Driving control system

Abstract

To continue automatic driving control or driving support control by complementing a function of a sensing device used for the automatic driving control.SOLUTION: A driving control system comprises: a sensor group 100 for executing driving support; an automatic driving control information generation section 200 which includes an automatic driving sensor for executing automatic driving control and generates information used for the automatic driving control; a peripheral information generation section 300 which executes a communication connecting vehicles with everything, transmits automatic driving sensor information of an own vehicle, acquires automatic driving sensor information of the other vehicle and generates information in a periphery of the own vehicle from the acquired information and a high-accuracy map; and a control section 500 which executes the automatic driving control or driving support control. The control section 500 changes a mode of driving control in accordance with an actuation situation of the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation section 200 or the peripheral information generation section 300.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an operation control system.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the development of autonomous vehicles that can drive a vehicle without a driver performing driving operations has been progressing. This autonomous driving control is defined in six levels: level 0, level 1 (driving assistance), level 2 (partial autonomous driving), level 3 (conditional autonomous driving), level 4 (highly autonomous driving), and level 5 (fully autonomous driving), and development is rapidly advancing towards the final level.

[0003] As this type of device, for generating commands to safely and comfortably control a vehicle in real time with respect to autonomous driving, a large amount of data from cameras, radars, LIDARs, and HD maps is processed, and an advanced system and method for facilitating autonomous driving functions, including platforms for autonomous driving levels 3, 4, and / or 5, are disclosed. More specifically, an end-to-end platform is disclosed that provides diversity and redundancy, including an architecture for autonomous vehicles that utilizes computer vision and known ADAS techniques, and has a flexible architecture that meets functional safety standards (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] In addition, it includes a detection means for acquiring the driving state of the vehicle, the surrounding situation of the vehicle, and the state of the driver, an automatic driving means for automatically driving the vehicle, and a determination means for determining whether the conditions for performing automatic driving are satisfied. When the detection accuracy of the detection means does not meet a predetermined standard, the determination means determines that the conditions for performing automatic driving are not satisfied. If it is determined during automatic driving that the conditions for performing automatic driving are not satisfied, a notification prompting the driver to cancel the automatic driving is issued. During automatic driving, it is equipped with a safe area calculation means for periodically calculating a parking point where the vehicle can be safely stopped. If the driver does not cancel the automatic driving even after receiving the notification prompting the cancellation of the automatic driving, a technique for guiding the vehicle to the parking point and stopping it is disclosed (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 aims to construct a platform that meets the functional safety standards by providing diversity and redundancy to elements including the architecture for autonomous driving vehicles that utilize ADAS techniques. It does not address the issue of how to continue the autonomous driving control or driving assistance control by complementing the characteristics of each element or device that provides the information necessary for performing the autonomous driving control or driving assistance control.

[0007] On the other hand, sensors such as LIDAR, which are key parts of autonomous driving control, are excellent at detecting ground features and road shapes around the vehicle. However, there is a problem that the detection accuracy in the area in front of the vehicle and the area far from the vehicle drops. In addition, with only sensors such as LIDAR, for example, in a situation where a vehicle ahead is stationary, such as in a traffic jam, the vehicle ahead becomes an obstacle, and information regarding driving within the traffic jam or in the traffic jam clearance section cannot be obtained, and there is also a problem that automatic driving control or driving support control cannot be continued.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a driving control system that complements functions such as a sensing device used for automatic driving control and continues automatic driving control or driving support control.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] Aspect 1; One or more embodiments of the present invention include a sensor group for performing driving support, an automatic driving sensor for performing automatic driving control, an automatic driving control information generation unit for generating information used for automatic driving control, a communication unit that executes communication connecting the vehicle with everything, transmits the automatic driving sensor information of the host vehicle, acquires the automatic driving sensor information of other vehicles, and generates information around the host vehicle based on the acquired information and a high-precision map, and a control unit for executing automatic driving control or driving support control, and the control unit proposes a driving control system that changes the mode of driving control according to the operating status of the sensor group, the automatic driving control information generation unit, or the surrounding information generation unit.

[0010] Aspect 2; One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a driving control system in which, when the communication is interrupted, the control unit mainly uses the information from the sensor group and refers to the information generated by the automatic driving control information generation unit to execute the automatic driving control.

[0011] Embodiment 3; One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a driving control system in which, when a sensor for executing the automatic driving control does not operate or malfunctions, the control unit mainly refers to the information generated by the peripheral information generation unit while referring to the information from the sensor group and executes the driving support control.

[0012] Embodiment 4; One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a driving control system in which, when the sensor group does not operate or malfunctions, the control unit mainly refers to the information generated by the peripheral information generation unit while referring to the information from the automatic driving control information generation unit and executes the driving support control.

[0013] Embodiment 5; One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a driving control system in which, when the communication is interrupted and a sensor for executing the automatic driving control does not operate or malfunctions, the control unit executes the driving support control based on the information from the sensor group.

[0014] Embodiment 6; One or more embodiments of the present invention propose a driving control system in which the control unit is composed of a processor in a device provided in the vehicle and a server on the cloud, and the server executes group control for high-functional control and future prediction of the vehicle.

Advantages of the Invention

[0015] According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, there is an effect that the function of a sensing device used for automatic driving control can be complemented, and automatic driving control or driving support control can be continued.

Brief Description of the Drawings

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11.

[0018] <First Embodiment> The driving control system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

[0019] <Configuration of Driving Control System 1> As shown in FIG. 1, the driving control system 1 according to this embodiment includes a sensor group 100, an automatic driving control information generation unit 200, a surrounding information generation unit 300, a map information storage unit 400, and a control unit 500. The driving control system 1 according to this embodiment has sensor redundancy, and combines information far from the host vehicle, such as information on other vehicles, people, road conditions (construction, broken-down vehicles), acceleration / deceleration information determined from surrounding vehicles, etc., with information on the surroundings of the host vehicle obtained by the autonomous sensors composed of the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and executes vehicle control to prevent, for example, collisions between vehicles.

[0020] The sensor group 100 is a sensor for executing driving assistance. As shown in FIG. 1, it includes, for example, a stereo camera 110 and a corner radar 120. Note that the information obtained by the sensor group 100 is output to the control unit 500 described later.

[0021] The stereo camera 110 is a sensor capable of not only image acquisition but also distance measurement. For example, it three-dimensionally recognizes an object in front of the vehicle and grasps its type, distance, moving speed, etc. Therefore, by using the stereo camera 110, it is possible to distinguish between people, objects, vehicles, and road shapes such as white lines and curves. Although the stereo camera 110 detects objects in front of the vehicle, its field of view is limited. Due to factors such as the installation position of the stereo camera 110 inside the vehicle, the stereo camera 110 mounted on the vehicle is characterized by excellent recognition accuracy up to the middle distance in front of the vehicle and poor recognition accuracy around the vehicle.

[0022] The corner radar 120 is composed of, for example, a millimeter-wave radar, and is a sensor for detecting obstacles at very close range from the vehicle. The corner radar 120 is mainly mounted inside the front and rear bumpers and is used to warn the occupants when parking or when the vehicle approaches.

[0023] The automatic driving control information generation unit 200 includes automatic driving sensors for executing automatic driving control, and generates information used for automatic driving control. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, examples of the automatic driving sensors for executing automatic driving control include a LIDAR 210, a surround camera 220, and the like. Note that the automatic driving control information generated by the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 is output to a control unit 500 described later.

[0024] LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) 210, as one of the remote sensing technologies using light, measures scattered light against the irradiation of a laser that emits in a pulsed manner, and analyzes the distance to an object and the nature of the object. LIDAR 210 is equipped in addition to cameras and millimeter-wave radars for the purpose of ensuring sensing redundancy for the vehicle to safely autonomously drive on highways and general roads. Note that LIDAR 210 is common to the stereo camera 110 as a sensor that outputs distance point clouds. However, since the stereo camera 110 is a passive sensor while LIDAR 210 is an active sensor, they are complementary to each other with respect to the brightness of the external environment of the vehicle and the sampling rate speed.

[0025] The surrounding information generation unit 300 executes communication in which the vehicle is connected to everything, transmits the automatic driving sensor information of the host vehicle, acquires the automatic driving sensor information of other vehicles, and generates information around the host vehicle based on the acquired information and a high-precision map. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, for example, it includes a communication unit 310 and a high-precision map storage unit 320. Note that the surrounding information generated by the surrounding information generation unit 300 is output to a control unit 500 described later. Here, "communication in which the vehicle is connected to everything" refers to, for example, cellular V2X communication, or a communication form that integrates 4G, 5G network access technology and dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) technology, and further cellular V2X (C-V2X) communication technology.

[0026] The communication unit 310 enables the vehicle to function as an ICT (Information and Communication Technology) terminal. Specifically, it executes communications such as connecting the vehicle to everything. The surrounding information generation unit 300 generates surrounding information as information on a high-precision map using the high-precision map stored in the high-precision map storage unit 320 based on the information obtained through communications such as connecting the vehicle to everything in the communication unit 310. Regarding the acquisition of surrounding information using the communication unit 310, the surrounding information in the far region in the vehicle traveling direction is excellent in terms of accuracy and response. However, in the near distance region of the vehicle, although there is no change in the information accuracy, there is a characteristic that the response may be delayed due to external factors such as the communication environment.

[0027] The map information storage unit 400 stores the information of the high-precision map. Specifically, the map information storage unit 400 is composed of a hard disk device or a semiconductor memory and stores the map information of the high-precision map. Note that the information of the high-precision map stored in the map information storage unit 400 is read by the control unit 500 described later.

[0028] The control unit 500 executes automatic driving control or driving support control. Specifically, it changes the driving control mode according to the operating status of the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the surrounding information generation unit 300. Here, the "operating status" includes normal operation, abnormal operation, and non-operation. Note that the control unit 500 takes into account the characteristics of the above-described sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the surrounding information generation unit 300. Even when all of these are operating normally, for the sensor information from the sensor group 100, the sensor information up to the medium distance in front of the vehicle is preferentially adopted. For the automatic driving control information from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, the automatic driving control information around the vehicle is preferentially adopted. For the information from the surrounding information generation unit 300, the surrounding information in the far region in the vehicle traveling direction is preferentially adopted, thereby executing more advanced driving control.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 500 includes a sensor group monitoring unit 501, an environmental information acquisition unit 502, a communication environment monitoring unit 503, a driving control mode determination unit 504, and a driving control unit 505.

[0030] The sensor group monitoring unit 501 monitors the operating state of the sensor group 100 by monitoring the sensing information received from the sensor group 100. When the sensor group monitoring unit 501 detects an abnormality in the operating state of the sensor group 100, a signal to that effect is output to the driving control mode determination unit 504 described later.

[0031] The environmental information acquisition unit 502 acquires information on the vehicle traveling area including weather information and the like from an external device 600, for example. The environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquisition unit 502 is output to the driving control mode determination unit 504 described later.

[0032] The communication environment monitoring unit 503 monitors the communication environment on the vehicle traveling route from an external device 600, for example. When the communication environment monitoring unit 503 senses that the communication is interrupted or may be interrupted, a signal to that effect is output to the driving control mode determination unit 504 described later.

[0033] The driving control mode determination unit 504 determines the driving control mode based on the information received from the sensor group monitoring unit 501, the environmental information acquisition unit 502, or the communication environment monitoring unit 503. Specifically, among the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the surrounding information generation unit 30, it determines a more advanced driving control mode that is possible using the normally operating functional elements, and outputs the determination result to the driving control unit 505 described later. In this embodiment, the driving support control modes based on the automatic driving control information only from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, the driving support control mode based on the information only from the sensor group 100, the driving support control mode based on the information from the sensor group 100 and the surrounding information from the surrounding information generation unit 30, the driving support control mode based on the automatic driving control information from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 and the surrounding information from the surrounding information generation unit 30, the automatic driving control mode based on the information from the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the automatic driving control mode based on the information from the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the surrounding information from the surrounding information generation unit 30 are arranged in order of increasing sophistication of the driving control mode. When the driving control mode determination unit 504 determines that it is impossible to execute the automatic driving control mode or the driving support control mode, it outputs a determination result to execute MRM (Minimal Risk Maneuver) to the driving control unit 505.

[0034] The driving control unit 505 executes the driving control of the vehicle based on the determination result input from the driving control mode determination unit 504.

[0035] <Normal driving control> As shown in FIG. 3, in normal times, the driving control system 1 is such that all of the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the surrounding information generation unit 30 function normally.

[0036] In this driving control system 1, the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 perform sensing from the vehicle periphery to the middle distance in front of the vehicle. Mainly, the control unit 500 executes advanced automatic driving control based on the automatic driving control information from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 and the peripheral information from the peripheral information generation unit 30. Specifically, the driving control system 1 can acquire information about, for example, about 3 seconds to 30 seconds ahead from the current time by combining the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and the peripheral information generation unit 30. Therefore, for example, it executes automatic driving control for multiple lanes including changing lanes of the vehicle.

[0037] <Driving control when the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 is inoperative or malfunctioning> As shown in FIG. 4, in this case, the driving control system 1 is such that the sensor group 100 and the peripheral information generation unit 30 function normally. Here, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 being inoperative or malfunctioning means, for example, that sensing information from the LIDAR 210 cannot be acquired due to bad weather such as snow or thick fog, or that although sensing information can be acquired, the accuracy is low.

[0038] In this driving control system 1, the sensor group 100 performs sensing up to the middle distance in front of the vehicle, and the control unit 500 executes driving support control based on the sensing information from the sensor group 100 and the peripheral information from the peripheral information generation unit 30. Specifically, the driving control system 1 executes single-lane automatic driving control to maintain the current lane based on the sensing information from the sensor group 100, and also restricts the vehicle speed and the like based on the visible distance from the sensing information from the sensor group 100.

[0039] <Driving control when the peripheral information generation unit 30 is inoperative or malfunctioning> As shown in FIG. 5, in this case, the driving control system 1 is such that the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 function normally. Here, the non-operation or abnormal operation of the peripheral information generation unit 30 means, for example, a case where peripheral information cannot be acquired due to communication interruption, or a case where peripheral information can be acquired but there is a delay.

[0040] In this driving control system 1, the control unit 500 executes automatic control based on sensing information from the vehicle periphery to the middle distance in front of the vehicle obtained by the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200. Specifically, the driving control system 1 executes single-lane automatic driving control to maintain the current lane based on sensing information from the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, and also restricts the vehicle speed and the like based on the visible distance obtained from the sensing information of the sensor group 100. In addition, the driving control system 1 changes the route design within the performance range of the sensor group 100 and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200.

[0041] <Driving control when the peripheral information generation unit 30 is non-operating or operating abnormally and the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 is non-operating or operating abnormally> As shown in FIG. 6, in this case, the driving control system 1 is such that only the sensor group 100 functions normally.

[0042] In this driving control system 1, the sensor group 100 senses up to the middle distance in front of the vehicle, and based on this sensing information, the control unit 500 executes driving support control. Specifically, the driving control system 1 executes single-lane automatic driving control to maintain the current lane based on sensing information from the sensor group 100, and also restricts the vehicle speed and the like based on the visible distance obtained from the sensing information of the sensor group 100.

[0043] <Driving control when the peripheral information generation unit 30 is non-operating or operating abnormally and the sensor group 100 is non-operating or operating abnormally> As shown in FIG. 7, in this case, the driving control system 1 is such that only the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 functions normally. Here, the non-operation or abnormal operation of the sensor group 100 means, for example, that sensing information from the stereo camera 110 cannot be obtained due to bad weather such as at night, backlighting, or thick fog, or that although sensing information can be obtained, the accuracy is low.

[0044] In this driving control system 1, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200 performs sensing around the vehicle, and based on this sensing information, the control unit 500 executes driving support control. Specifically, the driving control system 1 executes single-lane automatic driving control to maintain the current lane, for example, based on the sensing information from the automatic driving control information generation unit 200.

[0045] <Function and Effect> As described above, the driving control system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a sensor group 100 for executing driving support, an automatic driving control sensor for executing automatic driving control, an automatic driving control information generation unit 200 for generating information used for automatic driving control, a communication unit that executes communication connecting the vehicle to everything, transmits the automatic driving sensor information of the host vehicle, acquires the automatic driving sensor information of other vehicles, and generates information around the host vehicle based on the acquired information and a high-precision map, and a control unit 500 for executing automatic driving control or driving support control. The control unit 500 changes the driving control mode according to the operating status of the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, or the surrounding information generation unit 30. That is, it complements the functions of the sensing devices used for automatic driving control and performs advanced automatic driving control under normal circumstances. On the other hand, even in a situation where at least one of the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, or the surrounding information generation unit 30 does not operate normally, automatic driving control or driving support control is continued using the normally operating functional blocks. Therefore, when at least one of the sensor group 100, the automatic driving control information generation unit 200, or the surrounding information generation unit 30 is operating normally, automatic driving control or driving support control can be continued.

[0046] <Second Embodiment> Using FIGS. 8 to 11, the driving control system 1A according to this embodiment will be described.

[0047] <Configuration of Driving Control System 1A> The driving control system 1A according to this embodiment includes a sensor group 100, an automatic driving control information generation unit 200, a peripheral information generation unit 300, a map information storage unit 400, and a control unit 500A. Note that components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment have the same functions, and thus detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 500A includes a processor 510 installed in the vehicle and a server 520 provided externally, and executes automatic driving control or driving support control of the vehicle.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 8, the processor 510 executes MRM processing and driving support control processing.

[0050] Here, the MRM processing is a process of safely stopping the vehicle at a previously detected safe location when it is impossible to execute automatic driving control or driving support control. The driving support control processing is, for example, a process of assisting driving to maintain the current lane based on sensing information from the sensor group 10.

[0051] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the server 520 executes high-level recognition processing, high-level control processing, route design processing, traffic control processing, future prediction processing, external control processing, etc.

[0052] Here, the high-level recognition processing is, for example, high-level object recognition based on image processing or the like. The high-level control processing is, for example, processing related to high-level automatic driving control and the like, and is processing in a system that ensures redundancy of the control system and the sensor system.

[0053] Route design processing is, for example, processing for designing a route that reflects the characteristics and state of a driver. In the case of a system configuration in which a server that recognizes the characteristics and state of the driver and a server that performs route design are provided separately, control processing between the servers is also included.

[0054] Traffic control processing is processing for aggregating information on each vehicle and executing appropriate control on the host vehicle based on this information.

[0055] For example, FIG. 9 illustrates the control of vehicles at a merging point with poor visibility. The upper diagram of FIG. 9 shows the state of merging of vehicle A and vehicle B. The lower diagram of FIG. 9 is a graph with the vehicle speed on the vertical axis and the travel distance on the horizontal axis. The dotted line represents the acceleration and deceleration of vehicle A, and the solid line represents the acceleration and deceleration of vehicle B. As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 9, vehicle A is traveling along an obstacle that prevents it from recognizing vehicle B and is heading towards the merging point. Since vehicle A travels without decelerating while it cannot recognize vehicle B in the section with the obstacle, it travels, and at the point where the obstacle ends, it recognizes vehicle A, temporarily decelerates sharply, and then accelerates sharply to reach the merging point. On the other hand, vehicle B travels based on the control information from server 520 that has received the travel position information and travel speed information of vehicle A. Therefore, in the section with the obstacle, it decelerates gently, and after passing through the section with the obstacle, it accelerates gently and smoothly merges at the merging point.

[0056] Future prediction processing is processing for recognizing, based on information from other vehicles, for example, natural traffic jam prediction, construction sections, and road closure sections ahead of the travel route and reflecting them in route design processing and the like.

[0057] External control processing refers to, for example, processing related to automatic parking and processing that is special and has a large processing load.

[0058] In the processing related to automatic parking as shown in FIG. 10, for example, local map information used in a scene such as parking a vehicle in a supermarket parking lot and control system algorithms that are only used in that scene are not installed on the vehicle side but are installed on server 520. Specifically, in the process related to automatic parking, for example, using the automatic parking control algorithm installed in the server 520 and the map information of the parking lot, for the vehicle position information, vehicle speed information, steering wheel angle information, etc. received from the vehicle, information such as the target speed and target steering wheel angle is transmitted to the processor 510 of the vehicle, thereby executing automatic parking control.

[0059] Also, in high-load processing as shown in FIG. 11, for example, vehicle recognition in a snowstorm or image recognition in a special and high-load scene where many people and vehicles are mixed and running, the video captured on the vehicle side is sent to the server 520, and the server 520 performs high-performance recognition processing (DNN), and the result is transmitted to the processor 510 on the vehicle side. Specifically, the server 520 receives, for example, the front camera video and the rear camera video of the vehicle from the vehicle side, analyzes these videos with a high-performance recognition algorithm (DNN), and outputs peripheral vehicle position information, peripheral vehicle predicted route information, etc. to the processor 510 on the vehicle side.

[0060] <Function and Effect> As described above, the control unit 500A of the driving control system 1A according to the present embodiment includes a processor 510 installed in the vehicle and a server 520 provided outside, and executes automatic driving control or driving support control. And the processor 510 executes the MRM process and the driving support control process, and the server 520 executes the advanced recognition process, the advanced control process, the route design process, the traffic control process, the future prediction process, the external control process, etc. That is, the processor 510 executes low-load processes, and the server 520 performs high-load processes and advanced processes such as traffic control and processes related to events with low frequencies. Therefore, by dispersing the processing between the server 520 with high processing power and the processor 510 with low processing power according to their processing capabilities, it is possible to maintain the real-time nature of control for high-load and advanced processes, complement the functions of the sensing devices used for automatic driving control, and continue the automatic driving control or driving support control.

[0061] <Modification Example 1> The server 520 may be composed of a plurality of servers such as a control server that performs control system processing, a vehicle data collection server that manages the state of the vehicle, and an individual vehicle server that estimates control parameters according to the characteristics of the driver. Also, the server 520 may be composed of a plurality of servers according to functions, for example, a recognition server, a route design server, an MEC, Wavelength (registered trademark), a network server, and the like. In this way, by separating the servers according to the type and function of control, it is possible to maintain the real-time nature of control even for high-load and advanced processing, complement the functions of the sensing devices used for automatic driving control, and continue the automatic driving control or driving support control.

[0062] <Modification Example 2> Also, according to the control level, the servers to be communicatively connected may be variably changed flexibly. For example, when the communication connection with a certain server becomes unavailable due to communication interruption, in order to continue the automatic driving control or driving support control, it may be possible to connect to another backup server. Also, when the communication interruption is resolved, the server to be connected may be selectable according to the control level. By doing so, it is possible to maintain the real-time nature of control even for high-load and advanced processing, complement the functions of the sensing devices used for automatic driving control, and continue the automatic driving control or driving support control.

[0063] Note that the processing of the control units 500 and 500A can be recorded on a computer system-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium can be read into the control units 500 and 500A and executed to realize the driving control system 1 of the present invention. The computer system referred to here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices.

[0064] In addition, if the "computer system" uses the WWW (World Wide Web) system, it shall also include a homepage providing environment (or display environment). Further, the above program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the "transmission medium" for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) like the Internet or a communication line (communication wire) like a telephone line.

[0065] In addition, the above program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, it may be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

[0066] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and designs and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also included.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0067] 1; Communication control system 1A; Communication control system 100; Sensor group 110; Stereo camera 120; Corner radar 200; Automatic driving control information generation unit 210; LIDAR 220; Surround camera 300; Peripheral information generation unit 310; Communication unit 320; High-precision map storage unit 400; Map information storage unit 500; Control unit 500A; Control unit 501; Sensor group monitoring unit 502; Environment information acquisition unit 503; Communication environment monitoring unit 504; Driving control mode determination unit 505; Driving control unit

Claims

1. A group of sensors for performing driving assistance; An autonomous driving control information generation unit that includes an autonomous driving sensor for executing autonomous driving control and generates information used in the autonomous driving control; A surrounding information generation unit that executes communication connecting the vehicle with everything, transmits autonomous driving sensor information of the vehicle itself, acquires autonomous driving sensor information of other vehicles, and generates information about the surroundings of the vehicle itself based on the acquired information and a high-precision map; A control unit that executes automatic driving control or driving assistance control; Equipped with The control unit is a driving control system that changes the driving control mode depending on the operating status of the sensor group, the automatic driving control information generation unit, or the surrounding information generation unit.

2. The driving control system according to claim 1, wherein when the communication is interrupted, the control unit executes the automatic driving control while referring primarily to information from the group of sensors and information generated by the automatic driving control information generation unit.

3. The driving control system of claim 1, wherein when a sensor for executing the automatic driving control does not operate or function, the control unit executes the driving assistance control while referring primarily to information from the group of sensors and information generated by the surrounding information generation unit.

4. The driving control system of claim 1, wherein when the group of sensors is not operating or does not function, the control unit executes the driving assistance control while referring primarily to information from the automatic driving control information generation unit and information generated in the surrounding information generation unit.

5. The driving control system according to claim 1, wherein when the communication is interrupted and a sensor for executing the automatic driving control does not operate or function, the control unit executes the driving assistance control based on information from the group of sensors.

6. 2. The driving control system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is composed of a processor in a device installed in the vehicle and a server on a cloud, and the server performs high-performance control of the vehicle and group control for future prediction.

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