JP7480801B2 - Vehicle notification control device and vehicle notification control method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a vehicle notification control device and a vehicle notification control method.

Patent document 1 discloses a technology that displays "Autonomous driving in progress" on a display device attached to the roof of the vehicle when the vehicle is in autonomous driving mode.

JP 2017-7417 A

Depending on the level of automation, autonomous driving involves different system control and driver behavior. In contrast, Patent Document 1 only considers notifying the outside world that the vehicle is "in autonomous driving" while it is in autonomous driving. Therefore, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 can only notify the outside world of a change in the vehicle's autonomous driving state in one way, making it difficult to clearly notify the surroundings of the vehicle of different autonomous driving states.

One objective of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle notification control device and a vehicle notification control method that, when the vehicle is performing autonomous driving, can more clearly notify those around the vehicle of different autonomous driving states.

The above object is achieved by a combination of features recited in the independent claims, and the subclaims define further advantageous embodiments of the disclosure. The reference characters in parentheses in the claims indicate a correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described below as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

In order to achieve the above object, a first vehicle notification control device disclosed herein is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving at different automation levels with different permission conditions , which are conditions for enabling autonomous driving, and that is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and is equipped with a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, and the state identification unit identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and The vehicle exterior notification control unit at least distinguishes and identifies the different autonomous driving, and the state identification unit identifies, as an autonomous driving-related state, the duration of autonomous driving at an automation level where the duration, which is the distance or length of time that autonomous driving can be continued, is predictable, and the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes the type of vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.The vehicle exterior notification control unit uses the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit to change the type of vehicle exterior notification for autonomous driving with different permission conditions, and the vehicle exterior notification control unit uses the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit to change the type of vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the duration of autonomous driving at an automation level where the duration is predictable .
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the second vehicle notification control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and is equipped with a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an exterior notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, wherein the state identification unit identifies a change in the automation level of the vehicle as the autonomous driving-related state, and the exterior notification control unit changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit, and the exterior notification control unit changes the type of exterior notification depending on the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the third vehicle notification control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and is equipped with a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, and the exterior notification control unit changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit, and is equipped with an interior notification control unit (102) that controls an interior notification device (18, 181, 182) that issues an interior notification, which is a notification indicating that an exterior notification is being issued, to the interior of the vehicle.
In order to achieve the above object, a fourth vehicle notification control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and is equipped with a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is an exterior notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, and the exterior notification control unit changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit, and the exterior notification device (191) performs the exterior notification at least by emitting light, and includes flashing of light as one aspect of the exterior notification, and when the exterior notification control unit causes the exterior notification to be performed by flashing of light, it flashes the exterior notification at a cycle different from the flashing of the turn signals of the vehicle.
In order to achieve the above object, a fifth vehicle notification control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle. The vehicle exterior notification control unit changes the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit, and the vehicle exterior notification device (191) issues vehicle exterior notifications at least by display and includes a brightness identification unit (105) that identifies the brightness around the vehicle, and the vehicle exterior notification control unit increases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification depending on an increase in the brightness around the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit, and decreases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification depending on a decrease in the brightness around the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit.
In order to achieve the above object, a sixth vehicle notification control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving to automatically maintain driving within a lane and autonomous driving to automatically change lanes, and is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and is equipped with a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an announcement of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, and the exterior notification control unit changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit, The exterior alarm device (191) provides exterior alarms at least by emitting light, and the state identification unit (104a) identifies, as an automatic driving-related state, at least distinguishing whether an automated lane change, which is an automatic lane change, is in progress, or lane keeping driving, which automatically maintains driving within the lane, is in progress, and the exterior alarm control unit (106a) causes a light to be turned on as an exterior alarm when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving-related state is lane keeping driving in progress, while causing a flashing light to be turned on as an exterior alarm when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving-related state is an automated lane change in progress, and when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving-related state is an automated lane change in progress, the exterior alarm control unit causes a flashing light to be turned on as an exterior alarm at the same cycle as the flashing of the vehicle's turn signals.
In order to achieve the above object, a seventh vehicle notification control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of monitoring-obligation-free autonomous driving, which is autonomous driving without the obligation of the vehicle driver to monitor the surroundings, and that is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle. The vehicle exterior notification control unit is configured to change the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit, and the state identification unit (104b) identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least distinguishing between whether autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on an expressway, and when the state identification unit determines that autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road, the vehicle exterior notification control unit (106b) causes the vehicle exterior notification to be performed by voice, whereas when the state identification unit determines that autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on an expressway, the vehicle exterior notification control unit causes the vehicle exterior notification to be performed by display or light emission.
In order to achieve the above object, an eighth vehicle notification control device disclosed herein is a vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and that can be used in a vehicle that utilizes a deadman system that automatically causes the vehicle to take an evacuation action and flashes hazard lights and sounds the horn when it is detected that the driver of the vehicle is unable to drive, and that includes a state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and a warning signal related to autonomous driving that is directed toward the outside of the vehicle. and an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an information notification. The exterior notification control unit changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit. The state identification unit (104c) also identifies, as an autonomous driving related state, whether or not the deadman system will cause evacuation action to be taken. When the state identification unit identifies that the deadman system will cause evacuation action to be taken, the exterior notification control unit (106c) flashes hazard lights, sounds the horn, and issues an exterior notification.

In order to achieve the above object, a first vehicle notification control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving at different automation levels with different permission conditions , which are conditions for enabling autonomous driving, and that is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification step executed by at least one processor to identify an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control step to control an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information regarding autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, and in the state identification step, a vehicle notification control step that controls as few autonomous driving as possible with different permission conditions as the autonomous driving-related state. The state identification process identifies the duration of an autonomous driving related state, which is a predictable duration, that is, the distance or time length for which autonomous driving can be continued, as a autonomous driving related state, and the vehicle exterior notification control process changes the type of vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving related state identified in the state identification process . The vehicle exterior notification control process uses the autonomous driving related state identified in the state identification process to change the type of vehicle exterior notification during autonomous driving with different permission conditions. The vehicle exterior notification control process uses the autonomous driving related state identified in the state identification process to change the type of vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the duration of autonomous driving at an autonomous driving level whose duration is predictable.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the second vehicle notification control method disclosed herein is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and can switch the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification process executed by at least one processor for identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control process for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an exterior notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, wherein the state identification process identifies a change in the automation level of the vehicle as the autonomous driving-related state, and the exterior notification control process changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process, and the exterior notification control process changes the type of exterior notification depending on the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the third vehicle notification control method disclosed herein is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and can switch the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification process executed by at least one processor for identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control process for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, in which the type of exterior notification is changed depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process, and includes an interior notification control process for controlling an interior notification device (18, 181, 182) that issues an interior notification, which is a notification indicating that an exterior notification is being issued, to the inside of the vehicle cabin.
In order to achieve the above object, a fourth vehicle notification control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and can switch the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification process executed by at least one processor for identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control process for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an exterior notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle, wherein the exterior notification control process changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process, the exterior notification device (191) issues an exterior notification at least by emitting light, and includes flashing of light as one aspect of the exterior notification, and when the exterior notification control process issues an exterior notification by flashing of light, the exterior notification is flashed at a cycle different from the flashing of the vehicle's turn signals.
In order to achieve the above object, a fifth vehicle notification control method disclosed herein is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and can switch the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification process executed by at least one processor for identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control process for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an exterior notification of information related to autonomous driving, to outside the vehicle, wherein the exterior notification control process changes the type of exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process, and the exterior notification device (191) issues the exterior notification at least by display, and includes a brightness identification process for identifying the brightness around the vehicle, and the exterior notification control process increases the brightness of the exterior notification as the brightness around the vehicle identified in the brightness identification process increases, while decreasing the brightness of the exterior notification as the brightness around the vehicle identified in the brightness identification process decreases.
In order to achieve the above object, a sixth vehicle notification control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control method usable in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving to automatically maintain driving within a lane and autonomous driving to automatically change lanes, and capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification step executed by at least one processor to identify an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control step to control an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to an exterior of the vehicle, and in the exterior notification control step, a type of exterior notification is changed depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step, and the exterior notification control step controls the exterior notification device to issue an exterior notification, which is an exterior notification of information related to autonomous driving, to an exterior of the vehicle. The device (191) performs an external alert by at least emitting light, and in the state identification process, at least distinguishes and identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, whether an automated lane change, which is an automatic lane change, is in progress, or lane keeping driving, which automatically maintains driving within the lane, is in progress, and in the external alert control process, if the state identification process identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is lane keeping driving in progress, the device causes the light to be turned on as the external alert, while if the state identification process identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is lane changing in progress, the device causes the light to flash as the external alert, and in the external alert control process, if the state identification process identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is lane changing in progress, the device causes the light to flash as the external alert at the same cycle as the flashing of the turn signals of the vehicle.
In order to achieve the above object, a seventh vehicle notification control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of monitoring-free autonomous driving, which is autonomous driving without the driver of the vehicle being required to monitor the surroundings, and that is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and includes a state identification step executed by at least one processor, for identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving, and an exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving, to the outside of the vehicle. The vehicle exterior notification control process changes the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving related state identified in the state identification process, and the state identification process identifies, as the autonomous driving related state, at least distinguishing between whether autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on an expressway, and the vehicle exterior notification control process causes the vehicle exterior notification to be made by voice when the state identification process determines that autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road, while causes the vehicle exterior notification to be made by display or light emission when the state identification process determines that autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on an expressway.
In order to achieve the above object, an eighth vehicle notification control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving, and that can be used in a vehicle that uses a deadman system that automatically causes the vehicle to take an evacuation action and flash hazard lights and sound the horn when it is detected that the driver of the vehicle is unable to drive, and includes a state identification step executed by at least one processor to identify an autonomous driving-related state, which is the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving; The method includes an exterior notification control process that controls an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that issues an exterior notification, which is an external notification of information related to automatic driving, to the outside. In the exterior notification control process, the type of exterior notification is changed depending on the automatic driving-related state identified in the state identification process. In the state identification process, whether or not the deadman system will cause evacuation action to be taken is also identified as an automatic driving-related state. In the exterior notification control process, when it is identified in the state identification process that the deadman system will cause evacuation action to be taken, the hazard lights are flashed and the horn is sounded, and an exterior notification is issued.

These features make it possible to change the type of external notification, which is a notification of information related to autonomous driving directed to the outside of the vehicle, depending on the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving. Therefore, different types of external notifications can make it easier for those around the vehicle to understand different states of autonomous driving of the vehicle. As a result, when the vehicle is driving autonomously, it becomes possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle of different states of autonomous driving of the vehicle.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1. FIG. A diagram for explaining an example of how an exterior display device 191 is installed. A diagram for explaining an example of how an exterior display device 191 is installed. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an HCU 10. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a foreground image displayed on a display 181. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of a host vehicle. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing an example of a case where an in-vehicle notification is performed in a foreground image. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing an example of a case where an in-vehicle notification is performed in a foreground image. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of vehicle exterior notification when the type of vehicle exterior notification is changed according to the automation level. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of changing the type of outside-vehicle notification during area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the type of vehicle exterior notification is changed depending on the duration. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of changing the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on the magnitude of change in the automation level. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the type of outside notification is changed depending on whether the automation level is increasing or decreasing. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the blinking cycle of the vehicle exterior alarm and the blinking cycle of the turn lamp are made different. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the brightness of an outside notification is changed depending on the brightness around the host vehicle. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1a; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an HCU 10a. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the type of outside notification is changed depending on whether lane keeping driving is being performed or automatic lane changing is being performed. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the blinking cycles of the vehicle exterior alarm and the turn signal lamp are made to coincide with each other. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example in which an external notification is changed depending on whether or not the driver is monitoring the surroundings while performing an automated lane change; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1b. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an HCU 10b. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of changing the outside notification depending on the location where autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1c. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an HCU 10c. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example in which a notification outside the vehicle is changed depending on whether or not a deadman's system causes an evacuation action to be taken. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of matching the blinking cycle of an exterior alarm with the blinking cycle of a hazard lamp. FIG.

Several embodiments for disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For ease of explanation, parts in several embodiments that have the same functions as parts shown in the drawings used in the previous explanations may be given the same reference numerals and their explanations may be omitted. For parts given the same reference numerals, the explanations in other embodiments may be referred to.

(Embodiment 1)
<General Configuration of Vehicle System 1>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be used in a vehicle capable of automatic driving (hereinafter, an automatic driving vehicle). As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle system 1 includes a HCU (Human Machine Interface Control Unit) 10, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map database (hereinafter, a map DB) 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surroundings monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an automatic driving ECU 17, an in-vehicle presentation device 18, an outside-vehicle notification device 19, and a user input device 20. For example, the HCU 10, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the surroundings monitoring sensor 15, the vehicle control ECU 16, and the automatic driving ECU 17 may be configured to be connected to an in-vehicle LAN (see the LAN in FIG. 1). The vehicle using the vehicle system 1 is not necessarily limited to an automobile, but the following description will be given taking the case of using the vehicle system 1 as an example.

There can be multiple levels of automation for an autonomous vehicle (hereafter referred to as automation level), as defined by the SAE, for example. Automation levels are classified into LV0 to 5, for example, as follows:

LV0 is the level at which the driver performs all driving tasks without intervention from the vehicle's system. The driving task may be referred to as a dynamic driving task. Driving tasks include, for example, steering, acceleration/deceleration, and surrounding monitoring. LV0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. LV1 is the level at which the system assists with either steering or acceleration/deceleration. LV1 corresponds to so-called driving assistance. LV2 is the level at which the system assists with both steering and acceleration/deceleration. LV2 corresponds to so-called partial driving automation. LV1-2 are also considered to be part of autonomous driving.

For example, automated driving of LV1-2 is automated driving in which the driver has a duty to monitor safe driving (hereinafter simply referred to as the duty to monitor). The duty to monitor includes visual monitoring of the surroundings. Autonomous driving of LV1-2 can be said to be automated driving in which a second task is not permitted. A second task is an action other than driving that is permitted for the driver, and is a specific action that has been specified in advance. A second task can also be said to be a secondary activity, other activity, etc. A second task must not prevent the driver from responding to a request from the automated driving system to take over driving operations. As an example, actions such as watching content such as videos, operating a smartphone, reading, and eating are considered as second tasks.

LV3 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks under certain conditions, and the driver performs driving operations in an emergency. In LV3 autonomous driving, the driver is required to be able to respond quickly when the system requests a driver to take over. This driver handover can also be said to be a transfer of monitoring duties from the vehicle's system to the driver. LV3 corresponds to so-called conditional driving automation. LV3 includes area-limited LV3 that is limited to a specific area. The specific area referred to here may be a motorway or a highway. The specific area may be, for example, a specific lane. LV3 includes specific situation-limited LV3 that is limited to specific surrounding circumstances that are specific surrounding circumstances. An example of a specific surrounding situation is traffic congestion. In the following, a traffic congestion-limited LV3 that is limited to traffic congestion will be used as an example of a specific situation-limited LV3. The traffic congestion-limited LV3 may be configured to be limited to traffic congestion on a motorway or a highway, for example.

LV4 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks, except in some situations such as on unmanageable roads and in extreme environments. LV4 corresponds to so-called highly automated driving. LV5 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in any environment. LV5 corresponds to so-called fully automated driving.

For example, autonomous driving levels 3 to 5 are autonomous driving levels where the driver has no obligation to monitor. In other words, they are equivalent to autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation. Autonomous driving levels 3 to 5 can be rephrased as autonomous driving in which a second task is permitted. Of autonomous driving levels 3 to 5, autonomous driving levels 4 and above are autonomous driving levels where the driver is permitted to sleep (hereinafter referred to as sleep-enabled autonomous driving). Of autonomous driving levels 3 to 5, autonomous driving levels 3 are autonomous driving levels where the driver is not permitted to sleep (hereinafter referred to as sleep-disabled autonomous driving).

The autonomous vehicle of this embodiment is assumed to be capable of switching between automation levels. The automation level may be configured to be switchable only between some of the levels LV0 to 5. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which an autonomous vehicle is capable of switching between autonomous driving at LV3, autonomous driving at LV2 or lower, and manual driving at LV0.

In addition, in this embodiment, the autonomous driving of LV2 may include an autonomous driving in a hands-on mode that requires gripping the steering wheel of the vehicle, and an autonomous driving in a hands-off mode that does not require gripping the steering wheel of the vehicle. Even in the autonomous driving of the same LV2, the hands-off mode has a higher degree of automation than the hands-on mode. In other words, the same LV2 may be configured with more detailed automation levels. For example, the LV2 in the hands-on mode may be LV2, and the LV2 in the hands-off mode may be LV2.5.

The communication module 11 transmits and receives information via wireless communication with a center outside the vehicle. In other words, it performs wide-area communication. The communication module 11 receives information about traffic congestion around the vehicle from the center via wide-area communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information with other vehicles via wireless communication. In other words, it may perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information via wireless communication with a roadside device installed on the roadside. In other words, it may perform road-to-vehicle communication. When performing road-to-vehicle communication, the communication module 11 may receive information about surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the roadside device. The communication module 11 may also receive information about surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the center via wide-area communication.

The locator 12 includes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and an inertial sensor. The GNSS receiver receives positioning signals from multiple positioning satellites. The inertial sensor includes, for example, a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. The locator 12 sequentially measures the position of the vehicle (hereinafter, the vehicle position) on which the locator 12 is mounted, by combining the positioning signals received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results of the inertial sensor. The vehicle position is represented, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Note that the vehicle position may also be measured using the travel distance calculated from signals sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

The map DB 13 is a non-volatile memory that stores high-precision map data. The high-precision map data is map data with higher precision than the map data used for route guidance in the navigation function. The map DB 13 may also store map data used for route guidance. The high-precision map data includes information that can be used for automated driving, such as three-dimensional shape information of the road, information on the number of lanes, and information indicating the permitted traveling direction for each lane. In addition, the high-precision map data may include node point information indicating the positions of both ends of road markings such as dividing lines. The locator 12 may be configured not to use a GNSS receiver by using three-dimensional shape information of the road. For example, the locator 12 may be configured to identify the vehicle position using three-dimensional shape information of the road and the detection results of a surrounding monitoring sensor 15 such as a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging/Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) that detects a point cloud of characteristic points of the road shape and structures or a surrounding monitoring camera. The three-dimensional shape information of the road may be generated based on captured images using Road Experience Management (REM).

The communication module 11 may receive map data distributed from an external server, for example, via wide area communication, and store the data in the map DB 13. In this case, the map DB 13 may be a volatile memory, and the communication module 11 may be configured to sequentially acquire map data for an area corresponding to the vehicle position.

The vehicle state sensor 14 is a group of sensors for detecting various states of the vehicle. The vehicle state sensor 14 includes a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed, a steering sensor for detecting the steering angle, and the like. The vehicle state sensor 14 includes a steering torque sensor, an accelerator sensor, a brake sensor, and the like. The steering torque sensor detects the steering torque applied to the steering wheel. The accelerator sensor detects whether or not the accelerator pedal is depressed. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator depression force sensor for detecting the depression force applied to the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator stroke sensor for detecting the depression amount of the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator switch for outputting a signal according to whether or not the accelerator pedal is depressed. The brake sensor detects whether or not the brake pedal is depressed. The brake sensor may be a brake depression force sensor for detecting the depression force applied to the brake pedal. The brake sensor may be a brake stroke sensor for detecting the depression amount of the brake pedal. The brake sensor may be a brake switch for outputting a signal according to whether or not the brake pedal is depressed.

The vehicle condition sensor 14 includes a grip sensor, an illuminance sensor, a direction indicator switch, etc. The grip sensor detects gripping of the steering wheel. The illuminance sensor detects illuminance. The illuminance sensor is provided on the outer surface of the vehicle and detects the brightness (i.e., illuminance) on that outer surface. Alternatively, the illuminance sensor may be provided on the upper surface of the instrument panel of the vehicle to detect the illuminance on the windshield. The direction indicator switch is a switch for detecting the turning on of the turn lamp, which is a direction indicator. The direction indicator switch can also be called a turn signal switch or a blinker switch. The turn lamp can also be called a turn signal lamp or a blinker lamp. The vehicle condition sensor 14 outputs the detected sensing information to the in-vehicle LAN. The sensing information detected by the vehicle condition sensor 14 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via an ECU mounted in the vehicle.

The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 monitors the environment around the vehicle. As an example, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects obstacles around the vehicle, such as moving objects such as pedestrians and other vehicles, and stationary objects such as objects that have fallen on the road. In addition, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects road markings around the vehicle, such as lane markings. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 is, for example, a perimeter monitoring camera that captures an image of a predetermined range around the vehicle, a millimeter wave radar that transmits a search wave to a predetermined range around the vehicle, a sonar, a LIDAR, or other sensor. The perimeter monitoring camera sequentially outputs the captured images as sensing information to the automatic driving ECU 17. The sonar, millimeter wave radar, LIDAR, or other sensor that transmits a search wave sequentially outputs the scan result based on the received signal obtained when receiving a reflected wave reflected by an obstacle to the automatic driving ECU 17 as sensing information. The sensing information detected by the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via the automatic driving ECU 17.

The vehicle control ECU 16 is an electronic control device that controls the driving of the vehicle. Driving control includes acceleration/deceleration control and/or steering control. The vehicle control ECU 16 includes a steering ECU that controls steering, a power unit control ECU that controls acceleration/deceleration, and a brake ECU. The vehicle control ECU 16 controls driving by outputting control signals to each driving control device installed in the vehicle, such as an electronically controlled throttle, a brake actuator, and an EPS (Electric Power Steering) motor.

The autonomous driving ECU 17 includes, for example, a processor, memory, I/O, and a bus connecting these, and executes processes related to autonomous driving by executing a control program stored in the memory. The memory referred to here is a non-transitory tangible storage medium that non-temporarily stores computer-readable programs and data. The non-transitory tangible storage medium is realized by a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk, for example. The autonomous driving ECU 17 includes, as functional blocks, a driving environment recognition unit, an action determination unit, and a control execution unit.

The driving environment recognition unit recognizes the driving environment around the vehicle based on sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. In addition to the sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15, the driving environment recognition unit may recognize the driving environment around the vehicle based on the vehicle position acquired from the locator 12 and map data acquired from the map DB 13. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit uses this information to generate a virtual space that reproduces the actual driving environment.

The driving environment recognition unit may also determine whether there is a manual driving area (hereinafter, MD area) in the driving area of the vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit may also determine whether there is an automatic driving area (hereinafter, AD area) in the driving area of the vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit may also determine whether there is an ST section and a non-ST section in the AD area, as described below.

MD areas are areas where automated driving is prohibited. In other words, MD areas are areas where the driver is required to perform all of the vehicle's longitudinal control, lateral control, and surrounding monitoring. The longitudinal direction is the direction that corresponds to the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle. The lateral direction is the direction that corresponds to the width direction of the vehicle. Longitudinal control corresponds to the acceleration/deceleration control of the vehicle. Lateral control corresponds to the steering control of the vehicle. For example, an MD area may be a general road.

An AD area is an area where autonomous driving is permitted. In other words, an AD area is an area where the vehicle can take over one or more of longitudinal control, lateral control, and perimeter monitoring. For example, an AD area may be a highway or a road for automobiles only. Autonomous driving at traffic jam-limited LV3 (hereinafter, "traffic jam-limited autonomous driving") may be configured to be permitted only when there is a traffic jam in an AD area, for example.

AD areas are divided into ST sections and non-ST sections. ST sections are sections where area-limited LV3 autonomous driving (hereinafter, area-limited autonomous driving) is permitted. Area-limited autonomous driving may be permitted only in specific lanes within the ST section. Non-ST sections are sections where autonomous driving of LV2 and below is possible. In this embodiment, there is no distinction between non-ST sections where LV1 autonomous driving is permitted and non-ST sections where LV2 autonomous driving is permitted. ST sections may be, for example, driving sections for which high-precision map data has been developed. Non-ST sections may be sections within the AD area that do not fall under the ST section.

The behavior determination unit switches the control entity of the driving operation between the driver and the vehicle's system. When the control authority of the driving operation is on the system side, the behavior determination unit determines a driving plan for driving the vehicle based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit. The driving plan may determine the route to the destination and the behavior that the vehicle should take to reach the destination. Examples of behavior include going straight, turning right, turning left, changing lanes, etc. When the control authority of the driving operation is on the system side of the vehicle, the control execution unit executes driving control such as acceleration/deceleration control and steering control of the vehicle in accordance with the driving plan determined by the behavior determination unit in cooperation with the vehicle control ECU 16.

The behavior determination unit also switches the automation level of the host vehicle's autonomous driving as necessary. The behavior determination unit determines whether or not an increase in the automation level is possible. For example, when the host vehicle moves from an MD area to a non-ST section of an AD area, it may determine that it is possible to switch from manual driving to autonomous driving of LV2 or lower. When the host vehicle moves from an MD area to a ST section of an AD area, it may determine that it is possible to switch from LV0 manual driving to area-limited LV3 autonomous driving. When the host vehicle moves from a non-ST section to a ST section of an AD area, it may determine that it is possible to switch from autonomous driving of LV2 or lower to autonomous driving of LV3. When the host vehicle is located in an AD area and the automation level is LV2 or lower, and all the conditions for congestion-limited LV3 are met, it may determine that it is possible to switch from autonomous driving of LV2 or lower to autonomous driving of congestion-limited LV3.

When the behavior determination unit determines that an increase in the automation level is possible and the increase in the automation level is approved by the driver, the behavior determination unit may increase the automation level. Approval may be specified based on approval received by the HCU 10 via the user input device 20. Approval may be pre-approval, which is given before it is determined that an increase in the automation level is possible, or normal approval, which is given when it is determined that an increase in the automation level is possible. Pre-approval may be given by receiving a setting input in advance with the user input device 20. Normal approval may be given by receiving an input with the user input device 20, for example, when it is determined that an increase in the automation level is possible and pre-approval has not been given. Note that pre-approval may be possible only when the automation level is increased to a predetermined level or higher. For example, pre-approval may be possible only when the automation level is increased to LV3 or higher.

The behavior determination unit may lower the automation level when it determines that a lowering of the automation level is necessary. Examples of cases in which it determines that a lowering of the automation level is necessary include when an override is detected, when a planned driving change occurs, and when an unplanned driving change occurs. An override is an operation by which the driver of the vehicle spontaneously acquires control of the vehicle. In other words, an override is an operational intervention by the driver of the vehicle. The behavior determination unit may detect an override from sensing information obtained from the vehicle state sensor 14. For example, the behavior determination unit may detect an override when the steering torque detected by the steering torque sensor exceeds a threshold value. The behavior determination unit may detect an override when the accelerator sensor detects depression of the accelerator pedal. Alternatively, the behavior determination unit may detect an override when the brake sensor detects depression of the brake pedal.

A planned driving changeover is a planned driving changeover determined by the system. For example, a planned driving changeover is performed when the vehicle moves from an ST section in an AD area to a non-ST section or an MD area. In this case, the automation level drops from area-limited LV3 to LV2 or lower. A planned driving changeover may be performed when the vehicle moves from a non-ST section in an AD area to an MD area. In this case, the automation level drops from area-limited LV3 to LV0. An unplanned driving changeover is an unplanned, sudden driving changeover determined by the system. For example, an unplanned driving changeover is performed when the conditions of the congestion-limited LV3 are no longer met during automatic driving of the congestion-limited LV3. In this case, the automation level drops from the congestion-limited LV3 to LV2 or lower. There may be multiple types of conditions for the congestion-limited LV3. Examples of the conditions include being within an AD area, the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle or the vehicle being below a threshold value estimated to be a congestion, and being a congestion section in the congestion information. Unplanned driving changes may be made when the level of automation cannot be maintained due to a malfunction in the driving environment recognition unit.

When the automation level is lowered by an override, the autonomous driving ECU 17 lowers the automation level after an assistance period in which the system of the vehicle provides more driving assistance than the automation level after the lowering. The driving assistance during the assistance period may be, for example, less than the automation level before the lowering, but more than the automation level after the lowering. When the automation level is lowered due to a driving change determined by the system of the vehicle, the autonomous driving ECU 17 issues a driving change request to the driver of the vehicle to request a driving change, and then lowers the automation level. The driving change request is presented to the driver by the in-vehicle presentation device 18 described later. When the driver receives the driving change request, the driver takes preparatory action required for lowering the automation level, such as gripping the steering wheel. The autonomous driving ECU 17 confirms that this preparatory action has been taken based on the sensing results of the grip sensor of the vehicle state sensor 14, and then lowers the automation level. If this preparatory action is not taken, measures such as pulling to the side of the road and stopping the vehicle may be taken.

The autonomous driving ECU 17 may be configured to selectively use the aforementioned hands-on mode autonomous driving and hands-off mode autonomous driving as the autonomous driving of LV2. For example, the autonomous driving ECU 17 may be configured to switch to hands-off mode autonomous driving when the switching of the automation level from LV3 to LV2 is planned based on a situation that can be predicted in advance. On the other hand, when the switching from LV3 to LV2 is unplanned based on a situation that cannot be predicted in advance, the autonomous driving ECU 17 may be configured to switch to hands-on mode autonomous driving. This is because when the switching from LV3 to LV2 is sudden, there is a high possibility that a relatively large vehicle behavior will occur, and it is considered that there is a high need for the driver to hold the steering wheel. Note that autonomous driving with an automation level of LV1 corresponds to hands-on mode autonomous driving.

In addition, the above example is not limited, and a configuration may be used in which the hands-on mode and hands-off mode of the automatic driving of the LV2 are used depending on whether or not high-precision map data exists. For example, the hands-off mode may be used in a section where high-precision map data exists, while the hands-on mode may be used in a section where high-precision map data does not exist. In addition, a configuration may be used in which the hands-on mode and hands-off mode are used depending on whether or not a specific point is approached. For example, the hands-off mode may be used when the vehicle is not approaching a specific point, while the hands-on mode may be used when the vehicle is approaching a specific point. Whether or not the vehicle is approaching a specific point may be determined by whether or not the distance to the specific point is equal to or less than a predetermined value. Examples of specific points include toll booths in the above-mentioned specific road section, exits in the above-mentioned specific road section, junctions, intersections, on-way traffic sections, points where the number of lanes is reduced, and the like. In other words, a specific point can be a point where it is estimated that the driver is more likely to need to grip the steering wheel. In addition, the automatic driving ECU 17 may be configured to switch to the hands-on mode even in the hands-off mode when the driver detects the steering wheel being gripped by a grip sensor described later.

The in-vehicle presentation device 18 presents information to the interior of the vehicle. The in-vehicle presentation device 18 has a display 181 and an audio output device 182. The display 181 presents information by displaying the information. The display 181 presents information according to instructions from the HCU 10. As the display 181, for example, a meter MID (Multi Information Display), a CID (Center Information Display), or a HUD (Head-Up Display) can be used.

The meter MID is a display device provided in front of the driver's seat inside the vehicle cabin. As an example, the meter MID may be provided in a meter panel. The CID is a display device located in the center of the vehicle's instrument panel. The HUD is provided in the vehicle cabin, for example, on the instrument panel. The HUD projects a display image formed by a projector onto a predetermined projection area on the windshield as a projection member. The light of the image reflected by the windshield into the vehicle cabin is perceived by the driver sitting in the driver's seat. This allows the driver to view a virtual image of the display image formed in front of the windshield, superimposed on a part of the foreground. The HUD may be configured to project a display image onto a combiner provided in front of the driver's seat instead of the windshield.

The audio output device 182 presents information by outputting audio. Examples of the audio output device 182 include a speaker installed in the vehicle cabin.

The exterior notification device 19 issues an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to automatic driving, to the outside of the vehicle. The exterior notification device 19 has an exterior display 191 and an audio output device 192. The exterior display 191 is provided outside the vehicle and displays information to the outside of the vehicle. The exterior display 191 may be, for example, a display that uses the light emitted from a lamp, without displaying text or images. The following description will be given using an example in which the exterior display 191 is a lamp. Note that the exterior display 191 may also be a display that displays text, images, etc.

An LED lamp may be used as the exterior display 191, for example. It is preferable that the exterior display 191 is capable of changing various notification modes. The notification mode corresponds to the light emission mode when the notification is made by emitting light. For example, it is preferable that the exterior display 191 is capable of switching the illumination color in addition to switching between on and off. The switching of the illumination color may be realized by changing the combination of the illumination of multiple colors of LEDs. It is preferable that the exterior display 191 is capable of flashing. It is preferable that the flashing cycle of the exterior display 191 is switchable. It is preferable that the ratio of the on time to the off time of the exterior display 191 is switchable.

The LED lamps serving as the exterior display 191 are preferably provided at the four corners of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 2. This is because the exterior display 191 is easy to see from any direction around the vehicle. The exterior display 191 may be provided, for example, at the left and right corners of the front bumper and the left and right corners of the rear bumper. HV in FIG. 2 indicates the vehicle.

The LED lamp serving as the exterior display 191 may be provided as a single lamp near the center of the vehicle width at the rear of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 3. This makes it possible to make the exterior display 191 easier to see, at least for vehicles following the vehicle, which are most likely to be affected by the behavior of the vehicle.

The audio output device 192 presents information by outputting audio. Examples of the audio output device 192 include a speaker installed outside the vehicle cabin.

The user input device 20 accepts input from the user. The user input device 20 may be an operation device that accepts operation input from the user. The operation device may be a mechanical switch or a touch switch integrated with the display 181. Note that the user input device 20 is not limited to an operation device that accepts operation input, so long as it is a device that accepts input from the user. For example, the user input device 20 may be a voice input device that accepts voice input of commands from the user.

The HCU 10 is mainly composed of a computer equipped with a processor, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, I/O, and a bus connecting these. The HCU 10 is connected to an in-vehicle presentation device 18 and an external notification device 19. The HCU 10 executes control programs stored in the non-volatile memory to execute processes related to the control of the in-vehicle presentation device 18 and the external notification device 19. This HCU 10 corresponds to a vehicle notification control device. The configuration of the HCU 10 will be described in detail below. Furthermore, the execution of processes of each functional block of the HCU 10 by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle notification control method.

<General configuration of HCU 10>
Next, a schematic configuration of the HCU 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 4, the HCU 10 includes an information acquisition unit 101, an in-vehicle presentation control unit 102, an approval acceptance unit 103, a state identification unit 104, a brightness identification unit 105, and an outside notification control unit 106 as functional blocks for controlling the in-vehicle presentation device 18 and the outside notification device 19. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the HCU 10 may be configured as hardware using one or more ICs or the like. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the HCU 10 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware members.

The information acquisition unit 101 acquires information input from outside the HCU 10. For example, the information acquisition unit 101 acquires the recognition result from the driving environment recognition unit of the autonomous driving ECU 17. The information acquisition unit 101 acquires the judgment result from the action judgment unit of the autonomous driving ECU 17. The information acquisition unit 101 acquires sensing information detected by the vehicle state sensor 14.

The in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 controls the in-vehicle presentation device 18. The in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 causes the display unit 181 to display an image showing the view in front of the vehicle (hereinafter, the foreground image). The in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 may cause the display unit 181 to display the foreground image using the recognition results obtained by the information acquisition unit 101 from the driving environment recognition unit. For example, the foreground image may be an overhead view seen from a virtual viewpoint above the vehicle.

Here, an example of a foreground image will be explained with reference to FIG. 5. Sc in FIG. 5 shows the display screen of the display device 181. HVI in FIG. 5 shows an image representing the host vehicle (hereinafter, host vehicle image). OVI in FIG. 5 shows an image representing vehicles surrounding the host vehicle (hereinafter, surrounding vehicle image). PLI in FIG. 5 shows an image representing lane markings (hereinafter, marking line image). VI in FIG. 5 shows an image representing the vehicle speed of the host vehicle (hereinafter, host vehicle speed image). In the foreground image, it is sufficient to display the host vehicle image, surrounding vehicle image, marking line image, and host vehicle speed image as shown in FIG. 5. In the foreground image, it is sufficient to display the host vehicle image and surrounding vehicle images that mimic the actual positional relationship between the host vehicle and surrounding vehicles.

The approval receiving unit 103 receives approval for the increase in the automation level from the driver via the user input device 20. As described above, this approval can be either pre-approval or normal approval. Pre-approval may be performed, for example, before the vehicle starts traveling. Pre-approval may be performed, for example, while the vehicle is traveling and before autonomous driving at a specific automation level is possible. As an example, pre-approval may be performed during autonomous driving of LV2 and a predetermined distance before the ST section where area-limited autonomous driving is possible. The predetermined distance here can be set arbitrarily, for example, 2 km. Pre-approval may be limited to approval for increases between specific automation levels. As for normal approval, when an increase in the automation level is possible, for example, the in-vehicle presentation device 18 may inquire whether approval is possible and prompt the driver to input whether approval is possible. Then, when an input indicating that approval is possible is made, it may be accepted as normal approval. When approval is accepted, the approval accepting unit 103 may notify the autonomous driving ECU 17 that approval has been accepted. The autonomous driving ECU 17 increases the automation level based on the approval received.

The state identification unit 104 identifies the state of the vehicle related to autonomous driving (hereinafter, autonomous driving-related state). The processing in the state identification unit 104 corresponds to the state identification process. The state identification unit 104 may identify the autonomous driving-related state based on information such as the recognition result in the driving environment recognition unit and the judgment result in the action judgment unit acquired by the information acquisition unit 101.

The state identification unit 104 may identify the current automation level as the autonomous driving related state. The state identification unit 104 may identify the current automation level by monitoring the autonomous driving ECU 17. The state identification unit 104 may identify a change in the automation level as the autonomous driving related state. The state identification unit 104 may identify, as the change in the automation level, the directionality of the change in the automation level and the magnitude of the change in the automation level. As the directionality of the change in the automation level, the state identification unit 104 may identify whether the automation level is increasing or decreasing. As the magnitude of the change in the automation level, the difference between the degree of automation before the change and the degree of automation after the change may be identified. The directionality of the change in the automation level and the magnitude of the change in the automation level may be identified from the judgment result in the action judgment unit.

The state identification unit 104 may distinguish between autonomous driving with different permission conditions as an autonomous driving-related state. For example, the state identification unit 104 may distinguish at least between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. Note that if there is autonomous driving with different permission conditions other than area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, that autonomous driving may also be distinguished and identified. The state identification unit 104 may monitor the autonomous driving ECU 17 to identify whether area-limited autonomous driving or traffic jam-limited autonomous driving is in progress.

For an automated driving level where the distance or time length for which automated driving can be continued (hereinafter, duration) can be predicted, the state identification unit 104 may identify the duration as an automated driving-related state. For example, in the case of area-limited automated driving, the distance from the vehicle position to the end point of the ST section or the remaining time to that end point may be identified as the duration. The remaining time from the vehicle position to the end point of the ST section may be identified from the distance from the vehicle position to the end point of the ST section and the vehicle speed. The vehicle speed here may be the average vehicle speed of the vehicle itself, the set vehicle speed for area-limited automated driving, etc. For example, in the case of congestion-limited automated driving, the distance from the vehicle position to the end point of the congestion section or the remaining time to that end point may be identified as the duration. The remaining time from the vehicle position to the end point of the congestion section may be identified in the same manner as the remaining time from the vehicle position to the end point of the ST section. The congestion section may be identified from the congestion information acquired via the communication module 11. Note that the congestion section may be less clear than the ST section, so the configuration may be such that the duration is identified only in the case of area-limited automated driving.

The brightness determination unit 105 determines the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle. As an example, the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor of the vehicle state sensor 14 may be determined as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle. The brightness determination unit 105 may be configured to determine the luminance of an image of the surroundings of the vehicle captured by the aforementioned surrounding monitoring camera as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle.

The exterior notification control unit 106 controls the exterior notification device 19 to issue an exterior notification. The processing in the exterior notification control unit 106 corresponds to the exterior notification control process. The in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 controls the in-vehicle presentation device 18 to issue a notification (hereinafter, in-vehicle notification) to the interior of the vehicle indicating that an exterior notification is being issued. Thus, the in-vehicle presentation device 18 corresponds to the in-vehicle notification device, and the in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 corresponds to the in-vehicle notification control unit.

As shown in FIG. 7, the in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 can perform an in-vehicle notification by displaying an image of the vehicle displayed on the display 181 in an area (see FIG. 6) where the vehicle exterior notification is performed by the vehicle exterior display 191, thereby performing an in-vehicle notification. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the actual appearance of the vehicle. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a case where an in-vehicle notification is performed in the foreground image described in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 shows the appearance of the vehicle as seen from behind. FIG. 6 shows an example of a case where the vehicle exterior display 191 is provided at the four corners of the vehicle. The example in FIG. 6 shows the vehicle exterior display 191 provided at the left and right corners of the rear of the vehicle. The OLI in FIG. 7 shows an image showing the vehicle exterior display 191 in the vehicle image (hereinafter, the vehicle exterior notification lamp image).

When an in-vehicle notification indicating that an outside vehicle alarm is being issued is performed using an image of the vehicle itself, an image that emphasizes the outside vehicle alarm lamp image (see HLI in FIG. 8) may be displayed around the image of the vehicle itself, as shown in FIG. 8. This makes it easier for the driver to understand that an outside vehicle alarm is being issued, even if it is difficult for the driver to understand that an outside vehicle alarm is being issued based on the image of the outside vehicle alarm lamp alone.

The in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 may perform an in-vehicle notification in cooperation with the exterior notification control unit 106 performing an exterior notification. For example, the in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 may perform an in-vehicle notification at the same timing as the exterior notification control unit 106 performing an exterior notification. As an example of using an LED lamp as the exterior display 191, the exterior notification lamp image in the foreground image may be turned on at the same timing as the LED lamp is turned on. For example, an exterior notification indicating that the automation level has changed and an in-vehicle notification indicating that the automation level has changed may be made at the same timing. This allows the driver to know the timing at which the exterior notification will be made.

The in-vehicle presentation control unit 102 may also cause the in-vehicle notification to be issued earlier than the in-vehicle notification control unit 106 causes the in-vehicle notification to be issued. As an example of a case where an LED lamp is used as the in-vehicle display 191, the in-vehicle notification lamp image in the foreground image may be turned on earlier than the lighting of the LED lamp. For example, the in-vehicle notification indicating that the automation level has changed may be issued earlier than the in-vehicle notification indicating that the automation level has changed. This allows the driver to know that the in-vehicle notification will be issued earlier than the in-vehicle notification. Note that hereinafter, an example will be described in which the in-vehicle notification indicating that the automation level has changed and the in-vehicle notification indicating that the automation level has changed are issued at the same time.

Here, an example is shown of an in-vehicle notification in a foreground image, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, it does not have to be a foreground image, so long as a display similar to the vehicle exterior notification is made in an area of an image simulating the vehicle's exterior where the notification is made. Also, the in-vehicle notification is not limited to a configuration using an image. For example, the in-vehicle notification may be made using a meter lamp or indicator. In this case, the meter lamp or indicator may be lit in conjunction with the vehicle exterior notification. In addition, although an example is shown of an in-vehicle notification using a display, this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, an in-vehicle notification using a sound may be similarly made in conjunction with the vehicle exterior notification.

The vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit 104. When the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 performs the vehicle exterior notification by displaying the notification, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may change the type of vehicle exterior notification by changing the content of the text and image used for displaying. When the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 performs the vehicle exterior notification by emitting light, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may change the type of vehicle exterior notification by changing the manner of light emission of the lamp. Examples of differences in the manner of light emission of the lamp include differences in the lighting color, the lighting color shade, the blinking cycle, and the ratio of the lighting time to the lighting time. When the vehicle exterior notification is performed by emitting light, the content is easy to convey even if it is noisy. In addition, when the vehicle exterior notification is performed by emitting light, it is possible to simplify the device compared to when it is performed by displaying the notification. In the following, the explanation will be continued by taking as an example a case where the vehicle exterior notification is performed by emitting light of a lamp, rather than displaying text and images.

It is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the automation level of the vehicle, using the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit 104. In this case, the current automation level identification result may be used as the autonomous driving related state. By changing the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the automation level of the vehicle, it becomes possible to more clearly notify the surroundings of the vehicle of the difference in the automation level of the vehicle.

The following describes an example of changing the type of outside notification depending on the automation level of the vehicle. The outside notification control unit 106 preferably changes the type of outside notification depending on whether the automation level is an automation level corresponding to automated driving with a monitoring obligation or an automation level corresponding to automated driving without a monitoring obligation. The automation level corresponding to automated driving with a monitoring obligation is LV3 or higher. The automation level corresponding to automated driving without a monitoring obligation is LV1 to LV2. This makes it possible to easily notify those around the vehicle whether the vehicle is in automated driving with a monitoring obligation or automated driving without a monitoring obligation. As a result, it becomes easier for those around the vehicle to take action depending on whether the vehicle is in automated driving with a monitoring obligation or automated driving without a monitoring obligation. For example, if a subject is easily uneasy about the automated driving system, it is possible to ensure a greater distance when the vehicle is in automated driving with no monitoring obligation than when the vehicle is in automated driving with a monitoring obligation. On the other hand, if a subject is easily uneasy about the driver's driving operation, it is possible to ensure a greater distance when the vehicle is in automated driving with a monitoring obligation than when the vehicle is in automated driving without a monitoring obligation.

In addition, it is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the automation level is LV2 or lower in the hands-on mode or LV2 in the hands-off mode. This makes it possible to easily notify those around the vehicle whether the automation level of the vehicle is LV2 or lower in the hands-on mode or LV2 in the hands-off mode. As a result, it becomes easier for those around the vehicle to take measures depending on whether the vehicle is LV2 or lower in the hands-on mode or LV2 in the hands-off mode. For example, if a subject is easily anxious about the automated driving system, it is possible to ensure a greater distance when the automation level is LV2 in the hands-off mode than when the automation level is LV2 or lower in the hands-on mode. On the other hand, if a subject is easily anxious about the driver's driving operation, it is possible to ensure a greater distance when the automation level is LV2 or lower in the hands-on mode than when the automation level is LV2 in the hands-off mode.

Now, with reference to FIG. 9, an example of vehicle exterior notification in a case where the type of vehicle exterior notification is changed according to the vehicle's automation level will be described. In FIG. 9, three automation levels are given as examples: LV3, LV2 in hands-off mode (hereinafter, hands-off LV2), and LV2 in hands-on mode (hereinafter, hands-on LV2). Note that the automation levels decrease in the order of LV3, hands-off LV2, and hands-on LV2. Hands-on LV2 and below may be hands-on LV2, or may be LV1 or LV0. In the example of FIG. 9, hands-on LV2 and below excludes LV0. In other words, the automation levels are those that correspond to automated driving in hands-on mode at LV2 and below.

As shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may turn on the lamp when the automation level of the vehicle is LV3. As shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may blink the lamp when the automation level of the vehicle is hands-off LV2 and hands-on LV2 or lower. This makes it possible to clearly notify those around the vehicle whether the vehicle is in autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation or autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation. As shown in FIG. 9, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may shorten the lighting time of the blinking when the automation level of the vehicle is hands-on LV2 or lower than when the automation level of the vehicle is hands-off LV2. This makes it possible to clearly notify those around the vehicle whether the automation level of the vehicle is hands-on mode LV2 or lower or hands-off mode LV2. For example, when the automation level of the vehicle is LV0, the lamp may be turned off.

LV3 in FIG. 9 may be replaced with LV3 or higher. FIG. 9 shows a configuration in which the lamp is switched between on and off, or the ratio of on and off times is switched according to the automation level, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the type of outside notification may be changed by switching the lighting color according to the automation level. For example, the hue of the lighting color may be switched or the shade of the color may be switched according to the automation level. The switching of the shade of the color may be achieved by changing the brightness of the lamp. Note that the lamp may be turned on when the vehicle is at an automation level corresponding to autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation, while the lamp may be turned off when the vehicle is at an automation level corresponding to autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation. The lamp may be turned off when the vehicle is at an automation level corresponding to autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation, while the lamp may be turned on when the vehicle is at an automation level corresponding to autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation.

It is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification for autonomous driving with different permission conditions based on the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit 104. For example, it is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification for area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving using the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit 104. In this case, the autonomous driving related state can be determined by using the result of identifying autonomous driving with different permission conditions. By changing the type of vehicle exterior notification for autonomous driving with different permission conditions, it becomes possible to more clearly notify the surroundings of the vehicle of the differences between the autonomous driving with different permission conditions of the vehicle.

Below, an example of changing the type of outside notification during area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving will be described. When the vehicle enters the ST section from outside the ST section, the outside notification control unit 106 preferably causes an outside notification to be issued before the vehicle enters the ST section, informing the driver of the possibility that monitoring-free autonomous driving will be started in advance. Since area-limited autonomous driving is possible within the ST section, the timing of the increase in the automation level can be predicted more accurately when prior approval has been given. Therefore, it becomes possible to notify the surroundings of the vehicle of the possibility that monitoring-free autonomous driving will be started before it becomes possible to increase the area-limited LV3. As a result, it becomes possible to notify the surroundings of the vehicle, which would like to know about the increase in the automation level as soon as possible, that the automation level will be increased earlier.

Here, an example of changing the type of vehicle exterior notification during area-limited autonomous driving and during traffic jam-limited autonomous driving will be described with reference to FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, when the automation level of the vehicle is traffic jam-limited LV3 (i.e., during traffic jam-limited autonomous driving), the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may blink the lamp. On the other hand, when the automation level of the vehicle is area-limited LV3 (i.e., during area-limited autonomous driving), the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may turn on the lamp. Compared to area-limited autonomous driving, it is difficult to predict the timing at which traffic jam-limited autonomous driving will end. Therefore, it is easy for people to intuitively associate the blinking and lighting of the lamp with traffic jam-limited autonomous driving and area-limited autonomous driving, respectively. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is easy for people around to intuitively understand whether the vehicle is in area-limited autonomous driving or traffic jam-limited autonomous driving.

Although FIG. 10 shows a configuration in which the lamp is switched between on and off during area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the lighting color may be switched between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. For example, the hue of the lighting color may be switched between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, or the color intensity may be switched. In addition, the blinking cycle or the ratio of on time to off time may be switched between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving.

When combining a configuration that changes the type of outside-vehicle notification according to the automation level of the vehicle with a configuration that changes the type of outside-vehicle notification between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, for example, the following can be done. The light color can be changed according to the automation level of the vehicle, while the lamp can be turned on during area-limited autonomous driving and blinking during traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. In this way, while still providing outside-vehicle notification by emitting light, it is possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle of the difference in the automation level of the vehicle and the difference between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving.

It is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 uses the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit 104 to change the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the duration during autonomous driving at an automation level whose duration is predictable. In this case, the result of identifying the duration can be used as the autonomous driving related state. By changing the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the duration, it is possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle of how long autonomous driving at the current automation level will continue. The automation level whose duration is predictable may be area-limited LV3 or traffic jam-limited LV3. In this embodiment, an example is described in which the automation level whose duration is predictable is area-limited LV3.

Here, an example of changing the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on the duration will be described with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 illustrates an example in which the remaining time from the current vehicle position to the end point of the ST section (hereinafter, duration) is used as the duration. As shown in FIG. 11, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may turn on the lamp when the duration of the area-limited autonomous driving of the vehicle is 10 minutes or more. On the other hand, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may blink the lamp when the duration of the area-limited autonomous driving of the vehicle is less than 10 minutes. People can easily intuitively associate a shortened duration with the blinking of the lamp. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes easier for people around the vehicle to intuitively understand how long the area-limited autonomous driving will continue.

In FIG. 11, a configuration is shown in which the lamp is switched between lighting and blinking depending on whether the duration is equal to or greater than a threshold, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the blinking cycle may be shortened as the duration becomes shorter. Also, the lighting time during blinking may be shortened as the duration becomes shorter. Alternatively, the lighting color may be made fainter as the duration becomes shorter. Regardless of the form of light emission, it becomes easier for those around the vehicle to intuitively understand that the duration has become shorter.

When combining a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the automation level of the vehicle, a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, and a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to duration, for example, the following may be used. The hue of the lighting color may be changed according to the automation level of the vehicle, while the lamp is turned on during area-limited autonomous driving and blinks during traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. Also, the lighting color may be made lighter as the duration becomes shorter. In addition, the hue of the lighting color may be changed according to the automation level of the vehicle, and the lighting hue may be changed whether the vehicle is in area-limited autonomous driving or traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. In this case, the lighting color may be made lighter or the blinking cycle may be shortened as the duration becomes shorter. This makes it possible to more clearly inform the surroundings of the vehicle of the difference in the automation level of the vehicle, the difference between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, and the difference in duration, while still performing vehicle exterior notification by light emission.

It is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit 104. In this case, the identification result of the magnitude of the change in the automation level may be used as the autonomous driving related state. By changing the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle, it is possible to more clearly notify the surroundings of the vehicle of the difference in the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle. The vehicle exterior notification according to the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle may be performed by changing the mode of the advance notification that notifies in advance that the automation level will change, according to the magnitude of the change in the automation level of the vehicle. This advance notification may be configured to continue until the start of the vehicle exterior notification that notifies the changed automation level.

Here, an example of changing the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the magnitude of change in the automation level will be described with reference to FIG. 12. The vertical axis of the graph in FIG. 12 indicates the period of blinking of the lamp. The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 12 indicates the magnitude of change in the automation level. FIG. 12 shows an example in which the magnitude of change in the automation level can be four stages. In the example of FIG. 12, the degrees of the automation levels that can be taken are LV0, LV1, hands-on LV2, hands-off LV2, and LV3, in order of decreasing degree. For example, in the case of a transition from LV0 to LV3, the magnitude of change in the automation level is four stages. In the case of a transition from LV3 to LV1, the magnitude of change in the automation level is three stages. In the case of a transition from hands-off LV2 to hands-on LV2, the magnitude of change in the automation level is one stage. As shown in FIG. 12, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may shorten the period of blinking of the lamp as the change in the automation level of the vehicle increases.

Figure 12 shows an example in which the magnitude of change in automation level can be four stages, but this is merely one example. The magnitude of change in automation level may be a number other than four stages. In addition, when the magnitude of change in the automation level of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a threshold, the period of blinking of the lamp may be made shorter than when the magnitude of change is less than the threshold. For example, when the magnitude of change in automation level is two stages or more, the period of blinking of the lamp may be made shorter than when the magnitude of change is less than two stages.

Although FIG. 12 shows a configuration in which the blinking cycle of the lamp is switched depending on the magnitude of change in the automation level of the vehicle, this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the intensity of the light color may be changed depending on the magnitude of change in the automation level of the vehicle. In addition, the blinking cycle may be switched between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, or the ratio of on time to off time may be switched.

When combining a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the automation level of the vehicle, a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the duration, and a configuration that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification according to the magnitude of the change in the automation level, for example, the following may be done. The hue of the light color may be changed according to the automation level of the vehicle, and the hue of the light may be changed whether the vehicle is in area-limited autonomous driving or traffic jam-limited autonomous driving. Also, the light color may be made lighter as the duration becomes shorter. Then, the blinking cycle may be shortened according to the magnitude of the change in the automation level. In this way, while performing vehicle exterior notification by light emission, it is possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle of the difference in the automation level of the vehicle, the difference between area-limited autonomous driving and traffic jam-limited autonomous driving, the difference in duration, and the difference in the magnitude of the change in the automation level.

It is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 changes the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the automation level of the vehicle is increasing or decreasing, using the autonomous driving related state identified by the state identification unit 104. In this case, the identification result of the direction of the change in the automation level may be used as the autonomous driving related state. By changing the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the automation level of the vehicle is increasing or decreasing, it is possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle whether the automation level of the vehicle is increasing or decreasing. The vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the automation level of the vehicle is increasing or decreasing may be performed by changing the mode of the advance notification that notifies in advance that the automation level will change, depending on whether the automation level of the vehicle is increasing or decreasing. This advance notification may be configured to continue until an exterior notification that notifies the changed automation level is started.

Here, an example of changing the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the automation level is increasing or decreasing will be described with reference to FIG. 13. When the automation level of the vehicle increases, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may fade in the illumination of the lamp as shown in FIG. 13. As an example, the brightness of the lamp may be gradually increased. When the automation level of the vehicle decreases, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 may fade out the illumination of the lamp as shown in FIG. 13. As an example, the brightness of the lamp may be gradually decreased. People can easily intuitively associate an increase in the automation level with the fading in of the illumination of the lamp. People can easily intuitively associate a decrease in the automation level with the fading out of the illumination of the lamp. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it becomes easier for people around the vehicle to intuitively understand whether the automation level is increasing or decreasing.

Figure 13 shows a configuration in which the lamp is faded in when the automation level of the host vehicle increases, and faded out when the automation level decreases, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the lamp may be faded out when the automation level of the host vehicle increases, and faded in when the automation level decreases. In addition, the blinking cycle may be switched, or the ratio of the on time to the off time may be switched, depending on whether the automation level of the host vehicle increases or decreases.

When the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 issues an exterior notification by flashing a light, it is preferable to flash the exterior notification at a cycle different from the flashing of the vehicle's turn lamps. This makes it less likely that those around the vehicle will mistake the flashing of the exterior notification for the flashing of the turn lamps. The vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 can flash the exterior notification at a cycle different from the flashing of the vehicle's turn lamps, using the timing at which the turn signal switch in the vehicle state sensor 14 is turned on and information on the flashing cycle of the turn lamps. The information on the flashing cycle of the turn lamps can be configured to read information previously stored in the non-volatile memory of the HCU 10.

Now, with reference to FIG. 14, an example of differentiating the blinking cycle of the exterior notification and the turn lamp will be described. The vertical axis of FIG. 14 indicates the on/off of light emission. The horizontal axis of FIG. 14 indicates time. TL in FIG. 14 indicates the blinking cycle of the turn lamp. OL in FIG. 14 indicates the blinking cycle of the exterior notification. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the exterior notification control unit 106 may set the blinking cycle of the exterior notification longer than the blinking cycle of the turn lamp. Note that, in order to make it easier to distinguish between the blinking of the exterior notification and the turn lamp, the timing of illumination may be shifted between the blinking of the exterior notification and the turn lamp, as shown in FIG. 14.

Note that, although FIG. 14 shows a configuration in which the blinking period of the vehicle exterior notification is made longer than the blinking period of the turn lamp, this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the blinking period of the vehicle exterior notification may be made shorter than the blinking period of the turn lamp.

It is preferable that the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 increases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit 105 increases, and decreases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit 105 decreases. This makes it possible to issue vehicle exterior notifications at a brightness that is easily visible to those around, even when the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle is high. Also, even when the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle is low, such as at night or inside a tunnel, it becomes possible to issue vehicle exterior notifications at a brightness that is not too dazzling to those around.

Here, an example of changing the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification according to the brightness around the vehicle will be described with reference to FIG. 15. The vertical axis of the graph in FIG. 15 indicates the brightness around the vehicle. The horizontal axis of the graph in FIG. 15 indicates the reference brightness for the vehicle exterior notification. The reference brightness may be a brightness that is used as a reference when changing the brightness of the light emitted from the vehicle exterior notification according to the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit 104. When increasing or decreasing the brightness of the light emitted from the vehicle exterior notification according to the autonomous driving-related state, the brightness may be increased or decreased from the reference brightness. As shown in FIG. 15, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 increases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness around the vehicle increases, and decreases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness around the vehicle decreases.

The area in which the lamp serving as the exterior display 191 emits light is not limited to being fixed to a certain area. For example, the area in which the lamp emits light may be switched sequentially by limiting the number of light-emitting elements to a certain area and switching the certain light-emitting elements to emit light. In other words, the area in which the light is emitted may be illuminated so as to appear to be moving. In this case, different states of the autonomous driving of the vehicle may be expressed by changing the direction in which the illuminated area switches. In other words, different directions in which the illuminated area switches may be used to indicate different types of exterior notifications.

According to the configuration of the first embodiment, it is possible to change the type of outside notification, which is a notification of information related to the autonomous driving of the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle, depending on the state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving. Therefore, as described above, different types of outside notifications make it easier for those around the vehicle to understand different states of the autonomous driving of the vehicle. As a result, when the vehicle is driving autonomously, it is possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle of different states of the autonomous driving of the vehicle.

(Embodiment 2)
The configuration is not limited to that of the first embodiment, but may be that of the following second embodiment. An example of the configuration of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<General Configuration of Vehicle System 1a>
The vehicle system 1a shown in FIG. 16 can be used in an autonomous vehicle. As shown in FIG. 16, the vehicle system 1a includes an HCU 10a, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surroundings monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an autonomous driving ECU 17a, an in-vehicle presentation device 18, an outside-vehicle notification device 19, a user input device 20, and an interior camera 21. The vehicle system 1a is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1a includes an HCU 10a and an autonomous driving ECU 17a instead of the HCU 10 and the autonomous driving ECU 17, and includes an interior camera 21. For example, the HCU 10a, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the surroundings monitoring sensor 15, the vehicle control ECU 16, and the autonomous driving ECU 17a may be configured to be connected to an in-vehicle LAN (see the LAN in FIG. 16). Although the vehicle using the vehicular system 1a is not necessarily limited to an automobile, the following description will be given taking the case of using the vehicular system 1a in an automobile as an example.

The automatic driving ECU 17a is similar to the automatic driving ECU 17 of the first embodiment, except that the control execution unit executes at least LCA (Lane Change Assist) control and LTC (Lane Tracing control). The LCA control is a control that automatically changes the lane of the vehicle from the own lane to an adjacent lane. In the LCA control, a planned driving trajectory that smoothly connects the target position of the own lane and the center of the adjacent lane is generated based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit. Then, the lane is changed from the own lane to the adjacent lane by automatically controlling the steering angle of the steering wheel of the own vehicle according to the planned driving trajectory. In the LCA control, if a situation occurs in which the lane change is not possible before the lane change is completed after the lane change is started, the lane change may be interrupted midway and the vehicle may wait. The LTC control is a control that maintains the vehicle traveling within the lane. In the LTC control, steering control is performed to maintain the vehicle traveling within the lane. When starting a lane change using LCA control, LTC control can be temporarily suspended to allow the vehicle to leave its own lane. Then, once the lane change is complete, LTC control can be resumed.

The interior camera 21 captures an image of a predetermined range within the vehicle cabin. The interior camera 21 may capture an image of at least an area including the driver's seat of the vehicle. In other words, the interior camera 21 captures an image of the driver of the vehicle. The interior camera 21 is composed of, for example, a near-infrared light source and a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls these. The interior camera 21 captures an image of an occupant of the vehicle irradiated with near-infrared light by the near-infrared light source using the near-infrared camera. The image captured by the near-infrared camera is subjected to image analysis by the control unit. The control unit performs image analysis on the captured image to detect facial features of the occupant. The control unit may detect the facial direction of the occupant, the line of sight direction of the occupant, etc. based on the detected features of the upper body including the face of the occupant.

<General configuration of HCU 10a>
Next, the schematic configuration of the HCU 10a will be described with reference to Fig. 17. As shown in Fig. 17, the HCU 10a includes an information acquisition unit 101, an in-vehicle presentation control unit 102, an approval acceptance unit 103, a state identification unit 104a, a brightness identification unit 105, an outside-vehicle notification control unit 106a, and a monitoring identification unit 107 as functional blocks for controlling the in-vehicle presentation device 18 and the outside-vehicle notification device 19. The HCU 10a is similar to the HCU 10 of the first embodiment, except that the HCU 10a includes the state identification unit 104a and the outside-vehicle notification control unit 106a instead of the state identification unit 104 and the outside-vehicle notification control unit 106, and includes the monitoring identification unit 107. This HCU 10a also corresponds to a vehicle notification control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the HCU 10a by a computer also corresponds to the execution of a vehicle notification control method.

The state identification unit 104a is similar to the state identification unit 104 of embodiment 1, except for some differences in the autonomous driving-related states it identifies. The following describes the differences from the state identification unit 104 of embodiment 1. The state identification unit 104a distinguishes between an autonomous driving-related state in which an automatic lane change is in progress, and an autonomous lane keeping drive in which the vehicle automatically stays within the lane, and identifies that the autonomous driving-related state in which an LCA control is in progress and an LTC control is in progress. In other words, the state identification unit 104a distinguishes between an LCA control in progress and an LTC control in progress.

The monitoring identification unit 107 identifies whether the driver of the vehicle is monitoring the surroundings. The monitoring identification unit 107 may identify whether the driver is monitoring the surroundings from the driver's facial direction, line of sight, etc. detected by the indoor camera 21.

The vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a is similar to the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 of embodiment 1, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences from the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 of embodiment 1. When the state identification unit 104a identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is lane keeping driving, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a turns on the light as an external notification. In other words, when the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a identifies that LTC control is being executed, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a turns on the light as an external notification (see FIG. 18). On the other hand, when the state identification unit 104a identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is lane changing, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a blinks as an external notification. In other words, when the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a identifies that LCA control is being executed, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a blinks as an external notification (see FIG. 18). This makes it possible to more clearly inform those around the vehicle whether lane keeping is in progress or lane changing is in progress.

When the state identification unit 104a identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is an automated lane change in progress, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a preferably causes the vehicle exterior notification to flash at the same cycle as the flashing of the turn signal lamps of the vehicle itself. This results in the same cycle for the flashing of the turn signal lamps indicating a lane change and the flashing indicating that an automated lane change is in progress. This reduces the sense of discomfort compared to when the timing of flashing signals indicating similar content is changed.

Now, with reference to FIG. 19, an example of matching the blinking cycle of the exterior notification with the blinking cycle of the turn lamps will be described. The vertical axis in FIG. 19 indicates the on/off state of the light. The horizontal axis in FIG. 19 indicates time. TL in FIG. 19 indicates the blinking cycle of the turn lamps. OL in FIG. 19 indicates the blinking cycle of the exterior notification. The exterior notification control unit 106a simply matches the blinking cycle of the exterior notification with the blinking cycle of the turn lamps, as shown in FIG. 19.

When the state identification unit 104a identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is that an automated lane change is in progress, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a preferably changes the manner of the vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the monitoring identification unit 107 identifies that the driver is monitoring the surroundings or that the driver is not monitoring the surroundings. This makes it possible to more clearly notify those around the vehicle whether the driver is monitoring the surroundings or not while an automated lane change is in progress.

When the state identification unit 104a identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is a lane change in progress, and the monitoring identification unit 107 identifies that the driver is monitoring the surroundings, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a may not issue an exterior notification. On the other hand, when the state identification unit 104a identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is a lane change in progress, and the monitoring identification unit 107 identifies that the driver is not monitoring the surroundings, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a may cause a flashing light to be issued as an exterior notification. Note that the turn signal lamp of the vehicle flashes when a lane change is being made.

Now, with reference to FIG. 20, an example of changing the vehicle exterior notification depending on whether or not the driver is monitoring the surroundings while performing a lane change will be described. As shown in FIG. 20, when LCA control is being performed and the driver is monitoring the surroundings, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a does not turn on the lamp as the vehicle exterior notification. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 20, when LCA control is being performed and the driver is not monitoring the surroundings, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106a blinks the lamp as the vehicle exterior notification. Also, as shown in FIG. 20, the turn signal lamp is assumed to be blinking when LCA control is being performed, regardless of whether or not the driver is monitoring the surroundings.

(Embodiment 3)
The configuration is not limited to that of the first embodiment, and may be that of the following third embodiment. An example of the configuration of the third embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overall configuration of vehicle system 1b>
The vehicle system 1b shown in Fig. 21 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 21, the vehicle system 1b includes an HCU 10b, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an autonomous driving ECU 17, an in-vehicle presentation device 18, an outside-vehicle notification device 19, and a user input device 20. The vehicle system 1b is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1b includes an HCU 10b instead of the HCU 10. The vehicle using the vehicle system 1b is not necessarily limited to an automobile, but the following description will be given taking the case of using the vehicle system 1b in an automobile as an example.

<General configuration of HCU 10b>
Next, the schematic configuration of the HCU 10b will be described with reference to Fig. 22. As shown in Fig. 22, the HCU 10b includes an information acquisition unit 101, an in-vehicle presentation control unit 102, an approval acceptance unit 103, a state identification unit 104b, a brightness identification unit 105, an outside-vehicle notification control unit 106b, and a monitoring identification unit 107 as functional blocks for controlling the in-vehicle presentation device 18 and the outside-vehicle notification device 19. The HCU 10b is similar to the HCU 10 of the first embodiment, except that the HCU 10b includes a state identification unit 104b and an outside-vehicle notification control unit 106b instead of the state identification unit 104 and the outside-vehicle notification control unit 106. This HCU 10b also corresponds to a vehicle notification control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the HCU 10b by a computer also corresponds to the execution of a vehicle notification control method.

The state identification unit 104b is similar to the state identification unit 104 of embodiment 1, except for some differences in the autonomous driving-related states it identifies. The following describes the differences from the state identification unit 104 of embodiment 1. The state identification unit 104b identifies, as an autonomous driving-related state, at least whether autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on an expressway. The general road referred to here can be rephrased as a road on which pedestrians and/or bicycles pass. The state identification unit 104b can identify whether autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on an expressway by monitoring the autonomous driving ECU 17.

It is preferable that the state identification unit 104b also distinguishes and identifies whether or not a pedestrian is detected as an autonomous driving-related state. Pedestrians include those on foot (i.e., pedestrians) and those on bicycles. Pedestrians may not be limited to those entering a general road. The state identification unit 104b may identify whether or not a pedestrian is detected by monitoring the autonomous driving ECU 17. The autonomous driving ECU 17 may detect, for example, pedestrians located within the sensing range of the perimeter monitoring sensor 15.

The vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b is similar to the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences from the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 of the first embodiment. When the state identification unit 104b identifies that the automatic driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b issues an external notification by voice. That is, the vehicle exterior notification is issued by voice output from the voice output device 192. On the other hand, when the state identification unit 104b identifies that the automatic driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a highway, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b issues an external notification by display or light emission. That is, the vehicle exterior notification is issued by displaying or emitting light from the exterior display 191. This makes it possible to issue an external notification suitable for the location where the automatic driving without monitoring obligation is being performed. Details are as follows. On a general road where pedestrians are present, it is possible to issue an external notification by voice that is easy for pedestrians to recognize. On the other hand, on expressways where there are no pedestrians, it is possible to warn other vehicles outside the vehicle by displaying or emitting light, rather than by using unnecessary audio alerts.

When the state identification unit 104b identifies that autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road and that a pedestrian has been detected, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b preferably issues an audio vehicle exterior notification. This makes it possible to reduce the waste of issuing an audio vehicle exterior notification when no pedestrian has been detected.

Here, an example of changing the vehicle exterior notification depending on the location of autonomous driving without monitoring obligation will be described with reference to FIG. 23. Autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is autonomous driving with an automation level of LV3 or higher. As shown in FIG. 23, when autonomous driving at LV3 or higher is being performed on a general road and pedestrians are detected, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b issues an external notification by voice. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 23, when autonomous driving at LV3 or higher is being performed on a general road and pedestrians are not detected, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b does not issue an external notification. Also, as shown in FIG. 23, when autonomous driving at LV3 or higher is being performed on a highway, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106b issues an external notification by display or light emission.

(Embodiment 4)
The configuration is not limited to that of the first embodiment, and may be that of the following fourth embodiment. An example of the configuration of the fourth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<General Configuration of Vehicle System 1c>
The vehicle system 1c shown in FIG. 24 can be used in an autonomous vehicle. As shown in FIG. 24, the vehicle system 1c includes an HCU 10c, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surroundings monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an autonomous driving ECU 17c, an in-vehicle presentation device 18, an outside vehicle notification device 19, a user input device 20, and an interior camera 21. The vehicle system 1c is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1c includes an HCU 10c and an autonomous driving ECU 17c instead of the HCU 10 and the autonomous driving ECU 17, and includes an interior camera 21. For example, the HCU 10c, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the surroundings monitoring sensor 15, the vehicle control ECU 16, and the autonomous driving ECU 17c may be configured to be connected to an in-vehicle LAN (see the LAN in FIG. 24). Although the vehicle using the vehicular system 1c is not necessarily limited to an automobile, the following description will be given taking an example in which the system is used in an automobile.

The automatic driving ECU 17c is the same as the automatic driving ECU 17 of the first embodiment, except that it functions as a deadman system. The automatic driving ECU 17c corresponds to the deadman system. The function as a deadman system refers to a function of detecting the driver's inability to drive, automatically evacuating the vehicle, and flashing the hazard lights and sounding the horn. The horn can be said to be a klaxon. The driver's inability to drive can be said to be a deadman state. The inability to drive is a state in which it is estimated that it is difficult to return to a drivable state, and does not include a sleeping state. The automatic driving ECU 17c may detect the driver's inability to drive from an image of the driver captured by the interior camera 21. The automatic driving ECU 17c may detect the driver's inability to drive by recognizing the driver's posture collapse, the driver's eyes rolled up, and the like from the image of the driver. The automatic driving ECU 17c may detect the driver's inability to drive from the driver's biological information detected by a biological sensor. The autonomous driving ECU 17c controls the vehicle control ECU 16 to perform evacuation. As an evacuation action, the autonomous driving ECU 17c may automatically drive the vehicle to a specific area recommended as an emergency evacuation site and then stop the vehicle. Examples of specific areas on expressways include service areas and emergency parking lanes. Examples of specific areas on general roads include shoulder strips.

<General configuration of HCU 10c>
Next, the schematic configuration of the HCU 10c will be described with reference to Fig. 25. As shown in Fig. 25, the HCU 10c includes an information acquisition unit 101c, an in-vehicle presentation control unit 102, an approval acceptance unit 103, a state identification unit 104c, a brightness identification unit 105, an outside-vehicle notification control unit 106c, and a monitoring identification unit 107 as functional blocks for controlling the in-vehicle presentation device 18 and the outside-vehicle notification device 19. The HCU 10c is similar to the HCU 10 of the first embodiment, except that the HCU 10c includes the information acquisition unit 101c, the state identification unit 104c, and the outside-vehicle notification control unit 106c instead of the information acquisition unit 101, the state identification unit 104, and the outside-vehicle notification control unit 106. This HCU 10c also corresponds to a vehicle notification control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the HCU 10c by a computer also corresponds to the execution of a vehicle notification control method.

The information acquisition unit 101c is similar to the information acquisition unit 101 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in the information acquired. The following describes the differences from the information acquisition unit 101 of the first embodiment. The information acquisition unit 101c acquires information about the operating state of the function serving as a deadman system in the autonomous driving ECU 17c.

The state identification unit 104c is similar to the state identification unit 104 of embodiment 1, except for some differences in the autonomous driving-related states it identifies. The differences from the state identification unit 104 of embodiment 1 will be described below. The state identification unit 104c identifies, as an autonomous driving-related state, whether or not the autonomous driving ECU 17c performs evacuation behavior. In other words, the state identification unit 104c identifies, as an autonomous driving-related state, whether or not the deadman system performs evacuation behavior. The state identification unit 104c may identify, as to whether or not the autonomous driving ECU 17c performs evacuation behavior, from information about the operating state of the function as a deadman system obtained from the autonomous driving ECU 17c.

The vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c is the same as the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences from the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106 of the first embodiment. When the state specification unit 104c specifies that the deadman system is to perform an evacuation action, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c causes the hazard lights to flash and the horn to sound, and also causes the vehicle exterior notification to be performed. For example, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c may cause the vehicle exterior notification to be performed while the hazard lights are flashing and the horn is sounding. When the state specification unit 104c specifies that the deadman system is to perform an evacuation action, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c may cause the vehicle exterior notification to be performed in a manner different from the case where the state specification unit 104c does not specify that the deadman system is to perform an evacuation action. This makes it possible to more clearly notify the surroundings of the vehicle of the difference between whether or not the deadman system is performing an evacuation action. As an example, during automatic driving, a lamp may be switched between flashing and lighting depending on whether or not the deadman system is causing the vehicle to take an evacuation action. Alternatively, during automatic driving, a lamp or display color may be switched depending on whether or not the deadman system is causing the vehicle to take an evacuation action. For example, when the deadman system is causing the vehicle to take an evacuation action, a warning color may be used as the lamp or display color.

Now, with reference to FIG. 26, an example of changing the vehicle exterior notification depending on whether or not the deadman system causes evacuation action to be taken will be described. As shown in FIG. 26, when the deadman system has not caused evacuation action to be taken, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c may, for example, turn on a blue lamp as the vehicle exterior notification. Note that when the vehicle is not in autonomous driving, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c may be configured not to turn on the lamp as the vehicle exterior notification. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 26, when the deadman system has caused evacuation action to be taken, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c may, for example, flash a red lamp as the vehicle exterior notification.

When the state identification unit 104c identifies that the deadman's system will cause evacuation action to be taken, the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106c preferably causes the vehicle exterior notification to flash at the same cycle as the flashing of the hazard lights. Flashing of the hazard lights corresponds to the flashing of both the left and right turn signals of the vehicle. This results in the same cycle for the flashing of the hazard lights indicating an emergency and the flashing indicating that evacuation action is being taken. This reduces the sense of discomfort compared to when the timing of flashes indicating similar content is changed.

Now, with reference to Figure 27, an example of matching the blinking cycle of the vehicle exterior alarm and the blinking cycle of the hazard lights will be described. The vertical axis of Figure 27 indicates the on/off state of the light. The horizontal axis of Figure 27 indicates time. HL in Figure 27 indicates the blinking cycle of the hazard lights. OL in Figure 27 indicates the blinking cycle of the vehicle exterior alarm. The vehicle exterior alarm control unit 106c simply matches the blinking cycle of the vehicle exterior alarm with the blinking cycle of the hazard lights, as shown in Figure 27.

(Embodiment 5)
In addition, the vehicle exterior indicator 191 may be configured to use a lamp that is turned on for a purpose other than the vehicle exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle. In other words, an existing lamp may be configured to be used for the vehicle exterior notification as well. Examples of existing lamps include width lights, turn lamps, tail lights, brake lights, backlights, license plate lights, and rear fog lights. The tail lamp may also be used as a brake lamp. As an existing lamp that is also used for the vehicle exterior notification, a lamp that is lit infrequently for purposes other than the vehicle exterior notification is preferable. This is to make it difficult to cause a situation where the vehicle exterior notification cannot be performed at the timing when it should be performed. As an existing lamp that is also used for the vehicle exterior notification, for example, a backlight, width lights, license plate lights, and rear fog lights are preferable. As for an existing lamp that is also used for the vehicle exterior notification, confusion may be avoided by, for example, making the hue of the light color different between the vehicle exterior notification and the purpose other than the vehicle exterior notification.

(Embodiment 6)
In the first and second embodiments, a configuration is shown in which the vehicle exterior notification can be performed by both the vehicle exterior display device 191 and the audio output device 192, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the vehicle exterior notification may be performed only by the vehicle exterior display device 191 out of the vehicle exterior display device 191 and the audio output device 192. Also, the vehicle exterior notification may be performed only by the audio output device 192 out of the vehicle exterior display device 191 and the audio output device 192.

(Embodiment 7)
In the first to third embodiments, the vehicle exterior notification is performed by emitting light from a lamp, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the vehicle exterior notification may be performed by displaying text or images on a display panel or the like instead of emitting light from a lamp.

(Embodiment 8)
In the first to fourth embodiments, the configuration is shown in which the in-vehicle notification can be performed by both the display device 181 and the audio output device 182, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the configuration may be such that the in-vehicle notification can be performed only by the display device 181 out of the display device 181 and the audio output device 182. Also, the configuration may be such that the in-vehicle notification can be performed only by the audio output device 182 out of the display device 181 and the audio output device 182.

(Embodiment 9)
In the first to fourth embodiments, the functions of the state identification unit 104, 104a, 104b, 104c, the brightness identification unit 105, and the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106, 106a, 106b, 106c are performed by the HCU 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the functions of the state identification unit 104, 104a, 104b, 104c, the brightness identification unit 105, and the vehicle exterior notification control unit 106, 106a, 106b, 106c may be performed by an ECU other than the HCU 10, 10a, 10b, 10c. As an example, the functions of the state identification units 104, 104a, 104b, and 104c, the brightness identification unit 105, and the exterior notification control units 106, 106a, 106b, and 106c may be performed by the autonomous driving ECUs 17, 17a, and 17c.

Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The technical scope of the present disclosure also includes embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments. The control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer that constitutes a processor programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated hardware logic circuit. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by one or more dedicated computers that are configured by combining a processor that executes a computer program with one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transient tangible recording medium as instructions executed by the computer.

(Disclosed technical idea)
This specification discloses multiple technical ideas described in the following multiple dependent claims. Some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, in which the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. Furthermore, some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, in which the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. The claims described in these multiple dependent forms define multiple technical ideas.
(Technical Concept 1)
A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 2)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 1,
The permission conditions, which are the conditions for enabling autonomous driving, can be used for vehicles capable of autonomous driving at different levels of automation,
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least the autonomous drivings having different permission conditions,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification during autonomous driving with different permission conditions using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 3)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 2,
The autonomous driving system can be used in vehicles capable of area-limited autonomous driving, in which autonomous driving is permitted in a limited area and without the driver of the vehicle being required to monitor the vehicle, and congestion-limited autonomous driving, in which autonomous driving is permitted only during congestion and without the driver being required to monitor the vehicle, as the autonomous driving systems with different automation levels for which the permission conditions are different.
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least whether the area-limited autonomous driving is in progress or the traffic congestion-limited autonomous driving is in progress,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification between the area-limited autonomous driving and the traffic congestion-limited autonomous driving based on the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 4)
The vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 2 or 3,
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, a duration of the autonomous driving of an autonomous driving level that is a predictable duration, which is a distance or time that the autonomous driving can be continued, and
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on the duration of the autonomous driving at an automation level where the duration is predictable, using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 5)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 4,
The state identification unit identifies an automation level of the vehicle as the autonomous driving-related state,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification according to the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 6)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 5,
The vehicle exterior alarm control unit is a vehicle alarm control device that changes the type of vehicle exterior alarm depending on whether the vehicle's automation level is an automation level that corresponds to autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation or an automation level that corresponds to autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation, using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 7)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 6,
The state identification unit identifies a change in an automation level of the vehicle as the autonomous driving-related state,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on the magnitude of change in the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 8)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 7,
The state identification unit identifies a change in an automation level of the vehicle as the autonomous driving-related state,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the automation level of the vehicle is increasing or decreasing, using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit.
(Technical Concept 9)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 8,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning by at least emitting light, and one of the modes of the vehicle exterior warning includes blinking of light,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit, when performing the vehicle exterior notification by flashing a light, flashes the vehicle exterior notification at a cycle different from the flashing of a turn signal of the vehicle.
(Technical Concept 10)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 9,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by displaying,
A brightness specification unit (105) for specifying the brightness around the vehicle,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit increases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit increases, and decreases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit decreases.
(Technical Concept 11)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 10,
A vehicle notification control device including an interior notification control unit (102) that controls an interior notification device (18, 181, 182) that issues an interior notification to the interior of the vehicle, which is an indication that the exterior notification is being issued.
(Technical Concept 12)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 11,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by displaying,
The vehicle interior notification device (181) displays at least an image showing the vehicle,
The in-vehicle notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that performs the in-vehicle notification by displaying an image showing the vehicle displayed by the in-vehicle notification device in an area in which the outside notification is performed by the outside notification device, in a manner similar to the outside notification.
(Technical Concept 13)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 12,
The vehicle exterior alarm device (191) is a vehicle alarm control device that performs the vehicle exterior alarm by emitting light.
(Technical Concept 14)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 13,
The autonomous driving system can be used in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving that automatically maintains driving within a lane and automatically changes lanes,
The vehicle exterior alarm device (191) performs the vehicle exterior alarm by at least emitting light,
The state identification unit (104a) identifies, as the automatic driving-related state, at least whether an automatic lane change, which is an automatic lane change, is being performed, or lane keeping driving, which automatically keeps the vehicle within the lane, is being performed,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit (106a) is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state identification unit identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is that the lane keeping driving is being performed, causes a light to be turned on as the vehicle exterior notification, and, when the state identification unit identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is that the autonomous lane change is being performed, causes a flashing light to be turned on as the vehicle exterior notification.
(Technical Concept 15)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 14,
The vehicle exterior notification control device is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state identification unit identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is that the automated lane change is being performed, causes the vehicle's turn signals to flash as the vehicle exterior notification at the same cycle as the flashing of the vehicle's turn signals.
(Technical Concept 16)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 14 or 15,
A monitoring identification unit (107) is provided for identifying whether or not a driver of the vehicle is monitoring the surroundings,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving-related state is that the automatic lane change is being performed, changes the manner of the vehicle exterior notification depending on whether the monitoring identification unit identifies that the driver is performing surrounding monitoring or whether the driver is not performing surrounding monitoring.
(Technical Concept 17)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 16,
The vehicle exterior alarm control device is a vehicle alarm control device that, when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving-related state is that the automatic lane change is being performed, does not issue the vehicle exterior alarm if the monitoring identification unit determines that the driver is monitoring the surroundings, but performs the flashing as the vehicle exterior alarm if the monitoring identification unit determines that the driver is not monitoring the surroundings.
(Technical Concept 18)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 17,
The automated driving method can be used in a vehicle capable of automated driving without a monitoring obligation, which is an automated driving method in which the driver of the vehicle is not required to monitor the surroundings,
The state identification unit (104b) identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least whether the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on a highway,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit (106b) is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state identification unit determines that the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road, issues the vehicle exterior notification by voice, and, when the state identification unit determines that the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a highway, issues the vehicle exterior notification by display or light emission.
(Technical Concept 19)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 18,
The state identification unit also identifies whether or not a pedestrian is detected as the autonomous driving-related state,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that issues an audio alert to the vehicle exterior when the state identification unit determines that the non-monitoring autonomous driving is being performed on a public road and when it determines that the pedestrian has been detected.
(Technical Concept 20)
A vehicle notification control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 19,
The present invention can be used in a vehicle that utilizes a deadman's system that automatically causes the vehicle to evacuate by flashing hazard lights and sounding a horn when it is detected that the driver of the vehicle is unable to drive.
The state specification unit (104c) specifies, as the automatic driving related state, whether or not the deadman system performs the evacuation action,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit (106c) is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state determination unit determines that the deadman's system will cause the evacuation action to be taken, causes the hazard lights to flash and the horn to sound, and also causes the vehicle exterior notification to be made.
(Technical Concept 21)
A vehicle notification control device according to Technical Concept 20,
The vehicle exterior alarm device (191) performs the vehicle exterior alarm by at least emitting light,
The vehicle exterior alarm control unit is a vehicle alarm control device that, when the state identification unit determines that the deadman's system will cause the evacuation action to be taken, causes the hazard lights to flash as the vehicle exterior alarm at the same cycle as the flashing of the hazard lights.
(Technical Concept 22)
A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the autonomous driving, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed depending on the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step.

1, 1a, 1b, 1c Vehicle system, 10, 10a, 10b, 10c HCU (vehicle alarm control device), 17c Autonomous driving ECU (deadman system), 18 In-vehicle presentation device (in-vehicle alarm device), 19 Outside-vehicle alarm device, 102 In-vehicle presentation control unit (in-vehicle alarm control unit), 104, 104a, 104b, 104c State determination unit, 105 Brightness determination unit, 106, 106a, 106b, 106c Outside-vehicle alarm control unit, 107 Monitoring determination unit, 181 Display (in-vehicle alarm device), 182 Audio output device (in-vehicle alarm device), 191 Outside display (outside-vehicle alarm device), 192 Audio output unit (outside-vehicle alarm device)

Claims (21)

A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving at different levels of automation, each of which has a different permission condition that is a condition for enabling autonomous driving, and that can switch the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least the autonomous drivings having different permission conditions,
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, a duration of the autonomous driving of an autonomous driving level that is a predictable duration, which is a distance or time that the autonomous driving can be continued, and
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in the autonomous driving with each different permission condition by using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification depending on the duration of the autonomous driving at an automation level where the duration is predictable, using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit. A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
The state identification unit identifies a change in an automation level of the vehicle as the autonomous driving-related state,
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on the magnitude of change in the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit . A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
A vehicle notification control device including an interior notification control unit (102) that controls an interior notification device (18, 181, 182) that issues an interior notification to the interior of the vehicle, which is an indication that the exterior notification is being issued . The vehicle notification control device according to claim 3 ,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by displaying,
The vehicle interior notification device (181) displays at least an image showing the vehicle,
The in-vehicle notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that performs the in-vehicle notification by displaying an image showing the vehicle displayed by the in-vehicle notification device in an area in which the outside notification is performed by the outside notification device, in a manner similar to the outside notification. A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by emitting light, and one of the modes of the vehicle exterior warning includes blinking of light,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit, when performing the vehicle exterior notification by flashing a light, flashes the vehicle exterior notification at a cycle different from the flashing of a turn signal of the vehicle . A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by displaying,
A brightness specification unit (105) for specifying the brightness around the vehicle,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit increases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit increases, and decreases the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified by the brightness identification unit decreases . The vehicle notification control device according to any one of claims 2 to 6 ,
The permission conditions, which are the conditions for enabling autonomous driving, can be used for vehicles capable of autonomous driving at different levels of automation,
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least the autonomous drivings having different permission conditions,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification during autonomous driving with different permission conditions using the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit. The vehicle notification control device according to claim 7 ,
The autonomous driving system can be used in vehicles capable of area-limited autonomous driving, in which autonomous driving is permitted in a limited area and without the driver of the vehicle being required to monitor the vehicle, and congestion-limited autonomous driving, in which autonomous driving is permitted only during traffic jams and without the driver being required to monitor the vehicle, as the autonomous driving systems with different automation levels for which the permission conditions are different.
The state identification unit identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least whether the area-limited autonomous driving is in progress or the traffic congestion-limited autonomous driving is in progress,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that changes the type of vehicle exterior notification between the area-limited autonomous driving and the traffic congestion-limited autonomous driving based on the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit. A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving to automatically maintain driving within a lane and automatic driving to automatically change lanes , and that can switch an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
The vehicle exterior alarm device (191) performs the vehicle exterior alarm by at least emitting light,
The state identification unit (104a) identifies, as the automatic driving-related state, at least whether an automatic lane change, which is an automatic lane change, is being performed, or lane keeping driving, which automatically keeps the vehicle within the lane, is being performed,
the vehicle exterior notification control unit (106a) causes a light to be turned on as the vehicle exterior notification when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving related state is that the lane keeping driving is being performed, and causes a flashing light to be turned on as the vehicle exterior notification when the state identification unit identifies that the automatic driving related state is that the automatic lane change is being performed,
The vehicle exterior notification control device is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state identification unit identifies that the autonomous driving-related state is that the automated lane change is being performed, causes the vehicle's turn signals to flash as the vehicle exterior notification at the same cycle as the flashing of the vehicle's turn signals. A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a driver of the vehicle being required to monitor the surroundings , and that can switch the automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
The state identification unit (104b) identifies, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least whether the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on a highway,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit (106b) is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state identification unit determines that the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road, issues the vehicle exterior notification by voice, and, when the state identification unit determines that the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a highway, issues the vehicle exterior notification by display or light emission . The vehicle notification control device according to claim 10 ,
The state identification unit also identifies whether or not a pedestrian is detected as the autonomous driving-related state,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit is a vehicle notification control device that issues an audio alert to the vehicle exterior when the state identification unit determines that the non-monitoring autonomous driving is being performed on a public road and when it determines that the pedestrian has been detected. A vehicle notification control device that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
The present invention can be used in a vehicle that utilizes a deadman's system that automatically causes the vehicle to evacuate by flashing hazard lights and sounding a horn when it is detected that the driver of the vehicle is unable to drive.
A state identification unit (104, 104a, 104b, 104c) that identifies an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
an exterior notification control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c) for controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle;
the vehicle exterior notification control unit changes a type of the vehicle exterior notification in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified by the state identification unit ,
The state specification unit (104c) specifies, as the automatic driving related state, whether or not the deadman system performs the evacuation action,
The vehicle exterior notification control unit (106c) is a vehicle notification control device that, when the state determination unit determines that the deadman's system will cause the evacuation action to be taken, causes the hazard lights to flash and the horn to sound, and also causes the vehicle exterior notification to be made . The vehicle notification control device according to claim 12 ,
The vehicle exterior alarm device (191) performs the vehicle exterior alarm by at least emitting light,
The vehicle exterior alarm control unit is a vehicle alarm control device that, when the state identification unit determines that the deadman's system will cause the evacuation action to be taken, causes the hazard lights to flash as the vehicle exterior alarm at the same cycle as the flashing of the hazard lights. A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving at different levels of automation, each of which has a different permission condition that is a condition for enabling autonomous driving, and that can switch the automation level, which is the degree of autonomous driving,
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the state identification step, the autonomous driving related state is identified by distinguishing at least the autonomous driving having different permission conditions,
In the state identification step, for the autonomous driving related state, for the autonomous driving of an automation level for which a duration, which is a distance or time length for which the autonomous driving can be continued, is predicted, the duration is identified;
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in the autonomous driving with each different permission condition by using the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
In the vehicle exterior notification control process, the vehicle notification control method changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on the duration of the autonomous driving during autonomous driving at an automation level where the duration is predictable, using the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process. A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the autonomous driving, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the state identification step, a change in an automation level of the vehicle is identified as the autonomous driving-related state,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
In the vehicle exterior notification control process, the vehicle notification control method changes the type of the vehicle exterior notification depending on the magnitude of change in the automation level of the vehicle using the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification process. A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the autonomous driving, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
A vehicle notification control method including an interior notification control step of controlling an interior notification device (18, 181, 182) that issues an interior notification, which is a notification indicating that the exterior notification is being made, toward the interior of the vehicle . A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the autonomous driving, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by emitting light, and one of the modes of the vehicle exterior warning includes blinking of light,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, when the vehicle exterior notification is performed by blinking a light, the vehicle exterior notification is blinked at a cycle different from the blinking of a turn signal of the vehicle . A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the autonomous driving, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
The vehicle exterior warning device (191) performs the vehicle exterior warning at least by displaying,
A brightness specifying step of specifying the brightness around the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control process, the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification is increased as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified in the brightness specification process increases, and the brightness of the vehicle exterior notification is decreased as the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle identified in the brightness specification process decreases . A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of automatic driving to automatically maintain driving within a lane and automatic driving to automatically change lanes , and that is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
The vehicle exterior alarm device (191) performs the vehicle exterior alarm by at least emitting light,
In the state identification step, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least a lane change, which is an automatic lane change, is being performed, and a lane keeping driving, which automatically keeps the vehicle within the lane, is being performed.
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, when the state identification step identifies that the automatic driving related state is the lane keeping driving being performed, a light is turned on as the vehicle exterior notification, whereas when the state identification step identifies that the automatic driving related state is the lane changing being performed, a flashing light is turned on as the vehicle exterior notification,
In the vehicle exterior notification control process, when the state identification process identifies that the automatic driving-related state is that the automatic lane change is being performed, the vehicle exterior notification is caused to flash at the same cycle as the flashing of the vehicle's turn signals . A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle capable of automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a driver of the vehicle being required to monitor the surroundings , and capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the automatic driving,
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
In the state identification step, as the autonomous driving-related state, at least a distinction is made as to whether the autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road or on a highway, and the state identification step identifies the autonomous driving-related state.
In the vehicle exterior notification control process, if the state identification process determines that the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on a general road, the vehicle exterior notification is made by voice, and if the state identification process determines that the autonomous driving without monitoring obligation is being performed on an expressway, the vehicle exterior notification is made by display or light emission . A vehicle notification control method that can be used in a vehicle that is capable of autonomous driving and is capable of switching an automation level, which is the degree of the autonomous driving, comprising:
The present invention can be used in a vehicle that utilizes a deadman's system that automatically causes the vehicle to evacuate by flashing hazard lights and sounding a horn when it is detected that the driver of the vehicle is unable to drive.
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying an autonomous driving-related state, which is a state of the vehicle related to the autonomous driving;
and a vehicle exterior notification control step of controlling an exterior notification device (19, 191, 192) that performs an exterior notification, which is a notification of information related to the automatic driving, toward the outside of the vehicle,
In the vehicle exterior notification control step, a type of the vehicle exterior notification is changed in accordance with the autonomous driving-related state identified in the state identification step,
In the state identification step, whether or not the deadman system performs the evacuation action is also identified as the automatic driving related state,
In the vehicle exterior notification control process, when the state identification process determines that the deadman's system will perform the evacuation action, the hazard lights are flashed and the horn is sounded, and the vehicle exterior notification is performed .

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