JP2022052022A - Control device, control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a control device, a control method, and a program by which an occupant is less likely to be influenced by discomfort.SOLUTION: A control device according to an embodiment comprises: a recognition part recognizing a peripheral situation of a vehicle; a reference lane determination part determining, as a reference lane, either of lanes included in a road on which the vehicle travels based on the peripheral situation recognized by the recognition part; and a display control part making a display part display an image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination part. The reference lane determination part determines a candidate of the reference lane for each of a plurality of determination patterns, then determines the reference lane based on a priority for each determined candidate.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to control devices, control methods, and programs.

In recent years, research has been conducted on the automatic control of vehicle driving (hereinafter referred to as automatic driving). In this regard, the lane in which the vehicle was driving at the start of autonomous driving is determined as the default lane, and the vehicle is automatically driven along the default lane, or the lane to which the vehicle will be changed in the future before the lane change is changed. A technique for displaying information on a display unit is known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-105692 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-90627

Here, if an event such as a vehicle change is canceled immediately before or during the execution, the information regarding the lane to which the lane is changed, which has been displayed in advance, may be continuously displayed even after the cancellation. Driving control in a state where the display as described above continues may give a sense of discomfort to the occupants in the vehicle.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a control device, a control method, and a program capable of making it difficult for an occupant to feel uncomfortable.

The control device, control method, and program according to the present invention have adopted the following configurations.

(1): The control device according to one aspect of the present invention is either included in a recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding conditions of the vehicle and a road on which the vehicle travels based on the peripheral conditions recognized by the recognition unit. A reference lane determination unit that determines the lane of the vehicle as a reference lane, and a display control unit that displays an image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit on the display unit. The reference lane determination unit is a control device that determines a candidate for the reference lane for each of a plurality of determination patterns and determines the reference lane based on the priority for each of the determined candidates.

(2): The control device according to one aspect of the present invention is either included in a recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding conditions of the vehicle and a road on which the vehicle travels based on the peripheral conditions recognized by the recognition unit. A reference lane determination unit that determines the lane of the vehicle as a reference lane, and a display control unit that displays an image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit on the display unit. The reference lane determination unit determines the reference lane according to one of a plurality of determination patterns, and then determines the reference lane when the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane. It is a control device that returns to the reference lane of.

(3): In the embodiment (1) or (2) above, the plurality of determination patterns include a first determination pattern in which the own lane in which the vehicle is traveling is used as a reference lane, and a route of the vehicle. A second determination pattern for determining the lane to be driven in the future for guidance as a reference lane, and a third determination pattern for determining the lane before overtaking as a reference lane when the control for overtaking the vehicle in front of the vehicle is executed. Is included.

(4): In any one of the above (1) to (3), one or both of the speeds and steering of the vehicle so as to drive in the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit. It further includes an operation control unit for controlling.

(5): In the embodiment of (4) above, in the operation control unit, after the reference lane is determined by the reference lane determination unit, or after the display control unit determines the reference lane, an image showing the reference lane is displayed on the display unit. After the display, when the instruction to stop the movement to the reference lane is received, if the vehicle is entering the reference lane, the movement of the vehicle to the reference lane is continued. ..

(6): In the aspect of (5) above, the instruction to stop the movement to the reference lane is an instruction intended by the occupant of the vehicle.

(7): In any one of the above (4) to (6), the operation control unit can change the lane from the position of the vehicle to the reference lane by changing the lane to the reference lane. When the distance to the disappearing position is within a predetermined distance or the time until the lane cannot be changed is within a predetermined time, the instruction to stop moving to the reference lane is not accepted.

(8): In the vehicle control method according to one aspect of the present invention, the computer recognizes the surrounding condition of the vehicle, and based on the recognized peripheral condition, the vehicle is based on any lane included in the road on which the vehicle travels. An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit, candidates for the reference lane are determined for each of a plurality of determination patterns, and priority is given to each of the determined candidates. This is a control method for determining the reference lane based on the degree.

(9): In the vehicle control method according to one aspect of the present invention, the computer recognizes the surrounding condition of the vehicle, and based on the recognized peripheral condition, the vehicle is based on any lane included in the road on which the vehicle travels. The vehicle is determined to be a lane, an image including the road on which the vehicle is determined and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit, and the reference lane is determined by one of a plurality of determination patterns. Is a control method for returning to the reference lane before determining the reference lane when the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane.

(10): The program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to recognize the surrounding conditions of the vehicle, and based on the recognized surrounding conditions, uses any lane included in the road on which the vehicle travels as a reference lane. An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit, candidates for the reference lane are determined for each of a plurality of determination patterns, and priority is given to each of the determined candidates. It is a program that determines the reference lane based on the above.

(11): The program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to recognize the surrounding conditions of the vehicle, and based on the recognized surrounding conditions, uses any lane included in the road on which the vehicle travels as a reference lane. After making a decision, displaying an image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane on the display unit, and determining the reference lane by one of a plurality of determination patterns, the vehicle determines the reference lane. This is a program for returning to the reference lane before the determination of the reference lane when the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane.

According to any one of the above (1) to (11), it is possible to make it difficult for the occupant to feel uncomfortable.

It is a block diagram of the vehicle system 1 using the control device which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the state of the inside of the own vehicle M schematically. It is a functional block diagram of the 1st control unit 120, the 2nd control unit 160, and the 3rd control unit 170. It is a figure which shows an example of the image IM1 displayed on the display device 32 in the case of a manual operation mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the image IM2 displayed on the display device 32 in the case of an automatic operation mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the state transition diagram of an operation mode. It is a figure (the 1) for demonstrating the home lane determination part 174 and the HMI control part 176. It is a figure (the 2) for demonstrating the home lane determination part 174 and the HMI control part 176. It is a figure (the 3) for demonstrating the home lane determination part 174 and the HMI control part 176. It is a figure (the 4) for demonstrating the home lane determination part 174 and the HMI control part 176. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the series flow of the 1st decision processing and display processing. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process flow of a step S150. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the 1st candidate determination process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the 2nd candidate determination process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the 3rd candidate determination process. It is a figure for demonstrating the determination process of a home lane based on a priority. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the series flow of the 2nd decision processing and display processing. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a series of processing by the automatic operation control apparatus 100 of an embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware composition of the automatic operation control device 100 of an embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the control device, control method, and program of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, as an example, an embodiment in which the control device is applied to an autonomous driving vehicle (a vehicle capable of autonomous driving) will be described. The automatic driving is, for example, automatically controlling one or both of the steering or the speed of the vehicle to execute the driving control. The vehicle operation control described above may include various operation controls such as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control System), ALC (Auto Lane Changing), LKAS (Lane Keeping Assistance System), and CC (Cruise Control). .. The driving of the self-driving vehicle may be controlled by the manual driving of the occupant (driver).

[overall structure]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle system 1 using the control device according to the embodiment. The vehicle on which the vehicle system 1 is mounted (hereinafter referred to as own vehicle M) is, for example, a vehicle such as a two-wheeled vehicle, a three-wheeled vehicle, or a four-wheeled vehicle, and its drive source is an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, an electric motor, or the like. Alternatively, a combination of these is included. The electric motor operates by using the electric power generated by the generator connected to the internal combustion engine or the electric power generated by the secondary battery or the fuel cell.

The vehicle system 1 includes, for example, a camera 10, a radar device 12, a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) 14, an object recognition device 16, a communication device 20, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 30, and a vehicle sensor 40. , A navigation device 50, an MPU (Map Positioning Unit) 60, a driving controller 80, an automatic driving control device 100, a traveling driving force output device 200, a braking device 210, and a steering device 220. These devices and devices are connected to each other by a multiplex communication line such as a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication line, a serial communication line, a wireless communication network, or the like. The configuration shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example, and a part of the configuration may be omitted or another configuration may be added. A combination of the camera 10, the radar device 12, the LIDAR 14, and the object recognition device 16 is an example of the "outside world sensor". The configuration including at least the third control unit 170 in the automatic operation control device 100 is an example of the “control device”.

The camera 10 is, for example, a digital camera using a solid-state image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). The camera 10 is attached to an arbitrary position on the own vehicle M. When photographing the front, the camera 10 is attached to the upper part of the front windshield, the back surface of the rear-view mirror, the front head of the vehicle body, and the like. When photographing the rear, the camera 10 is attached to the upper part of the rear windshield, the back door, or the like. When taking a side image, the camera 10 is attached to a door mirror or the like. The camera 10 periodically and repeatedly images the periphery of the vehicle M, for example. The camera 10 may be a stereo camera.

The radar device 12 radiates radio waves such as millimeter waves around the own vehicle M, and also detects radio waves (reflected waves) reflected by the object to detect at least the position (distance and direction) of the object. The radar device 12 is attached to an arbitrary position of the own vehicle M. The radar device 12 may detect the position and velocity of the object by the FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) method.

The LIDAR 14 irradiates the periphery of the own vehicle M with light (or an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength close to that of light) and measures the scattered light. The LIDAR 14 detects the distance to the target based on the time from light emission to light reception. The emitted light is, for example, a pulsed laser beam. The LIDAR 14 is attached to an arbitrary position on the own vehicle M.

The object recognition device 16 performs sensor fusion processing on the detection results of a part or all of the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the LIDAR 14, and recognizes the position, type, speed, and the like of the object. Objects include, for example, other vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, road structures and the like. Road structures include, for example, road signs, traffic lights, railroad crossings, curbs, medians, guardrails, fences and the like. Further, the road structure may include, for example, a road sign (hereinafter referred to as a pedestrian crossing) drawn or affixed to the road surface, a pedestrian crossing, a bicycle crossing zone, a stop line, or the like. Further, the object may include an obstacle such as a falling object on the road (for example, a load of another vehicle or a signboard installed around the road). The object recognition device 16 outputs the recognition result to the automatic operation control device 100. The object recognition device 16 may output the detection results of the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the LIDAR 14 to the automatic driving control device 100 as they are. In that case, the object recognition device 16 may be omitted from the configuration of the vehicle system 1 or the external sensor. Further, the object recognition device 16 may be included in the automatic driving control device 100.

The communication device 20 uses, for example, a network such as a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth (registered trademark), DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (WiDe Area Network), and the Internet. For example, it communicates with another vehicle existing around the vehicle M, a terminal device of a user who uses the vehicle M, or various server devices.

The HMI 30 presents various information to the occupants of the own vehicle M and accepts input operations by the occupants. The HMI 30 includes, for example, a display device 32 and a switch assembly 34. The display device 32 is an example of a “display unit”. The switch assembly 34 and the operation operator 80 are examples of the “reception unit”. The display device 32 includes, for example, a first display unit 32A and a second display unit 32B. The switch assembly 34 includes, for example, a first switch 34A and a second switch 34B. The HMI 30 may further include a speaker, a buzzer, a touch panel, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the inside of the own vehicle M. For example, the first display unit 32A is provided near the front of the driver's seat (the seat closest to the steering wheel SW) in the instrument panel IP, and is visible to the occupant from the gap of the steering wheel or through the steering wheel. Will be installed. The first display unit 32A is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display device, or the like. Information necessary for driving the own vehicle M during manual driving or automatic driving (hereinafter referred to as driving support information) is displayed as an image on the first display unit 32A. The information necessary for the running of the own vehicle M during manual operation is, for example, the speed of the own vehicle M, the engine speed, the remaining fuel amount, the radiator water temperature, the mileage, the state of the shift lever, and other information. The information necessary for the own vehicle M to travel during automatic driving is, for example, the lane in which the own vehicle M should travel (home lane described later) set by the automatic driving control device 100, a future target track, and a lane change. Information such as the presence / absence, the lane to which the lane is changed, the recognized lane (section line), and other vehicles. Further, the information necessary for the running of the own vehicle M during automatic driving may include a part or all of the information necessary for running the own vehicle M during manual driving.

The second display unit 32B is installed near the center of the instrument panel IP, for example.
The second display unit 32B is, for example, an LCD, an organic EL display device, or the like, like the first display unit 32A. On the second display unit 32B, for example, an image or the like showing the navigation result by the navigation device 50 is displayed. Further, the second display unit 32B may display a TV program, play a DVD, or display contents such as a downloaded movie. Further, driving support information may be displayed on the second display unit 32B. In this case, the second display unit 32B may display the content of the driving support information different from the content of the driving support information displayed on the first display unit 32A, or may display the same content. Further, when the same content is displayed on the first display unit 32A and the second display unit 32B, they may be displayed in different display modes or may be displayed in the same display mode. The display mode is, for example, a color, size, shape, pattern, brightness, display layout, or the like of an object image showing a vehicle, a road condition, or the like, or character information.

Further, the display device 32 may include, for example, a HUD (Head Up Display). The HUD is arranged at a position higher than the first display unit 32A. The HUD projects an image onto a predetermined imaging unit. The HUD, for example, projects an image onto a part of the front windshield in front of the driver's seat so that the eyes of the occupant seated in the driver's seat can see the virtual image. For example, driving support information is displayed on the HUD. In this case, the content or display mode may be different from that of other display units. The display control on each of the above-mentioned display units is controlled by the HMI control unit described later.

The switch assembly 34 is attached to the steering wheel SW, for example, as shown in FIG. The first switch 34A and the second switch 34B are physically independent switches. For example, when the first switch 34A is operated, for example, the operation mode (manual operation mode and automatic operation mode) of the own vehicle M is switched between each other by an on / off operation. Further, when the second switch 34B is operated during the execution of the automatic driving mode, for example, a specific automatic driving event (for example, a lane change event or an overtaking event described later) set in the switch is executed by an on / off operation. Or it will be canceled.

Here, the manual driving mode is a mode in which the speed and steering of the own vehicle M are controlled according to the driving operation of the occupant. The automatic driving mode is a mode in which one or both of the speed and steering of the own vehicle M are controlled without depending on the driving operation of the occupant. For example, under the automatic operation mode, ACC, CC, LKAS, ALC, and the like are controlled.

For example, when the occupant operates the first switch 34A to turn on the first switch 34A under the manual operation mode, the operation mode of the own vehicle M changes from the manual operation mode to the automatic operation mode. Further, when the occupant operates the second switch 34B to turn on the second switch 34B under the automatic driving mode, the driving mode of the own vehicle M is the specific automatic driving associated with the second switch 34B. Transition to the event. When the occupant turns the first switch 34A from the on state to the off state, the automatic operation mode is changed to the manual operation mode, and the second switch 34B is turned on immediately before or during the execution of a specific automatic operation event. If you turn it off, the automatic driving event will be cancelled. The position, number, type, and the like of the switches of the switch assembly 34 are not limited to the above examples.

Returning to FIG. 1, the vehicle sensor 40 includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects the speed of the own vehicle M, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, a yaw rate sensor that detects an angular velocity around the vertical axis, an orientation sensor that detects the direction of the own vehicle M, and the like. including. Further, the vehicle sensor 40 may be provided with a position sensor that detects the position of the vehicle M. The position sensor is, for example, a sensor that acquires position information (longitude / latitude information) from a GPS (Global Positioning System) device. Further, the position sensor may be a sensor that acquires position information by using the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 51 of the navigation device 50. The result detected by the vehicle sensor 40 is output to the automatic driving control device 100.

The navigation device 50 includes, for example, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 51, a navigation HMI 52, and a routing unit 53. The navigation device 50 holds the first map information 54 in a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory. The GNSS receiver 51 identifies the position of the own vehicle M based on the signal received from the GNSS satellite. The position of the own vehicle M may be specified or complemented by an INS (Inertial Navigation System) using the output of the vehicle sensor 40. The navigation HMI 52 includes a display device, a speaker, a touch panel, keys, and the like. The navigation HMI 52 may be partially or wholly shared with the above-mentioned HMI 30. The route determination unit 53, for example, has a route from the position of the own vehicle M (or an arbitrary position input) specified by the GNSS receiver 51 to the destination input by the occupant using the navigation HMI 52 (hereinafter,). The route on the map) is determined with reference to the first map information 54. The first map information 54 is, for example, information in which a road shape is expressed by a link indicating a road and a node connected by the link. The first map information 54 may include road curvature, POI (Point Of Interest) information, and the like. The route on the map is output to MPU60.

The navigation device 50 may provide route guidance using the navigation HMI 52 based on the route on the map. The navigation device 50 may be realized by, for example, the function of a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal owned by an occupant. The navigation device 50 may transmit the current position and the destination to the navigation server via the communication device 20 and acquire a route equivalent to the route on the map from the navigation server.

The MPU 60 includes, for example, a recommended lane determination unit 61, and holds the second map information 62 in a storage device such as an HDD or a flash memory. The recommended lane determination unit 61 divides the route on the map provided by the navigation device 50 into a plurality of blocks (for example, divides the route into 100 [m] units with respect to the vehicle traveling direction), and refers to the second map information 62. Determine the recommended lane for each block. The recommended lane determination unit 61 determines which lane to drive from the left. For example, when the recommended lane determination unit 61 has a branch point on the route on the map, the recommended lane determination unit 61 determines the recommended lane so that the own vehicle M can travel on a reasonable route to proceed to the branch destination.

The second map information 62 is map information with higher accuracy than the first map information 54. The second map information 62 includes, for example, information on the center of the lane, information on the boundary of the lane, information on the type of lane, and the like. Further, the second map information 62 may include road information, traffic regulation information, address information (address / zip code), facility information, telephone number information, and the like. The second map information 62 may be updated at any time by the communication device 20 communicating with another device. The first map information 54 and the second map information 62 (hereinafter, simply referred to as “map information”) described above may be stored in the storage unit 190.

The operation controller 80 includes, for example, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a shift lever, a steering wheel SW, a turn signal, a joystick, and other controls. The direction indicator is a device for notifying the surroundings of the own vehicle M that the own vehicle M is moving laterally, such as turning right or left of the own vehicle M or changing lanes. Further, a sensor for detecting the amount of operation or the presence or absence of operation is attached to each operator of the operation operator 80. The sensor detects, for example, the steering angle and steering torque of the steering wheel, the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, and the like. Then, the sensor outputs the detection result to one or both of the automatic driving control device 100, the traveling driving force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220.

The automatic operation control device 100 includes, for example, a first control unit 120, a second control unit 160, a third control unit 170, and a storage unit 190. The first control unit 120, the second control unit 160, and the third control unit 170 are realized by, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) executing a program (software). To. In addition, some or all of these components are driven by hardware (circuit section; including circuitry) such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). It may be realized, or it may be realized by the cooperation of software and hardware. The program may be stored in the storage unit 190 of the automatic operation control device 100 in advance, or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and the storage medium is mounted on the drive device. It may be installed in the storage unit 190.

The storage unit 190 is realized by, for example, an HDD, a flash memory, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like. The storage unit 190 stores, for example, information necessary for the control process according to the present embodiment, a program read and executed by the processor, and the like. Further, map information may be stored in the storage unit 190.

FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the first control unit 120, the second control unit 160, and the third control unit 170. The combination of the action plan generation unit 140, the second control unit 160, and the third control unit 170 is an example of the "operation control unit".

The first control unit 120 includes, for example, a recognition unit 130 and an action plan generation unit 140. The first control unit 120, for example, realizes a function by AI (Artificial Intelligence) and a function by a model given in advance in parallel. For example, the function of "recognizing an intersection" is executed in parallel with the recognition of an intersection by deep learning and the like, and the recognition based on a predetermined condition (there is a signal that can be pattern matched, a road sign, etc.). It may be realized by scoring and comprehensively evaluating. This ensures the reliability of autonomous driving.

The recognition unit 130 recognizes an object existing around the own vehicle M based on the information obtained from the external sensor. Objects recognized by the recognition unit 130 include, for example, bicycles, motorcycles, four-wheeled vehicles, pedestrians, road signs installed on the side of roads, road signs formed on the road surface, lane markings, electric poles, guardrails, and the like. Including falling objects. Further, the recognition unit 130 recognizes the position of the object, the speed, the acceleration, and the like. The position of the object is recognized as, for example, a position on relative coordinates (that is, a relative position with respect to the own vehicle M) with the representative point (center of gravity, the center of the drive axis, etc.) of the own vehicle M as the origin, and is used for control. The position of the object may be represented by a representative point such as the center of gravity or a corner of the object, or may be represented by a represented area. The "state" of an object may include acceleration or jerk of the object, or "behavioral state" (eg, whether or not the vehicle is changing lanes or is about to change lanes).

Further, the recognition unit 130 refers to map information based on the position information of the own vehicle M, and obtains regulatory information such as the shape and number of lanes of the road on which the own vehicle M travels, the width of each lane, the legal speed, and the road section. Road information such as whether or not the section is permitted to drive automatically may be recognized. Further, the recognition unit 130 may finally recognize the surrounding situation by collating the information obtained from the external world sensor with the information obtained from the map information. In this recognition, the position of the own vehicle M acquired from the navigation device 50 and the processing result by the INS may be added.

For example, when the recognition unit 130 recognizes the own lane (the lane in which the own vehicle M travels), the recognition unit 130 recognizes the relative position and posture of the own vehicle M with respect to the own lane. The recognition unit 130 determines, for example, the deviation of the reference point of the own vehicle M from the center of the lane and the angle formed with respect to the line connecting the center of the lane in the traveling direction of the own vehicle M with respect to the relative position of the own vehicle M with respect to the own lane. And may be recognized as a posture. Instead of this, the recognition unit 130 recognizes the position of the reference point of the own vehicle M with respect to any side end portion (section line or road boundary) of the own lane as the relative position of the own vehicle M with respect to the own lane. You may. The recognition unit 130 also recognizes stop lines, obstacles, red lights, tollhouses, and other road events.

When the own vehicle M is under automatic driving on the route where the recommended lane is determined, the action plan generation unit 140 determines the driving mode of the automatic driving. Hereinafter, the information that defines the driving mode of automatic driving will be described as an event.

The event includes, for example, a constant-speed traveling event in which the own vehicle M travels in the same lane at a constant speed, exists within a predetermined distance (for example, within 100 [m]) in front of the own vehicle M, and is the most in the own vehicle M. A follow-up running event is included in which the own vehicle M is made to follow another nearby vehicle (preceding vehicle). The “following” may be, for example, a traveling mode in which the inter-vehicle distance (relative distance) between the own vehicle M and the preceding vehicle is maintained constant, or the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle M and the preceding vehicle may be determined. In addition to keeping the vehicle constant, the vehicle M may be driven in the center of the vehicle lane. In addition, the event includes, for example, a lane change event that changes the lane of the own vehicle M from the own lane to an adjacent lane, a branch event that branches the own vehicle M into a lane that advances to the target region at a branch point of the road, and a merging point. It may include a merging event for merging the own vehicle M with the main line, a takeover event for ending automatic driving and switching to manual driving, and the like. Further, the event includes, for example, an overtaking event in which the own vehicle M is temporarily changed to the adjacent lane, the preceding vehicle is overtaken in the adjacent lane, and then the lane is changed to the original lane again, and the vehicle exists in front of the own vehicle M. An avoidance event or the like that causes the own vehicle M to perform at least one of braking and steering in order to avoid obstacles may be included.

The action plan generation unit 140 may change an event already determined for the current section to another event, or change the event already determined for the current section to another event, for example, depending on the surrounding situation recognized by the recognition unit 130 when the own vehicle M is traveling. A new event may be decided for the section. Further, the action plan generation unit 140 may change an event already determined for the current section to another event according to the operation of the occupant on the in-vehicle device (for example, the switch assembly 34 or the operation operator 80). A new event may be determined for the current section.

Further, the action plan generation unit 140 determines an event immediately before or during execution that has already been decided to be executed based on the surrounding situation recognized by the recognition unit 130, the operation of the occupant on the in-vehicle device, and the like. It may be centered. For example, when the occupant activates the turn signal, the action plan generation unit 140 changes an event already determined for the current section to a lane change event, or changes a new lane for the current section. Execute the event. Further, when the operation of the turn signal is stopped immediately before or during the execution of the lane change event, the action plan generation unit 140 cancels the vehicle change event immediately before or during the execution, and executes another event or the like. do.

In principle, the action plan generation unit 140 responds to the surrounding situation when the own vehicle M travels in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determination unit 61 and further, when the own vehicle M travels in the recommended lane. Therefore, a future target track for automatically driving the own vehicle M (independent of the driver's operation) in the traveling mode specified by the event is generated. The target track includes, for example, a position element that determines the position of the own vehicle M in the future and a speed element that determines the speed of the own vehicle M in the future.

For example, the action plan generation unit 140 determines a plurality of points (track points) that the own vehicle M should reach in order as position elements of the target track. The track point is a point to be reached by the own vehicle M for each predetermined mileage (for example, about several [m]). The predetermined mileage may be calculated, for example, by the road distance when traveling along the route. Further, the action plan generation unit 140 determines the target speed and the target acceleration for each predetermined sampling time (for example, about 0 comma number [sec]) as the velocity elements of the target trajectory. Further, the track point may be a position to be reached by the own vehicle M at the sampling time for each predetermined sampling time. In this case, the target velocity and the target acceleration are determined by the sampling time and the interval between the orbital points.

Further, the action plan generation unit 140 may generate a target trajectory based on the home lane determined by the home lane determination unit 174 described later, or may adjust the already generated target trajectory. The action plan generation unit 140 outputs information indicating the generated target trajectory to the second control unit 160 and the third control unit 170.

The second control unit 160 sets the traveling driving force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220 so that the own vehicle M passes the target trajectory generated by the action plan generation unit 140 at the scheduled time. Control. The second control unit 160 includes, for example, a first acquisition unit 162, a speed control unit 164, and a steering control unit 166.

The first acquisition unit 162 acquires the information of the target trajectory (orbit point) from the action plan generation unit 140 and stores it in the memory of the storage unit 190. The speed control unit 164 controls one or both of the traveling driving force output device 200 and the braking device 210 based on the speed elements (for example, the target speed, the target acceleration, etc.) included in the target trajectory stored in the memory. The steering control unit 166 controls the steering device 220 according to a position element (for example, a curvature representing the degree of bending of the target trajectory) included in the target trajectory stored in the memory. The processing of the speed control unit 164 and the steering control unit 166 is realized by, for example, a combination of feedforward control and feedback control. As an example, the steering control unit 166 executes a combination of feedforward control according to the curvature of the road in front of the own vehicle M and feedback control based on the deviation from the target track.

The traveling driving force output device 200 outputs a traveling driving force (torque) for the vehicle to travel to the drive wheels. The traveling driving force output device 200 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, a motor, a transmission, and the like, and a power ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls them. The power ECU controls the above configuration according to the information input from the second control unit 160 or the information input from the operation controller 80.

The brake device 210 includes, for example, a brake caliper, a cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the brake caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor according to the information input from the second control unit 160 or the information input from the operation controller 80 so that the brake torque corresponding to the braking operation is output to each wheel. The brake device 210 may include a mechanism for transmitting the hydraulic pressure generated by the operation of the brake pedal included in the operation operator 80 to the cylinder via the master cylinder as a backup. The brake device 210 is not limited to the configuration described above, and is an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that controls the actuator according to the information input from the second control unit 160 to transmit the hydraulic pressure of the master cylinder to the cylinder. May be good.

The steering device 220 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor.
The electric motor, for example, exerts a force on the rack and pinion mechanism to change the direction of the steering wheel. The steering ECU drives the electric motor according to the information input from the second control unit 160 or the information input from the operation controller 80, and changes the direction of the steering wheel.

The third control unit 170 includes, for example, a second acquisition unit 172, a home lane determination unit 174, and an HMI control unit 176. The home lane determination unit 174 is an example of the “reference lane determination unit”. The HMI control unit 176 is an example of a “display control unit”.

The second acquisition unit 172 acquires information on the recognition result by the recognition unit 130, and also acquires information on the target track and the recommended lane generated by the action plan generation unit 140.

Based on the information acquired by the second acquisition unit 172, the home lane determination unit 174 sets one or a plurality of lanes included in the traveling road recognized by the recognition unit 130 as the home lane. To decide. The home lane is an example of a "reference lane." The home lane is, for example, a lane determined by the system side (automatic driving control device 100 side) to be rational for driving the own vehicle M, or the own vehicle instructed by the occupant by operating a direction indicator or the like. This is the lane in which M should drive. For example, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane when the operation mode is changed to the automatic operation mode, the event is changed, the surrounding situation is changed, or the like. For example, the home lane determination unit 174 may determine the home lane based on the recommended lane acquired by the second acquisition unit 172. However, for example, when a branch point or a merging point exists in the middle of the route to the destination, or when it becomes necessary to overtake the preceding vehicle, the lane in which the own vehicle M should travel dynamically changes. Therefore, the home lane determination unit 174 flexibly changes the home lane determined when the operation mode is switched to the automatic operation mode according to the situation around the own vehicle M and the instructions of the occupants. The home lane determination unit 174 outputs information about the home lane to the action plan generation unit 140. The details of the function of the home lane determination unit 174 will be described later.

The HMI control unit 176 controls the HMI 30 based on the information acquired by the second acquisition unit 172, and causes the HMI 30 to output various information. For example, the HMI control unit 176 superimposes a first layer image imitating a road in which the own lane or an adjacent lane recognized from the outside world sensor or map information is recognized, and a second layer image imitating the own vehicle M. Then, it is displayed on the display device 32 (for example, the first display unit 32A) of the HMI 30. Further, the HMI control unit 176 has a third layer image imitating another vehicle recognized by the recognition unit 130, a fourth layer image imitating the home lane determined by the home lane determination unit 174, and an action plan generation unit 140. A fifth layer image or the like imitating the target trajectory generated by the above may be superimposed on the first layer image and displayed on the display device 32. The third layer image includes peripheral vehicles within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle M, such as a front vehicle, a rear vehicle, and the like. For example, the HMI control unit 176 associates the position and shape of the actual road (or lane) with the positional relationship between the own vehicle M, another vehicle, the home lane, and the target track, and makes a first layer image on the first layer image. The 2nd to 5th layer images are superimposed.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned first to fifth layer images, the HMI control unit 176 provides information on other states of the own vehicle M (for example, the speed of the own vehicle M, the remaining energy amount, and the legal speed of the traveling lane). , The state of the shift lever, the mileage), and other information (for example, outside temperature and time) may be displayed on the display device 32. Further, the HMI control unit 176 may output a part or all of the information included in the image displayed on the display device 32 by voice from the HMI 30. When the driving mode of the own vehicle M is the manual driving mode, the fourth layer image and the fifth layer image are not generated. Therefore, when the manual operation mode is executed, the HMI control unit 176 superimposes the second to third layer images on the first layer image and displays them on the display device 32.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the image IM1 displayed on the display device 32 in the manual operation mode. The image IM1 includes, for example, a traveling state display area AR1. In the traveling state display area AR1, for example, a first layer image showing the road RD1 including the lanes LN1 to LN3 is displayed. Further, in the display state display area AR1, under the control of the HMI control unit 176, a second layer image imitating the own vehicle M is displayed in correspondence with the position of the actually existing traveling lane (lane LN2) of the own vehicle M. , It is superimposed and displayed on the image simulating the lane LN2 of the first layer image. Further, in the image IM1, in addition to the image displayed in the display state display area AR1, the vehicle state (for example, the speed of the own vehicle M, the shift state, the remaining energy amount, the driving mode) and other information (for example, the operation mode) and other information (for example). An image showing the outside temperature and time) is included.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the image IM2 displayed on the display device 32 in the automatic operation mode. Comparing the image IM1 and the image IM2, the traveling state display area AR2 included in the image IM2 has a fourth layer image showing the home lane HL in addition to the image displayed in the display state display area AR1 included in the image IM1. And the fifth layer image showing the target track TR are superimposed and displayed on the positions associated with the positions of the lane and the own vehicle M included in the first layer image. For example, the fourth layer image showing the home lane HL is displayed in a display mode that can be identified by a color, a pattern, or the like in a color different from that of other lanes. In the images IM1 and IM2, when there are peripheral vehicles (other vehicles) around the own vehicle M, the third layer image imitating the other vehicle is associated with the actual position of the first layer image. It is displayed superimposed on the position of. Further, when the destination is not set in the own vehicle M, the automatic driving mode is automatic driving in which the vehicle travels along the road. In this case, the HMI control unit 176 does not display the fourth layer image showing the home lane HL.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the HMI control unit 176 has another layer superimposed on the first layer image depending on whether the operation mode of the own vehicle M is the manual operation mode or the automatic operation mode. Display different image types. Further, the HMI control unit 176 may generate an image in which another layer image is superimposed on the first layer image, and display the generated image on the display device 32.

Next, the state transition of the operation mode in the embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a state transition diagram of an operation mode. In the figure, S1 represents an automobile line change mode which is one of the automatic operation modes, and S2 is an operation mode other than the automobile line change mode S1, that is, at least an automatic operation mode or a manual operation mode in which ALC is not performed. Represents. The automatic driving mode included in the other driving mode S2 is specifically a TJP (Traffic Jam Pilot) that performs ACC and LKAS in parallel or controls the steering and speed of the own vehicle M on a congested road. It is an automatic operation mode to go.

For example, when the transition condition from the state of the other driving mode to the lane change mode S1 is satisfied, the event is executed by switching from the other driving mode to the lane change mode. The transition condition is, for example, that the automatic operation is being executed and the second switch 34B is operated to be in the ON state, or the direction indicator is operated and the ALC is performed under the lane change mode S1. Is to accept the execution instruction of.

On the other hand, the transition condition from the lane change mode S1 to the other automatic driving mode S2 is, for example, that the release condition of the lane change mode S1 is satisfied. The release condition is, for example, that the second switch 34B is turned off, or that the direction indicator is operated to return the instruction and that the ALC performed under the lane change mode S1 is stopped. .. All of these cancellation conditions are based on the occupant's intention to cancel the lane change.

In the example of FIG. 6, the lane change mode S1 includes an execution mode S1-1 and a pause mode S1-2. ALC is performed under the execution mode S1-1, and ALC is temporarily stopped under the pause mode S1-2. When the execution condition is satisfied under the pause mode S1-2, the state transitions from the pause mode S1-2 to the execution mode S1-1.

The execution conditions include, for example, that there is no merging point or branch point in front of the traveling direction of the own vehicle M, various sensors are functioning normally, and the recognition unit 130 can recognize the surrounding situation of the own vehicle M. That, the speed of the own vehicle M is less than the threshold value (for example, 60 [kph]), the curvature of the road is less than the threshold value, and the acceleration in the vehicle width direction (also referred to as lateral acceleration) generated in the own vehicle M is less than the threshold value. This includes the fact that the lane marking that divides the own lane is not a specific lane marking that prohibits lane change, that the recognition unit 130 can recognize the lane marking that divides the own lane, and the like. Further, the execution condition may include the determination that the action plan generation unit 140 can change lanes to the adjacent lane based on the TTC (Time To Collision; collision margin time) with the surrounding vehicle.

When the execution conditions including these various conditions are not satisfied, the state transitions from the execution mode S1-1 to the pause mode S1-2. The above-mentioned various conditions exemplified as execution conditions are merely examples, and some conditions may be replaced with other conditions, some conditions may be omitted, and other conditions may be used. It may be newly added.

[Functions of home lane determination unit and HMI control unit]
Next, the functions of the home lane determination unit 174 and the HMI control unit 176 will be specifically described. 7A to 7D are diagrams (No. 1 to No. 4) for explaining the home lane determination unit 174 and the HMI control unit 176. In the example of FIGS. 7A to 7D, when the own vehicle M is traveling on the road RD1 including the lanes LN1 to LN3 in the automatic driving mode, the HMI control unit 176 is based on the information obtained by the home lane determination unit 174 and the like. Based on this, an example of an image to be displayed on the display device 32 is shown. Further, in the examples of FIGS. 7A to 7D, different images (images IM11 to IM14) displayed in the traveling state display area AR2 are shown, particularly depending on the surrounding conditions and the driving mode of the own vehicle M.

The home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane based on any of a plurality of predetermined determination patterns. The plurality of determination patterns include, for example, the first to third determination patterns shown below.

<First decision pattern>
The first determination pattern is, for example, a pattern in which the lane in which the own vehicle M travels is determined as the home lane when the destination is set by the occupant. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the lane in which the own vehicle M is traveling as the home lane without changing the lane.

<Second decision pattern>
The second determination pattern is a pattern in which the lane to be driven in the future for guiding the route is determined as the home lane. The second determination pattern is a pattern in which the lane to be driven in the future necessary for reaching the destination is determined as the home lane. In this case, the destination of the own vehicle M is set in advance by the navigation device 50, and automatic driving to the set destination is executed. In the second determination pattern, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the lane to which the lane is changed as the home lane in order to cause the own vehicle M to change lanes from the own lane to the lane toward the destination region (for example, an adjacent lane). .. That is, in the second determination pattern, the home lane for guiding the route is determined.

<Third decision pattern>
The third determination pattern is the case of overtaking the preceding vehicle, in which the own vehicle M travels in the adjacent lane (overtaking lane) and returns after overtaking the preceding vehicle (traveling before overtaking). This is a pattern that determines the lane) as the home lane. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 changes lanes to the adjacent lane when the driving mode for overtaking the preceding vehicle (for example, an overtaking event) is executed, and changes the lane to move after overtaking the preceding vehicle. Determined as the home lane.

When the determination conditions set for each of the first to third determination patterns described above are satisfied, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane according to the determination pattern satisfying the conditions.

The HMI control unit 176 generates a fourth layer image showing the home lane determined by the above-mentioned first to third determination patterns, and runs an image in which the generated fourth layer image is superimposed on the first layer image. It is displayed in the status display area AR1. The image IM11 shown in the example of FIG. 7A shows a traveling state display area in a scene where the own vehicle M traveling in the lane LN1 changes lanes to the adjacent lane LN2 in order to overtake the preceding vehicle m1 due to an overtaking event. It is an image displayed on AR1. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the lane LN1 (the lane in which the vehicle was traveling before the overtaking event is executed) as the home lane HL according to the third determination pattern.

The HMI control unit 176 superimposes and displays a second layer image showing the own vehicle M and a third layer image showing the other vehicle m1 on the road RD1 of the first layer image. Further, the HMI control unit 176 superimposes and displays the fourth layer image on the area of the lane LN1 of the first layer image. Further, the HMI control unit 176 displays a fifth layer image showing the target track TR at a position corresponding to the display position of the road RD1 and the own vehicle M. This makes it easier for the occupant to understand that the behavior of the own vehicle M changes so as to return to the lane LN1 after overtaking the preceding vehicle m1. The driving control unit executes driving control to change lanes to the lane LN1 which is the home lane HL after overtaking the preceding vehicle m1 by the overtaking event. After the execution, the overtaking event ends, and the own vehicle M continues automatic driving control such as CC and LKAS.

FIG. 7B is a scene after the own vehicle M has overtaken the preceding vehicle m1 shown in FIG. 7A, or a scene where the lane LN2 is traveling in the home lane, and the vehicle advances to the target local area set by the own vehicle M. The image IM12 displayed when the lane for driving is the lane LN3 is shown. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the lane LN1 to the lane LN3 as the home lane HL based on the second determination pattern. The HMI control unit 176 superimposes the fourth layer image on the region of the lane LN3 of the first layer image. Further, the HMI control unit 176 superimposes a fifth layer image showing the target track TR associated with the lane change from the lane LN2 to the lane LN3 on the position corresponding to the display position of the road RD1 and the own vehicle M. Then, the HMI control unit 176 displays the superimposed image IM12 in the traveling state display area AR1. As a result, the own vehicle M can make the occupant predict in advance that the behavior of the own vehicle M will not move to the lane LN1 but will move to the lane LN3.

FIG. 7C shows the destination erased by the operation of the occupant immediately before or during the actual execution of the lane change event after it is determined that the lane change event is executed in the scene shown in FIG. 7B. The image IM13 displayed when the image is displayed is shown. In this case, as a result, the lane change event is canceled, and the driving control unit generates and generates a target track TR so as to maintain the driving of the lane in which the own vehicle M is currently traveling. The own vehicle M is driven along the target track. Further, the HMI control unit 176 displays the image IM13 on which the image IM13 and the fifth layer image showing the image IM14 target trajectory TR are superimposed on the first layer image in the traveling state display area AR1. However, in such a situation, the information of the home lane HL determined by the second determination pattern is maintained depending on the timing of determining the home lane or the timing of switching the display content, and is displayed on the image of the lane L3. The fourth layer image may remain superimposed (image IM13 in the figure). Therefore, there is a possibility that the occupant may be misunderstood that the lane change is made to the lane L3 even though the lane change is canceled.

Therefore, the home lane determination unit 174 of the embodiment determines the home lane using the determination process shown below, so that it is more appropriate even if the control is switched during the execution of the event due to the intention of the occupant or the like. Enables the determination and display of various lane marks. By using the determination process shown below, after the lane change event for moving to the destination local plane is canceled, for example, as shown in the image IM14 of FIG. 7D, it is displayed at the time of executing the previous overtaking event. The 4th layer image is superimposed and displayed on the position (on the image imitating the lane LN1), or the 4th layer image is superimposed and displayed on the position of the own lane (on the image imitating the lane LN3). It is possible to perform display control such as. That is, by using the determination process shown below, it is possible to display the home lane more appropriately according to the state of the own vehicle M and the surrounding conditions, and as a result, the occupant who sees the displayed content feels uncomfortable. It can be made difficult.

Hereinafter, the determination process applied in the present embodiment will be specifically described by dividing it into several parts. In the following, the determination process and the display process for displaying an image including an image imitated in the home lane determined by the determination process will be described.

<First decision process>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a series of flows of the first determination process and the display process. The following processing may be repeatedly executed while the own vehicle M is executing some driving mode. In the example of FIG. 8, the recognition unit 130 recognizes the peripheral situation of the own vehicle M (step S100). Next, the HMI control unit 176 generates a first layer image showing the road (step S110) and a second layer image showing the own vehicle M based on the recognized surrounding situation (step S120). ). As the second layer image, an image showing the own vehicle stored in advance in the storage unit 190 or the like may be used. Next, in the HMI control unit 176, peripheral vehicles (other vehicles) are placed around the own vehicle M. When present, a third layer image showing a peripheral vehicle is generated (step S130). As the third layer image, an image showing a peripheral vehicle previously stored in a storage unit 190 or the like may be used.

Next, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the driving mode of the own vehicle M being executed is the automatic driving mode (step S140). When it is determined that the mode is the automatic driving mode, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane by the home lane determination process (step S150). The details of the process of step S150 will be described later. Next, the HMI control unit 176 generates a fourth layer image based on the determined home lane (step S160). Next, the HMI control unit 176 generates a fifth layer image based on the target trajectory that causes the own vehicle M to generate on the home lane (step S170). Next, the HMI control unit 176 superimposes the second to fifth layer images on the first layer image (step S180), and displays the superposed images on the display device 32 (step S190).

If it is determined in the process of step S140 that the driving mode of the own vehicle M is not the automatic driving mode, the HMI control unit 176 superimposes the second to third layer images on the first layer image (step S200). , The superimposed image is displayed on the display device 32 (step S190). As a result, the processing of this flowchart ends.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of step S150. The process of step S150 is continuously executed as a process different from the process shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 9, the home lane determination unit 174 has a first candidate determination process (step S151) for determining a home lane candidate when the home lane is determined by the above-mentioned first determination pattern, and a second determination pattern. The second candidate determination process (step S152) for determining the home lane candidate when the home lane is determined by, and the third candidate determination process (step S152) for determining the home lane candidate when the home lane is determined by the third determination pattern. Step S153) is executed in parallel. "Execution in parallel" means, for example, that when the automatic operation control device 100 includes multiple cores (for example, one processor package includes a plurality of processor cores), a plurality of processes are performed using each processor core. Is to process at the same time. Further, "execution in parallel" may mean that a plurality of processes are distributed in time series and processed in order by time division using one processor core (so-called time division processing). Further, the home lane determination unit 174 may execute the processes of steps S151 to S153 in a predetermined order instead of the parallel processing. The process of steps S151 to S153 may include a case where a home lane candidate is not determined. Details of each of the processes of steps S151 to S153 will be described later.

Next, the home lane determination unit 174 derives the priority of the home lane candidate for each of the processing results of steps S151 to S153 (step S154), and determines the final home lane based on the derived priority. Determine (step S155). As a result, the processing of this flowchart ends. As described above, in the first determination process, the determination process of the home lane based on the above-mentioned first to third determination patterns is continuously executed, and the arbitration control based on the priority and the like is performed for each result. Therefore, even if the event is canceled immediately before or during the execution of the event, another appropriate home lane can be immediately determined from the current situation of the own vehicle M, and the system and display contents can be changed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the first candidate determination process. In the example of FIG. 10, the lane in which the own vehicle M is traveling is initially selected as the home lane based on the first determination pattern. In this state, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the lane change is executed after the driving mode of the own vehicle M is switched to the lane change event (lane change mode) (step S151A). If it is determined that the lane change has not been executed, the home lane determination unit 174 determines that the own vehicle M is traveling in the overtaking lane of a plurality of roads, or the lane change destination is on the center side of a road having three or more lanes. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is in a lane (a lane that is not a lane at both ends) (step S151B). If it is determined that the own vehicle M is traveling in the overtaking lane or the lane change destination is the lane on the center side of the road having three or more lanes, the lane to be changed is determined as the home lane candidate (step S151C). ).

Further, in the process of step S151A, if it is determined that the lane is changed after switching to the lane change event, or if it is determined that the conditions shown in the process of step S151B are not satisfied, the own lane becomes a home lane candidate. (Step S151D). This ends this flowchart.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the second candidate determination process. The example of FIG. 11 is a process of determining a lane to be driven in the future as a home lane for guiding a route based on the second determination pattern. In the example of FIG. 11, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the destination of the own vehicle M is set by the navigation device 50 or the like (step S152A). When it is determined that the destination has been set, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the lane change to the destination region surface exists within a predetermined value. Within the predetermined value is, for example, within the range of time or distance in which the lane change to the destination local area can be performed. When it is determined that the lane change to the destination local area exists within the predetermined value, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the lane to which the lane is changed as a home lane candidate (step S152C). This ends this flowchart.

Further, when it is determined in the process of step S152A that the destination is not set, or when it is determined in the process of step S152B that the lane change to the destination local area does not exist within a predetermined value, the process of this flowchart is performed. Is finished.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the third candidate determination process. The example of FIG. 12 is a process of determining the lane before the event execution as the home lane after the own vehicle M travels in the overtaking lane and overtakes the preceding vehicle based on the third determination pattern. In the example of FIG. 12, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not overtaking control (execution of an overtaking event) for overtaking the preceding vehicle is necessary (step S153A). For example, the home lane determination unit 174 needs overtaking control when the speed of the own vehicle M is faster than the speed of the preceding vehicle by a predetermined speed or more and the distance between the own vehicle M and the preceding vehicle is within a predetermined distance. Judge that there is. When it is determined that overtaking control is necessary, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the vehicle is already traveling in the overtaking lane (step S153B). When it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the overtaking lane, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the lane in which the vehicle was traveling before the overtaking control is executed as a home lane candidate (step S153C). This ends this flowchart.

Further, if it is determined in the process of step S153A that overtaking control is not necessary, or if it is determined in the process of step S153B that the vehicle is not traveling in the overtaking lane, the process of this flowchart ends.

Next, the processing of steps S154 and S155 will be specifically described. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a home lane determination process based on priority. The home lane determination unit 174 derives a correction value for the candidate lane for each of the home lane candidates determined by the above-mentioned first to third candidate determination processes (step S154A), and derives a correction value for route guidance (step S154A). Step S154B). The correction value is, for example, a value set for adjusting an index value (index value) described later. Next, the home lane determination unit 174 performs a switching process based on the remaining distance to the guidance path (step S154C), and steps the correction value obtained by any of the processes of step S154A or step S154B. Used for processing S154D. In the process of step S154D, the home lane determination unit 174 derives the index value of each home lane candidate. Next, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the derived index value as the priority and the lane with the highest priority as the home lane (step S155). Hereinafter, the processes of steps S154A to S154D will be specifically described.

In the process of step S154A, the home lane determination unit 174 derives a correction value based on the relative position between the own lane and the home lane candidate determined by the first to third candidate determination processes. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 sets the correction value of the own lane to "0", assigns "+1" when the home lane candidate is on the right side of the own lane, and "-1" when the home lane candidate is on the left side. Is given. The correction value given according to the number of lanes up to the horn lane candidate also increases. For example, in the case of changing lanes, if the home lane candidate is an adjacent lane on the right side of the own lane, the home lane determination unit 174 assigns "+1" to the home lane candidate.

The above-mentioned candidate lane may include a lane based on the selection of the occupant in place of (or in addition to) the home lane determined by the first to third candidate determination processes. The lane based on the occupant's selection is, for example, an adjacent lane existing in the direction selected by the operation of the occupant's turn signal. Even when a lane is selected by the occupant's selection, the home lane determination unit 174 derives a correction value for that lane by the method described above.

In the process of step S154B, the home lane determination unit 174 derives a correction value for a guideable lane for the home lane candidate. For example, the state of the own vehicle M is in a state where it can be guided in the automatic driving mode, the remaining distance of the traveling lane is within a predetermined distance (for example, in the case of a highway, about 3000 [m]), and the own vehicle. If M is driving in a lane that is not the guidance destination (non-induction lane), or if the occupant requests a lane change event, and either of the conditions is met, the own vehicle M is guided. It is better to control the movement to the previous lane. Therefore, when the above conditions are satisfied, the home lane determination unit 174 assigns a correction value so that the priority of the home lane candidate corresponding to the lane to be guided is higher than that of the other candidates. Further, the home lane determination unit 174 assigns "+1" to the correction value when the lane to be guided is on the right side of the own lane, and "-" to the correction value when the lane is on the left side, as in the process of step S154A. 1 ”may be given.

Here, the process of step S154A described above is, for example, a correction value due to a lane change of overtaking or overtaking, and the process of step S154B is a correction value in the guidance direction when the remaining guidance distance is within a predetermined distance. In addition, overtaking and overtaking are not executed during event route guidance. Therefore, step S154A and step S154B have an exclusive relationship and do not need to be corrected at the same time. Therefore, in the process of step S154C, the correction value is switched and output according to the induced residual distance. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 outputs, for example, the correction value derived in step S154A when the remaining distance that can be guided to the lane to be guided is within a predetermined distance, and if it is larger than the predetermined distance, the home lane determination unit 174 outputs the correction value. , The correction value derived in step S154B is output. The above-mentioned predetermined distance is, for example, about 2000 [m] in the case of a highway. The predetermined distance described above may be variably set according to the speed of the own vehicle M, the road shape, the road condition, and the like.

In the process of step S154D, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane candidate based on the correction value input to the home lane candidate and the result of the abnormality determination of the home lane candidate (left and right lane) with respect to the own lane. Derive the index value. For example, the home lane determination unit 174 assigns a reference index value to the home lane candidate, and further adjusts the index value based on the above-mentioned correction value. In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 may add the correction value to the index value, or may perform calculation (multiplication or division) by weight based on the correction value.

Further, the home lane determination unit 174 may adjust the index value based on the ease of movement from the own lane to the home lane candidate, for example. The ease of movement is, for example, an index value relating to the ease of movement from the own lane to the candidate home lane. For example, the home lane determination unit 174 has a TTC with peripheral vehicles as the control content regarding the movement from the own lane to the home lane candidate is smaller, the time or distance until the movement is completed is shorter, or the number of peripheral vehicles is smaller. The larger the value, the greater the ease of movement. Further, the home lane determination unit 174 can change lanes with a smaller amount of movement of the own vehicle M as the amount of overlap between the own lane and the home lane candidate is larger, so that the degree of mobility is increased. Further, the home lane determination unit 174 reduces the ease of movement as the degree of abnormality of the home lane candidate increases. The high degree of abnormality means that, for example, when the home lane candidate has an obstacle that is likely to hinder driving, the degree of mobility is reduced. Obstacles here are, for example, falling objects from loaded vehicles, cracks and depressions in roads, construction sites, and the like. The home lane determination unit 174 adjusts so that the greater the ease of movement, the larger the index value.

In the home lane determination unit 174, some error occurred when the index value for each home lane candidate could not be derived, or when all the derived values exceeded the range from the preset lower limit value to the upper limit value. As a matter of fact, the correction value may be reset and reprocessing may be performed. Then, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the derived index value as the priority and the home lane candidate having the highest priority as the home lane. Further, the home lane determination unit 174 may determine the own lane as the final home lane when the priority of any home lane candidate is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

In addition, the home lane determination unit 174 sets priorities in advance for each of the first to third candidate determination processes instead of the above-mentioned method, and is determined by the higher candidate determination process among the set priorities. The home lane candidate may be determined as the final home lane. The priority may be variably set according to the surrounding conditions of the own vehicle M and the like.

According to the first determination process described above, each home lane candidate is determined based on the first to third candidate determination processes, and arbitration control is performed based on the priority of the determined home lane candidate to finally perform the arbitration control. Home lane is decided. As a result, a more appropriate home lane can be quickly determined according to the surrounding conditions of the own vehicle M and the like. In addition, by displaying the determined home lane, it is possible to suppress giving a sense of discomfort to the occupants.

<Second decision processing>
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of a series of flows of the second determination process and the display process. The process of FIG. 14 has steps S310 to S310 instead of the process of step S150 as compared with the process shown in FIG. 8 described above (process of steps S100 to S200), and the process of steps S320 to S330 is further performed. It differs in that it has been added. Therefore, in the following, the above-mentioned differences will be mainly described.

When it is determined in the process of step S140 of FIG. 14 that the driving mode of the own vehicle M is the automatic driving mode, the home lane determination unit 174 determines a plurality of predetermined determination patterns (for example, as the second determination process). , The first to third determination patterns described above) are selected (step S300). In this case, the home lane determination unit 174 selects a determination pattern based on, for example, the surrounding conditions of the own vehicle M (for example, road conditions, peripheral vehicles, event execution status, occupant operation instructions). Next, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane based on the selected determination pattern (step S320). Next, the HMI control unit 176 performs the processes of steps S160 to S190.

After the process of step S190, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the situation is such that the vehicle does not travel in the home lane (step S320). The situation in which the vehicle does not travel in the home lane is, for example, a case where the destination of the own vehicle M is erased (cancelled) by the operation of the occupant (in other words, the intention of the occupant). Further, the situation in which the vehicle does not travel in the home lane may include, for example, a situation in which the vehicle cannot travel due to an obstacle or the like in the lane determined as the home lane. If it is determined that the home lane is not traveled, the home lane determination unit 174 returns the home lane to the previously determined home lane (step S330), and returns to the process of step S160. For example, if a lane change event to the destination area occurs during the execution of the overtaking event, and the lane change event is canceled by the intention of the occupant immediately before or during the execution of the lane change event, it is determined at the time of the overtaking event. Return to the home lane. Information about the home lane determined last time is stored in a cache memory (not shown) of the storage unit 190 or the home lane determination unit 174. Further, in the process of step S320, if it is determined that the vehicle is not in a situation where the vehicle does not travel in the home lane, the process of this flowchart is terminated.

According to the second determination process described above, for example, the lane is displayed in the state where the fourth layer image is displayed in the lane to which the lane is changed before the steering control of the own vehicle M for changing the lane is started. When the change is canceled, the previously determined home lane can be displayed immediately from the lane to which the lane is changed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the lane to which the lane is changed from being continuously displayed as the home lane even though the lane change is canceled. Therefore, it is possible to make it difficult for the occupant who sees the image to feel a sense of discomfort.

The above-mentioned first or second determination process may include a part or all of the other determination processes. For example, if the home lane is not driven during the execution of the automatic driving for driving the home lane determined by the first determination process, the home lane determination unit 174 returns to the previously determined home lane. The traveling process (process of steps S320 to S320) may be performed.

[Processing flow]
Hereinafter, the flow of a series of processes by the automatic operation control device 100 of the embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart. In the following, among the processes by the automatic driving control device 100, the processing when the own vehicle M is controlled to travel based on the home lane will be mainly described in the automatic driving mode. The following processing is repeatedly executed while the own vehicle M is traveling. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a series of processes by the automatic operation control device 100 of the embodiment. In the process of FIG. 15, it is assumed that the destination has already been set.

In the process of FIG. 15, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the operation mode of the own vehicle M is the automatic operation mode (step S400). When it is determined that the mode is the automatic operation mode, the home lane determination unit 174 determines the home lane by the first or second determination process described above (step S410). Next, the action plan generation unit 140 generates a target track so that the own vehicle M travels in the home lane (step S420). Next, the second control unit 160 executes automatic driving control so that the own vehicle M travels along the target track (step S430).

Next, when the lane is changed due to a lane change event (immediately before or during execution), an instruction to stop driving to the home lane to which the lane is changed is instructed by an operation of a occupant (for example, a destination deletion operation or an event cancellation operation). Is determined (step S440). In other words, the lane change time is, for example, after the home lane is determined by the home lane determination unit 174, or after the fourth layer image showing the home lane is displayed on the display device 32 by the HMI control unit 176. .. When it is determined that the stop instruction has been accepted, it is determined whether the distance until the movement to the home lane becomes impossible is within the predetermined distance, or the time until the movement becomes impossible is within the predetermined time (step). S450). If it is determined that the above conditions are not satisfied, the home lane determination unit 174 determines whether or not the own vehicle M has entered the home lane to which the lane is changed (step S460). "Own vehicle M enters the home lane" means, for example, that at least a part of the own vehicle M is present in the area of the road surface when the road surface is viewed from a direction perpendicular to the road surface, or the own vehicle M is present. Is straddling the lane markings that divide the home lane. If it is determined that the vehicle has entered the home lane, or if it is determined in step S450 that the specified condition is satisfied, the second control unit 160 continues the movement of the own vehicle M to the home lane (. Step S470).

That is, in the present embodiment, when the own vehicle M has entered the home lane when the stop instruction is received, the size behavior of the own vehicle M is changed by continuing the movement to the home lane. It is possible to suppress the influence of the behavior on surrounding vehicles. Further, in the present embodiment, the lane is changed to the home lane for the purpose of heading to the destination, and the distance from the current position of the own vehicle M to the position where the lane cannot be changed to the home lane is within a predetermined distance or the lane. If the time until the change cannot be made is within a predetermined time, the instruction to stop the movement to the home lane is not accepted and the movement to the home lane is continued. As a result, it is possible to suppress a large change in the behavior of the own vehicle M due to a lane change in a short distance or time.

If it is determined in the process of step S460 that the own vehicle has not entered the home lane, the second control unit 160 stops moving to the home lane (step S480) and returns to the lane before the lane change. And run.

Further, in the process of step S400, when it is determined that the driving mode of the own vehicle M is not the automatic driving mode, the automatic driving control device 100 assumes that the manual driving is performed, and the operation of the occupant to the driving controller 80, etc. The manual operation control is executed based on (step S490). This ends the processing of this flowchart. If it is determined in the process of step S440 that the instruction to stop traveling to the home lane is not accepted, the automatic driving control executed in step S430 will be continuously executed.

According to the embodiment described above, the control device includes the recognition unit 130 that recognizes the peripheral situation of the own vehicle M and the road on which the own vehicle M travels based on the peripheral situation recognized by the recognition unit 130. The HMI control unit that displays an image including the home lane determination unit 174 that determines one of the lanes as the home lane, the road on which the own vehicle M travels, and the home lane determined by the home lane determination unit 174 on the display device 32. The home lane determination unit 174 determines a candidate for the home lane for each of a plurality of determination patterns, and determines the home lane based on the priority for each of the determined candidates, thereby performing operation control and display. In control, it is possible to make it difficult for the occupant to feel uncomfortable.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, for example, the arbitration control of the home lane is performed while the determination of the home lane corresponding to a plurality of purposes (for example, own lane priority, route guidance, overtaking control) is continued by parallel processing. By going and determining the final home lane, for example, by presenting an image such as the image IM14 of FIG. 7D, the occupant can continue to be presented with a more appropriate home lane.

Further, according to the above-described embodiment, when the home lane is determined by any one of a plurality of determination patterns and the event is canceled during the execution of the automatic driving to move to the home lane, one is used. The home lane corresponding to the canceled control by presenting the previously determined home lane (for example, presenting an image such as the image IM14 in FIG. 7D) or presenting the home lane for driving in the own lane. Can be suppressed from being displayed continuously. Therefore, it is possible to make it difficult for the occupant to see the displayed contents to feel uncomfortable.

In the above-described embodiment, the first to third determination patterns have been described, but two of these determination patterns may be used, or the home lane may be determined including other determination patterns. Other determination patterns include, for example, a pattern in which the home lane is determined based on the set vehicle speed of the own vehicle M at the time of execution of ACC or the like, and a pattern in which the home lane is determined based on the intention of the occupant. "Determining the home lane based on the set vehicle speed" means, for example, that when the set vehicle speed is about 80 [kph], the leftmost lane of the road is determined as the home lane and the set vehicle speed is about 100 [kph]. For example, the central lane of the road should be determined as the home lane. Further, "determining the home lane based on the intention of the occupant" means, for example, determining the lane (adjacent lane) in the direction instructed by the operation of the occupant's turn signal as the home lane. Further, as for the first to third candidate determination processes, two of these candidate determination processes may be used, or the home lane candidate may be determined using another candidate determination process.

[Hardware configuration]
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the automatic operation control device 100 of the embodiment. As shown in the figure, the computer that realizes the automatic operation control device 100 includes a communication controller 100-1, a CPU 100-2, a RAM 100-3 used as a working memory, a ROM 100-4 that stores a boot program, a flash memory, and an HDD. The storage devices 100-5, the drive devices 100-6, and the like are connected to each other by an internal bus or a dedicated communication line. The communication controller 100-1 communicates with a component other than the automatic operation control device 100. The storage device 100-5 stores a program 100-5a executed by the CPU 100-2. This program is expanded to RAM 100-3 by a DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller (not shown) or the like, and is executed by CPU 100-2. As a result, a part or all of the first control unit 120, the second control unit 160, and the third control unit 170 are realized.

The embodiment described above can be expressed as follows.
Storage to store programs and
With a processor,
The processor executes the program.
Recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle,
Based on the recognized surrounding conditions, one of the lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is determined as the reference lane.
An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit is displayed on the display unit.
After the reference lane is determined by any of the plurality of determination patterns, if the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane, the reference lane is returned to the reference lane before the determination.
A control unit that is configured to.

Moreover, the embodiment described above can also be expressed as follows.
Storage to store programs and
With a processor,
The processor executes the program.
Recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle,
Based on the recognized surrounding conditions, one of the lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is determined as the reference lane.
An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit is displayed on the display unit.
After the reference lane is determined by any of the plurality of determination patterns, if the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane, the reference lane is returned to the reference lane before the determination.
A control unit that is configured to.

Although the embodiments for carrying out the present invention have been described above using the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions are made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Can be added.

1 ... Vehicle system, 10 ... Camera, 12 ... Radar device, 14 ... Finder, 16 ... Object recognition device, 20 ... Communication device, 30 ... HMI, 40 ... Vehicle sensor, 50 ... Navigation device, 60 ... MPU, 80 ... Driving Operator, 100 ... Automatic operation control device, 120 ... First control unit, 130 ... Recognition unit, 140 ... Action plan generation unit, 160 ... Second control unit, 162 ... First acquisition unit, 164 ... Speed control unit, 166 ... Steering control unit, 170 ... 3rd control unit, 172 ... 2nd acquisition unit, 174 ... Home lane determination unit, 176 ... HMI control unit, 190 ... Storage unit, 200 ... Travel drive force output device, 210 ... Brake device, 220 ... Steering device, M ... Own vehicle

Claims (11)

A recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding conditions of the vehicle and
A reference lane determination unit that determines any lane included in the road on which the vehicle travels as a reference lane based on the surrounding conditions recognized by the recognition unit.
A display control unit for displaying an image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit on the display unit is provided.
The reference lane determination unit determines a candidate for the reference lane for each of a plurality of determination patterns, and determines the reference lane based on the priority for each of the determined candidates.
Control device. A recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding conditions of the vehicle and
A reference lane determination unit that determines any lane included in the road on which the vehicle travels as a reference lane based on the surrounding conditions recognized by the recognition unit.
A display control unit for displaying an image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit on the display unit is provided.
The reference lane determination unit determines the reference lane according to one of a plurality of determination patterns, and then determines the reference lane when the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane. Return to the reference lane,
Control device. The plurality of determination patterns are a first determination pattern in which the own lane in which the vehicle is traveling is determined as a reference lane, and a first determination pattern in which a lane to be driven in the future for guiding the route of the vehicle is determined as a reference lane. The determination pattern of 2 is included, and a third determination pattern of determining the lane before overtaking as the reference lane when the control for overtaking the vehicle in front of the vehicle is executed is included.
The control device according to claim 1 or 2. A driving control unit that controls one or both of the speed and steering of the vehicle so as to travel in the reference lane determined by the reference lane determination unit is further provided.
The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The operation control unit moves to the reference lane after the reference lane is determined by the reference lane determination unit or after an image showing the reference lane is displayed on the display unit by the display control unit. When the vehicle is in the reference lane when the instruction to stop is received, the movement of the vehicle to the reference lane is continued.
The control device according to claim 4. The instruction to stop moving to the reference lane is an instruction intended by the occupant of the vehicle.
The control device according to claim 5. The operation control unit changes the lane to the reference lane, and the distance from the position of the vehicle to the position where the lane cannot be changed to the reference lane is within a predetermined distance, or the time until the lane cannot be changed. If it is within the specified time, we will not accept the instruction to stop moving to the reference lane.
The control device according to any one of claims 4 to 6. The computer
Recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle,
Based on the recognized surrounding conditions, one of the lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is determined as the reference lane.
An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit.
Candidates for the reference lane are determined for each of a plurality of determination patterns, and the reference lane is determined based on the priority for each of the determined candidates.
Control method. The computer
Recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle,
Based on the recognized surrounding conditions, one of the lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is determined as the reference lane.
An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit.
After the reference lane is determined by any of the plurality of determination patterns, if the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane, the reference lane is returned to the reference lane before the determination.
Control method. On the computer
Recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle
Based on the recognized surrounding conditions, one of the lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is determined as the reference lane.
An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit.
Candidates for the reference lane are determined for each of a plurality of determination patterns, and the reference lane is determined based on the priority for each of the determined candidates.
program. On the computer
Recognize the surrounding situation of the vehicle
Based on the recognized surrounding conditions, one of the lanes included in the road on which the vehicle travels is determined as the reference lane.
An image including the road on which the vehicle travels and the determined reference lane is displayed on the display unit.
After the reference lane is determined by any of the plurality of determination patterns, if the vehicle does not travel in the reference lane, the reference lane is returned to the reference lane before the determination.
program.

Images