JP7026074B2 - Remote driving systems, methods and programs for self-driving vehicles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a remote driving system, a method and a program for remotely driving an autonomous driving vehicle, and more particularly to a remote driving system, a method and a program for an autonomous driving vehicle suitable for remote control of the steering of the autonomous driving vehicle.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 describe autonomous driving that enables Level 4 autonomous driving on the route given by the car navigation system while recognizing the position of the vehicle and surrounding objects using sensors such as cameras and GNSS. It has been disclosed. Further, "Autoware" (registered trademark) is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 as open source software for an automatic driving system.

It is assumed that the autonomous driving vehicle will be equipped with an automatic driving system (including remote driving function), a cellular communication system, and a camera that photographs the surroundings of the vehicle, and the video information around the vehicle is remotely transmitted via the communication line. In addition to being provided to the operator on the side, operation signals such as the handle, accelerator, and brake on the remote side are transmitted. The transmitted operation signal reaches the ECU (engine control unit) via the autonomous driving system and the in-vehicle network in the autonomous driving vehicle, for example, CAN (Controller Area Network), and finally the vehicle is operated. From the vehicle side, vehicle speed, gear selection information, current values of steering, accelerator, and brake are transmitted.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-142921 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-77845

https://github.com/CPFL/Autoware/tree/master/ui/web/remote_monitor

There is no standard controller for remote control of steering, and game controllers are often used to imitate the driving mechanism of autonomous vehicles. However, in addition to the mechanical resistance inherent in the actual vehicle, the steering system of the autonomous driving vehicle generates resistance according to the frictional force between the tire and the road surface, so the resistance force required for steering operation according to the road surface condition. Changes.

On the other hand, the steering system of the game controller does not generate resistance force according to the road surface condition, and there is no means for reflecting the physical characteristics peculiar to the autonomous driving vehicle in the steering system. Therefore, in general, the resistance force at the time of steering operation is smaller in the game controller than in the self-driving vehicle. As a result, a difference occurs between the steering angle of the autonomous driving vehicle and the steering angle of the game controller, and when this difference becomes large, it becomes difficult for the operator to turn the autonomous driving vehicle as desired.

At present, absorption of such differences is left to the operator who operates the steering on the steering controller side, and the operator takes measures such as visually adjusting to the steering angle on the vehicle side. This causes an increase in the load on the operator.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above technical problems so that when the steering of an autonomous driving vehicle is remotely controlled from a remote driving system, there is no difference between the steering angle of the autonomous driving vehicle and the steering angle of the remote driving system. The purpose is to provide a remote driving system, method and program for an autonomous vehicle capable of operating the steering of the remote driving system.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that it is provided with the following configuration in a remote driving system in which the first steering of the autonomous driving vehicle is remotely controlled by the second steering of the steering controller.

(1) Means for acquiring the steering angle of the first steering detected by the automatically driving vehicle, means for transmitting the steering angle of the second steering as the target steering angle of the first steering to the automatically driving vehicle, and the acquired first steering. The second steering is provided with a means for detecting the difference between the steering angle and the steering angle of the second steering as a steering angle difference, and a means for generating a steering resistance force corresponding to the steering angle difference in the second steering.

(2) The means for generating the steering resistance force is such that the steering resistance force decreases as the steering angle difference increases.

(3) As the means for generating the steering resistance force, the steering resistance force is increased as the steering angle difference is larger.

(4) When the steering resistance force increases as the steering angle difference increases, the steering resistance force in the direction in which the steering angle difference decreases is made smaller than the steering resistance force in the direction in which the steering angle difference increases.

(5) The means for generating the steering resistance force is to cause a steering controller having a driving force function to generate a steering resistance force corresponding to the input signal in the second steering to input a signal corresponding to the steering resistance force. I made it.

(6) The means for acquiring the steering angle of the first steering is to receive the steering angle from the self-driving vehicle via the cellular line.

(7) The steering resistance force can be obtained by applying the steering angle difference to the conversion function having logistic characteristics.

(8) The parameters of the conversion function are variable according to the running condition of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved.

(1) Since the steering of the steering controller generates a steering resistance force according to the steering angle difference from the steering of the automatically driving vehicle, the operator of the steering controller can feel that the steering operation of the automatically driving vehicle causes friction with the road surface or obstacles. Even under the influence of, the steering of the steering controller can be operated with the same feeling as actually operating the steering of the automatically driving vehicle. As a result, the steering operation can be performed according to the situation of the self-driving vehicle, and the self-driving vehicle can be remotely controlled according to the operator's intention.

(2) If the steering resistance force is reduced as the steering angle difference is larger, it becomes easier for the operator to operate the steering of the steering controller so that the steering angle difference becomes smaller when the steering angle difference is large. Further, when the steering angle difference is small, the steering resistance force becomes large, so that the operation of getting out of the state where the steering angle difference is small can be hindered, and it becomes easy to maintain the state where the steering angle difference is small. Further, even when the steering controller does not have a function of differently changing the steering resistance force for each steering direction of the steering, it is possible to support accurate steering operation according to the situation of the autonomous driving vehicle.

(3) If the steering resistance force is increased as the steering angle difference is larger, it is possible to hinder the operation of increasing the steering angle difference between the steering steering angle of the steering controller and the steering steering angle of the automatically driven vehicle. Accurate steering operation according to the situation of the self-driving vehicle becomes possible.

(4) When the steering resistance force increases as the steering angle difference increases, the steering resistance force in the direction in which the steering angle difference decreases is smaller than the steering resistance force in the direction in which the steering angle difference increases. Steering with a small difference in steering angle can be facilitated while hindering steering with a large difference.

(5) Since the steering controller equipped with the driving force function is made to input the signal corresponding to the steering resistance force, remote control of the steering according to the situation of the automatically driving vehicle is performed while using the general-purpose steering controller. Will be possible.

(6) Since the steering angle is received from the self-driving vehicle via the cellular line, accurate remote driving is possible regardless of the distance from the self-driving vehicle.

(7) Since the steering resistance force is obtained by applying the steering angle difference to the conversion function having logistic characteristics, the steering resistance force generated in the steering of the autonomous driving vehicle can be accurately reproduced by the steering of the steering controller. Become.

(8) Since the parameters of the conversion function are variable according to the driving condition of the vehicle, accurate remote control of the steering is possible regardless of the traveling condition of the autonomous driving vehicle.

It is a functional block diagram of the remote control system of the self-driving vehicle to which this invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram of the difference signal detection part. It is a figure which showed the relationship (the 1) between the steering angle difference and the steering resistance value. It is a figure which showed how the operator operates a steering controller. It is a figure which showed an example of a remote control screen. It is a figure which showed the detail of the steering angle comparison image. It is a figure which showed the relationship (the 2) between the steering angle difference and the steering resistance value.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle to which the present invention is applied, from the autonomous driving system unit 1 mounted on the autonomous driving vehicle corresponding to remote operation and the autonomous driving vehicle. It includes a remote driving system unit 2 that is installed at a distant place and receives remote operation by an operator to remotely drive an autonomous driving vehicle.

The system units 1 and 2 are connected to each other via a cellular line 3 so as to be able to communicate with each other, and various remote operations including the steering operation input to the steering ST2 of the remote operation system unit 2 are transmitted to the automatic operation system unit 1 for automatic operation. It is reflected in various operations including vehicle steering operation.

In the automatic driving system unit 1, the steering angle information receiving unit 101 receives steering angle information including the steering angle of the steering ST2 from the steering angle information transmitting unit 205 of the remote driving system unit 2. The CAN information generation unit 102 converts the steering angle information into a CAN format and transfers it to the vehicle ECU 103 via the CAN bus.

The vehicle ECU 103 notifies the steering drive unit (not shown) of the acquired steering angle as the target steering angle of the vehicle steering ST1. As a result, the vehicle steering ST1 is electrically or mechanically steered to be equal to the target steering angle.

The CAN information acquisition unit 104 acquires CAN information including the steering angle of the vehicle steering ST1 detected by the vehicle ECU 103 and converted into the CAN format from the CAN bus. The steering angle information extraction unit 105 acquires steering angle information including the steering angle from the acquired CAN information. The steering angle information transmission unit 106 transmits the steering angle information to the remote control system unit 2 via the cellular line 3.

In the remote driving system unit 2, the steering angle information receiving unit 201 receives the steering angle information (vehicle-side steering angle) transmitted by the automatic driving system unit 1. The difference signal detection unit 202 obtains the difference (steering angle difference DA) between the steering angle information (steering angle on the controller side) output by the steering controller 204 described in detail later in response to the operation of the steering ST2 and the steering angle on the vehicle side. It is obtained and output to the steering resistance force determining unit 203.

The steering controller 204 is, for example, a racing game controller "G29 Driving Force" manufactured by Logitech (registered trademark), and responds to an external input in addition to a function of outputting a steering angle signal in conjunction with the operation of the steering ST2. It has a driving force function that causes the steering ST2 to generate steering resistance.

As will be described in detail later, the resistance force determining unit 203 provides the steering angle resistance value Res corresponding to the steering angle difference DA to the steering controller 204 as an external input. As a result, a steering resistance force corresponding to the steering angle difference DA is generated in the steering ST2, and when the operator steers the steering ST2 against the steering resistance force, the steering angle at that time is output from the steering controller 204. Will be.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the difference signal detection unit 202. The steering angle on the controller side output by the steering controller 204 is, for example, a discrete signal output at intervals of about 50 ms, and is a discrete signal output from the steering angle information receiving unit 201. The acquired vehicle-side steering angle is a discrete signal that is updated irregularly only when the steering angle of the automatically driven vehicle changes. In each steering angle signal, in order to determine the steering direction, the immediately preceding signal values are temporarily stored in the buffers 202a and 202b, respectively.

The steering direction OR on the controller side is given by the following equation (1) when the current value of the steering angle on the controller side is ARcur and the immediately preceding value (buffer output) is ARprev.

OR ＝ ARcur --ARprev… (1)

The vehicle-side steering direction OC is given by the following equation (2) when the current value of the vehicle-side steering angle is ACcur and the immediately preceding value is ACprev.

OC ＝ ACcur --ACprev… (2)

The steering angle difference DA is defined by the following equation (3).

DA ＝ ｜ ARcur --ACcur ｜… (3)

The steering resistance force determining unit 203 determines the magnitude and direction of the final steering resistance force based on the three output signals OR, OC, and DA, and realizes the driving force function of the steering controller 204. Supply to external input.

Here, since the expression of steering resistance depends on the specifications of the steering controller 204, the present embodiment defines a normalized steering resistance value Res output method. Here, assuming that the steering angle difference DA is also normalized between -1 and +1, it fluctuates in the range of 0 ≦ DA ≦ 2. In this embodiment, the steering resistance value Res is defined by the following equation (4).

Res = c0 + c1 / (1 + exp ((DA-c2) / c3))… (4)

Here, c0, c1, c2, and c3 are parameters set according to the specifications of the steering controller 204. The steering resistance value Res is expressed as a logistic function having a value of 0 to 1 according to the value of the steering angle difference DA. FIG. 3 shows an example of logistic characteristics when c0 = 1, c1 = 1, c2 = 1, and c3 = 0.2. The steering resistance force value decreases as the steering angle difference increases, and the steering angle difference increases. The smaller the value, the larger the value.

The relationship between the steering angle difference DA and the steering resistance value is not fixed to a predetermined logistic characteristic, and the parameters c0 = 1, c1 = 1, c2 = 1, c3 = 0.2 depending on the vehicle speed and the road surface condition. It may be optimized by changing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the operator operates the steering controller 204, and the operator steers the steering ST2 of the steering controller 204 while checking the display 200. In the present embodiment, the steering resistance force determined by the steering resistance force determining unit 203 is supplied as an external input, so that the resistance force when the operator steers the steering ST2 changes depending on its magnitude.

The controller-side steering angle output by the steering controller 204 is supplied to the difference signal detection unit 202 and used for detecting the steering angle difference DA, while being supplied to the steering angle information transmission unit 205 for the automatic driving system 1. Will be sent to. The display 200 displays the driving status of the self-driving vehicle and the operating status of the steering controller 204.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a remote control screen displayed on the display 200. In the present embodiment, five cameras are mounted on the automatically driving vehicle, and the driver's field view image I1 taken by the first camera, the passenger's seat field view image I2 taken by the second camera, and the right side image I3 taken by the third camera. The left side image I4 taken by the 4th camera and the speedometer image I5 taken by the 5th camera are displayed respectively.

Further, in the present embodiment, the steering operation image I6 showing the steering angle of the automatically driven vehicle, the instrument panel image I7 configured based on the speed signal and the engine rotation speed signal acquired from the automatically driven vehicle, and the automatically driven vehicle A steering angle comparison image I8 and various indicators I9 showing the relative relationship between the steering angle of the steering ST1 and the steering angle of the steering ST2 of the steering controller 204 are displayed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the details of the steering angle comparison image I8. In the "Vehicle Steer", the current steering angle of the steering ST1 of the autonomous driving vehicle is set, and the left and right ends of the rectangular frame are set to the left steering limit and the left steering limit, respectively. The relative position when the right steering limit is set is represented by the circle P1. Similarly, in the "Controller Steer", the current steering angle of the steering ST2 of the steering controller 204 is represented by a circle P2. Therefore, the horizontal misalignment of each circle P1 and P2 expresses the difference in steering angle of each steering.

Since the steering ST2 of the steering controller 204 generates a steering resistance force according to the difference in steering angles, the operator refers to the steering angle comparison image I8 when operating the steering ST2, and the difference in steering angles is zero. Or, operate the steering ST2 against the steering resistance while paying attention to maintain the state close to zero.

According to the present embodiment, since a steering resistance force is generated in the steering ST2 of the steering controller 204 so as to reduce the steering angle difference DA with the steering ST1 of the automatically driving vehicle, the operator automatically performs the steering ST2 of the steering controller 4. Steering of the driving vehicle ST1 You will be able to operate with the same operation feeling as you actually operate. As a result, the steering operation can be performed according to the situation of the self-driving vehicle, and the self-driving vehicle can be remotely controlled according to the operator's intention.

That is, according to the present embodiment, the steering resistance force becomes smaller as the steering angle difference DA becomes larger. Therefore, when the steering angle difference DA is large, it is easy for the operator to operate the steering of the steering controller so that this becomes smaller. become. Further, when the steering angle difference DA is small, the steering resistance force becomes large, so that it is possible to hinder the operation of getting out of the state where the steering angle difference DA is small, and it is easy to maintain the proper state where the steering angle difference DA is small. become.

Further, in the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to consider the steering direction when determining the steering resistance force based on the steering angle difference DA, the steering controller 204 has a function of making the steering resistance force different for each steering direction of the steering ST2. Even if you do not have it, you can support accurate steering operation according to the situation of the automatically driven vehicle.

In the above embodiment, the steering resistance force is described as being smaller as the steering angle difference DA is larger, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 7, the steering angle is not limited to this. The steering resistance may be increased as the difference DA is larger.

By doing so, it is possible to prevent an operation that increases the steering angle difference DA between the steering angle of the steering controller 204 and the steering angle of the automatically driving vehicle, so that the operation is accurate according to the situation of the automatically driving vehicle. Steering operation is possible.

However, if the steering resistance force is determined based only on the steering angle difference DA, the steering resistance force when steering in the direction of reducing the steering angle difference DA also increases from the state where the steering angle difference DA is large, so that the steering angle difference DA also increases. It is desirable that the steering resistance force in the direction of decreasing is smaller than the steering resistance force in the direction of increasing.

1 ... Automatic driving system unit, 2 ... Remote driving system unit, 100, 200 ... Steering, 101 ... Steering angle information receiving unit, 102 ... CAN information generation unit, 103 ... Vehicle ECU, 104 ... CAN information acquisition unit, 105 ... Steering Angle information extraction unit, 106 ... Steering angle information transmission unit, 201 ... Steering angle information reception unit, 202 ... Difference signal detection unit, 203 ... Steering resistance force determination unit, 204 ... Steering controller, 205 ... Steering angle information transmission unit, ST1 … Steering of self-driving vehicle, ST2… Steering of steering controller

Claims (14)

In a remote driving system in which the first steering of an autonomous vehicle is remotely controlled by the second steering of the steering controller.
A means for acquiring the steering angle of the first steering detected by the autonomous driving vehicle , and
A means for transmitting the steering angle of the second steering as the target steering angle of the first steering to the autonomous driving vehicle,
A means for detecting the difference between the acquired steering angle of the first steering and the steering angle of the second steering as a steering angle difference , and
A remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle, comprising a means for generating a steering resistance force corresponding to the steering angle difference in the second steering. The remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating the steering resistance force is to reduce the steering resistance force as the steering angle difference is larger. The remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating the steering resistance force increases the steering resistance force as the steering angle difference increases. The remote driving system for an automatic driving vehicle according to claim 3, wherein the steering resistance force in the direction in which the steering angle difference is small is smaller than the steering resistance force in the direction in which the steering angle difference is large. The means for generating the steering resistance force is characterized in that a steering controller having a driving force function for generating a steering resistance force corresponding to the input signal is input to a signal corresponding to the steering resistance force. The remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the means for acquiring the steering angle of the first steering is receiving the steering angle from the autonomous driving vehicle via a cellular line. The remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the steering resistance force is obtained by applying the steering angle difference to a conversion function having a logistic characteristic. The remote driving system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the parameters of the conversion function are variable according to the traveling state of the vehicle. In the remote driving method in which the first steering of the autonomous driving vehicle is remotely controlled by the second steering of the steering controller.
The computer acquires the steering angle of the first steering detected by the self-driving vehicle ,
The computer transmits the steering angle of the second steering as the target steering angle of the first steering to the autonomous driving vehicle.
The computer detects the difference between the acquired steering angle of the first steering and the steering angle of the second steering as the steering angle difference, and determines the difference.
A remote control method for an autonomous vehicle , wherein a computer generates a steering resistance force corresponding to the steering angle difference in the second steering. The remote driving method for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the steering resistance force is reduced as the steering angle difference is large. The remote driving method for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 9, wherein the steering resistance force is increased as the steering angle difference is larger. In a remote driving program in which the first steering of an autonomous vehicle is remotely controlled by the second steering of the steering controller,
The procedure for acquiring the steering angle of the first steering detected by the autonomous driving vehicle , and
The procedure for transmitting the steering angle of the second steering as the target steering angle of the first steering to the autonomous driving vehicle, and
A procedure for detecting the difference between the acquired steering angle of the first steering and the steering angle of the second steering as a steering angle difference , and
A remote driving program for an autonomous vehicle that causes a computer to execute a procedure for generating a steering resistance force corresponding to the steering angle difference in the second steering. The remote driving program for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the steering resistance force is reduced as the steering angle difference is large. The remote driving program for an autonomous driving vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the steering resistance force is increased as the steering angle difference is larger.

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