JP2022162597A - Vehicle travel support control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a vehicle travel support control device capable of more smoothly moving a vehicle traveling on a merging lane to a main lane.SOLUTION: A merging determination part 102 calculates a merging position of a merging vehicle VL on the basis of position information and speed information of main lane vehicles VR1, VR2, and position information and speed information of the merging vehicle VL, and map information. The merging determination part 102 extracts a plurality of candidate positions for merging. The merging determination part 102 calculates accelerations generated by the merging vehicle VL if the merging vehicle VL moves to the plurality of respective candidate positions, and selects, as a merging position, a candidate position corresponding to merging acceleration having the smallest absolute value among the plurality of accelerations. A merging plan generation part 103 generates a merging plan to cause the merging vehicle VL to reach the merging position, and the merging control part 104 controls the merging vehicle VL on the basis of the merging plan.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle driving support control device.

In the conventional driving support system, when it is determined that a merging area exists on the main line, vehicles traveling in an area ahead of the merging area on the main line are accelerated. The merging area is an area on the main line where vehicles merging from the merging lane enter a line of vehicles running on the main line. A vehicle running in a merging lane is accelerated or decelerated so that it can reach the merging area at a scheduled time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2017-204197 A

In the conventional driving support system as described above, the vehicle traveling in the merging lane is accelerated or decelerated so that it can reach the merging area at the scheduled time. Therefore, there is a possibility that the vehicle traveling in the merging lane is suddenly accelerated or decelerated.

The present disclosure has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and aims to obtain a vehicle driving support control device capable of smoothly moving a vehicle traveling in a merging lane to a main lane. aim.

The vehicle driving support control device according to the present disclosure includes position information of a main line vehicle that is a vehicle traveling on the main lane, speed information of the main line vehicle, position information of a merging vehicle that is a vehicle traveling on the merging lane, merging a merging determination unit that calculates a merging position, which is the position of the merging vehicle with respect to the main lane vehicle when the merging vehicle has completed moving to the main lane, based on vehicle speed information and map information including information on the main lane and the merging lane; , a merging plan generating unit for generating a merging plan for causing the merging vehicle to reach the merging position; and a merging control unit for controlling the merging vehicle based on the merging plan. is extracted, and multiple merging accelerations, which are the accelerations that occur in the merging vehicle when the merging vehicle moves to each of the plurality of candidate positions, are calculated. A candidate position corresponding to a small merging acceleration is selected as the merging position.

According to the vehicle driving support control device according to the present disclosure, it is possible to more smoothly move a vehicle traveling in a merging lane to a main lane.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a road, a main line vehicle, and a merging vehicle to which the vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 1 is applied; FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing devices mounted on the merging vehicle of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the processing of the merging determination unit in FIG. 2 at the start of merging; FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining the processing of the merging determination unit when the merging position is in front of the first main line vehicle; FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining the processing of the merging determination unit when the merging position is behind the vehicle on the first main line; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the first inter-vehicle distance, the speed of the merging vehicle, and the acceleration of the merging vehicle when the merging position is in front of the first main line vehicle; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the first inter-vehicle distance, the speed of the merging vehicle, and the acceleration of the merging vehicle when the merging position is behind the vehicle on the first main line; FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a merging control routine executed by the vehicle driving support control device of FIG. 2; FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a processing circuit that implements each function of the vehicle driving support control device of FIG. 2; FIG. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 2; FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a merging plan generation unit in FIG. 10; 11 is a configuration diagram of a merging control unit in FIG. 10; FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing map information of a main lane and a merging lane; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of route planning; FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing a merging control routine executed by the vehicle driving support control device of FIG. 10; FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a road, a main line vehicle, a merging vehicle, and a roadside unit to which a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 3 is applied; FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 3; FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a processing circuit that implements the functions of the roadside control unit of FIG. 17; FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 4; FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 5; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state at the start of merging when a vehicle on the first main line decelerates and the merging vehicle moves ahead of the vehicle on the first main line; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a case where a vehicle on the first main line decelerates and a merging vehicle moves ahead of the vehicle on the first main line to complete the merging. The distance between the merging vehicle and the virtual vehicle, the speed of the merging vehicle, and the acceleration of the merging vehicle when the vehicle on the first main line decelerates and the merging vehicle moves ahead of the vehicle on the first main line to complete the merging. It is a figure which shows a time change. The distance between the first main line vehicle and the virtual vehicle when the first main line vehicle decelerates and the merging vehicle moves ahead of the first main line vehicle to complete the merging, the speed of the first main line vehicle, and the It is a figure which shows the time change of the acceleration of a single-track vehicle. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state at the start of merging when vehicles on the first main line accelerate and vehicles on the second main line decelerate, and the merging vehicles move between the vehicles on the first main line and the vehicles on the second main line. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a case where a vehicle on the first main line accelerates, a vehicle on the second main line decelerates, and a merging vehicle moves between the vehicles on the first main line and the vehicle on the second main line to complete the merging.

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a merging section of a road, a main line vehicle, and a merging vehicle to which a vehicle driving support control system according to Embodiment 1 is applied. FIG. 1 is a top view of a junction of roads RD. At the junction, the main lane L1 and the merging lane L2 are connected. In FIG. 1, the main lane L1 and the merging lane L2 are parallel to each other at the junction, but they do not necessarily have to be parallel.

The first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2 are vehicles traveling on the main lane L1 of the road RD. The second main line vehicle VR2 is a following vehicle of the first main line vehicle VR1. The merging vehicle VL is a vehicle traveling in the merging lane L2 of the road RD.

The merging vehicle VL merges with the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2 in the merging section. In this example, the merging section is defined as a section from the starting point L2s of the merging lane L2 to the ending point L2e of the merging lane L2. Also, the length of the confluence section is defined as XL.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing devices mounted on the merging vehicle VL of FIG. The merging vehicle VL has a map storage unit 11 , a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 12 , a peripheral sensor 13 , a drive/brake control device 14 , and a vehicle driving support control device 100 . That is, the vehicle driving support control device 100 according to Embodiment 1 is mounted on the merging vehicle VL.

Map information is stored in the map storage unit 11 . The map information includes information on the main lane L1 and the merging lane L2 of the road RD.

The GPS receiver 12 receives GPS signals from GPS satellites (not shown).

The peripheral sensor 13 detects an object existing around the merging vehicle VL, and also detects the position and speed of the object.

The vehicle driving support control device 100 includes a main line vehicle detection unit 101, a merging determination unit 102, a merging plan generation unit 103, and a merging control unit 104 as functional blocks. The vehicle driving support control device 100 acquires map information from the map storage unit 11 and acquires the position of the merging vehicle VL from the GPS receiver 12, that is, the position of the own vehicle. In addition, the vehicle driving support control device 100 acquires the position information of the object existing around the merging vehicle VL and the speed information of the object existing around the merging vehicle VL from the surrounding sensor 13 .

The vehicle driving support control device 100 calculates an acceleration command a _ref as a control amount for assisting the merging vehicle VL to merge with the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2, and sends it to the driving and braking control device 14. Acceleration command a _ref is output.

The driving and braking control device 14 controls the driving device and braking device (not shown) of the merging vehicle VL based on the acceleration command a _ref from the vehicle driving support control device 100 . This controls the acceleration/deceleration of the merging vehicle VL.

Hereinafter, the main line vehicle detection unit 101, the merging determination unit 102, the merging plan generation unit 103, and the merging control unit 104, which are functional blocks of the vehicle driving support control device 100, will be described in detail.

The main line vehicle detection unit 101 acquires the position information of the surrounding objects and the speed information of the surrounding objects from the surrounding sensors 13 . Further, the main line vehicle detection unit 101 acquires map information from the map storage unit 11 . The main line vehicle detection unit 101 acquires the position information of the merging vehicle VL from the GPS receiver 12 . The main line vehicle detection unit 101 detects the position of the first main line vehicle VR1 and the position of the first main line vehicle VR1 based on the acquired position information of the peripheral object, the acquired speed information of the peripheral object, the map information, and the position information of the merging vehicle VL. The speed of the main line vehicle VR1 is detected. The main line vehicle detection unit 101 similarly detects the position of the second main line vehicle VR2 and the speed of the second main line vehicle VR2.

More specifically, the main lane vehicle detection unit 101 compares the position information of the peripheral objects detected by the peripheral sensor 13 with the map information, and identifies an object existing on the main lane L1 from among the detected peripheral objects. Identify. In the example of FIG. 1, a first main-line vehicle VR1 and a second main-line vehicle VR2 are specified as objects present on the main lane L1. Then, the main line vehicle detection unit 101 merges the position information of the first main line vehicle VR1, the speed information of the first main line vehicle VR1, the position information of the second main line vehicle VR2, and the speed information of the second main line vehicle VR2. Output to determination unit 102 .

The merging determination unit 102 determines position information of the first main line vehicle VR1, position information of the second main line vehicle VR2, speed information of the first main line vehicle VR1, speed information of the second main line vehicle VR2, position information of the merging vehicle VL, The merging position and merging time _Tmrg are calculated based on the speed information of the vehicle VL and the map information. The merging determination unit 102 also outputs the calculated merging position and merging time _Tmrg to the merging plan generation unit 103 .

Here, the merging position is the position of the merging vehicle VL with respect to the first main line vehicle VR1 or the second main line vehicle VR2 when the merging vehicle VL has completed moving to the main lane L1. Also, the merging time _Tmrg is the time from when the merging vehicle VL starts to merge until it completes moving to the main lane L1. The merging start is when the merging vehicle VL passes the starting point L2s of the merging lane L2, and the movement completion is when the merging vehicle VL passes the end point L2e of the merging lane L2. That is, the merging time _Tmrg is the time during which the merging vehicle VL is traveling in the merging section.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the processing of the merging determination unit in FIG. 2 at the start of merging. In FIG. 3, the merging vehicle VL is passing through the starting point L2s of the merging lane L2. A first main line vehicle VR1 and a second main line vehicle VR2 are traveling on the main lane L1. The speed of the merging vehicle VL is V _L0 , the speed of the first main line vehicle VR1 and the speed of the second main line vehicle VR2 are both V _R .

The inter-vehicle distance between the merging vehicle VL and the first main line vehicle VR1 is defined as a first inter-vehicle distance d1, and the inter-vehicle distance between the merging vehicle VL and the second main line vehicle VR2 is defined as a second inter-vehicle distance d2. The first inter-vehicle distance d1 and the second inter-vehicle distance d2 at the start of merging are defined as the initial value _d1-0 of the first inter-vehicle distance and the initial value _d2-0 of the second inter-vehicle distance, respectively. Hereinafter, the inter-vehicle distance is defined as a negative value when the merging vehicle is ahead of the main line vehicle, and is defined as a positive value when the main line vehicle is ahead of the merging vehicle. Further, the inter-vehicle distance is the distance in the direction parallel to the traveling direction of the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2.

As in this example, when two main-line vehicles VR1 and VR2 are running in a row on the main-line lane L1, the following four merging candidate positions for the merging vehicle VL are conceivable.
(1) Front of 1st main line vehicle VR1 (2) Rear of 1st main line vehicle VR1 (3) Front of 2nd main line vehicle VR2 (4) Rear of 2nd main line vehicle VR2

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the processing of the merging determination unit 102 when the merging position is in front of the first main line vehicle VR1. In this case, the merging vehicle VL secures a distance of -ds as the first inter-vehicle distance d1 between itself and the first main line vehicle VR1 at the end point of the merging section, that is, the end point _L2e of the merging lane L2. The merging with the 1st line vehicle VR1 and the 2nd line vehicle VR2 is completed. where _ds is the safety distance. The safety distance _ds is the inter-vehicle distance that should be secured between vehicles in motion. Note that the safe distance _ds is a value greater than zero.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the processing of the merging determination unit 102 when the merging position is behind the first main line vehicle VR1. In this case, the merging vehicle VL merges with the first main line vehicle VR1 at the end point L2e of the merging lane L2 while ensuring a safety distance _ds as the first inter-vehicle distance d1 between the merging vehicle VL and the first main line vehicle VR1. to complete.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the first inter-vehicle distance d1, the speed of the merging vehicle VL, and the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL when the merging position is in front of the first main line vehicle VR1, that is, in the case of FIG. be. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the first inter-vehicle distance d1, the speed of the merging vehicle VL, and the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL when the merging position is behind the first main line vehicle VR1, that is, in the case of FIG. be.

6 and 7, the time at which the merging vehicle VL passes the starting point L2s of the merging lane L2 is t0. At time t2 when the merging time T _mrg has passed since time t0, the first inter-vehicle distance d1 reaches the target inter-vehicle distance d*. At time t2, the speed V of the merging vehicle VL reaches the speed _VR of the first main line vehicle VR1, which is the target speed.

The inter-vehicle distance d10 at time _t0 of the first inter-vehicle distance d1 is _d0 in both the example of FIG. 6 and the example of FIG. The target inter-vehicle distance d* is d*=- _ds in the case of FIG. 6 and d*= _ds in the case of FIG. At this time, the merging vehicle VL accelerates or decelerates once during the constant time _τd . 6 and 7, the merging time T _mrg , the first inter-vehicle distance d1, the target inter-vehicle distance d*, the speed of the merging vehicle VL, and the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL are given by the following equations (1) to (4). relationship is established.

Here, _VL0 is the speed of the merging vehicle VL at time t0, _VL1 is the speed of the merging vehicle VL at time t1, _a1 is the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL during the period from time t0 to time t1, and _a2 is , the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL during the period from time t1 to time t2.

When the merging vehicle VL completes the merging after the merging time T _{mrg has} elapsed from the start of merging, the first main line vehicle VR1 is at a position separated from the merging vehicle VL by the target inter-vehicle distance d*. Therefore, the first main line vehicle VR1 is running for [XL-(d ₀ -d*)] during the merging time T _mrg . Using the speed VR of the first main line vehicle VR1, the merging time _Tmrg is _calculated by the following equation (5).

Further, by arranging the formulas (1) to (4), the acceleration a ₁ during the first acceleration/deceleration and the acceleration a ₂ during the second acceleration/deceleration are obtained by the following formulas (6) and (7) respectively. can be calculated.

Next, the confluence acceleration a _mrg is defined as the maximum absolute value of the accelerations a ₁ and a ₂ as shown in the following equation (8). The merging acceleration a _mrg is the acceleration that occurs in the merging vehicle VL when the merging vehicle VL moves to each of the plurality of candidate positions. In other words, the merging acceleration _amrg is the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL in the merging section. The smaller the merging acceleration a _mrg , the slower the merging vehicle VL accelerates and decelerates at the time of merging.

Note that the merging acceleration a _mrg may be defined as the following equation (9) as an integrated value of the square of the acceleration a of the merging vehicle VL at the time of merging.

However, if the distance between the other main line vehicles including the second main line vehicle VR2 and the merging vehicle VL at the merging position becomes shorter than the safety distance _ds , the merging determination unit 102 determines that the merging position is the above 4 Even if it corresponds to one confluence candidate position, this confluence position is excluded from the confluence candidate positions. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the rear of the first main line vehicle VR1 is considered as a merging candidate position. When the merging vehicle VL merges behind the first main line vehicle VR1, if the safety distance _ds cannot be secured as the first inter-vehicle distance d1, the merging determination unit 102 does not include this position in the merging candidate positions.

The merging determination unit 102 determines four merging candidate positions, that is, the front of the first main line vehicle VR1, the rear of the first main line vehicle VR1, the front of the second main line vehicle VR2, and the rear of the second main line vehicle VR2. Calculate the confluence acceleration a _mrg . Then, the merging determination unit 102 selects the candidate position corresponding to the merging acceleration a _mrg having the smallest absolute value as the merging position, and outputs the merging time T _mrg for the selected merging position.

The merging plan generation unit 103 generates a merging plan for causing the merging vehicle VL to reach the merging position, and outputs the generated merging plan to the merging control unit 104 . More specifically, the merging plan generation unit 103 determines the merging position calculated and selected by the merging determination unit 102 based on the merging position and the merging time T _mrg calculated by the merging determination unit 102 . Generate a merge plan to reach within the merge section. The merging plan includes at least one of an inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan , a speed plan v _plan , and an acceleration plan a _plan of the merging vehicle VL.

The inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan is the distance between the merging vehicle VL and the first main line vehicle VR1 or the second main line vehicle VR2 until the merging vehicle VL moves to the merging position. The speed plan v _plan is a target value for the speed of the merging vehicle VL until the merging vehicle VL moves to the merging position. The acceleration plan a _plan is a target value for the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL until the merging vehicle VL moves to the merging position.

The waveforms of the inter-vehicle distance, speed, and acceleration shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 represent the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan , speed plan v _plan , and acceleration plan a _plan , respectively. The inter-vehicle distance shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is the inter-vehicle distance d1 between the merging vehicle VL and the first main line vehicle VR1.

6 and 7, the inter-vehicle distance d1 changes over time from the inter-vehicle distance d1 of ₀ to the target inter-vehicle distance d* at time t0. obtained by A transfer function F _ave (s) when the moving average filtering process is performed twice is represented by the following equation (10). where s is a complex variable.

Using the moving average filter of Equation (10), the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan is calculated as shown in Equation (11) below. Here, d _in is a step input that changes from the first inter-vehicle distance d10 to the target inter-vehicle distance d* at time _t0 .

Moreover, the following equation (12) is obtained by Padé approximation of equation (10).

Using the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan of formula (11), the speed plan v _plan and the acceleration plan a _plan are calculated as in formulas (13) and (14) below, respectively.

Also, the acceleration plan a _plan may be calculated by feedforward control as follows. A response C _drv (s) of the driving and braking control device 14 to the acceleration command a _ref is defined by the following equation (15). Here, Ta is _a time constant that the driving/brake control device 14 has.

At this time, the transfer function P _d (s) from the acceleration command a _ref to the inter-vehicle distance d is given by the following equation (16). The transfer function P _d (s) from the acceleration command a _ref to the inter-vehicle distance d is based on the relationship between the acceleration command a _ref and the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL and the transfer function from the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL to the inter-vehicle distance d. calculated as

From the equations (12) and (16), the transfer function C _ff (s) of the following equation (17) is calculated. The acceleration plan a _plan is calculated as in Equation (18) using the transfer function C _ff (s) of Equation (17). Thus, the acceleration plan a _plan can be calculated by using a transfer function, ie by feedforward control.

The merging control unit 104 controls the merging vehicle VL based on the merging plan generated by the merging plan generating unit 103 . More specifically, the merging control unit 104 generates the acceleration command a _ref based on at least one of the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan , the speed plan v _plan , and the acceleration plan a _plan output from the merging plan generation unit 103 . Calculation is performed, and the calculated acceleration command a _ref is output to the drive/brake control device 14 . As a result, the acceleration/deceleration of the merging vehicle VL is controlled by the drive/brake control device 14 .

For example, when only the speed plan v _plan is input to the merging control unit 104, the acceleration command a _ref is calculated by the following equation (19). Here, _Ksp and _Ksi are a proportional gain and an integral gain, respectively, for speed control of the merging vehicle VL.

Further, when the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan and the speed plan v _plan are input to the merging control unit 104, the acceleration command a _ref is calculated by the following equation (20). Here, K _dp and K _dd are a proportional gain and a differential gain, respectively, for inter-vehicle distance control.

Further, when the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan , speed plan v _plan and acceleration plan a _plan are input to the merging control unit 104, the acceleration command a _ref is calculated by the following equation (21).

Further, when only the acceleration plan _{a_plan} is input to the merging control unit 104, the acceleration command _{a_ref} is equal to the acceleration plan _{a_plan} .

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a merging control routine executed by the vehicle driving support control device 100 of FIG. The routine of FIG. 8 is executed, for example, when the merging vehicle VL passes the merging start position. When the routine of FIG. 8 is started, the main line vehicle detection unit 101 determines in step S101 whether or not a main line vehicle has been detected.

If the main line vehicle is not detected, the vehicle driving support control device 100 once terminates this routine. In this case, the merging vehicle VL moves from the merging lane L2 to the main lane L1 by a control routine that is separately executed.

When a main line vehicle is detected, the merging determination unit 102 acquires position information of the merging vehicle VL, speed information of the merging vehicle VL, position information of the main line vehicle, speed information of the main line vehicle, and map information in step S102. .

Next, in step S103, the merging determination unit 102 selects a plurality of candidates based on the acquired position information of the merging vehicle VL, speed information of the merging vehicle VL, position information of the main line vehicle, speed information of the main line vehicle, and map information. Extract the position.

Next, in step S104, merging determination unit 102 calculates merging acceleration _amrg corresponding to each of the plurality of candidate positions.

Next, in step S105, the confluence determination unit 102 selects the candidate position corresponding to the confluence acceleration _{a_mrg} with the smallest absolute value among the plurality of confluence accelerations _{a_mrg} as the confluence position.

Next, in step S106, the merging plan generation unit 103 generates a merging plan for the selected merging position.

Next, in step S107, the merging control unit 104 calculates an acceleration command a _ref based on the generated merging plan, outputs the calculated acceleration command a _ref to the driving/braking control device 14, and temporarily executes this routine. finish.

Here, each function of the vehicle driving support control device 100 of Embodiment 1 is implemented by a processing circuit. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a processing circuit that implements each function of the vehicle driving support control device 100 of FIG. The vehicle driving support control device 100 has an arithmetic processing device 80 , a plurality of storage devices 81 , a communication device 82 and an in-vehicle network 83 .

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) is used for the arithmetic processing unit 80, for example. The plurality of storage devices 81 transmit and receive data to and from the arithmetic processing device 80 and store the data. The communication device 82 performs data communication with an in-vehicle network 83 . The communication device 82 communicates with the map storage unit 11 , the GPS receiver 12 , and the peripheral sensor 13 as external devices via the in-vehicle network 83 .

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 80 includes, for example, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an IC (Integrated Circuit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), various logic circuits, and various signal processing A circuit may be provided. Further, by providing a plurality of arithmetic processing units 80 of the same type or different types, each process may be shared and executed by a plurality of arithmetic processing units.

As the plurality of storage devices 81, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) configured to enable reading and writing of data from the processing unit 80 and a ROM (Read Only Memory) is provided.

Each function of the vehicle driving support control device 100 is executed by the arithmetic processing device 80 executing software or programs stored in a plurality of storage devices 81, and other hardware of the vehicle driving support control device 100, for example, a plurality of storages. It is realized by cooperating with the device 81 and the communication device 82 . Setting data used by each function of the vehicle driving support control device 100 is stored in a plurality of storage devices 81 as part of software or programs.

As described above, the vehicle driving support control device 100 includes the merging determination unit 102, the merging plan generating unit 103, and the merging control unit 104 as functional blocks. The merging determination unit 102 calculates the merging position based on the position information of the main line vehicles VR1 and VR2, the speed information of the main line vehicles VR1 and VR2, the position information of the merging vehicle VL, the speed information of the merging vehicle VL, and the map information. . The merging plan generation unit 103 generates a merging plan for causing the merging vehicle VL to reach the merging position. The merging control unit 104 controls the merging vehicle VL based on the merging plan.

Further, the confluence determination unit extracts a plurality of candidate positions, calculates a plurality of confluence accelerations a _mrg , and selects a candidate position corresponding to the confluence acceleration a _mrg having the smallest absolute value among the plurality of confluence accelerations a _mrg . Select as merge location. Therefore, the merging vehicle VL can be moved to the main lane more smoothly.

Also, the merging acceleration _amrg is the maximum value of acceleration that occurs in the merging vehicle VL until the merging vehicle VL moves to the corresponding candidate position. Therefore, the confluence acceleration _amrg can be calculated more easily.

Also, the merging plan generation unit includes at least one of a vehicle distance plan d _plan , a speed plan v _plan , and an acceleration plan a _plan as the merging plan. Therefore, the merging vehicle VL can be moved to the main lane more smoothly.

Also, the merging plan generation unit 103 generates an acceleration plan a _plan by feedforward control. Therefore, the acceleration plan a _plan can be calculated more easily.

Further, in Embodiment 1, the operation of the merging determination unit 102 when there are two main line vehicles, the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2, has been described. Even if there are N vehicles on the main line, the merging determination unit 102 can select a merging position from 2×N candidate positions by performing the same calculation, and output the merging time _Tmrg for the selected merging position. can.

Embodiment 2.
Next, a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 2 will be described. In the vehicle driving support control system according to Embodiment 2, a route plan is generated in addition to the merging plan. The route plan is a planned travel route until the merging vehicle VL moves to the merging position.

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 2. As shown in FIG. The vehicle driving support control device 100A has a main line vehicle detection unit 101, a merging determination unit 102, a merging plan generation unit 103A, and a merging control unit 104A. Since the main line vehicle detection unit 101 and the merging determination unit 102 are the same as the main line vehicle detection unit 101 and the merging determination unit 102 in FIG. 2, description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of the merging plan generation unit 103A in FIG. The confluence plan generator 103A has a speed plan generator 1031 and a route plan generator 1032 . Similar to the merging plan generating unit 103 of the first embodiment, the speed plan generating unit 1031 generates the inter-vehicle distance plan d _plan , speed plan v _plan , and acceleration plan a _plan of the merging vehicle VL. The route plan generator 1032 calculates a route plan based on the merging time _Tmrg and map information.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of the merging control unit 104A in FIG. The merging controller 104A has a speed controller 1041 and a path controller 1042 . Speed control unit 1041 calculates acceleration command a _ref in the same manner as merging control unit 104 of the first embodiment. A route control unit 1042 calculates a steering angle command θ _ref based on the route plan.

In the vehicle driving support control device 100A according to the second embodiment, the configurations other than the configuration of the merging plan generation unit 103A and the configuration of the merging control unit 104A are the same as those of the vehicle driving support control device 100 according to the first embodiment. be.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing map information of the main lane L1 and the merging lane L2. A plurality of white circles on the main lane L1 and the merging lane L2 represent route information stored in the map storage unit 11. FIG. The route plan generation unit 1032 obtains the route information (x _L1 (n), y _L1 (n)) of the main lane L1 and the route information (x _L2 (n), y _L2 (n) of the merging lane L2 from the map storage unit 11 . )).

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing an example of route planning. Based on the route information (x _L1 (n), y _L1 (n)) of the main lane L1 and the route information (x _L2 (n), y _L2 (n)) of the merging lane L2, the route plan generation unit 1032 Compute the path plan (x _plan (n), y _plan (n)).

More specifically, the route plan generation unit 1032 calculates the route plan of the merging vehicle VL using the step input k _in of Equation (22) and the filter F _lc (s) of Equation (23) below. In Expression (22), the time when time t becomes 0 means the time when the merging starts. The time when the time t becomes the merging time _Tmrg means the time of completion of merging. _Tlc is the time required for the merging vehicle VL to change from the merging lane L2 to the main lane L1. In addition, the filter F _lc (s) in Equation (23) is a filter that performs a moving average filter with a time constant of T _lc /2 twice.

Also, the filter F _lc (s) of Equation (23) is represented by the following Equation (24) by Padé approximation.

Using equations (22) to (24), the route plan is calculated as in equations (25) to (27) below. Here, the coefficient k is a value in the range of 0 or more and 1 or less. That is, the coefficient k means that the merging vehicle VL is on the route plan and exists between the main lane L1 and the merging lane L2. The fact that the coefficient k is 1 indicates that the merging vehicle VL has not started to change lanes from the merging lane L2 to the main lane L1. The fact that the coefficient k is 0 indicates that the merging vehicle VL has completed the lane change to the main lane L1.

Next, processing of the route control unit 1042 will be described. The route control unit 1042 converts the route plan (x _plan (n), y _plan (n)) into the position point group (x _VL (n), y _VL (n)) of the host vehicle coordinate system viewed from the merging vehicle VL. Convert. Then, the position point group is approximated by a quadratic function shown in the following equation (28). Each coefficient c0 _plan , c1 _plan , and c2 _plan of the quadratic function is the lateral position plan, the azimuth plan, and the curvature plan, respectively.

The steering angle command θ _ref is expressed using each coefficient approximated in Equation (28), as shown in Equation (29) below. Here, k1, k2, and k3 are control gains, and γ is the yaw rate of the merging vehicle VL.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing a merging control routine executed by the vehicle driving support control device 100A of FIG. The routine of FIG. 15 is executed, for example, when the merging vehicle VL passes the merging start position. Here, the processing from step S101 to step S105 is the same as the processing from step S101 to step S105 in FIG. 8, and description thereof is omitted.

When the routine of FIG. 15 is started, the vehicle driving support control device 100A starts processing from step S101. In step S101, when the main line vehicle is not detected, the vehicle driving support control device 100A once terminates this routine. In this case, the merging vehicle VL moves from the merging lane L2 to the main lane L1 by a control routine that is separately executed.

In step S101, when a main line vehicle is detected, the vehicle driving support control device 100A sequentially executes the processes from step S102 to step S105. Next, in step S201, the merging plan generator 103A of the vehicle driving support control device 100A generates a merging plan and a route plan for the selected merging position.

Next, in step S202, the merging control unit 104A of the vehicle driving support control device 100A calculates the acceleration command a _ref based on the generated merging plan, and calculates the steering angle command θ based on the generated route plan. _ref is calculated, and this routine is temporarily terminated.

As described above, the vehicle driving support control device 100A according to Embodiment 2 generates a route plan and calculates the steering angle command θ _ref for causing the merging vehicle VL to travel according to the route plan. According to this, the lane change can be completed in the merging section.

As described above, in the vehicle driving support control device 100A, the merging plan generation unit 103A further generates a route plan, and the merging control unit 104A performs steering control of the merging vehicle VL to cause the merging vehicle VL to travel according to the route plan. A steering angle command θ _ref for the device 15 is calculated. According to this, it is possible to automatically change the lane of the merging vehicle VL from the merging lane L2 to the main lane L1 in the merging section.

Embodiment 3.
Next, a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 3 will be described. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a road, a main line vehicle, a merging vehicle, and a roadside unit to which the vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 3 is applied. As shown in FIG. 16, a roadside unit RSU is installed on the roadside of the road RD.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 3. As shown in FIG. A vehicle driving support control device 100B according to Embodiment 3 has a vehicle-side control section 200 and a road-side control section 300 . The merging vehicle VL has a map storage unit 11 , a GPS receiver 12 , a driving/braking control device 14 , a communication unit 17 and a vehicle side control unit 200 . The map storage unit 11, the GPS receiver 12, and the driving and braking control device 14 are the same as the map storage unit 11, the GPS receiver 12, and the driving and braking control device 14 of the vehicle driving support control device 100 according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the description is omitted.

The communication unit 17 receives a signal from the roadside unit RSU and outputs the received signal to the vehicle control unit 200 .

The vehicle-side control unit 200 has a merging determination unit 102, a merging plan generation unit 103, and a merging control unit 104 as functional blocks. The merging determination unit 102 acquires map information from the map storage unit 11 and acquires the own vehicle position, that is, the position information of the merging vehicle VL from the GPS receiver 12 . The merging determination unit 102 also acquires the position information of the main line vehicle and the speed information of the main line vehicle from the communication unit 17 . Other functions of the merging determination unit 102, the functions of the merging plan generating unit 103, and the functions of the merging control unit 104 are the same as the functions of the vehicle driving support control device 100 according to the first embodiment, so detailed description will be given. is omitted.

The roadside unit RSU has a roadside sensor 21 , a map storage unit 22 , a communication unit 23 and a roadside control unit 300 . The roadside sensor 21 detects objects on the road RD. The map storage unit 22 stores map information. The communication unit 23 transmits a signal from the roadside control unit 300 to the communication unit 17 of the merging vehicle VL.

The roadside control unit 300 has a main line vehicle detection unit 301 as a functional block. The main line vehicle detection unit 301 detects the position information of the main line vehicle and the speed information of the main line vehicle based on the information from the roadside sensor 21 and the information from the map storage unit 22 . In this example, the main line vehicle detection unit 301 detects the position information of the first main line vehicle VR1, the speed information of the first main line vehicle VR1, the position information of the second main line vehicle VR2, and the speed information of the second main line vehicle VR2. to detect

Based on the map information acquired by the map storage unit 22, the position information of the surrounding objects and the speed information of the surrounding objects acquired by the roadside sensor 21, the main line vehicle detection unit 301 detects the positions and The speeds of main line vehicles VR1 and VR2 are detected.

More specifically, the main lane vehicle detection unit 301 compares the position information and speed information of the surrounding objects with the map information, and selects an object existing on the main lane L1 from among the surrounding objects. . Then, the main line vehicle detection unit 301 outputs the position information of the selected object and the speed information of the selected object to the communication unit 23 as the position information of the main line vehicles VR1 and VR2 and the speed information of the main line vehicles VR1 and VR2. Then, the communication unit 23 transmits the position information of the main line vehicles VR1 and VR2 and the speed information of the main line vehicles VR1 and VR2 to the merging vehicle VL.

Other configurations of the vehicle driving support control device 100B according to the third embodiment are the same as those of the vehicle driving support control device 100 according to the first embodiment and the vehicle driving support control device 100A according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a processing circuit that implements the functions of the roadside control section 300 of FIG. The roadside control unit 300 has an arithmetic processing device 90 , a plurality of storage devices 91 , a communication device 92 and an internal network 93 .

For example, a CPU is used for the arithmetic processing unit 90 . The plurality of storage devices 91 transmit and receive data to and from the arithmetic processing device 90 and store the data. The communication device 92 performs data communication with the internal network 93 . The communication device 92 communicates with the roadside sensor 21 and the map storage unit 22 as external devices via the internal network 93 .

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 90 may include, for example, ASIC, IC, DSP, FPGA, various logic circuits, and various signal processing circuits. Further, by providing a plurality of arithmetic processing units 90 of the same type or different types, each process may be shared and executed by a plurality of arithmetic processing units. The plurality of storage devices 91 include, for example, a RAM configured to read and write data from the arithmetic processing unit 90 and a ROM configured to read data from the arithmetic processing unit 90 .

The function of the roadside control unit 300 is that the arithmetic processing unit 90 executes software or programs stored in a plurality of storage devices 91, and communicates with other hardware of the roadside unit RSU such as a plurality of storage devices 91 and the communication device 92. It is realized by cooperating. The setting data used by each function of the roadside control unit 300 is stored in a plurality of storage devices 91 as part of software or programs.

As described above, in the vehicle driving support control device 100B according to Embodiment 3, the main line vehicle detection unit 301 is provided in the roadside control unit 300 in the roadside unit RSU. The merging determination unit 102, the merging plan generating unit 103, and the merging control unit 104 are provided in the vehicle-side control unit 200 in the merging vehicle VL. Then, based on the position information of the merging vehicle VL, the speed information of the merging vehicle VL, and the position information of the main line vehicle and the speed information of the main line vehicle detected by the roadside unit RSU, the vehicle side control unit 200 outputs the driving and braking control device 14, an acceleration command a _ref of the merging vehicle VL is output.

According to this, even when the main line vehicle exists in the blind spot of the peripheral sensor of the merging vehicle VL, the position information of the main line vehicle and the speed information of the main line vehicle can be detected. VL can be moved to the main lane more smoothly.

Embodiment 4.
Next, a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 4 will be described. FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 4. As shown in FIG. A vehicle driving support control device 100C according to Embodiment 4 has a vehicle-side control section 200A and a road-side control section 300A.

200 A of vehicle side control parts have the confluence|merging control part 104 as a functional block. The merging control unit 104 receives information about the merging plan generated by the roadside unit RSU from the communication unit 17 of the merging vehicle VL. The merging control unit 104 is the same as the merging control unit 104 of the vehicle driving support control device 100 according to Embodiment 1, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The roadside control unit 300A has a main line vehicle detection unit 301, a merging vehicle detection unit 302, a merging determination unit 303, and a merging plan generation unit 304 as functional blocks. Thus, the merging vehicle detection unit 302, the merging determination unit 303, and the merging plan generation unit 304 are included in the roadside control unit 300A, and the merging plan is transmitted from the roadside unit RSU to the merging vehicle VL. 3 is different from the vehicle driving support control device 100B of No. 3.

The roadside control unit 300A acquires the position information of the surrounding objects and the speed information of the surrounding objects from the roadside sensor 21, and acquires the map information about the merging section from the map storage unit 22. FIG. The merging plan generation unit 304 calculates at least one of the inter-vehicle distance plan _dplan , the speed plan _vplan , and the acceleration plan _aplan . Then, the merging plan generation unit 304 transmits the merging plan to the merging vehicle VL via the communication unit 23 of the roadside unit RSU.

The processing executed by the main line vehicle detection unit 301 is the same as the processing executed by the main line vehicle detection unit 301 of the third embodiment. Further, the processing executed by the merging judgment unit 303 and the merging plan generation unit 304 is the same as the processing executed by the merging judgment unit and the merging plan generation unit in Embodiments 1 to 3, so detailed description thereof will be omitted. be done.

The merging vehicle detection unit 302 is based on the map information acquired by the map storage unit 22, the position information of the surrounding objects and the speed information of the surrounding objects acquired by the roadside sensor 21, the position information of the merging vehicle VL, and the Speed information of the vehicle VL is detected. More specifically, the merging vehicle detection unit 302 compares the position information of the surrounding objects acquired by the roadside sensor 21 with the map information, and selects an object existing on the merging lane L2 from among the surrounding objects. do. Then, the merging vehicle detection unit 302 outputs the position information of the selected merging vehicle VL and the speed information of the merging vehicle VL to the merging determination unit 303 .

The vehicle-side control unit 200A receives the merging plan from the roadside unit RSU through the communication unit 17 of the merging vehicle VL. The vehicle-side control unit 200A calculates an acceleration command a- _ref based on the merging plan, and outputs the calculated acceleration command a- _ref to the driving/braking control device .

As described above, according to the vehicle driving support control device 100C according to the fourth embodiment, the main line vehicle detection unit 301, the merging determination unit 303, and the merging plan generation unit 304 are provided in the roadside control unit 300A in the roadside unit RSU. It is Also, the merging control unit 104 is provided in the vehicle-side control unit 200A in the merging vehicle VL.

As a result, even if the merging vehicle VL does not have either a peripheral sensor or a GPS receiver, the merging vehicle VL can be moved to the main lane more smoothly.

Embodiment 5.
Next, a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 5 will be described. FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram showing a vehicle driving support control device according to Embodiment 5. As shown in FIG. A vehicle driving support control device 100D according to Embodiment 5 has a merging vehicle-side control section 200B, a road-side control section 300B, a first main line vehicle-side control section 400, and a second main line vehicle-side control section 500.

In the fifth embodiment, the vehicles controlled via the communication unit are the merging vehicle VL, the first main line vehicle VR1, and the second main line vehicle VR2. It differs from the control device 100C. Points other than the above are the same as those of the vehicle driving support control device 100C of the fourth embodiment.

The roadside control unit 300</b>B acquires the position information of the surrounding objects and the speed information of the surrounding objects from the roadside sensor 21 and acquires the map information from the map storage unit 22 . The roadside control unit 300B transmits the merging plan to the merging vehicle VL, the first main line vehicle VR1, and the second main line vehicle VR2 via the communication unit 23 of the roadside unit RSU. Note that the processing executed by the main line vehicle detection unit 301 and the merging vehicle detection unit 302 is the same as that of the fourth embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

The merging determination unit 303A receives the position information of the first main line vehicle VR1 and the speed information of the first main line vehicle VR1 from the main line vehicle detection unit 301, the position information of the second main line vehicle VR2 and the speed information of the second main line vehicle VR2. is entered. The position information of the merging vehicle VL and the speed information of the merging vehicle VL are input from the merging vehicle detection unit 302 to the merging determination unit 303A. The merging determination unit 303A determines the position information of the first main line vehicle VR1, the speed information of the first main line vehicle VR1, the position information of the second main line vehicle VR2, the speed information of the second main line vehicle VR2, and the position information of the merging vehicle VL. and the speed information of the merging vehicle VL, the merging position and merging time _Tmrg of the merging vehicle VL are calculated.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a state at the start of merging when the first main line vehicle VR1 decelerates and the merging vehicle VL moves ahead of the first main line vehicle VR1. In FIG. 21, the merging vehicle VL is traveling at the starting point L2s of the merging lane L2, and the first main line vehicle VR1 is traveling on the main lane L1. It is assumed that the distance between the merging vehicle VL and the first main line vehicle VR1 is a first inter-vehicle distance d1, and the initial value of the first inter-vehicle distance d1 is _d10 .

When a merging vehicle VL moves to the main lane L1 in order to merge with one main line vehicle, there are two candidate positions for merging: a position in front of the main line vehicle and a position behind the main line vehicle. Further, when the main line vehicle VR1 accelerates or decelerates, the main line vehicle VR1 decelerates and the merging vehicle VL moves ahead of the main line vehicle VR1, and when the main line vehicle VR1 accelerates and the merging vehicle VL moves behind the main line vehicle VR1. It is conceivable to move.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of a case where the first main line vehicle VR1 decelerates and the merging vehicle VL moves ahead of the first main line vehicle VR1 to complete the merging. In the present embodiment, a virtual vehicle VI1 is set that exists at the same position as the first main line vehicle VR1 at the start of merging and thereafter travels while maintaining a constant speed VR. The merging determination unit 303A controls the first main line vehicle VR1 so that the first main line vehicle VR1 travels behind the virtual vehicle VI1 by a distance dx. In addition, the merging determination unit 303A controls the merging vehicle VL so that the merging vehicle VL travels ahead of the virtual vehicle VI1 by (-d _s -dx).

FIG. 23 shows the distance between the merging vehicle VL and the virtual vehicle VI1 when the 1st main line vehicle VR1 decelerates and the merging vehicle VL moves ahead of the 1st main line vehicle VR1 to complete the merging. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the velocity of VL and the acceleration of a merging vehicle VL;

For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 23, the merging plan for the merging vehicle VL is calculated using the step input d _{in in} which the first inter-vehicle distance d1 changes from d10 to (d* _-dx ) and the filter. be. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the target value of the first inter-vehicle distance d1 was d*, but the target value of the first inter-vehicle distance d1 in this example is d*-dx. Therefore, in the case of this example, the following equation (30) holds true between the merging time T _mrg and the traveling distance of the virtual vehicle VI1.

FIG. 24 shows the distance between the first main line vehicle VR1 and the virtual vehicle VI1 when the first main line vehicle VR1 decelerates and the merging vehicle VL moves ahead of the first main line vehicle VR1 to complete the merging. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing changes over time in the speed of a vehicle VR1 on the first main line and the acceleration of the vehicle VR1 on the first main line;

The first main line vehicle VR1 decelerates and accelerates once each, thereby increasing the distance from the virtual vehicle VI1 by dx. Assuming that the acceleration of the first main line vehicle VR1 and the magnitude of deceleration of the first main line vehicle VR1 at this time are the preset main line vehicle acceleration a _set , the distance between the distance dx and the merging time T _mrg is as follows: (31) holds.

From the equations (30) and (31), the confluence time T _mrg is calculated using the following equation (32).

The merging acceleration a_mrg, which is an evaluation index, is defined as the integral of the squares of the acceleration _{a_VL} of the merging vehicle _VL and the acceleration _{a_VRn} of the n-th main vehicle, as shown in the following equation (33). . Thus, the merging acceleration _amrg is the accumulated value of the acceleration of the merging vehicle VL and the acceleration of a plurality of main line vehicles.

FIG. 25 shows the start of merging when the first main line vehicle VR1 accelerates, the second main line vehicle VR2 decelerates, and the merging vehicle VL moves between the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2. It is a schematic diagram showing the state of. In FIG. 26, the first main line vehicle VR1 accelerates, the second main line vehicle VR2 decelerates, and the merging vehicle VL moves between the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2 to complete the merging. It is a schematic diagram of the case.

In this case, the merging determination unit 303A first sets the virtual vehicle VI1 at the center of the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2 at the start of merging, and causes the virtual vehicle VI1 to travel at a constant speed. Next, the merging determination unit 303A determines that the distance between the first main line vehicle VR1 and the virtual vehicle VI1 becomes the safe distance ds when the merging is completed, and the distance between the second main line vehicle VR2 and the virtual vehicle VI1 becomes the safe distance ds. -ds, the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2 are controlled. Then, the merging determination unit 303A controls the merging vehicle VL so that the position of the merging vehicle VL matches the position of the virtual vehicle VI1.

The method of calculating the merging time T _mrg and the merging acceleration a _mrg at this time is the same as the case described with reference to FIGS.

As described above, when determining candidate positions for merging, merging determination unit 303A determines candidate positions for merging after accelerating and decelerating a plurality of main line vehicles. In this case, the merging determination unit 303A calculates the merging acceleration of each of the merging vehicle VL and the plurality of main line vehicles. The merging determination unit 303A integrates the merging acceleration of each of the merging vehicle VL and the plurality of main line vehicles for each candidate position. Then, the merging determination unit 303A selects the candidate position corresponding to the merging acceleration having the smallest absolute value from among the integrated multiple merging accelerations a _mrg as the merging position, and outputs the merging time T _mrg at that time.

The merging plan generator 304A generates a merging plan for the merging vehicle VL, a merging plan for the main line vehicle VR1, and a merging for the main line vehicle VR2 based on the merging position and the merging time T _mrg of the merging vehicle VL input from the merging determination unit 303A. Calculate each plan. For this calculation, the filter represented by Equation (10) or Equation (12) is used.

At this time, the magnitude of the step input d _in to the filter is set to the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the virtual vehicle VI1. For example, in the case of the merging vehicle VL shown in FIG. 23, the distance between the merging vehicle VL and the virtual vehicle VI1 is calculated using a step input from d10 to d* _-dx and a filter. compute the confluence plan for Similarly, in the case of the first main line vehicle VR1 shown in FIG. A merging plan for the main line vehicle VR1 is calculated.

The merging plan for the merging vehicle VL includes a velocity plan v _{plan_VL} and an acceleration plan a _{plan_VL} . The merge plan for the first mainline vehicle VR1 includes a speed plan v _{plan_VR1} and an acceleration plan a _{plan_VR1} . The merging plan for the second mainline vehicle VR2 includes a speed plan v _{plan_VR2} and an acceleration plan a _{plan_VR2} . Also, the merging plan output from the merging plan generator 304A should include at least one of the velocity plan v _plan and the acceleration plan a _plan .

The merging control unit 204 of the merging vehicle-side control unit 200B calculates an acceleration command a _{ref_VL} for the merging vehicle VL based on the merging plan generated by the merging plan generating unit 304A, that is, the speed plan v _{plan_VL} and the acceleration plan a _{plan_VL} . do. The merging control unit 404 of the first main line vehicle-side control unit 400 issues an acceleration command for the first main line vehicle VR1 based on the merging plan generated by the merging plan generating unit 304A, that is, the speed plan v _{plan_VR1} and the acceleration plan a _{plan_VR1} . a _{Calculate ref_VR1} .

The merging control unit 504 of the second main line vehicle-side control unit 500 issues an acceleration command for the second main line vehicle VR2 based on the merging plan generated by the merging plan generating unit 304A, that is, the speed plan v _{plan_VR2} and the acceleration plan a _{plan_VR2} . Compute a _{ref_VR2} . The calculation of the acceleration commands a _{ref_VL} , a _{ref_VR1} , and a _{ref_VR2} is the same as the calculation of the acceleration commands a _ref by the merging control units of the first to fourth embodiments, so detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The filter of equation (10) or equation (12) is used to calculate the velocity plan v _plan and the acceleration plan a _plan . Here, the step input d _in to the filter is considered to be a step input that changes from the distance d0 to the distance between the merging vehicle VL and the virtual vehicle VI1 on the main lane L1.

As described above, in the vehicle driving support control device 100D according to Embodiment 5, the main line vehicle detection unit 301, the merging determination unit 303A, and the merging plan generation unit 304A are provided in the roadside control unit 300B. The merging control units 204, 404, and 504 are provided in the merging vehicle-side control unit 200B, the first main line vehicle-side control unit 400, and the second main line vehicle-side control unit 500, respectively.

The merging determination unit 303A controls the acceleration and deceleration of the merging vehicle VL, the first main line vehicle VR1, and the second main line vehicle VR2 with respect to a plurality of merging candidate positions, Compute a _mrg . Then, the merging determination unit 303A selects the candidate position corresponding to the merging acceleration having the smallest absolute value among the plurality of merging accelerations _amrg as the merging position. The merging plan generation unit 304A generates merging plans for the merging vehicle VL, the first main line vehicle VR1, and the second main line vehicle VR2. As a result, the merging vehicle VL can be moved to the main lane more smoothly.

Further, even when the inter-vehicle distance between the first main line vehicle VR1 and the second main line vehicle VR2 is narrow, the inter-vehicle distance at which the merging vehicle VL joins is secured by accelerating and decelerating the respective main line vehicles, and the merging vehicles can be smoothly merged. VL can be moved to the main lane.

As described with reference to FIGS. 21 to 24, the control for decelerating the main line vehicle induces the deceleration of other main line vehicles, which may reduce the traffic flow rate of the main lane. Therefore, the merging determination unit 303A may select a merging candidate position by excluding control for decelerating the main line vehicle in advance. As a result, it is possible to more smoothly move the merging vehicle VL to the main lane while suppressing a decrease in the traffic flow rate of the main lane L1.

In Embodiment 5, the merging acceleration a _mrg is calculated by integrating the merging accelerations of the merging vehicle VL and a plurality of main line vehicles, but the calculation of the merging acceleration a _mrg is limited to simple integration. not. For example, the mean square of the merging acceleration of each vehicle may be used, or weighting may be performed for each vehicle at the time of integration.

Further, in the fifth embodiment, the acceleration plan a _plan is calculated using the filter represented by the formula (10) or (12), but is calculated by feedforward control using the formula (15). may

In Embodiments 1 to 5, the time when the merging vehicle VL has completed moving to the main lane L1 is defined as the time when the merging vehicle VL has passed the end point L2e of the merging lane L2. However, the merging vehicle VL may complete the movement to the main lane L1 before passing the end point L2e of the merging lane L2. In short, the merging vehicle VL only needs to complete its movement between the merging sections.

Moreover, Embodiments 1 to 5 can be combined as appropriate. For example, in the merging plan generators of the third to fifth embodiments, a route plan may be generated in addition to the merging plan as in the second embodiment, and a steering command may be output to the steering control device.

11 map storage unit, 14 driving and braking control device, 15 steering control device, 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D vehicle driving support control device, 101, 301 main line vehicle detection unit, 102, 303, 303A merging determination unit, 103, 103A, 304, 304A Merging plan generation unit, 104, 104A, 204, 404, 504 Merging control unit, 300, 300A Roadside control unit, L1 Main lane, L2 Merging lane, RSU Roadside unit, VL Merging vehicle, VR1 First main line Car (main line car), VR2 2nd main line car (main line car).

Claims (8)

Position information of a main vehicle that is a vehicle traveling on the main lane, speed information of the main vehicle, position information of a merging vehicle that is a vehicle traveling on the merging lane, speed information of the merging vehicle, and the main lane and a merging determination unit that calculates a merging position, which is the position of the merging vehicle with respect to the main lane vehicle when the merging vehicle has completed moving to the main lane, based on map information including information about the merging lane;
a merging plan generation unit that generates a merging plan for causing the merging vehicle to reach the merging position;
a merging control unit that controls the merging vehicle based on the merging plan;
The merging determination unit extracts a plurality of candidate positions that are candidates for the merging position, and generates a plurality of merging accelerations that are accelerations that occur in the merging vehicle when the merging vehicle moves to each of the plurality of candidate positions. and selects, as the merging position, a candidate position corresponding to the merging acceleration having the smallest absolute value among the plurality of merging accelerations. The vehicle driving support control device according to claim 1, wherein each of the merging accelerations is a maximum value of acceleration that occurs in the merging vehicle until the merging vehicle moves to the corresponding candidate position. The merging plan generation unit generates, as the merging plan, an inter-vehicle distance plan that is a target value of the inter-vehicle distance between the merging vehicle and the main line vehicle until the merging vehicle moves to the merging position. At least one of a speed plan, which is a target value of the speed of the merging vehicle until it moves to the merging position, and an acceleration plan, which is a target value of the acceleration of the merging vehicle until the merging vehicle moves to the merging position. The vehicle driving support control device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising: 4. The merging plan generation unit generates the acceleration plan by feedforward control using a control response from a driving and braking control device that controls a driving device of the merging vehicle and a braking device of the merging vehicle. 2. The vehicle driving support control device according to 1. The merging plan generation unit further generates a route plan, which is a planned travel route until the merging vehicle moves to the merging position,
The vehicle traveling according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the merging control unit calculates a steering angle command for a steering control device of the merging vehicle for causing the merging vehicle to travel according to the route plan. Support controller. Further comprising a main line vehicle detection unit that detects the position of the main line vehicle and the speed of the main line vehicle,
The main vehicle detection unit is provided in a roadside control unit in a roadside unit installed on the roadside of the main lane, and the merging determination unit, the merging plan generation unit, and the merging control unit are provided in the merging vehicle. The vehicle driving support control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, provided in a vehicle-side control section. Further comprising a main line vehicle detection unit that detects the position of the main line vehicle and the speed of the main line vehicle,
The main lane vehicle detection unit, the merging determination unit, and the merging plan generation unit are provided in a roadside control unit in a roadside unit installed on the roadside of the main lane, and the merging control unit is installed in the merging vehicle. The vehicle driving support control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, provided in a vehicle-side control section. Further comprising a main line vehicle detection unit that detects the position of the main line vehicle and the speed of the main line vehicle,
The main lane vehicle detection unit, the merging determination unit, and the merging plan generation unit are provided in a roadside control unit in a roadside unit installed on the roadside of the main lane, and the merging control unit is installed in the merging vehicle. Provided in each of the vehicle-side control unit and the vehicle-side control unit in the plurality of main line vehicles,
The vehicle driving support control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the merging plan generation unit generates the merging plans for the merging vehicle and the plurality of main line vehicles, respectively.

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