Vehicle position estimation device, vehicle position estimation system, and vehicle position estimation method

Abstract

To provide a technique for accurately estimating a vehicle position.SOLUTION: A vehicle position estimation device 110 comprises: a coordinate acquisition section 114 for acquiring a coordinate position of a first vehicle 10; a map information acquisition section 115 for acquiring map information including the coordinate position acquired by the coordinate acquisition section; a peripheral information acquisition section 116 for acquiring peripheral information indicating a target positioned in the periphery of the first vehicle detected by a periphery sensor mounted on the first vehicle; a vehicle position estimation section 117 for estimating a first vehicle position indicating the position of the first vehicle with the use of the map information and the peripheral information; a relative position estimation section 118 for estimating a relative position of a second vehicle 20 positioned in the periphery of the first vehicle with respect to the first vehicle with the use of the peripheral information; and a correction section 119 for correcting the first vehicle position with the use of a second vehicle position indicating the position of the second vehicle acquired from the second vehicle and the relative position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle position estimation device, a vehicle position estimation system, and a vehicle position estimation method. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technology for estimating the position of a vehicle using information measured using a Global Navigation Satellite System(s) (GNSS) such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) as a vehicle position estimation device. Patent Document 1 describes a technology for sharing the vehicle's estimated self-position with a terminal mounted on the vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-201083 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2011-58909 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In urban areas crowded with people, buildings, and vehicles, the accuracy of GNSS positioning and the accuracy of self-location estimation using information about the vehicle's surroundings acquired by sensors mounted on the vehicle and map information decrease. For this reason, there has been a demand for technology that can estimate vehicle location with high accuracy. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can be realized in the following forms.

[0006] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a vehicle position estimation device (110, 110D) is provided. The vehicle position estimation device includes a coordinate acquisition unit (114) that acquires a coordinate position of a first vehicle (10), a map information acquisition unit (115) that acquires map information including the coordinate position acquired by the coordinate acquisition unit, a surrounding information acquisition unit (116) that acquires surrounding information indicating targets located in the surroundings of the first vehicle detected by a surrounding sensor mounted on the first vehicle, a vehicle position estimation unit (117) that estimates a first vehicle position indicating the position of the first vehicle using the map information and the surrounding information, a relative position estimation unit (118) that estimates a relative position of a second vehicle (20) located in the surroundings of the first vehicle with respect to the first vehicle using the surrounding information, and a correction unit (119) that corrects the first vehicle position using a second vehicle position indicating the position of the second vehicle acquired from the second vehicle and the relative position.

[0007] According to the vehicle position estimation device of this aspect, the first vehicle position is corrected using the second vehicle position and the relative position, so that the first vehicle position can be estimated with high accuracy. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle position estimation system. [Diagram 2] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a vehicle position estimation process. [Diagram 3] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a vehicle position estimation process in the third embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle position estimation system according to a fourth embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a positional relationship between a first vehicle and a second vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] A. First embodiment: As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle position estimation system 500 includes a first vehicle 10, a second vehicle 20, and a vehicle position estimation device 110. In this embodiment, the vehicle position estimation device 110 is mounted on the first vehicle 10. The vehicle position estimation device 110 estimates a first vehicle position indicating the position of the first vehicle 10. The second vehicle 20 is a vehicle located in the vicinity of the first vehicle 10. The vehicle position estimation system 500 is used in an environment with many buildings and crowded with people and vehicles. Even in such an environment where the accuracy of positioning by GNSS decreases, the vehicle position estimation system 500 can estimate the first vehicle position.

[0010] The first vehicle 10 of this embodiment includes an automatic driving control system 100. In this embodiment, the automatic driving control system 100 executes automatic driving of the first vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the automatic driving control system 100 includes a vehicle position estimation device 110, a surrounding sensor 120, a vehicle position sensor 130, a map information storage unit 140, a driving control unit 210, a driving force control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 220, a braking force control ECU 230, and a steering control ECU 240. The vehicle position estimation device 110, the driving force control ECU 220, the braking force control ECU 230, and the steering control ECU 240 are connected via an in-vehicle network 250. Note that the first vehicle 10 may be driven not only by automatic driving but also by manual driving manually performed by a driver.

[0011] The surrounding sensor 120 is a sensor that can detect a target located in the vicinity of the first vehicle 10. The surrounding sensor 120 includes a camera 121 and an object sensor 122. The camera 121 captures an image of the vicinity of the first vehicle 10 to obtain the image. The object sensor 122 detects an object in the vicinity of the first vehicle 10. For example, the object sensor 122 may be Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) that uses reflected waves or a millimeter wave radar. In this embodiment, the object sensor 122 identifies an object in the vicinity of the first vehicle 10 and measures the distance to the object. However, the object sensor 122 may only measure the distance to an object in the vicinity of the first vehicle 10 and identify the object using point cloud information measured by a device at a later stage.

[0012] The vehicle position sensor 130 detects the current coordinate position of the first vehicle 10. An example of the vehicle position sensor 130 is a GNSS such as a GPS.

[0013] The map information storage unit 140 stores map information. The "map information" is, for example, information indicating the positions of each feature and the positions of roads. In this embodiment, the map information is three-dimensional information including latitude and longitude information.

[0014] The vehicle position estimation device 110 includes a storage unit 111, a communication unit 112, and a CPU 113. The CPU 113 executes a program pre-installed in the storage unit 111 to realize the functions of a coordinate acquisition unit 114, a map information acquisition unit 115, a surrounding information acquisition unit 116, a vehicle position estimation unit 117, a relative position estimation unit 118, and a correction unit 119. However, some or all of the functions of these units may be realized by a hardware circuit. The vehicle position estimation device 110 notifies the driving control unit 210 of the estimated vehicle position information.

[0015] The communication unit 112 executes vehicle-to-vehicle communication with the second vehicle 20. The first vehicle 10 can acquire various information from the second vehicle 20 by executing the vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The communication unit 112 may execute at least one of wireless communication with an Intelligent Transport System, vehicle-to-vehicle communication with the second vehicle 20, and road-to-vehicle communication with a roadside wireless device or the like installed on road facilities.

[0016] The coordinate acquisition unit 114 acquires the current coordinate position of the first vehicle 10 from the vehicle position sensor 130 .

[0017] The map information acquisition unit 115 acquires map information including the coordinate positions acquired by the coordinate acquisition unit 114 from the map information storage unit 140. That is, it acquires three-dimensional information of features estimated to exist around the first vehicle 10.

[0018] The surrounding information acquisition unit 116 acquires surrounding information indicating the coordinate positions of targets located around the first vehicle 10 detected by a surrounding sensor 120 mounted on the first vehicle 10 .

[0019] The vehicle position estimation unit 117 uses map information and surrounding information to estimate a first vehicle position indicating the position of the first vehicle 10. More specifically, the vehicle position estimation unit 117 uses map information and surrounding information to estimate the first vehicle position from the positional relationship between the first vehicle 10 and objects around the first vehicle 10. This increases the probability that the position of the first vehicle 10 can be estimated with higher accuracy than the coordinate position of the first vehicle 10 acquired from the vehicle position sensor 130.

[0020] The relative position estimation unit 118 uses the surrounding information to estimate the relative position of the second vehicle 20 located in the periphery of the first vehicle 10 with respect to the first vehicle 10. The relative position is represented by coordinates.

[0021] The correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position using the second vehicle position indicating the position of the second vehicle 20 acquired from the second vehicle 20 and the relative position. In this embodiment, the correction unit 119 acquires the second vehicle position from the second vehicle 20 via the communication unit 112. In this embodiment, the second vehicle position is a coordinate position detected by a vehicle position sensor provided in the second vehicle 20.

[0022] The driving control unit 210 is composed of a microcomputer including a central processing unit (CPU), RAM, and ROM, and realizes an automatic driving function by the microcomputer executing a pre-installed program. The driving control unit 210 realizes an automatic driving function of traveling along a predetermined route by controlling the driving force control ECU 220, the braking force control ECU 230, and the steering control ECU 240 based on the first vehicle position received from the vehicle position estimation device 110. The driving control unit 210 controls, for example, the driving force control ECU 220 and the braking force control ECU 230, and automatically changes lanes using the steering control ECU 240.

[0023] The driving force control ECU 220 is an electronic control device that controls a power source, such as an engine, that generates driving force for the first vehicle 10. When the driver drives manually, the driving force control ECU 220 controls the power source, such as the engine or an electric motor, according to the amount of accelerator pedal operation. When autonomous driving is performed, the driving force control ECU 220 controls the power source according to the required driving force calculated by the driving control unit 210.

[0024] The braking force control ECU 230 is an electronic control device that controls a brake actuator that generates a braking force for the first vehicle 10. When the driver drives manually, the braking force control ECU 230 controls the brake actuator according to the amount of operation of the brake pedal. When automatic driving is performed, the braking force control ECU 230 controls the brake actuator according to the required braking force calculated by the driving control unit 210.

[0025] The steering control ECU 240 is an electronic control device that controls a motor that generates a steering torque for the first vehicle 10. When the driver drives manually, the steering control ECU 240 controls the motor according to the operation of the steering wheel to generate an assist torque for the steering operation. This allows the driver to operate the steering wheel with a small amount of force, and realizes steering of the first vehicle 10. When autonomous driving is performed, the steering control ECU 240 performs steering by controlling the motor according to the required steering angle calculated by the driving control unit 210.

[0026] 2 is a process in which the vehicle position estimation device 110 estimates the first vehicle position. This process is a process that is repeatedly executed by the vehicle position estimation device 110 while the first vehicle 10 is traveling, for example, a process that is repeatedly executed every 100 ms.

[0027] In step S100, the vehicle position estimation device 110 acquires the current coordinate position of the first vehicle 10 from the vehicle position sensor 130. This step is also referred to as a "coordinate acquisition step."

[0028] In step S110, the vehicle position estimation device 110 acquires map information including the coordinate position acquired in step S100 from the map information storage unit 140. This step is also referred to as a "map information acquisition step."

[0029] In step S120, the vehicle position estimation device 110 acquires peripheral information from the peripheral sensor 120. This step is also referred to as a “peripheral information acquisition step.” Note that steps S100 to S120 can be performed in any order, and may be performed in parallel, as long as the process of step S110 is performed after the process of step S100.

[0030] In step S130, vehicle position estimation device 110 estimates a first vehicle position using the map information acquired in step S110 and the surrounding area information acquired in step S120. This step is also referred to as a "vehicle position estimation step."

[0031] In step S140, vehicle position estimation device 110 acquires a second vehicle position indicating the position of second vehicle 20. This step is also referred to as a "second vehicle position acquisition step."

[0032] In step S150, the vehicle position estimation device 110 estimates the relative position of the second vehicle 20 with respect to the first vehicle 10, using the surrounding information acquired in step S120. This step is also referred to as a "relative position estimation step." In this embodiment, the vehicle position estimation device 110 identifies, as the second vehicle 20, a vehicle that is estimated to be located at the second vehicle position, among the vehicles located around the first vehicle 10 indicated by the surrounding information acquired in step S140. The vehicle position estimation device 110 estimates the relative position of the identified second vehicle 20 with respect to the first vehicle 10, using the surrounding information.

[0033] In step S160, vehicle position estimation device 110 corrects the first vehicle position estimated in step S130 using the second vehicle position acquired in step S140 and the relative position estimated in step S150. This step is also referred to as a "correction step." More specifically, vehicle position estimation device 110 corrects the first vehicle position to, for example, an intermediate position between the first vehicle position estimated in step S130 and the position of the first vehicle 10 estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position.

[0034] In addition, without being limited to the above-mentioned correction method, the correction unit 119 may correct the first vehicle position to, for example, the center of gravity of a polygon or the midpoint of a line segment obtained by connecting the current coordinate position of the first vehicle 10 acquired by the coordinate acquisition unit 114, the first vehicle position estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit 117, and the position of the first vehicle 10 estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position.

[0035] According to the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the present embodiment described above, the first vehicle position is corrected using the second vehicle position and the relative position, so that the first vehicle position can be estimated with high accuracy.

[0036] B. Second embodiment: The vehicle position estimation process of the second embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment in that the first vehicle position is corrected using the accuracy of the first vehicle position and the accuracy of the second vehicle position in the process of step S160, but the other steps are the same. Since the configuration of the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the second embodiment, a description of the configuration of the vehicle position estimation device 110 will be omitted.

[0037] Hereinafter, the accuracy of the first vehicle position is referred to as the first accuracy, and the accuracy of the second vehicle position is referred to as the second accuracy. In this embodiment, the first accuracy and the second accuracy are, for example, the reception strength of the GNSS signal represented by the signal to noise ratio (SNR) or the carrier to noise density ratio (C / N0).

[0038] The correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position using a first accuracy indicating the accuracy of the first vehicle position and a second accuracy indicating the accuracy of the second vehicle position. More specifically, when the first accuracy is higher than the second accuracy, the correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position to a position closer to the tentative first vehicle position, which is the first vehicle position estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit 117 in step S130, than the new first vehicle position, which is the position of the first vehicle 10 estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position. Furthermore, when the second accuracy is higher than the first accuracy, the correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position to a position closer to the new first vehicle position than the tentative first vehicle position. For example, the correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position to coordinates on a straight line connecting the new first vehicle position and the tentative first vehicle position such that the ratio of the distance from the tentative first vehicle position to the distance from the new first vehicle position is the same as the ratio of the first accuracy to the second accuracy.

[0039] According to the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the second embodiment described above, the first vehicle position can be corrected using a vehicle position with high accuracy, thereby improving the accuracy of the first vehicle position.

[0040] C. Third embodiment: 3 differs from the third embodiment in that step S160 is executed when the accuracy of the second vehicle position is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, but the other steps are the same. The configuration of the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the third embodiment is the same as that of the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the second embodiment, and therefore a description of the configuration of the vehicle position estimation device 110 will be omitted.

[0041] In step S155, the vehicle position estimation device 110 determines whether the second accuracy is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The threshold value may be a value determined experimentally or empirically in advance, or may be a value calculated based on a map or function that defines the relationship between the first accuracy and the threshold value. In this embodiment, the threshold value is the value of the first accuracy. If the second accuracy is equal to or greater than the threshold value, that is, if the second accuracy is equal to or greater than the first accuracy, the vehicle position estimation device 110 proceeds to the process of step S160. On the other hand, if the second accuracy is less than the threshold value, that is, if the second accuracy is less than the first accuracy, the vehicle position estimation process is terminated.

[0042] According to the vehicle position estimation device 110 of the third embodiment described above, when the second accuracy is equal to or greater than the threshold, the first vehicle position is corrected, so that the accuracy of the first vehicle position can be improved. In addition, since the threshold is the value of the first accuracy, the accuracy of the first vehicle position can be improved.

[0043] D. Fourth embodiment: A vehicle position estimation system 500D of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 4 differs from the first embodiment in that a vehicle position estimation device 110D includes a vehicle information acquisition unit 150, but the other configurations are the same.

[0044] The vehicle information acquisition unit 150 acquires second vehicle information including at least one of the vehicle type of the second vehicle 20 and the size of the second vehicle 20. The second vehicle information is transmitted from the second vehicle 20 together with the second vehicle position, for example.

[0045] In this embodiment, the relative position estimation unit 118 uses the surrounding information and the second vehicle information to identify the second vehicle 20 from among the vehicles located in the periphery of the first vehicle 10, and estimates the relative position. More specifically, the relative position estimation unit 118 identifies, among the vehicles located in the periphery of the first vehicle 10 indicated by the surrounding information, a vehicle whose information matches the vehicle information indicated by the second vehicle information, as the second vehicle 20. The relative position estimation unit 118 estimates the relative position of the identified second vehicle 20 with respect to the first vehicle 10, using the surrounding information.

[0046] According to the vehicle position estimation device 110D of the fourth embodiment described above, the second vehicle 20 is identified using the second vehicle information, so that the second vehicle 20 can be identified from among the vehicles located in the vicinity of the first vehicle 10 with high accuracy.

[0047] E. Other embodiments: (E1) In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle position estimation device 110 is mounted on the first vehicle 10. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the vehicle position estimation device 110 may be provided, for example, in a server provided outside the first vehicle 10 or in a transportation infrastructure.

[0048] (E2) In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle position estimation system 500 may include a plurality of second vehicles 20. In this case, the vehicle position estimation device 110 corrects the first vehicle position using the second vehicle position and the relative position of each second vehicle 20. More specifically, the relative position estimation unit 118 estimates the relative positions of each of the plurality of second vehicles 20 with respect to the first vehicle 10. The correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position using each of the second vehicle positions of the plurality of second vehicles 20 and the relative position of each of the second vehicles 20 estimated by the relative position estimation unit 118. The correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position to the center of gravity of a polygon or the midpoint of a line segment obtained by connecting each new first vehicle position, which is the position of the first vehicle 10 estimated using each second vehicle position and the relative position, and the tentative first vehicle position, which is the first vehicle position estimated in step S130, for example. In this case, in the second and third embodiments, the first vehicle position may be corrected using the second vehicle position with the highest second accuracy and the relative position of the second vehicle 20.

[0049] (E3) In the above-described embodiment, the second vehicle position is a coordinate position detected by a vehicle position sensor equipped in the second vehicle 20. The second vehicle position may be a coordinate position detected by a vehicle position sensor equipped in the second vehicle 20, which is corrected by the vehicle position estimation device 110 using the positions of the other vehicles and the relative positions of the other vehicles with respect to the second vehicle 20, as in the first vehicle position. That is, the vehicle positions may be corrected in a chain reaction. As shown in FIG. 5, when the first vehicle 10 and the second vehicle 20 are traveling inside a tunnel and the other vehicle 30 is traveling outside the tunnel, the vehicle position estimation device 110 can correct the first vehicle position via the second vehicle 20 using a coordinate position detected by a vehicle position sensor equipped in the other vehicle 30 located outside the tunnel. Also, even in an environment that is very congested due to traffic congestion, the first vehicle position can be corrected using a vehicle position estimated by another vehicle located in an uncongested environment.

[0050] (E4) In the above-described embodiment, vehicle position estimation device 110 may acquire, in addition to the second vehicle position, from the second vehicle 20, the position of the other vehicle 30 acquired by the second vehicle 20 from the other vehicle 30 and the relative position of the other vehicle 30 with respect to the second vehicle 20. Correction unit 119 corrects the first vehicle position to the center of gravity of a polygon or the midpoint of a line segment obtained by connecting, for example, a new first vehicle position which is the position of the first vehicle 10 estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position, a quasi-first vehicle position which is the position of the first vehicle 10 estimated using the position of the other vehicle and the relative position of the other vehicle with respect to the first vehicle 10, and a tentative first vehicle position which is the first vehicle position estimated in step S130.

[0051] (E5) In the second and third embodiments described above, the first accuracy and the second accuracy are the strength of the signal received by the vehicle position sensor. Not limited to this, the first accuracy and the second accuracy may be, for example, the degree of agreement between the current coordinate position of the vehicle acquired from the vehicle position sensor and the current coordinate position of the vehicle estimated using map information and surrounding information. In this case, the second vehicle position is estimated using map information including the coordinate position detected by the vehicle position sensor provided in the second vehicle 20 and surrounding information indicating the target located in the periphery of the second vehicle 20, similar to the first vehicle position. The first accuracy and the second accuracy may be values ​​determined according to predetermined parameters. Examples of the parameters include weather and vehicle speed. When the weather is adopted as the parameter, the first accuracy and the second accuracy in fine weather may be set to values ​​higher than the first accuracy and the second accuracy in rainy weather. When the vehicle speed is adopted as the parameter, the first accuracy and the second accuracy may be calculated based on, for example, a map or a function that defines the relationship between the vehicle speed and the accuracy. Furthermore, the first and second degrees of accuracy may be set by combining these.

[0052] (E6) In the above-described fourth embodiment, the second vehicle information is information including at least one of the vehicle type of the second vehicle 20 and the size of the second vehicle 20. Without being limited thereto, the second vehicle information may be information including the vehicle registration number, which is the number written on the license plate of the second vehicle 20.

[0053] 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 form described in the Summary of the Invention column can be appropriately replaced or combined in order to solve 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.

[0054] The vehicle position estimation device 110 and the method described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer provided by configuring a processor and a memory programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer provided by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the limiting unit and the method described herein may be implemented by one or more special-purpose computers configured by a combination of a processor and a memory programmed to execute one or more functions and a processor configured with one or more hardware logic circuits. Also, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transitory tangible recording medium as instructions executed by a computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 10...first vehicle, 20...second vehicle, 30...other vehicle, 100...automatic driving control system, 110, 110D...vehicle position estimation device, 111...memory unit, 112...communication unit, 113...CPU, 114...coordinate acquisition unit, 115...map information acquisition unit, 116...surrounding information acquisition unit, 117...vehicle position estimation unit, 118...relative position estimation unit, 119...correction unit, 120...surrounding sensor, 121...camera, 122...object sensor, 130...vehicle position sensor, 140...map information memory unit, 150...vehicle information acquisition unit, 210...driving control unit, 220...driving force control ECU, 230...braking force control ECU, 240...steering control ECU, 250...in-vehicle network, 500, 500D...vehicle position estimation system

Claims

1. A vehicle position estimation device (110, 110D), A coordinate acquisition unit (114) that acquires a coordinate position of a first vehicle (10); a map information acquisition unit (115) for acquiring map information including the coordinate position acquired by the coordinate acquisition unit; a surrounding information acquisition unit (116) that acquires surrounding information indicating targets located around the first vehicle detected by a surrounding sensor mounted on the first vehicle; a vehicle position estimation unit (117) that estimates a first vehicle position indicating a position of the first vehicle by using the map information and the surrounding area information; a relative position estimation unit (118) that estimates a relative position of a second vehicle (20) located in the vicinity of the first vehicle with respect to the first vehicle using the vicinity information; a correction unit (119) that corrects the first vehicle position using a second vehicle position indicating a position of the second vehicle obtained from the second vehicle and the relative position.

2. 2. The vehicle position estimation device according to claim 1, the relative position estimation unit estimates a relative position of each of the plurality of second vehicles with respect to the first vehicle; The correction unit corrects the first vehicle position using each of the second vehicle positions and each of the relative positions of the second vehicles.

3. 3. A vehicle position estimation device according to claim 1, further comprising: The correction unit is when a first accuracy indicating an accuracy of the first vehicle position is higher than a second accuracy indicating an accuracy of the second vehicle position, correcting the first vehicle position to a position closer to a tentative first vehicle position, which is the first vehicle position estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit, than a new first vehicle position, which is the first vehicle position estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position; When the second accuracy is higher than the first accuracy, the first vehicle position is corrected to a position closer to the new first vehicle position than the tentative first vehicle position.

4. 3. A vehicle position estimation device according to claim 1, further comprising: The correction unit corrects the first vehicle position using the second vehicle position and the relative position, where a second accuracy indicating an accuracy of the second vehicle position is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

5. 3. The vehicle position estimation device according to claim 1, further comprising: a vehicle information acquisition unit (150) that acquires second vehicle information including at least one of a vehicle type of the second vehicle and a size of the second vehicle; A vehicle position estimation device, wherein the relative position estimation unit uses the surrounding information and the second vehicle information to identify the second vehicle from among vehicles located in the vicinity of the first vehicle, and estimates the relative position.

6. A vehicle position estimation system (500, 500D), A first vehicle; A second vehicle located in the vicinity of the first vehicle; A coordinate acquisition unit that acquires a coordinate position of the first vehicle; a map information acquisition unit that acquires map information including the coordinate position acquired by the coordinate acquisition unit; a surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information indicating targets located around the first vehicle detected by a surrounding sensor mounted on the first vehicle; a vehicle position estimation unit that estimates a first vehicle position indicating a position of the first vehicle by using the coordinate position, the map information, and the surrounding area information; a relative position estimation unit that estimates a relative position of the second vehicle with respect to the first vehicle by using the surrounding information; A vehicle position estimation system comprising: a second vehicle position indicating a position of the second vehicle; and a correction unit that corrects the first vehicle position using the relative position.

7. 1. A vehicle position estimation method, comprising: a coordinate acquisition step of acquiring a coordinate position of the first vehicle; a map information acquisition step of acquiring map information including the coordinate position; a surrounding information acquisition step of acquiring surrounding information indicating targets located around the first vehicle; a vehicle position estimating step of estimating a first vehicle position indicating a position of the first vehicle by using the coordinate position, the map information, and the surrounding area information; a relative position estimating step of estimating a relative position of a second vehicle located around the first vehicle with respect to the first vehicle by using the surrounding information; a second vehicle position acquisition step of acquiring a second vehicle position indicating a position of the second vehicle; and correcting the first vehicle position by using the second vehicle position and the relative position.

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