JPH03118698A - Travel controller for moving vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a travel controller for a moving vehicle so as to enable safe change operation without fail while considering the travel of the other vehicle by forecasting the target spot arrival time by a detecting means and a forecasting means and executing travel control to avoid the arrival time. CONSTITUTION:When one vehicle forecasts the arrival time of the other vehicle at a joining point, it is more possible for the vehicle distant from the joining point to fluctuate the speed until the vehicle arrives at the joining point. In a judging device 1, when a distance from the joining point is defined as (l), a fluctuating part DELTAt for time required for arriving at the joining point is determined by the function that DELTAt=f(l). By this function, a forecasted distance (time) between the vehicles. Namely, this fluctuating part DELTAt is equipped with width and when the vehicle arrives at the joining point within this width, it is dangerous. The distance (l) is set under the condition of l1<l2<l3 and the fluctuating part is set under the condition of DELTAt1<DELTAt2<DELTAt3. Accordingly, a traveling plan is made while avoiding this dangerous area. In such a case, by evaluating the speed of the velocity, position vector, acceleration and deceleration performance of the vehicle and safety rate, etc., the speed or the steering of the vehicle is controlled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a travel control device for a moving vehicle that autonomously controls travel. The present invention relates to a travel control device for a mobile vehicle that controls the travel of the vehicle before it enters or merges with the main line on which the vehicle is traveling.

(Prior Art) In recent years, various autonomously traveling vehicles have been proposed.

In such autonomous driving control, for example,
As in No. 4-26913, in order to recognize road knots from the environment, an image of the outside world is input using an image input means such as a camera, and the environment such as obstacles is recognized from this image and the driving of the own vehicle is controlled. It is common to control

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, it is difficult to apply the technology for controlling the vehicle's driving based on environment recognition when entering a main road or changing lanes on a highway or the like. The reason is that the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 64-
The technology in No. 26913 focuses on recognizing other vehicles in front of the vehicle, but when entering the main lane or changing lanes,
On the contrary, the vehicles in the adjacent lane, and the vehicles in that lane as well, such as vehicles traveling parallel to each other or vehicles behind, will have a greater impact on your vehicle's driving when it enters the main lane or changes lanes. be.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to provide a travel control device for a moving vehicle that can realize a safe and reliable course change operation taking into account the travel of other vehicles. It is something to do.

(Entry and operation for achieving the object) As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the present invention for achieving the above object is as follows. A traveling control device for a moving vehicle that controls the traveling of the own vehicle until it merges with another vehicle at a target merging point. a prediction means for predicting the travel of another vehicle based on the distance and time to the target point based on the detection result; and a prediction means for predicting the travel of the own vehicle based on the prediction result. The vehicle is characterized in that it is equipped with a traveling control means.

Here, merging includes, for example, merging at a fixed merging point, merging at a course change point set by the own vehicle, and the like. Based on the distance and time to the target point predicted by the prediction means, it is possible to predict the time when another vehicle will reach the target point.

The vehicle makes a travel control plan to avoid this time.

(Example) An example in which the present invention is applied to travel control when entering the main line of an expressway will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This driving control device uses the speed vector and position vector of the own vehicle, the speed vector and position vector of other vehicles and obstacles in the lane, road structure information such as the length of the ramp approach, and these information and the speed vectors and position vectors of other vehicles and obstacles. Considering speed fluctuations,
After determining when and how to change the course of other vehicles,
It controls the traveling direction, speed, etc. of the own vehicle.

The configuration of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. This travel control device has a detection device A that detects the speed vector and position vector of the own vehicle, a detection device B that detects the speed vector and position vector of other vehicles and obstacles, and road structure information such as ramp approach path length. a detecting device C that obtains the information, a determining device 1 that determines when and how to change the course of the own vehicle, taking into account this information and speed fluctuations of other vehicles, and a determining device 1 that determines the speed of the own vehicle based on the judgment of the determining device L It has a device 2 that controls steering, and an accelerator, steering, brakes, etc. driven by this control device 2. In addition to using a visual sensor to detect the position vector of the detection device A, in the case of a ramp approach road, etc., a method of receiving a signal from a marker on the road can be considered. Regarding detection device B, if you try to obtain information on other lanes using only your own vehicle,
Since the own vehicle's system becomes huge, a practical method is to obtain information on other vehicles and obstacles in the lane through communication from a notification device installed on the road. Similarly, regarding the detection device C, in addition to using a visual device, radar, etc., it is also possible to obtain information through communication, or to have a database related to road information in the own vehicle.

The operation of the embodiment system shown in FIG. 2 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 explains a case in which a vehicle enters a two-lane expressway from an entrance road and merges onto a main road. present location(
The distance from point A in FIG. On the main line, the distance β is
Another car ■ is running at position 1, another car ■ is running at a distance β2, and another car ■ is running at a distance β2. Another car ■ is driving in the overtaking lane at a distance of ℃4.

Now, let's think about when the main line merges. Based on the speed and position information of other vehicles when the own vehicle is at point A, the own vehicle can predict the inter-vehicle distance to the other vehicle when the own vehicle reaches the merging point. This inter-vehicle distance can be expressed as the time from when the own vehicle reaches the merging point to when the other vehicle arrives at the merging point, in relation to the speed of the other vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the own vehicle judgment device 1 predicts and plots changes in the position of other vehicles with respect to time based on information about other vehicles obtained when the own vehicle is at point A, along with road conditions. It shows. The vertical axis represents distance X from the meeting point, and the horizontal axis represents time t. The greater the slope of the straight line, the higher the vehicle speed; however, in the example of FIG. 3, for convenience of illustration, the speeds of all vehicles are assumed to be equal.

When predicting the arrival time of another vehicle at a merging point, there is a possibility that the speed of vehicles further away from the merging point may fluctuate before reaching the merging point. Therefore, in the determination device 1 of this embodiment, the relationship between the distance β from the confluence point and the variation Δt of the time taken to reach the confluence point is determined by the function Δt=f (nin), and this is Determine the expected inter-vehicle distance (time).

That is, this time variation △t (shown by hatching in Figure 3)
has a width, and if your vehicle reaches the merging point within this time range, it is dangerous, so it should be considered a "dangerous area". As mentioned above, vehicles further away from the merging point may experience speed fluctuations before reaching the merging point, and as a result, the width of △t becomes wider (in the example of Fig. 3, Since β+ < A z < I2s, △1+<△ta<△t3.The own vehicle can make a travel plan to avoid this dangerous area.In this case, the own vehicle's speed, position vector, By evaluating your own vehicle's acceleration/deceleration performance and safety factor,
Control the speed and steering of your vehicle. Here, the safety factor mainly includes road structure-related factors such as road curvature and surface condition, and environmental factors such as weather.

In the example of FIG. 3, there are multiple travel patterns that do not include any dangerous areas. For example, theoretically, there are four patterns: a pattern that passes before △t1, a pattern that passes between △tl and △t2, a pattern that passes between △t2 and △t3, and a pattern that passes after △t3. It is possible to reach a confluence. The principle of which pattern to choose is: first, do not increase the current vehicle speed;
Or, it is a pattern that can be lowered.

According to this criterion, in the example of FIG. 3, before Δt1, Δt,
and Δt2 are excluded from the candidates.

Next, the length of the section sandwiched between the dangerous areas (referred to as a safe area) is longer than a predetermined threshold value. Thirdly, choose the longer safety area section. In the example shown in FIG. 3, it would be appropriate to select pattern 21 such that if the other vehicle ■ does not enter the main line, the other vehicle enters between Δt2 and Δt3.

When information about vehicles in lanes other than the target lane (in the example in Figure 3) is obtained, it is possible that another vehicle (in the example in Figure 3, the other vehicle ■) will enter the target lane. can be predicted. By taking this prediction into account when determining the expected inter-vehicle distance (time) when merging, it can be handled even if the number of lanes increases. For example, in Figure 3, the vehicle ■
When it is predicted that the vehicle will enter the main line, the predicted approach route for the vehicle (■) will take the course 20 in Figure 3. Then, the dangerous areas of vehicles ■ and ■ overlap, and the width of the dangerous area increases. Therefore, the own vehicle formulates a travel plan in which the vehicle follows route 21, preferably route 22. As in this example, when there are multiple entry points, route 22 is selected by evaluating the acceleration force of the own vehicle, and if the acceleration is low, route 22 is selected.
You will have to choose 2.

The present invention can be modified and improved in various ways without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the vehicle enters the main road from the introduction road on the expressway was explained. In this case, the location of the confluence point is fixed. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it can also be used to control route changes on expressways or regular roads. In this case, the location on the road at which to change lanes is not fixed, but
If the distance from the current position of the own vehicle to the lane change point is set on the own vehicle side, the change point can be handled in the same way as the merging point in the previous embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the own vehicle enters a main road from an entrance road on an expressway.

However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it can be applied when the own vehicle is driving on the main line and another vehicle enters the main line from the entrance road. This is because, since the merging point position is known, it is possible for the own vehicle traveling on the main line to predict at which point other vehicles will merge.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the setting width of the dangerous area was determined by considering the distance Ω to the merging point of other vehicles (Δt=f
(I2) ). However, the present invention is not limited to this. In addition to the distance β, the accuracy will be improved if the speed of other vehicles, the weather conditions at that time, the degree of traffic congestion on the road, etc. are also considered.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the travel control device for a moving vehicle of the present invention, it is possible to realize a safe and reliable course change operation that takes into consideration the travel of other vehicles.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a main line approach model, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a main line approach model. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the principle for formulating a travel plan for the own vehicle based on predictions. In the figure, 1... Course change timing judgment device, 2... Speed/steering control device, 3... Accelerator/brake/steering,
A... own vehicle, speed/position vector detection device, B...
A device for detecting speed vectors of other vehicles, etc. C: a device for detecting road structure information, etc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A travel control device for a moving vehicle that performs travel control on the own vehicle side until the own vehicle traveling in the own vehicle lane and another vehicle traveling in the other vehicle lane merge at a target merging point. , detection means for detecting the speed of the other vehicle and the relative position of the other vehicle from the target point; and based on the detection results, predicting the travel of the other vehicle based on the distance and time to the target point. What is claimed is: 1. A travel control device for a mobile vehicle, comprising: prediction means for predicting the prediction result; and travel control means for controlling travel of the host vehicle based on the prediction result.