Vehicle control device and vehicle control system

Abstract

The invention discloses a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system. The ECU is a vehicle control device that controls platooning in which a plurality of vehicles M1 to M4 travel while forming a platoon Co, the device including: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a situation of a vehicle around the plurality of vehicles M1 to M4 based on an imaging result by a camera of a drone that flies around the plurality of vehicles M1 to M4; a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the surrounding vehicles are capable of entering between two vehicles M included in theplurality of vehicles M1 to M4 in accordance with the situation of the surrounding vehicles acquired by the acquisition unit; a vehicle control unit configured to shorten a distance between the plurality of vehicles M1 to M4 when the determination unit determines that the surrounding vehicles are capable of entering.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system for controlling platoon travel in which a plurality of vehicles travel while forming a platoon. Background technique [0002] Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2019-28733 ) describes a platooning system that controls a plurality of vehicles that perform platooning by automatic driving. According to the technique of Patent Document 1, lane changes of a plurality of vehicles can be performed smoothly. [0003] Here, when traveling in a platoon, it becomes difficult to grasp the surrounding road conditions especially among the vehicles other than the head and the end of the platoon. Moreover, for example, at the junction of an expressway, when other vehicles merge on the lane where the platoon travels, other vehicles may enter between a plurality of vehicles forming the platoon, and the platoon may become disordered and platoon t...

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