JP7175344B1 - VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM, VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD AND VEHICLE CONTROL PROGRAM - Google Patents

Abstract

Kind Code: A1 A vehicle control device capable of smooth evasive action against the behavior of a surrounding vehicle is obtained. A vehicle control device 100 of the present disclosure includes a behavior type prediction unit 120 that predicts a behavior type of a surrounding vehicle 30, an occurrence probability calculation unit 130 that calculates an occurrence probability for each behavior type of a surrounding vehicle 30, and a behavior A behavior type selection unit 140 that selects a behavior type whose occurrence probability for each type is greater than a selection threshold, a surrounding vehicle position prediction unit 150 that predicts the position of a surrounding vehicle in the selected behavior type, and a surrounding vehicle 30 , an avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 that calculates an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the self-vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance operation, and an avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type. An after-adjusted avoidance operation amount calculation unit 170 that calculates an increased or decreased post-adjustment avoidance operation amount, and a vehicle control unit 180 that controls the operation of the host vehicle 1 based on the after-adjustment avoidance operation amount. [Selection drawing] Fig. 1

Description

The present application relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control system, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program.

Various techniques have been proposed for avoiding collisions by predicting the future behavior of surrounding vehicles when automatically driving a vehicle. For example, in Patent Document 1, based on the predicted routes of surrounding vehicles and the predicted route of the own vehicle, the probability of occurrence of a collision type is used to determine whether or not the own vehicle satisfies the safety conditions, thereby determining the travel route of the own vehicle. A vehicle control technique is disclosed for determining the . In such a vehicle control technique, when there is no travel route for the own vehicle that satisfies the above safety conditions, travel routes greater than the predetermined number are generated again and the safety conditions are evaluated.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-64088

In the vehicle control technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when an erroneous prediction is included in the behavior predictions of surrounding vehicles, the travel route of the own vehicle is evaluated based on the erroneous prediction. However, there is a risk that an appropriate travel route will not be selected. In addition, there is a problem that the incorrect prediction may cause the host vehicle to decelerate or steer inappropriately, giving the driver a sense of discomfort.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is intended to allow the vehicle to travel stably by predicting the future behavior of surrounding vehicles and appropriately avoiding the surrounding vehicles. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle control device capable of

The vehicle control device disclosed in the present application includes:
a behavior type prediction unit that predicts one or more future behavior types of surrounding vehicles existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle;
an occurrence probability calculation unit for calculating an occurrence probability for each action type predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
an action type selection unit that selects an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
a surrounding vehicle position prediction unit that predicts the future position of the surrounding vehicle in the selected action type;
Calculates an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the own vehicle to avoid the surrounding vehicle with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle predicted by the surrounding vehicle position prediction unit. an avoidance operation amount calculation unit that sets the avoidance operation amount to zero when the occurrence probability of the selected action type is lower than the threshold for each action type ;
an adjusted avoidance operation amount calculation unit that calculates an adjusted avoidance operation amount after increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type;
a vehicle control unit that controls one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the host vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount.

The vehicle control system disclosed in the present application includes:
the vehicle control device;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information on the host vehicle and the peripheral vehicles;
and a controller section that controls traveling of the host vehicle based on the output of the vehicle control section.

The vehicle control method disclosed in the present application includes:
A vehicle control method for executing each of the following steps by a computer,
a step of predicting one or more future behavior types of surrounding vehicles existing in the vicinity of the subject vehicle;
calculating an occurrence probability for each behavior type predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
a step of selecting an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
predicting future locations of the surrounding vehicles for the selected activity type;
calculating an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the self-vehicle to avoid the surrounding vehicle with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle, and calculating the occurrence probability of the selected action type; is lower than the threshold for each action type, setting the avoidance operation amount to zero ;
calculating an adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained by increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type;
and controlling one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the own vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount.

A vehicle control program disclosed in the present application causes a processing circuit to execute the vehicle control method described above.

According to the vehicle control device, the vehicle control system, the vehicle control method, and the vehicle control program according to the present disclosure, the self-vehicle predicts the future behavior of the surrounding vehicles and appropriately avoids the surrounding vehicles. Since a smooth avoidance operation can be realized, there is an effect that the passenger's riding comfort is improved.

1 is a functional block diagram showing configurations of a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of hardware of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system according to Embodiment 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a coordinate system of the host vehicle according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram showing the operation of the vehicle control device and the vehicle control method according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the vehicle control device and the vehicle control method according to Embodiment 1; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the vehicle control device and the vehicle control method according to Embodiment 1; FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method according to Embodiment 2; FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control device according to Embodiment 3; FIG. 11 is a flow chart diagram showing a processing flow of an avoidance operation amount calculation unit in a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method according to Embodiment 3; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration that implements the vehicle control devices of Embodiments 1 to 3; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration that implements the vehicle control devices of Embodiments 1 to 3; FIG.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing schematic configurations of a vehicle control device 100 and a vehicle control system 500 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. A vehicle control system 500 includes a vehicle control device 100 , an information acquisition section 200 and a controller section 300 .

The vehicle control device 100 includes a surrounding vehicle behavior prediction section 110 , an avoidance operation amount calculation section 160 , an after-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation section 170 and a vehicle control section 180 .

The information acquisition section 200 includes an own vehicle information acquisition section 210 , a surrounding vehicle information acquisition section 220 and a road information acquisition section 230 .

The controller unit 300 includes an EPS (Electric Power Steering) controller 310 , a powertrain controller 320 and a brake controller 330 .

The surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 of the vehicle control device 100 further includes a behavior type prediction unit 120 , an occurrence probability calculation unit 130 , a behavior type selection unit 140 and a surrounding vehicle position prediction unit 150 . The vehicle control unit 180 also includes a target route generation unit 190 .

The behavior type prediction unit 120 outputs, for each surrounding vehicle 30, a prediction of the type of behavior that the surrounding vehicle 30 may take in the future, based on the surrounding vehicle information acquired by the surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 220. FIG. Here, the peripheral vehicle 30 refers to another vehicle that exists in the vicinity of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "own vehicle") equipped with the vehicle control system 500 . Although the surrounding vehicle 30 will be mainly described below, pedestrians may be included in addition to the surrounding vehicle 30. In this case, the term surrounding vehicle may be replaced with surrounding object.

Further, the action type is information on the type of action taken by the surrounding vehicle 30. For example, the current lane keeping action of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle 30 is currently traveling and traveling at a constant speed, These include the current lane deceleration action of decelerating while maintaining the lane, and the lane change action of changing the lane to an adjacent lane.

The occurrence probability calculation unit 130 calculates, for each of the surrounding vehicles 30, an action type occurrence probability P representing the probability of occurrence of the action type. The action type selection unit 140 outputs which action type is selected for each surrounding vehicle 30 . The surrounding vehicle position prediction unit 150 outputs a predicted position, which is the future position of the surrounding vehicle 30 based on the action type.

For the computation of the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110, for example, the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 6272566 can be applied. That is, based on the relationship between the target surrounding vehicle 30 and the surrounding vehicles 30 further existing in the vicinity of the surrounding vehicle 30, such as relative positions and relative velocities, when the surrounding vehicle 30 takes each set action type, The vehicle behavior is evaluated, and the occurrence probability P of the action type representing the possibility of occurrence in the future for each action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is calculated. Further, the future predicted position corresponding to each action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is calculated.

The prediction result of the behavior type and position of the surrounding vehicle 30 calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 may include predictions for a plurality of surrounding vehicles 30 . Furthermore, a plurality of action types may be included for one surrounding vehicle 30 . Therefore, it is assumed that the behavior type prediction results calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 include predictions of behavior types for the M number of surrounding vehicles 30. and Assuming that the prediction of the m-th surrounding vehicle includes N action types, the n-th action type among them is assumed to be the n-th action type.

The avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 performs an avoidance operation of the surrounding vehicle 30 predicted at a future time for the own vehicle 1 based on the prediction result of the action type and position of the surrounding vehicle 30 obtained from the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 . Calculate the avoidance operation amount for

In the vehicle control device 100 according to Embodiment 1, when the travel route information of the lane in which the vehicle 1 is currently traveling is acquired from the road information acquisition unit 230 and the vehicle 1 follows the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling, It is assumed that the avoidance operation is performed by decelerating the surrounding vehicle 30 ahead of the own vehicle 1 .

The post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation unit 170 sets an upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount for adjusting the avoidance operation amount calculated by the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 under various conditions. Based on the value U, an avoidance operation amount after adjustment is calculated by carrying out upper limit processing of the avoidance operation amount. Setting of the upper limit value U will be described later.

For example, the amount of avoidance operation required for the avoidance action of the own vehicle 1 is defined as the deceleration of the own vehicle 1 required to decelerate and perform the avoidance action with respect to the surrounding vehicle 30 . It should be noted that the speed, jerk, etc. for realizing the deceleration of the own vehicle 1 can also be defined as the avoidance operation amount. Details of the processing will be described later.

The vehicle control unit 180 obtains information on the avoidance operation amount obtained from the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 or the adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained from the post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation unit 170 and vehicle information from the information acquisition unit 200 . A target steering angle to be output to the EPS controller 310 of the controller unit 300 is calculated and output using the state quantity of the own vehicle 1 obtained.

In addition, the vehicle control unit 180 controls the power train controller 320 of the controller unit 300 using the target route information obtained from the target route generation unit 190 and the state quantity of the host vehicle 1 obtained from the information acquisition unit 200. and a target braking force for controlling the brake controller 330 are calculated and output.

The own vehicle information acquisition unit 210 acquires vehicle information, which is information about the own vehicle 1 . The vehicle information includes the state quantity of the own vehicle 1 representing the state of the own vehicle 1 . The own vehicle information acquisition unit 210 is, for example, the GNSS sensor 13, the yaw rate sensor 16, the speed sensor 17, the acceleration sensor 18, the steering angle sensor 20, the steering torque sensor 21, and the like.

The peripheral vehicle information acquisition unit 220 acquires peripheral vehicle information including position information of the peripheral vehicles 30 existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle 1 . The peripheral vehicle information acquisition unit 220 is, for example, the front camera 11, the radar sensor 12, the V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) receiver 15, and the like.

The road information acquisition unit 230 acquires road information, which is information about the road on which the vehicle 1 travels. The road information acquisition unit 230 is, for example, the front camera 11, the navigation device 14, the V2X receiver 15, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of host vehicle 1 equipped with vehicle control system 500 including vehicle control device 100 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the own vehicle 1 includes a steering wheel 2, a steering shaft 3, a steering unit 4, an EPS motor 5, a power train unit 6, and a brake unit 7 as a drive system.

As a sensor system, a front camera 11, a radar sensor 12, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) sensor 13, a yaw rate sensor 16, a speed sensor 17, an acceleration sensor 18, a steering angle sensor 20 and a steering torque sensor 21 are provided.

In addition to the above, a navigation device 14, a V2X receiver 15, a vehicle control device 100, an EPS controller 310, a powertrain controller 320 and a brake controller 330 are provided.

A steering wheel 2 on which the driver drives the vehicle 1 is connected to a steering shaft 3 . A steering unit 4 is connected to the steering shaft 3 . The steering unit 4 rotatably supports two tires of the front wheels as steered wheels, and is steerably supported by the body frame. Therefore, the torque generated by the operation of the steering wheel 2 by the driver rotates the steering shaft 3, and the steering unit 4 steers the front wheels in the lateral direction. This allows the driver to control the amount of lateral movement of the vehicle when the vehicle moves forward and backward.

The steering shaft 3 can also be rotated by the EPS motor 5. By controlling the current flowing through the EPS motor 5 with the EPS controller 310, the front wheels can be freely moved independently of the operation of the steering wheel 2 by the driver. can be steered.

The vehicle control device 100 is, for example, an integrated circuit such as a microprocessor also called an ADAS-ECU (Advanced Driving Assistance Systems-Electronic Control Unit), and includes an A/D (Analog/Digital) conversion circuit, a D/A ( Digital/Analog) conversion circuit, CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like.

The vehicle control device 100 includes a front camera 11, a radar sensor 12, a GNSS sensor 13, a navigation device 14, a V2X receiver 15, a steering angle sensor 20 that detects a steering angle, a steering torque sensor 21 that detects a steering torque, and a yaw rate. A yaw rate sensor 16 for detection, a speed sensor 17 for detecting the speed of the vehicle 1, an acceleration sensor 18 for detecting the acceleration of the vehicle 1, an EPS controller 310, a powertrain controller 320 and a brake controller 330 are connected.

The vehicle control device 100 processes information input from various connected sensors according to a program stored in the ROM, transmits a target steering angle to the EPS controller 310, and transmits a target driving force to the powertrain controller 320. and transmits the target braking force to the brake controller 330 .

The front camera 11 is installed at a position where lane markings in front of the vehicle can be detected as an image, and detects an environment ahead of the vehicle 1 such as lane information and positions of obstacles based on image information. In the vehicle control system 500 according to Embodiment 1, only the camera that detects the environment in front of the vehicle 1 is taken as an example, but cameras that detect the environment behind and to the sides of the vehicle 1 may be installed separately. can be The front camera 11 can also be used to estimate the condition of the road surface on which the vehicle 1 is running.

The radar sensor 12 irradiates a target object with radar and detects the reflected wave, thereby outputting the relative distance and relative speed between the own vehicle 1 and the surrounding vehicle 30 . As the radar sensor 12, known range sensors such as millimeter wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), laser range finder, and ultrasonic radar can be used.

The GNSS sensor 13 receives radio waves from positioning satellites with an antenna (not shown) mounted on the vehicle 1 and outputs the absolute position and absolute azimuth of the vehicle 1 by performing positioning calculations.

The navigation device 14 has a function of calculating the optimum travel route for the destination set by the driver, and stores road information on the travel route. Road information is map node data that expresses the road alignment, and each map node data contains latitude, longitude, altitude information, lane width, cant angle, inclination angle information, etc. that indicate the absolute position at each node. .

The V2X receiver 15 has a function of acquiring and outputting information through wireless communication with other vehicles including the surrounding vehicle 30 and roadside units. The information to be acquired includes surrounding vehicle information such as the position and speed of the surrounding vehicle 30 with respect to the own vehicle 1 and road information such as the coefficient of friction of the road surface.

The EPS controller 310 controls the travel route of the vehicle 1 by controlling the EPS motor 5 so as to achieve the target steering angle transmitted from the vehicle control device 100 .

The powertrain controller 320 controls the acceleration of the own vehicle 1 by controlling the powertrain unit 6 so as to achieve the target driving force transmitted from the vehicle control device 100 .

In the vehicle control device 100 and the vehicle control system 500 according to Embodiment 1, a vehicle having only an engine as a driving force source is taken as an example. may be applied to a vehicle or the like that uses both of them as driving force sources.

The brake controller 330 controls deceleration of the own vehicle 1 by controlling the brake unit 7 so as to achieve the target braking force transmitted from the vehicle control device 100 .

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a coordinate system used in vehicle control device 100 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, the X-axis and Y-axis represent the inertial coordinate system, and _Xc , _Yc , ? Also, the x-axis and the y-axis represent the own vehicle coordinate system with the center of gravity of the own vehicle 1 as the origin.

In the vehicle control device 100 according to Embodiment 1, the center-of-gravity positions X _c and Y _c and the azimuth angle θ of the host vehicle 1 are initialized to zero in each control cycle. That is, the inertial coordinate system and the own vehicle coordinate system are made to match each control cycle. Through such processing, when the change in the azimuth angle .theta.

Characteristic operations in the vehicle control device 100 and the vehicle control method according to Embodiment 1 will be described below.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart diagram showing a processing flow of the vehicle control device 100 according to the first embodiment. Step ST110 is performed by action type prediction section 120, occurrence probability calculation section 130, and action type selection section 140, step ST120 is performed by avoidance operation amount calculation section 160, and steps ST130, ST140, and ST150 are used to calculate post-adjustment avoidance operation amounts. , respectively, by the unit 170 .

First, in step ST<b>110 , action type selection section 140 selects an action type for which an avoidance operation amount is to be calculated for the action type included in the prediction result of action type prediction section 120 . Regarding the selection of the action type, the purpose is to cause the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 to calculate the avoidance operation amount only for predictions in which the occurrence probability P of the action type calculated by the occurrence probability calculation unit 130 is higher than the selection threshold. and That is, using the occurrence probability P of the action type, the action type determined to have a high probability that the surrounding vehicle 30 will act in accordance with the prediction of the action type prediction unit 120 in the future is selected.

Specifically, for the n-th action type among the predictions of the m-th surrounding vehicle, the occurrence probability P of the corresponding action type is higher than the selection threshold of the occurrence probability P of the action type for which the avoidance operation amount is not calculated. If it is high, it is selected to calculate the amount of avoidance manipulation. On the other hand, when the occurrence probability P of the action type is lower than the selection threshold value, the avoidance operation amount is not calculated. As a result, it is possible to obtain the effect of suppressing the possibility that the own vehicle 1 performs an avoidance action based on the prediction of an erroneous action type.

The threshold value of the occurrence probability P of the action type at which the avoidance operation amount is not calculated can be changed based on the action type. This threshold is called a threshold for each action type. Avoidance operation amount is not calculated when there is a possibility that unnecessary sudden deceleration occurs due to avoidance action of the own vehicle 1 based on the erroneous prediction when the prediction result of the action type is erroneous. The threshold for each action type of the occurrence probability P of the action type is increased.

For example, when the action types of the surrounding vehicle 30 include at least the current lane keeping action, the current lane deceleration action, and the lane change action, the predicted action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 existing in front of the own vehicle 1 in the adjacent lane is In the case of a lane change action, it is assumed that the amount of avoidance operation when the prediction result of the action type is incorrect is larger than that of the current lane keeping action or the current lane deceleration action. is not calculated, the threshold for each action type is increased. Not calculating the avoidance operation amount can also be said to set the avoidance operation amount to zero.

Furthermore, even for the same action type, a method of setting the threshold for each action type of the occurrence probability P of the action type that does not calculate the avoidance operation amount based on the current position or the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 is provided. You can change it.

For example, with respect to the surrounding vehicle 30 existing in front of the vehicle 1 in the same lane, if the behavior type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is the current lane deceleration behavior, the behavior type is the current lane maintenance behavior or lane change behavior. Compared to the case where the predicted action type is incorrect, it is assumed that the amount of avoidance operation will be larger. The avoidance operation amount is calculated only when the threshold is increased, that is, when the occurrence probability P of the action type is high.

In step ST120, the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 calculates the avoidance operation to be taken by the own vehicle 1 using the predicted positions of the surrounding vehicles 30 based on the prediction result of the action type and position selected as the avoidance target in step ST110. Calculate quantity. If there are a plurality of targets selected in step ST110, an avoidance operation amount is calculated for each action type selected for each surrounding vehicle 30. FIG.

In the vehicle control device 100 according to Embodiment 1, the deceleration for decelerating the own vehicle 1 at least so as not to collide with the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 in the future is calculated as the avoidance operation amount.

As a method for controlling the acceleration of the own vehicle 1 so that the own vehicle 1 does not collide with a surrounding vehicle 30, a method conventionally proposed as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) can be used. In ACC, first, the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 is used to calculate the relative distance and relative speed between the host vehicle 1 and the surrounding vehicle 30 at a future time. Further, the relative distance and relative speed between the own vehicle 1 and the surrounding vehicle 30 are used to evaluate the future degree of proximity.

The evaluation of the degree of proximity between the own vehicle 1 and the surrounding vehicles 30 is performed by maintaining the relative distance between the own vehicle 1 and the surrounding vehicles 30 so as not to approach within a certain distance in the future, and by setting the speed of the own vehicle 1 as the upper limit. This is an index for evaluating whether the relative velocity is reduced within a range not exceeding the velocity. The deceleration of the own vehicle 1 is calculated and output so that the evaluation of the degree of approach is improved. By using the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 to perform the avoidance operation, it becomes possible to start the avoidance operation in advance even if the sudden interruption of the surrounding vehicle 30 occurs, and the avoidance operation can be performed smoothly with a margin. effective.

In step ST130, the avoidance operation amount calculated based on the prediction result of the action type and the position in the avoidance operation amount calculation section 160 is adjusted to the predicted action type and position in the post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation section 170. Based on this, the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is set. The degree of necessity for the vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance operation is determined using the result of predicting the action type and position of the surrounding vehicle 30, and the lower the necessity for the vehicle 1 to perform the avoidance operation, the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is set. Make smaller. That is, upper limit processing is performed on the avoidance operation amount.

For example, when the action types of the surrounding vehicle 30 include at least the current lane keeping action, the current lane deceleration action, and the lane change action, the predicted action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 existing in front of the own vehicle 1 in the adjacent lane. is the current lane keeping action or the current lane deceleration action, it is determined that the need for the own vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance action is low, and the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is decreased. On the other hand, when the predicted action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is a lane change action, it is determined that there is a high need for the own vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance action, and the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is set as compared with the above case. Enlarge.

As a result, the amount of avoidance operation is reduced and ride comfort is improved for the prediction results of action types for which the need for avoidance action is low, while the prediction results for action types for which the need for avoidance action is high are improved. However, by increasing the amount of avoidance operation, the possibility of collision is reduced.

Note that the setting method of the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount may be changed based on the current position or predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 even for the same action type.

For example, with respect to a surrounding vehicle 30 existing in front of the vehicle 1 in the same lane, if the behavior type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is the current lane maintenance behavior or lane change behavior, the need for the vehicle 1 to avoid the vehicle 1 is increased. It is judged to be low, and the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is decreased. On the other hand, when the predicted action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is the current lane deceleration action, it is determined that the need for the own vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance action is high, and the upper limit U of the avoidance operation amount is determined as compared with the above case. increase the

Further, under the same conditions, when the predicted action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 is a lane change action, there is a possibility that a situation in front of the own vehicle 1 that requires an avoidance action is occurring. Since it may be determined that there is a high need for the vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance operation, the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is increased.

In step ST140, the avoidance operation amount calculated based on the prediction result of the action type and position of the surrounding vehicle 30 is calculated by the after-adjusted avoidance operation amount calculating section 170 as the occurrence probability of the predicted action type of the surrounding vehicle 30. Based on P, the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is set. The possibility that the predicted action type is erroneous is determined using the occurrence probability P of the action type, and the higher the possibility that the predicted action type is erroneous, the smaller the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount. The lower the probability P of occurrence of the predicted behavior type, the lower the probability P of occurrence of the corresponding behavior type. The upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is made smaller as the number increases.

Note that even when the occurrence probability P for each action type is the same, the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount may be changed for each action type. This has the effect of reducing the possibility that the host vehicle 1 will perform an avoidance action based on an erroneous prediction of the action type of the surrounding vehicle 30 .

Note that the reliability of the prediction result of the behavior type and position of the surrounding vehicle 30 calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 is evaluated using the behavior type occurrence probability P, and the avoidance operation amount is adjusted. Calculate the amount of post-avoidance manipulation.

When the difference in the occurrence probability P of all action types for one surrounding vehicle 30 is small, the action type cannot be determined by the surrounding vehicle action prediction unit 110, and the reliability of the action type prediction result is low. I judge. That is, when the difference between the occurrence probabilities for each action type is smaller than a preset difference value, the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount is decreased. When the reliability of the prediction result of the action type is determined to be low, the upper limit U of the avoidance operation amount is set in comparison with the case where the upper limit U of the avoidance operation amount is set based on the occurrence probability P of the action type. Make it even smaller.

As a result, when the reliability of the prediction result of the behavior type calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 is low, the avoidance operation amount is reduced, thereby reducing the possibility that the own vehicle 1 is controlled based on an erroneous prediction. have the effect of lowering

In step ST150, the avoidance operation amount calculation section 170 after adjustment reflects the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount calculated in steps ST130 and ST140 to the avoidance operation amount calculated in step ST120. An adjusted avoidance operation amount that does not exceed the upper limit value U of the amount is calculated.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a case where an upper limit value U of an avoidance operation amount is set based on the occurrence probability P of the action type in calculation of the avoidance operation amount. With respect to the avoidance operation amount calculated in step ST120, in step ST130, the degree of necessity of the vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance motion is determined using the prediction result of the action type, and the degree of necessity of the vehicle 1 to perform the avoidance motion is determined. The lower the value, the smaller the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount. Further, in step ST140, the possibility that the predicted action type is erroneous is determined using the occurrence probability P of the action type. Decrease the value U.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount for each action type and the occurrence probability P of the action type. A threshold for each action type is set for the occurrence probability P of the action type for each action type. If the action type is to maintain the status quo or decelerate, the threshold for each action type of the occurrence probability P of the action type is set to threshold 1, and if the action type is to change lanes, the threshold for each action type of the occurrence probability P of the action type is set to Threshold 2, which is higher than threshold 1, is set. As the occurrence probability P of the action type increases, the need for the own vehicle 1 to perform an avoidance action against the surrounding vehicle 30 increases, so the upper limit value U of the avoidance operation amount also increases. That is, the post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation section 170 increases the post-adjustment avoidance operation amount as the occurrence probability P of the selected action type increases.

According to the vehicle control device, the vehicle control system, and the vehicle control method according to the first embodiment, the future behavior of the surrounding vehicle is predicted, and the own vehicle decelerates to avoid the surrounding vehicle. The speed is calculated as an avoidance operation amount, and the upper limit value is given to the avoidance operation amount using the prediction result of the action type and position and the occurrence probability of the action type. It becomes possible to start the deceleration operation, it is possible to perform a smooth deceleration operation with a margin, and even if the prediction result of the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit is incorrect, the deceleration for the avoidance operation is performed. It is possible to keep the amount small, which has the effect of improving the ride comfort of the occupant.

Embodiment 2.
In the vehicle control device, the vehicle control system, and the vehicle control method according to Embodiment 1, the avoidance operation is performed by decelerating the surrounding vehicle 30 ahead of the own vehicle 1 . An example of the case where it is defined as the deceleration of In the vehicle control device, vehicle control system, and vehicle control method according to the second embodiment, it is assumed that the host vehicle 1, which is controlled to follow the target route at a constant speed, avoids the surrounding vehicle 30 by steering. is doing. Since the configurations and basic operations of a vehicle control device 100 and a vehicle control system 500 according to Embodiment 2 are the same as those in Embodiment 1, description overlapping with Embodiment 1 will be omitted below.

The avoidance operation amount in the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 of the vehicle control device 100 according to Embodiment 2 will be described. The route information of the lane on which the vehicle 1 is currently traveling is obtained from the road information obtaining section 230 and used as the reference route R. FIG. In order for the own vehicle 1 to avoid the surrounding vehicles 30, the target route to be followed by the own vehicle 1 is a route with a deviation in the lateral direction, i.e., the vehicle width direction of the own vehicle 1, with respect to the reference route R. and The lateral deviation distance _dL with respect to the reference route R in this case is defined as an avoidance operation amount. It is also possible to define the steering angle, steering angular velocity, yaw rate, or yaw angle with respect to the travel route that the host vehicle 1 should take in order to realize the lateral deviation distance _dL as the avoidance operation amount.

A method of calculating the lateral deviation distance dL with respect to the reference route R, which is the avoidance operation amount, based on the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 in step _ST120 of the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 will be described. At each time in the future, a no-entry area is virtually arranged starting from the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 based on the prediction result of the behavior type and position calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110, and the own vehicle 1 enters the area. A lateral deviation distance _dL required to prevent entry into the prohibited area is calculated.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle 30 and the no-entry area at a future time t after the current time is zero. Let Xc(t) be the X coordinate and Yc be the Y coordinate of the vehicle estimated position Pc(t), which is the position when it is assumed that the vehicle 1 follows the reference route R at a constant speed from time zero to time t. (t), and the traveling direction is θc(t).

Among the predicted positions of the m-th surrounding vehicle calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110, the predicted position Pmn(t) corresponding to the n-th action type is represented by Xmn(t) as the X coordinate, Ymn(t) as the Y coordinate, Let θmn(t) be the traveling direction. LYf(t), LXr(t), LYl(t), and LYr(t) in the forward direction, the backward direction, the left direction, and the right direction, respectively, with respect to the predicted position at time t of the peripheral vehicle 30. A range having a distance is assumed to be a no-entry area Dmn(t) at time t.

Although the shape of the no-entry area Dmn(t) is expressed as a rectangle, it may be any other shape defined by a combination of straight lines or curves, or may be a range expressed by a formula.

At time t in the future, when the estimated vehicle position Pc(t) is included in the no-entry area Dmn(t), from the coordinates of a point near the estimated vehicle position Pc(t) on the reference route R, A position Pcd (not shown) is set at a distance d in the direction perpendicular to the route, that is, in the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 1 . The minimum value of the distance d for not including the position Pcd in the entry prohibited area _Dmn (t) is calculated as the lateral deviation distance dL.

If the estimated vehicle position Pc(t) does not enter the no-entry area _Dmn (t) at time t in the future, the lateral deviation distance dL is set to zero. The lateral deviation distance dL calculated as described above is output as an avoidance operation amount, and an upper limit value U is given in steps ST130 and _ST140 .

According to the vehicle control device, the vehicle control system, and the vehicle control method according to the second embodiment, the future action type and position of the surrounding vehicle are predicted, and the lateral deviation from the reference route for avoiding by steering the surrounding vehicle is detected. The distance is calculated as an avoidance operation amount, and the upper limit value is given to the avoidance operation amount using the prediction result of the action type and position and the occurrence probability of the action type. Avoidance steering can be started, smooth steering can be carried out with a margin, and even if the prediction result of the behavior type of the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit is incorrect, the avoidance operation can be performed. It is possible to suppress the amount of steering of the vehicle to a small value, which has the effect of improving the ride comfort of the occupant.

Embodiment 3.
In the vehicle control device 100 according to Embodiments 1 and 2, the method of adjusting the avoidance operation amount based on the prediction result of the behavior type and position of the surrounding vehicle 30 calculated by the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 has been described. The vehicle control device, vehicle control system, and vehicle control method according to Embodiment 3 are characterized in that the avoidance operation amount is adjusted based on any of the information acquired by the information acquisition section 200 .

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing schematic configurations of a vehicle control device 101 and a vehicle control system 600 according to Embodiment 3. As shown in FIG. The same components as those of the vehicle control system 500 shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions are omitted. A vehicle control device 101 shown in FIG. 8 newly includes an erroneous prediction estimating unit 175 in addition to each configuration of the vehicle control device 100 shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the processing flow of the avoidance operation amount calculation unit 160 of the vehicle control device 101 according to the third embodiment. In addition to each process of vehicle control device 100 in Embodiment 1 shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, each process of step ST300, step ST310 and step ST320 is further provided. Steps ST300 and ST310 are executed by the erroneous prediction estimation section 175. FIG. Further, step ST320 is executed by post-adjustment avoidance manipulated variable calculation section 170 .

In step ST300, since the information detected using the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 200 is inaccurate, there is a possibility that the surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 110 outputs an incorrect prediction of the type of behavior of the surrounding vehicle 30. Determine whether it is in a high bad detection state. Specifically, when the erroneous prediction estimating unit 175 determines that the erroneous prediction occurrence probability of erroneously predicting the action type is higher than the erroneous prediction occurrence probability threshold, it is determined to be in the bad detection state.

For example, when the road information acquisition unit 230 acquires the shape of the lane on which the vehicle 1 is traveling and determines that the road is curved with a large curvature, the peripheral vehicle information acquisition unit 220 detects sensors near the vehicle 1. In the case where it is determined that there is a possibility that the peripheral vehicle 30 in the far distance cannot be detected due to the existence of the peripheral vehicle 30 that obstructs the detection, it can be determined that the detection state is poor.

If it is determined in step ST300 that the detected state is bad, the process proceeds to step ST320. This is because there is a high possibility that the prediction result of the behavior type is an erroneous prediction when the bad detection state is determined. On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST300 that the state is not badly detected, the process proceeds to step ST110.

In step ST320, based on the determination result that the prediction result of the behavior type in step ST300 is highly likely to be an erroneous prediction, the upper limit U of the avoidance operation amount set in steps ST130 and ST140 is further exceeded. Make U smaller.

According to the vehicle control device, the vehicle control system, and the vehicle control method according to the third embodiment, the information acquired by the information acquisition unit is used to detect the possibility that the accuracy of predicting the action type of the surrounding vehicle may decrease. Since the upper limit value of the avoidance operation amount is reduced, it is possible to suppress the own vehicle from being controlled based on the prediction of the action type whose prediction accuracy has deteriorated. Since it is possible to reduce the possibility of performing an unnecessary avoidance action, it is possible to improve the riding comfort of the occupant.

Each component of the vehicle control device 100 and the vehicle control system 500 according to the first and second embodiments and the vehicle control device 101 and the vehicle control system 600 according to the third embodiment described above is configured using a computer. can be implemented by a computer executing a program. That is, vehicle control devices 100 and 101 are realized by, for example, processing circuit 50 shown in FIG. A processor such as a CPU or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) is applied to the processing circuit 50, and the function of each section is realized by executing a program stored in a storage device.

Note that dedicated hardware may be applied to the processing circuit 50 . If the processing circuit 50 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 50 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof.

In the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 and the vehicle control systems 500 and 600, each function of the components may be realized by individual processing circuits, or these functions may be collectively realized by one processing circuit. good.

Further, FIG. 11 shows a hardware configuration when the processing circuit 50 is configured using a processor. In this case, the functions of each part of the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 are implemented by a combination of software and the like (software, firmware, or software and firmware). Software or the like is written as a program and stored in the memory 52 . A processor 51 functioning as a processing circuit 50 implements the functions of each unit by reading and executing a program stored in a memory 52 (storage device). That is, it can be said that this program causes a computer to execute the operation procedure of the components of the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 and the vehicle control method.

Here, the memory 52 is, for example, non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM, ROM, flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), HDD (Hard Disk Drive), magnetic discs, flexible discs, optical discs, compact discs, mini discs, DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) and their drive devices, or any storage medium that will be used in the future.

The configuration in which the functions of the components of the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 and the vehicle control systems 500 and 600 according to Embodiments 1 to 3 are realized by either hardware or software has been described above. However, it is not limited to this, and some components of the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 and the vehicle control systems 500 and 600 are realized by dedicated hardware, and other components are implemented by software or the like. It may be a configuration that realizes.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, some components are implemented by a processing circuit 50 as dedicated hardware, and some other components are implemented by a processing circuit as a processor 51. 50 can realize the function by reading and executing a program for causing a computer or the like to execute the vehicle control method according to Embodiments 1 to 3 stored in memory 52 .

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the setting data used by each functional unit of the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 is a part of software, that is, the vehicle control method according to the first to third embodiments is executed by a computer or the like. It may be installed in the memory 52 from the recording medium 53 storing the program 54 for the purpose.

As described above, the vehicle control devices 100 and 101 and the vehicle control systems 500 and 600 according to Embodiments 1 to 3 can implement the functions described above using hardware, software, etc., or a combination thereof. .

While this disclosure describes various exemplary embodiments and examples, various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more of the embodiments may vary from particular embodiment to embodiment. The embodiments are applicable singly or in various combinations without being limited to the application.

Accordingly, numerous variations not illustrated are envisioned within the scope of the technology disclosed herein. For example, modification, addition or omission of at least one component, extraction of at least one component, and combination with components of other embodiments shall be included.

1 own vehicle, 2 steering wheel, 3 steering shaft, 4 steering unit, 5 EPS motor, 6 power train unit, 7 brake unit, 11 front camera, 12 radar sensor, 13 GNSS sensor, 14 navigation device, 15 V2X receiver, 16 yaw rate sensor 17 speed sensor 18 acceleration sensor 20 steering angle sensor 21 steering torque sensor 30 peripheral vehicle 50 processing circuit 51 processor 52 memory 53 recording medium 54 program 100, 101 vehicle control device, 110 surrounding vehicle behavior prediction unit 120 behavior type prediction unit 130 occurrence probability calculation unit 140 behavior type selection unit 150 surrounding vehicle position prediction unit 160 avoidance operation amount calculation unit 170 post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation unit 175 error Prediction estimation unit 180 vehicle control unit 190 target route generation unit 200 information acquisition unit 210 own vehicle information acquisition unit 220 surrounding vehicle information acquisition unit 230 road information acquisition unit 300 controller unit 310 EPS controller 320 power train controller, 330 brake controller, 500, 600 vehicle control system

Claims (17)

a behavior type prediction unit that predicts one or more future behavior types of surrounding vehicles existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle;
an occurrence probability calculation unit that calculates the occurrence probability for each of the action types predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
an action type selection unit that selects an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
a surrounding vehicle position prediction unit that predicts the future position of the surrounding vehicle in the selected action type;
Calculates an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the own vehicle to avoid the surrounding vehicle with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle predicted by the surrounding vehicle position prediction unit. an avoidance operation amount calculation unit that sets the avoidance operation amount to zero when the occurrence probability of the selected action type is lower than the threshold for each action type ;
an adjusted avoidance operation amount calculation unit that calculates an adjusted avoidance operation amount after increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type;
a vehicle control unit that controls one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the own vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount;
A vehicle control device comprising: a behavior type prediction unit that predicts one or more future behavior types of surrounding vehicles existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle;
an occurrence probability calculation unit that calculates the occurrence probability for each of the action types predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
an action type selection unit that selects an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
a surrounding vehicle position prediction unit that predicts the future position of the surrounding vehicle in the selected action type;
calculating an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for avoiding the surrounding vehicle by the own vehicle with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle predicted by the surrounding vehicle position prediction unit; an avoidance operation amount calculation unit;
calculating an adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained by increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type, performing upper limit processing on the calculated avoidance operation amount for the selected action type; an after-adjustment avoidance manipulated variable calculator that reduces the upper limit of the avoidance manipulated variable when the difference between the occurrence probabilities for each action type is smaller than a preset difference value;
a vehicle control unit that controls one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the own vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount;
A vehicle control device comprising: Current lane keeping behavior of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and traveling at a constant speed in the future of surrounding vehicles existing around the own vehicle, and current lane deceleration of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and decelerating an action type prediction unit that predicts one or more of the action types including one of the action and the lane change action of changing lanes from the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling;
an occurrence probability calculation unit that calculates the occurrence probability for each of the action types predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
an action type selection unit that selects an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
a surrounding vehicle position prediction unit that predicts the future position of the surrounding vehicle in the selected action type;
calculating an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for avoiding the surrounding vehicle by the own vehicle with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle predicted by the surrounding vehicle position prediction unit; an avoidance operation amount calculation unit;
calculating an adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained by increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type, performing upper limit processing on the calculated avoidance operation amount for the selected action type; When the selected action type of the surrounding vehicle is the current lane keeping action or the current lane deceleration action, the avoidance operation amount is higher than that of the surrounding vehicle's lane change action to the own vehicle's lane. an after-adjustment avoidance manipulated variable calculation unit that decreases the upper limit of
a vehicle control unit that controls one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the own vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount;
A vehicle control device comprising: The action types include a current lane keeping action of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and traveling at a constant speed, a current lane deceleration action of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and decelerating, and the surrounding vehicle traveling. 3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system includes one of a lane change action of changing from one lane to another. 5. The post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation unit increases the post-adjustment avoidance operation amount as the occurrence probability of the selected action type increases. Vehicle controller. 6. The post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation unit calculates, as the post-adjustment avoidance operation amount, a lateral deviation distance in a vehicle width direction with respect to a lane in which the vehicle is traveling. The vehicle control device according to . The avoidance operation amount calculation unit sets the avoidance operation amount to zero when the selected behavior type of the surrounding vehicle is lane change behavior of the surrounding vehicle to the lane on the side of the own vehicle. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein a threshold value of occurrence probability of each action type is increased for each action type. further comprising an erroneous prediction estimating unit that determines the possibility that the action type prediction unit makes an error in predicting the action type of the surrounding vehicle;
The post-adjustment avoidance operation amount calculation unit performs upper limit processing of the calculated avoidance operation amount for the selected action type, and the error prediction occurrence probability that the error prediction estimation unit incorrectly predicts the action type is erroneous. 8. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the upper limit value of the avoidance operation amount is decreased when it is determined to be higher than the predicted occurrence probability threshold. A vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 ;
an information acquisition unit that acquires information on the host vehicle and the peripheral vehicles;
a controller unit that controls running of the own vehicle based on the output of the vehicle control unit;
vehicle control system. A vehicle control method in which the following steps are executed by a processing circuit,
a step of predicting one or more future behavior types of surrounding vehicles existing in the vicinity of the subject vehicle;
calculating an occurrence probability for each behavior type predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
a step of selecting an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
predicting future locations of the surrounding vehicles for the selected activity type;
calculating an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the own vehicle to avoid the surrounding vehicle with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle, and calculating the occurrence probability of the selected action type; is lower than the threshold for each action type, setting the avoidance operation amount to zero ;
calculating an adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained by increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type;
a step of controlling one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the own vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount;
vehicle control methods including; A vehicle control method in which the following steps are executed by a processing circuit,
a step of predicting one or more future behavior types of surrounding vehicles existing in the vicinity of the subject vehicle;
calculating an occurrence probability for each behavior type predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
a step of selecting an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
predicting future locations of the surrounding vehicles for the selected activity type;
calculating, with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle, an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the own vehicle to avoid the surrounding vehicle;
calculating an adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained by increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type, performing upper limit processing on the calculated avoidance operation amount for the selected action type; reducing the upper limit value of the avoidance operation amount when the difference between the occurrence probabilities for each action type is smaller than a preset difference value ;
a step of controlling one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the host vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount;
vehicle control methods including ; A vehicle control method in which the following steps are executed by a processing circuit,
Current lane keeping behavior of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and traveling at a constant speed in the future of surrounding vehicles existing around the own vehicle, and current lane deceleration of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and decelerating a step of predicting one or more of the action types including one of the action and the lane change action of changing lanes from the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling;
calculating an occurrence probability for each behavior type predicted for the surrounding vehicle;
a step of selecting an action type whose occurrence probability for each action type is greater than a selection threshold;
predicting future locations of the surrounding vehicles for the selected activity type;
calculating, with respect to the predicted position of the surrounding vehicle, an avoidance operation amount of one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration for the own vehicle to avoid the surrounding vehicle;
calculating an adjusted avoidance operation amount obtained by increasing or decreasing the avoidance operation amount based on the occurrence probability of the selected action type, performing upper limit processing on the calculated avoidance operation amount for the selected action type; When the selected action type of the surrounding vehicle is the current lane keeping action or the current lane deceleration action, the avoidance operation amount is higher than that of the surrounding vehicle's lane change action to the own vehicle's lane. decreasing the upper limit of
a step of controlling one or both of steering and acceleration/deceleration of the own vehicle based on the adjusted avoidance operation amount;
vehicle control methods including ; The action types include a current lane keeping action of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and traveling at a constant speed, a current lane deceleration action of maintaining the lane in which the surrounding vehicle is traveling and decelerating, and the surrounding vehicle traveling. 12. A vehicle control method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein any one of lane change actions of changing lanes from one lane to another is included. 14. The vehicle control method according to any one of claims 10 to 13 , wherein the adjusted avoidance operation amount is increased as the probability of occurrence of the selected action type increases. 15. The vehicle control method according to any one of claims 10 to 14 , wherein a lateral deviation distance in a vehicle width direction with respect to a lane in which the host vehicle travels is calculated as the adjusted avoidance operation amount. When the selected action type of the surrounding vehicle is a lane change action of the surrounding vehicle to the lane on the own vehicle side, the action type of the occurrence probability of the action type for setting the avoidance operation amount to zero. 11. The vehicle control method according to claim 10 , wherein the threshold is increased each time. A vehicle control program for causing a processing circuit to execute the vehicle control method according to any one of claims 10 to 16 .

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