VEHICLE TAX DEVICE AND VEHICLE TAX PROCEDURES

Abstract

In the prior art, in a case where a detection is carried out that a vehicle traveling ahead of the other vehicle has generated a water spray, while a driver assistance system, such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) or lane keep assist (LKAS), is operating, even if the water spray does not affect the lane of the other vehicle, the other vehicle slows down to maintain an intermediate distance from the adjacent vehicle and performs vehicle control that differs from the intention of the driver of the other vehicle, creating a feeling of inconsistency.To solve the above problem, a vehicle control device of the present invention comprises an image acquisition unit that captures an image of a vehicle's external environment, wherein the image is captured by a camera mounted on the vehicle itself; a lane divider detection unit that detects lane dividers of the vehicle's lane using the image; a vehicle detection unit that detects another vehicle traveling in a lane adjacent to and ahead of the vehicle's lane; and a vehicle control unit that controls a vehicle based on whether lane dividers ahead of the other vehicle have been detected below the lane dividers of the vehicle's lane.

Description

Technical area

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method used in a system that performs driving assistance control such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and lane keep assist (LKA). State of the art

[0002] In recent years, the number of vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems to prevent traffic accidents and reduce damage caused by motor vehicles has continued to increase. One example of technical elements for implementing this type of driver assistance system is an exterior detection function that uses a camera.

[0003] In a case where a camera is used for outdoor detection, poor visibility occurs in an image area where water spray or the like is imaged, so that targets and a road surface around one's own vehicle cannot be accurately detected when water spray, snow drift, sand spray, or the like from another traveling vehicle occurs in an image area. Therefore, there is a possibility that appropriate vehicle control cannot be performed. For this reason, a technique described in PTL 1 has been proposed as additional vehicle control to avoid a danger that may be caused by the occurrence of water spray or the like.

[0004] For example, the PTL 1 summary describes that “a type of object winding on the road can be determined as a problem,” and “a vehicle-side determination device for this purpose includes a first detection unit that captures environmental information about its own vehicle, which is captured by a first sensor, a second detection unit that captures environmental information about its own vehicle, which is captured by a second sensor which is different in type from the first sensor, and a determination unit that determines a type of object winding on the road around its own vehicle based on both the environmental information captured by the first detection unit and the environmental information captured by the second detection unit,” as a solution to the problem.

[0005] Furthermore, paragraph 0027 of this patent literature describes that "some examples described above can be handled similarly in a case where the object twisting on the road is determined to be rainwater, and further, control can be performed such that a vehicle speed is reduced when the object is determined to be rainwater, or even further reduced when the object is determined to be snow ice." Paragraph 0037 further describes that "therefore, the object twisting on the road is determined to be snow ice in S450, and the object twisting on the road is determined to be rainwater in S460. Then, in S470, this determination result is output to a driving control unit 13 (ECUs 131 to 133).The driving control unit 13 can hereby perform the above-described automatic driving based on the determination result and set an inter-vehicle distance between a vehicle 1 and a preceding vehicle or determine, for example, whether to perform a vehicle lane change.

[0006] As described above, the PTL 1 proposes a vehicle control system that reacts depending on the type of object present on the road. This vehicle control system is designed such that if a water spray or similar object is detected during the operation of the automatic driving system or the driver assistance system, the vehicle speed is reduced or a safe distance is established between vehicles and a vehicle ahead. Literature listPatent literature

[0007] PTL 1: JP 2019-48530 A Summary of the inventionTechnical problem

[0008] However, in the technique of PTL 1, in a case where a vehicle speed of a preceding vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as "adjacent vehicle") traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle in an adjacent vehicle lane is lower than that of the own vehicle, and the adjacent vehicle generates water spray or the like, even if the water spray or the like does not originally hinder the passing of the adjacent vehicle, the own vehicle is decelerated to maintain the inter-vehicle distance from the adjacent vehicle (water spray or the like). Thus, this technique has a problem that a driver of the own vehicle who assumes that he or she is passing through the adjacent vehicle by ACC control may feel a sense of incongruity.

[0009] For this reason, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control apparatus and a vehicle control method that can implement the ACC control such that the vehicle control is appropriately changed depending on a detection situation of dividing lines of an own vehicle lane, and a driver does not feel a sense of incongruity at a time of passing an adjacent vehicle by the ACC control. Solution to the problem

[0010] To solve the above problem, a vehicle control device of the present invention includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of an external environment of a vehicle, the image being taken by a camera mounted on a self-vehicle, a dividing line detection unit that detects dividing lines of a lane of the self-vehicle using the image, a vehicle detection unit that detects another vehicle traveling in a lane adjacent to the self-vehicle lane and located ahead of the self-vehicle, and a vehicle control unit that controls a vehicle based on whether dividing lines ahead of the other vehicle are detected among the dividing lines of the self-vehicle lane. Advantageous effects of the invention

[0011] According to the vehicle control device and a vehicle control method of the present invention, in a case where an adjacent vehicle has generated water spray or the like at a time of passing the adjacent vehicle by the ACC control, the ACC control can be performed without giving a driver a feeling of incongruity. Brief description of the drawings Fig. Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration to achieve forward outside detection. Fig. Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing of a Unit 14 to specify a poor visibility area. Fig. Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of step S2 (division determination area). Fig. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the processing of the poor visibility area specifying unit 14. Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of step S7 (digitizing a degree of low vision for each row). Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of a vehicle control unit 16. Fig. 7 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of vehicle control determined by the vehicle control unit 16. Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of step S19 (determining vehicle control). Description of the embodiments

[0012] Hereinafter, a vehicle control apparatus and a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0013] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a configuration of a driving assistance system 100 including a vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment. This driving assistance system 100 is defined as a system that performs driving assistance control such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) or lane keep assist (LKA), and is configured by connecting an imaging device 1 and a self-vehicle information acquisition device 2 to the vehicle control device 10, as illustrated in the drawing.

[0014] The imaging device 1 is illustrated here in particular as a camera mounted on a host vehicle V0 to be able to image a front portion of the host vehicle, and may specifically be configured as a monocular camera, a stereo louvre, or the like. It should be noted that the following description assumes that the imaging device 1 is configured as a stereo camera.

[0015] The own vehicle information acquisition device 2 is further a device such as a vehicle speed sensor that acquires driving state information (such as an own vehicle speed v0) of the own vehicle V0.

[0016] The vehicle control device 10 is also a device that determines vehicle control of the own vehicle V0 based on information acquired by the imaging device 1 and the own-vehicle information acquisition device 2, and is specifically an electronic control unit (ECU) that includes an arithmetic device such as a central processing unit (CPU), a storage device such as a semiconductor memory, and hardware such as a communication device. Furthermore, the arithmetic device executes a predetermined program to implement each functional unit (such as an image acquisition unit 11) included in Fig. 1. Therefore, each of the aforementioned functional units of the vehicle control device 10 will be described in detail below, sequentially, while appropriately omitting known techniques. <Bilderfassungseinheit 11>

[0017] The image acquisition unit 11 is a functional unit that controls the imaging device 1 and acquires an image captured by the imaging device 1. Note that, since the imaging device 1 of the present embodiment is configured as a stereo camera, the image acquisition unit 11 of the present embodiment causes a right and a left camera of the imaging device 1 to capture images simultaneously, thereby acquiring a pair of right and left synchronously captured images. <Trennlinienerkennungseinheit 12>

[0018] The dividing line detection unit 12 is a functional unit that detects right and left dividing lines of a lane (hereinafter referred to as "own vehicle lane") in which the own vehicle V0 is currently traveling, based on the pair of right and left images acquired by the image acquisition unit 11. Specifically, the dividing lines are defined as lines linearly painted in white, orange, or the like on an asphalt road surface. Since the asphalt road surface portion and the dividing line portion have different colors and different luminances, the dividing line detection unit 12 can extract corresponding dividing lines by analyzing the images.

[0019] For example, in a case where the imaging device 1 includes a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, luminance information and RGB values ​​can be acquired from the captured images. Here, in a case where the dividing lines appear in the captured images, the luminance in the dividing line portion is higher than in the asphalt road surface portion, and thus an edge in the luminance appears. Furthermore, RGB values ​​indicating white and orange features are simultaneously acquired in the dividing line portion. Since the dividing lines are mostly drawn linearly, the feature amount of the luminance and the feature amount of the RGB have a certain continuity. Accordingly, the dividing lines can be recognized based on these feature amounts.In particular, the dividing line detection unit 12 detects information such as a lane width, a furthest distance from detected dividing lines and a position for each of the right and left dividing lines. <Fahrzeugerkennungseinheit 13>

[0020] The vehicle recognition unit 13 is a functional unit that recognizes a preceding vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “adjacent vehicle V1”) traveling in the same direction as the own vehicle V0 in an adjacent lane and a preceding vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “leading vehicle V2 of the own vehicle lane”) traveling in the own vehicle lane, and acquires information such as a vehicle speed, a position, and tracking information about the detected other vehicle based on the own vehicle traveling state information acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition device 2, the captured image acquired by the image acquisition unit 11, and the dividing line detection information acquired by the dividing line detection unit 12.It should be noted that the preceding vehicle should be defined in particular as a vehicle whose front end portion protrudes forward in a direction of travel with respect to a front end portion of the own vehicle.

[0021] For example, when a parallax image is generated from the pair of right and left images synchronously captured by the imaging device 1, a cluster of the same parallaxes is detected in an area where a three-dimensional object exists. A region corresponding to the area where the mass of parallaxes exists is then cut out from the captured image, and a vehicle can be detected from the segmented captured image using a discriminator that has already been trained for a three-dimensional object such as a motor vehicle or a person. The adjacent vehicle V1 and the preceding vehicle V2 of the own vehicle's lane can be further classified by determining whether the detected vehicle is traveling in the own vehicle's lane based on a lateral position of the detected vehicle and a position of the detected dividing lines.As a result, in a case where a water spray or the like appears in the image, the vehicle control can be determined such that the water spray or the like from the adjacent vehicle V1 is distinguished from the water spray or the like from the preceding vehicle V2 of the lane of the own vehicle.

[0022] Note that the vehicle detection unit 13 of the present embodiment also has a function for resetting a count value of the overtaking permission count C, which will be described later, in a case where the adjacent vehicle V1 is not detected for a predetermined time. The meaning of this function will be described later. <Schlechtsichtbereich-Spezifizierungseinheit 14>

[0023] The low-visibility area specifying unit 14 is a functional unit that acquires luminance information in the imaging area based on the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 11, determines whether low-visibility has occurred in a partial area in the imaging area based on the luminance information, and calculates a degree of low-visibility in a case where the low-visibility has occurred.

[0024] Here, the specific processing by the poor visibility area specifying unit 14 is carried out with reference to the Fig. 2 to Fig. 5 in detail. As shown in the flow chart of Fig. 2, the poor visibility area specifying unit 14 operates according to the following procedure. Step S1:

[0025] First, the poor visibility area specifying unit 14 sets a target area (hereinafter referred to as "poor visibility determining area A") for determining whether poor visibility occurs in the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 11. The vertical width of the poor visibility determining area A is displayed here with reference to the positions of the uppermost end and the lowermost end of the acquisition frame B. n (n = 1, 2, ...: the maximum number is the number of other detected vehicles) of the vehicle detected by the vehicle detection unit 13 and the equal horizontal width based on the position information about the dividing lines of the lane of the own vehicle detected by the dividing line detection unit 12.

[0026] In particular, as in Fig. 3 illustrates the vertical width of the poor visibility determination area A based on the position of an upper side of a detection frame B3 of the preceding vehicle V2 of the lane of the own vehicle, which corresponds to the uppermost end of the detection frame B in Fig. 3, and the position of a lower side of a detection frame B1 of the right adjacent vehicle V1, which corresponds to the lowermost end of the detection frame B in Fig. 3. Next, the lateral width of the poor visibility determination area A is set based on the position where an extension line of the lower side of the detection frame B1 crosses the right and left dividing lines of the own vehicle's lane. According to this procedure, the poor visibility determination area A, which has a predetermined size, is thus set in front of the own vehicle's lane. Step S2:

[0027] The poor visibility area specifying unit 14 divides the poor visibility area A set in step S1 into any number of parts. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the area A for determining poor visibility is divided into five equal parts in the lateral direction and five equal parts in the vertical direction, so that the area is divided into a total of 25 divided areas a (a1 to a 25 ) is divided into Fig. 3, it is further assumed that the divided areas a1 to a5 are arranged from the upper left side to the right side of the poor visibility determining area A, and below these areas, the divided areas a6 to a10, the divided areas a11 to a15, the divided areas a16 to a20 and the divided areas a21 to a25 are arranged in order. Step S3:

[0028] The low-visibility area specifying unit 14 then calculates a luminance ratio, which is a ratio between an average luminance value in the divided areas a divided in step S2 and an average luminance value of the entire image. As described later, this step is repeated a plurality of times, and the luminance ratio is finally calculated for all of the 25 divided areas a. Step S4:

[0029] The low-visibility area specifying unit 14 then calculates a luminance dispersion amount ratio, which is a ratio between a luminance dispersion amount in the divided areas a divided in step S2 and a luminance dispersion amount of the entire image. Note that, as described later, this step is repeated a plurality of times, and the luminance dispersion amount ratio is finally calculated for all of the 25 divided areas a. Step S5:

[0030] The low-visibility area specifying unit 14 then calculates a degree of low visibility p in the divided areas a based on the luminance ratio acquired in step S3 and the luminance dispersion amount ratio acquired in step S4. Note that, as described later, since this step is repeated a plurality of times, the degree of low visibility p is finally calculated for all of the 25 divided areas a.

[0031] Here, in general, in an image area where poor visibility has occurred due to water spray or the like, an average luminance value is larger than that in an image area where no water spray or the like has occurred. Therefore, by extracting the divided area, a n, in which the luminance ratio is higher than a predetermined threshold, it is possible to specify an image area in which poor visibility due to water spray or the like is very likely to have occurred.

[0032] Furthermore, in an image area where poor visibility has occurred due to water spray or the like, the luminance dispersion amount is larger than in an image area where no water spray or the like has occurred. Therefore, by extracting the divided area a n in which the luminance dispersion amount ratio is higher than a predetermined threshold, it is possible to specify an image area in which poor visibility due to water spray or the like is highly likely to have occurred.

[0033] In this respect, in the present embodiment, threshold values ​​Th1 and Th2 (Th1 < Th2) for the luminous intensity ratio and threshold values ​​Tha and Th b (Th a < Th b ) for the luminous intensity dispersion ratio, and the degree of poor vision of each of the divided areas a is classified into three levels based on these threshold values: "high poor vision", "low poor vision", and "no poor vision". A specific method of this classification is described in Fig. 4 illustrates. (1) The divided area a in which the luminous intensity ratio is equal to or greater than the threshold value Th2 and the luminous intensity dispersion amount ratio is equal to or greater than Th b is classified as a “high” degree of poor vision, which results in two points being given for this case. (2) The divided areas a (but excluding the divided areas a determined as having a “high” degree of visual impairment) whose luminous intensity ratio is equal to or greater than the threshold Th1 and whose luminous intensity dispersion amount ratio is equal to or greater than Th a are classified as having a “low” degree of poor vision, which results in one point being given for this case. (3) The divided areas a in which the luminous intensity ratio is below the threshold Th1 or the luminous intensity dispersion amount ratio is below Th a are classified as having “no” degree of poor vision, which results in zero points being given for this case. Step S6:

[0034] The poor visibility area specifying unit 14 then determines whether the divided area a n, in which processing in steps S3 to S5 was not performed, remains. If, subsequently, the unprocessed subdivided area a n If no value remains, processing returns to step S3; if not, processing proceeds to step S7. Accordingly, the degree of poor vision p is ultimately determined for all of the subdivided areas. Step S7:

[0035] After the subdivided areas a, prepared in step S2, have been grouped for their respective rows, the poor visibility area specification unit 14 digitizes the degree of poor visibility P for each group G to specify the poor visibility area on the lane of the vehicle in question.

[0036] For example, as in Fig. 3 illustrates that a total of 25 divided areas a are generated by dividing the area A for determining poor visibility into 5 equal parts in the lateral direction in step S2 and dividing this into 5 equal parts in the vertical direction. In this case, in this step, as shown in Fig. 5, five groups G1 to G5 are created in which the divided areas a for each row are grouped. Since group G1 is a group containing the divided areas a1, a6, a 11 , a 16 and a 21 the degree of poor vision P1 of group G1 can be calculated by dividing the degrees of poor vision p1, p6, p 11 , p 16 and p 21 assigned to the respective subdivided areas are summed. For the remaining groups G2 to G5, the degrees of poor vision P2 to P5 can also be calculated in a similar way.

[0037] However, since the flow chart of Fig. 2 illustrates the processing for specifying the groups G in which water spray or the like from the adjacent vehicle V1 has occurred, in this step, for the group G (in the example of Fig. 5, the group G3) in which the ratio of the detection frame B3 to the preceding vehicle V2 of the own vehicle's lane is equal to or greater than a certain value, 0 points are set as the degree of poor visibility P instead of the total value of the degrees of poor visibility p of the respective divided areas. By setting the degree of poor visibility P of each group in this way, it can be appropriately discriminated whether the poor visibility of each group is poor visibility due to water spray or the like from the adjacent vehicle V1 or poor visibility due to water spray or the like from the preceding vehicle V2 of the own vehicle's lane, and a vehicle control unit 16, which will be described later, can determine vehicle control for reducing the influence of the poor visibility caused by water spray or the like from the adjacent vehicle V1. <Overtaking determination unit for adjacent vehicles 15>

[0038] The adjacent vehicle overtaking determination unit 15 is a functional unit that determines whether to overtake the adjacent vehicle V1 when the own vehicle V0 continues the ACC based on the own vehicle speed v0 through the ACC detected by the own vehicle information acquisition device 2 and the speed v1 of the adjacent vehicle detected by the vehicle recognition unit 13, and sets the overtaking feature F depending on the determination result.

[0039] For example, it can be determined that when the own vehicle speed v0 is higher than the speed v1 of the neighboring vehicle, the own vehicle V0 should overtake the neighboring vehicle V1, thereby setting the overtaking feature F to "Overtaking." On the other hand, it can be determined that when the own vehicle speed v0 is lower than the speed v1 of the neighboring vehicle, the own vehicle V0 should not overtake the neighboring vehicle V1, thereby setting the overtaking feature F to "No Overtaking Vehicle." <Fahrzeugsteuereinheit 16>

[0040] The vehicle control unit 16 is a functional unit that determines vehicle control of the own vehicle V0 based on the dividing line information about the driving lane of the own vehicle detected by the dividing line detection unit 12, the other vehicle information detected by the vehicle detection unit 13, and the poor visibility area information detected by the poor visibility area specification unit 14.

[0041] Here, the specific processing of the vehicle control unit 16 is to be described with reference to the Fig. 6 to Fig. 8 will be described in detail. As shown in the flowchart of Fig. Figure 6 illustrates how the vehicle control unit 16 operates according to the following procedure. It should be noted that, since the processing of Fig. 6 is executed each time the image acquisition unit 11 captures images from the imaging device 1, the processing of Fig. 6 is executed repeatedly during the execution of the ACC and thus the count value of the overtaking permit count value C, which will be described later, can increase or decrease within a predetermined range, which will be described later. Step S11:

[0042] The vehicle control unit 16 first determines whether the vehicle V2 ahead in the lane of the vehicle in question is producing a water spray or similar. If no water spray or similar is produced, processing proceeds to step S12; if not, processing proceeds to step S13.

[0043] It should be noted that the determination can be made in particular as follows. That is, in step S7 of Fig. 2. It is checked whether areas (areas of 2 points or 1 point) exist in which the degree of poor visibility p in the subdivided areas a3, a8, a 13 , a 18and a 23 , which belong to the group G (in the example of Fig. 5, group G3) that overlap with the detection frame B of the preceding vehicle V2 of the own vehicle's lane by a predetermined ratio or more is "high" or "low." If such an area exists, it is then determined that the preceding vehicle V2 of the own vehicle's lane generates a water spray. On the other hand, if such a divided area a does not exist, it is determined that the preceding vehicle V2 of the own vehicle's lane does not generate a water spray. Step S12:

[0044] If the vehicle V2 ahead in the lane of the own vehicle generates a water spray, the vehicle control unit 16 then performs vehicle control (deceleration control) to increase the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the vehicle V2 ahead in the lane of the own vehicle. As described above, by increasing the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the vehicle V2 ahead in the lane of the own vehicle, which is generating a water spray in the lane of the own vehicle, it is possible to expand the area in which no impaired visibility is caused by water spray in the lane of the own vehicle and thus reduce the influence of the water spray on external detection. Step S13:

[0045] The vehicle control unit 16 then determines whether the overtaking flag F set by the adjacent-vehicle overtaking determination unit 15 indicates "overtaking" or "vehicle not to overtake." If the overtaking flag F indicates "overtaking," processing proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, if the overtaking flag F indicates "vehicle not to overtake," processing proceeds to step S19. Step S14:

[0046] Based on information about the furthest distance across the detected dividing lines acquired by the dividing line detection unit 12 and information about the current position of adjacent vehicles acquired by the vehicle detection unit 13, the vehicle control unit 16 then determines whether the dividing lines on the side where the adjacent vehicle V1 exists further with respect to the adjacent vehicle V1 can be detected. Accordingly, if they can be detected, processing proceeds to step S17, and if they are not detected, processing proceeds to step S15.

[0047] For example, in the area of Fig. 7, in which the neighboring vehicle V1 is driving in a left lane (adjacent vehicle lane) while generating a water spray or the like, and the preceding vehicle V2 of the lane of the own vehicle is driving in a right lane (lane of the own vehicle) while generating a water spray or the like, the furthest distance of the detected dividing line result on the left side of the lane of the own vehicle due to the water spray or the like of the neighboring vehicle V1 on a side that is closer than a current position of the neighboring vehicle V1, and thus the emergence of the determination in this step is to be declared as “No”. Step S15:

[0048] In another case, where the dividing lines on the side of the adjacent vehicle, which is further away from the adjacent vehicle V1, cannot be detected (see Fig. 7), the vehicle control unit 16 determines, using other information, whether it is possible to overtake the adjacent vehicle V1.

[0049] Specifically, based on the information about the furthest distance across the detected dividing lines acquired by the dividing line detection unit 12 and the information about the current position of adjacent vehicles acquired by the vehicle detection unit 13, the vehicle control unit 16 determines whether the dividing lines on the opposite side from the adjacent vehicle side, which is farther with respect to the adjacent vehicle V1, can be detected. Accordingly, if they could be detected, the processing proceeds to step S16, and if they could not be detected, the processing proceeds to step S18.

[0050] For example, in the area of Fig. 7, since the furthest distance of the detected dividing line result is on the right side of the lane of the own vehicle on the side away from the current position of the neighboring vehicle V1, the determination in this step should be declared as "Yes". Step S16:

[0051] If the dividing lines on the opposite side can be detected from the side of the adjacent vehicle which is further in relation to the adjacent vehicle V1 (see Fig. 7), the LKA may also continue at a time of overtaking the adjacent vehicle V1 by referring to the dividing lines on the opposite side from the adjacent vehicle side. However, in a case where the processing proceeds to this step, there is a possibility that the adjacent vehicle V1 will change lanes from the adjacent vehicle's lane to the own vehicle's lane because the dividing lines on the side of the adjacent vehicle's lane farther from the adjacent vehicle V1 cannot be detected. For this reason, in this step, whether overtaking is possible is determined based on the detection situation of the adjacent vehicle V1.

[0052] Specifically, based on the information about the current position of neighboring vehicles acquired by the vehicle detection unit 13, the vehicle control unit 16 determines whether the neighboring vehicle V1 has been lost or whether the neighboring vehicle V1 is changing lanes. If neither case applies, it is determined that the neighboring vehicle V1 can be safely overtaken, and processing proceeds to step S17. Otherwise, it is determined that approaching the neighboring vehicle V1 should not be performed, and processing proceeds to step S18.

[0053] As in the example of Fig. 7, even if the dividing lines on the adjacent vehicle side cannot be detected, in a case where the adjacent vehicle V1 can be detected, it can be determined based on the information about the current position of adjacent vehicles whether the adjacent vehicle V1 is intersecting a travel path of the own vehicle. Therefore, it can also be determined whether the adjacent vehicle V1 is changing lanes to the travel path of the own vehicle. Note that the travel path of the own vehicle can be calculated based on the position information about the dividing lines and the information about the lane width. Step S17:

[0054] If it is determined in step S14 or step S16 that the LKA can be continued and overtaking the adjacent vehicle V1 is possible (if the dividing lines on the adjacent vehicle side can be sufficiently detected or if the dividing lines on the opposite side from the adjacent vehicle side can be sufficiently detected and the adjacent vehicle can be detected), the vehicle control unit 16 adds a count value of the overtaking permission count value C, which is used in step S19, which will be described later. Step S18:

[0055] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S15 or step S16 that overtaking of the adjacent vehicle V1 should not be performed (if neither the dividing lines on the adjacent vehicle side nor the dividing lines on the opposite side can be sufficiently recognized, if the dividing lines on the opposite side can be sufficiently recognized from the adjacent vehicle side but the adjacent vehicle is lost, or the adjacent vehicle changes lanes into the lane of the own vehicle), the vehicle control unit 16 subtracts the count value of the overtaking permission count value C used in step S19 described later.

[0056] It should also be noted that, as described above, the processing of Fig. 6 is executed each time the image acquisition unit 11 acquires images, in a case where either of step S17 and step S18 is continuously performed, the count value of the overtaking permission count value C may monotonically increase or monotonically decrease. However, in a case where the count value becomes too large or too small, there is a possibility that rapid response of the vehicle control may be impaired. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an upper limit and a lower limit are set for the count value of the overtaking permission count value C so that rapid response of the vehicle control can be ensured.

[0057] As described above, if the vehicle recognition unit 13 does not detect the adjacent vehicle V1 for a predetermined time, the overtaking permit counter value C is reset to a predetermined value, for example, 0. As a result, the counter value of the adjacent vehicle V1, which has already been overtaken, can be prevented from influencing future vehicle control. Step S19:

[0058] The vehicle control unit 16 determines a vehicle control based on the poor visibility area information acquired by the poor visibility area specification unit 14 and the overtaking permit count values ​​C, which are added and subtracted in steps S17 and S18. Details of the processing in step S19 are provided in the flowchart of Fig. 8 illustrates. Step S19a:

[0059] The vehicle control unit 16 then determines whether the overtaking feature F indicates "overtaking." If the overtaking feature F indicates "overtaking," processing proceeds to step S19b. On the other hand, if the overtaking feature F indicates "no adjacent vehicle," processing proceeds to step S19i. Step S19b:

[0060] The vehicle control unit 16 further determines whether the current ACC control of the host vehicle V0 is a control to increase the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the preceding vehicle V2 in the host vehicle's lane (deceleration control in step S12). Then, if the deceleration control is being performed, the processing proceeds to step S19c, and if the deceleration control is not being performed, the processing proceeds to step S19d. Step S19c:

[0061] The vehicle control unit 16 further determines whether the count value of the overtaking permission count value C is greater than a predetermined threshold value T1. Then, if the count value is greater than the threshold value T1, the processing proceeds to step S19e, and if the count value is equal to or less than the threshold value T1, the processing proceeds to step S19f. Step S19d:

[0062] The vehicle control unit 16 further determines whether the count value of the overtaking permission count C is greater than a predetermined threshold value T2 (where T1 < T2). Then, if the count value is greater than the threshold value T2, the processing proceeds to step S19e, and if the count value is equal to or less than the threshold value T1, the processing proceeds to step S19f. Note that it is desirable to set the difference between the threshold value T1 and the threshold value T2 large enough so that the vehicle control in step S19e and the vehicle control in step S19f, as described later, are not switched in a short time (prevention of chatter). Step S19e:

[0063] If the count value of the overtaking permission count value C is large (if it is considered that the adjacent vehicle V1 is safely overtaken with the LKA), the vehicle control unit 16 then sets the vehicle control of the own vehicle V0 to control to overtake the adjacent vehicle V1. Step S19f:

[0064] On the other hand, if the count value of the overtaking permission count value C is small (if it is considered that the adjacent vehicle V1 is difficult to overtake with the LKA), the vehicle control unit 16 then sets the vehicle control of the own vehicle V0 to control to increase the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the adjacent vehicle V1. Step S19g:

[0065] If the vehicle V0 then overtakes the neighboring vehicle V1, the vehicle control unit 16 determines where these vehicles are traveling on the lane of the vehicle. In particular, the following determination is made.

[0066] In a case where the poor visibility has occurred only on the adjacent vehicle side in the lane of the own vehicle and the dividing lines farther with respect to the adjacent vehicle V1 have been detected on the opposite side from the adjacent vehicle side, it is determined that safe driving such that water spray or the like is avoided by approaching the detected dividing line side is a safe driving method, and the processing proceeds to step S19h.

[0067] On the other hand, in one of the cases where no poor visibility has occurred, in the case where poor visibility has occurred on both sides of the lane of the own vehicle, and in the case where the dividing lines on the opposite side from the side of the neighboring vehicle, which is further in relation to the neighboring vehicle V1, cannot be recognized, it is determined that driving in the middle section of the lane of the own vehicle is the safe driving procedure, and the processing proceeds to step S19i.

[0068] Note that in a case where the determination in step S19g is performed based on a detection result, it is considered that a vehicle may also stagger in a vehicle width direction. Therefore, the dividing line information used to determine movement in the vehicle width direction and the digitized poor visibility information can be determined based on a plurality of past detection results, and the control for staggering a vehicle can be reduced. Step S19h:

[0069] The vehicle control unit 16 further sets a vehicle control for approaching the dividing lines on the opposite side from the adjacent vehicle side to overtake the adjacent vehicle V1 which generates a water spray or the like (see Fig.7). This makes it possible to reduce the ratio of the poor visibility caused by the water spray generated by the neighboring vehicle V1 to the travel path of the own vehicle at the time of passing the neighboring vehicle, thus reducing the influence on external detection. Step S19i:

[0070] The vehicle control unit 16 further sets a vehicle control for traveling in the center portion of the lane of the own vehicle.

[0071] For this purpose, in a case where the processing has proceeded from step S19a to this step, that is, in a case where the neighboring vehicle V1 is faster than the own vehicle V0, the vehicle control unit 16 continues to travel in the center portion of the lane of the own vehicle at a current speed regardless of the presence of the neighboring vehicle V1.

[0072] Furthermore, in a case where the processing for this has moved from step S19f to this step, i.e., in a case where the inter-vehicle distance with respect to the adjacent vehicle V1, which is slower than the own vehicle V0, is set to be maintained, the vehicle control unit 16 continues to drive in the middle section of the own vehicle's lane while slowing down the own vehicle.

[0073] On the other hand, in a case where the processing therefor has proceeded from step S19g to this step, that is, in a case where poor visibility has not occurred or the like, the vehicle control unit 16 causes the adjacent vehicle V1 to overtake while traveling in the center portion of the lane of the own vehicle.

[0074] As described above, the vehicle control device of the present embodiment can thus perform the ACC control without giving a driver a feeling of incongruity in a case where an adjacent vehicle generates a water spray or the like at a time of passing the adjacent vehicle by the ACC control. List of reference symbols 100 driver assistance system 1 imaging device 2 Own vehicle information acquisition device 10 Vehicle control device 11 Image acquisition unit 12 dividing line detection unit 13 Vehicle detection unit 14 Low-visibility area specification unit 15 Overtaking determination unit for adjacent vehicles 16 Vehicle control unit B Detection frame A viewing area to determine poor visibility a divided area p Degree of poor vision of the divided areas G Area obtained by grouping divided areas in the vertical direction P Degree of poor vision of the group V0 Own vehicle V1 neighboring vehicle V2 Vehicle ahead in the lane of the own vehicle QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] JP 2019-48530 A

[0007]

Claims

[1] A vehicle control device, comprising: an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of an external environment of a vehicle, the image being captured by a camera mounted on a vehicle itself; a dividing line detection unit that detects dividing lines of a lane of the own vehicle using the image; a vehicle detection unit that detects another vehicle traveling in a lane adjacent to the lane of the own vehicle and located ahead of the own vehicle; and a vehicle control unit that controls a vehicle based on whether dividing lines ahead of the other vehicle are detected below the dividing lines of the lane of the own vehicle. [2] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit performs control so that an inter-vehicle distance with respect to the other vehicle is increased in a case where no dividing lines are detected in front of the other vehicle in the traveling lane of the own vehicle. [3] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit performs control so that passing of the other vehicle is performed in a case where, among dividing lines ahead of the other vehicle in the lane of the own vehicle, dividing lines are detected at least on one side. [4] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit controls a vehicle based on whether the other vehicle is detected. [5] The vehicle control device according to claim 4, wherein the vehicle detection unit performs control so that passing of the other vehicle is restricted in a case where the other vehicle is not detected and in a case where, among the dividing lines in the lane of the own vehicle, at least one or some of the dividing lines in front of the other vehicle are not detected on another vehicle side. [6] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising an overtaking determination unit that determines whether the own vehicle will overtake the other vehicle in a future based on a vehicle speed of the other vehicle and a vehicle speed of the own vehicle, the vehicle speeds being detected by the vehicle detection unit. [7] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle detection unit detects the other vehicle traveling in front of the lane of the own vehicle. [8] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising a poor visibility area specifying unit that specifies a poor visibility occurrence area in the image. [9] The vehicle control device according to claim 8, wherein the poor visibility area specifying unit determines a degree of poor visibility. [10] The vehicle control device according to claim 9, wherein the poor visibility area specifying unit divides an area including at least the driving lane of the own vehicle in the image into a plurality of areas, and determines for each of the divided areas whether poor visibility has occurred and the degree of the poor visibility. [11] The vehicle control device according to claim 8, wherein the vehicle control unit controls the vehicle so as to reduce an area in which poor visibility has occurred. [12] The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit reduces switching of contents of the vehicle control in a short time. [13] A vehicle control method using an electronic control unit (ECU), the method comprising: Capturing an image of an external environment of a vehicle, the image being captured by a camera mounted on a vehicle of the vehicle itself; Detecting lane dividing lines of the own vehicle using the image; Detecting another vehicle traveling in a lane adjacent to the lane of the own vehicle and positioned ahead of the own vehicle; and Controlling a vehicle based on whether dividing lines ahead of the other vehicle are detected below the dividing lines of the own vehicle's lane.

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