WO2023135989A1

WO2023135989A1 - Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

Info

Publication number: WO2023135989A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/045078
Authority: WO
Inventors: 琢馬大里; 春樹的野; 雅幸竹村; 健永崎
Original assignee: 日立Astemo株式会社
Priority date: 2022-01-17
Filing date: 2022-12-07
Publication date: 2023-07-20
Also published as: JP2023104073A

Abstract

Provided is a vehicle control device capable of predicting a cut-off candidate vehicle that could possibly cut in front of a host vehicle, on the basis of the surrounding conditions of the host vehicle. The vehicle control device is characterized by having an adjacent lane vehicle detection part that detects an adjacent lane vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane, a travel route prediction part that predicts a travel route of a vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane, a target vehicle-to-vehicle distance determination part that determines a target vehicle-to-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and an adjacent lane preceding vehicle traveling in front of the adjacent lane vehicle, and a vehicle speed control part that controls the speed of the host vehicle on the basis of the target vehicle-to-vehicle distance.

Description

VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE AND VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD

The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method for predicting other vehicles that may cut in front of the own vehicle.

In recent years, collision damage mitigation braking systems that automatically decelerate before colliding with obstacles, automatic distance control systems that automatically track while maintaining a substantially constant distance to the preceding vehicle, lane departure prevention systems, etc. Vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems, such as sign recognition systems, are becoming popular.

As one type of such driver support system, Patent Document 1 proposes a vehicle control device for identifying an interrupting vehicle. an intervening vehicle identification unit that identifies an intervening vehicle that is about to intervene into the traveling lane from the side of the traveling lane in which the vehicle is present, based on the recognition result of the recognizing unit; and based on the position of the identified intervening vehicle. and a driving control unit that controls at least one of acceleration/deceleration and steering of the vehicle, and the cut-in vehicle identification unit controls, during a predetermined period of time, other vehicles on the side of the driving lane in the road width direction. When the amount of lateral movement toward the driving lane exceeds a threshold value, the other vehicle is specified as a cut-in vehicle, and when the other vehicle is traveling in a position relatively close to the driving lane, it is far from the driving lane. A vehicle control device that makes the threshold smaller than when the vehicle is traveling at a certain position."

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-163870

FIG. 1 shows _an example of a situation in _which another vehicle _V1 may cut in front of the own vehicle _V0 . Another vehicle _V1 runs behind (adjacent lane) at speed _S1 ( _S0 < _S1 ), and another vehicle _V2 runs ahead of the left lane (adjacent lane) at speed _S2 ( _S2 < _S1 ). It shows an example of running in In other words, in FIG. 1, another vehicle _V1 , which is following another vehicle _V2 in the adjacent lane at high speed, moves ahead of the own vehicle _V0 along the route indicated by the dashed arrow in order to avoid rear-end collision with the other vehicle _V2 . It exemplifies a situation in which there is a high possibility of interrupting. Hereinafter, the right direction of the own vehicle _V0 is defined as the positive direction of the x-axis, and the forward direction thereof is defined as the positive direction of the y-axis.

Under such circumstances, the vehicle control device of Patent Document ₁ identifies the other vehicle _V1 as an interrupting vehicle when the x-direction speed of the other vehicle _V1 exceeds the threshold value. If the speed in the x direction of the other vehicle _V1 does not reach the threshold because the other vehicle V1 cuts in gently, there is a problem that the other vehicle _V1 cannot be identified as the cutting-in vehicle.

In addition, _the vehicle control device _of Patent Document 1 detects an interrupt after another vehicle _V1 has started an interrupt. There is also the problem that the start timing of the action to avoid is delayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control method.

an adjacent lane vehicle detection unit that detects an adjacent lane vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane; a travel route prediction unit that predicts a travel route of the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane; a target inter-vehicle distance determining unit for determining a target inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle in the adjacent lane, and a vehicle speed control unit for controlling the speed of the own vehicle based on the target inter-vehicle distance. Vehicle controller.

According to the vehicle control device and vehicle control method of the present invention, it is possible to predict interrupting candidate vehicles that may cut in front of the own vehicle based on the surrounding conditions of the own vehicle.

A plan view showing an example of a situation in which another vehicle may cut in front of the own vehicle. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the vehicle control device according to the first embodiment; FIG. An example of the running situation of the host vehicle _V0 and the other vehicle _V1 in the first embodiment (the speed _S2 of the other vehicle _V2 >0). An example of the running situation of the own vehicle _V0 and the other vehicle _V1 in Example 1 (the speed _S2 of the other vehicle _V2 = 0). An example of the running situation of the host vehicle _V0 and the other vehicle _V1 in the first embodiment (the speed _S2 of the other vehicle _V2 < 0). 8 is an example of a calculation method of the possibility of interruption in the vehicle control device according to the first embodiment; 4 is a processing flowchart of the vehicle control device according to the first embodiment; An example of the running situation of the own vehicle _V0 and the other vehicle _V1 in Example 2. FIG. An example of the driving situation of own vehicle _V0 and other vehicle _V1 in Example 3. FIG.

An embodiment of the vehicle control device 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a vehicle control device 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described using FIGS. 2 to 7. FIG. Duplicate descriptions of the points in common with FIG. 1 will be omitted.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the vehicle control device 1 of this embodiment, which is mounted on the own vehicle _V0 . As shown here, a plurality of external sensors 2 are installed on the input side of the vehicle control device 1, and a driving system 3a, a braking system 3b, and a steering system 3c are installed on the output side.

The external sensor 2 is a sensor for recognizing the surroundings of the own vehicle _V0 , and is various sensors such as a camera and LiDAR. It should be noted that the host vehicle _V0 of this embodiment is equipped with a plurality of external sensors 2 at various locations on the vehicle, so that it can recognize situations (other vehicles, obstacles, road surfaces, etc.) in the front, rear, left, and right directions.

The drive system 3a is various devices used during acceleration of the own vehicle _V0 , specifically, a mechanism including an engine, a motor, and the like. The braking system 3b is various devices used during deceleration of the own vehicle _V0 , specifically, a mechanism including a brake and the like. The steering system 3c is various devices used when the host vehicle _V0 turns, and more specifically, it is a mechanism including steering and the like.

<Vehicle control device 1>
The vehicle control device 1 includes an other vehicle behavior prediction unit 11 and an own vehicle behavior control unit 12, as shown in FIG. The other vehicle behavior prediction unit 11 has an adjacent lane vehicle detection section 11a and a travel route prediction section 11b. The host vehicle behavior control unit 12 also has a target inter-vehicle distance determination section 12a, a speed control section 12b, and a traveling direction control section 12c. Specifically, the vehicle control device 1 is a computer including hardware such as an arithmetic device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a semiconductor memory, and a communication device. Then, each function in the other vehicle behavior prediction unit 11 and the own vehicle behavior control unit 12 is realized by executing the program developed in the storage device by the arithmetic device. Each part in each unit will be described while omitting it.

First, various parameters used by the vehicle control device 1 will be described using the example of the driving situation in FIG. As explained in FIG. 1, the speeds _S ₀ , S ₁ _, and S ₂ in the drawing are the speeds of the own vehicle V ₀ and the other vehicles V ₁ , V ₂ , respectively. Suppose it is faster than speed _S2 . Further, the distance in the y-axis direction from the front end of the own vehicle V ₀ to the rear end of the preceding vehicle (another vehicle V ₂ ) running in the adjacent vehicle is defined as the inter-vehicle distance D.

As shown in FIG. 3, the velocities S ₁ and S 2 of the other vehicles V ₁ and V ₂ in the left lane are both positive, and the relative velocity of the other vehicles V ₁ and _{V 2} _is (S ₁ -S ₂ ). is positive, the rear vehicle _V1 will eventually catch up with the front vehicle _V2 . Therefore, in order to avoid a rear-end collision with the other vehicle _V2 , it can be predicted that there is a high possibility that the other vehicle _V1 will cut in front of the own vehicle _V0 along the route indicated by the dashed arrow in FIG.

On the other hand, although not shown, even if the velocities S ₁ and S ₂ of the other vehicles V ₁ and V ₂ in the left lane are both positive, if the relative velocity (S ₁ −S ₂ ) is negative, the other vehicle V ₁ does not catch up with the other vehicle _V2 , it is highly likely that the other vehicle _V1 will continue to run in the left lane, and the possibility of cutting in front of the own vehicle _V0 is low.

Also, as shown in FIG. 4, when the other vehicle _V2 is stopped due to a traffic jam or the like, the other vehicle _V1 cuts in front of the own vehicle _V0 in order to avoid a rear-end collision with the other vehicle _V2 . can be predicted with high probability.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, in a situation where the other vehicle _V2 is running in the opposite direction, there is a possibility that the other vehicle _V1 will cut in front of the own vehicle _V0 in order to avoid a collision with the other vehicle _V2 . can be expected to be very high.

Based on consideration under each situation such as FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, the relationship between the relative speed (S ₁ −S ₂ ) and the interrupt probability P can be summarized as follows. That is, when the speed _S2 of the other vehicle _V2 is negative (see FIG. 5) or when the speed _S2 of the other vehicle _V2 is 0 (see FIG. 4), the other vehicle _V1 can interrupt The sex P can be assumed to be 100%. When the speed S ₂ of the other vehicle V ₂ is positive (see FIG. 3), the smaller the relative speed (S ₁ −S ₂ ), the smaller the possibility P of the other vehicle V ₁ interrupting. , when the relative speed (S ₁ −S ₂ ) is negative, the other vehicle V ₁ will not catch up with the other vehicle V ₂ , so it can be estimated that the interruption possibility P of the other vehicle V ₁ is extremely small. By using the graph of FIG. 6 reflecting such a way of thinking, the vehicle control device 1 can easily calculate the interruption possibility P of the other vehicle V ₁ based on the relative speed (S ₁ −S ₂ ). can be calculated. Note that even if the relative speed (S ₁ −S ₂ ) is 0, there is a certain possibility that the other vehicle V ₁ will cut in, so in _FIG _. The interrupt possibility P is assumed to be a positive value.

<Flowchart>
Next, the details of the control method of the own vehicle _V0 according to the interruption possibility P and the contact risk R by the vehicle control device 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step St1, the adjacent lane vehicle detection unit 11a of the other vehicle behavior prediction unit 11 detects the positions, speeds, traveling directions, vehicle types, etc. of the other vehicles _V1 and _V2 based on the inputs from the plurality of external sensors 2. is detected (see FIGS. 3 to 5). The other vehicle position or the like detected here may be a relative position or the like with respect to the own vehicle _V0 , or may be an absolute position or the like.

Next, in step St2, the adjacent lane vehicle detection unit 11a determines the magnitude of the interruption possibility P of the other vehicle _V1 based on the various information detected in step St1. Then, if the interrupt possibility P is high, the process proceeds to step St3, and if the interrupt possibility P is small, the process proceeds to step St5.

The determination of the magnitude of the interrupt possibility P in this step can be performed from various viewpoints. may be used, or a plurality of determination methods may be used together, for example, determination may be made by majority vote.
(1) Utilizing the graph of FIG. 6, based on the relative speed (S ₁ −S ₂ ) of the other vehicle V ₁ and the other vehicle V ₂ , calculate the interruption possibility P of the other vehicle V ₁ , If the interrupt probability P is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (eg, 50%), it is determined that the interrupt probability P is high, and if not, it is determined that the interrupt probability P is low.
(2) If the inter-vehicle distance D from the own vehicle _V0 to the other vehicle _V2 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value (for example, 20 m), it is determined that the possibility of interruption P is high; otherwise, the possibility of interruption is determined. It is determined that P is small.
(3) If the other vehicle _V1 is a small vehicle such as an ordinary car or a motorcycle, and the other vehicle _V2 is a large vehicle such as a truck or a bus, it is determined that the possibility of interruption P is high. It is determined that the interrupt possibility P is small.

At step St3, the travel route prediction section 11b of the other vehicle behavior prediction unit 11 predicts the travel route (see FIG. ₁ ) of the other vehicle V1 based on the information detected at step St1.

In step St4, the travel route prediction unit 11b determines the size of the contact risk R of the other vehicle _V1 based on the information detected in step St1 and the travel route of the other vehicle _V1 predicted in step St3. If the contact risk R is large, the process proceeds to step St7, and if the contact risk R is small, the process proceeds to step St8.

The determination of the magnitude of the contact risk R in this step can be performed from various viewpoints. Alternatively, a plurality of them may be used together and, for example, weighted may be used for determination.
(1) If the predicted routes of the own vehicle _V0 and the other vehicle _V1 intersect after a predetermined time, it is determined that the contact risk R is large, and if not, it is determined that the contact risk R is small.
(2) If the predicted positions of the own vehicle _V0 and the other vehicle _V1 after a predetermined time approach within a predetermined offset distance (for example, 3 m), it is determined that the contact risk R is large; It is determined that the contact risk R is small.

At step St5, the travel route prediction unit 11b predicts the travel route (see FIG. ₁ ) of the other vehicle V1, similarly to step St3.

In step St6, the travel route prediction unit 11b determines the magnitude of the contact risk R of the other vehicle _V1 , as in step St4. If the contact risk R is large, the process proceeds to step St9, and if the contact risk R is small, the process proceeds to step St10.

Step St7 is a process executed when the interrupt possibility P is high and the contact risk R is also high. In this step, first, the target inter-vehicle distance determination unit 12a of the own vehicle behavior control unit 12 prevents contact with the other vehicle _V1 even if the other vehicle _V1 cuts in along the predicted route. An extended distance (target inter-vehicle distance) that can be avoided is calculated. Next, the speed control unit 12b controls the driving system 3a and the braking system 3b so as to secure the inter-vehicle distance D equal to or greater than the extended distance, thereby decelerating the host vehicle _V0 . For example, if the prediction by the travel route prediction unit 11b indicates that there is a high possibility that the other vehicle _V1 will change lanes in 5 seconds and collide with the own vehicle _V0 , then the above-mentioned extended distance will be reached within 5 seconds. The driving system 3a and the braking system 3b are controlled so as to ensure If it is difficult to secure the inter-vehicle distance D equal to or greater than the extended distance by the estimated contact time with the other vehicle _V1 , the traveling direction control unit 12c controls the steering system 3c to move the vehicle _V0 further to the right. The collision with the other vehicle _V1 may be avoided by a method other than securing the inter-vehicle distance D equal to or greater than the extended distance, such as by moving the vehicle to an overtaking lane (not shown).

Step St8 is a process executed when the interrupt possibility P is high and the contact risk R is low. In this case, even if the other vehicle _V1 cuts in ahead, the possibility of contact with the own vehicle _V0 is low as long as the current own vehicle control is continued. There is no need to execute separate control such as St7. However, it is more desirable to suppress the acceleration in order to further reduce the contact risk R with the other vehicle _V1 .

Step St9 is a process executed when the interrupt possibility P is small and the contact risk R is large. In this step, first, the target inter-vehicle distance determination unit 12a determines a reduced distance (target inter-vehicle distance) that can prevent the other vehicle _V1 from cutting in if the other vehicle _V1 cuts in along the predicted route. Calculate Next, the speed control unit 12b controls and accelerates the drive system 3a so that the vehicle-to-vehicle distance D becomes equal to or less than the reduced distance. As a result, _the predicted course of the other vehicle _V1 will be obstructed, so even if the other vehicle _V1 had planned to cut in, it is thought that the cut-in will be abandoned. Avoid contact.

Step St10 is a process that is executed when the interruptability P is small and the contact risk R is small. In this case, the host vehicle behavior control unit 12 does not perform any separate control, as in step St8.

As described above, according to the vehicle control apparatus of the present embodiment, it is possible to predict an interrupting candidate vehicle that may cut in front of the own vehicle based on the surrounding conditions of the own vehicle. It is possible to quickly implement necessary actions such as avoiding contact with the vehicle.

Next, the vehicle control device 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described using FIG. Duplicate descriptions of common points with the first embodiment will be omitted.

In step _St4 of the first embodiment, a method for determining the magnitude _of the contact risk R when there is no other vehicle ahead of the own vehicle _V0 was introduced. A method of calculating the contact risk R under the condition that the is running will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, in a situation _where another vehicle _V3 is running in front of the own vehicle V0, in order for the other vehicle _V1 in the left lane to overtake the other vehicle _V2 in front, first, the vehicle _V0 You need to cut in front and then cut in front of the other vehicle _V2 . Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the contact risk R of the other vehicle _V1 in consideration of these two consecutive interruptions. Therefore, in this embodiment, the contact risk R of the other vehicle _V1 is calculated using Equations 1 and 2.

Here, _in Equation ₁ _, _Dn _is the inter-vehicle _distance _. and the inter-vehicle distance _D3 between the other vehicle _V2 and the other vehicle _V3 . In addition, _rn is the contact risk of the other vehicle _V1 traveling the inter-vehicle distance _Dn , l is the collision determination threshold (length of the other vehicle _V1 + offset distance (for example, 3m)), and _gn is This is a setting parameter for the inter-vehicle distance _Dn .

As shown in _this formula 1, the contact risk _rn while traveling the vehicle-to-vehicle distance _Dn is represented by a variable corresponding to the vehicle-to-vehicle distance _Dn . The contact risk r _n is set to 1 when the contact risk r n is as narrow as possible (D _n <l). On the other hand, when the inter-vehicle distance D _n is equal to or greater than the sum of the collision determination threshold value l and the setting parameter g _n (l+g _n ≤ D _n ), the other vehicle V ₁ can travel safely without contact, so the contact risk r _n is set to 0. In the intermediate case between the two (l≦D _n <l+g _n ), the contact risk r _n is a value calculated by (D _n −l)/g _n .

Once the contact risk _rn for each inter-vehicle distance _Dn is obtained, the contact risk R until the other vehicle _V1 completes overtaking the other vehicle _V2 is calculated using Equation 2. Here, in Equation 2, w _n is the weight of the contact risk r _n , and by multiplying the individual contact risk r _n by a weight such that w ₁ >w ₂ >w ₃ , the temporally preceding contact It increases the impact of risk r _n . If contact at the inter-vehicle distance D ₁ can be predicted with certainty (contact risk r ₁ =1), there is no need to consider contact at the inter-vehicle distances D ₂ and D ₃ again, and at the inter-vehicle distance D ₂ (contact risk r ₂ = 1), there is no need to consider contact at the inter-vehicle distance D ₃ again, so (1-r ₁ ) and the third term on the right side by (1−(1−r ₁ )r ₂ ), the second term on the right side and the third term on the right side of Equation 2 can be omitted.

According to the present embodiment described above, the contact risk R calculated using Equations 1 and 2 is used to perform the determinations in steps St4 and St6 in FIG. However, vehicle control similar to that of the first embodiment can be executed. This makes it possible to maintain inter-vehicle distances D ₁ and D ₂ such that the other vehicle V ₁ in FIG. 8 can pass the other vehicle V ₂ safely.

Next, the vehicle control device 1 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described using FIG. Duplicate descriptions of the points in common with the second embodiment will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the contact risk R of the other vehicle _V1 on a two-lane road is calculated, but in this embodiment, the contact risk R of the other vehicle _V1 on a three-lane road is calculated. As illustrated in FIG. 9, when another vehicle _V1 traveling in the left lane travels on a route that cuts in front of the own vehicle _V0 traveling in the center lane, it travels in the left lane as the subsequent travel route. Two routes are conceivable: a route to return to the left lane after overtaking another vehicle _V2L , and a route to move to the right lane after overtaking another vehicle _V2R traveling in the right lane.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the contact risk R is calculated by formulas 1 and 2 for both routes. Risk R is determined to be large.

According to the present embodiment described above, the two types of contact risks R calculated using Equations 1 and 2 are used to perform the determinations in steps St4 and St6 in FIG. Even under such a situation, the own vehicle control similar to that of the first embodiment can be executed.

Next, a vehicle control device 1 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described. Duplicate descriptions of the points in common with the above embodiment will be omitted.

The vehicle control device 1 of the first embodiment predicts the travel route of the other vehicle _V2 based on the external world information detected by the external sensor 2. FIG. On the other hand, the vehicle control device 1 of the present embodiment switches whether to predict the travel route in consideration of the traffic information acquired through communication from the outside. For example, in a traffic jam situation, each car will try to cut in regardless of the distance D between the cars, so there is a high possibility that the travel route predicted by the method of Example 1 will not be helpful. .

Therefore, the vehicle control device 1 of this embodiment does not predict the travel route when the traffic information in the vicinity of the own vehicle _V0 acquired through communication indicates traffic congestion. On the other hand, if the acquired traffic information does not indicate traffic congestion, the travel route is predicted.

In this example, traffic information acquired through communication is used to switch whether or not to predict the travel route. It is also possible to manually switch whether or not to predict the travel route by operating.

According to the present embodiment described above, the travel route can be predicted and reflected in the own vehicle control only under circumstances where the travel route prediction is useful.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle control apparatus 11... Other vehicle behavior prediction unit 11a... Adjacent lane vehicle detection part 11b... Driving route prediction part 12... Own vehicle behavior control unit 12a... Target inter-vehicle distance determination part 12b... Speed control part , 12c... Traveling direction control unit, 2... External sensor, 3a... Drive system, 3b... Braking system, 3c... Steering system, _V0 ... Own vehicle, _V1 ... Other vehicle (interruption candidate vehicle), _V2 ... Others Vehicle (preceding vehicle of the interrupting candidate vehicle), V ₃ … other vehicle (preceding vehicle of own vehicle), S … speed, D … inter-vehicle distance

Claims

an adjacent lane vehicle detection unit that detects an adjacent lane vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane;
a travel route prediction unit that predicts a travel route of a vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane;
a target inter-vehicle distance determination unit that determines a target inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the adjacent lane preceding vehicle traveling in front of the adjacent lane vehicle;
a vehicle speed control unit that controls the speed of the own vehicle based on the target inter-vehicle distance;
A vehicle control device comprising:
In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The vehicle control device, wherein the travel route prediction unit changes the prediction of the travel route according to the type and moving speed of a three-dimensional object on the travel route of the adjacent lane vehicle.
In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The vehicle control device, wherein the target inter-vehicle distance determination unit further determines a target inter-vehicle distance between the preceding vehicle and the vehicle.
In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The vehicle control device, wherein the travel route prediction unit switches whether or not to predict the travel route based on traffic information obtained by a user's operation or communication.
detecting an adjacent lane vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane;
predicting a travel route of a vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane;
determining a target inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle in the adjacent lane, which is traveling in front of the vehicle in the adjacent lane;
controlling the speed of the own vehicle based on the target inter-vehicle distance;
A vehicle control method comprising: