WO2023008009A1 - Lane change assistance device, lane change assistance method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

This lane change assistance device includes: a conflicting vehicle detecting unit which, in response to an attempt by an automated driving system of a host vehicle to change lanes, detects a conflicting vehicle, which is a vehicle within a prescribed distance from the host vehicle and which is attempting to change lanes; a lane change permitting unit which permits the automated driving system to change lanes, in response to the conflicting vehicle detecting unit not detecting a conflicting vehicle; a priority level output unit which, in response to the conflicting vehicle detecting unit detecting a conflicting vehicle, determines and outputs a lane change priority level for vehicles including the detected conflicting vehicle and the host vehicle; and a lane change control unit which controls the change of lane by the automated driving system in accordance with the priority level.

Description

Lane change support device, lane change support method and computer program

This disclosure relates to a lane change support device, a lane change support method, and a computer program. This application claims priority based on Japanese Application No. 2021-123115 filed on July 28, 2021, and incorporates all the content described in the Japanese Application.

Various systems for assisting drivers of automobiles and motorcycles (hereinafter referred to as vehicles) have been proposed and some have been implemented. Such systems aim to alleviate the burden on the driver of the various problems he encounters when driving the vehicle. As such a system, there is a lane change support system.

There are many opportunities to change lanes when driving a vehicle. Driving a vehicle, such as changing from the driving lane to the passing lane when overtaking, changing from the passing lane to the driving lane when overtaking is completed, changing the driving lane to the right-turning lane before an intersection, and changing lanes before a fork on a highway. When doing so, lane changes are made in various scenes. Merging from the acceleration lane to the driving lane at the entrance to the highway also corresponds to a lane change.

In this way, there are many opportunities for vehicle drivers to change lanes. A lane change is performed in a situation where the own vehicle, the surrounding vehicles traveling in the same lane as the own vehicle, and the vehicles traveling in the lane to be changed to are all traveling at a considerable speed. For this reason, a high degree of caution is required of the driver when changing lanes. Before a branch on an expressway or the like, not only your vehicle but also other vehicles often change lanes almost at the same time, so it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the movements of other vehicles.

On the other hand, research is being conducted on vehicles that communicate wirelessly with infrastructure equipment and with surrounding vehicles, and use data received wirelessly to assist driving, for example, autonomous driving. Vehicles with such wireless communication functions are hereinafter referred to as "connected vehicles." There is a demand for a system that supports safe lane changes in the same way as for normal vehicles, even when information obtained through wireless communication is used to assist driving.

Patent Literature 1 described later discloses an automatic driving system that prevents a phenomenon called hunting that occurs when multiple automatically driving vehicles having the same function are traveling in the same lane and the vehicles change lanes at the same time. An operating system is disclosed. Such problems can occur not only between self-driving vehicles with the same functions, but also between vehicles that use similar methods of route determination. In the automatic driving system disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a plurality of automatic driving vehicles that may change lanes at the same time change lanes, the execution interval of lane selection judgment processing is varied. is proposing.

JP 2018-025993 A

A lane change support device according to a first aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle within a predetermined distance from a vehicle that is about to change lanes in response to an automatic driving system of the vehicle that is about to change lanes. A competing vehicle detection unit that detects a competing vehicle, a lane change permission unit that permits a lane change by the automated driving system in response to the fact that the competing vehicle detection unit does not detect a competing vehicle, and a competing vehicle detection unit. In response to detecting a vehicle, a priority output unit that determines and outputs the priority of lane change in the detected vehicle including the competing vehicle and the own vehicle, and according to the priority, lane change by the automatic driving system. and a lane change control unit for controlling.

A lane change support method according to a second aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle within a predetermined distance from a vehicle in response to an automatic driving system of the vehicle equipped with the computer attempting to change lanes. a step of detecting a competing vehicle about to change lanes; a step of allowing the automated driving system to change lanes in response to the fact that no competing vehicle was detected; determining and outputting a lane change priority for vehicles including the detected competing vehicle and the own vehicle in response to a competing vehicle being detected in the detecting step; and controlling lane changes by the driving system.

A computer program according to a third aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to change lanes in a vehicle within a predetermined distance from the vehicle in response to an automatic driving system of the vehicle equipped with the computer. There is a competing vehicle detection unit that detects a competing vehicle that is about to change lanes, and a lane change permission unit that permits lane changes by the automated driving system in response to the fact that the competing vehicle detection unit does not detect the competing vehicle. a priority output unit for determining and outputting a lane change priority for a vehicle including the detected competing vehicle and the own vehicle in response to the competing vehicle detection unit detecting a competing vehicle; , functions as a lane change control unit that controls lane changes by the automatic driving system.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the state of a road to which the lane change support method according to the first embodiment of this disclosure is applied. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an in-vehicle device that implements the lane change support method according to the first embodiment of this disclosure. FIG. 3 is a hardware block diagram of the in-vehicle device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the control structure of a program for lane change support executed by the in-vehicle device shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a lane change method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining a lane change method in the first modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining the lane change method in the second modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the control structure of the program for lane change assistance in the second embodiment of this disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the control structure of part of the routine of the program shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the control structure of another part of the routine of the program shown in FIG.

[Problems to be solved by this disclosure]
The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 can reduce the possibility that a plurality of automatically driven vehicles change lanes at the same time. However, depending on the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, variations only occur in the timing at which individual vehicles change lanes. Therefore, in some cases, a particular vehicle may not be able to make the required lane change. Depending on the travel plan of the vehicle, the vehicle may have to make a long detour when such a lane change is not possible. If such a vehicle is a large vehicle, a large amount of fuel is consumed, which is a social loss. When a vehicle that needs to reach its destination in a hurry fails to make the required lane change, sometimes there can be a great social loss. For example, when a vehicle carrying perishables takes a long detour, the food it carries may be damaged and wasted. The technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1 lacks the perspective of reducing the occurrence of such social losses. The technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1 also attempts to solve problems that may arise when there are multiple autonomous vehicles with similar functions. However, there is more variety on the actual road. For example, vehicles other than connected vehicles (hereinafter referred to as “non-connected vehicles”) often exist. The technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 cannot solve the lane change when not only connected vehicles but also non-connected vehicles are present around the vehicle.

Therefore, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide a lane change support device, a lane change support method, and a computer program that can reduce the social loss that occurs when multiple vehicles change lanes.

This disclosure also provides a lane change support device, a lane change support method, and a computer program that can reduce the social loss that occurs when multiple vehicles change lanes even when non-connected vehicles are present around them. With the goal.

[Effect of this disclosure]
As described above, according to this disclosure, it is possible to provide a lane change support device, a lane change support method, and a computer program that can reduce the social loss that occurs when multiple vehicles change lanes.

The above and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description of this disclosure understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[Description of Embodiments of the Present Disclosure]
In the following description and drawings, identical parts are provided with identical reference numerals. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated. Note that any one or more of the following features may be combined.

(1) A lane change support device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure responds to the fact that the automatic driving system of the own vehicle is about to change lanes, and the vehicle within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle A competing vehicle detection unit that detects a competing vehicle that is about to try, a lane change permission unit that permits a lane change by the automatic driving system in response to the competing vehicle detection unit detecting and not detecting a competing vehicle, and a conflict In response to the vehicle detection unit detecting a competing vehicle, a priority output unit that determines and outputs the lane change priority in the vehicle including the detected competing vehicle and the own vehicle, and according to the priority, automatic driving and a lane change control for controlling lane changes by the system.

When the vehicle that is scheduled to change lanes does not detect a competing vehicle to change lanes, the lane change permitting unit permits the vehicle to change lanes. When a competing vehicle is detected, the priority output unit determines lane change priorities for the competing vehicle and the host vehicle, and the lane change control unit controls lane changes by the automated driving system according to the priorities. Even if there are a plurality of vehicles attempting to change lanes almost at the same time, the order and timing of the lane changes of these vehicles are controlled according to their priorities. As a result, the automated driving system can safely change lanes. By determining the priority so as to reduce the occurrence of some social loss, it is possible to provide a lane change support device that can reduce the occurrence of social loss.

(2) The competing vehicle detection unit may include an intra-vehicle detection unit that detects a competing vehicle from among a vehicle queue consisting of vehicles existing within a predetermined distance from each other.

Competing vehicles are detected in a train of vehicles within a certain distance of each other. Since the lane change conflict is resolved only with vehicles that may conflict, it is possible to avoid unnecessary processing such as resolving the conflict with other vehicles.

(3) The vehicle in-line detection unit may not detect a vehicle that is more than a predetermined distance away from any vehicle in the vehicle line as a competing vehicle.

It is possible to avoid unnecessary processing such as resolving lane change conflicts with distant vehicles.

(4) The in-train detection unit may include a first detection unit that detects a competing vehicle in the train line by wireless communication with a vehicle in the train line.

By communicating wirelessly with competing vehicles, it is possible to collect information directly from each vehicle regarding whether or not there is a lane change conflict with the own vehicle. As a result, competing vehicles can be detected with high accuracy.

(5) The in-train detection unit may further include a second detection unit that detects a competing vehicle in the train line based on the output of a sensor mounted on the host vehicle.

By appropriately processing the output of the sensor by the second detection unit, dynamic information of surrounding vehicles can be obtained. The behavior of each vehicle can be known based on those dynamic information. When a vehicle that cannot communicate wirelessly is nearby, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a plan to change lanes based on the behavior of the vehicle.

(6) The in-train detection unit may include a detection unit that detects a competing vehicle in the train line based on the output of a sensor mounted on the host vehicle.

By appropriately processing the output of the sensor by the detection unit, dynamic information of the surrounding vehicles can be obtained. The behavior of each vehicle can be known based on those dynamic information. When a vehicle that cannot communicate wirelessly is nearby, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a plan to change lanes based on the behavior of the vehicle.

(7) The priority output unit may include a priority determination unit that determines the priority of competing vehicles using wireless communication with vehicles capable of wireless communication among the competing vehicles.

Information about lane changes can be obtained from each vehicle through wireless communication. As a result, competing vehicles can be accurately detected.

(8) The priority determination unit is a master vehicle determination unit that determines the master vehicle from among the competing vehicles and the own vehicle, and in response to the own vehicle becoming the master vehicle, selects the competing vehicle according to predetermined criteria. A master processing execution unit that determines a priority and performs processing for notifying a vehicle capable of wireless communication among competing vehicles using wireless communication; A priority receiving unit for receiving the priority of the own vehicle may be included.

When determining the priority of each vehicle among multiple vehicles, each vehicle cannot be determined individually. By selecting a master vehicle and using the determined priority for lane change conflict resolution, lane change can be performed safely and reliably.

(9) When there is a competing vehicle that cannot establish wireless communication with the own vehicle, the master processing execution unit may give the vehicle the highest priority.

In the case of a vehicle that cannot communicate wirelessly and that has been detected as planning to change lanes, it will not be possible to exchange necessary information with other vehicles. By causing these vehicles to change lanes earlier than the vehicles capable of wireless communication, the vehicles capable of wireless communication can change lanes later. Even when vehicles that can communicate with each other and vehicles that cannot communicate with each other coexist, a vehicle that cannot communicate with each other is caused to change lanes earlier than other vehicles, thereby causing confusion in lane change between vehicles that cannot communicate with vehicles that can communicate with each other. can be avoided.

(10) The master processing execution unit may determine the priority of the competing vehicle according to the vehicle type of the competing vehicle.

　Lane change priority is determined according to the vehicle type of competing vehicles. Vehicles of a specific vehicle type can preferentially change lanes. It is possible to prevent or reduce the occurrence of social loss when a lane change fails by allowing a vehicle, which causes a large social loss when lane change is not possible, to change lanes preferentially.

(11) The master processing execution unit determines the vehicle type of the competing vehicle, the position of the vehicle in the train, the size of the planned travel distance, and the fuel consumption efficiency of the competing vehicle other than those that cannot wirelessly communicate with the own vehicle. The priority may be determined according to any one of high and low, the amount of remaining battery power for running, the presence or absence of subscription to a specific service, or any combination thereof.

By determining the priority of lane changes according to these criteria, it is possible to reduce the social loss that occurs when vehicles cannot change lanes.

(12) The lane change support device may further include a suspension instruction unit that instructs the automatic driving system to suspend lane change in response to the fact that the automatic driving system of the host vehicle is about to change lanes.

When the automated driving system is about to change lanes, the lane change is put on hold. During the hold, surrounding competing vehicles are detected for safe lane changes and, if necessary, lane change priorities are determined. By controlling the lane change according to the priority, it is possible to prevent problems from occurring during the lane change.

(13) In the lane change support method according to the second aspect of the present disclosure, the computer, in response to the fact that the automatic driving system of the vehicle equipped with the computer is about to change lanes, the step of detecting a competing vehicle about to change lanes, and the computer in response to the step of detecting a competing vehicle not detecting a competing vehicle, allowing the automated driving system to change lanes. and a computer, in response to a competing vehicle being detected in the step of detecting a competing vehicle, determining and outputting lane change priorities for vehicles including the detected competing vehicle and the host vehicle. and the computer controlling lane changes by the automated driving system according to the priority.

If the computer in the vehicle that is scheduled to change lanes does not detect any competing vehicles in the step of detecting competing vehicles, the lane change is permitted. When a competing vehicle is detected, lane change priorities for the competing vehicle and the host vehicle are output. The lane change by the automatic driving system is controlled according to this priority. Even if there are a plurality of vehicles attempting to change lanes almost at the same time, the order and timing of the lane changes of these vehicles are controlled according to their priorities. As a result, lane changes can be made safely. Furthermore, by determining the priority so as to reduce the occurrence of some social loss, it is possible to provide a lane change support method that can reduce the occurrence of social loss.

(14) A computer program according to the third aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer, in response to an attempt to change lanes by an automatic driving system of the vehicle in which the computer is installed, to move within a predetermined distance from the vehicle. A vehicle in which a competing vehicle detection unit detects a competing vehicle that is about to change lanes, and a lane that permits a lane change by the automated driving system in response to the fact that the competing vehicle detection unit does not detect the competing vehicle. a change permitting unit, a priority output unit that, in response to the detection of a competing vehicle by the competing vehicle detection unit, determines and outputs a lane change priority for a vehicle including the detected competing vehicle and the host vehicle; It functions as a lane change control unit that controls the lane change by the automatic driving system according to the priority.

According to this computer program, when the self-driving system of the vehicle is planning to change lanes, the competing vehicle detection unit detects competing vehicles that are about to change lanes. If no competing vehicle is detected, the lane change permitting unit permits the automated driving system to change lanes. When the lane change support device detects a competing vehicle for a lane change, the priority output unit determines and outputs lane change priorities for the competing vehicle and the host vehicle. The lane change by the automatic driving system is controlled according to this priority. Even if there are a plurality of vehicles attempting to change lanes almost at the same time, the lane changes of these vehicles are controlled according to their priorities. As a result, lane changes can be made safely. Furthermore, the occurrence of social loss can be reduced by determining the priority so as to reduce the occurrence of some social loss.

[Details of the embodiment of the present disclosure]
Specific examples of the lane change support device, lane change support method, and computer program according to the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to these examples, but is indicated by the scope of the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of equivalents to the scope of the claims.

1. First Embodiment (1) Configuration A Overview FIG. 1 shows a road 30 including a branch to which a lane change support method according to the first embodiment is applied, and vehicles on the road 30. As shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 1, in this example, the road 30 is a single lane of a highway with a main road 40 including a travel lane 50 and an overtaking lane 52 and a branch off the main road 40 from the overtaking lane 52 to the right. line 42. The following description of the lane assistance method relates to lane changes for a series of vehicles 60 , 62 , 64 , 66 and 68 traveling in lane 50 towards a branching location of branch line 42 . In this first embodiment, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, all vehicles 60, 62, 64, 66 and 68 are scheduled to branch off to the right at branch line 42, and therefore all of them exit lane 50. Assume that it is necessary to change lanes to the passing lane 52 . It is also assumed that these vehicles are capable of wireless communication with each other.

In this embodiment, lane change support is provided between a series of vehicles whose distance between vehicles is less than a certain value. For example, a vehicle that is far away from a series of vehicles including the vehicle 60 (running ahead of the leading vehicle 60 beyond a certain distance), such as the vehicle 70 shown in FIG. 1, is subject to lane change assistance. I don't. In FIG. 1, the vehicle 70 has already passed the branch point to the branch line 42, but the same applies when the vehicle 70 is traveling before the branch point.

In the following embodiment, when the vehicles 60 and 68 attempt to change lanes to the passing lane 52 at the same time, the occurrence of accidents, traffic jams, etc. due to the lane change is prevented. At this time, some vehicles may not be able to change lanes. Then, in such a case, the lane change support method provides a function of determining which vehicle should be preferentially changed lanes.

B. Configuration of Vehicle FIG. 2 shows, as a block diagram, functional elements related to cooperative processing including lane support change among the components of vehicle 60 as an example. Referring to FIG. 2, a vehicle 60 includes an external wireless communication device 102 for performing data communication with an infrastructure device 90 and other vehicles 62, . Detection And Ranging), and various sensors 104 including millimeter wave radar and the like. The vehicle 50 further includes a plurality of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) 106 that electronically control each functional unit of the vehicle, and an automatic driving ECU 108 that controls the vehicle 60 within a certain range. The vehicle 60 further generates information for controlling the automatic driving ECU 108 based on information received from the external wireless communication device 102, the various sensors 104, the automatic driving ECU 108, etc., and provides the information to the automatic driving ECU 108. Includes part 100 . The vehicle 60 further includes an in-vehicle/outside interconnection unit 100, various sensors 104, an automatic driving ECU 108, and an in-vehicle network 110 connecting the automatic driving ECUs 108.

C Internal/external interconnecting section 100
Referring to FIG. 3, the in-vehicle/outside interconnection unit 100 is substantially a computer and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 150 , a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 152 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 154 . The in-vehicle/external interconnecting unit 100 further includes a bus 156 to which these are connected in common and to carry out communication of both commands and data between them, and an external radio communication device 102 connected to the bus 156 and shown in FIG. It includes an input/output I/F (Interface) 158 connected thereto, and a network I/F 160 connected to the bus 156 and connected to the in-vehicle network 110 shown in FIG.

The ROM 152 is a nonvolatile and rewritable memory. The ROM 152 stores a lane change support processing program executable by the CPU 150 for implementing the lane change support system according to the first embodiment by being executed by the CPU 150 . At least part of this program can be rewritten by a new program received from the outside through the wireless communication device 102 outside the vehicle.

It should be noted that the external wireless communication device 102 periodically receives a dynamic map containing information on nearby moving bodies from a traffic support server (not shown). This dynamic map is stored in the RAM 154 shown in FIG. 3 and used for general driving assistance to the driver. A program for realizing such general driving assistance is also stored in the ROM 152 and can be similarly updated according to information from the outside. Common driving assistance also includes a CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) function. Between cooperating vehicles having the CACC function, the speeds of the leading vehicle and the following vehicle can be controlled so that the inter-vehicle distance is constant according to the speed.

D Structure of Lane Change Support Processing Program Referring to FIG. 4, the lane change support processing program for realizing the lane change support method according to the first embodiment has the following control structure. Note that this program is repeatedly executed at very short fixed time intervals.

This program consists of a step 200 of acquiring dynamic information about the surrounding traffic conditions from sensor data output from various sensors 104 shown in FIG. 2, and a step of building and updating a dynamic map from the sensor data acquired in step 200. 202. This program further includes step 204 for observing the output for automatic driving of the vehicle from the automatic driving ECU 108 shown in FIG. and step 206 of understanding.

This program further includes step 208, following step 206, for branching the control flow according to whether the behavior of the host vehicle ascertained in step 206 is lane change. When the determination at step 208 is negative, i.e., no lane change will occur, execution of the program ends. This program is further executed when the determination in step 208 is affirmative, and instructs the automatic driving ECU 108 to suspend the lane change. and a step 210 of determining whether there is an , and branching control flow accordingly. This program further includes step 211 for instructing the automatic driving ECU 108 to cancel the pending lane change processing and ending the execution of this program when the determination in step 210 is negative. At step 210, further vehicles within a predetermined distance range from the detected vehicle are recursively detected. As a result, a vehicle line consisting of vehicles that are within a predetermined distance range from each other is detected.

This program is further executed when the determination in step 210 is affirmative, and the vehicle-to-vehicle communication with each vehicle detected in step 210 determines whether a lane change is scheduled as the vehicle course. including a step 212 of collecting information about. The program further includes a step 214 of determining whether there is a vehicle scheduled to change lanes among the surrounding vehicles based on the information collected in step 212, and branching the control flow accordingly. If the determination at step 214 is negative, control proceeds to step 211 . That is, even if there are vehicles around, if there is no vehicle scheduled to change lanes among them, the suspension of the lane change of the own vehicle is canceled and the execution of this program ends.

This program further includes step 216, which is executed after step 214 and determines a master vehicle according to a predetermined rule from among the vehicles detected in step 212 that are scheduled to change lanes. A master vehicle is a single vehicle selected from among a plurality of vehicles scheduled to change lanes, which decides which vehicle is to be preferentially changed lanes. It should be noted that processing speed is required in order to become a master vehicle. Therefore, it is desirable that a vehicle having an internal/external interconnecting section 100 that satisfies predetermined performance becomes the master vehicle. For example, if there is only one vehicle that satisfies such conditions in a series of vehicles, that vehicle is taken as the master vehicle. If there are two or more vehicles that meet the conditions for the master vehicle, the master vehicle is determined from among them. Various rules are conceivable for this purpose. Some examples are listed below.

(a) Let the leading vehicle among the master vehicle candidates be the master vehicle.

(b) Let the vehicle at the end of the master vehicle candidates be the master vehicle.

(c) A random number with a value range of [0, 1] is generated for each of the master vehicle candidates, and the vehicle with the largest (or smallest) value is set as the master vehicle.

If there is no vehicle that satisfies the conditions for the master vehicle, the master vehicle is selected from among all the vehicles according to any of the above (a) to (c).

After step 216, the program further includes step 218 for branching the control flow depending on whether or not the own vehicle has become the master vehicle as a result of the processing performed in step 216, and determining 220 each vehicle's lane change priority according to predetermined decision criteria. The program further includes a step 222 for notifying each vehicle and the self-driving ECU 108 of the vehicle of the priority determined in step 220 and ending execution of the program. The program further responds to a negative determination at step 218 by receiving, from the master vehicle, the priority of the host vehicle determined by the master vehicle at step 224; and a step 226 of notifying the automatic driving ECU 108 and ending the execution of this program.

In accordance with this notification, the autonomous driving ECU 108 changes lanes, if possible, after a predetermined period of time after vehicles with higher priority than the own vehicle complete lane changes. If the turn to change the lane comes after the vehicle reaches a position where it is difficult to change the lane, the automatic driving ECU 108 cancels the lane change.

E Priority Determination Rule In this embodiment, emergency vehicles have the highest priority. The priority of the vehicle type responsible for physical distribution is given next. The so-called owner's car has the next priority. In the same car model, the priority is given to a large one. In this embodiment, buses are classified as vehicles for physical distribution.

The reasons for prioritizing vehicles in this way are as follows. It is natural that emergency vehicles should be ranked highest. Vehicles responsible for physical distribution are given the second highest priority because there are restrictions on arrival time, and the social loss that occurs when the arrival time is delayed is relatively large. In the case of the owner's car, the priority is set to the lowest since there are often no restrictions on the arrival time.

The reasons for prioritizing large vehicles are as follows. In general, a large vehicle can travel a shorter distance with a unit of fuel than a small vehicle. Therefore, if the vehicle cannot enter the branch road at the correct branch point and detours around another route, more fuel will be consumed. As a result, fuel is wasted. As a result, there is also the problem that the total amount of exhaust gas emitted from the vehicle increases. Furthermore, the width of the road used as a detour is small. Therefore, there is concern that large vehicles running on detours will adversely affect traffic. Due to such circumstances, the priority of large vehicles is set higher in this embodiment.

(2) Operation A Overview A vehicle equipped with this lane change support device operates as follows. The in-vehicle/external interconnection unit 100 shown in FIG. 2 communicates with the infrastructural device 90 outside the vehicle through the wireless communication device 102 outside the vehicle, and receives and stores traffic conditions, a dynamic map, and the like. The in-vehicle/external interconnecting unit 100 further receives various sensor data from the various sensors 104 (step 200 in FIG. 4) and transmits them to the infrastructure device 90 . The in-vehicle-external interconnection unit 100 also stores the received sensor data in the in-vehicle-external interconnection unit 100, and builds and updates a detailed dynamic map based on the information and the dynamic map received from the infrastructure device 90. is performed (step 202 in FIG. 4). The in-vehicle/outside interconnection unit 100 provides the dynamic map thus obtained to the automatic driving ECU 108 . The automatic driving ECU 108 creates and constantly updates a travel plan based on these maps, given departure points and destinations, and route information therebetween. When it is determined that a lane change is necessary based on this travel plan, the automatic driving ECU 108 generates outputs to be given to each part of the vehicle in order to realize the lane change. The in-vehicle network 110 reads from the automatic driving ECU 108 before the output from the automatic driving ECU 108 is given to each part of the vehicle (step 206 in FIG. 4), and determines whether or not a lane change is planned (step 208 in FIG. 4). . If there is no lane change, the execution of this program ends (the determination at step 208 in FIG. 4 is negative). When there is a plan to change lanes, the in-vehicle network 110 uses the external wireless communication device 102 to communicate with surrounding vehicles running in the same lane to determine whether or not there are other vehicles within a certain distance. is determined (step 210). In this process, as a result, if there are a plurality of vehicles whose distance between them is less than a certain value, information about those vehicles can be obtained recursively.

If there is no surrounding vehicle within a certain distance (the determination in step 210 is negative), the control proceeds to step 211, where a command is issued to the automatic driving ECU 108 to release the suspension of the lane change, and execution of this program ends. do. If there are surrounding vehicles within a certain distance (the determination in step 210 is affirmative), in step 212 information indicating whether or not there is a plan to change lanes for each of these vehicles is obtained from the outside wireless communication device 102. Collected by inter-vehicle communication (step 212). Using this schedule, it is determined in step 214 whether any vehicles are scheduled to change lanes. If there is no such vehicle (the determination at step 214 is negative), at step 211, a command to release the suspension of the lane change is issued to the automatic driving ECU 108, and the execution of this program ends.

When the determination in step 214 is affirmative, in step 216 processing is performed to determine the master vehicle among the vehicles scheduled to change lanes. The method of determining the master vehicle in step 216 is as described above. At subsequent step 218, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has become the master vehicle as a result of the processing at step 216. If the host vehicle is the master vehicle, priority is determined for each vehicle scheduled to change lanes in step 220 , and the result is notified to each vehicle and the automatic driving ECU 108 in step 222 . After this, execution of this program ends. The automatic driving ECU 108 makes and executes a travel plan for starting a lane change at an appropriate timing according to this priority. If the lane change is not possible, the automatic driving ECU 108 reconstructs the travel plan by determining a detour, and continues the travel according to the new travel plan. If the own vehicle is not the master vehicle, the control shifts from step 218 to step 224, and the internal/external interconnection unit 100 waits for notification of priority from the master vehicle. Upon receiving the notification of the priority, the in-vehicle/external interconnection unit 100 notifies the automatic driving ECU 108 of the priority, and terminates the execution of this program. As a result, even in a vehicle that is not the master vehicle, a travel plan for changing lanes at timing determined according to the priority determined by the master vehicle is created and executed. If it is impossible to change lanes, a detour is established and the travel plan is reconstructed, and travel is continued according to the new travel plan.

B Lane Change Example FIG. 5 schematically shows the result of a lane change that actually takes place in this embodiment. In this example, vehicle 60 is a medium-sized passenger car, vehicle 62 is a large bus, vehicle 64 is a small passenger car, vehicle 66 is a small truck, and vehicle 68 is a light passenger car. Therefore, the vehicle 62, which is a large bus, has the highest priority. Vehicle 62 is therefore the first to change lanes. Vehicle 66 is next. After that, the order is the vehicles 60 and 64, and then the vehicle 68. In this example, the vehicle 60, which is located at the front, may be too close to the branch line 42 at the timing according to the priority and may not be able to change lanes. expensive. As a result, it is expected that vehicle 60 will detour to another road, and vehicles 64 and 68 will change lanes and enter branch line 42 in this order. Such priority determination processing is performed by the master vehicle. In this example, for example, vehicle 60 is the master vehicle.

(3) Modified Example A First Modified Example In the above-described first embodiment, the priority is determined by the type of vehicle and the size of the vehicle. However, this disclosure is not limited to such embodiments. In this first modification, on the assumption that each vehicle is an electric vehicle, priority is given to a vehicle with a low remaining amount of the drive battery. A low remaining battery level means that the distance that can be traveled by the battery is short. An example is shown in FIG.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the vehicle 60 has the lowest remaining battery capacity, followed by the vehicle 68 having the next remaining battery capacity. As a result, the vehicle 60 has the first priority and the vehicle 68 has the second priority, and these two vehicles successively change lanes. Priority is also assigned to the other vehicles 62, 64 and 66, and each vehicle changes lanes at timing determined according to the priority. If a vehicle cannot enter the branch line 42 even if it changes lanes at the timing determined according to the priority, the vehicle re-formulates a new travel plan, continues traveling on the main line according to the travel plan, and takes a detour. to reach the destination through

B Second Modification As criteria for determining priority, criteria other than those described above are conceivable. For example, consider a case where an organization that manages a main line 40 and a branch line 42 provides some services related to road usage for a fee. An embodiment is conceivable in which a user must be subscribed to this service in order to travel on this road in the first place. Further, it is assumed that the service is classified into several classes, and that the fee differs depending on the class. In such a case, for example, it is possible to give higher priority to vehicles or drivers belonging to classes requiring high tolls and lower priority to vehicles or drivers belonging to classes requiring lower tolls. Conceivable.

For example, in FIG. 7, the drivers (or their operators) of vehicles 64 and 68 belong to the high grade class, and the drivers (or their operators) of vehicles 60, 62 and 66 belong to the low grade class. Sometimes vehicles 64 and 68 change lanes first and vehicles 60, 62 and 66 change lanes later. For drivers belonging to the same class, priority may be determined by applying the method of the first embodiment, for example.

As described above, according to this embodiment, among vehicles capable of inter-vehicle communication, when a plurality of vehicles in close proximity are scheduled to change lanes at approximately the same position at the same time, the lane changes may be performed at the same time. can be prevented. Specifically, when the lane change support device for a vehicle scheduled to change lanes detects a competing vehicle for a lane change, the priority output unit outputs the lane change priority between the competing vehicle and the own vehicle. . The lane change control unit permits or cancels the lane change by the automatic driving system according to this priority. Even if there are a plurality of vehicles attempting to change lanes almost at the same time, the order and timing of the lane changes of these vehicles are controlled according to their priorities. As a result, lane changes can be made safely. Which vehicle's lane change takes precedence depends on the loss of fuel, the adverse impact on traffic, the production of higher emissions, and the welfare of the driver who purchased some service when the vehicle fails to change lanes. It is designed to reduce the occurrence of some form of social loss, that is, to be lost. By determining the priority so as to reduce the occurrence of some social loss in this way, it is possible to provide a lane change support device that can reduce the occurrence of social loss.

The competing vehicle detection unit may include an intra-vehicle detection unit that detects a competing vehicle from within a vehicle line that exists within a predetermined distance from each other, including the own vehicle. Competing vehicles are detected in a queue of vehicles that are within a distance of each other. Since the lane change conflict is resolved only with vehicles that may conflict, it is possible to avoid unnecessary processing such as resolving the conflict with other vehicles.

The in-line detection unit may not detect vehicles that are farther than a predetermined distance from the line of vehicles as competing vehicles. It is possible to avoid unnecessary processing such as resolving lane change conflicts with vehicles existing far away.

The lane change support device further includes a wireless communication device capable of wirelessly communicating with other vehicles, and the vehicle in-line detection unit detects a competing vehicle in the vehicle line through wireless communication with the other vehicle in the vehicle line. 1 detector may be included. By wirelessly communicating with competing vehicles, information can be collected directly from each vehicle as to whether or not there is a lane change conflict with the own vehicle. As a result, competing vehicles can be detected with high accuracy.

The in-train detection unit may further include a second detection unit that detects a competing vehicle in the train based on the output of a sensor mounted on the own vehicle. By appropriately processing the sensor output by the second detection unit, dynamic information of surrounding vehicles can be obtained. The behavior of each vehicle can be known based on those dynamic information. When a vehicle that cannot communicate wirelessly is nearby, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a plan to change lanes based on the behavior of the vehicle.

The priority output unit may include a priority determination unit that determines the priority of the competing vehicle using wireless communication with the competing vehicle, if the competing vehicle is capable of wireless communication. Since information about lane changes can be obtained from each vehicle through wireless communication, it is possible to accurately detect competing vehicles.

A priority determination unit determines a master vehicle among the competing vehicles and the own vehicle, and determines the priority of the competing vehicle according to a predetermined standard in response to the own vehicle becoming the master vehicle. A master processing execution unit may also be included that performs processing for determining and notifying vehicles capable of wireless communication among competing vehicles using wireless communication. The priority determining unit may further include a priority receiving unit that receives the priority of the own vehicle from the master vehicle in response to the own vehicle not becoming the master vehicle. When determining the priority of each vehicle among a plurality of vehicles, each vehicle cannot be determined individually. By selecting a master vehicle as in the above embodiment and using the priority determined by the master vehicle to resolve lane change conflicts, lane changes can be made safely and reliably.

The master processing execution unit may determine the priority of the competing vehicle according to the vehicle type of the competing vehicle. The lane change priority is determined according to the vehicle type of the competing vehicle. Vehicles of a specific vehicle type can preferentially change lanes. It is possible to prevent or reduce the occurrence of social loss when a lane change fails by allowing a vehicle, which causes a large social loss when lane change is not possible, to change lanes preferentially.

2. Second Embodiment (1) Configuration A Overview In the first embodiment described above, it is assumed that all the vehicles in the series are connected vehicles. However, it is considered rare that all vehicles on actual roads are connected vehicles. At least until autonomous driving becomes practical and widespread, it is likely that there will be fewer connected vehicles. In such a case, even if non-connected vehicles are present in the series of vehicles, it is necessary to arbitrate for vehicles competing for lane changes in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The second embodiment relates to such cases.

B Configuration In the second embodiment, the in-vehicle-outside interconnection section 100 (FIGS. 2 and 3) of the first embodiment can be used as is as hardware. However, the control structure of the lane change support processing program stored in the ROM 152 of FIG. 3 is different from that shown in FIG.

C Control Structure of Lane Change Support Processing Program Referring to FIG. 8, this program is similar to that shown in FIG. However, the control structure of the program shown in FIG. 8 differs from that shown in FIG. 4 in the following points. That is, this program, instead of step 212 shown in FIG. and determining 250 whether a lane change is scheduled for each of the vehicles in the same lane that are in the same lane. This program further includes steps 252, which are executed when the determination at step 218 is affirmative (when the host vehicle is the master vehicle) instead of steps 220 to 226 in FIG. It also differs from that shown in FIG. 4 in that it includes step 254 which is executed when the host vehicle is not the master vehicle. Otherwise, the flow chart shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that shown in FIG.

In step 250, it is determined whether or not not only connected vehicles capable of inter-vehicle communication but also non-connected vehicles are scheduled to change lanes. In the case of a connected vehicle, information regarding whether a lane change is scheduled can be collected from the vehicle via wireless communication. In the case of a non-connected vehicle, it is determined whether the lane is to be changed mainly based on the sensor information collected by the sensors mounted on the own vehicle. Whether or not there is a plan to change lanes can typically be determined from blinking of a turn indicator indicating a lane change, lateral movement of the vehicle in the driving lane, driver's line of sight, and the like. A neural network is most effective for this determination. Typically, a neural network is trained with training data consisting of images of a line of vehicles taken from the front or back in various scenes and labels indicating whether or not a vehicle in the line changed lanes. During estimation, by inputting the actual image into the neural network, the output of the neural network is a probability indicating whether a vehicle in the train is scheduled to change lanes or not. When this probability is greater than a predetermined threshold, it may be determined whether the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes.

Referring to FIG. 9, step 252 shown in FIG. 8 determines whether or not a non-connected vehicle exists among the vehicles scheduled to change lanes, and step 300 branches the control flow according to the determination. and step 302 of setting the highest priority to the detected non-connected vehicle when the determination of step 300 is affirmative.

This program is further executed when the determination in step 300 is negative and when the determination in step 300 is affirmative and the process of step 302 is completed, determines the priority of each connected vehicle scheduled to change lanes, and determines the lane It includes a step 304 of determining which vehicle to modify. The program further includes a step 306 of notifying the autonomous driving ECU 108 of each connected vehicle and the own vehicle of the priority determined in step 304 and ending execution of this routine.

Referring to FIG. 10, step 254 executed in vehicles other than the master vehicle has the following control structure. That is, step 254 determines whether or not the lane change vehicles include non-connected vehicles, and step 350 for branching the flow of control according to the determination, and when the determination in step 350 is affirmative, lane change is scheduled. and setting 352 the highest priority for unconnected vehicles.

The program further includes step 354, which is executed when the determination of step 350 is negative, and when the determination of step 350 is positive and the processing of step 352 is completed, to receive information regarding lane change priority from the master vehicle. include. The program further includes a step 356 of notifying the self-driving ECU 108 of the host vehicle of the priority received in step 354 and ending execution of this routine.

(2) Operation A Overview In the second embodiment, when a non-connected vehicle is present among vehicles scheduled to change lanes, the highest priority is assigned to the non-connected vehicle, and other connected vehicles are assigned. are assigned priorities by the same method as disclosed in the first embodiment. In other respects, the operation of this second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment.

Connected vehicles can communicate their driving plans with each other through vehicle-to-vehicle communication. However, this is not possible for non-connected vehicles. Therefore, even if priority is determined only by connected vehicles while ignoring non-connected vehicles, there is a danger that lane changes will be confused. However, in this embodiment, non-connected vehicles among those scheduled to change lanes are assigned the highest value for lane change priority. Lane changes for connected vehicles are performed according to priority after lane changes for non-connected vehicles are completed. Lane changes for non-connected vehicles and lane changes for connected vehicles are separated in time and consequently also in space. You can safely change lanes. Although it is not possible to set the same priority for non-connected vehicles as for connected vehicles, at least the risk of overlapping lane changes between connected and non-connected vehicles can be reduced. Also, connected vehicles can enjoy the same advantages as in the first embodiment.

That is, in the second embodiment, even when a non-connected vehicle exists among the vehicles that change lanes, which one of the connected vehicles has priority to change lanes is determined when the vehicle cannot change lanes. It is determined so that the social loss that occurs will be small. Therefore, according to the second embodiment, even in an environment where connected vehicles and non-connected vehicles coexist, the lane change support device and lane change support method can reduce the social loss that occurs when a plurality of vehicles change lanes. and computer programs.

The in-train detection unit includes a detection unit that detects competing vehicles in the train line based on the output of sensors installed in the own vehicle. By appropriately processing the sensor output by the detector, dynamic information of surrounding vehicles can be obtained. The behavior of each vehicle can be known based on those dynamic information. When a vehicle that cannot communicate wirelessly is nearby, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a plan to change lanes based on the behavior of the vehicle.

When there is a competing vehicle that cannot wirelessly communicate with its own vehicle, the master processing execution unit gives the vehicle the highest priority. A vehicle that cannot communicate wirelessly and that has been detected as planning to change lanes cannot exchange necessary information with other vehicles. By causing these vehicles to change lanes earlier than the vehicles capable of wireless communication, the vehicles capable of wireless communication can change lanes later. Even when vehicles that can communicate with each other and vehicles that cannot communicate with each other coexist, a vehicle that cannot communicate with each other is caused to change lanes earlier than other vehicles, thereby causing confusion in lane change between vehicles that cannot communicate with vehicles that can communicate with each other. can be avoided.

The master processing execution unit determines the lane change priority according to the following criteria for competing vehicles other than those that cannot wirelessly communicate with the own vehicle. In other words, any of the vehicle type of the competing vehicle, the position of the vehicle in the vehicle line, the size of the expected travel distance, the degree of fuel consumption efficiency, the amount of remaining battery power, the presence or absence of subscription to a specific service, etc. is. Priority may be determined according to any combination thereof. By determining lane change priority according to these criteria, the social loss that occurs when a vehicle fails to change lanes can be reduced.

As described above, according to this disclosure, even in situations where multiple automated driving vehicles with similar functions change lanes at approximately the same time, so that the occurrence of social loss determined according to a certain standard is small, Be able to change lanes safely.

4 Modifications In the above description, the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described for the case where the number of lanes on the main line is two. However, this disclosure is not limited to such embodiments. This disclosure can also be applied when the number of lanes is 3 or more, as in the above embodiment. Also, in the above description, a case where a right branch exists on the passing lane side has been described. However, this disclosure is not limited to such embodiments. For example, the same applies when there is a branch to an exit on the left side of an expressway. It can also be applied to a lane change in a special case where the road has three or more lanes and the middle lane is connected to the entrance of a tunnel.

It should be noted that, in the above embodiment, the following determination criteria are used as the lane change priority.

(1) Is it a non-connected vehicle or a connected vehicle?

(2) To which class provided by a certain service does the vehicle or driver belong?

(3) What is the type (model) and purpose of the vehicle?

(4) How big is the vehicle?

(5) In the case of an electric vehicle, what is the remaining amount of the battery?

(6) What is the amount of fuel (electricity) that needs to be added when the lane cannot be changed?

(7) What is the length of the detour that will be required when the lane cannot be changed?

(8) How much traffic on the detour route will be affected when the lane cannot be changed and a detour route is selected.

However, the criteria are not limited to these. For example, the number of passengers in a vehicle or the amount of cargo (priority is given to the larger one), the time to the estimated arrival time at the destination (the shorter one is given priority), the length of the detour route and the average fuel consumption of each vehicle (Priority is given to a larger number) or the like may be used as a criterion. In any case, these criteria are often related to each other and it is not necessary to use only one criterion. The priority may be determined by combining these criteria, or the criteria may be changed depending on the weather, season, time of day, and the like.

The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The technical scope of the present disclosure is not indicated by the detailed description of the invention, but is indicated by each claim, and all changes within the meaning and range of equivalents to the wording of the claims intended to be included.

30 Road 40 Main line 42 Branch line 50 Traveling lane 52 Passing lane 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 Vehicle 90 Infrastructure device 100 In-vehicle-outside interconnecting unit 102 External wireless communication device 104 Various sensors 106 ECU
108 Autonomous driving ECU
110 in-vehicle network 150 CPU
152 ROMs
154 RAMs
156 bus 158 input/output I/F
160 Network I/F
200, 202, 204, 206, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 250, 252, 254, 300, 302, 304, 306, 350, 352, 354, 356 steps

Claims (14)

1. A competing vehicle detection unit that detects a competing vehicle that is within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle and is about to change lanes in response to the fact that the automatic driving system of the own vehicle is about to change lanes;
   A lane change permitting unit that permits a lane change by the automatic driving system in response to the competing vehicle detection unit not detecting a competing vehicle;
   a priority output unit that, in response to the competing vehicle detection unit detecting the competing vehicle, determines and outputs a lane change priority for a vehicle including the detected competing vehicle and the own vehicle;
   and a lane change control unit that controls lane change by the automatic driving system according to the priority.
2. The lane change support device according to claim 1, wherein the competing vehicle detection unit includes an in-vehicle line detection unit that detects the competing vehicle from among a vehicle line consisting of vehicles existing within a predetermined distance from each other.
3. 3. The lane change support device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle in-line detection unit does not detect a vehicle that is more than the predetermined distance away from any vehicle in the vehicle line as a competing vehicle.
4. 4. The vehicle line detection unit includes a first detection unit that detects the competing vehicle in the vehicle line by wireless communication with the vehicles present in the vehicle line. Lane change assistance device as described.
5. 5. The lane according to claim 4, wherein the in-train detection unit further includes a second detection unit that detects the competing vehicle in the train based on the output of a sensor mounted on the own vehicle. Change support device.
6. The lane according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the in-train detection unit includes a detection unit that detects the competing vehicle in the train based on the output of a sensor mounted on the host vehicle. Change support device.
7. 4 to 4, wherein the priority output unit includes a priority determination unit that determines the priority of the competing vehicle using wireless communication with a vehicle capable of wireless communication among the competing vehicles. 7. The lane change support device according to any one of 6.
8. The priority determination unit,
   a master vehicle determination unit that determines a master vehicle from among the competing vehicles and the host vehicle;
   determining the priority of the competing vehicles according to a predetermined criterion in response to the own vehicle becoming the master vehicle, and notifying the vehicles capable of wireless communication among the competing vehicles using wireless communication; a master processing execution unit that performs
   8. The lane change support device according to claim 7, further comprising a priority receiving unit that receives the priority of said own vehicle from said master vehicle in response to said own vehicle not becoming said master vehicle.
9. The lane change support device according to claim 8, wherein the master processing execution unit gives the highest priority to a vehicle that cannot wirelessly communicate with the own vehicle among the competing vehicles.
10. The lane change support device according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the master processing execution unit determines the priority of the competing vehicle according to the vehicle type of the competing vehicle.
11. The master processing execution unit determines the vehicle type of the competing vehicle, the position of the vehicle in the vehicle line, the magnitude of the expected travel distance, the fuel consumption efficiency, and the like, for the competing vehicles other than the competing vehicles that are not capable of wireless communication with the own vehicle. 10. The lane change support device according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the priority is determined according to the level of the battery, the amount of remaining battery power, the presence or absence of subscription to a specific service, or any combination thereof. .
12. 12. Any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising a suspension instruction unit that instructs the automatic driving system to suspend the lane change in response to the fact that the automatic driving system of the own vehicle is about to change lanes. 1. The lane change support device according to 1.
13. A step in which a computer detects a competing vehicle that is within a predetermined distance from the host vehicle and is about to change lanes, in response to the fact that the automated driving system of the host vehicle equipped with the computer is about to change lanes. and,
    allowing the automated driving system to change lanes in response to a computer not detecting a competing vehicle in the step of detecting a competing vehicle;
    determining and outputting a lane change priority for vehicles including the detected competing vehicle and the own vehicle in response to a competing vehicle being detected in the step of detecting the competing vehicle; ,
    a computer controlling lane change by said automatic driving system according to said priority.
14. the computer,
    A competing vehicle that detects a competing vehicle that is within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle and that is about to change lanes in response to the fact that the automatic driving system of the own vehicle equipped with the computer is about to change lanes. a detection unit;
    A lane change permitting unit that permits a lane change by the automatic driving system in response to the competing vehicle detection unit not detecting a competing vehicle;
    a priority output unit that, in response to the competing vehicle detection unit detecting a competing vehicle, determines and outputs a lane change priority for a vehicle including the detected competing vehicle and the host vehicle;
    A computer program that functions as a lane change control unit that controls lane changes by the automatic driving system according to the priority.
    

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