JP2016103131A - Automatic operation controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic operation controller capable of preventing a vehicle from getting too closer or coming into collision due to erroneous determination as if there is no vehicle preceding when a preceding vehicle gets out of a field of view of a front recognition sensor in such a case; the distance from the preceding vehicle is too large, or turning radius of the road is too small, or at a curve where plural roads intersects with each other.SOLUTION: The automatic operation controller controls a vehicle based on a piece of map information and a piece of detection information of a front recognition sensor. When the front recognition sensor loses a preceding vehicle, the automatic operation controller determines whether any preceding vehicle exists on the lane of the own vehicle based on lane candidate of the preceding vehicle obtained from the map information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic driving control apparatus using a front recognition sensor.

    In recent years, automatic driving control has been developed that recognizes a preceding vehicle using a front recognition sensor such as a camera or a radar, and controls acceleration / deceleration so as to maintain a distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle.

  In this automatic driving control, when the host vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle, it is decelerated by lowering the engine output or increasing the hydraulic pressure of the friction brake to increase the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle. do. In addition, when the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is increased, or when the preceding vehicle deviates from the traveling route of the host vehicle, this automatic driving control determines the host vehicle by increasing the engine output. Accelerate to speed and control to reduce the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle.

  By performing the automatic driving control as described above, the own vehicle can travel in accordance with the surrounding vehicles while maintaining the inter-vehicle distance so as not to collide with the preceding vehicle.

  In addition, automatic deceleration control using a front recognition sensor for avoiding a collision with a front obstacle in an emergency and reducing an impact at the time of a collision has been proposed.

  In this automatic deceleration control, the distance between the vehicle and the relative speed with the obstacle can be detected by the front recognition sensor, and an appropriate timing can be calculated from the detection result to automatically decelerate.

  However, forward recognition sensors such as cameras and radars have a narrow viewing angle. For this reason, if the detection target is shifted from the front of the vehicle to the left or right, it is out of view and lost, that is, cannot be detected. For example, when following a preceding vehicle and passing a curve, the preceding vehicle deviates from the front of the vehicle in the curve direction. At this time, when the front recognition sensor loses the preceding vehicle, the automatic driving control determines that the preceding vehicle has deviated from the traveling route of the own vehicle. If the curve approach speed of the preceding vehicle is lower than the curve passing speed of the own vehicle, the own vehicle may be too close to the preceding vehicle or may collide.

    As a technique for solving such a problem, there is an invention described in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for suppressing acceleration of the host vehicle when the preceding vehicle is lost when the steering angle of the host vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. This prevents the host vehicle from accelerating and approaching the preceding vehicle too much even though the preceding vehicle exists on the travel route of the host vehicle.

JP 2005-81999 A

  However, when the front recognition sensor lost the preceding vehicle, whether the preceding vehicle remained on the traveling route of the vehicle and could not be detected because it was out of the field of view. It is difficult for the technique of Patent Document 1 to determine whether it exists. For example, when the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is wide, the host vehicle may go straight even if the preceding vehicle is in a curve. In this case, since the steering angle is also equivalent to straight ahead, the automatic driving control device cannot determine that the preceding vehicle has gone out of the field of view and cannot be detected. The same problem occurs when a straight curve and a curve with a small turning radius are combined, such as turning left or right at an intersection. On the other hand, if the preceding vehicle goes straight at the intersection and the host vehicle turns left, the driving route of the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle is different, so after the vehicle turns left, the preceding vehicle will be on the driving route of the host vehicle. not exist. However, when the preceding vehicle is lost, it is determined that the preceding vehicle remains on the own vehicle route because the own vehicle is turning left, that is, the steering angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In this way, when the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is wide, when the turning radius is small, or when the traveling route is not a single road, the preceding vehicle is on the traveling route of the own vehicle only from the steering angle of the own vehicle. It is difficult to judge whether or not it exists.

An object of the present invention is to provide a travel control device capable of accurately detecting a lost factor when a front recognition sensor has lost a preceding vehicle.

    In order to solve the above-described problem, in the travel control device of the present invention, when the front recognition sensor has lost the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle exists on the own vehicle route based on the route candidate of the preceding vehicle obtained from the map information. Determine whether or not.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when a front recognition sensor has lost the preceding vehicle, the traveling control apparatus which can detect the lost factor accurately can be provided.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of an automatic driving | operation control apparatus. 2 is a block diagram of a travel control calculation unit 10. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101. FIG. It is a figure which shows the calculation result of the preceding vehicle path | route candidate calculation part 111 when a preceding vehicle advancing direction is a straight ahead. It is a figure which shows the calculation result of the preceding vehicle path | route candidate calculation part 111 when a preceding vehicle is on a straight ahead left turn lane. It is a figure which shows the calculation result of the preceding vehicle path | route candidate calculation part 111 when an adjacent lane exists in the driving lane of a preceding vehicle. It is a figure which shows the calculation result of the preceding vehicle path | route candidate calculation part 111 when a motor vehicle entrance exists on the sidewalk of a preceding vehicle advancing direction. 4 is a block diagram of a preceding vehicle road presence determination unit 102. FIG. It is an example of operation at the time of straight ahead of the preceding vehicle when the present invention is not used. It is an example of operation at the time of the preceding vehicle left turn in the case of using the present invention. It is a calculation example of the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120. It is an example of a calculation of the lost timing comparison part 121 at the time of a preceding vehicle left turn. It is an example of a calculation of the lost timing comparison part 121 at the time of straight ahead of a preceding vehicle. 4 is a block diagram of a braking / driving command calculation unit 103. FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment described below, the present invention will be described by taking a vehicle having an engine, which is an internal combustion engine, as a sole drive source as an example. However, an electric vehicle using only an electric motor as a drive source, an engine and an electric motor The present invention can also be applied to a hybrid vehicle used as a vehicle drive source.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic driving control device for a vehicle according to the present invention. The broken line arrows in FIG. 1 indicate the flow of signals. The vehicle includes an engine 1 that drives the vehicle, a brake 2 that brakes the vehicle, a transmission 3 that continuously changes the driving force generated by the engine 1, a combustion state of the engine 1, and the engine 1 An engine control calculation unit 4 for changing the driving force to be generated, a brake control calculation unit 5 for controlling the hydraulic pressure of the brake 2 and a braking force generated by the brake 2, and the number of revolutions of the transmission 3 are controlled. A shift control calculation unit 6 for changing the gear ratio of the machine 3, a front recognition sensor 7 for detecting an object in front of the vehicle, a map information providing means 8 for providing map information around the vehicle, and a vehicle speed for detecting the speed of the vehicle. A sensor 9 and a travel control calculation unit 10 that commands the braking / driving force to the engine control calculation unit 4, the brake control calculation unit 5, and the shift control calculation unit 6 are provided. Power generated by the combustion of fuel by the engine 1 is transmitted to the transmission 3, and after being shifted by a belt-type transmission mechanism inside the transmission 3, the left and right drive wheels are connected via the differential mechanism 11. 12 and becomes a driving force for driving the vehicle.

    A brake 2 that generates a braking force of the vehicle is provided in the vicinity of the drive wheel 12. The brake 2 is provided with a hydraulic booster, and the driving wheel 12 is pressed by a hydraulic operation force generated by the hydraulic booster to generate a frictional force. The brake 2 brakes the vehicle by converting kinetic energy into heat energy.

  The travel control calculation unit 10 includes a CPU and a memory, calculates a braking / driving force to be generated in the vehicle by executing a control program, an engine control device 4, a brake control device 5, and a transmission control device 6. The braking / driving force command is transmitted to. Thereby, the vehicle motion control device controls acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle.

    Connected to the traveling control calculation unit 10 are a front recognition sensor 7 for detecting an object in front of the vehicle, a map information providing means 8 for providing map information around the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor 9 for detecting the vehicle speed, a notification device 13 and the like. Has been.

  The front recognition sensor 7 detects the type, relative distance, and relative speed of an object positioned in front of the vehicle, such as a preceding vehicle that travels in front of the vehicle or a pedestrian that crosses the front of the vehicle, and uses the detected information as a travel control calculation unit 10 Send to. Examples of the front recognition sensor 7 include a monocular camera, a stereo camera, and a compound eye camera.

    The map information providing means 8 collates the vehicle position and posture acquired by the global positioning network and the like with a map database prepared in advance, so that the road control and lane attributes within a predetermined range from the vehicle can be obtained. To provide.

    The travel control calculation unit 10 calculates using the detection information signal of the front recognition sensor 7, the map information signal of the map information providing means 8, and the speed signal of the vehicle speed sensor 9, the engine control calculation unit 4, the brake Commands the braking / driving force to the control calculation unit 5 and the shift control calculation unit 6. When the front recognition sensor 7 has not lost the preceding vehicle, the traveling control calculation unit 10 performs the engine control calculation unit so as to decelerate when the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle is reduced, as in the conventional driving control. 4, the brake control calculation unit 5, and the shift control calculation unit 6 are instructed to apply braking force, and when the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is increased, the engine control calculation unit 4 and the brake control calculation unit 5 are accelerated to a predetermined speed. And command the driving force to the shift control calculation unit 6. Thereby, traveling control can be performed in accordance with surrounding vehicles without being too close to the preceding vehicle.

  The notification device 13 inputs a determination result on whether or not a preceding vehicle, which will be described later, is present on the own vehicle route from the traveling control calculation unit 10 and notifies the passenger. This makes it possible for the passenger to understand the reason for acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle and to prevent acceleration / deceleration that the passenger does not expect.

  Next, the configuration of the travel control calculation unit 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The own vehicle route calculation unit 100 uses the map information signal input from the map information providing unit 8 to calculate the traveling route of the own vehicle, that is, the route from which the own vehicle will travel. In this embodiment, the travel route of the host vehicle is calculated from the destination and road shape included in the map information signal. However, the host vehicle travel route is calculated in advance by an external computing device such as a navigation system and included in the map information signal. May be.

    The preceding vehicle travel route candidate calculation unit 101 uses the front recognition sensor detection information signal input from the front recognition sensor 7 and the map information signal input from the map information providing unit 8, that is, the preceding vehicle travel route candidate, The candidate of the route from which the preceding vehicle will travel and the predicted behavior of the preceding vehicle in each candidate are calculated.

    The preceding vehicle route presence determination unit 102 is input from the host vehicle route signal input from the host vehicle route calculation unit 100, the preceding vehicle route candidate signal input from the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101, and the forward recognition sensor 7. By using the front recognition sensor detection information signal, it is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle is present, that is, whether or not the preceding vehicle is present on the own vehicle.

  The braking / driving command calculation unit 103 receives a forward recognition sensor detection information signal inputted from the forward recognition sensor 7, a map information signal inputted from the map information providing means 8, a speed signal inputted from the vehicle speed sensor 9, and a preceding vehicle route. A braking / driving command is calculated using the presence determination signal on the preceding vehicle route input from the presence determination unit 102. When the preceding vehicle route presence determination unit 102 determines that there is no preceding vehicle, the braking / driving command calculation unit 103 calculates a braking / driving command so as to accelerate to a predetermined speed. When the preceding vehicle route presence determination unit 102 determines that there is a preceding vehicle, the braking / driving command calculation unit 103 calculates a braking / driving command so that the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The calculated braking / driving command is transmitted to the engine control calculation unit 4, the brake control calculation unit 5, and the shift control calculation 6. The engine 1, the brake 2, and the transmission 4 are controlled so as to generate this braking / driving force. As a result, the automatic driving control device can control the traveling according to the surrounding environment while preventing the vehicle from approaching the preceding vehicle too much.

  Next, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The preceding vehicle position specifying unit 110 calculates the preceding vehicle position using the front recognition sensor detection information signal input from the front recognition sensor 7 and the map information signal input from the map information providing unit 8. The preceding vehicle position specifying unit 110 specifies the position of the preceding vehicle on the map by associating the surrounding road shape included in the map information signal with the relative position of the preceding vehicle included in the front recognition sensor detection information signal. To do.

    The preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 calculates a preceding vehicle route candidate using the map information signal input from the map information providing unit 8 and the preceding vehicle position signal input from the preceding vehicle position specifying unit 110. The preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 calculates a candidate route for the preceding vehicle to travel from the position on the map of the preceding vehicle specified by the preceding vehicle position specifying unit 110. An example of this will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the road in the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle is a straight line, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 calculates that the preceding vehicle route candidate is only on the current travel route of the preceding vehicle.

    As shown in FIG. 5, when an intersection exists on the road in the preceding vehicle traveling direction and a plurality of routes such as straight ahead, right turn, and left turn extend from the intersection, a plurality of straight forward, right turn, and left turn are assumed as preceding vehicle route candidates. A route exists. Here, when it is determined that the preceding vehicle is on a straight ahead left turn lane, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 calculates that a straight or left turn is a route candidate of the preceding vehicle among a plurality of route candidates. Similar to the straight left turn lane, even if it is determined that there is a preceding vehicle on the lane, such as straight right turn, left turn only, straight forward only, right turn only, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 leads the route corresponding to the lane. Calculate as a car route candidate.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when there is an adjacent lane in the traveling lane of the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 calculates the current traveling route and lane change of the preceding vehicle as the preceding vehicle route candidate. When it is determined that the preceding vehicle is in the lane change prohibited section, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 determines that only the current travel route of the preceding vehicle is a candidate for the preceding vehicle. Thus, the route candidate of the preceding vehicle can be calculated from the adjacent lane information provided in the map information.

  As shown in FIG. 7, when there is an automobile entrance on the sidewalk in the preceding vehicle traveling direction, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 111 adds the entrance to the sidewalk in addition to the current driving route of the preceding vehicle. Calculate as a route candidate. Thus, the route candidate of the preceding vehicle can be calculated from the position of the vehicle entrance on the sidewalk provided in the map information.

  Thus, the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101 obtains the road connection relationship where the preceding vehicle is placed by linking the front recognition sensor detection information and the map information, and calculates the route candidate of the preceding vehicle. Can do.

  Next, the preceding vehicle route presence determination unit 102 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120 uses the own vehicle route signal input from the own vehicle route calculation unit 100 and the preceding vehicle route candidate signal input from the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101, so The route candidate lost timing which is the timing of the lost vehicle is calculated. Although details will be described later, the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120 determines when the preceding vehicle is lost based on the geometric relationship between the host vehicle route, the preceding vehicle route, and the field of view of the front recognition sensor 7. Is calculated in advance for each route candidate.

  The lost timing comparison unit 121 calculates the presence determination on the preceding vehicle route using the forward recognition sensor test input from the forward recognition sensor 7 and the route candidate lost timing signal input from the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120. . Although details will be described later, the lost timing comparison unit 121 compares the route candidate lost timing signal with the timing when the preceding vehicle is actually lost. When the actual preceding vehicle route is one of the route candidates, the route candidate lost timing matches the actual lost timing. The lost timing comparison unit 121 determines which route the preceding vehicle actually selected by searching for a route in which the lost timing and the lost timing that actually lost the preceding vehicle match from among the previously calculated route candidates. To do.

    The effects of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

    First, an example of the operation of the prior art will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

    FIG. 9 is an operation example when the host vehicle turns straight ahead at the intersection. At time t = t0, the front recognition sensor 7 detects a preceding vehicle in the field of view. While the vehicle turns left at time t = t1, the preceding vehicle goes straight, and at time t = t2, the forward recognition sensor 7 loses the preceding vehicle. At this time, it is normally determined that the preceding vehicle does not exist on the route of the own vehicle.

    FIG. 10 shows an operation example when the left turn of the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle is turned left. At time t = t0, the front recognition sensor 7 detects a preceding vehicle in the field of view. At time t = t1, the preceding vehicle first turns left, and then the own vehicle turns left. The preceding vehicle once deviates from the field of view of the front recognition sensor 7 once the left turn starts, and the front recognition sensor 7 loses the preceding vehicle. At this time, the own vehicle erroneously determines that the preceding vehicle does not exist on the route of the own vehicle. At time t = t2 after the vehicle turns left, the preceding vehicle enters the field of view of the forward recognition sensor 7, and the forward recognition sensor 7 detects the preceding vehicle again. In this way, when turning left or right at an intersection, even if the preceding vehicle is on the route of the own vehicle, it will be out of the field of view of the front recognition sensor 7 and erroneously determined that the preceding vehicle does not exist on the route of the own vehicle. Sometimes. The preceding vehicle deviates from the field of view of the forward recognition sensor 7 at the timing when the preceding vehicle turns to the left, and the host vehicle is often still going straight ahead. For this reason, it is difficult to correctly determine that the preceding vehicle exists on the route of the vehicle even if measurement information of the vehicle such as the steering angle and the lateral acceleration is used. In addition, even when the preceding vehicle existing on the route of the own vehicle is lost by a curve while the own vehicle is traveling straight ahead, the same problem as the left turn of the preceding vehicle left at the intersection exists.

    Next, an example of an automatic operation control apparatus using the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

    FIG. 11 is a calculation example of the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120 in the present embodiment. Here, consider a case where the automatic driving control device controls the own vehicle to turn left at an intersection. The preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101 determines from the map information and the preceding vehicle recognition sensor detection information that the traveling route of the preceding vehicle is a left turn straight lane, and the preceding vehicle turns left (candidate A) or right (candidate B) at the intersection. Then calculate. Based on the calculation result of the preceding vehicle route candidate calculation unit 101, the calculation result of the own vehicle route calculation unit 100 (the left turn of the own vehicle), and the geometric relationship of the field of view of the front recognition sensor, the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120 And the timing of the preceding vehicle lost in the candidate B is calculated. Specifically, in the case of candidate A, the forward recognition sensor 7 calculates that the preceding vehicle is lost immediately before the left turn of the own vehicle (t = t1), and in the case of candidate B, the forward recognition sensor 7 is making a left turn of the own vehicle ( When the preceding vehicle is lost at t = t2), the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120 calculates.

    FIG. 12 is a calculation example of the lost timing comparison unit 121 when the preceding vehicle makes a left turn. The lost timing comparison unit 121 compares the lost timing of the candidate A and the lost timing of the candidate B input from the route candidate lost timing calculation unit 120 with the actual lost timing calculated from the forward recognition sensor detection information signal, It is determined that the candidate A that coincides with the lost timing is the route of the preceding vehicle, and it is determined that the preceding vehicle exists on the own vehicle route.

    FIG. 13 is a calculation example of the lost timing comparison unit 121 when the preceding vehicle goes straight. The lost timing comparison unit 121 compares the predicted lost timing with the actual lost timing in the same manner as when the preceding vehicle makes a left turn, determines that the candidate B that matches the actual lost timing is the route of the preceding vehicle, It is determined that the preceding vehicle does not exist on the own vehicle route.

  According to the automatic driving control device of the present invention, by predicting the route candidate of the preceding vehicle using the map information and the detection information of the front recognition sensor, by comparing the lost timing with the actual lost timing in each route candidate, It is possible to accurately determine the actual route of the preceding vehicle and to accurately identify the lost factor of the preceding vehicle.

  Next, the braking / driving command calculation unit 103 will be described with reference to FIG.

    The target inter-vehicle distance maintaining speed calculation unit 130 uses the preceding vehicle path presence determination signal input from the preceding vehicle path presence determination unit 102 and the front recognition sensor detection information signal input from the front recognition sensor 7 to use the target inter-vehicle distance. Calculate the distance maintenance speed. When the front recognition sensor 7 detects a preceding vehicle, the target inter-vehicle distance maintenance speed calculation unit 130 does not detect the preceding vehicle based on the result of the front recognition sensor detection information signal ( Lost), the future behavior of the preceding vehicle is estimated based on the preceding vehicle route presence determination signal of the preceding vehicle route presence determination unit 102, and the target inter-vehicle distance is set so as not to be too close to the estimation result. Determine the maintenance speed. In the present embodiment, the movement of the preceding vehicle is estimated on the assumption that the preceding vehicle travels at the speed limit. When the curvature of the preceding vehicle route included in the map information signal is large, the estimated speed of the preceding vehicle may be lowered according to the curvature. Further, when the front recognition sensor 7 can detect the signal color, the estimated speed of the preceding vehicle may be set to zero in the case of a red signal.

    The target speed calculation unit 131 calculates the target speed using the map information signal input from the map information providing unit 8 and the target inter-vehicle distance maintenance speed signal input from the target inter-vehicle distance maintenance speed calculation unit 110. The target speed calculation unit 131 compares the speed limit provided in the map information signal with the target inter-vehicle distance maintaining speed, and sets the smaller speed as the target speed. When the curvature of the travel route provided in the map information signal is large, the speed limit may be lowered according to the curvature. When the front recognition sensor 7 can detect the signal color, the speed limit is set for the red signal. It may be zero. Accordingly, the target speed can be determined in consideration of both the shape of the travel route and the inter-vehicle distance. When the curvature of the travel route is large, the vehicle can be prevented from skidding by reducing the speed. Further, when approaching the preceding vehicle, the speed can be reduced to increase the inter-vehicle distance.

    The speed compensation calculation unit 132 calculates a braking / driving command using the speed signal input from the vehicle speed sensor 9 and the target speed signal input from the target speed calculation unit 131. The braking / driving command is calculated so as to accelerate when the current vehicle speed is lower than the target speed, and to decelerate when the current vehicle speed is higher than the target speed. Thus, the vehicle speed can be made asymptotic to the target speed, and the vehicle can travel in consideration of both the shape of the travel route and the inter-vehicle distance.

    The braking / driving command is transmitted to the engine control calculation unit 4, the brake control calculation unit 5, and the shift control calculation 6, and the engine 1, the brake 2, and the transmission 4 so as to generate this braking / driving force. And control. Accordingly, the vehicle can be accelerated / decelerated according to the surrounding environment without being too close to the preceding vehicle.

1: engine, 2: brake, 3: transmission, 4: engine control calculation unit, 5: brake control calculation unit, 6: transmission control calculation unit, 7: forward recognition sensor, 8: map information providing means, 9: Vehicle speed sensor, 10: traveling control calculation unit, 11: differential mechanism, 12: drive wheel, 13: notification device,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100: Own vehicle path | route calculation part, 101: Prior vehicle path candidate calculation part, 102: Precedence vehicle path presence determination part, 103: Braking / driving command calculation part 110: Prior vehicle position specification part, 111: Prior vehicle path candidate calculation part 120: Route candidate lost timing calculation unit 121: Lost timing comparison unit 130: Target inter-vehicle distance maintenance speed calculation unit 131: Target speed calculation unit 132: Speed compensation calculation unit

Claims (8)

In the automatic driving control device that controls the traveling of the vehicle based on the map information and the detection information of the front recognition sensor,
When the front recognition sensor has lost the preceding vehicle, it is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle exists on the own vehicle route based on the route candidate of the preceding vehicle obtained from the map information. Operation control device.   By comparing the lost timing of the route candidate calculated in advance with the actual lost timing, the route of the actual preceding vehicle is calculated from the route candidates, and whether or not the preceding vehicle exists on the own vehicle route The automatic operation control device according to claim 1, wherein:   The route candidate of the preceding vehicle is calculated from the position on the map of the preceding vehicle obtained from the map information and detection information of the forward recognition sensor, and a road connection relationship provided in the map information. The automatic operation control device according to claim 1 or 2.   The automatic operation control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein acceleration control is performed when it is determined that there is no preceding vehicle on the own vehicle route.   The automatic operation control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein acceleration control is limited when it is determined that a preceding vehicle exists on the own vehicle route. In the automatic driving control device that controls the traveling of the vehicle based on the map information and the detection information of the front recognition sensor,
Preceding vehicle route candidate calculating means for calculating a preceding vehicle route candidate using the map information and detection information of the forward recognition sensor;
Lost timing calculation means for calculating in advance the timing at which the front recognition sensor loses the preceding vehicle using the map information and the route candidate;
Lost timing comparison means for comparing the previously calculated lost timing with the actual lost timing;
An automatic operation control device comprising:   7. The automatic driving control device according to claim 6, further comprising a control unit that controls braking / driving of the host vehicle based on a result of the comparison unit.   7. The automatic according to claim 6, wherein the comparison means outputs a presence determination signal as to whether or not a preceding vehicle is present on the route of the own vehicle based on a route candidate that coincides with an actual lost timing. Operation control device.