JP2010071810A - Lane determining device and lane determination program, and navigation apparatus using the lane determining device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lane determining device that appropriately selects a determining process for narrowing down an own vehicle lane after a vehicle exits an unknown zone and can determine the own vehicle lane efficiently and precisely when passing the unknown zone where the own vehicle lane based on image recognition, or the like cannot be determined. <P>SOLUTION: The lane determining device includes: a lane line form information acquisition means for acquiring lane line form information indicating the form of a lane line for dividing each lane; a driving lane determination means for recognizing the image of the lane line around an own vehicle and determining an own vehicle lane, based on the combination of the forms of the lane lines; a lane identification propriety determination means for determining whether the combination of the forms of a plurality of lane lines of a road after exiting an unclear zone is a combination capable of unitarily identifying the own vehicle lane by the drive lane determination means when there is the unclear zone; and an exit lane determination means for selecting processing for determining an exit lane from a plurality of determination processes for execution, based on a determination result by the lane identification propriety determination means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lane determination device and a lane determination program for determining the lane of a road on which the host vehicle is traveling, and a navigation device using the same.

  In recent years, for the purpose of appropriately performing route guidance in a navigation device, etc., the vehicle lane that is the road lane on which the vehicle is traveling is determined based on image recognition of lane markings that divide each lane of the road. Lane determination devices are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 below). In addition, since there is no lane marking in the intersection and the vehicle lane cannot be determined based on image recognition or the like, a lane determination device for determining an appropriate vehicle lane immediately after passing the intersection A technique is also known (for example, refer to Patent Document 2 below).

  With respect to such a lane determination device, for example, in Patent Document 2 below, current location information management means for managing current location information including an estimated trajectory, and information on an approaching intersection based on the current location information are acquired to generate an intersection polygon. An intersection polygon generating means, an intersection exit point specifying means for specifying an exit point from the intersection by overwriting an estimated locus on the intersection polygon generated by the intersection polygon generating means on the condition that the current location has entered the intersection, and an intersection A configuration is disclosed that includes a lane determination unit that determines a lane of an exit road by comparing the exit point of the intersection specified by the exit point specifying unit and the lane information of the road connected to the intersection. With the configuration as described above, this lane determination device performs lane determination on the exit road at the same time as the exit from the intersection even when the vehicle lane is difficult to determine based on image recognition or the like. It is possible to quickly recognize and guide the route.

JP 2000-105898 A JP 2006-162409 A

  In the above lane determination device, the generated intersection polygon is overwritten with the estimated trajectory obtained by dead reckoning navigation, and the vehicle lane after exiting from the intersection is determined by specifying the exit point from the intersection It has become. For this reason, it is necessary to acquire the information of the estimated trajectory of the own vehicle in the intersection with high accuracy, and the calculation processing load for that is inevitably large. Further, in order to generate the intersection polygon as described above, it is necessary to prepare detailed intersection information including the shape of the entire intersection in a database, so that the amount of data in the database increases and the database The cost for creation must be high.

  On the other hand, when the lane determination using the estimated trajectory as described above is not performed, such a problem does not occur. At this time, every time the vehicle passes through the unknown section if it does not perform any processing related to lane determination when passing through an unknown section where the vehicle lane cannot be determined based on image recognition or the like such as an intersection. The vehicle lane is unknown. Therefore, all the lanes of the road after leaving the unknown section are determined as own vehicle lanes where the own vehicle may be traveling. However, this makes the determination of the vehicle lane from the beginning every time it passes through an unknown section where the vehicle lane cannot be determined based on image recognition or the like, resulting in poor efficiency. In addition, when determining the lane after leaving the unknown section, it takes a long time to identify one vehicle lane, and the state where one vehicle lane cannot be identified must be long. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to pass through an unknown section after leaving the unknown section when passing through an unknown section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined based on image recognition or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a lane determination device that can appropriately select a determination process for narrowing down the own vehicle lane and perform an efficient and highly accurate determination of the own vehicle lane.

  In order to achieve the above object, the characteristic configuration of the lane determination device according to the present invention is a lane line form information acquisition unit that acquires lane line form information representing the form of lane lines that divide each lane of a road on which the host vehicle travels. And a travel lane determination means for recognizing an image of a form of a lane line existing around the host vehicle, and determining a host vehicle lane that is a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling based on a combination of the form of the lane line, When there is an unknown section that is a section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined by the traveling lane determination means, based on the lane line form information, a combination of the forms of multiple lane lines on the road after exiting the unknown section Based on the determination result by the lane identification availability determination means and the lane identification availability determination means for determining whether or not the traveling lane determination means is a combination capable of specifying a single vehicle lane. There the process for determining the exit lane is a vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section, the point having the exit lane determination means selects and executes from a plurality of determination process, the.

  According to this feature configuration, the exit lane determination means is based on the determination result of whether or not the road after exit from the unknown section can uniquely identify the own vehicle lane from the combination of the lane markings. The determination process for determining the exit lane from the unknown section of the host vehicle can be appropriately selected. Therefore, an appropriate exit lane determination process can be executed depending on whether the vehicle lane can be specified as a single vehicle or not. Therefore, it is possible to determine the exit lane efficiently and with high accuracy.

  Here, the lane identification availability determination unit determines a single vehicle lane for all lanes of the road after leaving the unknown section when there is no overlap in the combination of lane markings on both sides of each lane. A configuration in which it is determined that identification is possible is preferable.

  For roads with multiple lanes, for all lanes, when comparing combinations of lane markings on both sides of each lane, each lane can be identified from the combination of lane markings if there is no overlap It is. Therefore, according to this configuration, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the road after leaving the unknown section can specify a single vehicle lane by the travel lane determination means. As a result, it is possible to appropriately select a process for determining an exit lane.

  The exit lane determination means is determined by the travel lane determination means before entering the unknown section when the lane specification availability determination means determines that the vehicle lane can be specified as a single vehicle. The first determination process for determining the own vehicle lane as the exit lane is executed, and when it is determined that the own vehicle lane cannot be specified singly, the second determination process different from the first determination process is performed. It is preferable that the configuration is executed.

  If the road after exiting the unknown section can identify a single vehicle lane by the travel lane determination means, the result of the exit lane determination process performed while traveling in the unknown section is incorrect. However, it is possible to identify the correct vehicle lane immediately after leaving. According to this configuration, when the road after the exit of the unknown section of the running road can identify a single vehicle lane, the process of determining the vehicle lane before entering the unknown section as the exit lane is executed. By doing so, it is possible to maintain a state where the vehicle lane is specified as a single unit while reducing the calculation processing load of the lane determination. Further, even if the determination result of the exit lane is incorrect, it is possible to accurately specify the own vehicle lane after a predetermined time has elapsed after the exit.

  The second determination process determines a lane movement range that is a range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section, based on a vehicle speed and a travel distance of the host vehicle. Then, before entering the unknown section, one or more lanes included in the range expanded by the lane movement range on both sides from the own vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination means are determined as the exit lane. It is preferable to treat it.

  According to this configuration, the lane movement that the host vehicle may have performed in the unknown section is compared by comparing the predetermined travel distance required for the lane movement with the actual distance traveled by the host vehicle in the unknown section. , That is, the lane movement range that is the range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved. Therefore, even if the road after leaving the unknown section cannot be specified as a single vehicle lane by the driving lane determination means, it is possible to narrow the range of the own vehicle lane and enter the unknown section. The exit lane can be efficiently determined using the previous vehicle lane determination result. Further, at this time, the lane movement range can be determined by a relatively simple process based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle traveling in the unknown section, so that the calculation process for determining the exit lane The load can be kept small.

  The lane movement range is determined based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle to obtain a unit lane movement distance that is a travel distance required for the host vehicle to move from the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling to an adjacent lane. It is preferable to make a determination by repeating the process of increasing by one lane every time the unit lane movement distance is exceeded until the unit lane moves out of the unknown section.

  According to this configuration, the lane movement range is set to one lane step by step every time the travel distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane travel distance based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle traveling in the unknown section. The lane movement range can be appropriately determined by a relatively simple process of increasing the amount by a minute.

  The unit lane movement distance is preferably a value obtained by multiplying a reference lane movement time, which is a reference time required for the own vehicle to move from a running lane to an adjacent lane, by the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. It is.

  According to this configuration, the unit lane movement distance can be appropriately determined according to the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately determine the lane movement range based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle.

  In the configuration described so far, the travel lane determination unit includes an image information acquisition unit that acquires image information around the vehicle position, and an image recognition that performs image recognition in the form of a lane marking included in the image information. And determining the vehicle lane based on the combination of the lane markings recognized by the image recognition unit and the road lane marking on the road on which the host vehicle represented by the lane marking configuration information travels. It is preferable to adopt a configuration to do so.

  According to this configuration, on the basis of the combination of the lane line forms recognized by the image recognition means and the lane line form of the road on which the own vehicle represented by the lane line form information travels, Determine the car lane. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine the own vehicle lane.

  Here, since the traveling lane determining means recognizes the vehicle lane by image recognition of the form of the lane marking that exists around the host vehicle, the unknown section recognizes the form of the lane marking by the image recognition means. It becomes a section of the road that can not.

  Further, the vehicle further comprises a traveling direction detection means for detecting a change in the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and the traveling direction detection means causes a change in the traveling direction of the host vehicle that is larger than a change amount of the traveling direction assumed when the lane moves. Preferably, the exit lane determining means determines that all the lanes on the road on which the host vehicle is traveling after exiting the unknown section are the exit lanes.

  When there is a course change that exceeds normal lane movement, such as a right turn or a left turn at an intersection, the determination of the exit lane by the exit lane determination means becomes meaningless. Therefore, according to this configuration, when there is a course change that exceeds the normal lane movement, the exit lane determining means stops the process for determining the own vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section. It is possible to prevent erroneous determination of the own vehicle lane.

  Another characteristic configuration of the lane determination device according to the present invention includes a lane line form information acquisition unit that acquires lane line form information representing a form of a lane line that divides each lane of a road on which the own vehicle travels, and the own vehicle A lane determination unit that recognizes an image of a form of a lane line existing around the vehicle and determines a vehicle lane that is a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling based on a combination of the form of the lane line, and the travel lane determination unit When there is an unknown section that is a section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined by a combination of a plurality of lane markings on the road after exiting the unknown section based on the lane marking configuration information, Based on the determination result by the lane identification availability determination means and the lane identification availability determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle lane can be specified as a single combination by the determination means, the unknown zone It lies in and a exit lane determination means for performing a process for determining the exit lane is a vehicle lane after exit from.

  According to this feature configuration, the exit lane determination means is based on the determination result of whether or not the road after exit from the unknown section can uniquely identify the own vehicle lane from the combination of the lane markings. Thus, it is possible to appropriately execute the determination process for determining the exit lane from the unknown section of the host vehicle. Therefore, when a single vehicle lane can be specified, an exit lane determination process suitable for the vehicle lane can be executed. Therefore, it is possible to determine the exit lane efficiently and with high accuracy.

  The characteristic configuration of the navigation device according to the present invention includes a lane determination device having each of the above-described configurations, a map database storing map information, the map information, and vehicle lane information determined by the lane determination device. And a guide information output unit that operates according to the application program and outputs guide information.

  According to this characteristic configuration, it is possible to appropriately perform processing such as route search and route guidance using information on the own vehicle lane determined by the lane determination device.

  The characteristic configuration of the lane determination program according to the present invention includes a lane line form information acquisition step for obtaining lane line form information representing the form of lane lines that divide each lane of the road on which the host vehicle travels, and A vehicle lane determination step for recognizing an image of a form of a lane line that exists and determining a vehicle lane that is a lane in which the vehicle is traveling based on a combination of the forms of the lane lines, and a vehicle by the vehicle lane determination step When there is an unknown section that cannot be determined as a lane, based on the lane line form information, a combination of a plurality of lane lines on the road after exiting the unknown section is determined by the travel lane determination step. Based on the lane identification determination step for determining whether or not the vehicle lane can be specified as a single combination, and the determination result by the lane identification determination step. And a computer that executes an exit lane determination step of selecting and executing a process for determining an exit lane that is the host vehicle lane after exiting the unknown section from a plurality of determination processes. is there.

  According to this feature configuration, in the exit lane determination step, the road after exiting from the unknown section is determined based on the determination result of whether or not a single vehicle lane can be specified from a combination of lane markings. It is possible to appropriately select a determination process to be executed for determining an exit lane from an unknown section of the host vehicle. Therefore, an appropriate exit lane determination process can be executed depending on whether the vehicle lane can be specified as a single vehicle or not. Therefore, it is possible to determine the exit lane efficiently and with high accuracy.

  Here, in the exit lane determination step, if it is determined by the lane specification availability determination step that the vehicle lane can be specified as a single vehicle, it is determined by the travel lane determination step before entering the unknown section. A first determination process for determining the determined vehicle lane as the exit lane, and a second determination process different from the first determination process when it is determined that the vehicle lane cannot be specified as a single vehicle It is preferable to adopt a configuration that executes

  If the road after exiting the unknown section can identify a single vehicle lane by the travel lane determination step, the result of the exit lane determination process performed while traveling in the unknown section is incorrect. However, it is possible to identify the correct vehicle lane immediately after leaving. According to this configuration, when the road after the exit of the unknown section of the running road can identify a single vehicle lane, the process of determining the vehicle lane before entering the unknown section as the exit lane is executed. By doing so, it is possible to maintain a state where the vehicle lane is specified as a single unit while reducing the calculation processing load of the lane determination. Further, even if the determination result of the exit lane is incorrect, it is possible to accurately specify the own vehicle lane after a predetermined time has elapsed after the exit.

  The second determination process determines a lane movement range that is a range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section, based on a vehicle speed and a travel distance of the host vehicle. Then, before entering the unknown section, one or more lanes included in the range expanded by the lane movement range on both sides from the vehicle lane determined in the traveling lane determination step are determined as the exit lane. It is suitable that it is processing.

  According to this configuration, the lane movement that the host vehicle may have performed in the unknown section is compared by comparing the predetermined travel distance required for the lane movement with the actual distance traveled by the host vehicle in the unknown section. , That is, the lane movement range that is the range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved. Therefore, even if the road after leaving the unknown section cannot be identified as a single vehicle lane by the travel lane determination step, it is possible to narrow the range of the own vehicle lane and enter the unknown section. The exit lane can be efficiently determined using the previous vehicle lane determination result. Further, at this time, the lane movement range can be determined by a relatively simple process based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle traveling in the unknown section, so that the calculation process for determining the exit lane The load can be kept small.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a navigation device 1 including a lane determination device 2 according to the present embodiment. When the lane determination device 2 passes through an unknown section U (see FIG. 6), which is a section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined by the travel lane determination unit 7, the road after leaving the unknown section U is determined as a travel lane. Based on the determination result of whether or not a single vehicle lane can be specified by the unit 7, a process for determining the vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U is selected from a plurality of determination processes. Select and execute. And the navigation apparatus 1 performs predetermined navigation operation | movement with reference to the determination result of the own vehicle lane.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each functional unit of the navigation device 1, specifically, an image information acquisition unit 3, an image recognition unit 6, a vehicle position information acquisition unit 4, a data extraction unit 5, a travel lane determination unit 7, the unknown section detection unit 9, the lane identification availability determination unit 8, the lane movement determination unit 10, the interruption determination unit 12, the exit lane determination unit 11, and the navigation calculation unit 13, with an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU as a core member A functional unit for performing various processes on input data is implemented by hardware or software (program) or both. The map database 15 is a device having a recording medium capable of storing information and its driving means, such as a hard disk drive, a DVD drive equipped with a DVD-ROM, and a CD drive equipped with a CD-ROM. It is provided as a hardware configuration. Hereinafter, the configuration of each part of the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail.

1. Map Database The map database 15 is a database in which map information M divided for each predetermined area and a plurality of feature information F associated with the map information M are stored. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the map information M and the feature information F stored in the map database 15. As shown in this figure, the map database 15 stores a road network layer m1, a road shape layer m2, and a feature layer m3.

  The road network layer m1 is a layer indicating connection information between roads. Specifically, it has information on a large number of nodes n having position information on a map expressed by latitude and longitude, and information on a large number of links k that form a road by connecting two nodes n. It is configured. Each link k includes information such as the type of road (type of highway, toll road, national road, prefectural road, etc.), link length, and the like as link information. The road shape layer m2 is a layer stored in association with the road network layer m1 and indicating the shape of the road. Specifically, information on a number of road shape complementary points s, road width information, etc. having position information on a map that is arranged between two nodes n (on the link) and expressed in latitude and longitude are provided. Configured. Moreover, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the road shape layer m2 also has the lane information about each road. Here, the lane information includes information on the number of lanes for each traveling direction of each road. The map information M is configured by the information stored in the road network layer m1 and the road shape layer m2.

  The feature layer m3 is configured in association with the road network layer m1 and the road shape layer m2, and is a layer in which information of various features provided on the road and around the road, that is, the feature information F is stored. is there. The feature in which the feature information F is stored in the feature layer m3 includes a road marking provided on the road surface. Examples of features related to such road markings include, for example, lane markings that divide each lane of the road (various lane markings such as solid lines, broken lines, and double lines), and arrow shapes that indicate the traffic sections according to the traveling direction of each lane Signs (various arrows such as straight arrows, right turn arrows, left turn arrows), pedestrian crossings, stop lines, speed displays, zebra zones, and the like. In addition to such road markings, the features in which the feature information F is stored can include various features such as traffic lights, signs, overpasses, and tunnels.

  The feature information F includes position information of each feature, feature type information, and form information as its contents. Here, the position information includes information on the position (latitude and longitude) of the representative point of each feature on the map and the direction of each feature. The representative point of the feature is set, for example, at the center position in the length direction and the width direction of each feature. The feature type information is information representing the feature type of each feature. Here, it is assumed that the feature type basically defines a feature having the same shape as one feature type. Therefore, the feature type information is information representing a specific type of road marking such as a solid line marking line, a broken line marking line, a right turn arrow, a stop line, and a pedestrian crossing. Further, the form information includes information such as the shape, size, and color of each feature.

2. Image Information Acquisition Unit The image information acquisition unit 3 functions as an image information acquisition unit that acquires image information G around the vehicle position captured by the imaging device 16. Here, the imaging device 16 is an in-vehicle camera or the like provided with an imaging element, and is provided at a position where at least a road surface of a road around the host vehicle can be imaged. As such an imaging device 16, for example, a back camera that images the road surface behind the host vehicle as shown in FIG. 3 is preferably used. And the image information acquisition part 3 takes in the analog imaging information imaged with the imaging device 16 at a predetermined time interval, converts it into the image information G of a digital signal, and acquires it. The time interval for capturing the image information G at this time can be set to, for example, about 10 to 50 ms. Thereby, the image information acquisition unit 3 can continuously acquire the image information G of a plurality of frames captured by the imaging device 16. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the image information G acquired by the image information acquisition unit 3. The image information G acquired here is output to the image recognition unit 6.

3. Own vehicle position information acquisition unit The own vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 functions as own vehicle position information acquisition means for acquiring own vehicle position information P indicating the current position of the own vehicle. Here, the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 is connected to the GPS receiver 17, the direction sensor 18, and the distance sensor 19. Here, the GPS receiver 17 is a device that receives a GPS signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite. This GPS signal is normally received every second and output to the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4. The own vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 can analyze a signal from a GPS satellite received by the GPS receiver 17 and acquire information such as the current position (latitude and longitude), traveling direction, and moving speed of the own vehicle. it can. The direction sensor 18 is a sensor that detects a traveling direction of the host vehicle or a change in the traveling direction. The azimuth sensor 18 includes, for example, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an optical rotation sensor attached to the rotating part of the handle, a rotary resistance volume, an angle sensor attached to the wheel part, and the like. Then, the direction sensor 18 outputs the detection result to the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4. The distance sensor 19 is a sensor that detects a vehicle speed and a moving distance of the host vehicle. This distance sensor 19 integrates, for example, a vehicle speed pulse sensor that outputs a pulse signal each time a vehicle drive shaft or wheel rotates a certain amount, a yaw / G sensor that detects the acceleration of the host vehicle, and the detected acceleration. It is composed of a circuit or the like. Then, the distance sensor 19 outputs information on the vehicle speed and movement distance as the detection result to the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4. In the present embodiment, the direction sensor 18 functions as a traveling direction detection unit that detects a change in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. The distance sensor 19 functions as vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and travel distance detection means for detecting the travel distance of the host vehicle.

  And the own vehicle position information acquisition part 4 performs the calculation which pinpoints an own vehicle position by a well-known method based on the output from these GPS receiver 17, the direction sensor 18, and the distance sensor 19. FIG. Further, the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 acquires the map information M around the vehicle position extracted from the map database 15 by the data extraction unit 5 and performs known map matching based on the map information M to determine the vehicle position. Corrections are also made to fit on the road shown in the map information M. In this way, the host vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 acquires host vehicle position information P including information on the current position of the host vehicle represented by latitude and longitude and information on the traveling direction of the host vehicle. The own vehicle position information P acquired in this way is information that can specify up to the own vehicle lane, which is the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling, when the road on which the host vehicle is traveling has a plurality of lanes. It is not. Therefore, the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to determine the vehicle lane in the travel lane determination unit 7 described later. The vehicle position information P acquired by the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 is output to the data extraction unit 5, the travel lane determination unit 7, and the navigation calculation unit 13.

4). Data Extraction Unit The data extraction unit 5 extracts necessary map information M and feature information F from the map database 15 based on the own vehicle position information P acquired by the own vehicle position information acquisition unit 4. In the present embodiment, the data extraction unit 5 extracts the feature information F of the target feature existing around the host vehicle based on the host vehicle position information P, and outputs it to the image recognition unit 6. Further, the data extraction unit 5 extracts the feature information F of the target feature existing on the road after leaving the unknown section U, and outputs the feature information F to the lane identification availability determination unit 8. In the present embodiment, the feature that is the target feature is a target of image recognition processing by the image recognition unit 6, and various types of processing that are targets of determination processing by the lane specification determination unit 8 regarding whether single lane specification is possible. It is a road marking of a lane marking. In the present embodiment, the data extraction unit 5 functions as a lane line form information acquisition unit 14 that acquires lane line form information Z representing the form of lane lines that divide each lane of the road on which the host vehicle travels. Further, the data extraction unit 5 extracts and acquires lane information of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling based on the map information M around the host vehicle based on the host vehicle position information P, and an exit lane determination unit 11 to output. The lane information acquired here includes information on the number of lanes in the traveling direction of the host vehicle on the road on which the host vehicle is traveling.
Further, the data extraction unit 5 extracts map information M around the vehicle position used for map matching by the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 and outputs the map information M to the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4. Further, the data extraction unit 5 extracts the map information M of the area requested by the navigation calculation unit 13 from the map database 15 for use in navigation processing by the navigation calculation unit 13, and sends it to the navigation calculation unit 13. Output.

5). Image Recognition Unit The image recognition unit 6 functions as an image recognition unit that performs an image recognition process on the image information G (see FIG. 4) acquired by the image information acquisition unit 3. In the present embodiment, the image recognition unit 6 uses the feature information F of the target feature around the host vehicle acquired by the data extraction unit 5 to perform image recognition processing of the target feature included in the image information G. I do. Here, the target feature to be subjected to image recognition processing is a lane marking provided on the road surface. Specifically, the image recognition unit 6 performs binarization processing, edge detection processing, and the like on the acquired image information G, and outline information of the feature (road marking) included in the image information G To extract. Thereafter, the image recognition unit 6 extracts contour information that matches one of the forms shown in the form information of the target feature included in the feature information F extracted by the data extraction unit 5. When contour information that matches the shape information is extracted, the feature related to the contour information is recognized as the target feature. Then, the positional relationship between the subject vehicle and the target feature related to the contour information is calculated, and the information on the positional relationship between the feature type of the subject feature and the subject vehicle is sent to the traveling lane determination unit 7 as an image recognition result. Output. The positional relationship between the host vehicle and the target feature included in the image information G is determined by the position of the target feature in the image information G and the mounting position, mounting angle, and angle of view of the imaging device 16 on the host vehicle. The calculation can be performed based on the vehicle position calculated in advance based on the information and the information indicating the relationship between each position in the image information G. For example, the image recognition unit 6 uses the feature information F on the lane markings around the host vehicle included in the feature information F acquired by the data extraction unit 5 in order for the travel lane determination unit 7 to determine the host vehicle lane. Is used to perform image recognition processing of lane markings as target features included in the image information G. Specifically, the image recognition unit 6 recognizes the types of lane markings that exist around the host vehicle and the positional relationship between the lane markings and the host vehicle. Then, the image recognition unit 6 outputs the image recognition result of such a feature to the travel lane determination unit 7.

6). Travel lane determination unit The travel lane determination unit 7 recognizes an image of the lane markings that exist around the host vehicle in an area other than the unknown section U described later, and the host vehicle travels based on the combination of the lane markings. It functions as traveling lane determining means for determining the own vehicle lane, which is the middle lane. In the present embodiment, the traveling lane determination unit 7 is based on the combination of the lane line forms recognized by the image recognition unit 6 and the lane line form of the road on which the host vehicle represented by the lane line form information Z travels. To determine the vehicle lane. Hereinafter, the vehicle lane determination process performed by the travel lane determination unit 7 is referred to as a travel lane determination process. Specifically, for example, the traveling lane determination unit 7 determines the types of lane lines (line types such as a solid line, a broken line, and a double line) around the host vehicle indicated by the image recognition result by the image recognition unit 6 and each section. Based on the positional relationship between the line and the host vehicle and the feature information F of the lane markings existing around the host vehicle, the host vehicle lane that is the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling is determined. Then, the travel lane determination unit 7 generates information on the own vehicle lane shown in the determination result of the travel lane determination process as travel lane information S1.

  More specifically, for example, when the image information G as shown in FIG. 4 is acquired by the back camera as the imaging device 16, the feature information of the lane markings around the host vehicle as shown in FIG. When F is acquired, the traveling lane determination unit 7 determines that the center lane among the three lanes is the own vehicle lane. That is, in the image shown in the image information G shown in FIG. 4, there are broken lane markings on both sides with respect to the center in the width direction of the image, which is the position of the host vehicle, and solid lane markings on both sides of the lane markings. is there. On the other hand, according to the feature information F shown in FIG. 5, the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is three lanes, there are solid lane markings on both sides in the width direction of the road, and the center in the width direction of the road. It can be seen that there are two broken lane markings separating each lane. Therefore, the traveling lane determination unit 7 can identify that the lane in which the host vehicle exists is the central lane among the three lanes by comparing these pieces of information.

  By the way, in the method for determining the vehicle lane based on the comparison between the image recognition result of the lane line and the feature information F as described above, there are a plurality of lanes having the same lane line type on both sides of the vehicle. In some cases, one vehicle lane cannot be specified. Therefore, the traveling lane determination unit 7 determines whether or not the lane moves based on whether or not the host vehicle straddles the lane line based on the position information of the lane line indicated in the image recognition result by the image recognition unit 6, and the determination The vehicle lane determination process based on the result is also performed.

When the vehicle lane determination process described above identifies one lane on which the host vehicle is traveling, the lane determination unit 7 generates the driving lane information S1 with the one lane as the host vehicle lane. To do. In addition, when the vehicle lane cannot be identified as one by these processes, the traveling lane determination unit 7 sets the plurality of lanes in which the host vehicle may be traveling as the own vehicle lane as traveling lane information. S1 is generated. The traveling lane determination unit 7 has a plurality of lanes in the traveling direction (one side) of the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on the own vehicle position information P when the determination of the own vehicle lane is necessary. Only when the vehicle is traveling, the traveling lane determination process is performed.
The travel lane information S1 as the determination result is output to the navigation calculation unit 13.

7). Lane identification availability determination unit The lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines the lane line form information Z acquired by the data extraction unit 5 when there is an unknown section U that cannot be determined by the traveling lane determination unit 7. Lane for determining whether or not the combination of the forms of a plurality of lane markings on the road after leaving the unknown section U is a combination that allows the traveling lane determination unit 7 to uniquely identify the vehicle lane. It functions as a specific availability determination unit. In the present embodiment, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 detects that there is an unknown section U before entering the unknown section U. The fact that there is an unknown section U that is a section in which the vehicle lane determination unit 7 cannot determine the vehicle lane ahead of the road on which the vehicle travels is a node stored in the map database 15, for example, corresponding to an intersection or a toll gate It can be detected with reference to n. Therefore, in this embodiment, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 also functions as an unknown section prior detection unit that detects in advance an unknown section that is a section in which the traveling lane determination unit cannot determine the vehicle lane.

In the present embodiment, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines a single vehicle lane for all lanes on the road after exiting the unknown section U when there is no overlap in the combination of lane markings on both sides of each lane. It is determined that it can be specified. For example, if the host vehicle is traveling on a road as shown in FIG. 6, the combination of lane markings on both sides of each lane of the road after leaving the unknown section U is in each direction of travel, From the left side, the first lane L1 is “solid line-dashed line”, the second lane L2 is “dashed line-dashed line”, and the third lane L3 is “dashed line-solid line”, and there is no overlap therebetween. Therefore, in this case, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines that a single vehicle lane can be identified from a combination of the lane markings.
On the other hand, as a result of comparing the combinations of lane markings on both sides of each lane for all lanes of the road after leaving the unknown section U, if there is overlap between any lanes, It is determined that it cannot be specified in a single manner. For example, if the vehicle is traveling on a road as shown in FIG. 7, the road after leaving the unknown section U has five lanes, and the lane markings on both sides of each lane are combined. From the left side, the first lane L1 is "solid line-dashed line", the second lane L2 is "dashed line-dashed line", the third lane L3 is "dashed line-dashed line", the fourth lane L4 is "dashed line-dashed line", the fifth The lane L5 is “broken line-solid line”. At this time, overlap occurs between the second lane L2 and the fourth lane L4. Therefore, in this case, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane cannot be identified singly from the combination of the lane markings.
The determination result determined here is output to the exit lane determination unit 11.

8). Unknown Section Detection Unit The unknown section detection unit 9 functions as an unknown section detection unit that detects an entry point of the own vehicle to the unknown section U. When the unknown section detection unit 9 detects that the host vehicle has entered the unknown section U, the lane movement determination unit 10 performs a process of determining the lane movement range A in the second determination process by the exit lane determination unit. A reference point a is set. In the present embodiment, as described above, the travel lane determination unit 7 uses the feature information F of the lane line existing around the host vehicle acquired by the data extraction unit 5 and the image of the lane line by the image recognition unit 6. The vehicle lane is determined based on the recognition result. Therefore, in this embodiment, the section in which the vehicle lane determination unit 7 cannot determine the vehicle lane is the road section in which the image recognition unit 6 cannot recognize the lane marking. Therefore, the unknown section detection unit 9 detects that the host vehicle is traveling in the unknown section U when the image recognition unit 6 cannot recognize the lane markings around the host vehicle. More specifically, since the traveling lane determination unit 7 determines the own vehicle lane based on the image recognition results of the lane markings on both sides of the own vehicle, the unknown section detection unit 9 uses the image recognition unit 6 to determine the own vehicle lane. A section in which both of the lane markings on both sides cannot be recognized as an unknown section U is detected. As such an unknown section U, for example, a section in which no lane marking is originally provided on the road surface, such as an intersection, or a section in which image recognition cannot be performed because the lane marking is blurred corresponds. Further, the unknown section detection unit 9 was able to recognize the image of the lane line, but as a result of comparing the image recognition result with the feature information F of the lane line acquired by the data extraction unit 5, there is a corresponding lane. Even if not, the interval is detected as an unknown interval U. FIGS. 6 to 9 show examples when the inside of an intersection where no lane marking is provided is detected as an unknown section U. When it is detected that the host vehicle is traveling in the unknown section U, the unknown section detection unit 9 outputs the result to the lane movement determination unit 10 and the exit lane determination unit 11.

9. Lane movement determination unit The lane movement determination unit 10 is a lane movement that is a range of the number of lanes that the vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section U based on the vehicle speed V and the travel distance of the vehicle. It functions as a lane movement determination means for determining the range A. In the present embodiment, the lane movement determination unit 10 first determines the travel distance required for the host vehicle to move from the traveling lane to the adjacent lane based on the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle acquired by the distance sensor 19. A unit lane moving distance D is obtained. That is, the unit lane movement distance D is a reference distance for determining that there is a possibility that lane movement for one lane has been performed when the host vehicle travels beyond this distance. Here, the unit lane movement distance D is a value obtained by multiplying the reference lane movement time T by the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle, as shown in the following equation (1).
[Unit lane travel distance D] = [reference lane travel time T] × [vehicle speed V] (1)
In this equation, the reference lane movement time T is a reference time required for the host vehicle to move from a running lane to an adjacent lane. Specifically, as the reference lane movement time T, it is preferable to set a time required for lane movement (lane change) by a standard driving operation, for example, a constant value of about 2 to 3 seconds. As an example, when the reference lane travel time T is set to 2 seconds and the host vehicle is traveling at a vehicle speed V of 60 [km / hour], the unit lane travel distance D is about 33 [m]. It becomes. In the description of the present embodiment, the symbol “D” relating to the unit lane movement distance comprehensively represents the unit lane movement distances Da to Dc at the reference points a to c in the examples of FIGS. 7 to 9. .

  Moreover, as shown in the examples of FIGS. 7 to 9, the lane movement determination unit 10 calculates the unit lane movement distance D as described above until the own vehicle leaves the unknown section U. Repeated every time the travel distance exceeds the unit lane travel distance D. That is, each time the travel distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane movement distance D, the lane movement determination unit 10 exceeds the unit lane movement distance D (for example, point b in FIG. 7, point b in FIG. c)) as a reference point, a new unit lane movement distance D based on the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle at the reference point is obtained. In the present embodiment, the travel distance of the host vehicle is detected by the distance sensor 19. The lane movement determination unit 10 increases the lane movement range A by one lane every time the traveling distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane movement distance D. Here, the lane movement determination unit 10 sets the lane movement range A when entering the unknown section U to “0” (A = 0), and every time the travel distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane movement distance D, One is added to the value of the movement range A (A = A + 1). The lane movement determination unit 10 determines the lane movement range A when the host vehicle leaves the unknown section U as the lane movement range A in the unknown section U. A specific example of the determination process of the lane movement range A by the lane movement determination unit 10 will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS.

10. Exit lane determination unit The exit lane determination unit 11 performs a plurality of determination processes for determining an exit lane that is the vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section U based on the determination result by the lane identification availability determination unit 8. It functions as an exit lane determination means that is selected from the processing and executed. In this embodiment, the exit lane determination unit 11 indicates in the travel lane information S1 before entering the unknown section U when the lane identification determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane can be identified as a single unit. The first determination process for generating the own vehicle lane as the exit lane information S2 is selected and executed. On the other hand, when it is determined that a single vehicle lane cannot be specified, a second determination process different from the first determination process is selected and executed. In the present embodiment, as the second determination process, lane movement that is the range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section U based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle. The range A is determined, and one or more lanes included in the range expanded by the lane movement range A on both sides from the own vehicle lane shown in the traveling lane information S1 before entering the unknown section U are exit lane information S2. Execute the process to generate as. For example, when the lane movement range A is “1” (A = 1), the exit lane determination unit 11 is included in a range expanded by one lane on both sides from the own vehicle lane indicated in the travel lane information S1. The lane, that is, the own vehicle lane indicated in the traveling lane information S1 and two lanes adjacent to both sides thereof are determined as the own vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U. Then, the exit lane determination unit 11 generates information indicating the own vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section U determined as described above as exit lane information S2.

At this time, the exit lane determination unit 11 is automatically determined within the range of one or more lanes indicated by the lane information based on the lane information of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, which is acquired by the data extraction unit 5. Car lane is determined. That is, the exit lane determination unit 11 is based on the information on the number of lanes in the traveling direction of the host vehicle on the road on which the host vehicle is traveling, which is indicated in the lane information acquired by the data extraction unit 5 based on the map information M. The own vehicle lane is determined so as to be within the range of the number of lanes. For example, when the lane movement range A is 1 (A = 1), the vehicle lane indicated in the travel lane information S1 and the lanes adjacent to both sides thereof are a total of three lanes as candidates for the vehicle lane. When the number of lanes on the road on which the host vehicle indicated by the lane information acquired by the data extraction unit 5 is “2”, the exit lane determination unit 11 determines the two lanes as the host vehicle lane. To do. Thereby, it can prevent determining the lane which does not exist in the road where the own vehicle is drive | working as an own vehicle lane.
The exit lane information S2 as a determination result is output to the navigation calculation unit 13.

11. Specific example of determination process of own vehicle lane after exiting from unknown section Next, a specific example of determination process of own vehicle lane after exiting from an unknown section U will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the first determination process, and FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams for explaining a specific example of the second determination process. The layout of each lane of the road shown in these figures indicates the content of the lane information of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, acquired by the data extraction unit 5. In these drawings, the information indicating the own vehicle lane surrounded by the left frame of the road indicates the driving lane information S1, and the information indicating the own vehicle lane surrounded by the right frame of the road is the exit lane. Information S2 is shown. The road on which the host vehicle is traveling has three lanes from the first lane L1 to the third lane L3 in order from the left side in the traveling direction of the host vehicle in the example of FIG. 6, and in the examples of FIGS. The vehicle has five lanes from the first lane L1 to the fifth lane L5 in order from the left side in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. In the examples shown in these figures, the vehicle lane before entering the unknown section U indicated in the travel lane information S1 is specified as the second lane L2. 7 to 9 show three examples in which the length of the unknown section U with respect to the unit lane movement distance D is different.

11-1. First Determination Process First, the vehicle lane determination process after leaving the unknown section U will be specifically described with reference to the example shown in FIG. Here, in order to easily understand the difference from the second determination process described later, the length of the unknown section U is set to be long in correspondence with FIG.
First, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines whether the combination of a plurality of lane markings on the road after leaving the unknown section U is based on the lane marking configuration information Z acquired by the data extraction unit 5. It is determined by the means whether or not the vehicle lane is a combination that can specify a single vehicle lane. In the present embodiment, for all lanes on the road after leaving the unknown section U, if there is no overlap in the combination of lane markings on both sides of each lane, it is determined that the vehicle lane can be specified as a single vehicle. . In this example, the combination of the lane markings on both sides of each lane of the road after leaving the unknown section U is such that the first lane L1 is “solid line-broken line” from the left side and the second lane with respect to the traveling direction. L2 is “broken line-broken line”, and the third lane L3 is “broken line-solid line”, and there is no overlap between them. Therefore, in this case, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines that a single vehicle lane can be identified from a combination of the lane markings.
The exit lane determination unit 11 receives the determination result from the lane identification availability determination unit 8 and determines the exit lane that is the vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section U. In the present embodiment, since the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane can be specified in a single manner from the combination of the lane markings, the exit lane determination unit 11 is directed to the unknown section U. A first determination process for determining the own vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination unit 7 as an exit lane before entering is selected and executed. That is, unlike the second determination process described later, the exit lane determination unit 11 generates the own vehicle lane shown in the travel lane information S1 as the exit lane information S2 as it is regardless of the length of the unknown section U. Therefore, in this example, the second lane L2 that is the vehicle lane before entering the unknown section U is determined as the vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U, and such exit lane information S2 is generated.

11-2. Second Determination Processing Next, the vehicle lane determination processing after leaving the unknown section U will be described using the examples shown in FIGS. In these examples, the road after leaving the unknown section U has five lanes, and the combination of the forms of the lane markings on both sides of each lane is that the first lane L1 is “solid line-dashed line” from the left side, The second lane L2 is "dashed line-dashed line", the third lane L3 is "dashed line-dashed line", the fourth lane L4 is "dashed line-dashed line", the fifth lane L5 is "dashed line-solid line", and the second lane L2 -Overlapping occurs in the fourth lane L4. Therefore, in this case, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane cannot be identified singly from the combination of the lane markings. Accordingly, the exit lane determination unit 11 selects and executes the second determination process. Below, the 2nd determination process which the leaving lane determination part 11 performs when it determines with the lane specific availability determination part 8 not being able to specify the own vehicle lane single from the combination of the form of the said lane marking is demonstrated. . The second determination process determines a lane movement range A that is a range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section U based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle. One or more lanes included in the range expanded by the lane movement range A on both sides from the vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination means before entering the unknown section U are defined as the exit lane. This is a process for determining.

  First, with reference to the example shown in FIG. 7, the vehicle lane determination process after leaving the unknown section U will be described. In this case, when the unknown section detection unit 9 detects that the host vehicle has entered the unknown section U, the lane movement determination unit 10 sets the entry point of the host vehicle to the unknown section U as the reference point a, and the reference point The unit lane moving distance Da (Da = T × Va) is obtained based on the vehicle speed Va at a. And the lane movement determination part 10 is the point where the actual travel distance of the host vehicle from the reference point a (entrance point to the unknown section U) detected by the distance sensor 19 exceeds the unit lane travel distance Da. The point is set as a new reference point b, and the unit lane movement distance Db (Db = T × Vb) is obtained based on the vehicle speed Vb at the reference point b. In addition, the lane movement determination unit 10 increases the lane movement range A by one lane. Here, since the lane movement range A when entering the unknown section U is “0” (A = 0), the lane movement range A after passing through the reference point b is “1”. Thereafter, in this example, the host vehicle has left the unknown section U before the travel distance of the host vehicle from the reference point b exceeds the unit lane travel distance Db. Thus, the lane movement determination unit 10 ends the determination process of the lane movement range A at the point where the host vehicle leaves the unknown section U. Therefore, in this example, the lane movement determination unit 10 determines that the lane movement range A when leaving the unknown section U is “1”. Next, the exit lane determination unit 11 expands by one lane indicated by the lane movement range A determined by the lane movement determination unit 10 on both sides from the second lane L2 which is the own vehicle lane indicated by the traveling lane information S1. The lane included in the determined range is determined as the vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U. Therefore, in this example, the leaving lane determination unit 11 determines the three lanes from the first lane L1 to the third lane L3 as the own vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U, and such leaving lane information. S2 is generated.

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 8 in which the unknown section U is shorter than the example shown in FIG. 7, the actual traveling of the host vehicle from the reference point a (the entry point to the unknown section U) detected by the distance sensor 19. The vehicle has left the unknown section U before the distance exceeds the unit lane movement distance Da. Therefore, in the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the lane movement determination unit 10 ends the determination process of the lane movement range A without increasing the lane movement range A. Therefore, the lane movement range A when exiting from the unknown section U. Is determined to be “0”. Accordingly, the exit lane determination unit 11 determines the second lane L2 that is the host vehicle lane indicated in the travel lane information S1 as the host vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U, and uses such exit lane information S2 as the exit lane information S2. Generate.

  Further, in the example shown in FIG. 9 in which the unknown section U is longer than the example shown in FIG. 7, the actual travel distance of the host vehicle from the reference point b detected by the distance sensor 19 exceeds the unit lane travel distance Db. However, the host vehicle is traveling in the unknown section U. Therefore, in the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the lane movement determination unit 10 further sets the point as a new reference point c at a point where the traveling distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane movement distance Db. The unit lane movement distance Dc (Dc = T × Vc) is obtained based on the vehicle speed Vc. In addition, the lane movement determination unit 10 increases the lane movement range A by one lane. Here, as described in the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the lane movement range A after passing through the reference point b is “1” (A = 1), so the lane movement range A after passing through the reference point c is “ 2 ”. Thereafter, in this example, the host vehicle has left the unknown section U before the travel distance of the host vehicle from the reference point c exceeds the unit lane travel distance Dc. Therefore, in this example, the lane movement determination unit 10 determines that the lane movement range A when leaving the unknown section U is “2”. Next, the exit lane determination unit 11 expands by two lanes indicated by the lane movement range A determined by the lane movement determination unit 10 on both sides from the second lane L2, which is the own vehicle lane indicated by the travel lane information S1. The lane included in the determined range is determined as the vehicle lane after leaving the unknown section U. At this time, however, the exit lane determination unit 11 determines the vehicle lane within the range of one or more lanes indicated by the lane information based on the lane information acquired by the data extraction unit 5. In this example, as shown in FIG. 9, it is known that the road on which the host vehicle is traveling has five lanes from the first lane L1 to the fifth lane L5 in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. Therefore, in this example, the exit lane determination unit 11 selects four lanes from the first lane L1 to the fourth lane L4 within the range of the lane indicated by the lane information after leaving the unknown section U. It is determined as a lane, and such exit lane information S2 is generated.

12 Interruption determination unit The interruption determination unit 12 exits when the direction sensor 18 as the direction of travel detection means detects a change in the direction of travel of the host vehicle that is greater than the amount of change in the direction of travel assumed when the lane moves. The lane determination unit 11 functions as an interruption determination unit that performs determination to interrupt the exit lane determination process. In the present embodiment, the interruption determination unit 12 determines whether the exit lane is determined by the exit lane determination unit 11 when an output greater than a predetermined value regarding the amount of change in the traveling direction of the host vehicle is output from the direction sensor 18. A determination is made to interrupt the determination process. That is, the interruption determination unit 12 does not perform interruption determination as long as the output from the direction sensor 18 is less than the specified value. And when the interruption determination by this interruption determination part 12 is performed, the leaving lane determination part 11 is irrespective of the determination result by the traveling lane determination part 7, the lane specific availability determination part 8, and the lane movement determination part 10. A process of generating all the lanes of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling from the unknown section U as the exit lane information S2 is performed. This is because the determination process by the exit lane determination unit 11 is meaningless when there is a change in the course of the host vehicle that exceeds normal lane movement, such as a right turn or a left turn at an intersection. . Thereby, the erroneous determination of the exit lane by the exit lane determination unit 11 can be prevented.

13. Navigation Calculation Unit The navigation calculation unit 13 is a calculation processing unit that operates mainly in accordance with an application program AP for executing a guidance function as the navigation device 1. Here, the application program AP includes the vehicle position information P acquired by the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4, the map information M extracted by the data extraction unit 5, and the information on the vehicle lane determined by the lane determination unit. The operation is performed with reference to the traveling lane information S1 and the leaving lane information S2. Then, according to the application program AP, for example, the navigation calculation unit 13 acquires the map information M around the host vehicle from the map database 15 by the data extraction unit 5 and displays the map image on the display input device 20. Based on the vehicle position information P, the vehicle position mark is superimposed on the map image and displayed. In addition, the navigation calculation unit 13 searches for a route from the departure point to the destination according to the application program AP, and further, based on the searched route and the vehicle position information P, the display input device Route guidance is performed using one or both of 20 and the audio output device 21. At this time, the application program AP refers to the information on the vehicle lane determined by the travel lane determination unit 7 and the exit lane determination unit 11, and performs navigation operations such as vehicle position display, route search, and route guidance. Specifically, for example, the determined vehicle lane is displayed on the display input device 20, or an operation such as canceling route guidance that requires an unreasonable lane change according to the determined vehicle lane is performed. .

  By the way, various application programs AP (hereinafter simply referred to as “apps”) that operate in the navigation calculation unit 13 include applications that change whether or not they can operate depending on the specific state of the vehicle lane. For example, there are multiple vehicle lanes, such as an application that can operate only when the vehicle lane is specified as one lane, such as an application that guides the number of lane movements, or an application that encourages exit from a right turn lane Some of the lanes need no operation if they are identified as not being a specific lane. According to the first determination process by the exit lane determination unit 11, it is possible to maintain a state in which the host vehicle lane is specified as a single, and even if the determination result of the exit lane is incorrect, the unknown section U Since it is possible to accurately specify the own vehicle lane after a predetermined time has elapsed after leaving, all the types of applications described above can be made operable. Further, according to the second determination process, it is possible to narrow down and specify the range of the own vehicle lane, so that it is possible to operate a relatively large number of applications according to the specified state of the own vehicle lane. .

  In the present embodiment, the navigation calculation unit 13 is connected to the display input device 20 and the audio output device 21. The display input device 20 is a combination of a display device such as a liquid crystal display device and an input device such as a touch panel. The audio output device 21 includes a speaker and the like. In the present embodiment, the navigation calculation unit 13, the display input device 20, and the audio output device 21 function as the guidance information output means 22 in the present invention. These guide information output means 22 operate according to the application program AP and output guide information.

14 Procedure of Lane Determination Processing Next, a procedure of lane determination processing (lane determination program) executed in the navigation device 1 including the lane determination device 2 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the overall procedure of the lane determination process according to this embodiment, FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the detailed process procedure of the first determination process according to this embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed processing procedure of the second determination processing according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed processing procedure of the lane movement determination processing according to the present embodiment. The processing procedure described below is executed by hardware and / or software (program) or both of the above-described functional units. When each of the above functional units is configured by a program, the arithmetic processing device included in the navigation device 1 operates as a computer that executes a lane determination program that configures each of the above functional units.

14-1. Overall lane determination process First, the overall procedure of the lane determination process will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, in determining the vehicle lane, the navigation device 1 first acquires the vehicle position information P by the vehicle position information acquisition unit 4 (step # 01). Next, the feature extraction information F of the target feature existing around the host vehicle is extracted and acquired from the map database 15 by the data extraction unit 5 (step # 02). Further, the image information acquisition unit 3 acquires the image information G captured by the imaging device 16 mounted on the host vehicle (step # 03). Then, the image recognition unit 6 performs image recognition processing of the target feature included in the image information G (step # 04). Thereafter, the travel lane determination unit 7 performs travel lane determination processing (step # 05). Here, the traveling lane determination process by the traveling lane determination unit 7 is a determination process of the host vehicle lane performed in a region other than the unknown section U as described above. Since the content of the travel lane determination process by the travel lane determination unit 7 has already been described, the description thereof is omitted here. Next, whether or not there is an unknown section U that is a section in which the vehicle lane determination unit 7 cannot determine the vehicle lane ahead of the road on which the vehicle travels with reference to the map database 15 by the lane identification determination unit 8. Is determined (step # 06). If the lane identification determination unit 8 determines that there is no unknown section U ahead (step # 06: No), the process ends. If the lane identification determination unit 8 determines that there is an unknown section U ahead (step # 06: Yes), the exit lane determination unit 11 generates the travel lane generated by the travel lane determination unit 7. Information S1 is acquired (step # 07). Next, based on the lane marking form information Z acquired by the data extraction section 5, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines whether the combination of the lane markings on the road after leaving the unknown section U is a traveling lane determination. The unit 7 determines whether or not the vehicle lane can be specified as a single combination (step # 08). When the lane identification determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane is a single combination that can be identified (step # 08: Yes), the exit lane determination unit 11 performs a first determination process (step S08). # 09). The first determination process is a process of determining the own vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination unit before entering the unknown section U as the exit lane. The detailed processing procedure of the first determination processing will be described in detail later based on the flowchart of FIG. On the other hand, when the lane identification determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane is not a combination that can identify a single vehicle lane (step # 08: No), the exit lane determination unit 11 performs the second determination process ( Step # 10). The second determination process determines a lane movement range A that is a range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section U based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle, This is a process of determining one or more lanes included in the range expanded by the lane movement range A on both sides from the vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination unit 7 before entering the unknown section U as the exit lane. . The detailed processing procedure of the second determination processing will be described later in detail based on the flowchart of FIG. Finally, the exit lane determination unit 11 generates exit lane information S2 based on the exit lane determined in Step # 09 or Step # 10 (Step # 11). This is the end of the lane determination process.

14-2. First Determination Processing Next, details of the first determination processing in step # 09 will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, first, the unknown section detection unit 9 determines whether or not the host vehicle has entered the unknown section U (step # 21). When the vehicle enters the unknown section U (step # 21: Yes), it is next determined whether or not the interruption determination unit 12 has determined to interrupt the exit lane determination process by the exit lane determination unit 11 (step) # 22). When the interruption determination unit 12 determines that the determination process of the exit lane is interrupted (step # 22: Yes), the exit lane determination unit 11 uses the data extraction unit 5 to map information M around the host vehicle. Based on the lane information, the lane information of the road on which the vehicle after leaving the unknown section U is traveling is extracted and acquired (step # 25). For example, if there is a determination that the lane movement determination process is interrupted by the interruption determination unit 12 due to the vehicle turning left or right within an intersection as an unknown section U, the data extraction unit 5 performs the left or right turn. Extract the lane information of the later road. The exit lane determination unit 11 determines all the lanes acquired in step # 25 as exit lanes (step # 26).
If it is not determined by the interruption determination unit 12 that the determination process of the leaving lane is interrupted (step # 22: No), whether or not the vehicle has left the unknown section U by the unknown section detection unit 9 next. Is determined (step # 23). If the host vehicle has not left the unknown section U (step # 23: No), the process returns to step # 22, and it is determined whether or not there has been a determination to interrupt the exit lane determination process (step # 22). , And whether or not the own vehicle has left the unknown section U is repeatedly determined (step # 23). When the host vehicle leaves the unknown section U (step # 23: Yes), the host vehicle lane indicated in the acquired travel lane information S1 is determined as the exit lane (step # 24). This completes the first determination process.

14-3. Second Determination Process Next, details of the second determination process in step # 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 12, first, the unknown section detector 9 determines whether or not the host vehicle has entered the unknown section U (step # 31). When the host vehicle enters the unknown section U (step # 31: Yes), the lane movement determination unit 10 causes the lane movement within the range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved in the unknown section U. Lane movement determination processing for determining the range A is performed (step # 32). The detailed processing sequence of this lane movement determination processing will be described later in detail based on the flowchart of FIG. Next, the exit lane determination unit 11 determines whether or not it is determined that there is an interruption in Step # 46 described later (Step # 33). If it is determined in step # 46 that there is no interruption (step # 33: No), the leaving lane determination unit 11 acquires information on the lane movement range A determined in step # 32 (step # 34). Further, the exit lane determining unit 11 extracts and acquires the lane information of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling based on the map information M around the host vehicle by the data extracting unit 5 (step # 35). Then, the exit lane determination unit 11 determines the own vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section U (step # 36). Since the vehicle lane determination process after leaving the unknown section U has already been described, the description thereof is omitted here. Further, the processing (step # 37 to step # 38) when it is determined that there is an interruption at step # 46 (step # 33: Yes) is the same as the processing of step # 25 to step # 26 in FIG. The description is omitted here. The second determination process is thus completed.

14-4. Lane Movement Determination Process Next, details of the lane movement determination process in step # 32 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the lane movement determination unit 10 first sets the lane movement range A when entering the unknown section U to “0” (A = 0) (step # 41). Next, the lane movement determination unit 10 obtains information on the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle at the reference point a (see FIGS. 7 to 9) that is an entry point to the unknown section U based on the detection result of the distance sensor 19. Obtain (step # 42). Then, the lane movement determination unit 10 calculates and obtains the unit lane movement distance Da (see FIGS. 7 to 9) based on the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle acquired in step # 42 (step # 43). Since the method of calculating the unit lane movement distance Da has already been described, the description thereof is omitted here. Thereafter, the lane movement determination unit 10 acquires information on the travel distance from the reference point a that is an entry point to the unknown section U based on the detection result of the distance sensor 19 (step # 44).

  Further, the unknown section detection unit 9 determines whether or not the own vehicle has left the unknown section U (step # 45). If the host vehicle has not left the unknown section U (step # 45: No), the interruption determination unit 12 then determines whether to interrupt the determination process for the lane movement range A. (Step # 46). When the interruption determination unit 12 determines to interrupt the determination process for the lane movement range A (step # 46: Yes), the lane movement determination process by the lane movement determination unit 10 is terminated. On the other hand, if the interruption determination unit 12 does not determine that the determination process for the lane movement range A is interrupted (step # 46: No), the lane movement determination unit 10 next acquires the self-acquisition acquired in step # 44. It is determined whether or not the travel distance of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the unit lane travel distance Da obtained in step # 43 (step # 47). If the travel distance of the host vehicle is less than the unit lane travel distance Da (step # 47: No), the process returns to step # 44 until the travel distance of the host vehicle becomes equal to or greater than the unit lane travel distance Da (step (# 47: Yes), it is determined whether or not the own vehicle has left the unknown section U (step # 45), and whether or not the determination process of the lane movement range A is interrupted (step # 46).

  When the traveling distance of the host vehicle becomes equal to or greater than the unit lane movement distance Da (step # 47: Yes), the lane movement determination unit 10 adds “1” to the value of the lane movement range A (A = A + 1) (step # 48), and the lane movement range A is set to “1” (A = 1). Further, the lane movement determination unit 10 sets a new reference point b (see FIGS. 7 and 9) at a point where the traveling distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane movement distance Da (step # 49), and the processing is step. Return to # 42. Thereafter, the lane movement determination unit 10 determines that the own vehicle leaves the unknown section U (step # 45: Yes), or the interruption determination unit 12 interrupts the determination process for the lane movement range A (step # 46: Every time the travel distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane travel distance D, the unit lane travel distance D with the point exceeding the unit lane travel distance D as a reference point is obtained and the travel distance of the host vehicle is Each time exceeds the unit lane movement distance D, the process of adding “1” to the value of the lane movement range A (A = A + 1) is repeated.

  When the host vehicle leaves the unknown section U (step # 45: Yes), the lane movement determination unit 10 determines the lane movement range A when the host vehicle leaves the unknown section U as the unknown section U. Is determined as the lane movement range A of the host vehicle (step # 50). This is the end of the lane movement determination process.

15. Other Embodiments (1) In the above embodiment, the exit lane determination unit 11 performs the process for determining the exit lane based on the determination result by the lane identification determination unit 8 as the first determination process and the second determination process. The example in which the determination process is selected and executed from the two determination processes has been described. However, the exit lane determination unit 11 selects and executes the process for determining the exit lane from among three or more determination processes in combination with conditions other than the determination conditions by the lane identification determination unit 8. It may be configured as follows.

(2) In the above embodiment, the exit lane determination unit 11 performs the process for determining the exit lane based on the determination result by the lane identification availability determination unit 8 as the first determination process and the second determination process. An example of selecting and executing from the three determination processes has been described. However, when the lane identification determination unit 8 determines that the vehicle lane cannot be specified as a single vehicle, the lane identification determination unit 8 may be configured not to perform any process for determining the exit lane. That is, in this case, only the first determination process is executed as a process for determining the exit lane that is the vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section U based on the determination result by the lane identification determination unit 8. become.

(3) In the above embodiment, as the second determination process, within the range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section U based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle. One or more lanes included in a range that is determined by a certain lane movement range A and expanded from the own vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination unit 7 before entering the unknown section U by the lane movement range A on both sides An example of performing the process of determining as an exit lane has been described. However, other processes may be performed as the second determination process. For example, a process of determining all lanes of the road on which the vehicle is traveling after leaving the unknown section U as a leaving lane may be performed, or a determination process as described in the background art orchid may be performed. .

(4) In the above embodiment, the lane identification availability determining unit 8 refers to the map database 15 and detects that there is an unknown section U ahead of the road on which the host vehicle travels before entering the unknown section U. An example was described. However, the timing for detecting that there is an unknown section U is not particularly limited. For example, after detecting that the own vehicle has entered the unknown section U by the unknown section detection unit 9, the lane identification availability determination unit 8 determines whether the vehicle lane is a combination that can uniquely identify the vehicle lane. It may be configured to start.

(5) In the above embodiment, an example in which a constant value of about 2 to 3 seconds, for example, is given as the reference lane movement time T for obtaining the unit lane movement distance D by the lane movement determination unit 10 will be described. did. However, it is one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention that the reference lane moving time T is set to a different value depending on the vehicle speed V. As a method for obtaining such a value of the reference lane movement time T, for example, a method for obtaining the reference lane movement time T corresponding to each of a plurality of vehicle speed ranges by referring to a table in advance, or the vehicle speed V as a variable. A method of obtaining by a predetermined arithmetic expression is used.

(6) In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the lane movement determination unit 10 calculates the unit lane movement distance D based on the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle by a predetermined expression. However, the method for obtaining the unit lane movement distance D is not limited to this. For example, the lane movement determination unit 10 may use a method of obtaining the unit lane movement distance D by referring to a table in which the unit lane movement distance D corresponding to each of a plurality of vehicle speed ranges is previously defined. This is one of the embodiments.

(7) In the above embodiment, the lane movement determination unit 10 obtains the unit lane movement distance D, and increases the lane movement range A by one lane every time the traveling distance of the host vehicle exceeds the unit lane movement distance D. Thus, the example of obtaining the lane movement range A in the unknown section U has been described. However, the application range of the present invention is not limited to this, and the lane movement determination unit 10 may determine the lane movement range A without obtaining the unit lane movement distance D. one of. For example, the lane movement determination unit 10 divides the travel distance of the own vehicle in the unknown section U (the length of the unknown section U) by the average vehicle speed of the own vehicle in the unknown section U. It is also a preferred embodiment of the present invention that the lane movement range A within the unknown section U is determined based on how many times the passage time is the reference lane movement time T. . At this time, for example, the value obtained by dividing the passing time of the unknown section U by the reference lane moving time T can be set as the lane moving range A by rounding down or rounding off the value after the decimal point.

(8) In the above embodiment, the traveling lane determination unit 7 combines the lane line form recognized by the image recognition unit 6 and the road lane line form on which the host vehicle represented by the lane line form information Z travels. The example of determining the own vehicle lane based on the above has been described. However, the vehicle lane determination method by the travel lane determination unit 7 is not limited to this. For example, the travel lane determination unit 7 acquires information indicating the number of lanes of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling, and the combination of the form of the lane marking recognized by the image recognition unit 6 corresponds to the number of lanes. It is also a preferred embodiment of the present invention that the vehicle lane is determined based on a table in which a combination of general lane markings is set.

(9) In each of the above embodiments, the case where all the configurations of the navigation device 1 including the lane determination device 2 are mounted on the vehicle has been described as an example. However, the application range of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. That is, for example, a part of the configuration excluding the imaging device 16 is installed outside the vehicle in a state of being connected via a communication network such as the Internet, and transmits and receives information and signals via the network. The lane determination device 2 and the navigation device 1 are also one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

(10) In each of the above-described embodiments, an example in which the lane determination device 2 is used for the navigation device 1 has been described. However, the application range of the present invention is not limited to this, and the lane determination device 2 can naturally be used for other purposes such as a vehicle travel control device.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be suitably used as a lane determination device for determining the lane of a road on which the host vehicle is traveling, and a navigation device, a vehicle control device, and the like using the lane determination device.

The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the navigation apparatus containing the lane determination apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing which shows the example of a structure of the map information and feature information which are stored in the map database The figure which shows an example of the arrangement configuration of the imaging device to the own vehicle The figure which shows an example of the image information acquired by the image information acquisition part The figure which shows an example of the feature information around the own vehicle acquired by the data extraction part Explanatory drawing of the specific example of the 1st determination process by a leaving lane determination part Explanatory drawing of the specific example of the 2nd determination process by the leaving lane determination part Explanatory drawing of the specific example of the 2nd determination process by the leaving lane determination part Explanatory drawing of the specific example of the 2nd determination process by the leaving lane determination part The flowchart which shows the whole procedure of the lane determination process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the detailed process sequence of the 1st determination process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the detailed process sequence of the 2nd determination process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the detailed process sequence of the lane movement determination process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 2 Lane determination apparatus 3 Image information acquisition part 4 Own vehicle position information acquisition part 5 Data extraction part 6 Image recognition part 7 Travel lane determination part 8 Lane specific availability determination part 9 Unknown section detection part 10 Lane movement determination part 11 Exit Lane determination unit 12 Interruption determination unit 13 Navigation calculation unit 14 Marking line form information acquisition means 15 Map database 18 Direction sensor 19 Distance sensor 22 Guidance information output means M Map information F Feature information G Image information Z Marking line form information S1 Traveling Lane information S2 Exit lane information P Own vehicle position information A Lane movement range U Unknown section V Vehicle speed D Unit lane movement distance AP Application program

Claims (14)

Lane line form information acquisition means for acquiring lane line form information representing the form of lane lines that divide each lane of the road on which the host vehicle travels;
A travel lane determination means for recognizing an image of the form of a lane line around the host vehicle and determining a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling based on a combination of the forms of the lane line;
When there is an unknown section that is a section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined by the traveling lane determination means, based on the lane line form information, a combination of the forms of multiple lane lines on the road after leaving the unknown section Is a lane identification availability determination unit that determines whether the traveling lane determination unit is a combination that can uniquely identify the vehicle lane;
An exit lane that selects and executes a process for determining an exit lane that is the vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section based on a determination result by the lane identification enable / disable determination unit. A determination means;
A lane determination device comprising:   The lane identification availability determination means can identify a single vehicle lane for all lanes of the road after exiting the unknown section when there is no overlap in the combination of lane markings on both sides of each lane. The lane determination device according to claim 1 for determining. The exit lane determination means is determined by the lane identification availability determination means.
When it is determined that the vehicle lane can be specified as a single vehicle, a first determination process is performed to determine the vehicle lane determined by the travel lane determination means before entering the unknown section as the exit lane. And
The lane determination device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when it is determined that a single vehicle lane cannot be specified, a second determination process different from the first determination process is executed.   The second determination process determines a lane movement range that is a range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section, based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle, In the process of determining one or more lanes included in the range expanded by the lane movement range on both sides from the vehicle lane determined by the traveling lane determination means before entering the unknown section as the exit lane The lane determination device according to claim 3.   The lane movement range is a unit lane movement distance that is a travel distance required for the host vehicle to move from the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling to an adjacent lane based on the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. The lane determination device according to claim 4, wherein the process of increasing by one lane every time the lane movement distance is exceeded is determined by repeating until the exit from the unknown section.   6. The unit lane moving distance is a value obtained by multiplying a reference lane moving time, which is a reference time required for the host vehicle to move from a running lane to an adjacent lane, by the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. The described lane determination device.   The travel lane determination means includes image information acquisition means for acquiring image information around the host vehicle position, and image recognition means for performing image recognition in the form of lane markings included in the image information. 7. The vehicle lane is determined based on a combination of the lane line forms recognized by the vehicle and a lane line form of the road on which the vehicle travels represented by the lane line form information. The lane determination device according to item.   The lane determination device according to claim 7, wherein the unknown section is a road section in which the image recognition unit cannot recognize the form of the lane marking. It further comprises a traveling direction detection means for detecting a change in the traveling direction of the host vehicle,
When the travel direction detection means detects a change in the travel direction of the host vehicle that is larger than the amount of change in the travel direction assumed when the lane moves, the exit lane determination means exits the unknown section. The lane determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein all lanes of a road on which a subsequent host vehicle is traveling are determined as the exit lanes. Lane line form information acquisition means for acquiring lane line form information representing the form of lane lines that divide each lane of the road on which the host vehicle travels;
A travel lane determination means for recognizing an image of the form of a lane line around the host vehicle and determining a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling based on a combination of the forms of the lane line;
When there is an unknown section that is a section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined by the traveling lane determination means, based on the lane line form information, a combination of the forms of multiple lane lines on the road after leaving the unknown section Is a lane identification availability determination unit that determines whether the traveling lane determination unit is a combination that can uniquely identify the vehicle lane;
Based on the determination result by the lane identification availability determination unit, an exit lane determination unit that executes processing for determining an exit lane that is the vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section;
A lane determination device comprising:   The lane determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, the map database storing map information, and the map information and the vehicle lane information determined by the lane determination device. A navigation apparatus comprising: an application program that operates; and guidance information output means that operates according to the application program and outputs guidance information. A lane line form information obtaining step for obtaining lane line form information representing a form of a lane line that divides each lane of the road on which the host vehicle travels;
A travel lane determination step for recognizing an image of the form of the lane marking that exists around the host vehicle and determining a lane in which the host vehicle is traveling based on a combination of the forms of the lane marking;
When there is an unknown section that is a section in which the vehicle lane cannot be determined by the traveling lane determination step, based on the lane line form information, a combination of the forms of multiple lane lines on the road after leaving the unknown section Is a lane identification determination step that determines whether the vehicle lane is a combination that can be specified as a single vehicle by the traveling lane determination step;
An exit lane that selects and executes a process for determining an exit lane that is the vehicle lane after exiting from the unknown section based on a determination result in the lane identification determination step. A determination step;
Lane determination program that causes a computer to execute. In the exit lane determination step, the lane identification availability determination step,
When it is determined that a single vehicle lane can be specified, a first determination process is performed to determine the vehicle lane determined in the travel lane determination step as the exit lane before entering the unknown section And
The lane determination program according to claim 12, wherein a second determination process different from the first determination process is executed when it is determined that a single vehicle lane cannot be specified.   The second determination process determines a lane movement range that is a range of the number of lanes that the host vehicle may have moved while traveling in the unknown section, based on the vehicle speed and the travel distance of the host vehicle, A process of determining one or more lanes included in the range extended by the lane movement range on both sides from the vehicle lane determined in the traveling lane determination step before entering the unknown section as the exit lane The lane determination program according to claim 13.