JP2022056163A - Automatic operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce time required for selecting an appropriate vehicle travel route.SOLUTION: An automatic operation device comprises: a mode identification section 524 which identifies a current travel mode of a vehicle among a plurality of travel modes representing a travel plan; a candidate selection section 525 which selects some travel modes as candidate travel modes among the plurality of travel modes other than the travel mode identified by the mode identification section 524; a prediction section 522 which predicts a future state of a surrounding environment on the basis of environment information; a determination section 526 which determines whether or not a vehicle satisfies a transition condition enabling the vehicle to transit from the travel mode identified by the mode identification section 524 to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection section 525 on the basis of state information and the future state of the surrounding environment predicted by the prediction section; and a transition section 527 which enables the vehicle to transit to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection section 525 when the determination section 526 determines that the vehicle satisfies the transition condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic driving device that shifts a vehicle to one of a plurality of driving modes.

It has been proposed to evaluate the safety of the route on which the vehicle travels. For example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of route candidates for a vehicle are generated, the behavior of the vehicle is predicted for the generated plurality of route candidates, and the prediction results are evaluated to select one of the route candidates. (For example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-137321

The technique described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it takes an excessive amount of time to select a route candidate because it is necessary to evaluate each of a plurality of generated route candidates.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of shortening the time required to select an appropriate traveling route of a vehicle.

The automatic driving device of the first aspect of the present invention has a plurality of acquisition units for acquiring state information indicating the state of the vehicle and environmental information indicating the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and a plurality of driving plans for automatic driving of the vehicle. Among the driving modes of the above, among the mode specifying unit for specifying the current driving mode of the vehicle and the plurality of driving modes other than the driving mode specified by the mode specifying unit, some of the driving modes are described. A candidate selection unit selected as a candidate for the driving mode of the vehicle, a prediction unit that predicts the state of the future surrounding environment based on the environmental information, the state information, and the future peripheral area predicted by the prediction unit. Based on the state of the environment, it is determined whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition for transitioning the vehicle from the driving mode specified by the mode specifying unit to the driving mode selected by the candidate selection unit. The determination unit is provided with a determination unit for transitioning the vehicle to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit when the determination unit determines that the vehicle satisfies the transition condition.

The determination unit estimates the collision risk when the vehicle travels in the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit based on the state of the future surrounding environment predicted by the prediction unit, and determines the collision risk. Based on this, it may be determined whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition. The determination unit estimates the length of the travel route on which the vehicle travels according to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit, and the vehicle satisfies the transition condition based on the estimated length of the route. It may be determined whether or not.

The acquisition unit acquires the environmental information including information indicating the traffic condition around the vehicle, and the candidate selection unit is a plurality of modes other than the travel mode specified by the mode specifying unit based on the traffic condition. A priority may be assigned to the driving mode of the above, and a part of the driving modes may be selected as a candidate based on the assigned priority. The transition unit may transition the vehicle to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit among the plurality of travel modes corresponding to the combination of the plurality of lanes and the plurality of target speeds. The automatic driving device further includes an operation specifying unit that specifies the operation of the driver of the vehicle, and the candidate selection unit sets a part of the traveling modes based on the operation specified by the operation specifying unit. It may be selected as a candidate. The candidate selection unit may select a new candidate for the traveling mode at predetermined time intervals.

According to the present invention, there is an effect of shortening the time required to select an appropriate traveling route of a vehicle.

It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating an example of the structure of the automatic driving apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a control device. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the determination of a driving behavior by a short-term prediction by a specific part, and the driving route specified by a long-term prediction. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the example of the traveling path specified by a specific part. It is a figure which shows the example of a plurality of traveling modes. It is a figure which shows another example of the traveling mode of a vehicle. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of the function value of a cost function by a calculation part. It is a figure which shows the example of the determination of the effectiveness of a lane change by a selection part. It is a figure which shows the example of the end determination of a lane change by a steering control unit. It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure of selection of the lane in which a vehicle travels by the automatic driving apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the control device provided in the automatic driving device of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a plurality of traveling modes. It is a figure which showed the example of the selection of the candidate of the traveling mode by the candidate selection unit. It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure of the transition of the traveling mode by the automatic driving apparatus of 2nd Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
[Configuration of autonomous driving device]
The configuration of the automatic driving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of the automatic driving device 1 according to the first embodiment. The automatic driving device 1 is mounted on a vehicle such as a truck and supports the driving of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the automatic driving device 1 has a vehicle detection unit 2, an environment recognition unit 4, a map database 6, and a control device 10.

The vehicle detection unit 2 detects the state of the vehicle. The vehicle detection unit 2 detects the position and speed of the vehicle and whether or not the direction indicator is blinking. For example, the vehicle detection unit 2 has a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, and detects the position of the vehicle by the radio wave received by the GPS receiver. The vehicle detection unit 2 outputs the state information indicating the detection result of the vehicle state to the control device 10.

The environment recognition unit 4 recognizes the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle. For example, the environment recognition unit 4 has an external sensor such as a camera or a radar. The environment recognition unit 4 recognizes the position, movement direction, movement speed, and acceleration of an object (for example, another vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, etc.) around the vehicle based on the output of the external sensor. Further, the environment recognition unit 4 can recognize traffic conditions such as the position and width of the lane in which the vehicle travels, whether there are different lanes on the left and right sides of the vehicle, and whether another vehicle is traveling in front of the vehicle. .. The environment recognition unit 4 outputs the recognition result of the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle and the recognition result of the traffic condition to the control device 10 as environmental information.

The map database 6 stores road map information. The road map information includes, for example, data showing three-dimensional coordinates of the latitude, longitude and altitude of the road. In addition, the road map information includes information on the number of lanes and the lane structure of the road on which the vehicle travels. Further, the map database 6 can acquire the traffic condition recognized by the environment recognition unit 4 instead based on the position of the vehicle detected by the vehicle detection unit 2.

The control device 10 controls the operation of the automatic driving device 1. The control device 10 specifies a travel route assuming that the vehicle travels in each of a plurality of lanes including the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling. The control device 10 estimates the collision risk in each of the specified plurality of travel paths. Although the details will be described later, the control device 10 determines the function value of the cost function for evaluating the travel route for each travel route based on the estimated collision risk of the travel route and the length of the travel route. calculate. The control device 10 selects a travel route that minimizes the calculated function value as a travel route on which the vehicle travels. In this way, the control device 10 can automatically determine whether or not to change lanes and select the lane to be changed without the driver instructing whether or not to change lanes.

However, if the travel route that minimizes the function value is selected from the plurality of travel routes, it is possible that the frequency of lane changes of the vehicle becomes excessive depending on the traffic conditions around the vehicle. Therefore, the control device 10 adjusts the frequency with which each travel route is selected by determining the necessity of changing lanes using a cost function including adjustment values corresponding to each of the plurality of travel routes. In this way, the control device 10 can prevent the frequency of lane changes from becoming excessive.

[Control device configuration]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control device 10. The control device 10 includes a storage unit 11 and a control unit 12. The control unit 12 includes a specific unit 121, a calculation unit 122, a selection unit 123, and a steering control unit 124.

The storage unit 11 includes a storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and a hard disk. The storage unit 11 stores a program executed by the control unit 12. The control unit 12 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 12 functions as a specific unit 121, a calculation unit 122, a selection unit 123, and a steering control unit 124 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 11.

[Specification of travel route]
The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route on which the vehicle travels. For example, the specific unit 121 determines the driving behavior of the vehicle using the potential field, and generates a traveling route for the vehicle to travel in the lane based on the determined driving behavior. The potential field can be obtained by, for example, a known method. The specific unit 121 determines the driving behavior by the short-term prediction, and generates the traveling route by the long-term prediction. The travel route is a locus of the position of the vehicle at the time of long-term prediction.

The outline of the route generation in the long-term prediction in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the determination of driving behavior in the short-term prediction by the specific unit 121 and the traveling route specified in the long-term prediction. As shown in FIG. 3, the short-term prediction is a prediction made during the period Δt _s , and the long-term prediction is a prediction made during the period Δt _L. As shown in FIG. 3, the specific unit 121 makes a short-term prediction of the period Δt _s a plurality of times (here, four times) during the period Δt _L. At this time, the driving behavior determined by one short-term prediction is reflected in the next short-term prediction. For example, the specific unit 121 performs the short-term prediction P2 in consideration of the state of the vehicle reflecting the driving behavior determined in the short-term prediction P1 and the position of surrounding objects. The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route by connecting the locus of the position of the vehicle based on the driving behavior determined by the short-term prediction described above. At this time, the specifying unit 121 shall specify the traveling route to which the collision risk information is added, based on the potential method, the Kalman filter, or the like. The number of executions of the short-term prediction does not necessarily have to be the number of times the period Δt _L is divided by the period Δt _s . That is, the predicted time Δt _L of the short-term prediction may be longer or shorter than the time difference between the path points.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a traveling route specified by the specific unit 121. The traveling route shown in FIG. 4 includes a plurality of route points R1 to R4. The route points R1 to R4 are the positions of the own vehicle estimated by short-term prediction. Point R0 is the point at which long-term forecasting is started. The route point R1 is the position of the own vehicle determined by the optimum driving behavior (that is, acceleration / deceleration or yaw rate) determined by the short-term prediction at the point R0. The route point R2 is the position of the own vehicle determined by the optimum driving behavior determined by the short-term prediction at the route point R1. Similarly, the route point R3 is the position of the own vehicle determined by the optimum driving behavior determined by the short-term prediction at the route point R2. Here, in each of the short-term predictions executed repeatedly, the driving behavior is determined so as to secure a safe inter-vehicle distance with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding object.

By specifying a traveling route connecting such route points R1 to R4, the specific unit 121 can generate a route in consideration of changes in traffic conditions at each route point, and is a more safe route. Can be identified. The broken line arrow in FIG. 4 indicates a driving behavior that is not optimal in short-term prediction.

The specific unit 121 estimates the collision risk in each of the specified plurality of travel routes. More specifically, the specific unit 121 predicts the position and speed of the peripheral obstacle at a plurality of future predicted times by the velocity of the peripheral obstacle or the speed of the peripheral obstacle and the acceleration of the peripheral obstacle. do. The specific unit 121 calculates the collision risk between the peripheral obstacle and the vehicle based on the predicted position and speed of the peripheral obstacle. The specific unit 121 may stop the generation of the traveling route in the middle. For example, when the collision risk of a path point on a travel path is ^{equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value Rthcol} _, the specific unit 121 identifies a travel path from the start point to the path point immediately preceding this path point. The travel route after the route point is not specified. As a result, it is possible to suppress the generation of a route in which safety is not sufficiently ensured.

Not limited to the above, the specific unit 121 may specify the travel route without stopping the identification of the travel route even when the collision risk is equal to or higher than the predetermined threshold value ^{Rth coll} _. In this case, it is desirable to notify the driver that there is a collision risk on the specified driving route. As a result, the specific unit 121 can make the driver aware of the collision risk when the own vehicle automatically drives along the specified travel route.

The identification unit 121 specifies a plurality of travel routes when the vehicle travels in each of the plurality of lanes including the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of traveling modes. In the example of FIG. 5, three driving modes of a standard left lane change mode, a standard lane maintenance mode, and a standard right lane change mode are shown. The standard left lane change mode is a driving mode for changing the vehicle to the lane to the left of the currently driving lane at the same target speed as the current one. The standard lane keeping mode is a driving mode for driving a vehicle in the currently driving lane without changing the lane at the same target speed as the current one. The standard right lane change mode is a driving mode in which the automatic driving device 1 causes the vehicle to change lanes to the lane to the right of the lane currently being driven at the same target speed as the current one.

The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route corresponding to each traveling mode of the standard left lane change mode, the standard lane maintenance mode, and the standard right lane change mode. The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route for changing lanes to the lane to the left of the currently traveling lane as a traveling route corresponding to the standard left lane change mode. The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route traveling in the currently traveling lane without changing the lane as a traveling route corresponding to the standard traveling maintenance mode. The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling mode for changing lanes to the lane to the right of the currently traveling lane as a standard right lane change mode.

Further, the specific unit 121 is not limited to the example of specifying the travel route corresponding to the three travel modes. For example, the specifying unit 121 may specify a traveling route corresponding to a plurality of traveling modes traveling at different target speeds. Further, the specifying unit 121 may specify a traveling route corresponding to a plurality of traveling modes in which a plurality of target speeds in which the vehicle travels and a plurality of lanes are combined. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of a plurality of traveling modes.

In FIG. 6, the standard left lane change mode, the standard lane keeping mode, and the standard right lane change mode are the same as the examples shown in FIG. 5, respectively. The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route for changing lanes at a target vehicle speed higher than the standard left lane changing mode in the lane to the left of the currently traveling lane as a traveling route corresponding to the high-speed left lane change mode. The specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route for changing lanes at a target vehicle speed lower than the standard left lane changing mode in the lane to the left of the currently traveling lane as a traveling route corresponding to the low-speed left lane change mode. The same applies to the high-speed right lane change mode and the low-speed right lane change mode. The target speed for each driving mode shall be pre-specified by the driver or the autonomous driving system.

[Traveling route conditions]
The identification unit 121 specifies a travel route in which the collision risk R _{opt and j} ^coll at a plurality of route points on the travel route are all smaller than the predetermined threshold value Rthcoll (Ropt _{, j} ^coll <R _th ^coll (Equation (1))). ). The threshold value R _th ^coll is, for example, a value lower than the collision risk when the vehicle is driven by the driving of an average driver. The collision risk R _{opt, j} ^coll is determined based on a known method such as the potential method. j is the index number of the route point.

When the collision risk _{Rot, j} ^coll at any of the route points on the travel route becomes equal to or higher than the threshold value R _th ^coll , the specific unit 121 travels from the start point of the travel route to the route point immediately before this route point. The route is specified, and the traveling route after the route point where the collision risk Ropt and jcoll are equal to or higher than the threshold value Rthcoll is not specified. The specific unit 121 associates the specified travel route, the information indicating the travel mode corresponding to the travel route, and the information indicating the collision risk at a plurality of path points on the travel route, and outputs the information to the calculation unit 122. The specifying unit 121 sequentially respecifies the traveling route corresponding to the current traveling mode, and outputs the respecified traveling route to the steering control unit 124.

[Calculation of function value of cost function]
The calculation unit 122 includes, as parameters, the length of each of the plurality of travel routes, the collision risk in each of the plurality of travel routes specified by the specific unit 121, and the adjustment value corresponding to each of the plurality of travel routes. The function value of the cost function for evaluating is calculated for each travel route. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating the function value of the cost function by the calculation unit 122.

In the example of FIG. 7, the specific unit 121 corresponds to a travel route corresponding to a standard left lane change mode for changing lanes to the left adjacent lane, and a standard lane maintenance mode for traveling in the current lane without changing lanes. It is assumed that the driving route to be used and the driving route corresponding to the standard right lane change mode for changing lanes to the right adjacent lane are specified. The travel route specified by the specific unit 121 is indicated by an arrow. In FIG. 7, a plurality of route points on the travel route are indicated by black circles. The plurality of path points indicate positions on the travel path where the vehicle is expected to be present at predetermined time intervals.

The _nend in FIG. 7 indicates the number of route points of each traveling route. The time _tend is an estimated time when the vehicle arrives at the last route point on the travel route specified by the specific unit 121. When the collision risk _{Rot, j} ^coll at any of the route points on the travel route becomes equal to or higher than the threshold value R _th ^coll in the identification of the travel route, the identification unit 121 terminates the specification of the travel route. The ^{tend is an estimated time at which the vehicle arrives at the route point immediately before the route point to which the collision risk of the threshold value Rth coll} _{or higher} is given when the specification of the travel route is terminated. In FIG. 7, the number _nend of the route points of different travel routes may not be the same value. The same applies to the estimated time _tend when the vehicle arrives at the last route point.

First, the calculation unit 122 obtains a collision risk statistic at a plurality of path points on the travel route specified by the specific unit 121. For example, the calculation unit 122 obtains the maximum value R _max ^coll of the collision risk at a plurality of path points of the travel route shown in FIG. 7 for each travel route.

The calculation unit 122 calculates the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function for evaluating the travel route based on the obtained statistic. I is an index number representing a traveling mode. The cost function is represented by, for example, the following equations (2) and (3).
C _{0 past} = -w _S ^stend / (V _target Δt _L ) + w _R (R _max ^coll / R _th ^coll ). .. .. (2)
C ^path (I) = C ₀ ^path + C ^mode (I). .. .. (3)
In equation (2), the first term is normalized by dividing the length of the mileage _stend by the ideal distance calculated by the product of the target speed V _target and the expected time Δt _L. It is the value that was set. In the equations (2) and (3), the function value C ^path (I) is calculated by using this first term as a gain, that is, a negative cost. The second term of the equation (2) shows the value obtained by normalizing the risk when traveling on the traveling route as a penalty, that is, a positive cost. In the formula (2), the first term _stend indicates the length of the road on which the vehicle is expected to _travel from time t ₀ to time tend. Time t ₀ is the predicted start time.

Δt _L is the expected time for which the long-term forecast is made. Assuming that Δt _end = _tend −t ₀ , Δt _L = Δt _end if the specification of the traveling route by the specific unit 121 is not interrupted in the middle. In the example of the present specification, the V _target is the target vehicle speed in the current driving mode of the vehicle, but may be the target vehicle speed in the driving mode for calculating the function value C ^path (I). w _S and w _R are weighting factors. When the weighting coefficient ws is set large, the magnitude of the gain in the first term is more likely to be evaluated than the magnitude of the penalty in the second term. When the weighting coefficient w _R is set large, the magnitude of the penalty in the second term is more likely to be evaluated than the magnitude of the gain in the first term.

In the formula (3), the C ^mode (I) is an adjustment value indicating the difficulty of transition to the traveling mode. For example, when calculating the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the current traveling mode, C ^mode (I) = 0. On the other hand, when the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the driving mode different from the current driving mode is calculated, the C ^mode (I) becomes a value larger than 0. When the adjustment value C ^mode (I) of the driving mode accompanied by the lane change is increased, the frequency of the lane change becomes low. On the other hand, if the adjustment value C ^mode (I) of the traveling mode accompanied by the lane change is made small, the frequency of the lane change becomes high.

[Adjustment of adjustment value by driver's operation]
When the driver operates the left turn signal, it can be presumed that the driver intends to change lanes to the next lane on the left. Therefore, when the operation reception unit (not shown) accepts the driver's operation of blinking the direction indicator of the vehicle, the calculation unit 122 adjusts the travel route with a lane change corresponding to the direction indicator C. ^{The mode} (I) may be reduced. In this way, the calculation unit 122 can easily select the travel route intended by the driver.

Further, when the driver operates a key or the like for increasing the target vehicle speed, it can be estimated that the driver intends to drive the vehicle at a higher target vehicle speed. When the operation reception unit accepts the operation of the driver who increases the target vehicle speed of the vehicle, the calculation unit 122 is relatively compared with the adjustment value C ^mode (I) of the traveling route corresponding to the relatively low target vehicle speed. The adjustment value ^Cmode (I) of the traveling route corresponding to the high target vehicle speed may be reduced.

For example, when the operation reception unit accepts the operation of the driver to increase the target vehicle speed of the vehicle, the calculation unit 122 is compared with the adjustment value C ^mode (I) corresponding to the low-speed left lane change mode shown in FIG. , The adjustment value ^Mode (I) corresponding to the high-speed left lane change mode may be reduced. The calculation unit 122 calculates the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function for each travel route. The calculation unit 122 outputs information indicating the travel route and the function value C ^path (I) of the travel route to the selection unit 123.

[Judgment of effectiveness of lane change]
The selection unit 123 selects one of the plurality of travel routes specified by the specific unit 121. First, the selection unit 123 determines whether or not the lane change included in the travel route corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 is effective.

The selection unit 123 determines the absolute value of the difference between the azimuth angle ψ _j ^ego in the traveling direction of the vehicle after the lane change and the azimuth angle θ in the direction in which the lane boundary line extends for the traveling route corresponding to the traveling mode accompanied by the lane change. Is a predetermined reference value Δθ _th or less (| ψ _j ^ego −θ | ≦ Δθ _th (Equation 4)), and it is determined that the lane change included in the traveling route is effective. In the selection unit 123, the absolute value of the difference between the azimuth angle ψ _j ^ego in the traveling direction of the vehicle after the lane change included in the traveling route and the azimuth angle θ in the direction in which the lane boundary line extends is a predetermined reference value Δθ _th . If it is larger than (| ψ _j ^ego -θ |> Δθ _th (Equation 5)), it is determined that the lane change included in this travel route is not effective, and the lane corresponding to this travel route is not selected. The reference value Δθ _th is, for example, the maximum value of the absolute value of the difference between the two azimuths assumed in a state where the vehicle is stably traveling in the lane.

Whether the absolute value of the difference between the coordinate value of the path point in the travel path after the lane change and the coordinate value of the center of the lane to which the lane is changed is equal to or less than the threshold value in the selection unit 123 on the coordinate axis in the direction orthogonal to the lane boundary line. Judge whether or not. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of determining the effectiveness of the lane change by the selection unit 123.

In the example of FIG. 8, a traveling route for changing lanes to the lane to the right of the currently traveling lane is shown. Multiple route points on the travel route are indicated by black circles. In FIG. 8, the X-axis is the coordinate axis in the direction in which the lane boundary line extends, and the Y-axis is the coordinate axis in the direction orthogonal to the lane boundary line.

The selection unit 123 obtains the coordinate value Y _j ^path of the route point A in the Y-axis direction in the travel route after changing lanes. The specific unit 121 obtains the coordinate value Y _j ^cent in the Y-axis direction of the lane center A'on the left side of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. Here, the selection unit 123 determines whether or not the following equation (6) holds in the traveling route after changing lanes.
| Y _j ^path -Y _j ^cent | < _Uth . .. .. (6)
In equation (6), _Uth is a threshold value. The threshold value _Uth is, for example, the maximum value of the absolute value of the difference between the two coordinate values assumed when the vehicle is completely contained in the lane adjacent to the left. The selection unit 123 does not select a point that does not satisfy the equation (4) or the equation (6) as the end point of the route. The selection unit 123 determines when the absolute value of the difference between the position of the vehicle in the direction orthogonal to the lane boundary line after the lane change included in the travel route and the center of the lane to which the lane is changed is larger than the threshold value (| Y _j ). ^path -Y _j - ^cent | ≧ _Ortho ... (7)), it is determined that the lane change included in this travel route is not effective, and the lane corresponding to this travel route is not selected. On the other hand, when the traveling route satisfies the equations (4) and (6), the selection unit 123 determines that the lane change included in the traveling route is effective.

The selection unit 123 selects the lane in which the vehicle travels based on the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function calculated by the calculation unit 122. The selection unit 123 minimizes the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function calculated by the calculation unit 122 among the travel route without lane change and the travel route with lane change determined to be valid. Select a driving route.

When the selection unit 123 determines that the lane change is effective for only one travel route, the selection unit 123 selects a travel route that does not accompany the lane change and one travel route that is determined that the lane change is effective. By comparison, the traveling route having the smaller function value C ^path (I) of the cost function is selected. The selection unit 123 selects a travel mode corresponding to the selected travel route. The selection unit 123 outputs information indicating the selected travel mode to the steering control unit 124.

[Turn signal lighting control]
The selection unit 123 blinks the direction indicator (not shown) based on the selection result of the traveling route. For example, the selection unit 123 determines whether or not the left direction indicator 9 is in the ON state when a travel mode accompanied by a lane change to the lane to the left of the currently traveling lane is selected. When the selection unit 123 determines that the left turn signal is in the off state, the selection unit 123 shifts the left turn signal from the off state to the on state and blinks the left lighting indicator.

When the lane change to the left adjacent lane is completed or interrupted, the selection unit 123 shifts the lighting indicator from the on state to the off state and turns off the lighting indicator on the left side. When a predetermined period has elapsed since the lighting indicator was switched to the on state in the standard lane keeping mode, the selection unit 123 shifts the lighting indicator from the on state to the off state and turns off the lighting indicator on the left side. Let me.

[Transition of driving mode]
The steering control unit 124 controls the steering of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 5, the steering control unit 124 shifts to one of the standard left lane change mode, the standard lane keeping mode, and the standard right lane change mode to drive the vehicle. In the standard left lane change mode, the steering control unit 124 changes lanes to the lane to the left of the currently traveling lane. In the standard lane keeping mode, the steering control unit 124 travels in the currently lane without changing lanes. In the standard right lane change mode, the steering control unit 124 changes lanes to the lane to the right of the currently traveling lane.

The steering control unit 124 starts changing lanes to the selected lane based on the lighting state of the direction indicator on the lane side selected by the selection unit 123. For example, in the steering control unit 124, when the selection unit 123 selects the standard left lane change mode, the left turn signal is on and a certain period of time or more has elapsed since the turn signal was turned on. At that time, the mode shifts to the left lane change mode and the lane change to the next lane on the left is started. At this time, the steering control unit 124 does not travel along the travel path itself used by the selection unit 123 to select the travel mode, but the specific unit 121 newly specifies the travel route corresponding to the selected travel mode. It shall be traveled along the re-running route.

When the selection unit 123 selects the standard left lane change mode, the steering control unit 124 does not transition to the standard left lane change mode unless the left turn signal is in the ON state. When the selection unit 123 selects the standard left lane change mode, the steering control unit 124 does not transition to the standard left lane change mode unless a certain period of time has passed since the left turn signal was turned on. ..

[Determining the end of lane change]
The steering control unit 124 transitions to the standard left lane change mode or the standard right lane change mode, and then shifts to the standard lane maintenance mode when the lane change is terminated or interrupted. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of lane change end determination by the steering control unit 124. For example, if the entire vehicle is within the center of the lane to be changed, the steering control unit 124 ends the standard left lane change mode or the standard right lane change mode, and transitions to the standard lane maintenance mode (in FIG. 9). (1)). As an example, when the vehicle satisfies the above equations (4) and (6), the steering control unit 124 determines that the entire vehicle is within the vicinity of the center of the lane to be changed, and changes the standard left lane. Exit the mode or standard right lane change mode.

Further, when the steering control unit 124 identifies only the lane boundary line of the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling by the environment recognition unit 4 in FIG. 1, the time when the center of the front surface of the vehicle is within the lane to be changed, that is, It may be determined that the lane change is completed when the front surface of the vehicle crosses the lane boundary line ((2) in FIG. 9), and the standard left lane change mode or the standard right lane change mode may be ended.

After the selection unit 123 selects the standard left lane change mode or the standard right lane change mode, it is assumed that the specific unit 121 respecifies the travel route corresponding to the selected travel mode. The steering control unit 124 interrupts the lane change and returns to the standard lane keeping mode when the risk expected by the path point at which the lane change ends in this traveling path becomes the threshold value Rthcolor or more.

Further, when the selection unit 123 selects the standard left lane change mode or the standard right lane change mode while traveling in the standard lane maintenance mode, the steering control unit 124 has changed to the standard lane maintenance mode last time. It is not necessary to transition to the standard left lane change mode or the standard right lane change mode until the reference period elapses. The reference period is, for example, the time required for the vehicle to stabilize running. In this way, the steering control unit 124 can prevent the vehicle from becoming unstable due to repeated lane changes in a short period of time.

[Processing procedure for selecting a travel route]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for selecting a lane in which a vehicle travels by the automatic driving device 1 of the first embodiment. This processing procedure is started, for example, while the driver does not grip the steering wheel and the vehicle is traveling by the automatic steering mechanism.

First, the specifying unit 121 specifies a traveling route on which the vehicle travels in the lane (S101). At this time, the specifying unit 121 identifies the collision risk of a plurality of path points in the traveling route, respectively (S102). The calculation unit 122 obtains the maximum value R _max ^coll of the collision risk at a plurality of path points on the travel path (S103). The calculation unit 122 calculates the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function by the above equations (2) and (3) (S104).

The selection unit 123 determines whether or not the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to all the traveling modes has been calculated (S105). When it is determined that the function value C ^path (I) has been calculated for all the traveling modes (YES in S105), the selection unit 123 determines whether or not the lane change included in the traveling route is effective. .. The selection unit 123 minimizes the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function calculated by the calculation unit 122 among the driving mode without lane change and the driving mode with lane change determined to be valid. The travel mode is selected (S106), and the process ends. When it is determined in the determination of S105 that the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to some of the traveling modes has not been calculated (NO in S105), the selection unit 123 returns to the process of S101.

[Effect of the automatic driving device of the first embodiment]
The calculation unit 122 calculates the function value C ^path (I) by a cost function including a constant value C ^mode (I) indicating the difficulty of transition to the state in which the vehicle travels on the travel route as a parameter, and the selection unit 123. Selects one of the lanes based on the function value C ^path (I) calculated by the calculation unit 122. The calculation unit 122 and the selection unit 123 can reduce the frequency of lane changes by adjusting the constant value C ^mode (I). Therefore, the calculation unit 122 and the selection unit 123 can prevent the frequency of lane changes from becoming too high.

[Second Embodiment]
When the control device 10 of the first embodiment selects a travel mode, the control device 10 specifies a travel route when the vehicle travels in the travel mode for all selectable travel modes by long-term prediction. At this time, there is a problem that the calculation load becomes large due to the control device 10 repeating long-term prediction and the like, and the calculation time becomes excessive.

The control device 50 of the second embodiment selects a part of the driving modes as the candidate driving mode of the vehicle from the plurality of driving modes, and shifts the vehicle from the current driving mode of the vehicle to the driving mode selected as the candidate. It is determined whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition for transitioning. At this time, since the control device 50 does not need to specify the travel route or the like corresponding to the travel mode not selected as a candidate by long-term prediction, the calculation load in determining whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition is reduced. , It is possible to prevent the calculation time from becoming excessive.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a control device 50 mounted on the automatic driving device of the second embodiment. The control device 50 includes a storage unit 51 and a control unit 52. The storage unit 51 is the same as the storage unit 11 in FIG. The control unit 52 is, for example, a CPU. By executing the program stored in the storage unit 51, the control unit 52 serves as an acquisition unit 521, a prediction unit 522, an operation identification unit 523, a mode identification unit 524, a candidate selection unit 525, a determination unit 526, and a transition unit 527. Function.

[Acquisition of status information and environmental information]
The acquisition unit 521 acquires state information indicating the state of the vehicle. For example, the acquisition unit 521 acquires the detection result of whether or not the direction indicator is blinking from the vehicle detection unit 2 (FIG. 1). The acquisition unit 521 acquires environmental information indicating the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle. The state of the surrounding environment is, for example, the position, moving direction, moving speed, acceleration, and the like of an object (for example, another vehicle, a bicycle, a pedestrian, etc.) around the vehicle. The acquisition unit 521 outputs the acquired state information to the determination unit 526. The acquisition unit 521 outputs the acquired environmental information to the prediction unit 522.

The acquisition unit 521 acquires environmental information including information indicating the traffic condition around the vehicle. For example, the traffic condition around the vehicle is, for example, whether there are different lanes on the left and right sides of the vehicle, or whether another vehicle is running in front of the vehicle. The acquisition unit 521 acquires environmental information including information indicating traffic conditions from the environment recognition unit 4 or the map database 6 (FIG. 1). The acquisition unit 521 outputs information indicating the traffic condition included in the acquired environmental information to the candidate selection unit 525.

The prediction unit 522 predicts the state of the surrounding environment in the future based on the environmental information acquired by the acquisition unit 521. For example, the prediction unit 522 predicts the position of this object after a few seconds based on the position of the surrounding object acquired by the acquisition unit 521, the moving direction of this object, and the moving speed of this object. The prediction unit 522 outputs information indicating the predicted future state of the surrounding environment to the determination unit 526.

The operation specifying unit 523 specifies the operation of the driver of the vehicle. For example, the operation specifying unit 523 specifies an operation of the driver who switches the direction indicator light on and off, and an operation of the driver who raises or lowers the target vehicle speed. The operation specifying unit 523 outputs information indicating the specified operation to the candidate selection unit 525.

The mode specifying unit 524 specifies the current driving mode of the vehicle among a plurality of driving modes indicating a driving plan in the automatic driving of the vehicle. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a plurality of traveling modes. In the example of FIG. 12, the vehicle travels in one of a standard left lane change mode, a standard lane keeping mode, a standard right lane change mode, a high speed lane keeping mode, and a low speed lane keeping mode.

In FIG. 12, the standard left lane change mode, the standard lane keeping mode, and the standard right lane change mode are the same as in the example of FIG. The high-speed lane keeping mode is a running mode in which the vehicle travels in the currently running lane at a higher target speed than the standard lane keeping mode. The low-speed lane keeping mode is a running mode in which the vehicle travels in the currently running lane at a target speed lower than the standard lane keeping mode. The target speed for each driving mode shall be pre-specified by the driver or the autonomous driving system. The mode specifying unit 524 identifies the current traveling mode of the vehicle, and outputs information indicating the specified traveling mode to the candidate selection unit 525.

[Selection of driving mode candidates]
The candidate selection unit 525 selects a part of the driving modes other than the driving modes specified by the mode specifying unit 524 as the candidate driving modes of the vehicle. In the example of the present specification, the candidate selection unit 525 selects only one of the plurality of driving modes as a candidate for the driving mode of the vehicle, but may select a plurality of driving modes as candidates.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of selection of a candidate for a traveling mode by the candidate selection unit 525. The candidate selection unit 525 selects one of the plurality of travel modes corresponding to the combination of the plurality of lanes in which the vehicle travels and the plurality of target speeds as a candidate. For example, assuming that the current driving mode of the vehicle is the standard lane keeping mode, the candidate selection unit 525 selects one of the four driving modes other than the standard lane keeping mode as a candidate for the driving mode. At this time, the candidate selection unit 525 selects a new travel mode candidate at predetermined time intervals. In the example of FIG. 13, the candidate selection unit 525 sets the next driving mode at predetermined time intervals in the order of high-speed lane maintenance mode, standard left lane change mode, low-speed lane maintenance mode, standard right lane change mode, and high-speed lane maintenance mode. Select as a candidate. The predetermined time is, for example, a time required for determining whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition for transitioning the vehicle from the current traveling mode of the vehicle to the traveling mode selected as a candidate.

[Selection of candidates based on traffic conditions]
Further, the candidate selection unit 525 assigns priority to a plurality of driving modes other than the driving mode specified by the mode specifying unit 524 based on the traffic conditions, and based on the assigned priority, some driving modes. May be selected as a candidate. For example, the candidate selection unit 525 is next to the left when the acquisition unit 521 acquires a traffic condition indicating that there is another lane on the right side of the traveling lane and there is no other lane on the left side of the traveling lane. Assign a relatively low priority to driving modes that involve changing lanes. At this time, the candidate selection unit 525 assigns a relatively high priority to the traveling mode accompanied by the lane change to the right adjacent lane.

The candidate selection unit 525 increases the frequency of selecting a driving mode having a higher assigned priority as a candidate, and lowers the frequency of selecting a driving mode having a lower assigned priority as a candidate. For example, the candidate selection unit 525 selects a driving mode with a higher assigned priority as a candidate once in four times, and selects a driving mode with a lower assigned priority as a candidate once in eight times. Select with. In this way, the candidate selection unit 525 can easily select the travel mode suitable for the traffic condition acquired by the acquisition unit 521 as a candidate. Further, the candidate selection unit 525 assigns a relatively high priority to a driving mode accompanied by a lane change when the acquisition unit 521 acquires a traffic condition indicating that another vehicle is traveling in front of the vehicle. A relatively low priority may be assigned to a driving mode that does not involve a lane change.

[Selection of candidates based on driver's operation]
The candidate selection unit 525 may select a part of the traveling modes as candidates based on the operation specified by the operation specifying unit 523. For example, the candidate selection unit 525 may select the standard left lane change mode as a candidate when the operation specific unit 523 specifies the operation of the driver who turns on the left turn signal. When the driver turns on the left turn signal, it can be presumed that the driver intends to change lanes to the next lane on the left. At this time, the candidate selection unit 525 can select a lane that suits the driver's intention as a candidate by selecting a lane change mode that accompanies a lane change to the left adjacent lane as a candidate.

Further, the candidate selection unit 525 selects a traveling mode (for example, a high-speed lane keeping mode) corresponding to a relatively high target vehicle speed as a candidate when the operation specifying unit 523 specifies the operation of the driver for increasing the target vehicle speed. You may. When the driver performs an operation to increase the target vehicle speed, it can be presumed that the driver intends to increase the target vehicle speed. At this time, the candidate selection unit 525 can select a driving mode corresponding to the relatively high target vehicle speed as a candidate, so that the driving mode suitable for the driver's intention can be selected as a candidate.

[Calculation of function value of cost function]
The determination unit 526 is selected by the candidate selection unit 525 from the driving modes specified by the mode identification unit 524 based on the state information acquired by the acquisition unit 521 and the state of the future surrounding environment predicted by the prediction unit 522. It is determined whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition for transitioning the vehicle to the traveling mode. First, the determination unit 526 estimates the collision risk when the vehicle travels in the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit based on the state of the future surrounding environment predicted by the prediction unit 522.

More specifically, the determination unit 526 has a travel route corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 in the same manner as the specific unit 121 of FIG. 2 based on the state of the future surrounding environment predicted by the prediction unit 522. To identify. At this time, the determination unit 526 identifies the collision risk of a plurality of path points in the specified traveling route. Similarly, the determination unit 526 identifies the travel path corresponding to the current travel mode specified by the mode identification unit 524 and the collision risk of a plurality of path points in this travel route.

The determination unit 526 obtains the maximum value R _max ^coll of a plurality of collision risks at a plurality of path points of the travel path corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525. The determination unit 526 obtains the length _stend of the travel route on which the vehicle travels according to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525. Similarly, the determination unit 526 also has the maximum collision risk value R _max ^coll and the length of the travel route traveled by the vehicle _stend for the travel route corresponding to the current travel mode specified by the mode identification unit 524. And ask.

The determination unit 526 determines whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition based on the estimated collision risk or the length of the road _stend . For example, the determination unit 526 uses the obtained maximum value R _max ^coll of the collision risk and the length of the _{distance stend} to determine the function value C ^path (I) of the cost function by the equations (2) and (3). calculate. Similarly, the determination unit 526 calculates the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the current travel mode specified by the mode identification unit 524.

The determination unit 526 determines whether or not the lane change included in the traveling route accompanied by the lane change is effective. For example, the determination unit 526 determines that the lane change included in the travel route is effective when the travel route satisfies the equations (4) and (6).

The determination unit 526 identifies the state of the vehicle direction indicator light based on the state information acquired by the acquisition unit 521. The determination unit 526 determines whether or not the direction indicator light of the vehicle satisfies the conditions corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525. For example, when the candidate selection unit 525 selects a driving mode that involves changing lanes to the next lane on the left, the direction indicator light on the left side of the vehicle is blinking, and this direction indicator light starts blinking. It is determined whether or not this turn signal lamp satisfies the condition that a predetermined time has elapsed since then.

[Judgment of transition conditions]
The determination unit 526 determines that the lane change included in the travel route corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 is effective, and the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the selected travel mode is the current travel. It is determined that the vehicle satisfies the transition condition when the function value corresponding to the mode is lower than C ^path (I) and the condition corresponding to the selected driving mode is satisfied by the direction indicator light. On the other hand, when the determination unit 526 determines that the lane change included in the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 is not effective, the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle does not satisfy the transition condition.

When the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the driving mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 is equal to or higher than the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the current driving mode, the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle is a transition condition. Is not satisfied. When the determination unit 526 determines that the direction indicator light does not satisfy the condition corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525, the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle does not satisfy the transition condition. The determination unit 526 outputs information indicating a determination result of whether or not the transition condition is satisfied to the transition unit 527.

[Transition of driving mode]
The transition unit 527 transitions the vehicle to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 among the plurality of travel modes. The transition unit 527 shifts the vehicle to the traveling mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 when the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle satisfies the transition condition. On the other hand, the transition unit 527 does not shift the vehicle to the traveling mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 when the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle does not satisfy the transition condition.

Further, in the transition unit 527, the lane change included in the travel route corresponding to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 is effective, and the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to this travel mode is the current travel. Although it is lower than the function value C ^path (I) corresponding to the mode, when the candidate selection unit 525 determines that the condition corresponding to the selected driving mode is not satisfied by the direction indicator light, the direction indicator light corresponding to the driving mode is determined. May blink. The transition unit 527 may shift the vehicle to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 after a predetermined period has elapsed from the start of blinking of the direction indicator light.

Further, the transition unit 527 is not limited to the example in which the vehicle is transitioned to any of the five traveling modes shown in FIG. For example, the transition unit 527 may transition the vehicle to the high-speed left lane change mode, the low-speed left lane change mode, the high-speed right lane change mode, the low-speed right lane change mode, and the like shown in FIG. Further, the transition unit 527 is set to a driving mode in which the vehicle changes to the lane two adjacent to the currently traveling lane, or a traveling mode in which the vehicle currently travels in the current lane at a target vehicle speed higher than the high-speed lane maintenance mode. May be changed. The target vehicle speed corresponding to each driving mode shall be specified in advance by the driver or the automatic driving system.

[Procedure for determining whether or not the vehicle meets the transition conditions by the automatic driving device]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a procedure for processing a transition of a traveling mode by the automatic driving device of the second embodiment. This processing procedure is started, for example, while the vehicle is running by an automatic steering mechanism in which the driver does not grip the steering wheel.

First, the acquisition unit 521 acquires the state information indicating the state of the vehicle and the environmental information indicating the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle (S201). The mode specifying unit 524 specifies the current traveling mode of the vehicle (S202). The candidate selection unit 525 selects one of the plurality of driving modes other than the driving mode specified by the mode specifying unit 524 as a candidate for the driving mode of the vehicle (S203). The prediction unit 522 predicts the state of the surrounding environment in the future based on the environmental information acquired by the acquisition unit 521 (S204).

The determination unit 526 determines whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition for transitioning the vehicle from the travel mode specified by the mode specifying unit 524 to the traveling mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 (S205). When the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle satisfies the transition condition (YES in S205), the transition unit 527 shifts the vehicle to the traveling mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525 (S206). The operation specifying unit 523 determines whether or not the operation of the driver who terminates the automatic operation function and switches to the manual operation is specified (S207). The transition unit 527 ends the process when the candidate selection unit 525 specifies the operation of the driver to switch to the manual operation (YES in S207).

The transition unit 527 returns to the process of S201 when the determination unit 526 determines that the vehicle does not satisfy the transition condition in the determination of S205 (NO in S205). The operation specifying unit 523 returns to the process of S201 when the operation specifying unit 523 does not specify the operation of the driver who switches to the manual operation in the determination of S207 (NO of S207).

[Effect of the automatic driving device according to the second embodiment]
The determination unit 526 determines whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition only between the travel mode specified by the mode specifying unit 524 and the traveling mode selected by the candidate selection unit 525. At this time, since the determination unit 526 does not need to specify the travel route or the like corresponding to the travel mode not selected by the candidate selection unit 525 by long-term prediction, the calculation time required for determining whether or not the transition condition is satisfied may be obtained. The calculation load can be reduced. Therefore, the determination unit 526 can suppress the transition to the erroneous traveling mode due to the delay in determining the lane change.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist. be. For example, all or part of the device can be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in any unit. Also included in the embodiments of the present invention are new embodiments resulting from any combination of the plurality of embodiments. The effect of the new embodiment produced by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment together.

1 Automatic driving device 2 Vehicle detection unit 4 Environment recognition unit 6 Map database 10 Control device 11 Storage unit 12 Control unit 50 Control device 51 Storage unit 52 Control unit 121 Specific unit 122 Calculation unit 123 Selection unit 124 Steering control unit 521 Acquisition unit 522 Prediction unit 523 Operation specific unit 524 Mode specific unit 525 Candidate selection unit 526 Judgment unit 527 Transition unit

Claims (7)

An acquisition unit that acquires state information indicating the state of the vehicle and environmental information indicating the state of the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and
Among a plurality of driving modes showing a driving plan in the automatic driving of the vehicle, a mode specifying unit for specifying the current driving mode of the vehicle and a mode specifying unit.
A candidate selection unit that selects a part of the traveling modes as candidates for the traveling mode of the vehicle among a plurality of traveling modes other than the traveling mode specified by the mode specifying unit.
A prediction unit that predicts the state of the surrounding environment in the future based on the above environmental information,
The vehicle is transitioned from the traveling mode specified by the mode specifying unit to the traveling mode selected by the candidate selection unit based on the state information and the state of the future surrounding environment predicted by the prediction unit. A determination unit for determining whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition for making the vehicle
A transition unit that causes the vehicle to transition to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit when the determination unit determines that the vehicle satisfies the transition condition.
Equipped with an automatic driving device. The determination unit estimates the collision risk when the vehicle travels in the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit based on the state of the future surrounding environment predicted by the prediction unit, and determines the collision risk. Based on this, it is determined whether or not the vehicle satisfies the transition condition.
The automatic driving device according to claim 1. The determination unit estimates the length of the travel route on which the vehicle travels according to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit, and the vehicle satisfies the transition condition based on the estimated length of the route. Judge whether or not
The automatic driving device according to claim 1 or 2. The acquisition unit acquires the environmental information including information indicating the traffic condition around the vehicle, and obtains the environmental information.
The candidate selection unit assigns a priority to a plurality of the driving modes other than the driving mode specified by the mode specifying unit based on the traffic condition, and the part thereof is based on the assigned priority. Select the driving mode as a candidate,
The automatic driving device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The transition unit transitions the vehicle to the travel mode selected by the candidate selection unit among the plurality of travel modes corresponding to the combination of the plurality of lanes and the plurality of target speeds.
The automatic driving device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Further provided with an operation specifying unit for specifying the operation of the driver of the vehicle,
The candidate selection unit selects some of the travel modes as the candidates based on the operation specified by the operation specific unit.
The automatic driving device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The candidate selection unit selects a new candidate for the traveling mode at predetermined time intervals.
The automatic driving device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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