Vehicle control system, vehicle control method, and recording medium

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle control system, a vehicle control method and a recording medium. The vehicle control system comprises: a peripheral information acquisition unit that acquires information about the periphery of a vehicle; an automatic driving control unit that automatically selects and executes a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode based on the information about the periphery of the vehicle acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially performed automatically, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not performed automatically; and a notification control unit that, in the execution of the second automatic driving mode, when the vehicle is traveling along a predetermined path and a condition including the presence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road is satisfied, causes an output unit to output information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving in front of the branch point.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a patent application with application number 201780077401.9, application date January 24, 2017, and name “Vehicle Control System, Vehicle Control Method, and Recording Medium”. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a vehicle control system, a vehicle control method and a recording medium. Background Art

[0003] In recent years, research on technology for controlling a vehicle to automatically travel along a route to a destination has been developed. In this regard, an automatic driving support system is known, which is characterized by having: a non-implementation reason acquisition unit, which acquires a non-implementation reason that the automatic driving control cannot be implemented when the automatic driving control cannot be implemented during driving in an automatic driving zone where the automatic driving control of the vehicle is allowed; and a non-implementation reason guidance unit, which guides the non-implementation reason obtained by the non-implementation reason acquisition unit (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

[0004] Prior Art Literature

[0005] Patent Literature

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-28927 Summary of the invention

[0007] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0008] However, in the prior art, there has been no research on providing notification to urge manual driving on the premise that there are an automatic driving mode that performs lane changes and an automatic driving mode that does not perform lane changes.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control system, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program capable of appropriately performing a notification urging manual driving based on a driving mode being executed in a vehicle.

[0010] Means for solving problems

[0011] The invention described in technical solution 1 is a vehicle control system (1, 100), comprising: a peripheral information acquisition unit (121) for acquiring information about the periphery of the vehicle; an automatic driving control unit (122, 123, 141) for automatically selecting and executing a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode based on the information about the periphery of the vehicle acquired by the peripheral information acquisition unit, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode for at least partially automatically changing lanes, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode for not automatically changing lanes; and a notification control unit (150) for causing an output unit to output information urging a switch to manual driving in front of the branch point when the vehicle is traveling along a predetermined path and the conditions including the existence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road are satisfied during the execution of the second automatic driving mode.

[0012] The invention described in claim 2 is the vehicle control system described in claim 1, wherein the condition includes that other vehicles are not traveling in a lane along the branch road.

[0013] The invention described in claim 3 is the vehicle control system described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the condition includes that the vehicle is not traveling in a lane along the branch road.

[0014] The invention described in claim 4 is the vehicle control system described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the host vehicle is traveling at a reference speed or less, the automatic driving control unit selects the second automatic driving mode.

[0015] The invention described in technical solution 5 is the vehicle control system described in technical solution 4, wherein the automatic driving control unit further selects the second automatic driving mode when it is determined based on information about the periphery of the vehicle that congestion has occurred around the vehicle.

[0016] In the invention described in Technical Solution 6, in the vehicle control system described in any one of Technical Solutions 1 to 5, the near side of the branch point refers to: a position at a specified distance before the branch point, or a position at a distance before the branch point determined according to the speed of the vehicle and based on the branch point.

[0017] In the vehicle control system recorded in Technical Solution 7, in the vehicle control system recorded in any one of Technical Solutions 1 to 5, the near side of the branch point refers to: based on the speed of the vehicle, the position at which the vehicle is assumed to arrive a specified time before the moment when the vehicle is assumed to arrive at the branch point.

[0018] The invention recorded in technical solution 8 is a vehicle control method, in which an on-board computer performs the following processing: obtaining information about the surroundings of the vehicle; automatically selecting and executing a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode based on the obtained information about the surroundings of the vehicle, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially automatic, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not automatically automatic; and during the execution of the second automatic driving mode, when the vehicle is traveling along a predetermined path and conditions including the existence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road are satisfied, the output unit outputs information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving in front of the branch point.

[0019] The invention recorded in technical solution 9 is a vehicle control program, which enables the on-board computer to perform the following processing: obtain information about the surroundings of the vehicle; based on the obtained information about the surroundings of the vehicle, automatically select and execute a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially automatic, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not automatically automatic; and during the execution of the second automatic driving mode, when the vehicle is traveling along a predetermined path and meets conditions including the existence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road, the output unit outputs information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving in front of the branch point.

[0020] Effects of the Invention

[0021] According to the invention described in claims 1 to 9, it is possible to more appropriately notify information urging manual driving based on the driving pattern being executed in the vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 It is a structural diagram of a vehicle system 1 including an automatic driving control unit 100 .

[0023] Figure 2 1 and 2 are diagrams showing a state in which the relative position and posture of the host vehicle M with respect to the travel lane L1 are recognized by the host vehicle position recognition unit 122 .

[0024] Figure 3 2 is a diagram showing a state where a target trajectory is generated based on a recommended lane.

[0025] Figure 4 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the vehicle system 1 mounted on the vehicle M.

[0026] Figure 5 This is a diagram showing an example of a scene in which information urging manual driving is output.

[0027] Explanation of symbols

[0028] 1: vehicle system, 100: automatic driving control unit, 120: control unit, 121: external recognition unit, 121A: acquisition unit, 121B: judgment processing unit, 121C; storage unit, 122: vehicle position recognition unit, 123: action plan generation unit, 141: driving control unit, 150: notification control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle control system, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] Figure 1 1 is a structural diagram of a vehicle system 1 including an automatic driving control unit 100. The vehicle equipped with the vehicle system 1 is, for example, a two-wheel, three-wheel, or four-wheel vehicle, and its driving source is an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, an electric motor, or a combination thereof. The electric motor operates using the power generated by a generator connected to the internal combustion engine or the power discharged by a secondary battery or a fuel cell.

[0031] The vehicle system 1 includes, for example, a camera 10, a radar device 12, a detector 14, an object recognition device 16, a communication device 20, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 30, a navigation device 50, an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit) 60, a vehicle sensor 70, a driving operating member 80, an automatic driving control unit 100, a driving force output device 200, a braking device 210, and a steering device 220. These devices and equipment are interconnected through multi-channel communication lines such as CAN (Controller Area Network) communication lines, serial communication lines, wireless communication networks, etc. In addition, Figure 1 The structure shown is just an example, and part of the structure may be omitted or other structures may be added.

[0032] The camera 10 is, for example, a digital camera that uses a solid-state imaging element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). One or more cameras 10 are installed at any position of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle M) equipped with the vehicle system 1. When shooting the front, the camera 10 is installed on the upper part of the front windshield, the back of the rearview mirror in the vehicle, etc. The camera 10, for example, repeatedly and periodically shoots the surroundings of the vehicle M. The camera 10 can be a stereo camera.

[0033] The radar device 12 radiates radio waves such as millimeter waves to the periphery of the vehicle M, and detects radio waves (reflected waves) reflected by an object to detect at least the position (distance and direction) of the object. One or more radar devices 12 are installed at any position of the vehicle M. The radar device 12 can also detect the position and speed of the object by FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) method.

[0034] The detector 14 measures scattered light from the irradiated light to detect the distance to the object (Light Detection and Ranging, or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging). One or more detectors 14 are installed at any position of the vehicle M.

[0035] The object recognition device 16 performs sensor fusion processing on a part or all of the detection results of the camera 10 , the radar device 12 , and the detector 14 to recognize the position, type, speed, etc. of the object. The object recognition device 16 outputs the recognition result to the automatic driving control unit 100 .

[0036] The communication device 20 communicates with other vehicles around the host vehicle M using, for example, a cellular network, Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth (registered trademark), DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), or communicates with various server devices via a wireless base station.

[0037] The HM 130 presents various information to the occupant of the vehicle M, and receives input operations from the occupant. The HMI 30 includes various display devices, speakers, buzzers, touch panels, switches, keys, and the like.

[0038] The navigation device 50 includes, for example, a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 51, a navigation HMI 52, and a route determination unit 53, and stores first map information 54 in a storage device such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory. The GNSS receiver determines the position of the vehicle M based on the signal received from the GNSS satellite. The position of the vehicle M can also be determined or supplemented by an INS (Inertial Navigation System) using the output of the vehicle sensor 70. The navigation HMI 52 includes a display device, a speaker, a touch panel, a key, etc. A part or all of the navigation HMI 52 can be shared with the aforementioned HMI 30. The route determination unit 53, for example, refers to the first map information 54 and determines a route from the position of the vehicle M determined by the GNSS receiver 51 (or an input arbitrary position) to the destination input by the occupant using the navigation HMI 52. The first map information 54 is information that represents the shape of the road by, for example, road segments representing the road and nodes connected by the road segments. The first map information 54 may also include the curvature of the road, POI (Point Of Interest) information, etc. The path determined by the path determination unit 53 is input to the MPU 60. In addition, the navigation device 50 may also provide path guidance using the navigation HMI 52 based on the path determined by the path determination unit 53. In addition, the navigation device 50 may also be implemented by the function of a terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal owned by the user. In addition, the navigation device 50 sends the current position and destination to the navigation server via the communication device 20, and may also obtain the path replied from the navigation server.

[0039] The MPU 60 functions as a recommended lane determination unit 61, for example, and stores the second map information 62 in a storage device such as a HDD or a flash memory. The recommended lane determination unit 61 divides the route provided by the navigation device 50 into a plurality of sections (for example, divided into sections of 100 [m] in the vehicle's traveling direction), and determines a recommended lane for each section with reference to the second map information 62. The recommended lane determination unit 61 determines which lane to travel in from the left. When there is a branch position, a merging position, etc. in the route, the recommended lane determination unit 61 determines a recommended lane so that the host vehicle M can travel on a reasonable route for traveling to the branch destination.

[0040] The second map information 62 is map information with higher accuracy than the first map information 54. The second map information 62 includes, for example, information about the center of a lane or information about a lane boundary. In addition, the second map information 62 may include road information, traffic control information, address information (address / zip code), facility information, telephone number information, etc. The road information includes information indicating the types of roads such as expressways, toll roads, national highways, and prefectural roads, the number of lanes on the road, the width of each lane, the slope of the road, the location of the road (including three-dimensional coordinates of longitude, latitude, and altitude), the curvature of the curve of the lane, the location of the confluence and branch point of the lane, signs set on the road, and other information. The second map information 62 can be updated at any time by accessing other devices using the communication device 20.

[0041] The vehicle sensor 70 includes a vehicle speed sensor for detecting the speed of the host vehicle M, an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration, a yaw rate sensor for detecting the angular velocity around a vertical axis, an azimuth sensor for detecting the orientation of the host vehicle M, and the like.

[0042] The driving operating member 80 includes, for example, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a gear lever, a steering wheel, and other operating members. A sensor for detecting the amount of operation or the presence or absence of operation is installed on the driving operating member 80, and the detection result is output to the automatic driving control unit 100 or one or both of the driving driving force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220.

[0043] The automatic driving control unit 100 includes, for example, a first control unit 120, a second control unit 140, and a notification control unit 150. The first control unit 120, the second control unit 140, and the notification control unit 150 are respectively implemented by executing a program (software) through a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In addition, part or all of the functional parts of the first control unit 120, the second control unit 140, and the notification control unit 150 described below can also be implemented by hardware such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or can be implemented by the collaboration of software and hardware.

[0044] The first control unit 120 includes, for example, an outside world recognition unit 121 , a vehicle position recognition unit 122 , and an action plan generation unit 123 .

[0045] The external recognition unit 121 recognizes the position, speed, acceleration and other states of the surrounding vehicles based on the information input directly from the camera 10, the radar device 12 and the detector 14 or via the object recognition device 16. The position of the surrounding vehicles can also be represented by representative points such as the center of gravity and corners of the surrounding vehicles, or by the area represented by the outline of the surrounding vehicles. The "state" of the surrounding vehicles can also include the acceleration, acceleration rate or "action state" of the surrounding vehicles (for example, whether a lane change is being made or is about to be made). In addition, the external recognition unit 121 can also recognize the positions of guardrails, utility poles, parked vehicles, pedestrians and other objects in addition to surrounding vehicles. In addition, the surrounding vehicles include vehicles in the lane where the vehicle M is traveling and the adjacent lanes.

[0046] In addition, the outside recognition unit 121 determines whether other vehicles are traveling in the lane where the host vehicle M is to travel (for example, the lane of the lane change destination and the lane along the branch road). Other vehicles are traveling in the lane where the host vehicle M is to travel, which means that the distance between the other vehicles in the lane where the host vehicle M is to travel and the host vehicle is within a prescribed distance. The prescribed distance is, for example, a distance set according to the relative speed of the host vehicle M and the surrounding vehicles, and is a distance at which the host vehicle M can safely change lanes to the lane of the lane change destination.

[0047] In addition, the external recognition unit 121 determines whether the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle M is congested, and outputs the determination result to the notification control unit 150. The definition of congestion can be set arbitrarily. For example, congestion is defined as the average speed of vehicles around the vehicle M being below a prescribed speed, or the average vehicle-to-vehicle distance between vehicles around the vehicle M being below a prescribed distance. In addition, congestion can also be defined as the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle M or surrounding vehicles being performed intermittently. In addition, congestion can be the distance between the vehicle M and surrounding vehicles being within a prescribed distance, and the acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle M or surrounding vehicles being performed intermittently.

[0048] The vehicle position recognition unit 122 recognizes, for example, the lane in which the vehicle M is traveling (driving lane), and the relative position and posture of the vehicle M with respect to the driving lane. The vehicle position recognition unit 122 recognizes the driving lane by comparing, for example, the pattern of road dividing lines obtained from the second map information 62 (e.g., the arrangement of solid lines and dotted lines) with the pattern of road dividing lines around the vehicle M recognized from the image taken by the camera 10. In this recognition, the position of the vehicle M obtained from the navigation device 50 and the processing result of the INS may also be considered.

[0049] Then, the host vehicle position recognition unit 122 recognizes, for example, the position and posture of the host vehicle M relative to the driving lane. Figure 2: This is a diagram showing a situation where the relative position and posture of the host vehicle M with respect to the driving lane L1 are recognized by the host vehicle position recognition unit 122. The host vehicle position recognition unit 122 recognizes, for example, the deviation OS of the reference point (e.g., center of gravity) of the host vehicle M from the center CL of the driving lane and the angle θ formed by the traveling direction of the host vehicle M with respect to the line connecting the center CL of the driving lane as the relative position and posture of the host vehicle M with respect to the driving lane L1. Alternatively, the host vehicle position recognition unit 122 may recognize the position of the reference point of the host vehicle M with respect to either side end of the host lane L1 as the relative position of the host vehicle M with respect to the driving lane. The relative position of the host vehicle M recognized by the host vehicle position recognition unit 122 is provided to the recommended lane determination unit 61 and the action plan generation unit 123.

[0050] The action plan generation unit 123 determines the events to be executed sequentially in the automatic driving so that the vehicle M can travel in the recommended lane determined by the recommended lane determination unit 61 and can cope with the surrounding conditions of the vehicle M. The events include, for example, a constant speed driving event for driving in the same driving lane at a constant speed, a following driving event for following the preceding vehicle, a lane change event, a merging event, a diverging event, an emergency stop event, and a switching event for ending the automatic driving and switching to manual driving. In addition, in the execution of these events, there are also cases where actions for avoiding are planned based on the surrounding conditions of the vehicle M (the presence of surrounding vehicles and pedestrians, the narrowing of the lane due to road construction, etc.).

[0051] The action plan generation unit 123 generates a target trajectory for the vehicle M to travel in the future. The target trajectory includes, for example, a speed element. For example, a plurality of future reference times are set at predetermined sampling times (e.g., about a tenth of a second), and the target trajectory is generated as a collection of target locations (track points) that should be reached at these reference times. Therefore, when the intervals between the track points are large, it indicates that the vehicle M travels at a high speed in the section between the track points.

[0052] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the generation of a target trajectory based on a recommended lane. As shown in the figure, the recommended lane is set to be suitable for traveling along the path to the destination. When a predetermined distance (determined according to the type of event) is reached before the switching point of the recommended lane, the action plan generation unit 123 starts a lane change event, a branch event, a merging event, etc. During the execution of each event, when it is necessary to avoid an obstacle, an avoidance trajectory is generated as shown in the figure.

[0053] The action plan generation unit 123 generates a plurality of target trajectory candidates, for example, and selects the best target trajectory at that time based on the viewpoints of safety and efficiency. The second control unit 140 includes a travel control unit 141. The travel control unit 141 controls the travel drive force output device 200, the brake device 210, and the steering device 220 so that the vehicle M passes through the target trajectory generated by the action plan generation unit 123 at a predetermined time.

[0054] Here, the autonomous driving mainly performed by the first control unit 120 is performed in any one of a plurality of autonomous driving modes. The autonomous driving mode includes an autonomous driving mode (an example of a "second autonomous driving mode") performed at a reference speed (e.g., 60 [km / h]) or less. As an example, there is a low-speed following driving (TJP; Traffic Jam Pilot) that follows the vehicle ahead when the vehicle is congested. In the low-speed following driving, safe autonomous driving can be achieved by following the vehicle ahead on a congested highway.

[0055] During this low-speed following driving, lane changes of the host vehicle M by the action plan generation unit 123 are prohibited. This is because the recognition of the surrounding conditions of the host vehicle M (particularly, the presence of a two-wheeled vehicle that overtakes the host vehicle M from behind the host vehicle M) is blocked by the vehicles included in the congestion. The low-speed following driving is cancelled, for example, when the driving speed of the host vehicle M exceeds the reference speed. The low-speed following driving is another example of the "second automatic driving mode".

[0056] In the automatic driving mode for the case of exceeding the reference speed, the vehicle M can perform lane changes based on the events that are sequentially executed in the automatic driving and the surrounding conditions of the vehicle M. This is because, when exceeding the reference speed, the inter-vehicle distance between the surrounding vehicles and the vehicle M is ensured to be above the prescribed distance, and the vehicle M can recognize the surrounding conditions without being blocked by other vehicles m. The automatic driving mode for the case of exceeding the reference speed is an example of the "first automatic driving mode". In addition, the speeds that serve as the reference when executing the "first automatic driving mode" and the "second automatic driving mode" may also be different speeds. In addition, the first automatic driving mode may also be an automatic driving mode in which lane changes are partially performed automatically. "Partially" means that in a series of actions from the start to the end of the lane change, a part is performed by automatic driving, or the driver's operation is assisted when the driver performs a lane change operation (for example, auxiliary steering control, acceleration and deceleration control).

[0057] The control unit 150 is notified to perform the following Figure 4The predetermined processing described in the above makes the output unit (not shown) included in the HMI 30 or the navigation HMI 52 output predetermined information. The “vehicle control system” includes an external recognition unit 121, a vehicle position recognition unit 122, an action plan generation unit 123, a travel control unit 141, and a notification control unit 150.

[0058] The driving force output device 200 outputs the driving force (torque) for driving the vehicle to the driving wheels. The driving force output device 200 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, and a transmission, and an ECU for controlling these. The ECU controls the above structure according to information input from the driving control unit 141 or information input from the driving operation member 80.

[0059] The brake device 210 includes, for example, a brake caliper, a hydraulic cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the brake caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic cylinder, and a brake ECU. The brake ECU controls the electric motor based on information input from the travel control unit 141 or information input from the driving operating member 80, and outputs a brake torque corresponding to the braking operation to each wheel. The brake device 210 may include a mechanism that transmits the hydraulic pressure generated by the operation of the brake pedal included in the driving operating member 80 to the hydraulic cylinder via the master hydraulic cylinder as a backup. In addition, the brake device 210 is not limited to the structure described above, and may be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that controls the actuator according to the information input from the travel control unit 141, thereby transmitting the hydraulic pressure of the master hydraulic cylinder to the hydraulic cylinder.

[0060] The steering device 220 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. The electric motor, for example, applies force to a rack-and-pinion mechanism to change the direction of the steering wheel. The steering ECU drives the electric motor to change the direction of the steering wheel based on information input from the travel control unit 141 or information input from the driving operating member 80.

[0061] Figure 4 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the vehicle system 1 mounted on the vehicle M. In addition, regarding the specific scene related to this processing, the following description is used. Figure 5 Description. First, the notification control unit 150 determines whether the vehicle M is in the process of executing automatic driving (step S100). When it is not in the process of executing automatic driving, the processing of this flowchart ends. When it is in the process of executing automatic driving, the notification control unit 150 determines whether the vehicle M is traveling at a speed lower than a reference speed (step S102). The case of traveling at a speed lower than the reference speed is, for example, the case of executing low-speed following driving. In addition, in step S102, the notification control unit 150 may also determine whether it is in an automatic driving mode that does not execute lane changes (for example, low-speed following driving) instead of determining whether the vehicle M is traveling at a speed lower than the reference speed.

[0062] If the vehicle M is not traveling at a speed lower than the reference speed, the processing of this flowchart ends. If the vehicle M is traveling at a speed lower than the reference speed, the notification control unit 150 determines whether the vehicle M has arrived in front of the branch point (described in detail later) (step S104). If the vehicle M has not arrived in front of the branch point, the processing of this flowchart ends.

[0063] When the vehicle M arrives close to the branch point, the notification control unit 150 determines whether the vehicle M is traveling along the lane of the branch road (step S106). When the vehicle M is traveling along the lane of the branch road, the processing of this flowchart ends. When the vehicle M is not traveling along the lane of the branch road, the notification control unit 150 determines whether other vehicles m are traveling along the lane of the branch road (step S108). When other vehicles m are traveling along the lane of the branch road (when the distance between other vehicles m and the vehicle M is within a specified distance), the processing of this flowchart ends.

[0064] On the other hand, when the other vehicle m is not traveling along the lane of the branch road (when the distance between the other vehicle m and the host vehicle M exceeds the prescribed distance), the notification control unit 150 causes the HMI 30 to output prescribed information (step S110). The prescribed information is information urging manual driving (so-called "TOR; Take Over Request"), information urging lane change, or information urging lane change by manual driving. In the following, in step S110, it is assumed that information urging manual driving is output.

[0065] Next, the notification control unit 150 determines whether the mode has been switched to manual driving (step S112). If the mode has not been switched to manual driving, the process returns to step S108. In addition, if the mode has not been switched to manual driving, the process may return to step S100. If the mode has been switched to manual driving, the notification control unit 150 stops outputting information urging manual driving (step S114). Thus, the process of one routine of this flowchart ends.

[0066] In addition, in the above process, the process of step S108 may be omitted. In this case, the notification control unit 150 causes the HMI 30 to output the prescribed information without determining whether the other vehicle m is traveling along the lane of the branch road. This is because, when the vehicle M is traveling at a speed lower than the reference speed, or when the vehicle M is traveling at a speed lower than the reference speed and arrives in front of the branch point, there is a high possibility that the vehicle is present in the lane along the branch road, and the prescribed information needs to be notified to the driver.

[0067] Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a scene in which information urging manual driving is output. Figure 5 In the example shown in (a), it is assumed that the vehicle M is traveling in the lane L1, and the destination of the vehicle M is the direction of the branch road L3. The lane L2 adjacent to the lane L1 is a lane along the branch road L3. In such an environment, it is assumed that a vehicle congestion occurs in a predetermined section AR from the branch point P1 which is the point connecting the lane L2 and the branch road L3.

[0068] During automatic driving, when the vehicle M is traveling in lane L1, there is a case where the vehicle M enters a congested section AR and travels at a speed below the reference speed. In this case, in order to enter the branch road L3, it is necessary to change lanes to lane L2 within section AR, but for example, when the vehicle M is below the reference speed, there is a case where the lane change cannot be made by automatic driving due to the execution of low-speed following driving. In such a case, near P2 of the branch point (described in detail later), when other vehicles m are not traveling in lane L2, the control unit 150 is notified to change the lane of the vehicle M to lane L2 by manual driving, so that HMI30 outputs information urging manual driving. As a result, the occupants of the vehicle recognize that they are traveling in a lane different from the lane along the branch road and perform manual driving, such as Figure 5 (b) shows that the vehicle M changes lanes. Figure 5 As shown in (c), the host vehicle M can move from the branch point P1 to the lane L3 and travel toward the destination.

[0069] In addition, after the lane change, the vehicle M may automatically travel from the branch point P1 to the lane L3 by starting the automatic driving under the control of the automatic driving control unit 100. In this case, for example, in the automatic driving mode (second automatic driving mode) executed at a speed lower than the reference speed, although the lane change based on the action plan generation unit 123 is prohibited, the lane change to the lane branching from the lane in which the vehicle M is traveling is allowed.

[0070] The near side of the branch point mentioned above is, for example, a position (P2 in the figure) where the distance from the branch point P1 to the vehicle M is a predetermined distance Th (e.g., 2 km) before the branch point. In addition, the near side of the branch point may be a position before the branch point that is determined according to the speed of the vehicle and based on the branch point P1. In addition, the reference point of the vehicle M may be the position of the vehicle M itself, or the position of the vehicle M virtually set in the lane L2. In addition, the near side of the branch point may be: based on the speed of the vehicle M, the position at which the vehicle M is assumed to arrive a predetermined time before the moment when the vehicle M is assumed to arrive at the branch point P1.

[0071] According to the embodiment described above, the vehicle system 1 is provided with an automatic driving control unit 100 as an automatic driving control unit and a notification control unit, thereby being able to perform a notification to more appropriately urge manual driving based on the driving mode being executed in the vehicle. The automatic driving control unit 100 automatically selects and executes a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode based on information about the surroundings of the vehicle M obtained by the external recognition unit 121. The first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially automatic, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not automatically performed. During the execution of the second automatic driving mode, when the vehicle M is traveling along a predetermined path and conditions including the existence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road are satisfied, the notification control unit causes the output unit to output information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving in front of the branch point.

[0072] As mentioned above, although the form for implementing this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, this invention is not limited to such embodiment, Various deformation|transformation and substitution can be added in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system, wherein: have: A surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires information about the surroundings of the vehicle; an automatic driving control unit that automatically selects and executes a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode based on the information about the surroundings of the host vehicle acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially performed automatically and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not performed automatically; as well as The notification control unit causes the output unit to output information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving in the event that a condition including the presence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road is satisfied when the vehicle is traveling along a predetermined path during the execution of the second automatic driving mode, before the branch point. The automatic driving control unit selects the second automatic driving mode when the host vehicle is traveling at a speed lower than a reference speed or when it is determined based on information about the periphery of the host vehicle that congestion has occurred around the host vehicle.

2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein: The condition includes that other vehicles are not traveling in a lane along the branch road.

3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The condition includes that the host vehicle is not traveling in a lane along the branch road.

4. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The near side of the branch point refers to a position at a predetermined distance before the branch point, or a position at a distance before the branch point that is determined based on the speed of the host vehicle and the branch point.

5. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The near side of the branch point refers to a position at which the host vehicle is assumed to arrive a predetermined time before the time at which the host vehicle is assumed to arrive at the branch point based on the speed of the host vehicle.

6. A vehicle control method, wherein: The onboard computer performs the following processing: Obtaining information about the surroundings of the vehicle; Based on the acquired information about the surroundings of the host vehicle, automatically selecting and executing a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially performed automatically, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not performed automatically; as well as In the execution of the second automatic driving mode, when the vehicle is traveling along a preset path and a condition including the presence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road is satisfied, the output unit is caused to output information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving before the branch point. The second automatic driving mode is selected when the host vehicle is traveling at a speed lower than a reference speed or when it is determined based on information about the surroundings of the host vehicle that congestion has occurred around the host vehicle.

7. A computer-readable recording medium having a vehicle control program recorded thereon, wherein: The vehicle control program causes the onboard computer to perform the following processing: Obtaining information about the surroundings of the vehicle; Based on the acquired information about the surroundings of the host vehicle, automatically selecting and executing a first automatic driving mode and a second automatic driving mode, wherein the first automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are at least partially performed automatically, and the second automatic driving mode is a mode in which lane changes are not performed automatically; as well as In the execution of the second automatic driving mode, when the vehicle is traveling along a preset path and a condition including the presence of a branch point where the vehicle enters a branch road from a main road is satisfied, the output unit is caused to output information urging the vehicle to switch to manual driving before the branch point. The second automatic driving mode is selected when the host vehicle is traveling at a speed lower than a reference speed or when it is determined based on information about the surroundings of the host vehicle that congestion has occurred around the host vehicle.

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