On-board electronic control device and position estimation method

Abstract

According to the present invention, an onboard electronic control device is characterized by comprising a positioning computation unit that acquires GNSS information and acquires positioning information for a self vehicle, a vehicle movement detection unit that detects movement of the self vehicle, and a self vehicle movement determination unit that estimates movement while a vehicle system is stopped. The onboard electronic control device is also characterized in that the self vehicle movement determination unit determines whether the self vehicle has moved while the vehicle system was stopped and, on the basis of the determination results for whether the self vehicle has moved, decides whether the positioning computation unit is to use the position of the self vehicle when the vehicle system was stopped to estimate the current position of the self vehicle.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle electronic control device that estimates its position by GNSS positioning. [Background technology]

[0002] Some positioning methods using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) require a certain period of observation from the start of positioning. For example, PPP positioning (Precise Point Positioning), including MADOCA (Multi-GNSS Advanced Demonstration tool for Orbit and Clock Analysis), requires an initial convergence time of about 20 minutes from the start of positioning until a certain positioning accuracy is achieved, as the actual positioning point is narrowed down from multiple GNSS positioning candidate points by AR (Ambiguity Resolution) processing.

[0003] The following prior art is included as background art in this technical field. Patent Document 1 (JP 2014-82539 A) describes a vehicle control device that includes a communication unit that transmits and receives information to and from an information processing device provided outside the vehicle, a control unit that controls a vehicle control device based on control information transmitted from the information processing device, and a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information, in which the position information acquisition unit acquires position information at the start of parking when the vehicle starts parking, and acquires position information at that time when the control unit receives control information from the information processing device while in a sleep state, and the communication unit transmits to the information processing device, when the position information acquisition unit acquires the position information at the time of receiving the control information, the position information with higher accuracy out of the position information at the start of parking and the position information at the time of receiving the control information.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 (JP 2009-85628 A) describes an in-vehicle processing device that includes direction information acquisition means for acquiring traveling direction information of the host vehicle, mirror image determination means for performing image recognition processing on image information around the host vehicle and determining whether a mirror image of the host vehicle has been captured, power supply operation detection means for detecting whether the power supply is on or off, and traveling direction correction means for correcting the traveling direction information to reverse the traveling direction of the host vehicle when the mirror image determination means determines that a mirror image of the host vehicle has been captured within a predetermined determination period based on the time when the power supply operation detection means detects that the power supply is on or off. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP2014-82539A [Patent Document 2] JP2009-85628A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When the above-mentioned PPP positioning is applied to advanced driving assistance systems such as autonomous driving, it takes about 20 minutes from the time the vehicle starts until advanced driving assistance becomes possible, during which time the functions of the vehicle are restricted, significantly reducing the marketability of the vehicle. Therefore, in order to apply a positioning method that requires time for initial convergence to a vehicle, it is necessary to shorten the initial convergence time.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to improve the convenience of automobiles by applying a positioning method with a shortened initial convergence time to automobiles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A representative example of the invention disclosed in the present application is as follows: That is, an in-vehicle electronic control device includes a positioning calculation unit that acquires GNSS information and acquires positioning information of the host vehicle, a vehicle movement detection unit that detects movement of the host vehicle, and a host vehicle movement determination unit that estimates movement while the vehicle system is stopped, the host vehicle movement determination unit determines whether the host vehicle has moved while the vehicle system is stopped, and based on a determination result of whether the host vehicle has moved, the positioning calculation unit determines whether to estimate the current position of the host vehicle using the position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system was stopped. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, the vehicle's own position can be estimated with high accuracy in a short time after the vehicle system is started, thereby improving the convenience of the vehicle. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an automobile in which an electronic control device according to an embodiment of the present invention is implemented. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart of a vehicle system shutdown process according to the embodiment; [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart of a process at the time of starting up a vehicle system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart of a vehicle system startup process according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0012] <Example 1> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of an automobile in which an electronic control device 31 according to the present embodiment is implemented.

[0013] The electronic control unit (ECU) 31 includes a GNSS positioning calculation unit 32, a host vehicle movement determination unit 33, and a non-volatile memory .

[0014] An external environment recognition sensor 35 grounded to the vehicle and a vehicle movement detection unit 36 ​​are connected to the vehicle movement determination unit 33, and position information of targets outside the vehicle and vehicle movement detection information are input.

[0015] The external environment recognition sensor 35 is a sensor that acquires the external situation of the vehicle, and may use a radar, a lidar, a camera, or the like.

[0016] The non-volatile memory 34 stores the vehicle position and target information of the external environment recognition sensor 35 when the vehicle system is stopped.

[0017] When the vehicle system is started, the vehicle movement determination unit 33 determines whether the amount of vehicle movement while stopped has exceeded a threshold value by referring to the vehicle position when the vehicle system was stopped, which is stored in the non-volatile memory 34, and the target information of the external recognition sensor 35.

[0018] The GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 calculates the position of the vehicle by signals received from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites. The GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 calculates the position of the vehicle with high accuracy by, for example, PPP (Precise Point Positioning). Furthermore, when the vehicle movement determination unit 33 determines that the amount of vehicle movement during a stop is smaller than a threshold, the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 narrows down the solution of the PPP positioning calculation by the vehicle position information held in the non-volatile memory 34, and quickly causes the PPP positioning calculation to initially converge. When the amount of vehicle movement is larger than the threshold, the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 performs the positioning calculation without using the vehicle position information held in the non-volatile memory 34.

[0019] The vehicle position calculated by the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 is input to a position estimation unit (not shown) of the electronic control unit 31. The position estimation unit uses a number of methods, such as dead recognition using the vehicle position calculated by the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32, the acceleration measurement results by an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and the tire rotation measurement results, and map matching using map information. Use in combination Then, the vehicle position and the self-position estimation error are calculated.

[0020] The vehicle movement detection unit 36 ​​detects the movement of the vehicle while the vehicle system is stopped, and may use, for example, an immobilizer that detects the acceleration of the vehicle, an around-view camera that recognizes white lines around the vehicle, etc. If the determination in step 302 in FIG. 3 is not used, the vehicle movement detection unit 36 ​​does not need to be provided.

[0021] The electronic control device 31 includes a calculation unit, a storage unit, and a network interface.

[0022] The arithmetic unit is a processor (for example, a CPU) that executes a program stored in a storage device. The arithmetic unit operates as a functional unit that provides various functions by executing a predetermined program.

[0023] The storage device includes a non-volatile storage area and a volatile storage area. The non-volatile storage area includes a program area for storing programs executed by the arithmetic device, and a data area for temporarily storing data used by the arithmetic device when executing the programs.

[0024] The network interface connects to other electronic control units via in-vehicle networks such as CAN. 。

[0025] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a vehicle system shutdown process according to this embodiment.

[0026] Step 201: The stop of the vehicle system is determined based on the IGN signal, and when the vehicle system is stopped, the following vehicle system stop process is started.

[0027] Step 202: The vehicle movement determination unit 33 stores the vehicle position and its error index information at the time the vehicle system is stopped in the non-volatile memory 34. For example, the accuracy information output from the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 or the self-position estimation error calculated by the position estimation unit of the electronic control unit 31 can be used.

[0028] Step 203: The host vehicle movement determination unit 33 stores in the non-volatile memory 34 the target information acquired by the external environment recognition sensor 35 when the vehicle system is stopped.

[0029] Step 204: Start vehicle movement detection processing while the vehicle system is stopped. In the vehicle movement detection processing, the vehicle movement detection unit 36 ​​detects vehicle movement while the vehicle system is stopped, and when vehicle movement is detected, holds vehicle movement detection information. For example, the vehicle movement detection unit 36 ​​detects and holds the vehicle acceleration by the immobilizer, or recognizes and holds the white lines around the vehicle by the around-view camera. Note that the detected acceleration may be held as is, or the amount of movement obtained by integrating the acceleration may be held. The held acceleration value may be integrated when the vehicle system is started to calculate the amount of movement.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process performed when the vehicle system is started up in the first embodiment.

[0031] Step 301: When the vehicle system is started, the following vehicle system start-up process is started.

[0032] Step 302: The vehicle movement detection information detected and stored in step 204 is read from the vehicle movement detection unit 36, and depending on whether the read vehicle movement detection information indicates movement of a predetermined threshold or more, it is determined whether vehicle movement has been detected while the vehicle system was stopped. This predetermined threshold is preferably set to the degree of error in the vehicle position information.

[0033] Step 303: Determine whether the error index information of the vehicle position when the vehicle system is stopped, which is held in step 202, is smaller than a predetermined threshold. This predetermined threshold should be set to approximately the initial position range of the GNSS positioning (for example, the range in which candidate points exist when the PPP positioning is started).

[0034] Step 304: Using the same external environment recognition sensor 35 as in step 203, target information on the current surroundings of the vehicle is acquired.

[0035] Step 305: The target information acquired by the external recognition sensor 35 when the vehicle system is stopped in step 203 is compared with the target information acquired by the external recognition sensor 35 when the vehicle system is started in step 304, and the amount of vehicle movement while the vehicle is stopped is calculated.

[0036] Step 306: It is determined whether the vehicle movement amount calculated in step 305 is smaller than a predetermined threshold. This predetermined threshold is preferably set to be smaller than the initial position range of the GNSS positioning used in step 303.

[0037] Step 307: If it is determined in step 306 that the amount of vehicle movement is less than the threshold and that there is no vehicle movement while the vehicle system is stopped, the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 performs positioning calculation using the vehicle position information when the vehicle system is stopped that was stored in step 202. For example, a circle with the vehicle position information when the vehicle system is stopped as its center and the error index when the vehicle system is stopped as its radius is set as the existence range of the candidate points at the start of PPP positioning. This allows the correct answer to be narrowed down from a narrower range of GNSS positioning candidate points than normal GNSS positioning candidate points, enabling high-speed initial convergence of the positioning calculation.

[0038] Step 308: If in step 302 vehicle movement is detected while the vehicle system is stopped, or if in step 303 it is determined that the position error information when the vehicle system is stopped is greater than a threshold value set as the amount of error, or if in step 306 it is determined that the amount of vehicle movement is greater than the threshold value and vehicle movement occurred while the vehicle system was stopped, the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 performs positioning calculations without using the vehicle position information when the vehicle system was stopped that was retained in step 202.

[0039] In this embodiment, the results of the three decisions in steps 302, 303, and 306 are used to determine whether to perform rapid initial acquisition. However, the results of one or two of these decisions may be used to determine whether to perform rapid initial acquisition.

[0040] As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the movement of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped is determined, and the vehicle position information at the time of stopping is used, thereby enabling the PPP positioning calculation to achieve initial convergence at high speed.

[0041] <Example 2> FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a vehicle system startup process according to the second embodiment. 。

[0042] Step 401: When the vehicle system is started, the following vehicle system start-up process is started.

[0043] Step 402: The vehicle movement detection information detected and stored in step 204 is read from the vehicle movement detection unit 36, and depending on whether the read vehicle movement detection information indicates movement of a predetermined threshold or more, it is determined whether vehicle movement has been detected while the vehicle system was stopped. This predetermined threshold is preferably set to the degree of error in the vehicle position information.

[0044] Step 403: Using the same external environment recognition sensor 35 as in step 203, target information about the surroundings of the vehicle is acquired.

[0045] Step 404: The target information acquired by the external environment recognition sensor 35 when the vehicle system is stopped in step 202 is compared with the target information acquired by the external environment recognition sensor 35 when the vehicle system is started in step 304, and the amount of vehicle movement while the vehicle is stopped is calculated.

[0046] Step 405: The vehicle movement amount calculated in step 404 is added to the error index information of the vehicle position when the vehicle system is stopped, which is held in step 202. This added value represents the range in which the vehicle may be present, including an error, when the vehicle system is started up.

[0047] Step 406: The GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 performs positioning calculation using the added value calculated in step 405. For example, a circle having the calculated added value as a radius and centered on the vehicle position information when the vehicle system is stopped is set as the range of existence of candidate points at the start of PPP positioning. This makes it possible to narrow down the correct answer from among multiple existing GNSS positioning candidate points, enabling high-speed initial convergence of the positioning calculation.

[0048] Step 407: If movement of the vehicle is detected while the vehicle system is stopped in step 402, the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 performs positioning calculation without using the vehicle position information held in step 202 when the vehicle system was stopped.

[0049] In the second embodiment, the configuration and processing procedures other than those described above are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0050] As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the movement of the vehicle while the vehicle is stopped can be determined more simply than in the first embodiment, and the PPP positioning calculation can be quickly brought to initial convergence by using the vehicle position information when the vehicle is stopped.

[0051] As described above, the electronic control device 31 of an embodiment of the present invention comprises a GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 that acquires GNSS information and acquires positioning information of the vehicle itself, a vehicle movement detection unit 36 ​​that detects movement of the vehicle itself, and a vehicle movement determination unit 33 that estimates movement while the vehicle system is stopped. The vehicle movement determination unit 33 determines whether the vehicle itself has moved while the vehicle system is stopped, and based on the determination result of whether the vehicle itself has moved, the GNSS positioning calculation unit 32 decides whether to estimate the current position of the vehicle itself using the position of the vehicle itself at the time the vehicle system was stopped. Therefore, the vehicle's position can be estimated with high accuracy in a short time after the vehicle system is started, and the convenience of the automobile can be improved. For example, when using PPP positioning calculation, it takes about 20 minutes from the startup of the vehicle system until highly accurate position information is obtained, and the functions of the vehicle are restricted during that time. However, according to the electronic control device 31 of this embodiment, the initial convergence range is limited by the position information at the time the vehicle system is stopped based on the determination result of the movement of the vehicle while the vehicle system is stopped, so that highly accurate position information can be obtained in a short time, and advanced driving assistance becomes possible in a short time after the vehicle system is started, thereby improving the convenience of the vehicle.

[0052] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modified examples and equivalent configurations within the spirit of the appended claims. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the configurations described. Furthermore, a part of the configuration of one embodiment may be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment. Furthermore, the configuration of another embodiment may be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, a part of the configuration of each embodiment may be added, deleted, or replaced with another configuration.

[0053] Furthermore, each of the aforementioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in hardware, for example by designing some or all of them as an integrated circuit, or may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

[0054] Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0055] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines necessary for implementation. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle electronic control device, a positioning calculation unit that acquires GNSS information and acquires positioning information of the vehicle; A vehicle movement detection unit that detects the movement of the host vehicle; a vehicle movement determination unit that estimates movement of the vehicle system while the vehicle system is stopped; The vehicle movement determination unit, determining whether the host vehicle has moved while the vehicle system is stopped; An in-vehicle electronic control device characterized in that, based on a determination result of whether the vehicle has moved, the positioning calculation unit determines whether to estimate the current position of the vehicle using the position of the vehicle when the vehicle system was stopped.

2. 2. The on-vehicle electronic control device according to claim 1, The vehicle-mounted electronic control device, wherein the positioning calculation unit estimates a current position of the vehicle by PPP positioning calculation.

3. 2. The on-vehicle electronic control device according to claim 1, The vehicle movement determination unit, determining whether the vehicle movement detection unit detects movement of the host vehicle of a predetermined threshold or more while the vehicle system is stopped; When the movement of the host vehicle is detected to be equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate a current position of the host vehicle without using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped; An in-vehicle electronic control device characterized in that, when movement of the vehicle by more than a predetermined threshold is not detected, the positioning calculation unit decides to estimate the current position of the vehicle using the position of the vehicle when the vehicle system was stopped.

4. 2. The on-vehicle electronic control device according to claim 1, The on-board electronic control unit calculates a position error of the host vehicle, The vehicle movement determination unit, determining whether the calculated position error is less than a predetermined threshold; If the calculated position error is greater than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate a current position of the host vehicle without using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped; An in-vehicle electronic control device characterized in that, when the calculated position error is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit decides to estimate the current position of the vehicle using the position of the vehicle when the vehicle system was stopped.

5. 2. The on-vehicle electronic control device according to claim 1, The vehicle movement determination unit, A position of the host vehicle calculated from a target recognized by an external environment recognition sensor when the vehicle system is stopped is compared with a position of the host vehicle calculated from a target recognized by the external environment recognition sensor when the vehicle system is subsequently started, thereby determining whether the host vehicle has moved while the vehicle system is stopped; When a movement amount of the host vehicle while the vehicle system is stopped is greater than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate a current position of the host vehicle without using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped; An in-vehicle electronic control device characterized in that, when the amount of movement of the vehicle while the vehicle system is stopped is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate the current position of the vehicle using the position of the vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped.

6. 2. The on-vehicle electronic control device according to claim 1, The on-board electronic control unit calculates a position error of the host vehicle, The vehicle movement determination unit, determining whether the vehicle movement detection unit detects movement of the host vehicle of a predetermined threshold or more while the vehicle system is stopped; When the movement of the host vehicle is detected to be equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate a current position of the host vehicle without using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped; If the vehicle has not been detected to have moved by a predetermined threshold or more, the calculated position error is determined to be smaller than a predetermined threshold; If the calculated position error is greater than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate a current position of the host vehicle without using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped; If the calculated position error is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, a position of the host vehicle calculated from the target recognized by the external environment recognition sensor when the vehicle system is stopped is compared with a position of the host vehicle calculated from the target recognized by the external environment recognition sensor when the vehicle system is subsequently started, to determine whether the host vehicle has moved while the vehicle system is stopped; When a movement amount of the host vehicle while the vehicle system is stopped is greater than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate a current position of the host vehicle without using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped; An in-vehicle electronic control device characterized in that, when the amount of movement of the vehicle while the vehicle system is stopped is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the positioning calculation unit determines to estimate the current position of the vehicle using the position of the vehicle when the vehicle system is stopped.

7. 2. The on-vehicle electronic control device according to claim 1, The vehicle-mounted electronic control device is characterized in that the positioning calculation unit estimates the current position of the vehicle by using a value obtained by adding the position error when the vehicle system is stopped and the amount of movement of the vehicle system while the vehicle system is stopped as the range of existence of candidate points at the start of positioning.

8. A position estimation method executed by an in-vehicle electronic control device, comprising: The in-vehicle electronic control device includes: a positioning calculation unit that acquires GNSS information and acquires positioning information of the vehicle; A vehicle movement detection unit that detects the movement of the host vehicle; a vehicle movement determination unit that estimates movement of the vehicle system while the vehicle system is stopped; The position estimation method includes: the host vehicle movement determination unit determines whether the host vehicle has moved while the vehicle system is stopped; the host vehicle movement determination unit determines, based on a determination result of whether the host vehicle has moved, whether the positioning calculation unit estimates a current position of the host vehicle using the position of the host vehicle at the time when the vehicle system was stopped; The position estimation method, wherein the positioning calculation unit estimates a current position of the host vehicle using a position of the host vehicle when the vehicle system was stopped, in accordance with a decision made by the host vehicle movement determination unit.

Images