JP2022164909A - Automobile and program for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automobile which can certainly avoid a traffic accident to secure safe execution of a behavior affecting other vehicles when the behavior is attempted to be executed.

SOLUTION: An automobile comprises a manual driving mode and an automatic driving mode in which autonomous travel is allowed. The automobile comprises: a radio communication unit having a transmission/reception function to perform radio communication between vehicles; monitoring means for monitoring reception of an inter-vehicle communication request from other vehicles through the radio communication unit; switching means for determining whether or not a self-vehicle is in a state of the manual driving mode when the inter-vehicle communication request from other vehicles is received by the monitoring means to switch a mode to the automatic driving mode if the self-vehicle is in the state of the manual driving mode; and communication path generation means for generating a communication path with other vehicles which transmit the inter-vehicle communication request in the state of the automatic driving mode switched by the switching means.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

COPYRIGHT: (C)2023,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to automobiles and automobile programs.

In recent years, automobiles with an automatic driving mode that enables autonomous driving without driver's driving operation have appeared (for example, see Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-48563)). As for this type of vehicle, in addition to those that can switch between manual driving mode and automatic driving mode, self-driving cars that only have an automatic driving mode, and self-driving cars that can drive autonomously without people will appear. Conceivable.

Autonomous driving in this type of vehicle's autonomous driving mode is currently subject to many restrictions, such as being permitted only in places and environments where safety can be easily ensured. It is assumed that it will be possible to run.

When it becomes possible for cars with automatic driving mode to travel freely on public roads, cars that can only be driven manually (manual specification cars) and cars with automatic driving mode (for convenience, the following explanation has automatic driving mode) Automobiles will be referred to as self-driving cars) will travel on the same road at the same time.

In the case of a manual vehicle, it is unavoidable that the driver does not strictly observe traffic regulations or behaves in an unpredictable manner. It is expected that traffic laws will be strictly observed and that obstacles will be avoided. That is, it is predicted that a manual vehicle and an automatic driving vehicle will take different driving modes.

Therefore, if it is possible to know whether the vehicles driving around are manual vehicles or self-driving vehicles, pedestrians, drivers, and vehicles (self-driving vehicles) themselves can determine the movement and behavior of those vehicles. It is expected that it will be useful for traffic safety, such as preventing accidents, by predicting traffic accidents and increasing the possibility of ensuring safety and paying attention to one's own behavior and driving. . In other words, if you know whether the car you are driving is a manual car or a self-driving car, you can refer to it when determining your actions and behavior, which is preferable from the viewpoint of traffic safety.

Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-228152), by inter-vehicle communication between vehicles, the operating mode of the own vehicle is the automatic driving mode or the manual driving mode. A system has been proposed in which the operation modes of other vehicles in the vicinity of the own vehicle can be grasped. According to the technique of Patent Document 2, it is possible to increase or decrease the attention paid to other vehicles in the vicinity of the own vehicle according to the grasped operation mode, which is convenient.

JP 2012-48563 A JP 2015-228152 A

However, in the technique of Patent Document 2, it is only possible to know the operation mode of the vehicle while it is running, and to drive safely by referring to the known operation mode. It was not possible to ensure safe execution without causing traffic accidents. In particular, it has not been possible to reliably avoid traffic accidents and ensure that other vehicle-influencing behaviors that affect the behavior of other vehicles, such as right turns, left turns, lane changes, and merging, can be performed safely.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle capable of reliably avoiding a traffic accident and ensuring safety when attempting to execute behavior that affects other vehicles. .

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is
A vehicle having a manual driving mode and an automatic driving mode capable of autonomous driving,
a wireless communication unit having a transmission/reception function and for performing wireless communication between vehicles;
monitoring means for monitoring reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle through the wireless communication unit;
When the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is received from the other vehicle, the monitoring means determines whether or not the host vehicle is in the manual operation mode. a switching means for switching to an operation mode;
a communication path generation means for generating a communication path with another vehicle that has transmitted the inter-vehicle communication request in the state of the automatic driving mode switched by the switching means;
To provide an automobile characterized by comprising:

In the vehicle of claim 1 having the above configuration, the monitoring means monitors reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle through the wireless communication unit. When the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is received from the other vehicle, the monitoring means determines whether or not the own vehicle is in the manual operation mode. switch. Then, the communication path generating means generates a communication path with the other vehicle that has transmitted the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request in the state of the automatic driving mode switched by the switching means.

Therefore, according to the vehicle of claim 1, it is possible to generate a communication path with another vehicle that has made a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request only in the state of the automatic driving mode. As a result, even when receiving notifications of other vehicle-influencing behaviors that affect the behavior of other vehicles, such as turning right or left, changing lanes, or merging, from other vehicles through the communication channel, the system can be operated in the state of autonomous driving mode. It is expected that the behavior of the own vehicle can be determined, traffic accidents can be avoided, and other vehicle-influencing behavior can be safely performed.

According to the automobile according to the present invention, since a communication path is created with another vehicle that has made a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request only in the state of automatic driving mode, it is expected that traffic accidents can be avoided and behavior that affects other vehicles can be safely performed. It has a remarkable effect of being able to

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic control circuit unit of an embodiment of an automobile according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining a configuration example of a main part of an electronic control circuit unit of the automobile in the example of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flowchart for explaining an example of processing operation of an electronic control circuit unit of the automobile in the example of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing part of a flowchart for explaining an example of processing operation of an electronic control circuit unit of the automobile in the example of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing part of a flowchart for explaining an example of processing operation of an electronic control circuit unit of the automobile in the example of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing part of a flowchart for explaining an example of processing operation of an electronic control circuit unit of the automobile in the example of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing part of a flowchart for explaining an example of processing operation of an electronic control circuit unit of the automobile in the example of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of other vehicle influence behavior executed by the embodiment of the automobile according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining another example of other vehicle influence behavior executed by the embodiment of the automobile according to the present invention; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining still another example of other vehicle influencing behavior executed by the embodiment of the automobile according to the present invention;

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle according to the present invention will be described below as a case of an automatic driving vehicle having an automatic driving mode in which the behavior of the own vehicle is autonomously executed. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example hardware configuration of an electronic control circuit unit 10 of an automatic driving vehicle 1 as an embodiment of an automobile according to the present invention. In addition, the automatic driving vehicle 1 of this embodiment is an example in the case of an electric vehicle. However, the illustration of the battery is omitted in FIG.

Further, the automatic driving vehicle 1 of this embodiment has an automatic driving mode in which the vehicle behaves autonomously and a manual driving mode. The manual driving mode is a mode in which the vehicle can travel according to the driver's accelerator pedal operation, brake pedal operation, shift lever operation, and steering operation (steering wheel operation), like a normal non-automatic vehicle. In addition, in the automatic driving mode, the automatic driving vehicle 1 automatically (autonomously) avoids obstacles and navigates its way without the driver operating the accelerator pedal, the brake pedal, the shift lever, or the steering wheel. This is the driving mode to be changed.

The driver of the automatic driving vehicle 1 can switch the automatic driving vehicle 1 running in the manual driving mode to the automatic driving mode by performing a predetermined operation through the touch panel 112, which will be described later. When the driver performs a predetermined operation such as accelerator pedal operation, brake pedal operation, shift lever operation, or steering operation, the system automatically returns to the manual operation mode.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic control circuit unit 10 provides a control unit 101 with a wireless communication unit 102, a motor drive control unit 103, a steering drive control unit 104, a manual/automatic operation mode switching control, through a system bus 100. Unit 105, radar group 106, camera group 107, sensor group 108, surrounding situation grasping unit 109, current position detecting unit 110, display unit 111, touch panel 112, car navigation function unit 113, vehicle information storage unit 114, running speed and direction A detection unit 115, a clock unit 116, a car-to-car communication control processing unit 117, a behavior control unit 118, and an audio input/output unit 119 are connected to each other.

A motor drive unit 121 is connected to the motor drive control unit 103 . A steering drive unit 122 is connected to the steering drive control unit 104 . A manual operation detection unit 123 is connected to the manual/automatic operation mode switching control unit 105 . A car navigation database 124 is connected to the car navigation function unit 113 . Furthermore, a microphone 125 and a speaker 126 are connected to the voice input/output unit 119 .

The control unit 101 is equipped with a computer and controls the entire automatic driving vehicle 1 .

The wireless communication unit 102 is used for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and is normally in a reception standby mode. As will be described later, under the control of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117, when a transmission trigger occurs, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request signal is transmitted by broadcasting, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication is performed when the response information is received from the communication partner. so that it works. In addition, under the control of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117, when receiving a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request signal in the reception standby mode, the wireless communication unit 102 communicates with the vehicle that transmits the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request signal. It operates to perform inter-vehicle communication.

Under the control of the control unit 101, the motor drive control unit 103 controls the supply of drive signals to the motor drive unit 121 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 configured by the electric vehicle of this embodiment. start of running, running speed control (including brake control and accelerator control), running stop, etc.

Under the control of the control unit 101, the steering drive control unit 104 controls the supply of a drive control signal to the steering drive unit 122 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 of this embodiment, thereby controlling the course change of the automatic driving vehicle 1. to do

The manual/automatic driving mode switching control unit 105 performs control to switch the driving mode of the automatic driving vehicle 1 between the manual driving mode and the automatic driving mode according to the selection operation input through the touch panel 112 . The manual driving operation detection unit 123 receives operation information of accelerator pedal operation, brake pedal operation, shift lever operation, and steering operation by the driver, and supplies the manual driving operation information to the manual/automatic driving mode switching control unit 105. do.

The manual/automatic driving mode switching control unit 105 supplies the manual driving operation information from the manual driving operation detecting unit 123 to the motor drive control unit 103 and the steering drive control unit 104 when the automatic driving vehicle 1 is in the manual driving mode. Then, the motor drive unit 121 and the steering drive unit 122 are controlled according to the driver's pedal operation, shift lever operation, and steering operation (steering wheel operation).

In addition, when the automatic driving vehicle 1 is in the automatic driving mode, the manual/automatic driving mode switching control unit 105 outputs the radar group 106, the camera group 107, the sensor group 108, and the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 as described later. The automatic driving operation information generated by the control unit 101 is supplied to the motor driving control unit 103 and the steering driving control unit 104, and the motor driving unit 121 and the steering driving unit 122 are driven and controlled by the automatic driving operation information. . In the automatic driving mode, the car navigation function unit 113 searches for a route from the current position to the destination (destination) set by the driver or the like, and is controlled to travel along the searched route. be.

It should be noted that, of course, the manual/automatic driving mode switching control unit 105 and the manual driving operation detection unit 123 are not provided in the case of a fully automated driving vehicle having only the automatic driving mode without the manual driving mode. In addition, the accelerator pedal, brake pedal, shift lever, steering wheel, etc. required for manual operation may be omitted. However, to ensure safety, a brake pedal (brake button, touch panel input or voice input corresponding to brake may be provided) may be provided so that only brake operation can be handled manually.

The radar group 106 is for measuring the distance to people and objects existing around the vehicle of the automatic driving vehicle 1, and is composed of a laser radar (lidar), a millimeter wave radar, and the like. A laser radar is embedded, for example, in the ceiling or near a bumper, and a millimeter wave radar is provided, for example, in the front and rear parts of a vehicle. Both laser radar and millimeter wave radar may be provided, or only one of them may be provided. Other radars such as submillimeter wave radar and microwave radar may also be used. In addition, sonic or ultrasonic sonar (not shown) can be used for purposes similar to radar.

The camera group 107 corresponds to the camera group 207 of the first embodiment. and one or more cameras that capture the surroundings outside the vehicle.

The sensor group 108 includes an open/close detection sensor that detects the opening and closing of doors and windows, a sensor that detects whether a seat belt is worn, a seating sensor that detects whether a passenger is seated in a seat such as a driver's seat or a passenger's seat, and the like. In addition, it consists of a human sensor (infrared sensor) that detects people in the vicinity outside the vehicle and various sensors that acquire information to assist automatic driving. Various sensors for acquiring information that assists autonomous driving include, for example, vibration sensors for detecting vehicle and tire vibrations, rotation speed sensors for detecting tire rotation speeds, and direction detection sensors. Geomagnetic sensors, acceleration sensors for detecting acceleration, gyro sensors (gyroscopes) for detecting angles and angular velocities, and the like are included. In this embodiment, the sensor group 108 also includes sensors for detecting blinking of the right turn signal, left turn signal (direction indicator), hazard lamps (emergency flashing lights), etc., and lighting of backlights, brake lights, etc. ing.

The surrounding situation grasping unit 109 uses the radar group 106, the sensor group 108, and the images captured by the camera group 107 to determine the moving objects (including people) around the vehicle, the number of lanes on the road, and the travel of the vehicle. Be aware of your surroundings, such as middle lanes, uphills, and downhills. The surrounding situation grasping unit 109 grasps surrounding obstacles and moving objects by performing processing based on, for example, Bayesian theory. Information about the surrounding environment, surrounding obstacles, and moving objects grasped by the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 is used by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 and the behavior control unit 118, which will be described later, to comply with traffic laws and ensure safety. Used to determine behavior.

Further, in this embodiment, the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 has a function of recognizing traffic signs and traffic signs from images captured by the camera group 107 around the own vehicle. The traffic signs and traffic signs recognized by the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 are used by the behavior control unit 118, which will be described later, to behave in accordance with traffic laws.

The current position detection unit 110 corresponds to the current position detection unit 204 of the in-vehicle device 2 of the first embodiment, and receives radio waves from GPS satellites to detect the current position of the vehicle. In order to further improve the accuracy of the position detected by the radio waves from the GPS satellites, the current position detection unit 110 detects not only the current position information detected by the reception of the radio waves from the GPS satellites, but also the information on the sensors included in the sensor group 108 . ~ Multiple sensors, radar group 106, captured images of camera group 107 (with navigation function), etc. are also used, and by performing processing based on, for example, Bayesian theory, the current position is detected and confirmed with higher accuracy. I'm trying

In the automatic driving mode, the current position detection unit 110 and the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 are equipped with radar group 106, camera group 107, sensor group 108, position information obtained by receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, etc. , that is, information corresponding to information obtained from human eyes and ears is processed by Bayesian theory, etc. Based on this, the control unit 101 generates intelligent information such as changing the course of the own vehicle and avoiding obstacles. Processing (AI (artificial intelligence)) and control (AI (artificial intelligence)) are performed to generate automatic driving operation information. Then, based on the generated automatic driving operation information, the motor drive control unit 103 drives the motor drive unit 121, and the steering drive control unit 104 drives the steering drive unit 122, thereby performing autonomous movement control. . Therefore, in this embodiment, the autonomous movement control means includes the control unit 101, the radar group 106, the camera group 107, the sensor group 108, the surrounding situation grasping unit 109, the current position detection unit 110, the motor drive control unit 103, the motor It is composed of a drive unit 121, a steering drive control unit 104, a steering drive unit 122, and a car navigation function unit 113, which will be described later.

The display unit 111 is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The touch panel 112 is provided by superimposing a touch sensor capable of touch input with a finger on the display screen of the display unit 111 composed of an LCD. On the display screen of the display unit 111 , a display image including software buttons (including keyboard character input buttons) is displayed under the control of the control unit 101 . When touch panel 112 detects a finger touch on a software button displayed on the display screen, touch panel 112 transmits the touch to control unit 101 . The control unit 101 receiving this is configured to execute control processing corresponding to the software button. Note that the software buttons may be handled by using a separate keyboard or the like.

A car navigation database 124 connected to the car navigation function unit 113 stores domestic maps and route guidance data in advance. The car navigation function unit 113 is a function unit for guiding so as to assist the automatic driving vehicle 1 to move to a designated destination based on the map stored in the car navigation database 124 and the route guidance data. is. The car navigation function unit 113 performs a route search based on the departure point, waypoint, destination, and search conditions set and input by the user (driver or passenger), creates route guidance data, and generates route guidance data. Route guidance processing is performed using the data. In this embodiment, the car navigation function unit 113 is configured to perform slightly different route guidance processing in the manual driving mode and the automatic driving mode.

That is, in the manual operation mode, the car navigation function unit 113 displays a map, which is detected and confirmed by the current position detection unit 110, on the display screen of the display unit 111 and clearly displays the route to the destination. In addition to displaying an image superimposed on the position of the vehicle on the map, the position of the vehicle (current position) on the map is moved as the vehicle moves, and route guidance such as intersections and junctions on the route is displayed. Provide voice guidance where necessary. This is the same as the normal car navigation function.

On the other hand, in the automatic driving mode, when the current position of the vehicle is away from the route to the destination, the car navigation function unit 113 notifies the behavior control unit 118, which will be described later, of information on the separation direction and distance. At the same time, when the current position of the vehicle is on the route to the destination, along with the movement of the vehicle, before intersections and junctions on the route, change direction information along the route is displayed. The controller 118 is notified of this.

Under the control of the control unit 101, the behavior control unit 118 is based on the information notified from the car navigation function unit 113, the current position confirmation result of the current position detection unit 110, and the grasping result of the surrounding situation grasping unit 109. , to control the motor drive section 121 through the motor drive control section 103 and to control the steering drive section 122 through the steering drive control section 104 so that the vehicle moves on the route as instructed. to generate automated driving operation information. Therefore, the route guidance to the destination by the car navigation function unit 113 and the control unit 101 in the automatic driving mode allows the automatic driving vehicle 1 to move to the destination even when no passengers are present.

Further, in this embodiment, the car navigation function unit 113, in the automatic driving mode, blinks the direction indicator when turning right or left, or blinks the hazard lamp at the time of an emergency stop, etc. The route guidance data also includes indicator control information for instrument information (left indicator, right indicator, or both). Based on the indicator control information included in the route guidance data, the behavior control unit 118 executes blinking control of the instructed indicator at the position where the current position becomes the indicator control point.

Note that the indicator control information is not limited to the information on the blinking point and the information on the blinking indicator, and may be the information on the lighting point and the indicator to be lit. For example, the backlight (reversing light) lighting (white lighting) when backing up, the brake light (brake light) lighting (red lighting) when braking, etc. Indicator control information for brake lights or both) may also be included in the route guidance data. As in the case of flashing control, the behavior control unit 118 controls the lighting of the indicated indicator at the position where the current position becomes the indicator control point based on the indicator control information included in the route guidance data. to run.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, behavior that affects the behavior of other vehicles in the vicinity (hereinafter referred to as behavior affecting other vehicles) is predetermined, and the car navigation function unit 113 includes other vehicles in the route guidance data of the search results. Information on the occurrence of behavior affecting other vehicles is included corresponding to a point where execution of behavior affecting behavior by other vehicles is required. Other vehicle-influencing behaviors include the behavior of an autonomous vehicle turning right or left, the behavior of changing lanes, the behavior of merging on a general road or expressway, the behavior of entering a congested vehicle, and so on. It is defined and registered in the automatic driving vehicle 1.

The other-vehicle-influence behavior occurrence information includes information about what other-vehicle-influence behavior occurs and information on the location where the other-vehicle-influence behavior occurs. This other-vehicle-influencing behavior occurrence information is inserted corresponding to a point on the route where the other-vehicle-influencing behavior is actually executed, or a point in front of it. For example, as will be described later, right-turn, left-turn, and merging are preset in the autonomous vehicle 1 as other-vehicle-influencing behaviors, and the car navigation function unit 113 receives the other-vehicle-influencing behavior occurrence information as necessary. It is inserted corresponding to the intersection on the other route, the same point as the confluence point, or the point in front of it. This other-vehicle-influencing behavior occurrence information is used as information for triggering transmission of inter-vehicle communication, as will be described later. The point at which the behavior affecting other vehicle occurrence point information is inserted may be the same point as the direction indicator or hazard lamp flashing instruction point, or the backlight or brake light lighting instruction point, or may be an earlier point. .

The own vehicle information storage unit 114 stores own vehicle information including mode information including information indicating whether or not the own vehicle has an automatic driving mode, and information for distinguishing and specifying the own vehicle from other vehicles. there is This self-vehicle information is input by an operator and stored at the manufacturing factory of the self-driving vehicle 1 . Also, when the automatic driving vehicle 1 is sold, it is input and stored by the seller at a store such as a dealer. Of course, the input of own vehicle information by a worker or a seller may be direct input or download input from a predetermined server such as an automobile company. Furthermore, when the own vehicle information is input after the sale of the self-driving vehicle 1, it is input and stored by the owner or user of the self-driving vehicle 1, or by the manager or management company.

In this example, the mode information stored in the own vehicle information storage unit 114 is whether the vehicle is a manual vehicle or an automated driving vehicle equipped with an automatic driving mode. It includes information such as which type among multiple types such as a type that can switch between and mode, a type that can only operate in an automatic operation mode, and a type that can operate unmanned. In addition, if it is possible to identify the source, level of AI (Artificial Intelligence) installed in and used in self-driving cars, such as the developer and version, etc., such information may be included as the own vehicle information. In the case of AI, in general, it evolves through learning and improves safety and driving performance, so there is a high correlation between driving time and distance and safety and driving performance that rely on AI. Therefore, the travel time and travel distance may be included as the own vehicle information. Note that AI may be implemented as hardware such as an LSI or implemented as software.

In addition, the information stored in the own vehicle information storage unit 114 for distinguishing and specifying the self-driving vehicle 1 from other vehicles includes not only information different from other vehicles, but also the specifications of the self-driving vehicle 1. It goes without saying that information such as Examples of the vehicle information stored in the vehicle information storage unit 114 include the country code (which country the vehicle belongs to), manufacturer (automobile company), vehicle type, vehicle name, body color, engine displacement, driving force, etc. Type (gasoline vehicle, PHV (Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle), EV (Electric Vehicle), fuel cell vehicle, etc.), presence or absence of automatic driving mode, number of passengers, license plate number, general vehicle or special vehicle (ambulance, fire engine, etc.) Automobiles, police cars, taxis, buses, etc.) or other manufacturer options (manufacturers can freely set).

The travel speed and direction detection unit 115 detects the sensor output of the speed sensor of the sensor group 108 or the position change of the current position detected by the current position detection unit 110 during the time change from the clock unit 116, and detects the automatic driving. The traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is detected, and the moving speed of the self-driving vehicle 1 is detected from sensor outputs of the acceleration sensor, the gyro sensor, and the direction sensor of the sensor group 108 . The clock unit 116 generates time information such as year, month, day, hour, minute, and second.

The vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 uses the wireless communication unit 102 in this embodiment to control reception standby operation, vehicle-to-vehicle communication transmission operation and reception operation. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 will be described in detail later.

The behavior control unit 118 controls execution of behavior of the own vehicle in the automatic driving mode. That is, in the automatic driving mode, the automatic driving vehicle 1 of this embodiment is at the current position detected by the current position detection unit 110 according to the route guidance information to the destination determined by the route search by the car navigation function unit 113. Run while executing the behavior that should be done. The behavior control unit 118 is a functional unit that determines the behavior that the automatic driving vehicle 1 should take at the current position detected by the current position detection unit 110, based on the route guidance information, and controls the execution of the behavior. .

Further, in the automatic driving vehicle 1 of this embodiment, when the behavior control unit 118 determines the behavior to be performed at that time as described later in the inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 117, the determined Control so that behavior is preferentially executed.

The audio input/output unit 119 takes in an audio signal of the surrounding audio picked up by the microphone 125, and supplies an audio signal for notifying the driver or the like to the speaker 126 to emit sound. In this embodiment, of the surrounding sounds picked up by the microphone 125, for example, the sound of the siren of an emergency vehicle (ambulance, fire engine, police car, etc.) is determined by the inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 and the behavior control unit 118. It is used during processing, and in this case as well, the behavior is determined so that priority is given to emergency vehicles. In this embodiment, a necessary message voice signal to be notified to the driver is generated by the control unit 101, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117, etc., and the message voice signal is emitted through the speaker 126. FIG.

As described above, the electronic control circuit unit 10 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 is configured. Among the processing blocks shown in FIG. The processing functions of the control unit 105, the surrounding situation grasping unit 109, the current position detection unit 110, the car navigation function unit 113, the traveling speed and direction detection unit 115, the inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 117, and the behavior control unit 118 are performed by the control unit 101. can be implemented as software processing by executing a program.

[Configuration example of vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining the processing functions of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117. As shown in FIG. That is, in this embodiment, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 is configured to include a communication monitoring unit 1170, a transmission time processing unit 200, and a reception time processing unit 300 as functional units.

When the application program for inter-vehicle communication is activated, the communication monitoring unit 1170 waits for reception of an inter-vehicle communication request from another vehicle, and determines whether or not a trigger for issuing an inter-vehicle communication request has occurred in the own vehicle. monitoring.

A trigger for issuing a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is generated when the automatic driving vehicle 1 should perform a predetermined other-vehicle-influencing behavior as a behavior that affects the behavior of other vehicles in the vicinity. In this example, as described above, when the autonomous vehicle makes a right or left turn, changes lanes, merges on a general road or highway, enters a congested convoy, etc. is determined in advance as other vehicle influencing behavior, and the communication monitoring unit 1170 monitors the occurrence of these other vehicle influencing behaviors.

In this embodiment, as described above, when creating route guidance data, the car navigation function unit 113 adds other vehicle influence behavior to a point on the route where the other vehicle influence behavior is required or a point in front of it. Behavior occurrence information is inserted. In this embodiment, the communication monitoring unit 1170 is configured such that when the car navigation function unit 113 is executing route guidance in the automatic driving vehicle 1, regardless of whether the vehicle is in the manual driving mode or the automatic driving mode, the current position is affected by other vehicle behavior. Detect the occurrence of a call trigger when the point where the occurrence information is inserted is reached. When the communication monitoring unit 1170 detects that a call trigger has occurred, the communication monitor unit 1170 activates the call processing unit 200, and sends the call trigger occurrence notification and the information on the detected other vehicle affecting behavior to the call processing unit 200. control to supply.

Further, in the manual driving mode, the communication monitoring unit 1170 determines that when the car navigation function unit 113 is not executing route guidance, the driver's operation to start blinking the direction indicator or the hazard lamp (which may be accompanied by a brake operation) is performed. To detect the occurrence of a transmission trigger and to recognize the behavior affecting other vehicles at that time based on the blinking operation of a direction indicator or a hazard lamp which has been operated to start blinking.

In this case, since it may not be possible to identify the other vehicle-influencing behavior only with the direction indicator, it may be accompanied by an operation through the driver's touch panel. For example, blinking the right blinker of a turn indicator to the right may mean a right turn or a lane change. Therefore, when the driving vehicle operates the turn indicator to the right, the display screen of the display unit 111 displays right turn and lane change operation buttons (icon buttons). In addition, when the left turn signal of the turn indicator to the left is flashed, it may mean a left turn or may stop the vehicle by moving to the left. In this case, an operation button (icon button) is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 111 to indicate turning left and stopping the vehicle by moving to the left. The driver operates one of the operation buttons displayed on the display screen of display unit 111 . This operation is detected by touch panel 112 . This button operation by the driver in addition to the operation of the direction indicator makes it possible to reliably recognize behavior affecting other vehicles.

Of course, from the image captured by the camera group 107, when a predetermined situation such as entering an intersection or entering a highway is recognized, the occurrence of a transmission trigger is detected, or a transmission trigger is generated, and other vehicles at that time are detected. Influencing behavior may be recognized. In addition, when receiving radio wave information from traffic lights installed at intersections and beacons installed at predetermined intervals along the road, when recognizing a predetermined situation such as when entering an intersection or entering a highway Alternatively, the generation of the transmission trigger may be detected or generated, and the other vehicle influencing behavior at that time may be recognized.

When the communication monitoring unit 1170 detects that the transmission trigger has occurred, the communication monitoring unit 1170 activates the processing unit 200 at the time of transmission, and controls to supply the notification of the occurrence of the transmission trigger and the information of the recognized behavior affecting other vehicles.

Further, when the communication monitoring unit 1170 detects reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle, the communication monitoring unit 1170 activates the reception processing unit 300 and controls to supply the reception processing unit 300 with a reception notification of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request. do.

The processing unit 200 at the time of calling executes the processing at the time of calling, which will be described later, and notifies the communication monitoring unit 1170 of the completion of the processing at the time of calling. Further, the reception processing unit 300 executes a reception processing described later, and notifies the communication monitoring unit 1170 of the completion when the reception processing is completed. When the communication monitoring unit 1170 receives the end notification, the communication monitoring unit 1170 waits for reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle and monitors whether or not a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request transmission trigger has occurred in the own vehicle. return.

<<Originating processing unit 200>>
As shown in FIG. 2, the transmission time processing unit 200 includes a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request unit 201, a communication path generation management unit 202, a behavior schedule information generation and transmission unit 203, a reply information analysis unit 204, and an other vehicle behavior confirmation unit. 205 and a behavior determination unit 206 .

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication requesting unit 201 transmits a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request through wireless communication unit 102 upon receiving notification of the occurrence of a transmission trigger from communication monitoring unit 1170 .

The communication path generation management unit 202 monitors response information of other vehicles responding to a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request, and generates a communication path with one or more other vehicles that have sent response information. Then, the communication path generation management unit 202 manages subsequent inter-vehicle communication, and upon detecting that the inter-vehicle communication has ended, notifies the communication monitoring unit 1170 to that effect.

The behavior schedule information generation and transmission unit 203 determines the other vehicle influencing behavior that the own vehicle intends to perform and the scheduled execution position ( location) is generated and transmitted to the other vehicle through the communication path generated by the communication path generation management unit 202 . In this embodiment, the behavior schedule information to be sent to the other vehicle further includes the current position of the own vehicle detected by the current position detection unit 110 and the information for specifying the own vehicle stored in the own vehicle information storage unit 114. and information on the traveling speed and traveling direction of the own vehicle detected by the traveling speed and direction detection unit 115 are also included.

The reply information analysis unit 204 analyzes the reply information sent from the other vehicle that has received the behavior schedule information, and analyzes the behavior of the other vehicle with respect to the other vehicle-influencing behavior of the own vehicle.

The other vehicle behavior confirmation unit 205 identifies the behavior of the other vehicle that is involved in the other vehicle influencing behavior of the own vehicle from among the behavior of the other vehicle detected by the analysis result of the reply information analysis unit 204, When it is determined from the behavior that the own vehicle's behavior affecting other vehicles can be safely executed, a confirmation notice indicating that the behavior of the other vehicle has been confirmed is transmitted to the other vehicle.

The behavior determining unit 206 determines a behavior for safely executing the behavior corresponding to the behavior of the other vehicle for which the other vehicle behavior confirming unit 205 has transmitted the confirmation notification. When the behavior determination unit 206 performs behavior determination processing, the result of understanding by the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 is also referred to. That is, for example, if an emergency vehicle exists, priority is given to that emergency vehicle, or if a traffic sign or traffic sign is detected, it is determined to behave in accordance with the traffic rules based thereon.

The behavior determining unit 206 performs different processes depending on whether the vehicle is in the manual driving mode or the automatic driving mode. That is, when the own vehicle is in the manual driving mode, the behavior determination unit 206 informs the driver of the behavior of the other vehicle by, for example, a display message through the display screen of the display unit 111 or a voice message through the speaker 126. is determined, and information on the determined behavior is passed to the behavior control unit 118 to be executed. From this notification, the driver can recognize that the behavior that affects other vehicles can be safely performed, and can perform the behavior that affects other vehicles by manual operation.

Further, when the own vehicle is in the automatic driving mode, the behavior determination unit 206 determines the behavior of the other vehicle for which the confirmation notification is sent by the other vehicle behavior confirmation unit 205. A behavior is determined, and information on the determined behavior is passed to the behavior control unit 118 for execution. This allows the behavior control unit 118 to safely execute the behavior that affects other vehicles.

<<receiving processing unit 300>>
As shown in FIG. 2, the reception processing unit 300 includes a communication path generation management unit 301, a behavior schedule information analysis unit 302, a communication path maintenance necessity determination unit 303, a behavior determination unit 304, and a reply information generation/transmission unit. It comprises a unit 305 and a confirmation notification reception detection unit 306 .

When receiving the reception notification of the inter-vehicle communication request from the communication monitoring unit 1170, the communication path generation management unit 301 determines whether or not the own vehicle is in the automatic driving mode, and if it is in the automatic driving mode, responds to the inter-vehicle communication request. Response information is generated and transmitted to the originating vehicle that has transmitted the inter-vehicle communication request to generate a communication path with the originating vehicle. Note that the control unit 101 performs control so that switching from the automatic operation mode to the manual operation mode cannot be performed while this communication path is being generated.

On the other hand, if the own vehicle is in the manual driving mode when receiving the reception notification of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request, in this embodiment, the communication path generation management unit 301 does not respond to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request, and communicates with the originating vehicle. No path is generated. When the communication path generation management unit 202 has generated the communication path, it manages subsequent inter-vehicle communication, and upon detecting that the inter-vehicle communication has ended, notifies the communication monitoring unit 1170 of that effect.

If the host vehicle is in manual driving mode when receiving a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request reception notification, it is forced to switch to automatic driving mode, or ask the driver for permission to switch to automatic driving mode. , when it receives a response of permission from the driver, it switches to the automatic driving mode, and when it enters the automatic driving mode, it generates response information that responds to the inter-vehicle communication request, transmits it to the originating vehicle, and communicates with the originating vehicle. A communication path may be generated.

The behavior schedule information analysis unit 302 analyzes the behavior schedule information sent from the transmitting vehicle through the communication path generated by the communication path generation management unit 301, and determines what other vehicle influencing behavior the transmitting vehicle is scheduled to execute. Analyze and detect the current position of the originating vehicle, traveling speed, traveling direction, position of the point where the other vehicle influence behavior is executed, lane affected, etc., and use the detected analysis result to determine whether communication path maintenance is necessary or not. 303.

The communication path maintenance necessity determination unit 303 determines whether or not the own vehicle is actually affected when the other vehicle influence behavior of the originating vehicle is executed from the analysis result of the behavior schedule information analysis unit 302, and determines whether or not the own vehicle is actually affected. When it is determined that it will be affected, it is determined to maintain the generated communication path, and when it is determined that it is not affected, the generated communication path is cut off and the vehicle-to-vehicle communication with the originating vehicle is terminated at this point.

When the communication path maintenance necessity determination unit 303 determines to maintain the generated communication path, the behavior determination unit 304 determines the behavior of the own vehicle based on the behavior schedule information analysis result of the behavior schedule information analysis unit 302. to determine For example, from the current position and running speed of the own vehicle, the current position and running speed of the originating vehicle, and the position of the point where the originating vehicle executes the other vehicle influencing behavior, rather than giving priority to the other vehicle influencing behavior of the originating vehicle, , when it is judged that it is better for the own vehicle to first pass through the point where the originating vehicle executes the other-vehicle-influencing behavior, it is decided to "pass ahead as it is". Further, when it is determined that the behavior of the originating vehicle can be prioritized based on the above information, it is determined, for example, that "the behavior of the originating vehicle is slowed down and the behavior of the originating vehicle is prioritized." The behavior determination unit 304 supplies the determined behavior information to the reply information generation/transmission unit 305 .

It should be noted that, in the processing of behavior determination by the behavior determination unit 304, the grasped result of the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 is also referred to. That is, for example, if an emergency vehicle exists, priority is given to that emergency vehicle, or if a traffic sign or traffic sign is detected, it is determined to behave in accordance with the traffic rules based thereon.

A reply information generating/transmitting unit 305 generates reply information including the information of the determined behavior from the behavior determining unit 304, the position information of the own vehicle, and the own vehicle information for specifying the own vehicle, and generates the reply information. Send the reply information to the originating vehicle.

A confirmation notification reception confirming unit 306 determines whether or not a confirmation notification has been received from the originating vehicle in response to the reply information sent from the reply information generating/transmitting unit 305. determines that the behavior of the own vehicle has been confirmed, and supplies information on the behavior of the own vehicle to the behavior control unit 118 so that the behavior of the own vehicle determined by the behavior determination unit 304 is executed.

Thus, when receiving a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle, the self-driving vehicle 1 of this embodiment accepts the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request when the self-driving vehicle is in the automatic driving mode, and sends the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request. vehicle-to-vehicle communication to determine the behavior of the own vehicle. Then, when the vehicle-to-vehicle communication determines the behavior of the own vehicle by giving priority to the behavior of the originating vehicle that affects other vehicles, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication receives a confirmation notification of the originating vehicle and executes the behavior of the own vehicle. .

In this case, the originating vehicle will surely execute the behavior because the other vehicle that sent the behavior that prioritizes the other vehicle influence behavior of its own vehicle is in the automatic driving mode according to the reply information. Since it can be expected, it is possible to reliably and safely execute the other-vehicle-influencing behavior of one's own vehicle.

On the other hand, the self-driving vehicle 1, which has sent a behavior to give priority to its own vehicle's behavior affecting other vehicles by the reply information, receives a confirmation notification about its own vehicle's behavior from the originating vehicle, and executes its own vehicle's behavior. Therefore, it is predicted that the originating vehicle will confirm and understand the behavior of its own vehicle through inter-vehicle communication, and then execute the behavior that affects other vehicles, ensuring safety and executing the behavior of its own vehicle. be able to.

[Example of processing operation in the automatic driving vehicle 1 of the embodiment]
Next, the processing operation of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 of the embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 7. FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the control unit 101 implements the processing functions of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 as software processing by executing a program.

First, an example of the processing operation of the communication monitoring unit 1170 of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The control unit 101 waits and monitors reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle through the wireless communication unit 102, and also monitors whether or not a transmission trigger has occurred in the own vehicle (step S101). Then, the control unit 101 determines whether or not a call trigger has been detected (step S102), and when it determines that a call trigger has been detected, activates the call processing unit 200 to notify the occurrence of the call trigger and Control is performed so that information on vehicle-influenced behavior is supplied to the processing unit 200 at the time of transmission (step S103).

Then, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the processing at the time of transmission in the processing unit 200 at the time of transmission has ended (step S104). do. Further, when it is determined in step S104 that the processing at the time of calling has ended, the control unit 101 returns the processing to step S101, and repeats the processing after step S101.

Further, when it is determined in step S102 that the transmission trigger is not detected, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the reception of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is detected (step S105), and detects the reception of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request. When it is determined, the reception processing unit 300 is activated, and control is performed so that the reception notification of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is supplied to the reception processing unit 300 (step S106).

Then, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the reception processing in the reception processing unit 300 has ended (step S107). do. Further, when it is determined in step S107 that the reception processing has ended, the control unit 101 returns the processing to step S101, and repeats the processing after step S101.

Further, when it is determined in step S105 that the reception of the inter-vehicle communication request is not detected, the control unit 101 returns the processing to step S101 and repeats the processing after step S101.

Next, an example of the processing operation of the transmission time processing unit 200 of the inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG.

When receiving the transmission trigger occurrence notification, the control unit 101 starts the flowchart of FIG. 4 and transmits a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request through the wireless communication unit 102 (step S111). Then, the control unit 101 monitors whether or not the reception of the response information from the other vehicle is detected (step S112), and when it is determined that the response information from the other vehicle has not been received for a predetermined period of time, for example, the communication A message is generated to the effect that there is no other vehicle capable of inter-vehicle communication in the vicinity without generating a road, and the message is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 111 and emitted through the speaker 126 to notify the driver. (step S114). Then, the call processing routine ends.

Further, when it is determined in step S112 that reception of response information from another vehicle has been detected, the control unit 101 creates a communication path with the other vehicle (step S113). In this case, when response information is received from a plurality of other vehicles, communication paths are generated with each of the plurality of other vehicles.

Next, the control unit 101 receives the information on the other vehicle-influencing behavior sent from the communication monitoring unit 1170 together with the transmission trigger occurrence notification, the information on the scheduled execution position (point) of the other vehicle-influencing behavior, and the Behavior schedule information including information on the running speed and the running direction is generated and transmitted to the other vehicle through the generated communication path (step S115).

Next, the control unit 101 waits for reception of reply information from another vehicle (step S116), and when it determines that reception of reply information from another vehicle has been detected, analyzes the received reply information to The other vehicle is specified (step S117), necessary further vehicle-to-vehicle communication is performed with the specified other vehicle, and information on the behavior determined by the other vehicle is acquired (step S118).

Next, after confirming the behavior determined by the other vehicle, the control unit 101 generates a notification of the confirmation and transmits it to the other vehicle (step S119).

Next, the control unit 101 determines whether the vehicle is in the manual driving mode or the automatic driving mode (step S121 in FIG. 5). When it is determined in step S121 that the own vehicle is in the manual driving mode, the control unit 101 generates a notification message of the confirmed behavior of the other vehicle and displays it on the display screen of the display unit 111. A sound is emitted through the speaker 126 to notify the driver and prompt him to behave in accordance with the behavior of the other vehicle (step S122).

Further, when it is determined in step S121 that the own vehicle is in the automatic driving mode, the control unit 101 can safely execute the behavior affecting the other vehicle by the own vehicle according to the confirmed behavior of the other vehicle. The behavior of the vehicle to be used is determined and transmitted to the behavior control unit 118 (step S123). When the control unit 101 executes the function of the behavior control unit 118 as program processing, the control unit 101 executes the determined behavior.

After steps S122 and S123, the control unit 101 waits for the execution of the own vehicle behavior (behavior affecting other vehicles) to end (step S124). (step S125). Then, the control unit 101 disconnects the communication path with the other vehicle (step S126), displays a message on the display screen of the display unit 111 indicating the end of the behavior processing by inter-vehicle communication, and emits a sound as a voice message through the speaker 126. and notify the driver (step S127). With the above, the call processing routine ends.

Next, an example of the processing operation of the reception processing section 300 of the inter-vehicle communication control processing section 117 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG.

When the control unit 101 detects reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle, the control unit 101 activates the reception processing unit 300 to start the flowchart of FIG. First, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the own vehicle is an automatic driving vehicle having only an automatic driving mode (step S131). Then, in step S131, when it is determined that the own vehicle is an automatic driving vehicle having only an automatic driving mode, the control unit 101 sends response information to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request to the originating vehicle that has transmitted the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request. , to generate a communication path with the originating vehicle (step S132).

Further, when it is determined in step S131 that the own vehicle is not an automatic driving vehicle having only an automatic driving mode, the control unit 101 determines whether or not the automatic driving mode is in progress (step S133). When it is determined in step S133 that the vehicle is in the automatic driving mode, the control unit 101 sends response information to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request to the originating vehicle that has transmitted the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request. is generated (step S132).

When it is determined in step S133 that the automatic operation mode is not in progress, the control unit 101 determines whether switching to the automatic operation mode is possible (step S134). In this step S134, for example, the driver is inquired, "Since there is a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request, is it OK to switch to the automatic driving mode?" determine whether

When it is determined in step S133 that switching to the automatic driving mode is not possible (the driver refuses to switch), the control unit 101 does not generate a communication path (step S135) and ends this processing routine. do.

Further, in step S134, when it is determined that switching to the automatic driving mode is possible (the driver permits switching), the control unit 101 switches to the automatic driving mode (step S136) and requests inter-vehicle communication. response information to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is sent to the originating vehicle that has transmitted the , and a communication path is created with the originating vehicle (step S132).

After step S132, the control unit 101 receives and analyzes behavior schedule information from the originating vehicle (step S137). Then, the control unit 101 determines from the analysis result whether or not the other vehicle-influencing behavior indicated by the behavior schedule information from the originating vehicle affects the behavior of the own vehicle (step S138), and determines that there is no influence. If so, the generated communication channel is disconnected (step S139), and this processing routine ends.

Further, when it is determined in step S138 that the behavior of the originating vehicle affects the behavior of the own vehicle, the control unit 101 controls the own vehicle information for specifying the own vehicle, the current position of the own vehicle, the running Return information including the speed and traveling direction is generated and transmitted to the originating vehicle (step S141 in FIG. 7).

Then, if necessary, the control unit 101 performs further vehicle-to-vehicle communication for determining the behavior of the own vehicle with the originating vehicle (step S142). Then, the control unit 101 determines the behavior of the own vehicle based on the result of the inter-vehicle communication with the originating vehicle, and transmits the determined behavior of the own vehicle to the originating vehicle (step S143).

Then, the control unit 101 waits for reception of a confirmation notification from the originating vehicle (step S144), and when determining reception of the confirmation notification, the control unit 101 notifies the behavior control unit 118 to execute the determined behavior of the own vehicle. (Step S145).

Next, the control unit 101 waits for reception of an execution end notification of behavior affecting other vehicles from the originating vehicle (step S146), and when it determines that the execution end notification has been received, disconnects the communication path with the originating vehicle. (step S147). Then, the control unit 101 cancels the prohibition of switching to the manual driving mode (step S148), and notifies the driver of the end of the behavior processing by inter-vehicle communication through the display screen of the display unit 111 and by the sound emitted by the speaker. (step S149). Then, this reception processing routine is terminated.

[Example of behavior executed by inter-vehicle communication with respect to behavior affecting other vehicles]
In the following explanation, for the sake of convenience, it is assumed that all automobiles have the inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 117 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 of the embodiment. In addition, since the automatic driving vehicle 1 of the embodiment cannot communicate with a vehicle that does not have the inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 117, the vehicle determines its behavior in response to the other vehicle influence behavior. Try to exclude it from the target vehicle.

<Join>
FIG. 8 shows a case where vehicle A merges from a side road 2 onto a wide road 3 with two lanes on each side, which is an example of behavior that affects other vehicles. This situation is the same as the case of merging from the road 2 for merging into the two-lane main road 3 on an expressway.

In the example of FIG. 8, it is assumed that a vehicle B as another vehicle is running in the left lane 3L of the traveling direction of the wide road 3, and a vehicle C as another vehicle is running in the right lane 3R. there is

When vehicle A comes near the merging point, a transmission trigger is generated and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is transmitted. This transmission trigger is, as described above, when the driver operates the direction indicator or the like, when a predetermined situation is recognized from the image captured by the camera group 107, or when the route guidance data in the car navigation function unit 113 is included. It occurs based on the other vehicle influence behavior occurrence information.

The vehicle-to-vehicle communication request issued by vehicle A is received by vehicles B and C, and communication paths are once generated between vehicle A and vehicles B and C, respectively. Vehicle B receives the "merging" information of vehicle A's other vehicle-influencing behavior sent through the communication channel, and its own vehicle is traveling in front of the merging point in the left lane 3L, which is affected by the "merging". Therefore, it is judged that the "merging" behavior of vehicle A that affects other vehicles influences the behavior of the own vehicle, and the communication path is maintained.

On the other hand, since Car C is traveling in the right lane 3R, which does not directly affect the "merging", even before the merging point, the "merging" which is the behavior that affects other vehicles of Car A. decides that it does not affect the behavior of its own vehicle, and disconnects the communication path.

Vehicle B, which maintains the communication channel, determines whether or not it is possible for vehicle A to join in front of its own vehicle. Judging from the current position, the speed of the vehicle, the direction of the vehicle, and the image of vehicle A and its surroundings captured by the vehicle's camera, the system determines that it is possible to merge, and the vehicle is safer. , for example, a behavior of "slow down and give priority to merging with vehicle A" is determined, and this is notified to vehicle A.

Vehicle A receives and confirms the determined behavior information from vehicle B, transmits a confirmation notification to vehicle B, and executes the merging behavior as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. Upon receiving the confirmation notification from vehicle A, vehicle B predicts that vehicle A will behave as "merging" and executes the behavior determined by its own vehicle. As described above, vehicle A can safely perform the "merging" behavior, which is behavior that affects other vehicles. When another vehicle (not shown) exists behind vehicle B, vehicle A communicates with the following vehicle in the same manner as vehicle B, as in the case shown in FIG. When vehicle A completes the behavior of merging in response to vehicle B's behavior of permitting vehicle A to join, vehicle-to-vehicle communication of the following other vehicle ends along with vehicle B.

<Entering in traffic>
Next, the example of FIG. 9 shows, as an example of behavior affecting other vehicles, a case where vehicle A enters a congested lane 4 from a side road 21 or enters an oncoming lane 5 of the congested road 4. there is

In this case, when vehicle A comes near the merging point, a transmission trigger is generated and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is transmitted. This transmission trigger is generated based on the driver's operation of the direction indicator in the manual driving mode, as described above. Further, when the car navigation function is in operation, it occurs based on other vehicle influence behavior occurrence information included in the route guidance data. However, as the behavior affecting other vehicles in this case, the self-driving car 1 judges from the image captured by the camera group 107 that there is a congested convoy, and the self-driving car 1 "turns left". is "entering (left turn) into a congested congested convoy", and "right turn" into the oncoming lane 5 is assumed to be "entering (right turn) beyond congested congested convoy".

A vehicle-to-vehicle communication request issued by vehicle A is received by vehicles B, C, D, E, F, and G on lane 4, which is congested, and vehicles H and I, which are traveling in oncoming lane 5. A communication path is temporarily generated with the A vehicle. The subsequent operation differs depending on whether the vehicle enters (turns left) into the congested lane 4 or enters (turns right) into the oncoming lane 5 of the congested lane 4, and will be described separately.

<<Entering a congested train (left turn)>>
Vehicles B and C receive "entering a congested convoy" as the other vehicle-influencing behavior of vehicle A sent through the communication channel, Although it is on 4, it has already passed the entry point, so it is judged that the behavior of vehicle A affecting other vehicles does not affect the behavior of its own vehicle, and the communication path is disconnected. Then, vehicles D to G receive "entering a congested convoy" as A's other-vehicle-influencing behavior transmitted through the communication channel, and their own vehicles are affected by the other-vehicle-influencing behavior. Since it is on the receiving lane 4 and is traveling in front of the entry point, it is assumed that "entering a congested convoy", which is the behavior affecting other vehicles of vehicle A, affects the behavior of its own vehicle. , to maintain the communication path.

Vehicle H and vehicle I in the oncoming lane 5 are affected by other vehicles. It judges that the behavior does not affect the behavior of its own vehicle, and disconnects the communication channel.

Vehicles D to G, which have maintained the communication path, determine whether vehicle A can enter in front of their own vehicle, the current position of vehicle A, the traveling speed of vehicle A, the traveling direction of vehicle A, and the like. It is judged from the current position of the own vehicle, the traveling speed of the own vehicle, the traveling direction of the own vehicle, and the images of the vehicle A and the surroundings of the vehicle A photographed by the camera of the vehicle. Then, since the position of the vehicle D prevents the entry of the vehicle A, the vehicle D behaves, for example, "allowing the entry of the vehicle A after the vehicle passes through the entry point". It decides and notifies it to A car. Also, vehicles E to G determine that vehicle A can enter in front of their own vehicles, and determine, for example, the behavior of "allowing vehicle A to enter in front of their own vehicles". is notified to A car.

After receiving the above notification, vehicle A determines that it is possible to enter the congested convoy in front of vehicle E after vehicle D has passed, and executes the behavior. When this behavior operation ends, vehicle A notifies vehicles D to G that the behavior has ended, so that the communication paths between vehicle A and vehicles D to G are cut off, and inter-vehicle communication ends. Become.

<<Entering through a congested line (turning right)>>
Vehicles B to G on lane 4 also operate in the same manner as in the case of "entering congested convoy" described above. That is, vehicles E to G determine the behavior of "allowing vehicle A to enter in front of their own vehicle" and notify vehicle A of this.

In this case, since Vehicle H on Lane 5 is traveling in front of the entry point of Vehicle A on Lane 5, the behavior of Vehicle A will not affect the behavior of other vehicles. Determine that it will be received and maintain the communication path. Although vehicle I is on lane 5, which vehicle A is about to enter, since vehicle I is running past the entry point of vehicle A, vehicle A's other-vehicle-influencing behavior causes its own vehicle to Decide that the behavior will not be affected and disconnect the communication path.

Vehicle H, which maintains the communication channel, determines whether or not vehicle A can enter in front of its own vehicle, the current position of vehicle A, the traveling speed of vehicle A, the traveling direction of vehicle A, and the direction of its own vehicle. Judgment is made from the current position, the traveling speed of the own vehicle, the traveling direction of the own vehicle, and also the image of the vehicle A and the surroundings of the vehicle A photographed by the camera of the vehicle. Then, when vehicle H determines that vehicle A can enter in front of its own vehicle, vehicle H determines, for example, the behavior of "allowing vehicle A to enter in front of its own vehicle." Notify the car.

Vehicle A, which receives this notification from vehicle H along with the notifications from vehicles E to G described above, crosses the congested convoy and enters lane 5 to execute the other-vehicle-influencing behavior. When this behavior operation is completed, vehicle A notifies vehicle H in addition to vehicle D to vehicle G that the behavior has ended, so that the communication paths between vehicle A and vehicles D to vehicle G and vehicle H are cut off. Then, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication ends.

If vehicle H decides to behave in a way that "vehicle A is not permitted to enter in front of its own vehicle" and notifies vehicle A of this, vehicle A enters lane 4 and moves into lane 5. It waits in front of the vehicle, conducts inter-vehicle communication with another vehicle (not shown) following vehicle H, and determines the behavior of the following other vehicle to allow vehicle A to enter in front of its own vehicle. and waits until it is notified to vehicle A. Of course, even if there is a notice from vehicles E to G as described above, unless vehicle H has permission to enter, it will be judged that it will interfere with the passage of vehicles E to G, and vehicle A will not enter lane 4. Instead, you may wait in front of Lane 4.

<Right or left turns at intersections>
Next, the example of FIG. 10 shows, as an example of other vehicle influencing behavior, a case where vehicle A traveling in lane 6 turns right at an intersection and enters lane 9. In FIG.

In this case, when vehicle A comes near the intersection where it is turning right, a transmission trigger is generated and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is transmitted. This transmission trigger is generated based on the driver's operation of the right turn indicator in the manual driving mode. Further, when the car navigation function is in operation, it occurs based on other vehicle influence behavior occurrence information included in the route guidance data.

A vehicle-to-vehicle communication request issued by vehicle A is received by vehicles B, C, D, E, and F in the vicinity of vehicle A, and a communication path is once created between vehicle A and vehicle A.

Vehicle B, which is on the road 8 on the left side in front of Vehicle A and intersects with the lane 6 on which Vehicle A is traveling, is in front of the intersection. "Right turn" affects the behavior of the own vehicle, so it maintains the generated communication path. In addition, vehicle C, which is running behind vehicle A in lane 6, determines that the other vehicle-influencing behavior of vehicle A "turning right at the intersection" does not directly affect the behavior of its own vehicle. , disconnect the communication path. In addition, since the "turn right at the intersection", which is the other vehicle influencing behavior of vehicle A, affects the behavior of vehicle D and vehicle E, which are traveling in front of the intersection in the oncoming lane 7, the generated communication path to maintain In addition, vehicle F, which is traveling past the intersection in the oncoming lane 7, does not affect the behavior of vehicle A's "turn right at the intersection", which is the other vehicle-influencing behavior of vehicle A. disconnect.

Vehicle B, which maintains the communication path, has priority over lanes 6 and 7 over the road on which its own vehicle is located. On the other hand, it decides the behavior of "stop temporarily and give priority to your car's right turn" and notifies it to car A.

Vehicles D and E, which maintain the communication path, check whether vehicle A can turn right in front of their own vehicle, the current position of vehicle A, the traveling speed of vehicle A, the traveling direction of vehicle A, When it is determined that a right turn is possible based on the current position of the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle, the direction of the vehicle, and the image of vehicle A and its surroundings captured by the vehicle's camera. , taking safety into consideration, for example, the behavior of "slow down and give priority to vehicle A's right turn" is determined, and this is notified to vehicle A.

Vehicle A receives and confirms the determined behavior information from vehicles B, D, and E, and transmits confirmation notices to vehicles B, D, and E, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. to execute the right turn behavior. Vehicles B, D, and E receive the confirmation notification from vehicle A, and execute the behavior determined by their own vehicles while predicting that vehicle A will make a "right turn." As described above, vehicle A can safely perform the behavior of "turning right," which is behavior that affects other vehicles.

When this right-turn behavior is completed, vehicle A notifies vehicle B, vehicle D and vehicle E that the behavior has ended, so that the communication paths between vehicle A and vehicles B, vehicle D and vehicle E are disconnected. Then, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication ends.

In the above example of a right turn, it is assumed that there is no traffic light at the intersection, but if a traffic light is installed, priority will be given to dealing with that traffic light, which limits the behavior of vehicles A to E. Therefore, the behavior of turning right may change. In this example, vehicle B, which is on the road 8 on the left side in front of vehicle A and crosses the lane 6 on which vehicle A is traveling, is in front of the intersection, but vehicle A is affected by other vehicles. At the timing of "turning right at the intersection", the traffic light (red light) causes a temporary stop just before the intersection. Therefore, vehicle B determines that it does not affect the behavior of its own vehicle, and cuts off the generated communication path. In this example, the behavior of cars C to F is the same as when there is no traffic light.

It should be noted that whether or not a traffic light is installed and the instructions indicated by the traffic light (red light, green light, yellow light, right turn only, left turn only, straight forward only, etc.) can be recognized from the image captured by the camera group 107. . It is also possible to receive radio waves emitted by a traffic signal and obtain information on whether or not the traffic signal is installed and the content of instructions indicated by the traffic signal.

In the above example, right-turn behavior has been described, but left-turn behavior is different because D and E vehicles are not affected by A vehicle. If the road into which the left turn is to be made is a wide road with a center line or median strip, then Vehicle B is in a different lane than Vehicle A is entering. It is not necessary to assume that a left turn of a vehicle affects behavior of other vehicles. However, if the road that the vehicle is about to enter by turning left is a narrow road that does not have a center line or a median strip, the left turn of vehicle A will affect the behavior of other vehicles with respect to vehicle B.

First, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request issued by vehicle A is received by vehicles B, C, D, E, and F in the vicinity of vehicle A, and a communication path is once created with vehicle A. Until then, there is no change in the case of a right turn or a left turn.

Vehicle B, which is on the road 8 on the left side in front of Vehicle A and intersects with the lane 6 on which Vehicle A is traveling, is in front of the intersection. "Left turn" affects the behavior of the own vehicle, so it maintains the generated communication path.

In addition, vehicle C, which is running behind vehicle A in lane 6, determines that the other vehicle-influencing behavior of vehicle A, "turning left at an intersection," does not directly affect the behavior of its own vehicle. , disconnect the communication path. Car D and Car E, which are traveling in front of the intersection in the oncoming lane 7, have no direct effect on the behavior of their own car, which is "turn left at the intersection", which is the behavior of car A affecting other vehicles. and disconnect the communication path. In addition, since the behavior of vehicle A, "turn left at the intersection", which is the other vehicle-influencing behavior of vehicle A, does not affect the behavior of vehicle F, which is traveling past the intersection in the oncoming lane 7, the generated communication path is disconnect.

Vehicle B, which maintains the communication channel, behaves to vehicle A, saying, ``We will be slowing down, so please be careful when you turn left.'' is determined and notified to the A vehicle.

Vehicle A receives and confirms information about the determined behavior from vehicle B, transmits a confirmation notification to vehicle B, and executes left-turn behavior (not shown). Upon receiving the confirmation notification from vehicle A, vehicle B executes the determined behavior while predicting that vehicle A will turn left. As described above, vehicle A can safely perform the "left turn" behavior, which is behavior that affects other vehicles.

When this left-turn behavior is completed, vehicle A notifies vehicle B that the behavior is completed, so that the communication path between vehicle A and vehicle B is disconnected and the inter-vehicle communication is terminated.

In the left turn example above, it is assumed that there is no traffic light at the intersection. Therefore, the behavior of left turns may change. In this example, vehicle B, which is on the road 8 on the left side in front of vehicle A and crosses the lane 6 on which vehicle A is traveling, is in front of the intersection, but vehicle A is affected by other vehicles. When you turn left at an intersection, you must stop immediately before the intersection due to the traffic light (red light). Therefore, vehicle B determines that it does not affect the behavior of its own vehicle, and cuts off the generated communication path. Alternatively, vehicle B may recognize from the image taken by the camera that the road it is on is a narrow road, and may act to temporarily stop on the left shoulder so as not to interfere with vehicle A's left turn. In this example, the behavior of cars C to F is the same as when there is no traffic light.

Note that the above examples of right and left turns are for countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and India where vehicles drive on the left side, but countries such as the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and China where vehicles drive on the right side In the case of a left turn, the vehicle in the oncoming lane needs the other vehicle influence behavior, and in the case of a right turn, the vehicle in the oncoming lane does not need the other vehicle influence behavior, so the behavior setting must be changed.

The country and whether to drive on the right side or the left side may be specified manually by the driver, but the automatic vehicle 1 itself may determine whether to drive on the right side or the left side as follows. That is, the automatic driving vehicle 1 stores the countries in which the vehicle drives on the left side and the countries in which the vehicle drives on the right side in the storage unit. Then, the automatic driving vehicle 1 identifies the country in which the vehicle is currently traveling from the current position detected by the current position detection unit 110, and refers to the storage unit according to the identified country in which the vehicle is currently traveling. or left-hand traffic.

It should be noted that instead of identifying the country in which the automatic driving vehicle 1 is currently driving or determining whether to drive on the right or left according to the identified country, the current position detection unit 110 of the automatic driving vehicle 1 detects Information on the current position of the vehicle while it is currently running is sent, for example, via the Internet to a server having a storage unit that stores the country of left-hand traffic and the country of right-hand traffic. A country may receive information on left-hand or right-hand driving.

[Other embodiments or modifications]
In the above-described embodiment, the reception processing unit responds to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request only when the own vehicle is in an automated driving vehicle or in an automated driving mode, thereby allowing the originating vehicle and the other vehicle that communicates between vehicles to It is limited to self-driving cars or cars in self-driving mode.

However, the response information to the inter-vehicle communication request includes information indicating whether the other vehicle is an autonomous vehicle or is in an autonomous driving mode, so that the originating vehicle can determine from the information that the other vehicle is an autonomous vehicle or an automatic driving mode. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the originating vehicle and the vehicle by determining whether or not it is in an automatic driving mode, and generating a communication path only with an automatically driving vehicle or a vehicle in an automatic driving mode based on the determination result. The other vehicle to be driven may be limited to an automatic driving vehicle or a vehicle in an automatic driving mode.

In addition, in the description of the above-described embodiment, the behavior affecting other vehicles is limited to the behavior accompanied by the indication by the direction indicator. In some cases, it is not accompanied by an indication by an indicator. In addition, there are times when it is difficult to know how to move at a roundabout in a station, etc., because there are no lanes. In such a case, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication button may be operated in the manual driving mode. In the automatic driving mode, such other-vehicle-influencing behavior may be set in advance as the other-vehicle-influencing behavior included in the route guidance data as a transmission trigger generation point. In addition, regardless of manual operation mode or automatic operation mode, when it recognizes the time of entering an intersection or the time of entering a rotary at a station from the image taken by the camera group 107, a transmission trigger is generated, inter-vehicle communication is started, and at that time You may make it recognize the other vehicle influence behavior of .

In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle-to-vehicle relationship is determined based on the existence of priority roads, the priority relationship based on the width of the road, and the priority relationship based on differences in ups and downs of slopes, etc., as stipulated in traffic laws such as the Road Traffic Law. Although the priority relationship is not explained, when the surrounding situation grasping unit 109 grasps the priority relation between these vehicles, it goes without saying that the behavior affecting other vehicles is determined based on the grasped priority relation between the vehicles. .

Traffic laws and priority relationships between vehicles may differ from country to country, and even within the same country, they may differ from region to region, such as states (USA), provinces (China), and prefectures (Japan). , the self-driving vehicle 1 identifies the country, state, province, prefecture, etc. where the vehicle is currently driving from the current position detected by the current position detection unit 110, and identifies the country or region where the vehicle is currently driving. The other-vehicle-influencing behavior may be determined based on the traffic regulations and the priority relationship between vehicles according to the conditions.

The example described in the above embodiment is merely an example, and can of course be applied in various situations. For example, when a car is put out on the road from a garage at home, etc., or when the car is put out on the road from a parking lot, inter-vehicle communication effectively works to influence other cars. In particular, when backing out of a garage or parking lot onto a road, it may be necessary to turn back, and for this reason, other vehicle-influencing behavior that maintains a distance between vehicles is required. In this case, a transmission trigger may be generated by turning on the backlight accompanying back running, inter-vehicle communication may be started, and behavior affecting other vehicles at that time may be recognized.

In addition, even if a sudden acceleration or braking is applied, there is a danger to other vehicles. Influencing behavior may be recognized. In the case of sudden braking, the brakes are applied and the backlight lights up, so when the brake light lights up, a transmission trigger is generated, inter-vehicle communication is started, and other vehicles' behavior at that time is recognized. can be

In the above example, the operation was explained assuming that all vehicles have the inter-vehicle communication function, but it is conceivable that some vehicles do not have the inter-vehicle communication function. In consideration of that case, a vehicle equipped with a vehicle-to-vehicle communication function in the vicinity of the point where the behavior affecting other vehicles is about to be executed, for example, the captured image taken by the camera, etc. Information is sent to vehicles that are attempting other vehicle affecting behavior. By analyzing this information, the vehicle that is about to perform the other-vehicle-influence behavior can obtain information about vehicles in the vicinity of the point where the other-vehicle-influence behavior is about to be performed, and can safely perform the other-vehicle-affect behavior. It can be useful information when performing a behavior.

In addition, although the automatic driving vehicle of the above-described embodiment is configured to have an automatic driving mode and a manual driving mode, it may be an automatic driving vehicle having only an automatic driving mode, or an unmanned automatic driving vehicle. may be

The automobile of the present invention is not limited to four-wheeled automobiles, and includes motorcycles, tricycles, and the like. The vehicle of the present invention is not limited to ordinary vehicles, light vehicles, and trucks, but may be buses, tractors, dump trucks, shovels, forklifts, single-person vehicles, motorized bicycles, electric wheelchairs, and the like. Of course, depending on the type of vehicle, such as general four-wheeled vehicles, public vehicles such as buses, large and special vehicles such as trucks and tractors, motorcycles, motorized bicycles, and electric wheelchairs, traffic laws and regulations between vehicles Since the priority relationships are different, the vehicle of the present invention can determine the behavior affecting other vehicles based on the traffic regulations and the priority relationships between vehicles according to the vehicle type.

Reference Signs List 1 Automatic driving vehicle 101 Control unit 102 Wireless communication unit 105 Manual/automatic operation mode switching control unit 107 Camera group 108 Sensor group 109 Surrounding situation grasping unit 110 Current position detection Unit 111 Display unit 113 Car navigation function unit 114 Own vehicle information storage unit 115 Running speed and direction detection unit 117 Inter-vehicle communication control processing unit 118 Behavior control unit

Claims (27)

A vehicle having a manual driving mode and an automatic driving mode capable of autonomous driving,
a wireless communication unit having a transmission/reception function and for performing wireless communication between vehicles;
monitoring means for monitoring reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle through the wireless communication unit;
When the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is received from the other vehicle, the monitoring means determines whether or not the host vehicle is in the manual operation mode. a switching means for switching to an operation mode;
a communication path generation means for generating a communication path with another vehicle that has transmitted the inter-vehicle communication request in the state of the automatic driving mode switched by the switching means;
An automobile characterized by comprising: The automobile according to claim 1, wherein the switching means forcibly switches to the automatic operation mode when the vehicle is in the manual operation mode. When the switching means is in the manual operation mode state, the switching means inquires of the driver about permission to switch to the automatic operation mode. 2. A motor vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that it switches between modes. 4. The automobile according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein switching from the automatic operation mode to the manual operation mode is disabled while vehicle-to-vehicle communication is being performed with the other vehicle. Behavior schedule information analysis means for analyzing behavior schedule information sent from the other vehicle through the communication path generated by the communication path generation means for notifying other vehicle-influencing behavior affecting the behavior of other vehicles in the vicinity. When,
behavior determination means for determining a behavior of the own vehicle corresponding to the behavior schedule information based on the analysis result of the behavior schedule information analysis means;
reply information transmitting means for transmitting reply information including information on the behavior of the own vehicle determined by the behavior determining means to the other vehicle through the communication path;
The automobile according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising: The behavior schedule information includes current position information of the other vehicle and information on a driving route related to the behavior affecting the other vehicle,
The behavior schedule information analysis means judges whether or not the driving of the own vehicle is affected from the current position information of the other vehicle and the information on the driving route related to the other vehicle influence behavior included in the behavior schedule information. 6. The automobile according to claim 5, wherein the communication path generated by the communication path generating means is cut off when it is determined that there is no influence. The behavior determining means acquires information on the traveling speed of the other vehicle in inter-vehicle communication with the other vehicle, and determines the traveling speed of the other vehicle detected from the acquired information and the traveling speed of the own vehicle. 7. A motor vehicle according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the behavior of the vehicle is determined based on speed and speed. Equipped with a camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle,
The behavior determination means recognizes traffic signs and/or traffic signs from the image captured by the camera, determines traffic laws around the own vehicle based on the recognition result, and considers the determined traffic laws. 8. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the behavior of the own automobile is determined. Equipped with a camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle,
8. The behavior determination means determines the surrounding conditions of the vehicle from the image captured by the camera, and determines the behavior of the vehicle in consideration of the determined surrounding conditions. The automobile according to any one of 6. The behavior schedule information includes information for specifying the other vehicle, and the reply information includes information for specifying the own vehicle. The vehicle according to any one of claims 9 to 9. 11. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the other vehicle influencing behavior differs depending on whether the vehicle is left-handed or right-handed. 12. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein the other vehicle influencing behavior is set based on the presence or absence of a traffic signal. 13. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 12, wherein the other vehicle influencing behavior is set based on a priority relationship between vehicles. Equipped with a camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle and/or a microphone that picks up sounds around the vehicle, and an image of the surroundings of the vehicle captured by the camera and/or the sound captured by the microphone. Equipped with a means to detect an emergency vehicle from the sound around the car,
14. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 13, wherein the behavior determining means determines to behave like the own vehicle with priority given to the emergency vehicle. 15. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 14, wherein the communication path is disconnected when a notification of completion of the behavior affecting other vehicles is received from the other vehicle. a confirmation notification receiving means for receiving, through the communication path, a confirmation notification of the behavior information of the own vehicle included in the reply information;
16. The automobile according to any one of claims 5 to 15, wherein the behavior of the own vehicle determined by the behavior determining means is executed after the confirmation notification is received by the confirmation notification receiving means. A car navigation function unit that forms route guidance data, including trigger information for inter-vehicle communication, corresponding to points on the route guidance route that require the execution of behavior that affects the behavior of other cars in the vicinity. 17. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 16, comprising: making a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request to other vehicles in the vicinity through the wireless communication unit at a point on the route where the trigger information is detected during execution of route guidance using the route guidance data by the car navigation function unit; 18. A motor vehicle according to claim 17, characterized by: Equipped with a camera that captures the surroundings of the vehicle,
19. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein recognition of a predetermined situation from the image captured by the camera is detected as trigger information for inter-vehicle communication, and a request for inter-vehicle communication is made to other vehicles in the vicinity. Car as described. 20. The vehicle of claim 19, wherein said predetermined circumstances include entering an intersection, entering a highway, or entering a station roundabout. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 20, further comprising: vehicle-to-vehicle communication request means for requesting vehicle-to-vehicle communication from other vehicles in the vicinity through the wireless communication unit. Equipped with an inter-vehicle communication request button,
22. The vehicle according to claim 21, wherein when the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request button is operated, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request means requests vehicle-to-vehicle communication to other nearby vehicles through the wireless communication unit. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication request means detects reception of radio wave information from a beacon installed on the road as trigger information for the vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and issues a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request to other vehicles in the vicinity. A motor vehicle according to claim 21 or claim 22. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication request means detects at least one of backlight lighting, brake light lighting, sudden acceleration, and sudden braking as trigger information for the vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and issues a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request to other vehicles in the vicinity. The automobile according to any one of claims 21 to 23. When the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is made to the other vehicle in the vicinity and response information is not received from the other vehicle in the vicinity within a predetermined time, a message is sent to the driver to the effect that there is no other vehicle capable of vehicle-to-vehicle communication in the vicinity. 25. The automobile according to any one of claims 18 to 24, characterized in that it notifies the In response to a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from the other vehicle, the other vehicle is an automatic driving vehicle that autonomously executes the behavior of the own vehicle, or is in an automatic driving mode that autonomously executes the behavior of the own vehicle. means for receiving response information including some information through the wireless communication unit;
Based on the received response information, it is determined whether the other vehicle is an automatic driving vehicle that autonomously behaves like the own vehicle or is in an automatic driving mode that autonomously behaves like the own vehicle. a discriminating means;
with
The communication path generating means is configured to generate an automatic driving vehicle that is determined to be an automatically driving vehicle that autonomously executes the behavior of the own vehicle, or an automatic driving vehicle that autonomously executes the behavior of the own vehicle, based on the determination result of the determining means. 25. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 24, wherein a communication path is generated with another vehicle determined to be in a driving mode. A computer equipped with a vehicle that has a manual driving mode and an automatic driving mode that allows autonomous driving, has a transmission/reception function, and has a wireless communication unit for wireless communication between vehicles,
monitoring means for monitoring reception of a vehicle-to-vehicle communication request from another vehicle through the wireless communication unit;
When the vehicle-to-vehicle communication request is received from the other vehicle, the monitoring means determines whether or not the host vehicle is in the manual operation mode. switching means for switching to the operating mode;
Communication path generation means for generating a communication path with another vehicle that has transmitted the inter-vehicle communication request in the state of the automatic driving mode switched by the switching means;
Automotive program to function as

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