JP2022121836A - vehicle controller - Google Patents

Abstract

To appropriately control operation of an automatic driving vehicle entering a priority road.SOLUTION: A vehicle control device 50 comprises: a camera 1a; an information acquisition unit 142 that acquires information on a stop position immediately before entry to a priority road, which is included in travel history information of a vehicle that has entered the priority road from a non-priority road through an intersection; and a travel control unit 16 that controls an actuator so that an own vehicle temporarily stops at a corrected stop position before the position included in the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 142 upon detection by the camera 1a, of a convex traffic mirror installed at the intersection taken place when the own vehicle enters the priority road through the intersection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a device that controls the traveling motion of an automatically operated vehicle based on travel history information acquired by a manually operated vehicle (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). The travel history information in the device described in Patent Literature 1 includes information on the speed and stop position of the manually operated vehicle.

JP 2018-155894 A

By the way, in a situation where a manually operated vehicle stops in front of a curve mirror installed at the intersection just before entering the priority road through the intersection, there may or may not be another vehicle reflected in the curve mirror. Depending on the situation, the parking position of a manually operated vehicle may differ. Therefore, it is difficult to appropriately control the running motion of the vehicle by simply controlling the running motion of the vehicle based on the running history information as in the device described in Patent Document 1 above.

A vehicle control device, which is one aspect of the present invention, includes an external world detection unit that detects the external world of a host vehicle having a travel actuator, and travel history information of a vehicle that has entered a priority road from a non-priority road through an intersection. , an information acquisition unit that acquires information on the stop position immediately before entering the priority road, and a road reflector installed at the intersection by the external detection unit when the own vehicle enters the priority road through the intersection. and an actuator control unit that controls the travel actuator so that the host vehicle temporarily stops or decelerates at a target position before the stop position included in the information acquired by the information acquisition unit.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the operation|movement of the own vehicle which enters into a priority road can be controlled appropriately.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of a vehicle control system having a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a driving scene in which an action plan is generated by the action plan generation unit in FIG. 1; The figure which shows an example of the driving|running|working scene assumed by the vehicle control apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the vehicle control device according to the embodiment of the present invention, assuming the same driving scene as in FIG. 3A; 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a main part of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the controller in FIG. 4; FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. A vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied to a vehicle having an automatic driving function, that is, an automatic driving vehicle. A vehicle to which the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment is applied may be called an own vehicle to distinguish it from other vehicles. The own vehicle may be any of an engine vehicle having an internal combustion engine (engine) as a drive source, an electric vehicle having a drive motor as a drive source, and a hybrid vehicle having both an engine and a drive motor as drive sources. The self-vehicle can run not only in an automatic driving mode that does not require driving operations by the driver, but also in a manual driving mode that requires driving operations by the driver.

First, a schematic configuration relating to automatic operation will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of a vehicle control system 100 having a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control system 100 includes a controller 10, an external sensor group 1 communicably connected to the controller 10, an internal sensor group 2, an input/output device 3, a positioning unit 4, It mainly has a map database 5, a navigation device 6, a communication unit 7, and an actuator AC for traveling.

The external sensor group 1 is a general term for a plurality of sensors (external sensors) that detect external conditions, which are peripheral information of the vehicle. For example, the external sensor group 1 includes a lidar that measures the scattered light of the vehicle's omnidirectional light and measures the distance from the vehicle to surrounding obstacles; A radar that detects other vehicles and obstacles around the vehicle, a camera that is mounted on the vehicle and has an imaging device such as a CCD or CMOS that captures the surroundings (front, rear, and sides) of the vehicle. included.

The internal sensor group 2 is a general term for a plurality of sensors (internal sensors) that detect the running state of the own vehicle. For example, the internal sensor group 2 includes a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle, an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration in the longitudinal direction and the acceleration in the lateral direction (lateral acceleration) of the vehicle, and the rotation speed of the drive source. A rotational speed sensor, a yaw rate sensor that detects the rotational angular velocity around the vertical axis of the center of gravity of the vehicle, and the like are included. The internal sensor group 2 also includes sensors that detect driver's driving operations in the manual driving mode, such as accelerator pedal operation, brake pedal operation, steering wheel operation, and the like.

The input/output device 3 is a general term for devices to which commands are input from drivers and information is output to drivers. For example, the input/output device 3 includes various switches for the driver to input various commands by operating operation members, a microphone for the driver to input commands by voice, a display for providing information to the driver via a display image, and a voice command for the driver. A speaker for providing information is included.

The positioning unit (GNSS unit) 4 has a positioning sensor that receives positioning signals transmitted from positioning satellites. Positioning satellites are artificial satellites such as GPS satellites and quasi-zenith satellites. The positioning unit 4 uses the positioning information received by the positioning sensor to measure the current position (latitude, longitude, altitude) of the vehicle.

The map database 5 is a device for storing general map information used in the navigation device 6, and is composed of, for example, a hard disk or a semiconductor device. Map information includes road position information, road shape information (such as curvature), and position information of intersections and branch points. Note that the map information stored in the map database 5 is different from the highly accurate map information stored in the storage unit 12 of the controller 10 .

The navigation device 6 is a device that searches for a target route on the road to the destination input by the driver and provides guidance along the target route. Input of the destination and guidance along the target route are performed via the input/output device 3 . The target route is calculated based on the current position of the host vehicle measured by the positioning unit 4 and map information stored in the map database 5 . The current position of the vehicle can also be measured using the values detected by the external sensor group 1, and the target route is calculated based on this current position and highly accurate map information stored in the storage unit 12. good too.

The communication unit 7 communicates with various servers (not shown) via networks including wireless communication networks such as the Internet and mobile phone networks, and periodically or arbitrarily provides map information, travel history information, traffic information, and the like. obtained from the server at the timing of In addition to acquiring the travel history information, the travel history information of the own vehicle may be transmitted to the server via the communication unit 7 . The network includes not only a public wireless communication network but also a closed communication network provided for each predetermined management area, such as wireless LAN, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the like. The acquired map information is output to the map database 5 and the storage unit 12, and the map information is updated.

Actuator AC is a travel actuator for controlling travel of host vehicle 101 . When the travel drive source is the engine, the actuator AC includes a throttle actuator that adjusts the opening of the throttle valve of the engine (throttle opening). If the travel drive source is a travel motor, the travel motor is included in actuator AC. The actuator AC also includes a brake actuator that operates the braking device of the host vehicle and a steering actuator that drives the steering device.

The controller 10 is configured by an electronic control unit (ECU). More specifically, the controller 10 includes a computer having an arithmetic unit 11 such as a CPU (microprocessor), a storage unit 12 such as ROM and RAM, and other peripheral circuits (not shown) such as an I/O interface. consists of Although a plurality of ECUs having different functions, such as an engine control ECU, a traction motor control ECU, and a brake system ECU, can be provided separately, FIG. 1 shows the controller 10 as a set of these ECUs for convenience. .

The storage unit 12 stores highly accurate detailed road map information. Road map information includes road location information, road shape information (curvature, etc.), road gradient information, intersection and branch point location information, number of lanes, lane width and location information for each lane (lane information on the center position of the road and the boundary line of the lane position), position information of landmarks (traffic lights, signs, buildings, etc.) as landmarks on the map, and road surface profile information such as unevenness of the road surface. The map information stored in the storage unit 12 includes map information obtained from outside the own vehicle via the communication unit 7, for example, map information obtained via a cloud server (referred to as a cloud map), and map information obtained via a cloud server. A map created by the own vehicle itself using the values detected by the sensor group 1, for example, a map (called an environment map) consisting of point cloud data generated by mapping using techniques such as SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). information.

The storage unit 12 also stores information about various control programs and information such as thresholds used in the programs. Further, the storage unit 12 stores the travel history information of the own vehicle obtained by the internal sensor group 2 and the travel history information of the other vehicle obtained via the communication unit 7 . The travel history information is information that indicates how the vehicle (self-vehicle and other vehicles) has traveled on the road in the past while manually driving, and includes the vehicle speed, degree of acceleration/deceleration, start position and end of acceleration/deceleration. Information such as position and stop position is stored as travel history information in association with road position information. In other words, high-precision map information (for example, environmental map information) stored in the storage unit 12 includes travel history information. Specifically, when the vehicle is temporarily stopped at a position different from the stop line marked on the road surface, the information of the temporary stop is added to the map information and stored. Note that the travel history information is used when the action plan generation unit 15 generates the action plan.

The calculation unit 11 has a vehicle position recognition unit 13, an external world recognition unit 14, an action plan generation unit 15, and a travel control unit 16 as functional configurations.

The own vehicle position recognition unit 13 recognizes the position of the own vehicle (own vehicle position) on the map based on the position information of the own vehicle obtained by the positioning unit 4 and the map information of the map database 5 . The map information in the map database 5 includes not only the map information used in the navigation device 6 of the own vehicle, but also various map information such as an SD map stored in an SD card. The position of the vehicle may be recognized using the map information stored in the storage unit 12 and the surrounding information of the vehicle detected by the external sensor group 1, thereby recognizing the vehicle position with high accuracy. can. When the position of the vehicle can be measured by a sensor installed outside on the road or on the side of the road, the position of the vehicle can be recognized by communicating with the sensor via the communication unit 7 .

The external world recognition unit 14 recognizes the external conditions around the vehicle based on signals from the external sensor group 1 such as a lidar, radar, and camera. For example, the position, speed, and acceleration of surrounding vehicles (vehicles in front and behind) traveling around the own vehicle, the positions of surrounding vehicles that are stopped or parked around the own vehicle, and the positions and states of other objects. recognize. Other objects include signs, traffic lights, markings such as road markings and stop lines, buildings, guardrails, utility poles, billboards, pedestrians, bicycles, and the like. Other object states include the color of traffic lights (red, green, yellow), the speed and orientation of pedestrians and cyclists, and more.

The action plan generating unit 15 generates the current time based on the target route calculated by the navigation device 6, the vehicle position recognized by the vehicle position recognition unit 13, and the external situation recognized by the external world recognition unit 14, for example. to a predetermined time ahead (target trajectory). When there are a plurality of trajectories that are candidates for the target trajectory on the target route, the action plan generation unit 15 selects the optimum trajectory from among them that satisfies the criteria such as compliance with laws and regulations and efficient and safe travel. and set the selected trajectory as the target trajectory. Then, the action plan generation unit 15 generates an action plan according to the generated target trajectory. The action plan generation unit 15 performs overtaking driving to overtake the preceding vehicle, lane change driving to change the driving lane, following driving to follow the preceding vehicle, lane keeping driving to maintain the lane so as not to deviate from the driving lane, and deceleration driving. Alternatively, it generates various action plans corresponding to acceleration and the like. When generating the target trajectory, the action plan generator 15 first determines the driving mode, and generates the target trajectory based on the driving mode.

The action plan generation unit 15 generates the action plan in consideration of the travel history information stored in the storage unit 12 . FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a driving scene for which action plans are generated. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the own vehicle 101 traveling on the non-priority road LN1 enters a T-junction intersection 200 and merges with the priority road LN2 by turning right or left. In this case, the own vehicle 101 needs to stop temporarily before the intersection. The action plan generation unit 15 determines the position of the temporary stop in this case, that is, the position of the virtual stop line 201 based on the travel history information, and the host vehicle 101 stops at the stop position P1 immediately before the virtual stop line 201. Generate an action plan to That is, the storage unit 12 stores in advance the mode of the vehicle's temporary stop before the T-junction and the mode of travel after the temporary stop. Generate plans.

The travel control unit 16 controls each actuator AC so that the host vehicle travels along the target trajectory generated by the action plan generation unit 15 in the automatic driving mode. More specifically, the traveling control unit 16 considers the traveling resistance determined by the road gradient and the like in the automatic driving mode, and calculates the required driving force for obtaining the target acceleration for each unit time calculated by the action plan generating unit 15. Calculate Then, for example, the actuator AC is feedback-controlled so that the actual acceleration detected by the internal sensor group 2 becomes the target acceleration. That is, the actuator AC is controlled so that the host vehicle runs at the target vehicle speed and target acceleration. In the manual operation mode, the travel control unit 16 controls each actuator AC according to a travel command (steering operation, etc.) from the driver acquired by the internal sensor group 2 .

The vehicle control device according to the present embodiment controls the running motion of the own vehicle in a predetermined running scene such as when the own vehicle enters an intersection. FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of a driving scene assumed by the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment, and shows a driving scene at a T-junction intersection 200, as in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, the non-priority road LN1 is provided with a stop sign 202 before an intersection 200, and a stop line 203 is marked on the road surface. At the intersection 200, a curved mirror (road reflector) 205 is installed for the purpose of allowing a driver traveling on the non-priority road LN1 to confirm the presence of other vehicles, pedestrians, etc. traveling on the priority road LN2. .

When the driver of the own vehicle 101 is manually driving on the non-priority road LN1, after temporarily stopping the own vehicle 101 at the stop line 203, the driver again temporarily stops at the virtual stop line 201 (indicated by 201A in FIG. 3A). Stop. After that, after confirming the safety on the left and right by visually checking the curved mirror 205, the vehicle 101 turns left or right to enter the priority road LN2. The travel history information during manual operation is stored in the storage unit 12 in FIG. 1 and used when the action plan generation unit 15 generates an action plan. The storage unit 12 may store not only the travel history information of the own vehicle 101 but also the travel history information of other vehicles that have traveled the same point. In this case, the action plan generation unit 15 generates the action plan in consideration of multiple pieces of travel history information.

By the way, when the driver manually drives the non-priority road LN1 and enters the intersection 200 after making a temporary stop at the stop line 203, if no other vehicle is reflected in the curved mirror 205, for example, as shown in FIG. The vehicle is temporarily stopped at a position near the road LN2 (referred to as a first stop position P1) to confirm the safety of the left and right sides. On the other hand, if another vehicle is reflected in the curved mirror 205, as shown in FIG. safety. The virtual stop line 201 in this case is represented by 201B.

That is, the position of the virtual stop line 201 of the vehicle during manual operation differs depending on whether the other vehicle is reflected in the curved mirror 205 or not (201A, 201B). Therefore, when the virtual stop line 201A during automatic driving is set based on the travel history information (first stop position P1) when no other vehicle is reflected in the curved mirror 205, the temporary stop position during automatic driving is set. There is a risk of getting too close to the priority road LN2. That is, when the other vehicle is reflected in the curved mirror 205, the host vehicle 101 should stop at the virtual stop line 201B corresponding to the second stop position P2 in FIG. 3B. If the vehicle 101 temporarily stops at the stop line 201A, the vehicle 101 will enter the intersection 200 excessively. In order to prevent the own vehicle 101 from excessively entering such an intersection 200, the present embodiment configures the vehicle control device as follows.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the vehicle control device 50 according to the embodiment of the invention. This vehicle control device 50 controls the running operation of the own vehicle 101 in the automatic driving mode, and constitutes a part of the vehicle control system 100 of FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 50 has a controller 10, a camera 1a, and an actuator AC.

The camera 1a is a monocular camera having an imaging element (image sensor) such as a CCD or CMOS, and constitutes a part of the external sensor group 1 in FIG. Camera 1a may be a stereo camera. The camera 1a is attached, for example, at a predetermined position on the front of the vehicle 101, continuously captures the space in front of the vehicle 101, and obtains images of objects (camera images).

The controller 10 has a determination unit 141, an information acquisition unit 142, a stop line setting unit 151, and a travel control unit 16 as functional components of the calculation unit 11 (FIG. 1). The determination unit 141 and the information acquisition unit 142 are configured by, for example, the external world recognition unit 14 in FIG. 1, and the stop line setting unit 151 is configured by, for example, the action plan generation unit 15 in FIG.

Position information of the virtual stop line 201 corresponding to the position of each intersection 200 is stored in advance in the storage unit 12 of FIG. This virtual stop line 201 is a virtual stop line 201A obtained from the travel history information (the first stop position P1 in FIG. 3A) when no other vehicle is reflected on the curved mirror 205 . If position information of the virtual stop lines 201A and 201B (FIGS. 3A and 3B) at different positions can be obtained from a plurality of travel history information, the storage unit 12 stores virtual stop lines located closer to the priority road LN2. 201A is stored.

The determination unit 141 determines whether or not the driving scene of the self-vehicle 101 that is driving automatically is a predetermined driving scene in which the vehicle 101 runs on the non-priority road LN1 toward the intersection 200, as shown in FIG. 3A. . Specifically, it determines whether or not the intersection 200 exists in front of the vehicle 101 based on the camera image acquired by the camera 1a, and determines whether or not the image of the curved mirror 205 is included in the camera image. , and stop sign 202 are included. Then, when determining that the intersection 200 exists in front of the host vehicle 101, the image of the curved mirror 205 is included, and the image of the stop sign 202 is included, the determination unit 141 determines the predetermined driving scene. It is determined that It should be noted that the presence or absence of the intersection 200 in front of the host vehicle 101 may be determined using other than the camera image. For example, map information in the map database 5 may be used for this determination.

The term "intersection" as used herein refers to a crossroad, T-junction, or other intersection of two or more roads. For example, an intersection includes a case where a plurality of roads intersect obliquely. Based on the vehicle position on the map recognized by the vehicle position recognition unit 13 (FIG. 1), the determination unit 141 determines whether or not the intersection 200 exists in front of the vehicle 101. may

The information acquisition unit 142 acquires the travel history information corresponding to the position of the intersection 200, more specifically, the position information of the virtual stop line 201A (FIG. 3A) included in the travel history information stored in the storage unit 12 in advance.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the stop line setting unit 151 offsets the position of the virtual stop line 201A acquired by the information acquisition unit 14b by a predetermined length L to the near side (the side away from the priority road LN2). , is set as the corrected stop position (target position). The corrected stop position is, for example, equal to the position of the virtual stop line 201B during manual operation. Note that the corrected stop position may be set at a position different from the virtual stop line 201B. For example, the predetermined length L may be set in consideration of the poor visibility at the intersection 200, the width of the priority road L2, the traffic volume, and the like. Furthermore, conditions other than positional conditions such as weather and time of day may be taken into consideration. Information on the corrected stop position is stored in the storage unit 12 together with the map information. The action plan generation unit 15 (FIG. 1) generates the action plan so that the own vehicle 101 stops temporarily at this corrected stop position.

When the determination unit 141 determines that the vehicle is in the predetermined driving scene, the travel control unit 16 temporarily stops the host vehicle 101 at the stop line 203 according to the action plan, and then determines the corrected stop position set by the stop line setting unit 151 . Control actuator AC to further pause at . If the determination unit 141 determines that the vehicle is not in the predetermined driving scene, the vehicle does not stop at the corrected stop position. The actuator AC is controlled so that the host vehicle 101 is temporarily stopped in (FIG. 2).

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an example of processing executed by the controller 10 of FIG. 4 according to a predetermined program. The process shown in this flowchart is started, for example, when the own vehicle 101 is running in the automatic driving mode, and is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the intersection 200 exists in front of the vehicle 101 based on the camera image acquired by the camera 1a. Based on the map information of the map database 5 and the vehicle position on the map recognized by the vehicle position recognition unit 13 (FIG. 1), it is determined whether or not the intersection 200 exists in front of the vehicle 101. can be If the result in step S1 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S2, and if the result is negative, the process ends. In step S2, the information on the virtual stop line 201A (FIG. 3A) included in the travel history information stored in advance in the storage unit 12, that is, the information on the virtual stop line 201A corresponding to the position of the intersection 200 is obtained.

Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the image of the curved mirror 205 is included in the camera image acquired by the camera 1a. If the result in step S3 is affirmative, the process advances to step S4, and if the result is negative, the process skips steps S4 and S5 and advances to step S6. In step S4, it is determined whether or not the image of the stop sign 202 is included in the camera image acquired by the camera 1a. If the result in step S4 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S5, and if the result is negative, step S5 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S6. In step S5, the virtual stop line 201A obtained in step S2 is offset forward by a predetermined length L to set a corrected stop position.

Next, in step S6, an action plan for the own vehicle 101 at the intersection 200 is generated, and a control signal is output to the actuator AC so that the own vehicle 101 travels according to the action plan. That is, when the corrected stop position is set as the target position in step S5, the actuator AC is controlled so as to temporarily stop at the stop line 203 and then further stop at the corrected stop position. On the other hand, when the corrected stop position is not set (for example, when the curve mirror 205 is not detected), the actuator AC is controlled so as to temporarily stop at the stop line 203 and then at the virtual stop line 201A.

The operation of the vehicle control device 50 according to this embodiment is summarized as follows. As shown in FIG. 3B, when self-vehicle 101 enters an intersection 200 by automatic driving, controller 10 of self-vehicle 101 determines whether intersection 200 has curved mirror 205 and stop sign 202. judge. If both the curved mirror 205 and the sign 202 are present, the corrected stop line is set at a position offset forward by a predetermined length L from the position of the virtual stop line 201A obtained from the travel history information (step S5). ). As a result, the temporary stop position of the vehicle 101 does not come too close to the priority road LN2 at the intersection 200 where the curved mirror 205 is installed and visibility is poor, and the traveling safety in automatic driving is improved.

The curve mirror 205 may be installed not only at the intersection 200 but also at the curve road. In this case, since it is not determined that the vehicle is in the predetermined driving scene (No in step S1), the corrected stop position is not set. In addition, intersections without curved mirrors 205 have good visibility for automatic driving vehicles. Therefore, it is not necessary to offset the position of the virtual stop line 201, and it is not determined that the driving scene is the predetermined driving scene (No in step S3). At an intersection where there is no stop sign 202 even though there is a curved mirror 205, the road on which the vehicle 101 travels is assumed to be the priority road. Therefore, in this case as well, it is not determined that the vehicle is in the predetermined driving scene (No in step S4), so the corrected stop position is not set. As described above, in the present embodiment, the corrected stop position is set when there is an intersection, a curved mirror 205, and a stop sign 202, so that the corrected stop position is set in vain. can be prevented.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The vehicle control device 50 enters the priority road LN2 from the non-priority road LN1 through the intersection 200 with the external sensor group 1, particularly the camera 1a, which detects the external environment of the own vehicle 101 having the actuator AC for traveling. An information acquisition unit 142 that acquires the information of the stop position P1 immediately before entering the priority road LN2, which is included in the travel history information of the vehicle, and the camera When the curved mirror 205 installed at the intersection 200 is detected by 1a, at the corrected stop position (for example, 201B in FIG. 3B) before the position of the virtual stop line 201A included in the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 142 and a travel control unit 16 that controls the actuator AC so that the own vehicle 101 stops temporarily (FIG. 4).

As a result, the temporary stop position of the own vehicle 101 at the intersection 200 with the curved mirror 205 and poor visibility can be prevented from being too close to the priority road LN2, thereby increasing the safety of automatic driving. That is, the virtual stop line 201 set based on the travel history information is the virtual stop line 201A determined by the travel history information in a state where the curve mirror 205 does not show the other vehicle. Therefore, when the vehicle 101 enters the intersection 200 from the non-priority road LN1 and another vehicle traveling on the priority road LN2 passes through the intersection 200, the vehicle 101 temporarily stops at the virtual stop line 201A. Then, the own vehicle 101 may approach the priority road LN2 too much. In this regard, in the present embodiment, regardless of whether or not another vehicle is reflected in the curved mirror 205, the temporary stop position is offset to the front side of the virtual stop line 201A. You can prevent them from getting too close. Also, instead of offsetting the temporary stop position depending on whether another vehicle is reflected in the curve mirror 205, the temporary stop position is offset regardless of whether another vehicle is reflected. Therefore, the process of identifying the camera image of the curved mirror 205 is unnecessary, and automatic driving with a simple configuration and high safety is possible.

(2) The vehicle control device 50 further includes a determination unit 141 that determines whether or not it is time for the vehicle 101 to enter the priority road LN2 via the intersection 200 (Fig. 4). When the camera 1a detects the stop sign 202, the determination unit 141 determines that it is time for the vehicle 101 to enter the priority road LN2 through the intersection 200 (FIG. 5). When the determination unit 141 determines that it is time for the vehicle 101 to enter the priority road LN2 through the intersection 200, the travel control unit 16 stops the vehicle 101 at the corrected stop position (for example, 201B in FIG. 3B). Control actuator AC to pause (Fig. 5). As a result, the temporary stop position is offset when it is certain that the vehicle 101 is traveling on the non-priority road LN1. It is possible to quickly merge from the road LN1 to the priority road LN2.

(3) When the stop line 203 marked on the road surface is detected by the camera 1a, the travel control unit 16 causes the own vehicle 101 to stop temporarily at the stop line 203, and then further stop at the corrected stop position. Control actuator AC (FIG. 5). As a result, at the intersection 200 with the stop sign 202, the vehicle 101 can be properly driven.

(4) The vehicle control device further includes a storage unit 12 that stores the travel history information in association with the map information (Fig. 4). Information on the corrected stop position is stored in the storage unit 12 together with the map information. As a result, when the corrected stop position of the intersection 200 is once set and then the intersection 200 is passed again, the corrected stop position does not need to be set each time the intersection 200 is passed, so the process during automatic driving is facilitated. is. The stored corrected stop positions may be transmitted to the server via the communication unit 7 so that they can also be used by other autonomous vehicles.

The above embodiment can be modified in various forms. Some modifications will be described below. In the above embodiment, the curved mirror 205, the stop sign 202, and the like are detected by the camera 1a. In the above embodiment, a T-junction intersection (FIGS. 3A and 3B) has been described as an example, but this embodiment can also be applied to other intersections such as Y-junctions, crossroads, and multi-fork roads with five or more intersections. The vehicle control device 50 of the form can be applied. In the above-described embodiment, the travel control unit 16 (actuator control unit) controls the temporary stop operation when the vehicle 101 enters the intersection 200 in the automatic driving mode according to the presence or absence of the curved mirror 205. However, the operation (vehicle speed, etc.) until entering the priority road LN2 after the temporary stop is also controlled by the travel control unit 16 according to the presence or absence of the curve mirror 205, and the like.

In the above embodiment, the travel control unit 16 controls the operation of stopping the host vehicle 101 when the curved mirror 205 at the intersection 200 is detected. In addition to controlling stopping, deceleration of the own vehicle may be controlled. That is, when the road reflector installed at the intersection is detected by the external detection unit, the vehicle is temporarily stopped or decelerated at the target position before the stop position included in the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. The actuator control section may have any configuration as long as it controls the traveling actuator. In other words, the target position means not only the corrected stop position described above, but also the target position when decelerating.

In the above embodiment, the determination unit 141 determines whether or not the vehicle 101 is about to enter the priority road LN2 through the intersection 200 based on whether or not the stop sign 202 is detected. However, this may be determined by whether or not a sign indicating a temporary stop is detected on the road surface. Instead of detecting stop signs or markings, other information may be used to determine whether it is time for the vehicle to enter the priority road through an intersection.

In the above embodiment, the vehicle control device 50 is applied to an automatically driving vehicle having an automatic driving function, but the present invention can be similarly applied to a vehicle other than an automatically driving vehicle (for example, a vehicle having a driving support function). can. As a result, when the driver overlooks another vehicle reflected in the curved mirror 205 when entering the intersection 200, the own vehicle can be appropriately stopped temporarily.

The above description is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited by the above-described embodiments and modifications as long as the features of the present invention are not impaired. It is also possible to arbitrarily combine one or more of the above embodiments and modifications, and it is also possible to combine modifications with each other.

1a camera, 10 controller, 12 storage unit, 16 travel control unit, 141 determination unit, 142 information acquisition unit, 151 stop line setting unit, 201 virtual stop line, AC actuator

Claims (4)

an external world detection unit that detects the external world of the own vehicle having the travel actuator;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information about a stop position immediately before entering the priority road, which is included in travel history information of a vehicle that has entered the priority road from a non-priority road through an intersection;
When the vehicle enters the priority road through the intersection and the road reflector installed at the intersection is detected by the external detection unit, it is included in the information acquired by the information acquisition unit. and an actuator control unit that controls the travel actuator so that the host vehicle temporarily stops or decelerates at a target position before the stop position. In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
further comprising a determination unit that determines whether or not it is time for the own vehicle to enter the priority road through the intersection;
The determination unit determines that it is time for the own vehicle to enter the priority road through the intersection when the external detection unit detects a sign or sign indicating a stop, and
The actuator control section causes the vehicle to temporarily stop or decelerate at the target position when the determination section determines that the vehicle is about to enter the priority road through the intersection. and a vehicle control device for controlling the actuator for traveling. In the vehicle control device according to claim 2,
The actuator control section causes the host vehicle to temporarily stop at the stop line when the external detection section detects a stop line marked on the road surface, and then further stop or decelerate at the target position. A vehicle control device, characterized in that it controls the travel actuator at a time. In the vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A vehicle control device, further comprising a storage unit that stores information on the target position together with map information.

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