JP2012104031A - Travel support apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a travel support apparatus in which a degree of dependence on driving of a driver is reduced as further as possible without supporting travel from any other facility than a vehicle and travel of a vehicle traveling on a lane next to a lane where an obstacle is present or on the lane where the obstacle is present is supported for facilitating travel of the vehicle to avoid the obstacle.SOLUTION: When it is received by a radio communication section 30 that an obstacle exists forward on a neighboring lane of a present vehicle from a vehicle on the neighboring lane, a travel management section 120 secures an inter-vehicle distance between the present vehicle and a forward vehicle for a length requested from the vehicle on the neighboring lane or more so that the vehicle on the neighboring lane can change a traveling lane while avoiding the obstacle and can easily be merged in front of the present vehicle. At such a time, the travel management section 120 supports travel of the present vehicle in accordance with automatic driving control or a notification from a speaker 52 to a driver. The vehicle on the neighboring lane also supports travel of the present vehicle in accordance with the automatic driving control or the notification from the speaker 52 to the driver to merge into the lane where no obstacle exists, and leave the lane after merging.

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device mounted on a vehicle.

  When an obstacle such as a stopped vehicle or a construction site on the road exists in front of the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the vehicle changes the lane to avoid the obstacle and tries to join the adjacent lane. In this case, a technology is known that assists a vehicle traveling in a lane with obstacles joining the adjacent lane, and alleviates the congestion caused by the vehicle joining the adjacent lane avoiding the obstacle. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, priority is given to a vehicle traveling in a lane in which an obstacle exists and a vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane before joining the obstacle. Notify. The driver of the vehicle notified of the priority order drives the host vehicle according to the priority order. As a result, the vehicles are trying to prevent traffic jams by preventing the vehicles from joining each other randomly.

JP 2008-262418 A

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1, although priority is given to each vehicle when merging, the inter-vehicle distance is maintained for the merging vehicles, the merging travel to the merging destination lane and after the merging Since the leaving traveling is left to driving based on the driver's own judgment, the driver's dependence on driving is not reduced so much.

  Therefore, if the driver is unable to drive properly according to the notified priority order, an appropriate inter-vehicle distance is not maintained in the merging destination lane, so that a vehicle trying to avoid an obstacle cannot join the merging destination lane. The vehicles on the merging side and the merging side may run side by side, and the merging vehicle may not smoothly merge into the merging destination lane.

  Further, since the ground system other than the vehicle notifies the priority order to each vehicle, there is a problem that the road cannot be supported on the road where the ground system is not installed because the priority order cannot be notified from the ground system.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, and travels a vehicle that avoids obstacles by reducing the dependence on driving by the driver as much as possible without receiving travel support from facilities other than the vehicle. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a travel support device that supports the travel of a vehicle traveling in a lane adjacent to a lane where an obstacle exists or a lane where an obstacle exists.

  According to the invention described in claims 1 to 9, the information acquisition means acquires obstacle information for notifying that there is an obstacle ahead of the host vehicle, and the travel management means is acquired by the information acquisition means. When the obstacle notified by the obstacle information exists in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the traveling state of the own vehicle is managed so that the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane is shifted in the front-rear direction.

  Thereby, it is possible to avoid the host vehicle traveling in the lane where no obstacle is present and the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane where the obstacle is present in parallel. As a result, there is a space on the side opposite to the obstacle for the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane where the obstacle is present before and after the own vehicle, so that a vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane is generated. You can easily change the lane to the open space and join the lane with no obstacles.

  In addition, the driving management means of the driving support device manages the driving state of the own vehicle so as to shift in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane where the obstacle exists, thereby It is possible to support driving by reducing the degree of dependence on driving as much as possible.

  In addition, the driving support device installed in the host vehicle manages the driving state so that the vehicle running in the adjacent lane is shifted in the front-rear direction. It is possible to secure a space where vehicles traveling in the adjacent lane where objects are present can join.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the information acquisition means acquires the obstacle information when the detection means mounted on the host vehicle acquires obstacle information output by detecting an obstacle present on the front side of the host vehicle. When the object information is transmitted to the surroundings from the wireless communication means mounted on the host vehicle and the obstacle information transmitted from the surroundings is received by the wireless communication means, the received obstacle information is acquired from the wireless communication means.

  As a result, even if the vehicle has not been able to detect an obstacle present on the front side, the obstacle information is transmitted from the other vehicle, thereby knowing that an obstacle exists on the front side of the host vehicle. it can.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when an obstacle is present in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the wireless communication means obtains length information obtained by adding a predetermined length to the entire length of the vehicle from the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. When the information acquisition means receives the length information from the wireless communication means, the travel management means is equal to or longer than the length indicated by the length information acquired by the information acquisition means and the distance between the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle and the host vehicle. The traveling state of the host vehicle is managed so that

  As a result, since the minimum distance between vehicles required for merging from the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane where the obstacle exists is secured in front of the host vehicle, the corresponding length information is displayed in front of the host vehicle. The vehicles in the adjacent lane that have been transmitted can easily join.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, when the obstacle exists in the adjacent lane of the host vehicle, the traveling management means travels so that the vehicle travels in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. Automatic operation control means for controlling

Accordingly, it is possible to secure a space where a vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane where an obstacle is present can join the front of the host vehicle without depending on a driver driving the host vehicle.
According to the invention described in claim 5, when the obstacle is present in the adjacent lane of the host vehicle, the travel management means notifies the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane so as to shift in the front-rear direction. The driver is notified by means.

  As a result, the driver only needs to drive according to the command from the travel management means notified from the notification means, so that the driver's dependence on driving is reduced as much as possible, and there is an obstacle ahead of the host vehicle. It is possible to secure a space where vehicles traveling in the adjacent lane can join.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, when the obstacle exists in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the traveling management means notifies that the vehicle joins the traveling lane of the own vehicle from the adjacent lane and exits after the merge. The driver is notified by means.

  In this way, by notifying in advance that the vehicle joins from the adjacent lane in which an obstacle exists in the traveling lane of the own vehicle and exits after the merging, the driver of the own vehicle shortens the distance between the vehicles. It is possible to wait for the joining of the vehicles from the adjacent lane without trying to prevent the vehicles in the adjacent lane from joining the front of the vehicle.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, when the obstacle is present in the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the traveling management means automatically controls merging into and exiting from the merging destination lane adjacent to the own vehicle. It has automatic operation control means.

Accordingly, the host vehicle can be joined to the joining destination lane and can exit from the joining destination lane without depending on the driver driving the host vehicle.
According to the invention described in claim 8, when the obstacle is present in the traveling lane of the host vehicle, the traveling management means starts merging to the next merging destination lane and exiting from the merging destination lane. The driver is notified by a notification means.

  Thereby, when the driver starts to join the merging destination lane and starts to exit from the merging destination lane, the driver only has to drive according to the command from the driving support device. Dependency can be reduced as much as possible.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when the obstacle is present in the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the traveling management unit is configured to start joining the destination lane based on the position of the obstacle and the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. And a merge / exit start position setting means for setting an exit start position from the merge destination lane.

  Thereby, in order to avoid an obstacle, the position which starts a merge to a merge destination lane can be set appropriately without being too far from an obstacle and not too close. The exit start position from the junction lane may be set at a position where the vehicle has passed an obstacle, for example.

  According to the invention described in claim 10, the information acquisition means acquires obstacle information for notifying that there is an obstacle ahead of the host vehicle, and the travel management means is the obstacle acquired by the information acquisition means. When the obstacle notified by the information exists in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the traveling state of the own vehicle is managed so that the own vehicle leaves the adjacent lane.

As a result, the space on the adjacent lane side of the host vehicle is widened, so that it is possible to easily travel in the space where the vehicle traveling on the adjacent lane has expanded while avoiding obstacles.
Further, the travel management means of the travel support device manages the travel state of the host vehicle so that the host vehicle is separated from the adjacent lane, so that the dependence on the driver in driving the host vehicle can be reduced as much as possible.

  In addition, since the driving support device installed in the host vehicle manages the driving state so that the host vehicle leaves the adjacent lane where the obstacle exists, the vehicle is driving in the adjacent lane without depending on equipment other than the vehicle. A space where the vehicle can travel while avoiding obstacles can be secured.

  According to the invention described in claim 11, the information acquisition means acquires obstacle information for notifying that there is an obstacle ahead of the host vehicle, and the travel management means is the obstacle acquired by the information acquisition means. When the obstacle notified by the information exists in the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the traveling state of the own vehicle is set so that the vehicle traveling in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the lane adjacent to the traveling lane of the own vehicle. to manage.

  This allows you to avoid running in parallel with a vehicle running in an adjacent lane with no obstacles, so you can easily change the lane to the front and back of the vehicle in the adjacent lane, Can join.

  In addition, the travel management means of the travel support device manages the travel state of the host vehicle so that the vehicle travels in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. Dependency can be reduced as much as possible.

  In addition, the driving support device installed in the host vehicle manages the driving state so that the vehicle running in the adjacent lane is shifted in the front-rear direction. It is possible to avoid running in parallel with a vehicle traveling in an empty lane.

  The functions of the plurality of means provided in the present invention are realized by hardware resources whose functions are specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose functions are specified by a program, or a combination thereof. The functions of the plurality of means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other.

The block diagram which shows the driving assistance system by 1st Embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the driving assistance state by 1st Embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the driving | running | working state which ensured the distance between vehicles. The flowchart which shows a driving assistance process. The flowchart which shows a driving assistance process. The flowchart which shows the driving assistance process in the vehicle by the side of joining. The flowchart which shows the driving assistance process in the vehicle of the side to merge. The flowchart which shows the merge and exit process of the side to merge. The flowchart which shows the driving assistance process in the vehicle of the side to merge. The schematic diagram which shows the driving assistance state by 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
A travel support system according to the first embodiment is shown in FIG.

(Driving support system 2)
The travel support system 2 includes a detection unit 10, a wireless communication unit 30, a vehicle control unit 40, a notification unit 50, and a travel support unit 100, and is mounted on a vehicle.

The detection unit 10 includes a monitoring camera 12, a radar 14, a vehicle speed sensor 16, an acceleration sensor 18, a steering angle sensor 20, a GPS receiver 22, and the like.
The monitoring camera 12 is installed at a predetermined position in front of and behind the vehicle, and outputs image data obtained by imaging the target object.

  The radar 14 scans a detection region in a predetermined angular range in the horizontal direction by irradiating the front of the vehicle with a laser or millimeter wave from the antenna. Then, the radar 14 receives the reflected wave with the antenna, and based on the received reflected wave, the distance from the vehicle, the relative speed with respect to the vehicle, and the positional relationship with the vehicle with respect to an object existing in front of the vehicle. Is output.

  The vehicle speed sensor 16 detects the speed of the vehicle, the acceleration sensor 18 detects the acceleration of the vehicle, and the steering angle sensor 20 detects the steering angle of the steering wheel. The GPS receiver 22 measures the current position of the host vehicle based on a positioning signal from a GPS satellite.

  The wireless communication unit 30 performs vehicle-to-vehicle communication with surrounding vehicles and road-to-vehicle communication with roadside devices, and receives information notifying that construction is in progress from a construction sign or the like installed at a construction location or the like. .

  The vehicle control unit 40 includes an ECU that controls the running state of the vehicle, such as an engine control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 42, a brake control ECU 44, and a steering control ECU 46.

  The engine control ECU 42 controls the intake air amount in the case of a gasoline engine and the injection amount of the injector in the case of a diesel engine according to the depression amount of the accelerator pedal. The brake control ECU 44 controls the braking force of the brake according to the depression amount of the brake pedal. The steering control ECU 46 controls the steering angle according to the steering amount of the steering wheel.

  In addition, various vehicle control ECUs such as the engine control ECU 42, the brake control ECU 44, and the steering control ECU 46 may automatically control the vehicle travel according to a command from the travel support unit 100.

The notification unit 50 includes a speaker 52, a display 54, and the like, and notifies the driver of notification information from a notification control unit 150, which will be described later, by voice and image display.
(Running support unit 100)
The travel support unit 100 includes an information acquisition / generation unit 110 and a travel management unit 120. Each function of the information acquisition / generation unit 110 and the travel management unit 120 of the travel support unit 100 described below may be realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like configured for each function. The function may be realized by a single microcomputer. The microcomputer executes various processes when the CPU executes a control program stored in a ROM or the like.

The information acquisition / generation unit 110 acquires or generates various types of information listed below.
(1) Current position of own vehicle The positioning result of the GPS receiver 22 is acquired as detection information indicating the current position of the own vehicle.
(2) Running lane of own vehicle From the image recognition result of the image data captured by the monitoring camera 12 installed in front of the vehicle, a lane boundary line (a white line painted on the road, etc.) that is a road marking ahead of the own vehicle ) Is detected, and when there are a plurality of lanes, it is detected which lane the host vehicle is traveling and is generated as detection information.
(3) Inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle The inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle is acquired as detection information among the measurement results obtained by the radar 14. In addition to the measurement result of the radar 14, the image data captured by the monitoring camera 12 is image-recognized, and for example, an inter-vehicle distance that is a distance from the coordinates of the preceding vehicle to the preceding vehicle on the image data is acquired as detection information. Also good. The distance to the object other than the vehicle can also be acquired from the measurement result of the radar 14 or the image recognition result of the image data.
(4) Vehicle speed, acceleration, steering angle Output signals of the vehicle speed sensor 16, the acceleration sensor 18, and the steering angle sensor 20 are acquired as detection information.
(5) Position of an obstacle present on the front side of the vehicle An object is detected on the front side of the vehicle based on a measurement result by the radar 14 or an image recognition result of the image data. It is considered. And the position of an obstruction is acquired as detection information by the measurement result by the radar 14, or the image recognition result of image data. As an obstacle, a stop vehicle, a construction location, a fallen object, etc. can be considered.
(6) Length information When the host vehicle joins the merging destination lane, length information obtained by adding a predetermined length α to the entire length of the host vehicle is acquired from the storage device. The total length of the host vehicle is a value unique to each vehicle, and the predetermined length α added to the total length can be arbitrarily set according to the request of the driver of the vehicle.

  When the detection unit 10 detects an obstacle existing in front of the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling, the information acquisition / generation unit 110 detects the position of the obstacle, the position of the host vehicle, the traveling lane of the host vehicle, The full length and a predetermined length α to be added to the full length are generated as obstacle information and transmitted from the wireless communication unit 30 to the surroundings. When the detection unit 10 detects an obstacle existing in front of the next lane of the host vehicle, the information acquisition and generation unit 110 sets the predetermined length α to be added to the entire length of the host vehicle and the total length as the obstacle information. Set a fixed value of.

  Further, when the wireless communication unit 30 receives the obstacle information transmitted from another traveling vehicle or from the road construction work sign or the obstacle itself such as a stopped vehicle, the information acquisition and generation unit 110 performs wireless communication. Obstacle information is acquired from the unit 30. In the obstacle information acquired from the obstacle itself, only the position of the obstacle is set.

  In FIG. 2, an obstacle 206 exists on the lane 202 of the road 200 having two lanes on one side. Then, at least one of the vehicle 210 traveling in the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists and the vehicle 220 traveling in the lane 204 where the obstacle 206 does not exist detects the obstacle 206 on the front side. Then, the obstacle information described above is transmitted to the surroundings.

The travel management unit 120 of the travel support unit 100 includes a merge / exit management unit 130, a travel state management unit 140, and a notification control unit 150.
As shown in FIG. 2, the merging / exiting management unit 130 joins the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists and the lane 204 where the obstacle 206 does not exist, and passes the obstacle 206 when the lane 202 passes. Manage exiting from 204. In the merging support section shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 220 traveling in the lane 204 without the obstacle 206 joins the lane 204 with the vehicle 210 traveling in the lane 202 with the obstacle 206, and A section that supports exit from the lane 204 is shown.

  In the case of the vehicle 210 traveling in the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists, the merging / exiting position calculating unit 132 of the merging / exiting management unit 130 determines the obstacle based on the position of the obstacle 206 and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 210. A merging start position at which merging starts on the lane 204 where 206 does not exist, and an exit start position at which merging starts from the lane 204 after merging are calculated.

  If the section where the vehicle 210 joins the lane 204 is too long, traffic congestion due to joining will increase, so it is preferable that the section is short. Therefore, it is desirable that the joining start position is as close to the obstacle 206 as possible. However, if the distance is too close to the obstacle 206, the time until merging is shortened, and merging becomes difficult. Therefore, the merging / exiting position calculating unit 132 calculates the merging start position so as to be an appropriate position that is not too far from the obstacle 206 and not too close.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the vehicle 210 that fails to join and stops before the obstacle 206 becomes a new obstacle 212 for the other vehicle 210. The vehicle that has become the obstacle 212 transmits obstacle information to the surroundings using the position of the host vehicle as the position of the obstacle.

  The junction / exit position calculation unit 132 sets, for example, a position immediately after passing the obstacle 206 as the exit start position so that the vehicle 210 quickly returns to the original lane 202 when the vehicle 210 passes the obstacle 206.

  When the vehicle 210 reaches the merge start position and the exit start position, the merge / exit command section 134 of the merge / exit management section 130 instructs the notification control section 150 to notify the driver of merge / exit from the speaker 52 by voice. To do.

  The merge / exit command unit 134 commands the steering control ECU 46 of the vehicle control unit 40 when the vehicle 210 automatically drives the merge to the adjacent lane 204 and the exit from the lane 204 after passing through the obstacle 206. Thus, the vehicle 210 is lane-changed by automatically steering regardless of steering of the steering wheel.

  The traveling state management unit 140 includes an inter-vehicle distance management unit 142 and a steering management unit 144. The traveling state management unit 140 travels on the lane 204 where no obstacle 206 exists so that the vehicle 210 traveling on the lane 202 can join the lane 204. The traveling state of the existing vehicle 220 is managed.

  The inter-vehicle distance management unit 142 determines whether the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 220 and the preceding vehicle 220 is a length that allows the vehicle 210 that is about to merge to be easily merged. As described above, the length of (total length + α: see FIG. 3) is received as the length information from the vehicle 210 by inter-vehicle communication, and the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 220 and the preceding vehicle 220 is (total length + α). If it is determined from the detection information generated by the information acquisition and generation unit 110 that the distance is short, the inter-vehicle distance management unit 142 of the vehicle 220 instructs the notification control unit 150 to notify the speaker 52 that the inter-vehicle distance is shortened by voice. Let

  In addition, when performing the automatic driving control, the inter-vehicle distance management unit 142 notifies the vehicle control unit 40 that the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 220 and the vehicle 220 ahead is shorter than (total length + α). Then, in the vehicle control unit 40, the vehicle is decelerated by performing vehicle control such that the engine control ECU 42 reduces the injection amount from the injector or the brake control ECU 44 controls the brake to apply the braking force. Thereby, the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle 220 and the vehicle 220 ahead is increased.

  When the steering management unit 144 determines from the operation information of the turn signal acquired by the information acquisition generation unit 110 that the vehicle 220 traveling in the lane 204 is about to change the lane 202 to the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists, a notification is made. The control unit 150 is instructed to notify the driver that the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists is about to be changed by voice from the speaker 52.

  The steering management unit 144 determines that the vehicle 220 traveling in the lane 204 is about to change the lane 202 to the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists, from the steering angle information acquired by the information acquisition / generation unit 110 from the steering angle sensor 20. You may judge.

  The notification control unit 150 notifies the driver of the vehicle 220 of the instruction content from the merge / exit management unit 130 or the traveling state management unit 140 from the speaker 52 of the notification unit 50 by voice. The notification control unit 150 may notify the driver of the command content from the merge / exit management unit 130 or the traveling state management unit 140 in addition to the voice from the speaker 52 or instead of the voice from the speaker 52. .

(Driving support processing)
4 and 5 are flowcharts of the driving support process. 4 and 5, “S” represents a step.

  First, in S400, the driving support unit 100 has an obstacle on the front side from a vehicle or equipment other than the own vehicle, such as another vehicle that is traveling, or an obstacle such as a road construction sign or a stopped vehicle. It is determined whether or not the obstacle information for notifying is received. When obstacle information is received from a vehicle or equipment other than the host vehicle (S400: Yes), the driving support unit 100 shifts the process to S406.

  If the obstacle information is not received from a vehicle or equipment other than the own vehicle (S400: No), and the own vehicle has not detected an obstacle on the front side (S402: No), the driving support unit 100 goes to S400. Migrate processing.

  If no obstacle information is received from a vehicle or equipment other than the host vehicle (S400: No), but the host vehicle detects an obstacle on the front side (S402: Yes), the travel support unit 100 The above-described obstacle information for notifying that there is an obstacle on the front side of the vehicle is transmitted to the surroundings (S404).

  Judgment based on obstacle information received from other vehicles or equipment other than the own vehicle and obstacle information detected by the own vehicle, and when an obstacle ahead of the own vehicle does not exist in the traveling lane of the own vehicle (S406: No), the driving assistance part 100 transfers a process to S420 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the vehicle 220 corresponds to a vehicle in which an obstacle on the front side of the host vehicle does not exist in the travel lane of the host vehicle, and the vehicle 210 has an obstacle on the front side of the host vehicle in the travel lane of the host vehicle. It corresponds to the vehicle that exists.

  When an obstacle ahead of the host vehicle is present in the traveling lane of the host vehicle (S406: Yes), the traveling support unit 100 needs to change the lane to a neighboring lane in which the obstacle does not exist. In S408, it is determined whether or not there is a vehicle in the adjacent lane that is the merging destination lane.

Whether or not a vehicle is present in the merging destination lane is determined based on detection results by the monitoring camera 12 and the radar 14.
When a vehicle is present in the merging destination lane (S408: Yes), the driving support unit 100 changes the lane with a margin as close as possible to the obstacle from the position of the obstacle indicated by the obstacle information and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. Then, a merge start position that can merge with the adjacent lane, and an exit start position that quickly exits the merge destination lane after passing the obstacle are calculated (S410), and the merge destination lane is determined according to the calculated merge start position and exit start position. And exit from the destination lane (S414). The merge process to the merge destination lane and the exit process from the merge destination lane will be described later.

  When there is no vehicle in the destination lane (S408: No), the driving support unit 100 sends a voice guidance such as “There is an obstacle ahead. The lane can be changed to the next lane” from the speaker 52. The driver is notified of the lane change (S414).

  In the determination of S406 in FIG. 4, when the obstacle existing on the front side of the host vehicle does not exist in the travel lane of the host vehicle (S406: No), the travel support unit 100 of the vehicle 220 is illustrated in FIG. Of the processes of S420 to S436 shown in FIG. 5, a process related to traveling is instructed to the vehicle control unit 40 and executed by automatic driving.

  First, the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver by voice from the speaker 52 that there is a vehicle that joins from the adjacent lane and that the joining vehicle will immediately leave (S420, S422).

  Next, the vehicle control unit 40 is commanded so as to deviate in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle merging from the adjacent lane, that is, not to run in parallel, and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is accelerated or decelerated (S424). Then, the vehicle control unit 40 is instructed so that the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle is equal to or longer than the total length (α) received as the length information from the vehicle in the adjacent lane where the obstacle exists ( S426).

  When the fact that the vehicles in the adjacent lane merged in front of the own vehicle is received from the merged vehicle (S428: Yes), the driving support unit 100 reduces the inter-vehicle distance due to the vehicle in the adjacent lane joining in front of the own vehicle. Even so, the vehicle control unit is instructed to travel while maintaining the distance between the joined vehicles (S430). Since the driver is notified that the vehicles that have joined in advance will immediately leave, the driver can leave the vehicle running to automatic driving control without panicking.

  When approaching the position where the obstacle is present, the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver by voice from the speaker 52 that the joining vehicle will soon leave (S432). And if it has received having withdrawn from the vehicle which joined ahead of the own vehicle (S434: Yes), driving support part 100 will stop driving support processing by automatic operation (S436).

  In place of the driving support process by automatic driving shown in FIG. 5, the driving support unit 100 instructs the vehicle to run while notifying the driver by voice from the speaker 52, as in the driving support process shown in FIG. May be.

  In the determination of S406 in FIG. 4, when the obstacle present on the front side of the host vehicle does not exist in the travel lane of the host vehicle (S406: No), the travel support unit 100 determines that the host vehicle and the front vehicle in S450 of FIG. It is determined whether or not the inter-vehicle distance is shorter than (total length + α) received from the vehicle in the adjacent lane.

  When the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the vehicle ahead is shorter than the (full length + α) received from the vehicle in the adjacent lane (S450: Yes), the driving support unit 100 says, “There is this destination merging. Please notify the driver by voice from the speaker 52 (S452), and the process proceeds to S450.

  When the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is equal to or greater than (total length + α) received from the vehicle in the adjacent lane (S450: No), the driving support unit 100 catches up with the vehicle in the adjacent lane that is the merging side. It is determined whether the vehicle is running (S454).

  When catching up with the joining vehicle (S454: Yes), the driving support unit 100 informs the driver by a voice from the speaker 52 that "There is this destination joining. Do not catch up with the next vehicle." (S456), and the process proceeds to S450.

  If the vehicle has not caught up with the joining vehicle (S454: No), the driving support unit 100 determines whether the driver of the host vehicle is changing the lane based on the operation of the winker or the steering angle of the steering wheel. Determination is made (S458).

  When the lane change is going to be made (S458: Yes), the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver by the voice from the speaker 52 that "There is this merging. Please do not change the lane" (S460), The process proceeds to S450.

  When the lane change is not going to be performed (S458: No), the driving support unit 100 returns to the processing of S450 and performs the driving support processing of FIG. 6 until the vehicles in the adjacent lane join the front of the own vehicle (S462: Yes). Repeat.

(Join and exit processing)
Next, in S412 of FIG. 4, flowcharts of the merging process and the leaving process, which are travel support processes executed by the merging vehicles, are shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart in the case of automatic operation control of merging and leaving. In S470 of FIG. 7, the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver in advance that automatic driving is to be performed by voice from the speaker 52 (S470). Thereby, even if the driving state of the vehicle changes although the driver is not operating, it is possible to prevent the driver from shaking.

  When the merging start position is reached, the driving support unit 100 commands the steering control ECU 46 of the vehicle control unit 40, changes the lane by automatic steering, merges with the adjacent lane where there is no obstacle (S472), and merged. Is transmitted to surroundings by inter-vehicle communication (S474).

  Next, when reaching the exit start position from the lane of the merge destination, the driving support unit 100 instructs the steering control ECU 46 of the vehicle control unit 40 to change the lane by automatic steering and exit from the merge destination lane (S476). ), The fact that it has left is transmitted to the surroundings by inter-vehicle communication by the wireless communication unit 30 (S478). Then, the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver that the automatic driving is to be ended by voice from the speaker 52 (S480).

In this way, by performing automatic merging to the merging destination lane and exiting from the merging destination lane, the dependence on the driver of the merging vehicle is reduced, and the burden on the driver is reduced.
In FIG. 8A, the automatic driving control of FIG. 7 is performed by the driver's operation, and the fact that the driving has been merged is transmitted by the driving support unit 100 to the surroundings by inter-vehicle communication by the wireless communication unit 30 ( S490). Then, the exit is also performed by the driver's operation, and the travel support unit 100 transmits to the surroundings by inter-vehicle communication by the wireless communication unit 30 that the vehicle has exited the merging destination lane (S492).

In FIG. 8A, the driver is not notified that the merging start position and the leaving start position have been reached, and the merging and leaving are executed depending on the judgment of the driver.
In FIG. 8B, the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver by voice from the speaker 52 that the merging start position is reached and merging is started (S500). For example, when the start of merging is flown from the speaker 52 for 3 seconds and the merging is started and the merging is finished in 3 seconds, the position reaching the obstacle in 6 seconds is determined based on the position of the obstacle and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. Calculate and use it as the merge start position.

When joined by the driver's operation, the traveling support unit 100 transmits to the surroundings by inter-vehicle communication by the wireless communication unit 30 that the vehicle has joined the destination lane (S502).
Then, the driving support unit 100 informs the driver by the voice from the speaker 52 that the vehicle has reached the departure start position and starts to leave (S504). The driving support unit 100 transmits the vehicle to the surroundings by inter-vehicle communication by the wireless communication unit 30 (S506).

  As described above, the merging to the merging destination lane and the exit from the merging destination lane are performed by the driver's operation. However, the driving support unit 100 transmits the merging and leaving, and further notifies the merging start position and the leaving start position. By doing so, the dependence on the driver when joining and leaving is reduced, and the burden on the driver is reduced.

  The flowchart of FIG. 9 shows the driving support process executed in parallel with the process of FIG. 7 or 8 in the joining vehicle. In S510 of FIG. 9, the driving support unit 100 determines whether or not the own vehicle is catching up with the vehicle in the adjacent lane of the merge destination.

  When the host vehicle is catching up with a vehicle in the next lane of the merge destination (S510: Yes), the driving support unit 100 says “There is this destination merge. Please do not catch up with the next vehicle.” (S512), and the process proceeds to S500.

  When the own vehicle has not caught up with the vehicle in the adjacent lane of the joining destination (S510: No), the driving support unit 100 determines whether the own vehicle cannot join the joining lane and stops before the obstacle. Determination is made (S514).

When the own vehicle stops without being able to join the lane of the destination (S514: Yes), the driving support unit 100 ends the process of FIG.
When the own vehicle cannot join the lane of the merge destination and is not stopped (S514: No), the driving support unit 100 performs the process of S510 until the own vehicle merges with the adjacent lane of the merge destination (S516: Yes). It returns and repeats the driving | running | working assistance process of FIG.

  In this way, since the driving support unit 100 notifies the driver that the host vehicle is catching up with the vehicle in the adjacent lane of the merge destination, the dependence on the driver when merging into the adjacent lane is increased. This reduces the burden on the driver.

  In the first embodiment described above, the vehicle 220 traveling in the lane 204 where the obstacle 206 does not exist is notified from the other vehicle that the obstacle 206 exists in the adjacent lane 202 or the host vehicle. , The distance between the vehicle and the vehicle ahead is maintained at (overall length + α) or more based on the (overall length + α) information of the vehicle 210 transmitted as length information from the vehicle 210 traveling in the adjacent lane 202. In this way, the running state is managed.

Further, the traveling state is managed so as not to run parallel to the vehicle 210 by shifting back and forth with respect to the vehicle 210 in the adjacent lane 202.
By managing the driving state by automatic driving control or by notifying the driver by the notification unit 50 such as the speaker 52, the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists is changed to the lane 204 where the obstacle 206 does not exist. It is possible to reduce the driver's burden in driving to merge after changing lanes and driving to exit from the lane 204 after merging, thereby reducing the burden on the driver.

  In addition, in the vehicle 210 traveling in the lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists, when the vehicle 210 joins the lane 204 where the obstacle 206 does not exist and when the vehicle 210 exits the lane 204, the management of the traveling state is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, automatic driving control is performed, or as shown in FIG. 8B, notification is made to the driver by a notification means such as a speaker 52. Thereby, the dependence on a driver | operator can be reduced and a driver | operator's burden can be reduced.

  In the first embodiment, the detection unit 10 corresponds to the detection unit of the present invention, the wireless communication unit 30 corresponds to the wireless communication unit of the present invention, the notification unit 50 corresponds to the notification unit of the present invention, and the travel support unit. 100 corresponds to the driving support device of the present invention. And the information acquisition production | generation part 110 of the driving | running | working assistance part 100 corresponds to the information acquisition means of this invention, and the driving | running | working management part 120 corresponds to the driving | running management means of this invention. The merge / exit management unit 130 and the travel state management unit 140 of the travel management unit 120 correspond to the automatic operation control means of the present invention. The merge / exit position calculation unit 132 of the merge / exit management unit 130 corresponds to the merge / exit position setting means of the present invention.

  4 corresponds to the function executed by the information acquisition means and the wireless communication means of the present invention, and the process of S402 corresponds to the function executed by the detection means and the information acquisition means of the present invention. The processing of S406, S410 and S412 corresponds to the function executed by the travel management means of the present invention, the processing of S410 corresponds to the function executed by the merge / exit position setting means of the present invention, and the processing of S414 is the travel of the present invention. This corresponds to the function executed by the management means and the notification means.

  In addition, the processing of S420, S422, and S432 in FIG. 5 corresponds to the function executed by the travel management means and the notification means of the present invention, and the processing of S424, S426, S430, and S436 is executed by the automatic operation control means of the present invention. It corresponds to a function, and the processing of S428 and S434 corresponds to the function executed by the wireless communication means and the travel management means of the present invention.

  Further, the processing of S450, S454, S458 and S462 in FIG. 6 corresponds to the function executed by the travel management means of the present invention, and the processing of S452, S456 and S460 is the function executed by the travel management means and notification means of the present invention It corresponds to.

  7 corresponds to the function executed by the automatic driving control means and the notification means of the present invention, and the processing of S472 and S476 corresponds to the function executed by the own driving control means of the present invention. , S474 and S478 correspond to the functions executed by the self-operation control means and the wireless communication means of the present invention.

  8A corresponds to the functions executed by the traveling management means and the wireless communication means of the present invention, and the processing of S500 and S504 of FIG. 8B corresponds to the traveling of the present invention. It corresponds to the function executed by the management means and the notification means, and the processing of S502 and S506 corresponds to the function executed by the travel management means and the wireless communication means of the present invention.

  9 corresponds to the function executed by the travel management means of the present invention, and the process of S512 corresponds to the function executed by the travel management means and the notification means of the present invention.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 10 shows a driving support process according to the second embodiment. In the driving support process of FIG. 10, the driving support unit 100 performs automatic driving control or vehicle driving so that the vehicle 220 in the adjacent lane 202 where the obstacle 206 exists is separated from the adjacent lane 202 in order to avoid the obstacle 206. In response to the notification from the speaker 52 to the driver, a driving support process for shifting the driving position of the vehicle 220 is performed.

  Also in this case, it is desirable that the traveling support unit 100 of the vehicle 220 assists the traveling of the vehicle 220 so as to be shifted back and forth with respect to the vehicle 210 so that the joining vehicles 210 can easily join.

  As shown in FIG. 10, by shifting the travel position so that the vehicle 220 is away from the adjacent lane 202, the vehicle 210 in the adjacent lane 202 can travel on the side of the adjacent lane 202 side of the vehicle 220 while avoiding the obstacle 206. Space is created.

  The vehicle 210 on the merging side uses the merging information that has merged from the lane 202 toward the lane 204 and the exit information that has passed through the obstacle 206 and exited the lane 204 and returned to the original lane 202. Send to the surroundings by communication.

  When the vehicle 220 in the junction lane 204 receives from the vehicle 210 that the vehicle 210 in the adjacent lane 202 has returned to the original lane 202 while avoiding the obstacle 206, the vehicle 220 returns the traveling position to the center of the lane 204.

[Other Embodiments]
In the travel support device of the above embodiment, a vehicle traveling in a lane where an obstacle exists travels in a lane where there is no obstacle and a travel support process that supports traveling of the host vehicle in order to avoid the obstacle. An example has been described in which another vehicle that travels in a lane in which an obstacle exists includes both a driving support process that supports driving of the host vehicle in order to avoid the obstacle. On the other hand, the driving support device of the present invention may include only one driving support process.

  Further, the joining vehicle does not transmit any joining information and exit information as shown in FIG. 8A, and the joining vehicle is provided by the driving support process by the driver's operation. You may just join the merge space and exit from the merge space.

  As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the gist thereof.

10: detection unit (detection unit), 30: wireless communication unit (wireless communication unit), 50: notification unit (notification unit), 100: travel support unit (running support device), 110: information acquisition generation unit (information acquisition unit) ), 120: Travel management unit (travel management means), 130: Join / exit management unit (automatic operation control means), 132: Join / exit position calculation unit (join / exit position setting unit), 142: Travel state management unit (automatic operation) Control part)

Claims (11)

In a driving support device mounted on a vehicle,
Information acquisition means for acquiring obstacle information for notifying that an obstacle exists on the front side of the host vehicle;
When the obstacle notified by the obstacle information acquired by the information acquisition means exists in the adjacent lane of the host vehicle, the vehicle traveling in the front-rear direction is shifted with respect to the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. Traveling management means for managing the traveling state of the vehicle;
A driving support apparatus comprising:   When the detection means mounted on the host vehicle acquires the obstacle information output by detecting an obstacle existing on the front side of the host vehicle, the information acquisition unit mounts the acquired obstacle information on the host vehicle. The obstacle information is transmitted from the wireless communication means to the surroundings, and when the obstacle information transmitted from the surroundings is received by the wireless communication means, the received obstacle information is acquired from the wireless communication means. The travel support device according to 1.   When the obstacle exists in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the wireless communication unit receives length information obtained by adding a predetermined length to the total length of the vehicle from the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane, and the information acquisition unit When the length information is acquired from the wireless communication means, the travel management means has a distance between the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle and the host vehicle equal to or greater than the length indicated by the length information acquired by the information acquisition means. The travel support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the travel state of the host vehicle is managed as described above.   The travel management means automatically controls the traveling state of the host vehicle so that the vehicle travels in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane when the obstacle exists in the adjacent lane of the host vehicle. It has an automatic driving | operation control means, The driving assistance apparatus as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3 characterized by the above-mentioned.   When the obstacle is present in the adjacent lane of the host vehicle, the travel management unit is configured to notify the driver by the notification unit so that the host vehicle deviates in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. The travel support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the travel support device is notified.   When the obstacle exists in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the travel management means notifies the driver by the notifying means that the vehicle joins the travel lane of the own vehicle from the adjacent lane and exits after the merge. The travel support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein   The travel management means includes automatic operation control means for automatically controlling the joining to the next destination lane and the exit from the destination lane when the obstacle exists in the traveling lane of the own vehicle. The travel support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein   When the obstacle exists in the traveling lane of the host vehicle, the traveling management unit notifies the driver of the start of merging into the next merging destination lane and the departure from the merging destination lane by the notifying unit. The travel support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein   When the obstacle is present in the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the traveling management means determines whether the merging start position and the merging destination lane are based on the position of the obstacle and the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. The travel support apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a merging / exiting position setting unit configured to set the exit start position. Information acquisition means for acquiring obstacle information for notifying that an obstacle exists on the front side of the host vehicle;
When the obstacle notified by the obstacle information acquired by the information acquisition means is present in the adjacent lane of the own vehicle, the travel management means manages the traveling state of the own vehicle so that the own vehicle is separated from the adjacent lane. When,
A driving support apparatus comprising: Information acquisition means for acquiring obstacle information for notifying that an obstacle exists on the front side of the host vehicle;
When the obstacle notified by the obstacle information acquired by the information acquisition means exists in the traveling lane of the own vehicle, the vehicle is shifted in the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle traveling in the lane adjacent to the traveling lane of the own vehicle. Traveling management means for managing the traveling state of the vehicle so as to travel,
A driving support apparatus comprising: