JP2018195227A - Driving support system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a driving support system that performs a driving support in consideration of reliability of map data.SOLUTION: A driving support system determines whether or not that information is such highly reliable information that the attribute information of the feature data may be used for the driving support control based on reliability data associated with each attribute information of feature data necessary for outputting driving support control information, and determines whether or not a driving support control is performed based on the attribute information of the feature data in accordance with the determination result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support system that supports driving.

  There is a driving support device that supports driving of a vehicle by performing control such as steering control and stop control. The map data used when executing such driving assistance is required to be map data that always reflects the latest actual situation. However, in the conventional map data update method, a time lag from the field survey to the map update occurs.

  As a technique for solving such problems, map reliability is stored in association with each feature information constituting the map data, and the feature information is used when the map reliability does not satisfy the standard. A technique for canceling driving assistance has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4682870

  An object of the present invention is to provide a driving support system that performs driving support in consideration of the reliability of map data.

  The present invention is a driving support system that supports driving of a moving body in order to solve at least a part of the above-described problem, and is position information related to the position of a feature around a road or information that means the feature. A storage unit that stores reliability information related to the reliability of each feature in association with each attribute information of the feature, and an information management unit that determines the driving support content of the moving body based on the reliability information Provide support system.

  Note that the above-described features do not enumerate all the features of the present invention, and a configuration (or method) including these as main parts can also be an invention.

The block diagram of the driving assistance system corresponding to Example 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart corresponding to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart corresponding to the first embodiment. The block diagram of the driving assistance system corresponding to Example 2. FIG. 9 is a flowchart corresponding to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart corresponding to the third embodiment.

Hereinafter, examples embodying the present invention will be described.
<Example 1>
As shown in FIG. 1, a driving support system 10 as a driving support device in this embodiment includes a map server 20 and a vehicle 50. The map server 20 and the vehicle 50 are communicably connected to each other via the Internet INT as a communication line and the base station 15.

  The map server 20 includes a map server communication unit 21, a map server information management unit 30, and a storage unit 23. The map server communication unit 21 transmits and receives various types of information to and from the vehicle 50 via the Internet INT by wireless communication. The map server information management unit 30 includes a map data acquisition unit 31, a route search unit 32, a travel guide information creation unit 33, a map server communication unit 34, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), not shown, And a RAM (Random Access Memory). The CPU of the map server information management unit 30 implements functions related to various programs by reading various programs stored in the ROM, developing them in the RAM, and executing them. Note that the map data acquisition unit 31, the route search unit 32, the movement guide information creation unit 33, and the map server communication unit 34 are all functions realized by a program.

  The map data acquisition means 31 extracts the map data stored in the storage unit 23 in response to a map data acquisition request received from the vehicle 50 via the map server communication unit 21. Details of the map data will be described later.

  The route search means 32 executes route search processing using road network data 24 (hereinafter also referred to as road NW data 24) stored in the storage unit 23 and converted into road connection data. Specifically, the route search means 32 searches for a route from the departure point to the destination using the link data and node data included in the road NW data 24. Here, node data is information corresponding to intersections, and link data is information corresponding to roads between intersections. The route information created by the route search process includes information indicating the road route from the departure point to the destination. As a route search method, a known method such as the Dijkstra method can be employed.

  The travel guidance information creation means 33 creates travel guidance information including route guidance data corresponding to the route searched by the route search means 32. The travel guidance information is data used for a route guidance process, and includes route information and route guidance data. In the route guidance data, there are guidance voices such as an enlarged view of an intersection and a left / right turn. For example, when performing route guidance using an enlarged view of an intersection, the movement guidance information creation unit 33 reads map data around the intersection that is the target of route guidance from the storage unit 23. Then, the travel guidance information creation means 33 creates an enlarged view of the intersection that is the target of route guidance based on information such as background data and road width included in the read map data.

  The map server communication unit 34 controls the map server communication unit 21 to communicate with the vehicle 50 at a predetermined timing.

  The storage unit 23 is configured by a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk or SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory). The storage unit 23 stores map data used for map display, route search, and driving support. The map data includes road NW data 24, lane network data 25 (hereinafter also referred to as lane NW data 25), feature data 26, and reliability data 27. The road NW data 24 includes link data and node data. The lane NW data 25 includes lane reference line information represented by the shape of the approximate center line of each lane for each lane. Both the road NW data 24 and the lane NW data 25 are used for map display, route search, route guidance, and driving support. In addition, the map data includes background data for displaying the map, and character data that is the address and the name of the property.

  The feature data 26 is associated with information about road buildings, traffic lights, signs, markings, road paint such as lane markings and stop lines, road shape information associated with the road NW data 24, and lane NW data 25. Lane shape information. The feature data 26 includes unique ID information as information for identifying the feature. In addition, the feature data 26 includes position information indicating the position of the feature, height information indicating the height of the feature, display information indicating the content of the feature, shape information indicating the shape of the feature, and Color information indicating the appearance color of the feature, feature type information indicating what the feature is, and the like are included. The information indicating the characteristics of the features included in these feature data 26 is hereinafter also referred to as attribute information. For example, in the feature data 26 of a sign indicating a speed limit of 80 km / h, as attribute information, position information: values of x and y coordinates of latitude and longitude where the sign exists, display information: speed limit of 80 km / h , Shape information: round shape, etc., values corresponding to the feature are included. Each attribute information is associated with the reliability data 27 and stored in the storage unit 23. The feature data 26 and the lane NW data 25 are stored in association with each other at a predetermined position. Specifically, ID information for identifying a lane reference line included in the lane NW data 25 is included in the feature data 26 and stored. Further, the lane reference line information included in the lane NW data 25 may include the ID information of the feature data 26 and be stored. Details of the reliability data 27 will be described later.

  The vehicle 50 includes an input unit 51, an output unit 52, a position acquisition unit 53, a surrounding information acquisition unit 54, a vehicle communication unit 55, a vehicle information management unit 60, and a vehicle operation control unit 56. The vehicle communication unit 55 transmits and receives various types of information to and from the map server 20 via the Internet INT and the base station 15. The vehicle information management unit 60 includes a position specifying unit 61, a route guide unit 62, a control information output unit 63, a vehicle communication unit 64, a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM (not shown). The CPU of the vehicle information management unit 60 reads out various programs stored in the ROM, develops them in the RAM, and executes them to realize functions related to the various programs. Note that all of the position specifying means 61, the route guidance means 62, the control information output means 63, and the vehicle communication means 64 are functions realized by a program.

  The input unit 51 receives an instruction input for route setting and route guidance from the user. The input unit 51 may be a touch panel or a remote controller of a navigation device, or may be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal that can operate the navigation device or function as a navigation device.

  The output unit 52 executes image display and audio output for the purpose of route guidance and driving support. The image display device may be a display of a navigation device, or a display of a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal that can operate the navigation device or function as a navigation device. Audio output is performed by a navigation device, a portable terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal capable of operating the navigation device or functioning as a navigation device, or a speaker provided in a car audio.

  The position acquisition unit 53 is based on a radio wave received from an artificial satellite constituting a GPS (Global Positioning System) or a signal from a gyro provided in the vehicle 50, and an estimated position regarding the estimated position of the vehicle 50 including latitude and longitude Get information.

  The peripheral information acquisition unit 54 acquires peripheral information, which is information about a road on which the vehicle 50 travels and its surroundings, using a sensor or a camera (not shown) provided in the vehicle 50. The peripheral information acquisition unit 54 is a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera as an imaging device, a millimeter wave radar as a sensor, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), or the like. The peripheral information is, for example, an image obtained by continuously capturing the periphery of a road on which the vehicle 50 travels using a CCD camera. In addition, the peripheral information includes information related to the relative position between the feature and the vehicle 50 existing around the road on which the vehicle 50 travels. Information on the relative position between the feature and the vehicle 50 is acquired as information on the distance between the vehicle 50 and the feature and the direction when the feature is viewed from the vehicle 50 by a sensor such as a millimeter wave radar or LIDAR. be able to. A method of specifying the detailed current position of the vehicle 50 using information on the relative position between the feature and the vehicle 50 will be described later.

  The position specifying means 61 determines the position of the vehicle 50 on the road from the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 53 and the matching result of the position information of the feature calculated from the peripheral information and the position information of the feature data 26. The position is specified. The position specifying method by the position specifying means 61 will be described later.

  The route guidance unit 62 guides the route based on the map data and the movement guide information received from the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55. The route guidance unit 62 outputs information for guiding the route to the output unit 52 in accordance with the position of the vehicle 50 specified by the position specifying unit 61. For example, the route guidance unit 62 outputs information on the right / left turn ahead of the route from the current position of the vehicle 50 specified by the position specifying unit 61 to the output unit 52.

  The control information output means 63 is for driving support based on the map data including the reliability data 27 received from the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55, the movement guide information, and the position information calculated by the position specifying means 61. Is output to the vehicle operation control unit 56 or the output unit 52. The control information output means 63 outputs information for driving support control of the vehicle 50 based on the feature data 26, the reliability data 27, and the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 54. A specific information output method for driving support control will be described later.

  The vehicle communication means 64 controls communication with the map server 20.

  The vehicle operation control unit 56 executes speed control and steering control of the vehicle 50 based on information acquired from the control information output unit 63. A specific processing method will be described later.

  The reliability data 27 stored in the storage unit 23 of the map server 20 will be described. The reliability data 27 is information regarding the reliability of the attribute information of the feature data 26. The reliability is an index indicating how much the vehicle 50 can perform the driving support when the attribute information of the feature data 26 is used for the driving support control. The driving support system 10 can perform a plurality of different driving support controls on the vehicle 50 according to the content of the reliability data 27. For example, when certain attribute information is highly reliable, it is determined that the attribute information is reliable data, and driving support control corresponding to the information indicated by the attribute information is performed. The driving support control based on the attribute information can be prevented from being performed. For example, when the reliability of the attribute information related to the speed limit is high, the vehicle 50 determines that the attribute information is reliable, and is within the speed limit indicated by the attribute information in the speed limit area indicated by the attribute information. In addition, the brakes are controlled. Further, when the reliability of the attribute information regarding the speed limit is low, the vehicle 50 determines that the attribute information is unreliable, and uses the information from the sensors and cameras of the vehicle 50 mainly to provide necessary driving assistance. Run. Specifically, if the presence or content of the speed limit sign is recognized by the sensor or camera of the vehicle 50, the vehicle 50 controls the brake or the like so that it is within the speed limit indicated by the speed limit sign. In addition, when the presence or content of the speed limit sign is not recognized by the sensor or camera of the vehicle 50, the vehicle 50 does not execute vehicle control so that the speed limit indicated by the speed limit sign is reached. The reliability can also be defined as an index indicating whether the information indicated by the attribute information matches the peripheral information related to the feature corresponding to the attribute information. For example, the image acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 54 includes an image of a feature corresponding to the attribute information. In this case, the reliability is low unless the information indicated by the attribute information matches the feature information included in the image, and the information indicated by the attribute information matches the feature information included in the image. If so, it will be high. The case where the attribute information does not match the peripheral information is, for example, a case where the peripheral information acquisition unit 54 cannot acquire a feature that is assumed to exist in the attribute information. This is because the camera and sensor of the vehicle 50 may be out of order, or the information of the feature may not be acquired by the camera or sensor due to the reflection of sunlight or the presence of an obstacle between the feature and the feature. is there. As another case where the attribute information does not match the peripheral information, the feature data 26 may be incorrect. In this case, it is preferable to refrain from driving support control using the feature data 26 until the erroneous feature data 26 is updated to correct information.

  The reliability data 27 and the feature data 26 are associated by the feature ID information. In the reliability data 27, reliability is stored in association with each attribute information of the feature data 26. Examples of the feature data 26 and the reliability data 27 are shown in Table 1.

  For example, the reliability data 27 associated with the feature data 26 related to the speed limit sign shown in Table 1 is highly reliable for display information, shape information, and color information, and reliable for position information and height information. It means that the degree is low. The vehicle 50 can perform a plurality of different driving support controls based on the reliability included in the reliability data 27. For example, when the reliability of the attribute information is high, the vehicle 50 executes the driving support control based on the attribute information, and when the reliability of the attribute information is low, the attribute information is used for the driving support control. First, driving support control based on surrounding information and the like is executed.

  For example, when the reliability data 27 is associated with road shape information or lane shape information, the reliability is high with respect to curvature information or lane height information included in the road or lane shape information. Associate information indicating whether it is low or low.

  Next, a method for executing the driving support process using the driving support system 10 configured as described above will be described.

  2 and 3 are flowcharts illustrating the procedure of the driving support process in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the navigation device includes an input unit 51, an output unit 52, a position acquisition unit 53, a peripheral information acquisition unit 54, a vehicle communication unit 55, a vehicle information management unit 60, and a vehicle operation control unit 56. Has been.

  When the navigation device is activated, the vehicle information management unit 60 acquires the estimated position information of the vehicle 50 via the position acquisition unit 53 (step S10). The vehicle information management unit 60 transmits a map data acquisition request including the estimated position information of the vehicle 50 to the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55 (step S12). When the map data acquisition unit 31 of the map server information management unit 30 receives a map data acquisition request from the vehicle 50 (step S40), it extracts map data around the estimated position of the vehicle 50 (step S42). Then, the map server information management unit 30 transmits the extracted map data to the vehicle 50 via the map server communication unit 21 (step S44). The vehicle information management unit 60 receives map data from the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55 (step S14). Then, the vehicle information management unit 60 displays a map around the current position of the vehicle 50 on the output unit 52 as a display using the map data received from the map server 20.

  Next, the input unit 51 of the vehicle 50 receives a route search instruction from the user (step S16). The route search instruction means that a user sets conditions used for route search processing such as a departure point and destination, a waypoint, and a highway priority, and requests route search processing. The vehicle information management unit 60 sets the estimated position of the vehicle 50 acquired by the position acquisition unit 53 as a departure place. The waypoints and destinations are set by a method in which the user designates an arbitrary point. When the user uses a map to designate an arbitrary point, when the user selects a place where the map is to be displayed, the vehicle information management unit 60 instructs the map server 20 of the position selected by the user. Send information. Then, the map server 20 extracts map data of the place selected by the user from the storage unit 23 and transmits it to the vehicle 50. Note that the departure point may be set by a method in which the user designates an arbitrary point.

  Next, the vehicle information management unit 60 transmits route search condition information, which is information related to the route search condition set in the route search condition setting process (step S16), to the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55 (step). S18). When the map server 20 receives the route search condition information via the map server communication unit 21 (step S46), the route search means 32 executes a route search process based on the route search condition information (step S48). Specifically, the route search means 32 uses the route search condition information, the link data and the node data included in the road NW data 24, and the lane NW data 25, so that the optimum route that meets the route search conditions set by the user. To create route information indicating the route from the departure point to the destination. As a route search method, a known method can be used as appropriate.

  The travel guidance information creation means 33 creates route guidance data corresponding to the route created by the route search process (step S48) (step S48). For example, the movement guide information creation means 33 extracts map data stored in the storage unit 23, executes processing such as simplification of the link shape, and creates an enlarged view of the intersection included in the route. Then, the map server information management unit 30 transmits travel guidance information including route information and route guidance data to the vehicle 50 via the map server communication unit 21 (step S50).

  The vehicle information management unit 60 receives the travel guidance information from the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55 (step S20). The vehicle information management unit 60 temporarily stores the received travel guidance information in the RAM of the vehicle 50.

  Next, the vehicle information management unit 60 reacquires estimated position information of the vehicle 50 via the position acquisition unit 53 (step S22). And the vehicle information management part 60 transmits the acquisition request of map data to the map server 20 with the estimated position information of the vehicle 50 (step S24). Then, the map server 20 receives the estimated position information and the map data acquisition request from the vehicle 50 (step S52). The map data acquisition means 31 of the map server information management unit 30 extracts map data around the estimated position of the vehicle 50 in response to the map data acquisition request including the estimated position information received from the vehicle 50 (step S54). . And the map server communication means 34 transmits the extracted map data to the vehicle 50 (step S56). At this time, the map data transmitted from the map server 20 to the vehicle 50 includes the feature data 26 and the reliability data 27 corresponding to the feature data. The vehicle 50 receives map data from the map server 20 via the vehicle communication unit 55 (step S26). The vehicle information management unit 60 temporarily stores the received map data in the RAM of the vehicle 50. The vehicle information management unit 60 displays a map around the estimated position of the vehicle 50 on the display using the map data received from the map server 20. In addition, the vehicle information management unit 60 reads the travel guidance information and map data received from the map server 20 from the RAM of the vehicle 50, and executes route guidance processing using images and sounds.

  Then, the position specifying unit 61 specifies the estimated position information of the vehicle 50 acquired by the position acquisition unit 53, the map data received from the map server 20, and the surrounding information acquisition unit 54 in order to specify the detailed current position of the vehicle 50. Is used to identify the position of the vehicle 50 on the lane NW data 25 (step S28). The position specifying means 61 first compares the shape information and position information of the features included in the feature data 26 and the estimated position information of the vehicle 50 to determine the direction and area where the features exist with respect to the vehicle 50. Is estimated. Next, the position specifying means 61 uses the peripheral information acquisition unit 54 to detect a feature in a region where the feature is estimated to exist. For example, a region where a feature is estimated to be present is scanned by millimeter wave radar or LIDAR, and the distance and direction to the feature are detected. Then, if a feature to be detected is detected, the estimated position of the vehicle 50 is corrected using the distance information and direction information to the feature. Specifically, the position calculated from the distance information to the feature and the direction information is set as a new estimated position of the vehicle 50. And the position specific | specification means 61 compares the new estimated position information regarding the new estimated position obtained from the positional information on the lane reference line information included in the lane NW data 25 and the peripheral information. Then, the position specifying means 61 specifies the position of the lane reference line including the position information of the position closest to the position indicated by the new estimated position information as the position on the lane NW data 25 of the vehicle 50. The position specified at this time may be indicated by a distance calculated from an end point of the lane reference line or by coordinates included in the lane reference line information. In the feature detection process, in addition to the information obtained from the millimeter wave radar and LIDAR, the image information obtained from the camera is used, and the feature color information is also used for matching the peripheral information and the feature data 26. be able to. Specifically, the information on the color feature points included in the image obtained from the imaging camera is matched with the template data for image recognition received in advance from the map server 20. The template data for image recognition stores information relating to the type of the feature and information relating to the color feature of the appearance of the feature in association with each other. Therefore, by matching the image information obtained from the camera with the template data, it is possible to specify which type of the feature included in the image. Further, the estimated position may be corrected using image information obtained from the camera instead of the millimeter wave radar or LIDAR.

  When the position of the vehicle 50 is specified by the position specifying process (step S28), the vehicle information management unit 60 determines whether or not the vehicle 50 has reached the destination (step S30). Whether or not the vehicle 50 has reached the destination is determined by the vehicle information management unit 60 comparing the position information of the vehicle 50 and the position information of the destination. As a result of the determination, if the vehicle 50 has reached the destination, the process ends (step S30: YES). If the vehicle 50 has not reached the destination (step S30: NO), the reliability based on the reliability data is obtained. The process proceeds to the data read necessity determination process (step S60).

  The control information output means 63 reads the feature data 26 associated with the lane reference line corresponding to the lane in which the vehicle 50 is currently traveling or the lane ahead of the route from the RAM of the vehicle 50. Here, the range ahead of the path from which the control information output means 63 reads the feature data 26 and the reliability data 27 associated with the feature data is a distance from the position of the vehicle 50, such as 100 meters away from the position of the vehicle 50. It may be defined by Or you may prescribe | regulate by the number of lane reference lines from the position where the vehicle 50 is drive | working now.

  Based on the feature data 26 read from the RAM of the vehicle 50, the control information output means 63 reads the reliability data 27 for driving support control in the lane in which the vehicle 50 is traveling or the lane ahead of the route. Is determined (step S60). If it is determined that the reliability data 27 for driving support control needs to be read in the lane in which the vehicle 50 is traveling or the lane ahead of the route (step S60: YES), the reliability associated with the feature data 26 is determined. The process proceeds to the reading process of the degree data 27 (step S62). Whether or not the reading process of the reliability data 27 for the driving support control is necessary is determined by reading the feature data 26 that needs the reading process of the reliability data 27 for the driving support control from the RAM of the vehicle 50. Judgment based on whether or not. For example, in the reliability data read necessity determination process (step S60), when the road shape feature data 26 indicating a speed limit sign or a sharp curve is read, the control information output means 63 needs speed control. Yes, it is determined that the reliability data 27 associated with the speed limit sign or the road shape feature data 26 needs to be read. Further, in the reliability data reading necessity determination process (step S60), when the feature data 26 relating to the road shape indicating a sharp curve or the road surface paint relating to the lane change is read, the control information output means 63 performs the steering control. It is determined that the reliability data 27 of the road shape and road paint feature data 26 needs to be read out.

  In the reliability data reading necessity determination process (step S60), when it is determined that the reliability data 27 for driving support control needs to be read (step S60: YES), the control information output means 63 reads the data. The reliability data 27 associated with the feature data 26 determined to be necessary is read from the RAM of the vehicle 50 (step S62).

  Then, the control information output unit 63 determines whether or not the attribute information associated with the reliability data 27 to the driving support control is usable based on the information indicated by the read reliability data 27, and then the vehicle operation control unit 56. The driving support control information is output to (step S64). At this time, the output driving support control information includes map data necessary for driving support control and information for driving support control based on the availability of the driving support control for each attribute information. For example, the reliability data 27 shown in Table 1 indicates that the display content, shape, and color of the sign can be trusted, but the position and height of the sign cannot be trusted. Therefore, the control information output means 63 may use the feature data 26 of the sign shown in Table 1 as information for speed control of the vehicle 50, but in the position specifying process (step S28) of the vehicle 50. Is determined not to be used. Then, the control information output means 63 outputs to the vehicle operation control unit 56 information indicating that the landmark feature data 26 shown in Table 1 should be used only as information for speed control. In this case, when the feature data 26 of the sign shown in Table 1 has already been used for the position specifying process (step S28), the position information related to the position specified based on the feature data 26 is discarded, The position specified based on the other feature data 26 may be the position of the vehicle 50. The reliability data 27 shown in Table 2 indicates that the display content of the sign is not reliable, but the position and height of the sign are reliable.

  On the other hand, the control information output means 63 can use the feature data 26 of the signs shown in Table 2 for the position specifying process (step S28) of the vehicle 50, but does not use it as information for speed control. Judge that it is better. Then, the control information output means 63 outputs information that the landmark feature data 26 shown in Table 2 should be used as information for specifying the position to the vehicle operation control unit 56. The vehicle operation control unit 56 executes vehicle speed control, steering control, and the like based on the driving support control information output from the control information output unit 63. For example, as the driving support control corresponding to the feature data 26 related to the signs shown in Table 1, the vehicle operation control unit 56 controls the brake and the accelerator so that the speed of the vehicle 50 does not exceed 80 km / h. Further, as the driving support control corresponding to the feature data 26 with high reliability of the attribute information indicating the sharply curved road shape, the vehicle operation control unit 56 performs steering not to depart from the lane in addition to the control of the brake and the accelerator. Take control. And after a driving assistance control information output process (step S64), it returns to an estimated position acquisition process (step S22).

  According to Example 1 demonstrated above, the driving assistance which considered the reliability for every attribute information of the feature data 26 is realizable. The control information output means 63 determines whether or not driving support control within a predetermined range ahead of the route is necessary. Then, the control information output means 63 determines that the attribute information of the feature data 26 is based on the reliability data 27 associated with each attribute information of the feature data 26 necessary for outputting the driving support control information. It is determined whether the information is highly reliable and may be used for support control. Thereafter, the control information output means 63 outputs information of the determination result and the feature data 26 to the vehicle operation control unit 56. Then, the vehicle operation control unit 56 performs driving support corresponding to the attribute information. Thus, the driving support system 10 according to the present embodiment determines whether to perform driving support control based on the attribute information of the feature data 26 according to whether each attribute information of the feature data 26 is reliable. Therefore, the vehicle 50 can be safely traveled according to the highly reliable feature data 26. In addition, since the use of attribute information for driving support control is determined for each attribute information, even when the reliability of some attribute information included in the feature data 26 decreases, the reliability decreases. Driving support control can be executed based on attribute information other than attribute information. Therefore, the continuity of the driving support control based on the feature data 26 can be improved.

<Modification 1>
The storage unit 23 may select and store one value from a plurality of reliability values as the reliability data 27 according to the degree of reliability. For example, as the reliability data 27, instead of data that is reliable or unreliable, data of a plurality of stages according to the degree of reliability may be stored. Data of a plurality of stages according to the degree of reliability is referred to as reliability level information. For example, five levels of values “5”, “4”, “3”, “2”, and “1” are stored in the storage unit 23 as the reliability level information of the reliability data 27. Here, the reliability is higher as the number of the reliability level information is larger. For example, the reliability level 5 is high reliability, the reliability level 4 is slightly high reliability, the reliability level 3 is medium reliability, the reliability level 2 is slightly low, and the reliability level 1 is Indicates that the reliability is low. An example of the reliability data 27 including the reliability level information is shown in Table 3.

  The reliability data 27 in Table 3 is reliability level 5 for shape information, reliability level 4 for display information, reliability level 3 for color information, and reliability level 1 for position information and height information. . In the driving support control information output process (step S64), the control information output means 63 trusts either the feature data 26 or the information obtained from the surrounding information acquisition unit 54 according to the reliability level information. Information indicating whether assistance is performed can be output in addition to the driving assistance control information. For example, when the reliability of the attribute information is high, the vehicle operation control unit 56 performs the driving support control by trusting the attribute information. In addition, when the reliability of the attribute information is medium, the vehicle operation control unit 56 performs the driving support control with the ratio of the surrounding information and the attribute information trusted in half. When the reliability of the attribute information is low, the vehicle operation control unit 56 performs the driving support control by relying on the surrounding information.

  A process for outputting the driving support control information based on the landmark feature data 26 and the reliability data 27 shown in Table 3 will be described. In the driving support control information output process (step S64), the control information output means 63 causes the vehicle operation control unit 56 to provide information related to driving support control based on reliability level information for each attribute information of the feature data 26, and driving. The map data including the feature data 26 necessary for the support control is output. For example, when the reliability data 27 in Table 3 is read by the reliability data reading process (step S62), the control information output means 63 uses the shape information of the reliability level 5 for driving support control. Determine that it is possible. The control information output means 63 may be used for driving support control because the reliability of the display information at the reliability level 4 is slightly high. Determine that it should be done. The control information output means 63 may use the color information of the reliability level 3 for the driving support control because the reliability is medium, but should perform the driving support control by increasing the control ratio based on the peripheral information. Judge that there is. The control information output means 63 determines that the position information and height information at the reliability level 1 should not be used for driving support control because the reliability is low. And the control information output means 63 is information that should not be used as the information for specifying the detailed position of the vehicle 50 with respect to the feature data 26 of the sign shown in Table 3, and for the speed control of the vehicle 50. Information that can be used as information, but for the display information, the control rate based on the surrounding information is slightly increased, and for the color information, the control rate based on the surrounding information is increased. To the unit 56. When the vehicle operation control unit 56 performs speed control, the vehicle operation control unit 56 displays the peripheral information and the feature data 26 in the recognition processing of the display content of the sign corresponding to the feature data 26 of Table 3 obtained by the peripheral information acquisition unit 54. When the information indicated by the information is different, the driving support is performed in which the information indicated by the display information of the feature data 26 is trusted. The driving support control that trusts the information indicated by the feature data 26 may be vehicle control according to the information indicated by the feature data 26, or by re-acquiring peripheral information and re-comparison with the feature data 26. May be performed. Similarly, with regard to the recognition process of the color of the sign, if the peripheral information and the information indicated by the display information of the feature data 26 are different, neither information is reliable and the information indicated by the feature data 26 Avoid driving assistance based on any of the surrounding information.

  The driving support system 10 of the first modification varies the driving support control of the vehicle 50 according to the reliability data 27 including the reliability level information. Thus, the driving support system 10 can execute driving support control in consideration of how much the feature data 26 may be trusted and executed for each attribute of the feature data 26. . Therefore, for example, it becomes possible to perform the driving support control with some confidence in the feature data 26 as the assistance of the sensor or the camera, and the continuity of the driving support control based on the feature data 26 is increased, so that the safety is improved. High driving support can be realized.

<Example 2>
As shown in FIG. 4, the driving support system 10 as the driving support apparatus in this embodiment includes a probe server 70, a difference information creating unit 65 and a vehicle transmission information creating unit 66 in the vehicle information management unit 60 of the vehicle 50. And the point that the map server information management unit 30 of the map server 20 includes the reliability data update means 35 is different from the driving support system 10 of the first embodiment and the first modification. Since the other components of the driving support system 10 in the present embodiment are the same as those of the driving support system 10 of the first embodiment and the modification 1, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, Detailed description is omitted.

  The map server 20, the probe server 70, and the vehicle 50 are communicably connected to each other via the Internet INT as a communication line and the base station 15. The probe server 70 is connected to a plurality of vehicles 50 so as to be communicable.

  The difference information creating means 65 includes the feature status included in the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquiring unit 54 and the feature indicated by the feature data 26 received from the map server 20 in the map data receiving process (step S26). It is determined whether or not there is a difference in the situation. When there is a difference between the situation of the feature included in the surrounding information and the situation of the feature indicated by the feature data 26, the surrounding information cannot be obtained sufficiently, or the feature data 26 has an error. and so on. For example, in the place where the feature data 26 is supposed to have a speed limit sign of 80 km / h, if the surrounding information about the contents of the sign cannot be acquired in the dark, the feature data 26 about the contents of the sign indicates There is a difference between the situation of the feature and the situation of the feature indicated by the surrounding information. Details of the method for determining whether there is a difference will be described later.

  The vehicle transmission information creating means 66 creates information (hereinafter also referred to as difference information) regarding the presence / absence of a difference between the feature status indicated by the attribute information of the feature data 26 and the feature status included in the surrounding information. Specifically, the vehicle transmission information creation unit 66 indicates the feature data ID information, the attribute information, and the presence / absence of the difference for each attribute information of the feature data 26 determined to be different by the difference information creation unit 65. Create information that correlates information. Details of the method for creating the difference information will be described later.

  The probe server 70 includes a probe server information management unit 71. The probe server information management unit 71 includes a reliability determination unit 72, an update information creation unit 73, a probe server communication unit 74, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory) not shown. ). The CPU of the probe server information management unit 71 reads out various programs stored in the ROM, develops them in the RAM, and executes them to realize functions related to the various programs. The reliability determination means 72, the update information creation means 73, and the probe server communication means 74 are all functions realized by a program.

  The reliability determination unit 72 determines the reliability of the reliability information included in the reliability data 27 based on the difference information received from the vehicle 50. Specifically, the reliability determination unit 72 determines the reliability based on the number of pieces of difference information received from the plurality of vehicles 50. When the probe server 70 receives difference information from a plurality of vehicles for the same feature attribute information, the feature status indicated by the surrounding information and the feature status indicated by the feature data 26 for the attribute information of the feature. There is a high possibility that the difference is actually occurring. Therefore, when the difference information equal to or greater than a preset threshold value is received from the plurality of vehicles 50 for the attribute information of the feature, the reliability determination unit 72 determines that the reliability of the attribute information has decreased. For example, if it is preset that the reliability is changed when the probe server 70 receives three or more pieces of difference information, the attribute information of the feature data 26 is determined to be different in one vehicle in which a sensor or camera has failed. Even if the difference information is transmitted, it is determined that there is no difference in the other plurality of vehicles 50. If the difference information is not transmitted, the reliability determination means 72 determines that no difference has occurred. To do. Details of the reliability determination process will be described later.

  The update information creation unit 73 creates update information to be transmitted from the probe server 70 to the map server 20. The update information is information including the new reliability determined by the reliability determination unit 72. The new reliability determined by the reliability determination unit, the attribute information corresponding to the reliability, and the attribute information are This is information that associates ID information of included features. Details of the update information creation processing will be described later.

  The probe server communication unit 74 controls a probe server communication unit (not shown) so as to communicate with the vehicle 50 and the map server 20 at a predetermined timing.

  The reliability data update unit 35 of the map server 20 updates the reliability data 27 based on the update information received from the probe server 70. Details of the update processing of the reliability data 27 will be described later.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process in the present embodiment. The flow of FIG. 5 is a process performed in parallel with the position specifying process (step S28) of the flow of the first embodiment shown in FIG. The same steps in the present embodiment and the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The procedure of the driving support process will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the surrounding information acquisition part 54 of the vehicle 50 acquires surrounding information (step S70). The acquisition method is the same as the peripheral information acquisition process in the position specifying process (step S28). Next, the difference information creation unit 65 determines whether there is a difference between the feature status indicated by the peripheral information and the feature status indicated by the feature data 26 for the feature to be detected (step S72). Specifically, in the position specifying process (step 28), the position specifying unit 61 estimates a region where the detection target feature included in the peripheral information is present. Then, the difference information creation unit 65 compares the feature status indicated by the attribute information included in the feature data 26 with the feature status included in the region where the feature is estimated to exist. The comparison method varies depending on the attribute. For example, for the position information, the difference information creating unit 65 determines whether the feature to be detected exists in the area where the feature is estimated to exist and whether the position of the feature is correct. . The feature location method at this time is the same as the location specification process (step S28). For the shape information, the difference information creating unit 65 is different from the shape of the detection target feature indicated by the shape information and the shape of the detection target feature included in the region where the feature is estimated to exist. It is determined whether or not. At this time, the vehicle 50 performs matching between the shape information and the surrounding information using template data corresponding to the shape information received from the map server 20 in advance. The template data is data that is stored in association with information on a shape that is frequently seen in a feature, such as a round shape, a triangle, or an inverted triangle, and information on the type of the feature. When matching the shape of the feature indicated by the shape information and the shape of the feature included in the surrounding information, based on the degree of coincidence between the shape information included in the template data and the shape of the feature included in the surrounding information It can be determined whether the shape of the feature included in the peripheral information matches the shape information of the feature data 26. The difference information creating unit 65 performs such comparison processing for all the attribute information included in the feature data 26. When the comparison processing regarding all the attribute information included in the feature data 26 to be detected is completed, the feature status indicated by the attribute information included in the feature data 26 and the feature status indicated by the surrounding information are obtained. If all the attribute information included in the feature data 26 of the detection target feature matches, the flow returns to the peripheral information acquisition process (step S70). In addition, the feature status indicated by the attribute information included in the feature data 26 and the feature status indicated by the surrounding information do not match in the attribute information included in the feature data 26 of the feature to be detected. If there is, the process proceeds to the difference information creation process (step S74).

  The vehicle transmission information creating means 66 creates difference information to be transmitted to the probe server 70 for the feature data 26 determined to have a difference in the difference determination process (step S72) (step S74). The difference information includes ID information for identifying the feature data 26, attribute information having a difference, and information regarding the presence or absence of the difference. For example, in the feature data 26 shown in Table 1, when it is determined that there is a difference between the display information and the shape information, the vehicle update information creation unit 73 uses the feature ID: 100001, the display information: there is a difference, and the shape information: The difference information is created by associating the information that there is a difference. The difference information created by the vehicle transmission information creating unit 66 is transmitted to the probe server 70 via the vehicle communication unit 55.

  The probe server 70 receives difference information from the plurality of vehicles 50 (step S80). When the difference information is received, the reliability determination means 72 totals the difference information for each feature ID information and attribute information included in the difference information. Specifically, the reliability determination means 72 counts the number of pieces of difference information having the same feature ID information and attribute information, that is, overlapping difference information. And the reliability determination means 72 determines whether the number of difference information is larger than the preset threshold value. When the number of pieces of difference information is larger than a preset threshold value, the reliability determination unit 72 changes the reliability of the attribute information to be determined. For example, it is assumed that the probe server 70 receives difference information from the plurality of vehicles 50 for the display information of the reliability data 27 shown in Table 1. Then, if the number of received difference information is greater than a predetermined threshold value (for example, 10), the reliability determination unit 72 changes the reliability from reliability to no reliability. The threshold value for the number of pieces of difference information for changing the reliability can be set as appropriate.

  The update information creation means 73 creates update information including the reliability determined by the reliability determination process (step S82) (step S84). Specifically, the update information creating unit 73 associates the reliability determined by the reliability determination process (step S82), attribute information corresponding to the reliability, and ID information of the feature including the attribute information. Create updated information. Then, the probe server communication unit 74 transmits the update information created by the update information creation unit 73 to the map server 20 via a probe server communication unit (not shown) (step S86).

  The map server 20 receives the update information from the probe server 70 (step S90). Then, the reliability data update unit 35 updates the reliability data 27 stored in the storage unit 23 based on the update information. Specifically, the reliability data update unit 35 searches the reliability data 27 in the storage unit 23 using the feature ID information and attribute information of the feature data 26 included in the update information as search keys. Then, the reliability of the reliability data 27 obtained as a search result is updated to the reliability included in the update information. For example, when the reliability data 27 is updated based on the update information related to the display information of the reliability data 27 shown in Table 1, the reliability data update unit 35 includes: feature ID information: 100001, attribute information: display information. Corresponding reliability data 27 is searched from the storage unit 23, and the reliability of the reliability data 27 extracted as a search result is updated from ○ indicating reliability to x indicating no reliability.

  The driving support system 10 according to the second embodiment compares the situation of the feature indicated by the peripheral information acquired by the vehicle 50 with the situation of the feature indicated by the feature data 26. 70. Then, the probe server 70 creates reliability update information of the reliability data 27 associated with the feature data 26 according to the number of difference information, and the map server 20 trusts the reliability data 27 based on the update information. The degree is updated. Thereby, the reliability of the reliability data 27 can be updated based on the peripheral information acquired by the vehicle 50. By doing so, the state of the feature included in the surrounding information and the feature data 26 are compared, and the latest reliability data 27 reflecting how much the feature data 26 is reliable is stored in the map server 20. can do. Therefore, the driving assistance system 10 can execute driving assistance control based on the latest reliability data 27, and can realize driving assistance with higher safety.

<Modification 2>
When reliability level information is included as the reliability data 27, the reliability determination means 72 may determine the reliability level based on the difference information. During the reliability determination process (step S82), the reliability determination means 72 lowers the reliability level for the reliability data 27 in which the number of pieces of difference information is greater than the threshold value. For example, it is assumed that the number of pieces of difference information related to the display information of the reliability data 27 in Table 3 is 5 or more which is a preset threshold value for reducing the reliability level. Then, the reliability determination means 72 lowers the reliability level of the display information of the reliability data 27 in Table 3 from 4 to 3.

  When the reliability level is determined, the update information creating unit 73 creates update information including the reliability level information (step S84). The update information is information in which reliability level information, attribute information corresponding to the reliability level information, and feature ID information including the attribute information are associated with each other. And the probe server communication means 74 transmits update information to the map server 20 (step S86).

  When receiving the update information (step S90), the map server 20 updates the reliability data according to the update information (step S92). Specifically, the reliability data update unit 35 searches the reliability data 27 based on the feature ID information and attribute information of the feature data 26 included in the update information. Then, the reliability level of the reliability data 27 obtained as a search result is updated to the reliability level included in the update information.

  Note that the threshold value set in the reliability determination process (step S82) can be set as appropriate. Each time the probe server 70 receives 10 pieces of difference information, the reliability level may be lowered one by one, or a threshold value for lowering the reliability level may be set for each reliability level. For example, 10 threshold values may be lowered from the reliability level 5 to the reliability level 4, 15 threshold values may be lowered from the reliability level 4 to the reliability level 3, and the like.

<Example 3>
The components of the driving support system 10 as the driving support device in the present embodiment are the same as those of the driving support system 10 of the second embodiment, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. Like the reliability data 27 described in the first and second modifications, the reliability data 27 in the present embodiment includes the first and second embodiments in that it includes reliability level information corresponding to the degree of reliability. Different from 2.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the driving support process in the present embodiment. The flow in FIG. 6 differs from the second embodiment in that the difference information transmission necessity determination (step S78) is executed after the flow difference determination process (step S72) in the second embodiment shown in FIG. The same steps in the present embodiment and the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The procedure of the driving support process will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, when the vehicle 50 determines that the difference between the situation of the feature indicated by the surrounding information for the same feature and the situation of the feature indicated by the feature data 26 has continuously occurred a predetermined number of times, The vehicle 50 transmits the difference information to the probe server 70. A transmission setting that determines how many times a difference between the situation of the feature indicated by the peripheral information and the situation of the feature indicated by the feature data 26 is to be transmitted from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70 Information is transmitted from the map server 20 to the vehicle 50 in advance and stored in the RAM of the vehicle 50. The transmission setting information is information in which the number of times that the difference between the situation of the feature indicated by the peripheral information and the situation of the feature indicated by the feature data 26 has continuously occurred and the reliability level are associated with each other. Thus, the transmission setting included in the transmission setting information is set according to the reliability of the feature data 26. An example of transmission setting information is shown in Table 4.

  First, the vehicle transmission information creation unit 66 reads reliability level information associated with attribute information determined to have a difference by the difference determination process (step S72) from the RAM of the vehicle 50. And the vehicle transmission information preparation means 66 counts the frequency | count that it was determined with the difference continuously about the attribute information determined with the difference in a difference determination process (step S72). The vehicle transmission information creation means 66 extracts the transmission setting number corresponding to the reliability level indicated by the reliability level information associated with the attribute information determined to be different from the transmission setting information. And if the frequency | count determined as having a difference continuously reaches more than transmission setting frequency | count, the vehicle communication means 64 will perform a difference information creation process (step S74) (step S78: YES). If the number of times that there is a continuous difference is less than the set number of transmissions, the process returns to the peripheral information acquisition process (step S70) (step S78: NO). For example, when determining the necessity of transmission by applying the transmission setting information shown in Table 4, if the reliability level associated with the attribute information is 1, the vehicle 50 has a difference in the difference determination process (step S72). The difference information creation process (step S74) and the difference information transmission process (step S76) are not executed until the number of times determined to have reached 5 (step S78: NO). If it is determined that there is no difference in the difference determination process (step S72) before the number of times determined to have a difference in the difference determination process (step S72) reaches the transmission set number, the vehicle transmission information creation unit 66 Reset the count of the number of times determined to be different. For example, when the transmission setting information shown in Table 4 is applied to determine whether transmission is necessary, the number of determinations that there is a difference in the difference determination process (step S72) in the feature having a reliability level of 1 associated with the attribute information. After reaching 3 times, if it is determined that there is no difference in the fourth determination, the vehicle transmission information creating means 66 discards the previous 3 counts.

  When it is determined by the difference information transmission necessity determination process (step S78) that the difference information needs to be transmitted (step S78: YES), the vehicle transmission information creating unit 66 creates the difference information (step S74), The vehicle communication means 64 transmits the difference information via the vehicle communication unit 55 (step S76). Information included in the difference information transmitted here is the same as that in the second modification.

  Thereafter, the probe server 70 and the map server 20 execute the same processes as the difference information reception process (step S80) to the reliability data update process (step 92) in the second modification.

  Since the feature data 26 with low reliability is a feature that is highly likely to have a difference, if the same difference information is transmitted a plurality of times, the communication fee from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70 increases. The highly reliable feature data 26 is a feature that is unlikely to have a difference. Therefore, if there is a difference, there is a high possibility that the feature data 26 has a difference. The driving support system 10 according to the third embodiment determines whether or not the vehicle 50 transmits the difference information to the probe server 70 as to the number of times that the same attribute information of the same feature is continuously determined to be different and the feature information. Determine based on the reliability level of attribute information. This eliminates the need to transmit the difference information for the feature data 26 with low reliability every time a difference occurs, thereby reducing the amount of communication from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70.

  Aspects described in all or part of the embodiments described above provide a device for appropriately guiding a moving body and a data structure of data usable for the device, an improvement in processing speed, and an improvement in processing accuracy. , Improvement of usability, improvement of functions using data or provision of appropriate functions, provision of other functions or provision of appropriate functions, reduction of data and / or program capacity, reduction in size of devices and / or systems, etc. Data, programs, recording media, devices and / or systems, and data, programs such as data, program, device or system production / manufacturing cost reduction, production / manufacturing ease, production / manufacturing time reduction, etc. Any one of the problems of appropriate production / manufacturing of a recording medium, apparatus and / or system is solved.

<Modification 3>
The feature ID information included in the feature data 26 may be stored in the storage unit 23 as attribute information of the feature data 26. Which of the information included in the feature data 26 is defined as attribute information can be set as appropriate.

<Modification 4>
Among the attribute information, for display information, shape information, color information, etc., a correspondence table in which IDs are associated with each content indicated by the information is prepared, and the value of the ID is stored as attribute information. Also good. The display information may be divided and stored in a plurality of information. For example, display information indicating a speed limit of 80 km / h may be stored in the storage unit 23 as a plurality of pieces of attribute information including speed limit presence / absence information: presence and speed limit information: 80 km / h.

<Modification 5>
The reliability data 27 does not need to be associated with all the attribute information included in the feature data 26, and may be associated with at least one attribute information. Further, it is not necessary to associate the reliability data 27 with all the feature data 26 included in the storage unit 23, and the reliability data 27 may be associated with a part of the feature data 26 stored in the storage unit 23. . For example, the reliability data 27 may be associated with the feature data 26 in some areas, or the reliability data 27 may be associated with some types of feature data 26.

<Modification 6>
The feature data 26 may be associated with the road NW data 24. In this case, ID information for identifying link data included in the road NW data 24 is included in the feature data 26 and stored. Further, the ID of the feature data 26 may be included in the link data and stored. Further, in the position specifying process (step S28), the position specifying means 61 compares the new estimated position information related to the new estimated position obtained from the position information of the link data and the surrounding information included in the road NW data 24. . Then, the position specifying unit 61 specifies the position of the link data including the position information of the position closest to the position indicated by the new estimated position information as the position on the link data of the vehicle 50. Thereafter, the control information output means 63 reads the feature data 26 associated with the road NW data 24 corresponding to the road on which the vehicle 50 is currently traveling or the road ahead of the route from the RAM of the vehicle 50, and reads the reliability data. Necessity determination processing (step S60) is executed.

<Modification 7>
The output of the driving support control information by the control information output means 63 may be performed according to setting information set in advance by the user or manufacturer of the vehicle 50 in addition to the information obtained from the feature data 26. For example, even if the feature data 26 indicates that there is a speed limit sign of 80 km / h, the user or the manufacturer travels at 60 km / h on the vehicle 50 in advance. When the setting is performed, the control information output unit 63 gives priority to the setting information of the user and the manufacturer, and outputs driving support control information such that the vehicle 50 travels at 60 km / h.

<Modification 8>
The control information output means 63 may output a voice or an image for calling attention to the output unit 52 using the movement guide information and map data read from the RAM of the vehicle 50. For example, when the current position of the vehicle 50 and the position of the point where the driving support control is necessary are approached, a voice for guiding that the driving support control point is close may be output by a speaker.

<Modification 9>
What kind of driving support control is performed in accordance with the reliability level can be set as appropriate. For example, in the driving support control information output process (step S64), if the reliability level is 4 or more, the attribute information corresponding to the reliability level is used for driving support, and if the reliability level is 3 or less, it corresponds. The control information output means 63 may determine that the attribute information is not used for driving support.

<Modification 10>
The difference information may be data in which the feature ID and the attribute information are associated for each attribute information. For example, when the difference information creating unit 65 determines that there is a difference between the display information and the shape information of the feature data 26 shown in Table 1, the difference information creating unit 65 has the feature ID: 100001, the display information: there is a difference. , And information of feature ID: 100001 and information of shape information: there is a difference are created. In addition, as the difference information, information including information indicating no difference may be created. For example, in the feature data 26 shown in Table 1, for the position information, height information, and color information determined to have no difference, difference information including information indicating no difference is created. Further, the difference information includes ID information for identifying the feature data 26 and attribute information having a difference, and may not include information regarding the presence or absence of the difference.

<Modification 11>
The reliability determination process (step S82) may be executed by the map server 20. In this case, the probe server 70 receives the difference information from the plurality of vehicles 50, and totals the difference information for each feature ID information and attribute information included in the difference information. Then, the totaled results are transmitted to the map server 20, and the map server 20 executes a reliability determination process (step S82).

<Modification 12>
In the difference information transmission necessity determination process (step S86), the difference between the situation of the feature indicated by the peripheral information and the situation of the feature indicated by the feature data 26 for the same feature is a predetermined number of times in a predetermined period. The difference information may be transmitted from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70 when it occurs continuously. Table 5 shows the transmission setting information in this case.

  When the transmission setting shown in Table 5 is applied and the vehicle transmission information creating unit 66 executes the difference information transmission necessity determination process (step S78), for example, the reliability level associated with the attribute information of the feature data 26 is set. If it is 4, until the difference determination process (step S72) continuously determines that there is a difference in two weeks, the vehicle 50 performs the difference information creation process (step S74) and the difference information transmission process (step S76). Is not executed (step S78: NO). If it is continuously determined that there is a difference in the difference determination process (step S72) during two weeks, the vehicle transmission information creation unit 66 executes the difference information creation process (step S74) (step S78: YES). In addition, in the difference information transmission necessity determination process (step S78), the number of determinations of the difference and the period until the difference information is transmitted can be set as appropriate. In addition, in the difference information transmission necessity determination process (step S78), the vehicle transmission information creation unit 66 may continue counting the number of times without resetting the number of times even when it is determined that there is no difference.

<Modification 13>
The probe server 70 may request the vehicle 50 for transmission of the difference information. For example, for feature data 26 with low reliability, in order to collect a large amount of difference information, if it is determined that there is a difference in the difference determination process (step S72), the probe is configured to transmit all the difference information to the probe server 70. The server 70 may request the vehicle 50. Further, the probe server 70 may request that the difference information be transmitted only to the vehicle 50 existing in a predetermined area or region. Further, the probe server 70 may request the vehicle 50 to transmit the difference information in a predetermined period. For example, the difference information may be transmitted from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70 only in the daytime when it is easy to obtain the peripheral information. Further, when it is difficult to acquire the peripheral information due to congestion such as an event date, the difference information may not be transmitted from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70.

<Modification 14>
Depending on the reliability of the feature data 26 indicated by the reliability data 27, the feature data 26 may be updated. For example, the feature data 26 including the attribute information whose reliability is determined to be low is extracted, and the researcher confirms by performing a field survey whether or not the situation indicated by the feature data 26 matches the actual situation. Thus, the feature data 26 may be updated according to the confirmation result. In this case, the criteria for extracting the feature data 26 to be investigated can be set as appropriate. Further, the difference information including the peripheral information may be transmitted from the vehicle 50 to the probe server 70, and the probe server 70 may collectively transmit the peripheral information for each feature ID to the map server 20. Then, the map server 20 updates the feature data 26 based on the peripheral information received from the probe server 70. The feature data 26 may be updated by automatically analyzing an image or the like included in the peripheral information, or an operator may check the image or the like included in the peripheral information and input data. In this case as well, the feature data 26 may be updated based on the survey result after the surveyor conducts a field survey.

<Modification 15>
The map data may be stored in a vehicle storage unit (not shown) of the vehicle 50. At this time, all the data included in the map data may be stored in the vehicle storage unit, or a part of the data included in the map data may be stored. Further, the storage unit 23 of the map server 20 and the vehicle storage unit of the vehicle 50 may store the same data in a duplicated manner, or may store the data so as not to overlap each other.

<Modification 16>
The feature data 26 may have a data structure including information on reliability. An example in which information related to reliability is associated with each attribute information of the feature data 26 will be described. When information about reliability is associated with the feature data 26 related to the signs shown in Table 1, for example, for color information, data of color information: red, reliability ○ (with reliability) is stored as the feature data 26 in the storage unit 23. Is remembered. The association between the feature data 26 and the reliability data 27 can be appropriately set as described above.

<Modification 17>
In the above embodiment, the driving support system 10 includes the map data acquisition unit 31, the route search unit 32, the movement guide information generation unit 33, and the storage unit 23 in the vehicle 50, and the vehicle information management unit 60 includes the map data acquisition unit 31. The route search unit 32, the travel guide information creation unit 33, the reliability data update unit, and the storage unit 23 may be controlled.

10 ... Driving support system,
15 ... Base station,
20 ... Map server,
21 ... Map server communication department,
23 ... storage part,
24 ... Road network data,
25 ... Lane network data,
26 ... feature data,
27 ... Reliability data,
30 ... Map server information management department,
31 ... Map data acquisition means,
32 ... route search means,
33. Movement guide information creation means,
34 ... Map server communication means,
35. Reliability data updating means,
50 ... vehicle,
51 ... Input section,
52 ... output section,
53 ... position acquisition unit,
54 ... Peripheral information acquisition unit,
55. Vehicle communication part,
56 ... Vehicle operation control unit,
60 ... Vehicle information management unit,
61 ... position specifying means,
62 ... route guidance means,
63 ... control information output means,
64 ... vehicle communication means,
65 ... difference information creation means,
66 ... Vehicle transmission information creation means,
70: Probe server,
71 ... Probe server information management unit,
72. Reliability determination means,
73 ... update information creation means,
74 ... Probe server communication means,
INT ... Internet.

Claims (8)

A driving support system that supports driving of a moving object,
A storage unit that stores position information related to the position of features around a road or reliability information related to reliability of information that means the feature, in association with each attribute information of the feature;
A driving support system comprising: an information management unit that determines driving support content of the mobile object based on the reliability information. The driving support system according to claim 1,
The reliability information is stored in association with at least one of the plurality of attribute information included in the feature information related to the feature. The driving support system according to claim 1 or 2,
The reliability information includes a plurality of pieces of information for executing a plurality of different driving supports for the moving body. The driving support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The driving assistance system characterized in that the reliability information is defined as multiple levels of reliability level information corresponding to the degree of reliability. The driving support system according to claim 3 further includes:
A difference information creating unit that creates difference information that is a difference between the peripheral information about the feature acquired by the mobile object and the attribute information of the feature;
The driving support content to be executed based on the plurality of information is determined based on the difference information. The driving support system according to claim 4 further includes:
A difference information creating unit for creating difference information that is a difference between the peripheral information acquired by the mobile object and the attribute information of the feature;
The driving support system in which the level of the reliability level information is determined based on the difference information. The driving support system according to claim 5 or 6,
The frequency of creating the difference information is a driving support system determined based on the plurality of pieces of information. The driving support system according to claim 5, wherein
The difference information creation unit is configured to continuously generate a difference between the feature information included in the surrounding information and the attribute information of the feature related to the feature for a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period. A driving support system that creates the difference information when it occurs.

Images