Vehicle following travel control device

Abstract

The present application provides a kind of practicability high vehicle follow driving technology.Remote operation controller (vehicle follow driving control device) makes vehicle as follow vehicle follow leading mobile body by remote operation.Controller obtains information related to the position and action of leading mobile body and information related to the position of follow vehicle by wireless communication, determines the action that follow vehicle should carry out based on these information, and sends the instruction about the action by wireless communication.Follow vehicle controls the action of its drive device, steering device based on the instruction.As controller does not instruct the path, line or the like that follow vehicle should travel, while reducing the burden of follow vehicle itself determining action, the appropriate follow driving of the follow vehicle can be carried out.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle following control device for enabling a vehicle to follow a leading moving body as a following vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] In recent years, technologies for enabling vehicles to follow other vehicles have been developed. For example, there are technologies described in the following two patent documents. The former is a technology related to matching a leading vehicle and following vehicles, while the latter involves the leading vehicle and all following vehicles communicating wirelessly, knowing their respective positions, and sending the path up to the leading vehicle to the following vehicles.

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-178020

[0004] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-173384 Summary of the Invention

[0005] Technology that uses wireless communication to enable a vehicle to follow a moving object (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "vehicle following technology") requires that the following be kept appropriate. From this perspective, the prior art, primarily the technology described in the aforementioned patent documents, leaves ample room for improvement. By making certain improvements to the prior art, the practicality of vehicle following technology can be enhanced. The present invention was made in view of this situation, and its objective is to provide a highly practical vehicle following technology.

[0006] To address the aforementioned issues, the present invention provides a vehicle following control device for remotely controlling one vehicle to follow a leading moving body, or for multiple vehicles to follow a leading moving body in a queue, wherein the vehicle following control device is characterized by comprising:

[0007] A guiding mobile body information acquisition unit acquires guiding mobile body information containing information related to the position and movement of the guiding mobile body from the guiding mobile body via wireless communication;

[0008] The following vehicle information acquisition unit acquires following vehicle information containing information related to the location of each of the one vehicle or each of the multiple vehicles via wireless communication.

[0009] The following vehicle action decision unit determines the action to be performed by each of the one or more following vehicles based on the acquired information of the leading moving body and the following vehicle information; and

[0010] The action command transmitting unit transmits an instruction, i.e. an action command, to each of the one or more following vehicles via wireless communication.

[0011] Invention Effects

[0012] The vehicle following control device of the present invention is configured such that, in controlling a vehicle to follow a leading moving body, the vehicle following control device itself determines the action that the following vehicle should perform and sends instructions regarding that action to the following vehicle. In contrast, for example, if the vehicle following control device only instructs the following vehicle on the path it should travel, the route it should take, etc., the following vehicle must decide its own action, increasing the control burden on the following vehicle. From this perspective, the control burden is lower in this remote control controller and this vehicle following control device, and the structure of the following vehicle is relatively simple. Furthermore, the vehicle following control device of the present invention enables multiple following vehicles to follow a leading moving body in a queue, making it highly practical.

[0013] <Method of Invention>

[0014] The fundamental way to become the aforementioned vehicle following control device, i.e., remote operation controller, is...

[0015] It is a remote operation controller for remotely operating a vehicle to follow a leading mobile body as a following vehicle. The remote operation controller includes: (a) a leading mobile body information acquisition unit, which acquires leading mobile body information containing information related to the position and movement of the leading mobile body from the leading mobile body via wireless communication; (b) a following vehicle information acquisition unit, which acquires following vehicle information containing information related to its position from the following vehicle via wireless communication; (c) a following vehicle action determination unit, which determines the action to be performed by the following vehicle based on the acquired leading mobile body information and following vehicle information; and (d) an action command transmission unit, which transmits an action command, i.e., an action command, to the following vehicle via wireless communication.

[0016] The remote control can be used not only when only one vehicle is following, but also when multiple vehicles are following. In this case, it is preferable for multiple vehicles to follow the leading vehicle in a queue. Having multiple vehicles following facilitates the transport and delivery of multiple vehicles.

[0017] Since the remote control controller uses wireless communication to control the vehicle to follow the lead vehicle (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "vehicle following control"), it is preferable that the lead vehicle information acquisition unit, the following vehicle information acquisition unit, and the action command transmission unit acquire information or send commands in real time via wireless communication, and that the action decision unit decides the action in real time. Specifically, as explained later, these processes can be performed with short control time intervals (e.g., 50m seconds to 300m seconds).

[0018] A basic approach, including a remote control controller and a vehicle controller installed on the following vehicle, constitutes the premise for a vehicle following driving system. The vehicle controller is configured to include: (e) a following vehicle information transmitting unit that transmits the following vehicle information; and (f) an action command acquisition unit that acquires action commands from the remote control controller and controls the operation of the following vehicle's braking and steering mechanisms based on the acquired action commands. Similar to the remote control controller, it is preferable that the following vehicle information transmitting unit and the action command acquisition unit transmit information or acquire action commands in real time via wireless communication. Similarly, in the vehicle controller, it is preferable that the following vehicle information transmitting unit transmits the following vehicle information in real time via wireless communication, and it is preferable that the action command acquisition unit acquires action commands in real time via wireless communication.

[0019] "Leading mobile body" can be any type of mobile body, such as a moving vehicle or a flying drone. Furthermore, the leading mobile body can be an autonomously moving (autonomous driving) mobile body, a mobile body that moves (drives) through remote operation, or a mobile body driven by a driver. On the other hand, "following vehicle" can not only be remotely operated, but can also be a vehicle that can be driven by a driver.

[0020] "Guiding vehicle information" includes information related to the position and actions of the guiding vehicle. "Position" encompasses concepts such as posture and orientation. Furthermore, position can be a location on specific coordinates. Regarding position, if the guiding vehicle is equipped with GPS, LiDAR, cameras, etc., it can be detected using these devices. Information related to "actions" includes the guiding vehicle's speed, acceleration / deceleration, curvature or radius of curvature during turns, and steering input or steering distance in the case of a vehicle. Actions can be detected by sensors on the guiding vehicle or determined by the magnitude and speed of action of its actuators.

[0021] "Following vehicle information" refers to information related to the position of the following vehicle. For example, its position could be relative to the leading moving object, or relative to other vehicles traveling directly in front of it. This "relative position" can be defined, for example, based on interval distance (inter-vehicle distance) or orientation. The relative position can be obtained using millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR, cameras, or other equipment possessed by the following vehicle.

[0022] "The actions that the following vehicle should perform" is a concept that includes the type of action and the target magnitude of that action. Examples include the target acceleration / deceleration of the following vehicle, the gyration of the following vehicle, etc. If the remote control controller has specifications related to the structure of the following vehicle, this could include the braking force to be applied to the following vehicle, the wheel rotation amount, etc.

[0023] In this remote control controller and system, during follow-along driving control, the remote control controller determines the actions the following vehicle should perform and sends commands related to those actions to the following vehicle. The following vehicle then controls its braking and steering mechanisms based on the actions determined by the remote control controller. For example, if the remote control controller only instructs the following vehicle on the path or route it should travel, the following vehicle must autonomously determine its actions based on that path or route, increasing the control burden on the following vehicle. From this perspective, in this remote control controller and system, the control burden on the following vehicle is low, and the structure related to the control of the following vehicle is relatively simple.

[0024] The aforementioned following vehicle action determination unit can be configured to determine, as the action to be performed by each of the aforementioned one or more following vehicles, the following action: to decelerate or accelerate each of the aforementioned one or more following vehicles in a manner that makes the distance between the following vehicle and the leading moving body moving directly in front of it or the following vehicle traveling directly in front of it a set distance. That is, this method determines the action, i.e., the acceleration or deceleration action, to be performed by the following vehicle based on a feedback control law based on the deviation of the distance between the vehicles relative to the set distance. In this way, if the action of the following vehicle is determined, the vehicle can follow the moving body directly in front at an appropriate distance. Furthermore, the moving body directly in front is sometimes the leading moving body and sometimes other following vehicles. Incidentally, the "set distance" can be changed based on the moving speed of the leading moving body, the traveling speed of the following vehicles, etc., taking into account the possibility of rear-ending the moving body directly in front.

[0025] When the following vehicle action determination unit determines the acceleration and deceleration actions of the following vehicles as described above, the following vehicle action determination unit can be configured as follows: when the deceleration of the leading moving body exceeds a set level, the deceleration level of each of the following vehicles is increased by one or more times compared to when it is below the set level; when the acceleration of the leading moving body exceeds a set level, the acceleration level of each of the following vehicles is increased by one or more times compared to when it is below the set level. When the leading moving body accelerates or decelerates, the following vehicles need to accelerate or decelerate accordingly. However, the acceleration and deceleration of the following vehicles is predicted to be delayed relative to the acceleration and deceleration of the leading moving body. The above method is a way to mitigate and reduce this delay by adjusting the degree of deceleration.

[0026] The aforementioned delay in acceleration and deceleration of the following vehicles relative to the leading moving body occurs when multiple following vehicles follow the leading moving body in a queue; in other words, the later the following vehicle, the greater the delay. Considering this, when multiple following vehicles follow the leading moving body in a queue, the following vehicle motion determination unit can be configured as follows: when increasing the deceleration degree of each of the multiple following vehicles, the later the following vehicle, the greater the deceleration degree; and when increasing the acceleration degree of each of the multiple following vehicles, the later the following vehicle, the greater the acceleration degree.

[0027] Furthermore, the following vehicle action determination unit can be configured as follows: As for the action to be performed by each of the one or more following vehicles, it determines whether each following vehicle will perform a turning action along the movement trajectory of the leading moving body when it turns. This method is a so-called turning following control method, according to which the following vehicles appropriately turn while following the leading moving body during a turn. Furthermore, when multiple following vehicles are following, these multiple following vehicles turn in a manner that mutually traces the same trajectory.

[0028] The aforementioned vehicle following system preferably includes a delay response function, which is used to address delays in any of the following: the acquisition of information about the leading moving body, the acquisition of information about the following vehicle, or the acquisition of action commands. This delay response function is designed to address delays that rely on so-called wireless communication. The specific method for implementing the delay response function can be as follows.

[0029] For example, to address the delay in acquiring information about the leading mobile body, a leading mobile body position / action estimation unit can be set up in the remote operation controller. This unit estimates the position and action of the leading mobile body at the current time based on the leading mobile body information acquired by the leading mobile body information acquisition unit before the current time. Furthermore, the following vehicle action determination unit is configured to determine the action that the following vehicle should take at the current time based on the estimated position and action of the leading mobile body at the current time.

[0030] Furthermore, for example, in order to address the delay in acquiring following vehicle information, a following vehicle position estimation unit can be set in the remote operation controller. This unit estimates the position of the following vehicle at the current time based on the following vehicle information acquired by the following vehicle information acquisition unit before the current time and the actions that the following vehicle should perform, as determined by the following vehicle action determination unit before the current time. The following vehicle action determination unit can be configured to determine the actions that the following vehicle should perform at the current time based on the estimated position of the following vehicle at the current time.

[0031] Furthermore, for example, to address the delay in acquiring action commands, a following vehicle position estimation unit can be set up in the remote operation controller. This unit estimates the position of the following vehicle at a specific time point after the current time point based on the following vehicle information acquired before the current time point and the actions that the following vehicle should perform, as determined by the following vehicle action determination unit before the current time point. Moreover, a) the following vehicle action determination unit can be configured to, in addition to the actions that the following vehicle should perform at the current time point, also determine the actions that the following vehicle should perform at the specific time point estimated by the following vehicle position estimation unit as predetermined actions. b) the action command sending unit can be configured to send an action command about the actions that the following vehicle should perform at the current time point and an action command about the predetermined actions to the following vehicle. c) the vehicle controller can be configured to, in the event of a delay in the action commands that the action command acquisition unit should acquire, control the operation of the braking drive device and the steering device at the current time point based on the action command about the predetermined actions acquired before the current time point. Attached Figure Description

[0032] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the general structure of a vehicle following driving system according to an embodiment.

[0033] Figure 2 This is a diagram showing the hardware structure of the leading moving body and the following vehicle that constitute the vehicle following driving system.

[0034] Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating the functional structure of the mobile body controller, remote operation controller (vehicle following control device), and vehicle controller constituting the vehicle following driving realization system of the embodiment.

[0035] Figure 4 This diagram illustrates the concept of a vehicle following another.

[0036] Figure 5 It is a graph representing the acceleration correction factor and deceleration correction factor used to correct the acceleration and deceleration that the following vehicle should achieve.

[0037] Figure 6 It is a diagram used to illustrate the action instructions sent to following vehicles in order to cope with communication delays.

[0038] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of the autonomous driving procedure executed in the mobile controller that guides the mobile body.

[0039] Figure 8 This is a flowchart of a remote operation procedure executed in a remote operation controller.

[0040] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of the following driving procedure executed in the vehicle controller of the following vehicle.

[0041] Figure 10 This is a flowchart of the moving body position / motion estimation subroutine and the following vehicle position estimation subroutine, which are part of the remote operation procedure.

[0042] Figure 11 It is a flowchart of the current moment action determination subroutine and acceleration / deceleration correction subroutine, which are part of the remote operation procedure. Detailed Implementation

[0043] Hereinafter, as a means of implementing the present invention, a vehicle following control device (remote operation controller) and a vehicle following implementation system comprising the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, in addition to the embodiments described below, the present invention can be implemented in various modified and improved manner based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, starting with the manner described in the "Manifestations of the Invention" section.

[0044] Example

[0045] [A] Overview of Vehicle Following System

[0046] like Figure 1 (a) shows a summary of the vehicle following system implemented in this embodiment (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as "the system"), which comprises a leading mobile body LM as a lead vehicle, a vehicle that travels in a manner that follows the leading mobile body LM, and a control center CC. Furthermore, even when not following and traveling, the vehicle that is able to follow and travel on the leading mobile body LM is referred to as a "following vehicle FV".

[0047] How is the leading mobile body LM? Figure 1 (b) shows a small, autonomous vehicle. On the other hand, the following vehicle FV is a typical sedan that can be manually driven by a driver, and as explained in detail later, it can also be driven remotely without relying on a driver. The control center CC is equipped with a remote control controller RC and a communication device CD, which are used as examples of vehicle following control devices. The remote control controller RC is a computer-based device. Although explained in detail later, it manages the movement (driving) of the leading mobile body LM via wireless communication through the communication device CD, and remotely operates the following vehicles FV to follow the leading mobile body LM. The figure shows three following vehicles FV forming a queue to follow the leading mobile body LM, but the number of following vehicles FV is not particularly limited. That is, in this system, the remote control controller RC can remotely operate only one following vehicle FV to make it follow the leading mobile body LM individually, and it can also remotely operate multiple following vehicles FV of any unlimited number to make them follow the leading mobile body LM in a queue.

[0048] The application of this system is not particularly limited. For example, it can be used in automobile manufacturing plants to move completed vehicles as follow-up vehicles (FVs) to storage areas. Furthermore, in this system, the guiding mobile body can be a drone or other mobile entity, rather than a vehicle like a guide vehicle (LM).

[0049] [B] Hardware structure of following vehicles and leading moving bodies

[0050] i) Follow the vehicle

[0051] like Figure 2 As shown in (a), the following vehicle FV (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "vehicle FV") in this embodiment has left and right front wheels 10f and left and right rear wheels 10r. In this vehicle FV, the front wheels 10f are designated as drive wheels and are driven by the drive unit 12. This vehicle FV is a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle), and the drive unit 12 is configured to include an electric motor (i.e., drive motor 14) that serves as the drive source, a transmission 16, a differential gear 18, etc. Furthermore, wheel braking devices 20 are provided for the front wheels 10f and the rear wheels 10r, respectively. Each wheel braking device 20 is a general electric braking device, and its detailed description and illustration are omitted, but the electric motor is used as the drive source. The four wheel braking devices 20 constitute one braking device 22 in this vehicle FV, and the braking device 22 and the aforementioned drive unit 12 constitute one braking drive device 24 in this vehicle FV. In addition, the drive unit 12 is configured to also generate regenerative braking force and function as a braking device.

[0052] In this vehicle FV, the front wheels 10f are configured as steering wheels, and the vehicle FV is equipped with a steering device 26 for steering the front wheels 10f. The steering device 26 is a steer-by-wire type steering device, which has a steering actuator 28 and a reaction force actuator 30, which are mechanically separated from each other. The steering actuator 28 has a steering motor as a drive source, and the force of the steering motor causes the steering rods (rack rods) 32, which are connected to the left and right front wheels 10f at their left and right ends respectively, to move left and right, thereby steering the left and right front wheels 10f together. The reaction force actuator 30 holds the steering wheel 34, which is a steering operation component, and has a reaction force motor as a drive source, which applies an operating reaction force to the steering wheel 34 for its operation.

[0053] This vehicle (FV) is equipped with a brake drive electronic control unit 38 for controlling the brake drive device 24, a steering electronic control unit 40 for controlling the steering device, and a remote operation related processing electronic control unit 42 for performing various processes when remotely operating the vehicle (FV). These units are connected to a controllable area network (CAN) 44. Hereinafter, these units will sometimes be referred to as the brake drive ECU 38, steering ECU 40, and remote operation related processing ECU 42. Incidentally, the brake drive ECU 38 is configured to include a computer and drivers (drive circuits) for the electric motors of the drive motors 14 and the electric motors of the wheel braking devices 20, etc., while the steering ECU 40 is configured to include a computer and drivers for the steering motor and reaction force motor, etc. Furthermore, the remote operation related processing ECU 42 is configured to include a computer as a main component. In addition, these ECUs 38, 40, and 42 constitute a single controller for the vehicle (FV), namely the vehicle controller 46. Furthermore, this vehicle (FV) has a communicator 48 for wireless communication with the control center (CC), which is also connected to the CAN 44.

[0054] Furthermore, the vehicle FV is equipped with an accelerator pedal 50 as an accelerator operating component and a brake pedal 52 as a brake operating component, both of which are connected to the CAN 44. Further, the vehicle FV includes, as sensors, a wheel speed sensor 54 for detecting the rotational speed (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "wheel speed") vw of each wheel 10, an operating angle sensor 56 for detecting the steering wheel 34 operating angle ω as the steering input, a steering angle sensor 58 for detecting the steering angle δ of the front wheels 10f as the steering input, and two cameras 60 and a millimeter-wave radar 62 as sensors for monitoring the front of the vehicle. These sensors are also connected to the CAN 44. Additionally, in the vehicle FV, the steering angle δ is detected as the amount of left-right movement of the steering lever 32. Furthermore, the aforementioned steering angle δ in the vehicle FV is sometimes referred to as the vehicle steering angle δv.

[0055] ii) Guiding the moving body

[0056] In this embodiment, the guiding mobile body LM (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "mobile body LM") is an autonomous vehicle that cannot be ridden or driven by a driver. Figure 2 As shown in (b), the mobile body LM includes a pair of left and right drive wheels 102 and a driven wheel 104 disposed at the rear of these drive wheels 102. The left and right pairs of drive wheels 102 are driven to rotate independently by a pair of drive devices 106 respectively. Each drive device 106 is a device driven by an electric motor, i.e., a drive motor 108. The driven wheel 104 is steered by a steering device 112 driven by a steering motor 110 which is an electric motor. Furthermore, the mobile body LM has a pair of wheel braking devices 114 respectively disposed on the left and right drive wheels 102, and the pair of drive devices 106 and the pair of wheel braking devices 114 constitute a braking drive device 116 in the mobile body LM. In addition, the wheel braking device 114 is a general electric braking device. Furthermore, the drive device 106 is configured to generate regenerative braking force and also functions as a braking device.

[0057] Although detailed descriptions are omitted, in this mobile body LM, when moving straight forward, the driven wheel 104 does not turn the rudder, and the left and right drive wheels 102 rotate at the same rotational speed. When turning to either the left or right, the driven wheel 104 turns the rudder according to the rudder angle based on the curvature of rotation, and the left and right drive wheels 102 rotate with a difference in rotational speed based on the curvature of rotation.

[0058] This mobile unit LM is equipped with a brake drive electronic control unit 120 for controlling the brake drive device 116, a steering electronic control unit 122 for controlling the steering device 112, and an autonomous driving electronic control unit 124 for performing various processes related to autonomous driving. These units are connected to a CAN bus 126. Hereinafter, these units will sometimes be referred to as the brake drive ECU 120, the steering ECU 122, and the autonomous driving ECU 124. Incidentally, the brake drive ECU 120 is configured to include a computer and drivers for the electric motors of the drive motor 108 and the electric motors of each wheel braking device 114, etc., while the steering ECU 122 is configured to include a computer and a driver for the steering motor 110, etc. Furthermore, the autonomous driving ECU 124 is configured to include a computer as a main component. In addition, these ECUs 120, 122, and 124 constitute one controller for this mobile unit LM, namely the mobile unit controller 130. Furthermore, this mobile unit LM has a communicator 128 for wireless communication with the control center CC, and the communicator 128 is also connected to the CAN bus 126.

[0059] Furthermore, this mobile vehicle LM includes, as sensors, wheel speed sensors 140 for detecting the wheel speed vw of each drive wheel 102, steering angle sensors 142 for detecting the steering angle δ of the driven wheels 104, two cameras 144 and a LiDAR 146 for monitoring the front of the vehicle. Additionally, a pair of left and right GPS units 148 are provided for detecting the vehicle's position and orientation. These sensors are also connected to a CAN bus 126. The aforementioned steering angle δ in this mobile vehicle LM is sometimes referred to as the mobile vehicle steering angle δm.

[0060] [C] Basic control processing for achieving vehicle following.

[0061] exist Figure 3 The functional block diagram shows the functional structures of the mobile body controller 130 and the vehicle controller 46, which are the respective controllers for the mobile body LM and the vehicle FV, as well as the functional structure of the remote operation controller RC, which is the vehicle following control device of the control center CC. The following explanation refers to the functional block diagram and the diagram used to illustrate the concept of vehicle following. Figure 4 This section explains the basic control processes related to vehicle following. Incidentally, Figure 3 The functional units indicated by boxes are convenient functional units implemented by these controllers 130, 46, and RC executing prescribed programs. Furthermore, the control processing described below, except in special cases, is repeatedly executed over time, specifically at short control time intervals Δtc (e.g., 50ms to 300ms). This control time interval Δtc can be of different lengths for each controller 130, 46, and RC, but in this embodiment, it is considered to be the same length for all of them.

[0062] i) Control and processing of the moving body

[0063] like Figure 3 As shown, the mobile body controller 130 of the mobile body LM includes a driving command acquisition unit M10, a driving path determination unit M20, a self-position determination unit M30, an action determination unit M40, an action control unit M50, and a position / action information transmission unit M60.

[0064] The driving command acquisition unit M10 is a functional unit that receives driving commands from the remote operation controller RC. Simply put, a driving command is a command about a single operation, specifying "how many vehicles to follow and where to move," and is issued only once when an operation is required. The driving path determination unit M20 determines the driving path based on the received driving command. The mobile unit controller 130 has a map of driving paths within the factory, and referring to this map, in principle, determines the driving path only once for each operation. Specifically, the driving position in the width direction of the driving path is set as driving rules. Based on the determined driving path and its driving rules, the mobile unit controller 130 also determines the driving line Lr that the mobile unit LM should travel on, and stores the determined driving path and driving line Lr.

[0065] When the mobile unit LM is operating indoors, its self-positioning unit M30 determines its own position (including its orientation) based on information obtained from LiDAR 146 and camera 144. When the mobile unit LM is operating outdoors, its self-positioning unit M30 determines its own position based on information obtained from GPS unit 148 and camera 144. Figure 4 As shown, the position is the XY coordinate position of the center of gravity of the moving body LM, that is, the XY coordinate position of the center of gravity point gm of the moving body, facing towards... Figure 4 The position is omitted, for example, defined by the angle φ formed by the Y-axis and the front-rear axis Lx of the moving body LM, i.e., the axis Lxm of the moving body. That is, the self-position determination unit M30 determines the position of the moving body LM in the form of the moving body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm).

[0066] The action determination unit M40 determines its actions based on the mobile body's position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm) and the stored travel path, specifically the aforementioned travel line Lr, according to travel rules. These travel rules might include, for example, "travel at a certain speed v at a certain location" or "temporarily stop at a certain location." Specifically, the action determination unit M40 determines the acceleration / deceleration G (Gm) that the mobile body LM should perform as its action, and the curvature ε (εm) of the rotation that the mobile body LM should perform. Incidentally, the acceleration / deceleration G is generally positive when the mobile body is accelerating and negative when it is decelerating. Furthermore, the curvature ε is the reciprocal of the radius of rotation R. The curvature ε has different signs for left and right turns, and is 0 when traveling straight.

[0067] The motion determination unit M40 further determines, based on the determined acceleration / deceleration Gm and rotational curvature εm of the moving body, the system driving force Fmd / b, which is the braking driving force Fd / b to be applied to the left and right drive wheels 102 by the braking drive device 116, and the turning angle δm of the moving body, which is the turning angle δ of the driven wheel 104 to be turned by the turning device 112. Incidentally, the braking driving force Fd / b is a concept that integrates the driving force Fd and the braking force Fb. In addition, hereafter, the system driving force Fmd / b is sometimes simply referred to as the braking driving force Fmd / b, and the turning angle δm of the moving body is sometimes simply referred to as the turning angle δm.

[0068] The motion control unit M50, which is a motion control unit for a moving body, includes the aforementioned brake drive ECU 120 and steering ECU 122. Based on the determined brake drive force Fmd / b and the determined steering angle δm, it controls the brake drive device 116 and the steering device 112. Specifically, regarding the brake drive force Fmd / b, when the determined brake drive force Fmd / b is a driving force Fmd, the brake drive ECU 120 generates the driving force Fmd through the drive device 106. When the determined brake drive force Fmd / b is a braking force Fmb, the brake drive ECU 120 generates an amount corresponding to the braking force Fmb or the maximum possible regenerative braking force through the drive device 106, and generates an amount that is insufficient for the regenerative braking force through the wheel braking device 114.

[0069] The position / motion information transmitting unit M60 sends the aforementioned moving body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm) determined by its own position determining unit M30, the moving body speed v (i.e., moving body speed vm) determined based on the wheel speed vw of the left and right drive wheels 102 detected by the wheel speed sensor 140, the moving body acceleration / deceleration Gm and the moving body rotation curvature εm determined by the motion determining unit M40 as position / motion information containing information related to position and motion, that is, as guiding moving body information (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as "moving body information") to the remote operation controller RC.

[0070] ii) Control processing of following vehicles

[0071] like Figure 3 As shown, the vehicle controller 46 of this vehicle FV includes a relative position determination unit V10, a relative position information transmission unit V20, an action command acquisition unit V30, an action determination unit V40, and an action control unit V50. The control processing for each of the one or more vehicle FVs following a moving body LM will be described below.

[0072] The relative position determination unit V10 determines the relative position of the vehicle FV to the moving body directly in front. When the vehicle FV follows the leading moving body LM alone, or when multiple vehicle FVs follow the moving body LM in a queue and the vehicle FV is in front of them, the moving body directly in front becomes the moving body LM. When multiple vehicle FVs follow the moving body LM in a queue and the vehicle FV is not in front of them, the moving body directly in front becomes another vehicle FV. Furthermore, since the moving body LM is also a vehicle, the moving body directly in front will sometimes be referred to as the vehicle directly in front.

[0073] If we take Figure 4 The following explanation uses the scenario where the vehicle directly in front is a moving body LM as an example. As shown in the figure, the relative position of the vehicle FV to the vehicle directly in front is defined by the straight-line distance L between the vehicle FV and the moving body LM, and the azimuth angle θ of the moving body LM relative to the vehicle FV. The reference point for the distance L and the azimuth angle θ is the vehicle's center of gravity gv in the vehicle FV, and the gaze point MP located at the center of the vehicle width direction at the rear end in the moving body LM. The azimuth angle θ is the angle formed by the forward vehicle direction line Lp connecting the vehicle's center of gravity gv and the gaze point MP, and the front-rear axis Lx (i.e., the vehicle axis Lxv) of the vehicle FV. Incidentally, the scenario where the vehicle directly in front is another vehicle FV is the same as the scenario where the vehicle directly in front is a moving body LM; that is, the moving body LM is replaced by another vehicle FV. Therefore, the explanation of the distance L and the azimuth angle θ in this case is omitted.

[0074] The relative position determination unit V10 determines the inter-vehicle distance L and the azimuth angle θ of the vehicle directly in front based on information obtained from the millimeter-wave radar 62 and the camera 60. The inter-vehicle distance L and the azimuth angle θ are relative position information related to the position of the vehicle FV, which is included in the following vehicle information. The relative position information transmission unit V20 transmits this relative position information as following vehicle information to the remote operation controller RC.

[0075] As will be explained in detail later, the vehicle FV follows the vehicle directly in front based on action commands from the remote control controller RC. The action command acquisition unit V30 acquires the action commands by receiving them from the remote control controller RC at the control center CC. The action commands will be explained in detail later, but they include the acceleration / deceleration G (i.e., vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv) that the vehicle FV should achieve and the rotational curvature ε (i.e., vehicle rotational curvature εv) that the vehicle FV should achieve.

[0076] The action determination unit V40 determines the specific action that the vehicle FV should perform based on the acquired vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv. Specifically, the action determination unit V40 determines the braking force Fd / b (i.e., vehicle braking force Fvd / b) and the steering angle δ of the front wheels 10f (i.e., vehicle steering angle δv) applied to the vehicle FV based on the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv. Furthermore, hereinafter, the vehicle braking force Fvd / b will sometimes be simply referred to as braking force Fvd / b, and the vehicle steering angle δv will sometimes be simply referred to as steering angle δv.

[0077] The motion control unit V50, which is the vehicle motion control unit, includes the aforementioned brake drive ECU 38 and steering ECU 40. Based on the determined brake drive force Fvd / b and the determined steering angle δv, it controls the brake drive device 24 and the steering actuator 28. Specifically, regarding the brake drive force Fvd / b, when the determined brake drive force Fvd / b is the driving force Fvd, the brake drive ECU 38 generates the driving force Fvd through the drive device 12. When the determined brake drive force Fvd / b is the braking force Fvb, the brake drive ECU 38 generates an amount corresponding to the braking force Fvb or the maximum possible regenerative braking force through the drive device 12, and generates the amount that is insufficient in the regenerative braking force through the braking device 22, i.e., the four wheel braking devices 20.

[0078] Furthermore, as mentioned above, this vehicle (FV) can also be driven manually by the driver. The control processing during driving based on this manual operation is the same as that in a conventional vehicle, so it will not be described here.

[0079] iii) Control processing of remote controller

[0080] like Figure 3 As shown, the remote control unit (RC) includes a driving command transmission unit (R10), a moving body information acquisition unit (R20), a following vehicle information acquisition unit (R30), a following vehicle action determination unit (R40), and an action command transmission unit (R50).

[0081] When the driving command sending unit R10 generates a task related to the mobile body LM, it sends the driving command described above only once as a trigger to start the task. The mobile body information acquisition unit R20, which is the guiding mobile body information acquisition unit, acquires the position / motion information about the mobile body LM, i.e., the mobile body information, by receiving the previously described mobile body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), mobile body speed vm, mobile body acceleration / deceleration Gm, and mobile body rotation curvature εm from the mobile body LM.

[0082] In the following vehicle action determination unit R40, the remote control controller RC performs vehicle processing (described later) sequentially for each of the more than one vehicle FV following the moving body LM, starting with the leading vehicle. However, in each vehicle processing, the following vehicle action determination unit R40 determines the travel line Lr of the moving body LM in advance based on the aforementioned position / action information acquired before the current time (both the current time and the time before the current time), and determines the moving body speed vm at the current time. Then, as a set distance, based on the acquired moving body speed vm, the target distance L' between each vehicle and the vehicle directly in front along the travel line Lr is determined according to the following formula: the target distance L' between the moving body LM and the vehicle FV, and between the vehicles FVs themselves. * .

[0083] L * =α·vm α: Target workshop distance determination coefficient

[0084] By following the above formula, and considering the possibility of a rear-end collision with a vehicle directly in front, the distance L from the target vehicle is... * The value increases as the speed of the moving object, vm, increases.

[0085] The processing for each vehicle will be described below, but the vehicle FV that will be the object of the processing for each vehicle will be referred to as the object vehicle FV. In the processing of each vehicle, firstly, the following vehicle information acquisition unit R30 receives relative position information from the object vehicle FV, including the aforementioned inter-vehicle distance L between itself and the vehicle directly in front and the azimuth angle θ of the vehicle directly in front, as the following vehicle information, and thereby acquires it.

[0086] The following vehicle motion determination unit R40 determines the vehicle position Pv(Xv, Yv, φv) of the target vehicle FV based on the aforementioned inter-vehicle distance L, azimuth angle θ, and the position of the vehicle directly in front on the XY coordinates obtained for the target vehicle FV. Incidentally, regarding the vehicle position Pvp(Xv, Yv, φv) of the vehicle directly in front, when the target vehicle FV is following a moving body LM alone or is the leading vehicle FV, it becomes the moving body position Pm(Xm, Ym, φm) of the moving body LM. When the vehicle directly in front is another vehicle FV, it becomes the vehicle position Pv(Xv, Yv, φv) determined when the vehicle directly in front is the target vehicle.

[0087] Next, based on the vehicle position Pv(Xv, Yv, φv) of the target vehicle FV and the vehicle position Pvp(Xv, Yv, φv) of the vehicle directly in front, the inter-vehicle distance L' between the target vehicle FV and the vehicle directly in front is determined along the determined travel line Lr of the moving body LM. Based on this inter-vehicle distance L' relative to the aforementioned target inter-vehicle distance L... *The deviation is the workshop distance deviation ΔL (=L) * -L'), according to the feedback control law, that is, according to the following formula, the acceleration and deceleration G that the target vehicle FV should achieve is determined, that is, the vehicle acceleration and deceleration Gv.

[0088] Gv = β·ΔL where β: acceleration or deceleration determines the gain (proportional gain).

[0089] In detail, when the vehicle distance deviation ΔL is above 0 (0 or a positive value), i.e., when the target vehicle FV should accelerate, the acceleration determination gain βa is used as the acceleration / deceleration determination gain β. When the vehicle distance deviation ΔL is less than 0 (a negative value), i.e., when the target vehicle FV should decelerate, the deceleration determination gain βb is used as the acceleration / deceleration determination gain β. Incidentally, considering the possibility of rear-ending a vehicle directly in front, the deceleration determination gain βb is set to be greater than the acceleration determination gain βa. Furthermore, the above formula is based on a P-feedback control law, but formulas based on PI, PD, or PID feedback control laws can also be used.

[0090] After determining the vehicle's acceleration / deceleration Gv, in the processing of each vehicle, based on the determined travel line Lr of the aforementioned moving body LM, the required curvature ε of the target vehicle FV to travel along that travel line Lr is determined, i.e., the vehicle curvature εv. That is, the action of the vehicle FV, such as traveling (turning) along the travel trajectory (trajectory) of the moving body LM, is determined.

[0091] The action command sending unit R50 sends the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv, determined as described above, as action commands to each target vehicle FV. Alternatively, in this system, while the action command includes vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv, if the remote control RC has the specifications related to the structure of the vehicle FV, and the vehicle action determination unit R40 determines the vehicle braking force Fvd / b and vehicle steering angle δ as the actions the vehicle FV should perform, the action command sending unit R50 can send commands including these vehicle braking forces Fvd / b and vehicle steering angle δv instead of the commands including vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv.

[0092] The following vehicle information acquisition unit R30, the following vehicle action decision unit R40, and the action command sending unit R50 perform the above-described processing on all one or more vehicles FV following the moving body LM.

[0093] Regarding the vehicle following control described above, in this system, the action command is sent from the remote control controller (RC) to the vehicle (FV). Based on this action command, the vehicle (FV) controls its own actions. That is, the vehicle (FV) does not acquire moving body information and determine its own actions based on that information. Therefore, the burden on the vehicle (FV) in vehicle following control is small, and the structure of the vehicle (FV) related to vehicle following control is very simple.

[0094] [D] Correction based on vehicle acceleration and deceleration

[0095] In the basic control process of vehicle following described above, simply put, the acceleration / deceleration Gv of the following vehicle FV is determined to maintain a set distance L' between it and the vehicle directly in front, which is the target distance L. * However, it is anticipated that in the event of acceleration or deceleration of the moving body LM, the distance L' used to maintain the workshop distance L' as the target workshop distance L will be... * The action will be delayed. This delay increases with the degree of acceleration or deceleration of the moving body LM. Furthermore, when multiple vehicles FV follow in a queue, the more subsequent vehicles FV, ​​the greater the FV of the rearmost vehicle. This delay can cause disturbances in the inter-vehicle distance L'. Considering this, in this remote control controller RC, the processing of vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv issued as an action command is called acceleration / deceleration correction processing.

[0096] The remote control controller RC has an acceleration / deceleration correction unit R41 in the following vehicle action determination unit R40, and the aforementioned acceleration / deceleration correction process is performed by the acceleration / deceleration correction unit R41. Simply put, in the acceleration / deceleration correction process, for the acceleration / deceleration correction unit R41, the determined vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv is multiplied by the acceleration / deceleration correction coefficient η (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "correction coefficient η") as shown in the following formula.

[0097] Gv=η·Gv

[0098] In detail, the correction coefficient η is set separately for the cases of accelerating vehicle FV (vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv ≥ 0) and decelerating vehicle FV (vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv < 0). The correction coefficient η for accelerating vehicle FV is called the acceleration correction coefficient ηa, and the correction coefficient η for decelerating vehicle FV is called the deceleration correction coefficient ηb. Furthermore, since the delay increases with the subsequent vehicle FV, the acceleration correction coefficient ηa and the deceleration correction coefficient ηb are also set separately according to which vehicle FV it is from the front.

[0099] exist Figure 5 The curve in (a) schematically shows the correction factor ηa during acceleration. Figure 5(b) schematically illustrates the deceleration correction factor ηb. As shown in these graphs, the acceleration correction factor ηa is set sequentially from the vehicle FV at the front of the queue as acceleration correction factor ηa1, ηa2, ηa3, ηa4, ..., and the deceleration correction factor ηb is set sequentially from the vehicle FV at the front of the queue as deceleration correction factor ηb1, ηb2, ηb3, ηb4, ...

[0100] from Figure 5 As shown in the graph in (a), the acceleration correction coefficient ηa is set to a value greater than 1 when the acceleration / deceleration Gm of the mobile body LM acquired by the mobile body information acquisition unit R20 exceeds the threshold Gmth (≥0), that is, when the mobile body LM accelerates beyond a set level. When the acceleration / deceleration Gm is below the threshold Gmth, it is set to 1. In other words, when the mobile body LM accelerates beyond the set level, the acceleration of the vehicle FV is increased compared to when it does not accelerate beyond the set level. Furthermore, when the mobile body LM accelerates beyond the set level, the acceleration correction coefficient ηa increases as the acceleration / deceleration Gm increases, resulting in a higher acceleration of the mobile body LM and a higher acceleration of the vehicle FV. Moreover, given that the subsequent vehicle FV experiences a greater delay than described above, the larger the acceleration correction coefficient ηa is when the mobile body LM accelerates beyond the set level, the higher the acceleration of the subsequent vehicle FV.

[0101] from Figure 5 As shown in the graph in (b), similarly, the deceleration correction coefficient ηb is set to a value greater than 1 when the acceleration / deceleration Gm of the moving body is lower than the threshold -Gmth, i.e., when the moving body LM decelerates beyond the set level; and set to 1 when it is above the threshold -Gmth. That is, when the moving body LM decelerates beyond the set level, the deceleration degree of the vehicle FV is higher compared to when it does not decelerate beyond the set level. Furthermore, regarding the deceleration correction coefficient ηb, when the moving body LM decelerates beyond the set level, the lower the acceleration / deceleration Gm, the larger the coefficient ηb, resulting in a higher deceleration degree of the moving body LM and a higher deceleration degree of the vehicle FV. Moreover, given that the subsequent vehicle FVs experience a greater delay than the aforementioned delay, the deceleration correction coefficient ηb is larger for subsequent vehicle FVs when the moving body LM decelerates beyond the set level, indicating a higher degree of deceleration for subsequent vehicle FVs.

[0102] For example, when the acceleration / deceleration Gm of the moving body LM is 0.1G, the correction coefficient ηb during deceleration remains at 1, but the correction coefficient ηa during acceleration is set to 1.05. Conversely, when the acceleration / deceleration Gm of the moving body LM is -0.2G, the correction coefficient ηa during acceleration remains at 1, but the correction coefficient ηa during deceleration is set to 1.1. Furthermore, as can be seen from comparing the two curves above, considering the possibility of rear-ending a vehicle directly ahead, the gradient of the change in the correction coefficient ηb during deceleration, which accompanies the change in the moving body's acceleration / deceleration Gm, is set to be steeper than the gradient of the change in the correction coefficient ηa during acceleration. Additionally, the aforementioned threshold Gmth can be arbitrarily set according to the characteristics of the vehicle's FV, ​​and can also be set to 0.

[0103] [E] Addressing Communication Delays

[0104] As described above, the mobile unit LM communicates wirelessly with the control center CC, and the following vehicle FV communicates wirelessly with the control center CC, and vehicle following control is performed through this wireless communication. Sometimes, due to the large distance between the mobile unit LM and the following vehicle FV, the presence of obstacles, the characteristics of communicators 48 and 128, etc., wireless communication delays occur, i.e., delays in acquiring information, commands, etc. Considering this, this system has a delay response function to cope with the delays in acquiring the aforementioned mobile unit information and the aforementioned following vehicle information based on the remote operation controller RC, and the delays in acquiring action commands based on the vehicle controller 46. The delay response function will be described in detail below.

[0105] i) Addressing the delay in acquiring information about moving objects and following vehicles

[0106] like Figure 3 As shown, the remote control controller (RC) has an information acquisition delay determination unit R60. Information about the moving body and information about the following vehicle are input to the following vehicle action determination unit R40 via this unit. Control processing is executed every moment, that is, repeatedly executed at the aforementioned control time interval Δtc. However, in the current control processing, if the moving body information and following vehicle information are not acquired, the information acquisition delay determination unit R60 determines that these information are delayed and uses the time from the point when this information was acquired in a previous (or earlier) control processing to the current point in time as the delay time Δtd. Simply put, for example, if this information was acquired in the previous control processing but not in the current control processing, the delay time Δtd becomes equivalent to one control time interval Δtc. Furthermore, the delay time Δtd for moving body information, the delay time Δtd for following vehicle information, and the delay time Δtdv for vehicle information are also referred to as delay time Δtdm and delay time Δtdv, respectively.

[0107] The remote control controller RC has a position estimation unit R42 in the following vehicle action decision unit R40. In the current control process, even if there is a delay in the moving body information and following vehicle information, as long as this information is acquired in the current control process, the position estimation unit R42 estimates the position-related information contained in the information that should be acquired.

[0108] In detail, as described above, the moving body information includes parameters related to the position and movement of the moving body LM, namely, the moving body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), the moving body velocity vm, the moving body acceleration / deceleration Gm, and the moving body rotation curvature εm. While a detailed explanation of the estimation method is omitted, in the event that this moving body information is not acquired during the current control process, the position estimation unit R42, based on the last moving body information acquired by the moving body information acquisition unit R20 and the delay time tdm of the acquired moving body information, estimates the moving body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), moving body velocity vm, moving body acceleration / deceleration Gm, and moving body rotation curvature εm that should be included in the moving body information to be acquired during the current control process. That is, the position estimation unit R42, based on the moving body information acquired by the moving body information acquisition unit R20 before the current time point, acts as a guiding moving body position / movement estimation unit for estimating the position and movement of the moving body LM at the current time point. As described above, the following vehicle action determination unit R40 determines the action that the vehicle FV should perform at the current time point based on the estimated position and action of the moving body LM.

[0109] On the other hand, the following vehicle information sent from each of the more than one vehicles FV includes relative position information such as the inter-vehicle distance L to the vehicle directly in front and the azimuth angle θ of the vehicle directly in front. A detailed explanation of the estimation method is omitted, but in this control process, if the following vehicle information for a particular vehicle FV is not obtained, the position estimation unit R42 estimates the vehicle position Pv (Xv, Yv, φv) to be determined in this control process based on the following vehicle information last obtained by the following vehicle information acquisition unit R30 for that vehicle FV, the vehicle information delay time tdv, and the actions that the vehicle FV should perform in the previous control process determined by the following vehicle action determination unit R40, namely the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and the rotational curvature εv. That is, the position estimation unit R42, based on the following vehicle information acquired by the following vehicle information acquisition unit R30 before the current time point and the following vehicle action determination unit R40's determination of the actions to be performed by the vehicle FV before the current time point, functions as a following vehicle position estimation unit to estimate the position of the vehicle FV at the current time point. As described above, the following vehicle action determination unit R40, based on the estimated position of the vehicle FV, determines the actions that the vehicle FV should perform at the current time point.

[0110] Although detailed explanations are omitted, in this system, when the delay time Δtdm for movement information of the moving body LM or any vehicle FV, or the delay time Δtdv for vehicle information, exceeds the threshold time Δtdth, the following control of all vehicle FVs will cease. This threshold time Δdth can be appropriately set, taking into account the possibility of a vehicle FV rear-ending a vehicle directly in front.

[0111] ii) Handling the delay in acquiring action commands

[0112] As explained above, the vehicle action determination unit R40 of the remote control controller RC, in its control processing, determines the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and the vehicle rotation curvature εv for each of one or more vehicles FV, ​​as the action that vehicle FV should perform at the current time. However, it not only determines this action but also determines the action that vehicle FV should perform at a specific time after the current time as a predetermined action. In the processing of each vehicle, the predetermined action determination unit R43 of the vehicle action determination unit R40 determines the predetermined action for the target vehicle FV. In addition, the predetermined action can also be called a preparatory action.

[0113] While a detailed explanation of the estimation method is omitted, before determining the predetermined action, the position estimation unit R42 estimates the position of the vehicle FV at a specific time point after the current time point based on the following vehicle information acquired by the following vehicle information acquisition unit R30 in the control processing prior to this time (both this time and before this time), and the vehicle FV action determined by the following vehicle action determination unit R40 in the control processing prior to this time. In other words, the position estimation unit R42 functions as a following vehicle position estimation unit for estimating the position of the vehicle FV at a time point after the current time point. The predetermined action determination unit R43 determines the predetermined action based on the position of the vehicle FV at a specific time point after the current time point estimated by the position estimation unit R42. In this system, five predetermined time points tp1 to tp5, which are separated by a control time interval Δtc, are set as the specific time points mentioned above. As predetermined actions, the predetermined actions of each of the five predetermined time points tp1 to tp5 are determined, namely, the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and the vehicle rotation curvature εv at each time point tp1 to tp5.

[0114] The action command sending unit R50 sends the instruction for the predetermined action based on the above decision, along with the instruction for the action that the vehicle FV should perform at the current time (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the "current time action"), to each vehicle FV. For example... Figure 6The diagram shows the action commands issued at every moment. In the diagram, as time progresses, the action commands issued by each control process, i.e., the action commands issued at each control time interval Δtc, are recorded from top to bottom. Each action command includes the command for the current action at the first position (left side) (represented by a double box) and the accompanying commands for five predetermined actions. Each action includes the aforementioned vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv. Incidentally, in the diagram, the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv of the action command for the current action are represented as Gv0 and εv0, respectively, and the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv of the predetermined actions for each of the predetermined times tp1 to tp5 are represented as Gv1 to Gv5 and εv1 to εv5, respectively.

[0115] like Figure 3 As shown, the vehicle controller 46 has an action command delay determination unit V60, through which action commands are input to the action determination unit V40. Control processing is executed repeatedly at each moment, that is, repeatedly at control time intervals Δtc. However, in the current control processing, if no action command is received, the action command delay determination unit V60 determines that there is an action command delay and uses the time from the point in time when the action command was received in the previous (or earlier) control processing to the current point in time as the delay time Δtd. Simply put, if the action command was received in the previous two control processings, but not in the previous and current two control processings, the delay time Δtd becomes twice the control time interval Δtc. Furthermore, the delay time Δtd for the action command is sometimes referred to as the action command delay time Δtdr or simply the delay time Δtdr.

[0116] If reference Figure 6 The diagram illustrates that, without delay in acquiring the action command, the action determination unit V40 determines the action that the vehicle FV should perform at any given time point in the control processing, based on the command for the action at the current time point (represented by double boxes), namely, the vehicle braking force Fvd / b and the vehicle steering angle δv. The action determination unit V40 has a predetermined action adoption unit V41. In the event of a delay in acquiring the action command, this predetermined action adoption unit V41 adopts one of the predetermined action commands included in the most recently acquired action commands, based on the delay time Δtdr. The action determination unit V40 determines the vehicle braking force Fvd / b and the vehicle steering angle δv based on this adopted command.

[0117] Specifically, in Figure 6In the diagram, for example, in the first stage of control processing, if an action command is acquired, in the second stage of control processing, if the action command that should be acquired in this control processing cannot be acquired, the predetermined action acquisition unit V41 acquires the command for the first predetermined action from the action commands acquired in the first stage of control processing. In the third stage of control processing, if the action command that should be acquired cannot be acquired in this control processing, the predetermined action acquisition unit V41 acquires the command for the second predetermined action from the beginning from the action commands acquired in the first stage of control processing. The same applies below when an action command cannot be acquired, so the explanation is omitted. In subsequent control processing, when acquiring an action command restarts, the action determination unit V40 determines the action of the vehicle FV based on the control processing and the action command at the current time.

[0118] In this system, similar to the delay time Δtdm for moving body information and the delay time Δtdv for vehicle information, when the delay time Δtdr for action command exceeds the threshold time Δtdth, that is, when the delay time Δtdr for action command is longer, the vehicle following driving control itself is stopped to control all vehicle FVs.

[0119] In addition, in this system, Figure 6 In the diagram, the predetermined action determination unit R43 of the remote control RC determines the values ​​of the acceleration / deceleration Gv for the predetermined actions at predetermined times tp4 and tp5, namely Gv4 and Gv5 (shown in shaded areas), regardless of the position of the vehicle FV estimated by the position estimation unit R42, and taking into account the possibility of rear-ending the vehicle directly in front, as a value that would decelerate the vehicle. Specifically, regarding Gv4, if Gv3, which is the value of the acceleration / deceleration Gv for the predetermined action at predetermined time tp3, is 0G or higher (i.e., a value representing acceleration), it is determined to be -0.1G; if Gv3 is less than 0G (i.e., a value representing deceleration), it is determined to be (Gv3-0.1). Based on this Gv4, Gv5 is determined to be (Gv4-0.1).

[0120] In addition, although detailed explanations are omitted, the above acceleration / deceleration correction process is performed on both the vehicle acceleration Gv at the current moment and the vehicle acceleration Gv for the predetermined moment.

[0121] [F] Vehicle following control process

[0122] The vehicle following control described above is repeatedly executed by the motion controller 130, the remote control RC, and the vehicle controller 46 at the aforementioned control time interval Δtc. Figure 7 , Figure 8 , Figure 9The flowchart shown illustrates the autonomous driving procedure, remote operation procedure, and following driving procedure. Below, the control processing flow of each controller 130, RC, and 46 is briefly explained according to each procedure.

[0123] i) Control processing flow of the motion controller

[0124] In accordance with Figure 7 In the control processing of the autonomous driving procedure shown in the flowchart, firstly, in step 11 (hereinafter referred to as "S11". Other steps are the same.), as described above, the position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm) of the moving body, which is its own position, is determined based on the information obtained by the camera 144, LiDAR 146, and GPS unit 148. Next, in S12, as described above, based on the driving line Lr, driving rules, and the actions that the moving body LM should perform, the acceleration / deceleration Gm and the rotation curvature εm of the moving body are determined, and the driving force Fmd / b and the steering angle δm of the moving body are further determined.

[0125] In the next step S13, as described above, based on the determined driving force Fmd / b of the mobile system and the rudder angle δm of the mobile body, the actions of the mobile body LM are controlled, namely the driving device 116 and the rudder device 112. Then, in S14, as described above, the mobile body information is sent, which includes the position / action information of the mobile body, namely the position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), the velocity vm, the acceleration / deceleration Gm, and the curvature εm of the mobile body.

[0126] ii) Control processing flow of the remote operation controller

[0127] exist Figure 8 In the remote operation procedure shown in the flowchart, firstly, in S21, as described above, mobile body information received from the mobile body LM is acquired, namely, the mobile body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), the mobile body velocity vm, the mobile body acceleration / deceleration Gm, and the mobile body rotation curvature εm. In S22, it is determined whether the mobile body information has been acquired. If acquired, the acquired mobile body information is used in the following processes. If not acquired, in S23, the following steps are executed... Figure 10 The flowchart shows the subroutine for estimating the position / action of the moving body.

[0128] In the moving body position / motion estimation subroutine, firstly, in S231, as described above, the delay time Δtdm for acquiring moving body information is determined. Then, in S232, it is determined whether this delay time Δtdm exceeds the threshold time Δtdh. If the delay time Δtdm does not exceed the threshold time Δtdth, then, in S233, as described above, based on the delay time Δtdm, the acquired moving body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), moving body velocity vm, moving body acceleration / deceleration Gm, and moving body rotation curvature εm are calculated. On the other hand, when the delay time Δtdm exceeds the threshold time Δtdth, in S234, the following control of all following vehicles FVs is stopped.

[0129] In S24, as described above, based on the acquired or calculated moving body position Pm (Xm, Ym, φm), moving body velocity vm, moving body acceleration / deceleration Gm, and moving body rotation curvature εm, the travel line Lr of the moving body LM is determined. Then, in S25, the target inter-vehicle distance L between each vehicle FV and the vehicle directly in front is determined. * The following processes S26 to S34 are performed on each of the above-described vehicle-by-vehicle processes for each of more than one vehicle FV.

[0130] During the processing of each vehicle, firstly, in S26, the vehicle FV to be processed for that vehicle is determined, i.e., the target vehicle FV. As described above, processing is performed one vehicle at a time, starting with the first vehicle FV. In the next step, S27, as described above, relative position information including the inter-vehicle distance L of the target vehicle FV to the vehicle directly in front and the azimuth angle θ of the vehicle directly in front is obtained from the target vehicle FV as following vehicle information. In the next step, S28, it is determined whether the following vehicle information has been obtained. If it can be obtained, in S29, as described above, the vehicle position Pv (Xv, Yv, φv) of the target vehicle FV is determined based on the obtained following vehicle information.

[0131] On the other hand, in situations where information about following vehicles cannot be obtained, execution is performed in S30. Figure 10 The flowchart shows the following vehicle position estimation subroutine. In the processing according to this subroutine, firstly, in S301, as described above, the delay time Δtdv for obtaining the following vehicle information is determined. In S302, it is determined whether the delay time Δtdv exceeds the threshold time Δtdth. If the delay time Δtdv does not exceed the threshold time Δtdth, in S303, as described above, the vehicle position Pv(Xv, Yv, φv) of the target vehicle FV is estimated based on the delay time Δtdv. On the other hand, when the delay time Δtdv exceeds the threshold time Δtdth, in S304, following control of all following vehicles FV is stopped.

[0132] In the next step S31, execution is performed. Figure 11 The flowchart shows the current action determination subroutine. In the processing according to this subroutine, firstly, in S311, the vehicle position Pvp(Xv, Yv, φv) of the vehicle directly ahead is determined. Then, in S312, as described above, based on the vehicle position Pvp(Xv, Yv, φv) of the vehicle directly ahead and the acquired or estimated vehicle position Pv(Xv, Yv, φv) of the target vehicle FV, the inter-vehicle distance L' along the travel line Lr between the target vehicle FV and the vehicle immediately ahead is determined. Furthermore, this inter-vehicle distance L' is determined relative to the aforementioned inter-vehicle distance L. * The deviation is the workshop distance deviation ΔL.

[0133] In the next step, S313, it is determined whether the determined inter-vehicle distance deviation ΔL is 0 or higher, i.e., whether the target vehicle FV should accelerate or decelerate. If acceleration is required, in S314, as described above, the acceleration / deceleration determination gain β is set to acceleration determination gain βa; if deceleration is required, in S315, the acceleration / deceleration determination gain β is set to deceleration determination gain βb. Then, in S316, as described above, based on the acceleration and deceleration determination gain β and the inter-vehicle distance deviation ΔL, the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv that the target vehicle FV should achieve is determined. In S317, as described above, based on the aforementioned travel line Lr, the vehicle curvature εv required for the target vehicle FV to travel is determined. The vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle curvature εv are set as the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv0 and vehicle curvature εv0 of the target vehicle FV at the current moment of action. In the next S32, as described above, five predetermined actions are determined as actions for five predetermined time points tp1 to tp5 after the current time point, and the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv1 to 5 and the vehicle rotation curvature εv1 to 5 are determined for each predetermined time point tp1 to tp5.

[0134] In the following S33, a correction process is performed on the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv0 in the determined current action and the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv1 to Gv5 in each of the five predetermined actions. This correction process is performed by executing... Figure 11 The acceleration / deceleration correction subroutine shown in the flowchart is used. Additionally, in the flowchart, after S33, the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv0 and Gv1-5 are collectively referred to as vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv, and the vehicle gyration εv0 and vehicle gyration εv1-5 are collectively referred to as vehicle gyration εv.

[0135] In the processing following the acceleration / deceleration correction subroutine, firstly, in S331, the acceleration / deceleration Gm of the moving body LM is determined. Then, in S332, it is determined whether the acceleration / deceleration Gv of each vehicle is 0 or higher, indicating whether it represents a value that should be accelerated or decelerated. If it represents a value that should be accelerated, as described above, in S333, an acceleration correction coefficient ηa is determined, and in S334, the correction coefficient η is set to this acceleration correction coefficient ηa. Conversely, if it represents a value that should be decelerated, as described above, in S335, a deceleration correction coefficient ηb is determined, and in S336, the correction coefficient η is set to this deceleration correction coefficient ηb. Then, in S337, this correction coefficient η is used to correct the acceleration / deceleration Gv of each vehicle.

[0136] The vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv0, vehicle curvature εv0, and predetermined vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv1-5 and vehicle curvature εv1-5 for the current action, as determined or modified after the above, are sent as action commands to the target vehicle FV in S34. The processing of each vehicle in S26-S34 is then executed on all following vehicles FV through the processing in S35.

[0137] iii) Control processing flow of the vehicle controller

[0138] In accordance with Figure 9 In the control processing of the following driving procedure shown in the flowchart, in S41, as described above, the relative position with the vehicle directly in front, i.e., the vehicle distance L and azimuth angle θ, is determined based on the information obtained by the millimeter-wave radar 62 and the camera 60. Then, in S42, the information about the determined vehicle distance L and azimuth angle θ is sent as following vehicle information to the remote operation controller RC.

[0139] In the next step, S43, an action command is received from the remote control controller (RC). This action command includes the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv for the current action and the predetermined action described earlier. In the next step, S44, it is determined whether the action command has been received. If it has been received, in S45, the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv0 and vehicle gyration εv0 for the current action are used for subsequent processing.

[0140] When an action command cannot be obtained, firstly, in S46, any one of the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv1-5 and vehicle gyration εv1-5 for the five predetermined actions is selected as the vehicle deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv for subsequent processing. In S47, the delay time Δtdr for the action command is determined. Next, in S48, it is determined whether the delay time Δtdr exceeds a threshold time Δtdth. If it does, in S49, following control of all following vehicles FV is stopped. If the delay time Δtdr does not exceed the threshold time Δtdth, in S50, as described above, based on the delay time Δtdr, the vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv for one predetermined action from the five predetermined actions is selected for subsequent processing.

[0141] In the next step S51, based on the adopted or accepted vehicle acceleration / deceleration Gv and vehicle gyration εv, as described above, the specific actions of the vehicle FV, namely the vehicle braking force Fvd / b and the vehicle steering angle δv, are determined. In S52, based on the determined vehicle braking force Fvd / b and vehicle steering angle δv, the actions of the vehicle, namely the braking drive device 24 and the steering actuator 28, which serves as the steering device, are controlled.

[0142] Symbol Explanation

[0143] LM - Leading mobile body, FV - Following vehicle, CC - Control center, RC - Remote control controller (vehicle following and driving control device), CD - Communication device, M10 - Driving command acquisition unit, M20 - Driving path determination unit, M30 - Self-position determination unit, M40 - Motion determination unit, M50 - Motion control unit, M60 - Position / motion information transmission unit, R10 - Driving command transmission unit, R20 - Mobile body information acquisition unit (leading mobile body information acquisition unit), R30 - The following units are: vehicle information acquisition unit, vehicle action decision unit, acceleration / deceleration correction unit, position estimation unit, predetermined action decision unit, action command sending unit, information acquisition delay judgment unit, relative position determination unit, relative position information sending unit, relative position information acquisition unit, action command acquisition unit, action determination unit, predetermined action acceptance unit, action control unit, and action command delay judgment unit.

Claims

1. A vehicle following control device, used for remotely controlling one vehicle to follow a leading moving body, or controlling multiple vehicles to follow a leading moving body in a queue, the vehicle following control device being characterized by comprising: A guiding mobile body information acquisition unit acquires guiding mobile body information containing information related to the position and movement of the guiding mobile body from the guiding mobile body via wireless communication; The following vehicle information acquisition unit acquires following vehicle information containing information related to the location of each of the one vehicle or each of the multiple vehicles via wireless communication. The following vehicle action decision unit determines the action to be performed by each of the one or more following vehicles based on the acquired information of the leading moving body and the following vehicle information; and The action command transmitting unit transmits an instruction, i.e. an action command, to each of the one or more following vehicles via wireless communication.

2. The vehicle following control device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The following vehicle action decision unit is configured as follows: As the action to be performed by each of the one or more following vehicles, the following action is determined: each of the one or more following vehicles decelerates or accelerates in such a way that the distance between it and the leading moving body moving directly in front or the following vehicle moving directly in front is a set distance.

3. The vehicle following control device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The following vehicle action determination unit is configured as follows: when the deceleration of the leading moving body exceeds a set level, the deceleration level of each of the one or more following vehicles is increased compared to when it is below the set level; when the acceleration of the leading moving body exceeds a set level, the acceleration level of each of the one or more following vehicles is increased compared to when it is below the set level.

4. The vehicle following control device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The following vehicle action determination unit is configured such that, when the multiple following vehicles follow the leading moving body in a queue, when the deceleration degree of each of the multiple following vehicles is increased, the deceleration degree is increased for the following vehicles that are further back.

5. The vehicle following control device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The following vehicle action determination unit is configured such that, when the multiple following vehicles follow the leading moving body in a queue, when the acceleration of each of the multiple following vehicles is increased, the acceleration of the following vehicles further back is increased.

6. The vehicle following control device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The following vehicle action determination unit is configured as follows: as the action to be performed by each of the one or more following vehicles, it determines whether to perform a turning action along the movement trajectory of the leading moving body when each following vehicle turns.

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