JP3966219B2 - Driving assistance device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a driving support device that supports driving of a host vehicle so as to follow a preceding vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, various driving support systems that automatically control and support driving of a vehicle regardless of driver's operation for the purpose of improving vehicle driving safety, reducing driver load and improving vehicle traffic movement efficiency, Alternatively, development of automated driving systems is being promoted in various countries around the world.
[0003]
As a technique proposed in such a vehicle driving support system, a vehicle including a lane marker on a road surface, a lane marker sensor for detecting a white line, and an image sensor (camera device) is used to drive the vehicle by these various sensors. A technology (driving lane recognition type driving support system) that recognizes a lane and controls driving by controlling automatic driving so as to travel along the traveling lane has been proposed. According to this technique, automatic driving control can be performed while accurately grasping the traveling lane of the host vehicle. However, since such a technique is automatic driving control on the premise that the vehicle travels on a specific road in which a lane marker is previously set on a road surface or a road with a white line display of a traveling lane, such as a lane marker or a white line It cannot be applied when driving on general roads that do not have road infrastructure.
[0004]
As another driving support system that solves the above-mentioned problems, there is a towbar system (a driving support system that follows the preceding vehicle) of the Schaefer project by DaimlerChrysler and others (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). In this system, a technology for accurately following a preceding vehicle by performing automatic control of the steering, transmission, engine, and brake device after electronically capturing the preceding vehicle by an infrared radar is disclosed. In such a technology, a driving support system applicable to a general road with no infrastructure is proposed.
[0005]
In addition, for the preceding vehicle and the preceding preceding vehicle traveling in front of the preceding vehicle, the distance between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle is recognized using a radio wave radar, and according to the calculated inter-vehicle distance and the calculated acceleration or deceleration with respect to the own vehicle. A technique for accelerating and decelerating the own vehicle is also disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This technology enables advanced and safe inter-vehicle distance control that takes into account the preceding vehicle, and can follow the sudden acceleration and braking of the preceding vehicle appropriately by smooth acceleration and deceleration control. In addition, the inter-vehicle distance control can be performed smoothly even with respect to a sudden change in behavior of the preceding vehicle such as a lane change.
[0006]
In other words, the preceding vehicle following type driving support system does not require road infrastructure like the above-mentioned driving lane recognition type driving support system, so it can appropriately support driving on ordinary roads. It is easy to apply to general vehicles traveling on a transportation network and is expected to be put to practical use.
[0007]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-104015 A [Non-Patent Document 1]
Tetsuji Isogai, two others, “CHAFFEUR Survey Report”, [online], December 1998, [March 11, 2003 search], Internet <URL: http://www.netpark.or.jp/ ahs / jpn / c04j / comm # coop / report4.htm>
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the technology proposed in the preceding vehicle following type driving support system, automatic driving is controlled so that the own vehicle accurately follows the preceding vehicle, so when the preceding vehicle changes lanes Even if the own vehicle always changes the lane following the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle does not need to change the lane, the lane change cannot be automatically avoided. That is, with this technology, it is impossible to determine whether the behavior of the preceding vehicle is a behavior that should be followed in accordance with the lane travel or a behavior that should not be followed, such as a lane change. Therefore, in such a driving support system, it is left to the driver himself to decide whether to perform automatic driving following the preceding vehicle, and the driver's burden is not reduced even during automatic driving. was there.
[0009]
The present invention has been devised in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a driving support device capable of reducing the burden on the driver during automatic driving following the preceding vehicle.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
For this reason, the driving support apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a relative position of a preceding vehicle that travels in advance on the same lane as the host vehicle, and a parallel running vehicle that travels on a lane that is not the same as the host vehicle. Relative position detection means for detecting the relative position, traveling locus calculation means for calculating the traveling locus of each of the preceding vehicle and the parallel running vehicle from each relative position, and whether each of the traveling locus is parallel the locus parallel determination means for determining whether, when the locus parallel determination means determines that the traveling locus of said each of which is parallel, follow-up to control the vehicle so as to follow the travel path of said prior vehicle And a control means.
[0011]
Preferably, the vehicle has a vehicle movement calculation means for calculating a movement amount of the own vehicle, and the travel locus calculation means determines the preceding vehicle and the parallel running vehicle from the movement amount of the own vehicle and the respective relative positions. A travel locus is calculated.
[0012]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the driving support device according to the present invention, when the tracking parallel determining unit determines that the respective traveling tracks are not parallel , the following control unit determines the traveling track of the preceding vehicle. The control of the following vehicle is terminated.
[0013]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the driving assistance apparatus of the present invention, the trajectory parallel determination means calculates a distance between the respective traveling trajectories, and the follow-up control means determines that the distance between the respective traveling trajectories is predetermined. When the vehicle is in the value range, the vehicle is controlled so as to follow the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a driving support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle equipped with the driving support device, FIG. 2 is a control flow diagram of the device, and FIG. 3 shows control of the vehicle equipped with the device during automatic driving. It is a typical top view of the travel path shown.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 100 according to the present embodiment (hereinafter also referred to as a host vehicle) includes an ECU (electronic control unit) 2, a scanning laser radar (relative position detecting means) 3, and a tracking control device (tracking control). Means) A driving support device 1 comprising 4 is provided. The vehicle 100 also includes a vehicle speed sensor 21 that detects the vehicle speed and a steering angle sensor 22 that detects the steering angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle.
[0016]
The follow-up control device 4 controls a steering system and a vehicle speed system (not shown) so as to travel on the trajectory of the preceding vehicle 101 with a predetermined interval corresponding to the speed of the preceding vehicle 101. ing.
The scanning laser radar 3 can detect the relative positions of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 with respect to the host vehicle 100 that travel around the vehicle 100 such as the front and sides. Further, the relative positions of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 are specified by the distance and direction from the host vehicle 100. Here, among the vehicles around the host vehicle 100 detected by the main scanning laser radar 3, those that travel in front of the host vehicle 100 from the positional relationship with the host vehicle 100 are the preceding vehicle 101 and the host vehicle 100. A vehicle traveling on the side of the vehicle (on the most common adjacent lane) is referred to as a parallel running vehicle 102. Further, as will be described later, in the present embodiment, the ECU 2 performs control by distinguishing the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 according to the azimuth of the vehicle around the host vehicle 100 with respect to the host vehicle 100. ing.
[0017]
The ECU 2 receives the vehicle speed Va detected by the vehicle speed sensor 21 and the steering angle θa of the steering wheel detected by the steering angle sensor 22, and the preceding vehicle 101 detected by the scanning laser radar 3 and the parallel running. The relative position information of the car 102 with respect to the host vehicle 100 is input. As relative position information of the preceding vehicle 101, an azimuth angle with respect to the own vehicle 100 and a distance from the own vehicle 100 are input. Similarly, as relative position information of the parallel running vehicle 102, the azimuth angle with respect to the own vehicle 100 The distance to the host vehicle 100 is input. These various types of information are input at a predetermined cycle (for example, 0.1 second / time), and the ECU 2 automatically follows the vehicle 100 to the preceding vehicle 101 based on the input information. Thus, the tracking control device 4 is controlled.
[0018]
The ECU 2 includes an own vehicle movement calculating unit (own vehicle movement calculating unit) 11, a traveling locus calculating unit (traveling locus calculating unit) 12, and a locus parallel determining unit (trajectory parallel determining unit) 13 that calculates the movement amount of the own vehicle 100. Is provided. The own vehicle movement calculation unit 11 calculates the amount of movement of the own vehicle 100 by accumulating the amount of change between the vehicle speed and the steering angle. The amount of movement in this case indicates the current position (including the direction) with respect to the reference position (for example, the starting position of the host vehicle), and can also be indicated as coordinates with respect to the reference position, for example. In addition, the traveling locus calculation unit 12 determines the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 in the reference coordinate system from the relative position information of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 with respect to the own vehicle 100 and the movement amount information of the own vehicle 100. The movement trajectory of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 is calculated from the change in the position. The trajectory parallel determination unit 13 determines whether or not the movement trajectory of the preceding vehicle 101 calculated by the travel trajectory calculation unit 12 and the movement trajectory of the parallel running vehicle 102 are parallel .
[0019]
Next, the calculation process performed by the ECU 2 will be specifically described with reference to the control flowchart shown in FIG.
The control flow of FIG. 2 is a flow showing a process of determining whether or not the ECU 2 controls the tracking control device 4 and is always processed by the ECU 2.
First, in step S10, the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 21, the steering angle detected by the steering angle sensor 22, and the relative position information of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 detected by the scanning laser radar 3 with respect to the own vehicle 100. Are respectively input. The relative positions of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 detect a distance to the host vehicle 100 and an azimuth angle with the traveling direction of the host vehicle 100 as a reference axis.
[0020]
In step S20, the amount of movement of the host vehicle 100 from the previous detection is calculated from the information input in step S10. That is, the movement amount of the host vehicle 100 is calculated by the host vehicle movement calculation unit 11 of the ECU 2 at every predetermined period when various information is input to the ECU 2. For example, using the current position of the host vehicle 100 as the origin and the traveling direction as the reference direction, the travel trajectory of the host vehicle 100 is obtained cumulatively from the past movement amount history including the movement amount at the previous detection. be able to. Alternatively, the travel locus of the host vehicle 100 can be obtained cumulatively with an arbitrary reference position (for example, the start position of the host vehicle) as the origin.
[0021]
In step S30, the relative position of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 with respect to the host vehicle 100 is calculated from the detection information input in step S10 with the current position of the host vehicle 100 as the origin and the traveling direction as the reference direction. The
Steps subsequent to step S40 are steps for determining whether or not to perform automatic steering control to follow the preceding vehicle 101. First, in step S40, it is determined whether or not the preceding vehicle 101 is present, that is, whether or not the preceding vehicle 101 is located in a range to be followed. Here, from the relative position information of the preceding vehicle 101 input in step S10, when the preceding vehicle is within a predetermined range angle and the distance from the host vehicle is within the predetermined range, the preceding vehicle 101 follows. It is determined that it is located in the range to be. If it is determined that the preceding vehicle 101 is located in the range to be followed, the process proceeds to step S50, and if it is not determined that the preceding vehicle 101 is located in the range to be followed, step S90. , The flow is terminated when it is determined that the steering control for following the preceding vehicle 101 is not performed.
[0022]
In step S50, it is determined whether or not the parallel running vehicle 102 is present, that is, whether or not the parallel running vehicle 102 is located within a range in which the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 can be determined. Here, based on the relative position of the preceding vehicle 101 calculated in step S30 and the relative position of the parallel vehicle 102, it is determined whether the parallel vehicle 102 is located in an adjacent travel lane. When the distance between the relative position of the preceding vehicle 101 and the relative position of the parallel running vehicle 102 is within a predetermined range (a range set to correspond to the width of the traveling lane, for example, 3 to 4 m) The parallel running vehicle 102 is determined to be traveling in the adjacent lane of the preceding vehicle 101, and it is determined that the parallel running vehicle 102 is located in a range in which the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 can be determined. When it is determined that the parallel running vehicle 102 is traveling in the adjacent lane, the process proceeds to step S60. Further, when it is determined that the parallel running vehicle 102 is not located within the range in which the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 can be determined, it proceeds to step S90 and determines that the steering control for following the preceding vehicle 101 is not performed. End the flow.
[0023]
In step S60, the travel trajectory of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel vehicle 102 is calculated from the movement amount of the host vehicle 100 calculated in step S20 and the relative position of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel vehicle 102 calculated in step S30. Is done. For example, the relative position of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 detected last time is determined based on the coordinate axis of the relative position of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 calculated in step S30. The coordinates of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 are specified on the coordinate axes based on the current position of the host vehicle 100. Further, the same processing can be performed for the last time, and the traveling trajectories of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 on the coordinate axes based on the position of the current vehicle 100 can be calculated.
[0024]
In step S70, it is determined whether or not the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 and the traveling locus of the parallel vehicle 102 are parallel . Here, the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 calculated in step S60 and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle 102 are compared. For example, the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle are compared. When the change in the distance (separation length) is continuously calculated and it is confirmed that the change in the distance (separation length) within a predetermined time is within a certain range, the preceding vehicle 101 travels. It can be determined that the locus and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle 102 are parallel . This step is mainly calculated in the locus parallel determination unit 13 of the ECU 2.
[0025]
Thus, when it is determined that the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle 101 are parallel , the process proceeds to step S80, where it is determined that the steering control to follow the preceding vehicle 101 is performed, and this flow is performed. finish. If it is determined that the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle 102 are not parallel , the flow proceeds to step S90 and it is determined that the steering control for following the preceding vehicle 101 is not performed. finish.
[0026]
Since the present driving support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, for example, the following control (see FIG. 3) is performed.
When the host vehicle 100 is performing automatic driving following the preceding vehicle 101, the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel vehicle 102 are detected by the scanning laser radar 3 at any time, and the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel vehicle 102 is determined. Calculated.
[0027]
As shown in FIG. 3A, when the preceding vehicle 101 is traveling according to the curve of the traveling road, the traveling locus of the parallel vehicle 102 also changes according to the curve of the traveling path. Therefore, the calculated traveling trajectories of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 are parallel, and the ECU 2 determines that the steering control to follow the preceding vehicle 101 is performed. Therefore, the host vehicle 100 can continue the steering control that follows the preceding vehicle 101.
[0028]
Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the preceding vehicle 101 changes the lane of the traveling lane, the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle 101 and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle 102 are not parallel . It is determined that the steering control for following the preceding vehicle 101 is not performed. Therefore, the vehicle 100 can stop the steering control to follow the preceding vehicle 101 and avoid following the lane change of the preceding vehicle. In this case, as a matter of course, it is preferable to notify the driver that automatic driving is to be stopped.
[0029]
In this way, it is not necessary for the driver to determine whether to perform automatic driving following the preceding vehicle 101, and the burden on the driver during automatic driving is reduced. Further, since the traveling trajectories of the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102 are compared, it is possible to accurately grasp and compare each traveling lane regardless of the traveling speed of the preceding vehicles 101 and 102.
[0030]
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the scanning laser radar 3 is configured to detect the preceding vehicle 101 and the parallel running vehicle 102. However, all the detected vehicles are detected by detecting other vehicles around the host vehicle. You may comprise so that control concerning this embodiment may be performed with respect to this vehicle. When configured in this way, it is possible to determine whether or not to perform automatic driving following the preceding vehicle not only from the parallel running vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane but also from the traveling locus of other surrounding vehicles.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the driving support device of the present invention described in claim 1, it is automatically determined whether or not the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle should be followed, and the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle is determined. When the traveling trajectory of the parallel running vehicle is parallel , the steering control for following the preceding vehicle can be performed. Further, it is not necessary for the driver to determine whether or not to follow the preceding vehicle, and the burden on the driver is reduced. Further, since the traveling tracks are compared with each other, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not to perform the steering control that follows the preceding vehicle, regardless of the speed difference among the own vehicle, the preceding vehicle, and the parallel running vehicle.
[0032]
According to the driving support device of the present invention, the steering control for following the preceding vehicle can be ended when the traveling locus of the preceding vehicle and the traveling locus of the parallel running vehicle are not parallel. It is possible to avoid following a behavior that should not be followed, such as a lane change of a preceding vehicle.
[0033]
According to the driving support device of the present invention as set forth in claim 3, since the own vehicle is controlled when the distance between the traveling tracks of the preceding vehicle and the parallel running vehicle is within the predetermined value range, the parallel running vehicle is It is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling in an adjacent lane, and it is possible to more accurately determine whether or not to perform steering control that follows the preceding vehicle.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a driving support apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a control flow diagram showing control in the driving support apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a traveling road for explaining an example of control in a vehicle provided with a driving support device as one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 (a) is a traveling of a preceding vehicle and a parallel vehicle on a curved road. The top view which shows a locus | trajectory, (b) is a top view which shows the driving | running | working locus | trajectory of a preceding vehicle and a parallel running vehicle when a preceding vehicle changes lane on a straight road.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Driving support device 2 ECU (electronic control unit)
3 Scanning laser radar (relative position detection means)
4 Tracking control device (tracking control means)
11 Own vehicle movement calculation unit (own vehicle movement calculation means)
12 Traveling locus calculation unit (traveling locus calculation means)
13 Trajectory parallel determination unit (trajectory parallel determination means)
21 Vehicle speed sensor 22 Rudder angle sensor 100 Vehicle (own vehicle)
101 preceding vehicle (preceding vehicle)
102 Parallel vehicle (Parallel vehicle)

Claims (3)

A relative position detecting means for detecting a relative position of a preceding vehicle that travels in advance on the same lane as the host vehicle, and a relative position of a parallel running vehicle that travels on a lane that is not the same as the host vehicle;
Traveling locus calculation means for calculating the traveling locus of each of the preceding vehicle and the parallel running vehicle from each relative position;
Trajectory parallel determination means for determining whether or not each of the travel trajectories is parallel ;
And a tracking control means for controlling the host vehicle so as to follow the traveling trajectory of the preceding vehicle when the trajectory parallel determining means determines that the respective traveling trajectories are parallel. Driving assistance device. The follow-up control means ends the control of the own vehicle that follows the running locus of the preceding vehicle when the locus parallel judging means judges that the respective running loci are not parallel . The driving support apparatus according to claim 1. The trajectory parallel determination means calculates a distance between the travel trajectories,
The follow-up control means controls the host vehicle so as to follow the travel locus of the preceding vehicle when the change in the distance between the respective travel locus is within a predetermined value range. Or the driving assistance apparatus of 2 description.

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