Control device and unmanned driving method

Abstract

To enable a plurality of movable objects to pass through an intersection in appropriate order when the plurality of movable objects attempt to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time.SOLUTION: A control device includes: an information acquisition unit which acquires capability information, of a plurality of movable objects capable of being moved by unmanned driving, on at least one capability of an avoidance capability of avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a reduction capability of reducing an impact upon the collision with the obstacle; and a control unit which controls unmanned driving of at least one movable object of the plurality of movable objects, and which, when the plurality of movable objects attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, controls the at least one movable object so that the plurality of movable objects pass through the intersection according to a priority order determined in descending order of the at least one capability, using the capability information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In a vehicle manufacturing process, a technique for running a vehicle in an unmanned manner is known (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2017-538619 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The above document does not take into consideration the order in which multiple moving bodies should pass through the intersection when multiple moving bodies are entering the intersection from different directions at the same time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

[0006] (1) According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a control device, comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires performance information on at least one of an avoidance performance for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a reduction performance for reducing an impact of a collision with the obstacle, of a plurality of moving bodies that can be moved by unmanned driving; and a control unit that controls unmanned driving of at least one of the plurality of moving bodies, and when the plurality of moving bodies are to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the control unit controls the at least one moving body so that the plurality of moving bodies pass through the intersection in a priority order determined in descending order of the at least one performance using the performance information. With this type of control device, the possibility of a leading moving body colliding with an obstacle at an intersection and blocking the path of a following moving body can be reduced, and even if the leading moving body does collide with an obstacle at an intersection, the impact of the collision can be reduced, so that even if the path of the following moving body is blocked due to the leading moving body colliding with an obstacle, it can be quickly restored. (2) In the control device of the above aspect, the control unit may set the priority to be higher the higher the avoidance performance, and if the avoidance performance is the same, the priority may be higher the higher the mitigation performance. According to this type of control device, between a moving body with high avoidance performance and a moving body with low avoidance performance, the moving body with the higher avoidance performance is made to lead, thereby reducing the possibility of the leading moving body colliding with an obstacle. (3) In the control device of the above embodiment, the performance information includes information indicating whether the moving body is equipped with an automatic avoidance function that automatically avoids a collision with the obstacle, and the control unit may give a higher priority to the moving body that is equipped with the automatic avoidance function than a priority of the moving body that does not have the automatic avoidance function. According to this form of control device, when comparing a moving body equipped with an automatic avoidance function with a moving body not equipped with an automatic avoidance function, the moving body equipped with the automatic avoidance function is made to precede, thereby reducing the possibility of the leading moving body colliding with an obstacle. (4) In the control device of the above embodiment, the multiple moving bodies move in an unmanned manner in a factory where the multiple moving bodies are manufactured, the performance information includes information indicating the number of reinspections of the moving bodies in the factory, and the control unit may assign a higher priority to the moving bodies having fewer reinspections. According to the control device of this embodiment, the fewer the number of reinspections, the less likely it is that a malfunction has occurred in the moving body, so that it is possible to reduce the possibility that the preceding moving body will collide with an obstacle. (5) According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an unmanned driving method, comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring performance information on at least one of an avoidance performance for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a reduction performance for reducing an impact at the time of a collision with the obstacle, of a plurality of moving bodies capable of moving by unmanned driving; and an unmanned driving step of moving the plurality of moving bodies by unmanned driving, in which, when the plurality of moving bodies are going to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the plurality of moving bodies are caused to pass through the intersection in a priority order determined in descending order of the at least one performance using the performance information. According to this form of unmanned driving method, the possibility of a leading moving body colliding with an obstacle at an intersection and blocking the path of a following moving body can be reduced, and even if the leading moving body does collide with an obstacle at an intersection, the impact of the collision can be reduced, so that even if the path of the following moving body is blocked due to the leading moving body colliding with an obstacle, it can be quickly restored. The present disclosure may be realized in various forms other than the control device and the unmanned driving method, for example, in the form of an unmanned driving system, a remote control system, a manufacturing method for a moving body, a manufacturing method for a vehicle, a computer program, and a recording medium on which a computer program is recorded. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an unmanned driving system. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a vehicle moves by remote control in a factory. [Figure 2B] 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for vehicle travel control in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 11 is a flowchart showing the contents of a priority order determination process. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a plurality of vehicles pass through an intersection. [Diagram 5]FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an unmanned driving system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for vehicle travel control according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

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

[0009] In this disclosure, a "mobile body" refers to an object that can move, such as a vehicle or an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (a so-called flying car). The vehicle may be a vehicle that runs on wheels or a vehicle that runs on caterpillar tracks, such as a passenger car, a truck, a bus, a two-wheeled vehicle, a four-wheeled vehicle, a tank, a construction vehicle, etc. The vehicle includes an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle), a gasoline-powered vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, and a fuel cell vehicle. When the mobile body is something other than a vehicle, the expressions "vehicle" and "car" in this disclosure can be appropriately replaced with "mobile body", and the expression "running" can be appropriately replaced with "movement".

[0010] "Unmanned driving" means driving that is not performed by a passenger. Driving operation means at least one of the operations of "running," "turning," and "stopping" of the vehicle 100. Unmanned driving is achieved by automatic or manual remote control using a device located outside the vehicle 100, or by autonomous control of the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 that is traveling by unmanned driving may have a passenger who does not perform driving operation on board. Passengers who do not perform driving operation include, for example, a person who simply sits in the seat of the vehicle 100, and a person who performs work other than driving operation, such as assembly, inspection, and operation of switches, while riding in the vehicle 100. Note that driving by a passenger who performs driving operation is sometimes called "manned driving."

[0011] In this specification, "remote control" includes "full remote control" in which all of the operations of the vehicle 100 are completely determined from outside the vehicle 100, and "partial remote control" in which some of the operations of the vehicle 100 are determined from outside the vehicle 100. In addition, "autonomous control" includes "full autonomous control" in which the vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own operations without receiving any information from devices external to the vehicle 100, and "partial autonomous control" in which the vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own operations using information received from devices external to the vehicle 100.

[0012] In this embodiment, the unmanned driving system 10 includes a vehicle 100 which is a moving body, a remote control device 200, a group of external sensors 300 installed in a factory, and a process management device 400 for managing the manufacturing process of the vehicle 100 in the factory. The remote control device 200 may be simply called a control device. The unmanned driving system 10 may be called a remote control system.

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

[0014] FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device 150. The vehicle control device 150 is configured by a computer including a processor 151, a memory 152, an input / output interface 153, and an internal bus 154. The processor 151, the memory 152, and the input / output interface 153 are connected via the internal bus 154 so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally. The input / output interface 153 is connected to the drive device 110, the steering device 120, the braking device 130, the communication device 140, and the obstacle sensor 160. The processor 151 functions as a driving control unit 155 that executes driving control of the vehicle 100 by executing a computer program PG1 stored in advance in the memory 152. The "driving control" means, for example, adjustment of the acceleration, speed, and steering angle of the vehicle 100. The driving control unit 155 executes the driving control, in other words, controls the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to run. When a passenger is on board the vehicle 100, the traveling control unit 155 controls the various devices 110 to 130 in response to the operation of the passenger, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel. In this embodiment, the traveling control unit 155 controls the various devices 110 to 130 in response to a control command received from the remote control device 200, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel, regardless of whether a passenger is on board the vehicle 100 or not. The traveling control unit 155 may be simply referred to as a control unit.

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

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

[0017] The processor 201 functions as an information acquisition unit 210 and a remote control unit 220 by executing a computer program PG2 stored in advance in the memory 202. The information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information related to at least one of the performance of the vehicle 100 to avoid collision with an obstacle and the performance to reduce the impact of collision with the obstacle. In the following description, the performance to avoid collision with an obstacle is called avoidance performance, and the performance to reduce the impact of collision with an obstacle is called reduction performance. In this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information including information related to both the avoidance performance and the reduction performance of the vehicle 100 from the process management device 400. The remote control unit 220 generates a control command for remotely controlling the vehicle 100 and transmits the control command to the vehicle 100 to drive the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the control command is a driving control signal described later. The remote control device 200 may be simply called a control device, and the remote control unit 220 may be simply called a control unit.

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

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

[0020] FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the vehicle 100 moves by remote control in the factory KJ. Two vehicles 100A and 100B are illustrated in FIG. 2A. In the following description, when the two vehicles 100A and 100B are not particularly distinguished from each other, they are simply referred to as the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the factory KJ includes a first location PL1, a second location PL2, and a third location PL3. In the first location PL1 and the second location PL2, the vehicle 100 is assembled. In the third location PL3, the vehicle 100 assembled in the first location PL1 and the vehicle 100 assembled in the second location PL2 are inspected. The locations PL1 to PL3 are connected by a travel path SR along which the vehicle 100 can travel. An intersection KT is provided on the travel path SR. In the following description, the portion of the road SR between the first location PL1 and the intersection KT is referred to as the first road SR1, the portion between the second location PL2 and the intersection KT is referred to as the second road SR2, and the portion between the intersection KT and the third location PL3 is referred to as the third road SR3. When the roads SR1 to SR3 are not to be particularly distinguished from one another, they are simply referred to as the road SR.

[0021] The vehicle 100 assembled at the first location PL1 and the vehicle 100 assembled at the second location PL2 are equipped with at least a driving device 110, a steering device 120, a braking device 130, a communication device 140, and a vehicle control device 150. The vehicle 100 assembled at the first location PL1 is remotely controlled by the remote control device 200 to run from the first location PL1 through an intersection KT to the third location PL3, and the vehicle 100 assembled at the second location PL2 is remotely controlled by the remote control device 200 to run from the second location PL2 through the intersection KT to the third location PL3. The vehicle 100 that passes the inspection at the third location PL3 is shipped from the factory KJ. The vehicle 100 that does not pass the inspection is repaired and then reinspected.

[0022] With reference to FIG. 2A, a method in which the remote control unit 220 moves the vehicle 100 by remote control will be briefly described. The remote control unit 220 determines a target route for the vehicle 100 to travel to the destination along the travel path SR. In this embodiment, the target route is a reference route described later. In the factory KJ, a plurality of cameras 301 for photographing the travel path SR are installed, and the remote control unit 220 can obtain the relative position and orientation of the vehicle 100 with respect to the target route in real time by analyzing the images photographed by each camera 301. The plurality of cameras 301 are included in the external sensor group 300. The remote control unit 220 generates a control command for causing the vehicle 100 to travel along the target route, and transmits the control command to the vehicle 100. The vehicle control device 150 mounted on the vehicle 100 controls the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130 according to the received control command, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel. Therefore, the vehicle 100 can be moved without using a conveying device such as a crane or a conveyor.

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

[0024] FIG. 2B is a flowchart showing a procedure of the travel control of the vehicle 100 in the first embodiment. With reference to FIG. 2B, a method in which the remote control unit 220 of the remote control device 200 travels the vehicle 100 by remote control will be described in more detail. In step S1, the remote control unit 220 acquires vehicle position information of the vehicle 100 using a detection result output from an external sensor that is a sensor located outside the vehicle 100. The vehicle position information is position information that is the basis for generating a travel control signal. In this embodiment, the vehicle position information includes the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 in the reference coordinate system of the factory KJ. In this embodiment, the reference coordinate system of the factory KJ is a global coordinate system, and any position in the factory KJ is expressed by X, Y, and Z coordinates in the global coordinate system. In this embodiment, the external sensor is a camera 301, and a captured image is output from the external sensor as a detection result. That is, in step S1, the remote control unit 220 acquires vehicle position information using a captured image acquired from the camera 301 that is an external sensor.

[0025] In detail, in step S1, the remote control unit 220, for example, detects the outer shape of the vehicle 100 from the captured image, calculates the coordinates of the positioning point of the vehicle 100 in the coordinate system of the captured image, i.e., the local coordinate system, and converts the calculated coordinates into coordinates in the global coordinate system, thereby acquiring the position of the vehicle 100. The outer shape of the vehicle 100 included in the captured image can be detected, for example, by inputting the captured image into a detection model that utilizes artificial intelligence. The detection model is prepared, for example, inside or outside the unmanned driving system 10, and is stored in advance in the memory 202 of the remote control device 200. For example, the detection model may be a trained machine learning model that has been trained to realize either semantic segmentation or instance segmentation. For example, a convolutional neural network (hereinafter, CNN) trained by supervised learning using a learning dataset may be used as the machine learning model. The learning dataset includes, for example, a plurality of training images including the vehicle 100, and labels indicating whether each region in the training images is a region indicating the vehicle 100 or a region indicating something other than the vehicle 100. During CNN learning, it is preferable to update the parameters of the CNN by backpropagation (backpropagation method) so as to reduce an error between the output result of the detection model and the label. In addition, the processor 201 can acquire the orientation of the vehicle 100 by estimating based on the orientation of the movement vector of the vehicle 100 calculated from the positional change of the feature points of the vehicle 100 between frames of the captured image using, for example, an optical flow method.

[0026] In step S2, the remote control unit 220 determines a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. In this embodiment, the target position is represented by X, Y, and Z coordinates in a global coordinate system. A reference route, which is a route along which the vehicle 100 should travel, is stored in advance in the memory 202 of the remote control device 200. The route is represented by nodes indicating a departure point, nodes indicating passing points, nodes indicating a destination, and links connecting the nodes. The remote control unit 220 uses the vehicle position information and the reference route to determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. The remote control unit 220 determines a target position on the reference route that is ahead of the current location of the vehicle 100.

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

[0028] In step S4, the remote control unit 220 transmits the generated driving control signal to the vehicle 100. The remote control unit 220 repeats, at a predetermined cycle, obtaining the position of the vehicle 100, determining the target position, generating the driving control signal, and transmitting the driving control signal.

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

[0030] 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of the priority order determination process. The priority order determination process is repeatedly executed in the remote control device 200 during a period in which remote control of the vehicle 100 is being executed. When the priority order determination process is started, in step S110, the information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information of each vehicle 100 that is a remote control target from the process management device 400.

[0031] In step S120, the remote control unit 220 uses the performance information to determine the priority order of each vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the higher the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100, the higher the priority order of the vehicle 100 is set by the remote control unit 220. When the avoidance performances are the same, in other words, when the avoidance performance cannot be determined to be superior or inferior, the remote control unit 220 sets a higher priority order of the vehicle 100, the higher the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100.

[0032] With regard to the avoidance performance, for example, between a vehicle 100 equipped with an automatic avoidance function and a vehicle 100 not equipped with the automatic avoidance function, the vehicle 100 equipped with the automatic avoidance function has a higher avoidance performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 equipped with the automatic avoidance function than the vehicle 100 not equipped with the automatic avoidance function. Furthermore, when the avoidance performance by the automatic avoidance function is improved by machine learning, between a vehicle 100 that has been trained and a vehicle 100 that has not been trained, the vehicle 100 that has been trained has a higher avoidance performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, when comparing the vehicles 100 equipped with the automatic avoidance function, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 that has been trained than the vehicle 100 that has not been trained.

[0033] Regarding avoidance performance, restrictions may be imposed on the maximum speed, braking force, steering angle, etc. of the vehicle 100 when the vehicle 100 is driven at the factory KJ, and the restrictions may be lifted before shipping. Between a vehicle 100 with a limited braking force or steering angle and a vehicle 100 with no limited braking force or steering angle, the vehicle 100 with no limited braking force or steering angle has higher avoidance performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the presence or absence of an automatic avoidance function does not determine superiority or inferiority of avoidance performance, the remote control unit 220 prioritizes the vehicle 100 with no limited braking force or steering angle higher than the vehicle 100 with limited braking force or steering angle.

[0034] Regarding avoidance performance, the fewer the number of reinspections of the steering device 120, the braking device 130, and the obstacle sensor 160, the lower the possibility of a malfunction in the steering device 120, the braking device 130, and the obstacle sensor 160, and therefore the higher the avoidance performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the superiority or inferiority of avoidance performance cannot be determined based on the presence or absence of an automatic avoidance function or the presence or absence of restrictions on braking force, etc., the remote control unit 220 assigns a higher priority to the vehicle 100 with a fewer number of reinspections of the steering device 120, the braking device 130, and the obstacle sensor 160.

[0035] Regarding the reduction performance, the lighter the weight of the vehicle 100, the smaller the kinetic energy of the vehicle 100, and therefore the higher the reduction performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 sets a higher priority for the vehicle 100 as the weight of the vehicle 100 is lighter. Between a vehicle 100 equipped with a front bumper and a vehicle 100 not equipped with a front bumper, the vehicle 100 equipped with a front bumper has a higher reduction performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 sets a higher priority for the vehicle 100 equipped with a front bumper than the vehicle 100 not equipped with a front bumper. In comparing two vehicles 100 with different weights, if the lighter vehicle 100 does not have a front bumper and the heavier vehicle 100 has a front bumper, the remote control unit 220 sets a higher predetermined priority for one vehicle than the other.

[0036] In this embodiment, when the avoidance performance and the mitigation performance are the same, in other words, when the avoidance performance and the mitigation performance are not superior or inferior, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 that is about to enter the intersection from a predetermined direction. For example, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 that is about to enter the intersection KT from the first traveling path SR1 higher than the priority of the vehicle 100 that is about to enter the intersection KT from the second traveling path SR2. Note that, when the avoidance performance and the mitigation performance are not superior or inferior, the remote control unit 220 may lower the priority of the vehicle 100 that is about to enter the intersection KT from the first traveling path SR1 lower than the priority of the vehicle 100 that is about to enter the intersection KT from the second traveling path SR2. Thereafter, the remote control unit 220 ends the priority order determination process. Note that step S110 may be referred to as an information acquisition process, and step S120 may be referred to as a priority order determination process.

[0037] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing two vehicles 100A and 100B passing through an intersection KT according to the priority determined by the priority determination process. A remote control method for the vehicles 100A and 100B in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The remote control method may be called an unmanned driving method. The process of moving the vehicles 100A and 100B by remote control may be called a remote control process or an unmanned driving process. In FIG. 4, the priority of the vehicle 100A is higher than the priority of the vehicle 100B. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 4, when the two vehicles 100A and 100B are about to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, as shown in the middle part of FIG. 4, the remote control unit 220 causes the vehicle 100A with the higher priority of the two vehicles 100A and 100B to enter the intersection KT and causes the vehicle 100B with the lower priority to wait for entry into the intersection KT. In this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 stops the vehicle 100B, thereby causing the vehicle 100B to wait before entering the intersection KT. The remote control unit 220 may also cause the vehicle 100B to wait before entering the intersection KT, by decelerating the vehicle 100B within a range in which the vehicle 100B does not stop. As shown in the lower part of FIG. 4, after the vehicle 100A passes through the intersection KT, the remote control unit 220 causes the vehicle 100B to pass through the intersection KT.

[0038] According to the unmanned driving system 10 in the present embodiment described above, when a plurality of vehicles 100 are attempting to enter the intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control unit 220 allows the plurality of vehicles 100 to pass through the intersection KT in descending order of priority determined using the performance information. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a plurality of vehicles 100 from entering the intersection KT at the same time. In particular, in the present embodiment, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 increases, so that it is possible to prevent the preceding vehicle 100 from colliding with an obstacle at the intersection KT or the third travel path SR3 and blocking the path of the following vehicle 100. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when the avoidance performance is the same, the remote control unit 220 increases the priority of the vehicle 100 as the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100 increases, so that even if the preceding vehicle 100 collides with an obstacle at the intersection KT or the third travel path SR3, damage to the vehicle 100 and the obstacle can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the situation in which the path of the following vehicle 100 is blocked from continuing for a long period of time.

[0039] B. Second embodiment: FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an unmanned driving system 10b in the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control device 150 in the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the unmanned driving system 10 does not include a remote control device 200, and the vehicle 100 runs by autonomous control rather than remote control. The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment unless otherwise specified. Note that a method of running the vehicle 100 by autonomous control is sometimes called an autonomous automatic driving method or an unmanned driving method.

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

[0041] The driving control unit 155b generates a driving control signal by itself, and controls the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130 using the generated driving control signal to drive the vehicle 100. A reference route, a detection model, and the like are stored in advance in the memory 152. Note that the vehicle control device 150 may be simply referred to as a control device, and the driving control unit 155b may be simply referred to as a control unit.

[0042] The information acquisition unit 156 acquires performance information of the host vehicle and performance information of the other vehicle from the process management device 400. When the performance information of the host vehicle is pre-stored in the memory 152, the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire the performance information of the host vehicle from the memory 152. When the host vehicle and the other vehicle are capable of communicating with each other by wireless communication using the communication device 140, the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire the performance information of the other vehicle from the other vehicle.

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

[0044] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of the traveling control of the vehicle 100 in the second embodiment. In step S11, the traveling control unit 155b of the vehicle control device 150 acquires vehicle position information using a detection result output from the camera 301, which is an external sensor. In step S21, the traveling control unit 155b determines a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next move. In step S31, the traveling control unit 155b generates a traveling control signal for traveling the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In step S41, the traveling control unit 155b controls the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130 using the generated traveling control signal, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel according to parameters represented in the traveling control signal. The traveling control unit 155b repeats the acquisition of vehicle position information, the determination of the target position, the generation of the traveling control signal, and the control of the various devices 110 to 130 at a predetermined cycle.

[0045] According to the unmanned driving system 10b in this embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, when multiple vehicles 100 are attempting to enter an intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the multiple vehicles 100 can be allowed to pass through the intersection KT in descending order of priority determined using performance information. Therefore, it is possible to prevent multiple vehicles 100 from entering the intersection KT at the same time.

[0046] C. Other embodiments: (C1) In the unmanned driving systems 10 and 10b of the above-described embodiments, the information acquisition unit 210 and the information acquisition unit 156 acquire performance information including information on both the avoidance performance and the mitigation performance, and the remote control unit 220 and the traveling control unit 155b assign a higher priority to the vehicle 100 as the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100 is higher, and when the avoidance performance is not superior or inferior, the vehicle 100 assigns a higher priority to the vehicle 100 as the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100 is higher. In contrast, the information acquisition unit 210 and the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire performance information including information on either the avoidance performance or the mitigation performance. In this case, the remote control unit 220 and the traveling control unit 155b assign a higher priority to the vehicle 100 as the avoidance performance or the mitigation performance is higher.

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

[0048] (C3) In the above first embodiment, the processes from obtaining vehicle position information to generating a driving control signal are executed by the remote control device 200. In contrast, at least a part of the processes from obtaining vehicle position information to generating a driving control signal may be executed by the vehicle 100. For example, the following forms (1) to (3) may be used.

[0049] (1) The remote control device 200 may acquire vehicle position information, determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head, and generate a route from the current location of the vehicle 100 represented in the acquired vehicle position information to the target position. The remote control device 200 may generate a route to a target position between the current location and the destination, or may generate a route to the destination. The remote control device 200 may transmit the generated route to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 may generate a travel control signal so that the vehicle 100 travels on the route received from the remote control device 200, and use the generated travel control signal to control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130.

[0050] (2) The remote control device 200 may acquire vehicle position information and transmit the acquired vehicle position information to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 may determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head, generate a route from the current location of the vehicle 100 represented in the received vehicle position information to the target position, generate a travel control signal so that the vehicle 100 travels on the generated route, and control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130 using the generated travel control signal.

[0051] (3) In the above-mentioned embodiments (1) and (2), an internal sensor may be mounted on the vehicle 100, and a detection result output from the internal sensor may be used for at least one of generating a route and generating a driving control signal. The internal sensor is a sensor mounted on the vehicle 100. The internal sensor may include, for example, a sensor for detecting the motion state of the vehicle 100, a sensor for detecting the operating state of each part of the vehicle 100, and a sensor for detecting the environment around the vehicle 100. Specifically, the internal sensor may include, for example, a camera, a LiDAR, a millimeter wave radar, an ultrasonic sensor, a GPS sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, and the like. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment (1), the remote control device 200 may acquire the detection result of the internal sensor, and when generating a route, may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor on the route. In the above-mentioned embodiment (1), the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result of the internal sensor, and when generating a driving control signal, may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor on the driving control signal. In the above-mentioned embodiment (2), the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result of the internal sensor, and when generating a route, may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor on the route. In the above embodiment (2), the vehicle 100 may acquire a detection result of the internal sensor, and may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the driving control signal when generating the driving control signal.

[0052] (C4) In the above second embodiment, an internal sensor may be mounted on the vehicle 100, and a detection result output from the internal sensor may be used for at least one of generating a route and generating a driving control signal. For example, the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result of the internal sensor, and when generating a route, may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the route. The vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result of the internal sensor, and when generating a driving control signal, may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the driving control signal.

[0053] (C5) In the above second embodiment, the vehicle 100 acquires vehicle position information using the detection result of the camera 301, which is an external sensor. In contrast, the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and the vehicle 100 may acquire vehicle position information using the detection result of the internal sensor, determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head, generate a route from the current location of the vehicle 100 represented in the acquired vehicle position information to the target position, generate a travel control signal for traveling along the generated route, and control the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130 using the generated travel control signal. In this case, the vehicle 100 can travel without using any detection result of the external sensor. The vehicle 100 may acquire a target arrival time or traffic congestion information from outside the vehicle 100, and reflect the target arrival time or traffic congestion information in at least one of the route and the travel control signal.

[0054] (C6) In the first embodiment, the remote control device 200 automatically generates a travel control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100. In contrast, the remote control device 200 may generate a travel control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100 according to the operation of an external operator located outside the vehicle 100. For example, an external operator may operate a steering device including a display for displaying an image output from the camera 301, which is an external sensor, a steering wheel for remotely operating the vehicle 100, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and a communication device for communicating with the remote control device 200 by wired communication or wireless communication, and the remote control device 200 may generate a travel control signal according to the operation applied to the steering device. In this embodiment, when a remotely manually operated vehicle being remotely manually operated by an operator and another vehicle are about to enter an intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control device 200 may display information on whether the remotely manually operated vehicle has priority on the display of the steering device. In this case, the operator can easily understand whether the remotely manually operated vehicle has priority by referring to the information displayed on the display. In addition, in this form, when a remotely manually driven vehicle being remotely driven by an operator and another vehicle attempt to enter an intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control device 200 may switch the remotely manually driven vehicle from remote manual driving to remote automatic driving, allow the vehicle being remotely manually driven by the operator and the other vehicle to pass through the intersection in accordance with priority by remote automatic driving, and then return the vehicle being remotely manually driven by the operator from remote automatic driving to remote manual driving.

[0055] (C7) In each of the above embodiments, the vehicle 100 may have a configuration capable of moving by unmanned driving, and may be in the form of a platform having the configuration described below, for example. Specifically, the vehicle 100 may have at least the drive unit 110, the steering unit 120, the braking unit 130, and the vehicle control unit 150 in order to perform the three functions of "running," "turning," and "stopping" by unmanned driving. When the vehicle 100 acquires information from the outside for unmanned driving, the vehicle 100 may further have a communication unit 140. That is, the vehicle 100 capable of moving by unmanned driving may not be equipped with at least a part of interior parts such as a driver's seat and a dashboard, may not be equipped with at least a part of exterior parts such as a bumper and a fender, and may not be equipped with a body shell. In this case, the remaining parts such as the body shell may be attached to the vehicle 100 before the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory KJ, or the remaining parts such as the body shell may be attached to the vehicle 100 after the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory KJ without the remaining parts such as the body shell being attached to the vehicle 100. Each part may be attached from any direction such as the upper side, lower side, front side, rear side, right side, or left side of the vehicle 100, and may be attached from the same direction or from different directions. Note that the position of the platform configuration may also be determined in the same manner as for the vehicle 100 in the first embodiment.

[0056] (C8) The vehicle 100 may be manufactured by combining a plurality of modules. A module means a unit composed of a plurality of parts grouped according to the location or function of the vehicle 100. For example, the platform of the vehicle 100 may be manufactured by combining a front module that constitutes the front part of the platform, a central module that constitutes the central part of the platform, and a rear module that constitutes the rear part of the platform. The number of modules that constitute the platform is not limited to three, and may be two or less, or four or more. In addition to or instead of the parts that constitute the platform, parts that constitute parts of the vehicle 100 that are different from the platform may be modularized. The various modules may include any exterior parts such as a bumper or a grille, or any interior parts such as a seat or a console. In addition, not limited to the vehicle 100, any type of moving body may be manufactured by combining a plurality of modules. Such a module may be manufactured, for example, by joining a plurality of parts by welding or a fastener, or may be manufactured by integrally molding at least a part of the parts that constitute the module as one part by casting. The molding method for integrally molding a single component, particularly a relatively large component, is also called gigacast or megacast. For example, the front module, the center module, and the rear module may be manufactured using gigacast.

[0057] (C9) Transporting the vehicle 100 by using the vehicle 100's unmanned driving is also called "self-propelled transport." Also, the configuration for realizing self-propelled transport is also called "vehicle remote-controlled autonomous driving transport system." Also, the production method for producing the vehicle 100 by using self-propelled transport is also called "self-propelled production." In self-propelled production, for example, at the factory KJ where the vehicle 100 is manufactured, at least a part of the transport of the vehicle 100 is realized by self-propelled transport.

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

[0059] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be realized in various configurations without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each aspect described in the Summary of the Invention column can be appropriately replaced or combined to solve some or all of the above-mentioned problems or to achieve some or all of the above-mentioned effects. Furthermore, if the technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be appropriately deleted. [Explanation of symbols]

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

Claims

1. A control device, an information acquisition unit that acquires performance information regarding at least one of an avoidance performance of a plurality of moving bodies that can move by unmanned operation, the avoidance performance being for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a reduction performance being for reducing an impact at the time of a collision with the obstacle; a control unit for controlling unmanned operation of at least one of the plurality of moving bodies, the control unit controlling the at least one moving body such that, when the plurality of moving bodies are to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the plurality of moving bodies pass through the intersection in a priority order determined in descending order of the performance of the at least one moving body using the performance information; A control device comprising:

2. The control device according to claim 1 , The control unit sets a higher priority as the avoidance performance is higher, and when the avoidance performance is the same, sets a higher priority as the mitigation performance is higher.

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

4. The control device according to claim 1 , the plurality of moving bodies are moved by unmanned operation in a factory where the plurality of moving bodies are manufactured; the performance information includes information indicating the number of reinspections of the moving object at the factory; The control unit is configured to assign a higher priority to a control device having a smaller number of retests.

5. An unmanned driving method, comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring performance information on at least one of an avoidance performance of a plurality of moving bodies capable of moving by unmanned operation, the avoidance performance being for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a reduction performance being for reducing an impact at the time of a collision with the obstacle; an unmanned driving step of moving the plurality of moving bodies by unmanned driving, in which, when the plurality of moving bodies are going to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the plurality of moving bodies are made to pass through the intersection in a priority order determined in descending order of the performance of at least one of the moving bodies using the performance information; The unmanned driving method includes:

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