Conflict detection device

Abstract

In a collision determination device that determines a collision with an obstacle when a vehicle is running to evacuate, the device prevents a collision with an obstacle from being missed while preventing the determination area for determining a collision between the vehicle and the obstacle from becoming excessively large. [Solution] A collision determination device (40) includes a recognition unit (41) that recognizes obstacles around the vehicle based on detection results from sensors (21, 22, 23) that detect obstacles around the vehicle, and a route generation unit (42) that generates a driving route for the vehicle during evacuation travel. The collision determination device includes a determination unit (45) that determines that the vehicle will collide with an obstacle if the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is present in a determination area that includes the driving route generated by the route generation unit and has a width equal to or greater than the vehicle width, and a boundary generation unit (43) that divides the driving route generated by the route generation unit into a plurality of sections and generates a boundary for the width of the determination area in each section based on the maximum value of the curvature of the driving route in each section.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a collision determination device that determines whether a vehicle will collide with an obstacle when the vehicle is making an evasive run. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, there is a driving assistance device that assists a driver in operating a vehicle to leave a parking lot, and that includes a route calculation unit that calculates a driving route based on the vehicle's current steering angle, and a determination unit that sets a search area of ​​a size corresponding to the steering angle on the side of the inner wheel of the vehicle at a future position along the driving route, and determines that a collision with the obstacle will occur if an obstacle is present in the search area (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6975856 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a vehicle is forced to retreat to a road shoulder or the like, the curve direction and curvature of the traveling route change at each position on the traveling route. Therefore, in a configuration in which a uniform search area is set on the side of the inner wheel or the outer wheel of the vehicle regardless of the position on the traveling route, if the search area is expanded to prevent missed collision detection with an obstacle, the search area may become excessively large. If the search area becomes excessively large, it may be determined that the vehicle will collide with an obstacle even when it does not actually collide, and the retreating traveling may be interrupted or a change of the traveling route may be required.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its main purpose is to prevent the judgment area for determining a collision between a vehicle and an obstacle from becoming excessively large, while preventing missed collision judgments with obstacles in a collision judgment device that judges a collision with an obstacle when a vehicle is making an evacuation run. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The first means for solving the above problem is: A collision determination device (40) for determining a collision with an obstacle during an evacuation run of a vehicle (A), a recognition unit (41) that recognizes obstacles around the vehicle based on detection results of sensors (21, 22, 23) that detect obstacles around the vehicle; a route generation unit (42) that generates a travel route for the vehicle during the evacuation travel; a determination unit (45) that determines that the vehicle will collide with the obstacle when the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is located in a determination area that includes the travel route generated by the route generation unit and has a width equal to or greater than the vehicle width of the vehicle; a boundary generation unit (43) that divides the travel route generated by the route generation unit into a plurality of sections and generates a boundary of the lateral width of the determination area in each section based on a maximum value of the curvature of the travel route in each section; Equipped with.

[0007] According to the above configuration, the collision determination device determines a collision with an obstacle during a vehicle's evacuation travel. The recognition unit recognizes obstacles around the vehicle based on detection results from a sensor that detects obstacles around the vehicle. The path generation unit generates a travel path for the vehicle during the evacuation travel. The determination unit determines that the vehicle will collide with the obstacle if the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is present in a determination area. Therefore, if an obstacle is present in the determination area while the vehicle is traveling on the travel path during the evacuation travel, the determination unit can determine that the vehicle will collide with the obstacle. Here, when the vehicle travels around a curved portion of the travel path during the evacuation travel, the greater the curvature of the travel path, the more likely it is that a part of the vehicle will pass through a position laterally distant from the travel path, making it more likely that a collision with an obstacle will be missed. In this regard, the determination area includes the travel path generated by the path generation unit and has a width greater than or equal to the vehicle width of the vehicle. Therefore, to prevent a collision with an obstacle from being missed, the width of the determination area can be expanded to be greater than the vehicle width.

[0008] Furthermore, the boundary generation unit divides the travel route into multiple sections and generates the lateral boundary of the determination area for each section based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route for each section. That is, the lateral boundary of the determination area for each section is generated based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route for each section, thereby preventing missed collision detection with an obstacle throughout the entire travel route for each section, including the most curved portion of the travel route for each section. Furthermore, compared to a case where the lateral boundary of the determination area is generated uniformly regardless of the position on the travel route, the lateral boundary of the determination area can be appropriately generated for each section based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the determination area from becoming excessively large.

[0009] The second means is a collision determination device (40) that determines whether the vehicle (A) will collide with an obstacle during evacuation travel, a recognition unit (41) that recognizes obstacles around the vehicle based on detection results of sensors (21, 22, 23) that detect obstacles around the vehicle; a route generation unit (42) that generates a travel route for the vehicle during the evacuation travel; a determination unit (45) that determines that the vehicle will collide with the obstacle when the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is located in a determination area that includes the travel route generated by the route generation unit and has a width equal to or greater than the vehicle width of the vehicle; a boundary generation unit (43) that generates a boundary of the determination area on the inside of a curved portion of the travel path based on a position that is half the vehicle width from the travel path, and generates a boundary of the determination area on the outside of the curved portion so that the boundary is outside the position that is half the vehicle width from the travel path; Equipped with.

[0010] The inventors of the present application have noticed that, assuming that a specified point in the center of the vehicle's width moves along the driving path, on the inside of a curve in the driving path, the entire inner wheel side of the vehicle passes within a range of up to half the vehicle width from the driving path, and on the outside of the curve in the driving path, part of the outer wheel side of the vehicle passes within a range of more than half the vehicle width from the driving path.

[0011] Therefore, the boundary generation unit generates the boundary of the determination area on the inside of the curve based on a position half the vehicle width from the travel path, and generates the boundary of the determination area on the outside of the curve so that it is outside the position half the vehicle width from the travel path. With this configuration, the lateral boundary of the determination area can be appropriately generated according to the ranges through which the inner wheel side and outer wheel side portions of the vehicle pass at the curve of the travel path. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the determination area from becoming excessively large while suppressing the occurrence of missed collision detection with an obstacle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle. [Figure 2] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a travel path and a determination area of ​​a vehicle during evacuation travel in the first embodiment. [Figure 3]FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a travel path and a determination area of ​​a vehicle during evacuation travel in a second embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of changing the determination area of ​​the vehicle during evacuation travel. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of a change in the vehicle's travel route during evacuation travel. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of changing the reference point of the vehicle. [Figure 8] FIG. [Figure 9] 10A and 10B are plan views showing modified examples of the vehicle and modified examples of the determination area of ​​the vehicle during evacuation travel. [Figure 10] 10A and 10B are plan views showing a modified example of the vehicle and another modified example of the determination area of ​​the vehicle during evacuation travel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] (First embodiment) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a collision determination device that is mounted on a vehicle and determines whether the vehicle will collide with an obstacle when the vehicle is running to avoid collision will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle is equipped with an engine 11, brakes 12, a steering device 13, a transmission 14, a vehicle control device 18, a camera 21, a millimeter wave radar 22, a sonar 23, a driver state detection device 25, and a collision determination device 40.

[0015] The camera 21, millimeter-wave radar 22, and sonar 23 are environmental sensors that detect obstacles and road markings around the vehicle. The camera 21, millimeter-wave radar 22, and sonar 23 (corresponding to sensors) input their detection results to a recognition unit 41 of the collision determination device 40. The environmental sensor may be composed of part of the camera 21, millimeter-wave radar 22, and sonar 23, or may include sensors other than the camera 21, millimeter-wave radar 22, and sonar 23.

[0016] The driver condition detection device 25 is composed of a camera that photographs the driver's condition, and a biosensor that detects the driver's heart rate, pulse waveform, blood pressure, body temperature, etc., and detects whether the driver is in good physical condition or has fainted, etc.

[0017] The vehicle control device 18 executes evacuation driving of the vehicle based on the detection result of the driver condition detection device 25 and the determination result of the collision determination device 40. Specifically, when the driver condition detection device 25 detects that the driver has fainted and the collision determination device 40 determines that the vehicle will not collide with an obstacle, the vehicle control device 18 controls the engine 11, the brake 12, the steering device 13, and the transmission 14 so as to drive the vehicle along the driving path generated by the path generation unit 42 and stop the vehicle on the shoulder of the road. Note that the vehicle control device 18 may control the engine 11, the brake 12, the steering device 13, and the transmission 14 via control devices provided in the engine 11, the brake 12, the steering device 13, and the transmission 14, respectively.

[0018] The vehicle control device 18 suspends the evacuation running when the collision determination device 40 determines that the vehicle will collide with an obstacle. Therefore, if the determination region for determining a collision between the vehicle and an obstacle becomes excessively large, it may be determined that the vehicle will collide with an obstacle even though it will not actually collide with the obstacle, and the evacuation running may be suspended.

[0019] Therefore, the collision determination device 40 of this embodiment is configured as follows: The collision determination device 40 is configured by an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) including, for example, a CPU, memory (ROM, RAM), an input / output interface, etc. The collision determination device 40 includes a recognition unit 41, a path generation unit 42, a boundary generation unit 43, and a determination unit 45.

[0020] The recognition unit 41 recognizes the space in which the vehicle can travel and stop during evacuation travel, and obstacles around the vehicle, based on the detection results of the environmental sensors.

[0021] Based on the recognition result by the recognition unit 41, the route generation unit 42 generates a driving route for stopping the vehicle on the shoulder of the road during evacuation travel. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, on a road with left-hand driving, the driving route CL during evacuation travel first turns left and then turns right. That is, vehicle A first turns left and then turns right. The route generation unit 42 generates the driving route CL so that vehicle A travels, for example, from its current position to stopping position S along a route that is short in driving distance and smooth in length. The driving route CL is a curve through which the reference point of vehicle A passes. The reference point of vehicle A will be described later. The route generation unit 42 can vary the maximum value of the curvature of the driving route CL depending on the direction of the curve of the driving route CL. Therefore, the maximum value of curvature (curvature at dashed circle H1) of the left-turning portion of the travel route CL (travel route CL in section 1) may differ from the maximum value of curvature (curvature at dashed circle H2) of the right-turning portion (travel route CL in section 2).

[0022] The boundary generation unit 43 divides the traveling route CL generated by the route generation unit 42 into a plurality of sections, and generates a left boundary BL and a right boundary BR of the width of the determination region J in each section based on the maximum value of the curvature of the traveling route CL in each section. In this embodiment, the boundary generation unit 43 divides the traveling route CL generated by the route generation unit 42 into Section 1, where the traveling route CL turns left, and Section 2, where the traveling route CL turns right.

[0023] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the details of the determination area J. This figure shows the portion of the travel route CL in section 2 of FIG. 2 where the curvature is maximum (the portion of the dashed circle H2). As shown in this figure, the radius of curvature of the travel route CL is Rw, and the center of curvature of the travel route CL is P0. In a plan view, the shape of vehicle A is approximated to a rectangle. The width of vehicle A is 2W. In this embodiment, reference point P1 of vehicle A is the center of gravity of vehicle A and is a predetermined point in the center of vehicle A in the vehicle width direction. In the fore-and-aft direction of vehicle A, the longer of the length from reference point P1 to the front end of vehicle A or the length from reference point P1 to the rear end of vehicle A is the reference length L. This figure shows an example in which the length from reference point P1 to the front end of vehicle A in the fore-and-aft direction of vehicle A is the reference length L. The traveling direction of vehicle A, indicated by the arrow, is the tangential direction of the travel route CL. The traveling direction of vehicle A and the radial direction of the curvature radius Rw are perpendicular to each other.

[0024] In this positional relationship, when it is assumed that the reference point P1 of the vehicle A moves along the travel route CL, the inventors of the present application have noticed that the following relationship holds.

[0025] On the IN side of the curve of the travel path CL (corresponding to the inside of the curve), the innermost position where vehicle A passes is the intersection point P2 between the side of the inner wheel of vehicle A and the curvature radius passing through reference point P1. The arc DR is an arc that passes through the front and rear corners of the inner wheel of vehicle A and has its center at the curvature center P0. Therefore, on the IN side of the curve of the travel path CL, the entire inner wheel of vehicle A passes within a range from the travel path CL to half the vehicle width 2W W. Therefore, the boundary generation unit 43 sets the right boundary BR of the determination area J to an arc whose curvature radius is the length from the curvature center P0 to the intersection point P2, in other words, an arc whose curvature radius is the radius of curvature Rw of the travel path CL minus half the vehicle width 2W W. That is, at the curve of the travel path CL, the boundary generation unit 43 generates the right boundary BR of the determination area J on the inside of the curve based on the position half the vehicle width 2W W from the travel path CL. When setting the right boundary BR of the determination region J, the boundary generation unit 43 may take into consideration a control error that occurs when the vehicle control device 18 controls the vehicle A.

[0026] On the other hand, on the curve OUT side of the travel path CL (corresponding to the outside of the curved section), the outermost position where vehicle A passes is the outermost front corner P3 of vehicle A or the outermost rear corner P4. The same figure shows an example where the outermost position where vehicle A passes is the outermost front corner P3 of vehicle A. Therefore, on the curve OUT side of the travel path CL, a part of the outer side of vehicle A passes through an area exceeding half W of the vehicle width 2W from the travel path CL. Therefore, the boundary generation unit 43 sets the left boundary BL of the judgment area J as an arc with a curvature radius Rb, which is the length from the center of curvature P0 to the outermost front corner P3. According to Pythagoras' theorem, this can be expressed as Rb = √{L^2 + (W + Rw)^2}, where L^2 represents the square of L. That is, at a curve in the travel path CL, the boundary generation unit 43 generates the left boundary DL of the determination area J on the outside of the curve so that it is located outward from the travel path CL at a position W that is half the vehicle width 2W. The expansion width M from the intersection P5 between the side of the outer wheel of vehicle A and the radius of curvature passing through reference point P1 to point P6 on the left boundary BL of the determination area J can be expressed by the following equations: M=Rb-Ra, Ra=W+Rw. Note that the arc DL is an arc that passes through intersection P5 and has its center at the center of curvature P0.

[0027] As described above, FIG. 3 shows the portion of the travel path CL in Section 2 of FIG. 2 where the curvature is maximum. Furthermore, if the relationship between the inner wheel side and the outer wheel side in Section 2 is reversed, the same relationship as above also holds for the travel path CL in Section 1 of FIG. 2. The radius of curvature of the travel path CL is the reciprocal of the curvature of the travel path CL. For this reason, it can be said that the boundary generation unit 43 divides the travel path CL generated by the path generation unit 42 into multiple sections, and generates the right boundary BR and the left boundary BL of the width of the determination region J in each of Sections 1 and 2 based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel path CL in each of Sections 1 and 2.

[0028] The determination unit 45 of the collision determination device 40 determines that the vehicle A will collide with an obstacle if the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit 41 is present in the determination area J for which the boundaries BR and BL have been generated by the path generation unit 42. The determination unit 45 of the collision determination device 40 determines that the vehicle A will not collide with an obstacle if the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit 41 is not present in the determination area J. The vehicle control device 18 executes evacuation running of the vehicle A based on the detection result of the driver state detection device 25 and the determination result of the determination unit 45 of the collision determination device 40.

[0029] The present embodiment described above in detail has the following advantages.

[0030] When vehicle A travels around a curve in the travel path CL during evacuation travel, the greater the curvature of the travel path CL, the more likely it is that part of vehicle A will pass through a position laterally farther away from the travel path CL, making it more likely that a collision with an obstacle will be missed. In this regard, the determination area J includes the travel path CL generated by the path generation unit 42 and has a width (2W+M) that is equal to or greater than the vehicle width 2W of vehicle A. Therefore, in order to prevent a collision with an obstacle from being missed, the width of the determination area J can be expanded to be equal to or greater than the vehicle width 2W.

[0031] The boundary generation unit 43 divides the travel route CL into sections 1 and 2 and generates the width boundaries BR and BL of the determination area J for each section 1 and 2 based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route CL for each section 1 and 2. In other words, the width boundaries BR and BL of the determination area J for each section 1 and 2 are generated based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route CL for each section 1 and 2. This prevents missed collision detection with an obstacle across the entire travel route CL for each section 1 and 2, including the most curved portions of the travel route CL for each section 1 and 2 (portions of dashed-line circles H1 and H2 in FIG. 2 ). Furthermore, compared to generating the width boundaries BR and BL of the determination area J uniformly regardless of the position on the travel route CL, the width boundaries BR and BL of the determination area J can be appropriately generated for each section based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route CL. This prevents the determination area J from becoming excessively large.

[0032] The boundary generation unit 43 divides the traveling route CL generated by the route generation unit 42 into a section 1 where the traveling route CL turns left and a section 2 where the traveling route CL turns right. With this configuration, even if the maximum value of the curvature of the left-turning portion of the traveling route CL differs from the maximum value of the curvature of the right-turning portion, the boundaries BR and BL of the width of the determination area J can be appropriately generated in accordance with the turning direction of the traveling route CL.

[0033] At a curve in the travel route CL of section 2, the boundary generation unit 43 generates a right boundary BR of the determination area J on the inside of the curve based on a position half the vehicle width 2W W from the travel route CL, and generates a left boundary BL of the determination area J on the outside of the curve so that it is outside the position half the vehicle width 2W W from the travel route CL. With this configuration, the lateral boundaries BR and BL of the determination area J can be appropriately generated according to the ranges through which the inner and outer wheel sides of the vehicle A pass at the curve in the travel route CL.

[0034] (Second embodiment) The second embodiment, in which the configuration of the boundary generation unit 43 is changed, will be described below, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. Note that the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be repeated.

[0035] 4, when vehicle A travels on a substantially straight section of the travel route CL (for example, section 1), the portion of vehicle A that passes through a position that exceeds vehicle width 2W is small. In such a case, if the width of the determination area J is increased beyond vehicle width 2W, there is a risk that the determination area J will be excessively increased.

[0036] Therefore, the boundary generation unit 43 divides the traveling route CL generated by the route generation unit 42 into sections 2 and 4 where the curvature of the traveling route CL is greater than a threshold value, and sections 1, 3, and 5 where the curvature of the traveling route CL is not greater than the threshold value. Then, in sections 2 and 4 where the curvature of the traveling route CL is greater than the threshold value, the boundary generation unit 43 generates boundaries BR and BL by adding the enlarged width M calculated based on the maximum value of the curvature of the traveling route CL to the vehicle width 2W.

[0037] On the other hand, in sections 1, 3, and 5 where the curvature of the travel route CL is not greater than the threshold, the boundary generation unit 43 generates the boundaries BR and BL without adding the enlarged width M to the vehicle width 2W. Specifically, in sections 1, 3, and 5 where the curvature of the travel route CL is not greater than the threshold, the boundary generation unit 43 generates the right boundary BR of the determination area J at a position W, half the vehicle width 2W, to the right of the travel route CL, and generates the left boundary BL of the determination area J at a position W, half the vehicle width 2W, to the left of the travel route CL.

[0038] According to the above configuration, it is possible to expand the determination region J in sections 2 and 4 where collision determination with an obstacle is likely to be missed, while not expanding the determination region J in sections 1, 3, and 5 where there is little need to expand the determination region J. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the determination region J from being expanded excessively, and to prevent the determination that vehicle A will collide with an obstacle even when it does not actually collide with it.

[0039] The first and second embodiments can be modified as follows: The same parts as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be incorporated herein.

[0040] The route generation unit 42 can also equalize the maximum value of the curvature of the traveling route CL in Section 1 where the traveling route CL turns left and the maximum value of the curvature of the traveling route CL in Section 2 where the traveling route CL turns right. In other words, the route generation unit 42 can equalize the maximum values ​​of the curvature of the traveling route CL regardless of the turning direction of the traveling route CL.

[0041] When the shape of vehicle A is not rectangular in plan view, the boundary generation unit 43 may generate the boundary of the determination area J on the inside of the curve at a curved portion of the travel path CL based on a position half W of the vehicle width 2W from the travel path CL, and may generate the boundary of the determination area J on the outside of the curve so that it is outside the position half W of the vehicle width 2W from the travel path CL in accordance with the shape of vehicle A. With this configuration, it is possible to appropriately generate the lateral width boundaries BR, BL of the determination area J in consideration of the shape of vehicle A and in accordance with the ranges through which the inner wheel side portion and the outer wheel side portion of vehicle A pass at the curved portion of the travel path CL.

[0042] As shown in Figure 5, when vehicle A retreats to the left edge of the road (edge), there is a low possibility that there is an obstacle on the opposite side of the road from vehicle A (the right side in Figure 5).

[0043] Therefore, when vehicle A retreats to the edge of the road, if the outside of the curve of the travel path CL is opposite the edge of the road, the boundary generation unit 43 preferentially generates the boundary of the determination region J on the outside of the curve based on a position W, half the vehicle width 2W, from the travel path CL. For example, when vehicle A retreats to the left edge of the road, the boundary generation unit 43 generates the right boundary BR of the determination region J on the outside of the curve CLa at a position W, half the vehicle width 2W, from the travel path CL because the outside of the curve CLa is toward the center of the road. Therefore, at the curve CLa, the front corner P7 of the outer wheel of vehicle A protrudes from the right boundary BR of the determination region J. This configuration makes it possible to prevent the determination region J from expanding to a position where there is little possibility of an obstacle being present.

[0044] When vehicle A retreats to the left edge of the road, the boundary generating unit 43 generates the left boundary BL of the determination area J on the outside of the curve CLb at a position outside the position half W of the vehicle width 2W from the travel route CL, because the outside of curve CLb at curve CLb of the travel route CL is the left edge of the road. Therefore, at curve CLb, the front corner P8 on the outer wheel side of vehicle A does not protrude from the left boundary BL of the determination area J.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 6, the travel route CL may be composed of a sequence of travel points CP1 to CPn. Information may be assigned to each of the travel points CP1 to CPn. For example, each of the travel points CP1 to CPn may have information on its longitudinal and lateral positions relative to the current position as the origin, as well as information on the curvature of the travel route CL at each of the travel points CP1 to CPn. With this configuration, the boundary generation unit 43 can easily set each section that divides the travel route CL and extract the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route CL in each section. It is also possible to calculate the steering angle of the vehicle A based on the curvature at each of the travel points CP1 to CPn of the travel route CL. Note that the curvature of the curve connecting the travel points CP1 to CPn may also be used as the curvature of the travel route CL. Instead of curvature information, each of the travel points CP1 to CPn may have information from which the curvature can be calculated, such as information on the steering angle of the vehicle A, or information on the vehicle speed and yaw rate.

[0046] As shown in Figure 7, the reference point P1 of vehicle A can be changed to the center of the rear axle of vehicle A in the vehicle width direction (corresponding to a predetermined point in the center of the vehicle width direction). Even in this case, the reference length L is the longer of the length from the reference point P1 to the front end of vehicle A in the fore-and-aft direction of vehicle A or the length from the reference point P1 to the rear end of vehicle A. In the figure, the reference length L is the length from the reference point P1 to the front end of vehicle A in the fore-and-aft direction of vehicle A.

[0047] The boundary generation unit 43 then sets the right boundary BR of the determination region J to an arc whose radius of curvature is the length from the center of curvature P0 to the intersection point P2, in other words, an arc whose radius of curvature is the length obtained by subtracting half the vehicle width 2W W from the radius of curvature Rw of the travel path CL. That is, at a curve in the travel path CL, the boundary generation unit 43 generates the right boundary BR of the determination region J on the inside of the curve based on the position that is half the vehicle width 2W W from the travel path CL. Note that when setting the right boundary BR of the determination region J, the boundary generation unit 43 may take into account a control error when the vehicle control device 18 controls the vehicle A.

[0048] Furthermore, the boundary generating unit 43 sets the left boundary BL of the determination area J to an arc having a radius of curvature Rb, which is the length from the center of curvature P0 to the front corner P3 on the outer wheel side. That is, at a curve in the travel path CL, the boundary generating unit 43 generates the left boundary BL of the determination area J on the outside of the curve so that it is outside a position W that is half the vehicle width 2W from the travel path CL.

[0049] Therefore, even if the reference point P1 of vehicle A is changed to the center in the vehicle width direction of the rear axle of vehicle A, the boundary generation unit 43 can generate the boundaries BR, BL of the determination area J using the same concept as in Fig. 3. Note that even if the reference point P1 of vehicle A is changed to the center in the vehicle width direction at the front end of vehicle A (corresponding to a predetermined point in the center in the vehicle width direction), the boundary generation unit 43 can generate the boundaries BR, BL of the determination area J using the same concept as in Fig. 3.

[0050] As shown in Fig. 8, vehicle A may be composed of a towing vehicle Aa and a towed vehicle Ab. In this case, as shown in Fig. 9, the boundary generation unit 43 can generate width boundaries BR, BL of the determination area J by regarding only the towing vehicle Aa as vehicle A.

[0051] With this configuration, the rear corner P9 of the inner wheel of the towed vehicle Ab protrudes from the right boundary BR of the determination area J. This prevents the towing vehicle Aa with a driver from colliding with an obstacle, while allowing the towed vehicle Ab to collide with an obstacle. This allows the towed vehicle Aa to ensure its safety while making evacuation runs as much as possible.

[0052] When vehicle A is composed of a towing vehicle Aa and a towed vehicle Ab, as shown in FIG. 10, the boundary generation unit 43 can also generate width boundaries BR, BL of the judgment area J by regarding the towing vehicle Aa and the towed vehicle Ab as vehicle A.

[0053] With this configuration, the rear corner P9 of the inner wheel of the towed vehicle Ab does not protrude beyond the right boundary BR of the determination area J. This makes it possible to prevent the towing vehicle Aa with a driver on board and the towed vehicle Ab from colliding with an obstacle. Therefore, for example, if the towed vehicle Ab has a structure that makes it prone to rollover, it is possible to prevent the towed vehicle Ab from rolling over due to a collision with an obstacle.

[0054] When vehicle A is made up of a towing vehicle Aa and a towed vehicle Ab, the boundary generation unit 43 can generate width boundaries BR, BL for the determination area J by regarding both towing vehicle Aa and towed vehicle Ab as vehicle A if the towed vehicle Ab has a higher than predetermined level of rollover susceptibility, and can also generate width boundaries BR, BL for the determination area J by regarding only towing vehicle Aa as vehicle A if the towed vehicle Ab has a lower than predetermined level of rollover susceptibility. With this configuration, it is possible to switch between preventing the towed vehicle Ab from colliding with an obstacle as shown in FIG. 10 and prioritizing the execution of evacuation maneuvers as shown in FIG. 9, depending on the towed vehicle Ab's rollover susceptibility.

[0055] Instead of the boundary generation unit 43 of the first and second embodiments, the boundary generation unit 43 can also divide the travel route CL generated by the route generation unit 42 into sections of a predetermined distance (for example, a fixed distance). Even in this case, the boundary generation unit 43 may generate boundaries BR, BL of the width of the determination region J in each section based on the maximum value of the curvature of the travel route CL in each section. Note that the predetermined distance is not limited to a fixed distance, and may include multiple distances that are different from each other, or may be a variable distance.

[0056] Instead of dividing the travel path CL generated by the path generation unit 42 into multiple sections, the boundary generation unit 43 may instead generate the boundary of the determination region J on the inside of the curved portion of the travel path CL based on a position half the vehicle width 2W from the travel path CL, and generate the boundary of the determination region J on the outside of the curved portion so that it is located outside the position half the vehicle width 2W from the travel path CL. For example, the boundary generation unit 43 may set the left boundary BL of the determination region J for each position of the travel path CL as an arc with a curvature radius Rb that is the length from the center of curvature P0 to the front corner P3 on the outer wheel side. This configuration also allows the lateral width boundaries BR and BL of the determination region J to be appropriately generated according to the ranges through which the inner and outer wheel portions of the vehicle A pass at the curved portion of the travel path CL. This prevents the determination region J from becoming excessively large while preventing missed collision detection with an obstacle.

[0057] The first and second embodiments and their modifications can be combined within the scope of possible combinations. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 21...camera (sensor), 22...millimeter wave radar (sensor), 23...sonar (sensor), 40...collision determination device, 41...recognition unit, 42...path generation unit, 43...boundary generation unit, 45...determination unit, A...vehicle.

Claims

1. A collision determination device (40) for determining a collision with an obstacle during an evacuation run of a vehicle (A), a recognition unit (41) that recognizes obstacles around the vehicle based on detection results of sensors (21, 22, 23) that detect obstacles around the vehicle; a route generation unit (42) that generates a travel route for the vehicle during the evacuation travel; a determination unit (45) that determines that the vehicle will collide with the obstacle when the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is present in a determination area that includes the travel route generated by the route generation unit and has a width equal to or greater than the vehicle width of the vehicle; a boundary generation unit (43) that divides the travel route generated by the route generation unit into a plurality of sections and generates a boundary of the lateral width of the determination area in each section based on a maximum value of the curvature of the travel route in each section; A collision determination device comprising:

2. the route generation unit is capable of varying a maximum value of curvature of the travel route depending on a curve direction of the travel route, The collision determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the boundary generation unit divides the travel route generated by the route generation unit into a section where the travel route turns left and a section where the travel route turns right.

3. 2. The collision determination device according to claim 1, wherein the boundary generation unit divides the driving route generated by the route generation unit into sections where the curvature of the driving route is greater than a threshold value and sections where the curvature of the driving route is not greater than the threshold value, and generates the boundary by adding an expansion width calculated based on the maximum value of the curvature to the vehicle width in the sections where the curvature of the driving route is greater than the threshold value, and generates the boundary without adding the expansion width to the vehicle width in the sections where the curvature of the driving route is not greater than the threshold value.

4. The collision determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the boundary generation unit generates a boundary of the determination area on the inside of a curved portion of the travel path based on a position that is half the vehicle width from the travel path, and generates a boundary of the determination area on the outside of the curved portion so that the boundary is outside the position that is half the vehicle width from the travel path.

5. 5. The collision determination device according to claim 4, wherein when the vehicle is evacuating to an edge of a road, if the outside of the curve in the travel path is opposite the edge of the road, the boundary generation unit preferentially generates the boundary of the determination area on the outside of the curve based on a position half the vehicle width from the travel path.

6. A collision determination device (40) for determining a collision with an obstacle during an evacuation run of a vehicle (A), a recognition unit (41) that recognizes obstacles around the vehicle based on detection results of sensors (21, 22, 23) that detect obstacles around the vehicle; a route generation unit (42) that generates a travel route for the vehicle during the evacuation travel; a determination unit (45) that determines that the vehicle will collide with the obstacle when the obstacle recognized by the recognition unit is present in a determination area that includes the travel route generated by the route generation unit and has a width equal to or greater than the vehicle width of the vehicle; a boundary generation unit (43) that generates a boundary of the determination area on the inside of a curved portion of the travel path based on a position that is half the vehicle width from the travel path, and generates a boundary of the determination area on the outside of the curved portion so as to be outside the position that is half the vehicle width from the travel path; A collision determination device comprising:

7. 7. The collision determination device according to claim 6, wherein when the vehicle is evacuating to an edge of a road, if the outside of the curve in the travel path is opposite the edge of the road, the boundary generation unit preferentially generates the boundary of the determination area on the outside of the curve based on a position half the vehicle width from the travel path.

8. The collision determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 6, and 7, wherein when the vehicle is composed of a towing vehicle (Aa) and a towed vehicle (Ab), the boundary generation unit generates the boundary of the width of the determination area by regarding only the towing vehicle as the vehicle.

9. The collision determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 6, and 7, wherein when the vehicle is composed of a towing vehicle (Aa) and a towed vehicle (Ab), the boundary generation unit generates the boundary of the width of the determination area by regarding the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle as the vehicle.

10. The collision determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, 6, and 7, wherein, when the vehicle is composed of a towing vehicle (Aa) and a towed vehicle (Ab), if the towed vehicle has a degree of rollover susceptibility higher than a predetermined degree, the boundary generation unit regards the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle as the vehicle and generates the width boundary of the determination area, and if the towed vehicle has a degree of rollover susceptibility lower than the predetermined degree, the boundary generation unit regards only the towing vehicle as the vehicle and generates the width boundary of the determination area.

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