WO2021256051A1 - Road vehicle cooperation system, onboard device, and roadside device - Google Patents

Abstract

A road vehicle cooperation system (120) includes an onboard device (132) and a roadside device. The onboard device includes an environment detection unit, and a deficiency information extraction unit (154) for extracting, from a surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit, deficiency information, which relates to the onboard-side detection area of an onboard sensor and cannot be detected from sensor data (130), and transmitting the deficiency information to the roadside device. The roadside device includes: a roadside environment detection unit; a road vehicle linkage unit (180) for receiving the deficiency information transmitted from the deficiency information extraction unit; an area-of-interest extraction unit (182) for extracting an area of interest to focus on in order to acquire deficiency information within the roadside detection area, on the basis of the deficiency information and the environment of the roadside detection area detected by the roadside environment detection unit; an area-of-interest detection unit (184) for detecting a condition in the area of interest, on the basis of data in the area of interest; and an information output unit (186) for transmitting the condition in the area of interest as detected by the area-of-interest detection unit to the onboard device. The onboard device also includes a travel path finalization unit (158), which receives the condition transmitted by the information output unit and, on the basis of the condition and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit, finalizes a scheduled travel path of a vehicle in which the onboard device is installed.

Description

Road vehicle coordination system, in-vehicle device, and roadside device

This disclosure relates to road-vehicle coordination systems, in-vehicle devices, and roadside devices. This application claims priority under Japanese application Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-105715 filed on June 19, 2020, and all the contents described in the Japanese application are incorporated herein by reference.

It is very important to understand the surrounding environment of the vehicle in order to ensure the safety of traffic participants including the own vehicle toward the realization of driving of the autonomous vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle is equipped with a plurality of sensors for grasping the surrounding environment. However, when only the detection result of the sensor mounted on the own vehicle is used, the result is affected by the performance of the sensor. Above all, there is a problem that a blind spot may occur in the sensor. If there is a blind spot, the surrounding environment cannot be physically detected completely.

As one approach to solve these problems, it is conceivable to provide the vehicle with the detection result by a so-called infrastructure sensor such as a road surveillance camera installed on the roadside. Such a technique is described in Patent Document 1 described later.

The technique described in Patent Document 1 grasps the intersection between the blind spot of the infrastructure sensor and the blind spot of the in-vehicle sensor caused by an object on the road (for example, another vehicle). For example, if this common portion is smaller than a predetermined size (including the case where there is no blind spot), the vehicle continues to run, and if it is larger than a predetermined size, the vehicle is stopped. Alternatively, if the vehicle's trajectory is predicted and the time it takes for another object to reach this trajectory is longer than the time it takes for the vehicle to complete the predicted trajectory, the vehicle will continue to travel, otherwise. Stop the vehicle.

As a result of such a configuration, even if there is a common part between the blind spot of the in-vehicle sensor and the blind spot of the infrastructure sensor, it is said that it is possible to drive safely by avoiding the collision between the object in the blind spot and the vehicle. There is.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-195289

The road-vehicle coordination system according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is a road-vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication, and the in-vehicle device is based on sensor data output by an in-vehicle sensor. From the environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle-mounted sensor and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit, insufficient information that is within the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor and cannot be detected from the sensor data is extracted and used as a roadside device. The roadside device includes a roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment of the roadside detection range based on the sensor data output by the roadside sensor for a predetermined roadside detection range, and a roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment of the roadside detection range, and a shortage information extraction unit. Within the roadside detection range based on the roadside vehicle cooperation unit that receives the shortage information transmitted from the unit, the shortage information received by the roadside vehicle cooperation unit, and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit. Detects the situation within the gaze range based on the gaze range extractor that extracts the gaze range to gaze to obtain insufficient information and the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor. The gaze range detection unit includes a gaze range detection unit and an information output unit that transmits the status within the gaze range detected by the gaze range detection unit to the in-vehicle device. Includes a travel route determination unit that determines a planned travel route of a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle device based on the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit.

The in-vehicle device according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device used in a road-vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication, and is based on sensor data output by the in-vehicle sensor. From the environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle-mounted sensor and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit, insufficient information that is within the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor and cannot be detected from the sensor data is extracted and transmitted to the roadside device. The in-vehicle device is installed based on the shortage information extraction unit and the surrounding situation of the roadside device transmitted from the roadside device in response to the shortage information, and based on the situation and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit. Includes a travel route determination unit that determines the planned travel route of the vehicle.

The roadside device according to the third aspect of the present disclosure is a roadside device used in a roadside vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication, and a roadside sensor has a predetermined roadside detection range. Of the roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment of the roadside detection range based on the output sensor data and the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor of the vehicle-mounted device, the shortage is insufficient to detect the surrounding environment of the vehicle-mounted device. Insufficient information in the roadside detection range based on the roadside vehicle cooperation unit that receives information from the in-vehicle device, the shortage information received by the roadside vehicle cooperation unit, and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit. Gaze range detection that detects the situation within the gaze range based on the gaze range extractor that extracts the gaze range to obtain and the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor. It includes a unit and an information output unit that transmits the status within the gaze range detected by the gaze range detection unit to the in-vehicle device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a concept of a road vehicle cooperation system according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating control of the detection range by the infrastructure sensor in this disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating other controls of the detection range by the infrastructure sensor in this disclosure. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the road vehicle cooperation system according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the overall control flow of the road vehicle coordination system according to the first embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a computer program that realizes the in-vehicle device according to the first embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program that realizes the shortage information extraction process shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a desired range of grasping of the vehicle-mounted sensor. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing the concept of calculating the insufficient information range caused by the object detected by the vehicle-mounted sensor within the desired range of grasping the vehicle-mounted sensor. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program that realizes the travel route determination process shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program executed by the infrastructure sensor side. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a program that realizes the gaze range extraction process shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program that realizes detection of a gaze range by a long-distance sensor device. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a normal detection range by a long-distance sensor device. FIG. 15 is a schematic view showing a gaze range by a long-distance sensor device.

[Problems to be solved by this disclosure]
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 complements the blind spot of the sensor by coordinating road vehicles. However, this technique has a problem that it cannot provide information to the vehicle so that information on the blind spot of the sensor can be supplemented in a short time that can contribute to automatic driving.

Therefore, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide a road vehicle coordination system, an in-vehicle device and a roadside device that provide information about an object in the blind spot of a sensor in a short time that can contribute to autonomous driving.

[Effect of this disclosure]
According to this disclosure, it is possible to provide a road-vehicle coordination system, an in-vehicle device, and a roadside device that provide information about an object in a blind spot of a sensor in a short time that can contribute to automatic driving. The above and other objectives, features, aspects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of this disclosure as understood in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[Explanation of Embodiments of the present disclosure]
First, the contents of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described. At least a part of the embodiments described below may be arbitrarily combined. In the following description and drawings, the same parts are given the same reference numbers. Therefore, detailed explanations about them will not be repeated.

(1) The road-vehicle coordination system according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is a road-vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication, and the in-vehicle device is a sensor output by an in-vehicle sensor. Based on the data, the environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle-mounted sensor and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit extract insufficient information that is within the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor and cannot be detected from the sensor data. The roadside device includes a roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment of the roadside detection range based on the sensor data output by the roadside sensor for a predetermined roadside detection range, including a shortage information extraction unit to be transmitted to the roadside device. Roadside detection based on the roadside cooperation unit that receives the shortage information transmitted from the shortage information extraction unit, the shortage information received by the roadside vehicle cooperation unit, and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit. The situation within the gaze range based on the gaze range extractor that extracts the gaze range to gaze to obtain insufficient information in the range and the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor. The in-vehicle device further includes a gaze range detection unit for detecting, and an information output unit for transmitting the status within the gaze range detected by the gaze range detection unit to the in-vehicle device, and the in-vehicle device further receives the status transmitted by the information output unit. It includes a travel route determination unit that determines a planned travel route of a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle device based on the situation and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit.

The roadside device determines the gaze range based on the lack information, and based on the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor, the situation within the gaze range is determined without using the data outside the gaze range. To detect. Compared with the case where the situation within the roadside detection range is detected by using the entire detection range of the roadside sensor, at least one of the time required for collecting the sensor data and the time required for detecting the sensor data can be shortened. Therefore, the in-vehicle device can obtain shortage information reflecting changes in the environment in a short cycle. As a result, it is possible to provide information about the object in the blind spot of the sensor in a short time that can contribute to the automatic driving.

(2) The lack information extraction unit includes an object detection unit that detects an object existing within the vehicle-mounted detection range, an vehicle-mounted detection range, and a position of an object existing within the vehicle-mounted detection range based on the surrounding environment. May include a blind spot range extraction unit that extracts the blind spot range of the vehicle-mounted sensor as insufficient information and transmits it to the roadside device.

Detects an object existing within the vehicle-mounted detection range, and transmits the blind spot range generated in the vehicle-mounted detection range in relation to the object to the roadside device. As lack information, it is possible to extract a basic area as a blind spot range and request the roadside device to detect the status of the area in the blind spot range. In the roadside device, the situation only needs to be detected from the sensor data in the blind spot range, and the time required for the detection can be shortened.

(3) The blind spot range extraction unit is based on the vehicle-mounted detection range, the position of an object existing within the vehicle-mounted detection range, and the planned travel route of the vehicle equipped with the vehicle-mounted sensor. It may include a blind spot range extraction processing unit that extracts the blind spot range of the above as insufficient information and transmits it to the roadside device.

When extracting the blind spot range, the planned travel route is taken into consideration. It is not necessary for the roadside device to detect the situation in an area unrelated to the planned travel route, and the time required for detecting the blind spot range can be shortened.

(4) The blind spot range extraction processing unit specifies the planned travel route based on the vehicle-mounted detection range, the position of the object existing in the vehicle-mounted detection range, and the planned travel route of the vehicle equipped with the vehicle-mounted sensor. A variable extraction processing unit that extracts the blind spot range of the vehicle-mounted sensor on the planned travel route as insufficient information and transmits it to the roadside device may be included so as to change depending on whether the route is specified or not.

The range in which the in-vehicle device should grasp the environment changes depending on the planned travel route. By taking into account the planned travel route when extracting the blind spot range, it is possible to identify the necessary and minimum shortage information and request the roadside device to detect the situation. As a result, the roadside device can detect the situation in the required and minimum time.

(5) The travel route determination unit may determine the planned travel route in response to the fact that the lack information was not extracted by the lack information extraction unit.

If there is no missing information, the in-vehicle device can process the vehicle without information from the roadside device. The surrounding environment of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device can be detected without imposing an extra load on the roadside device and without taking time for it.

(6) The roadside sensor may include a first roadside sensor and a second roadside sensor, and the gaze range extraction unit may include insufficient information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and each of the first roadside sensor and the second roadside sensor. A sensor selection unit that compares the roadside detection range and selects the roadside sensor that has a larger overlap area between the shortage range defined by the shortage information and the roadside detection range, and the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit. Gaze within the roadside detection range of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit based on the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. It may include a selective gaze range extraction unit for extracting a range.

When the roadside device has a plurality of roadside sensors, more information about the shortage range can be obtained by selecting a roadside sensor having a large area overlapping with the shortage range extracted by the in-vehicle device. The amount of shortage information that can be acquired from the roadside sensor by the roadside device increases, and accurate shortage information can be transmitted by the in-vehicle device.

(7) The first roadside sensor and the second roadside sensor may be different types of sensors, and the selective gaze range extraction unit outputs the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. According to the type of roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit in the roadside detection range of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit based on the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the sensor data. It may also include a gaze range variable extraction unit that extracts the gaze range by different extraction methods.

When the roadside device has multiple types of roadside sensors, the ability to collect necessary information differs depending on the type of roadside sensor in order to grasp the situation regarding the extracted shortage range of the in-vehicle device. Roadside sensor for obtaining shortage information based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. You can get more shortages by selecting. As a result, accurate shortage information can be transmitted by the in-vehicle device.

(8) The roadside sensor may include a first roadside sensor and a second roadside sensor of different types from each other, and the gaze range extraction unit has a shortage range determined by the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the first roadside. The first roadside sensor or the second roadside sensor is selected depending on whether the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit is smaller than the threshold value and the distance calculation unit that calculates the distance between the sensor and the second roadside sensor. Sensor selection based on the shortage information received by the sensor selection unit and the road vehicle cooperation unit, and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. Within the roadside detection range of the roadside sensor selected by the unit, a selective gaze range extraction unit that extracts the gaze range by extraction methods different from each other according to the type of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit may be included.

When the types of roadside sensors possessed by the roadside device are different from each other, it is possible to select a roadside sensor suitable for acquiring information on the shortage range based on the distance between the shortage range extracted by the in-vehicle device and each roadside sensor. The distance between the shortage range and each roadside sensor can be calculated, and one of the roadside sensors can be selected according to the distance. As a result, the roadside environment detection unit uses an appropriate extraction method according to the type of the roadside sensor from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor suitable for grasping the situation of the shortage range according to the distance to the shortage range. The situation can be detected. As a result, accurate shortage information can be transmitted by the in-vehicle device.

(9) The in-vehicle device according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device used in a road-vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication, and sensor data output by the in-vehicle sensor. Based on the above, from the environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle-mounted sensor and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit, insufficient information that is within the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor and cannot be detected from the sensor data is extracted from the roadside. The vehicle-mounted vehicle receives the situation around the roadside device transmitted from the roadside device in response to the shortage information extraction unit to be transmitted to the device, and based on the situation and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit. Includes a travel route determination unit that determines the planned travel route of the vehicle equipped with the device.

The roadside device that received the shortage information determines the gaze range based on the shortage information, and gazes without using the data outside the gaze range based on the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor. The situation within the range can be detected. Compared with the case where the situation within the roadside detection range is detected by using the entire detection range of the roadside sensor, at least one of the time required for collecting the sensor data and the time required for detecting the sensor data can be shortened. Therefore, the in-vehicle device can obtain shortage information reflecting changes in the environment in a short cycle. As a result, it is possible to provide information about the object in the blind spot of the sensor in a short time that can contribute to the automatic driving.

(10) The roadside device according to the third aspect of the present disclosure is a roadside device used in a roadside vehicle cooperation system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication, and has a predetermined roadside detection range. To detect the surrounding environment of the in-vehicle device, out of the in-vehicle detection range of the in-vehicle sensor and the roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment in the roadside detection range based on the sensor data output by the roadside sensor. Within the roadside detection range based on the roadside vehicle cooperation unit that receives the insufficient shortage information from the in-vehicle device, the shortage information received by the roadside vehicle cooperation unit, and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit. Detects the situation within the gaze range based on the gaze range extractor that extracts the gaze range to gaze to obtain insufficient information and the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor. It includes a gaze range detection unit and an information output unit that transmits the status within the gaze range detected by the gaze range detection unit to the in-vehicle device.

The roadside device determines the gaze range based on the lack information, and based on the data within the gaze range that is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor, the situation within the gaze range is determined without using the data outside the gaze range. To detect. Compared with the case where the situation within the roadside detection range is detected by using the entire detection range of the roadside sensor, at least one of the time required for collecting the sensor data and the time required for detecting the sensor data can be shortened. Therefore, the in-vehicle device can obtain shortage information reflecting changes in the environment in a short cycle. As a result, it is possible to provide information about the object in the blind spot of the sensor in a short time that can contribute to the automatic driving.

[Details of Embodiments of the present disclosure]
<Structure>
FIG. 1 shows a conceptual diagram of a road vehicle cooperation system according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. With reference to FIG. 1, it is assumed that the vehicle 52 is stopped to make a right turn at the intersection 50. On the other hand, it is assumed that there is a bus 54 in the oncoming lane and the bus is stopped to make a right turn as well. The intersection 50 is provided with an infrastructure side device 60 having an infrastructure sensor 58, and can detect objects in the area of the intersection 50 such as a vehicle 52, a bus 54, and a vehicle 56 from the infrastructure sensor detection range 64. The vehicle 52 is equipped with a vehicle-side device 62. The information detected by the infrastructure sensor 58 can be transmitted from the infrastructure side device 60 by the road-to-vehicle communication 70.

The vehicle 52 is equipped with a plurality of in-vehicle sensors for detecting the surrounding environment for automatic driving. The vehicle-side device 62 mounted on the vehicle 52 acquires sensor data from these in-vehicle sensors and uses them for automatic driving. For the vehicle-side device 62, the vehicle sensor blind spot range 66 hidden in the bus 54 is a blind spot that cannot be detected by the vehicle-mounted sensor. If it is known that the vehicle 56 exists in this blind spot, the vehicle 52 may be stopped as it is. Further, if it is found that there is no vehicle in the blind spot, the vehicle 52 may make a right turn. However, whether or not there is any object in the blind spot is not determined from the detection result of the vehicle-side device 62.

Therefore, in this first embodiment, whether or not the infrastructure sensor 58 narrows down to a part of the infrastructure sensor detection range 64, particularly the vehicle sensor blind spot range 66 which is a blind spot for the vehicle side device 62, and an object exists in that region at high speed. Is detected, and the detection result is transmitted to the vehicle-side device 62 via the road-to-vehicle communication 70. The vehicle-side device 62 determines the presence / absence of an object within the vehicle sensor blind spot range 66 based on this information, and determines the subsequent control.

In this embodiment, the infrastructure sensor 58 does not detect the entire infrastructure sensor detection range 64, but only the infrastructure sensor gaze range 68 including the vehicle sensor blind spot range 66. Since the range of the detection target is narrow, the sensor data is collected in a shorter time, the detection process is performed in a shorter time, and the detection process is performed in a very short time interval, as compared with the case where the entire infrastructure sensor detection range 64 is targeted for detection. The latest detection result can be provided to the vehicle-side device 62.

The shape of the gaze range differs depending on the type of infrastructure sensor 58. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the infrastructure sensor detection range 64 is a concentric circular infrastructure sensor 58, the circular sensing region is divided by an angle, and only within a predetermined angle is set as the gaze range 90 as a detection target. For example, rotary riders, electronic scan riders, etc. are examples of such sensor devices. Such an infrastructure sensor 58 is mainly used when the infrastructure and the gaze range are in a short distance.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, there is an infrastructure sensor 100 in which the infrastructure sensor detection range 102 has a fixed shape and the distance range to be detected can be specified. Many of these infrastructure sensors 100 can measure up to a long distance. In the case of the infrastructure sensor 100, only the gaze range 104 in which the distance range is specified so as to overlap the area that becomes the blind spot of the vehicle sensor is targeted for detection. In the case of such an infrastructure sensor 100, the amount of data obtained from only the gaze range 104 is smaller, the data processing can be completed in a short time, and the gaze range 104 is used, as compared with the case where the entire infra sensor detection range 102 is targeted for detection. Data can be collected in a short time. As the infrastructure sensor 100, a millimeter wave radar or the like can be considered.

Normally, such a short-distance sensor and a long-distance sensor are used together. As will be described later, when the infrastructure device 136 has a plurality of sensors, the sensor for collecting data from the area to be detected is selected from the sensors. As described above, the method of defining the target area differs depending on whether the selected sensor is for a short distance or a long distance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the method of defining the target area is changed depending on whether or not the detection range of each sensor is smaller than a certain threshold value.

FIG. 4 shows the overall configuration of the road vehicle cooperation system 120 according to the first embodiment in a block diagram format. With reference to FIG. 4, the road-vehicle coordination system 120 includes an in-vehicle device 132 that receives sensor data 130 from an in-vehicle sensor and an infrastructure device 136 that receives each sensor data 134 from an infrastructure sensor. The in-vehicle device 132 and the infrastructure device 136 can communicate in both directions by road-to-vehicle communication 138. In this first embodiment, the in-vehicle device 132 and the infrastructure device 136 are directly communicated by the road-to-vehicle communication 138. However, this disclosure is not limited to such a form. For example, if a communication medium such as 5G that can guarantee low delay can be used, both may communicate via a server.

The in-vehicle device 132 has a detection unit 150 that detects an object within the detection range from the sensor data 130 and outputs information about the detected object, and a path that stores a planned travel route (path plan) of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 132. Based on the information about the objects detected by the plan storage unit 152 and the detection unit 150 and the path plan stored in the path plan storage unit 152, the shortage information regarding the range that cannot be obtained from the information from the sensor data 130 is extracted. The information providing unit 156 for providing the insufficient information extracted by the insufficient information extraction unit 154 and the insufficient information extraction unit 154 to the infrastructure device 136 and requesting the transmission of the information detected by the infrastructure device 136 for the area that becomes the in-vehicle sensor blind spot. And include.

Further, the in-vehicle device 132 further transmits the information detected by the detection unit 150, the shortage information extracted by the shortage information extraction unit 154, and each sensor data 134 transmitted by the infrastructure device 136 in response to the request of the information providing unit 156. With the travel route determination unit 158 that receives the information detected from (information about the vehicle existing in the blind spot, etc.) and determines the travel route of the own vehicle (determines whether to turn right at the intersection 50 or continue to stop). , The operation control unit 160 that controls the operation of the vehicle based on the determined travel path of the travel route determination unit 158.

The infrastructure device 136 is for obtaining each sensor data 134 based on the road vehicle cooperation unit 180 that receives the shortage information from the information providing unit 156 via the road vehicle communication 138 and the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit 180. Based on the gaze range extraction unit 182 that extracts the gaze range of the sensor and the gaze range extracted by the gaze range extraction unit 182, if necessary, the infrastructure sensor is controlled to receive each sensor data 134 from the infrastructure sensor, and the information thereof. It includes a gaze range detection unit 184 that detects an object such as a vehicle, and an information output unit 186 that transmits information detected by the gaze range detection unit 184 to the in-vehicle device 132 via road-to-vehicle communication 138.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the road-vehicle coordination system 120 (FIG. 4) in order to realize the in-vehicle device 132. With reference to FIG. 5, this process is detected by detecting an object or the like from the vehicle-side sensor data acquired in step 200 following the step 200 of acquiring the vehicle-side sensor data and the step 200 in the in-vehicle device 132. Information that could not be obtained from the vehicle-side sensor data (information indicating the blind spot range of the vehicle-side sensor data) is extracted as insufficient information from the contents and the path plan, and as a result of the processing in step 202, the information is insufficient. Step 204 for determining whether or not there is information and immediately branching the control flow according to the determination, step 206 for returning control to step 200 in response to the negative determination in step 204, and step. In response to the determination of 204 being affirmative, the present invention includes step 208 of transmitting insufficient information including a range of blind spots to the infrastructure device 136 (see FIG. 4). When the determination in step 204 is negative, "immediately branching" the control flow means that the control flow is flowed in step 200 without performing the process of transmitting the insufficient information to the infrastructure device 136 as in step 208 or lower. It means to return to.

Subsequent processing is processing on the infrastructure device 136 (Fig. 4) side. That is, this process is extracted in step 210 and step 210 to extract the gaze range of the sensor of the infrastructure device 136 from the installation requirements of the sensor mounted on the vehicle and the shortage information received from the in-vehicle device 132 (see FIG. 4). Step 212, which specializes in the gaze range and operates the infrastructure sensor so as to scan only that range, and detects objects and the like from the sensor data, and the in-vehicle device 132 (FIG. 4). ) Includes step 214.

Subsequent processing is performed again by the in-vehicle device 132. That is, in this process, the vehicle-mounted device 132 has the sensor data of the vehicle-side sensor obtained in step 200, the information transmitted from the infrastructure device 136 and received by the vehicle-mounted device 132 in step 214, and the pass plan. Includes step 216 to determine the travel route of the vehicle based on the above, and step 218 to determine the operation control of the in-vehicle device 132 and return the control to step 200 by making a sound on the travel route determined by step 216. Vehicle operation control unit 160 (FIG. 4 controls vehicle operation according to the travel route thus determined.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program executed by the in-vehicle device 132 (see FIG. 4) in order to realize the process shown in FIG. With reference to FIG. 6, this program includes step 250 for acquiring sensor data on the vehicle side, step 252 for performing a process of detecting an object or the like around the vehicle based on the sensor data acquired in step 250, and a path. Includes step 254 to acquire the plan from the path plan storage unit 152 (see FIG. 4).

This program further determines whether or not there is missing information as a result of the processing of step 256 for extracting the missing information and the processing of step 256 based on the information detected in step 252 and the path plan acquired in step 254. It includes step 258, which branches the control flow according to the result, and step 260, which is executed when the determination in step 258 is negative, is determined as it is without reviewing the path plan, and the control is returned to step 250.

If there is no missing information, the in-vehicle device 132 can process the vehicle without the information from the infrastructure device 136. The surrounding environment of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 132 can be detected without imposing an extra load on the infrastructure device 136 and without taking time for that purpose.

This program is further executed when the determination in step 258 is affirmative, and responds to the information transmitted to the infrastructure device 136 in step 262 and the information transmitted to the infrastructure device 136 in step 262 to transmit the shortage range information to the infrastructure device 136 (see FIG. 4). In response to the determination of step 264 in which it is determined whether or not the insufficient information transmitted from the infrastructure device 136 has been received and the control flow is branched according to the determination result, and the determination in step 264 is negative, It includes step 266, in which the path plan is fixed as it is without being reviewed and the control is returned to step 250.

The program further determines the travel route based on the path plan, the information detected in step 252, and the information received from the infrastructure device 136 in step 264 in response to the affirmative determination in step 264. And step 270, in which the traveling route determined in step 268 is reflected in the driving control of the vehicle by the driving control unit 160 (see FIG. 4), and the control is returned to step 250.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program that realizes step 256 of FIG. With reference to FIG. 7, this program determines in step 300 of acquiring the planned travel route of the own vehicle t seconds after the pass plan and whether or not the planned travel route acquired in step 300 specifies a right turn. Then, step 302 for branching the control flow according to the result, step 304 for setting the desired grasping radius to X meters, which will be described later, when the determination in step 302 is affirmative, and the determination in step 302 are negative. In response to that, it includes step 306 of setting the desired grasping radius to Y meters (Y <X). In the following explanation and drawings, it is assumed that the vehicle is traveling on the left side. If the vehicle is traveling on the right side, the left and right sides may be exchanged. For example, in the case of step 302 described above, if the vehicle is traveling on the right side, it is determined whether or not the planned travel route specifies a left turn.

The reason for changing the desired radius to grasp in this way is as follows. When a vehicle makes a right turn (when making a left turn if the vehicle is traveling on the right side, the same shall apply hereinafter), there may be an oncoming vehicle trying to make a right turn. In such a case, a blind spot occurs in the detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor. It is extremely dangerous to make a right turn when there is an oncoming vehicle in the blind spot. Therefore, it is necessary to set a wider range as the detection target range of the sensor. Similarly, when the traveling speed of the vehicle is high, the detection target range needs to be large, and when the vehicle travel speed is low, the detection range may be small. That is, the desired radius to be grasped should be determined as a function of the planned traveling route and the traveling speed of the vehicle.

The desired radius to be grasped will be explained with reference to FIG. With reference to FIG. 8, here, it is assumed that the vehicle 350 travels along the planned travel path 360 from the current position to the position 358 t seconds later. Draw a circle whose diameter is a straight line connecting the tip of the vehicle 350 when the vehicle 350 is in the current position and the rear end of the vehicle 350 when the vehicle 350 moves to the position 358, and set it as the desired range 352. .. The desired grasping range 352 is a circle having a desired grasping radius of 356 centered on the center 354 between the vehicle 350 and the position 358. In this way, if the speed of the vehicle 350 is high, the desired grasping radius 356 is also large, and if the speed is low, the desired gripping radius 356 is also small.

Note that the example shown in FIG. 8 is an example, and the standard for determining the size of the desired grasping radius 356 may be other than this. However, even in that case, as in FIG. 8, it is necessary to set the desired grasping radius 356 as a function of the distance that the vehicle 350 moves in t seconds so that the desired grasping radius 356 becomes sufficiently large if the speed of the vehicle 350 is high. ..

In this way, the range in which the in-vehicle device 132 should grasp the environment changes depending on what the planned travel route is. By taking into account the planned travel route in extracting the blind spot range, it is possible to identify the necessary and minimum shortage information and request the infrastructure device 136 to detect the situation. As a result, the infrastructure device 136 can detect the situation in a necessary and minimum time, and as a result, the in-vehicle device 132 can also receive the necessary shortage information from the infrastructure device 136 in a short time. In addition, when extracting the blind spot range, the planned travel route is taken into consideration. It is not necessary for the in-vehicle device 132 to detect the situation in a region unrelated to the planned travel route, and the time required for detecting the blind spot range can be shortened.

With reference to FIG. 7 again, this program is further executed after steps 304 and 306 to calculate an intermediate point between the start point (current position) and the end point (position after t seconds) of the planned travel route and step 308. , With the intermediate point calculated in step 308 (center 354 in FIG. 8) as the center, and step 310 in which the area surrounded by the circle of the desired grip radius determined in step 304 or 306 is set as the desired grip radius. include.

This program is further executed after step 310, and whether or not there is any object (vehicle, etc.) in the vehicle side detection result detected from the sensor data on the vehicle side within the grasp desired range set in step 310. In response to step 312 in which the judgment is made and the control flow is branched according to the judgment result and the judgment in step 312 is affirmative, the range (insufficient range) that becomes the blind spot of the vehicle side sensor is calculated by the object. In response to the negative judgments of step 314 and step 312, which terminate the execution of the program, there is no shortage range because there are no obstructive objects within the desired grasp range (shortage range = 0). Includes step 316, which determines that and ends the execution of this program.

An example of the shortage range will be described with reference to FIG. With reference to FIG. 9, it is assumed that the vehicle 350 moves from the current position to the position 358 along the planned travel path 360 after t seconds. The desired grasping range 352 is as described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that an object called an oncoming vehicle 370 is detected from the sensor data of the vehicle-mounted sensor of the vehicle 350 within the desired grasping range 352. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the oncoming vehicle 370 corresponds to a vehicle traveling in parallel in the left lane. In this case, the oncoming vehicle 370 determines the installation condition of the sensor that detects the oncoming vehicle 370, the size occupied by the oncoming vehicle 370 in the sensor data, the position of the oncoming vehicle 370, and the distance from the sensor to each part of the oncoming vehicle 370. The blind spot 372 of the sensor that occurs can be calculated. The calculation of the shortage range in step 314 is performed in this way.

In addition, information on the shortage range may be transmitted from multiple vehicles to one infrastructure device at the same time. In such a case, the infrastructure device defines the sum of those shortage ranges as the shortage range. Then, the infrastructure device transmits the information obtained about the shortage range to each of the plurality of vehicles that have transmitted the shortage range information. For example, when a vehicle makes a right turn, a vehicle that tries to make a right turn may follow the vehicle. In such a case, information regarding the same shortage range may be transmitted from a plurality of vehicles to the infrastructure device 136. Since the blind spots from the in-vehicle sensors of these vehicles are almost the same, considering that the detection range is wider for safety, the sum of those shortage ranges may be adopted as described above.

However, this way of thinking may change depending on what is emphasized. For example, when it is important to shorten the time required to provide information, for example, it is conceivable to adopt only the narrowest shortage range or to adopt the product of a plurality of shortage ranges. Further, when information regarding these shortage ranges is transmitted from a plurality of vehicles, the infrastructure device 136 needs to be appropriately grouped in consideration of the traveling direction of those vehicles.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program for realizing step 268 of FIG. With reference to FIG. 10, this program includes step 400 for acquiring the detection result on the vehicle side, step 402 for acquiring whether or not there is insufficient information on the detection result on the vehicle side, and information acquired in step 402. Based on this, it includes a step 404 of determining whether or not there is insufficient information and branching the control flow according to the determination result.

This program is further executed when the judgment of step 404 is negative, and the judgments of step 410 and step 404, which determine the planned travel route based on the detection result on the vehicle side and end the execution of this program, are affirmative. In response to a certain situation, the shortage information is transmitted to the infrastructure device (infrastructure device 136 in FIG. 4), and the information provided by the infrastructure device 136 within the shortage information range is acquired from the infrastructure device 136, and the step 406. Following 406, the vehicle-side detection result acquired in step 400 and the detection result within the insufficient information range acquired from the infrastructure device 136 in step 406 are integrated, and the result is used as the planned travel route (speed and passage). Includes step 408 to determine the planned location) and end the execution of this program.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program for realizing the infrastructure device 136 shown in FIG. With reference to FIG. 11, in this program, the road-vehicle cooperation unit 180 shown in FIG. 4 waits for the reception of information from the in-vehicle device 132, and the information received in step 420 is detected by the infrastructure device 136. Step 422, which determines whether or not there is information (received information) that requires information reception and returns control to step 420 when the determination is negative, and step 420 when the determination in step 422 is affirmative. Includes step 424 to extract the gaze range from the received information received in. Details of step 424 will be described later with reference to FIG.

Further, following step 424, this program further displays step 426 for detecting objects in the gaze range extracted in step 424 from the sensor data of the infrastructure sensor, and the detection result of step 426 in the information output unit 186 shown in FIG. Includes step 428, which is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 132 via the vehicle and returns control to step 420.

With reference to FIG. 12, the program for realizing step 424 of FIG. 11 includes step 450 and step 450 in which the road vehicle cooperation unit 180 acquires the shortage range information received from the vehicle-mounted device 132 from the road vehicle cooperation unit 180. Whether or not the shortage range defined by the shortage range information acquired in the above is within a predetermined distance from the infrastructure device (whether or not the distance to the infrastructure device is smaller than the threshold value) is determined, and the control flow is based on the result. Includes step 452 and the like for branching.

This program further determines whether or not there are a plurality of short-range sensor devices in the infrastructure device in response to the affirmative determination in step 452, and branches the control flow according to the determination. Includes step 454 and step 456 of selecting the short range sensor device for object detection when the determination in step 454 is negative (there is only one short range sensor device).

This program further responds to the affirmative determination of step 454 by step 458 acquiring the detection range of the short-range sensor device effective on the infrastructure device side, and a plurality of near distances acquired in step 458. As a result of the comparison between step 460 for comparing each of the detection ranges of the range sensor device and the shortage range acquired in step 450, and the step of selecting the short range sensor device that most widely covers the shortage range as a result of the comparison in step 460. 462 and including.

This program further determines whether or not there are a plurality of long-distance sensor devices in response to the determination in step 452 being negative, and steps 470 and step 470 that branch the control flow according to the determination. In response to the negative determination of 470, it includes step 472 of selecting the long range sensor device for object detection.

The program further responds to the affirmative determination of step 470 by acquiring the detection range of each of the long-distance sensor devices valid in the infrastructure device, and each long-distance acquired in step 474. As a result of the comparison between step 476 comparing the detection range of the sensor device and the shortage range acquired in step 450, and the comparison in step 476, the long-distance sensor device that covers the shortage range most widely is used for object detection. Includes step 478 to select.

This program further includes step 468, which sets the shortage range information acquired in step 450 as the gaze range information of the sensor device selected in steps 462, 456, 478 or 472, and ends the execution of this program.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the detection ranges of the roadside sensors of the infrastructure device 136 are different from each other, the shortage range information is based on the distance between the shortage range extracted by the in-vehicle device 132 and each roadside sensor. You can select a roadside sensor suitable for acquiring. The distance between the shortage range and each roadside sensor can be calculated, and one of the roadside sensors can be selected according to the distance. As a result, the infrastructure device 136 can detect the situation of the shortage range from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor suitable for grasping the situation of the shortage range according to the distance from the shortage range. As a result, the infrastructure device 136 can transmit more accurate shortage information to the in-vehicle device 132.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a control structure of a program that realizes a process for determining gaze range information for a long-distance sensor device in step 468 of FIG. 12. Here, the gaze range information of the long-distance sensor device will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

FIG. 14 shows a normal detection range 552 for an infrastructure sensor 550 composed of a long-distance sensor device. This long-distance sensor device is, for example, a millimeter-wave sensor, and its normal detection range 552 is a fan type that requires an infrastructure sensor 550. Normally, as shown by the hatched portion in FIG. 14, the infrastructure device sets the entire detection range 552 as the object detection range.

On the other hand, FIG. 15 shows an example of the gaze range of the same infrastructure sensor 550. With reference to FIG. 15, in the long-distance sensor device, of the normal detection range 552, only the gaze range 554 that overlaps with the area that becomes the blind spot of the sensor on the vehicle side is set as the detection range. In this example, the gaze range 554 is a portion of the normal detection range 552 of the infrastructure sensor 550 that is far from the essential part, and the portion surrounded by the outer arc 556 and the inner arc 558 is the gaze range within this range. Only the sensor data of is set as the detection target range of the object.

With reference to FIG. 13, the program for determining the gaze range of the long-distance sensor device includes step 500 for calculating the shortest distance between the sensor device and the gaze range, the sensor device, and the sensor device most in the gaze range. Objects that exist within the gaze range for the sensor data up to step 502, which calculates the distance to a distant position (farthest distance), the shortest distance calculated in step 500, and the farthest distance calculated in step 502. Includes step 504 for performing and outputting a process for detecting. In step 504, the sensor device may be controlled to limit the detection range of the sensor device, if necessary.

The same applies to short-range sensor devices. However, in the case of a short-distance sensor device, as shown in FIG. 2, not the entire infrastructure sensor detection range 64 but only a part of the gaze range 90 is the gaze target. In the case of a mechanical rider that scans the surroundings, if possible, the scan angle may be controlled to scan only the gaze range 90. In the case of the electronic rider, since the scan range can be electronically controlled, only the gaze range 90 can be the gaze target more easily than the mechanical rider.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 again, only the gaze range 90 or the gaze range 104 is set as the detection target range as compared with the case where the entire infrastructure sensor detection range 64 or the infra sensor detection range 102 is set as the detection target range. This has the following effects. That is, the areas of the gaze range 90 and 104 are smaller than the areas of the infrastructure sensor detection range 64 and the infrastructure sensor detection range 102, respectively. Therefore, the number of sensor data points included in the gaze range 90 or gaze range 104 is smaller than the number of sensor data points included in the infrastructure sensor detection range 64 or the infrastructure sensor detection range 102, respectively, depending on the area ratio. As a result, the time for the infrastructure device to collect the sensor data to be detected can be shortened. Not only that, the number of sensor data points to be detected by the object is reduced, so the time required for the object detection process can also be shortened. Therefore, the time required for processing the sensor data can be significantly shortened as compared with the case where the detection range of the sensor is not limited as shown in Patent Document 1. As a result, the time from when the infrastructure sensor starts collecting sensor data to when the vehicle is provided with information about the detected object within the gaze range can be significantly shortened. The automatic driving by the driving control unit 160 (see FIG. 4) of the vehicle is performed based on the latest information only for a very short time. Therefore, according to this disclosure, the operation control unit 160 can be effectively supported so that the automatic operation can be performed safely.

<Operation>
The road vehicle cooperation system 120 whose configuration has been described above operates as follows.

First, the overall operation will be described with reference to FIG. The detection unit 150 of the in-vehicle device 132 detects an object within the detection range from the sensor data 130, and outputs information about the detected object. The pass plan storage unit 152 stores the planned travel route (pass plan) of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 132. The deficiency information extraction unit 154 extracts deficiency information regarding a range that cannot be obtained from the information from the sensor data 130 based on the information regarding the object detected by the detection unit 150 and the path plan stored in the path plan storage unit 152. do. The information providing unit 156 provides the shortage information extracted by the shortage information extracting unit 154 to the infrastructure device 136 via the road-to-vehicle communication 138, and transmits information about the object detected by the infrastructure device 136 in the area that becomes the in-vehicle sensor blind spot. Ask for.

The road vehicle cooperation unit 180 of the infrastructure device 136 receives the shortage information from the information providing unit 156 via the road vehicle inter-vehicle communication 138. The gaze range extraction unit 182 extracts the gaze range of the sensor for obtaining each sensor data 134 based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit 180. The gaze range detection unit 184 controls each sensor data 134 based on the gaze range extracted by the gaze range extraction unit 182 so that the infrastructure sensor operates only in the gaze range as a sensing target, if necessary. It receives and detects objects such as vehicles that exist within the gaze range from the information. The information output unit 186 transmits the information detected by the gaze range detection unit 184 to the in-vehicle device 132 via the road-to-vehicle communication 138.

On the other hand, the travel route determination unit 158 of the in-vehicle device 132 is detected from the information detected by the detection unit 150 and the sensor data 134 transmitted by the infrastructure device 136 in response to the request of the information providing unit 156. Receives the information (information about objects existing in the blind spot, etc.) and determines the travel route of the own vehicle. The operation control unit 160 controls the operation of the vehicle based on the travel route determined by the travel route determination unit 158.

The operation flow of the entire road vehicle cooperation system 120 will be described with reference to FIG.

With reference to FIG. 5, the vehicle-mounted device 132 acquires vehicle-side sensor data in step 200. Subsequently, in step 202, an object or the like is detected from the vehicle-side sensor data acquired in step 200, and information that cannot be obtained by the vehicle-side sensor data (vehicle-side sensor data) is obtained from the detected contents and the path plan. Information indicating the blind spot range) is extracted as insufficient information.

In step 204, the in-vehicle device 132 determines whether or not there is insufficient information as a result of the processing in step 202, and branches the control flow according to the determination. If there is no missing information, control is returned to step 200 in step 206. If there is deficiency information, the in-vehicle device 132 transmits the deficiency information including the range of the blind spot to the infrastructure device 136 (see FIG. 4) via the road-to-vehicle communication 138.

Subsequent processing is processing on the infrastructure device 136 (Fig. 4) side. That is, in step 210, the infrastructure device 136 extracts the gaze range of the sensor of the infrastructure device 136 from the installation requirement of the sensor mounted on the vehicle and the shortage information received from the in-vehicle device 132 (see FIG. 4). Further, in step 212, the infrastructure device 136 specializes in the gaze range extracted in step 210, operates the infrastructure sensor so as to scan only the range, and detects an object or the like from the sensor data. In step 214, the infrastructure device 136 transmits the result detected in step 212 to the in-vehicle device 132 (FIG. 4).

Subsequent processing is performed again by the in-vehicle device 132. That is, the in-vehicle device 132 receives the detection result of the object or the like from the sensor data of the vehicle-side sensor obtained in step 200 in step 216 and the in-vehicle device 132 transmitted from the infrastructure device 136 in step 214 and received by the in-vehicle device 132. Determine the vehicle's travel route based on the information provided and the pass plan. Further, the in-vehicle device 132 determines the driving control by the driving control unit 160 of the vehicle in step 218, and returns the control to the step 200.

Along with the above operation, how the program is executed by the in-vehicle device 132 and the infrastructure device 136 will be described below. With reference to FIG. 6, the vehicle-mounted device 132 acquires the sensor data on the vehicle side in step 250. In the following step 252, objects and the like around the vehicle are detected based on the sensor data acquired in step 250. In the following step 254, the pass plan is acquired from the pass plan storage unit 152 (see FIG. 4).

In step 256, the in-vehicle device 132 extracts the shortage information as follows based on the information detected in step 252 and the path plan acquired in step 254.

With reference to FIG. 7, in step 300 of step 256, the in-vehicle device 132 acquires the planned travel route of the own vehicle t seconds after the pass plan. In step 302, it is determined whether or not the planned travel route acquired in step 300 specifies a right turn (a left turn if the vehicle is traveling on the right side. The same shall apply hereinafter), and the control flow is branched according to the result. When the determination in step 302 is affirmative, that is, when the planned travel route specifies a right turn, step 304 is executed, and the desired radius for grasping (described later) is set to X meters. When the determination in step 302 is negative, that is, when the planned travel route does not specify a right turn, step 306 is executed, and the desired radius for grasping is set to Y meters (Y <X). Control proceeds to step 308 regardless of whether step 304 is executed or step 306 is executed.

In step 308, the in-vehicle device 132 calculates an intermediate point between the start point (current position) and the end point (position after t seconds) of the planned travel route. In the following step 310, the in-vehicle device 132 grasps the area surrounded by the circle of the desired grasping radius determined in step 304 or step 306, centering on the intermediate point calculated in step 308 (center 354 in FIG. 8). Set to the desired range. In step 312, it is determined whether or not there is any object (vehicle or the like) in the vehicle-side detection result detected from the vehicle-side sensor data within the desired grasping range set in step 310, and control is performed according to the determination result. Branch the flow. If the determination in step 312 is affirmative, that is, if there is an object such as a vehicle in the result detected from the vehicle side sensor data, the range (insufficient range) that becomes the blind spot generated in the vehicle side sensor for that object is calculated. End the execution of this program. If the determination in step 312 is negative, it is determined in step 316 that there is no shortage range because there is no obstructive object within the desired grasp range (deficiency range = 0), and the execution of this program ends. ..

With reference to FIG. 6 again, in step 258 following step 256, the in-vehicle device 132 determines whether or not there is insufficient information based on the result of the process of step 256, and branches the control flow according to the result. Let me. If there is no missing information, the determination in step 258 is negative, and there is no need to request information from the infrastructure device. The in-vehicle device 132 confirms the path plan as it is without reviewing it in step 260, and returns the control to step 250. If there is insufficient information, the determination in step 258 becomes affirmative, and the in-vehicle device 132 executes step 262. That is, the in-vehicle device 132 transmits the shortage range information to the infrastructure device 136 (see FIG. 4) via the road-to-vehicle communication 138, and waits for a reply from the infrastructure device 136.

If there is no missing information in this way, the in-vehicle device 132 can process the vehicle without the information from the infrastructure device 136. The surrounding environment of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 132 can be detected without imposing an extra load on the infrastructure device 136 and without taking time for that purpose.

The processing from here is performed by the infrastructure device 136 that has received this shortage range information. That is, the road vehicle cooperation unit 180 (see FIG. 4) of the infrastructure device 136 waits for the shortage range information from the in-vehicle device 132 in step 420 of FIG. When the road vehicle cooperation unit 180 receives the shortage range information, the infrastructure device 136 starts the process of step 422 or less shown in FIG. That is, in step 422, the infrastructure device 136 determines whether or not there is received information from the infrastructure sensor, and branches the control flow according to the determination result. When there is no received information from the infrastructure sensor, there is no information provided from the infrastructure device 136 to the vehicle-mounted device 132 even if the shortage range information is received from the vehicle-mounted device 132. Therefore, in this case, the control returns to step 420, and then restarts the process of waiting until the road vehicle cooperation unit 180 receives the shortage range information.

If there is information received from the infrastructure sensor, the infrastructure device 136 executes step 424. Details of step 424 are shown in FIG. That is, with reference to FIG. 12, in step 450 of step 424, the in-vehicle device 132 acquires the shortage range information from the road-vehicle cooperation unit 180. In the subsequent step 452, the infrastructure device 136 determines whether or not the shortage range defined by the shortage range information acquired in step 450 is within a predetermined distance from the infrastructure device (whether or not the distance to the infrastructure device is smaller than the threshold value). ) Is determined, and the control flow is branched based on the result.

When the determination in step 452 is affirmative, that is, when the distance between the shortage range defined by the shortage information and the infrastructure device is smaller than the threshold value, it is necessary to use the short-range sensor device, and step 454. Is executed. In step 454, it is determined whether or not a plurality of short-distance sensor devices are present in the infrastructure device 136, and the control flow is branched according to the determination. When the determination in step 454 is negative (when there is only one short-range sensor device), the short-range sensor device is selected for object detection in step 456. When the determination in step 454 is affirmative, that is, when there are a plurality of short-range sensor devices, the infrastructure device 136 acquires the detection range of the short-range sensor device effective on the infrastructure device side in step 458. .. In step 460, the infrastructure device 136 further compares each of the detection ranges of the plurality of short-range sensor devices acquired in step 458 with the shortage range acquired in step 450. In step 462, the infrastructure device 136 selects the short-range sensor device that most widely covers the shortage range as a result of the comparison in step 460.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 452 is negative, it is necessary to use a long-distance sensor device. Therefore, in step 470, the infrastructure device 136 determines whether or not a plurality of long-distance sensor devices exist in the infrastructure device 136, and branches the control flow according to the determination. If the determination in step 470 is negative, there is only one long-range sensor device in this infrastructure device 136. Therefore, the infrastructure device 136 selects the long-distance sensor device for object detection.

If the determination in step 470 is affirmative, it means that the infrastructure device 136 has a plurality of effective long-distance sensor devices. Therefore, the infrastructure device 136 acquires the detection range of each of the long-distance sensor devices in step 474. In step 476, the infrastructure device 136 further compares the detection range of each long-distance sensor device acquired in step 474 with the shortage range acquired in step 450. In step 478, the infrastructure device 136 selects the long-distance sensor device that covers the widest shortage range for object detection as a result of the comparison in step 476.

Finally, the infrastructure device 136 sets the shortage range information acquired in step 450 as the gaze range information of the selected sensor device in step 468 regardless of which of steps 462, 456, 478, and 472 is executed. End the execution of this program.

In step 468, when the selected sensor is a long-distance sensor device, the program showing the control structure in FIG. 13 is executed by the in-vehicle device 132. With reference to FIG. 13, the in-vehicle device 132 in this case calculates the shortest distance between the sensor device and the gaze range in step 500 in order to determine the gaze range of the long-distance sensor device. Further, in step 502, the farthest distance between the gaze range and the sensor device is calculated. Finally, in step 504, the infrastructure device 136 performs a process of detecting an object existing in the gaze range with respect to the sensor data up to the shortest distance calculated in step 500 and the farthest distance calculated in step 502. And output. In step 504, the sensor device may be controlled to limit the detection range of the sensor device, if necessary.

Returning to FIG. 11 again, the infrastructure device 136 detects an object or the like existing in the gaze range extracted in step 424 from the sensor data of the infrastructure sensor in step 426 following the above step 424. Further, in the subsequent step 428, the infrastructure device 136 transmits the detection result of the step 426 to the in-vehicle device 132 via the information output unit 186 shown in FIG. 4, and returns the control to the step 420.

Returning to FIG. 6 again, if the shortage information is not received from the infrastructure device 136 within the predetermined time in step 264, the in-vehicle device 132 determines that there is no information provided by the infrastructure device, and executes the process of step 266. That is, the control is returned to step 250 as it is, without reviewing the path plan acquired in step 254. When the shortage information is received from the infrastructure device 136 in step 264, the in-vehicle device 132 travels based on the path plan, the information detected in step 252, and the information received from the infrastructure device 136 in step 264. Determine the route. The operation of the in-vehicle device 132 in this process will be described later. Further, the in-vehicle device 132 reflects the traveling route determined in step 268 in step 270 in the driving control of the vehicle by the driving control unit 160 (see FIG. 4), and returns the control to step 250.

The in-vehicle device 132 that received the shortage information from the infrastructure device 136 in step 264 operates as follows. With reference to FIG. 10, the infrastructure device 136 acquires the detection result by the vehicle side sensor in step 400. In the subsequent step 402, the infrastructure device 136 acquires the presence / absence of insufficient information with respect to the detection result on the vehicle side. Further, in step 404, the infrastructure device 136 determines whether or not there is insufficient information based on the information acquired in step 402, and branches the control flow according to the determination result. The case where there is insufficient information means, for example, a case where there is an oncoming vehicle and there is a blind spot in the detection range of the in-vehicle sensor. The case where there is no missing information means that there is no blind spot in the detection range of the in-vehicle sensor.

Step 410 is executed when the determination in step 404 is negative, that is, when there is no missing information. In step 410, the planned travel route is determined based on the detection result on the vehicle side, and the execution of this program is terminated. When the determination in step 404 is affirmative, that is, when there is missing information, step 406 is executed. In step 406, the shortage information is transmitted to the infrastructure device 136 (see FIG. 4), and the information provided by the infrastructure device 136 within the shortage information range is acquired from the infrastructure device 136. Following step 406, the in-vehicle device 132 further integrates the vehicle-side detection result acquired in step 400 in step 408 and the detection result within the insufficient information range acquired from the infrastructure device 136 in step 406. The planned travel route (speed and planned passage point) is determined using the result, and the execution of the program shown in FIG. 10 is completed.

After that, the in-vehicle device 132 reflects the information of the planned travel route thus determined in the operation control in step 270 of FIG. After that, the control further returns to step 250, and the above-mentioned process is repeated.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the vehicle requests the shortage information, the infrastructure device determines a narrower gaze target area within the detection range of the infrastructure sensor based on the shortage range, and only the gaze target. Performs object detection processing such as a vehicle. When an object is detected, the infrastructure device returns the information to the vehicle. In the vehicle, the information is integrated with the information obtained from the in-vehicle sensor to determine the traveling route and used for driving control. Since the gaze target of the infrastructure sensor is selected narrower than the detection range of the infrastructure sensor, the time required for collecting the sensor data can be shortened. Not only that, the number of sensor data points to be detected by the object is reduced, so the time required for the object detection process can be shortened. Therefore, the time required for processing the sensor data can be significantly reduced as compared with the prior art. As a result, the time from when the infrastructure sensor starts collecting sensor data to when the vehicle is provided with information about the detected object within the gaze range can be significantly shortened. Autonomous driving of vehicles is based on the latest information from the past for a very short time. Therefore, according to this disclosure, it is possible to effectively support the driving control of the vehicle so that the automatic driving can be performed safely.

As described above, in the embodiment according to this disclosure, the infrastructure device 136 determines the gaze range based on the lack information, and gazes based on the data within the gaze range which is a part of the sensor data output by the infrastructure device 136. Detect the situation within the gaze range without using the data outside the range. Compared to the case where the situation within the roadside detection range is detected using the entire detection range of the roadside sensor, at least one of the time required for collecting sensor data and the time required for detecting sensor data is shortened and a shorter cycle. The detection result can be transmitted to the in-vehicle device 132. Therefore, the in-vehicle device 132 can obtain insufficient information reflecting changes in the environment in a short cycle. As a result, the infrastructure device 136 can provide information about the object in the blind spot of the sensor in a short time that can contribute to the automatic operation.

The in-vehicle device 132 detects an object existing in the in-vehicle side detection range, and transmits the blind spot range generated in the in-vehicle side detection range in relation to the object to the infrastructure device 136. As shortage information, a basic area can be extracted as a blind spot range, and the infrastructure device 136 can be requested to detect the status of the blind spot range. In the infrastructure device 136, the situation only needs to be detected from the sensor data in the blind spot range, and the time required for the detection can be shortened.

When extracting the blind spot range, the planned travel route is taken into consideration. It is not necessary for the infrastructure device 136 to detect the situation of the area unrelated to the planned travel route, and the time required for detecting the blind spot range can be shortened.

The range in which the in-vehicle device 132 should grasp the environment changes depending on what the planned travel route is. By taking into account the planned travel route in extracting the blind spot range, it is possible to identify the necessary and minimum shortage information and request the infrastructure device 136 to detect the situation. As a result, the infrastructure device 136 can detect the situation in a necessary and minimum time.

If there is no missing information, the in-vehicle device 132 can process the vehicle without the information from the infrastructure device 136. The surrounding environment of the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device 132 can be detected without imposing an extra load on the infrastructure device 136 and without taking time for that purpose.

When the infrastructure device 136 has a plurality of roadside sensors, more information can be obtained regarding the shortage range by selecting a roadside sensor having a large area overlapping with the extracted shortage range of the in-vehicle device 132. The amount of shortage information that can be acquired from the roadside sensor by the infrastructure device 136 increases, and accurate shortage information can be transmitted by the in-vehicle device 132.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when the infrastructure device 136 has a plurality of types of roadside sensors, information necessary for the type of roadside sensor can be obtained in order to grasp the situation regarding the shortage range extracted by the in-vehicle device 132. The ability to collect is different. Based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit 180 shown in FIG. 4 and the environment of the roadside detection range detected from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection process as shown in FIG. By selecting the roadside sensor for obtaining the shortage information, a larger shortage range can be obtained. As a result, more accurate shortage information can be transmitted to the in-vehicle device 132 in a short cycle.

The embodiments disclosed this time are merely examples, and the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above. The scope of this disclosure is set forth by each claim of the scope of claim, taking into account the description of the detailed description of the disclosure, and includes all changes within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording contained therein. ..

50 Crossings 52, 56, 350 Vehicle 54 Bus 58, 100, 550 Infrastructure sensor 60 Infrastructure side device 62 Vehicle side device 64, 102 Infrastructure sensor detection range 66 Vehicle sensor blind spot range 68 Infrastructure sensor gaze range 70, 138 Road-to- vehicle communication 90, 104, 554 Gaze range 130 Sensor data 132 In-vehicle device 134 Each sensor data 136 Infrastructure device 150 Detection unit 152 Path plan storage unit 154 Insufficient information extraction unit 156 Information provision unit 158 Travel route determination unit 160 Operation control unit 180 Road vehicle cooperation unit 182 Gaze range extraction unit 184 Gaze range detection unit 186 Information output unit 200, 202, 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216, 218, 250, 252, 254, 256, 258, 260, 262, 264, 266 268,270,300,302,304,306,308,310,312,314,316,400,402,404,406,408,410,420,422,424,426,428,450,452,454 456, 458, 460, 462, 468, 470, 472, 474, 476, 478, 500, 502, 504 Step 352 Desired range of grasping 354 Center 356 Desired grasping radius 358 Position 360 Scheduled driving route 370 Oncoming vehicle 372 Blind spot 552 Normal Detection range 556, 558 arc

Claims (10)

1. It is a road-vehicle coordination system that includes in-vehicle devices and roadside devices that can communicate with each other by wireless communication.
   The in-vehicle device is
   An environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the in-vehicle sensor based on the sensor data output by the in-vehicle sensor.
   The environment detection unit includes a deficiency information extraction unit that extracts deficiency information that is within the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor and cannot be detected from the sensor data from the surrounding environment and transmits the deficiency information to the roadside device.
   The roadside device is
   A roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment of the roadside detection range based on the sensor data output by the roadside sensor for a predetermined roadside detection range.
   A road vehicle cooperation unit that receives the insufficient information transmitted from the insufficient information extraction unit, and
   Based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit, attention is paid to obtain the shortage information in the roadside detection range. A gaze range extractor that extracts the gaze range, and a gaze range extractor
   A gaze range detection unit that detects a situation within the gaze range based on the data within the gaze range, which is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor.
   The gaze range detection unit includes an information output unit that transmits the situation within the gaze range detected by the in-vehicle device to the in-vehicle device.
   The in-vehicle device further
   A travel route determination unit that receives the situation transmitted by the information output unit and determines a planned travel route of a vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle device based on the situation and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit. Road vehicle cooperation system including and.
2. The lack information extraction unit
   An object detection unit that detects an object existing within the detection range on the vehicle-mounted side based on the surrounding environment, and an object detection unit.
   A blind spot range extraction unit that extracts the blind spot range of the vehicle-mounted sensor as the shortage information based on the vehicle-mounted detection range and the position of the object existing in the vehicle-mounted detection range, and transmits the blind spot range extraction unit to the roadside device. The road vehicle cooperation system according to claim 1.
3. The blind spot range extraction unit is on the planned travel path based on the vehicle-mounted detection range, the position of the object existing in the vehicle-mounted detection range, and the planned travel path of the vehicle equipped with the vehicle-mounted sensor. The road vehicle cooperation system according to claim 2, further comprising a blind spot range extraction processing unit that extracts the blind spot range of the vehicle-mounted sensor as the shortage information and transmits the blind spot range extraction processing unit to the roadside device.
4. The blind spot range extraction processing unit is based on the vehicle-mounted detection range, the position of the object existing in the vehicle-mounted detection range, and the planned travel route of the vehicle equipped with the vehicle-mounted sensor. A variable extraction process that extracts the blind spot range of the vehicle-mounted sensor on the planned travel route as the shortage information and transmits it to the roadside device so that may change depending on whether a specific route is specified or not. The road vehicle cooperation system according to claim 3, which includes a unit.
5. The one according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the travel route determination unit determines the planned travel route in response to the lack information being extracted by the lack information extraction unit. Road vehicle coordination system.
6. The roadside sensor includes a first roadside sensor and a second roadside sensor.
   The gaze range extraction unit is
   The shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit is compared with the roadside detection range of each of the first roadside sensor and the second roadside sensor, and the shortage range and the roadside detection determined by the shortage information are compared. A sensor selection unit that selects the roadside sensor that has a larger overlapping area with the range,
   Based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. The aspect according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which includes a selective gaze range extraction unit that extracts the gaze range within the roadside detection range of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. Road vehicle coordination system.
7. The first roadside sensor and the second roadside sensor are different types of sensors.
   The selective gaze range extraction unit detects the roadside environment detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the insufficient information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. In the roadside detection range of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit based on the environment of the range, the gaze is performed by different extraction methods depending on the type of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. The road vehicle cooperation system according to claim 6, which includes a gaze range variable extraction unit for extracting a range.
8. The roadside sensor includes a first roadside sensor and a second roadside sensor of different types from each other.
   The gaze range extraction unit is
   A distance calculation unit that calculates the distance between the shortage range determined by the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the first roadside sensor and the second roadside sensor.
   A sensor selection unit that selects the first roadside sensor or the second roadside sensor depending on whether or not the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit is smaller than the threshold value.
   Based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit from the sensor data output by the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. , A selective gaze range that extracts the gaze range by extraction methods different from each other according to the type of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit within the roadside detection range of the roadside sensor selected by the sensor selection unit. The road vehicle cooperation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which includes an extraction unit.
9. An in-vehicle device used in a road-vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication.
   An environment detection unit that detects the surrounding environment of the in-vehicle sensor based on the sensor data output by the in-vehicle sensor.
   A deficiency information extraction unit that extracts deficiency information that is within the vehicle-mounted detection range of the vehicle-mounted sensor and cannot be detected from the sensor data from the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit and transmits the deficiency information to the roadside device.
   In response to the shortage information, the vehicle-mounted device is mounted by receiving the situation around the roadside device transmitted from the roadside device and based on the situation and the surrounding environment detected by the environment detection unit. An in-vehicle device including a travel route determination unit that determines a planned travel route of a vehicle.
10. A roadside device used in a road-vehicle coordination system including an in-vehicle device and a roadside device capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication.
    A roadside environment detection unit that detects the environment of the roadside detection range based on the sensor data output by the roadside sensor for a predetermined roadside detection range.
    A road vehicle cooperation unit that receives insufficient information from the in-vehicle device, which is insufficient for detecting the surrounding environment of the in-vehicle device, within the in-vehicle detection range of the in-vehicle sensor of the in-vehicle device.
    Based on the shortage information received by the road vehicle cooperation unit and the environment of the roadside detection range detected by the roadside environment detection unit, attention is paid to obtain the shortage information in the roadside detection range. A gaze range extractor that extracts the gaze range, and a gaze range extractor
    A gaze range detection unit that detects a situation within the gaze range based on the data within the gaze range, which is a part of the sensor data output by the roadside sensor.
    A roadside device including an information output unit that transmits the situation within the gaze range detected by the gaze range detection unit to the in-vehicle device.

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