Control system for automatic operation vehicle

Abstract

To provide a control system for an automatic operation vehicle in which a person around a vehicle such as an operator can intuitively grasp a stop position of the vehicle.SOLUTION: A control system for a vehicle 1 capable of automatic travel comprises: a stop position setting part 12 which sets a stop position in front of the vehicle 1 in a traveling direction; a traveling control part 13 which causes the vehicle 1 to automatically travel up to the stop position set by the stop position setting part 12; and a projection part 60 which projects a projection element with a beam of light radiated from the vehicle 1 onto a road surface while the traveling control part 13 causes the vehicle 1 to automatically travel up to the stop position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This case relates to a control system for an autonomous vehicle capable of autonomous driving. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, as one of the special vehicles equipped with a working part where an operator works, a garbage truck (trash collection truck) equipped with a garbage inlet as a working part is known. In the garbage truck, an operator works to insert garbage into the garbage inlet. In response to this, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for increasing the operating speed of a movable device that pushes garbage into a storage box, on the condition that there is no person (operator) near the garbage inlet. This is said to improve work efficiency while ensuring safety. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-193205 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, studies and tests have been conducted on autonomous driving of vehicles having the above-mentioned working units. If such unmanned autonomous driving is realized, it is expected that the work efficiency will improve because the operator will no longer need to repeatedly get on and off the vehicle to drive the vehicle and work on the working unit. When a vehicle having a working unit as described above is operated unmanned by automatic driving using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, it is possible that the vehicle will automatically stop at a preset stopping place while traveling, and the operator will work thereafter, and then the vehicle will move on to the next stopping place. Also, in the case of a refuse compactor, when a garbage accumulation place is detected by a camera or a sensor mounted on the vehicle, it is possible that the vehicle will stop at a stopping position according to the detection result.

[0005] However, when an unmanned vehicle automatically determines its next stopping position, it is difficult for the vehicle and the operator to communicate with each other, and it can be difficult for the operator to intuitively grasp the exact next stopping position, compared to when the driver manually determines the next stopping position using a mobile terminal. This invention was devised in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and one of its objectives is to enable operators and other people in the vicinity of an autonomously driven vehicle to intuitively understand the vehicle's stopping position. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve at least part of the above problems, and can be realized in the following aspects or application examples.

[0007] (1) A control system for a vehicle capable of autonomous driving in this application example includes a stop position setting unit that sets a stop position ahead of the vehicle in a driving direction, a driving control unit that causes the vehicle to automatically drive to the stop position set by the stop position setting unit, and a projection unit that projects a projection element indicating the stop position by a light beam irradiated from the vehicle onto a road surface while the vehicle is automatically driven to the stop position by the driving control unit. According to this case, a stop position is set ahead of the vehicle in the driving direction, and while the vehicle is automatically driven to the stop position, a projection element indicating the stop position is projected by a light beam emitted from the vehicle onto the road surface. This makes it possible to visually inform an operator outside the vehicle and people around the vehicle of the stop position before the vehicle stops at the stop position. Therefore, the operator and the like can intuitively grasp the stop position of the vehicle before the vehicle stops at the stop position.

[0008] (2) The control system for a vehicle capable of autonomous driving according to this application example includes a driving route setting unit that sets a normal route on which the vehicle is autonomously driven and on which a stop point is preset, and a stop route on which the vehicle is autonomously driven from just before the stop point to the stop position, the driving control unit automatically drives the vehicle along the normal route and automatically drives the vehicle along the stop route from just before the stop point to the stop position, and the projection unit may project the projection element when the vehicle reaches just before the stop point. As a result, the projection element is projected when the vehicle reaches just before the stop point, so that the stop position of the vehicle can be grasped before the vehicle arrives at the stop point.

[0009] (3) The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example may automatically drive the vehicle along the stopping route after the driving control unit has temporarily stopped the vehicle just before the stopping point, and the projection unit may project the projection element when the vehicle has temporarily stopped just before the stopping point. This allows the projection element to be projected when the vehicle stops temporarily before the stopping point, so the operator can check the stopping position of the vehicle in plenty of time, making it easier to grasp the stopping position of the vehicle.

[0010] (4) In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection unit may project the projection element in an area that is approximately the same size as the vehicle when viewed from above. In this case, it is easy for an operator or the like to confirm and understand the area in which the vehicle will actually stop. (5) In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection unit may include a forward projector installed on a front bumper of the vehicle. The forward projector makes it easy to project projection elements in front of the vehicle or directly below the front end of the vehicle.

[0011] (6) In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection unit may include a rear projector installed on a rear bumper of the vehicle, and after the driving control unit stops the vehicle at the stopping position, the projection element may be projected onto the road surface behind the vehicle. In this case, after the vehicle is stopped at the stop position, the projection elements are projected onto the road surface behind the vehicle. Therefore, the operator behind the vehicle can easily confirm and grasp the stopping position of the vehicle after the vehicle has stopped. In addition, since the rear projector is installed on the rear bumper of the vehicle, it is easy to project the projection elements directly below the rear end of the vehicle.

[0012] (7) The vehicle equipped with the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example may have a working unit for an operator to perform work. (8) Specifically, the vehicle may be a garbage truck having a garbage inlet at the rear of the vehicle serving as the working unit. In such a vehicle, by projecting the projection elements onto the road surface before stopping the vehicle and making it possible for the operator to grasp the stopping position, the operator can smoothly carry out work on the working part while the vehicle is stopped. Therefore, the work efficiency can be improved. For example, if the vehicle is a garbage truck, the garbage collection work efficiency can be improved.

[0013] (9) The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example may further include a camera that captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle, and the stop position setting unit may set the stop position based on image information captured by the camera. Therefore, an appropriate stop position can be set based on the situation around the vehicle. (10) When the vehicle is a refuse truck having a refuse inlet at the rear of the vehicle as the working unit, the vehicle may further include a camera for capturing images of the surroundings of the vehicle, and when the camera detects garbage piled up in a garbage collection area in front of the vehicle in the traveling direction, the stop position setting unit may set the stop position based on the position of the detected garbage. In this case, an appropriate stop position that makes it easy for the operator to carry out garbage collection work can be set based on the actual position of the garbage at the garbage collection area. Effect of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, in a vehicle capable of automatic driving, people in the vicinity, such as the operator, can intuitively grasp the stopping position of the vehicle. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an autonomous driving vehicle equipped with a control system according to an application example. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a garbage truck, which is an example of the autonomous vehicle of FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of unmanned driving (automatic driving control) in a control system for an autonomous vehicle. [Figure 4] 1A to 1C are explanatory diagrams of projection control in a control system for an autonomous vehicle. [Diagram 5] 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of projection control and automatic driving control in the control system for the automatic driving vehicle of FIG. 1. [Figure 6] 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a dust detection process in the control system of the autonomous driving vehicle of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] The embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to exclude the application of various modifications and techniques not specified in the embodiments. The configurations of the following embodiments can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the embodiments. In addition, they can be selected or combined as necessary.

[0017] The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example is configured to, when an autonomous vehicle stops during autonomous driving, present the stopping position to those around (for example, an operator outside the vehicle) on the near side of the stopping position. The vehicle according to this application example is an autonomous vehicle (truck, bus, automobile, etc.). Note that an autonomous vehicle is not one that is driven manually by a driver in the driver's seat, but is a vehicle that has the ability to run autonomously. During autonomous driving control, an on-board control device of an autonomous vehicle performs acceleration control, steering control, and braking control, and drives the vehicle in place of the driver's manual driving operation. In the following explanation, the forward direction of the vehicle 1 is referred to as the forward direction ("FR" in the figure), and the opposite direction is referred to as the backward direction ("RR"). Furthermore, the left-right and up-down directions are defined based on the state in which the vehicle 1 is facing forward. In the figure, "LH" indicates left, "RH" indicates right, "UP" indicates up, and "DW" indicates down.

[0018] [1. Configuration] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an autonomous vehicle 1 (also called "vehicle 1") equipped with a control system (control system for an autonomous vehicle) according to this application example. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing vehicle 1 as viewed from the side. The vehicle 1 is equipped with a function (automatic driving function) that enables it to travel automatically without manual driving operation by a driver, and has a working unit 3 where an operator (worker) performs work. In this specification, the traveling of the vehicle 1 by automatic driving is referred to as "automatic traveling". The operator is a passenger in the vehicle 1 and a person who performs work in the working unit 3. In this application example, as shown in FIG. 2, a case will be taken as an example in which the vehicle 1 is a refuse truck having a refuse insertion port 3A as the working unit 3.

[0019] The control system of the vehicle 1 includes, in addition to the working unit 3, a control device 10 for controlling the vehicle 1, a camera 20, various sensors 21, an accelerator device ("ACC" in the figure) 30, a brake device ("BRK" in the figure) 40, a steering device ("STR" in the figure) 50, a projection system (projection unit) 60, and a communication device 70. The control device 10 is an electronic control unit (ECU) configured as an LSI device or an embedded electronic device that integrates, for example, a microprocessor, a ROM, a RAM, etc. The control device 10 executes software programs stored in memory devices such as ROM and RAM to perform automatic driving control and irradiation control, which will be described later. The control device 10 may be configured as a part of an electronic control unit (VCU) for controlling various devices provided in the vehicle 1, or may be configured as an electronic control unit separate from the VCU.

[0020] The camera 20 is an imaging device (image sensor) that captures still and moving images of the surroundings of the vehicle 1, and by analyzing the images captured by the camera 20, the situation around the vehicle 1 can be grasped with high accuracy. The cameras 20 are disposed, for example, at the four corners of the vehicle 1, i.e., at the front right end, front left end, rear right end, and rear left end. Of the cameras 20 at the four corners, FIG. 2 illustrates the camera 20FL at the front left end and the camera 20RL at the rear right end, and the others are omitted. As shown in FIG. 2, the camera 20 is disposed in approximately the center in the vertical direction of the vehicle 1. By disposing the camera 20 at the four corners of the vehicle 1 and approximately the center in the vertical direction, the surroundings including the vicinity of the vehicle 1 can be grasped with high accuracy.

[0021] In addition to the camera 20, the vehicle 1 is provided with various sensors 21. The various sensors 21 include a radar, a GNSS, a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, an accelerator opening sensor, a brake sensor, a steering angle sensor, and the like, as sensors for acquiring information used for automatic driving control of the vehicle 1. Information captured by the camera 20 (image data) and information detected by the various sensors 21 (detection signals) are input to the control device 10.

[0022] The communication device 70 is an electronic control device for wirelessly communicating with devices external to the vehicle 1. The communication targets of the communication device 70 in this embodiment include a mobile terminal 4 carried by an operator. The mobile terminal 4 is a portable communication terminal device, such as a mobile phone (smartphone) or a tablet terminal. The communication device 70 inputs information received from the mobile terminal 4 to the control device 10, and transmits information received from the control device 10 to the mobile terminal 4.

[0023] The accelerator device 30, the brake device 40, and the steering device 50 are devices controlled by the control device 10 when the vehicle 1 runs automatically. For example, when the automatic driving mode is set, the control device 10 calculates the target output (target torque), target vehicle speed, target steering angle, etc. of the vehicle 1, and controls the accelerator device 30, the brake device 40, and the steering device 50, respectively, to perform automatic running (unmanned running) of the vehicle 1. Note that a description of these devices 30, 40, and 50 will be omitted.

[0024] The projection system 60 is a system for projecting a projection element (symbol 7 in Figure 4) indicating the stopping position of the vehicle 1 (symbol 82 in Figures 3 and 4) using a light beam emitted from the vehicle 1 onto the road surface, and includes a projector 61 and a projection control unit 62. The projector 61 is a device that irradiates light rays forming a projection element (reference numeral 7 in FIG. 4) onto the road surface from the vehicle 1. As the projector 61, a well-known light source such as an LED illuminator or a projector can be used. As shown in FIG. 2, the projector 61 includes a forward projector 61F provided on the front bumper 5 of the vehicle 1 and a rear projector 61R provided on the rear bumper 6 of the vehicle 1.

[0025] The projection control unit 62 controls the projector 61 to project a projection element (reference number 7 in FIG. 4) indicating the stopping position of the vehicle 1 (reference number 82 in FIGS. 3 and 4) onto the road surface. The projection control unit 62 is provided, for example, as software executed using the hardware resources of an electronic control unit. Note that, although the projection control unit 62 is provided separately from the control unit 10 in FIG. 1, the projection control unit 62 may be provided in the control unit 10.

[0026] [2. Control] The vehicle 1 performs projection control to continue projecting a projection element (reference number 7 in FIG. 4) onto the road surface while autonomously traveling at least to a stop position (reference number 82 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) set ahead of the vehicle 1 in the traveling direction. This notifies the operator of the vehicle 1 of the stop position (reference number 82 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4) of the vehicle 1 in advance before the vehicle actually stops. 1, as functional elements for implementing projection control, the control device 10 is provided with a travel route setting unit 11, a stop position setting unit 12, and a travel control unit 13. The functional elements 11 to 13 in the control device 10 are shown by conveniently classifying the functions of the control device 10, and are provided, for example, as software executed using the hardware resources of the control device 10. In addition, the projection system 60 is provided with the above-mentioned projection control unit 62 as a functional element for implementing projection control.

[0027] A camera 20 and various sensors 21 are connected to the input side of the control device 10. An accelerator device 30, a brake device 40, a steering device 50, and a projection system 60 are connected to the output side of the control device 10. A communication device 70 is connected to the input side and the output side of the control device 10. Projection control will be described below with reference to Fig. 3 and Fig. 4(a)-(c) as appropriate. These figures show a case where a vehicle 1 traveling automatically along a road 8 is stopped at a stop position 82 near a garbage collection point 9 installed on the shoulder of the road 8. In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4(a)-(c), the circle with the reference symbol 2 indicates an operator who performs work on the garbage input port 3A (working unit 3) of the vehicle 1, and the oval with the reference symbol 9A indicates garbage collected at the garbage collection point 9.

[0028] The driving route setting unit 11 sets a normal route 80 along which the vehicle 1 automatically drives along a road 8, and a stop route 81 that branches off from the normal route 80 and causes the vehicle 1 to automatically drive to a stop position 82. The normal route 80 is a travel route from a certain starting point to a certain destination point. In Fig. 3, the normal route 80 is indicated by a black arrow. One or more stop points are set in advance on the normal route 80. The stop points are points (geographical positions) that are defined in advance as planned stop locations on the normal route 80.

[0029] An example of the normal route 80 when the vehicle 1 is a refuse compactor is a circular route that starts from a refuse disposal site, travels around a number of refuse collection points 9, and returns to the refuse disposal site. In this case, a number of refuse collection points 9 that exist on the circular route are set as stopping points on the normal route 80. Information on the normal route 80 and the refuse collection points (stopping points) 9 on the normal route 80 can be set based on map information of a GNSS (not shown).

[0030] The stop route 81 is a route for automatically driving the vehicle 1 from just before the garbage collection point (stopping point) 9 to a stop position 82 described later, and is a driving route that branches off from the normal route 80 toward the stop position 82. The stop route 81 is indicated by a white arrow in Figure 3 and Figures 4(a) to (c). A switching point 81A where the normal route 80 branches off to the stop route 81 is set at a position a predetermined distance X before the garbage collection point 9. The switching point 81A can be set based on map information of a GNSS (not shown). In FIG. 3, the vehicle 1 that has arrived at the switching point 81A is indicated by a dashed line.

[0031] The stop position setting unit 12 sets a stop position 82 ahead of the vehicle 1 in the traveling direction. The stop position 82 is a stop position where the vehicle 1 is stopped near the garbage collection point 9 and the operator 2 performs garbage collection work. For this reason, the stop position setting unit 12 detects garbage 9A at the garbage collection point 9 present ahead of the vehicle 1 in the traveling direction based on the image information input from the camera 20, and sets the stop position 82 based on the position of the detected garbage 9A. Specifically, the stop position 82 is set so that the rear end of the vehicle 1, i.e., the garbage insertion opening 3A (working unit 3), is located at approximately the center position 9B of the garbage 9A along the traveling direction of the vehicle 1.

[0032] The shape and size of the stop position 82 are set in consideration of the shape and size of the vehicle 1. Specifically, the stop position 82 is set in an area having substantially the same size as the vehicle 1 when viewed from above, in other words, an area overlapping at least the entire length (entire length in the vehicle length direction) and the entire width (entire width direction) of the vehicle 1 when viewed from above. For example, in Fig. 3, the stop position 82 is set as a rectangular frame-shaped area surrounding the outer periphery of the vehicle 1 when viewed from above.

[0033] The stop position setting unit 12 constantly acquires image information from the camera 20 while the vehicle 1 is automatically traveling. Therefore, while the vehicle 1 is automatically traveling, the stop position setting unit 12 constantly detects garbage based on the image information acquired from the camera 20, and can constantly set (update) the stop position 82 based on the detection result. Therefore, it can be said that a stop position that makes it easy for the operator to carry out garbage collection work based on the actual location of the garbage is set in real time, in relation to the information on the garbage collection site (stopping point) 9 that is set in advance based on the map information. Note that a well-known technique such as an image recognition technique using AI may be applied to detect dust based on image information.

[0034] The driving control unit 13 performs automatic driving control along the normal route 80 and the stop route 81 set by the driving route setting unit 11 based on information from the camera 20 and various sensors 21. The automatic driving control performed by the driving control unit 13 of this embodiment includes three modes: a normal mode, a temporary stop mode, and a stop mode. The normal mode is a mode in which the vehicle 1 is automatically driven along a normal route 80. The temporary stop mode is a mode in which the vehicle 1 is temporarily stopped at a switching point 81A. The stop mode is a mode in which the vehicle 1 is automatically driven along a stop route 81 from the switching point 81A to a stop position 82, and the vehicle 1 is stopped at the stop position 82. Note that well-known automatic driving techniques are applied to the specific control of the accelerator device 30, the brake device 40, and the steering device 50 in each mode. In addition, the stop route 81 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 is drawn on a straight line for simplification, but in reality, the vehicle 1 moves on a curve so as to move smoothly.

[0035] As described above, the projection control unit 62 controls the projector 61 to project the projection element 7 indicating the stop position 82 onto the road surface. The projection element 7 presents the position (range) on the road surface of the stop position 82 set by the stop position setting unit 12 so that the operator 2 can visually recognize the position (range) on the road surface of the stop position 82 set by the stop position setting unit 12 by using a light beam projected from the projector 61 onto the road surface. In other words, the projection element 7 is projected so as to at least partially overlap the stop position 82 set by the stop position setting unit 12. For example, Fig. 3 shows an example in which a rectangular frame-shaped projection element 7 is projected along the contour of a rectangular frame-shaped range set as a stop position 82. In Fig. 3, a vehicle 1 stopped at the stop position 82 is shown by a dashed line.

[0036] The projection control unit 62 projects the projection element 7 at least while the vehicle 1 is automatically traveling from the switching point 81A to the stop position 82. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4(a), when the driving control unit 13 causes the vehicle 1 to temporarily stop at the switching point 81A (temporary stop mode), the projection control unit 62 controls the forward projector 61F to project the projection element 7.

[0037] In addition, as shown in Figure 4 (b), while the driving control unit 13 is automatically driving the vehicle 1 along the stopping route 81 to the stopping position 82, the projection control unit 62 controls the forward projector 61F to project the projection element 7. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the projection control unit 62 controls the forward projector 61F and the rearward projector 61R to project the projection element 7 after stopping the vehicle 1 at the stop position 82 by the driving control unit 13. When the vehicle 1 is stopped at the stop position 82, the vehicle 1 overlaps the stop position 82 when viewed from above. Therefore, the forward projector 61F projects the front portion 7F of the projection element 7, and the rearward projector 61R projects the rearward portion 7R of the projection element 7. The front portion 7F is projected onto the road surface in front of the vehicle 1 (specifically, directly below the front end of the vehicle 1), and the rearward portion 7R is projected onto the road surface behind the vehicle 1 (specifically, directly below the rear end of the vehicle 1).

[0038] That is, after the vehicle 1 temporarily stops at the switching point 81A, the projection control unit 62 controls the projector 61 to project the projection element 7 onto the road surface while the vehicle 1 automatically travels along the stopping route 81 to the stopping position 82 and stops at the stopping position 82. Here, as described above, the stopping position setting unit 12 constantly updates the stopping position 82 based on the image information acquired from the camera 20. Therefore, the projection control unit 62 can project the projection element 7 onto the stopping position 82 that is constantly updated as the vehicle 1 travels.

[0039] Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of automatic travel control and projection control performed by the control system, and Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of dust detection processing performed by the control system. 5 and 6 start when the vehicle 1 starts automatic driving, and end when the vehicle 1 stops at the stop position 82. That is, the flowcharts in Fig. 5 and 6 are executed in parallel.

[0040] First, an example of dust detection processing will be described with reference to FIG. The dust detection process in FIG. 6 is a process that starts when the vehicle 1 starts autonomous driving as described above, is executed repeatedly while the vehicle 1 is autonomous driving, and ends when the vehicle 1 stops at the stop position 82. 6, the stop position setting unit 12 determines whether or not it has detected garbage 9A in a garbage collection area 9 present ahead in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1, based on the image information input from the camera 20. If garbage 9A is not detected (No in step S10), the stop position setting unit 12 repeats the determination in step S10.

[0041] If garbage 9A is detected (Yes in step S10), in step S11 the stop position setting unit 12 sets a stop position 82, and the driving route setting unit 11 sets a stop route 81 from a predetermined switching point 81A to the set stop position 82 (garbage collection scenario creation). The stop position setting unit 12 repeats the processes from step S10 to step S12 until the vehicle 1 stops at the stop position 82 (until step S12 returns Yes), thereby causing the dust detection process to be constantly executed while the vehicle 1 is being automatically driven.

[0042] Next, an example of automatic travel control and projection control will be described with reference to FIG. In step S1 , the driving control unit 13 causes the vehicle 1 to automatically drive along the normal route 80 set by the driving route setting unit 11 . In step S2, upon receiving a signal from the driving route setting unit 11, the driving control unit 13 determines whether or not the vehicle 1, which is driving along the normal route 80, has reached the switching point 81A. Until the vehicle 1 reaches the switching point 81A (No in step S2), the driving control unit 13 repeats step S2 while automatically driving the vehicle 1 along the normal route 80. When the vehicle 1 reaches the switching point 81A (Yes in step S2), in step S3, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the driving control unit 13 temporarily stops the vehicle 1 at the switching point 81A, and the projection control unit 62 controls the forward projector 61F to project the projection element 7 onto the road surface.

[0043] In step S4, it is determined whether the operator 2 has confirmed the stopping position. Specifically, the control device 10 transmits a request to the mobile terminal 4 of the operator 2 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) via the communication device 70 to prompt the operator 2 to confirm the stopping position of the vehicle 1. For example, a button image is displayed on the mobile terminal 4 of the operator 2 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) as a means for replying that the stopping position has been confirmed. When the operator 2 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) visually confirms the projection element 7 projected onto the road surface, the operator 2 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) replies to the vehicle 1 from the mobile terminal 4 that he or she carries that the operator has confirmed the stopping position. Until a confirmation reply is received from the mobile terminal 4 of the operator 2 (No in step S4), the control device 10 repeats step S4. That is, the control device 10 waits while temporarily stopping the vehicle 1 at the switching point 81A.

[0044] When a confirmation reply is received from the operator 2's mobile terminal 4 (Yes in step S4), in step S5, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the driving control unit 13 automatically drives the vehicle 1 along the stopping route 81, and the projection control unit 62 controls the forward projector 61F to project the projection element 7 onto the road surface.

[0045] In step S6, the driving control unit 13 automatically drives the vehicle 1 to the stop position 82 and stops the vehicle 1. At this time, as shown in Fig. 4(c), the projection control unit 62 controls the rear projector 61R to project the rear part 7R of the projection element 7 onto the road surface, and controls the front projector 61F to project the front part 7F of the projection element 7 onto the road surface. Then, the process of Fig. 5 ends. While the vehicle 1 is stopped, the operator 2 performs garbage collection work. Then, when the garbage collection work is completed, the vehicle 1 resumes automatic driving along the normal route 80 toward the next stopping position 82. That is, the control system executes the processes in Figs. 5 and 6.

[0046] [3. Effects] The present embodiment described above provides the following advantageous effects. In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, a stop position 82 is set ahead of the vehicle 1 in the direction of travel, and a projection element 7 indicating the stop position 82 is projected onto the road surface while the vehicle 1 is automatically driven to the stop position 82 and stopped at the stop position 82. 4(a) to 4(c), for example, the stopping position of the vehicle 1 can be visually notified to the operator 2 outside the vehicle 1 before the vehicle 1 stops at the stopping position 82. Therefore, the operator 2 can intuitively grasp the stopping position 82 of the vehicle 1 before the vehicle 1 stops at the stopping position 82.

[0047] In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection element 7 is projected onto the road surface when the vehicle 1 reaches just before a garbage collection point 9 (stopping point) that is set in advance on the normal route 80. Therefore, the operator 2 can grasp the stopping position 82 of the vehicle 1 before the vehicle 1 arrives at the garbage collection point 9. In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection element 7 is projected when the vehicle 1 stops temporarily in front of the garbage collection point 9. This allows the operator 2 to check the stopping position 82 of the vehicle 1 with plenty of time to spare, making it easier for the operator 2 to grasp the stopping position 82 of the vehicle 1.

[0048] In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection system (projection unit) 60 projects the projection elements 7 onto the road surface in an area that is approximately the same size as the vehicle 1 when viewed from above. This makes it easy for the operator 2 to confirm and grasp the area in which the vehicle 1 will actually stop. In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection system 60 includes a forward projector 61F installed on the front bumper 5 of the vehicle 1, making it easy to project projection elements 7, 7F in front of the vehicle 1 or directly below the front end of the vehicle 1.

[0049] In the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection system 60 includes a rear projector 61R installed on the rear bumper 6 of the vehicle 1, and after the vehicle 1 is stopped at a stop position 82, a projection element 7R is projected onto the road surface behind the vehicle 1. Therefore, after the vehicle 1 is stopped, the operator 2 present behind the vehicle 1 can easily confirm and grasp the stop position 82 of the vehicle 1. In addition, since the rear projector 61R is installed on the rear bumper 6 of the vehicle 1, it is easy to project the projection elements 7, 7R directly below the rear end of the vehicle 1.

[0050] In the control system for an autonomous driving vehicle according to this application example, a vehicle 1 has a working unit 3. In conventional automated driving vehicles, it is difficult to communicate between the vehicle and the operator. Therefore, in a technology in which the driver only determines the next stop position by manual driving operation using a mobile terminal 4, it is sometimes difficult for the operator to intuitively grasp the exact position where the vehicle will stop next. If it is difficult to grasp the next stop position, work on the work unit cannot be carried out smoothly. Therefore, there is room for improvement in terms of increasing work efficiency in the automated driving of vehicles. In contrast, in the control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example, the projection element 7 is projected onto the road surface before the vehicle 1 is stopped, and the stopping position 82 can be grasped, so that the operator 2 can smoothly carry out work on the working unit 3 while the vehicle is stopped. Therefore, the work efficiency can be improved. For example, if the vehicle 1 is a refuse truck having a refuse insertion opening 3A at the rear of the vehicle 1 as the working section 3, the efficiency of the refuse collection work can be improved.

[0051] The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to this application example further includes a camera 20 that captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 1, and a stop position 82 is set based on image information captured by the camera 20. Therefore, an appropriate stop position 82 can be set based on the situation around the vehicle 1. For example, if the vehicle 1 is a refuse truck having a refuse inlet 3A at the rear of the vehicle 1 as the working unit 3, when refuse 9A accumulated in a refuse collection point 9 located ahead of the vehicle 1 in the traveling direction is detected based on image information captured by the camera 20, the stop position 82 is set based on the position of the detected refuse 9A. Therefore, an appropriate stop position 82 that makes it easy for the operator 2 to perform refuse collection work can be set based on the actual position of the refuse 9A. [4.Other]

[0052] In the above embodiment, the case where the switching point 81A branching from the normal route 80 to the stop route 81 is set at a position a predetermined distance X before the garbage collection point 9 is described as an example, but the switching point 81A is not limited to this. For example, the switching point 81A may be set at a position a predetermined time before the garbage collection point 9 is reached based on the current position and vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 and the position of the garbage collection point 9 in step S11 (garbage collection scenario creation) in FIG. 6 described above. In this case, in step S2 in FIG. 5 described above, the traveling control unit 13 receives a signal from step S11 (garbage collection scenario creation) in FIG. 6 described above and determines whether the vehicle 1 traveling along the normal route 80 has reached the switching point 81A. Furthermore, the switching point 81A is not limited to being set in advance based on the location (stopping point) of the garbage collection site 9 on the map, but may be set at a position a predetermined distance X in front of the location of the garbage detected by the camera 20 (or a position a predetermined time earlier).

[0053] The stop position 82 is not limited to being set based on the center position 9B of the detected trash 9A, but may be set based on the downstream end position or the upstream end position along the traveling direction of the detected trash 9A. Furthermore, the stop position 82 is not limited to being set based on the position of the detected trash 9A, but may be set based on the position (stopping point) of the trash collection site 9 on a map. Furthermore, the control device 10 may determine that trash that has been image-recognized by AI learning based on image information acquired from the camera 20 is trash 9A.

[0054] The shape of the projection element 7 is not limited to the above-mentioned rectangular frame shape (linear), but may be any other appropriate shape, such as a planar projection within a set range of the stop position 82, or a shape that projects only a portion of a rectangular frame. The vehicle 1 is not limited to a refuse compactor, but may be any type of vehicle equipped with a working unit 3, a truck without a working unit 3, a bus, or a regular car.

[0055] [5. Notes] The following supplementary notes are disclosed regarding the embodiments including the above-mentioned modifications. (Appendix 1) A control system for a vehicle capable of autonomous driving, a stop position setting unit that sets a stop position ahead of the vehicle in a traveling direction; a travel control unit that automatically travels the vehicle to the stop position set by the stop position setting unit; a projection unit that projects a projection element indicating the stop position by a light beam emitted from the vehicle onto a road surface while the vehicle is being automatically driven to the stop position by the driving control unit. 2. A control system for an autonomous vehicle comprising: (Appendix 2) a driving route setting unit that sets a normal route along which the vehicle is automatically driven and on which a stop point is set in advance, and a stop route along which the vehicle is automatically driven just before the stop point to the stop position, the driving control unit automatically drives the vehicle along the normal route and automatically drives the vehicle along the stop route from just before the stop point to the stop position, The projection unit projects the projection element when the vehicle reaches the stop point. 2. A control system for an autonomous vehicle as described in claim 1. (Appendix 3) the travel control unit causes the vehicle to automatically travel along the stop route after temporarily stopping the vehicle before the stop point; The projection unit projects the projection element when the vehicle stops temporarily in front of the stop point. 3. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 2. (Appendix 4) The projection unit projects the projection element in an area having substantially the same size as the vehicle when viewed from above. 4. The autonomous vehicle control system according to claim 1, (Appendix 5) The projection unit includes a forward projector installed on a front bumper of the vehicle. 5. The autonomous vehicle control system according to claim 1, (Appendix 6) The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to any one of appendices 1 to 5, wherein the projection unit includes a rear projector installed on a rear bumper of the vehicle, and projects the projection element onto a road surface behind the vehicle after the driving control unit stops the vehicle at the stopping position. (Appendix 7) The vehicle has a working section for an operator to perform work. 7. The autonomous vehicle control system according to claim 1, (Appendix 8) The control system for an autonomous vehicle described in Appendix 7, characterized in that the vehicle is a garbage truck having a garbage inlet at the rear of the vehicle serving as the working unit. (Appendix 9) Further comprising a camera for capturing an image of the surroundings of the vehicle, The stop position setting unit sets the stop position based on image information captured by the camera. 9. The autonomous vehicle control system according to claim 1, (Appendix 10) Further comprising a camera for capturing an image of the surroundings of the vehicle, The stop position setting unit sets the stop position based on a position of the detected garbage when the camera detects garbage accumulated in a garbage collection area located ahead of the vehicle in the traveling direction. 9. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 8. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1. Self-driving vehicles 2 Operators 3 Working section 3A Dust inlet 4. Mobile devices 5. Front bumper 6 Rear bumper 7 Projection elements 7F Front part (projection element) 7R Rear part (projection element) 8 road 9 Garbage collection point (stopping point) 9A Garbage 9B Center position 10 Control device 11. Route setting section 12 Stop position setting section 13 Driving control unit 20 Camera 21 Various sensors 30 Accelerator 40 Brake device 50 Steering device 60 Projection system (projection section) 61 Projector 61F forward projector 61R Rear Projector 62 Projection control unit 70 Communication Equipment 80 Normal Route 81 Stop Route 81A Switching Point 82 Stop position

Claims

1. A control system for a vehicle capable of autonomous driving, a stop position setting unit that sets a stop position ahead of the vehicle in a traveling direction; a travel control unit that automatically travels the vehicle to the stop position set by the stop position setting unit; a projection unit that projects a projection element indicating the stop position by a light beam emitted from the vehicle onto a road surface while the vehicle is automatically driven to the stop position by the driving control unit; a driving route setting unit that sets a normal route along which the vehicle is automatically driven and on which a stop point is set in advance, and a stop route along which the vehicle is automatically driven from just before the stop point to the stop position; the driving control unit automatically drives the vehicle along the normal route and automatically drives the vehicle along the stop route from just before the stop point to the stop position, The projection unit projects the projection element when the vehicle reaches the stop point.

2. A control system for an autonomous vehicle comprising:

2. the travel control unit causes the vehicle to automatically travel along the stop route after temporarily stopping the vehicle before the stop point; The projection unit projects the projection element when the vehicle stops temporarily in front of the stop point.

2. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 1 .

3. The autonomous vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein the projection unit projects the projection element within an area that is approximately the same size as the vehicle when viewed from above.

4. The projection unit includes a forward projector installed on a front bumper of the vehicle.

2. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 1 .

5. 2. The autonomous vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the projection unit includes a rear projector installed on a rear bumper of the vehicle, and projects the projection element onto a road surface behind the vehicle after the vehicle is stopped at the stop position by the driving control unit.

6. The vehicle has a working section for an operator to perform work.

2. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 1 .

7. The control system for an autonomous vehicle as described in claim 6, wherein the vehicle is a garbage truck having a garbage inlet at the rear of the vehicle serving as the working unit.

8. Further comprising a camera for capturing an image of the surroundings of the vehicle, The stop position setting unit sets the stop position based on image information captured by the camera.

2. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 1 .

9. Further comprising a camera for capturing an image of the surroundings of the vehicle, The stop position setting unit sets the stop position based on a position of the detected garbage when the camera detects garbage accumulated in a garbage collection area located ahead of the vehicle in the traveling direction.

8. The control system for an autonomous vehicle according to claim 7.

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