Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control computer program

Abstract

To provide a vehicle controller capable of determining whether or not a result of estimating the position of a vehicle is correct.SOLUTION: A vehicle controller includes: a position estimation section 31 that estimates the position of a vehicle 10 by comparing an image representing an area around the vehicle 10 generated by an imaging section 3 mounted on the vehicle 10 with map information; a route setting section 32 that sets a planned travel route of the vehicle 10 along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle 10 by referring to the map information; a detection section 33 that detects a stationary object in the area around the vehicle 10 from the image or a ranging signal obtained by a distance sensor 4 mounted on the vehicle 10 for detecting the distance to an object in the area around the vehicle 10; and a determination section 34 that determines whether or not the detected stationary object is on the planned travel route and determine that the estimated position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect when the stationary object is on the planned travel route.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Technologies for automatically driving a vehicle or for assisting a driver of the vehicle are being researched. In such technologies, the position of the vehicle is estimated, and the traveling of the vehicle is controlled based on the estimated position. However, in some cases, the estimation accuracy of the vehicle position is insufficient. Therefore, a technology has been proposed that changes parameters for controlling the vehicle according to the estimation accuracy of the vehicle position (for example, see Patent Document 1).

[0003] In the technology described in Patent Document 1, an autonomous vehicle compares the measured terrain around the vehicle with a map to estimate the current position and attitude of the vehicle, and evaluates the reliability of the estimated results of the current position and attitude. Then, based on the reliability evaluation, the autonomous vehicle changes at least one of the control parameters and the control input for controlling the autonomous vehicle to travel along a set travel route. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2015-36840 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] If the estimated vehicle position is incorrect, the vehicle's travel may not be controlled appropriately. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to determine whether the estimated vehicle position is accurate.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device that can determine whether or not the estimation result of the vehicle position is correct. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] According to one embodiment, there is provided a vehicle control device, which includes a storage unit that stores map information representing features on or around a road, a position estimation unit that estimates a position of the vehicle by comparing an image representing the surroundings of the vehicle generated by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle with the map information, a route setting unit that sets a planned driving route of the vehicle along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle by referring to the map information, a detection unit that detects stationary objects present around the vehicle from a ranging signal or an image obtained by a ranging unit mounted on the vehicle that detects a distance to an object around the vehicle, and a determination unit that determines whether the detected stationary object is located on the planned driving route and determines that the estimated position of the vehicle is incorrect if the stationary object is located on the planned driving route.

[0008] In addition, it is preferable that the vehicle control device further includes a warning unit that, when it is determined by the determination unit that the estimated vehicle position is incorrect, warns the driver that the estimated vehicle position is incorrect.

[0009] According to another aspect, there is provided a vehicle control method, which includes estimating a position of the vehicle by comparing an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle generated by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle with map information showing features on or around the road, setting a planned driving route of the vehicle along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle by referring to the map information, detecting stationary objects existing around the vehicle from a ranging signal or an image obtained by a ranging unit mounted on the vehicle for detecting distances to objects around the vehicle, determining whether or not the stationary object is located on the planned driving route, and determining that the estimated position of the vehicle is erroneous if the stationary object is located on the planned driving route.

[0010] According to yet another aspect, there is provided a computer program for controlling a vehicle, the computer program including instructions for causing a processor mounted on the vehicle to execute the following operations: estimating a position of the vehicle by comparing an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle generated by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle with map information showing features on or around a road, setting a planned driving route for the vehicle along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle by referring to the map information, detecting stationary objects existing around the vehicle from a ranging signal or an image obtained by a ranging unit mounted on the vehicle that detects distances to objects around the vehicle, determining whether or not the stationary object is located on the planned driving route, and determining that the estimated position of the vehicle is incorrect if the stationary object is located on the planned driving route. Effect of the Invention

[0011] The traveling vehicle control device according to the present invention has an effect of being able to determine whether or not the estimation result of the vehicle position is correct. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle control system in which a vehicle control device is implemented. [Diagram 2] 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of an electronic control device that is an embodiment of a vehicle control device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a processor of an electronic control unit related to vehicle control processing. [Figure 4] 11 is a diagram showing an example of the positional relationship between a planned travel route and stationary objects in a case where an estimated current position of the vehicle is incorrect; FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is an operation flowchart of a vehicle control process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method implemented by the vehicle control device, and a computer program for vehicle control will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle control device estimates the position of the vehicle at the time of image acquisition (hereinafter, may be referred to as the current position or the self-position) by collating an image of the surroundings of the vehicle with map information. The vehicle control device also sets a route along which the vehicle is scheduled to travel (hereinafter, referred to as the planned travel route) along the lane in which the vehicle is traveling (hereinafter, referred to as the self-lane), including the estimated position. Furthermore, the vehicle control device detects stationary objects present around the vehicle from a ranging signal indicating the distance to an object present around the vehicle or an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle. The vehicle control device then determines whether or not a stationary object is located on the planned travel route, and if a stationary object is located on the planned travel route, determines that the estimated vehicle position is incorrect.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle control system in which a vehicle control device is implemented. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an electronic control device, which is an embodiment of a vehicle control device. In this embodiment, a vehicle control system 1 that is mounted on a vehicle 10 and controls the vehicle 10 includes a GPS receiver 2, a camera 3, a distance sensor 4, a storage device 5, a notification device 6, and an electronic control unit (ECU) 7, which is an example of a vehicle control device. The GPS receiver 2, the camera 3, the distance sensor 4, the storage device 5, the notification device 6, and the ECU 7 are communicatively connected via an in-vehicle network that complies with a standard such as a controller area network. The vehicle control system 1 may include a navigation device (not shown) for searching for a planned driving route to a destination. Furthermore, the vehicle control system 1 may include a wireless communication device (not shown) for wireless communication with other devices.

[0015] The GPS receiver 2 is an example of a position measurement unit, which receives GPS signals from GPS satellites at predetermined intervals and measures the position of the vehicle 10 based on the received GPS signals. The GPS receiver 2 then outputs positioning information representing the positioning results of the vehicle 10 based on the GPS signals to the ECU 7 via the in-vehicle network at predetermined intervals. Note that the vehicle 10 may have a receiver that complies with a satellite positioning system other than the GPS receiver 2. In this case, it is sufficient that the receiver measures the position of the vehicle 10.

[0016] The camera 3 is an example of an imaging unit that generates an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle 10, and has a two-dimensional detector configured with an array of photoelectric conversion elements sensitive to visible light, such as a CCD or C-MOS, and an imaging optical system that forms an image of the area to be photographed on the two-dimensional detector. The camera 3 is attached, for example, inside the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 so as to face the front of the vehicle 10. The camera 3 photographs the area in front of the vehicle 10 at a predetermined photographing period (for example, 1 / 30 to 1 / 10 seconds) and generates an image showing the area in front of the vehicle 10. The image obtained by the camera 3 may be a color image or a gray image. Note that the vehicle 10 may be provided with a plurality of cameras with different photographing directions or focal lengths.

[0017] Every time the camera 3 generates an image, it outputs the generated image to the ECU 7 via the in-vehicle network.

[0018] The distance sensor 4 is an example of a distance measurement unit that detects the distance to a sound object around the vehicle 10, and may be, for example, a LiDAR or a radar. The distance sensor 4 generates a distance measurement signal that indicates the distance to the object for each direction at a predetermined cycle. Every time the distance sensor 4 generates a distance measurement signal, the distance sensor 4 outputs the generated distance measurement signal to the ECU 7 via the in-vehicle network.

[0019] The storage device 5 is an example of a storage unit, and includes at least one of a hard disk device, a non-volatile semiconductor memory, and an optical recording medium and an access device therefor. The storage device 5 stores a high-precision map, which is an example of map information. The high-precision map includes information representing features on or around the road included in a predetermined area represented on the high-precision map. The features on or around the road include, for example, road markings such as lane markings or stop lines, road signs, curbs, and road walls.

[0020] Furthermore, the storage device 5 may have a processor for executing an update process of the high-precision map, a process related to a read request of the high-precision map from the ECU 7, and the like. In this case, the storage device 5 may transmit a request to acquire a high-precision map together with the current position of the vehicle 10 to a map server via a wireless communication device (not shown) every time the vehicle 10 moves a predetermined distance, for example. Then, the storage device 5 may receive a high-precision map of a predetermined area around the current position of the vehicle 10 from the map server via the wireless communication device. Furthermore, when the storage device 5 receives a read request of the high-precision map from the ECU 7, the storage device 5 extracts an area that includes the current position of the vehicle 10 and is relatively narrower than the above-mentioned predetermined area from the stored high-precision map, and outputs the area to the ECU 7 via the in-vehicle network.

[0021] The notification device 6 is provided in the vehicle cabin of the vehicle 10 and is a device that provides a predetermined notification to the driver by voice, text display, icon display, or image display. For this purpose, the notification device 6 has, for example, at least one of a speaker or a display device. The notification device 6 then notifies the driver of the notification information received from the ECU 7. The notification information includes, for example, a message that warns that the estimation result of the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect. Furthermore, the notification information includes a message that requests the driver to increase the degree of involvement in driving the vehicle 10, for example, a message that requests the driver to hold the steering wheel, or a message that transfers the driving subject to the driver. When the notification device 6 receives the notification information, it notifies the driver of the message included in the notification information by voice from the speaker or by displaying an icon, image, or message on the display device.

[0022] The ECU 7 controls the running of the vehicle 10 .

[0023] 2, the ECU 7 has a communication interface 21, a memory 22, and a processor 23. The communication interface 21, the memory 22, and the processor 23 may each be configured as a separate circuit, or may be integrated into a single integrated circuit.

[0024] The communication interface 21 has an interface circuit for connecting the ECU 7 to an in-vehicle network. Every time the communication interface 21 receives positioning information from the GPS receiver 2, it passes the positioning information to the processor 23. Every time the communication interface 21 receives an image from the camera 3, it passes the received image to the processor 23. Every time the communication interface 21 receives a distance measurement signal from the distance sensor 4, it passes the received distance measurement signal to the processor 23. Furthermore, the communication interface 21 passes the high-precision map read from the storage device 5 to the processor 23.

[0025] The memory 22 is another example of a storage unit, and includes, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory and a non-volatile semiconductor memory. The memory 22 stores various data used in the vehicle control process executed by the processor 23 of the ECU 7. For example, the memory 22 stores an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 10, a distance measurement signal, and a positioning result of the position of the vehicle 10 by the GPS receiver 2. The memory 22 also stores a high-precision map read from the storage device 5, parameters representing the focal length, angle of view, shooting direction, and mounting position of the camera 3, and a parameter set for identifying a classifier used to detect features. The memory 22 also temporarily stores various data generated during the vehicle control process.

[0026] The processor 23 has one or more central processing units (CPUs) and their peripheral circuits. The processor 23 may further have other arithmetic circuits such as a logic arithmetic unit, a numerical arithmetic unit, or a graphic processing unit. The processor 23 executes vehicle control processing for the vehicle 10 at predetermined intervals.

[0027] 3 is a functional block diagram of the processor 23 related to vehicle control processing. The processor 23 has a position estimation unit 31, a route setting unit 32, a detection unit 33, a determination unit 34, a warning unit 35, and a vehicle control unit 36. Each of these units in the processor 23 is, for example, a functional module realized by a computer program running on the processor 23. Alternatively, each of these units in the processor 23 may be a dedicated arithmetic circuit provided in the processor 23.

[0028] The position estimation unit 31 estimates the current position of the vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the position estimation unit 31 estimates the current position of the vehicle 10 by collating an image obtained by the camera 3 with a high-precision map. To this end, the position estimation unit 31 detects features on or around the road shown in the image, for example, by inputting the image into a classifier. As such a classifier, the position estimation unit 31 can use a deep neural network (DNN) having a convolutional neural network type (CNN) architecture, such as a Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) or Faster R-CNN. Such a classifier is trained in advance to detect features to be detected from the image. Then, the position estimation unit 31 assumes the current position and attitude of the vehicle 10, and projects features detected from the image onto a high-precision map with reference to parameters of the camera 3, or projects features on or around the road around the vehicle 10 on the high-precision map onto the image. At this time, the position estimation unit 31 may set the position of the vehicle 10 indicated in the latest positioning information obtained by the GPS receiver 2 as the initial value of the assumed current position of the vehicle 10. Alternatively, the position estimation unit 31 may set the position obtained by correcting the previously estimated position of the vehicle 10 with reference to odometry information of the vehicle 10 obtained by a wheel speed sensor (not shown) or the like as the initial value of the assumed current position of the vehicle 10. The position estimation unit 31 repeats the above process while changing the assumed current position and attitude of the vehicle 10. Then, the position estimation unit 31 estimates the position and attitude of the vehicle 10 when the feature detected from the image and the feature shown on the high-precision map most closely match as the current position and attitude of the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the position estimation unit 31 detects the lane including the estimated current position of the vehicle 10 as the own lane among the individual lanes shown on the high-precision map.

[0029] The position estimation unit 31 notifies the route setting unit 32 and the vehicle control unit 36 ​​of information indicating the detected own lane and information indicating the current position of the vehicle 10.

[0030] When the route setting unit 32 receives information representing the detected own lane and information representing the current position of the vehicle 10 from the position estimation unit 31, the route setting unit 32 sets a planned driving route from the current position of the vehicle 10 to a predetermined distance ahead along the own lane. The planned driving route is expressed, for example, as a set of target positions of the vehicle 10 at each time point in a section from the current position to a predetermined distance ahead. For example, the route setting unit 32 sets the planned driving route so that the planned driving route passes through the center of the own lane with reference to a high-precision map. In addition, the route setting unit 32 may set the target position at each time point on the planned driving route by setting the speed of the vehicle 10 based on the target speed input by the driver via an operating device, the legal speed of the road on which the vehicle 10 is traveling, or the speed of another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle 10.

[0031] The route setting unit 32 notifies the determination unit 34 and the vehicle control unit 36 ​​of the planned driving route that has been set.

[0032] The detection unit 33 detects stationary objects existing around the vehicle 10 from an image obtained by the camera 3 or a distance measurement signal obtained by the distance sensor 4. The stationary objects to be detected are three-dimensional structures such as guardrails, soundproof walls, or poles that are provided in areas around the road where the vehicle 10 cannot travel. The detection unit 33 detects stationary objects shown in the image, for example, by inputting the image into a classifier. As such a classifier, the detection unit 33 can use a classifier similar to the classifier described in the position estimation unit 31, such as SSD or Faster R-CNN. Alternatively, the detection unit 33 can use a DNN for semantic segmentation, such as a Fully Convolutional Network (FCN) or U-Net, that identifies the type of object represented in each pixel. Such a classifier is trained in advance to detect stationary objects to be detected from an image.

[0033] Furthermore, when detecting a stationary object from a distance measurement signal, the detection unit 33 may detect the stationary object by inputting the distance measurement signal to a classifier that has been trained in advance to detect stationary objects from distance measurement signals. In this case, the classifier identifies the direction in which the stationary object exists in the distance measurement signal, and the detection unit 33 can estimate the distance from the vehicle 10 to the detected stationary object by referring to the distance value of the distance measurement signal in the identified direction.

[0034] The detection unit 33 notifies the determination unit 34 of information indicating the position of the stationary object on the image, or information indicating the distance and direction to the stationary object detected from the distance measurement signal.

[0035] The determination unit 34 determines whether or not the stationary object detected by the detection unit 33 is located on the planned travel route.

[0036] When a stationary object is detected from an image generated by the camera 3, the determination unit 34 estimates the position of the stationary object in real space expressed in a coordinate system based on a predetermined point of the vehicle 10 (for example, the center of the front end of the vehicle 10) from the position of the stationary object on the image. At that time, the determination unit 34 can estimate the direction from the predetermined point to the stationary object based on parameters such as the position of the pixel on the image where the stationary object is represented and the focal length and installation position of the camera 3. Furthermore, the determination unit 34 can estimate the distance to the stationary object based on the distance to an object present in that direction represented in the distance measurement signal generated by the distance sensor 4. Also, when a stationary object is detected from the distance measurement signal generated by the distance sensor 4, the direction and distance to the stationary object are known from the position where the distance sensor 4 of the vehicle 10 is installed, so the position of the stationary object in real space is estimated based on the direction and distance.

[0037] The determination unit 34 determines whether the position of the stationary object overlaps with the planned driving route, and if they overlap, determines that the stationary object is located on the planned driving route. Since the vehicle 10 naturally has a certain width, if the distance between the stationary object and the planned driving route is equal to or less than the length corresponding to the width of the vehicle 10, the determination unit 34 may determine that the position of the stationary object overlaps with the planned driving route, that is, that the stationary object is located on the planned driving route. If a stationary object is not detected, the determination unit 34 may determine that the stationary object is not located on the planned driving route. If the stationary object is located on the planned driving route, the determination unit 34 may determine that the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect. If the determination unit 34 determines that the stationary object is located on the planned driving route two or more times in succession, the determination unit 34 may determine that the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect. On the other hand, if the stationary object is not located on the planned driving route, the determination unit 34 determines that the current position of the vehicle 10 is correct.

[0038] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the positional relationship between the planned travel route and stationary objects when the estimated current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect. In this example, the vehicle 10 travels on a lane 401 that branches off from the road 400 to the right in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10, among two lanes included in the road 400. However, it is assumed that the current position of the vehicle 10 is erroneously estimated to be located on a lane 402 that is on the left side of the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 and is a straight line, among the two lanes of the road 400. In this case, the planned travel route 410 is set to follow the lane 402, and therefore is a straight line route. However, the actual position of the vehicle 10 is located on the lane 401 that branches off to the right as described above. Therefore, a road wall 411, which is an example of a stationary object and is provided between the lane 401 and the lane 402, is located on the planned travel route 410. As a result, it is found that the estimation result of the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect.

[0039] The determination unit 34 notifies the warning unit 35 and the vehicle control unit 36 ​​of the determination result as to whether or not the current position of the vehicle 10 is correct.

[0040] Furthermore, when the determination unit 34 determines that the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect, the determination unit 34 may decide to increase the degree of the driver's involvement in driving the vehicle 10. For example, when the ECU 7 controls the driving of the vehicle 10 on the condition that the driver monitors the surroundings of the vehicle 10, the determination unit 34 may request the driver to hold the steering wheel. Alternatively, the determination unit 34 may request that the driving of the vehicle 10 be transferred from the ECU 7 to the driver. Then, the determination unit 34 notifies the warning unit 35 and the vehicle control unit 36 ​​of a request to increase the degree of the driver's involvement in driving the vehicle 10.

[0041] When the warning unit 35 is notified by the determination unit 34 of the determination result that the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect, the warning unit 35 generates notification information including a message notifying that the estimation result of the current position of the vehicle 10 is not accurate. Furthermore, when the warning unit 35 is notified by the determination unit 34 of a request to increase the degree of the driver's involvement in driving the vehicle 10, the warning unit 35 includes a message representing the request in the notification information. Then, the warning unit 35 outputs the generated notification information to the notification device 6 via the communication interface 21 to notify the driver of the warning or request represented in the notification information.

[0042] When the vehicle control unit 36 ​​is notified by the determination unit 34 that the current position of the vehicle 10 is correct, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​automatically controls the vehicle 10 so that the vehicle 10 travels along the planned travel route. For example, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​refers to the current position of the vehicle 10 and the planned travel route to determine a steering angle for the vehicle 10 to travel along the planned travel route, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the steering angle to an actuator (not shown) that controls the steering wheel of the vehicle 10. The vehicle control unit 36 ​​also determines a target acceleration of the vehicle 10 according to the target speed of the vehicle 10 and the current vehicle speed of the vehicle 10 measured by a vehicle speed sensor (not shown), and sets the accelerator opening or brake amount so as to achieve the target acceleration. The vehicle control unit 36 ​​then determines a fuel injection amount according to the set accelerator opening, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the fuel injection amount to a fuel injection device of the engine of the vehicle 10. Alternatively, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​outputs a control signal corresponding to the set brake amount to the brake of the vehicle 10. The vehicle control unit 36 ​​may refer to a high-precision map to identify the legal speed limit of the road on which the vehicle 10 is traveling, and set the target speed of the vehicle 10 in accordance with the legal speed limit. Alternatively, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​may set the target speed of the vehicle 10 so as to maintain a constant distance between the vehicle 10 and another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle 10.

[0043] Furthermore, when the vehicle control unit 36 ​​is notified by the determination unit 34 of the determination result that the current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​may correct the planned driving route so as to change the course of the vehicle 10 before the vehicle 10 collides with a stationary object. Then, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​performs automatic driving control of the vehicle 10 so that the vehicle 10 travels along the corrected planned driving route. At that time, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​may decelerate the vehicle 10 to a speed at which the vehicle 10 can be stopped before colliding with the stationary object. Note that when the determination unit 34 notifies the vehicle control unit 36 ​​that the driving subject of the vehicle 10 is to be transferred from the ECU 7 to the driver, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​stops the automatic driving control of the vehicle 10 when a predetermined period has elapsed since the request for the transfer was notified to the driver. Thereafter, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​may control the vehicle 10 according to the operation of the vehicle 10 by the driver.

[0044] Furthermore, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​may correct the planned travel route as necessary so that the vehicle 10 does not collide with moving objects such as other vehicles or pedestrians traveling around the vehicle 10. In this case, the classifier used by the detection unit 33 is trained in advance to detect not only stationary objects but also moving objects from an image. The detection unit 33 may detect moving objects as well as stationary objects by inputting images obtained by the camera 3 or distance measurement signals obtained by the distance sensor 4 to the classifier. The vehicle control unit 36 ​​applies a predetermined tracking method such as the KLT method to the moving objects detected by the detection unit 33 from each of a series of images or distance measurement signals obtained in time series, thereby tracking the moving objects and obtaining a trajectory of the moving objects. The vehicle control unit 36 ​​may predict the future trajectory of the moving object by applying a predetermined prediction filter to the obtained trajectory, and may correct the planned travel route so that the predicted trajectory and the planned travel route are separated by a predetermined distance or more.

[0045] 5 is an operational flowchart of the vehicle control process executed by the processor 23. The processor 23 may execute the vehicle control process in accordance with the following operational flowchart at predetermined intervals.

[0046] The position estimation unit 31 of the processor 23 compares the image obtained by the camera 3 with a high-precision map to estimate the current position of the vehicle 10 and detects the vehicle's lane based on the estimated current position (step S101). The route setting unit 32 of the processor 23 sets a planned driving route along the vehicle's lane from the current position of the vehicle 10 to a predetermined distance ahead (step S102).

[0047] Furthermore, the detection unit 33 of the processor 23 detects stationary objects existing around the vehicle 10 from the images obtained by the camera 3 or the distance measurement signals obtained by the distance sensor 4 (step S103). Then, the determination unit 34 of the processor 23 determines whether or not the detected stationary object is located on the planned travel route (step S104).

[0048] If the stationary object is not located on the planned driving route (step S104-No), the determination unit 34 determines that the current position of the vehicle 10 is correct. Then, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​of the processor 23 performs automatic driving control of the vehicle 10 so that the vehicle 10 travels along the planned driving route (step S105).

[0049] On the other hand, if the stationary object is located on the planned driving route (step S104-Yes), the determination unit 34 determines that the estimated current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect. Then, the warning unit 35 of the processor 23 warns the driver that the estimated current position of the vehicle 10 is incorrect via the notification device 6 (step S106). Furthermore, the warning unit 35 may notify the driver via the notification device 6 of a request to increase the driver's involvement in driving the vehicle 10, as described above. Then, the vehicle control unit 36 ​​modifies the planned driving route so that the stationary object does not collide with the vehicle 10, and controls the vehicle 10 so that the vehicle 10 travels along the modified planned driving route (step S107). After step S105 or step S107, processor 23 ends the vehicle control process.

[0050] As described above, the vehicle control device estimates the current position of the vehicle by comparing the image obtained by the on-board camera with the high-precision map, and detects the lane in which the vehicle is traveling based on the estimated current position. The vehicle control device then sets a planned travel route along the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. Furthermore, the vehicle control device detects stationary objects existing around the vehicle from the image obtained by the on-board camera or the distance measurement signal obtained by the distance sensor, and determines whether the detected stationary object is located on the planned travel route. If the stationary object is located on the planned travel route, the vehicle control device determines that the estimated current position of the vehicle is incorrect. In this way, the vehicle control device determines whether the current position of the vehicle is incorrect based on the positional relationship between the planned travel route set along the lane in which the stationary object cannot exist and the stationary object, so that it is possible to accurately determine whether the estimation result of the current position of the vehicle is correct.

[0051] A computer program for realizing the functions of the processor 23 of the ECU 7 according to the above embodiment or variant example may be provided in a form recorded on a computer-readable portable recording medium, such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium or an optical recording medium.

[0052] As described above, those skilled in the art can make various modifications to the embodiments within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1 Vehicle Control System 10 Vehicles 2 GPS receiver 3. Camera 4 Distance Sensor 5. Storage Devices 6 Notification device 7 Electronic Control Unit (ECU) 21 Communication Interface 22 Memory 23 Processors 31 Position estimation part 32 Route setting section 33 Detection unit 34 Judgment section 35 Warning section 36 Vehicle control unit

Claims

1. A storage unit for storing map information representing features on or around roads; a position estimation unit that estimates a position of the vehicle by comparing an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle, the image being generated by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle, with the map information; a route setting unit that sets a planned driving route of the vehicle along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle by referring to the map information; a detection unit that detects stationary objects present around the vehicle from a distance measurement signal obtained by a distance measurement unit that detects distances to objects around the vehicle, or from the image; a determination unit that determines whether the stationary object is located on the planned driving route, and determines that the estimated position of the vehicle is incorrect when the stationary object is located on the planned driving route; A vehicle control device having the above configuration.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , further comprising a warning unit that, when the determining unit determines that the estimated vehicle position is incorrect, warns a driver that the estimated vehicle position is incorrect.

3. estimating a position of the vehicle by comparing an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle, generated by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle, with map information showing features on or around the road; by referring to the map information, setting a planned driving route of the vehicle along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle; Detecting stationary objects present around the vehicle from a distance measurement signal obtained by a distance measurement unit mounted on the vehicle that detects distances to objects around the vehicle or from the image; determining whether the stationary object is located on the planned travel route; determining that the estimated position of the vehicle is erroneous when the stationary object is located on the planned travel route; A vehicle control method comprising:

4. estimating a position of the vehicle by comparing an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle, generated by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle, with map information showing features on or around the road; by referring to the map information, setting a planned driving route of the vehicle along a lane including the estimated position of the vehicle; Detecting stationary objects present around the vehicle from a distance measurement signal obtained by a distance measurement unit mounted on the vehicle that detects distances to objects around the vehicle or from the image; determining whether the stationary object is located on the planned travel route; determining that the estimated position of the vehicle is erroneous when the stationary object is located on the planned travel route; A vehicle control computer program for causing a processor mounted on the vehicle to execute the above-mentioned steps.

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