Vehicle control device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a technique for improving techniques related to switching of driving modes of a vehicle. A vehicle control device capable of switching between an automatic driving mode in which automatic driving can be performed and a manual driving mode in which manual driving can be performed when a manual controller is connected to the vehicle, in which, in a case where a universal controller, which is a manual controller, is connected to the vehicle, an instruction from the universal controller is received, and the manual controller is connected to the vehicle. If the request value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the command, and if the request value is less than the predetermined value, the vehicle is caused to execute the command.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a vehicle control device. Background Technology

[0002] Previously, technologies related to switching driving modes of vehicles were known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an autonomous vehicle that sets the maximum speed limit in manual driving mode to be lower than that in autonomous driving mode when switching from autonomous driving mode to manual driving mode.

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2022-096813 Summary of the Invention

[0004] Vehicles capable of switching driving modes can sometimes be driven manually using a universal controller (e.g., a game controller) that is cheaper than dedicated operating devices (e.g., a steering wheel or brake pedal). However, in the event of a malfunction in the universal controller, the driver may be unable to drive the vehicle as intended, potentially leading to dangerous driving.

[0005] In view of this situation, the object of the present invention is to improve the technology related to the switching of driving modes of a vehicle.

[0006] One embodiment of the present invention relates to a vehicle control device capable of switching between an automatic driving mode that enables automatic driving and a manual driving mode that enables manual driving when a manual controller is connected to the vehicle.

[0007] When the universal controller, which functions as the manual controller, is connected to the vehicle, it receives instructions from the universal controller.

[0008] If the requested value of the instruction is above a specified value, the instruction is determined to be abnormal; if the requested value is below the specified value, the vehicle is made to execute the instruction.

[0009] Invention Effects

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the technology related to switching driving modes of a vehicle can be improved. Attached Figure Description

[0011] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating the general structure of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a vehicle control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0013] (Summary of this implementation method)

[0014] refer to Figure 1 The following is a summary description of a vehicle 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 1 includes a vehicle control device 10, a general controller 20, sensors 30, and an emergency stop switch 40. The vehicle control device 10, the general controller 20, the sensors 30, and the emergency stop switch 40 can communicate with each other via cables or networks such as a controller area network (CAN).

[0015] Vehicle 1 includes any means of transportation such as cars, buses, and trucks. Vehicle 1 may include gasoline-powered cars, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), or fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Vehicle 1 is capable of switching between an automated driving mode, which implements levels 1 to 5 of automated driving as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and a manual driving mode, which implements level 0 of manual driving.

[0016] The vehicle control device 10 is an electronic device mounted on the vehicle 1, such as a computer. The vehicle control device 10 controls the operation of the vehicle 1.

[0017] The universal controller 20 includes any controller that can be used in addition to driving the vehicle. In this embodiment, the universal controller 20 is a game controller. The universal controller 20 can be a joystick or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. By connecting the universal controller 20 to the vehicle 1 via wired or wireless connection, the user can manually drive the vehicle 1. The universal controller 20 has an operation unit 200 that accepts user input, such as operation buttons, but is not limited to this.

[0018] Sensor 30 is capable of detecting information related to driving the vehicle 1. In this embodiment, sensor 30 includes a gyroscope sensor, a velocity sensor, and an acceleration sensor. In this embodiment, the gyroscope sensor is capable of detecting the angular velocity of the vehicle 1 when turning. In this embodiment, the velocity sensor and the acceleration sensor are capable of detecting the velocity and acceleration of the vehicle 1 in the frontal direction, respectively. Sensor 30 may include a three-axis gyroscope sensor, a three-axis velocity sensor, and a three-axis acceleration sensor.

[0019] The emergency stop switch 40 is a device for inputting an emergency stop instruction to the vehicle 1. The emergency stop switch 40 may be, for example, a button that is activated by pressing or a button displayed on a touch panel.

[0020] First, an overview of this embodiment will be given, with detailed descriptions to follow. The vehicle control device 10 involved in this embodiment is a vehicle 1 control device capable of switching between an automatic driving mode (where automatic driving is possible) and a manual driving mode (where manual driving is possible when a manual controller is connected to the vehicle 1). When the general controller 20, which serves as the manual controller, is connected to the vehicle 1, the vehicle control device 10 receives instructions from the general controller 20. If the requested value of the instruction is above a predetermined value, the vehicle control device 10 determines that the instruction is abnormal; if the requested value is below the predetermined value, the vehicle 1 executes the instruction.

[0021] The vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment monitors the request values ​​of commands from the general controller 20 and stops the vehicle in case of an anomaly. Therefore, even if the general controller 20 malfunctions, dangerous driving can be prevented in advance.

[0022] (Structure of vehicle control device 10)

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle control device 10 includes a control unit 100, a communication unit 101, and a storage unit 102.

[0024] The control unit 100 includes one or more processors, one or more programmable circuits, one or more dedicated circuits, or combinations thereof. The processor may be, for example, a general-purpose processor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor for specific processing, but is not limited thereto. The programmable circuit may be, for example, a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), but is not limited thereto. The dedicated circuit may be, for example, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), but is not limited thereto. The control unit 100 controls the various parts of the vehicle control device 10 while performing processing related to the operation of the vehicle control device 10.

[0025] The communication unit 101 includes at least one communication interface connected to a network. The communication interface may correspond to mobile communication standards such as fourth generation (4G) or fifth generation (5G), or wired local area network (LAN) or wireless LAN communication standards, but is not limited to these, and may correspond to any communication standard.

[0026] Storage unit 102 includes one or more memory units. Each memory unit included in storage unit 102 can function as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory, for example. Storage unit 102 stores any information used for the operation of vehicle control device 10. Furthermore, storage unit 102 can store, for example, system programs, application programs, and embedded software. Information stored in storage unit 102 can be updated, for example, based on information obtained from a network via communication unit 101.

[0027] In this embodiment, the storage unit 102 stores the correspondence between the operation unit 200 of the general controller 20 and the control commands of the vehicle 1. The control commands include, for example, instructions for the vehicle 1 to stop, start, accelerate, decelerate, stop, move forward, shift to neutral, reverse, turn right, and turn left. For example, moving forward of the vehicle 1 can correspond to the up button on the crosshair of the operation unit 200. This correspondence is set according to the type of general controller 20.

[0028] (Operation flow of vehicle control device 10)

[0029] refer to Figure 1 The operation of a driving device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Hereinafter, communication between the vehicle control device 10 and the general controller 20, sensor 30 and emergency stop switch 40 is performed via the communication unit 101.

[0030] S101: The control unit 100 of the vehicle control device 10 determines whether the general controller 20, which acts as a manual controller, is connected to the vehicle 1. If connected, the process proceeds to S102. If not connected, the process ends.

[0031] S102: The control unit 100 receives instructions from the general controller 20.

[0032] The instruction includes a request for action of vehicle 1. In this embodiment, the instruction includes a request for acceleration / deceleration or steering. The requests for acceleration / deceleration and steering each include their respective request values. The request value for an acceleration / deceleration request is, for example, an acceleration that depends on the duration of the acceleration / deceleration operation (e.g., pressing a button). The request value for a steering request is, for example, an angular velocity that depends on the duration of the steering operation (e.g., pressing a button).

[0033] S103: Control unit 100 determines whether the requested value of the instruction is greater than or equal to a specified value. If the requested value is greater than or equal to the specified value (S103 - Yes), the process proceeds to S104. If the requested value is less than the specified value (S103 - No), the process proceeds to S106.

[0034] S104: Control unit 100 determines that the instruction is abnormal.

[0035] The vehicle control unit 10 determines whether the command is abnormal based on the requested value. Therefore, the vehicle control unit 10 can respond promptly to situations where the requested value of the command, such as excessive acceleration or angular velocity, is due to problems such as a malfunction of the general controller 20.

[0036] S105: Control unit 100 stops vehicle 1 without causing vehicle 1 to execute commands.

[0037] Therefore, accidents involving vehicle 1 can be prevented. Alternatively, control unit 100 can decelerate vehicle 1 without causing vehicle 1 to execute commands.

[0038] S106: The control unit 100 causes the vehicle 1 to execute commands.

[0039] S107: When the emergency stop switch 40 is "on", the control unit 100 receives sensor information from the sensor 30 of the vehicle 1 indicating the actual behavior of the vehicle 1.

[0040] In this embodiment, the sensor information includes the angular velocity of vehicle 1 when it turns and the velocity and acceleration of vehicle 1 in the frontal direction.

[0041] S108: Based on sensor information, the control unit 100 determines whether the content of the instruction from the general controller 20 differs from the actual behavior of the vehicle 1. If the content of the instruction differs from the actual behavior (S108 - Yes), the process proceeds to S109. If the content of the instruction is the same as the actual behavior (S108 - No), the process ends.

[0042] In cases where the content of the instruction differs from the actual behavior, such as when the instruction from the general controller 20 is for the vehicle 1 to start, accelerate, decelerate, stop, stop, or turn left or right, but the actual behavior is different from these actions.

[0043] S109: Control unit 100 allows activation of emergency stop switch 40.

[0044] If the emergency stop switch 40 is activated, vehicle 1 decelerates and stops, and is then secured.

[0045] When the actual behavior of vehicle 1 is that vehicle 1 is stopped or stationary, there is no need to activate the emergency stop switch 40. In this case, the control unit 100 may not allow its activation.

[0046] The present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments; however, those skilled in the art should note that various modifications and alterations can be made based on the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that these modifications and alterations are included within the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions included in each structural component or step can be reconfigured in a logically consistent manner, and multiple structural components or steps can be combined into one or divided. For example, in the above embodiments, the structure and operation of the vehicle control device 10 can also be distributed among multiple computers capable of communicating with each other.

[0047] In the above embodiment, two universal controllers can be used as manual controllers. For example, when the first and second universal controllers, which serve as manual controllers, are connected to the vehicle 1, the control unit 100 can receive commands from the first and second universal controllers. The control unit 100 can determine that the command is abnormal, for example, if at least one of the requested values ​​of the command from the first and second universal controllers is a predetermined value or higher, if both of these requested values ​​are predetermined values ​​or higher, or if both of these requested values ​​are predetermined values ​​or higher and are different from each other. Thus, if one or both universal controllers malfunction, the vehicle 1 can be safely stopped, for example.

[0048] Vehicle control unit 10 can be used to provide Mobility as a Service (MaaS) as a service that utilizes mobility.

[0049] Symbol Explanation

[0050] 1-Vehicle, 10-Vehicle control unit, 100-Control unit, 101-Communication unit, 102-Storage unit, 20-General controller, 200-Operation unit, 30-Sensor, 40-Emergency stop switch.

Claims

1. A vehicle control device, wherein the vehicle is capable of switching between an automatic driving mode in which automatic driving can be performed and a manual driving mode in which manual driving can be performed when a manual controller is connected to the vehicle, characterized in that, When the universal controller, which functions as the manual controller, is connected to the vehicle, it receives instructions from the universal controller. Determine whether the requested value of the instruction is above a specified value. If the requested value is above a specified value, the instruction is determined to be abnormal; if the requested value is below a specified value, the vehicle is instructed to execute the instruction.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The correspondence between the operation unit of the universal controller that accepts user operations and the control commands of the vehicle is set according to the type of universal controller.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The instructions include acceleration / deceleration requests or steering requests.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the instruction is determined to be abnormal, the vehicle control device stops the vehicle instead of causing the vehicle to execute the instruction.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the vehicle's emergency stop switch is "on", based on sensor information received from the vehicle's sensors indicating the vehicle's actual behavior, it is determined whether the instructions from the general controller differ from the vehicle's actual behavior. If the instruction differs from the actual behavior, the emergency stop switch may be activated.

6. A method for providing mobility-as-a-service, characterized in that, The vehicle control device as described in claim 1 was used.

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