk. It is also good. For example, the road map information Irm may be associated with obstacle information corresponding to each type of road, such as information indicating a highway, information indicating a general road, information indicating a pedestrian crossing, and information indicating a crossing. Accordingly, the obstacle information can be easily associated with the road map information Irm.

  In the present embodiment, the obstacle information DPn and DPk are fixed values set in advance. However, the congestion information and obstacle information transmitted from the AHS beacon and the FM of VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) The values of the obstacle information DPn and DPk may be reset according to information acquired from the outside of the vehicle 800 such as traffic jam information by multiplex broadcasting. Thereby, an obstacle can be detected appropriately according to the real-time road environment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a driving support device 10 mounted on a vehicle 800. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the node table TRn contained in the road map information Irm. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the link table TRk contained in the road map information Irm. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates typically the data structure of road map information Irm. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the obstacle information DPn contained in node attribute information ARn. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the obstacle information DPk contained in link attribute information ARk. 4 is a flowchart showing an obstacle detection process executed by a control unit 110 of the driving support device 10.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Driving support device 110 ... Control part 111 ... Route search part 112 ... Route guidance part 114 ... Reference value setting part 116 ... Obstacle discrimination part 118 ... Obstacle avoidance Unit 120 ... storage unit 125 ... recording medium 130 ... vehicle interface unit 140 ... user interface unit 142 ... remote control 144 ... display 146 ... speaker 150 ... GPS receiving unit 160 ... Road object detection unit 800 ... Vehicle 810 ... Vehicle control device 812 ... Gyro sensor 814 ... Vehicle speed sensor 910 ... GPS satellite 950 ... Road object Irm ... Road map information TRn ... Node table TRk ... Link table ARn ... Node attribute information ARk ... Link attribute information Rn ... Node Rk ... Link DPn, DPk ... Obstacle information Dcr ... Standard value

Claims (10)

A driving support device for supporting a vehicle traveling on a road,
A storage unit for storing road map information including obstacle information indicating a possibility that an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when the vehicle passes is present on the road;
A reference value setting unit that sets a reference value to be determined as the obstacle on the road existing on the road based on the obstacle information;
A road object detector for detecting the road object;
A travel support apparatus comprising: an obstacle determination unit that determines whether the detected road object is the obstacle based on the set reference value.   The travel support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle information is information indicating that there is a possibility that at least one of a person, a vehicle, and a fallen object falling from the vehicle exists on the road as the obstacle. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2,
The road map information is
Information defining a road node indicating a reference point on the road;
Information defining a road link indicating a section mode between the road nodes, and
The obstacle information is information indicating a possibility that the obstacle exists in at least one of a reference point indicated by the road node and a section indicated by the road link. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The road map information is
Information defining a lane node indicating a reference point on each lane included in the road;
Information defining a lane link indicating a section aspect between the lane nodes, and
The obstacle information is information indicating a possibility that the obstacle exists in at least one of a reference point indicated by the lane node and a section indicated by the lane link.   The reference value is at least one of a size of the road object to be determined as the obstacle, a moving speed of the road object to be determined as the obstacle, and a position of the road object to be determined as the obstacle. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The road object detection unit includes a millimeter wave radar that detects the road object using millimeter waves, an infrared image sensor that detects the road object based on an image obtained by imaging the road with infrared light, and an image that captures the road with visible light. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the driving support device is at least one of a visible image sensor that detects an object on the road based on a captured image. A program for causing a computer to realize a function of supporting a vehicle traveling on a road,
A function of storing road map information including obstacle information indicating a possibility that an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when the vehicle passes is present on the road;
A function of setting a reference value to be determined as the obstacle on the road existing on the road based on the obstacle information;
A function of detecting the object on the road;
A program for realizing a function of determining whether the detected road object is the obstacle based on the set reference value. A driving support method for supporting a vehicle traveling on a road,
Preparing road map information including obstacle information indicating a possibility that an obstacle that becomes an obstacle when the vehicle passes is present on the road;
Based on the obstacle information, a reference value to be determined as an obstacle on the road existing on the road is set,
Detecting the object on the road,
A driving support method for determining whether the detected road object is the obstacle based on the set reference value. A data structure of road map information indicating a road map,
Information defining a node indicating a reference point on the road;
Information defining a link indicating a section mode between the nodes;
A data structure comprising: a reference point indicated by the node; and information indicating a possibility that an obstacle exists in at least one of the sections indicated by the link.   A computer-readable recording medium on which road map information having the data structure according to claim 9 is recorded.

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