JP2020121614A - Travel support method and travel support device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a travel support method and a travel support device capable of generating an efficient route when there exists an obstacle in the front of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A travel support device 1 includes a sensor 10 that is mounted on a vehicle and detects a position of an object in the front of the vehicle, and a controller 20 which sets a travel route of the vehicle on the basis of the position of an object detected by the sensor 10. The controller 20 detects the obstacle from the position of the object detected using the sensor 10, sets a travel possible area excluding the obstacle in the travel route, sets a plurality of segments connecting points on a boundary line between the sensor and the travel possible area, selects the longest segment among the plurality of set segments, classifies whether there is on the right side or left side with respect to the selected longest segment in a vehicle width direction when viewed from the sensor, resets the travel possible area on the basis of the classified result, and generates the travel route of the vehicle in the reset travel possible area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a driving support method and a driving support device.

There is known a method of determining whether or not an own vehicle can travel on a traveling path when an obstacle exists in front of the own vehicle (Patent Document 1). The invention described in Patent Document 1 extracts feature points that characterize the shape of the assumed route from the detection points that represent the boundaries of the traveling road and the detection points that represent obstacles, and calculates the distance between the feature points and the assumed route. Then, based on the calculated distance, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle can travel on the traveling road.

JP, 2015-36842, A

When a plurality of assumed routes are generated, the invention described in Patent Document 1 compares the distance between the assumed route and the feature points and selects the assumed route having the maximum distance. However, the assumed route with the maximum distance is not always an efficient route.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is a travel support method and a travel support device capable of generating an efficient route when an obstacle exists in front of the host vehicle. Is to provide.

A travel support method according to one aspect of the present invention detects an obstacle, sets a travelable area excluding the obstacle in a track, and forms a plurality of line segments connecting a sensor and a point on a boundary line of the travelable area. Set, select the longest line segment from the set multiple line segments, classify whether the obstacle is on the left or right in the vehicle width direction as seen from the sensor for the selected longest line segment, Based on the classified result, the travelable area is reset, and the travel route of the vehicle is generated in the resettable travelable area.

According to the present invention, an efficient route can be generated when an obstacle exists in front of the host vehicle.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a traveling support device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a travelable area according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a traveling scene according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an obstacle classification method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an obstacle classification method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a travelable area resetting method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the driving support device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a traveling scene according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a travelable area resetting method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection point storage method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a driving scene according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of an obstacle classification method according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a travelable area resetting method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

(Example of configuration of driving support device 1)
An example of the configuration of the driving support device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving assistance device 1 includes a sensor 10, a camera 11, a GPS receiver 12, a map database 13, and a controller 20.

The driving assistance device 1 may be mounted on a vehicle having an automatic driving function or may be mounted on a vehicle having no automatic driving function. Further, the driving assistance device 1 may be mounted on a vehicle capable of switching between automatic driving and manual driving. In addition, the automatic driving in the present embodiment refers to a state in which at least one of the actuators such as the brake, the accelerator, and the steering is controlled without an occupant's operation. Therefore, other actuators may be operated by the operation of the occupant. Further, the automatic operation may be a state in which any control such as acceleration/deceleration control and lateral position control is being executed. Further, the manual driving in the present embodiment refers to a state in which an occupant is operating the brake, accelerator, and steering, for example.

The sensor 10 is a device that is mounted on the host vehicle and detects an object around the host vehicle. The sensor 10 includes a laser radar, a millimeter wave radar, a laser range finder, a sonar, and the like. The sensor 10 detects moving objects including other vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians, and stationary objects including obstacles, falling objects, and parked vehicles as objects around the vehicle. Further, the sensor 10 detects the position, posture (yaw angle), size, speed, acceleration, deceleration, and yaw rate of the moving object and the stationary object with respect to the host vehicle. Further, the sensor 10 may include a wheel speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, a gyro sensor, and the like. The sensor 10 outputs the detected information to the controller 20.

The camera 11 is mounted on the own vehicle and takes an image of the surroundings of the own vehicle. The camera 11 has an image sensor such as a CCD (charge-coupled device) or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor). The camera 11 has an image processing function, and detects a white line, a road boundary line, a road edge, a target object, etc. from the captured image (camera image). The target is an object provided on a road or a sidewalk, such as a traffic light, a telephone pole, or a traffic sign. The camera 11 outputs the captured image, the analysis result of the image, and the like to the controller 20. The camera 11 can also detect obstacles around the host vehicle, like the sensor 10. Hereinafter, the camera 11 will be described as being included in the sensor 10.

The GPS receiver 12 detects the position of the own vehicle on the ground (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the own position) by receiving the radio wave from the artificial satellite. The GPS receiver 12 outputs the detected position information of the own vehicle to the controller 20.

The map database 13 is a database stored in a car navigation device or the like, and stores various data necessary for route guidance such as road information and facility information. The map database 13 also stores information such as the number of lanes on the road, road boundaries, and targets. The map database 13 outputs map information to the controller 20 in response to a request from the controller 20. Various data such as road information and target information is not necessarily acquired from the map database 13, and may be acquired by the sensor 10 or by using vehicle-to-vehicle communication or road-to-vehicle communication. Good. In addition, when various data such as road information and target information is stored in an externally installed server, the controller 20 may obtain these data from the server at any time through communication. Further, the controller 20 may periodically obtain the latest map information from an externally installed server and update the stored map information.

The controller 20 is a general-purpose microcomputer including a CPU (central processing unit), a memory, and an input/output unit. A computer program for causing the driving support device 1 to function is installed in the microcomputer. By executing the computer program, the microcomputer functions as a plurality of information processing circuits included in the travel support device 1. Here, an example in which a plurality of information processing circuits included in the driving support device 1 are realized by software is shown. However, of course, dedicated hardware for executing each information processing described below is prepared to perform information processing. It is also possible to configure a circuit. Further, the plurality of information processing circuits may be configured by individual hardware. The controller 20, as a plurality of information processing circuits, includes a stationary object recognition unit 21, a self-position estimation unit 22, a road boundary line acquisition unit 23, a drivable area setting unit 24, a far point setting unit 25, and left and right classification. The unit 26, a travelable area resetting unit 27, a target route generating unit 28, and a vehicle control unit 29 are provided.

The stationary object recognition unit 21 recognizes an object around the vehicle based on the information acquired from the sensor 10. The object here is a stationary object (hereinafter simply referred to as a stationary object). Stationary objects include parked vehicles, telephone poles, falling objects, and the like. Further, the stationary object may include a construction site.

The self-position estimation unit 22 estimates the self-position on the map based on the information acquired from the GPS receiver 12. The road boundary line acquisition unit 23 acquires a road boundary line from the map database 13 or the sensor 10. The road boundary line is a travel division line that divides a road, and is mainly a white line.

The drivable area setting unit 24 sets a drivable area in which the vehicle can travel. Details of the travelable area will be described later. The far point setting unit 25 sets a virtual point in a space where the distance from the sensor 10 is the longest in the travelable area. The left/right classification unit 26 classifies whether the obstacle ahead of the vehicle is on the left or right as viewed from the sensor 10.

The drivable area resetting unit 27 resets the drivable area based on the result of classification by the left and right classification unit 26. The target route generation unit 28 generates a route of the host vehicle in the travelable area reset by the travelable area resetting unit 27. The vehicle control unit 29 controls the actuator 40 so as to pass through the route set by the target route generation unit 28. The actuator 40 includes a brake actuator, an accelerator actuator, a steering actuator and the like.

Next, the travelable area in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the travelable region R in the present embodiment is a region on the road where a vehicle can travel, such as on a roadway, and is a predetermined region centered on the host vehicle 50. The running path means a path on which a vehicle can travel, such as a roadway or a running path in a parking lot, but the following description will be given by taking the roadway as an example. The predetermined area may be set depending on the performance (resolution) of the sensor 10 or may be set to an initial value. In the present embodiment, the travelable region R will be described as being set according to the performance of the sensor 10. For example, when the detection distance of the sensor 10 is 200 m, the road that is included in a circle having a radius of 200 m with the host vehicle 50 as the center is the travelable region R. The travelable region R is not limited to a circular shape, and may be a rectangular shape centering on the host vehicle 50 or a polygonal shape. Reference numeral 60 shown in FIG. 2 is a boundary line that forms the travelable region R.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an example of the traveling scene of the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, two obstacles 70 and 71 exist in front of the host vehicle 50. Obstacles include falling objects and parked vehicles. In this embodiment, the obstacle 70 is a falling object and the obstacle 71 is a parked vehicle. The obstacles 70 and 71 are objects on the road on which the vehicle 50 travels.

As shown in FIG. 3, the obstacle 70 exists near the center of the road, and the obstacle 71 exists at the end of the road. More specifically, the obstacle 70 exists slightly to the left of the center of the roadway. In other words, the distance L1 from the obstacle 70 to the road boundary line 90 is shorter than the distance L2 from the obstacle 70 to the road boundary line 91. The distances L1 and L2 are longer than the vehicle width of the host vehicle 50. The left and right in FIG. 3 are defined as the left and right when the traveling direction of the host vehicle 50 is the front. In the following description, “left and right” means the left and right direction when the traveling direction is the front.

In the traveling scene shown in FIG. 3, there are two routes on which the vehicle 50 can travel. One is a path 80 passing through the left side of the obstacle 70. The other is a path 81 that passes the right side of the obstacle 70 and then passes between the obstacle 70 and the obstacle 71.

The route 81 has a long traveling distance and a large steering operation amount as compared with the route 80, and thus is inefficient. Therefore, the driving assistance device 1 according to the present embodiment classifies whether the obstacles 70 and 71 are on the left or right with respect to the longest line segment (described later) with respect to the longest line segment 100 viewed from the sensor 10. , Generate efficient routes. Details will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

Note that in FIG. 4 and subsequent figures, the sensor 10 is mounted on the front portion of the host vehicle 50. Further, the sensor 10 will be described as a device that emits radio waves radially toward the front in the vehicle traveling direction and detects the position of the object using the reflected wave from the object.

First, an example of the longest line segment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the far point setting unit 25 sets a plurality of line segments 200 radially extending from the sensor 10 toward the boundary line 60 of the travelable region R, and from the set plurality of line segments, Select the longest line segment 100. As shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of line segments 200 include line segments that connect the plurality of detection points 120 to 121 of the obstacle 70 and the sensor 10. Further, the plurality of line segments 200 include a line segment that connects the plurality of detection points 122 to 125 of the obstacle 71 and the sensor 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the longest line segment 100 is, for example, a line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the farthest point 110 farthest from the sensor 10 in the travelable region R. The farthest point 110 does not indicate the position of the object, but is a virtual point set in space. The distant point setting unit 25 sets the farthest point 110 in the travelable region R in a space farthest from the sensor 10. The longest line segment 100 is a line segment that is not blocked by the obstacles 70 and 71. In the present embodiment, since the travelable region R is set based on the detection distance of the sensor 10, the length of the longest line segment 100 is the same as the detection distance of the sensor 10. In the example shown in FIG. 4, since there is no other obstacle in the travelable area R in the area on the left side of the obstacle 71, the farthest point 110 is set to the space farthest from the sensor 10. However, the farthest point 110 may be a detection point of an obstacle. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 4, when another obstacle exists in the area on the left side of the obstacle 71 and farther than the obstacle 71, the detection point of the other obstacle becomes the farthest point. .. In FIG. 4, the travelable region R is a region excluding the obstacles 70 and 71.

Next, an example of a method of classifying the obstacles 70 and 71 will be described with reference to FIG.

The right/left classification unit 26 determines that the obstacle is the most visible from the sensor 10 based on the positive/negative of the angle formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the obstacle (detection points 120 to 125) and the longest line segment 100. The long line segment 100 is classified as to whether it is on the left or right.

Based on the longest line segment 100, it is assumed that the clockwise angle is positive and the counterclockwise angle is negative. When the angle is positive, it is assumed that the detection point is on the right side of the longest line segment 100 viewed from the sensor 10, and when the angle is negative, the detection point is the longest line segment 100 viewed from the sensor 10. Suppose you are on the left. As shown in FIG. 5, the angle θ1 formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the detection point 120 of the obstacle 70 and the longest line segment 100 is positive. The angle θ3 formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the detection point 121 of the obstacle 70 and the longest line segment 100 is also positive. Based on this result, the left/right classification unit 26 classifies that the obstacle 70 is on the right of the longest line segment 100 when viewed from the sensor 10.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the angle θ2 formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the detection point 122 of the obstacle 71 and the longest line segment 100 is positive. Further, the angle θ4 formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the detection point 123 of the obstacle 71 and the longest line segment 100 is also positive. Similarly, the angle θ5 formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the detection point 124 of the obstacle 71 and the longest line segment 100 is also positive. Similarly, the angle θ6 formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the detection point 125 of the obstacle 71 and the longest line segment 100 is also positive. Based on this result, the left/right classification unit 26 classifies that the obstacle 70 is on the right of the longest line segment 100 when viewed from the sensor 10.

Next, with reference to FIG. 6, an example of a method of resetting the travelable area using the obstacles 70 and 71 classified into the left and right will be described. Since the obstacles 70 and 71 are classified as being on the right of the longest line segment 100 as viewed from the sensor 10, the travelable area is reset except for the right area including the obstacles 70 and 71. It That is, it is determined that the obstacles 70, 71 and the right side of the obstacles 70, 71 are not the travelable area, and the travelable area is set on the left side of the obstacles 70, 71.

As shown in FIG. 6, the drivable area resetting unit 27 sets a detection point 120 that is the shortest distance from the longest line segment 100 among the detection points of the obstacle 70 and a road boundary line 91 that forms a roadway. Tie and reset the travelable area. R2 shown in FIG. 6 is a travelable area after resetting. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the travelable area resetting unit 27 also connects the detection points 120 and 122.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6, the target route generation unit 28 generates the traveling route (route 80) of the host vehicle 50 within the resettable travelable region R2. As a result, the route 81 shown in FIG. 3 is not generated, and only the efficient route 80 is generated.

Next, an operation example of the travel support device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 7.

In step S101, the self-position estimation unit 22 estimates the self-position on the map based on the information acquired from the GPS receiver 12. The process proceeds to step S103, and the map database 13 acquires map information indicating the structure of the road on which the vehicle 50 travels. The road boundary line acquisition unit 23 acquires a road boundary line based on map information. The road boundary line may be acquired by the sensor 10.

The process proceeds to step S105, and the travelable area setting unit 24 sets the travelable area R (see FIG. 2). The process proceeds to step S107, and the sensor 10 detects obstacles 70 and 71 in front of the host vehicle 50 (see FIG. 4).

The process proceeds to step S109, and the far point setting unit 25 sets the farthest point 110 in the travelable region R in the space farthest from the sensor 10. Further, the far point setting unit 25 sets a plurality of line segments 200 extending radially from the sensor 10 toward the boundary line 60 of the travelable region R, and the longest line segment 100 is set from the set plurality of line segments. Select. The longest line segment 100 is a line segment connecting the farthest point 110 and the sensor 10. The process proceeds to step S111, and the right-and-left classification unit 26 determines whether or not the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the obstacle (detection points 120 to 125) and the longest line segment 100 make an obstacle. The object is classified on the left or right with respect to the longest line segment 100 viewed from the sensor 10 (see FIG. 5).

The process proceeds to step S113, and the drivable area resetting unit 27 determines, among the detection points of the obstacle 70, the detection point 120 having the shortest distance to the longest line segment 100, and the road boundary line 91 forming the roadway. And the travelable area is reset (see FIG. 6). The process proceeds to step S115, and the target route generation unit 28 generates the route 80 of the host vehicle 50 within the resettable travelable region R2 (see FIG. 6). The process proceeds to step S117, and the vehicle control unit 29 controls the actuator 40 so as to pass the route 80 set by the target route generation unit 28.

As described above, according to the travel support device 1 according to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained.

When an obstacle (obstacle 70) is detected in front of the host vehicle 50 on the road on which the host vehicle 50 travels, the travel support device 1 moves the sensor 10 and a point on the boundary line 60 between the travelable regions R to each other. A plurality of line segments 200 to be connected are set, and the longest line segment 100 is selected from the set plurality of line segments. The traveling support device 1 classifies the selected longest line segment 100 on the left or right of the longest line segment 100 in the vehicle width direction as viewed from the sensor 10, and based on the classified result. To reset the travelable area. Then, the travel assistance device 1 generates the travel route (route 80) of the host vehicle 50 within the resettable travelable region R2. As a result, the route 81 shown in FIG. 3 is not generated, and only the efficient route 80 is generated.

Further, the traveling support device 1 can travel by connecting the detection point (detection point 120) having the shortest distance to the longest line segment 100 among the detection points of the obstacle and the road boundary line 91 forming the roadway. Reset the area. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the drivable area is reset except for the area on the right side including the obstacle 70.

In addition, the traveling support device 1 detects an obstacle from the sensor 10 based on the positive/negative of the angle formed by the line segment connecting the sensor 10 and the obstacle (detection points 120 to 125) and the longest line segment 100. The longest line segment 100 is classified to be on the left or right. As a result, the left and right positions expressed in two dimensions are classified by one-dimensional information, so the processing load when classifying the left and right is reduced.

Each function described in the above embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits. The processing circuit includes a programmed processing device such as a processing device including an electrical circuit. Processing circuitry also includes devices such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and circuit components that are arranged to perform the described functions. Further, the driving support device 1 can improve the function of the computer.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described as above, it should not be understood that the descriptions and drawings forming a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples, and operation techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The invention may be applied to curves as well as straight roads. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 9, when one obstacle 70 exists on a curve, there are two routes on which the vehicle 50 can travel. One is a path 80 passing through the left side of the obstacle 70. The other is a route 81 passing through the right side of the obstacle 70. The route 81 has a long traveling distance and a large steering operation amount as compared with the route 80, and thus is inefficient. Therefore, the driving support device 1 generates only the route 80 as shown in FIG. 9 by using the method similar to the method described in FIGS. As a result, the route 81 shown in FIG. 8 is not generated, and only the efficient route 80 is generated. As described above, the present invention is also applied to the case where there is only one obstacle in front of the host vehicle 50. Of course, as described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, the present invention is also applied when there are a plurality of obstacles ahead of the host vehicle 50.

As described above, the sensor 10 emits radio waves radially and detects the position of the object by using the reflected wave from the object. As shown in FIG. 10, when the sensor 10 detects a plurality of obstacles, the positions of the obstacle detection points may be stored in the storage device in the order in which the obstacle detection points are detected. If the n+1-th detected obstacle detection point shown in FIG. 10 is classified as being on the right side of the n-th detected detection point, the n+2-th detected obstacle detection point is n+3. The detection point of the obstacle detected at the th position and the detection point of the obstacle detected at the (n+4)th position are also automatically classified as being on the right side from the detection point detected at the nth position. The detection point of the obstacle detected at the (n+2)th, the detection point of the obstacle detected at the (n+3)th, and the detection point of the obstacle detected at the (n+4)th correspond to the detection points of the remaining obstacles. .. By thus storing the detection points in the storage device in the order in which they are detected, the positions of the obstacles are collectively classified, so that the processing load when classifying the left and right is reduced. That is, if the order in which the detection points are detected is stored in the storage device, the detection points stored in the order after the determination of the longest line segment 100 are naturally located on the right side of the longest line segment 100. It can be determined that the detection point exists, and the processing load when classifying left and right is reduced.

As a result of the obstacles being classified into left and right, there is a possibility that a route in which the vehicle 50 cannot pass is generated. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, it is considered that there are a plurality of routes for the vehicle 50. One is a path 80 passing through the left side of the obstacle 70. The other is a path 81 passing through the right side of the obstacle 70. According to the method described in FIGS. 4 to 6, the obstacles 70 and 71 shown in FIG. 11 are classified as being on the right side with respect to the longest line segment 100 when viewed from the sensor 10. As a result, the route 80 is generated. However, when the distance L3 shown in FIG. 11 is shorter than the vehicle width of the host vehicle 50, the host vehicle 50 cannot pass the left side of the obstacle 70. When the route 80 based on the result of the classification as described above is shorter than the vehicle width of the host vehicle 50 and the host vehicle 50 cannot pass, the traveling support device 1 reduces the travelable region R as shown in FIG. Good. Then, the travel support device 1 uses the method described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 again in the travelable region R after making the obstacle 70 left or right with respect to the longest line segment 100 viewed from the sensor 10. Classify if you are in In the example shown in FIG. 12, the obstacle 70 is classified as being on the left of the longest line segment 100 when viewed from the sensor 10. Based on this result, the driving assistance device 1 resets the travelable area, as shown in FIG. R2 shown in FIG. 13 is a travelable area after resetting. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, the travel assistance device 1 sets the travel route (route 81) of the host vehicle 50 within the resettable travelable region R2. As a result, a route through which the vehicle 50 can pass is generated.

1 Driving Support Device 10 Sensor 11 Camera 12 Receiver 13 Map Database 20 Controller 21 Stationary Object Recognition Unit 22 Self Position Estimation Unit 23 Road Boundary Acquisition Unit 24 Travelable Area Setting Unit 25 Far Point Setting Unit 26 Left/Right Classification Unit 27 Travelable Region resetting unit 28 Target route generating unit 29 Vehicle control unit 40 Actuator

Claims (6)

A travel assistance of a travel assistance device that is mounted on a vehicle and includes a sensor that detects a position of an object in front of the vehicle, and a controller that sets a travel route of the vehicle based on a position of the object detected by the sensor Method,
From the position of the object detected using the sensor, to detect an obstacle on the road on which the vehicle is traveling,
Based on the position of the obstacle, the vehicle is capable of traveling, the travelable area excluding the obstacle is set in the track,
Setting a plurality of line segments that connect points on the boundary line between the sensor and the travelable area, and select the longest line segment from the set plurality of line segments,
For the selected longest line segment, classify whether the obstacle is on the left or right in the vehicle width direction as viewed from the sensor,
Based on the classified result, reset the travelable area,
A travel assistance method comprising: generating a travel route of the vehicle within a resettable travelable area. Among the detection points of the obstacle, the detection point having the shortest distance to the longest line segment and the road boundary line forming the track are connected to reset the travelable area. The driving support method according to Item 1. A line segment connecting the sensor and the obstacle and a positive or negative angle formed by the longest line segment are used to classify whether the obstacle is on the left or right as viewed from the sensor. The driving support method according to claim 1 or 2. The sensor is a device that emits radio waves radially and detects the position of the object using a reflected wave from the object,
When the sensor detects a plurality of obstacles, the positions of the obstacles are stored in the order in which the obstacles are detected,
The remaining obstacle is classified based on a result of classification whether one obstacle is on the left or right side of the sensor, The traveling according to claim 1. How to help. If there are a plurality of travel routes for the vehicle within the travelable region, and the travel route based on the classified result is shorter than the vehicle width of the vehicle and the vehicle cannot pass, the travelable region is reduced. Then
In the drivable area after making it smaller, again, classify whether the obstacle is on the left or right as viewed from the sensor,
Based on the result of classification, resettable travelable area that does not include the obstacle,
The travel support method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the travel route of the vehicle is set within the resettable travelable area. A sensor mounted on the vehicle for detecting the position of an object in front of the vehicle;
A controller that sets the traveling route of the vehicle based on the position of the object detected by the sensor,
The controller is
From the position of the object detected using the sensor, to detect an obstacle on the road on which the vehicle is traveling,
Based on the position of the obstacle, the vehicle is capable of traveling, the travelable area excluding the obstacle is set in the track,
Setting a plurality of line segments connecting the sensor and the points on the boundary line of the travelable area, from the set plurality of line segments, select the longest line segment,
For the selected longest line segment, classify whether the obstacle is on the left or right in the vehicle width direction as viewed from the sensor,
Based on the classified result, reset the travelable area,
A travel assistance device, wherein a travel route of the vehicle is generated within a resettable travelable area.

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