Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and computer program

Abstract

The aim is to prevent the use of erroneous recognition results that mistakenly identify drawing patterns as road markings, while also preventing any impairment in the effectiveness of the drawing patterns in raising awareness. [Solution] A control device 7 for controlling a vehicle 100 comprising an imaging device 11 and a road surface drawing device 6 that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface, wherein the road surface drawing device 6 projects a drawing pattern corresponding to a road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle 100, and the device recognizes features in the surrounding image based on the surrounding image of the vehicle 100 captured by the imaging device 11, and when it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is a drawing pattern, the control device 7 is configured to discard the recognition result for the drawing pattern.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a computer program.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional vehicle system configured to project a predetermined drawing pattern (road surface drawing) onto the road surface by a road surface drawing means, thereby making the presence of the host vehicle and the traveling route of the host vehicle clear to third parties such as pedestrians and drivers of following vehicles in the traveling direction, and giving a warning.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in order to avoid the white line detection means from erroneously detecting the drawing pattern by the road surface drawing means as a white line, the projection range of the drawing pattern by the road surface drawing means is configured to be narrower than normal and limited to a narrow area near the host vehicle when the white line detection means detects a white line. Therefore, there is a risk that the effect of warning third parties by the drawing pattern may be impaired.

[0005] The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and an object thereof is to suppress the use of an incorrect recognition result in which the drawing pattern is recognized as a ground object such as a road marking, and to suppress the impairment of the warning effect by the drawing pattern.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, a vehicle according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an imaging device and a road surface drawing device that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface, and a vehicle control device that controls this vehicle is configured to project a drawing pattern corresponding to a road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle using the road surface drawing device, recognize features in the surrounding image based on the surrounding image of the vehicle captured by the imaging device, and discard the recognition result for the drawing pattern when it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is a drawing pattern.

[0007] Furthermore, according to one aspect of the present invention, a vehicle control method comprising an imaging device and a road surface drawing device that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface includes projecting the drawing pattern corresponding to a road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle using the road surface drawing device, recognizing features in the surrounding image based on the surrounding image of the vehicle captured by the imaging device, and discarding the recognition result for the drawing pattern when it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is a drawing pattern.

[0008] Furthermore, a computer program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to perform the following processes: project a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface using a road surface drawing device that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface in response to a road surface drawing request; recognize objects in the surrounding image based on an image of the vehicle captured by an imaging device; and discard the recognition result for the drawing pattern when it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is a drawing pattern. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to these aspects of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the use of erroneous recognition results in which the drawing pattern is recognized as a geographical feature such as a road marking, while also suppressing the impairment of the attention-raising effect of the drawing pattern. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2]This figure shows an example of a surrounding image taken when a right-turn pattern is projected onto the road surface to the right front of the vehicle. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of a surrounding image taken when a right-turn pattern is projected onto the road surface to the right front of the vehicle. [Figure 4] This flowchart illustrates the details of the drawing pattern registration process according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating the process of discarding the recognition results of a drawing pattern using one embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, similar components will be given the same reference numerals.

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Vehicle 100 includes a surrounding sensor 1, a vehicle sensor 2, a driver sensor 3, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 4, an actuator 5, a road surface drawing device 6, and a control device 7. The surrounding sensor 1, vehicle sensor 2, driver sensor 3, HMI 4, actuator 5, road surface drawing device 6, and control device 7 are each connected to communicate via an in-vehicle network 9 that conforms to standards such as a controller area network.

[0014] The surrounding sensor 1 is a sensor for generating surrounding data that represents the conditions around the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is equipped with one or more external cameras 11 as the surrounding sensor 1 for capturing images of the area around the vehicle 100. The external cameras 11 capture images of the area around the vehicle 100 at a predetermined frame rate (for example, 10[Hz] to 40[Hz]) and generate surrounding images of the area around the vehicle 100. Each time the external cameras 11 generate surrounding images, they transmit the generated surrounding images to the control device 7 as surrounding data.

[0015] In addition to the external camera 11, the vehicle 100 may also be equipped with a distance measuring sensor as a surrounding sensor 1 to measure the distance to targets and features in its vicinity. Examples of distance measuring sensors include LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), which measures distance based on the reflected light emitted by radar, and millimeter-wave radar sensors, which measure distance based on the reflected waves emitted by radio waves.

[0016] Vehicle sensor 2 is a sensor for acquiring vehicle data representing the state of vehicle 100. In this embodiment, vehicle 100 includes, as vehicle sensor 2, a speed sensor 21 that acquires speed data indicating the vehicle's speed, and a positioning sensor 22 that acquires current position data indicating the vehicle's current location, such as latitude and longitude. However, vehicle sensor 2 is not limited to these sensors. The data acquired by each sensor 21 and 22 is transmitted to the control device 7 as vehicle data.

[0017] The driver sensor 3 is a sensor for generating driver data that represents the driver's state. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 includes a driver monitor camera 31 as the driver sensor 3 for capturing the driver's appearance, including the driver's face. The driver monitor camera 31 captures the driver's appearance at a predetermined frame rate (for example, 10 Hz to 40 Hz) and generates an appearance image showing the driver's appearance. Each time the driver monitor camera 31 generates an appearance image of the driver, it transmits the generated appearance image to the control device 7 as driver data.

[0018] HMI4 is a user interface for the exchange of information between the vehicle 100 and its passengers. HMI4 includes an output device 41 for notifying the vehicle passengers through the physical sensations of the vehicle passengers (such as vision, hearing, and touch), and an input device 42 for the vehicle passengers to perform input operations and response operations. The output device 41 is, for example, displays (such as a meter display, a center display, a head-up display, etc.) or a speaker. The input device 42 is, for example, a touch panel or a microphone.

[0019] HMI4 notifies the vehicle passengers of information according to the output signal received from the control device 7 via the output device 41, and transmits the data input by the vehicle passengers via the input device 42 to the control device 7.

[0020] HMI4 may be pre-mounted on the vehicle 100, or may be a terminal such as a smartphone owned by the vehicle passengers (driver and passengers). In the latter case, for example, information exchange may be performed by communicating wirelessly over a short distance between the vehicle 100 and the vehicle passenger's terminal, or communication may be performed between the vehicle passenger's terminal and an external server (not shown), and information exchange may be performed indirectly via the server.

[0021] The actuator 5 is a device used for the driving control of the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 according to the present embodiment includes, as the actuator 5, an acceleration actuator 51 for performing acceleration control of the vehicle 100 (for example, at least one of an engine and a motor), a brake actuator 52 for performing brake control of the vehicle 100 (for example, a hydraulic actuator), and a steering actuator 53 for performing steering control of the vehicle 100 (for example, a steering motor).

[0022] The road surface drawing device 6 is equipped with a light source 61, such as an LED, and projects a predetermined shape (hereinafter referred to as "drawing pattern") that indicates the behavior of the vehicle 100 (for example, turning left or right, reversing, opening and closing doors, etc.) onto the road surface around the vehicle 100. This makes the presence and behavior of the vehicle 100 visible to road users around the vehicle 100, thereby alerting road users to the vehicle's presence.

[0023] The control device 7 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) comprising a communication unit 71, a storage unit 72, and a processing unit 73.

[0024] The communication unit 71 includes an interface circuit for connecting the control device 7 to the in-vehicle network 9. The communication unit 71 supplies various data received from the outside to the processing unit 73. The communication unit 71 also outputs various signals output from the processing unit 73 to the outside.

[0025] The memory unit 72 has a storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid Disk Drive), or semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs and data used for processing in the processing unit 73.

[0026] The processing unit 73 has one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits, and executes various computer programs stored in the memory unit 72. The processing unit 73 is, for example, a processor. The processing unit 73 may further have other arithmetic circuits such as a logical operation unit, a numerical operation unit, or a graphics processing unit. By executing processing according to the computer program, the processing unit 73 functions as a recognition unit 81, a driving support unit 82, a drawing pattern registration unit 83, a road surface drawing unit 84, and a recognition result discard unit 85, and operates as a functional unit (module) that realizes a predetermined function. In the following description, when describing the processing with each functional unit 81 to 85 as the subject, it means that the processing unit 73 is executing the program that realizes each functional unit 81 to 85.

[0027] The following describes the specific processing performed by the control device 7. Specifically, it describes the contents of each functional unit 81 to 85, which are realized by the processing unit 73 executing processing according to the computer program.

[0028] The recognition unit 81 recognizes objects and features around the vehicle 100. For example, the recognition unit 81 sequentially inputs the surrounding image received from the external camera 11 into a classifier to recognize objects such as other vehicles, motorcycles, and pedestrians, as well as features such as curbs, fences, and other similar structures (hereinafter referred to as "boundary structures") and road markings (e.g., lane markings defining driving lanes) within the surrounding image. The classifier can be, for example, a convolutional neural network (CNN) having multiple convolutional layers connected in series from the input side to the output side. The recognition unit 81 also calculates the distance from the vehicle 100 to the objects and features and calculates the position of the objects and features by using, for example, the standard size of the objects and features stored in the memory unit 72 for each type of object and feature, and the size of the objects and features recognized in the surrounding image. Note that the method of recognizing objects and features is not limited to this method, and various known methods may be used for recognition.

[0029] The driver assistance unit 82 controls the actuators 5 based on the targets and features recognized by the recognition unit 81, and provides driver assistance that includes vehicle driving control of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the driver assistance unit 82 can provide driver assistance that includes vehicle driving control of the vehicle 100 at a driving control level of Level 3 as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), that is, at a driving control level that does not require the driver to operate each actuator 51 to 53 or monitor the surroundings. The driver assistance unit 82 can also provide driver assistance that includes vehicle driving control of the vehicle 100 at a driving control level in which the driver is involved in driving the vehicle 100, for example, at a driving control level of Level 1 or Level 2 as defined by the SAE.

[0030] The drawing pattern registration unit 83, for example, at a predetermined timing while the vehicle is stopped, such as when the vehicle is being shipped, projects a drawing pattern onto the road surface using the road surface drawing device and generates an surrounding image in which the drawing pattern is reflected. By extracting the drawing pattern from the generated surrounding image, the unit stores the drawing pattern projected onto the road surface by the vehicle's road surface drawing device 6 in the storage unit 72 and registers the drawing pattern projected onto the road surface by the vehicle's road surface drawing device 6.

[0031] The road surface drawing unit 84 projects a drawing pattern corresponding to the road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle 100 using the road surface drawing device 6. For example, in response to the turn signal switch (direction indicator) being turned ON, the road surface drawing unit 84 projects a drawing pattern for a right turn onto the road surface to the right front of the vehicle 100 if the indicator is turned right, and a drawing pattern for a left turn onto the road surface to the left front of the vehicle 100 if the indicator is turned left. Also, in response to the shift lever being put into the reverse range, the road surface drawing unit 84 projects a drawing pattern for reversing behind the vehicle 100. Furthermore, in response to a vehicle occupant's hand being placed on the interior door lever, the road surface drawing unit 84 projects a drawing pattern for opening and closing the door onto the side of the vehicle 100 on the side of the door on which the hand is placed. The method for detecting whether or not a vehicle occupant's hand is on the interior door lever is not particularly limited, but for example, it can be detected by an infrared sensor built into the door lever.

[0032] Figure 2 shows an example of a surrounding image captured by the external camera 11 when a drawing pattern for a right turn, that is, a drawing pattern indicating that the driver of vehicle 100 intends to turn right, is projected onto the road surface to the right front of vehicle 100.

[0033] The drawing pattern is a relatively simple geometric shape, and in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, it is a geometric shape that mimics an arrow indicating the intended direction of travel of the vehicle 100 and the direction in which the doors will open. Of course, the shape of the drawing pattern is not limited to such arrows, and can be various shapes, such as a striped pattern consisting of multiple lines (four in the example shown in Figure 3).

[0034] When viewed from vehicle 100, the projection position of each drawing pattern is always constant. That is, for a drawing pattern for a right turn, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, it will be projected onto a predetermined road surface position to the right front of vehicle 100. Although not shown in the figures, a drawing pattern for a left turn will be projected onto a predetermined road surface position to the left front of vehicle 100, a drawing pattern for reversing will be projected onto a predetermined road surface position behind vehicle 100, and a drawing pattern for door opening / closing will be projected onto a predetermined road surface position to the right or left of vehicle 100. Therefore, the position of each drawing pattern in the surrounding image captured by the external camera 11 is always constant, and each drawing pattern will be reflected in a predetermined drawing area within the surrounding image for each drawing pattern. For a drawing pattern for a right turn, as shown in Figure 2, the drawing area will be a portion of the lower right area of ​​the surrounding image captured in front of vehicle 100.

[0035] If a drawing pattern is projected onto the road surface around the vehicle 100, the recognition unit 81 may mistakenly recognize the drawing pattern as a road marking such as a lane marking. As a result, there is a risk that driving assistance, including vehicle 100 driving control, will be implemented based on the recognition result of the misidentification of the drawing pattern as a road marking, which may adversely affect the driving assistance provided by the driving assistance unit 82. On the other hand, if, for example, as in the conventional technology, the area on which the drawing pattern is projected is limited to a narrow area near the vehicle that cannot be captured by the external camera 11 in order to prevent the recognition unit 81 from mistakenly recognizing the drawing pattern as a road marking such as a lane marking, the effect of the road surface drawing, which is to alert road users, will be diminished.

[0036] Therefore, in this embodiment, when a drawing pattern is being projected, the recognition result discarding unit 85 performs a process to discard the recognition results for recognized objects that have been determined to be drawing patterns in the surrounding image. This prevents the driving support unit 82 from performing driving support based on drawing patterns in the surrounding image. The details of the drawing pattern storage process will be described below with reference to Figure 4, and then the details of the recognition result discarding unit 85 will be described with reference to Figure 5.

[0037] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the drawing pattern registration process performed by the drawing pattern registration unit 83 and, consequently, the control device 7. The control device 7 performs this routine at a predetermined timing, for example, when the vehicle is stopped, such as during vehicle shipment, and stores the drawing pattern projected onto the road surface by the vehicle's road surface drawing device 6 in the storage unit 72.

[0038] In step S1, the control device 7 projects a drawing pattern onto the road surface using the road surface drawing device 6, and then uses the external camera 11 to photograph the area around the vehicle 100, generating an surrounding image in which the drawing pattern is reflected.

[0039] In step S2, the control device 7 generates a partial image by extracting the drawing area in which the drawing pattern is reflected within the surrounding image. As mentioned above, the position on which the drawing pattern is projected from the perspective of the vehicle 100 is always constant for each drawing pattern, so the position of each drawing pattern in the surrounding image captured by the external camera 11 is also always constant. Therefore, a predetermined area in the surrounding image can be designated as the drawing area for each drawing pattern.

[0040] In step S3, the control device 7 converts the extracted portion image of the drawing area into a grayscale image and extracts lines with geometric features from that image to extract the drawing pattern that the vehicle's road surface drawing device 6 projects onto the road surface.

[0041] In step S4, the control device 7 stores the extracted drawing pattern in the storage unit 72 as a template image of the drawing pattern.

[0042] Furthermore, the method of registering template images is not limited to this method of registering drawing patterns for each vehicle; it is also possible to store template images for each drawing pattern in the storage unit 72 from the beginning.

[0043] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the process of discarding the recognition results of the drawing pattern according to this embodiment, which is carried out by the recognition result discarding unit 85 and, consequently, the control device 7. The control device 7 repeatedly executes this routine at a predetermined calculation cycle.

[0044] In step S11, the control device 7 determines whether the road surface drawing device 6 is projecting a drawing pattern. Whether the drawing pattern is being projected can be determined, for example, by whether or not a road surface drawing request has been made. If the road surface drawing device 6 is projecting a drawing pattern, the control device 7 proceeds to the process in step S12. On the other hand, if the road surface drawing device 6 is not projecting a drawing pattern, the control device 7 terminates the current process.

[0045] In step S12, the control device 7 determines whether a drawing pattern exists within the recognized object in the surrounding image based on a series of temporally continuous surrounding images (for example, the most recent image and an image from one to several frames ago) captured by the external camera 11 when the vehicle 100 is moving. As mentioned above, each drawing pattern is always projected onto a constant position on the road surface as seen from the vehicle 100, so each drawing pattern will always appear in the same position in the surrounding image captured by the external camera 11. Therefore, by comparing a series of temporally continuous surrounding images, if the recognized object within the drawing area has not moved from the drawing area despite the passage of time (vehicle movement), it can be determined that the recognized object is a drawing pattern captured in the surrounding image.

[0046] In this embodiment, the control device 7 is configured to determine whether a recognized object is a drawing pattern based on the amount of movement of the recognized object within the drawing area of ​​a plurality of temporally continuous surrounding images. Specifically, the control device 7 is configured to determine that if the amount of movement of the recognized object is less than or equal to a predetermined amount, the recognized object is a drawing pattern and that a drawing pattern exists among the recognized objects in the surrounding images. On the other hand, if the amount of movement of the recognized object is greater than the predetermined amount, the control device 7 is configured to determine that the recognized object is not a drawing pattern and that no drawing pattern exists among the recognized objects in the surrounding images. If a drawing pattern exists among the recognized objects in the surrounding images, the control device 7 proceeds to the process in step S13. On the other hand, if no drawing pattern exists among the recognized objects in the surrounding images, the control device 7 terminates the process.

[0047] In step S13, the control device 7 extracts the recognized object within the drawing area and converts it into a grayscale image.

[0048] In step S14, the control device 7 identifies the drawing pattern within the drawing area by performing template matching on the grayscale image of the recognized object within the drawing area using the template image of the currently projected drawing pattern registered in the storage unit 72 by the drawing pattern registration unit 83.

[0049] Furthermore, the method for identifying drawing patterns within a drawing area is not limited to template matching (pattern matching) using grayscale images (binary images). It can be identified using various known methods, such as using a pre-trained machine learning model (e.g., a convolutional neural network (CNN)) that has been trained to identify drawing patterns.

[0050] In step S15, the control device 7 discards the recognition result for the drawing pattern within the drawing area of ​​the surrounding image. As a result, when the driving support unit 82 provides driving support based on the targets and features recognized by the recognition unit 81, the recognition result for the drawing pattern is discarded, thus preventing driving support from being performed while the drawing pattern is mistakenly recognized as a road marking. Furthermore, unlike conventional technology, the area on which the drawing pattern is projected is not limited to a narrow area near the vehicle that cannot be captured by the external camera 11, so the effect of road surface drawing, which is to alert road users to the presence and behavior of their own vehicle, is not diminished, and road users can be alerted to the presence and behavior of their own vehicle.

[0051] The vehicle 100 according to this embodiment, as described above, comprises an external camera 11 (imaging device) and a road surface drawing device 6 that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface. The control device 7 of the vehicle 100 is configured to project a drawing pattern corresponding to a road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle 100 using the road surface drawing device 6, recognize features in the surrounding image based on the surrounding image of the vehicle 100 captured by the external camera 11, and discard the recognition result for the drawing pattern when it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is a drawing pattern. Specifically, when the control device 7 determines that the recognized object in the drawing area is a drawing pattern, it is configured to compare an image of the recognized object in the drawing area with a template image registered as the shape of the drawing pattern, and then discard the recognition result for the identified drawing pattern.

[0052] As a result, according to this embodiment, the recognition results for the drawing pattern can be discarded, thus preventing the use of erroneous recognition results that mistakenly identify the drawing pattern as a road marking or other geographical feature. Furthermore, since the projection range of the drawing pattern is not restricted by narrowing or other means, the effectiveness of the drawing pattern in attracting attention can be prevented from being diminished.

[0053] In this embodiment, the external camera 11 (imaging device) and the road surface drawing device 6 are positioned on the vehicle 100 so that the drawing pattern is projected within a predetermined drawing area, which is a region of the surrounding image with a predetermined range. The control device 7 is further configured to determine whether a recognized object is a drawing pattern based on the amount of movement of the recognized object within the drawing area of ​​a plurality of temporally continuous surrounding images. Specifically, the control device 7 is configured to determine that the recognized object is a drawing pattern if the amount of movement of the recognized object is less than or equal to a predetermined amount.

[0054] This allows for accurate determination of whether a recognized object is a drawing pattern by utilizing the fact that the position of each drawing pattern in the surrounding image captured by the external camera 11 remains constant.

[0055] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments only represent a part of the application examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

[0056] For example, in the above embodiment, the computer program executed in the control device 7 may be provided in the form of a computer-readable portable recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium, or it may be provided as a computer program product. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0057] 6 Road drawing device 7 Control device 11. External camera (imaging device) 100 vehicles

Claims

1. Imaging device and A road surface drawing device that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface, A vehicle control device for controlling a vehicle equipped with the following: The road surface drawing device projects the drawing pattern corresponding to the road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle. Based on the surrounding image of the vehicle captured by the imaging device, the device recognizes features within the surrounding image. When it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is the drawing pattern, the system is configured to discard the recognition result for the drawing pattern. Vehicle control system.

2. The imaging device and the road surface drawing device are positioned on the vehicle such that the drawing pattern is projected onto a predetermined drawing area, which is a predetermined area of ​​the surrounding image. The system is configured to determine whether the recognized object is part of the drawing pattern based on the amount of movement of the recognized object within the drawing area of ​​a plurality of temporally continuous surrounding images. A vehicle control device according to claim 1.

3. The system is configured to determine that the recognized object is the drawing pattern if the amount of movement is less than or equal to a predetermined amount. The vehicle control device according to claim 2.

4. When it is determined that the recognized object within the drawing area is the drawing pattern, the system is configured to compare the image extracted from the recognized object within the drawing area with a template image registered as the shape of the drawing pattern, thereby identifying the drawing pattern within the drawing area, and discarding the recognition result for the identified drawing pattern. A vehicle control device according to claim 2 or claim 3.

5. Based on the recognition results of the features in the surrounding image, the system is configured to perform driving assistance, including vehicle driving control. A vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

6. Imaging device and A road surface drawing device that projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface, A vehicle control method equipped with, The road surface drawing device projects the drawing pattern corresponding to the road surface drawing request onto the road surface around the vehicle. Based on the surrounding image of the vehicle captured by the imaging device, the device recognizes features within the surrounding image. When it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is the drawing pattern, the recognition result for the drawing pattern is discarded. A method for controlling a vehicle.

7. A road surface drawing device projects a drawing pattern having a predetermined shape onto the road surface, thereby projecting the drawing pattern onto the road surface around the vehicle in accordance with the road surface drawing request. Based on the surrounding image of the vehicle captured by the imaging device, features within the surrounding image are recognized. When it is determined that the recognized object in the surrounding image is the drawing pattern, the recognition result for the drawing pattern is discarded. A computer program that instructs a computer to perform a process.

Images