JP2011227728A - Vehicle group traveling control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicle group traveling control device able to maintain a vehicle group even if some vehicles of the vehicle group separate from the vehicle group.SOLUTION: An inter-vehicle-group order determining section 106 determines an inter-vehicle group order, which is the order of an own vehicle in a vehicle group, and simultaneously transmits a vehicle ID and the inter-vehicle group order from a transmitter together with a traveling plan. If a following-up vehicle receives a plurality of traveling plans of leading vehicles, the following-up vehicle determines the inter-vehicle group order of each of the leading vehicles, which have transmitted the plurality of the traveling plans of leading vehicles, based on the vehicle ID and the inter-vehicle group order transmitted together with the traveling plans of leading vehicles. Additionally, based on the determined inter-vehicle group order of each of the leading vehicles and the inter-vehicle group order of the own vehicle, a traveling plan of the leading vehicles, which is used for determining a traveling plan of the own vehicle, is selected (by a leading vehicle selecting section 108). Thus, the traveling plan of each of following vehicles can be determined using, without any mistakes, the traveling plan of the leading vehicles, according to which each vehicle to follow. Therefore, even when some vehicles separate from the vehicle group, the vehicle group can be maintained.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle group traveling control device, and more particularly to a vehicle group traveling control device that can smoothly divide and leave a vehicle group traveling.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for determining a travel plan for a host vehicle and causing the vehicle to travel based on the determined travel plan is known. For example, this is the travel control plan generation system described in Patent Document 1. In the travel control plan generation system disclosed in Patent Document 1, an upper plan is generated in accordance with a travel policy such as comfort and fuel efficiency, and a plan including a travel locus is generated as a lower plan for achieving the upper plan. is doing. Furthermore, the subordinate plan of the surrounding vehicle is acquired, and the subordinate plan of the own vehicle is selected in consideration of the acquired subordinate plan of the surrounding vehicle. In this way, the travel plan is divided into hierarchies, and the subordinate plan of the own vehicle is selected in consideration of the subordinate plan of the surrounding vehicle, so that it is possible to flexibly cope with changes in the surrounding environment. In addition, the situation change of the surrounding environment includes formation of a vehicle group (convoy) and departure from the vehicle group.

JP 2008-129804 A

  The thing of patent document 1 is considering the subordinate plan of a surrounding vehicle, selecting the subordinate plan of the own vehicle, and saying that it responds flexibly to the situation change of a surrounding environment. It also includes the formation of vehicle groups (convoys) and departure from vehicle groups. Therefore, it is possible to flexibly cope with the formation of the vehicle group and the departure from the vehicle group.

  However, the subordinate plans of surrounding vehicles are generally transmitted by broadcast transmission (broadcast transmission). Therefore, in a situation where a vehicle located in the middle of the vehicle group leaves the previous vehicle group and becomes a new leading vehicle, the other vehicles in the vehicle group start from the leading vehicle in the vehicle group. In addition to receiving a plan as a vehicle, there is a possibility of receiving a travel plan as a leading vehicle from a leaving vehicle. In other words, there is a possibility of receiving a travel plan as a plurality of leading vehicles, and when a traveling plan as a plurality of leading vehicles is received, it is unclear which plan is taken into consideration when planning the own vehicle. End up. Therefore, the vehicle group may not be maintained not only for the new leading vehicle but also for other vehicles.

  In addition, when a vehicle in the middle of the vehicle group must be stopped by a signal, the vehicle group is divided, so that the same problem as in the case where the vehicle located in the middle of the vehicle group leaves is caused.

  The present invention has been made based on this situation, and the object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle that can maintain a vehicle group even when some of the vehicles in the vehicle group leave the vehicle group. The object is to provide a group traveling control device.

  According to the first aspect of the invention for achieving the object, each vehicle determines an order in the vehicle group that is the order of the own vehicle in the vehicle group by the in-vehicle group order determination unit, and transmits the travel plan. By the processing of the processing unit, the vehicle ID and the order in the vehicle group are broadcast from the transmitter together with the travel plan. When the host vehicle state is a following vehicle, the following vehicle travel plan is determined based on the leading vehicle travel plan transmitted from the leading vehicle. However, when a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans are acquired, the leading vehicle travel plan is determined. And the order in the vehicle group of each leading vehicle that has transmitted the plurality of leading vehicle travel plans is determined on the basis of the vehicle ID and the order in the vehicle group that are transmitted together with the vehicle group of the determined leading vehicle. Based on the order and the order of the host vehicle in the vehicle group, the head vehicle travel plan used to determine the travel plan of the host vehicle is selected. Therefore, since it is possible to determine the following vehicle travel plan by using the leading vehicle travel plan of the leading vehicle that the host vehicle should follow, even when some vehicles in the vehicle group leave the vehicle group. The vehicle group is maintained.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle group division determination unit that determines that the vehicle group has been divided based on the fact that the following vehicle travel plan is determined using the leading vehicle travel plan of the vehicle different from the previous one. If the vehicle group division determination unit determines that the vehicle group has been divided, the vehicle group order after division is determined based on the order in the vehicle group of each vehicle before division. The order in the vehicle group can be quickly determined.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the number of formed vehicle groups is sequentially updated by increasing the number of formed vehicle groups every time the last vehicle is changed. Further, when the own vehicle state determination unit determines that the vehicle is the last vehicle, the order of the own vehicle in the vehicle group is determined based on the number of vehicle groups formed transmitted from the other vehicle. In this way, the order in the vehicle group can also be determined.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system 10 including a vehicle group traveling control device 100. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control function of the vehicle group traveling control device 100. FIG. It is a figure explaining the process of the own vehicle state determination part. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of a leading vehicle selection unit 108. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of a leading vehicle selection unit 108. It is a figure explaining the example which correct | amends a head vehicle travel plan in the own vehicle travel plan selection / correction part 110, and determines a last own vehicle travel plan.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The “vehicle group” used in the present embodiment refers to a state in which a plurality of vehicles communicate with each other to form one group, and the “vehicle group traveling” is a so-called “convoy traveling”. , Each vehicle forming the vehicle group travels in a collective state so as to exhibit similar behavior. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system 10 including a vehicle group traveling control device 100 of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system 10 includes an autonomous sensor 20, a radio device 30, a behavior information sensor 40, and an acceleration / deceleration unit 50 in addition to the vehicle group traveling control device 100.

  The autonomous sensor 20 is a sensor that detects the presence of other vehicles before and after the vehicle on which the system 10 is mounted (hereinafter also referred to as the host vehicle) and the distance from the other vehicles. And a rear sensor. In this embodiment, a front millimeter wave sensor 21 and a front camera 23 are provided as front sensors, and a rear millimeter wave 22 and a rear camera 24 are provided as rear sensors. As described above, in this embodiment, two types of sensors are provided for the front side and the rear side, respectively, but only one type may be provided, and a laser sensor or the like other than the millimeter wave or the camera may be provided. .

  The wireless device 30 functions as a transmitter and a receiver as claimed in the claims, and has two functions: a function as an inter-vehicle communication device and a function as a road-vehicle communication device. As a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device, information can be sent to and received from other vehicles by DSRC (also called Dedicated ShortRange Communication), and the same information is sent to all vehicles in the communication region. Broadcast communication and individual communication for specifying and transmitting a partner are possible. As a road-to-vehicle communication device, information is transmitted / received to / from a roadside device installed on the road such as a beacon. The wireless device 30 receives other vehicle information (such as a travel plan transmitted from another vehicle) and infrastructure information by the functions of the inter-vehicle communication device and the road-vehicle communication device. Note that the inter-vehicle communication device and the road-to-vehicle communication device may be provided separately.

  The behavior information sensor 40 is a sensor that detects a physical quantity necessary for determining information related to acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle (for example, acceleration, speed, jerk). As the behavior information sensor 40, for example, an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, or the like is used.

  The acceleration / deceleration unit 50 is a part that accelerates / decelerates the host vehicle, and includes an engine 51 and a motor 52 as a drive unit, and a brake 53 as a braking unit. Note that the drive unit 51 may include only one of the engine 51 and the motor 52. The motor 52 may also function as a braking unit.

  The vehicle group traveling control device 100 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (all not shown), and the CPU executes a program stored in the ROM while using a temporary storage function of the RAM. Thus, the wireless device 30 and the acceleration / deceleration unit 50 are controlled, and the vehicle group traveling control is performed by controlling them. This vehicle group traveling control determines a traveling plan and performs traveling control based on the determined traveling plan. As will be described in detail later, the travel plan is determined from information obtained from the autonomous sensor 20, the radio device 30, and the behavior information sensor 40, information supplied from the navigation device (information on the planned travel route), and the like. The determined travel plan is transmitted from the radio device 30. The travel control sequentially acquires the actual state from the engine 51 and the like constituting the acceleration / deceleration unit 50, sequentially acquires the detection value from the behavior information sensor 40, and the detection value from the behavior information sensor 40 is based on the travel plan. The actual state of the engine 51 and the like is controlled so that the vehicle behavior is determined.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating control functions of the vehicle group traveling control device 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle group traveling control device 100 includes a host vehicle traveling plan planning unit 102, a host vehicle state determining unit 104, an in-vehicle group order determining unit 106, a leading vehicle selecting unit 108, a host vehicle traveling plan selection / A correction unit 110 and a transmission processing unit 112 are provided.

  The own vehicle travel plan planning unit 102 formulates an own vehicle travel plan that is a future travel plan of the own vehicle. This own vehicle travel plan is made based on various information supplied to the vehicle group travel control device 100. For example, inter-vehicle distance information between vehicles before and after being supplied from the autonomous sensor 20, planned travel route information included in navigation information, travel plan information and behavior information of other vehicles obtained by road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, A travel plan for the host vehicle is created using one or a plurality of information of the behavior information of the host vehicle. When the vehicle group is traveling, the host vehicle travel plan is drawn up so that the distance between the front and rear vehicles is maintained at a preset distance based on the various information.

  The own vehicle state determination unit 104 determines whether the own vehicle is the leading vehicle, the following vehicle in the vehicle group traveling, the last vehicle in the vehicle group traveling, or the vehicle that does not form the vehicle group (service It is determined whether the vehicle is out). The process of the own vehicle state determination unit 104 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows blocks representing four vehicle states of the head vehicle, the following vehicle, the tail vehicle, and the service-out. Each block is also indicated by a code indicating each state. A to G are conditions for transition between the states.

  First, the condition F will be described. Condition F is a condition that the vehicle group does not travel. Whether or not to travel in the vehicle group is determined based on the driver's intention. The driver's intention is, for example, whether a predetermined switch for instructing execution / stop of the vehicle group traveling control is provided and whether or not the switch is operated. Judgment based on. When this condition F is satisfied, the service is in a state of being out.

  If condition G is satisfied in the service-out state, it is determined that the host vehicle state is the leading vehicle. The condition G is a condition that the driver's intention of traveling in the vehicle group (or starting the vehicle group traveling) has been confirmed. Whether this condition is satisfied is also determined based on the operation of a predetermined switch for instructing execution / stop of the above-described vehicle group traveling control.

  If condition A is satisfied when the host vehicle state is the leading vehicle, it is determined that the host vehicle state is a following vehicle. (In this embodiment, since the last vehicle is provided as the own vehicle state, the following vehicle in this embodiment means a following vehicle other than the last vehicle.) Condition A is traveling in the vehicle group. The condition is that the host vehicle state is not the leading vehicle. The determination as to whether or not the vehicle group is traveling is made based on, for example, whether or not the host vehicle travel plan is drawn up based on the leading vehicle travel plan. More specifically, this determination is made by comparing the own vehicle travel plan supplied from the own vehicle travel plan planning unit 102 with the travel plan of the leading vehicle (or simply another vehicle).

  If condition B is satisfied when the host vehicle state is a following vehicle, it is determined that the host vehicle state is the last vehicle. Condition B is a condition that the vehicle group is traveling and the host vehicle state is the tail. The determination as to whether or not the vehicle group is traveling is made in the same manner as in Condition A. The determination as to whether the vehicle is at the end is made using information from the autonomous sensor 20, and is made based on whether or not there is a vehicle that travels following the traveling of the host vehicle within a predetermined distance behind the host vehicle. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not the vehicle is at the end by whether or not the vehicle exists within a predetermined distance behind the host vehicle.

  On the other hand, if the condition D is satisfied when the own vehicle state is a following vehicle, it is determined that the own vehicle state is the leading vehicle. The condition D is a condition that the vehicle group is traveling and the own vehicle state is the leading vehicle. Whether the vehicle is traveling in the vehicle group is determined by comparing the travel plan transmitted from the surrounding vehicle with the travel plan of the own vehicle, and whether the surrounding vehicle is created based on the travel plan of the own vehicle. It is done by judging. Whether or not the vehicle is the leading vehicle is determined using information from the autonomous sensor 20, and whether or not there is a vehicle traveling with a travel plan similar to the travel plan of the host vehicle within a predetermined distance ahead of the host vehicle. Judgment is based on whether or not. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not the vehicle is the leading vehicle based on whether or not the vehicle exists within a predetermined distance ahead of the host vehicle.

  Further, if the condition C is satisfied when the host vehicle state is the last vehicle, it is determined that the host vehicle state is a following vehicle. Condition C is a condition in which the vehicle group is traveling and the own vehicle state is not the last vehicle or the first vehicle. Whether or not the vehicle group is traveling in the condition C and whether the vehicle is not the last vehicle or the first vehicle are determined in the same manner as the conditions B and D.

  Further, when the condition E is established when the own vehicle state is the last vehicle, it is determined that the own vehicle state is the first vehicle. Condition E is a condition in which the vehicle group is traveling and the host vehicle state is the leading vehicle.

  Due to the above conditions A to G, the host vehicle state is always one of the four states of service-out, leading vehicle, following vehicle, and last vehicle. The own vehicle state determination unit 104 sequentially indicates a code indicating which of the four states is the own vehicle state, that is, in this embodiment, the service out is “0”, the leading vehicle is “1”, and the following vehicle “2” and “3” for the last vehicle are output to the own vehicle travel plan selection / correction unit 110 and the transmission processing unit 112.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the in-vehicle order determining unit 106 determines the in-vehicle order that is the order in which the host vehicle is traveling in the in-vehicle group. For example, the vehicles forming the vehicle group sequentially broadcast the position of the own vehicle. The in-vehicle group order determination unit 106 sequentially receives the positions of the vehicles forming the vehicle group, and determines the front-rear relationship of the vehicles based on the received positions of the vehicles. Determine the order of vehicles in the vehicle group.

  In addition, the host vehicle state determination unit 104 can determine the first vehicle, the following vehicle, and the last vehicle as described above. You may determine the order of each vehicle in a vehicle group using this. Specifically, when the first vehicle group is formed, one vehicle follows the leading vehicle without the following vehicle. The following vehicle is the last vehicle, and the number of vehicle groups formed can be determined to be two. Next, when one more vehicle follows these two vehicle groups from the rear, the vehicle that was the last vehicle until then changes its own vehicle state to the following vehicle. At the same time, the number of vehicle groups formed can be determined as three. Therefore, the last vehicle can be determined to be in the third order in the vehicle group. These vehicle group formation numbers can be acquired by all the vehicles in the vehicle group if the last vehicle is successively broadcast. In addition, it is conceivable that not only a single vehicle follows, but another vehicle group may follow a certain vehicle group. Since the number of vehicles forming the group and the order in the vehicle group of each vehicle are known, the order in the vehicle group of each vehicle in the newly formed vehicle group can also be determined.

  Each vehicle communicates with a roadside device (for example, a beacon) installed on the road. Therefore, the beacon determines that each vehicle has passed the beacon, determines the order in the vehicle group for each vehicle in the order in which the beacon passes, and transmits the determined order in the vehicle group from the beacon to each vehicle. Good. In this case, the in-vehicle order determination unit 106 determines the in-vehicle order based on information from the beacon. In addition, the area information (information which makes the area between intersections one area) is transmitted from each vehicle, and the beacon determines the position in the vehicle group only for vehicles located in the same area. You may do it.

  The leading vehicle selection unit 108 corresponds to the traveling plan selection unit in the claims, and when a plurality of leading vehicle traveling plans (travel plans from a vehicle whose own vehicle state is the leading vehicle) are received, The head vehicle travel plan used in the host vehicle travel plan selection / correction unit 110 is selected from the plurality of head vehicle travel plans.

  The case where a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans are received is a case where a vehicle that has been a following vehicle or the last vehicle so far travels as a leading vehicle. For example, if the second and subsequent vehicles in a vehicle group leave the vehicle group and travel on a different route from the vehicle group, or if the vehicle group is interrupted by a signal, The vehicle may send a leading vehicle travel plan. This leading vehicle travel plan is transmitted by broadcast communication. Therefore, a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans may be received. Details of the processing of the leading vehicle selection unit 108 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In FIG. 4, in step S2, it is determined whether or not a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans have been received. If this determination is negative, the process ends. On the other hand, when it is affirmative determination, it progresses to step S4 and it is determined whether three or more top vehicle travel plans were received. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to FIG. FIG. 5 will be described later.

  If step S4 is negative (that is, if two leading vehicle travel plans have been received), the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the IDs of the two leading vehicles and the in-vehicle group order (here, x1, x2) up to the previous time (immediately before receiving a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans) are acquired. These are pieces of information that are broadcast from the radio device 30 of each vehicle and received by other vehicles by processing in the transmission processing unit 112 described later. As the order in the vehicle group up to the previous time of the two leading vehicles, the order in the vehicle group up to the previous time corresponding to the ID of the first vehicle acquired this time is acquired.

  In subsequent step S8, the ID of the host vehicle and the order in the vehicle group of the host vehicle up to the previous time (here, a) are acquired. The host vehicle ID is stored in a predetermined storage device (for example, the ROM of the vehicle group traveling control device), and is acquired by reading from the storage device. Further, the order in the vehicle group of the host vehicle up to the previous time is acquired from the order determination unit 106 in the vehicle group.

  In subsequent step S10, the order x1, x2 of the leading vehicle obtained in step S6 is compared with the order a in the car group of the host vehicle obtained in step S8. Then, the head vehicle in front of the host vehicle and closer to the host vehicle is determined as the head vehicle that the host vehicle should follow. Specifically, it is determined whether a is larger than x1 and smaller than x2. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S12, and it is determined that the leading vehicle that the host vehicle should follow is the vehicle with the vehicle ID corresponding to x1. On the other hand, when it is negative determination, it progresses to step S14 and determines that the head vehicle which the own vehicle should follow is a vehicle of vehicle ID corresponding to x2.

  Next, FIG. 5 will be described. As described above, FIG. 5 is executed when three or more leading vehicle travel plans are received. Step S16 in FIG. 5 is the same processing as step S6 in FIG. 4, and the ID of the leading vehicle that has received the leading vehicle travel plan and the order in the vehicle group up to the previous time (immediately before receiving a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans). (Here, x1, x2, and x3 are assumed to be three). Step S18 is the same processing as step S8 of FIG. 4, and the ID of the own vehicle and the order in the vehicle group of the own vehicle up to the previous time (here, a) are acquired.

  In the following step S20, the leading vehicle is rearranged in ascending order of the order in the vehicle group. Here, x1 <x2 <x3. In subsequent step S22, it is determined whether or not the order in the vehicle group of the host vehicle is between the youngest vehicle group order (x1) and the second youngest vehicle group order (x2) among the leading vehicles. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S24, and it is determined that the leading vehicle that the host vehicle should follow is the vehicle with the vehicle ID corresponding to x1.

  On the other hand, if step S22 is negative, the process proceeds to step S26. In step S26, it is determined whether or not the order is within the second youngest vehicle group order (x2) and the third youngest car group order (x3) of the leading vehicle. If this determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S28, and it is determined that the leading vehicle that the host vehicle should follow is the vehicle with the vehicle ID corresponding to x2. On the other hand, when step S26 is negative determination, it progresses to step S30, and determines that the head vehicle which the own vehicle should follow is a vehicle of vehicle ID corresponding to x3.

  Although not shown in FIG. 5, the determinations shown in step S22 and step S24 are repeatedly executed by a number that is one less than the number of times the leading vehicle travel plan has been received. Thereby, the head vehicle closest to the host vehicle is determined in front of the host vehicle.

  The host vehicle travel plan selection / correction unit 110 includes the host vehicle travel plan planned by the host vehicle travel plan planning unit 102, the host vehicle state determined by the host vehicle state determination unit 104, and one or more received top vehicle travels. Based on the plan and the leading vehicle selected by the leading vehicle selection unit 108, the final host vehicle travel plan is determined.

  More specifically, when the host vehicle state is the leading vehicle or service-out, the travel plan planned by the host vehicle travel plan planning unit 102 is set as the final host vehicle travel plan. On the other hand, when the host vehicle traveling state is the following vehicle or the last vehicle, the host vehicle traveling plan is determined based on the leading vehicle traveling plan. Here, when a plurality of leading vehicle travel plans are received, the traveling plan of the leading vehicle selected by the leading vehicle selection unit 108 is used.

  When the head vehicle travel plan is used, the head vehicle travel plan may simply be selected as the host vehicle travel plan, or the head vehicle travel plan may be modified to determine the final host vehicle travel plan. Good.

  In the case of determining the final vehicle travel plan by correcting the top vehicle travel plan, the acceleration increase / decrease direction of the top vehicle travel plan used to determine the current vehicle travel plan from this time will determine the own vehicle travel plan until the previous time. It may be different from that of the leading vehicle travel plan used to do this.

  This will be described with reference to FIG. 6A shows the leading vehicle travel plan 60 up to the previous time, and FIG. 6B shows the leading vehicle travel plan 60 up to the previous time and the leading vehicle travel plan 62 from this time. In FIGS. 6A and 6B, t1 indicates a time point when the leading vehicle travel plan used for determining the final host vehicle travel plan is switched.

  The acceleration of the leading vehicle travel plan 60 used for determining the final host vehicle travel plan up to the time t1 has increased until the time t1. Therefore, although not shown, the final own vehicle travel plan up to this point is also a plan in which acceleration increases. On the other hand, the leading vehicle travel plan 62 used for determining the final host vehicle travel plan after time t1 is a plan in which the acceleration decreases.

  When traveling in the vehicle group following the new leading vehicle traveling in the leading vehicle traveling plan 62, if the traveling is following the leading vehicle up to that point, the final own vehicle traveling plan is determined as the leading vehicle traveling plan 62. It should be the same as. However, as described above, the host vehicle that determines the final host vehicle travel plan follows another leading vehicle until the time t1, and the leading vehicle that newly follows the increase / decrease tendency of the acceleration also until the time t1. Is different. Therefore, if the final own vehicle travel plan after the time point t1 is simply the same as the leading vehicle travel plan 62, the vehicle response may be delayed and communication delays may be considered, so that a vehicle group may not be formed.

  Therefore, in such a case, considering the delay, the final host vehicle travel plan 64 is set so that the slope of acceleration from the time t1 to the time t2 is larger than that of the leading vehicle travel plan 62. Also, the performance of the braking / driving source is taken into consideration for the magnitude of the acceleration gradient. For example, when the host vehicle is a vehicle such as a truck that has low response performance for braking and driving, the inclination is further increased in consideration of the response performance. This is why the final own vehicle travel plan is different from the leading vehicle travel plan 62 from time t3 to time t4. In the final host vehicle travel plan determined in this way, naturally the inter-vehicle distance is also taken into consideration.

  In addition to this example, when it is known in advance that the leading vehicle traveling plan used for determining the final own vehicle traveling plan is to be changed, the leading vehicle traveling plan is changed before the leading vehicle traveling plan is changed. The final vehicle traveling plan before the change may be corrected to determine the final vehicle traveling plan so that it is easy to follow the changed leading vehicle traveling plan without using the final vehicle traveling plan as it is.

  When it is known in advance that the leading vehicle travel plan will be changed, for example, it is necessary to leave the vehicle group from a point where the following vehicle is in the middle of the vehicle group and travel on a route different from the vehicle group in advance. And the host vehicle is also scheduled to travel on the other route. As a more specific example, the vehicle group goes straight through the intersection, but the following vehicle in the middle of the vehicle group makes a right turn at the intersection, so it sends in advance that the vehicle group is leaving from a certain point before the intersection. It is conceivable that the host vehicle is also planning to turn right at the intersection.

  As another example, it may be possible to know in advance from traffic signal information obtained by road-to-vehicle communication that an intersection signal changes from blue to red while a vehicle group passes. In this case, the vehicle that will be the new leading vehicle at the intersection makes a travel plan for stopping at the intersection as the leading vehicle from a certain point before the intersection without following the previous vehicle. If the travel plan for stopping at this intersection is transmitted in advance, it will be understood in advance that the following vehicle will change the leading vehicle travel plan used for determining the final own vehicle travel plan. Therefore, the change in the leading vehicle travel plan before the change is corrected so that the change in the leading vehicle travel plan after the change is easy to follow.

  The final own vehicle travel plan determined by the own vehicle travel plan selection / correction unit 110 by these processes is output to the acceleration / deceleration unit 50 as shown in FIG. 2, and is accelerated / decelerated based on this final own vehicle travel plan. Control is performed. The own vehicle travel plan selection / correction unit 110 and the own vehicle travel plan planning unit 102 constitute a travel plan determination unit as claimed.

  The transmission processing unit 112 corresponds to a traveling plan transmission processing unit and a number transmission processing unit in the claims, and the final own vehicle traveling plan is the order in the vehicle group determined by the order determination unit 106 in the vehicle group, the vehicle group The number of formations, the own vehicle state determined by the own vehicle state determination unit 104, and the vehicle ID are sequentially broadcast from the wireless device 30. As described above, the information transmitted in this way is received by the radio device 30 of the other vehicle and used for planning the own vehicle travel plan of the vehicle.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment described above, when the own vehicle state is the following vehicle, the following vehicle traveling plan is determined based on the leading vehicle traveling plan transmitted from the leading vehicle. When the plan is acquired, the current vehicle ID of the first vehicle that has transmitted the plurality of first vehicle travel plans based on the vehicle ID transmitted together with the first vehicle travel plan and the previous order in the vehicle group corresponding to the vehicle ID. Determine the order in the car group. Then, based on the order in the vehicle group of the head vehicle and the order in the vehicle group of the host vehicle, the head vehicle travel plan used for determining the travel plan of the host vehicle is selected. Therefore, since it is possible to determine the following vehicle travel plan by using the leading vehicle travel plan of the leading vehicle that the host vehicle should follow, even when some vehicles in the vehicle group leave the vehicle group. The vehicle group is maintained.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The following embodiment is also contained in the technical scope of this invention, and also the summary other than the following is also included. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the front-rear inter-vehicle distance is detected by the autonomous sensor 20, but the front-rear inter-vehicle distance may be calculated from information by road-to-vehicle communication and information by inter-vehicle communication. Specifically, each vehicle acquires the timing of passing under the beacon by road-to-vehicle communication, and the own vehicle passes the time under the beacon from the preceding vehicle by inter-vehicle communication, the speed, Try to get acceleration. Then, the front inter-vehicle distance may be calculated from the information acquired from the preceding vehicle, the time when the host vehicle passes under the beacon, the speed of the host vehicle, and the acceleration.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the following vehicle travel plan is determined using the top vehicle travel plan of the vehicle different from the previous vehicle, that is, the top vehicle selection plan different from the previous vehicle travel plan is selected by the top vehicle selection unit 108. If selected, a vehicle group division determination unit that determines that the vehicle group has been divided may be further provided. When the vehicle group division determination unit determines that the vehicle group has been divided, the vehicle group order determination unit 106 determines the order within the vehicle group after division based on the order in the vehicle group of each vehicle before division. It may be determined. For example, in the above-described embodiment, since the vehicle with the order in the vehicle group x2 before the division becomes the first vehicle, the vehicle in the order in the vehicle group before the division is later than the vehicle before the division. The number obtained by subtracting (x2-1) from the order in the vehicle group of the vehicle is determined as the order in the vehicle group after the division. Note that the number of vehicles forming the vehicle group before x2 is x2-1.

10: Vehicle group traveling control system, 20: Autonomous sensor, 21: Forward millimeter wave, 22: Rear millimeter wave, 23: Front camera, 24: Rear camera, 30: Radio, 40: Behavior information sensor, 50: Acceleration / deceleration Part: 51: engine, 52: motor, 53: brake, 60: leading vehicle travel plan (until the previous time), 62: leading vehicle travel plan (from this time), 64: own vehicle travel plan, 100: vehicle group travel Control device 102: Own vehicle travel plan planning unit 104: Own vehicle state determination unit 106: In-vehicle order determination unit 108: Lead vehicle selection unit (travel plan selection unit) 110: Own vehicle travel plan selection / Correction unit 112: Transmission processing unit (travel plan transmission processing unit, number transmission processing unit)

Claims (3)

By broadcasting the travel plan of the host vehicle, each vehicle in the vehicle group obtains the travel plan of other vehicles in the vehicle group, and when the host vehicle is a following vehicle in the vehicle group, A vehicle group traveling control device that performs traveling control to maintain the vehicle group by determining a traveling plan of the host vehicle based on the traveling plan,
A host vehicle state determination unit that sequentially determines whether the host vehicle state is a vehicle that does not form a vehicle group, a leading vehicle in the vehicle group, or a follower vehicle;
When the host vehicle state is the leading vehicle, a leading vehicle traveling plan that is a traveling plan as the leading vehicle is determined. On the other hand, when the own vehicle state is the following vehicle, the traveling plan as the following vehicle is determined. A travel plan determination unit for determining a certain following vehicle travel plan;
A travel plan transmission processing unit that broadcasts the determined travel plan from a transmitter mounted on the vehicle,
An in-vehicle group order determination unit that determines an in-vehicle group order that is an order in the own vehicle group;
The travel plan transmission processing unit transmits the vehicle ID and the order in the vehicle group from the transmitter together with the travel plan,
The travel plan determination unit determines the follow vehicle travel plan based on the leading vehicle travel plan received by a receiver mounted on the vehicle when the host vehicle state is a follow vehicle;
When a plurality of the leading vehicle travel plans are received, based on the order in the vehicle group and the vehicle ID transmitted together with the leading vehicle travel plan, the order in the vehicle group of each leading vehicle that has transmitted the plurality of leading vehicle travel plans is determined. A travel plan selection for selecting a head vehicle travel plan to be used for determining the travel plan of the host vehicle based on the determined order in the vehicle group of each head vehicle and the order in the vehicle group of the host vehicle Further comprising
When the host vehicle state is a following vehicle and the traveling plan selection unit selects a leading vehicle traveling plan, the traveling plan determination unit is configured to perform the following vehicle traveling based on the leading vehicle traveling plan selected by the traveling plan selection unit. A vehicle group traveling control device characterized by determining a plan. In claim 1,
The travel plan determination unit further includes a vehicle group division determination unit that determines that the vehicle group has been divided based on determining the following vehicle travel plan using a leading vehicle travel plan of a vehicle different from the previous vehicle,
The in-vehicle group order determination unit determines the in-vehicle group order after division based on the in-vehicle group order of each vehicle before division when the vehicle group division determination unit determines that the vehicle group has been divided. A vehicle group traveling control device. In claim 1 or 2,
The host vehicle state determination unit also determines whether the following vehicle of the host vehicle state is the last vehicle or a following vehicle other than the last vehicle,
The in-vehicle group order determining unit sequentially updates the number of formed vehicle groups by increasing the number of formed vehicle groups each time the last vehicle is changed, and the own vehicle state determining unit is the last vehicle. When it is determined, the order in the vehicle group of the own vehicle is determined based on the number of vehicle group formation transmitted from the other vehicle and received by the receiver,
A vehicle group traveling control apparatus, further comprising: a vehicle number transmission processing unit that broadcasts the number of formed vehicle groups from the transmitter.

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