JP5825239B2 - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field of a vehicle control device capable of automatically executing vehicle lane change control.

  As this type of device, for example, a device that realizes lane change control of a vehicle that is not operated by a driver by automatically executing steering control and acceleration / deceleration control of the vehicle is known. In the lane change control, for example, a white line on the road and other vehicles traveling around the host vehicle are recognized by an in-vehicle camera or various radars mounted on the vehicle, and the lane change is realized so as to avoid the other vehicles.

  More specifically, for example, in Patent Document 1, the lane change is preferably realized by performing acceleration control according to the speed of the host vehicle before the lane change and the speeds of the front vehicle and the rear vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. This technique is disclosed. Further, in Patent Document 2, when a lane change is made by interrupting between two other vehicles traveling in an adjacent lane, the vehicle speed of the host vehicle is controlled based on a vehicle having a higher vehicle speed among the two other vehicles. Has been proposed.

JP 2012-001042 A JP 2006-076568 A

  The lane change control is preferably performed as gently as possible in order not to deteriorate the ride comfort of the occupant (in other words, it is preferable to change the lane so that rapid acceleration / deceleration is not required). For this reason, the time used for lane change control tends to be set relatively long. If it is determined that the lane change cannot be completed within the set time due to the presence of another vehicle traveling around the host vehicle, it is determined that the lane change control cannot be performed.

  Here, when a vehicle in an adjacent lane is detected by an in-vehicle camera, a radar, or the like as in the technique described above, due to the presence of another vehicle that travels in the same lane as the host vehicle (for example, a vehicle that travels directly behind the host vehicle). There is a possibility that the detectable range is narrowed. In such a case, it becomes impossible to detect the presence of another vehicle in the adjacent lane that should normally be detectable. For this reason, if the time used for the lane change control is set to be long, it cannot be determined whether or not the other vehicle can be reliably avoided, and it must be determined that the lane change control is impossible. Many situations can occur. That is, giving priority to the ride comfort during lane change control causes a technical problem that the chance of changing lanes decreases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device capable of suitably ensuring both the ride comfort of the occupant and the opportunity to change lanes.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the vehicle control device of the present invention is a vehicle control device that can automatically execute a lane change operation of a vehicle at least partially, and is a vehicle that travels in the lane of the lane change destination of the vehicle. Vehicle recognition means, area detection means for detecting a recognizable area capable of recognizing the other vehicle by the other vehicle recognition means, and lane change of the vehicle as the recognizable area is larger Lane change time setting means for setting a longer lane change time for the vehicle, and travel control means for controlling the travel of the vehicle so that the lane change is completed at the lane change time.

  The vehicle controlled by the vehicle control device of the present invention can be controlled by, for example, ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control realized by throttle control and brake control based on monitoring by a millimeter wave radar, or steering control based on white line recognition by an in-vehicle camera. Automatic operation including various automatic execution controls such as LKA (Lane Keeping Assist) control realized is possible. Note that the “automatic driving” here includes not only fully automatic driving control in which all driving operations by the driver are automatically performed, but also only part of the driving operations are automatically performed (in other words, it is not automated). (Semi-automatic operation control in which the driver continuously operates the vehicle) is also included. The driver can switch between automatic driving and normal driving by operating an automatic driving operation switch provided in the vehicle, for example.

  In the vehicle control device of the present invention, in particular, the vehicle lane change control can be automatically executed. For example, when the speed of the preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle is slower than the set speed of the host vehicle, the lane change control is executed when the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle becomes a predetermined value or less. As a result, the host vehicle can overtake the preceding vehicle and continue traveling without changing the set speed.

  When the lane change control is executed, first, another vehicle that travels in the lane that is the lane change destination of the host vehicle is recognized by other vehicle recognition means including, for example, a millimeter wave radar, an in-vehicle camera, and the like. Here, “recognition” does not only mean detection of the presence of another vehicle, but also affects various parameters related to the other vehicle (for example, lane change control such as vehicle speed, acceleration, and inter-vehicle distance). It is a concept including detection of a parameter that can be given.

  When recognizing the other vehicle described above, the region detection unit detects a recognizable region in which the other vehicle can be recognized by the other vehicle recognition unit. That is, the area detection means detects the size of the effective range of the other vehicle recognition means. It should be noted that the recognizable area is generally constant when no obstacle is present, but it is assumed that the recognizable area is narrowed, for example, when the inter-vehicle distance with another vehicle traveling around the host vehicle becomes small. Specifically, for example, a situation is assumed in which another vehicle traveling directly behind the host vehicle becomes an obstacle to the other vehicle recognition means, and it is difficult to detect another vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane.

  The recognizable area is detected based on, for example, analysis of a captured image of a vehicle-mounted camera or a measurement result by a radar. Alternatively, assuming that the above-described other vehicle becomes an obstacle, the detection may be performed based on an inter-vehicle distance from the other vehicle that becomes an obstacle. The size of the recognizable region may be detected as the area of the region, or may be detected as a length in a predetermined direction (for example, a length in the traveling direction).

  And especially in this invention, the lane change time used for the lane change of the own vehicle is set so long that the detected recognizable area | region is large by the lane change time setting means. The lane change time setting means stores, for example, a map showing the relationship between the size of the recognizable area and the lane change time, and selects the lane change time according to the detected recognizable area. Alternatively, a predetermined mathematical formula may be stored, and the lane change time may be calculated based on the size of the recognizable area.

  An upper limit value and a lower limit value may be set for the lane change time. As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent a sudden lane change from being dangerously performed or a lane change that takes a long time unnecessarily. In addition, the relationship between the size of the recognizable area and the set lane change time does not have to be a simple proportional relationship, for example, a relationship that increases stepwise, or a relationship that increases or decreases gradually. It does not matter.

  When the lane change time is set, the travel control means controls the travel of the host vehicle so that the lane change is completed within the set lane change time. For example, the travel control means calculates a travel locus, acceleration, and the like of the host vehicle based on the set lane change time, and executes steering control and acceleration / deceleration control of the host vehicle.

  In the lane change control described above, for example, when it is detected that the recognizable area is relatively small, it is determined that there may be another vehicle that cannot be recognized even though the distance to the host vehicle is short. The lane change control is completed in a short time. Assuming that the lane change time is a fixed value, assuming that there may be other vehicles that cannot be recognized near the host vehicle, it is impossible to implement lane change control to avoid a collision. I have to judge that there is. However, in the present invention, since the lane change time is shortened according to the recognizable area, the lane change control can be completed in a short time even when there is another vehicle near the host vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the chance of changing lanes from decreasing.

  On the other hand, when it is detected that the recognizable area is relatively large, it can be detected even in another vehicle at a position away from the host vehicle, and therefore the lane change control is executed over a long time. In this way, the lane change can be realized with gentle acceleration / deceleration, so that it is possible to prevent the ride comfort from being deteriorated by sudden acceleration / deceleration.

  As described above, according to the vehicle control device of the present invention, it is possible to suitably control the traveling of the vehicle while ensuring both the ride comfort when changing the lane and the opportunity for changing the lane.

  The effect | action and other gain of this invention are clarified from the form for implementing invention demonstrated below.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment. It is a top view which shows the preceding vehicle recognition area and white line recognition area of a vehicle. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the automatic driving | operation in preceding vehicle follow-up mode. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the automatic driving | operation in overtaking mode. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the recognizable area | region with respect to the other vehicle which drive | works an adjacent lane. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the recognizable area | region when a back vehicle exists. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the inter-vehicle distance with the back vehicle after a lane change. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of lane change by the vehicle control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a table | surface which shows the relationship between the distance between vehicles with a back vehicle, recognizable distance, and lane change time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Device configuration>
First, the configuration of the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, for convenience of explanation, only members deeply related to the present embodiment among the members for controlling the vehicle are illustrated, and the other members are not illustrated.

  In FIG. 1, the vehicle control device 10 includes an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 100, a front camera 110, a rear camera 115, a millimeter wave radar 120, a rear millimeter wave radar 125, an automatic operation switch 130, and a display 140 as main components. The electric accelerator 210, the electric brake 220, and the electric power steering 230 are provided.

  The ECU 100 is an electronic control unit that includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and is configured to be able to control the operation of each part of the vehicle. The ECU 100 is configured to be able to execute various controls in the vehicle according to a control program stored in a ROM or the like, for example.

  The front camera 110 mainly captures an image in front of the vehicle 1. The rear camera 115 mainly captures an image behind the vehicle. Signals indicating images captured by the front camera 110 and the rear camera 115 are transmitted to the ECU 100, respectively.

  The millimeter wave radar 120 emits a millimeter wave in front of the vehicle and receives a radio wave reflected by an object (for example, a preceding vehicle). Based on a propagation time, a frequency generated due to the Doppler effect, and the like, Measure the position of the object and the relative speed with the vehicle. The rear millimeter wave radar performs the same operation as the millimeter wave radar 120 on the rear side of the vehicle. Measurement results in the millimeter wave radar 120 and the rear millimeter wave radar 125 are transmitted to the ECU 100, respectively.

  The automatic operation switch 130 is provided at a position where the driver in the vehicle can operate, and the normal operation and the automatic operation can be switched to each other by operating the switch.

  The display 140 is, for example, a display such as (Human Machine Interface), HUD (Head Up Display), or car navigation, and is provided at a position that can be viewed by the driver or the passenger. Alternatively, it may be a display such as a portable terminal (for example, a smartphone) possessed by the driver of the vehicle. The display 140 is configured to perform display according to various signals transmitted from the ECU 100.

  The electric accelerator 210 is configured to execute vehicle acceleration control during automatic driving. Further, the electric brake 220 is configured to be able to execute deceleration control of the vehicle during automatic driving. According to the electric accelerator 210 and the electric brake 220, for example, ACC control can be executed based on information on the preceding vehicle obtained from the front camera 110 or the millimeter wave radar 120.

  The electric power steering 230 is configured to be able to execute steering control of the vehicle during automatic driving. According to the electric power steering 230, for example, LKA control can be executed based on white line information obtained from the front camera 110 and the millimeter wave radar 120.

  In addition, the ECU 100 according to the present embodiment particularly includes an other vehicle recognition unit 101, a recognition region detection unit 102, a lane change time setting unit 103, and a travel control unit 104.

  The rear vehicle recognition unit 101 is an example of “another vehicle recognition unit” according to the present invention, and recognizes a rear vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane based on a captured image of the rear camera 110 and a measurement result of the rear millimeter wave radar 125. To do. The rear vehicle recognition unit 101 not only detects the presence of the rear vehicle, but also detects various parameters used for lane change control, which will be described later, such as the acceleration of the rear vehicle and the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the rear vehicle. To do.

  The recognizable area detection unit 102 is an example of the “area detection unit” according to the present invention, and detects the size of the recognizable area in which the rear vehicle recognition unit 101 can recognize the rear vehicle. The recognizable area detection unit 102 detects, for example, an effective imaging range of the rear camera 110 and a measurable range of the rear millimeter wave radar 125 as a recognizable area. The recognizable area is usually constant depending on the specifications of the rear camera 110 and the rear millimeter wave radar 125, but may vary depending on the presence or absence of an obstacle. The recognizable area detection unit 102 is configured to be able to detect such a change in the size of the recognizable area.

  The lane change time setting unit 103 is an example of the “lane change time setting unit” according to the present invention, and the host vehicle controls the lane change based on the size of the recognizable area detected by the recognizable area detection unit 102. Set the time to spend. A specific method for setting the lane change time will be described in detail later.

  The travel control unit 104 is an example of the “travel control unit” according to the present invention, and controls the travel of the vehicle so that the lane change is completed at the lane change time set by the lane change time setting unit 103. Specifically, the traveling control unit 104 calculates the traveling locus, acceleration, and the like of the host vehicle based on the set lane change time, and controls the steering of the host vehicle by the electric power steering 230, as well as the electric accelerator 210 and the electric brake. Acceleration / deceleration control by 220 is executed.

<Automatic operation control>
Next, automatic driving control when there is a preceding vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a top view showing the preceding vehicle recognition area and the white line recognition area of the vehicle. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing automatic driving in the preceding vehicle following mode, and FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing automatic driving in the overtaking mode.

  In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the preceding vehicle 320 is traveling in front of the host vehicle 310 on which the vehicle control apparatus according to the present embodiment is mounted. In this case, when the host vehicle 310 is automatically operated, the white line 400 on the roadway is recognized by the front camera 110, and the electric power steering 230 is controlled so as to travel within the white line 400 (LKA control). Further, the preceding vehicle 320 is recognized by the millimeter wave radar 120, and the electric accelerator 210 and the electric brake 220 are controlled based on the distance between the preceding vehicle 320 and the like (ACC control).

  In FIG. 3, the host vehicle 310 at the time of automatic driving is controlled so as to travel with a constant distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle 320, for example. Specifically, the host vehicle 310 at the time when the automatic driving is started is controlled to travel while maintaining a predetermined set vehicle speed. If the speed of the preceding vehicle 320 is higher than the speed of the host vehicle 310 and the inter-vehicle distance gradually increases, acceleration control by the electric accelerator 210 is executed (that is, the set vehicle speed is temporarily increased). ). On the other hand, if the speed of the preceding vehicle 320 is slower than the speed of the host vehicle 310 and the inter-vehicle distance gradually decreases, deceleration control by the electric brake 220 (or control for loosening the electric accelerator 210) is executed ( That is, the set vehicle speed is temporarily reduced). Thereby, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 310 and the preceding vehicle 320 is kept constant.

  In FIG. 4, on the other hand, the host vehicle 310 may be controlled to run with priority given to keeping the set vehicle speed constant rather than keeping the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle 320 constant. In this case, if the speed of the preceding vehicle 320 is slower than the speed of the host vehicle 310 and the inter-vehicle distance gradually decreases, the lane change control to the overtaking lane by the electric power steering 230 is executed, and the host vehicle 310 Drive over the vehicle 320. In this way, even if there is a preceding vehicle 320 having a relative speed different from that of the host vehicle 310, the vehicle can travel with the set vehicle speed kept constant.

<Lane change control>
Next, lane change control that can be executed during the above-described overtaking control or the like will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a recognizable region for another vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a recognizable area when a rear vehicle is present, and FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an inter-vehicle distance with the rear vehicle after a lane change.

  In FIG. 5, when lane change control is executed during automatic driving, the presence of another vehicle 330 traveling in an adjacent lane (in other words, the lane to which the lane is changed) is recognized in order to perform a safe lane change. It is required to keep. For this reason, in the vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment, the other vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane is recognized using the rear camera 115, the rear millimeter wave radar 125, and the like. In the drawing, a recognizable region in which the other vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane can be recognized is shown by a region surrounded by a broken line. Here, since the other vehicle 330 is within the recognizable region, the host vehicle 310 can recognize the other vehicle 330.

  In FIG. 6, unlike the example of FIG. 5, it is assumed that the rear vehicle 340 is traveling directly behind the host vehicle 310 when trying to recognize another vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane. In this case, since the rear vehicle 340 becomes an obstacle, the recognizable area becomes smaller than usual (for example, as compared with the case of FIG. 5). Therefore, in the example of FIG. 6, although the positional relationship between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane is the same as that of the example of FIG. Therefore, in this case, the host vehicle 310 cannot recognize the other vehicle 330.

If the host vehicle 310 cannot recognize the other vehicle 330, it is considered that various problems related to the lane change control occur. Below, the problem which arises in the comparative example with which time to lane change control was fixed by _TL is considered.

  In order to implement the lane change control, after the host vehicle 310 changes the lane, there is a condition that an inter-vehicle distance corresponding to a collision margin time TTC (Time TO Collision) exists between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330. It is said.

  In FIG. 7, when the speed of the host vehicle 310 is V1 and the speed of the other vehicle 330 is V2, the relative speed Vr between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 is expressed by the following formula (1).

Vr = V2-V1 (1)
Then, the inter-vehicle distance de required between the vehicle 310 and another vehicle 330 after the lane change, when the collision tolerable time TTC and T _T, given by the following equation (2).

de = T _T × Vr (2)
Further, the change dv of the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 due to the execution of the lane change control is expressed by the following formula (3).

dv = _TL × Vr (3)
Here, when determining whether or not lane change control is possible, the inter-vehicle distance required between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane, in other words, the minimum recognizable distance ds that can be determined that the lane change control can be executed, It can be considered as the sum of the inter-vehicle distance de corresponding to the collision allowance time TTC and the inter-vehicle distance change dv by the lane change control. Accordingly, the recognizable distance ds obtained when determining whether or not to change lanes is expressed by the following formula (4).

ds = T _T × Vr + T _L × Vr (4)
Incidentally, the relative speed Vr between the host vehicle 310 and another vehicle 330 20km / h (≒ 5.54m / s), the lane change time _{T L} 6 seconds, assuming the collision tolerable time _{T T} 5 seconds, lane change The recognizable distance ds required when determining whether or not it is possible is 60.94 m. Therefore, in the vehicle control device according to the comparative example under the assumption described above, when the recognizable distance ds is less than 60.94 m, regardless of whether the other vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane actually exists or not. Lane change control cannot be executed. Therefore, if the recognizable area is narrowed due to the presence of the rear vehicle 340, the chance of changing lanes is greatly limited.

<Change control of lane change time>
Next, the operation of the vehicle control apparatus according to the present embodiment that can solve the problems that occur in the comparative example described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of lane change by the vehicle control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a table showing the relationship between the inter-vehicle distance, the recognizable distance, and the lane change time with the rear vehicle.

  In the following description, a case will be described in which the host vehicle 310 that is running in lane keeps performing lane change control in order to overtake the preceding vehicle 320 that is slower than the host vehicle 310 (for example, the example of FIG. 4). See).

  In FIG. 8, at the time of operation of the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment, it is first determined whether or not the lane change control should be performed (step S101). Specifically, for example, it is determined whether the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle 320 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. When it is determined that the lane change control should not be performed (step S101: NO), the lane keeping traveling is maintained (step S110).

  If it is determined that lane change control should be performed (step S101: YES), recognition of the surrounding environment of the host vehicle 310 is executed (step S102). Here, the “peripheral environment” is a concept that includes various information on other vehicles that may affect the lane change control of the host vehicle 310, and specifically includes the rear camera 115 and the rear millimeter wave. It is detected by the radar 125 or the like as the inter-vehicle distance from the other vehicle 330 traveling in the adjacent lane, the acceleration of the other vehicle, or the like, and recognized by the other vehicle recognition unit 101 of the ECU 100.

  Particularly in the present embodiment, as the above-described surrounding environment, the recognizable area detection unit 102 detects the size of the recognizable area where the other vehicle 330 in the adjacent lane can be recognized. Here, it is assumed that the size of the recognizable area is detected as the length in the traveling direction (that is, the recognizable distance ds shown in FIG. 6). The recognizable distance ds may be obtained directly from the image analysis result of the rear camera 115 or the measurement result of the rear millimeter wave radar 125, for example, or indirectly based on the inter-vehicle distance from the rear vehicle 340 (see FIG. 6). May be required.

  When the surrounding environment is recognized, the lane change time setting unit 103 sets the lane change time based on the surrounding environment. When the lane change time setting unit 103 can recognize the other vehicle 330 traveling in the adjacent lane, the lane change time setting unit 103 preferably avoids the other vehicle based on the inter-vehicle distance from the other vehicle 330, the acceleration of the other vehicle 330, and the like. Set a lane change time to complete the change. On the other hand, when the other vehicle 330 cannot be recognized (that is, when the other vehicle 330 does not exist in the recognizable area), the other vehicle 330 exists immediately outside the recognizable area in order to ensure safety. Assuming lane change time. That is, in such a case, the lane change time is set based on the size of the recognizable area.

Here, even when the other vehicle 330 exists just outside the recognizable area, the lane change time _TL for securing the collision allowance time TTC after the lane change is calculated by the above-described equation (4). The following expression (5) is used.

T _L = (ds / Vr) −T _T (5)
Thus, lane change time _{T L} is recognizable distance ds, relative speed Vr (estimated value) between the host vehicle 310 and another vehicle 330, and can be obtained by using the collision tolerable time _{T T.} As can be seen from Equation (5), the lane change time _TL is set as a longer time as the recognizable distance ds is larger.

  In FIG. 9, assuming that both the vehicle width of the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 are 1.7 m and the lane width is 3.5 m, the detected distance between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 is The recognizable distance ds can be estimated. Specifically, when the inter-vehicle distance is 2 m, the recognizable distance ds can be estimated to be 12.35 m. When the inter-vehicle distance is 5 m, the recognizable distance ds can be estimated as 30.85 m. When the inter-vehicle distance is 10 m, the recognizable distance ds can be estimated to be 61.7 m. When the inter-vehicle distance is 15 m, the recognizable distance ds can be estimated as 92.55 m.

Assuming that the relative speed Vr between the host vehicle 310 and the other vehicle 330 is 20 km / h and the collision allowance time _TT is 5 seconds, the lane change time _TL can be calculated using the relationship of the above formula (5). . Specifically, when the recognizable distance ds is 12.35 m (that is, when the inter-vehicle distance is 2 m), it can be calculated that the appropriate lane change time _TL is −2.7 seconds. When the recognizable distance ds is 30.85 m (that is, when the inter-vehicle distance is 5 m), it can be calculated that the appropriate lane change time _TL is 0.553 seconds. When the recognizable distance ds is 61.7 m (that is, when the inter-vehicle distance is 10 m), it can be calculated that the appropriate lane change time _TL is 6.106 seconds. When the recognizable distance ds is 92.55 m (that is, when the inter-vehicle distance is 15 m), it can be calculated that the appropriate lane change time _TL is 11.659 seconds. In addition, what is necessary is just to determine that lane change control is impossible when the lane change time _TL becomes minus like the case where the recognizable distance ds of the said example is 12.35 m.

Returning to FIG. 8, when the lane change time _TL is calculated, the travel control unit 104 sets a lane change target trajectory that can complete the lane change control in the calculated lane change time _TL (step S104). ). Then, the traveling control unit 104 controls the traveling of the host vehicle 310 along the lane change target locus (step S105).

As described above, according to the vehicle control device according to the present embodiment, the lane change time _TL is calculated based on the recognizable distance ds, so that lane change control corresponding to the situation can be realized. Specifically, even when the recognizable distance ds is narrowed due to the presence of the rear vehicle 340, the lane change control can be reliably performed by shortening the lane change time _TL . Therefore, it can reduce that the opportunity of a lane change reduces like the comparative example mentioned above. Further, when the recognizable distance ds is not narrowed, the lane change control with good ride comfort (that is, no sudden acceleration / deceleration) can be performed by increasing the lane change time _TL . Therefore, it is possible to suitably control the travel of the vehicle while ensuring both the ride comfort when changing the lane and the opportunity to change the lane.

In order to further improve the riding comfort when changing lanes, a lower limit value may be set for the lane change time lane change time _TL . For example, if the lower limit value of the lane change time _TL is 2 seconds, the lane change time _TL is calculated as an extremely short time of 0.553 seconds as in the case where the recognizable distance ds is 30.85 m in FIG. In such a case, it is determined that the lane change control is impossible even if the lane change time _TL is not negative. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a sudden acceleration / deceleration from being performed and the ride comfort from being deteriorated.

In addition, an upper limit value may be set for the lane change time _TL . For example, if the lower limit value of the lane change time _TL is 10 seconds, the lane change time _TL is set to a relatively long time of 11.659 seconds as in the case where the recognizable distance ds in FIG. 9 is 92.55 m. In such a case, the lane change control is executed assuming that the lane change time _TL is the upper limit value of 10 seconds. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the lane change control from being performed unnecessarily for a long time.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the configuration and control deeply related to the present invention have been mainly described. However, the vehicle may be provided with other configurations related to automatic driving, or other control related to automatic driving is executed. It does not matter.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention that can be read from the claims and the entire specification. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 10 ... Vehicle control apparatus, 100 ... ECU, 101 ... Back vehicle recognition part, 102 ... Recognizable area | region detection part, 103 ... Lane change time setting part, 104 ... Travel control part, 110 ... Front camera, 115 ... Rear camera, 120 ... millimeter wave radar, 125 ... rear millimeter wave radar, 130 ... automatic operation switch, 140 ... display, 210 ... electric accelerator, 220 ... electric brake, 230 ... electric power steering, 310 ... own vehicle, 320 ... preceding Vehicle, 330 ... adjacent lane other vehicle, 340 ... rear vehicle, 400 ... white line.

Claims (1)

A vehicle control device capable of at least partially automatically executing a vehicle lane change operation,
Other vehicle recognition means for recognizing another vehicle traveling in the lane of the vehicle lane change destination;
A region detecting unit for detecting a recognizable region capable of recognizing the other vehicle by the other vehicle recognizing unit;
A lane change time setting means for setting a longer lane change time to be used for a lane change of the vehicle, as the recognizable area is larger,
A vehicle control apparatus comprising: a travel control unit that controls travel of the vehicle so that the lane change is completed in the lane change time.

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