JP5454242B2 - Vehicle group running control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle group traveling control device, and more particularly to a vehicle group traveling control device that controls a vehicle group using inter-vehicle communication.

  Conventionally, when traveling in a vehicle group, information related to the traveling of the host vehicle is transmitted to the succeeding vehicle, and the succeeding vehicle performs traveling control based on information received from the preceding vehicle. It has been. For example, those described in Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 are examples.

  In Patent Document 1, the leading vehicle stores the trajectory information of the host vehicle, and transmits the trajectory information and an operation amount related to driving by the driver to the following vehicle. The succeeding vehicle travels following the leading vehicle based on the trajectory information received from the leading vehicle and the operation amount related to driving.

  In patent document 2, the traveling state of the own vehicle is transmitted to the following vehicle as traveling data of the own vehicle, and the succeeding vehicle performs traveling control based on the received traveling data. In Patent Document 3, the leading vehicle transmits follow-up driving data related to its own vehicle position information, operation amount (steering wheel, accelerator, brake), and momentum (speed, acceleration, yaw rate) to the following vehicle, and the following vehicle receives the data. Follow-up running is performed based on the follow-up running data.

JP 2000-113399 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-293194 JP 2000-348300 A

  In Patent Document 1, when a subsequent vehicle cannot receive an operation amount related to driving from a leading vehicle due to a communication error, the same acceleration / deceleration control as that of the leading vehicle cannot be performed during the communication error period. It becomes difficult to maintain. Also in Patent Documents 2 and 3, when information from the leading vehicle is not transmitted due to a communication error, the following vehicle cannot perform traveling control following the leading vehicle during the communication error period. As described above, in the prior art, when a communication error occurs, there is a problem that the following vehicle cannot follow the vehicle during the period in which the communication error occurs.

  The present invention has been made based on this situation, and the object of the present invention is to perform vehicle group traveling control in which the following vehicle can follow the leading vehicle even during a communication error period. To provide an apparatus.

In the invention according to claim 1 for achieving the object, the leading vehicle determines a leading vehicle traveling plan indicating a future traveling control value of the own vehicle, and the leading vehicle traveling plan forms a vehicle group. Transmit from the radio to the. In this way, the lead vehicle transmits in advance the traveling control value of the host vehicle in the future. Therefore, even if the following vehicle that determines the following vehicle traveling plan based on the leading vehicle traveling plan cannot temporarily receive the leading vehicle traveling plan due to a communication error, the leading vehicle is not detected when the communication error occurs. The running control value to be performed is received in advance. Therefore, even during a period in which a communication error occurs, the following vehicle can determine the following vehicle traveling plan that follows the leading vehicle and perform traveling control.
In addition, for example, in FIG. 10, the control value for time t10 received at time t7 after the communication is recovered is used as the control value for time t8 two cycles before that. The leading vehicle travel plan is used as a leading vehicle travel plan at a time point before the control time point indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan, and a follow-up vehicle travel plan for a time when the travel control value of the leading vehicle cannot be determined is determined. Therefore, the follow-up vehicle travel plan is simply determined by interpolation from the travel control value indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan acquired before the communication error occurs and the travel control value indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan acquired after communication is restored. This can be closer to the follow-up vehicle travel plan when no communication error has occurred.

According to the second aspect of the invention, even at a time when the driving control value of the leading vehicle cannot be determined, the latest driving control value or the communication error indicated by the leading vehicle traveling plan acquired before the communication error occurs is restored. From one of the traveling control values and the traveling control value indicated by the leading vehicle traveling plan acquired after the communication is restored, the following vehicle traveling plan at that time is determined by interpolation. Since the leading vehicle travel plan is transmitted in advance of the actual control time point, the following vehicle travel plan by interpolation can be determined at an early stage.

According to the invention of claim 3 , when the travel control value indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan is changing, the leading vehicle travel plan is transmitted in a short transmission cycle. Therefore, even if the number of times that the communication error has occurred is the same, the period during which the following vehicle cannot receive the leading vehicle travel plan due to the communication error is shortened. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence due to the communication error.

According to the invention according to claim 4 , the transmission priority of the following vehicle is low during the formation of the vehicle group. As a result, the transmission priority of the leading vehicle is higher than the transmission priority of the following vehicle. Become. For this reason, it is less likely that the following vehicle cannot receive the leading vehicle travel plan transmitted by the leading vehicle due to a communication error, so that the vehicle group can be prevented from being broken.

In order to lower the transmission priority of the following vehicle, for example, it is conceivable to reduce the communication frequency of the following vehicle as in claim 5 .

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system 10 including a vehicle group traveling control device 100 according to an embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates notionally vehicle group traveling control which vehicle group traveling control device 100 performs. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control function of the vehicle group traveling control device 100. FIG. It is a figure explaining a leading vehicle travel plan. It is a figure explaining the following vehicle traveling plan determined in the following vehicle traveling plan determination part. It is a figure which illustrates a follow-up vehicle travel plan when a communication error occurs at time t5 and a travel plan for one time cannot be received. It is a figure which illustrates a follow-up vehicle travel plan when a communication error occurs at time t5 to t7 and a travel plan for three times cannot be received. It is a figure which illustrates a follow-up vehicle travel plan in case a communication error arises from time t6 to time t8. It is a figure which illustrates a follow-up vehicle travel plan in case a communication error arises over a period longer than the advance. It is a figure which illustrates the correction following vehicle travel plan determined when the period when the communication error has arisen is long.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The “vehicle group” used in the present embodiment refers to a state in which a plurality of vehicles communicate with each other to form one group, and the “vehicle group traveling” is a so-called “convoy traveling”. , Each vehicle forming the vehicle group travels in a collective state so as to exhibit similar behavior. Here, “convoy travel” includes the case where the vehicle travels side by side in addition to traveling side by side. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system 10 including a vehicle group traveling control device 100 of this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system 10 includes an autonomous sensor 20, a radio device 30, a behavior information sensor 40, and an acceleration / deceleration unit 50 in addition to the vehicle group traveling control device 100.

  The autonomous sensor 20 is a sensor that detects the presence of other vehicles before and after the vehicle on which the system 10 is mounted (hereinafter also referred to as the host vehicle) and the distance from the other vehicles. And a rear sensor. In this embodiment, a front millimeter wave sensor 21 and a front camera 23 are provided as front sensors, and a rear millimeter wave 22 and a rear camera 24 are provided as rear sensors. As described above, in this embodiment, two types of sensors are provided for the front side and the rear side, respectively, but only one type may be provided, and a laser sensor or the like other than the millimeter wave or the camera may be provided. .

  The radio device 30 has two functions: a function as an inter-vehicle communication device and a function as a road-vehicle communication device. As an inter-vehicle communication device, information can be transmitted / received to / from other vehicles by DSRC (Dedicated ShortRange Communication). As a road-to-vehicle communication device, information is transmitted / received to / from a roadside device installed on the road such as a beacon. The wireless device 30 receives other vehicle information (such as acceleration / deceleration information transmitted from other vehicles) and infrastructure information by the functions of the inter-vehicle communication device and the road-vehicle communication device. Note that the inter-vehicle communication device and the road-to-vehicle communication device may be provided separately.

  The behavior information sensor 40 is a sensor that detects a physical quantity necessary for determining information related to acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle (for example, acceleration, speed, jerk). As the behavior information sensor 40, for example, an acceleration sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, or the like is used.

  The acceleration / deceleration unit 50 is a part that accelerates / decelerates the host vehicle, and includes an engine 51 and a motor 52 as a drive unit, and a brake 53 as a braking unit. Note that the drive unit 51 may include only one of the engine 51 and the motor 52. The motor 52 may also function as a braking unit.

  The vehicle group traveling control device 100 is a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (all not shown), and the CPU executes a program stored in the ROM while using a temporary storage function of the RAM. Thus, the wireless device 30 and the acceleration / deceleration unit 50 are controlled, and the vehicle group traveling control is performed by controlling them. This vehicle group traveling control determines a traveling plan and performs traveling control based on the determined traveling plan. Although described in detail later, the travel plan is determined from information obtained from the autonomous sensor 20, the wireless device 30, and the behavior information sensor 40. The determined travel plan is transmitted from the radio device 30. The travel control sequentially acquires the actual state from the engine 51 and the like constituting the acceleration / deceleration unit 50, sequentially acquires the detection value from the behavior information sensor 40, and the detection value from the behavior information sensor 40 is based on the travel plan. The actual state of the engine 51 and the like is controlled so that the vehicle behavior is determined.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for conceptually explaining the vehicle group traveling control. As shown in FIG. 2, the leading vehicle 1 transmits the leading vehicle travel plan to the following vehicles 2 and 3. As will be described in detail later, this leading vehicle travel plan includes the future travel control value of the leading vehicle (that is, the travel control value that is advanced from the time when the travel control value is actually used) and the execution time of the travel control value. Is included. The leading vehicle 1 is the infrastructure information such as the traffic signal information (information indicating the distance to the traffic signal ahead, the change timing of the light color of the traffic light) obtained from the traffic signal 60 via the radio device 30 for the leading vehicle 1 It is determined based on the planned traveling route of the host vehicle.

  The following vehicles 2 and 3 receive the leading vehicle travel plan and determine the following vehicle traveling plan based on the received leading vehicle traveling plan. Then, the vehicle group traveling control is performed based on the following vehicle traveling plan and the inter-vehicle distance that can be determined from the detection results of the autonomous sensor 20 (arrows C to F in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating control functions of the vehicle group traveling control device 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle group traveling control device 100 includes a leading vehicle determination unit 102, a leading vehicle traveling plan determination unit 104, a traveling plan transmission processing unit 106, a following vehicle traveling plan determination unit 108, and a traveling control unit 110. ing. Note that these are realized by the CPU executing the program stored in the ROM while using the temporary storage function of the RAM.

  The leading vehicle determination unit 102 determines whether or not the host vehicle is a leading vehicle that is traveling in a vehicle group. In this determination, first, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle is a following vehicle. Whether or not the vehicle is a following vehicle is determined by whether or not control for following the preceding vehicle is being performed. Whether to perform control to follow the preceding vehicle may be set so that this processing is automatically performed when the distance from the preceding vehicle reaches a predetermined distance, or when the predetermined distance is reached. The driver may be inquired. In addition, a switch for instructing the follow-up running by the driver may be provided, and the follow-up running control may be started by pressing this switch.

  When the host vehicle is not a following vehicle, it is either a leading vehicle that is traveling in a vehicle group or a vehicle that does not form a vehicle group. In order to determine which is this, the autonomous sensor 20 is used as shown by arrows A and B in FIG. Specifically, the behavior of the following vehicle is determined from the detection result of the autonomous sensor 20 in the direction of arrow B. If the behavior of the following vehicle follows the host vehicle, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the vehicle group. Further, it is determined from the detection result of the autonomous sensor 20 in the direction of arrow A whether or not there is another vehicle within a predetermined distance in front of the own vehicle, and when there is no other vehicle within a predetermined distance in front of the own vehicle, It is determined that the vehicle is a leading vehicle.

  The leading vehicle travel plan determination unit 104 is executed when the leading vehicle determination unit 102 determines that the host vehicle is a leading vehicle traveling in a vehicle group. This leading vehicle travel plan determination unit 104 includes infrastructure information such as traffic signal information (information indicating the distance to the traffic signal ahead, the change timing of the light color of the traffic signal) acquired from the traffic signal 60 via the radio device 30, and a behavior information sensor Based on behavior information such as the speed of the own vehicle acquired from 40 and the planned travel route of the own vehicle, the leading vehicle travel plan is sequentially determined. As described above, the leading vehicle travel plan indicates a future traveling control value of the leading vehicle (that is, a traveling control value that is advanced from the time when the traveling control value is actually used). Includes one or more cycles. In the present embodiment, the travel control value is a control target value related to acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle, such as an acceleration control target value. The travel control value may further include a control target value in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Further, instead of the control target value, an instruction value for instructing the acceleration / deceleration unit 50 may be used.

  The travel plan transmission processing unit 106 transmits the lead vehicle travel plan determined by the lead vehicle travel plan determination unit 104 using the inter-vehicle communication function of the wireless device 30.

  The follower vehicle travel plan determination unit 108 is executed when the host vehicle is a follower vehicle, and determines a travel plan as a follower vehicle, that is, a follower vehicle travel plan. Whether the host vehicle is a following vehicle may be determined by using the determination result of the leading vehicle determination unit 102 or by acquiring the leading vehicle travel plan via the radio device 30. The following vehicle travel plan is basically a plan that enables the same acceleration / deceleration to be realized at the same time as the leading vehicle travel plan. That is, the following vehicle travel plan is basically the same as the leading vehicle travel plan. However, when the inter-vehicle distance is narrower or wider than the set value, correction is performed so that the inter-vehicle distance becomes the set value.

  The traveling control unit 110 sequentially acquires the detection value from the behavior information sensor 40, and sets the control target value of the acceleration / deceleration unit 50 so that the detected value becomes the vehicle behavior indicated by the leading vehicle traveling plan or the following vehicle traveling plan. decide. And an actual state is acquired sequentially from the engine 51 etc. which comprise the acceleration / deceleration part 50, and the acceleration / deceleration part 50 is controlled so that the acquired actual state may become a control target value.

  Next, the leading vehicle travel plan determined by the leading vehicle travel plan determination unit 104 and transmitted by the travel plan transmission processing unit 106 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the solid line indicates the acceleration / deceleration control value when the leading vehicle actually controls the acceleration / deceleration unit 50. On the other hand, the ● mark indicates the leading vehicle travel plan to be transmitted to the following vehicle, and the leading vehicle follows the acceleration indicated by the ● mark at each transmission timing together with the information at the time when the acceleration is controlled. Sequentially send to

  As can be seen from the comparison between the ● mark and the solid line, the lead vehicle travel plan (● mark) is transmitted at a time point that is Δt before (i.e., advance) the time point when the lead car actually performs control. . The leading vehicle may transmit immediately when the leading vehicle travel plan is determined, or the leading vehicle traveling plan may be determined at a time earlier than Δt. This Δt can be set as appropriate, but in the present embodiment, the following description will be made assuming that Δt is three periods of the transmission period T.

  Next, the following vehicle traveling plan determined by the following vehicle traveling plan determination unit 108 will be described with reference to FIG. 4, the leading vehicle transmits a leading vehicle travel plan (information including the acceleration control value and the execution time of the control value) at each transmission timing. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the following vehicle sequentially receives the leading vehicle travel plan (marked with ●) as shown in FIG. 5. The following vehicle traveling plan is indicated by □ where the mark ● is shifted by Δt later. Further, as shown in the figure, the acceleration / deceleration at each time indicated by the following vehicle traveling plan is a control value of the acceleration / deceleration at the time when the leading vehicle actually controls the acceleration / deceleration unit 50 (solid line in the figure). ). Therefore, the behaviors of the leading vehicle and the following vehicle coincide with each other, and the vehicle group is maintained.

  Next, a case where a communication error occurs will be described. FIG. 6 shows a case where a communication error occurs at time t5 shown in FIG. Even if a communication error occurs at time t5, the travel plan for the follower vehicle to perform travel control at that time is received at the transmission timing (time t2) three cycles before the time when the communication error occurs. Therefore, the follower vehicle can execute the same traveling control as that of the preceding vehicle even at time t5 when a communication error occurs.

  On the other hand, since the travel plan could not be received at time t5, it becomes a problem how to control at time t8, which is three cycles after time t5. However, in the case of one communication error, as shown in FIG. 6, by the time t7 before the time t8, the travel plan for the time t7 immediately before the time t8 and the time t9 immediately after the time t8 are shown. Cars that have already followed the travel plan have already acquired it. Therefore, as the control value at time t8, the travel plan at time t8 is determined by interpolation (for example, average) from the travel plan for time t7 and the travel plan at time t9. As a result, even at time t8, the following vehicle can perform the same or at least similar traveling control as the leading vehicle. Therefore, it can suppress that a vehicle group collapses.

  FIG. 7 shows a case where a communication error occurs at time t5 to t7 shown in FIG. Even if a communication error occurs at time t5 to t7, the travel plan for the follower vehicle to perform travel control at time t5 to t7 is received at time t2 to t4. Therefore, the following vehicle can execute the same traveling control as that of the preceding vehicle even at the time t5 to t7 when the communication error occurs.

  On the other hand, since the travel plan could not be received at time t5 to t7, it becomes a problem how to perform control at time t8 to t10, which is three cycles after time t5 to t7. However, if there are three communication errors (that is, the same as the previous one), at time t8 when the travel plan could not be acquired in advance, the travel plan is for the previous time (for time t11). Can be received. Therefore, interpolation is performed using the travel plan for time t11 received at time t8 and the travel plan received before the communication error, for example, the travel plan for time t7 received at time t4 immediately before the communication error occurs. A travel plan at time t8 to t10 is determined by (for example, linear interpolation). Accordingly, as shown in the example of FIG. 7, when the leading vehicle travel plan at the time point t8 to t10 changes in a proportional relationship from t4 to t11, the following vehicle is also the leading vehicle at the time point t8 to t10. It is possible to perform the same traveling control.

  FIG. 8 is the same as FIG. 7 in the driving plan for the leading vehicle, and is the same as FIG. 7 in that three communication errors occur, but communication is performed from time t6 to time t8 one time after FIG. This is an example where an error has occurred. Also in this case, the travel plan for the follower vehicle to perform the travel control at the time t6 to t8 when the communication error occurs is received at the time t3 to t5. Therefore, the following vehicle can execute the same traveling control as that of the preceding vehicle even at the time t6 to t8 when the communication error occurs.

  Further, for the time points t9 to t11 after three cycles from the time points t6 to t8, the travel plan at the time points t9 to t11 is determined by linearly interpolating the preceding and following travel plans as in the case of FIG. In FIG. 8, a broken line indicates a follow-up vehicle travel plan when no communication error occurs, and a solid line during that period indicates a follow-up vehicle travel plan determined by linear interpolation. In the case of FIG. 8, the rate of change of acceleration changes before and after a communication error occurs. For this reason, as can be seen from the broken line and the solid line, the travel plan determined by interpolation is not the same as the case where no communication error occurs, but is a travel plan similar to the case where no communication error occurs. Therefore, it can suppress that a vehicle group collapses.

  FIG. 9 shows an example in which a communication error has occurred over a period longer than the previous amount. Specifically, FIG. 9 is an example in which communication errors occur six times from t1 to t6. In this example, the travel plan for the time point t3 can be acquired before the communication error occurs, but the travel plan for the time point t4 to t6 cannot be received. In addition, communication is not recovered from time t4 to t6. Therefore, at the time t4 to t6, the control value is the same as the control value so far, that is, the acceleration is zero. Communication is recovered at the next time t7, and the travel plan for time t10 can be received at time t7. Therefore, at time t7, the control value at time t7 to t9 is determined by interpolation based on the control value immediately before time t7 (that is, time t6) and the control value for time t10.

  However, when the period during which the communication error occurs is long as described above, the difference between the following vehicle traveling plan (the dashed line in FIG. 9) when there is no communication error and the following vehicle traveling plan determined by interpolation is relatively large. . Therefore, if the difference between the control value indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan received after communication is restored and the current control value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the follower vehicle travel plan received after communication is restored is the follower vehicle. A follow-up vehicle travel plan at a time point before the control time point indicated by the travel plan is considered, and a follow-up vehicle travel plan for a point in time when the travel plan could not be determined directly from the leading vehicle travel plan is determined. Hereinafter, the travel plan determined in this way is referred to as a modified following vehicle travel plan.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the corrected following vehicle travel plan. In FIG. 10, the corrected following vehicle travel plan is indicated by Δ. In the modified follow-up vehicle travel plan for the time point t7, the control value for the time point t10 received at the time point t7 is regarded as the control value for the time point t8 two cycles before that, and the control value regarded as for the time point t8. This is determined by interpolation from the value and the control value at the time t6. The control values at time t8 and t9 thereafter are determined by interpolation from the control value at time t7 and the control value at time t10. The corrected follow-up vehicle travel plan determined in this way (Δ at time t7 to t9 in the figure) does not cause a communication error than the travel plan determined simply by interpolation (□ at time t7 to t9 in the figure). It can be approximated to the travel plan (dotted line in the figure).

  When determining the corrected follow-up travel plan in this way, the corrected follow-up travel plan is determined within a range in which the acceleration / deceleration change rate is within the range of the acceleration / deceleration performance of the vehicle and the passenger feeling is not uncomfortable. To do.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the leading vehicle transmits in advance a leading vehicle travel plan indicating a future traveling control value of the host vehicle. Therefore, even if the leading vehicle travel plan cannot be temporarily received due to a communication error, the follower vehicle receives in advance the travel control value performed by the leading vehicle when the communication error occurs. For this reason, the following vehicle can perform traveling control to follow the leading vehicle even during a period in which a communication error occurs.

  Even at times when the driving control value of the leading vehicle cannot be determined, the driving control value indicated by the leading vehicle driving plan acquired before the communication error occurs and the driving control value indicated by the leading vehicle driving plan acquired after the communication is restored Then, the following vehicle traveling plan at that time is determined by interpolation. Since the leading vehicle travel plan is transmitted in advance of the actual control time, for example, in the example of FIG. 6, t7 before time t8 when the travel control value of the leading vehicle cannot be determined due to a communication error. The follow-up vehicle travel plan by interpolation can be determined at an early stage, for example, the follow-up vehicle travel plan at time t8 can be determined. Therefore, even at a time when the traveling control value of the leading vehicle cannot be determined, traveling control that is the same as or at least similar to that of the leading vehicle can be performed, and the vehicle group can be prevented from collapsing.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The following embodiment is also contained in the technical scope of this invention, and also the summary other than the following is also included. Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the transmission cycle is always constant, but this transmission cycle is set as a reference transmission cycle, and the leading vehicle transmits the leading vehicle travel plan next in the reference transmission cycle. When the acceleration indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan changes with respect to the acceleration transmitted one transmission cycle before, the leading vehicle travels at a transmission cycle shorter than the reference transmission cycle (for example, ½ of the reference transmission cycle). You may make it transmit a plan.

  In this way, even if the communication error occurs the same number of times, the period during which the travel plan cannot be received from the leading vehicle due to the communication error is shortened. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence due to the communication error. Even when transmission is performed in such a short transmission cycle, the leading vehicle travel plan is after Δt seconds as in the case of transmission in the reference transmission cycle. Further, when there is a possibility that the leading vehicle travel plan is transmitted with a transmission cycle shorter than the reference transmission cycle, a leading vehicle travel plan with a time interval corresponding to the short transmission cycle is determined.

  When a vehicle group is formed, not only information from the leading vehicle is transmitted, but also various information (such as information indicating the traveling state of the following vehicle) is transmitted from the following vehicle. While forming a group, it is preferable to lower the transmission priority of the following vehicle (in other words, increase the transmission priority of the leading vehicle). Therefore, when the vehicle group traveling control device 100 determines that the host vehicle is not the leading vehicle of the vehicle group, the priority is set to lower the transmission priority from the radio device 30 than when the host vehicle is determined to be the leading vehicle. It is preferable to further include setting means. As a specific method of lowering the transmission priority of the following vehicle, that is, increasing the transmission priority of the leading vehicle, the communication frequency from the wireless device 30 is higher than the transmission frequency when the leading vehicle is the leading vehicle. It is conceivable to lower it. Alternatively, the communication priority of the leading vehicle may be increased by using a dedicated frequency band only for the leading vehicle or by increasing the transmission power only for the leading vehicle. When the communication priority of the leading vehicle is increased in this way, it is less likely that the following vehicle cannot receive the leading vehicle travel plan due to a communication error, so that it is possible to suppress the vehicle group from collapsing.

  Further, in the description of FIG. 9 described above, at the time t4 to t6 when the travel plan for that time point has not been received and the communication has not been recovered, the same control value as the previous control value is set to t4 to t6. Although it was set as the travel plan for time, it is not restricted to this. For example, the travel plan may be determined by estimating from the change tendency of several control values up to that point. Further, the travel control based on the travel plan may be performed, and the travel control may be performed such that the inter-vehicle distance that can be detected by the autonomous sensor 20 is within a predetermined distance range.

10: In-vehicle vehicle group traveling control system, 20: Autonomous sensor, 21: Front millimeter wave sensor, 22: Rear millimeter wave sensor, 23: Front camera, 24: Rear camera, 30: Radio, 40: Behavior information sensor, 50 : Acceleration / deceleration unit, 51: engine, 52: motor, 53: brake, 60: traffic light, 100: vehicle group traveling control device, 102: leading vehicle judging unit (leading vehicle judging means), 104: leading vehicle traveling plan determining unit (Leading vehicle travel plan determining means), 106: travel plan transmission processing section (travel plan transmission processing means), 108: follow-up vehicle travel plan determination section (follow-up vehicle travel plan determination means), 110: travel control section (travel control means) )

Claims (5)

Leading vehicle judging means for judging whether or not the own vehicle is a leading vehicle of the vehicle group;
When the host vehicle is determined to be a leading vehicle, a leading vehicle travel plan determining unit that sequentially determines a leading vehicle travel plan indicating a future travel control value of the host vehicle;
A travel plan transmission processing means for transmitting the determined leading vehicle travel plan from a wireless device to a following vehicle that forms the vehicle group;
A follower vehicle that acquires a leading vehicle travel plan from the leading vehicles that form the vehicle group when the host vehicle is determined to be a following vehicle, and sequentially determines the following vehicle travel plan based on the acquired leading vehicle travel plan A travel plan determination means;
When the host vehicle is a leading vehicle, the host vehicle is controlled based on the determined leading vehicle travel plan. On the other hand, when the host vehicle is a following vehicle, the host vehicle is controlled based on the determined following vehicle traveling plan. Traveling control means for performing traveling control,
The follow-up vehicle travel plan determination means compares the travel control value indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan received after the communication is recovered and the travel control value at the time when the communication is recovered when a communication error occurs. If the difference between the travel control values is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the leading vehicle travel plan received after the communication is restored is set as the leading vehicle travel plan at a time point before the control time point indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan. A vehicle group traveling control apparatus characterized by determining a following vehicle traveling plan for a time at which a vehicle traveling control value cannot be determined. Oite to claim 1,
The follow-up vehicle travel plan determining means, when there is a time when the travel control value of the lead vehicle cannot be determined due to a failure to obtain the lead vehicle travel plan due to a communication error, is obtained before the communication error occurs. From the travel control value indicated by the plan or the latest travel control value at the time when the communication error is recovered and the travel control value indicated by the leading vehicle travel plan obtained after the communication is recovered, the interpolation A vehicle group traveling control device for determining a following vehicle traveling plan. In claim 1 or 2 ,
When the traveling plan transmission processing means transmits a leading vehicle traveling plan next in a predetermined reference transmission cycle, the traveling control value indicated by the leading vehicle traveling plan is set to the traveling control value transmitted one transmission cycle before. On the other hand, the vehicle group traveling control device transmits a leading vehicle traveling plan indicating a traveling control value after a predetermined time in a transmission cycle shorter than the reference transmission cycle. In any one of claims 1 to 3
Priority setting means for lowering the transmission priority from the wireless device when the leading vehicle determining means determines that the own vehicle is not the leading vehicle of the vehicle group, compared to when the own vehicle is determined to be the leading vehicle; A vehicle group traveling control apparatus comprising: In claim 4 ,
When the priority setting means determines that the host vehicle is not a leading vehicle, the vehicle group traveling control is characterized in that the frequency of communication from the radio is lower than when the host vehicle is determined to be the leading vehicle. apparatus.

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