Vehicle driving control device

Abstract

To provide a travel control device for avoiding a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian or the like in traveling in a parking lot.SOLUTION: A vehicle travel control device comprises: a first peripheral environment recognition section 11d for recognizing a vehicle periphery based on first peripheral environment information; a transmitter-receiver 18 for transmitting the first peripheral environment information by communication with an external apparatus and receiving second peripheral environment information from the external apparatus; a second peripheral environment recognition section 13c for recognizing the vehicle periphery based on the second peripheral environment information; and a travel control unit 22 including emergency brake control means for stopping a vehicle when there is a collision possibility between a mobile body recognized by the first peripheral environment recognition section and the vehicle. While the vehicle is traveling at a lower speed, the transmitter-receiver transmits the first peripheral environment information of the vehicle and receives the second peripheral environment information from another vehicle parking / stopping ahead. The mobile body in a dead angle area of the vehicle or transition from the stop to start preparation of the other vehicle is recognized based on the received information. The travel control unit performs deceleration control when there is a collision possibility between the vehicle and the mobile body or the other vehicle, and changes the setting of an actuation start threshold of the emergency brake control to be lower than a normal value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle travel control device having a function of avoiding a collision or contact between the vehicle and a moving object such as a pedestrian by performing emergency brake control. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, in the field of vehicles such as automobiles, automatic driving control technology has been developed to automatically drive the vehicle without the driver's operation. In addition, various proposals have been made for vehicle driving control devices to assist the driver's driving operation by utilizing such automatic driving control technology, with the aim of reducing the burden of the driver's driving operation and improving safety when driving the vehicle, and these devices are generally being put into practical use.

[0003] For example, conventional driving control devices are equipped with a surrounding environment recognition device that uses autonomous sensor devices such as cameras, radar devices, and sonar devices, and when an obstacle that impedes the progress of the vehicle is recognized in the vehicle's direction of travel (forward and rearward areas), such as another vehicle, a pedestrian, a bicycle, a motorcycle, or other moving object, an alarm is issued to the driver to alert him / her to the possibility of a collision risk, and if the driver does not take evasive action in response to such an alarm, a predetermined brake control is automatically executed to slow down the vehicle, or emergency brake control (AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking); so-called collision damage mitigation brake) control is executed to stop the vehicle before it collides with or comes into contact with the obstacle, etc.

[0004] Various driving control devices that perform driving control including emergency brake control to avoid collision or contact between the vehicle and an obstacle recognized in the vehicle's direction of travel (mainly forward) or to reduce collision damage have been proposed, for example, in Patent Publication No. 2018-206305 and Patent Publication No. 2019-16053, and are generally in practical use.

[0005] Conventional driving control devices are configured to recognize moving objects (other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) that exist around the vehicle, including in front of and behind the vehicle, based on output information from various surrounding environment recognition devices, such as a camera unit whose imaging range is within a specified field of view in the direction of vehicle travel, a millimeter wave radar whose recognition range is a specified area toward the left or right side in front of or behind the vehicle, and a sonar device whose recognition range is a specified area mainly behind the vehicle.

[0006] Some conventional driving control devices are configured to perform automatic emergency braking (AEB) control, etc., to avoid a collision or contact between the recognized moving object and the vehicle itself, based on the recognition results obtained by the sensing device (surrounding environment recognition device) described above.

[0007] In this case, the operation of emergency brake control etc. in a conventional driving control device is generally triggered by the point in time when a pedestrian, bicycle, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as a pedestrian, etc.) or other vehicle, etc. that enters the field of view of various devices from outside the field of view on the road in the direction of travel of the vehicle is recognized by the above-mentioned sensing device (surrounding environment recognition device). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-206305 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2019-16053 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] However, in the conventional driving control device disclosed in the above-mentioned JP 2018-206305 A and JP 2019-16053 A, for example, there are cases where it is not possible to reliably recognize a pedestrian or the like that jumps out in front of the vehicle from outside the recognition range of a surrounding environment recognition device such as a camera unit (for example, a position close to the side of the vehicle). Therefore, in such a case, it is possible that emergency brake control cannot be executed. In addition, in this case, even if the moving body can be recognized, if the execution of emergency brake control is started at the time of recognition, the brakes may not be applied in time, and the vehicle may collide or come into contact with the moving body. Similarly, for example, even in a situation where a parked vehicle suddenly starts and jumps out onto the road just in front of the vehicle traveling on the road, there is a problem that even if the surrounding environment recognition device recognizes the parked vehicle (moving body) and then starts executing emergency brake control, it cannot respond sufficiently.

[0010] Generally, for example, parking lots and the like attached to large suburban commercial facilities or road rest facilities (rest areas) on expressways and the like (hereinafter simply referred to as parking lots and the like) are areas off normal roads, and are configured so that a large number of vehicles can be lined up and parked in a relatively large area, while at the same time providing a pathway for the vehicles to travel on, so that each of the large number of vehicles can move freely within the area and enter and exit the area freely. In parking lots and the like of this type, it is common to see situations where pedestrians and the like move in a disorderly manner along the pathway and between the large number of parked vehicles.

[0011] When a vehicle is driven under such circumstances, it is usually driven at a low speed (for example, at a speed of 20km / h or less, i.e., slowly moving). However, under such circumstances, for example, there are many cases where a pedestrian or the like suddenly appears from a blind spot of the vehicle, such as between parked vehicles, directly in front of the vehicle that is driving slowly on a road within the premises, or where another parked vehicle starts moving and appears in front of the vehicle that is driving slowly.

[0012] In such cases, conventional driving control devices that perform emergency braking control, etc. based on the results of moving object recognition by a surrounding environment recognition device had the problem of being unable to adequately respond to these moving objects (pedestrians, other vehicles, etc.).

[0013] In addition, detailed information on areas off roads, such as parking lots, is not currently included in existing high-precision road map information (dynamic maps), etc. Therefore, when driving in such places (inside parking lots, etc.), it is known that it is not possible to use existing road map information, etc. to grasp the surrounding situation of the vehicle.

[0014] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and its object is to provide a vehicle driving control device that can reliably avoid collisions or contact between the vehicle and pedestrians, other vehicles, etc., even when driving within a premises such as a parking lot located in an area off the road. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle driving control device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a first surrounding environment recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding environment of the vehicle based on first surrounding environment information acquired by an autonomous sensor device, a transceiver that performs wireless communication with an external system to transmit the first surrounding environment information and receive second surrounding environment information sent from the external system, a second surrounding environment recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding environment of the vehicle based on the second surrounding environment information, and emergency brake control means that executes emergency brake control to stop the vehicle when there is a possibility of a collision between the vehicle and a moving object recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition unit. Including A row control unit, Drive slowly When the vehicle is in a collision detection state, the transceiver transmits the first surrounding environment information of the vehicle and receives the second surrounding environment information transmitted from another vehicle parked or stopped ahead of the vehicle in the traveling direction, and the second surrounding environment recognition unit recognizes a moving object that is present in a blind spot area of ​​the vehicle ahead of the traveling direction of the vehicle, or a transition state of the other vehicle parked or stopped ahead of the traveling direction of the vehicle from a stopped state to a start preparation state based on the received second surrounding environment information, and the driving control unit detects a possibility that the vehicle will collide with the moving object or the other vehicle. , reduced in advance Speed ​​control and , the above Control parameters for emergency braking control a timing threshold for starting the operation of the emergency brake control after the first surrounding environment recognition unit recognizes the moving object; Value Always the law of nature Change the setting to be faster. Change. Effect of the Invention

[0016] According to the present invention, a vehicle driving control device can be provided that can reliably avoid collisions or contact between the vehicle and pedestrians, other vehicles, etc., even when driving within a parking lot or other premises located off the road. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of a cruise control system including a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the recognition areas of a camera unit and a radar device included in the driving control device of FIG. 1; [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a specific situation in which a vehicle equipped with a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention drives within a site such as a parking lot. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the operation of a vehicle equipped with a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention when the vehicle is traveling in the example situation shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] A conceptual diagram showing a different type of parking lot from that shown in Figure 3. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the operation of a parking lot or the like of the same type as the example in FIG. 3, in which branching paths are provided and the vehicle travels along the branching paths; [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart (first half) showing a part of the operation of a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 1 is a flowchart (second half) showing a part of the operation of the cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. The drawings used in the following description are schematic, and the dimensional relationship and scale of each component may be different for each component in order to show each component at a size that can be recognized on the drawing. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated form with respect to the quantity of each component, the shape of each component, the size ratio of each component, the relative positional relationship of each component, etc. shown in each drawing.

[0019] A driving control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device that is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and assists a driver of the vehicle in driving the vehicle. The driving control device according to the present embodiment acquires information about the surrounding environment of the vehicle using an autonomous sensor device such as a camera unit or a radar device.

[0020] Here, the information on the surrounding environment of the vehicle refers to information on objects present around the vehicle, such as vehicles traveling around the vehicle, such as a preceding vehicle, a following vehicle, an oncoming vehicle, a vehicle traveling alongside the vehicle, moving objects such as pedestrians and bicycles, or fixed objects including buildings and various structures, etc. In the following description, such information on the surrounding environment of the vehicle will be referred to as surrounding environment information, etc.

[0021] In addition, the driving control device of this embodiment acquires information regarding road conditions, etc., including high-precision road map information (dynamic map; details will be described later) obtained by communicating with an external system (for example, a high-precision road map database stored in an external server device, etc.).

[0022] Furthermore, the driving control device of this embodiment performs direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication (so-called vehicle-to-vehicle communication) between multiple vehicles (hereinafter referred to as other vehicles) of similar configuration that are present in the vicinity of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the subject vehicle) in which the driving control device is installed, and acquires information held by each of the multiple other vehicles (position, speed, vehicle control information, etc., as well as surrounding environment information recognized by the other vehicles, etc.; hereinafter referred to as other vehicle information).

[0023] The driving control device of this embodiment appropriately uses the various information acquired as described above (such as surrounding environment information, high-precision road map information, other vehicle information, etc.) as information to assist the driver of the vehicle in driving operations.

[0024] First, the schematic configuration of a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic overall configuration of a cruise control system including a cruise control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing the recognition areas of a camera unit and a radar device included in the cruise control device of Fig. 1.

[0025] The configuration of the cruise control system shown in Fig. 1 is basically substantially the same as that of a conventional cruise control system of the same type. Therefore, Fig. 1 illustrates only the main components of the cruise control device of this embodiment, and does not illustrate detailed configurations that are not directly related to the present invention. In the following description, only the main components related to the present invention will be described, and detailed descriptions of configurations other than those directly related to the present invention will be omitted, as they are substantially similar to cruise control devices included in conventional cruise control systems.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, a driving control system 1 including a driving control device 10 of this embodiment is configured to include a driving control device 10 mounted on a vehicle, and a plurality of control devices 100 provided in a network environment NW to which the plurality of driving control devices 10 are connected via wireless communication.

[0027] The control device 100 is provided as a server device in a network environment using, for example, cloud computing or edge computing, or in a network environment using a roadside facility network.

[0028] The control device 100 sequentially integrates and updates the road map information transmitted from the driving control device 10 of each vehicle, and transmits the updated road map information to each vehicle. To this end, the control device 100 is configured with a road map information integration control unit 101 and a server-side transceiver 102.

[0029] The road map information integration control unit 101 integrates road map information collected from multiple vehicles through the server-side transceiver 102, and sequentially updates road map information surrounding the vehicle on the road. The road map information is, for example, high-precision road map information (dynamic map), and has four layers of information: static information and quasi-static information that mainly constitute road information, and quasi-dynamic information and dynamic information that mainly constitute traffic information.

[0030] Here, the static information is, for example, 3D road map information including road surface information, lane information, position information of various structures existing on or around the road, and permanent traffic regulation information, etc. The static information is composed of information that is required to be updated, for example, within one month.

[0031] The semi-static information is, for example, temporary traffic control information such as scheduled road construction or traffic control due to an event, wide-area weather forecast information, traffic congestion forecast information, etc. The semi-static information is composed of information that is required to be updated, for example, within one hour.

[0032] Semi-dynamic information includes, for example, actual traffic congestion and traffic control information at the time of observation, information on temporary driving impediments caused by fallen objects or obstacles, actual accident information, narrow-area weather information, etc. Semi-dynamic information is composed of information that requires an update frequency of, for example, within one minute.

[0033] Dynamic information is real-time information such as various types of information transmitted and received between moving bodies (vehicles), traffic signal information being displayed, information on pedestrians and bicycles at intersections, information on vehicles moving straight through intersections, etc. Dynamic information is made up of information that requires an update frequency of, for example, within one second.

[0034] Such road map information is maintained periodically until the next information is received from each vehicle, and is updated every time new information is received. The updated road map information is then appropriately transmitted to each vehicle via the server-side transceiver 102.

[0035] The driving control device 10 has a surrounding environment recognition unit 11, which is a unit for recognizing the surrounding environment outside the vehicle, and a locator unit 12. The driving control device 10 also has a driving control unit 22, an engine control unit 23, a power steering control unit 24, and a brake control unit 25. These control units 22, 23, 24, and 25 are connected together with the surrounding environment recognition unit 11 and the locator unit 12 via an in-vehicle communication line such as a CAN (Controller Area Network).

[0036] The surrounding environment recognition unit 11 has, for example, a camera unit (stereo camera unit) consisting of a main camera 11a and a sub-camera 11b fixed to the upper center of the front part of the vehicle interior, an image processing unit (IPU) 11c connected to this camera unit, and a first surrounding environment recognition section 11d to which this IPU 11c is connected.

[0037] The main camera 11a and the sub-camera 11b (camera unit) are, for example, autonomous sensor devices that sense the real space in front of the vehicle. The main camera 11a and the sub-camera 11b are, for example, arranged at symmetrical positions across the center in the vehicle width direction. As a result, the two cameras 11a and 11b capture a predetermined area (see symbol Af in FIG. 2) in front of the vehicle as a stereo image consisting of two images from different viewpoints.

[0038] The IPU 11c performs image processing on image data of a specific area in front of the vehicle captured by the two cameras 11a and 11b, and generates forward surrounding environment image information (distance image information) that includes distance information calculated from the amount of positional deviation of an object on the image.

[0039] The first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d determines lane markings that divide the road around the vehicle based on distance image information received from the IPU 11c, etc. The first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d also determines the road curvature [1 / m] of the markings that divide the left and right of the road (host vehicle driving lane) on which the host vehicle is traveling, and the width between the left and right markings (lane width). There are various known methods for determining the road curvature and lane width, but for example, the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d recognizes the left and right markings by binarization processing based on the brightness difference based on the forward surrounding environment image information, and determines the curvatures of the left and right markings for each predetermined section by a curve approximation formula using the least squares method, etc.

[0040] The first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d also performs a predetermined pattern matching on the distance image information to recognize three-dimensional objects such as guardrails and curbs along the road, and pedestrians, motorcycles, and vehicles other than motorcycles that are on the road around the vehicle. Here, the recognition of three-dimensional objects by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d includes, for example, recognition of the type of the three-dimensional object, the distance to the three-dimensional object, the speed of the three-dimensional object, and the relative speed between the three-dimensional object and the vehicle. The three-dimensional object recognized based on the image information acquired by the camera units (11a, 11b) in this manner is referred to as a camera object (camera OBJ).

[0041] Furthermore, a plurality of radar devices (a left front-side radar device 11fl, a right front-side radar device 11fr, a left rear-side radar device 11rl, and a right rear-side radar device 11rr) are connected to the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d as autonomous sensor devices.

[0042] The left front side radar device 11fl and the right front side radar device 11fr are provided, for example, on the left and right sides of a front bumper, respectively. These left front side radar device 11fl and right front side radar device 11fr recognize areas (see symbols Afl and Afr in FIG. 2) obliquely forward and to the left and right of the vehicle that cannot be recognized by the images from the above-mentioned cameras 11a and 11b. The left front side radar device 11fl and the right front side radar device 11fr are disposed so that a part of each area Afl and Afr overlaps a part of the area Af recognized by the cameras 11a and 11b.

[0043] The left rear side radar device 11rl and the right rear side radar device 11rr are provided, for example, on the left and right sides of a rear bumper, respectively. These left rear side radar device 11rl and right rear side radar device 11rr recognize areas from the left and right sides to the rear of the vehicle (see symbols Arl and Arr in FIG. 2) that cannot be recognized by the above-mentioned left front side radar device 11fl and right front side radar device 11fr. The left rear side radar device 11rl and the right rear side radar device 11rr are disposed so that parts of their recognition areas Arl and Arr overlap each other.

[0044] The right front-side radar device 11fr and the right rear-side radar device 11rr are arranged so that their recognition areas Afr and Arr partially overlap each other. The left front-side radar device 11fl and the left rear-side radar device 11rl are arranged so that their recognition areas Afl and Arl partially overlap each other.

[0045] Each of the radar devices 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr is configured to include, for example, a millimeter wave radar device, a laser radar device, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device, etc. Each of the radar devices 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr emits radar waves (radio waves, laser beams, etc.) in the horizontal direction at each preset frame period, and receives the reflected waves of the emitted radar waves. As a result, each of the radar devices 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr detects a plurality of reflection points on a three-dimensional object existing around the vehicle. Then, each of the radar devices 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr recognizes a three-dimensional object by analyzing the positions (relative positions to the vehicle) and moving speeds of the detected reflection points, and performing grouping processing.

[0046] Furthermore, each radar device 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr sets the reflection point that is closest in linear distance to the vehicle as the representative point of the recognized three-dimensional object. Each radar device 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr recognizes, as information related to the representative point, for example, the position and relative speed of the reflection point corresponding to the representative point, and recognizes the size of the three-dimensional object calculated from the distribution of the reflection points. The three-dimensional object recognized in each radar device 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr in this way is called a radar object (radar OBJ).

[0047] The information on the radar OBJ recognized by each of the radar devices 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, and 11rr in this manner is input to the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d. As a result, the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d can recognize not only preceding vehicles and the like in front of the vehicle, but also vehicles running parallel to the sides of the vehicle, intersecting vehicles approaching the vehicle from a direction intersecting the vehicle's travel path at an intersection, and following vehicles behind the vehicle, as well as various moving objects such as pedestrians and bicycles around the vehicle as three-dimensional objects.

[0048] Here, the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d converts the recognized positions of the camera OBJ and radar OBJ into coordinates of an orthogonal coordinate system (a coordinate system in which the longitudinal direction of the vehicle is the Z axis and the width direction of the vehicle is the X axis: see FIG. 2) with the center of the vehicle as the origin O. Note that each piece of information related to moving objects such as the camera OBJ and radar OBJ recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d is referred to as first surrounding environment information.

[0049] The locator unit 12 is a component unit that estimates the vehicle's position on a road map. The locator unit 12 has a locator calculation unit 13 that estimates the vehicle's position. The input side of the locator calculation unit 13 is connected to sensors required for estimating the vehicle's position (vehicle position), such as a longitudinal acceleration sensor 14 that detects the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle, a wheel speed sensor 15 that detects the rotational speed of each of the front, rear, left and right wheels, a gyro sensor 16 that detects the angular velocity or angular acceleration of the vehicle, and a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 17 that receives positioning signals transmitted from multiple positioning satellites. In addition, a vehicle-side transceiver 18 that transmits and receives various information between the vehicle and an external system (an external server device, another vehicle, etc.) by wireless communication is connected to the locator calculation unit 13.

[0050] The vehicle-side transceiver 18 has a function of transmitting and receiving information via wireless communication with, for example, the control device 100 (so-called road-to-vehicle communication).The vehicle-side transceiver 18 also has a function of transmitting and receiving information with another vehicle equipped with a cruise control device 10A (see FIG. 1) of substantially the same configuration as the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment (so-called vehicle-to-vehicle communication).

[0051] Furthermore, the vehicle-side transceiver 18 in the driving control device 10 of this embodiment has the function of transmitting and receiving information via wireless communication with a small-scale management system (such as a so-called mini server system or local server system) including a small-scale management device provided to manage a limited area (site) of a parking lot, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as a parking lot, etc.) attached to a large-scale suburban commercial facility located in a peripheral area along a road and off the road, or a road rest facility (rest area) on a motorway, etc.

[0052] 1 shows a parking lot monitoring system 200 as a specific example of the small-scale management system. Here, information handled by the parking lot monitoring system 200 and transmitted to and from each vehicle is referred to as parking lot environment information.

[0053] Although the detailed configuration of this parking lot monitoring system 200 is omitted from the drawings, it is composed of, for example, a transceiver that transmits and receives information by wireless communication with the driving control devices 10, 10A mounted on each vehicle, a monitoring camera (at least one or more) that obtains image information within the parking lot, and a control unit that comprehensively controls these constituent units, etc. The configuration of the parking lot monitoring system 200, which is such a small-scale management system, conforms to the conventional control device 100, etc., so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0054] A high-precision road map database 19 is connected to the locator calculation unit 13. The high-precision road map database 19 is mainly composed of large-capacity storage media such as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) and SSDs (Solid State Drives). High-precision road map information (dynamic maps) is stored in this high-precision road map database 19.

[0055] Here, the high-precision road map information is information required for controlling the traveling of the vehicle, and has, for example, the same information as the road map information that is successively updated in the above-mentioned road map information integration control unit 101. That is, the high-precision road map information has four layers of information consisting of static information and quasi-static information that mainly constitute road information, and quasi-dynamic information and dynamic information that mainly constitute traffic information, and is information of approximately the same form as the high-precision road map information contained in the above-mentioned road map information integration control unit 101.

[0056] Locator calculation unit 13 includes map information acquisition unit 13a, host vehicle position estimation unit 13b, and second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c.

[0057] For example, based on the destination set by the driver during automatic driving, the map information acquisition unit 13a acquires route map information from the current location to the destination from the map information stored in the high-precision road map database 19. In addition, the map information acquisition unit 13a transmits the acquired route map information (lane data on the route map) to the vehicle position estimation unit 13b.

[0058] The vehicle position estimation unit 13b acquires the position coordinates of the vehicle based on the positioning signal received by the GNSS receiver 17. The vehicle position estimation unit 13b also performs map matching of the acquired position coordinates on the route map information to estimate the vehicle position on the road map, recognizes the left and right lane dividing lines that divide the vehicle's driving path (driving lane), and acquires the road curvature at the center of the driving lane stored in the road map data.

[0059] In an environment where a valid positioning signal from a positioning satellite cannot be received due to reduced sensitivity of the GNSS receiver 17, such as when driving inside a tunnel, the vehicle position estimation unit 13b switches to autonomous navigation, which estimates the vehicle position based on various information such as the vehicle speed calculated based on the wheel speed detected by the wheel speed sensor 15, the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor 16, and the longitudinal acceleration detected by the longitudinal acceleration sensor 14, and estimates the vehicle position on a road map.

[0060] Furthermore, when the vehicle position estimation unit 13b estimates the vehicle position on the road map based on the positioning signal received by the GNSS receiver 17 or information detected by the gyro sensor 16, etc., as described above, it determines the road type, etc. of the road on which the vehicle is traveling based on the estimated vehicle position on the road map.

[0061] The second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c updates the road map information stored in the high-precision road map database 19 to the latest state using road map information and the like acquired by communication with an external system via the vehicle-side transceiver 18 (roadside-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication). This information update is performed not only for static information but also for quasi-static information, quasi-dynamic information, and dynamic information. As a result, the road map information is composed of road information and traffic information acquired by communication with the outside of the vehicle, and information on moving bodies such as vehicles traveling on roads is updated in approximately real time.

[0062] The second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c verifies the road map information based on the first surrounding environment information related to the moving object etc. recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d of the surrounding environment recognition unit 11, and updates the road map information stored in the high-precision road map database 19 to the latest state. This information update is performed not only on static information but also on quasi-static information, quasi-dynamic information, and dynamic information. As a result, information (first surrounding environment information) related to the moving object etc., such as the vehicle etc. and the pedestrian etc. traveling on the road recognized by the surrounding environment recognition unit 11 is updated in real time. Then, the road map information thus updated is transmitted to the control device 100 and the surrounding vehicles etc. of the vehicle by road-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-vehicle communication via the vehicle-side transceiver 18.

[0063] The second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c recognizes, from among the updated road map information, road map information within a set range centered on the vehicle position estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit 13b as second surrounding environment information. Here, the range of the second surrounding environment information recognized by the second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c is wider than the first surrounding environment information related to moving objects, etc., recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d, and for example, road map information within a 1 km radius centered on the vehicle position is recognized as the second surrounding environment information.

[0064] Furthermore, the second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c in the driving control device 10 of this embodiment verifies the surrounding environment information of the host vehicle that could not be recognized only by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d of the host vehicle based on other vehicle information acquired from other vehicles in the vicinity by communication with an external system via the transceiver 18 and parking lot environment information acquired from the parking lot monitoring system 200 within the premises of the parking lot or the like where the host vehicle is located, and recognizes in real time information of moving objects such as pedestrians and motorcycles that are estimated to be present in the blind spot of the host vehicle around the host vehicle. Therefore, in this case, other vehicle information and parking lot environment information are also recognized as second surrounding environment information.

[0065] The first surrounding environment information regarding a moving object, etc. recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition section 11d of the surrounding environment recognition unit 11 and the second surrounding environment information recognized by the second surrounding environment recognition section 13c of the locator unit 12 are read by the driving control unit 22.

[0066] Although not shown in the figure, various switches and sensors are connected to the input side of the driving control unit 22, such as a mode change switch that allows the driver to switch automatic driving on / off, a steering torque sensor that detects steering torque as an amount of driving operation by the driver, a brake sensor that detects the amount of brake pedal depression as an amount of driving operation by the driver, an accelerator sensor that detects the amount of accelerator pedal depression as an amount of driving operation by the driver, and a yaw rate sensor that detects the yaw rate acting on the vehicle.

[0067] The driving control unit 22 is a component unit that comprehensively controls the driving of the vehicle based on first surrounding environment information, which is information regarding the surrounding environment of a moving object, etc. acquired by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d, and second surrounding environment information, which is various information obtained through the locator unit 12.

[0068] The driving control unit 22 performs driving control according to the driving mode selected by, for example, a mode change switch. The driving control unit 22 also has a function of performing emergency brake (AEB) control, etc., as appropriate, when detecting a possibility of collision between the driving vehicle and a pedestrian, bicycle, etc., other vehicle, etc., moving around the vehicle, as well as a fixed obstacle such as a surrounding structure. This emergency brake control is basically performed based on the first surrounding environment information recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d (i.e., information on a moving object (camera object, radar object) recognized by the cameras 11a, 11b and the radar devices 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, 11rr, etc.) and the second surrounding environment information recognized by the second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c (information on other vehicles and information on the environment in the parking lot). At this time, the driving control unit 22 functions as an emergency brake control means.

[0069] A throttle actuator 27 is connected to the output side of the engine control unit 23. This throttle actuator 27 opens and closes a throttle valve of an electronically controlled throttle provided in a throttle body of the engine, and generates a desired engine output by opening and closing the throttle valve in response to a drive signal from the engine control unit 23 to adjust the intake air flow rate.

[0070] An electric power steering motor 28 is connected to the output side of the power steering control unit 24. This electric power steering motor 28 applies steering torque to the steering mechanism by the rotational force of the motor, and in autonomous driving, lane centering control for maintaining driving in the current driving lane and lane change control for moving the vehicle to an adjacent lane (lane change control for overtaking control, etc.) are performed by controlling the operation of the electric power steering motor 28 by a drive signal from the power steering control unit 24.

[0071] A brake actuator 29 is connected to the output side of the brake control unit 25. This brake actuator 29 adjusts the brake hydraulic pressure supplied to the brake wheel cylinders provided on each wheel, and when the brake actuator 29 is driven by a drive signal from the brake control unit 25, a braking force is generated by the brake wheel cylinders on each wheel, forcing the wheel to decelerate.

[0072] The locator unit 12, the first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d, the driving control unit 22, the engine control unit 23, the power steering control unit 24, the brake control unit 25, etc. are configured by, for example, a well-known microcomputer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a non-volatile storage unit, etc., and its peripheral devices, etc. The ROM stores in advance programs executed by the CPU, fixed data such as data tables, etc.

[0073] As will be described later, when the driving control device 10 of this embodiment drives within a limited area such as a parking lot, when a moving object (a pedestrian or other vehicle) is recognized based on second surrounding environment information acquired from the driving control device 10A mounted on a plurality of other vehicles present in the parking lot or the parking lot monitoring system 200, in addition to the first surrounding environment information acquired from the camera units (11a, 11b) and the radar devices (11fl, 11fr, 11rl, 11rr), the driving control device 10 performs a predetermined deceleration control or emergency brake control (details will be described later).

[0074] Therefore, among the components of the driving control device 10 of this embodiment described above, for example, parts of the locator calculation unit 13 in the locator unit 12 and the control device 100, which are components mainly used for driving control on normal roads, are not essential components under the circumstances of this embodiment (driving conditions within a premises such as a parking lot), and therefore can be omitted as appropriate.

[0075] In this case, various sensors such as acceleration sensor 14, wheel speed sensor 15, gyro sensor 16, etc. provided in locator unit 12 may be configured to be connected to first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d or cruise control unit 22. Also, vehicle-side transceiver 18 included in locator unit 12 and second surrounding environment recognition unit 13c included in locator calculation unit 13 may be configured to be connected to cruise control unit 22. The schematic configuration of cruise control device 10 of this embodiment has been described above.

[0076] A specific situation that a vehicle equipped with the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment configured as described above may encounter when, for example, it leaves a normal road, enters a parking lot, or the like, and drives within the premises will be briefly described below with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 conceptually shows a situation when a vehicle equipped with the cruise control device of this embodiment drives within a premises such as a parking lot.

[0077] The situation shown in Figure 3 is one in which a vehicle M1 equipped with a driving control device 10 (not shown in Figure 3) is traveling (slowly moving) at a low speed, for example, of about 20 km / h, along a walkway 502 within the premises of a parking lot or the like 500 in the direction indicated by arrow Z in Figure 3.

[0078] Here, in a parking lot or the like 500, a plurality of parking bays 503 separated by demarcation lines 501 are arranged side by side, and a traffic path 502 serving as a vehicle lane is arranged in a predetermined area between the plurality of parking bays 503. Furthermore, a plurality of other vehicles are parked and stopped randomly in the plurality of parking bays 503, as shown in FIG.

[0079] The parking lot etc. 500 is provided with a parking lot monitoring system 200, which is a small-scale management system consisting of at least one or more surveillance cameras and a small-scale management device that collectively manages image information etc. acquired by these surveillance cameras. The parking lot etc. 500 is assumed to be managed by this parking lot monitoring system 200.

[0080] Here, the surveillance camera included in the parking lot monitoring system 200 is installed at a relatively high place, for example, by using a lighting pole or the like that is placed at a predetermined position within the premises of the parking lot etc. 500. As a result, the surveillance camera constantly captures an overview of the situation within the premises of the parking lot etc. 500 that is the subject of monitoring. Based on this, the parking lot monitoring system 200 creates, for example, a mini map that is limited to the premises of the parking lot etc. 500.

[0081] In addition to centrally managing image information and the like acquired by surveillance cameras, the parking lot monitoring system 200 is also assumed to have the function of transmitting and receiving information via wireless communication between multiple vehicles that have entered the parking lot, etc. 500 (a communication function equivalent to so-called road-to-vehicle communication).

[0082] The vehicle M1 equipped with the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment is placed in the situation shown in Fig. 3 in the following case. That is, when the vehicle M1 is traveling on a normal road (not shown) while executing normal cruise control, the vehicle M1 deviates from the road on which it is traveling and enters a parking lot or the like 500 as shown in Fig. 3. In such a case, the vehicle M1 that has entered the parking lot or the like 500 first travels slowly along a passage 502, and when it finds a desired vacant space, it parks in the vacant space.

[0083] Here, within the premises of parking lot or the like 500, pedestrians or the like may be moving between a plurality of other vehicles parked or stopped in each parking space 503 as well as on walkway 502. For example, the situation shown in Fig. 3 shows a situation in which pedestrian or the like H is moving in the space between other vehicles M2 and M3 in the direction shown by arrow X in Fig. 3.

[0084] In this case, the space between the other vehicle M2 and the other vehicle M3 is a blind spot area outside the recognition area (Af, Afl, Afr) of the camera unit (11a, 11b) and the radar device (11fl, 11fr) of the cruise control device 10 mounted on the host vehicle M1. Therefore, in the situation shown in FIG. 3, the pedestrian H moving between the other vehicle M2 and the other vehicle M3 cannot be directly recognized by the cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 traveling on the road 502.

[0085] As described above, a plurality of other vehicles are parked and stopped in each of the plurality of parking spaces 503. In this case, in the example shown in Fig. 3, among the plurality of other vehicles parked and stopped in the plurality of parking spaces 503, the other vehicles indicated by the symbols M2, M3, M4, and M5 are assumed to be in operation, for example. In addition, the other other vehicles (without symbols) are assumed to be completely stopped.

[0086] Here, the operating state of the vehicle refers to, for example, a state in which at least the electrical system is activated (ACC on or power on state), or in addition, a state in which the engine is running (idling state).

[0087] Examples of when the vehicle is in operation include when the vehicle is stopped on the access road 502 and waiting for a parking space 503 to become available (not shown), when the vehicle has just parked in a desired parking space 503, or when the vehicle is preparing to leave the parking space 503.

[0088] In this way, when the other vehicle parked in the parking space 503 is in operation, the cruise control device 10A (not shown in FIG. 3) mounted on the vehicle is in operation (on state). Therefore, each of the other vehicles M2, M3, M4, and M5 in operation successively acquires information about the surroundings of each vehicle, and the information is appropriately transmitted to the vehicle M1 or the parking lot monitoring system 200 by vehicle-to-vehicle communication or road-to-vehicle communication. At the same time, each of the other vehicles M2, M3, M4, and M5 in operation is in a state in which it can receive information from the vehicle M1.

[0089] In the situation shown in Fig. 3, for example, another vehicle M2 recognizes pedestrians H using its right rear-side radar device (11rr) (see recognition area Arr2 in Fig. 3). Also, for example, another vehicle M3 recognizes pedestrians H using its left rear-side radar device (11rl) (see recognition area Arl3 in Fig. 3). And, for example, another vehicle M5 recognizes pedestrians H using its camera units (11a, 11b) (see recognition area Af4 in Fig. 3).

[0090] In this way, when a pedestrian H is present in the blind spot area of ​​the vehicle M1 traveling at a low speed on the passageway 502 within the premises of the parking lot 500, the pedestrian H may be recognized by other vehicles M2, M3, M5, etc. in operation. In this case, the other vehicles M2, M3, M5 recognize the presence of the pedestrian H and obtain the position information of the pedestrian H, and at the same time, by periodically and continuously performing recognition, they can recognize the moving distance, moving direction, moving speed, etc. of the recognized pedestrian H.

[0091] Therefore, the host vehicle M1 equipped with the driving control device 10 of this embodiment can obtain information regarding pedestrians H, etc. present in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1 in advance from second surrounding environment information (other vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from other vehicles M2, M3, M5 via vehicle-to-vehicle communication or road-to-vehicle communication, in addition to the first surrounding environment information (information obtained by the camera unit and radar device) obtained by the driving control device 10 of the host vehicle M1.

[0092] Then, the host vehicle M1 can predict the movement state of the pedestrian H based on the other vehicle information, and can anticipate that the pedestrian H will appear in front of the host vehicle M1 after a predetermined time has elapsed. Therefore, the driving control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 can be prepared in advance so as to be able to adequately respond to the pedestrian H even when emergency brake control is activated at the time when the pedestrian H is recognized based on the first surrounding environment information acquired by the host vehicle's camera unit or radar device. By performing such driving control, the host vehicle M1 can appropriately and with ample time to execute driving control to avoid collision or contact with the pedestrian H present in the blind spot area (specific details of the control will be described later).

[0093] On the other hand, in the situation shown in FIG. 3, it can be said that each of the other vehicles M2, M3, M4, and M5 in the operating state may start moving at any time. Therefore, the second surrounding environment information (other vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from these other vehicles in the operating state includes state information of each vehicle, for example, setting position information of a select lever operated by a driver to prepare for starting. Therefore, by receiving such other vehicle information in advance, the host vehicle M1 can recognize, for example, other vehicles in the starting preparation state in advance. Therefore, even if the other vehicle preparing to start suddenly starts on the road 502 without noticing the host vehicle M1, the host vehicle M1 can appropriately execute driving control with a margin to avoid a collision or contact (details will be described later).

[0094] The operation of the host vehicle M1 equipped with the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment under the circumstances shown in Fig. 3 and described above will be briefly described below with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 conceptually shows a specific example of the operation when the vehicle equipped with the cruise control device of this embodiment drives within a site such as a parking lot. Note that the situation shown in Fig. 4 is similar to the situation described in Fig. 3, but in order to avoid complicating the drawing, some reference numerals are omitted.

[0095] It is assumed that the vehicle M1 equipped with the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment is traveling on a normal road (not shown) while executing normal cruise control. At this time, the cruise control device 10 is traveling while recognizing its surrounding environment using a camera unit, a radar device, etc. Then, it is assumed that the vehicle M1 leaves the road on which it is traveling and enters a parking lot or the like 500 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

[0096] When the vehicle M1 enters a parking lot or the like 500, the cruise control device 10 of the vehicle M1 transmits vehicle information (first surrounding environment information) including position information of the vehicle M1 and information that the vehicle M1 is traveling within the premises of the parking lot or the like 500 to other nearby vehicles by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In this case, the transmission range for the vehicle-to-vehicle communication may be, for example, within a radius of about 300 meters centered on the vehicle M1. In this case, the transmission range may be mainly the area ahead of the vehicle M1 in the traveling direction.

[0097] In addition, here, the determination of whether or not the vehicle M1 has entered a parking lot, etc. 500 can be made based on, for example, the vehicle's position information obtained by a locator unit 12, etc., as well as surrounding environment information obtained by a camera unit or a radar device.

[0098] When the vehicle M1 enters the parking lot or the like 500 in this way, the vehicle M1 travels along a road 502 in the parking lot or the like 500. In such a situation, the vehicle M1 is usually required to travel slowly at a slower speed (for example, at a low speed of about 20 km / h or less) than when traveling on a normal road. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle M1 is assumed to travel in the direction indicated by the arrow Z.

[0099] In addition to transmitting the vehicle information to other vehicles by the above-mentioned vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the vehicle M1 may transmit the information to the parking lot monitoring system 200 by road-to-vehicle communication. In this case, the parking lot monitoring system 200 manages the information in the parking lot 500 in an integrated manner based on information transmitted from each vehicle in the parking lot 500 and image information acquired by a surveillance camera or the like. Then, the parking lot monitoring system 200 transmits information required by each vehicle in the parking lot 500 to the corresponding vehicle. For example, information on a plurality of vehicles traveling on the passage 502 and a plurality of pedestrians moving within the parking lot 500 can be obtained from the image information of the parking lot 500 obtained from a bird's-eye view by a surveillance camera. Therefore, the parking lot monitoring system 200 transmits information on the position, moving distance, moving direction, moving speed, etc. of pedestrians moving near the vehicle to the vehicle traveling on the passage 502.

[0100] The vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle M1 is received by other vehicles (other vehicles indicated by symbols M2, M3, M4, and M5 in the example of FIG. 4) that are in operation within the parking lot or the like 500. The other vehicles that receive the information transmitted from the vehicle M1 transmit their respective surrounding environment information and their own vehicle information (other vehicle information) to the vehicle M1.

[0101] Here, the other vehicle information transmitted from each other vehicle in operation within the parking lot etc. 500 to the vehicle M1 includes, for example, information regarding pedestrians etc. in the vicinity recognized by each other vehicle, and the vehicle's own vehicle information (for example, select lever setting position information, etc.).

[0102] In this case, the information on the pedestrians, etc. includes, for example, position information of the pedestrians, etc. H recognized by each of the other vehicles, and the moving distance, moving direction, moving speed, etc. of the pedestrians, etc. H.

[0103] For example, in Fig. 4, it is assumed that the other vehicles M2, M3, and M5 recognize the presence of a pedestrian H at the position indicated by the symbol [B0] in Fig. 4. Then, these other vehicles M2, M3, and M5 continue to recognize the pedestrian H.

[0104] In this case, for example, if a pedestrian H is first recognized at the position [B0] in FIG. 4, and then the same pedestrian H is recognized at the position [B1] in FIG. 4 after a predetermined time has elapsed from the position [B0] (for example, after 1 second), the moving direction of the pedestrian H can be determined from the relative positional relationship between the vehicle equipped with the recognition device and each position [B0], [B1] of the pedestrian H, and the moving distance of the pedestrian H can be calculated. Then, the moving speed of the pedestrian H can be calculated from the calculated moving distance and the elapsed time between each position [B0], [B1]. In this way, the other vehicle continuously acquires information about the pedestrian H according to the movement of the pedestrian H, and the acquired information is continuously transmitted to the vehicle M1 at a predetermined cycle.

[0105] Furthermore, suppose that the driver of another vehicle (e.g., another vehicle M4 in FIG. 4) that is in operation and stopped switches the selector lever setting position from the [P] (parking) position to the [D] (drive) position. In this case, the vehicle state of the other vehicle M4 transitions from a stopped state to a start preparation state, and there is a possibility that the vehicle M4 will move in the direction of the arrow X1 in FIG. 4 and start toward the roadway 502. At this time, if the traveling direction Z of the vehicle M1 and the direction X1 in which the other vehicle M4 is predicted to move intersect, there is a possibility that the vehicle M1 and the other vehicle M4 will collide or come into contact with each other.

[0106] In such a case, the other vehicle information transmitted from the other vehicle M4 via vehicle-to-vehicle communication includes information that the selector lever setting position of the other vehicle M4 has been switched from the [P] position to the [D] position, i.e., information that the vehicle state of the other vehicle M4 has transitioned from a stopped state to a start-preparation state.

[0107] In this way, when vehicle M1 travels along path 502 of parking lot etc. 500, it continues to travel at a low speed while checking the surrounding environment information of its own vehicle using a camera unit, radar device, etc. mounted on the vehicle, and receiving other vehicle information from multiple other vehicles operating in the parking lot etc. 500.

[0108] In this case, the host vehicle M1 recognizes in advance, before the host vehicle M1 recognizes, based on the received other vehicle information, the presence of a moving object that cannot be recognized only by the camera unit or radar device of the host vehicle M1, such as a pedestrian H that is in a blind spot from the host vehicle M1, or the presence of another vehicle M4 that is in operation and preparing to start in the area ahead of the host vehicle M1. At the same time, the host vehicle M1 predicts the possibility of a collision between the moving object recognized in advance and the host vehicle based on the acquired other vehicle information.

[0109] That is, the driving control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 recognizes in advance a pedestrian H present in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1 based on other vehicle information, and when it is able to acquire information about the pedestrian H (position, distance traveled, direction of travel, speed of travel, etc.), it performs a collision possibility calculation process that predicts the possibility of a collision or contact between the host vehicle M1 and the pedestrian H after a predetermined time has elapsed based on host vehicle information such as the direction of travel and driving speed of the host vehicle M1 and the acquired information about the pedestrian H.

[0110] Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a pedestrian H present in the blind spot area of ​​the vehicle M1 (the area between the other vehicles M2 and M3) moves in the direction along the arrow X from the position [B0] in FIG. 4, the predicted position at each predetermined time becomes [B1], [B2], [B3], and [B4] in FIG. 4.

[0111] On the other hand, when the pedestrian H is at position [B0] in Figure 4, the vehicle M1 is at position [A0] in Figure 4, and when the vehicle M1 moves from position [A0] in Figure 4 in the direction indicated by arrow Z, the predicted positions for the same specified time periods become [A1], [A2], [A3], and [A4] in Figure 4.

[0112] Here, the arrow X, which indicates the moving direction of the pedestrian H, and the arrow Z, which indicates the moving direction of the vehicle M1, intersect with each other. Also, the predicted positions [B1], [B2], [B3], and [B4] of the pedestrian H correspond to the predicted positions [A1], [A2], [A3], and [A4] of the vehicle M1.

[0113] In this case, when the vehicle M1 reaches position [A4] in Figure 4, the pedestrian H will reach position [B4], and it is possible to predict that the two may collide or come into contact at that point.

[0114] Even if the pedestrian H is moving, if the moving direction of the pedestrian H does not intersect with the moving direction (arrow Z) of the vehicle M1, it can be determined that there is no possibility of collision. Here, examples of cases in which the moving direction of the pedestrian H does not intersect with the moving direction (arrow Z) of the vehicle M1 include a case in which the moving direction of the pedestrian H is approximately parallel to the moving direction (arrow Z) of the vehicle M1, or a case in which the moving direction of the pedestrian H is a direction away from the road 502 of the vehicle M1.

[0115] For example, Fig. 5 illustrates a parking lot 500A of a different type from the parking lots 500 illustrated in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. The parking lot 500A of the type illustrated in Fig. 5 has parking spaces 503 arranged at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to a direction along a passage 502 (a direction along the traveling direction Z of vehicles traveling on the passage 502). Parking lots of this type are often seen in parking lots attached to road rest facilities (rest areas) on expressways and the like.

[0116] In such a parking lot 500A, as shown in Fig. 5, the movement direction X2 of pedestrians H2 moving between other vehicles parked in each parking space 503 has a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the traveling direction Z of the vehicle M1 traveling on the passageway 502. However, even in this case, the movement direction X2 of the pedestrians H2 and the traveling direction Z of the vehicle M1 intersect. Therefore, it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision in this case as well.

[0117] 5, the pedestrian H3 is walking between the other vehicles parked in each parking space 503, but the direction of movement X3 is away from the passageway 502 (the vehicle M1). In this case, it is determined that there is no possibility of collision between the pedestrian H3 and the vehicle M1.

[0118] On the other hand, for example, FIG. 6 shows a parking lot 500B of the same type as the parking lot 500 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, but the example shown in FIG. 6 illustrates a passageway 502A that branches off at approximately a right angle from the passageway 502.

[0119] In this case, the vehicle M1 traveling on the passage 502 in the parking lot 500B may turn right onto the passage 502A. At this time, the traveling direction of the vehicle M1 is changed from the direction indicated by the symbol Z to the direction indicated by the symbol Z2.

[0120] Here, it is assumed that pedestrians H4 and H5 are present in the blind spot area of ​​the vehicle M1 in the area ahead of the vehicle M1. The direction of movement of the pedestrian H4 is indicated by the arrow X4, and the direction of movement of the pedestrian H5 is indicated by the arrow X5. In this case, the directions of movement X4 and X5 of the pedestrians H4 and H5 are assumed to be substantially parallel to the passageway 502A.

[0121] The operation of the cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 in such a situation will now be briefly described.

[0122] First, the host vehicle M1 is assumed to be traveling along the road 502 in the traveling direction Z. At this time, the host vehicle M1 recognizes the pedestrians H4, H5 present in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1 based on the other vehicle information acquired by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and acquires information (position, moving direction, moving speed, etc.) about the pedestrians H4, H5. Then, the cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 predicts the possibility of a collision with the pedestrians H4, H5.

[0123] In this case, as long as the host vehicle M1 is traveling along the traveling direction Z, it can be predicted that there is a possibility of collision with the pedestrians H4, H5. However, when the host vehicle M1 turns right from the passage 502 and travels along the passage 502A, the traveling direction of the host vehicle M1 is changed from the direction of the arrow Z to the direction along the arrow Z2. In this case, the moving directions X4, X5 of the pedestrians H4, H5 in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1 are approximately parallel to the traveling direction Z2 of the host vehicle M1. For this reason, it is considered that there is no possibility of collision between the host vehicle M1 and the pedestrians H4, H5 at this time.

[0124] Therefore, even if it is predicted that there is a possibility of a collision between the vehicle M1 and pedestrians H4, H5, if the direction of travel of the vehicle M1 is changed while the vehicle M1 is traveling and before it encounters the recognized pedestrians H4, H5, it is determined that there is no longer a possibility of a collision between the vehicle M1 and pedestrians H4, H5, the determination that there is a possibility of a collision is canceled.

[0125] In this case, information regarding the direction of travel of the host vehicle M1 can be obtained by comprehensively taking into consideration, for example, the steering amount, the first surrounding environment information from the camera unit and the radar device, and information obtained by vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the host vehicle and another vehicle.

[0126] As described above, when it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision between the vehicle M1 and a pedestrian or the like H, the driving control device 10 of the vehicle M1 performs a predetermined deceleration control to slow down the vehicle even further than the low-speed driving normally performed in a parking lot or the like 500, and changes the AEB control parameters.

[0127] In this case, the change in the AEB control parameters is specifically, for example, a change in the direction of lowering the AEB control activation threshold, etc. In addition to this, a control for suppressing the throttle opening relative to the depression amount of the accelerator pedal by controlling the drive of the throttle actuator 27 via the engine control unit 23 may be used in combination.

[0128] In this way, by first performing deceleration control in advance, it is possible to delay the time until the host vehicle M1 arrives at the predicted collision or contact point with the pedestrian or the like H. Therefore, it is possible to increase the possibility of avoiding a collision or contact between the host vehicle M1 and the pedestrian or the like H.

[0129] In addition, by changing the AEB control parameters in advance to lower the threshold value for starting the AEB control, the timing of the AEB control to be activated after the camera unit of the vehicle M1 recognizes the pedestrian H can be made earlier. Therefore, even if the pedestrian H that has been recognized in advance suddenly appears from the blind spot of the vehicle M1, the AEB control can be started at an earlier timing than in normal control, and therefore a sufficient response can be made.

[0130] Furthermore, when the driving control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 recognizes in advance the presence of another vehicle that is in operation and preparing to depart in front of the host vehicle M1, it similarly performs deceleration control in advance to slow down the vehicle and changes the AEB control parameters (such as lowering the activation start threshold).

[0131] With such measures, even if a situation occurs in which another parked vehicle M4 jumps out into the roadway 502 in the area ahead of the vehicle M1 without noticing the vehicle M1, the AEB control can be initiated at an earlier timing than normal control, thereby allowing ample time to respond.

[0132] On the other hand, as described above, when the host vehicle M1 performs deceleration control by recognizing in advance the presence of pedestrians H in the blind spot area recognized mainly based on the second surrounding environment information and the presence of other vehicles M4 in a start preparation state, and continues driving slowly while executing a setting with a lowered AEB control activation threshold, there are cases where the camera unit of the host vehicle M1 does not recognize the pedestrians H or other vehicles M4 that suddenly appear, contrary to prediction. Even in such a case, the cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 continues driving slowly by deceleration control. Then, while traveling in the parking lot 500, the same control is repeated.

[0133] Next, the operation of the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment as described above will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of Figures 7 and 8. Figures 7 and 8 are flowcharts showing the operation of the cruise control device of this embodiment.

[0134] First, the flow chart of FIG. 5 starts when the host vehicle M1 equipped with the cruise control device 10 of this embodiment is started and put into a runnable state.

[0135] In step S11 of FIG. 5, the driving control device 10 drives while recognizing the surrounding environment of the host vehicle M1 based on the first surrounding environment information acquired by a camera unit, a radar device, or the like.

[0136] In step S12, the driving control device 10 checks the vehicle position and the surrounding environment, and as a result of the check, checks whether the vehicle M1 has entered the parking lot or the like 500. If it is confirmed that the vehicle M1 has entered the premises of the parking lot or the like 500, the process proceeds to the next step S13. If it is not confirmed that the vehicle M1 has entered the parking lot or the like 500, the process returns to step S11 assuming that the vehicle M1 continues to travel on a normal road (not shown) while executing normal driving control.

[0137] In step S13, the driving control device 10 transmits, by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, host vehicle information including information that the host vehicle M1 is traveling within the premises (inside) of the parking lot or the like 500 to other surrounding vehicles within the premises (inside) of the parking lot or the like 500. At the same time, the host vehicle M1 may also transmit the host vehicle information to the parking lot monitoring system 200 of the parking lot or the like 500 by road-to-vehicle communication. Then, the process proceeds to step S14.

[0138] The vehicle information transmitted from the vehicle M1 in this manner is received by other vehicles in operation among a plurality of other vehicles present within the premises (inside) of the parking lot 500, and by the parking lot monitoring system 200. In this case, the other vehicles that receive the vehicle information transmit the surrounding information (referred to as other vehicle information) that they have acquired and retained to the vehicle M1 by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The information may also be transmitted to the parking lot monitoring system 200 at the same time.

[0139] In step S14, the driving control device 10 receives, by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, other vehicle information from other vehicles that are present within (inside) the site of the parking lot or the like 500 and are in operation. Then, the process proceeds to step S15.

[0140] In addition, other vehicles in operation continuously transmit their own information (other vehicle information) at a predetermined interval. The host vehicle M1 receives this information each time. The other vehicle information received by the host vehicle M1 may be, for example, information from other vehicles present within a radius of about 300 meters from the host vehicle M1 (mainly in the area ahead of the host vehicle M1) among multiple other vehicles within the site (inside) of the parking lot or the like 500.

[0141] In step S15, the cruise control device 10 checks whether or not the presence of pedestrians, other vehicles, etc. has been recognized in the area ahead of the vehicle M1 based on the first surrounding environment information (information acquired by the camera unit and radar device). If the presence of pedestrians, etc. or the movement of other vehicles, etc. has been recognized, the process proceeds to step S10. If the presence of pedestrians, etc. or the movement of other vehicles, etc. has not been recognized, the process proceeds to the next step S16.

[0142] In step S16, the driving control device 10 checks whether or not a pedestrian or another vehicle in a start preparation state has been recognized in a blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1 based on the second surrounding environment information (other vehicle information and parking lot information obtained by receiving transmissions from other vehicles or the parking lot monitoring system 200). If a pedestrian or another vehicle in a start preparation state has been recognized in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1, the process proceeds to the next step S17. If a pedestrian or another vehicle in a start preparation state has not been recognized in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1, the process proceeds to step S10.

[0143] In addition, when the process proceeds to step S10 in the case where a pedestrian or other vehicle is recognized based on the first surrounding environment information in the process of step S15 described above, or when a pedestrian or other vehicle in a blind spot area or a start preparation state is not recognized based on the second surrounding environment information in the process of step S16 described above, the cruise control device 10 continues normal cruise control at low speed and executes normal AEB control as necessary. Then, the process returns to step S15.

[0144] In step S17, the driving control device 10 executes a collision prediction calculation process to predict whether or not a collision or contact will occur with a pedestrian H or the like that the host vehicle M1 recognizes as being in the blind spot area if the host vehicle M1 continues to drive in its current state.

[0145] Next, in step S18, the cruise control device 10 checks whether or not there is a possibility of a collision between the host vehicle M1 and the pedestrian or the like H, based on the calculation result performed in the above-mentioned step S17. If it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision, the process proceeds to the next step S19. If it is determined that there is no possibility of a collision, the process returns to step S15.

[0146] In step S19, the driving control device 10 performs a predetermined deceleration control process and a process of changing parameters of the AEB control. Here, the parameter change process is, for example, a change process of lowering a threshold value when the AEB control starts to operate. Specifically, the threshold value for starting the AEB control is changed to lower (to be lower) so that the AEB control starts to operate at an earlier timing.

[0147] In the process of step S19, for example, in the case of the second or subsequent loop processing in the flowchart, the deceleration control or the AEB control parameter change processing may have already been performed at this point. Therefore, in the process of step S19, if sufficient deceleration control has already been performed and the AEB control parameter (setting to lower the activation start threshold) has already been set, the set value is maintained. Then, the process proceeds to the next step S20.

[0148] Furthermore, if it is determined in the process of step S18 that there is a possibility of collision, the deceleration control is performed in the process of step S19 as described above, but prior to this deceleration control, the cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 may perform a warning process to notify the driver of the host vehicle M1 of information that a pedestrian H is present in the blind spot area ahead. This warning process may be, for example, a warning sound or voice using a sound generating device such as a speaker, or a visual warning using a display device.

[0149] In step S20, the cruise control device 10 checks whether or not a pedestrian or the like has been recognized in the area ahead of the vehicle M1 based on the first surrounding environment information. If a pedestrian or the like has been recognized, the process proceeds to step S22 in Fig. 8 (circle symbol 8A in Figs. 7 and 8). If a pedestrian or the like has not been recognized, the process proceeds to the next step S21.

[0150] In step S21, the cruise control device 10 checks whether or not the movement of another vehicle or the like in the area ahead of the vehicle M1 has been recognized based on the first surrounding environment information. If a moving vehicle has been recognized, the process proceeds to step S24 in Fig. 8 (circle symbol 8B in Figs. 7 and 8). If a moving vehicle has not been recognized, the process returns to step S16.

[0151] In step S22 of Fig. 8, the cruise control device 10 checks whether the pedestrian H recognized in the process of step S20 described above is moving. If it is determined that the pedestrian is moving, the process proceeds to the next step S23. If it is determined that the pedestrian is not moving, the process proceeds to step S29.

[0152] Here, the determination of whether a pedestrian, etc. H is moving can be made by detecting the positional relationship of the target object within the frame based on multiple detection data continuously acquired by a camera unit or a radar device.

[0153] Incidentally, cases in which pedestrians etc. are not moving include cases in which the pedestrians etc. are standing still, specifically cases in which multiple people are standing and talking, when they are operating a vending machine or parking lot payment machine, when they are loading luggage into a vehicle, when they are waiting for a moving vehicle to pass, etc.

[0154] In step S23, the cruise control device 10 checks whether there is a possibility of collision between the host vehicle M1 and a pedestrian, etc. If it is confirmed that there is a possibility of collision between the host vehicle M1 and a pedestrian, etc., the process proceeds to the next step S24. If it is confirmed that there is no possibility of collision between the host vehicle M1 and a pedestrian, etc., the process proceeds to step S29.

[0155] Here, cases where there is no possibility of a collision between the vehicle M1 and the pedestrian, etc. include cases where the moving direction of the pedestrian, etc. and the moving direction of the vehicle M1 (arrow Z) are approximately parallel, or where the moving direction of the pedestrian, etc. is a direction away from the vehicle M1, etc. Here, the moving direction of the pedestrian, etc. can be determined from image information obtained by the camera unit.

[0156] In step S24, the driving control device 10 appropriately executes deceleration control and AEB control for the recognized and moving pedestrian, etc. As a result, the host vehicle M1 performs driving control to avoid the pedestrian, etc. recognized based on the first surrounding environment information. For example, the host vehicle M1 delays the collision timing by deceleration control, and when it is predicted that there is a possibility of collision, the host vehicle M1 is stopped by AEB control. As a result, the host vehicle M1 can avoid collision or contact with the pedestrian, etc. After that, the process proceeds to the next step S25.

[0157] In step S25, the driving control device 10 checks whether the surrounding environment of the vehicle is safe enough to resume driving. If the surrounding safety is confirmed, the process proceeds to the next step S26. If the surrounding safety is not confirmed, the process waits until it is confirmed.

[0158] That is, when the driving control by the process of step S24 described above is executed, the host vehicle M1, for example, becomes in a stopped state. At this time, the host vehicle M1 maintains the stopped state and waits until the presence of the pedestrian or the like that was the target of avoidance can no longer be confirmed from the host vehicle M1's surroundings, for example, by leaving the surroundings of the host vehicle M1.

[0159] Then, when the safety of the surroundings of the host vehicle M1 is confirmed in the process of step S25 described above, in the next step S26, the cruise control device 10 releases the brake control and resumes low-speed driving. Here, the setting of the AEB control parameters in the cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 after driving is resumed is maintained at the threshold value set in the process of step S19 described above (FIG. 5). Here, the setting of the AEB control parameters may be reset in a direction to slightly relax the setting (to slightly increase (raise) the threshold value). Then, the process proceeds to step S27.

[0160] In addition, in the process of step S25, if the driver determines that the surrounding safety is confirmed and depresses the accelerator pedal to resume driving, the brake control may be released. However, in this case, if the driving control device 10 determines that safety has not yet been confirmed based on the first surrounding environment information, it is preferable to maintain the brake control regardless of the driver's depressing operation of the accelerator pedal, and release the brake control only after the driving control device 10 has determined that safety has been confirmed.

[0161] Next, in step S27, the cruise control device 10 checks the vehicle position and the surrounding environment, and as a result of the check, checks whether the vehicle M1 has exited the parking lot, etc. 500. If it is confirmed that the vehicle M1 has exited the parking lot, etc. 500, the process proceeds to the next step S28. If it is not confirmed that the vehicle M1 has exited the parking lot, etc. 500, the process returns to step S16 in FIG. 5 (circle symbol 7A in FIGS. 7 and 8).

[0162] In step S28, the driving control device 10 returns the AEB control parameters to the settings during normal driving control. After that, in order to continue the original normal driving control, the process returns to step S11 in Fig. 5 (circle symbol 7B in Figs. 7 and 8).

[0163] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned step S22, if it is determined that the pedestrian or the like recognized in the above-mentioned step S20 is not moving, or in the above-mentioned step S23, if it is determined that there is no possibility of a collision between the host vehicle M1 and the pedestrian or the like, the process proceeds to step S29, in which the cruise control device 10 executes deceleration control to perform cruise control at the slowest speed. After that, the process proceeds to the next step S30.

[0164] Next, in step S30, the cruise control device 10 continues cruise control at the slowest speed while checking the surrounding environment including the target pedestrian, etc. Here, the target pedestrian, etc. is, for example, a pedestrian, etc. that is recognized ahead but is not moving, or a pedestrian, etc. that is not likely to collide with (a pedestrian, etc. that is moving in a direction approximately parallel to the moving direction of the host vehicle M1, a pedestrian, etc. that is moving away from the host vehicle M1, etc.).

[0165] Next, in step S31, the driving control device 10 checks whether or not the safety of driving has been confirmed for the surrounding environment. In this case, the state in which the safety of driving has been confirmed is, for example, a state in which the presence of a target pedestrian or the like cannot be recognized. Here, if the safety of the surrounding environment has been confirmed, the process proceeds to step S32. On the other hand, if the safety has not been confirmed, the process returns to step S30.

[0166] In step S32, the cruise control device 10 switches from the slowest cruise control to the low-speed cruise control, and then proceeds to the process of step S27.

[0167] As described above, according to the above embodiment, when the vehicle M1 is traveling at a low speed within a specified area of ​​a parking lot or the like 500 that is off a normal road, the driving control device 10 of the vehicle M1 transmits vehicle information (first surrounding environment information) including position information of the vehicle M1 and information that the vehicle M1 is traveling within the premises of the parking lot or the like 500 to other nearby vehicles via vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0168] Meanwhile, the other vehicles M2 and the like that are parked and stopped in the parking lot or the like 500 and in operation transmit their own other-vehicle information (second surrounding environment information such as position information, surrounding environment information, and vehicle state information) by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The cruise control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 receives this other-vehicle information.

[0169] As a result, the driving control device 10 of the host vehicle M1 can recognize in advance, based on the second surrounding environment information from the other vehicle, pedestrians, etc. present in the blind spot area of ​​the host vehicle M1, and the state (preparation for departure, etc.) of other vehicles parked or stopped in the area ahead of the host vehicle M1.

[0170] In this way, when the presence of a pedestrian or the like in the blind spot of the vehicle or the presence of another vehicle preparing to depart is recognized in advance, the driving control device 10 of the vehicle M1 performs deceleration control and changes the AEB control parameter activation threshold in a downward direction.

[0171] As a result, the driving control device 10 of the vehicle M1 can adequately respond even if emergency brake control is activated when it recognizes a pedestrian or the like that suddenly appears from a blind spot or another vehicle or the like that suddenly starts moving on the road ahead of the vehicle using its first surrounding environment recognition unit 11d, and can reliably avoid collision or contact with these moving objects (pedestrians, other vehicles, etc.).

[0172] In the driving control device 10 of this embodiment, driving control including emergency brake control is performed based only on the first surrounding environment information acquired by the vehicle itself and the second surrounding environment information obtained by vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the vehicle itself and another vehicle.

[0173] For example, in the case of parking lots that are installed indoors or underground, it may be difficult to obtain information about the vehicle's surroundings that relies on image information from cameras, etc., because the surrounding environment is dark, or it may be impossible to obtain GNSS information due to the presence of walls, floors, etc. that block radio waves.

[0174] Even under such circumstances, the driving control device 10 of this embodiment can communicate with other vehicles within a limited area, acquire surrounding information and vehicle information of other vehicles, and recognize the surrounding environment including the blind spot area of ​​the vehicle. Therefore, this makes it possible to reliably avoid danger while the vehicle is traveling, and realize safer driving control. In addition, since it does not depend on a large-scale server device or the large devices associated therewith, it can be operated as a lower-cost system.

[0175] In this embodiment, the vehicle information received by the vehicle M1 is transmitted from a vehicle in operation among a plurality of vehicles present in the parking lot, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, even if the vehicle is completely stopped, the vehicle can be compatible with the driving control device 10 of this embodiment as long as only the minimum necessary components, such as an autonomous sensor device and a transceiver for recognizing the surrounding situation, are always in operation among the various components constituting the vehicle. In this case, the vehicle traveling in the parking lot can receive more surrounding vehicle information. Therefore, for example, pedestrians and the like present in the blind spot area of ​​the vehicle can be more reliably recognized.

[0176] In addition, the driving control device 10 of this embodiment can be configured to acquire the second surrounding environment information only through vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the vehicle itself and other vehicles, and can be configured to omit the parking lot monitoring system 200 as a small-scale management system.

[0177] On the other hand, when the parking lot monitoring system 200 is used as a small-scale management system, the vehicle itself and other vehicles can receive and use various information held by the parking lot monitoring system 200 by communicating with the parking lot monitoring system 200. In this case, the vehicle itself M1 can recognize the surrounding environment more reliably, and safer driving control within the parking lot etc. 500 can be ensured.

[0178] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be implemented within the scope of the gist of the invention. Furthermore, the above-mentioned embodiment includes inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriate combinations of the disclosed multiple constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the above-mentioned one embodiment, if the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved and the effect of the invention can be obtained, the configuration from which the constituent elements are deleted can be extracted as the invention. Furthermore, the constituent elements across different embodiments may be appropriately combined. The present invention is not restricted by its specific embodiment except as limited by the attached claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0179] 1. Driving control system 10, 10A…Drive control device 11...Surrounding environment recognition unit 11a…Main camera 11b…Sub camera 11d…First Surrounding Environment Awareness Section 11fl, 11fr, 11rl, 11rr...Radar equipment 12...Locator unit 13...Locator calculation section 13a…Map information acquisition section 13b... Vehicle position estimation unit 13c…Second Surrounding Area Awareness Section 14...Accelerometer 15...Wheel speed sensor 16...Gyro sensor 17…GNSS receiver 18…Vehicle-side transmitter / receiver 19…High-precision road map database 22...Drive control unit 23…Engine control unit 24...Power steering control unit 25...Brake control unit 27...Throttle actuator 28...Electric power steering motor 29...Brake actuator 100...Control device 101…Road map information integrated control unit 102...Server side transmitter / receiver 200...Parking lot monitoring system 500, 500A, 500B...Parking lots, etc. 501...Division line 502,502A…passage road 503...Parking space H,H2,H3,H4,H5…Pedestrians, etc. M1: Vehicle M2,M3,M4,M5…Other vehicles NW…Network environment

Claims

1. a first surrounding environment recognition unit that recognizes a surrounding environment of the vehicle based on first surrounding environment information acquired by an autonomous sensor device; a transceiver that performs wireless communication with an external system to transmit the first surrounding environment information and receive the second surrounding environment information transmitted from the external system; a second surrounding environment recognition unit that recognizes a surrounding environment of the vehicle based on the second surrounding environment information; a driving control unit including an emergency brake control means for executing an emergency brake control to stop the vehicle when there is a possibility that the moving object recognized by the first surrounding environment recognition unit and the vehicle will collide; Equipped with When the vehicle is traveling slowly, The transceiver transmits the first surrounding environment information of the vehicle and receives the second surrounding environment information transmitted from another vehicle parked ahead of the vehicle in a traveling direction; The second surrounding environment recognition unit recognizes, based on the received second surrounding environment information, a moving object that is in a blind spot area of ​​the vehicle in front of the vehicle in the traveling direction, or a transition state of the other vehicle that is parked or stopped in front of the vehicle in the traveling direction from a stopped state to a start preparation state; The driving control unit performs deceleration control in advance when there is a possibility that the vehicle will collide with the moving body or the other vehicle, and changes a timing threshold value for initiating operation of the emergency brake control after the first surrounding environment recognition unit recognizes the moving body, among the control parameters of the emergency brake control, to a setting that is earlier than usual.

2. The first surrounding environment information is vehicle information including at least position information of the vehicle and information indicating that the vehicle is traveling slowly in an area off a road, 2. The vehicle driving control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the second surrounding environment information is other vehicle information including position information of the other vehicle, relative position information between a pedestrian recognized in the vicinity of the other vehicle and the other vehicle, the traveling direction of the pedestrian, and information on the movement speed of the pedestrian.

3. The vehicle driving control device according to claim 1, further characterized in that the transceiver transmits the first surrounding environment information of the vehicle to a management system that manages a specified area in which the vehicle and the other vehicles are present, via wireless communication between the management system and the vehicle, and receives the second surrounding environment information including in-vehicle environment information within the specified area sent from the management system.

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