JP7416148B1 - Travel control device, travel control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To smoothly accelerate a vehicle. SOLUTION: An acquisition unit 111 that acquires the statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the host vehicle 100 is traveling merges, and a target speed that is determined based on the acquired statistics. an acceleration control unit 113 that increases the speed at which the host vehicle 100 is traveling to the target speed, and an acceleration control unit 113 that increases the speed. Shift control unit 114 changes the gear position of the own vehicle in stages up to the target gear position so that the speed of the own vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear position of the own vehicle 100 at that time. and. [Selection diagram] Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a travel control device, a travel control method, and a program for controlling gear shifting operations of a vehicle.

When your vehicle is driving in a lane that is merging into another lane, it becomes easier for your vehicle to accelerate to this speed in order to merge at the same speed as another vehicle traveling in the destination lane. A technique for lowering the gear stage has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-171904

In the method described in Patent Document 1, the host vehicle can easily accelerate by lowering the gear. If the difference between the speed of your own vehicle and the speed of another vehicle traveling in the merging lane is large, it is necessary to significantly increase the speed of your own vehicle. In this case, the method described in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that the own vehicle cannot be smoothly accelerated.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and is intended to smoothly accelerate a vehicle even when there is a large difference between the speed of the own vehicle and the speed of another vehicle traveling in the lane to which the vehicle is merging. The object of the present invention is to provide a travel control device, a travel control method, and a program that can perform the following steps.

A travel control device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling merges; a specifying unit that determines a target speed based on statistics and specifies a target gear having a power band corresponding to the target speed; an acceleration control unit that increases the speed at which the own vehicle runs to the target speed; While the acceleration control unit is increasing the speed, the gear position of the own vehicle is increased up to the target gear position so that the speed of the own vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear position of the own vehicle at that time. and a speed change control section that changes the speed in stages.

The specifying unit may determine the largest value among the average value, mode, and median value of the speeds at which the plurality of other vehicles travel as the target speed. The speed change control unit is configured to determine, after the acceleration control unit increases the speed of the own vehicle to the target speed, a distance that can be traveled with a unit capacity of fuel is a distance that can be traveled with the unit capacity of fuel at the target gear stage. The gear of the host vehicle may be changed to a gear that is longer than the travel distance.

The acquisition unit may acquire statistics of traveling speeds of the plurality of other vehicles measured in the merging lane from an external device by wireless communication. The specifying unit may determine, as the target speed, a legal maximum speed at which the vehicle can travel in the merging lane, when the acquiring unit is unable to acquire statistics of the speeds at which the plurality of other vehicles travel. The travel control device further includes a measurement unit that measures the speed at which the plurality of other vehicles travel, and the acquisition unit acquires the statistics of the speeds of the plurality of other vehicles measured by the measurement unit. You may.

A driving control method according to a second aspect of the present invention includes the step of acquiring speed statistics of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling merges, which is executed by a computer. , determining a target speed based on the acquired statistics and identifying a target gear having a power band corresponding to the target speed; and increasing the speed at which the own vehicle runs to the target speed; While increasing the speed of the own vehicle, the gear of the own vehicle is increased to the target gear so that the speed of the own vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle at that time. A step for changing the speed in stages.

A program according to a third aspect of the present invention includes the steps of: acquiring, in a computer, statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling merges; determining a target speed based on the target speed and specifying a target gear having a power band corresponding to the target speed; increasing the traveling speed of the host vehicle to the target speed; While increasing the speed, the gear of the own vehicle is shifted in stages up to the target gear so that the speed of the own vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle at that time. and the steps to be executed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to smoothly accelerate the vehicle.

1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of a travel control system S according to an embodiment. The configuration of the own vehicle is shown. An example of the speed change of the own vehicle by the speed change control unit is shown. It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure of the speed change by a cruise control device.

[Overview of driving control system]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an overview of the travel control system S of this embodiment. The travel control system S includes a host vehicle 100 and an external device 200. The host vehicle 100 runs automatically. The host vehicle 100 is traveling in a lane that merges with another lane. The host vehicle 100 is equipped with a travel control device 1 .

The travel control device 1 is, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The driving control device 1 controls the speed change operation of the own vehicle 100. Travel control device 1 controls the speed of own vehicle 100. The travel control device 1 communicates with an external device 200 through road-to-vehicle communication.

External device 200 is, for example, a computer. The external device 200 is connected to a communication device 300 for communicating with the host vehicle 100 through road-to-vehicle communication.

The communication device 300 is provided near the lane in which the own vehicle 100 is traveling or near the lane at the merging destination where these lanes merge. The communication device 300 communicates with the own vehicle 100 through road-to-vehicle communication by transmitting and receiving radio waves for communication with the own vehicle 100. The communication device 300 may communicate with a plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in the merging lane through road-to-vehicle communication.

The external device 200 measures the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling merges at regular intervals. The fixed time is, for example, several seconds. In FIG. 1, an example is shown in which the external device 200 measures the speeds of two vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in the merging lane, but the external device 200 measures the speeds of three or more vehicles traveling in the merging lane. The speed of the vehicle may be measured.

For example, the external device 200 photographs the vehicle 400 and the vehicle 500 at predetermined intervals with a camera provided at a position facing the merging lane. External device 200 measures the speeds of vehicles 400 and 500 by identifying the difference between a plurality of images taken at predetermined intervals and measuring the distance traveled by vehicles 400 and 500 during this predetermined period. . The external device 200 may measure the speeds of the vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in the merging lane using radar waves.

Furthermore, external device 200 is not limited to an example in which the speeds of vehicle 400 and vehicle 500 are measured at regular intervals. External device 200 may receive information indicating the speeds of vehicles 400 and 500 from vehicles 400 and 500 via road-to-vehicle communication at regular time intervals via communication device 300 . The external device 200 calculates statistics of the measured speeds of the plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500. The statistic is, for example, an average value, but may also be a mode or a median value. The statistic may be the largest value among the average value, mode value, and median value.

The flow of the speed change operation performed by the travel control device 1 when the host vehicle 100 merges will be described below. First, the travel control device 1 acquires the statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in the merging lane from the external device 200 via the communication device 300 ((1) in FIG. 1). . The travel control device 1 determines a target speed based on the acquired statistics ((2) in FIG. 1). The target speed is a speed suitable for the host vehicle 100 to merge with a plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500 in the merging destination lane.

The cruise control device 1 identifies a target gear having a power band corresponding to the determined target speed ((3) in FIG. 1). Travel control device 1 accelerates own vehicle 100 until the speed of own vehicle 100 reaches the target speed. While accelerating the host vehicle 100, the travel control device 1 performs a specified target so that the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band of the gear stage of the host vehicle 100 at that time. The gear position of the own vehicle 100 is changed in stages up to the gear position ((4) in FIG. 1).

In this way, while accelerating the host vehicle 100 to the target speed, the cruise control device 1 adjusts the host vehicle 100 in stages so that the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band of the gear stage of the host vehicle 100 at that time. Shift the gear accordingly. Therefore, even if there is a large difference between the speed of the host vehicle 100 and the statistics of the speeds of other vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in the merging lane, the travel control device 1 is able to maintain the host vehicle 100 up to the target speed. It is possible to prevent the speed of the own vehicle 100 from deviating from the power band of the gear stage during acceleration. Therefore, the driving control device 1 can smoothly accelerate the host vehicle 100 and eliminate the speed difference between the host vehicle 100 and the other vehicles 400 and 500 in the merging lane at the time of merging in a relatively short time.

[Configuration of own vehicle 100]
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of own vehicle 100. The host vehicle 100 includes a travel control device 1, a communication section 2, a fuel injection mechanism 3, and a transmission 4. The travel control device 1 includes a storage section 10 and a control section 11. The control section 11 includes an acquisition section 111 , an identification section 112 , an acceleration control section 113 , and a shift control section 114 .

The communication unit 2 is a communication module for communicating with the communication device 300 through road-to-vehicle communication. The fuel injection mechanism 3 adjusts the amount of fuel injected into the cylinders of an engine (not shown). For example, when the acceleration control unit 113 instructs acceleration of the host vehicle 100, the fuel injection mechanism 3 accelerates the host vehicle 100 by increasing the amount of fuel injected into the cylinder. The transmission 4 changes the gear in which the host vehicle 100 is traveling to the gear instructed by the shift control unit 114.

The storage unit 10 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage unit 10 stores various programs and various data for making the control unit 11 function. Storage unit 10 stores shift data that associates each of a plurality of gears with a speed range of host vehicle 100 included in a power band. The power band is the rotation range in which the engine can most efficiently produce driving force. The shift data is used by the shift control unit 114 to determine, for example, whether the speed of the own vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear after shifting when shifting to the next higher gear. It will be done.

The storage unit 10 stores map information indicating the positions of a plurality of lanes that merge with other lanes. The storage unit 10 stores speed limit information that associates each of the positions of a plurality of lanes with the legal maximum speed at which the own vehicle 100 can travel.

The control unit 11 is, for example, a processor included in an ECU. The control unit 11 functions as an acquisition unit 111, a specification unit 112, an acceleration control unit 113, and a shift control unit 114 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 10.

The acquisition unit 111 wirelessly communicates with the external device 200 via the communication unit 2 and the communication device 300. When the host vehicle 100 is traveling in a lane that merges with another lane, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the merging destination lane where the lane the host vehicle 100 is traveling in merges with. Statistics are acquired from the external device 200 via the communication device 300. The statistic is, for example, an average value, but may also be a mode or a median value. The statistic may be the largest value among the average value, mode value, and median value.

First, the acquisition unit 111 reads from the storage unit 10 map information indicating the positions of a plurality of lanes that merge with other lanes. The acquisition unit 111 refers to the read map information and position information such as GPS (Global Positioning System) information indicating the current position of the vehicle 100, and determines whether the vehicle 100 is traveling in a lane merging with another lane. Determine whether or not. When it is determined that the own vehicle 100 is traveling in a lane that merges with another lane, the acquisition unit 111 acquires statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the merging lane. For example, the acquisition unit 111 acquires information indicating statistics from the external device 200 via the communication device 300.

The acquisition unit 111 is not limited to the example of acquiring statistics from the external device 200. For example, the acquisition unit 111 may acquire statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500 measured by a measuring unit (not shown) using a camera, a radar, or the like mounted on the own vehicle 100. If the acquisition unit 111 determines that the host vehicle 100 is not traveling in a lane merging with another lane, it does not acquire statistics of the speeds of the plurality of other vehicles traveling in the merging lane.

When the acquisition unit 111 is unable to acquire statistics, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the legal maximum speed at which the vehicle can travel in the merging lane. For example, the acquisition unit 111 acquires the legal maximum speed at which the vehicle can travel in the merging lane from the external device 200 via the communication device 300 . Further, the acquisition unit 111 may acquire the legal maximum speed by referring to speed limit information that associates each of the positions of a plurality of lanes with the legal maximum speed at which the own vehicle 100 can travel. The acquisition unit 111 may acquire the legal maximum speed associated with the merging destination lane in this speed limit information. The acquisition unit 111 outputs the acquired statistics or information indicating the legal maximum speed to the identification unit 112.

The identification unit 112 determines the target speed based on the statistics acquired by the acquisition unit 111. For example, the identifying unit 112 determines the statistic acquired by the acquiring unit 111 as the target speed. When the acquisition unit 111 is unable to acquire the statistics of the speeds at which the plurality of other vehicles 400 and 500 are traveling, the identification unit 112 determines the legal maximum speed at which the vehicle can travel in the merging lane as the target speed.

The specifying unit 112 specifies a target gear having a power band corresponding to the determined target speed. For example, the specifying unit 112 sets a predetermined speed range after returning to the target speed. The speed range is, for example, a speed range in which the upper limit is a value obtained by adding a predetermined value to the target speed, and the lower limit is a value obtained by subtracting the predetermined value from the target speed. The predetermined value is, for example, ten or more kilometers per hour, but may be a larger value. The predetermined value is determined by the manufacturer of the travel control device 1 or the like based on, for example, the minimum speed at which the vehicle can travel in the merging lane, the value of the speed limiter of the host vehicle 100, or the gear ratio of the host vehicle 100.

The identifying unit 112 identifies the target gear so that the set speed range is included in the power band of the target gear. More specifically, the specifying unit 112 determines the target gear by referring to shift data that associates each of the plurality of gears with the speed range of the host vehicle 100 included in the power band. The specifying unit 112 specifies a speed range that includes the set speed range from among the plurality of speed ranges of the shift data stored in the storage unit 10. The specifying unit 112 refers to the shift data and specifies a gear position associated with the specified speed range as a target gear position. The identification unit 112 outputs information indicating the determined target speed to the acceleration control unit 113. The specifying unit 112 outputs information indicating the specified target gear to the shift control unit 114.

Acceleration control unit 113 increases the speed of running own vehicle 100 when running on a lane that merges with another lane. For example, the acceleration control unit 113 increases the speed of the host vehicle 100 by instructing the fuel injection mechanism 3 to increase the amount of fuel injected into the cylinders of the engine. Acceleration control unit 113 increases the speed at which host vehicle 100 travels to the target speed.

[Shift to target gear]
The shift control unit 114 causes the transmission 4 to shift the gear in which the own vehicle 100 is traveling to another gear. While the acceleration control unit 113 is increasing the speed, the shift control unit 114 changes the speed of the own vehicle 100 to the target gear so that the speed of the own vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle 100 at that time. The gears of the vehicle 100 are changed in stages.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a shift of the host vehicle 100 by the shift control unit 114. The vertical axis in FIG. 3 indicates the engine rotation speed of the own vehicle 100. The horizontal axis in FIG. 3 indicates the speed at which host vehicle 100 travels. The plurality of straight lines in FIG. 3 correspond to the plurality of gears of the own vehicle 100, and show the relationship between the speed of the own vehicle 100 and the engine rotation speed for each gear. The dashed line extending in the horizontal direction in FIG. 3 indicates the power band. As mentioned above, the power band is the rotation range in which the engine can most efficiently exert its driving force.

Changes in the speed at which the host vehicle 100 travels are shown by thick lines in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, when the shift control unit 114 shifts the gear of the host vehicle 100 to the next higher gear, the engine speed of the host vehicle 100 decreases. After the shift control section 114 changes the gear, the acceleration control section 113 accelerates the own vehicle 100, so that the engine speed increases again.

At each gear stage shown in FIG. 3, the relationship between the speed of host vehicle 100 and the engine rotational speed is proportional. Therefore, while the acceleration control unit 113 is accelerating the host vehicle 100 to the target speed, the shift control unit 114 maintains that the engine rotation speed corresponding to the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band of the gear at that time. Shift the gears step by step.

If the speed of host vehicle 100 is out of the power band corresponding to the current gear position, acceleration control unit 113 cannot smoothly accelerate host vehicle 100. If the speed of the host vehicle 100 is out of the power band corresponding to the gear at that time, the shift control unit 114 selects a lower gear where the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear. Shift to.

If the gears are shifted one by one to the lower gears, it will take time to smoothly accelerate the host vehicle 100, so the shift control unit 114 may be configured to shift the gears one by one to the lower gears. It becomes difficult to resolve the speed difference with 500. Therefore, the shift control unit 114 immediately shifts the speed of the host vehicle 100 to a lower gear that does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear. In this way, the shift control unit 114 can enable the host vehicle 100 to smoothly accelerate.

Shift control unit 114 shifts the gear of host vehicle 100 from the target gear to another gear after acceleration control unit 113 increases the speed of host vehicle 100 to the target speed. For example, the other gear is a gear in which the distance that can be traveled with a unit capacity of fuel is longer than the distance that can be traveled with a unit capacity of fuel in the target gear.

[Processing procedure for shifting gears when merging using the cruise control device]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a speed change processing procedure by the cruise control device 1. This processing procedure is started when the host vehicle 100 is traveling in a lane that merges with another lane. First, the acquisition unit 111 acquires statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in the merging lane from the external device 200 via the communication device 300 (S101). The identification unit 112 determines whether the acquisition unit 111 has acquired the statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles (S102). When determining that the acquisition unit 111 has acquired the statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles (YES in S102), the identification unit 112 sets the statistics acquired by the acquisition unit 111 as the target speed (S103). The specifying unit 112 specifies the target gear so that the speed range including the determined target speed is included in the power band of the target gear (S104).

Acceleration control unit 113 accelerates own vehicle 100 until the speed of own vehicle reaches the target speed (S105). The shift control unit 114 determines whether it is possible to shift to the next higher gear so that the speed of the own vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle 100 at that time ( S106). When the shift control unit 114 determines that it is possible to shift to the next higher gear so that the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band of the current gear (YES in S106), The gear is shifted to the next higher gear (S107). The shift control unit 114 determines whether the gear has been shifted to the target gear (S108). When the shift control unit 114 determines that the gear has been shifted to the target gear (YES in S108), the shift control unit 114 ends the process.

When determining in S102 that the acquiring unit 111 has not acquired the statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles (NO in S102), the specifying unit 112 determines the legal maximum speed at which the vehicle can travel in the merging lane. is set as the target speed (S109), and the process moves to S104. If the shift control unit 114 determines in the determination in S106 that it is not possible to shift to the next higher gear so that the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band of the current gear, the shift control unit 114 (NO), the process returns to S105. If the shift control unit 114 determines in S108 that the gear has not been shifted to the target gear (NO in S108), the shift control unit 114 returns to the process in S105.

[Effects of the travel control device 1 of the present disclosure]
While the acceleration control unit 113 accelerates the host vehicle to the target speed, the shift control unit 114 adjusts the host vehicle 100 in stages so that the speed of the host vehicle 100 does not deviate from the power band of the gear stage of the host vehicle 100 at that time. Shift to. Therefore, even if the difference between the speed of the other vehicles 400 and 500 traveling in the merging lane and the speed of the own vehicle 100 is large, the shift control unit 114 controls the speed of the own vehicle 100 while accelerating to the target speed. It is possible to prevent the speed from going out of the power band of the gear. Therefore, the shift control unit 114 can smoothly accelerate the host vehicle 100 and eliminate the speed difference between the host vehicle 100 and the other vehicles 400 and 500 in the merging lane at the time of merging in a relatively short time.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist. be. For example, all or part of the device can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated into arbitrary units. In addition, new embodiments created by arbitrary combinations of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effects of the new embodiment resulting from the combination have the effects of the original embodiment.

1 Travel control device 2 Communication section 3 Fuel injection mechanism 4 Transmission 10 Storage section 11 Control section 100 Own vehicle 111 Acquisition section 112 Specification section 113 Acceleration control section 114 Shift control section 200 External device 300 Communication device 400 Vehicle 500 Vehicle S Travel control system

Claims (8)

an acquisition unit that acquires statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling merges;
a specifying unit that determines a target speed based on the acquired statistics and specifies a target gear stage having a power band corresponding to the target speed;
an acceleration control unit that increases the traveling speed of the own vehicle to the target speed;
While the acceleration control unit is increasing the speed, the gear of the own vehicle is adjusted to the target gear so that the speed of the own vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle at that time. If the speed of the own vehicle is out of the power band corresponding to the gear at that time while the acceleration control unit is increasing the speed by changing the gear in stages, a shift control unit that changes the speed of the vehicle to the gear on the lower speed side in which the speed of the vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear ;
A travel control device comprising: The specifying unit determines the largest value among the average value, mode, and median value of the speeds at which the plurality of other vehicles travel as the target speed.
The travel control device according to claim 1. The speed change control unit is configured to determine, after the acceleration control unit increases the speed of the own vehicle to the target speed, a distance that can be traveled with a unit capacity of fuel is a distance that can be traveled with the unit capacity of fuel at the target gear stage. shifting the gear of the own vehicle to a gear that is longer than the travel distance;
The travel control device according to claim 1 or 2. The acquisition unit acquires statistics of traveling speeds of the plurality of other vehicles measured in the merging lane from an external device by wireless communication.
The travel control device according to claim 1 or 2. The specifying unit determines, as the target speed, a legal maximum speed at which the plurality of other vehicles can travel in the merging lane when the acquiring unit is unable to acquire the statistics of the speeds at which the plurality of other vehicles are traveling.
The travel control device according to claim 1 or 2. further comprising a measuring unit that measures the speed at which the plurality of other vehicles travel;
the acquisition unit acquires the statistics of the speeds of the plurality of other vehicles measured by the measurement unit;
The travel control device according to claim 1 or 2. computer executes
obtaining statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling merges;
determining a target speed based on the obtained statistics and identifying a target gear having a power band corresponding to the target speed;
increasing the traveling speed of the own vehicle to the target speed;
While increasing the speed of the own vehicle, the gear of the own vehicle is increased up to the target gear so that the speed of the own vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle at that time. a step of gradually changing the speed of the
Equipped with
In the step of increasing the speed, if the speed of the own vehicle is out of the power band corresponding to the gear at that time, the speed of the own vehicle is lower than the power band corresponding to the gear. shifting to the gear stage of;
Travel control method. to the computer,
obtaining statistics of the speeds of a plurality of other vehicles traveling in a merging lane where the lane in which the own vehicle is traveling merges;
determining a target speed based on the obtained statistics and identifying a target gear having a power band corresponding to the target speed;
increasing the traveling speed of the own vehicle to the target speed;
While increasing the speed of the own vehicle, the gear of the own vehicle is increased up to the target gear so that the speed of the own vehicle does not deviate from the power band corresponding to the gear of the own vehicle at that time. a step of gradually changing the speed of the
A program for executing
In the step of increasing the speed, if the speed of the own vehicle is out of the power band corresponding to the gear at that time, the speed of the own vehicle is lower than the power band corresponding to the gear. shifting to the gear stage of;
program.

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