WO2022044179A1

WO2022044179A1 - Stop position determination device and stop position determination method

Info

Publication number: WO2022044179A1
Application number: PCT/JP2020/032291
Authority: WO
Inventors: 友紀古本
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2020-08-27
Filing date: 2020-08-27
Publication date: 2022-03-03

Abstract

This stop position determination device comprises: a periphery information acquisition unit that acquires periphery information relating to the periphery of a vehicle; a passenger detection unit that detects a passenger waiting for the vehicle to arrive and the position of the passenger on the basis of the periphery information; a standard passenger determination unit that, when there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit, determines a standard passenger, from among the plurality of passengers, who is to be the standard when determining a position for the vehicle to stop; and a stop position determination unit that, on the basis of the periphery information and the position of the standard passenger, determines a position where it is estimated that the standard passenger can easily get into the vehicle to be a stop position where the vehicle is to stop.

Description

Stop position determination device and stop position determination method

This disclosure relates to a stop position determination device for determining a vehicle stop position and a stop position determination method.

Conventionally, there is known a technique in which a vehicle having an automatic driving function can carry a person at a specific place by, for example, going around a specific route or accepting a call.
For example, in Patent Document 1, when a communication terminal possessed by an occupant who has called a vehicle from a remote location receives a start instruction for automatic driving, the automatic driving of the vehicle is started to guide the vehicle. An in-vehicle control device for stopping the vehicle in front of an occupant is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-65441

In the conventional technology as described above, when a vehicle carries a person, if there are multiple people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle to get into the vehicle, one of the plurality of people is in a position where it is easy to get on. There is a need to stop the vehicle. However, in the conventional in-vehicle control device as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the case where there are a plurality of people calling the vehicle is not considered in the first place. Therefore, there is a problem that the in-vehicle control device cannot meet the above-mentioned needs.

This disclosure is made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when a vehicle carries a person, when there are a plurality of people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle to get into the vehicle, a plurality of people It is an object of the present invention to provide a stop position determination device capable of stopping the vehicle at a position where any one of them can easily get on.

The stop position determination device according to the present disclosure is a peripheral information acquisition unit that acquires peripheral information about the surroundings of the vehicle, and passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle and the passengers concerned based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit. When there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit and the passenger detection unit that detects the position, the standard passengers that should be used as the standard for determining the stop position of the vehicle from among the plurality of passengers. The stop position where the vehicle should stop at a position where it is estimated that the standard passenger can easily get into the vehicle based on the judgment unit, the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit, and the position of the standard passenger determined by the standard passenger judgment unit. It is equipped with a stop position determination unit for determining that.

According to the present disclosure, when a vehicle carries a person, if there are a plurality of people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle in order to get into the vehicle, the vehicle is placed in a position where one of the plurality of people can easily ride. You can make it stop.

It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the vehicle equipped with the stop position determination device which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation of the stop position determination apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. An example of a state in which the stop position determination device according to the first embodiment determines the positions of the reference passenger and the reference passenger, and the vehicle determined based on the position of the reference passenger is stopped at the stop position where the vehicle should be stopped. It is a figure which shows the image of. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the vehicle equipped with the stop position determination device which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the image of an example of the content of the specific attribute information in Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation of the stop position determination apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. A state in which the stop position determination device according to the second embodiment determines a reference passenger based on the attributes possessed by the passenger, and the vehicle determined based on the position of the reference passenger is stopped at the stop position where the vehicle should be stopped. It is a figure which shows the image of an example. The stop position determination device according to the second embodiment determines the reference passenger based on the attributes of the passengers, and the vehicle is stopped at the stop position where the vehicle determined based on the position of the reference passenger should be stopped. It is a figure which shows the image of another example. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the vehicle equipped with the stop position determination device which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation of the stop position determination apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3. When the stop position determination device according to the third embodiment determines the reference passenger based on the attributes of the passengers and the vehicle determined based on the position of the reference passenger is stopped at the stop position where the vehicle should be stopped. It is a figure which shows the image of an example of the state which output the guidance information. 12A and 12B are diagrams showing an example of the hardware configuration of the stop position determination device according to the first to third embodiments.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle 100 equipped with a stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment.
In the first embodiment, the stop position determination device 1 is mounted on the vehicle 100 and determines the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. It is assumed that the vehicle 100 has an automatic driving function. The vehicle 100 stops at a specific place (hereinafter referred to as "stop place") by, for example, orbiting a specific route or accepting a call from a passenger, and carries a person. Specifically, the vehicle 100 is, for example, a route bus that goes around a predetermined route, stops at a road facing a predetermined stop, and carries a person. Further, the vehicle 100 is, for example, a taxi that picks up the person when receiving a call from a person in a remote place, stops at a place near the point where the person is waiting, and carries the person. It should be noted that this is only an example, and in the first embodiment, the vehicle 100 includes various vehicles 100 that stop at a stop location and carry a person. Here, a person waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 to get into the vehicle 100 is also referred to as a "passenger". In the first embodiment, the "stopping place" includes an area within a certain range that can be used as a place where the vehicle 100 stops (hereinafter referred to as "stopping area") and passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100. Shall include an area within a certain range where the vehicle can wait (hereinafter referred to as "passenger waiting area"). That is, the vehicle 100 stops in the stoptable area of the stop place and carries a person.

In addition to the stop position determination device 1, the vehicle 100 is equipped with a sensor 2, a map DB (Data Base) 3, a destination determination unit 101, and an automatic driving control unit 102.

The destination determination unit 101 determines the position of the stop location where the vehicle 100 should go and the position of the stop location where the vehicle 100 should go, based on the information about the periphery of the vehicle 100 (hereinafter referred to as "peripheral information") acquired from the sensor 2 and the map DB (Data Base) 3. , Determine the route of the vehicle 100 to the stop location.
The sensor 2 is a camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a rider, a GPS (Global Positioning System), or the like. For example, when the sensor 2 is a camera, the camera captures the periphery of the vehicle 100. Further, for example, when the sensor 2 is an ultrasonic sensor or a rider, the ultrasonic sensor or the rider acquires the distance to an object existing around the vehicle 100. Further, for example, when the sensor 2 is a GPS, the GPS acquires the current position of the vehicle 100. The destination determination unit 101 acquires image captured by a camera, distance information acquired by an ultrasonic sensor or rider, current position information acquired by GPS, and the like as peripheral information.
In addition, the destination determination unit 101 also acquires the map information stored in the map DB 3 as peripheral information. In the first embodiment, the map DB 3 is provided in the vehicle 100, but this is only an example. The map DB 3 may be provided in a place outside the vehicle 100 where the vehicle 100 can be referred.

The destination determination unit 101 will be described with a specific example. For example, when the vehicle 100 is a fixed-route bus, the destination determination unit 101 determines the position of the next stop where the fixed-route bus should go and the next stop based on the peripheral information and the route information of the fixed-route bus stored in advance. Determine the route of the route bus. Further, for example, when the vehicle 100 is a taxi, the destination determination unit 101 determines the position of the place where the passenger is waiting and the place where the passenger is waiting, based on the peripheral information and the received call instruction. Determine the route to.

The destination determination unit 101 outputs the position information of the stop location to which the vehicle 100 should go and the route information of the vehicle 100 to the stop location to the automatic driving control unit 102.

The automatic driving control unit 102 automatically drives the vehicle 100 to the stop location determined by the destination determination unit 101 through the route determined by the destination determination unit 101.
When the automatic driving control unit 102 is close to the stop location, the automatic driving control unit 102 outputs information for determining the stop position (hereinafter referred to as “stop position determination instruction information”) to the stop position determination device 1.
The automatic driving control unit 102 may determine that the vehicle is close to the stop location, for example, because the distance between the vehicle 100 and the stop location is within a predetermined distance. The automatic driving control unit 102 acquires peripheral information via the destination determination unit 101. The automatic driving control unit 102 can determine that the vehicle 100 is near the stop location based on the peripheral information.

In the stop position determination device 1, the control unit (not shown) activates a function of determining the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop when the stop position determination instruction information is output from the automatic driving control unit 102.
The stop position determination device 1 detects passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 in the passenger waiting area of the stop place where the vehicle 100 should stop based on the surrounding information, and the passengers are based on the detected position of the passengers. The stop position where the vehicle 100, which is easy to get into the vehicle 100, should stop is determined. In the first embodiment, a person waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 in the passenger waiting area before boarding the vehicle 100 is also referred to as a "passenger".
When there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100, the stop position determination device 1 uses one of the plurality of passengers as a reference for determining the stop position of the vehicle 100. It is determined that the passenger should be a passenger (hereinafter referred to as "reference passenger"), and the stop position at which the vehicle 100 should stop is determined so that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100.
When the vehicle 100 determines the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop, the stop position determination device 1 transmits the determined information regarding the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop (hereinafter referred to as "stop position information") to the automatic driving control unit 102. Output.
The automatic driving control unit 102 stops the vehicle 100 at the stop position determined by the stop position determination device 1 in the stoptable area of the stop location determined by the destination determination unit 101.

Here, the stop position to be stopped by the vehicle 100 determined by the stop position determination device 1 is the stop position of the vehicle 100 determined by the destination determination unit 101 based on the map information included in the peripheral information, as described above. This is the position where the vehicle 100 is stopped in the stoptable area. The stop position determination device 1 determines the position at which the vehicle 100 is stopped based on the position of any of the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100.
Generally, in the map information, any position in the stoptable area at the stop place is registered as the position of the stop place.
In the conventional general technique for stopping the vehicle 100, the position of the stop location is determined based on the map information, and when the vehicle arrives at the stop location, the vehicle 100 is stopped at an arbitrary position within the stoptable area of the stop location. I was doing it. For example, assuming that the vehicle 100 is a fixed-route bus, when the fixed-route bus arrives at a bus stop whose position is determined based on map information, the fixed-route bus is stopped at an arbitrary position within the stoptable area as the bus stop.
In this way, the stop position of the vehicle 100 determined based on the map information is an arbitrary position in the stoptable area of the stop place, and the vehicle 100 waits for arrival in the passenger waiting area of the stop place. It does not take into account the position of passengers. Therefore, if the stop position of the vehicle 100 is determined based on the position of the stop location registered in the map information as in the general technique of stopping the vehicle 100, the vehicle 100 waits for arrival. A position where passengers can easily get into the vehicle 100 cannot be set as a stop position of the vehicle 100. Furthermore, when there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100, a position where any one of the plurality of passengers can easily get into the vehicle 100 cannot be set as the stop position of the vehicle 100.

On the other hand, the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment detects a passenger waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 at the stop location of the vehicle 100, and the passenger is the vehicle 100 based on the detected position of the passenger. It is easy to get into the vehicle 100, and the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop is determined. Even if there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100, the stop position determination device 1 determines the stop position at which the vehicle 100 should stop in consideration of the positions where the plurality of passengers are present.
Therefore, when the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the vehicle 100, the stop position determination device 1 is one of the plurality of passengers even if there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 can be stopped at a position where it is easy to ride.

In the following embodiment 1, as an example, when a plurality of passengers wait for the arrival of the vehicle 100, it is assumed that the plurality of passengers wait in a line for the arrival of the vehicle 100.

The stop position determination device 1 includes a peripheral information acquisition unit 11, a passenger detection unit 12, a reference passenger determination unit 13, and a stop position determination unit 14.
When the stop position determination instruction information is output from the automatic driving control unit 102, the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 acquires peripheral information from the sensor 2. Specifically, the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 acquires the captured image captured by the camera, the distance information acquired by the ultrasonic sensor or the rider, the current position information acquired by the GPS, and the like as peripheral information. The peripheral information acquisition unit 11 may acquire peripheral information via the destination determination unit 101.
The peripheral information acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired peripheral information to the passenger detection unit 12 and the stop position determination unit 14.

The passenger detection unit 12 detects the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 and the positions of the passengers based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11.
Specifically, for example, when the peripheral information is an image captured by a camera, the passenger detection unit 12 detects the presence or absence of a occupant waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 by using a known image recognition technology. .. Further, for example, the passenger detection unit 12 detects the position of a passenger based on the captured image and the position information of the vehicle 100. The passenger detection unit 12 measures, for example, the distance between the vehicle 100 and the passenger with an ultrasonic sensor installed on the side surface of the vehicle 100. Since the mounting position and angle of view of the camera are known in advance, the passenger detection unit 12 can detect the position of the passenger based on the current position information of the vehicle 100 if the distance between the vehicle 100 and the passenger is known. .. The passenger detection unit 12 may detect the distance between the vehicle 100 and the passenger, for example, based on the distance information acquired from the ultrasonic sensor.

When there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 at the stop location of the vehicle 100, the passenger detection unit 12 detects all the passengers and the positions of the passengers.
The passenger detection unit 12 outputs information about the detected passengers (hereinafter referred to as "passenger information") to the reference passenger determination unit 13. Passenger information is information in which passenger-identifiable information and the position of the passenger are associated with each other. For example, when the passenger detection unit 12 detects a passenger, the passenger detection unit 12 assigns a passenger number to the passenger. Then, the passenger detection unit 12 associates the assigned passenger number with the position of the passenger.

When there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12 based on the passenger information output from the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the reference passenger from among the plurality of passengers based on the passenger information. do. Specifically, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger at the head of the line of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 is a reference passenger.
If there is only one passenger detected by the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13 may determine that one passenger as the reference passenger.
The reference passenger determination unit 13 outputs information about the reference passenger (hereinafter referred to as “reference passenger information”) to the stop position determination unit 14. The reference passenger information is information about the reference passenger among the passenger information. That is, the reference passenger information is information in which the information that can identify the reference passenger and the position of the reference passenger are associated with each other.

The stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. Specifically, the stop position determination unit 14 estimates that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 and the position of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13. It is determined that the position to be stopped is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop.

In the first embodiment, the position where the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle 100 is specifically provided in the vehicle 100 by the reference passenger when the vehicle 100 stops at that position on the road. This is the position where the travel route to the boarding gate is the shortest. The term "shortest" here does not mean exactly the shortest. The stop position determination unit 14 sets a position on the road where the movement route to the boarding gate by the reference passenger becomes shorter when the vehicle 100 stops at that position, which is a position where it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100. , The position may be set as the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. The shortest travel route to the boarding gate by the standard passenger means that the position where the standard passenger is located and the position of the boarding gate are the closest. The term "closest" here does not mean exactly the closest. By stopping the vehicle 100 at a position on the road where the entrance is close to the reference passenger, it can be estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100. The stop position determination unit 14 may determine that the position is on the road, for example, from the map information included in the peripheral information.

For example, the stop position determination unit 14 may determine a position where it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 in consideration of the shape of the road. To give a specific example, for example, the stop position determination unit 14 makes it easy for the reference passenger to board the vehicle 100 at a position on a road other than a slope and where the travel route to the boarding gate by the reference passenger is the shortest. It may be determined that the position is presumed to be. Further, for example, the stop position determination unit 14 makes it easy for the reference passenger to get into the vehicle 100 at a position on the road which is not sloped and where the movement route to the boarding gate by the reference passenger is the shortest. It may be determined that the position is estimated. The stop position determination unit 14 determines that the road is a slope or has a slope shape, for example, from the peripheral information detected by the rider or the map information included in the peripheral information. Just do it.

Further, for example, if the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped if the position at which the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle 100 is set as the stop position as it is, the vehicle 100 is stopped. It is also possible to adjust the stop position so that it is in a position where it can be done. To give a specific example, for example, the stop position determination unit 14 determines a position where the reference passenger is likely to get into the vehicle 100 when an obstacle exists at a position where the reference passenger is likely to get into the vehicle 100. It is determined that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped if the stop position is set as it is. Obstacles are steps such as stairs, signboards, trees, entry blocks, and the like. The stop position determination unit 14 may determine that an obstacle exists, for example, by performing a known image recognition process on the captured image included in the peripheral information. Then, the stop position determination unit 14 sets the stop position so that the position where the vehicle 100 should stop is a position where the reference passenger is likely to get into the vehicle 100 while avoiding obstacles. adjust. In the first embodiment, the position where the obstacle is avoided is the position where the obstacle does not exist on the movement route to the boarding gate by the passenger when the vehicle 100 is stopped at the position on the road. Say that.
When the stop position is adjusted, the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the adjusted stop position is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop.

When the vehicle 100 determines the stop position to be stopped, the stop position determination unit 14 outputs the stop position information to the automatic driving control unit 102.
The automatic driving control unit 102 stops the vehicle 100 at the stop position determined by the destination determination unit 101 at the stop position determined by the stop position determination unit 14.

The operation of the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment.
The peripheral information acquisition unit 11 acquires peripheral information from the sensor 2 (step ST201). The peripheral information acquisition unit 11 outputs the acquired peripheral information to the passenger detection unit 12 and the stop position determination unit 14.

The passenger detection unit 12 detects the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 and the positions of the passengers based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 in step ST201 (step ST202).
The passenger detection unit 12 outputs passenger information to the reference passenger determination unit 13.

When there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12 based on the passenger information output from the passenger detection unit 12 in step ST202, the reference passenger determination unit 13 is selected from among the plurality of passengers based on the passenger information. The reference passenger is determined (step ST203). Specifically, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger at the head of the line of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 is a reference passenger.
If there is only one passenger detected by the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13 may determine that one passenger as the reference passenger.

The stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position at which the vehicle 100 should stop. Specifically, the stop position determination unit 14 is based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 in step ST201 and the position of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13 in step ST203. Determines the position at which the vehicle 100 is presumed to be easy to get into the vehicle 100 as the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop (step ST204).
When the vehicle 100 determines the stop position to be stopped, the stop position determination unit 14 outputs the stop position information to the automatic driving control unit 102 (step ST205).
The automatic driving control unit 102 stops the vehicle 100 at the stop position determined by the destination determination unit 101 at the stop position determined by the stop position determination unit 14.

In FIG. 3, the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment determines the positions of the reference passenger and the reference passenger, and the vehicle 100 is at the stop position where the vehicle 100 determined based on the position of the reference passenger should stop. It is a figure which shows the image of an example of a stopped state. In FIG. 3, as an example, the vehicle 100 is a fixed-route bus, and the fixed-route bus is stopped at a stop position determined by the stop position determination device 1. FIG. 3 shows the state of the bus stop and the image of the vehicle 100 (route bus) stopped at the bus stop as seen from above. In FIG. 3, five passengers 301a to 301e are waiting in line for the arrival of the route bus in the passenger waiting area of the bus stop, and passenger 301a among the five passengers 301a to 301e is lined up at the top. It is assumed that the route bus has arrived in this state. In FIG. 3, the road facing the bus stop is a flat road, and it is assumed that there are no obstacles on the road.

When the route bus approaches the stop and the stop position determination instruction information is output from the automatic driving control unit 102, the control unit of the stop position determination device 1 activates a function of determining the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop.
The reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger 301a waiting for the arrival of the route bus at the head of the line is the standard passenger among the passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12.
The stop position determination unit 14 determines that the position at which the passenger 301a, which is the reference passenger, is presumed to easily get on the route bus is the stop position of the route bus. In FIG. 3, the stop position determination unit 14 is the position where the travel route by the passenger 301a to the boarding port 100a of the route bus is the shortest, in other words, the position of the passenger 301a and the boarding port 100a of the route bus are closest to each other. It is assumed that the position is determined to be the stop position of the route bus.
Then, the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the route bus at the stop position determined by the stop position determination unit 14. As a result, the route bus will stop at a position as shown in the image shown in FIG.

In this way, the stop position determination device 1 detects the positions of the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 and the passengers based on the peripheral information, and if there are a plurality of detected passengers, among the plurality of passengers. Judge the standard passenger. The stop position determination device 1 determines that the position at which the reference passenger is likely to get into the vehicle 100 is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop, based on the peripheral information and the position of the reference passenger. The stop position determined by the stop position determination device 1 is the stop position when the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the vehicle 100.
Therefore, the stop position determination device 1 is one of a plurality of passengers when the vehicle 100 is stopped and there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 in order to get into the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 can be stopped at a position where it is easy to ride.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the stop position determination device 1 is based on the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 that acquires peripheral information about the periphery of the vehicle 100 and the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11. When there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100, a passenger detection unit 12 for detecting the position of the passenger, and a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12, the vehicle 100 is stopped from among the plurality of passengers. The standard passenger judgment unit 13 for determining the standard passenger, the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, and the standard passenger position determined by the standard passenger judgment unit 13 are used as the standard for determining the stop position. Based on this, it is configured to include a stop position determination unit 14 for determining a position at which the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle 100 as a stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. Therefore, when the vehicle 100 carries a person (passenger), the stop position determination device 1 is used when there are a plurality of people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 in order to get into the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 can be stopped at a position where it is easy to ride.

Embodiment 2.
In the first embodiment, when there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 at the stop location, the passenger at the head of the line is determined to be the reference passenger.
In the second embodiment, when there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 at the stop location, the embodiment in which the reference passenger is determined based on the attributes of the passengers will be described.
In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 do not form a line and are waiting for the vehicle 100 at an arbitrary position in the passenger waiting area of the stop place.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle 100 equipped with a stop position determination device 1a according to a second embodiment.
In FIG. 4, the same configurations as those of the vehicle 100 described with reference to FIG. 1 in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and duplicated description will be omitted.
In the second embodiment, the configuration of the stop position determination device 1a is different from the configuration of the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment. Specifically, the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment is different from the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment in that it includes a passenger attribute determination unit 15.
Further, the specific operations of the reference passenger determination unit 13 and the stop position determination unit 14 are different between the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment and the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment. The specific operations of the reference passenger determination unit 13 and the stop position determination unit 14 in the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment will be described later.

The passenger attribute determination unit 15 determines the passenger attributes detected by the passenger detection unit 12 based on the passenger information output from the passenger detection unit 12. In the second embodiment, the passenger detection unit 12 outputs the passenger information to the passenger attribute determination unit 15.
In the second embodiment, the attributes of the passenger are the elderly with bad legs, the person with crutches, the person in a wheelchair, the person with a white cane, the person who seems to be ill, the old person, the child, or , Gender, and other characteristics of passengers. An old man with bad legs is an old man who has a cane or an old man who has a bent back.
The passenger attribute determination unit 15 may determine the passenger attribute using a known technique, for example, when a captured image is included in the peripheral information, a known image recognition technique is used. Further, for example, when a monitoring device equipped with a camera capable of capturing an image of a passenger waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 at the stop location is installed, the passenger attribute determination unit 15 may perform the monitoring device from the monitoring device. The surveillance image captured by the passenger may be acquired and the attributes of the passenger may be determined based on the acquired surveillance image. The passenger attribute determination unit 15 acquires the monitoring image together with the information regarding the installation position of the monitoring device and the angle of view of the camera in the monitoring device. The passenger attribute determination unit 15 can determine, for example, which passenger has what attribute by combining peripheral information and a monitoring image.
The passenger attribute determination unit 15 associates information indicating a passenger's attribute with the passenger-identifiable information included in the passenger information, and outputs the information indicating the passenger's attribute to the reference passenger determination unit 13 as passenger information after the attribute is assigned.

When there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the reference passenger from among the plurality of passengers based on the attribute-assigned passenger information output from the passenger attribute determination unit 15. The reference passenger determination unit 13 can determine from the passenger information after the attribute is assigned that there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12.
Specifically, the reference passenger determination unit 13 is based on specific attribute information in which specific attributes (hereinafter referred to as "specific attributes") that should be given priority to make it easier to get into the vehicle 100 are defined. To judge. The reference passenger determination unit 13 determines a passenger having a specific attribute (hereinafter referred to as "specific attribute passenger") as a reference passenger based on the specific attribute information. The specific attribute information is stored in a place where the stop position determination device 1a can be referred.

Here, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an image of an example of the content of the specific attribute information in the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, a specific attribute is defined in the specific attribute information.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in the specific attribute information, the specific attribute may be given the priority of the specific attribute. In the specific attribute information shown in FIG. 5, the priority of the characteristic attribute is higher as the value is smaller. The priority of the specific attribute is referred to, for example, when the stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. The details of the stop position determination unit 14 in the second embodiment will be described later.

For example, it is assumed that the content of the specific attribute information is as shown in FIG. In this case, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger in the wheelchair is the reference passenger if the passenger in the wheelchair exists among the plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12 based on the passenger information after the attribute is assigned.

If there are a plurality of specific attribute passengers among a plurality of passengers, the standard passenger determination unit 13 determines that all the specific attribute passengers are standard passengers. For example, when there is one wheelchair passenger and one child among a plurality of passengers, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger and the child in the wheelchair are the reference passengers. Further, for example, when a plurality of elderly people are present among a plurality of passengers, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that all of the plurality of elderly people are standard passengers.

If there is only one passenger detected by the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13 may determine that one passenger as the reference passenger.
Further, for example, when the reference passenger determination unit 13 has a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12, and there is no passenger of a specific attribute among the plurality of passengers, it is appropriate. The standard passenger may be judged by the method. For example, the reference passenger determination unit 13 may determine the passenger who is the frontmost in the traveling direction of the vehicle 100 among the plurality of passengers as the reference passenger.

The reference passenger determination unit 13 outputs the reference passenger information to the stop position determination unit 14.

The stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position at which the vehicle 100 should stop.
Specifically, the stop position determination unit 14 estimates that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 and the position of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13. It is determined that the position to be stopped is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop.
In the second embodiment, when there is only one reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14 uses the same method as the stop position determination method described in the first embodiment for the vehicle. It suffices to determine the stop position where 100 should stop.
In the second embodiment, as described above, there may be a plurality of reference passengers having a specific attribute determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13. In this case, the stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop based on the peripheral information and the position of the reference passenger, in consideration of the specific attribute possessed by the reference passenger.

Hereinafter, in the second embodiment, a method of determining the stop position at which the vehicle 100 should stop when a plurality of reference passengers are present will be described with reference to a specific example.
For example, the stop position determination unit 14 refers to the specific attribute information, and based on the priority given to the specific attribute of the reference passenger, the reference passenger having a specific attribute with a high priority (hereinafter, "priority reference passenger"). ) Is judged. For example, it is assumed that there are wheelchair passengers and children among the standard passengers. Further, it is assumed that the content of the specific attribute information is as shown in FIG. In this case, the priority given to the passenger in the wheelchair is higher than the priority given to the child. Therefore, the stop position determination unit 14 determines the passenger in the wheelchair as the priority reference passenger. Then, the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the position where the priority reference passenger is likely to get into the vehicle 100 is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop, based on the peripheral information and the position of the priority reference passenger. The stop position determination unit 14 should stop the vehicle 100 at a position where it is estimated that the priority reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 by the same method as the stop position determination method described in the first embodiment. It should be judged as the stop position.

Further, for example, the stop position determination unit 14 determines a position at which the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle 100 based on the density of the number of the plurality of reference passengers, and the stop position at which the vehicle 100 should stop is determined. You may judge that. For example, in a stoptable area, a standard passenger who is waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 by one person and three people who are crowded at a position away from the one standard passenger are waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100. Suppose there is a standard passenger. In addition, the fact that passengers are crowded means that the reference passengers are present at a close distance to each other in the stoptable area. In this case, the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the mass of the three reference passengers has a high density of people, and based on the positions of the three reference passengers and the surrounding information, the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. To judge.

Specifically, for example, the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the position where it is estimated that any one of the standard passengers, which is crowded with three people, can easily get in is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. do it. The stop position determination unit 14 may determine the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop by the same method as the stop position determination method described in the first embodiment.
Further, for example, the stop position determination unit 14 sets the minimum circle including the position of the reference passengers who are crowded with three people, and assumes that the reference passenger is in the center of the circle (hereinafter, "deemed reference passengers"). ”), The center of the circle is regarded as the standard passenger position. Then, the stop position determination unit 14 may determine the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop based on the position of the deemed reference passenger and the peripheral information. In addition, the stop position determination unit 14 uses the same method as the stop position determination method described in the first embodiment, and sets the position at which the deemed reference passenger is presumed to be easy to get in as the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. You just have to judge.

The above-mentioned example is only an example, and the stop position determination unit 14 determines that when there are a plurality of reference passengers, it is presumed that the reference passengers can easily get into the vehicle 100, and the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop is stopped. You just have to judge.
When the vehicle 100 determines the stop position to be stopped, the stop position determination unit 14 outputs the stop position information to the automatic driving control unit 102.

The operation of the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment.
The specific operations of steps ST601 to ST602 and ST606 of FIG. 6 are the same as the specific operations of steps ST201 to ST202 and step ST205 of FIG. 2, respectively, which have been described in the first embodiment. Therefore, duplicate explanations are omitted.

The passenger attribute determination unit 15 determines the passenger attributes detected by the passenger detection unit 12 based on the passenger information output from the passenger detection unit 12 in step ST602 (step ST603).
The passenger attribute determination unit 15 associates information indicating the passenger attribute with the information included in the passenger information that can identify the passenger, and outputs the information indicating the passenger attribute to the reference passenger determination unit 13 as passenger information after the attribute is assigned.

When there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit 12 in step ST602, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the plurality of passengers are based on the attribute-assigned passenger information output from the passenger attribute determination unit 15 in step ST603. The standard passenger is determined from among them (step ST604). Specifically, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the specific attribute passenger as the reference passenger based on the specific attribute information.
The reference passenger determination unit 13 outputs the reference passenger information to the stop position determination unit 14.

The stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position at which the vehicle 100 to be stopped should be stopped. Specifically, the stop position determination unit 14 is based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 in step ST601 and the position of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13 in step ST604. Determines the position at which the vehicle 100 is presumed to be easy to get into the vehicle 100 as the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop (step ST605).
When there are a plurality of reference passengers having specific attributes determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14 takes into consideration the specific attributes of the reference passengers and based on the peripheral information and the position of the reference passengers. , Determine the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop.
When the vehicle 100 determines the stop position to be stopped, the stop position determination unit 14 outputs the stop position information to the automatic driving control unit 102.

In FIG. 7, the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment determines a reference passenger based on the attributes possessed by the passenger, and the vehicle 100 is at the stop position to be determined based on the position of the reference passenger. It is a figure which shows the image of an example of a stopped state. In FIG. 7, as an example, the vehicle 100 is a sightseeing bus, and the sightseeing bus is stopped at the stop position determined by the stop position determination device 1a at the meeting place. The sightseeing bus picks up the passengers gathering at the meeting place, in other words, the passengers waiting for the arrival of the sightseeing bus at the meeting place, and picks up the passengers at the meeting place. FIG. 7 shows the state of the meeting place and the image of the vehicle 100 (tourist bus) stopped at the meeting place as seen from above. In FIG. 7, it is assumed that the sightseeing bus arrives at the meeting place with nine passengers 701a to 701i waiting for the arrival of the sightseeing bus at any position in the passenger waiting area at the meeting place. Passenger 701b is a child and passenger 701e is a wheelchair passenger. In FIG. 7, the road facing the meeting place is a flat road, and it is assumed that there are no obstacles on the road. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger based on the specific attribute information as shown in FIG. When there are a plurality of reference passengers, the stop position determination unit 14 determines the priority reference passengers based on the priority of the specific attribute of the reference passengers, and determines the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop.

When the sightseeing bus approaches the meeting place and the stop position determination instruction information is output from the automatic driving control unit 102, the control unit (not shown) of the stop position determination device 1a determines the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop. Activate the function.
The reference passenger determination unit 13 determines passengers 701b and passengers 701e having specific attributes from the passengers 701a to 701i detected by the passenger detection unit 12 and determined by the passenger attribute determination unit 15 as reference passengers.
The stop position determination unit 14 compares the priority given to the specific attribute of the passenger 701b, which is the reference passenger, with the priority given to the specific attribute of the passenger 701e, and sets the passenger 701e as the priority reference passenger. to decide. Then, the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the position where the passenger 701e, which is the priority reference passenger, is presumed to easily get on the sightseeing bus is the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop. In FIG. 7, the stop position determination unit 14 is the position where the travel route by the passenger 701e to the tourist bus entrance 100a is the shortest, in other words, the position of the passenger 701e and the tourist bus entrance 100a are closest to each other. It is assumed that the position is determined to be the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop.
Then, the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the sightseeing bus at the stop position determined by the stop position determination unit 14. As a result, the sightseeing bus will stop at a position as shown in the image shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment determines a reference passenger based on the attributes of passengers, and the vehicle 100 determined based on the position of the reference passenger is at a stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. It is a figure which shows the image of another example of the state where is stopped. In FIG. 8, as in FIG. 7, it is assumed that the vehicle 100 is a sightseeing bus, and the state of the meeting place and the image of the vehicle 100 (tourist bus) stopped at the meeting place are shown from above. There is.
In FIG. 8, it is assumed that the sightseeing bus arrives at the meeting place with nine passengers 801a to 801i waiting for the arrival of the sightseeing bus at any position in the passenger waiting area at the meeting place. Passengers 801b and passengers 801f to 801h are old people, and passengers 801f to passengers 801h are crowded and waiting for the arrival of a sightseeing bus. In FIG. 8, the road facing the meeting place is a flat road, and it is assumed that there are no obstacles on the road. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 8, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger based on the specific attribute information as shown in FIG. When there are a plurality of reference passengers, the stop position determination unit 14 determines the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop based on the density of the number of reference passengers.

When the sightseeing bus approaches the meeting place and the stop position determination instruction information is output from the automatic driving control unit 102, the control unit of the stop position determination device 1a activates the function of determining the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop. ..
The reference passenger determination unit 13 determines

passengers

801b and 801f to 801h having specific attributes from the passengers 801a to 801i detected by the passenger detection unit 12 and determined by the passenger attribute determination unit 15 as reference passengers. ..
In FIG. 8, the stop position determination unit 14 sets the minimum circle 802 including the positions of the reference passengers 801f to 801h, which are crowded with three people, and assumes that the deemed reference passenger exists at the center of the circle 802. It is assumed that the position where the position of the deemed standard passenger and the boarding gate 100a of the sightseeing bus are closest to each other is the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop.
Then, the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the sightseeing bus at the stop position determined by the stop position determination unit 14. As a result, the sightseeing bus will stop at a position as shown in the image shown in FIG.

As described above, when the stop position determination device 1a detects the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 and the positions of the passengers based on the peripheral information, the stop position determination device 1a determines the attributes of the passengers. When there are a plurality of detected passengers, the stop position determination device 1a uses a specific attribute passenger having a specific attribute as a reference passenger among the plurality of passengers. Based on the position of the reference passenger who is a specific attribute passenger, the stop position determination device 1a determines that the position where the reference passenger is likely to get into the vehicle 100 is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. The stop position determined by the stop position determination device 1a is the stop position when the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the vehicle 100.
Therefore, when the vehicle 100 stops at the stop location and carries passengers, the stop position determination device 1 determines the attributes of the passengers when there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 in order to get into the vehicle 100. In consideration, the vehicle 100 can be stopped at a position where any one of the plurality of passengers can easily get on.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the stop position determination device 1a includes the passenger attribute determination unit 15 that determines the passenger attributes detected by the passenger detection unit 12, and the reference passenger determination unit 13 has a plurality of passenger attribute determination units 13. When a passenger with a specific attribute exists among the passengers, the passenger with the specific attribute is judged to be a reference passenger.
As a result, when the vehicle 100 carries a person (passenger), the stop position determination device 1a considers the attribute of the person when there are a plurality of people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 to get into the vehicle 100. Therefore, the vehicle 100 can be stopped at a position where any one of the plurality of people can easily get on.

Embodiment 3.
In the second embodiment, when there are a plurality of passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 at the stop location, the passenger with a specific attribute is determined to be the reference passenger, and the vehicle 100 should stop based on the position of the reference passenger. I was trying to judge the position.
In the third embodiment, in addition to the functions of the second embodiment, an embodiment of outputting information for performing control assisting when the vehicle 100 arrives at the stop location and the passenger gets into the vehicle 100 will be described. ..

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a vehicle 100 equipped with a stop position determination device 1b according to a third embodiment.
In FIG. 9, the same configurations as those of the vehicle 100 described with reference to FIG. 4 in the second embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and duplicated description will be omitted.
In the third embodiment, the configuration of the stop position determination device 1b is different from the configuration of the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment. Specifically, the stop position determination device 1b according to the third embodiment is different from the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment in that it includes an information output unit 16. The information output unit 16 includes a guidance information output unit 161 and a boarding gate control information output unit 162.
Further, in the third embodiment, the output device 4 is mounted on the vehicle 100, which is different from the configuration of the vehicle 100 of the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment. The output device 4 assumes, for example, a display device installed near the entrance of the vehicle 100 or a voice output device installed near the entrance of the vehicle 100.

The information output unit 16 outputs information for performing control that assists the passenger when boarding the vehicle 100.
The guidance information output unit 161 of the information output unit 16 provides information (hereinafter referred to as "guidance information") for causing boarding guidance or alerting when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that a passenger with a specific attribute is a reference passenger. , Output to the output device 4. In the third embodiment, when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger, the reference passenger determination unit 13 outputs information to the effect that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger to the information output unit 16.

When the guidance information is output from the guidance information output unit 161, the output device 4 outputs the guidance information. Specifically, for example, when the output device 4 is a display device, the display device sends a message such as "please slowly come here" or "be careful" to guide passengers to board. indicate. The display form of the guidance information by the display device is not limited to this. For example, the display device may illuminate the screen or a light included in the display device when the guidance information is output.
Further, for example, when the output device 4 is a voice output device, the voice output device "please slowly come here" or "be careful" to alert passengers when the vehicle 100 is stopped. Please output a voice such as "Please." The output form of the guidance information by the voice output device is not limited to this. For example, the voice output device may output a sound or a melody when the guidance information is output.
The guidance information output unit 161 can also output the guidance information to the display device and the voice output device.

In the guidance information output unit 161, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger with the specific attribute is the reference passenger, and the stop position determination unit 14 sets the position at which the reference passenger is estimated to be easy to get into the vehicle 100 as the stop position. If it is determined that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped, the guidance information may be output.
When the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped if the position at which the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle 100 is set as the stop position as it is, for example, the reference passenger is the vehicle 100. This is the case when there is an obstacle at a position that is presumed to be easy to get into. In this case, the stop position determination unit 14 adjusts the stop position so that the position where the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 is the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. can do. The fact that the stop position determination unit 14 can adjust the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop has already been explained in the first embodiment together with the fact that the stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop can be determined in consideration of the road shape. Therefore, a detailed description will be omitted.

The guidance information output unit 161 may change the output device 4 to which the guidance information is output according to the specific attribute of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13. Information regarding the specific attribute possessed by the reference passenger is output from the reference passenger determination unit 13 to the information output unit 16. For example, when the specific attribute of the reference passenger is a person holding a white cane, the guidance information output unit 161 outputs the guidance information to the voice output device.

The boarding gate control information output unit 162 of the information output unit 16 controls to lower the boarding gate or to pull out a step for boarding from the vehicle 100 when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that a passenger with a specific attribute is a reference passenger. Information for performing (hereinafter referred to as "passenger entrance control information") is output.
The boarding gate control information output unit 162 outputs the boarding gate control information to, for example, a boarding / alighting control device (not shown) mounted on the vehicle 100 and controlling the boarding gate or the step for boarding. When the boarding gate control information is output from the boarding gate control information output unit 162, the boarding / alighting control device lowers the boarding gate or pulls out a step for boarding when the vehicle 100 stops.

In the boarding gate control information output unit 162, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger with the specific attribute is the reference passenger, and the stop position determination unit 14 stops at the position where it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100. If it is determined that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped if the position is set, the boarding gate control information may be output.

The boarding gate control information output unit 162 may determine whether or not to output the boarding gate control information according to the specific attribute of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit 13. For example, when the specific attribute of the reference passenger is a person in a wheelchair, the boarding gate control information output unit 162 may output the boarding gate control information to the boarding gate control device.

The operation of the stop position determination device 1b according to the third embodiment will be described.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the stop position determination device 1b according to the third embodiment.
Since the specific operations of steps ST1001 to ST1005 and step ST1008 of FIG. 10 are the same as the specific operations of steps ST601 to ST606 of FIG. 6 described in the second embodiment, they are duplicated. The explanation given is omitted.

The guidance information output unit 161 of the information output unit 16 sends guidance information to the output device 4 to guide the passengers or call attention when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger in step ST1004. Output. (Step ST1006).

The boarding gate control information output unit 162 of the information output unit 16 controls to lower the boarding gate or to pull out a step for boarding from the vehicle 100 when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that a passenger with a specific attribute is a reference passenger. The boarding gate control information for this is output to the boarding / alighting control device (step ST1007).

In the flowchart shown in FIG. 10, it is assumed that the stop position determination device 1b operates in the order of step ST1006, step ST1007, and step ST1008, but the operation order of step ST1006, step ST1007, and step ST1008. Is not limited to this. The order of operations of steps ST1006 to ST1008 may be changed, or the operations of steps ST1006 to ST1008 may be performed in parallel.

In FIG. 11, the stop position determination device 1b according to the third embodiment determines a reference passenger based on the attributes of passengers, and the vehicle 100 determined based on the position of the reference passenger is at a stop position where the vehicle 100 should stop. It is a figure which shows the image of an example of the state which output guidance information when the vehicle was stopped. In FIG. 11, as an example, the vehicle 100 is a sightseeing bus, and the sightseeing bus is stopped at the stop position determined by the stop position determination device 1b at the meeting place. FIG. 11 shows the state of the meeting place and the image of the sightseeing bus stopped at the meeting place as seen from above.
In FIG. 11, it is assumed that the sightseeing bus arrives at the meeting place with nine passengers 1101a to 1101i waiting for the arrival of the sightseeing bus at any position in the passenger waiting area at the meeting place. Passenger 1101b is a child and passenger 1101e is a wheelchair passenger. In addition, in FIG. 11, it is assumed that there is a step at a place facing the passenger 1101e on the road facing the meeting place. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 11, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger based on the specific attribute information as shown in FIG. 5 in the second embodiment. .. When there are a plurality of reference passengers, the stop position determination unit 14 determines the priority reference passengers based on the priority of the specific attribute of the reference passengers, and determines the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop. In addition, if there is an obstacle at a position where it is estimated that the standard passenger can easily get on the sightseeing bus, the stop position determination unit 14 is at a position avoiding the obstacle and the standard passenger gets on the sightseeing bus. The stop position is adjusted so that the position that is presumed to be easy is the stop position of the sightseeing bus.

When the sightseeing bus approaches the meeting place and the stop position determination instruction information is output from the automatic driving control unit 102, the control unit (not shown) of the stop position determination device 1b determines the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop. Activate the function.
The reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the passengers 1101b and the passenger 1101e having a specific attribute from the passengers 1101a to 1101i detected by the passenger detection unit 12 and the passenger attribute determination unit 15 determines the attributes as the reference passengers.
The stop position determination unit 14 compares the priority given to the specific attribute of the passenger 1101b, which is the reference passenger, with the priority given to the specific attribute of the passenger 1101e, and sets the passenger 1101e as the priority reference passenger. to decide. Then, the stop position determination unit 14 determines that the position where the passenger 1101e, which is the priority reference passenger, is presumed to easily get on the sightseeing bus is the stop position where the sightseeing bus should stop. Here, on the road facing the meeting place, there is a step at the place facing the passenger 1101e. That is, there is an obstacle at the position where the travel route to the boarding gate by the passenger 1101e is the shortest. Therefore, in FIG. 11, the stop position determination unit 14 adjusts the stop position, and the sightseeing bus stops at a position avoiding a step and where it is estimated that the passenger 1101e can easily get on the sightseeing bus. Judge as the stop position.

Further, the guidance information output unit 161 outputs the guidance information to the voice output device. Further, the boarding gate control information output unit 162 outputs the boarding gate control information to the boarding / alighting control device.
Then, the automatic driving control unit 102 stops the sightseeing bus at the stop position determined by the stop position determination unit 14. As a result, the sightseeing bus will stop at a position as shown in the image shown in FIG. Also, when the sightseeing bus stops, the voice output device outputs the message "Please come here slowly" by voice. Further, although not shown in FIG. 11, the boarding / alighting control device draws out, for example, a step for boarding.

As described above, when the stop position determination device 1b determines that the passenger with the specific attribute is the reference passenger, the stop position determination device 1b outputs guidance information or boarding gate control information. Further, the stop position determination device 1b cannot stop the vehicle 100 if the specific attribute passenger is determined as the reference passenger and the position where the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle 100 is set as the stop position as it is. If so, the guidance information or the boarding gate control information is output.
Therefore, the stop position determination device 1b can output information for performing control that assists the passenger when the vehicle 100 is stopped and the passenger gets into the vehicle 100. As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can support the passengers in the vehicle so that the passengers can easily get into the vehicle 100.

In the above-mentioned third embodiment, the stop position determination device 1b is provided with the information output unit 16 in addition to the configuration of the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment, but this is only an example. The stop position determination device 1b may include an information output unit 16 in addition to the configuration of the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment.
In this case, the guidance information output unit 161 outputs guidance information to the output device 4, for example, when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the reference passenger.
Further, in the guidance information output unit 161, for example, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the reference passenger, and the stop position determination unit 14 sets the position at which it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 as the stop position. Then, when it is determined that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped, the guidance information may be output to the output device 4.
For example, when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the reference passenger, the boarding gate control information output unit 162 outputs the boarding / alighting gate control information to the boarding / alighting control device.
In the boarding gate control information output unit 162, for example, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines the reference passenger, and the stop position determination unit 14 sets the position at which it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle 100 as the stop position. If it is determined that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped, the boarding / alighting control information may be output to the boarding / alighting control device.

Even when the stop position determination device 1b according to the third embodiment is applied to the stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment, the stop position determination device 1b is used when the vehicle 100 stops and the passenger gets into the vehicle 100. It is possible to output information for performing control that helps. As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can support the passengers to get on the vehicle 100 so that the passengers can easily get on the vehicle 100.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, the stop position determination device 1b provides guidance information for guiding the passenger or calling attention when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger of the specific attribute is the reference passenger. It is configured to include a guidance information output unit 161 to be output.
As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can output information for performing control that assists when the vehicle 100 is stopped and a person (passenger) gets into the vehicle 100. As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can support the person who gets into the vehicle 100 so that the person can easily get into the vehicle 100.

Further, according to the third embodiment, in the stop position determination device 1b, the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the passenger with the specific attribute is the reference passenger, and the stop position determination unit 14 makes it easy for the reference passenger to get into the vehicle 100. When it is determined that the vehicle 100 cannot be stopped if the presumed position is set as the stop position as it is, a guidance information output unit 161 for outputting guidance information for guiding the passenger or calling attention is provided. did.
As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can output information for performing control that assists when the vehicle 100 is stopped and a person gets into the vehicle 100. As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can support the person who gets into the vehicle 100 so that the person can easily get into the vehicle 100.

Further, according to the third embodiment, when the reference passenger determination unit 13 determines that the specific attribute passenger is a reference passenger, the stop position determination device 1b controls to lower the boarding gate or steps for boarding from the vehicle 100. It is configured to include a boarding gate control information output unit 162 that outputs boarding gate control information for performing pull-out control.
As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can output information for performing control that assists when the vehicle 100 is stopped and a person gets into the vehicle 100. As a result, the stop position determination device 1b can support the person who gets into the vehicle 100 so that the person can easily get into the vehicle 100.

12A and 12B are diagrams showing an example of the hardware configuration of the stop

position determination devices

1, 1a, 1b according to the first to third embodiments. The stop position determination device 1 according to the first embodiment, the stop position determination device 1a according to the second embodiment, and the stop position determination device 1b according to the third embodiment have the same hardware configuration.
In the first to third embodiments, the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, the passenger attribute determination unit 15, and the information output unit 16 The function is realized by the processing circuit 1201. That is, when there are a plurality of people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle 100 to get into the vehicle 100, the stop

position determination devices

1, 1a, 1b are located at a position where any one of the plurality of people can easily get on. A processing circuit 1201 that controls to stop the 100 is provided.
The processing circuit 1201 may be dedicated hardware as shown in FIG. 12A, or may be a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1205 that executes a program stored in the memory 1206 as shown in FIG. 12B.

When the processing circuit 1201 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 1201 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or an FPGA (Field-Programmable). Gate Array) or a combination of these is applicable.

When the processing circuit 1201 is the CPU 1205, the functions of the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, the passenger attribute determination unit 15, and the information output unit 16 are It is realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. That is, the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, the passenger attribute determination unit 15, and the information output unit 16 are HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 1202. It is realized by a processing circuit 1201 such as a CPU 1205 that executes a program stored in a memory 1206 and a system LSI (Large-Scale Information). Further, the programs stored in the HDD 1202, the memory 1206, etc. include the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, the passenger attribute determination unit 15, and information output. It can also be said that the procedure or method of the part 16 is executed by a computer. Here, the memory 1206 is, for example, a RAM, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Projector), or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Molecular) volatile Read. It corresponds to a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, a DVD (Digital Versaille Disc), or the like.

It should be noted that some of the functions of the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, the passenger attribute determination unit 15, and the information output unit 16 are dedicated hardware. It may be realized by hardware, and partly by software or firmware. For example, the peripheral information acquisition unit 11 and the information output unit 16 are realized by the processing circuit 1201 as dedicated hardware, and the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, and the vehicle stop position determination unit 14. The function of the passenger attribute determination unit 15 can be realized by the processing circuit 1201 reading and executing the program stored in the memory 1206.
Further, the stop

position determination devices

1, 1a, 1b are an input interface device 1203 and an output interface device that perform wired communication or wireless communication with a device such as a sensor 2, a map DB 3, an output device 4, or an automatic operation control unit 102. 1204 is provided.

In the above-described first to third embodiments, the stop

position determination devices

1, 1a and 1b are in-vehicle devices, and the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, and the stop position determination unit 14 are used. , The passenger attribute determination unit 15 and the information output unit 16 are provided in the stop

position determination devices

1, 1a, 1b. Not limited to this, the peripheral information acquisition unit 11, the passenger detection unit 12, the reference passenger determination unit 13, the stop position determination unit 14, the passenger attribute determination unit 15, or a part or all of the information output unit 16 is a server. A vehicle-mounted device and a server may be used to configure a stop position determination system.

In the present disclosure, any combination of the embodiments can be freely combined, any component of the embodiment can be modified, or any component can be omitted in each embodiment.

The stop position determination device according to the present disclosure stops the vehicle at a position where one of the plurality of people can easily get on when there are a plurality of people waiting for the arrival of the vehicle in order to get into the vehicle. Since it is configured so that the vehicle can be stopped, it can be applied to a stop position determination device for determining a stop position where the vehicle should stop.

1,1a, 1b Stop position determination device, 2 Sensor, 3 Map DB, 4 Output device, 11 Peripheral information acquisition unit, 12 Passenger detection unit, 13 Standard passenger determination unit, 14 Stop position determination unit, 15 Passenger attribute determination unit, 16 information output unit, 161 guidance information output unit, 162 boarding gate control information output unit, 100 vehicle, 100a boarding gate, 101 destination judgment unit, 102 automatic operation control unit, 1201 processing circuit, 1202 HDD, 1203 input interface device, 1204 Output interface device, 1205 CPU, 1206 memory.

Claims

Peripheral information acquisition department that acquires peripheral information about the surroundings of the vehicle,
A passenger detection unit that detects the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle and the positions of the passengers based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit.
When there are a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit, a reference passenger determination unit for determining a reference passenger to be used as a reference for determining the stop position of the vehicle from among the plurality of passengers.
The vehicle should stop at a position where it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit and the position of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit. A stop position determination device equipped with a stop position determination unit that determines the stop position.
The plurality of passengers are in a line.
The stop position determination device according to claim 1, wherein the reference passenger determination unit determines the passenger at the head of the row as the reference passenger.
It is provided with a passenger attribute determination unit that determines the passenger attributes detected by the passenger detection unit.
Based on the attributes of the passengers detected by the passenger detection unit, the reference passenger determination unit refers to the specific attribute passengers as the reference passengers when there are specific attribute passengers having the specific attributes among the plurality of passengers. The stop position determination device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is determined to be.
The stop position determination unit
When there are a plurality of reference passengers determined by the reference passenger determination unit, the priority reference passenger is determined based on the priority given to the specific attribute, and the peripheral information and the position of the priority reference passenger are used as the basis for determining the priority reference passenger. Priority Criteria. The stop position determination device according to claim 3, wherein the position where passengers are presumed to be easy to get in is determined to be the stop position where the vehicle should stop.
The stop position determination unit
The stop according to claim 3, wherein when there are a plurality of reference passengers determined by the reference passenger determination unit, the stop position at which the vehicle should stop is determined based on the density of the plurality of reference passengers. Positioning device.
The stop position determination device according to claim 3, further comprising a guidance information output unit that outputs guidance information for guiding or calling attention when the reference passenger determination unit determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger. ..
The reference passenger determination unit determines the specific attribute passenger as the reference passenger, and the stop position determination unit uses the position where the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle as the stop position. The stop position determination device according to claim 3, further comprising a guidance information output unit that outputs guidance information for guiding or calling attention when it is determined that the vehicle cannot be stopped.
When the reference passenger determination unit determines that the specific attribute passenger is the reference passenger, the boarding gate that outputs boarding gate control information for controlling to lower the boarding gate or controlling to pull out a step for boarding from the vehicle. The stop position determination device according to claim 3, further comprising a control information output unit.
When an obstacle exists at a position where the reference passenger is estimated to be easy to get into the vehicle, the stop position determination unit sets the position where the reference passenger is estimated to be easy to get into the vehicle as the stop position. Then, it is determined that the vehicle cannot be stopped, and the vehicle should stop at a position avoiding the obstacle and at a position where it is estimated that the reference passenger can easily get into the vehicle. The stop position determination device according to claim 3, wherein the stop position is adjusted so as to be a position.
The step in which the peripheral information acquisition unit acquires peripheral information about the surroundings of the vehicle,
A step in which the passenger detection unit detects the passengers waiting for the arrival of the vehicle and the positions of the passengers based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit.
When the reference passenger determination unit has a plurality of passengers detected by the passenger detection unit, the step of determining the reference passenger to be the reference when determining the stop position of the vehicle from among the plurality of passengers,
Based on the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit and the position of the reference passenger determined by the reference passenger determination unit, the stop position determination unit determines the position at which the reference passenger is presumed to easily get into the vehicle. A stop position determination method including a step for determining the stop position at which the vehicle should stop.