vehicle-mounted device

Abstract

This technology provides a way to reduce the risk of collisions in a system where a leading vehicle wirelessly tows a following vehicle. [Solution] The in-vehicle device according to the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device deployed in a preceding vehicle and includes a control unit configured to: control the driving of the following vehicle by transmitting a driving command to another in-vehicle device deployed in a following vehicle; transmit a stop command to the other in-vehicle device when the operation of the preceding vehicle is to be terminated while the driving of the following vehicle is being controlled; detect that the driving control by the driving command has stopped in the following vehicle after transmitting the stop command; and complete the termination of the operation of the preceding vehicle in response to the detection of the cessation of the driving control in the following vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0001] This disclosure relates to an in-vehicle device.

Background Art

[0002] In Patent Document 1, a system for causing a plurality of vehicles to travel in a convoy has been proposed.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 schematically illustrates an example of a scenario in which this disclosure applies. [Figure 2] Figure 2 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of the first and second in-vehicle devices of this disclosure. [Figure 3] Figure 3 shows an example of the processing procedure for the first in-vehicle device of this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] [1. Application Examples] Figure 1 schematically shows an example of a scenario to which this disclosure applies. In this embodiment, an on-board device (first on-board device 10) installed in the preceding vehicle LM controls the movement of the following vehicle FM by transmitting a control command to another on-board device (second on-board device 20) installed in the following vehicle FM. When the preceding vehicle LM finishes its operation, the first on-board device 10 transmits a stop command to the second on-board device 20 before completing the termination of its operation. The first on-board device 10 completes the termination of its operation in response to detecting that the following vehicle FM has stopped.

[0009] (vehicle) In this disclosure, the types of vehicles (leading vehicle LM, following vehicle FM) may be appropriately selected depending on the embodiment. The number of wheels, power source, size, etc., of the vehicles may also be arbitrarily selected. For example, the vehicles may be selected from two-wheeled vehicles, three-wheeled vehicles, four-wheeled vehicles, etc. The power source of the vehicles is, for example, For example, the power source can be selected from electricity, fuel, etc. If the vehicle is an automobile, the size can be selected from large, medium, semi-medium, regular, large special, small special, etc. If the vehicle is a motorcycle, the size can be selected from large, regular, etc.

[0010] (Preceding vehicle / Following vehicle) The configuration of the leading vehicle LM is not particularly limited, as long as it can control other vehicles (such as the following vehicle FM) by transmitting control commands, and may be appropriately determined depending on the embodiment. In one example, the leading vehicle LM may be equipped with a first on-board device 10 and a group of sensors. The group of sensors may be used for any purpose, such as autonomous driving. In one example, the group of sensors may be equipped with a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle itself and one or more sensors S for observing the environment behind (including the following vehicle FM). The sensors S may include, for example, a camera (image sensor), radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), sonar (ultrasonic sensor), infrared sensor, etc.

[0011] The leading vehicle LM may control the movement of the following vehicle FM by transmitting control commands created in accordance with observation data acquired by the sensor S from the first on-board device 10 to the second on-board device 20. The configuration of the following vehicle FM is not particularly limited as long as it is capable of moving in accordance with the control commands received from the leading vehicle LM, and may be appropriately determined depending on the embodiment. In one example, the following vehicle FM may be equipped with the second on-board device 20. The following vehicle FM may be configured so that its movement is controlled in accordance with the content of the control commands received by the second on-board device 20. A known method may be used for controlling movement in accordance with the content of the control commands.

[0012] (Control command) A control command is a command for controlling the movement of another vehicle. When the preceding vehicle LM controls the movement of the following vehicle FM, the first on-board device 10 may generate a control command and transmit the generated control command to the second on-board device 20. The second on-board device 20 may control the movement of its own vehicle (following vehicle FM) based on the received control command. The content and format of the control command are not particularly limited and may be appropriately defined depending on the embodiment. In one example, the control command may include a drive command and a stop command.

[0013] In one example, the driving command may include instructions related to driving, such as speed, turning left or right, changing lanes, and adjusting the driving position. The timing at which the driving command is transmitted is not particularly limited and may be determined as appropriate depending on the embodiment. For example, the driving command may be transmitted at a predetermined interval. The content of the driving instructed by the driving command given to the following vehicle FM may be determined as appropriate depending on the embodiment. For example, the content of the driving may be determined as appropriate to follow the preceding vehicle LM.

[0014] In one example, the stop command may include instructions related to stopping control, such as the time until stopping and the amount of deceleration per unit time. The timing at which the stop command is transmitted is not particularly limited as long as it is before the operation of the preceding vehicle LM is completed, and may be determined as appropriate depending on the embodiment.

[0015] (Conditions for the preceding vehicle to cease its operation) The conditions for terminating the operation of the preceding vehicle LM are not particularly limited and may be defined as appropriate depending on the embodiment. For example, the preceding vehicle LM (first on-board device 10) may initiate termination of its operation in response to instructions from a user such as a driver. Alternatively, for example, the preceding vehicle LM (first on-board device 10) may initiate termination of its operation in response to the occurrence of an event in the preceding vehicle LM. The occurrence of an event may include, for example, the occurrence of an abnormality, the detection of an unexpected object (obstacle, etc.), or arrival at the destination.

[0016] (Detection of control stoppage) The method for detecting that the driving control of the following vehicle FM has stopped is not particularly limited. It may be appropriately determined according to the embodiment. In one example, the first in-vehicle device 10 may detect that the control of the following vehicle FM has stopped in response to receiving a response notification (ACK) from the second in-vehicle device 20. The response notification may be configured to indicate a simple response to the stop command, or may be configured to include information regarding the stop. The information regarding the stop may include, for example, information indicating that it has stopped, information indicating a sign of the stop, etc. The information indicating a sign of the stop may be composed of, for example, speed information such as information indicating that it has decelerated, information indicating that the speed has become less than or equal to a threshold value, etc.

[0017] In another example, the first in-vehicle device 10 may detect that the control of the running has stopped according to the information of the following vehicle FM calculated using the measurement data acquired from the sensor group. The information of the following vehicle FM may include the information of the speed of the following vehicle FM. For example, the first in-vehicle device 10 may detect that the control has stopped in response to the speed of the following vehicle FM becoming less than a threshold value. The speed of the following vehicle FM may be calculated from the measurement results of the speed of the preceding vehicle LM and the position of the following vehicle FM. The first in-vehicle device 10 may calculate the speed of the following vehicle FM according to the continuous measurement results of the speed of the preceding vehicle LM and the position of the following vehicle FM. At this time, the first in-vehicle device 10 may continuously acquire the speed of the preceding vehicle LM and the position of the following vehicle FM from the vehicle speed sensor and the sensor S. Also, for example, the first in-vehicle device 10 may detect that the control has stopped in response to the amount of decrease in the speed of the following vehicle FM becoming greater than a threshold value. The amount of decrease in speed may be defined, for example, as the amount of decrease in speed over a predetermined period.

[0018] [2 Configuration Example] FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of the first in-vehicle device 10 and the second in-vehicle device 20 of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the first in-vehicle device 10 according to the present embodiment is a computer in which a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication interface 13, and an external interface 14 are electrically connected. The control unit 11 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), R It includes AM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and is configured to execute arbitrary information processing. The storage unit 12 may be constituted by, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, etc. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 12 stores a program 150. The program 150 is a program for causing the information processing apparatus to execute the information processing according to the present embodiment. The program 150 includes a series of instructions for the information processing.

[0019] The communication interface 13 is configured to perform wired or wireless data communication via a network. The communication interface 13 may be constituted by, for example, a wired LAN (Local Area Network) module, a wireless LAN module, etc. In the present embodiment, the first in-vehicle device 10 may execute data communication via a network with another computer (for example, the second in-vehicle device 20, etc.) using the communication interface 13. The external interface 14 may be, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, a dedicated port, a wireless communication port, etc., and is configured to connect to an external device by wire or wirelessly. In the present embodiment, the first in-vehicle device 10 may be connected to an external sensor S via the external interface 14.

[0020] The control unit 21, the storage unit 22, and the communication interface 23 of the second in-vehicle device 20 may be configured in the same manner as the control unit 11, the storage unit 12, and the communication interface 13 of the first in-vehicle device 10. The program 250 is a program for causing the second in-vehicle device 20 to execute the information processing according to the present embodiment.

[0021] Regarding the specific hardware configurations of the first in-vehicle device 10 and the second in-vehicle device 20, depending on the embodiment, omission, replacement, and addition of components are possible as appropriate. For example, the control unit 11 and the control unit 21 may include a plurality of hardware processors. Hardware A fine processor is a microprocessor, ECU (Electronic Control Unit), or FPG. A (field-programmable gate array), DSP (digital signal processor), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) ) may be composed of the following:

[0022] [3 Examples of operation] Figure 3 shows an example of the processing procedure for the first in-vehicle device 10 of this disclosure. The following processing procedure is an example of an information processing method performed by a computer.

[0023] In step S101, the control unit 11 transmits a driving command to the second on-board device 20 regarding the control of the following vehicle FM's movement. The content of the driving command may be determined as appropriate. In one example, the driving command may include instructions for the following vehicle FM to follow the preceding vehicle LM.

[0024] In step S102, the control unit 11 may determine the branch destination of the process depending on whether or not to terminate the operation of the preceding vehicle LM. As described above, whether or not to terminate the operation of the preceding vehicle LM may be determined according to any conditions. If the operation is not terminated, the control unit 11 returns to step S101 and continues to control the driving of the following vehicle FM. If the operation is terminated, the control unit 11 starts terminating the operation and proceeds to step S103.

[0025] In step S103, the control unit 11 transmits a stop command to the second on-board device 20 regarding the control of stopping the following vehicle FM. The content of the stop command may be determined as appropriate. For example, the stop command may include instructions regarding the control of stopping the following vehicle FM. After transmitting the stop command, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S104.

[0026] In step S104, the control unit 11 determines the branch destination of the process depending on whether or not it has detected the cessation of the driving control in the following vehicle FM. The method for detecting the cessation of control may be determined as appropriate depending on the embodiment. In one example, the control unit 11 may detect that the driving control has stopped in response to receiving a response notification from the second in-vehicle device 20. In another example, the control unit 11 may detect that the driving control has stopped in response to information about the following vehicle FM calculated using measurement data acquired from the sensor group. If the cessation of control is detected, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S105 to complete the termination of the operation of the preceding vehicle LM. After completing the process in step S105, the control unit 11 terminates this processing procedure. On the other hand, if the cessation of control cannot be detected, the control unit 11 continues to monitor for the cessation of the driving control in the following vehicle FM by executing the process in step S104 again.

[0027] [Features] According to this embodiment, when the first on-board device 10 installed in the preceding vehicle LM terminates its operation while controlling the driving of the following vehicle FM, it sends a stop command for the following vehicle FM to the second on-board device 20. The first on-board device 10 does not terminate its operation and remains on standby until it detects that the driving control of the following vehicle FM has stopped. This prevents a situation where, even though the operation of the preceding vehicle LM has ended, control of the following vehicle FM continues based on the driving command given before the operation of the preceding vehicle LM ended. Furthermore, with the above configuration, the following vehicle FM does not need to recognize the environment around itself, so it does not need to be equipped with a sensor S. Therefore, when the driving of such a following vehicle FM is controlled from an external source (preceding vehicle LM), the cost of the following vehicle FM can be reduced.

[0028] [4. Variant] While embodiments of this disclosure have been described in detail above, the above description is merely illustrative in all respects of this disclosure. It goes without saying that various improvements or modifications can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. The processes and means described in this disclosure are technically... They can be freely combined and implemented as long as no contradictions arise. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0029] 10...First in-vehicle device, 20...Second in-vehicle device, 11 / 21... Control Unit, 12 / 22... Memory Unit, 13 / 23...Communication interface, 14...External interface, 150 / 250... Program, S... Sensor, LM: Leading vehicle, FM: Following vehicle

Claims

[Claim 1] An in-vehicle device deployed in the preceding vehicle, To control the movement of the following vehicle by transmitting driving commands to other on-board devices installed in the following vehicle, When controlling the movement of the following vehicle, if the operation of the preceding vehicle is to be terminated, a stop command is transmitted to the other on-board devices. After transmitting the stop command, the following vehicle detects that the control of the drive based on the drive command has stopped, and Upon detecting the cessation of the driving control in the following vehicle, the preceding vehicle completes its operation. A control unit configured to perform the following actions: In-vehicle device.

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