Control device and unmanned driving method

Abstract

When a plurality of moving bodies want to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the plurality of moving bodies can pass through the intersection in an appropriate order. A control device is provided with: an information acquisition unit that acquires performance information relating to at least one of an avoidance performance for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a mitigation performance for mitigating an impact when the collision with the obstacle, for a plurality of moving bodies that can be moved by unmanned driving; and a control unit that controls the unmanned driving of at least one moving body among the plurality of moving bodies, and when the plurality of moving bodies want to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time, controls the at least one moving body so that the plurality of moving bodies pass through the intersection in the following priority order, and controls the at least one moving body so that the plurality of moving bodies pass through the intersection in the following order. The priority order is determined in a descending order of at least one of the performances using the performance information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device and an unmanned driving method. Background Art

[0002] There is known a technology for driving a vehicle by unmanned driving in a vehicle manufacturing process (for example, Patent Document 1). Prior art literature Patent Literature

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-538619 Summary of the invention Technical problem to be solved by the invention

[0004] In the above-mentioned document, when a plurality of moving objects attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, no consideration is given to which moving object should be first used to sequentially pass through the intersection. Means for solving technical problems

[0005] The present disclosure can be implemented as the following aspects.

[0006] (1) According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a control device is provided. The control device comprises: an information acquisition unit that acquires performance information related to at least one of avoidance performance and mitigation performance of a plurality of mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned driving, wherein the avoidance performance is a performance of avoiding collision with an obstacle, and the mitigation performance is a performance of mitigating an impact when colliding with the obstacle; and a control unit that controls the unmanned driving of at least one of the plurality of mobile bodies, and when the plurality of mobile bodies want to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, controls the at least one mobile body so that the plurality of mobile bodies pass through the intersection in the following priority order, wherein the priority order is determined in descending order of the at least one performance using the performance information. According to the control device of this method, the possibility of the leading mobile body colliding with an obstacle at an intersection and causing the travel route of the subsequent mobile body to be blocked can be reduced. Even if the leading mobile body collides with an obstacle at an intersection, the impact caused by the collision can be reduced. Therefore, even if the leading mobile body collides with an obstacle and causes the travel route of the subsequent mobile body to be blocked, it can be recovered early. (2) In the control device of the above aspect, the control unit may increase the priority order as the avoidance performance is higher, and may increase the priority order as the mitigation performance is higher when the avoidance performance is the same. According to the control device of this aspect, the moving body with higher avoidance performance is made to go ahead of the moving body with higher avoidance performance and the moving body with lower avoidance performance, so the possibility of the moving body going ahead colliding with an obstacle can be reduced. (3) In the control device of the above-mentioned method, the performance information may also include information indicating whether the mobile body has an automatic avoidance function, and the automatic avoidance function is a function of automatically avoiding collision with the obstacle, and the control unit makes the priority of the mobile body with the automatic avoidance function higher than the priority of the mobile body without the automatic avoidance function. According to the control device of this aspect, the moving body with the automatic avoidance function is made to go ahead of the moving body with the automatic avoidance function and the moving body without the automatic avoidance function, thereby reducing the possibility of the moving body going ahead colliding with an obstacle. (4) In the control device of the above-mentioned method, it may also be that the multiple mobile bodies move by unmanned driving in a factory where the multiple mobile bodies are manufactured, and the performance information includes information indicating the number of times the mobile bodies are re-inspected in the factory, and the control unit increases the priority as the number of times the re-inspection is reduced. According to the control device of this aspect, the fewer the number of rechecks, the lower the possibility that a malfunction has occurred in the moving body, and thus the possibility that the preceding moving body collides with an obstacle can be reduced. (5) According to the second aspect of the present disclosure, an unmanned driving method is provided. The unmanned driving method includes: an information acquisition step of acquiring performance information related to at least one of avoidance performance and mitigation performance of a plurality of moving bodies that can be moved by unmanned driving, wherein the avoidance performance is a performance of avoiding collision with an obstacle, and the mitigation performance is a performance of mitigating the impact when colliding with the obstacle; and an unmanned driving step of moving the plurality of moving bodies by unmanned driving, and when the plurality of moving bodies want to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the plurality of moving bodies are made to pass through the intersection in the following priority order, wherein the priority order is determined in descending order of the at least one performance using the performance information. According to the unmanned driving method of this type, the possibility of a leading mobile body colliding with an obstacle at an intersection and causing the travel route of a subsequent mobile body to be blocked can be reduced. Even if the leading mobile body collides with an obstacle at an intersection, the impact caused by the collision can be reduced. Therefore, even if the leading mobile body collides with an obstacle and causes the travel route of the subsequent mobile body to be blocked, it can be recovered early. The present disclosure can also be implemented in various forms other than the control device and the unmanned driving method. For example, it can be implemented in the form of an unmanned driving system, a remote control system, a method for manufacturing a mobile body, a method for manufacturing a vehicle, a computer program, and a recording medium recording the computer program. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1A It is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of an unmanned driving system. Figure 1B It is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device according to the first embodiment. Figure 2A This is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which a vehicle moves by remote control in a factory. Figure 2B This is a flowchart showing the procedure of the vehicle travel control according to the first embodiment. Figure 3 : is a flowchart showing the content of the priority determination process. Figure 4 This is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which a plurality of vehicles pass through an intersection. Figure 5 It is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an unmanned driving system according to a second embodiment. Figure 6 It is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control device according to a second embodiment. Figure 7 This is a flowchart showing the procedure of the vehicle travel control according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] A. First Implementation Method: Figure 1A 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the unmanned driving system 10 in the first embodiment. The unmanned driving system 10 is used to move a movable body by unmanned driving in a factory that manufactures movable bodies.

[0009] In the present disclosure, "mobile body" refers to an object that can move, such as a vehicle, an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (so-called flying car). A vehicle can be a vehicle that runs on wheels or a vehicle that runs on tracks, such as a car, a truck, a bus, a two-wheeled vehicle, a four-wheeled vehicle, a tank, a construction vehicle, etc. Vehicles include electric vehicles (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle), gasoline vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. In the case where the mobile body is other than a vehicle, the expressions "vehicle" and "car" in the present disclosure can be appropriately replaced with "mobile body", and the expression "running" can be appropriately replaced with "moving".

[0010] "Unmanned driving" refers to driving that does not rely on the driving operation of the passengers. Driving operation refers to operations related to at least one of "driving", "turning" and "stopping" of the vehicle 100. Unmanned driving is achieved by automatic or manual remote control using a device located outside the vehicle 100, or autonomous control of the vehicle 100. In the vehicle 100 that is driven by unmanned driving, passengers who do not perform driving operations can also be on board. Passengers who do not perform driving operations include, for example, people who only sit on the seats of the vehicle 100, and people who perform operations different from driving operations such as assembly, inspection, and operation of switch groups while riding in the vehicle 100. In addition, driving performed by the driving operation of the passengers is sometimes referred to as "manned driving".

[0011] In this specification, “remote control” includes “full remote control” in which all actions of the vehicle 100 are determined completely from outside the vehicle 100, and “partial remote control” in which part of the actions of the vehicle 100 are determined from outside the vehicle 100. In addition, “autonomous control” includes “full autonomous control” in which the vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own actions without receiving any information from a device outside the vehicle 100, and “partial autonomous control” in which the vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own actions using information received from a device outside the vehicle 100.

[0012] In this embodiment, the unmanned driving system 10 includes a vehicle 100 as a mobile body, a remote control device 200, an external sensor group 300 installed in a factory, and a process management device 400 for managing the manufacturing process of the vehicle 100 in the factory. In addition, the remote control device 200 is sometimes simply referred to as a control device. The unmanned driving system 10 is sometimes referred to as a remote control system.

[0013] In the present embodiment, the vehicle 100 is configured to be able to travel by remote control. The vehicle 100 is configured as an electric vehicle. The vehicle 100 includes: a driving device 110 for accelerating the vehicle 100, a steering device 120 for changing the traveling direction of the vehicle 100, a braking device 130 for decelerating the vehicle 100, a communication device 140 for communicating with the remote control device 200 by wireless communication, and a vehicle control device 150 for controlling various parts of the vehicle 100. In the present embodiment, the driving device 110 includes a battery, a driving motor driven by the power of the battery, and a driving wheel rotated by the driving motor.

[0014] Figure 1B1 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the vehicle control device 150. The vehicle control device 150 is composed of a computer including a processor 151, a memory 152, an input / output interface 153, and an internal bus 154. The processor 151, the memory 152, and the input / output interface 153 are connected via the internal bus 154 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication. The drive device 110, the steering device 120, the brake device 130, the communication device 140, and the obstacle sensor 160 are connected to the input / output interface 153. The processor 151 functions as a travel control unit 155 that performs travel control of the vehicle 100 by executing a computer program PG1 pre-stored in the memory 152. "Travel control" refers to, for example, adjustment of the acceleration, speed, and steering angle of the vehicle 100. The travel control unit 155 causes the vehicle 100 to travel by performing travel control, in other words, by controlling the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130. When a passenger is on the vehicle 100, the travel control unit 155 controls the various devices 110 to 130 according to the operation of the passenger, thereby enabling the vehicle 100 to travel. In the present embodiment, the travel control unit 155 controls the various devices 110 to 130 according to the control command received from the remote control device 200, regardless of whether the passenger is on the vehicle 100, thereby enabling the vehicle 100 to travel. In addition, the travel control unit 155 may be simply referred to as a control unit.

[0015] like Figure 1A As shown, in the present embodiment, the vehicle 100 is further provided with an obstacle sensor 160 for detecting obstacles around the vehicle 100. The obstacle sensor 160 is, for example, a camera, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), or a millimeter wave radar. The vehicle 100 is provided with an automatic avoidance function, which, when a collision between an obstacle detected by the obstacle sensor 160 and the vehicle 100 is anticipated, avoids the collision with the obstacle through the steering device 120 and the braking device 130, regardless of the driver's operation or the control command from the remote control device 200. In addition, in other embodiments, the vehicle 100 may not have the automatic avoidance function. In this case, the vehicle 100 may not have the obstacle sensor 160.

[0016] The remote control device 200 is a control device for remotely controlling the vehicle 100. The remote control device 200 is composed of a computer including a processor 201, a memory 202, an input / output interface 203, and an internal bus 204. The processor 201, the memory 202, and the input / output interface 203 are connected via the internal bus 204 so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally. A communication device 205 for communicating with the vehicle 100 by wireless communication is connected to the input / output interface 203. In the present embodiment, the communication device 205 can communicate with the external sensor group 300 and the process management device 400 by wired communication or wireless communication.

[0017] The processor 201 functions as an information acquisition unit 210 and a remote control unit 220 by executing a computer program PG2 pre-stored in the memory 202. The information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information related to at least one of the performance of avoiding collision with an obstacle and the performance of reducing the impact when colliding with an obstacle of the vehicle 100. In the following description, the performance of avoiding collision with an obstacle is referred to as avoidance performance, and the performance of reducing the impact when colliding with an obstacle is referred to as reduction performance. In the present embodiment, the information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information including information related to both the avoidance performance and the reduction performance of the vehicle 100 from the process management device 400. The remote control unit 220 generates a control command for remotely controlling the vehicle 100, and sends the control command to the vehicle 100, thereby driving the vehicle 100. In the present embodiment, the control command refers to a driving control signal described later. In addition, the remote control device 200 is sometimes referred to as a control device, and the remote control unit 220 is sometimes referred to as a control unit.

[0018] The external sensor group 300 is composed of a plurality of external sensors. The external sensor refers to a sensor installed outside the vehicle 100. The external sensor is used to detect the position and orientation of the vehicle 100. In the present embodiment, the external sensor group 300 is composed of a plurality of cameras installed in the factory. Each camera has a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with the remote control device 200 through wired communication or wireless communication.

[0019] The process management device 400 manages the entire manufacturing process of the vehicle 100 in the factory. The process management device 400 is composed of at least one computer. The process management device 400 is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with the remote control device 200 through wired communication or wireless communication. When the remote control device 200 starts remote control of the vehicle 100, the process management device 400 sends the identification number and performance information of the vehicle 100 to the remote control device 200.

[0020] Figure 2AIt is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which the vehicle 100 moves by remote control in the factory KJ. Figure 2A Two vehicles 100A and 100B are shown in the figure. In the following description, when the two vehicles 100A and 100B are described without particular distinction, they are simply referred to as vehicles 100. In the present embodiment, the factory KJ includes a first location PL1, a second location PL2, and a third location PL3. The vehicle 100 is assembled at the first location PL1 and the second location PL2. At the third location PL3, the vehicle 100 assembled at the first location PL1 and the vehicle 100 assembled at the second location PL2 are inspected. Each location PL1 to PL3 is connected by a driving road SR on which the vehicle 100 can travel. An intersection KT is provided on the driving road SR. In the following description, the portion between the first location PL1 and the intersection KT in the driving road SR is referred to as the first driving road SR1, the portion between the second location PL2 and the intersection KT is referred to as the second driving road SR2, and the portion between the intersection KT and the third location PL3 is referred to as the third driving road SR3. When describing each of the running roads SR1 to SR3 without being particularly distinguished, they are simply referred to as the running road SR.

[0021] The vehicle 100 assembled at the first location PL1 and the vehicle 100 assembled at the second location PL2 are equipped with at least a driving device 110, a steering device 120, a braking device 130, a communication device 140, and a vehicle control device 150. The vehicle 100 assembled at the first location PL1 is remotely controlled by the remote control device 200, thereby traveling from the first location PL1 to the third location PL3 through the intersection KT, and the vehicle 100 assembled at the second location PL2 is remotely controlled by the remote control device 200, thereby traveling from the second location PL2 to the third location PL3 through the intersection KT. The vehicle 100 that passes the inspection at the third location PL3 is shipped from the factory KJ. The vehicle 100 that fails the inspection is re-inspected after being repaired.

[0022] Reference Figure 2A, briefly explain the method by which the remote control unit 220 moves the vehicle 100 through remote control. The remote control unit 220 determines a target route for the vehicle 100 to travel to the destination via the travel road SR. In the present embodiment, the target route refers to a reference path described later. A plurality of cameras 301 for photographing the travel road SR are provided in the factory KJ, and the remote control unit 220 can obtain the relative position and orientation of the vehicle 100 relative to the target route in real time by analyzing the images photographed by each camera 301. The plurality of cameras 301 are included in the external sensor group 300. The remote control unit 220 generates a control command for causing the vehicle 100 to travel along the target route, and sends the control command to the vehicle 100. The vehicle control device 150 mounted on the vehicle 100 controls the drive device 110, the steering device 12, and the brake device 130 according to the received control command, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel. Therefore, the vehicle 100 can be moved without using a transport device such as a crane or a conveyor.

[0023] In this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 can remotely control the multiple vehicles 100A and 100B to travel simultaneously. For example, the remote control unit 220 can remotely control the vehicle 100A to move from the first location PL1 to the third location PL3, and remotely control the vehicle 100B to move from the second location PL2 to the third location PL3.

[0024] Figure 2B 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the travel control of the vehicle 100 in the first embodiment. Figure 2B , describes in detail a method for the remote control unit 220 of the remote control device 200 to drive the vehicle 100 through remote control. In step S1, the remote control unit 220 uses the detection result output from the sensor located outside the vehicle 100, that is, the external sensor, to obtain the vehicle position information of the vehicle 100. The vehicle position information is the position information that becomes the basis for generating the driving control signal. In the present embodiment, the vehicle position information includes the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 in the reference coordinate system of the factory KJ. In the present embodiment, the reference coordinate system of the factory KJ is the global coordinate system, and any position in the factory KJ is represented by the coordinates of X, Y, and Z in the global coordinate system. In the present embodiment, the external sensor is a camera 301, and a captured image is output from the external sensor as a detection result. That is, in step S1, the remote control unit 220 uses the captured image obtained from the camera 301 as an external sensor to obtain the vehicle position information.

[0025] Specifically, in step S1, the remote control unit 220 detects the shape of the vehicle 100 from the captured image, calculates the coordinates of the positioning point of the vehicle 100 in the coordinate system of the captured image, that is, the local coordinate system, and converts the calculated coordinates into coordinates in the global coordinate system, thereby obtaining the position of the vehicle 100. The shape of the vehicle 100 contained in the captured image can be detected by, for example, inputting the captured image into a detection model using artificial intelligence. The detection model is prepared, for example, in the unmanned driving system 10 or outside the unmanned driving system 10, and is pre-stored in the memory 202 of the remote control device 200. As the detection model, for example, a machine learning model that has been learned in a manner to achieve one of semantic segmentation and instance segmentation can be cited. As the machine learning model, for example, a convolutional neural network (hereinafter referred to as CNN) that has been learned by supervised learning using a learning data set can be used. The learning data set, for example, has a plurality of training images containing the vehicle 100, and labels indicating whether each area in the training image is an area representing the vehicle 100 or an area other than the vehicle 100. When learning CNN, it is preferred to update the parameters of CNN by back propagation (error back propagation method) to reduce the error between the output result of the detection model and the label. In addition, the processor 201 estimates the direction of the movement vector of the vehicle 100 calculated from the position change of the feature point of the vehicle 100 between the frames of the captured image, for example, using the optical flow method, so that the direction of the vehicle 100 can be obtained.

[0026] In step S2, the remote control unit 220 determines the target position to which the vehicle 100 should go next. In the present embodiment, the target position is represented by the coordinates of X, Y, and Z in the global coordinate system. In the memory 202 of the remote control device 200, a reference path is pre-stored as the path on which the vehicle 100 should travel. The path is represented by a node showing a departure point, a node showing a passing point, a node showing a destination, and a link connecting each node. The remote control unit 220 uses the vehicle position information and the reference path to determine the target position to which the vehicle 100 should go next. The remote control unit 220 determines the target position on the reference path that is ahead of the current position of the vehicle 100.

[0027] In step S3, the remote control unit 220 generates a driving control signal for driving the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In the present embodiment, the driving control signal includes the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100 as parameters. In other embodiments, the driving control signal may include the speed of the vehicle 100 as a parameter instead of the acceleration of the vehicle 100, or may include the speed of the vehicle 100 as a parameter in addition to the acceleration of the vehicle 100. The remote control unit 220 calculates the driving speed of the vehicle 100 based on the shift in the position of the vehicle 100, and compares the calculated driving speed with the target speed. In general, the remote control unit 220 determines the acceleration in a manner that accelerates the vehicle 100 when the driving speed is lower than the target speed, and determines the acceleration in a manner that decelerates the vehicle 100 when the driving speed is higher than the target speed. In addition, when the vehicle 100 is on the reference path, the remote control unit 220 determines the steering angle and acceleration in a manner so that the vehicle 100 does not deviate from the reference path. When the vehicle 100 is not on the reference path, in other words, when the vehicle 100 deviates from the reference path, the remote control unit 220 determines the steering angle and acceleration in a manner so that the vehicle 100 returns to the reference path.

[0028] In step S4, the remote control unit 220 transmits the generated travel control signal to the vehicle 100. The remote control unit 220 repeatedly acquires the position of the vehicle 100, determines the target position, generates the travel control signal, transmits the travel control signal, etc. at a predetermined cycle.

[0029] In step S5, the vehicle control device 150 mounted on the vehicle 100 receives the travel control signal transmitted from the remote control device 200. In step S6, the vehicle control device 150 uses the received travel control signal to control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel at the acceleration and steering angle indicated by the travel control signal. The vehicle control device 150 repeatedly receives the travel control signal and controls the various devices 110 to 130 at a predetermined cycle.

[0030] Figure 3 2 is a flowchart showing the content of the priority determination process. The priority determination process is repeatedly executed in the remote control device 200 during the execution of the remote control of the vehicle 100. When the priority determination process starts, in step S110, the information acquisition unit 210 acquires the performance information of each vehicle 100 to be remotely controlled from the process management device 400.

[0031] In step S120, the remote control unit 220 uses the performance information to determine the priority of each vehicle 100. In the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 increases. When the avoidance performance is the same, in other words, the avoidance performance is not superior or inferior, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100 increases.

[0032] Regarding the avoidance performance, for example, between a vehicle 100 having an automatic avoidance function and a vehicle 100 not having the automatic avoidance function, the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 having the automatic avoidance function is higher. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 having the automatic avoidance function than to the vehicle 100 not having the automatic avoidance function. In addition, in the case of improving the avoidance performance based on the automatic avoidance function by machine learning, between a vehicle 100 that has completed learning and a vehicle 100 that has not completed learning, the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 that has completed learning is higher. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 that has completed learning than to the vehicle 100 that has not completed learning in the comparison between the vehicles 100 having the automatic avoidance function.

[0033] Regarding the avoidance performance, sometimes the maximum speed, braking force, steering angle, etc. of the vehicle 100 are restricted when the vehicle 100 is traveling in the factory KJ, and the restrictions are lifted before shipment. Between the vehicle 100 with limited braking force and steering angle and the vehicle 100 with no braking force and steering angle restrictions, the vehicle 100 with no braking force and steering angle restrictions has higher avoidance performance. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives priority to the vehicle 100 with no braking force and steering angle restrictions over the vehicle 100 with limited braking force and steering angle, when the avoidance performance is not distinguished based on the presence or absence of the automatic avoidance function.

[0034] Regarding the avoidance performance, the fewer times the steering device 120, the brake device 130, and the obstacle sensor 160 are rechecked, the lower the possibility that the steering device 120, the brake device 130, and the obstacle sensor 160 have a bad situation, and thus the avoidance performance is higher. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the number of times the steering device 120, the brake device 130, and the obstacle sensor 160 is rechecked is smaller, when the avoidance performance is not distinguished based on the presence or absence of the automatic avoidance function, the presence or absence of the restriction of the braking force, etc.

[0035] Regarding the weight reduction performance, the lighter the weight of the vehicle 100, the smaller the kinetic energy of the vehicle 100, and thus the higher the weight reduction performance. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 makes the priority of the vehicle 100 higher as the weight of the vehicle 100 is lighter. Of the vehicle 100 with a front bumper and the vehicle 100 without a front bumper, the vehicle 100 with a front bumper has a higher weight reduction performance. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 makes the priority of the vehicle 100 with a front bumper higher than the priority of the vehicle 100 without a front bumper. In a comparison of two vehicles 100 of different weights, in the case where the lighter vehicle 100 does not have a front bumper and the heavier vehicle 100 has a front bumper, the remote control unit 220 makes the priority of the one that satisfies a predetermined condition higher than the priority of the other.

[0036] In the present embodiment, when the avoidance performance and the mitigation performance are the same, in other words, when neither the avoidance performance nor the mitigation performance is superior or inferior, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 that wants to enter the intersection from a predetermined direction. For example, the remote control unit 220 makes the priority of the vehicle 100 that wants to enter the intersection KT from the first driving road SR1 higher than the priority of the vehicle 100 that wants to enter the intersection KT from the second driving road SR2. In addition, the remote control unit 220 may also make the priority of the vehicle 100 that wants to enter the intersection KT from the first driving road SR1 lower than the priority of the vehicle 100 that wants to enter the intersection KT from the second driving road SR2 when neither the avoidance performance nor the mitigation performance is superior or inferior. Thereafter, the remote control unit 220 ends the priority determination process. In addition, step S110 is sometimes referred to as an information acquisition process, and step S120 is sometimes referred to as a priority determination process.

[0037] Figure 4 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation where two vehicles 100A and 100B pass through the intersection KT according to the priority order determined by the priority order determination process. Figure 4 The remote control method of the vehicles 100A and 100B according to the present embodiment will be described. In addition, the remote control method is sometimes referred to as an unmanned driving method. In some cases, the process of moving the vehicles 100A and 100B by remote control is referred to as a remote control process or an unmanned driving process. Figure 4 , the priority of vehicle 100A is higher than the priority of vehicle 100B. Figure 4 As shown in the upper part of FIG. 1 , when two vehicles 100A and 100B want to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, as shown in FIG. Figure 4As shown in the middle section of , the remote control unit 220 causes the vehicle 100A, which has a higher priority, of the two vehicles 100A and 100B to enter the intersection KT, and causes the vehicle 100B, which has a lower priority, to wait to enter the intersection KT. In this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 stops the vehicle 100B so that the vehicle 100B waits to enter the intersection KT. Alternatively, the remote control unit 220 may decelerate the vehicle 100B within a range where the vehicle 100B does not stop so that the vehicle 100B waits to enter the intersection KT. Figure 4 As shown in the lower section of FIG. 2 , after the vehicle 100A passes through the intersection KT, the remote control unit 220 causes the vehicle 100B to pass through the intersection KT.

[0038] According to the unmanned driving system 10 in the present embodiment described above, when multiple vehicles 100 want to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control unit 220 allows the multiple vehicles 100 to pass through the intersection KT in descending order of priority determined by using performance information. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the situation where multiple vehicles 100 enter the intersection KT at the same time. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 is higher, it is possible to suppress the situation where the preceding vehicle 100 collides with an obstacle at the intersection KT or the third driving road SR3, causing the travel route of the following vehicle 100 to be blocked. In addition, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100 is higher when the avoidance performance is the same, so even if the preceding vehicle 100 collides with an obstacle at the intersection KT or the third driving road SR3, it is possible to suppress the damage to the vehicle 100 and the obstacle. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the situation in which the path of the following vehicle 100 is blocked for a long time.

[0039] B. Second Implementation Method: Figure 5 It is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an unmanned driving system 10b in the second embodiment. Figure 6 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device 150 in the second embodiment. Figure 5 As shown, in the second embodiment, the difference from the first embodiment is that the unmanned driving system 10b does not include the remote control device 200, and the vehicle 100 is driven by autonomous control rather than by remote control. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment unless otherwise specified. In addition, the method of driving the vehicle 100 by autonomous control is sometimes referred to as an autonomous automatic driving method or an unmanned driving method.

[0040] In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is configured to be able to travel by autonomous control. The vehicle 100 can communicate with the external sensor group 300 and the process management device 400 by wireless communication using the communication device 140. Figure 6 As shown, in the present embodiment, the processor 151 of the vehicle control device 150 functions as the travel control unit 155 b and the information acquisition unit 156 by executing the computer program PG1 pre-stored in the memory 152 .

[0041] The travel control unit 155b generates a travel control signal by itself, and uses the generated travel control signal to control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130, thereby driving the vehicle 100. A reference path, a detection model, etc. are pre-stored in the memory 152. In addition, the vehicle control device 150 is sometimes referred to as a control device, and the travel control unit 155b is sometimes referred to as a control unit.

[0042] The information acquisition unit 156 acquires the performance information of the own vehicle and the performance information of other vehicles from the process management device 400. When the performance information of the own vehicle is pre-stored in the memory 152, the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire the performance information of the own vehicle from the memory 152. When the own vehicle and other vehicles can communicate with each other through wireless communication using the communication device 140, the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire the performance information of other vehicles from other vehicles.

[0043] In this embodiment, Figure 3 The priority determination process shown is executed by the vehicle control device 150. When the host vehicle and other vehicles intend to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time, the information acquisition unit 156 acquires the performance information of the host vehicle and other vehicles intending to enter the intersection. The information acquisition unit 156 can detect that the host vehicle and other vehicles intend to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time using the obstacle sensor 160, for example. The driving control unit 155b determines the priority of the host vehicle and other vehicles using the performance information acquired by the information acquisition unit 156. The driving control unit 155b controls the host vehicle so that the host vehicle and other vehicles pass through the intersection KT in the priority order determined by the priority determination process.

[0044] Figure 71 is a flowchart showing the steps of driving control of the vehicle 100 in the second embodiment. In step S11, the driving control unit 155b of the vehicle control device 150 uses the detection result output from the camera 301 as an external sensor to obtain vehicle position information. In step S21, the driving control unit 155b determines the target position to which the vehicle 100 should go next. In step S31, the driving control unit 155b generates a driving control signal for driving the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In step S41, the driving control unit 155b uses the generated driving control signal to control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130, so that the vehicle 100 drives according to the parameters represented by the driving control signal. The driving control unit 155b repeatedly obtains the vehicle position information, determines the target position, generates the driving control signal, and controls the various devices 110 to 130 in a predetermined cycle.

[0045] According to the unmanned driving system 10b in the present embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, when a plurality of vehicles 100 want to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the plurality of vehicles 100 can be allowed to pass through the intersection KT in descending order of priority determined using the performance information. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a situation where a plurality of vehicles 100 enter the intersection KT at the same time.

[0046] C. Other implementations: (C1) In the unmanned driving systems 10 and 10b of the above-mentioned embodiments, the information acquisition unit 210 and the information acquisition unit 156 acquire performance information including information related to both the avoidance performance and the mitigation performance, and the remote control unit 220 and the driving control unit 155b make the priority of the vehicle 100 higher as the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 is higher, and in the case where the avoidance performance is not superior or inferior, the priority of the vehicle 100 is higher as the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100 is higher. On the other hand, the information acquisition unit 210 and the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire performance information including information related to either the avoidance performance or the mitigation performance. In this case, the remote control unit 220 and the driving control unit 155b make the priority of the vehicle 100 higher as the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 is higher.

[0047] (C2) In each of the above embodiments, the external sensor is the camera 301. In contrast, the external sensor may not be the camera 301, and may be, for example, LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). In this case, the detection result output from the external sensor may be three-dimensional point cloud data representing the vehicle 100. In this case, the remote control unit 220 and the driving control unit 155b may also obtain the vehicle position information by template matching using the three-dimensional point cloud data as the detection result and the reference point cloud data prepared in advance.

[0048] (C3) In the first embodiment, the remote control device 200 performs the processing from the acquisition of the vehicle position information to the generation of the travel control signal. In contrast, at least a part of the processing from the acquisition of the vehicle position information to the generation of the travel control signal may be performed by the vehicle 100. For example, the following (1) to (3) may be used.

[0049] (1) The remote control device 200 can obtain vehicle position information, determine the target position to which the vehicle 100 should go next, and generate a path from the current position of the vehicle 100 indicated in the obtained vehicle position information to the target position. The remote control device 200 can generate a path to the target position between the current position and the destination, or can generate a path to the destination. The remote control device 200 can send the generated path to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 can generate a travel control signal in a manner such that the vehicle 100 travels on the path received from the remote control device 200, and use the generated travel control signal to control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130.

[0050] (2) The remote control device 200 may also obtain vehicle position information and transmit the obtained vehicle position information to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 may also determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should go next, generate a path from the current position of the vehicle 100 indicated by the received vehicle position information to the target position, generate a travel control signal so that the vehicle 100 travels on the generated path, and control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130 using the generated travel control signal.

[0051] (3) In the above-mentioned methods (1) and (2), the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and the detection result outputted from the internal sensor may be used in at least one of the generation of the route and the generation of the driving control signal. The internal sensor is a sensor mounted on the vehicle 100. The internal sensor may include, for example, a sensor for detecting the motion state of the vehicle 100, a sensor for detecting the action state of each part of the vehicle 100, and a sensor for detecting the surrounding environment of the vehicle 100. Specifically, the internal sensor may include, for example, a camera, a LiDAR, a millimeter wave radar, an ultrasonic sensor, a GPS sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, etc. For example, in the above-mentioned method (1), the remote control device 200 may also obtain the detection result of the internal sensor, and reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the route when generating the route. In the above-mentioned method (1), the vehicle 100 may also obtain the detection result of the internal sensor, and reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the driving control signal when generating the driving control signal. In the above-mentioned method (2), the vehicle 100 may also obtain the detection results of the internal sensors, and reflect the detection results of the internal sensors in the route when generating the route. In the above-mentioned method (2), the vehicle 100 may also obtain the detection results of the internal sensors, and reflect the detection results of the internal sensors in the travel control signal when generating the travel control signal.

[0052] (C4) In the second embodiment, the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and the detection result outputted from the internal sensor may be used in at least one of the generation of the route and the generation of the travel control signal. For example, the vehicle 100 may obtain the detection result of the internal sensor, and reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the route when generating the route. The vehicle 100 may obtain the detection result of the internal sensor, and reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the travel control signal when generating the travel control signal.

[0053] (C5) In the second embodiment described above, the vehicle 100 uses the detection result of the camera 301 as an external sensor to obtain the vehicle position information. In contrast, the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and the vehicle 100 may use the detection result of the internal sensor to obtain the vehicle position information, determine the target position to which the vehicle 100 should go next, generate a path from the current position of the vehicle 100 represented by the obtained vehicle position information to the target position, generate a travel control signal for traveling on the generated path, and use the generated travel control signal to control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the brake device 130. In this case, the vehicle 100 can travel without using the detection result of the external sensor at all. In addition, the vehicle 100 may also obtain the target arrival time and / or congestion information from the outside of the vehicle 100, so that the target arrival time and / or congestion information is reflected in at least one of the path and the travel control signal.

[0054] (C6) In the first embodiment described above, the remote control device 200 automatically generates a driving control signal to be sent to the vehicle 100. In contrast, the remote control device 200 may generate a driving control signal to be sent to the vehicle 100 according to an operation of an external operator located outside the vehicle 100. For example, the external operator may operate a control device having a display for displaying a captured image output from the camera 301 as an external sensor, a steering wheel for remotely operating the vehicle 100, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and a communication device for communicating with the remote control device 200 through wired communication or wireless communication, and the remote control device 200 may generate a driving control signal corresponding to the operation applied to the control device. In this embodiment, when the remote manual driving vehicle being remotely manually driven by the operator and other vehicles want to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control device 200 may display information on whether the remote manual driving vehicle has priority on the display of the control device. In this case, the operator can easily understand whether the remote manual driving vehicle has priority by referring to the information displayed on the display. In addition, in this method, when the remote manually driven vehicle that is currently being remotely manually driven by the operator and other vehicles want to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control device 200 switches the remote manually driven vehicle from remote manual driving to remote automatic driving, and through the remote automatic driving, the vehicle that was previously being remotely manually driven by the operator and other vehicles pass through the intersection in order of priority, and thereafter, the vehicle that was previously being remotely manually driven by the operator is restored from remote automatic driving to remote manual driving.

[0055] (C7) In each of the above embodiments, the vehicle 100 only needs to have a structure capable of moving by unmanned driving, for example, it may be a form having a stand having the structure described below. Specifically, in order to perform the three functions of "driving", "turning" and "stopping" by unmanned driving, the vehicle 100 may at least have a drive device 110, a steering device 120, a brake device 130 and a vehicle control device 150. In the case where the vehicle 100 obtains information from the outside for unmanned driving, the vehicle 100 may also have a communication device 140. That is, the vehicle 100 capable of moving by unmanned driving may not be equipped with at least a part of the interior parts such as the driver's seat and the instrument panel, may not be equipped with at least a part of the exterior parts such as the bumper and the fender, and may not be equipped with a body shell. In this case, the remaining parts such as the body shell may be installed on the vehicle 100 during the period until the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory KJ, or the remaining parts such as the body shell may be installed on the vehicle 100 after the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory KJ in a state where the remaining parts such as the body shell are not installed on the vehicle 100. Each component can be installed from any direction such as the upper side, lower side, front side, rear side, right side or left side of the vehicle 100, and can be installed from the same direction or from different directions. In addition, the position of the stand can also be determined in the same way as the vehicle 100 in the first embodiment.

[0056] (C8) The vehicle 100 can be manufactured by combining a plurality of modules. A module refers to a unit composed of a plurality of parts assembled according to the location and function of the vehicle 100. For example, the chassis of the vehicle 100 can be manufactured by combining a front module constituting the front part of the chassis, a central module constituting the central part of the chassis, and a rear module constituting the rear part of the chassis. In addition, the number of modules constituting the chassis is not limited to 3, and may be 2 or less or 4 or more. In addition, in addition to the parts constituting the chassis, the parts constituting the parts of the vehicle 100 that are different from the chassis may also be modularized, or the parts constituting the parts of the vehicle 100 that are different from the chassis may be modularized instead of the parts constituting the chassis. In addition, various modules may also include any exterior parts such as a bumper or grille, and any interior parts such as a seat or a console. In addition, not limited to the vehicle 100, any type of mobile body may be manufactured by combining a plurality of modules. Such a module may be manufactured, for example, by joining a plurality of parts by welding or a fixing tool, or by integrally molding at least a portion of the parts constituting the module into one part by casting. The molding method of integrally molding a part, especially a relatively large part, is also called one-piece casting (Giga-casting or Mega-casting). For example, the front module, the central module, and the rear module mentioned above can also be manufactured using Giga-casting.

[0057] (C9) The transportation of the vehicle 100 by the driving of the unmanned vehicle 100 is also referred to as "self-propelled transportation". In addition, the configuration for realizing self-propelled transportation is also referred to as "vehicle remote control autonomous driving transportation system". In addition, the production method of producing the vehicle 100 by self-propelled transportation is also referred to as "self-propelled production". In self-propelled production, for example, in the factory KJ that manufactures the vehicle 100, at least a part of the transportation of the vehicle 100 is realized by self-propelled transportation.

[0058] (C10) In the above-mentioned embodiments, part or all of the functions and processes implemented in software may be implemented in hardware. In addition, part or all of the functions and processes implemented in hardware may be implemented in software. As hardware for implementing the various functions in the above-mentioned embodiments, various circuits such as integrated circuits or discrete circuits may be used.

[0059] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be implemented in various configurations within the scope of its main purpose. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each method described in the invention content section can be appropriately replaced or combined in order to solve part or all of the above-mentioned problems, or to achieve part or all of the above-mentioned effects. In addition, as long as the technical feature is not described as a necessary part in this specification, it can be appropriately deleted. [Explanation of Reference Numerals]

[0060] 10, 10b: unmanned driving system, 100: vehicle (mobile body), 110: driving device, 120: steering device, 130: braking device, 140: communication device, 150: vehicle control device, 151: processor, 152: memory, 153: input / output interface, 154: internal bus, 155, 155b: driving control unit, 156: information acquisition unit, 160: obstacle sensor, 200: remote control device, 201: processor, 202: memory, 203: input / output interface, 204: internal bus, 205: communication device, 210: information acquisition unit, 220: remote control unit, 300: external sensor group, 301: camera, 400: process management device.

Claims

1. A control device comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires performance information related to at least one of avoidance performance and mitigation performance of a plurality of mobile bodies that can move by unmanned driving, wherein the avoidance performance is a performance for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and the mitigation performance is a performance for mitigating an impact when colliding with the obstacle; and A control unit that controls the unmanned driving of at least one of the multiple moving bodies. When the multiple moving bodies want to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time, the at least one moving body is controlled in such a way that the multiple moving bodies pass through the intersection in the following priority order, and the priority order is determined using the performance information in the order of the performance of the at least one party from high to low.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit increases the priority order as the avoidance performance is higher, and when the avoidance performance is the same, increases the priority order as the mitigation performance is higher.

3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein: The performance information includes information indicating whether the mobile body has an automatic avoidance function, wherein the automatic avoidance function is a function of automatically avoiding collision with the obstacle. The control unit gives higher priority to the moving object having the automatic avoiding function than to the moving object not having the automatic avoiding function.

4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein: The plurality of moving bodies move by unmanned driving in a factory where the plurality of moving bodies are manufactured. The performance information includes information indicating the number of times the movable body in the factory is re-inspected, The control unit increases the priority order as the number of re-inspections decreases.

5. An unmanned driving method, comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring performance information related to at least one of avoidance performance and mitigation performance of a plurality of mobile bodies capable of moving by unmanned driving, wherein the avoidance performance is a performance for avoiding a collision with an obstacle, and the mitigation performance is a performance for mitigating an impact when colliding with the obstacle; and An unmanned driving process is a process of moving the multiple mobile bodies by unmanned driving. When the multiple mobile bodies want to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time, the multiple mobile bodies are made to pass through the intersection in the following priority order, and the priority order is determined using the performance information in the order of the performance of at least one party from high to low.

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