JP7466587B2 - Route generation device and route generation method - Google Patents

Description

This application relates to a route generation device and a route generation method.

In conventional parking assistance devices, such as the parking assistance device disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is known that when calculating the parking path to be followed by the vehicle, the parking path is calculated based on the likelihood (hereinafter referred to as reliability) of obstacle information acquired by a sensor mounted on the vehicle.

Patent No. 6918203

However, in the parking assistance device described in Patent Document 1, the distance between the obstacle and the vehicle is set according to the reliability of the obstacle information recognized by the external environment recognition unit, so depending on the method of setting the reliability, the distance to the obstacle may be insufficient, resulting in a large number of turns.

For example, if it is determined that the reliability of the obstacle information is low, the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle in the direction where the reliability of the obstacle information is determined to be low will be set long, which may result in a route that requires many turns due to a narrower drivable space within the parking space, or it may not be possible to park successfully in the final target slot.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a route generation device and route generation method that generates an entry/exit route that reduces the number of turns required when parking or exiting a parking space by appropriately considering the distance to obstacles, etc., when entering and exiting a parking space with a vehicle, thereby shortening the time required for entry and exit.

A route generation device according to the present disclosure includes:
a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines an increase or decrease in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that increases or decreases a safety margin according to the increase or decrease in the vehicle speed when the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the vehicle speed of the vehicle has increased or decreased based on the vehicle information;
and a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle that includes the safety margin.

The route generation method according to the present disclosure includes:
acquiring a vehicle position, vehicle information, and vehicle surroundings information;
setting a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
determining an increase or decrease in a vehicle speed of the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
setting a safety margin based on the host vehicle surrounding information, the host vehicle movable area, and an increase or decrease in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle when parking the host vehicle;
and calculating a route from a route start position to a route end position using a virtual body of the host vehicle including the safety margin.

The route generation device and route generation method disclosed in this application appropriately set a safety margin in accordance with the parking lot surface, making it possible to generate an optimal route with fewer turns when parking or leaving the parking lot, which has the effect of shortening parking time.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a path generating device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by the route generation device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by the route generation device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by the route generation device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by the route generation device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by a conventional parking assistance device. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by the route generation device according to the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a route generation method according to the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail a portion of the processing flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail a portion of the processing flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by a route generation device according to Example 2 of the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a route generation method by a conventional parking assistance device. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of setting a safety margin and generating a route according to Example 2 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional route generation method for comparison with Example 2 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method according to Example 2 of the first embodiment. 11 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a route generation method according to Example 2 of the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing route generation for parking when the road has a slope according to a conventional route generation method. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing route generation for parking when the road has a slope according to a conventional route generation method. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the safety margin addition amount and the gradient rate according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing route generation for parking in a situation where the road surface has a low friction coefficient and is slippery, according to a conventional route generation method. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing route generation for parking in a situation where the road surface has a low friction coefficient and is slippery, according to a conventional route generation method. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the safety margin addition amount and the sliding friction coefficient according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for vertical storage in accordance with Example 4 of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for vertical storage in accordance with Example 4 of the first embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing flow for determining a parking lot surface in the processing flow of a route generation method according to Example 4 of the first embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing flow for setting a safety margin in the processing flow of a route generation method according to Example 4 of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for vertical leaving in accordance with Example 5 of the first embodiment; FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for vertical leaving in accordance with Example 5 of the first embodiment; FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for vertical leaving in accordance with Example 5 of the first embodiment; FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for vertical leaving in accordance with Example 5 of the first embodiment; 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a route generation method according to Example 5 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a path generating device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for parallel backward entry in accordance with the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method for parallel backward entry in accordance with the second embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing flow for determining a parking lot surface, which is one of the processing flows of the route generation method according to the second embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing flow for setting a safety margin in the processing flow of a route generation method according to the second embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration for realizing a path generating device according to the first and second embodiments. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration for realizing a path generating device according to the first and second embodiments.

Embodiment 1.
1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a route generating device 100 according to the embodiment 1. The route generating device 100 includes a host vehicle position acquiring unit 110, a host vehicle information acquiring unit 120, a host vehicle surroundings information acquiring unit 130, a host vehicle movable area setting unit 140, a parking lot surface determining unit 150, and a parking route planning unit 160. The parking route planning unit 160 further includes a safety margin setting unit 170 and a parking route calculation unit 180.

<Components of the path generating device 100 according to the first embodiment>
The vehicle position acquisition unit 110 acquires the vehicle position. One example of a method for acquiring the vehicle position by the vehicle position acquisition unit 110 is a GNSS receiver that receives a signal transmitted from a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) to acquire information on the absolute position (latitude, longitude). The vehicle position may also be detected by a speed sensor, a direction sensor, or the like.

The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 acquires vehicle information related to the vehicle 10. Examples of the vehicle information include the vehicle speed detected by a wheel speed pulse sensor, the yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor, and the pitch angle and roll angle detected by a gyro sensor. In addition, the amount of pressure applied by the user to the accelerator pedal and the status of past parking assistance operations may also be acquired as vehicle information.

The vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 acquires vehicle surroundings information around the vehicle. Methods for the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 to acquire vehicle surroundings information include detecting an obstacle 20 by measuring the distance from the vehicle 10 using a sonar sensor, and detecting an obstacle 20 around the vehicle using a high-precision sensor such as LiDAR or an image sensor such as a camera. There is also a method of detecting the position of an obstacle 20 captured using at least one camera mounted on the vehicle 10 that captures an image of at least the area around the vehicle.

Figures 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of route generation using the route generation device 100 and route generation method according to embodiment 1.

Based on the vehicle position and vehicle surroundings information, the vehicle movement area setting unit 140 sets the vehicle movement area 1 within the parking space in which the vehicle 10 can move in the parking assistance operation shown in FIG. 2. Note that the parking slot 2 described later is also part of the vehicle movement area 1, but for convenience, the two are illustrated separately and may be described as separate areas. In the example shown in FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 3, when the vehicle 10 is located near another vehicle that is considered to be an obstacle 20 when parking the vehicle 10, the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 detects the presence of the obstacle 20, that is, the presence of another vehicle already parked in the parking space, as vehicle surroundings information by measuring the distance between the vehicle 10 and the obstacle 20 using a sonar sensor or the like.

During parking assistance operation, the vehicle movement area setting unit 140 sets the vehicle movement area 1 in which the vehicle 10 cannot travel if an obstacle 20 is detected. The vehicle movement area setting unit 140 also detects and outputs as parking slots 2 slots that are at least a certain width larger than the vehicle 10 in the vehicle movement area 1. On the other hand, if no obstacle 20 is present, the vehicle movement area 1 is set with an upper limit of a certain value, such as the detection error of a sensor, from the vehicle 10.

The parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines in which direction relative to the vehicle 10 an obstacle 20 has been detected based on the detected vehicle surroundings information and the vehicle movement area 1 set as described above. When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 detects an obstacle 20, it determines that the parking lot surface is the "parking lot surface where the obstacle 20 has been detected." By combining the information on the detection point of the obstacle 20 in the vehicle surroundings information acquired by the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 and the information on the vehicle movement area 1 and parking slot 2 set by the vehicle movement area setting unit 140, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines in which direction relative to the vehicle 10 an obstacle area 3 exists.

When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that an obstacle area 3 exists within the parking space, it determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 has been detected" and outputs the determination result. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of route generation by the route generation device according to embodiment 1. In the example shown in FIG. 4, since there is a detection point for an obstacle 20 on the right side of the vehicle width direction of the host vehicle 10 along the host vehicle movable area 1, it can be determined that an obstacle area 3 exists on the right side in the vehicle width direction, and therefore the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 has been detected."

The parking path planning unit 160 plans a parking path PW for the host vehicle 10 to park in the parking slot 2 based on the host vehicle movement area 1 and the parking lot surface. The parking path planning unit 160 has a safety margin setting unit 170 that sets a safety margin 5, which is a virtual size of the host vehicle 10 that is larger than the host vehicle 10, based on the parking lot surface, and a parking path calculation unit 180 that calculates the parking path PW for the host vehicle 10 to park based on the host vehicle movement area 1 and the parking slot 2 set by the host vehicle movement area setting unit 140 taking into account the safety margin 5.

The safety margin setting unit 170 included in the parking path planning unit 160 sets a safety margin 5 for the host vehicle 10 based on at least the host vehicle surroundings information, the host vehicle movable area 1, and the parking lot surface before planning the parking path PW. Figure 5 is a schematic diagram explaining an example of route generation by the route generation device according to the first embodiment. The safety margin 5 is set to include a distance equivalent to the detection error of the sensor, for example, as shown in Figure 5. In other words, a virtual vehicle body 10a of the host vehicle 10 is set by adding the safety margin 5 to the size of the actual vehicle body of the host vehicle 10.

The safety margin setting unit 170 may set a safety margin of 5 as necessary in any direction as viewed from the vehicle 10. In other words, the safety margin setting unit 170 can set a safety margin of 5 equivalent to a distance based on a detection error of the sensor in at least one of the vehicle body forward direction, vehicle body rear direction, vehicle width left direction, and vehicle width right direction of the vehicle 10.

When setting the safety margin 5 for the sensor detection error, if a high-precision sensor such as LiDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) is used, or if multiple sensors work together to recognize the obstacle 20, it is easy to capture the obstacle 20 with a small detection error, so it is also possible to set the safety margin 5 to be reduced. Furthermore, in cases such as valet parking, where reliable information about the surroundings of the vehicle can be obtained from infrastructure signals such as a vehicle control system, it is also possible to set the safety margin 5 to be reduced.

After setting the safety margin 5, the parking path calculation unit 180 included in the parking path planning unit 160 generates a parking path PW as shown by the dotted line in Fig. 5 so that the safety margin 5 does not deviate from the vehicle movement area 1, for example, to park in the parking slot 2. The parking path calculation unit 180 can calculate an exit path not only when parking in the parking slot 2, but also when exiting from the parking slot 2. That is, the parking path calculation unit 180 can calculate, or generate, a path from the path start position to the path end position in both cases of entering and exiting.
The above is the configuration of the path generating device 100 according to the first embodiment.

<Outline of Characteristic Operations of the Route Generation Device and Route Generation Method According to the First Embodiment>
When the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5, if the parking lot surface is determined by the parking lot surface determination unit 150 to be a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 is detected," the parking path calculation unit 180, as shown in FIG. 5, further adds the safety margin 5 to the sensor detection error in the direction in which the obstacle 20 exists, i.e., only in the direction in which the host vehicle 10 is involved, thereby expanding the virtual vehicle body 10a of the host vehicle 10, and calculates the parking path PW of the host vehicle 10 using the added safety margin 5.

On the other hand, in the case of a conventional parking assistance device, when the reliability of the obstacle information acquired from the vehicle surroundings information is low, the distance between the vehicle 10 and the obstacle 20 in the direction in which the reliability of the obstacle information is determined to be low is set long, so that depending on the size of the set area, the distance may be set longer than the detection error of the sensor. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a safety margin 5f longer than the original safety margin SME is set, so that the space in which the vehicle 10 can travel within the parking space is reduced, and therefore a parking path PWG may be generated that requires more turns before the vehicle 10 can park in the parking slot 2. As the number of turns increases, the parking time required for the vehicle 10 to completely park in the parking slot 2 also increases.

In the case of the path generating device 100 according to the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, by adding a safety margin 5a only in the direction in which the obstacle 20 exists, that is, the direction in which the host vehicle 10 is involved, to the sensor detection error, the virtual vehicle body 10a of the host vehicle 10 including the original safety margin 5 is expanded by the amount of the safety margin 5a. Therefore, compared to conventional parking assistance devices, there is no need to set the safety margin 5 in an unnecessary direction. In other words, the path generating device 100 according to the first embodiment can generate a parking path PW that requires fewer turns compared to conventional parking assistance devices, which makes it possible to reduce parking time.

In other words, if the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines based on the vehicle surroundings information that an obstacle 20 is detected within the parking space, the safety margin setting unit 170 increases the safety margin 5 in the direction in which the obstacle 20 exists relative to the vehicle 10 more than in other directions.

When setting the safety margin 5, if the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 is detected," the safety margin setting unit 170 sets only the area that includes the distance of the sensor detection error as the safety margin 5, and generates the parking path PW based on the virtual vehicle body 10a of the vehicle 10 that includes the safety margin 5.

<Processing flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment>
The process flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment will be described below.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process flow of the route generating method according to the first embodiment.

In step S101, the vehicle information acquisition unit 120 acquires vehicle information such as the vehicle speed, yaw rate, pitch angle, and roll angle of the vehicle 10 using sensors such as a wheel speed pulse sensor, a yaw rate sensor, and a gyro sensor.

In step S102, the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 acquires vehicle surroundings information such as the distance from the vehicle 10 and detection of obstacles 20 around the vehicle using a sonar sensor, LiDAR, image sensor, etc.

In step S103, the vehicle position acquisition unit 110 acquires the vehicle position using a GNSS receiver, speed sensor, direction sensor, etc.

In step S104, the vehicle movement area setting unit 140 sets a vehicle movement area 1 in which the vehicle 10 can move during route generation based on the vehicle surroundings information and the vehicle position acquired in the processing of steps S102 and S103, and sets a slot in the vehicle movement area 1 that is a certain size larger than the vehicle 10 as a parking slot 2.

In step S105, based on the vehicle surroundings information acquired in step S102 and the vehicle movement area 1 set by the vehicle movement area setting unit 140 in step S104, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines the parking lot surface with respect to the vehicle 10, for example, in which direction an obstacle 20 was detected.

In step S106, based on the parking lot surface determined by the parking lot surface determination unit 150 in the processing of step S105, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5 of the vehicle 10, which is necessary when planning the parking path PW. Using the set safety margin 5, the size of the virtual vehicle body 10a of the vehicle 10, including the safety margin 5, is determined.

In step S107, the parking path calculation unit 180 generates a parking path PW that moves within the vehicle movement area 1 set in the processing of step S104 based on the safety margin 5 set in the processing of step S106, and leads to parking in the parking slot 2.
The above is an outline of the process flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment.

<Details of the process in step S105>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail the above-mentioned step S105 in the process flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment.

In step S1050, it is determined whether or not an obstacle area 3 exists around the vehicle based on the processing results of steps S101 to S103.

In step S1051, if an obstacle area 3 is present in the processing of step S1050, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 is detected."

<Details of the process in step S106>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating in more detail the above-mentioned step S106 in the process flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment.

In step S1060, it is determined whether the parking lot surface determined in the processing of step S105 is the "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 has been detected."

In step S1061, if the parking lot surface is determined to be a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 has been detected," the safety margin 5 is set to increase in the direction in which the obstacle 20 exists while adding the sensor detection error.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1062 that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 has been detected," the safety margin setting unit 170 sets a safety margin of 5 that corresponds only to the sensor detection error.
The above is an outline of the process flow of the route generation method according to the first embodiment.

<Effects of First Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device and route generation method of embodiment 1, when generating a parking route, a safety margin is set to be added in the direction in which an obstacle exists, so that an optimal route with fewer turns can be generated, thereby achieving the effect of shortening parking time.

Example 1 of embodiment 1.
The route generation device 100 and the route generation method according to Example 1 of the first embodiment will be described below. In Example 1, route generation will be described for a case where the host vehicle 10 parallel backs into a parking space. Example 1 is characterized in that the safety margin 5 is increased in the direction in which an obstacle 20 exists.

The basic operation of the first embodiment is as follows.
(1) When starting to generate a route for parking the vehicle 10, a safety margin 5 for sensor detection errors is set.
(2) If another vehicle or the like is parked in the parking space, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking space is a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 exists."
(3) The safety margin setting unit 170 sets a safety margin of 5 by increasing it in the direction in which the presence of the obstacle 20 is detected.
(4) The parking path calculation unit 180 generates a path for the host vehicle 10 to reach the target parking slot 2 within the parking space based on the set safety margin 5 .

<Generation of parking path and setting of safety margin in embodiment 1>
When the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5, if the parking lot surface is judged by the parking lot surface judgement unit 150 to be a "parking lot surface where an obstacle 20 exists", the parking path calculation unit 180 adds the safety margin 5 to the sensor detection error only in the direction in which the obstacle 20 exists, that is, only in the direction in which the host vehicle 10 will be involved, as shown in Fig. 5. In other words, the size of the virtual vehicle body 10a of the host vehicle 10 to which the safety margin 5 has been added is expanded. The parking path PW of the host vehicle 10 is calculated using the set safety margin 5.

In the case of Example 1, as shown in FIG. 7, a safety margin 5 is added to the sensor detection error only in the direction in which the obstacle 20 is located, i.e., only in the direction in which the host vehicle 10 is involved, thereby expanding the virtual vehicle body 10a of the host vehicle 10 including the safety margin. Therefore, since there is no need to set the safety margin 5 in excess directions compared to conventional parking assistance devices, a parking path PW can be generated that requires fewer turns compared to conventional parking assistance devices, which makes it possible to reduce parking time.

In Example 1, when setting the safety margin 5, if the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface on which an obstacle 20 is detected," the safety margin setting unit 170 sets only the area that includes the distance of the sensor detection error as the safety margin 5, and generates the parking path PW.

In addition, in the first embodiment, reverse parallel parking is used as an example, but this disclosure can be applied to any parking method, such as parallel parking and forward parallel parking.

<Effects of Example 1 of First Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device and route generation method of Example 1 of Embodiment 1, when generating a parking route for parallel backward entry, a safety margin is set to be added in the direction in which an obstacle exists. This makes it possible to generate an optimal route with fewer turns, thereby achieving the effect of shortening the parking time.

Example 2 of embodiment 1.
A route generation device 100 and a route generation method according to Example 2 of the first embodiment will be described below. Example 2 describes route generation when the host vehicle 10 parallel backs into a parking slot 2 in a parking space. Example 2 is characterized in that the safety margin 5 is increased or decreased on the parking lot surface where the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 10 has changed.

The basic operation of the second embodiment is as follows.
(1) When starting to generate a route for parking the vehicle 10, a safety margin 5 for sensor detection errors is set.
(2) If another vehicle or the like is parked in the parking space, the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 determines that it has detected the presence of an obstacle 20.
(3) When the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 determines, based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 120, that the parking lot surface has changed in speed of the vehicle 10, the safety margin setting unit 170 increases or reduces the safety margin 5.
(4) The parking path calculation unit 180 generates a path for the host vehicle 10 to reach the target parking slot 2 within the parking space based on the set safety margin 5 .

<Setting of Vehicle Movable Area in Second Embodiment>
Using the host vehicle surroundings information acquired by the host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130, the host vehicle movement area setting unit 140 sets a movable host vehicle movement area 1 in forming a path for parking the host vehicle 10 in a situation such as that shown in Fig. 11. The setting method includes a method of recognizing the host vehicle movement area 1 by detecting an obstacle 20 when passing through a parking slot 2 with a sonar sensor, and a method of recognizing and detecting the host vehicle surroundings information using a high-precision sensor such as LiDAR or an image sensor such as a camera.

Figure 12 is a schematic diagram explaining route generation by a conventional parking assistance device. As shown in Figure 12, when the vehicle 10 attempts to enter the target parking slot 2 without turning while adding a safety margin, there is a risk that a part of the vehicle 10 may enter outside the vehicle movement area 1.

<Setting of parking lot surface in Example 2>
Based on the vehicle surroundings information acquired by the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130, the set vehicle movable area 1, and the vehicle speed, brake pedal information, accelerator pedal information, and target acceleration/deceleration used for route generation acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 120, the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 judges whether the parking lot surface has changed from the vehicle speed steadily used in parking assistance (hereinafter referred to as steady vehicle speed).

For example, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the parking lot surface is a parking lot surface on which the vehicle 10 enters the target parking slot 2 during route generation and travels at an extremely slow speed slower than the steady vehicle speed, a parking lot surface on which the vehicle decelerates by applying the brakes due to the user or the target acceleration/deceleration used in route generation, or a parking lot surface on which the user presses the accelerator pedal hard or the vehicle suddenly starts or accelerates due to the target acceleration/deceleration used in route generation, and outputs the determination result to the parking route planning unit 160.

<Operation of the safety margin setting unit 170 in the second embodiment>
When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a parking lot surface where the vehicle 10 has changed from a steady vehicle speed, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the size of the safety margin 5 to correspond to the vehicle speed of the vehicle 10. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of setting the safety margin 5 and route generation according to the second embodiment. When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a parking lot surface where the vehicle has traveled at a much slower speed than normal, that is, decelerated, the safety margin 5 is set to be reduced. In FIG. 13, the safety margin 5 before the vehicle speed is decelerated is reduced to the safety margin 5b after the vehicle speed is decelerated.

As the safety margin 5b is reduced, the initial virtual vehicle body 10a of the vehicle 10 is also reduced to the virtual vehicle body 10b of the vehicle 10. This allows the braking distance according to the vehicle speed of the vehicle 10 to be taken into account, making it possible to park the vehicle 10 in the parking slot 2 with fewer turns. This has the effect of reducing the parking time required for parking.

Figure 14 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional route generation method for comparison with Example 2. According to the conventional method for generating a parking route PWG, the safety margin 5 is not set appropriately, so when the user depresses the accelerator to accelerate, the host vehicle 10 approaches the obstacle 20, and there is a possibility of contact. In order to avoid approaching or contacting the obstacle 20, the host vehicle 10 must turn more frequently, which results in a longer parking time.

<Setting the safety margin in the second embodiment>
When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the vehicle has suddenly started or accelerated, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5 to be increased. By taking such measures, the braking distance according to the vehicle speed of the vehicle 10 is taken into consideration, and it becomes possible to prevent the vehicle 10 from approaching the obstacle 20.

That is, when the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 judges that the vehicle speed of the host vehicle has changed based on the host vehicle information, the safety margin setting unit 170 increases or decreases the safety margin 5 according to the increase or decrease in the vehicle speed. More specifically, when the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 judges that the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 10 has changed based on the host vehicle information, the safety margin setting unit 170 increases the safety margin 5 as the vehicle speed increases and reduces the safety margin 5 as the vehicle speed decreases.

Figure 15 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method according to Example 2. When the user depresses the accelerator to accelerate, the safety margin before acceleration is increased to a safety margin after acceleration of 5b, thereby making it possible to prevent the host vehicle 10 from approaching and coming into contact with an obstacle 20.

<Setting of parking lot surface in Example 2>
The parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the parking lot surface is one where the user will press the accelerator pedal hard during parking assistance or where the vehicle will suddenly start or accelerate due to the target acceleration/deceleration used for parking assistance, and outputs the determination result to the parking path planning unit 160.

<Processing flow of a route generation method according to Example 2 of the first embodiment>
16 is a flowchart showing a process flow of the route generation method according to Example 2 of Embodiment 1. The process flow of the route generation method according to Example 2 of Embodiment 1 that operates during parking assistance will be described below.

In step S110, the vehicle information acquisition unit 120 acquires vehicle information such as the vehicle speed of the vehicle 10, brake pedal information, accelerator pedal information, target acceleration/deceleration used for parking assistance, and vehicle travel direction information.

In step S111, based on the vehicle information acquired in step S110, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines the parking lot surface, such as the direction in which the obstacle 20 was detected relative to the vehicle 10.

In step S112, a determination is made as to whether the parking lot surface set in step S111 is a "parking lot surface with a speed slower than the steady-state vehicle speed."

If it is determined in step S112 that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface that is smaller than the steady-state vehicle speed," in step S113, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 to be reduced, and the processing flow ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S112 that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface with a speed smaller than the steady-state vehicle speed," then in step S114 it is determined whether the determined parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface with a speed larger than the steady-state vehicle speed."

If it is determined in step S114 that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface with a speed greater than the steady-state vehicle speed," in step S115, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 to be increased, and the processing flow ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S114 that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface where the vehicle speed is greater than the steady-state vehicle speed," the processing flow ends.

<Effects of Example 2 of First Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device and route generation method of Example 2 of Embodiment 1, when generating a parking route for parallel reverse entry, the safety margin is set to be increased or decreased on the parking lot surface where the vehicle speed of the host vehicle has changed, so that an optimal route with fewer turns can be generated, thereby achieving the effect of shortening the parking time.

Example 3 of embodiment 1.
A route generation device 100 according to Example 3 of the first embodiment will be described below. Example 3 describes route generation in the case where the vehicle 10 parallel backs into a parking slot 2 in a parking space. Note that Example 3 handles not only entry but also exit in the same manner, and is not limited to parking forms. Example 3 is characterized in that the vehicle information acquisition unit 120 detects the road surface environment, such as the road gradient and the sliding friction coefficient, when searching for a parking space.

The basic operation of the third embodiment is as follows.
(1) When generating the parking path PW, a safety margin 5 for the sensor detection error is set.
(2) If the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 determines that the gradient of the road in the direction of travel is decreasing, the safety margin 5 in the direction of travel when traveling downhill is set to increase or decrease in accordance with the degree of the road gradient.
(3) Even if the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 judges that the road surface has a low slippery coefficient of friction based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 120, the safety margin 5 in the direction of travel is set to be increased or decreased in accordance with the numerical value of the slippery coefficient of friction.
(4) The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 continuously detects the road surface environment, such as the gradient of the road on which the vehicle 10 is traveling and the road surface slip friction coefficient, and performs parking lot surface judgment and sets the safety margin 5.
(5) Route generation is performed based on the set safety margin 5.
(6) Route generation is updated based on a safety margin 5 set according to the parking lot surface.
The third embodiment is characterized in that the safety margin 5 is increased or decreased according to the road surface environment, such as the gradient of the road on which the vehicle 10 is traveling, the coefficient of sliding friction with the road surface, etc. Since the acquisition of vehicle surroundings information, the acquisition of the vehicle position, and the setting of the vehicle movable area 1 in the third embodiment are similar to those in the first and second embodiments, the description thereof will be omitted.

Figures 17 and 18 are schematic diagrams showing the generation of a conventional parking path PWG for parking when the road has a slope using a conventional path generation method. In the conventional path generation method, the effect of the road slope was not properly reflected in the setting of the safety margin 5, so as shown in Figure 18, there was a possibility that the host vehicle 10 would approach or come into contact with an obstacle 20 due to the influence of the road slope. Therefore, in order to avoid approaching or coming into contact with the obstacle 20, the host vehicle 10 will have to turn around more frequently, which will increase the parking time required.

<Acquisition of Vehicle Information in Third Embodiment>
The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 acquires vehicle information using a sensor or the like. Examples of the vehicle information include the vehicle speed detected by a wheel speed pulse sensor, the yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor, and the pitch angle and roll angle detected by a gyro sensor. The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 also acquires the amount of pressure applied to the accelerator pedal by the user, the status of past parking assistance operations, and the like as the vehicle information. The vehicle information acquisition unit 120 detects the gradient of the road on which the vehicle 10 is traveling and the slip friction coefficient of the road surface based on the vehicle information. The gradient of the road and the slip friction coefficient of the road surface may be stored as detection results from past parking space searches and used as road surface environment information for the vehicle movement area 1.

<Determination of parking lot surface in Example 3>
The parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether or not the road on which the vehicle is traveling has a slope, using the road surface environment information included in the vehicle surroundings information acquired by the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130. The parking lot surface determination unit 150 further determines whether or not the road on which the vehicle is traveling has a slippery surface, using the above-mentioned road surface environment information.

<Generation of parking path and setting of safety margin in embodiment 3>
The parking path planning unit 160 plans a parking path PW for the host vehicle 10 to park in a target parking slot 2 within the parking space, based on the host vehicle movable area 1 and the parking lot surface. A safety margin setting unit 170 constituting the parking path planning unit 160 sets a safety margin 5 based on the parking lot surface, and imagines a virtual vehicle body 10a of the host vehicle 10 to which the safety margin 5 has been added. The parking path calculation unit 180 updates the parking path PW in response to changes in the safety margin 5 set by the safety margin setting unit 170.

The safety margin setting unit 170 sets an area as the safety margin 5 that includes the distance of the sensor detection error. The safety margin 5 may be set in either direction as viewed from the vehicle 10. When setting the safety margin 5 for the sensor detection error, if a high-precision sensor such as LiDAR is provided, or if multiple sensors work together to recognize an obstacle 20, the sensor detection error is small and it is therefore easy to capture the obstacle 20, so the safety margin 5 can be set to be reduced.

Figure 19 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. For comparison, a parking route PWG according to a conventional route generation method is also shown. Figure 20 is a diagram showing the relationship between the safety margin addition amount and the road gradient rate according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. As shown in Figures 19 and 20, when the road is a parking lot surface with a gradient, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin in the traveling direction when the vehicle 10 travels on the downhill side of the road to increase or decrease by a safety margin 5b in response to the gradient rate.

In other words, when the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines based on the vehicle surroundings information that the gradient of the road at least in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 is decreasing, the safety margin setting unit 170 increases the safety margin 5 compared to when there is no gradient in the traveling direction or when the gradient is increasing.

The safety margin 5 may be set to be increased not only in the direction of travel on the downhill side but also in the vehicle width direction on the downhill side. When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the road has a gradient and increases the safety margin 5, the safety margin 5 may be increased by a fixed amount, regardless of the degree of inclination of the gradient, i.e., the gradient rate.

Figures 21 and 22 are schematic diagrams showing the generation of a parking path PWG when the road surface has a low slippery coefficient of friction using a conventional path generation method. In the conventional path generation method, the effect of the road surface having a low slippery coefficient of friction was not properly reflected in the safety margin 5, so as shown in Figure 22, there was a possibility that the vehicle 10 would come close to or come into contact with another vehicle, which is an obstacle 20. Therefore, in order to avoid coming close to or coming into contact with the obstacle 20 due to the slippery road surface, the number of turns increases, and the parking time required for parking becomes longer.

Figure 23 is a schematic diagram showing a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. For comparison, a parking route PWG according to a conventional route generation method is also shown. Also, Figure 24 is a diagram showing the relationship between the safety margin addition amount and the slip friction coefficient of the road surface according to Example 3 of the first embodiment. As shown in Figures 23 and 24, when the road surface of the parking lot has a low slip friction coefficient and is slippery, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets the safety margin 5 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 by further increasing the safety margin 5b in accordance with the slip friction coefficient.

That is, the safety margin setting unit 170 increases or decreases the safety margin 5 according to the slip friction coefficient of the road surface in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 based on the parking lot surface determination unit's vehicle surroundings information. The safety margin 5 may be set to be increased or decreased not only in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 but also in the vehicle width direction. When the road surface is determined to be slippery and the safety margin 5 is increased, the safety margin 5 may be increased by a fixed amount, regardless of the slip friction coefficient.

As shown in Figures 17 and 21, which show conventional route formation methods, when a parking route PWG is generated using a safety margin for sensor detection errors, when stopping near an obstacle 20 on the parking route PWG and turning around, if the vehicle is traveling on a road with a downward slope or on a slippery road surface, the stopping distance may be longer than initially expected, and the vehicle 10 may come into contact with the obstacle 20. Therefore, in order to avoid the vehicle 10 coming into close proximity to or coming into contact with the obstacle 20 due to the slippery road surface, the number of turns increases, and the parking time required is longer.

In Example 3, on the other hand, as shown in FIG. 19 and FIG. 23 which show a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment, the safety margin 5 is increased by the safety margin 5b in accordance with the road surface environment, so that it is possible to prevent the host vehicle 10 from approaching the obstacle 20. Therefore, even if the road surface is slippery, the number of turns is reduced, and therefore the parking time required for parking is reduced.

<Processing flow of a route generation method according to Example 3 of the first embodiment>
The process flow of the route generation method according to Example 3 of the embodiment 1, which operates during parking assistance, will be described below. The basic process of the route generation method according to Example 3 of the embodiment 1 is the same as the process flow of the route generation method according to Example 1, that is, the process flow shown in the flowchart of Fig. 8. Therefore, only the details of the processes of parking lot surface determination (step S105 in Fig. 8) and safety margin setting (step S106 in Fig. 8), which are characteristic of the process of Example 3, will be described below.

<Details of the process in step S105>
FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the processing of parking lot surface determination in the processing flow of the route generation method according to the example 3 of the first embodiment.

In step S1055, based on the processing in steps S101 to S103, it is determined whether the road gradient rate is equal to or greater than a threshold value (hereinafter referred to as the threshold gradient rate).

If it is determined in step S1055 that the road gradient rate is equal to or greater than the threshold gradient rate, then in step S1056, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface with a gradient." On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1055 that the road gradient rate is less than the threshold gradient rate, the process proceeds to step S1057.

In step S1057, based on the processing in steps S101 to S103, it is determined whether the road surface slip friction coefficient is equal to or less than a threshold value (hereinafter referred to as the threshold friction coefficient).

If it is determined in step S1057 that the road surface's slip friction coefficient is equal to or less than the threshold friction coefficient, then in step S1058, the parking lot surface is determined to be a "slippery parking lot surface," and processing in step S105 is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1057 that the road surface's sliding friction coefficient is greater than the threshold friction coefficient, the processing of step S105 is terminated.

<Details of the process in step S106>
FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a safety margin setting process, which is part of the process flow of the path generation method according to the example 3 of the first embodiment.

In step S1065, the sensor detection error is set as a safety margin of 5.

In step S1066, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface with a slope."

If the parking lot surface is determined to be a "parking lot surface with a slope" in step S1066, a safety margin of 5 in the downward direction of travel is set in step S1067 by increasing it in accordance with the slope rate. After setting the safety margin of 5, the process proceeds to step S1068.

On the other hand, if step S1066 determines that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface with a slope," processing proceeds to step S1068.

In step S1068, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the parking lot surface is a "slippery parking lot surface."

If the parking lot surface is determined to be a "slippery parking lot surface" in step S1068, a safety margin of 5 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 is increased and set in accordance with the coefficient of sliding friction in step S1069. After the safety margin of 5 is set, the processing of step S106 is terminated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1068 that the parking lot surface is not a "slippery parking lot surface," processing in step S106 is terminated.

<Effects of Example 3 of First Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device and route generation method of Example 3 of Embodiment 1, when generating a parking route for parallel reverse entry, the safety margin is set to be increased or decreased according to the gradient of the road on which the vehicle is traveling or the sliding friction coefficient of the road surface. Therefore, even when the road is gradient or the road surface is slippery, an optimal route with fewer turns can be generated, thereby achieving the effect of shortening the parking time.

Example 4 of embodiment 1.
A route generation device 100 and a route generation method according to Example 4 of the first embodiment will be described below. Example 4 describes route generation in the case where the host vehicle 10 parallel-enters a target parking slot 2 in a parking space. Example 4 is characterized in that the safety margin 5 is reduced in a direction in which an obstacle 20 that is lower than the minimum ground clearance H of the body of the host vehicle 10 exists.

The basic operation of the fourth embodiment is as follows.
(1) When starting to generate the parking route PW, a safety margin of 5 is set to account for the sensor detection error, the route is generated, and entry into the parking lot is started.
(2) The parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether or not an obstacle 20 is present on the parking lot surface that is lower than the minimum ground clearance H of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 .
(3) Set the safety margin 5 to be reduced in the direction in which the obstacle 20 is detected.
(4) Based on the reset safety margin 5, route generation is performed again.
The fourth embodiment is characterized in that the vehicle movement area 1 is expanded from the initial parking path PW, thereby completing parking assistance more quickly.

<Acquisition of Vehicle Surrounding Information in Fourth Embodiment>
The vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 acquires vehicle surroundings information of the surroundings of the vehicle 10. Methods for acquiring vehicle surroundings information include a method for measuring the distance between the vehicle 10 and surrounding objects using a distance measuring sensor such as sonar, radar, or LiDAR, or a method for detecting objects and road conditions by image processing of a surrounding image acquired by an image sensor. The vehicle surroundings information includes information on the height of the object in addition to the presence or absence of the object. Regarding the measurement of the height of the object, a method for estimating the height of the object using each of the above-mentioned sensors is known, so a known measurement method may be used. Such a measurement method is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 6026948.

<Acquisition of vehicle position and setting of vehicle movement area in embodiment 4>
The acquisition of the vehicle position and the setting of the vehicle movable area 1 in the fourth embodiment are similar to those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

<Setting of parking lot surface in Example 4>
27 and 28 are schematic diagrams showing a route generation method for parallel entry according to Example 4 of Embodiment 1. Example 4 assumes the presence of a curb 8, which is a type of obstacle 20, in a parking slot 2 (parking lot surface) as shown in Fig. 27.

As shown in FIG. 27, when the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 detects the presence of an object, such as a curbstone 8, that is lower than the minimum ground clearance H of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 in the depth direction of the parking space at a position where the vehicle 10 is about to enter a parking slot 2 in the parking space, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface on which a curbstone 8 exists."

<Regeneration of parking path and resetting of safety margin in embodiment 4>
In Example 4, the safety margin setting unit 170 recognizes that it is a new parking lot surface and resets the safety margin 5 to be reduced in the direction where there is an obstacle 20, such as a curb 8, that is lower than the minimum ground clearance H of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10.

In other words, when the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines based on the vehicle surroundings information that an obstacle 20 lower than the minimum ground clearance H of the vehicle body of the vehicle 10 has been detected in the parking space during parallel parking, the safety margin setting unit 170 reduces the safety margin 5 in the direction facing the obstacle 20 of the vehicle 10 compared to other directions.

The parking path planning unit 160 re-plans the parking path PW using the reset safety margin 5. In addition, in the case of a parking lot surface where the presence of a curb 8 is detected before the start of parking assistance, the safety margin 5 may be set to be reduced from the start of parking assistance.

<Processing flow of a route generation method according to Example 4 of the first embodiment>
The process flow of the route generation method according to Example 4 of the embodiment 1, which operates during parking assistance, will be described below. The basic process of the route generation method according to Example 4 of the embodiment 1 is the same as the process flow of the route generation method according to Example 1, that is, the process flow shown in the flowchart of Fig. 8. Therefore, only the details of the process flow of parking lot surface determination (step S105 in Fig. 8) and safety margin setting (step S106 in Fig. 8), which are characteristic of the process of the route generation method according to Example 4, will be described below.

<Details of the process in step S105>
FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of parking lot surface determination, which is one of the processing flows of the route generation method according to the example 4 of the first embodiment.

In step S1070, based on the processing in steps S101 to S103, it is determined whether or not a curb 8 is present on the depth side of the parking slot 2 in the parking space.

In step S1071, if it is determined based on the processing of steps S101 to S103 that a curbstone 8 exists on the depth side of the parking slot 2 in the parking space, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface on which a curbstone 8 exists."

<Details of the process in step S106>
FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a safety margin setting process in the process flow of the path generation method according to the example 4 of the first embodiment.

In step S1075, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface on which a curb 8 exists."

In step S1076, if the parking lot surface is determined to be a "parking lot surface on which a curb 8 exists" in step S1075, the safety margin 5 is set to be reduced in the direction in which the curb 8 exists, in comparison with the previously set safety margin 5 for the sensor detection error.

In step S1077, if it is determined in step S1075 that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface with a curb 8", a safety margin of 5 is set to account for the sensor detection error.

<Effects of Example 4 of First Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device 100 and route generation method of Example 4 of Embodiment 1, when generating a parking route for parallel reverse entry, the safety margin 5 is set to be reduced in the direction in which there is an obstacle lower than the minimum ground clearance of the vehicle body of the vehicle. Therefore, even in a situation in which a curb is present on the depth side of the parking slot in the parking space, an optimal route with fewer turns can be generated, thereby achieving the effect of shortening the parking time.

Example 5 of embodiment 1.
A fifth example of the route generating device 100 and route generating method according to the first embodiment will be described below. In the fifth example, route generation will be described for the case where the vehicle 10 leaves a parking space in a parallel manner. The fifth example is characterized in that, at the start of the leaving route, the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 cannot detect road surface information around the vehicle 10, that is, in the parking lot surface determined to be undetected, one end of the safety margin 5 is set as the boundary on the depth side of the parking space, and the safety margin 5 on the depth side of the parking space is reduced from the vehicle tire position. That is, the fifth example is an example in which the safety margin 5 is set to expand the vehicle movement area 1 when the road surface condition is undetected.

<Acquisition of Road Surface Information in the Fifth Embodiment>
The host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 acquires host vehicle surroundings information of the surroundings of the host vehicle 10. Furthermore, it acquires road surface information of the host vehicle surroundings included in the host vehicle surroundings information. Methods for acquiring road surface information include a method of detecting an obstacle 20 by measuring the distance from the host vehicle 10 using a sonar sensor, and a method of detecting the road surface condition around the host vehicle using an image sensor such as a camera.

<Setting of Vehicle Movable Area in Fifth Embodiment>
Using the vehicle position and the vehicle surrounding information, a vehicle movement area 1 in which the vehicle 10 can move in the exit support operation as shown in FIG. 31 is set. In the situation shown in FIG. 31, if road surface information cannot be acquired, an area including the side ditch 9 is also set as the vehicle movement area 1. If the area on the depth side of the parking space is set widely as the vehicle movement area 1 in a state in which road surface information cannot be acquired, there is a possibility that the tires will be caught in the side ditch 9 during the exit operation. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 32, a depth side distance limited to the side ditch 9 of the parking space with the safety margin 5 (hereinafter referred to as the depth side distance of the safety margin 5) is set within the vehicle movement area 1. Since the side ditch 9 exists on the depth side of the parking space, a depth side boundary 9a that contacts the side ditch 9 in the parking space of the vehicle movement area 1 is set on the depth side of the parking space.

In other words, when the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 judges that parallel leaving will start when the road surface condition around the vehicle has not yet been detected by the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130, it sets the boundary in the depth direction of the parking space at the starting position of parallel leaving as the boundary of the vehicle movable area 1, and removes the area located on the boundary side of the tire position of the vehicle 10 from the safety margin 5.

<Setting the safety margin in the fifth embodiment>
From the completion result of the parallel entry input by the vehicle information acquisition unit 120, it is assumed that the road surface extends up to the depth distance of the safety margin 5, and that this is the area in which the vehicle 10 can travel. Since the area in which the vehicle 10 can travel extends up to the depth direction boundary of the vehicle movement area 1, which is set on the depth side of the parking space beyond the tire position of the vehicle 10, the vehicle movement area 1 of the vehicle 10 is expanded by reducing the depth distance of the safety margin 5 set at the start of the exit support operation in this area by the safety margin 5b, as shown in FIG.

<Generation of parking route in embodiment 5>
When the parking path calculation unit 180 constituting the parking path planning unit 160 generates an exit path, it generates an exit path to the target position taking into consideration the vehicle movement area 1 with the safety margin 5 reduced. When the vehicle 10 is tilted toward the passageway, the vehicle movement area 1 on the left and right sides of the vehicle 10, i.e., in the vehicle width direction, is expanded. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 34, the vehicle movement area 1 is expanded compared to when the safety margin 5 is not reduced as described above, that is, when there is an extra distance of the safety margin 5b, so that it is possible to generate an exit path with fewer turns. As a result, the time required for exit is reduced.

<Processing flow of a route generation method according to Example 5 of the first embodiment>
A process flow of a route generation method according to Example 5 of the embodiment 1 that operates during parking assistance will be described. Fig. 35 is a flowchart showing a process flow of a route generation method according to Example 5 of the embodiment 1.

In step S151, the vehicle information acquisition unit 120 uses sensors such as a wheel speed pulse sensor, a yaw rate sensor, and a gyro sensor to acquire vehicle information such as the vehicle speed, yaw rate, pitch angle, and roll angle of the vehicle 10, as well as target acceleration/deceleration used for parking assistance, vehicle travel direction information, and parallel entry completion information.

In step S152, the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 uses a sonar sensor, LiDAR, image sensor, etc. to acquire vehicle surroundings information such as the distance between the vehicle 10 and the obstacle 20 and detection of the obstacle 20 around the vehicle, in particular obstacle information and road surface information around the vehicle.

In step S153, the vehicle position acquisition unit 110 acquires the current vehicle position using a GNSS receiver, speed sensor, direction sensor, etc.

In step S154, the vehicle movement area setting unit 140 sets the vehicle movement area 1 in which the vehicle 10 can move during parking assistance operation, and a slot in the vehicle movement area 1 that is a certain amount larger than the vehicle 10 as the parking slot 2, based on the vehicle surroundings information and the vehicle position acquired in the processing of steps S152 and S153.

In step S155, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the vehicle 10 has completed parallel parking and whether the road surface information, such as the road surface condition around the vehicle, is unknown, i.e., the parking lot surface has not been detected.

If, in step S155, it is determined that the parallel entry has been completed and that the road surface information around the vehicle is an undetected parking lot surface, in step S156, the safety margin 5 is adjusted so that the previously set safety margin 5 for that area is reduced by the safety margin 5b, since the area in which the vehicle 10 can travel is the depth distance of the parking space from the tire position of the vehicle 10, that is, the safety margin 5b shown in FIG. 33.

In step S157, the parking path calculation unit 180 generates a parking path PW that moves within the vehicle movable area 1 set in the processing of step S154 based on the safety margin 5 set in the processing of step S156, and leads to the target parking slot 2.
The above is an outline of the process flow of the route generation method according to the fifth example of the first embodiment.

<Effects of Example 5 of First Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device and route generation method of Example 5 of Embodiment 1, when generating an exit route for parallel exit, a safety margin is set to expand the vehicle's movable area when the road surface conditions are unknown, i.e., undetected, so that even in a situation where a gutter is present at the back of the parking space, an optimal route with fewer turns can be generated, thereby achieving the effect of shortening the exit time.

Embodiment 2.
A path generating device 100a and a path generating method according to the second embodiment will be described below. In the second embodiment, path generation will be described for a case where the host vehicle 10 performs parallel backward entry into a parking space. The second embodiment is characterized in that, when the host vehicle 10 approaches a target parking slot 2 in a parking space during parking assistance operation, the host vehicle movable area 1 is reset and the parking path PW is updated, the safety margin 5 is reset so as to reduce the safety margin 5.

FIG. 36 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a path generating device 100a according to the second embodiment.
The configuration differs from that of the route generating device 100 of embodiment 1 in that the parking route PW generated by the parking route planning unit 160 is appropriately fed back to the parking lot surface judgment unit 150 as the vehicle 10 moves, and when information about the vicinity of the vehicle changes as the vehicle 10 moves, the parking route PW is re-set using the updated safety margin 5.

The basic operation of the second embodiment is as follows.
(1) When generating the parking path PW, a safety margin 5 for the detection error of the sensor is set.
(2) During the parking assistance operation, the host vehicle movement area 1 is reset by the host vehicle movement area setting unit 140 as the host vehicle 10 moves, and the parking path PW is updated.
(3) During parking assistance operation, when the parking path PW is updated and the vehicle 10 is approaching the parking slot 2, the parking surface setting is determined to be "a parking surface approaching the target parking slot 2."
(4) When the parking path PW is updated, the safety margin 5 is reset so as to be reduced.
(5) Based on the reset safety margin 5, route generation is performed again.

<Outline of Acquisition of Vehicle Surrounding Information, Acquisition of Vehicle Position, Setting of Vehicle Movement Area, Setting of Safety Margin, and Generation of Parking Path in the Second Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit 130 acquires vehicle surroundings information, the vehicle position acquisition unit 110 acquires the current vehicle position, the vehicle movement area setting unit 140 sets the vehicle movement area 1 and a parking slot 2 within the parking space, the safety margin setting unit 170 sets a safety margin 5 for the sensor detection error before generating the initial parking path PW, and the parking path planning unit 160 generates the parking path PW based on the safety margin 5.

<Resetting of Vehicle Movable Area in Second Embodiment>
The example shown in Fig. 37 is an example in which the position of the obstacle 20 before redetection is detected in the direction in which the parking slot 2 is shrinking, and the host vehicle movable area 1 changes in accordance with the shrinkage of the parking slot 2. If a change occurs in the host vehicle surroundings information when the parking assistance operation is started and the host vehicle 10 approaches the parking slot 2, the host vehicle movable area 1 may be reset by the host vehicle movable area setting unit 140 as shown in Fig. 37. In Fig. 37, the position of the obstacle 20a before the resetting becomes the position of the obstacle 20b after the resetting.

In addition, the vehicle movement area 1a after resetting is expanded from before resetting. This is because the distance between the vehicle 10 and the obstacle 20 is shortened as the vehicle 10 approaches the parking slot 2, and the detection accuracy of the obstacle 20 is improved compared to the vehicle surroundings information detected before parking assistance begins. Note that a preset distance can be used as the allowable distance between the vehicle 10 and the obstacle 20.

In other words, when the route is updated by the parking route calculation unit 180, if the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the vehicle has approached the target parking slot 2 within a preset distance, the safety margin setting unit 170 reduces the safety margin 5 to be smaller than the safety margin 5 before approaching the parking slot 2.

<Recalculation of parking path in the second embodiment>
When the host vehicle movement area 1 is changed by the host vehicle movement area setting unit 140, the parking path calculation unit 180 constituting the parking path planning unit 160 updates the parking path PW based on the host vehicle movement area 1 after the change.

<Parking lot surface determination in the second embodiment>
When the parking path PW is updated in the parking path planning unit 160, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the current vehicle position is approaching within a preset distance to the parking slot 2. If approaching the parking slot 2, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface approaching the target parking slot 2" and outputs the determination result to the parking path planning unit 160.

<Resetting of Safety Margin in Second Embodiment>
When the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines that the parking lot surface is "a parking lot surface approaching the target parking slot 2," the safety margin setting unit 170 resets the safety margin 5 in a direction that reduces the safety margin 5 from the previously set safety margin 5 to safety margin 5b, as shown in FIG. 38.

As for the amount by which the safety margin 5 is reset, for example, a method of correcting the amount of sensor detection error when the sensor detection accuracy is low to the amount of sensor detection error when the sensor detection error is high can be used. However, this is just one example and is not limited to this method. When updating the parking path PW after the safety margin 5 has been reset, the parking path PW is updated using the reset safety margin 5.

By using the route generation method according to the second embodiment, when the parking lot surface is one in which the distance between the vehicle 10 and the obstacle 20 is within a preset distance, an efficient parking route PW that appropriately corresponds to the actual situation can be generated by resetting the safety margin 5 without relying on the sensor detection accuracy.

<Processing flow of route generation method according to embodiment 2>
The process flow of the route generation method according to the embodiment 2, which operates during parking assistance, will be described below. The basic process of the route generation method according to the embodiment 2 is the same as the process flow of the route generation method according to the example 1 of the embodiment 1, that is, the process flow shown in the flowchart of Fig. 8. Therefore, only the details of the processes of parking lot surface determination (step S105 in Fig. 8) and safety margin setting (step S106 in Fig. 8), which are characteristic of the process of the embodiment 2, will be described below.

<Details of the process in step S105>
FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing the parking lot surface determination process, which is part of the processing flow of the route generation method according to embodiment 2.

In step S201, the parking route planning unit 160 determines whether the parking route PW has been updated.

In step S202, if the parking path PW was updated in step S201, it is determined whether the vehicle position is approaching the target parking slot 2.

If it is determined in step S202 that the vehicle position is approaching the target parking slot 2, the parking surface is determined to be a "parking surface approaching the target parking slot 2" in step S203. On the other hand, if it is determined in steps S201 and S202 that the parking surface is not a "parking surface approaching the target parking slot 2," the processing of step S105 is terminated.

<Details of the process in step S106>
FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing a safety margin setting process, which is part of the process flow of the route generation method according to the second embodiment.

In step S204, it is determined whether the parking route PW to be generated is the first route to be generated.

If it is determined in step S204 that this is the first time the route is being generated, that is, if the parking route PW to be generated is the first time the route is being generated, a safety margin of 5 is set to account for the sensor detection error in step S205, and the processing flow ends.

If step S204 determines that this is not the first time route generation is performed, processing proceeds to step S206.

In step S206, the parking lot surface determination unit 150 determines whether the parking lot surface is a "parking lot surface approaching the target parking slot 2."

If it is determined in step S206 that the parking lot surface is "a parking lot surface approaching the target parking slot 2," in step S207, the safety margin 5 is reset in a direction that is smaller than the safety margin 5 set when the initial route was generated, and the processing flow ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S206 that the parking lot surface is not a "parking lot surface approaching the target parking slot 2," then in step S208, the safety margin 5 that was set when the initial route was generated is maintained, and the processing flow is terminated.
The above is the process flow of the route generating method according to the second embodiment.

<Effects of the Second Embodiment>
As described above, according to the route generation device and route generation method of embodiment 2, when the parking lot surface is one in which the distance between the vehicle and an obstacle is close, it is possible to set a safety margin without relying on the sensor detection accuracy, thereby achieving the effect of enabling the generation of an efficient parking route that appropriately corresponds to the actual situation.

The above describes a configuration in which the functions of each component of the route generation devices 100 and 100a according to the first and second embodiments are realized by either hardware or software, etc. However, this is not limited to this, and the configuration may be such that some of the components of the route generation devices 100 and 100a are realized by dedicated hardware and other components are realized by software, etc.

For example, as shown in Figures 41 and 42, the functions of some components can be realized by a processing circuit 50 as dedicated hardware, and the functions of other components can be realized by the processing circuit 50 as a processor 51 reading and executing a program stored in memory 52 for executing the path generation method of embodiments 1 and 2 on a computer or the like.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 42, the setting data used by each functional unit of the route generation device 100, 100a may be installed in the memory 52 from a recording medium 53 storing a part of the software, i.e., a program 54 for executing the route generation method according to the first and second embodiments on a computer or the like.

As described above, the path generation devices 100 and 100a according to the first and second embodiments can realize the above-mentioned functions by using hardware, software, etc., or a combination of these.

Summary of the Various Aspects of the Present Application
Various aspects of the present application are summarized below as appendices.

(Appendix 1)
a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines the parking lot surface of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that sets a safety margin based on the vehicle surroundings information, the vehicle movement area, and the parking lot surface;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin;
A route generating device comprising:

(Appendix 2)
the safety margin setting unit resets the safety margin when the host vehicle movable area changes as the host vehicle moves from the route start position to the route end position;
The route generation device described in Appendix 1, characterized in that the parking route calculation unit re-calculates the route using the safety margin after it has been reset.

(Appendix 3)
The route generation device described in Appendix 1 or 2, characterized in that the safety margin setting unit sets the safety margin equivalent to a distance based on a detection error of a sensor in one or more of the forward direction, rearward direction, leftward direction, and rightward direction of the vehicle width of the vehicle.

(Appendix 4)
A route generation device as described in any one of appendix 1 to 3, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines that an obstacle is detected within the parking space based on the vehicle surrounding information, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin in the direction in which the obstacle exists relative to the vehicle more than in other directions.

(Appendix 5)
The route generation device described in any one of Appendices 1 to 4, characterized in that when the parking lot surface judgment unit determines that the vehicle speed of the vehicle has changed based on the vehicle information, the safety margin setting unit increases or decreases the safety margin in accordance with the increase or decrease in the vehicle speed.

(Appendix 6)
The route generation device described in Appendix 5, characterized in that when the parking lot surface judgment unit determines that the vehicle speed of the vehicle has changed based on the vehicle information, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin as the vehicle speed increases and reduces the safety margin as the vehicle speed decelerates.

(Appendix 7)
The route generation device described in any one of appendix 1 to 5, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the gradient of the road in at least the direction of travel of the vehicle is decreasing based on the information about the vehicle's surroundings, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin compared to when there is no gradient in the direction of travel or when the gradient is increasing.

(Appendix 8)
The route generation device described in Appendix 7, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines based on the vehicle's surrounding information that the gradient rate of the road at least in the vehicle's traveling direction is equal to or greater than a threshold gradient rate, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin more than when the gradient rate is less than the threshold gradient rate.

(Appendix 9)
The route generation device described in any one of appendix 1 to 8, characterized in that the safety margin setting unit increases or decreases the safety margin in accordance with the slip friction coefficient of the road surface in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the information about the vicinity of the vehicle.

(Appendix 10)
The route generation device described in Appendix 9, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the slip friction coefficient of the road surface in the direction of travel of the vehicle is greater than a threshold friction coefficient based on the vehicle surrounding information, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin more than when the friction coefficient of the road surface is equal to or less than the threshold friction coefficient.

(Appendix 11)
The path generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines based on the vehicle's surrounding information that an obstacle lower than the minimum ground clearance of the vehicle body has been detected within the parking space during parallel parking, the safety margin setting unit reduces the safety margin in a direction in which the vehicle faces the obstacle more than in other directions.

(Appendix 12)
The route generation device described in any one of appendix 1 to 10, characterized in that when the parking lot surface judgment unit determines that parallel leaving will be started in a state where the road surface condition around the vehicle has not been detected by the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit, the parking lot surface judgment unit sets the depth-wise boundary of the parking space at the safety margin of the parallel leaving start position as the boundary of the vehicle's movable area, and removes the area from the tire position of the vehicle to the boundary side from the safety margin.

(Appendix 13)
The path generating device according to any one of claims 2 to 12, characterized in that, when the path is updated by the parking path calculation unit, if the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the vehicle has approached within a predetermined distance of a target parking slot, the safety margin setting unit reduces the safety margin to be smaller than the safety margin before approaching the parking slot.

(Appendix 14)
acquiring a vehicle position, vehicle information, and vehicle surroundings information;
setting a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
determining a parking lot surface of the host vehicle based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surroundings information, and the host vehicle movable area;
setting a safety margin based on the vehicle surroundings information, the vehicle movement area, and the parking lot surface;
calculating a route from a route start position to a route end position using a virtual body of the host vehicle including the safety margin;
A route generation method comprising:

(Appendix 15)
The route generation method described in Appendix 14 is characterized in that, when the vehicle's movable area changes as the vehicle moves from the route start position to the route end position, the safety margin is reset, and the route is recalculated using the reset safety margin.

Although the present disclosure describes various exemplary embodiments and examples, the various features, aspects, and functions described in one or more embodiments are not limited to application to a particular embodiment, but may be applied to the embodiments alone or in various combinations.

Therefore, countless variations not illustrated are contemplated within the scope of the technology disclosed in this specification. For example, this includes modifying, adding, or omitting at least one component, and even extracting at least one component and combining it with a component of another embodiment.

1, 1a Vehicle movement area, 2 Parking slot, 3 Obstacle area, 5, 5a, 5b, 5f Safety margin, 8 Curb, 9 Gutter, 9a Depth side boundary, 10 Vehicle, 10a, 10b Virtual vehicle body, 20, 20a, 20b Obstacle, 50 Processing circuit, 51 Processor, 52 Memory, 53 Recording medium, 54 Program, 100, 100a Path generation device, 110 Vehicle position acquisition unit, 120 Vehicle information acquisition unit, 130 Vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit, 140 Vehicle movement area setting unit, 150 Parking lot surface judgment unit, 160 Parking path planning unit, 170 Safety margin setting unit, 180 Parking path calculation unit

Claims (14)

a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines an increase or decrease in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that increases or decreases a safety margin according to the increase or decrease in the vehicle speed when the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the vehicle speed of the vehicle has increased or decreased based on the vehicle information;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin;
A route generating device comprising: The route generation device according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the parking lot surface judgment unit judges that the vehicle speed of the host vehicle has changed based on the host vehicle information, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin as the vehicle speed increases and reduces the safety margin as the vehicle speed decelerates. a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that sets a safety margin based on the host vehicle surrounding information, the host vehicle movable area, and a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin ,
The safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin when the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the gradient of the road in at least the direction of travel of the vehicle is decreasing based on the information about the vehicle's surroundings, compared to when there is no gradient in the direction of travel or when the gradient is increasing. The route generation device according to claim 3, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines based on the vehicle surrounding information that the gradient rate of the road at least in the vehicle's traveling direction is equal to or greater than a threshold gradient rate, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin more than when the gradient rate is less than the threshold gradient rate. a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surroundings information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that sets a safety margin based on the host vehicle surrounding information, the host vehicle movable area, and a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin ,
The route generation device is characterized in that the safety margin setting unit increases or decreases the safety margin in accordance with the slip friction coefficient of the road surface in the direction of travel of the vehicle based on the information about the vehicle's surroundings . The route generation device according to claim 5, characterized in that when the parking lot surface determination unit determines based on the vehicle surrounding information that the slip friction coefficient of the road surface in the vehicle's traveling direction is greater than a threshold friction coefficient, the safety margin setting unit increases the safety margin more than when the friction coefficient of the road surface is equal to or less than the threshold friction coefficient. a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surroundings information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that sets a safety margin based on the host vehicle surroundings information, the host vehicle movable area, and a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin ,
The path generation device is characterized in that, when the parking lot surface determination unit determines based on the vehicle's surrounding information that an obstacle lower than the minimum ground clearance of the vehicle body has been detected within the parking space during parallel parking, the safety margin setting unit reduces the safety margin in the direction in which the vehicle faces the obstacle more than in other directions . a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surroundings information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that sets a safety margin based on the host vehicle surroundings information, the host vehicle movable area, and a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin ,
When the parking lot surface judgment unit determines that parallel leaving will begin when the road surface condition around the vehicle has not been detected by the vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit, the parking lot surface judgment unit sets the depth boundary of the parking space at the safety margin at the parallel leaving start position as the boundary of the vehicle's movable area, and removes the area from the tire position of the vehicle to the boundary side from the safety margin . a vehicle position acquisition unit for acquiring a vehicle position;
a vehicle information acquisition unit for acquiring vehicle information;
a host vehicle surroundings information acquisition unit for acquiring host vehicle surroundings information;
a host vehicle movement area setting unit that sets a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
a parking lot surface determination unit that determines a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surroundings information, and the host vehicle movable area;
a safety margin setting unit that sets a safety margin based on the host vehicle surroundings information, the host vehicle movable area, and a road condition around the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked;
a parking path calculation unit that calculates a path from a path start position to a path end position using a virtual vehicle body of the host vehicle including the safety margin,
The parking path calculation unit recalculates the path using the reset safety margin,
The safety margin setting unit resets the safety margin when the vehicle's movable area changes as the vehicle moves from the route start position to the route end position, and when the route is updated by the parking route calculation unit, if the parking lot surface determination unit determines that the vehicle has approached within a predetermined distance of a target parking slot, the safety margin is reduced to a value lower than the safety margin before approaching the parking slot. the safety margin setting unit resets the safety margin when the host vehicle movable area changes as the host vehicle moves from the route start position to the route end position;
9. The route generation device according to claim 1, wherein the parking route calculation unit recalculates the route using the safety margin after resetting. The route generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the safety margin setting unit sets the safety margin equivalent to a distance based on a detection error of a sensor in at least one of the forward direction, the rear direction, the left direction across the vehicle, and the right direction across the vehicle. acquiring a vehicle position, vehicle information, and vehicle surroundings information;
setting a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
determining an increase or decrease in a vehicle speed of the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
setting a safety margin based on the host vehicle surrounding information, the host vehicle movable area, and an increase or decrease in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle when parking the host vehicle;
calculating a route from a route start position to a route end position using a virtual body of the host vehicle including the safety margin;
A route generation method comprising: The route generation method according to claim 12, characterized in that, when the vehicle's movable area changes as the vehicle moves from the route start position to the route end position, the safety margin is reset, and the route is recalculated using the reset safety margin. acquiring a vehicle position, vehicle information, and vehicle surroundings information;
setting a host vehicle movement area, which is an area in which the host vehicle can move, based on the host vehicle position and the host vehicle surroundings information;
determining an increase or decrease in a vehicle speed of the host vehicle when the host vehicle is parked based on the host vehicle information, the host vehicle surrounding information, and the host vehicle movable area;
When it is determined that the vehicle speed of the host vehicle has increased or decreased based on the host vehicle information, increasing or decreasing a safety margin according to the increase or decrease in the vehicle speed;
calculating a route from a route start position to a route end position using a virtual body of the host vehicle including the safety margin;
A route generation method comprising:

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