Cleaning device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cleaning device. The present invention provides a cleaning device that reduces the number of parts and suppresses the existence of areas where information cannot be obtained. The cleaning device (11a) comprises: a plurality of nozzles (51-55) for cleaning the sensor surfaces of a plurality of laser radars (101-105) for obtaining information of surrounding areas; a first pump (41) for delivering cleaning liquid to the nozzles (51-55); nozzles (56-59) for cleaning the sensor surfaces of a plurality of cameras (201-204) for obtaining information of areas overlapping with the plurality of laser radars (101-105); a second pump (42) for delivering cleaning liquid to the nozzles (56-59); and a driving assistance ECU (80) for operating the first pump (41) and the second pump (42). When the driving assistance ECU (80) determines that the cleaning execution condition is met, it operates one of the first pump (41) and the second pump (42).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning a sensor surface of a sensor mounted on a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] In the past, there is a known device that obtains information about the surrounding area of ​​a vehicle through multiple sensors and performs control to assist the driving of the vehicle based on the obtained information. In order to perform this control with high precision, it is preferable to keep the sensor surfaces of the multiple sensors clean. Therefore, a cleaning device is installed in the vehicle to clean the sensor surfaces by spraying cleaning liquid on the sensor surfaces of the multiple sensors. However, during the cleaning of the sensor surfaces, since the cleaning liquid is sprayed on the sensor surfaces, it is sometimes impossible to obtain information realized by the sensor.

[0003] On the other hand, a cleaning device has been proposed, which is configured to deliver cleaning fluid to multiple injection devices (nozzles) through one pump (see Patent Document 1). In this case, since multiple sensors are cleaned at the same time, even if the multiple sensors are configured to obtain information about a specific area of ​​the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle, it is likely that the information about the specific area cannot be obtained. Consider the following device: additionally provide the same number of pumps as the injection devices, and deliver cleaning fluid to one injection device through one pump, thereby cleaning one sensor surface. However, this device requires many relatively expensive pumps. Therefore, there will be problems such as increased manufacturing costs of the cleaning device and the need for space in the vehicle for many pumps.

[0004] Prior art literature

[0005] Patent Literature

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-104365 Summary of the invention

[0007] The present invention is made to address the above-mentioned problems. That is, one of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device for cleaning the sensor surface of a sensor using a cleaning fluid (cleaning liquid, air, etc.), the cleaning device can reduce the number of parts and reduce the possibility that information of a specific area (for example, the front area) in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle cannot be obtained due to the cleaning action.

[0008] The cleaning device (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) of the present invention is applied to a vehicle, wherein the vehicle comprises: a first sensor group (21) having only a first specific sensor (101) configured to obtain information of a first surrounding area in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle (10), or having a plurality of sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) including the first specific sensor (101) and configured to obtain information of the surrounding area; and a second sensor group (22) having a second specific sensor (204) capable of obtaining information of the first surrounding area and configured to obtain information of the surrounding area. A plurality of sensors (201, 202, 203, 204), the cleaning device (11a, 11b, 11c, 11d) comprising: a first spray device including a single or multiple nozzles (51, 52, 53, 54, 55), the nozzles being arranged corresponding to each sensor surface of the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21), and spraying a cleaning fluid so as to clean the corresponding sensor surface when the cleaning fluid is transported; a second spray device including a plurality of nozzles (56, 57, 58, 59), the nozzles being arranged corresponding to each sensor surface of the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the second sensor group (22), The cleaning fluid is disposed correspondingly to each sensor surface of the device (201, 202, 203, 204), and the cleaning fluid is sprayed so as to clean the corresponding sensor surface when the cleaning fluid is transported; a first delivery mechanism (41, 71, 44, 45, 74, 48, 76, 91, 77) is operated by electricity to deliver the cleaning fluid to the first spraying device; a second delivery mechanism (42, 72, 46, 47, 75, 48, 76, 92, 78) is operated by electricity to deliver the cleaning fluid to the second spraying device; and a control unit (80) controls the first delivery mechanism (41, 71, 44 , 45, 74, 48, 76, 91, 77) and the second conveying mechanism (42, 72, 46, 47, 75, 48, 76, 92, 78) respectively control their respective operations, and the control unit (80) performs the following actions: determining whether each of the sensor surfaces of the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) and the sensor surfaces of the sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) is a sensor surface to be cleaned that is dirty to the extent that it should be cleaned; and determining whether a specified cleaning execution condition is met based on the result of the determination;When it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, if the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) have the sensor surface to be cleaned, but the sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) do not have the sensor surface to be cleaned, the first conveying mechanism (41, 71, 44, 45, 74, 48, 76, 91, 77) is operated and the second conveying mechanism (42, 72, 46, 47, 75, 48, 76, 92, 78) is not operated; when it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, if the sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) have the sensor surface to be cleaned, but the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) do not have the sensor surface to be cleaned When the sensor surface to be cleaned is not present, the second conveying mechanism (42, 72, 46, 47, 75, 48, 76, 92, 78) is operated without operating the first conveying mechanism (41, 71, 44, 45, 74, 48, 76, 91, 77); and when it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, when the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) have the sensor surface to be cleaned and the sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) have the sensor surface to be cleaned, either the first conveying mechanism (41, 71, 44, 45, 74, 48, 76, 91, 77) or the second conveying mechanism (42, 72, 46, 47, 75, 48, 76, 92, 78) is selectively operated.

[0009] The first sensor group and the second sensor group include sensors that can obtain information of the first peripheral area that overlaps with each other. That is, the information of the first peripheral area can be obtained by any one of the sensors included in the first sensor group and the sensors included in the second sensor group. The control unit causes a first delivery mechanism that delivers a cleaning fluid to a first injection device that cleans the sensor surface of each sensor of the first sensor group and a second delivery mechanism that delivers a cleaning fluid to a second injection device that cleans the sensor surface of each sensor of the second sensor group to operate selectively. Therefore, the sensor surfaces of the sensors that obtain the information of the first peripheral area mentioned above will not be cleaned at the same time. Therefore, according to the present invention, the number of delivery mechanisms of the cleaning device can be made smaller than the number of injection devices, and the direction in which information cannot be obtained (or the direction in which the accuracy of the obtained information becomes lower) due to the cleaning of the sensor surface can be prevented or suppressed.

[0010] In one aspect of the present invention, the sensor belonging to the first sensor group (21) is a laser radar, and the sensor belonging to the second sensor group (22) is a camera, and the control unit (80) is configured to: when it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is met, when the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) have the sensor surface to be cleaned and the sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) have the sensor surface to be cleaned, operate the second conveying mechanism (42, 72, 46, 47, 75, 48, 76, 92, 78) without operating the first conveying mechanism (41, 71, 44, 45, 74, 48, 76, 91, 77).

[0011] According to such a configuration, when it is determined that the sensor surfaces to be cleaned include both the sensor surfaces of the first sensor group as the laser radar and the sensor surfaces of the second sensor group as the camera, the sensor surfaces of the sensors of the second sensor group as the camera are cleaned (i.e., the cleaning of the sensor surfaces of the camera is prioritized). Sometimes, the image captured by the camera is displayed on a display device (to show the passengers), and if the sensor surface of the camera is dirty, the passengers may feel uncomfortable with the displayed image. Therefore, the discomfort of the passengers can be reduced by cleaning the sensor surface of the camera in priority to the sensor surface of the laser radar.

[0012] In one aspect of the present invention, the first delivery mechanism (41, 71) includes a first pump (41) and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to the first injection device when the first pump (41) is working, and the second delivery mechanism (42, 72) includes a second pump (42) and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to the second injection device when the second pump (42) is working.

[0013] According to such a configuration, the cleaning fluid can be delivered to the plurality of nozzles that spray the cleaning fluid to clean the sensor surface of the sensor belonging to the first sensor group by one pump, and the cleaning fluid can be delivered to the plurality of nozzles that spray the cleaning fluid to clean the sensor surface of the sensor belonging to the second sensor group by another pump. Therefore, the number of pumps can be reduced.

[0014] In one aspect of the present invention, the first delivery mechanism (44, 45, 74) includes a fourth pump (44) and a fifth pump (45), and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to a portion of the multiple nozzles (51, 52, 53, 54, 55) belonging to the first injection device when the fourth pump (44) is working, and to deliver the cleaning fluid to the remaining nozzles (54, 55) among the multiple nozzles (51, 52, 53, 54, 55) belonging to the first injection device when the fifth pump (45) is working.

[0015] In one aspect of the present invention, the second delivery mechanism (46, 47, 75) includes a sixth pump (46) and a seventh pump (47), and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to a portion of the multiple nozzles (56, 57, 58, 59) belonging to the second injection device when the sixth pump (46) is working, and to deliver the cleaning fluid to the remaining nozzles (58, 59) among the multiple nozzles (56, 57, 58, 59) belonging to the second injection device when the seventh pump (47) is working.

[0016] According to these configurations, the number of nozzles connected to one pump can be reduced, so that the pressure and flow rate of the cleaning fluid ejected from each nozzle can be stably increased.

[0017] In one aspect of the present invention, the first delivery mechanism (48, 76, 91, 77) includes an eighth pump (48) and an electromagnetic first flow path opening and closing valve (91), and delivers the cleaning fluid to the first injection device when the eighth pump (48) is working and the first flow path opening and closing valve (91) changes the internal flow path to an open state. The second delivery mechanism (48, 76, 92, 78) includes the eighth pump (48) and an electromagnetic second flow path opening and closing valve (92), and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to the second injection device when the eighth pump (48) is working and the second flow path opening and closing valve (92) changes the internal flow path to an open state.

[0018] According to such a configuration, the number of expensive pumps can be reduced.

[0019] In one aspect of the present invention, the control unit (80) is configured to: determine whether the number of clean sensor surfaces among the sensor surfaces of the sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) capable of acquiring information of a specified area and the sensor surfaces of the sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) capable of acquiring information of the specified area, which are sensor surfaces determined not to be the sensor surfaces to be cleaned, is below a specified clean sensor surface threshold, wherein the specified area is an area that is a part of the peripheral area of ​​the vehicle (10); and when it is determined that the number of clean sensor surfaces is below the clean sensor surface threshold, it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is met.

[0020] According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent or suppress the sensor surfaces of multiple sensors that acquire information in a certain same direction of the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle from not including "sensor surfaces that are not to be cleaned." Therefore, it is possible to prevent or suppress a decrease in the accuracy of the acquired information in each direction around the vehicle.

[0021] In one aspect of the present invention, the control unit (80) is configured to: use sensors (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) belonging to the first sensor group (21) and sensors (201, 202, 203, 204) belonging to the second sensor group (22) to perform driving assistance control to assist the driving of the vehicle (10); when the driving assistance control is not performed, if it is determined that the number of clean sensor surfaces is below the clean sensor surface threshold, it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is met; and when a specific driving assistance control among the driving assistance controls is being performed, if it is determined that there is at least one sensor surface to be cleaned, it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is met.

[0022] During the execution of the driving assistance control, there is a request to reduce the number of sensors that cannot detect objects as much as possible. And the strength of the request varies depending on the content (level) of the driving assistance control. Therefore, according to such a configuration, when a specific driving assistance control with a strong request to reduce the number of sensors that cannot detect objects as much as possible is being executed, the number of sensors that cannot detect objects can be reduced.

[0023] In one aspect of the present invention, the first spraying device comprises: a nozzle (51) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a front laser radar (101) as the first specific sensor configured to obtain information of a front area, a right front lateral area, and a left front lateral area of ​​the vehicle; the second spraying device comprises: a nozzle (58) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a front camera (204) included in the second sensor group (22) configured to obtain information of a front area, a right front lateral area, and a left front lateral area of ​​the vehicle; and a nozzle (58) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a rear area, a right rear lateral area, and a left rear lateral area of ​​the vehicle (10). The nozzle (56) sprays the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the rear camera (201) included in the second sensor group (22) which is configured to obtain information of the right side area, the right front side area and the right rear side area of ​​the vehicle (10); the nozzle (57) sprays the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the right side camera (202) included in the second sensor group (22) which is configured to obtain information of the right side area, the right front side area and the right rear side area of ​​the vehicle (10); and the nozzle (59) sprays the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the left side camera (204) included in the second sensor group (22) which is configured to obtain information of the left side area, the left front side area and the left rear side area of ​​the vehicle.

[0024] According to such a configuration, the sensor surface of the front laser radar and the sensor surface of the front camera are not cleaned at the same time. Therefore, when the sensor surface of the front laser radar is cleaned, the front camera can detect the object in front of the vehicle, and when the sensor surface of the front camera is cleaned, the front laser radar can detect the object in front of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a period in which the object in front of the vehicle cannot be detected due to the cleaning of the sensor surface.

[0025] In one aspect of the present invention, the first spraying device includes: a nozzle (52) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the right front side laser radar (102) included in the first sensor group (21) configured to obtain information of the front area and the right front side area of ​​the vehicle (10); a nozzle (53) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the right rear side laser radar (103) included in the first sensor group (21) configured to obtain information of the right rear side area, the rear area and the right side area of ​​the vehicle; a nozzle (54) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the left rear side laser radar (104) included in the first sensor group (21) configured to obtain information of the left rear side area, the rear area and the left side area of ​​the vehicle; and a nozzle (55) for spraying the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface of the left front side laser radar (105) included in the first sensor group (21) configured to obtain information of the left front side area, the front area and the left side area of ​​the vehicle.

[0026] According to such a configuration, the sensor surface of each laser radar and the sensor surface of each camera are not cleaned at the same time, so that when the sensor surface of each laser radar is cleaned, the camera can detect the object existing in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle, and when the sensor surface of each camera is cleaned, the laser radar can detect the object existing in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a period in which the object existing in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle cannot be detected due to the cleaning of the sensor surface.

[0027] In the above description, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the components of the present invention corresponding to the embodiments described later are given the reference numerals used in the embodiments in parentheses. However, the components of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments specified by the reference numerals. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 The diagram shows the detection direction of each sensor for detecting an object.

[0029] Figure 2 It is a figure which shows the structure of the cleaning device of 1st Embodiment.

[0030] Figure 3 The diagram shows the detection range of each sensor for detecting an object.

[0031] Figure 4 This is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the CPU.

[0032] Figure 5 It is a diagram showing the structure of a cleaning device according to a second embodiment.

[0033] Figure 6 It is a figure which shows the structure of the cleaning device of 3rd Embodiment.

[0034] Figure 7 It is a diagram showing the structure of a cleaning device according to a fourth embodiment.

[0035] Figure 8 The diagram shows the detection range of each sensor for detecting an object.

[0036] Fig. 9 This is a flowchart showing a routine executed by the CPU.

[0037] Description of reference numerals:

[0038] 10 vehicle, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d cleaning device, 21 first sensor, 22 second sensor, 41 first pump, 42 second pump, 71 first drive relay, 72 second drive relay, 51 first nozzle, 56 sixth nozzle, 57 seventh nozzle, 58 eighth nozzle, 59 ninth nozzle, 80 driving assistance ECU. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] <First embodiment>

[0040] like Figure 1 As shown, the cleaning device of the first embodiment of the present invention is applied to a vehicle 10 having a plurality of first sensors 21 and a plurality of second sensors 22. The plurality of first sensors 21 is an example of the first sensor group of the present invention, and the plurality of second sensors 22 is an example of the second sensor group of the present invention. Each of these sensors obtains information about objects existing around the vehicle 10 (hereinafter referred to as "object information"). The object information includes all or part of the distance between each of these sensors and the object, the orientation of the object relative to each of these sensors, the speed of the object based on each of these sensors (relative speed), and the type of the object (for example, a vehicle, a bicycle, a pedestrian, etc.). Hereinafter, obtaining object information will also be expressed as "detecting an object."

[0041] The plurality of first sensors 21 include a front laser radar 101, a right front side laser radar 102, a right rear side laser radar 103, a left rear side laser radar 104, and a left front side laser radar 105. Each of the laser radars (LiDAR; Light Detection and Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) 101 to 105 emits a finely focused infrared laser in a pulsed state to the outside of the vehicle 10. Each of the laser radars 101 to 105 measures the time from the time when it emits the laser to the time when the emitted laser is reflected by the object and enters each of the laser radars 101 to 105. Each of the laser radars 101 to 105 measures the distance from each of the laser radars 101 to 105 to the object based on the measured time. Moreover, each of the laser radars 101 to 105 changes the direction of the emitted laser to various directions using a movable reflector. Thus, each of the laser radars 101 to 105 can also detect the orientation of the object relative to itself.

[0042] Hereinafter, an object existing in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle 10 (a predetermined range including the vehicle 10 ) will be referred to as follows.

[0043] Object O existing in front of the vehicle 10 (in the area ahead of the vehicle 10) Fr :Front object O Fr

[0044] Object O existing on the right front side (right diagonally front area) of the vehicle 10 F－R :Object O in the right front side F－R

[0045] Object O existing on the left front side (left oblique front area) of the vehicle 10 F－L :Left front side object O F－L

[0046] The object O existing on the right side (right side area) of the vehicle 10 R :Object O on the right R

[0047] The object O existing on the left side (left side area) of the vehicle 10 L : Object O on the left L

[0048] Object O existing behind the vehicle 10 (straight rear area) Rr :Rear object O Rr

[0049] Object O existing on the right rear side (right oblique rear area) of the vehicle 10 R－R:Object O behind right side R－R

[0050] Object O existing on the left rear side (left oblique rear area) of the vehicle 10 R－L :Object O behind the left side R－L

[0051] It should be noted that, specifically, the front of the vehicle 10 (the straight-ahead area) is an area in the area in front of a straight line passing through the front end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction, and an area between a straight line passing through the right end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the front-to-rear direction and a straight line passing through the left end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the front-to-rear direction.

[0052] The right front side (right oblique front area) of the vehicle 10 is an area on the front side of a straight line passing through the front end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction, and is an area on the right side of the straight front area.

[0053] The left front side (left oblique front area) of the vehicle 10 is an area on the front side of a straight line passing through the front end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction and on the left side of the straight forward area.

[0054] The right side of the vehicle 10 (right side area) is an area between a straight line passing through the front end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction and a straight line passing through the rear end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction in an area to the right of the right end of the vehicle 10 .

[0055] The left side of the vehicle 10 (left side area) is an area on the left side of the left end of the vehicle 10, between a straight line passing through the front end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction and a straight line passing through the rear end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction.

[0056] The rear of the vehicle 10 (straight rear area) is an area behind a straight line passing through the rear end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction, and an area between a straight line passing through the right end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the front-to-rear direction and a straight line passing through the left end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the front-to-rear direction.

[0057] The right rear side (right oblique rear area) of the vehicle 10 is an area on the right side of the straight rear area in an area behind a straight line passing through the rear end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction.

[0058] The left rear side (left oblique rear area) of the vehicle 10 is an area on the left side of the straight rear area in an area behind a straight line passing through the rear end of the vehicle 10 and extending in the vehicle width direction.

[0059] The front laser radar 101 is provided on the front grille of the vehicle 10. The front laser radar 101 can detect the front object OFr 、Right front side object O F－R and the left front side object O F－L However, the front laser radar 101 irradiates laser light to a cone-shaped range with its own position as the vertex, and receives laser light from a cone-shaped range with its own position as the vertex, so there is sometimes a range near the vehicle 10 where objects cannot be detected (the same applies to other laser radars and cameras).

[0060] The right front side laser radar 102 is disposed at the right front portion of the vehicle 10. The right front side laser radar 102 can detect the front object O Fr 、Right front side object O F－R and the object O on the right R .

[0061] The right rear side laser radar 103 is disposed at the right rear portion of the vehicle 10. The right rear side laser radar 103 can detect the right rear side object O R－R , rear object O Rr and the object O on the right R .

[0062] The left rear side laser radar 104 is disposed at the left rear portion of the vehicle 10. The left rear side laser radar 104 can detect the left rear side object O R－L , rear object O Rr and the object O on the left L .

[0063] The left front side laser radar 105 is disposed at the left front portion of the vehicle 10. The left front side laser radar 105 can detect the left front side object O F－L 、Front object O Fr and the object O on the left L .

[0064] The plurality of second sensors 22 include a rear camera 201, a right camera 202, a front camera 203, and a left camera 204. Each of the cameras 201 to 204 generates image data by photographing the scenery outside the vehicle 10, and acquires object information based on the image data.

[0065] The rear camera 201 is disposed on the inner side of the rear window glass. The rear camera 201 can capture the scenery behind, to the right rear side, and to the left rear side of the vehicle 10. Therefore, the rear camera 201 can capture the rear objects. Rr 、Object on the right rear side O R－R and the left rear side object O R－L To detect their position and orientation, etc.

[0066] The right side camera 202 is disposed on the right side rearview mirror. The right side camera 202 can capture the scenery on the right side, right front side, and right rear side of the vehicle 10. Therefore, the right side camera 202 can capture the right front side object. F－R 、Object O on the right R and the object O behind the right side R－R To detect their position and orientation, etc.

[0067] The front camera 203 is disposed on the vehicle interior side of the front windshield. The front camera 203 can capture the scenery in front of the vehicle 10, the right front side, and the left front side. Therefore, the front camera 203 can capture the front object O Fr 、Right front side object O F－R and the left front side object O F－L To detect their position and orientation, etc.

[0068] The left side camera 204 is disposed on the left rearview mirror. The left side camera 204 can capture the scenery on the left side, the left front side, and the left rear side of the vehicle 10. Therefore, the left side camera 204 can capture the left front side object. F－L , Object O on the left L and the left rear side object O R－L To detect their position and orientation, etc.

[0069] Each of the laser radars 101 to 105 has a window portion (protective portion) through which laser light can pass. Each of the laser radars 101 to 105 emits laser light through the window portion, and receives the reflected laser light passing through the window portion. Each of the cameras 201 to 204 has a window portion (protective portion) through which visible light can pass. Each of the cameras 201 to 204 receives visible light incident from the outside of the vehicle 10 through the window portion. The surface of one of these window portions is exposed to the outside of the vehicle 10. The surface of the window portion exposed to the outside of the vehicle 10 is called a "sensor surface".

[0070] It should be noted that the front camera 203 is disposed in the vehicle compartment at the upper part of the front windshield and in the center of the vehicle width direction of the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the front camera 203 uses visible light that passes through the portion of the front windshield located in front of its lens (hereinafter also referred to as the "front shooting window portion") to shoot the scenery in front of the vehicle 10. One side of the front shooting window portion is exposed to the outside of the vehicle 10. Similarly, the rear camera 201 is disposed in the vehicle compartment at the upper part of the rear window glass of the vehicle 10 and in the center of the vehicle width direction. Furthermore, the rear camera 201 uses visible light that passes through the portion of the rear window glass located behind its lens (hereinafter also referred to as the "rear shooting window portion") to shoot the scenery behind the vehicle 10. One side of the rear shooting window portion is exposed to the outside of the vehicle 10. Therefore, the surfaces of the front shooting window portion and the rear shooting window portion on the outside side of the vehicle 10 are also sensor surfaces.

[0071] The vehicle 10 is equipped with Figure 2 The cleaning device 11a shown in FIG. 1 includes a cleaning liquid tank 30, a first pump 41, a second pump 42, a third pump 43, a first nozzle 51, a second nozzle 52, a third nozzle 53, a fourth nozzle 54, a fifth nozzle 55, a sixth nozzle 56, a seventh nozzle 57, an eighth nozzle 58, a ninth nozzle 59, a tenth nozzle 60, a first drive relay 71, a second drive relay 72, a third drive relay 73, a driving assistance ECU 80, and a wiping device 81. In the present embodiment, the first nozzle 51, the second nozzle 52, the third nozzle 53, the fourth nozzle 54, and the fifth nozzle 55 are examples of the first spraying device of the present invention, and the sixth nozzle 56, the seventh nozzle 57, the eighth nozzle 58, and the ninth nozzle 59 are examples of the second spraying device of the present invention. In addition, in the present embodiment, the first pump 41 and the first drive relay 71 are examples of the first delivery mechanism of the present invention, and the second pump 42 and the second drive relay 72 are examples of the second delivery mechanism of the present invention.

[0072] The cleaning liquid tank 30 is configured to store cleaning liquid as a cleaning medium.

[0073] The first pump 41 is connected to the first nozzle 51, the second nozzle 52, the third nozzle 53, the fourth nozzle 54 and the fifth nozzle 55 through a cleaning liquid path including a tube and a pipe. When the first pump 41 is driven (i.e., in operation), the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank 30 is delivered (pressurized) to the first nozzle 51 to the fifth nozzle 55.

[0074] The second pump 42 is connected to the sixth nozzle 56, the seventh nozzle 57, the eighth nozzle 58 and the ninth nozzle 59 through the cleaning liquid path. When the second pump 42 is driven (i.e., in operation), it delivers (pressure-feeds) the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank 30 to the sixth nozzle 56 to the ninth nozzle 59.

[0075] The first nozzle 51 to the fifth nozzle 55 are spray devices that spray the cleaning liquid onto the sensor surfaces of the laser radars 101 to 105 , respectively.

[0076] More specifically, the first nozzle 51 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the first pump 41 onto the sensor surface of the front laser radar 101 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the front laser radar 101 .

[0077] The second nozzle 52 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the first pump 41 onto the sensor surface of the right front side laser radar 102 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the right front side laser radar 102 .

[0078] The third nozzle 53 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the first pump 41 onto the sensor surface of the right rear side laser radar 103 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the right rear side laser radar 103 .

[0079] The fourth nozzle 54 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the first pump 41 onto the sensor surface of the left rear side laser radar 104 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the left rear side laser radar 104 .

[0080] The fifth nozzle 55 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the first pump 41 onto the sensor surface of the left front side laser radar 105 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the left front side laser radar 105 .

[0081] The sixth nozzle 56 to the ninth nozzle 59 are spraying devices that spray the cleaning liquid toward the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204, respectively.

[0082] More specifically, the sixth nozzle 56 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the second pump 42 onto the sensor surface of the rear camera 201 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the rear camera 201 .

[0083] The seventh nozzle 57 is configured to spray the cleaning liquid sent by the second pump 42 onto the sensor surface of the right side camera 202 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the right side camera 202 .

[0084] The eighth nozzle 58 is configured to spray the cleaning fluid delivered by the second pump 42 onto the sensor surface of the front camera 203 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the front camera 203 .

[0085] The ninth nozzle 59 is configured to spray the cleaning liquid sent by the second pump 42 onto the sensor surface of the left side camera 204 , thereby cleaning the sensor surface of the left side camera 204 .

[0086] The third pump 43 is connected to the tenth nozzle 60 through a washer fluid path. When the third pump 43 is driven (i.e., in operation), it delivers (pressure delivers) the washer fluid stored in the washer fluid tank 30 to the tenth nozzle 60. The tenth nozzle 60 is configured to spray the washer fluid delivered by the third pump 43 onto the vehicle outer side surface of the front windshield.

[0087] The first drive relay 71 switches between the on (closed) state and the off (open) state according to the instruction signal from the driving assistance ECU 80, thereby switching the supply state of the power for the operation of the first pump 41 between the power supply state and the power cut-off state. That is, while the first drive relay 71 is in the on state, power is supplied to the first pump 41, so that the first pump 41 works. As a result, the sensor surfaces of all the laser radars 101 to 105 (that is, all the first sensors 21) are cleaned. While the first drive relay 71 is in the off state, the first pump 41 does not work (stops).

[0088] The second drive relay 72 switches between the on state and the off state according to the instruction signal from the driving assistance ECU 80, thereby switching the supply state of the power for the operation of the second pump 42 between the power supply state and the power cut-off state. That is, during the period when the second drive relay 72 is in the on state, power is supplied to the second pump 42, so that the second pump 42 operates. As a result, the sensor surfaces of all the cameras 201 to 204 (that is, all the second sensors 22) are cleaned. During the period when the second drive relay 72 is in the off state, the second pump 42 does not operate (stops).

[0089] The third drive relay 73 switches between the on state and the off state according to the instruction signal from the driving assistance ECU 80, thereby switching the supply state of the power for the operation of the third pump 43 between the power supply state and the power cut-off state. That is, during the period when the third drive relay 73 is in the on state, the power for the operation is supplied to the third pump 43, so that the third pump 43 is operated. As a result, the washer fluid is sprayed to the front windshield. During the period when the third drive relay 73 is in the off state, the third pump 43 is stopped.

[0090] It should be noted that the first drive relay 71 , the second drive relay 72 , and the third drive relay 73 are all normally-off relays (a type that is in an open state when no drive signal is supplied).

[0091] The driving assistance ECU 80 is an example of a control unit of the present invention. The driving assistance ECU 80 has a computer, which includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an interface, etc. It should be noted that "ECU (Electronic Control Unit)" means "electronic control unit", sometimes referred to as a control unit or a controller. The CPU of the driving assistance ECU 80 is configured to implement various functions by reading and executing instructions (programs, routines) stored in the ROM. The driving assistance ECU 80 can also be composed of more than two ECUs.

[0092] (Operation of the driver assistance ECU)

[0093] The driving assistance ECU 80 is configured to perform driving assistance control. Driving assistance control is a control as follows: objects present in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle 10 are detected by each of the laser radars 101 to 105 and each of the cameras 201 to 204, and the driving operation of the vehicle 10 performed by the driver is assisted according to the detection results. In the present embodiment, the driving assistance control performed by the driving assistance ECU 80 is classified into a plurality of levels (stages) including driving assistance levels Lv1 to Lv5 as described below. The higher the driving assistance level, the more driving operations (driving tasks) the driving assistance ECU 80 undertakes. Among the driving assistance levels, Lv1 is the lowest and Lv5 is the highest.

[0094] [Lv1] The driving assistance ECU 80 executes a subtask of a driving task related to either steering control or acceleration / deceleration control, which corresponds to limited driving assistance control using, for example, adaptive cruise control (ACC) or path-following control.

[0095] [Lv2] The driving assistance ECU 80 performs subtasks of driving tasks related to both steering control and acceleration / deceleration control, for example, driving assistance control that performs multiple controls such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and path-following control at the same time.

[0096] [Lv3] In the limited driving assistance area, the driving assistance ECU 80 performs all driving tasks involving steering control and acceleration and deceleration control. The driver can also take his hands off the steering wheel. However, the driver is required to monitor the surroundings of the vehicle 10. It should be noted that the driver performs manual driving as needed.

[0097] [Lv4] In the limited driving assistance area, the driving assistance ECU80 performs all driving tasks involving steering control and acceleration and deceleration control. The driver may not monitor the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 10. The driver is allowed to perform other actions (second task). In an emergency, the driving assistance ECU80 starts manual driving in response to the driver's request. However, the driver is not expected to respond to the request.

[0098] [Lv5] In all areas, the driving assistance ECU 80 performs all driving tasks related to steering control and acceleration and deceleration control. The driver does not need to monitor the surrounding conditions of the vehicle 10. The driver is allowed to perform other actions (second task). In an emergency, the driving assistance ECU 80 automatically retreats the vehicle 10 to a safe place.

[0099] In the classification of the driving assistance levels, the driver performs a part of the driving task in Lv1 and Lv2, whereas the driving assistance ECU 80 performs all the driving tasks in Lv3 to Lv5.

[0100] Furthermore, the driving support ECU 80 is configured to execute the sensor surface cleaning control. The driving support ECU 80 performs the following operation as the sensor surface cleaning control.

[0101] The driving assistance ECU 80 determines whether there is a sensor surface that is dirty to such an extent that it should be cleaned (hereinafter referred to as a “sensor surface to be cleaned”).

[0102] The driving assistance ECU 80 determines whether or not the cleaning execution condition (the condition for executing the cleaning operation of the sensor surface) is satisfied based on the determination result.

[0103] When it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, the driving assistance ECU 80 selectively operates (drives) either the first pump 41 or the second pump 42 so as to clean the sensor surface to be cleaned. That is, while either the first pump 41 or the second pump 42 is operating, the other of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 is stopped.

[0104] Moreover, the driving assistance ECU 80 is configured to perform glass cleaning control for cleaning the front windshield. Specifically, when a "switch operation indicating cleaning of the front windshield" performed by the user of the vehicle 10 is detected, the driving assistance ECU 80 changes the third drive relay 73 to an on state, thereby activating the third pump 43 and activating the wiping device 81. The front windshield of the vehicle 10 is thereby cleaned. In addition, the driving assistance ECU 80 displays the images captured by each camera 201 to 204 on a display device not shown in the figure. Thus, the user (passenger) of the vehicle 10 can visually view the images captured by each camera 201 to 204.

[0105] Furthermore, for the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 and the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204, it is preferable to maintain a state (clean state) without dust, mud, etc. in order to detect objects with high accuracy. Moreover, in order to perform driving assistance control, it is preferable to be able to continuously perform detection of objects existing around the vehicle 10 in all directions. In particular, as the driving assistance level becomes higher, this request becomes stronger.

[0106] Therefore, the driving assistance ECU 80 maintains the sensor surface in a clean state by performing sensor surface cleaning control. On the other hand, during the cleaning of the sensor surface, cleaning fluid is sprayed onto the sensor surface. Therefore, the sensor whose sensor surface is being cleaned cannot detect an object (including a situation where an object cannot be detected with high accuracy). Therefore, assuming that the sensor surfaces of all sensors for detecting an object existing in a specific direction when viewed from the vehicle 10 are cleaned at the same time, an object existing in the specific direction cannot be detected. This state is not a preferred state for driving assistance control.

[0107] Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is configured so that objects (e.g., the same object) existing in the same direction when viewed from the vehicle 10 can be detected by a plurality of sensors (i.e., the first sensor 21 and the second sensor 22). Furthermore, the washer fluid is supplied to the nozzles of the sensor surfaces of the plurality of sensors that can detect objects existing in the same direction by different pumps such as the first pump 41 and the second pump 42, and the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 are not driven at the same time.

[0108] Hereinafter, "a plurality of sensors that can detect objects existing in the same direction (same directional range) and have sensor surfaces that are cleaned by nozzles that convey cleaning fluids through different cleaning fluid conveying mechanisms (pumps in the first embodiment)" will be referred to as "sensors in a complementary relationship". It should be noted that a plurality of sensors that can detect objects existing in the same direction can also be said to be a plurality of sensors that have overlapping ranges of objects that can be detected.

[0109] In the present embodiment, one or more of the plurality of first sensors 21 and one or more of the plurality of second sensors 22 constitute sensors in a complementary relationship. Figure 3 The table shown shows the detection direction of each sensor for detecting an object. For each sensor, the direction corresponding to the cell with a black circle indicates the direction in which the object can be detected, and the direction corresponding to the blank cell indicates the direction in which the object cannot be detected.

[0110] The first group includes the ability to detect objects in front of it. Fr The first group includes the front laser radar 101, the right front side laser radar 102, the left front side laser radar 105, and the front camera 203. In the first group, the "front laser radar 101, the right front side laser radar 102, and the left front side laser radar 105" as the first sensor 21 and the "front camera 203" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0111] The second group includes objects that can detect the right front side O F－R The second group includes the front laser radar 101, the right front side laser radar 102, the right side camera 202, and the front camera 203. In the second group, the "front laser radar 101 and the right front side laser radar 102" as the first sensor 21 and the "right side camera 202 and the front camera 203" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0112] The third group includes the ability to detect objects on the right side. R The third group includes the right front side laser radar 102, the right rear side laser radar 103, and the right side camera 202. In the third group, the "right front side laser radar 102 and the right rear side laser radar 103" as the first sensor 21 and the "right side camera 202" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0113] The fourth group includes the ability to detect objects on the right rear side. R－R The fourth group includes the right rear side laser radar 103, the right side camera 202, and the rear camera 201. In the fourth group, the "right rear side laser radar 103" as the first sensor 21 and the "right side camera 202 and the rear camera 201" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0114] The fifth group includes the ability to detect objects behind RrThe fifth group includes the right rear side laser radar 103, the left rear side laser radar 104, and the rear camera 201. In the fifth group, the "right rear side laser radar 103 and the left rear side laser radar 104" as the first sensor 21 and the "rear camera 201" as the second sensor 22 are in a complementary relationship.

[0115] The sixth group includes the ability to detect objects behind the left side. R－L The sixth group includes the left rear side laser radar 104, the rear camera 201, and the left side camera 204. In the sixth group, the "left rear side laser radar 104" as the first sensor 21 and the "rear camera 201 and the left side camera 204" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0116] The seventh group includes the ability to detect objects on the left side O L The seventh group includes the left rear side laser radar 104, the left front side laser radar 105, and the left side camera 204. In the seventh group, the "left rear side laser radar 104 and the left front side laser radar 105" as the first sensor 21 and the "left side camera 204" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0117] The eighth group includes the ability to detect left front side objects O F－L The eighth group includes the front laser radar 101, the left front side laser radar 105, the front camera 203, and the left side camera 204. In the eighth group, the "front laser radar 101 and the left front side laser radar 105" as the first sensor 21 and the "front camera 203 and the left side camera 204" as the second sensor 22 are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0118] The driving assistance ECU 80 operates one of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 selectively. That is, the driving assistance ECU 80 does not operate the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 at the same time, thereby not cleaning the sensor surfaces of the sensors (laser radar and camera) in a complementary relationship at the same time. Therefore, for all directions of the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle 10, there is a sensor that is not being cleaned for the sensor surface, so the object can be detected by the sensor that is not being cleaned. The details are as follows.

[0119] (1) When the first pump 41 is in operation

[0120] (1-1) Object in front O Fr Detection

[0121] The front laser radar 101, the right front side laser radar 102 and the left front side laser radar 105 cannot detect the front object. Fr However, the second pump 42 does not operate during the operation of the first pump 41, so the front camera 203 can detect the front object O. Fr .

[0122] (1-2) Object O in the right front side F－R Detection

[0123] The front laser radar 101 and the right front side laser radar 102 cannot detect the right front side object O F－R However, the front camera 203 and the right side camera 202 can detect the right front side object. F－R .

[0124] (1-3) Object O on the right R Detection

[0125] The right front side laser radar 102 and the right rear side laser radar 103 cannot detect the right side object. R However, the right side camera 202 can detect the right side object O R .

[0126] (1-4) Object O on the right rear side R－R Detection

[0127] The right rear side laser radar 103 cannot detect the right rear side object O R－R However, the right side camera 202 and the rear camera 201 can detect the right rear side object O R－R .

[0128] (1-5) Object O behind Rr Detection

[0129] The right rear side laser radar 103 and the left rear side laser radar 104 cannot detect the rear object. Rr However, the rear camera 201 can detect the rear object O Rr .

[0130] (1-6) Object O behind the left side R－L Detection

[0131] The left rear side laser radar 104 cannot detect the left rear side object O R－L However, the rear camera 201 and the left side camera 204 can detect the left rear side object. R－L .

[0132] (1-7) Object O on the left L Detection

[0133] The left rear side laser radar 104 and the left front side laser radar 105 cannot detect the left side object. L However, the left side camera 204 can detect the left side object O L .

[0134] (1-8) Left front side object O F－L Detection

[0135] The front laser radar 101 and the left front side laser radar 105 cannot detect the left front side object O F－L However, the front camera 203 and the left side camera 204 can detect the left front side object. F－L .

[0136] (2) When the second pump 42 is in operation

[0137] In this case, in the above-mentioned (1-1) to (1-8), the sensor that can detect the object and the sensor that cannot detect the object are interchanged.

[0138] (Sensor surface cleaning control)

[0139] Next, the sensor surface cleaning control performed by the driving assistance ECU 80 is described. The sensor surface cleaning control includes: (a) a step of determining whether each sensor surface is a sensor surface to be cleaned (a first step); (b) a step of determining whether a cleaning execution condition is satisfied (a second step); and (c) a step of selectively operating one of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 when it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied (a third step).

[0140] (a) Step of determining whether each sensor surface is a sensor surface to be cleaned

[0141] The driving assistance ECU 80 determines whether the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 is a sensor surface to be cleaned based on the signal output from each of the laser radars 101 to 105. Similarly, the driving assistance ECU 80 determines whether the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204 is a sensor surface to be cleaned based on the image data generated by each of the cameras 201 to 204. Specifically, the driving assistance ECU 80 determines whether the "sensor surface contamination index value" which is a value indicating the degree of contamination of each sensor surface is above the "contamination determination threshold value". In the present embodiment, the sensor surface whose sensor surface contamination index value is above the contamination determination threshold value is a sensor surface to be cleaned (i.e., a sensor surface that is dirty to the extent that it needs to be cleaned).

[0142] More specifically, the sensor surface contamination index value of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 is “the magnitude of attenuation of infrared light caused by contamination on the sensor surface” as defined below.

[0143] Sensor surface dirt index value = (infrared emission intensity) / (infrared incident intensity)

[0144] The emission intensity of infrared light is the intensity of infrared light emitted from the infrared source of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 toward the outside of the vehicle through the sensor surface. The incident intensity of infrared light is the intensity of infrared light detected by each of the laser radars 101 to 105.

[0145] When the dirt on the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 is unevenly distributed, the attenuation of infrared light caused by the dirt sometimes varies depending on the position of the sensor surface. Therefore, it is also possible to calculate the attenuation of infrared light for each small area in which the sensor surface is divided into a plurality of areas, and use the average value of their attenuation as the sensor surface dirt index value. It should be noted that the dirt index value for the sensor surface of the laser radar can also be obtained by the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2020-038154 and Japanese Patent Gazette No. 2020-001601.

[0146] The sensor surface contamination index value of each of the cameras 201 to 204 is “the ratio of the area of ​​the contaminated region to the area of ​​the image (captured image) captured by each of the cameras 201 to 204 ” as defined below.

[0147] Sensor surface contamination index value = (area of ​​the contaminated region in the captured image) / (entire area of ​​the captured image)

[0148] The dirty area in the captured image is an area where the brightness hardly changes for a predetermined period (time) or longer (that is, an area where the brightness changes to a value equal to or less than a threshold value).

[0149] It should be noted that the specific value of the contamination determination threshold is not particularly limited. Moreover, the contamination determination threshold for the laser radar and the contamination determination threshold for the camera may be different or the same depending on the situation. In addition, the contamination determination threshold for the laser radar may be different for each of the laser radars 101 to 105. Similarly, the contamination determination threshold for the camera may be different for each of the cameras 201 to 204.

[0150] In addition, in determining whether the sensor surface of the front camera 203 and the rear camera 201 is a sensor surface to be cleaned, a method that does not use the sensor surface contamination index value may also be applied. For example, the driving assistance ECU 80 continuously and repeatedly performs a process of "detecting a white line drawn on the road surface by performing a known image processing on each of the images captured by the front camera 203 and the rear camera 201" at a predetermined cycle. Then, when the number of times that the white line cannot be detected becomes above a predetermined threshold within a predetermined period, the driving assistance ECU 80 determines that the sensor surface is a sensor surface to be cleaned. In addition, as a method that does not use the sensor surface contamination index value, the following method may also be applied. When dirt is attached to the sensor surface of each camera 201 to 204, the image will be blurred compared to the case where no dirt is attached. Therefore, the driving assistance ECU 80 detects the edge (the part where the brightness changes sharply) of the image captured by each camera 201 to 204, and counts the number of edges included in the image. Then, when the number of edges included in the captured image is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold, the driving support ECU 80 determines that the sensor surface corresponding to the camera that captured the image is a sensor surface to be cleaned.

[0151] (b) Step of determining whether the cleaning execution condition is satisfied

[0152] The driving assistance ECU 80 uses the number of sensors having sensor surfaces determined as "sensor surfaces to be cleaned" (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "the number of sensor surfaces to be cleaned") to determine whether the cleaning execution conditions shown below are met. Hereinafter, sensor surfaces that are not sensor surfaces to be cleaned are referred to as "clean sensor surfaces", and the number of sensors having sensor surfaces determined as "clean sensor surfaces" is referred to as "the number of clean sensor surfaces". The cleaning execution conditions differ depending on whether the driving assistance ECU 80 is executing driving assistance control and, if driving assistance control is being executed, on its driving assistance level.

[0153] (b-1) When the driving assistance ECU 80 is not executing driving assistance control, or is executing driving assistance control at any of the driving assistance levels Lv1 and Lv2

[0154] The driving assistance ECU 80 determines whether the number of clean sensor surfaces of each of the above-mentioned groups (the first group to the eighth group) is less than a predetermined threshold value (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a "clean sensor surface threshold value".). In the present embodiment, the clean sensor surface threshold value is set to "1". Then, if there is one or more groups whose number of clean sensor surfaces is less than the clean sensor surface threshold value, the driving assistance ECU 80 determines that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied.

[0155] (b-2) When driving assistance control at any of the driving assistance levels Lv3 to Lv5 is being executed

[0156] Driving assistance levels Lv3 to Lv5 are levels at which the driving assistance ECU 80 performs all driving tasks. Therefore, when the driving assistance level is any one of the driving assistance levels Lv3 to Lv5, there is a strong demand to reduce the number of sensors that cannot detect objects as much as possible. From this point of view, when there is one or more sensors whose sensor surfaces are determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned, the driving assistance ECU 80 determines that the cleaning execution condition is met.

[0157] (c) Step of selectively operating one of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42

[0158] (c-1) At least one of the laser radars 101 to 105 has a sensor surface to be cleaned, but none of the cameras 201 to 204 has a sensor surface to be cleaned

[0159] In this case, the driving assistance ECU 80 sets the first drive relay 71 to the on state for a predetermined time (laser radar cleaning time), but maintains the second drive relay 72 to the off state.

[0160] (c-2) At least one of the cameras 201 to 204 has a sensor surface to be cleaned, but none of the laser radars 101 to 105 has a sensor surface to be cleaned

[0161] In this case, the driving support ECU 80 sets the second drive relay 72 to the on state for a predetermined time (camera cleaning time), but maintains the first drive relay 71 to the off state.

[0162] (c-3) At least one of the laser radars 101 to 105 has a sensor surface to be cleaned, and at least one of the cameras 201 to 204 has a sensor surface to be cleaned.

[0163] In this case, first, the driving assistance ECU 80 sets the second drive relay 72 to the on state for a predetermined time (camera cleaning time), but maintains the first drive relay 71 in the off state. That is, the driving assistance ECU 80 operates the second pump 42 to clean the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204. After the cleaning of the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204 is completed, the driving assistance ECU 80 performs the above-mentioned steps (a) and (b) again. Then, when it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, the driving assistance ECU 80 operates in a manner corresponding to any one of the above-mentioned (c-1) and (c-2). It should be noted that, when at least one of the laser radars 101 to 105 still has a sensor surface to be cleaned and at least one of the cameras 201 to 204 still has a sensor surface to be cleaned, the driving assistance ECU 80 operates the second pump 42 again to clean the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204. Immediately after the sensor surfaces of cameras 201 to 204 are cleaned, the probability that the sensor surfaces of cameras 201 to 204 are judged as "sensor surfaces to be cleaned" becomes low, so the probability that the sensor surfaces of laser radars 101 to 105 are cleaned is high.

[0164] Moreover, in the present embodiment, the cleaning of the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204 is prioritized over the cleaning of the sensor surfaces of the laser radars 101 to 105. Thus, the discomfort of the user (passenger) of the vehicle 10 is reduced. That is, the driving assistance ECU 80 displays the images captured by the cameras 201 to 204 on a display device not shown in the figure, so that the user of the vehicle 10 can see the images captured by the cameras 201 to 204. Therefore, the user of the vehicle 10 is likely to notice the dirt on the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204. Furthermore, if the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204 are dirty, the user of the vehicle may sometimes feel uncomfortable with the images captured by the cameras 201 to 204. Therefore, the cleaning of the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204 is prioritized over the cleaning of the sensor surfaces of the laser radars 101 to 105.

[0165] (Specific example 1)

[0166] As an example, the action when the sensor surfaces of the right front side laser radar 102, the right rear side laser radar 103 and the rear camera 201 are to be cleaned and the other sensor surfaces are clean sensor surfaces is described. It should be noted that in this example, the driving assistance level is any one of Lv1 and Lv2, or the driving assistance control is not performed. In this case, in the third group, the fourth group and the fifth group, the number of sensors corresponding to the clean sensor surface is 1, so the cleaning execution condition is established. Moreover, the sensors corresponding to the sensor surface to be cleaned include both the camera and the laser radar. Therefore, the driving assistance ECU 80 first switches the second drive relay 72 to ON within a specified time, thereby actuating the second pump 42 within a specified time. As a result, the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204 is cleaned.

[0167] Then, when the sensor surface contamination index value of the sensor surface of the rear camera 201 is less than the contamination determination threshold value due to cleaning, the number of sensors corresponding to the clean sensor surface becomes 2 in the fourth group and the fifth group. On the other hand, in the third group, the sensor surfaces of the right front side laser radar 102 and the right rear side laser radar 103 are not cleaned, so these sensor surfaces are still sensor surfaces to be cleaned. That is, in the third group, the number of sensors corresponding to the clean sensor surface is still 1. Therefore, even after the cleaning of the sensor surface of the camera, the cleaning execution condition is still established. Therefore, the driving assistance ECU80 cleans the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 by operating the first pump 41.

[0168] (Specific example 2)

[0169] As another example, the case where both the sensor surface of the front camera 203 and the sensor surface of the rear camera 201 are determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned and the sensor surfaces other than these are determined to be clean sensor surfaces will be described. It should be noted that in this example, the driving assistance level is either Lv1 or Lv2, or the driving assistance control is not performed. In this case, there is no group in which the number of sensors corresponding to the sensor surface determined to be a clean sensor surface is 1 or less, so the cleaning execution condition is not satisfied. Therefore, the driving assistance ECU 80 does not perform the cleaning action. It should be noted that the detection range for detecting an object by the front camera 203 and the detection range for detecting an object by the rear camera 201 do not overlap, and the front camera 203 and the rear camera 201 do not detect the same object at the same time. In this way, when the driving assistance level is either Lv1 or Lv2, or the driving assistance control is not performed, when it is determined that the sensor surfaces of a plurality of sensors that detect only objects existing in different positions are sensor surfaces to be cleaned, the driving assistance ECU 80 does not perform the cleaning action.

[0170] (Specific Operation of Driving Assist ECU)

[0171] Next, the specific operation of the driving assistance ECU 80 will be described. In the following description, the CPU of the driving assistance ECU 80 is simply referred to as "CPU". The CPU executes the following operation every time a predetermined time Δt1 elapses. Figure 4 The flowchart represents the routine.

[0172] In step S101, the CPU determines whether one of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 is in operation. If it is determined that one of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 is in operation, the CPU temporarily terminates the routine. If it is determined that neither the first pump 41 nor the second pump 42 is in operation, the CPU proceeds to step S102.

[0173] In step S102, the CPU obtains the sensor surface contamination index value of each sensor surface, determines whether each contamination index value is greater than the corresponding contamination determination threshold value (i.e., whether each sensor surface is a sensor surface to be cleaned), and stores the determination result in the RAM. Then, the CPU proceeds to step S103.

[0174] In step S103, the CPU determines whether a driving assistance control of any one of the driving assistance levels Lv3 to Lv5 is being executed. If it is determined that a driving assistance control of any one of the driving assistance levels Lv3 to Lv5 is being executed, the CPU proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if a driving assistance control of any one of the driving assistance levels Lv3 to Lv5 is not being executed, the CPU proceeds from step S103 to step S105. In addition, if a driving assistance control of any one of the driving assistance levels Lv1 and Lv2 is being executed, the CPU proceeds from step S103 to step S105.

[0175] In step S104, the CPU determines whether there are more than one sensor surfaces determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned. It should be noted that in step S104, the CPU does not determine "whether there are more than one sensor surfaces to be cleaned in each group", but determines "regardless of the group, whether there are more than one sensor surfaces to be cleaned among the sensor surfaces of all cameras of laser radars 101 to 105 and cameras 201 to 204". When it is determined that there are more than one sensor surfaces determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned, the CPU proceeds from step S104 to step S106. When it is determined that there are no sensor surfaces determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned, the CPU temporarily ends the routine.

[0176] On the other hand, when entering step S105, the CPU determines in step S105 whether there is one or more "groups in which the number of clean sensor surfaces (sensor surfaces that have not been determined as sensor surfaces to be cleaned) is less than the clean sensor surface threshold value". Then, when it is determined that such a group exists, the CPU proceeds from step S105 to step S106. When it is determined that there is no such group, the CPU temporarily ends the routine.

[0177] In step S106, the CPU determines whether the sensor surfaces to be cleaned include the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204. If the sensor surfaces to be cleaned include the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204, the CPU proceeds to step S107. If the sensor surfaces to be cleaned do not include the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204, the CPU proceeds to step S108.

[0178] In step S107, the CPU performs processing for setting the second drive relay 72 to the on state for a predetermined time (camera cleaning time), and then temporarily terminates the routine. As a result, the second pump 42 is driven (operated) for the camera cleaning time, so that the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204 is cleaned.

[0179] On the other hand, when entering step S108, the CPU performs processing for setting the first drive relay 71 to the on state for a predetermined time (laser radar cleaning time) in step S108, and then temporarily terminates the routine. As a result, the first pump 41 is driven (operated) for the laser radar cleaning time, so that the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 is cleaned.

[0180] According to this routine, both the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 do not operate during the overlapping period. That is, when either the first pump 41 or the second pump 42 is operating, an affirmative determination (yes) is made in step S101, and therefore, neither of the processes of step S107 and step S108 is newly executed. Therefore, in each of the above-mentioned groups, there is at least one sensor whose sensor surface is not cleaned. Therefore, for all of the above-mentioned groups, objects existing in the area in the direction set as the detection target of each group can be detected by at least the sensor whose sensor surface is not cleaned.

[0181] Furthermore, when the sensor surfaces to be cleaned include “the sensor surfaces of one or more sensors of the laser radars 101 to 105” and “the sensor surfaces of one or more sensors of the cameras 201 to 204”, priority is given to cleaning the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204. That is, when the sensor surfaces to be cleaned include the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204, the CPU proceeds from step S106 to step S107 to clean the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204. As a result, when the sensor surfaces to be cleaned do not include the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204, the CPU makes a negative determination (“No”) when it subsequently proceeds to step S106, and proceeds to step S108 to clean the sensor surfaces of the laser radars 101 to 105.

[0182] It should be noted that, as a variation of the above routine, the CPU may also execute the following routine. In step S102, the CPU determines whether each sensor surface is a sensor surface to be cleaned. Then, in the case where the sensor surfaces determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned include the sensor surfaces of the laser radars 101 to 105, the CPU stores a "laser radar sensor surface cleaning request". Similarly, in the case where the sensor surfaces determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned include the sensor surfaces of the cameras 201 to 204, the CPU stores a "camera sensor surface cleaning request".

[0183] Then, in step S106, the CPU determines whether a "camera sensor surface cleaning request" is stored, and if so, the process proceeds to step S107. At this time, the CPU erases the pre-stored "camera sensor surface cleaning request".

[0184] On the other hand, when the "camera sensor surface cleaning request" is not stored in step S106 (that is, when only the "lidar sensor surface cleaning request" is stored), the CPU proceeds from step S106 to step S108. At this time, the CPU erases the pre-stored "lidar sensor surface cleaning request".

[0185] <Second embodiment>

[0186] Compared with the first embodiment, the second embodiment is a method in which the number of pumps is large and the number of nozzles connected to one pump is small. In the following description, the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment are used for the elements common to the first embodiment, and the description is sometimes omitted (the same is also assumed in the description of the third and fourth embodiments).

[0187] like Figure 5As shown, the cleaning device 11b of the second embodiment has a fourth pump 44 and a fifth pump 45 to replace the first pump 41 of the cleaning device 11a of the first embodiment. Similarly, the cleaning device 11b has a sixth pump 46 and a seventh pump 47 to replace the second pump 42. Moreover, the cleaning device 11b of the second embodiment has a fourth drive relay 74 to replace the first drive relay 71, and has a fifth drive relay 75 to replace the second drive relay 72. The fourth drive relay 74 and the fifth drive relay 75 are both normally-off drive relays. In this embodiment, the fourth pump 44, the fifth pump 45 and the fourth drive relay 74 are examples of the first conveying mechanism of the present invention, and the sixth pump 46, the seventh pump 47 and the fifth drive relay 75 are examples of the second conveying mechanism of the present invention.

[0188] The fourth pump 44 is connected to the first nozzle 51, the second nozzle 52, and the third nozzle 53. The fifth pump 45 is connected to the fourth nozzle 54 and the fifth nozzle 55. The sixth pump 46 is connected to the sixth nozzle 56 and the seventh nozzle 57. The seventh pump 47 is connected to the eighth nozzle 58 and the ninth nozzle 59.

[0189] Thus, in the present embodiment, the cleaning liquid is delivered to the nozzles 51 to 53 that spray the cleaning liquid onto the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 103 as the first sensor 21 by the fourth pump 44 and the fourth drive relay 74. The cleaning liquid is delivered to the nozzles 54 and 55 that spray the cleaning liquid onto the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 104 and 105 as the first sensor 21 by the fifth pump 45 and the fourth drive relay 74. Similarly, the cleaning liquid is delivered to the nozzles 56 and 57 that spray the cleaning liquid onto the sensor surface of the cameras 201 and 202 as the second sensor 22 by the sixth pump 46 and the fifth drive relay 75. Furthermore, the cleaning liquid is delivered to the nozzles 58 and 59 that spray the cleaning liquid onto the sensor surface of the cameras 203 and 204 as the second sensor 22 by the seventh pump 47 and the fifth drive relay 75.

[0190] The fourth drive relay 74 switches between the on state and the off state according to the instruction signal from the driving assistance ECU 80. During the period when the fourth drive relay 74 is in the off state, the fourth pump 44 and the fifth pump 45 do not work. During the period when the fourth drive relay 74 is in the on state, power is supplied to the fourth pump 44 and the fifth pump 45, so that the fourth pump 44 and the fifth pump 45 work. That is, the fourth pump 44 and the fifth pump 45 work simultaneously.

[0191] The fifth drive relay 75 switches between the on state and the off state according to the instruction signal from the driving assistance ECU 80. During the period when the fifth drive relay 75 is in the off state, the sixth pump 46 and the seventh pump 47 do not work. During the period when the fifth drive relay 75 is in the on state, power is supplied to the sixth pump 46 and the seventh pump 47, so that the sixth pump 46 and the seventh pump 47 work. That is, the sixth pump 46 and the seventh pump 47 work at the same time.

[0192] The driving assistance ECU 80 does not set the fourth drive relay 74 and the fifth drive relay 75 to the on state at the same time, but sets one of them to the on state selectively.

[0193] The driving assistance ECU 80 of the second embodiment switches the fourth drive relay 74 to the on state instead of “switching the first drive relay 71 to the on state” in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the driving assistance ECU 80 switches the fifth drive relay 75 to the on state instead of “switching the second drive relay 72 to the on state” in the first embodiment. Except for these points, the driving assistance ECU 80 of the second embodiment operates in the same manner as the driving assistance ECU 80 of the first embodiment.

[0194] According to the second embodiment, the same effect as the first embodiment can be achieved. Moreover, in the second embodiment, the number of nozzles connected to one pump is less than that in the first embodiment. Therefore, the pressure and flow rate of the cleaning liquid ejected from each nozzle can be stably increased. In addition, in the second embodiment, it is configured to operate multiple pumps through one drive relay, so the number of drive relays does not need to increase accordingly with the increase in the number of pumps. Therefore, compared with the structure in which one pump is operated by one drive relay, the increase in the number of parts can be suppressed.

[0195] It should be noted that the number of nozzles connected to each pump does not need to be limited as in the first and second embodiments. For example, the fourth pump 44 may be connected to one or more nozzles (for example, two nozzles) of the "nozzles 51 to 55", and the fifth pump 45 may be connected to the remaining nozzles (for example, three nozzles) of the "nozzles 51 to 55". Similarly, the sixth pump 46 may be connected to one or more nozzles (for example, one nozzle) of the "nozzles 56 to 59", and the seventh pump 47 may be connected to the remaining nozzles (for example, three nozzles) of the "nozzles 56 to 59".

[0196] <Third embodiment>

[0197] The third embodiment is a method in which one pump is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid pressure to all the "nozzles that spray the cleaning fluid onto the sensor surface". More specifically, Figure 6As shown, the cleaning device 11 c of the third embodiment includes an eighth pump 48 , a first electromagnetic valve 91 , and a second electromagnetic valve 92 instead of the first pump 41 and the second pump 42 of the cleaning device 11 a of the first embodiment.

[0198] The first solenoid valve (electromagnetic first flow path opening and closing valve) 91 and the second solenoid valve (electromagnetic second flow path opening and closing valve) 92 are normally closed flow path opening and closing solenoid valves. That is, each of the first solenoid valve 91 and the second solenoid valve 92 maintains the internal flow path in a cut-off (closed) state when no voltage is applied, and sets the internal flow path to a flow-through (open) state during a period when voltage is applied (a period when power for operation is supplied).

[0199] The eighth pump 48 has two discharge ports. One of the two discharge ports of the eighth pump 48 is connected to the inlet port of the internal flow path of the first electromagnetic valve 91. The outlet port of the internal flow path of the first electromagnetic valve 91 is connected to the first nozzle 51 to the fifth nozzle 55. The other of the two discharge ports of the eighth pump 48 is connected to the inlet port of the internal flow path of the second electromagnetic valve 92. The outlet port of the internal flow path of the second electromagnetic valve 92 is connected to the sixth nozzle 56 to the ninth nozzle 59.

[0200] Furthermore, the cleaning device 11c includes a sixth drive relay 76, a seventh drive relay 77, and an eighth drive relay 78 instead of the first drive relay 71 and the second drive relay 72 of the cleaning device 11a of the first embodiment. These relays are normally-off drive relays.

[0201] In the present embodiment, the cleaning liquid is delivered to the nozzles 51 to 55 that spray the cleaning liquid on the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 as the first sensor 21 by the eighth pump 48, the sixth drive relay 76, the first solenoid valve 91, and the seventh drive relay 77. That is, in the present embodiment, the eighth pump 48, the sixth drive relay 76, the first solenoid valve 91, and the seventh drive relay 77 are examples of the first delivery mechanism of the present invention. More specifically, when the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 is cleaned, the driving assistance ECU 80 switches the sixth drive relay 76 from the off state to the on state to operate the eighth pump 48. Moreover, the driving assistance ECU 80 switches the seventh drive relay 77 from the off state to the on state to apply voltage to the first solenoid valve 91. As a result, the internal flow path of the first solenoid valve 91 is changed to a flow-through state, so that the cleaning liquid is delivered from the eighth pump 48 to the nozzles 51 to 55 through the internal flow path of the first solenoid valve 91. Therefore, the sensor surface of each of the laser radars 101 to 105 is cleaned.

[0202] In addition, in the present embodiment, the cleaning liquid is delivered to the nozzles 56 to 59 that spray the cleaning liquid on the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204 as the second sensor 22 by the eighth pump 48, the sixth drive relay 76, the second solenoid valve 92, and the eighth drive relay 78. That is, in the present embodiment, the eighth pump 48, the sixth drive relay 76, the second solenoid valve 92, and the eighth drive relay 78 are examples of the second delivery mechanism of the present invention. More specifically, when the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204 is cleaned, the driving assistance ECU 80 switches the sixth drive relay 76 from the off state to the on state to operate the eighth pump 48. Moreover, the driving assistance ECU 80 switches the eighth drive relay 78 from the off state to the on state to apply voltage to the second solenoid valve 92. As a result, the internal flow path of the second solenoid valve 92 is changed to the flow-through state, so that the cleaning liquid is delivered from the eighth pump 48 to the nozzles 56 to 59 through the internal flow path of the second solenoid valve 92. Thus, the sensor surface of each of the cameras 201 to 204 is cleaned.

[0203] The driving assistance ECU 80 of the third embodiment switches the sixth drive relay 76 and the seventh drive relay 77 to the on state instead of “switching the first drive relay 71 to the on state” in the first embodiment. Moreover, the driving assistance ECU 80 switches the sixth drive relay 76 and the eighth drive relay 78 to the on state instead of “switching the second drive relay 72 to the on state” in the first embodiment. Except for these points, the driving assistance ECU 80 of the third embodiment operates in the same manner as the driving assistance ECU 80 of the first embodiment.

[0204] According to the third embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be achieved. Furthermore, according to the third embodiment, the number of expensive pumps can be reduced compared to the first and second embodiments.

[0205] It should be noted that the seventh drive relay 77 and the eighth drive relay 78 may be replaced by one three-contact relay, and the three-contact relay may be used to selectively change one of the “first solenoid valve 91 and the second solenoid valve 92 ” to a flow-through (open) state.

[0206] <Fourth embodiment>

[0207] like Figure 7As shown, the fourth embodiment is a mode in which the number of sensors is less than the number of sensors of the first to third embodiments. Specifically, the cleaning device 11d of the fourth embodiment does not have the "right front side laser radar 102, the right rear side laser radar 103, the left front side laser radar 105, and the left rear side laser radar 104" of the first embodiment. That is, the cleaning device 11d has a front laser radar 101 as the first sensor 21, and has "rear camera 201, right side camera 202, front camera 203, and left side camera 204" as the second sensor 22. Therefore, the cleaning device 11d has the first nozzle 51 and the sixth nozzle 56 to the ninth nozzle 59, but does not have the second nozzle 52 to the fifth nozzle 55. In the cleaning device 11d, only the first nozzle 51 is connected to the first pump 41, and the sixth nozzle 56 to the ninth nozzle 59 are connected to the second pump 42.

[0208] like Figure 8 As shown, the multiple sensors are divided into multiple groups in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The first group includes the front laser radar 101 and the front camera 203. In the first group, the "front laser radar 101" and the "front camera 203" are sensors in a complementary relationship. The second group includes the front laser radar 101, the front camera 203, and the right side camera 202. In the second group, the "front laser radar 101" and the "right side camera 202 and the front camera 203" are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0209] The third group includes only the right side camera 202. The fourth group includes the right side camera 202 and the rear camera 201. The fifth group includes only the rear camera 201. The sixth group includes only the rear camera 201 and the left side camera 204. The seventh group includes the left side camera 204. Each of the third to seventh groups does not include sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0210] The eighth group includes the front laser radar 101, the front camera 203, and the left side camera 204. In the eighth group, the "front laser radar 101" and the "front camera 203 and the left side camera 204" are sensors in a complementary relationship.

[0211] The driving support ECU 80 of the fourth embodiment operates either the first pump 41 or the second pump 42. That is, the driving support ECU 80 does not simultaneously operate the first pump 41 and the second pump 42. More specifically, the sensor surface is cleaned and the object is detected as follows.

[0212] (1) When the first pump 41 is in operation

[0213] Object in front O FrThe front laser radar 101 cannot detect the front object O when the sensor surface is being cleaned. Fr It can be detected by the front camera 203.

[0214] Right front side object O F－R The front laser radar 101 whose sensor surface is being cleaned cannot detect it. F－R It can be detected by the front camera 203 and the right side camera 202.

[0215] Object O on the right R It can be detected by the right side camera 202.

[0216] Object on the right rear side O R－R It can be detected by the right side camera 202 and the rear camera 201 .

[0217] Object behind O Rr It can be detected by the rear camera 201.

[0218] Left rear side object O R－L It can be detected by the rear camera 201 and the left side camera 204 .

[0219] Object O on the left L It can be detected by the left side camera 204.

[0220] Left front side object O F－L The front laser radar 101 whose sensor surface is being cleaned cannot detect it. F－L It can be detected by the front camera 203 and the left side camera 204.

[0221] (2) When the second pump 42 is in operation

[0222] In this case, the front laser radar 101 can detect the left front side object O F－L 、Front object O Fr and the right front side object O F－R In contrast, the cameras 201 to 204, which are all in the process of cleaning, cannot detect objects. That is, the third to seventh groups only include cameras, and therefore cannot detect objects existing on the right side, right rear side, rear side, left rear side, and left side of the vehicle 10 during the operation of the second pump 42.

[0223] (Sensor surface cleaning control)

[0224] When the sensor surface cleaning control of the cleaning device 11 d of the fourth embodiment is compared with the sensor surface cleaning control of the cleaning device 11 a of the first embodiment, the contamination determination threshold and the clean sensor surface threshold are different.

[0225] (Contamination determination threshold)

[0226] In the fourth embodiment, the contamination determination threshold is set as follows (1) or (2).

[0227] (1) The contamination determination threshold is sequentially changed according to the object detection result obtained by each sensor.

[0228] The driving assistance ECU 80 of the fourth embodiment obtains the number of objects detected by each sensor and the distance from the vehicle 10 is less than the prescribed distance (hereinafter referred to as the "number of close objects".). When it is determined that the number of close objects is more than the prescribed number (hereinafter referred to as the "threshold value of the number of objects".), the possibility of the vehicle 10 colliding with or being extremely close to these objects is high. Therefore, in such a case, it is preferred that the driving assistance ECU 80 continuously (at a high frequency) detects the positional relationship between the vehicle 10 and these objects. Therefore, when it is determined that the number of close objects is more than the threshold value of the number of objects, the driving assistance ECU 80 sets the value of the contamination determination threshold to a larger value than when it is determined that the number of close objects is less than the threshold value of the number of objects. As a result, the driving assistance ECU 80 can clean the sensor surface when the possibility of the vehicle 10 colliding with or being extremely close to an object is relatively low, thereby reducing the frequency of occurrence of situations where the object cannot be detected due to the cleaning action when the possibility of the vehicle 10 colliding with or being extremely close to an object is relatively high.

[0229] (2) The contamination determination threshold used in the fourth embodiment is set to a higher value than the contamination determination threshold used in the first embodiment.

[0230] In the first embodiment, even when the first pump 41 is in operation, the cameras 201 to 204 having sensor surfaces that are not being cleaned can detect objects that exist in the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle 10. In contrast, in the fourth embodiment, when the second pump 42 is in operation, only the front laser radar 101 can detect objects, so the condition of the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle 10 cannot be well understood. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the frequency of occurrence of the situation where the condition of the surrounding area of ​​the vehicle 10 cannot be understood is reduced by setting the contamination determination threshold to a relatively large value.

[0231] (Clean sensor surface threshold)

[0232] As described above, in the fourth embodiment, the third group includes only the right side camera 202, the fifth group includes only the rear camera 201, and the seventh group includes only the left side camera 204. That is, each of these groups (the third group, the fifth group, and the seventh group) includes only one sensor. In the case where the sensor surface of the sensor belonging to the group including only one sensor is determined to be the sensor surface to be cleaned, there is no sensor with a clean sensor surface (not the sensor surface to be cleaned) in the group. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the clean sensor surface threshold is set to "0", and in the case where there is a group with more than one clean sensor surface whose number is less than the clean sensor surface threshold (i.e., "0"), it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied. It should be noted that, similar to the case where the driving assistance level is Lv3 to Lv5 in the first embodiment, the driving assistance ECU 80 may determine that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied when at least one sensor surface among all the sensor surfaces is the sensor surface to be cleaned.

[0233] (Specific actions)

[0234] The CPU of the driving assistance ECU 80 of the fourth embodiment executes the following operation every time a predetermined time Δt1 elapses: Fig. 9 The flowchart represents the routine.

[0235] Step S201 and step S202 are the same as step S101 and step S102 of the first embodiment.

[0236] In step S203, the CPU determines whether there is a group in which the number of sensor surfaces that have not been determined to be sensor surfaces to be cleaned (i.e., the number of clean sensor surfaces) is less than the "clean sensor surface threshold value set to 0". Then, if it is determined that there is such a group, the CPU proceeds to step S204. If it is determined that there is no such group, the CPU temporarily ends the routine.

[0237] Step S204 , step S205 , and step S206 are respectively the same as step S106 , step S107 , and step S108 of the first embodiment.

[0238] According to this routine, it is possible to prevent or suppress the occurrence of a situation where "there is no sensor with a clean sensor surface in each group". That is, in step S204, when there are 0 sensor surfaces as clean sensor surfaces (that is, there are more than 1 sensor surfaces as sensor surfaces to be cleaned), step S205 or step S206 is entered to clean the sensor surfaces. Then, when step S206 is entered, the sensor surfaces of cameras 201 to 204 are not cleaned, so there is at least one sensor whose sensor surface is not cleaned in each group. On the other hand, even when step S205 is entered, there is a front laser radar 101 whose sensor surface is not cleaned in the first group, the second group, and the eighth group. Therefore, objects can be detected in front of the vehicle 10, on the right front side, and on the left front side.

[0239] As mentioned above, although each embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

[0240] For example, sensors in a complementary relationship are not limited to the above examples. For example, the vehicle 10 may include a plurality of laser radars capable of detecting objects in the same direction, and these laser radars may be sensors that are complementary to each other. Similarly, the vehicle 10 may include a plurality of cameras capable of detecting objects in the same direction, and these cameras may be sensors that are complementary to each other. Moreover, in each of the above embodiments, a configuration in which the laser radar belongs to the first sensor group and the camera belongs to the second sensor group is shown, but it is not limited to such a configuration. That is, the laser radar and the camera may also belong to the first sensor group, and the laser radar and the camera may also belong to the second sensor group.

[0241] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the cleaning execution condition is changed according to the level of the driving assistance control, but the cleaning execution condition may be the same regardless of the level of the driving assistance control.

[0242] The positions at which each of the laser radars 101 to 105 and each of the cameras 201 to 204 are arranged are not limited to the positions shown in the above embodiments. Furthermore, the range (angle of view range) of objects that can be detected by each of the laser radars 101 to 105 and each of the cameras 201 to 204 is not limited to the above range. In addition, the method for determining whether the sensor surface is a sensor surface to be cleaned is not limited to the above method.

[0243] Moreover, in the first embodiment, the cleaning device 11a is shown to have a configuration in which one pump (first pump 41) delivers cleaning liquid to the first nozzle 51 to the fifth nozzle 55 (i.e., the sensor surfaces of all the first sensors 21) and another pump (second pump 42) delivers cleaning liquid to the sixth nozzle 56 to the tenth nozzle 60 (i.e., the sensor surfaces of all the second sensors 22), but it is not limited to such a configuration. Similarly, in the second embodiment, the cleaning device 11b is shown to have a configuration in which two pumps (fourth pump 44 and fifth pump 45) deliver cleaning liquid to the first nozzle 51 to the fifth nozzle 55 and another two pumps (seventh pump 47 and eighth pump 48) deliver cleaning liquid to the sixth nozzle 56 to the tenth nozzle 60, but it is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the cleaning device may also have one pump (first pump 41) delivers cleaning liquid to the first nozzle 51 to the fifth nozzle 55 and another two pumps (sixth pump 46 and seventh pump 47) deliver cleaning liquid to the sixth nozzle 56 to the tenth nozzle 60. Furthermore, the cleaning device may include two pumps (fourth pump 44 and fifth pump 45 ) for supplying cleaning liquid to first nozzle 51 to fifth nozzle 55 and another pump (second pump 42 ) for supplying cleaning liquid to sixth nozzle 56 to tenth nozzle 60 .

[0244] Furthermore, the washer devices 11 a , 11 b , 11 c , and 11 d may include a nozzle that sprays a washer fluid toward the rear window glass of the vehicle 10 and a wiping device that washes the rear window glass of the vehicle 10 .

Claims

1. A cleaning device, applied to a vehicle, the vehicle comprising: a first sensor group having only a first specific sensor configured to acquire information of a first surrounding area among surrounding areas of the vehicle, or having a plurality of sensors including the first specific sensor and configured to acquire information of the surrounding area; as well as a second sensor group including a plurality of sensors including a second specific sensor capable of acquiring information of the first peripheral area and configured to acquire information of the peripheral area; The cleaning device comprises: a first spraying device including a single or a plurality of nozzles, which are provided corresponding to each of the sensor surfaces of the sensors belonging to the first sensor group and spray a cleaning fluid so as to clean the corresponding sensor surface when the cleaning fluid is delivered; a second spraying device including a plurality of nozzles which are provided corresponding to each of the sensor surfaces of the sensors belonging to the second sensor group and spray the cleaning fluid so as to clean the corresponding sensor surface when the cleaning fluid is delivered; a first delivery mechanism, operated by electricity to deliver the cleaning fluid to the first spray device; a second delivery mechanism, operated by electricity to deliver the cleaning fluid to the second spray device; as well as A control unit controls the operation of the first conveying mechanism and the second conveying mechanism respectively. The control unit is configured to: determining whether each of the sensor surface of the sensor belonging to the first sensor group and the sensor surface of the sensor belonging to the second sensor group is a sensor surface to be cleaned that is dirty to an extent that it should be cleaned; determining whether a predetermined cleaning execution condition is met based on the result of the determination; When it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, if the sensor belonging to the first sensor group has the sensor surface to be cleaned but the sensor belonging to the second sensor group does not have the sensor surface to be cleaned, the first conveying mechanism is operated but the second conveying mechanism is not operated; When it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, if the sensor belonging to the second sensor group has the sensor surface to be cleaned but the sensor belonging to the first sensor group does not have the sensor surface to be cleaned, the second conveying mechanism is operated but the first conveying mechanism is not operated; and When it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, if the sensor belonging to the first sensor group has the sensor surface to be cleaned and the sensor belonging to the second sensor group has the sensor surface to be cleaned, either the first conveying mechanism or the second conveying mechanism is selectively operated, The control unit is configured to: determining whether the number of clean sensor surfaces determined not to be the sensor surfaces to be cleaned among the sensor surfaces of the first sensor group of sensors capable of acquiring information of a prescribed area and the sensor surfaces of the second sensor group of sensors capable of acquiring information of the prescribed area is equal to or less than a prescribed clean sensor surface threshold value, wherein the prescribed area is a part of the peripheral area of ​​the vehicle; capable of performing driving assistance control that assists driving of the vehicle using sensors belonging to the first sensor group and sensors belonging to the second sensor group; When the driving assist control is not executed, when it is determined that the number of clean sensor surfaces is equal to or less than the clean sensor surface threshold, determining that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied; and When it is determined that there is at least one sensor surface to be cleaned while a specific one of the driving assistance controls is being executed, it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied.

2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: The sensor belonging to the first sensor group is a laser radar, The sensor belonging to the second sensor group is a camera, The control unit is configured to: When it is determined that the cleaning execution condition is satisfied, if the sensor belonging to the first sensor group has the sensor surface to be cleaned and the sensor belonging to the second sensor group has the sensor surface to be cleaned, the second transport mechanism is operated without operating the first transport mechanism.

3. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first delivery mechanism includes a first pump and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to the first spray device when the first pump is in operation. The second delivery mechanism includes a second pump and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to the second spray device when the second pump is in operation.

4. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first delivery mechanism includes a fourth pump and a fifth pump, and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to a portion of the multiple nozzles belonging to the first injection device when the fourth pump is working, and to deliver the cleaning fluid to the remaining nozzles of the multiple nozzles belonging to the first injection device when the fifth pump is working.

5. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The second delivery mechanism includes a sixth pump and a seventh pump, and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to a portion of the multiple nozzles belonging to the second injection device when the sixth pump is working, and to deliver the cleaning fluid to the remaining nozzles of the multiple nozzles belonging to the second injection device when the seventh pump is working.

6. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first delivery mechanism includes an eighth pump and an electromagnetic first flow path opening and closing valve, and delivers the cleaning fluid to the first injection device when the eighth pump is operated and the first flow path opening and closing valve changes the internal flow path to an open state. The second delivery mechanism includes the eighth pump and an electromagnetic second flow path opening and closing valve, and is configured to deliver the cleaning fluid to the second spray device when the eighth pump is operated and the second flow path opening and closing valve changes the internal flow path to an open state.

7. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first injection device comprises: a nozzle for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a front laser radar as the first specific sensor configured to acquire information of a front area, a right front side area, and a left front side area of ​​the vehicle, The second injection device comprises: a nozzle for spraying the cleaning fluid toward a sensor surface of a front camera included in the second sensor group configured to acquire information of a front area, a right front side area, and a left front side area of ​​the vehicle; a nozzle for spraying the cleaning fluid toward a sensor surface of a rear camera included in the second sensor group configured to acquire information of a rear area, a right rear side area, and a left rear side area of ​​the vehicle; a nozzle for spraying the washer fluid toward a sensor surface of a right side camera included in the second sensor group configured to acquire information of a right side area, a right front side area, and a right rear side area of ​​the vehicle; and A nozzle sprays the washer fluid toward a sensor surface of a left side camera included in the second sensor group configured to acquire information of a left side area, a left front side area, and a left rear side area of ​​the vehicle.

8. The cleaning device according to claim 7, wherein: The first injection device comprises: a nozzle for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a right front side laser radar included in the first sensor group configured to acquire information of a front area and a right front side area of ​​the vehicle; a nozzle for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a right rear side laser radar included in the first sensor group configured to obtain information of a right rear side area, a rear area, and a right side area of ​​the vehicle; a nozzle for spraying the cleaning fluid onto a sensor surface of a left rear side laser radar included in the first sensor group configured to acquire information of a left rear side area, a rear area, and a left side area of ​​the vehicle; and A nozzle sprays the cleaning fluid toward a sensor surface of a left front side laser radar included in the first sensor group configured to obtain information of a left front side area, a front area, and a left side area of ​​the vehicle.

Images