Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

Abstract

To further improve the convenience for a driver during automated driving allowing the driver to sleep.SOLUTION: An automated driving ECU 10 which can be used in a vehicle implementing automated driving with permission to sleep, includes: a driver state estimation section 151 for estimating a state of a driver; and a stimulus reduction control section 106 which, in cases when the driver state estimation section 151 estimates that the driver is in a sleeping state during the automated driving with permission to sleep, of an own vehicle, implements information presentation restriction control for restricting presentation of information of at least either monitoring facilitation presentation or lane changing presentation when change of lanes of the own vehicle is planned, as control for reducing stimuli applied to the driver.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an autonomous driving control unit that has autonomous driving functions from level 1 to level 5 in addition to a manual driving function of level 0.

[0003] As the automation level, for example, the automation levels 0 to 5 defined by SAE are known. Level 0 is a level where the driver performs all driving tasks without the system intervening. Level 0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. Level 1 is a level where the system assists with either steering or acceleration / deceleration. Level 2 is a level where the system assists with both steering and acceleration / deceleration. Autonomous driving at levels 1 to 2 is an automated driving where the driver has the supervisory responsibility (hereinafter, simply the supervisory responsibility) for safe driving. Level 3 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in specific locations such as highways, and the driver performs driving operations in emergencies. Level 4 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks except under specific circumstances such as incompatible roads and extreme environments. Level 5 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in any environment. Autonomous driving at levels 3 and above is an automated driving where the driver does not have the supervisory responsibility. Autonomous driving at levels 4 and above is an automated driving where the driver is allowed to sleep. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2019-101453 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Patent Document 1 discloses technology for autonomous driving at level 4 or higher, but does not assume that the control will be different depending on whether the driver is asleep or awake. It is considered that drivers have a preference not to be disturbed while sleeping compared to when awake. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot perform control depending on whether the driver is asleep or awake, so there is a risk that convenience for the driver will decrease.

[0006] One object of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method that enable greater improvement in convenience for the driver during automated driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The above object is achieved by the combination of features recited in the independent claims, and the subclaims define further advantageous embodiments of the disclosure. The reference characters in parentheses in the claims indicate a correspondence with specific means described in the following embodiment as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, 1. The vehicle control device is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver, and a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle. The vehicle includes a driving condition identification unit (101c) that identifies a driving condition of the vehicle, and an occupant state estimation unit (105) that estimates the state of an occupant of the vehicle. When the driving condition identification unit identifies that the vehicle is driving on an autonomous driving road, the stimulus reduction control unit (106c) performs control to reduce the stimulus to the occupant, regardless of whether the occupant state estimation unit estimates that the occupant is asleep. . In order to achieve the above object, a second vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted autonomous driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver, a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the vehicle, and a driving state identification unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that identifies the driving state of the vehicle. and a third in-vehicle presentation control unit (141d) that, when the driving state identification unit identifies that the vehicle is in a standby state in which the vehicle waits until a lane change is possible when the vehicle is scheduled to make an automatic lane change, causes a wait-related presentation to be presented inside the vehicle, which presents information encouraging monitoring of the surroundings and information informing the user that the vehicle is in a standby state. The irritation reduction control unit (106d) causes the wait-related presentation to be presented again when the driving state identification unit identifies that the standby state has continued for a predetermined time, but does not cause the wait-related presentation to be presented again when it has not identified that the standby state has continued for the predetermined time. In order to achieve the above object, the third vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and is equipped with a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the driver's state, a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce stimuli to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and a driving state identification unit (102f) that identifies the driving state of the vehicle, and the stimulus reduction control unit (106f) changes the degree of reduction in stimuli to the vehicle occupants depending on whether the driving state identification unit identifies an automatic lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking or not. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a fourth vehicle control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and is equipped with a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver, a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and an occupant state estimation unit (105g) that estimates the state of the vehicle occupants, and the stimulus reduction control unit (106g) performs control to not issue a notification regarding lane changes when it estimates that all occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the fifth vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver, a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, an occupant state estimation unit (105h) that estimates the state of the vehicle's occupants, and a lane change control unit (131h) that changes the distance required from the start to the completion of a lane change when the vehicle changes lanes automatically, depending on the state of the occupants estimated by the occupant state estimation unit. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a sixth vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and is equipped with a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver, and a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce the stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and the stimulus reduction control unit (106) performs information presentation suppression control, which is control to suppress the presentation of information at a specific vehicle behavior change scheduled time when a specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled to occur, as control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the seventh vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and is equipped with a driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the driver's state, and a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and the stimulus reduction control unit (106b) performs lane change suppression control, which is control to suppress lane changes that are not essential for traveling the planned route to the destination in sleep-permitted automatic driving, as control to reduce stimulus to the driver.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, 1. The vehicle control method can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation step of estimating a state of the driver, executed by at least one processor, and a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle. The method includes a driving condition specification step of specifying a driving condition of the vehicle, and an occupant state estimation step of estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle, and in the stimulus reduction control step, when it is specified in the driving condition specification step that the vehicle is driving on an autonomous driving exclusive road, regardless of whether or not it is estimated in the occupant state estimation step that the occupant is asleep, the stimulus reduction control step performs control to reduce the stimulus to the occupant. . In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a second vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation process executed by at least one processor, a stimulus reduction control process that performs control to reduce stimuli to the driver when the driver state estimation process estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, a driving state identification process that identifies the driving state of the vehicle, and a third in-vehicle presentation control process that, when the driving state identification process determines that the vehicle is in a standby state in which the vehicle waits until a lane change is possible when the vehicle is scheduled to make an automatic lane change, causes a wait-related presentation to be presented to the interior of the vehicle, which is information that encourages monitoring of the surroundings and information that notifies the driver that the vehicle is in a standby state. In the stimulus reduction control process, when the driving state identification process determines that the standby state has continued for a predetermined time, the wait-related presentation is presented again, whereas when it is not determined that the standby state has continued for the predetermined time, the wait-related presentation is not presented again. In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the third vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation process executed by at least one processor for estimating the driver's state, a stimulus reduction control process for performing control to reduce the stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation process estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and a driving state identification process for identifying the driving state of the vehicle, and the stimulus reduction control process changes the degree of reduction in the stimulus to the vehicle occupants depending on whether the driving state identification process identifies an automatic lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking or not. In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, a fourth vehicle control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation process executed by at least one processor to estimate the driver's state, a stimulus reduction control process that performs control to reduce stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation process estimates that the driver is in a sleeping state during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and an occupant state estimation process that estimates the state of the vehicle's occupants, and in the stimulus reduction control process, control is performed to not issue a notification regarding lane changes when it is estimated that all occupants of the vehicle are in a sleeping or relaxed state. In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, a fifth vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation process executed by at least one processor for estimating the driver's state, a stimulus reduction control process that performs control to reduce stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation process estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, an occupant state estimation process for estimating the state of the vehicle's occupants, and a lane change control process that changes the distance required from the start to completion of a lane change when the vehicle automatically changes lanes, depending on the state of the occupants estimated in the occupant state estimation process. In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, a sixth vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation process executed by at least one processor to estimate the driver's state, and a stimulus reduction control process that performs control to reduce the stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation process estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and in the stimulus reduction control process, information presentation suppression control is performed, which is control to suppress the presentation of information at a specific vehicle behavior change that is scheduled to occur when a specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled to occur, as control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the seventh vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep, and includes a driver state estimation process executed by at least one processor to estimate the driver's state, and a stimulus reduction control process that performs control to reduce the stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation process estimates that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, and in the stimulus reduction control process, lane change suppression control is performed, which is control to suppress lane changes that are not essential for traveling the planned route to the destination during sleep-permitted automatic driving, as control to reduce the stimulus to the driver.

[0010] According to the above configuration, when it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automated driving, control is performed to reduce stimuli to the driver, so that when the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted automated driving, it is possible to suppress disturbance of sleep due to stimuli to the driver. As a result, it is possible to further improve convenience for the driver during automated driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1. FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10. [Diagram 3] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a stimulus reduction-related process in the autonomous driving ECU 10. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1a. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10a. [Figure 6]10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a stimulus reduction-related process in the autonomous driving ECU 10a. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1b. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10b. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a stimulus reduction-related process in the autonomous driving ECU 10b. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1c. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10c. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1d. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a stimulus reduction-related process in the autonomous driving ECU 10d. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1e. [Figure 15] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10e. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1f. [Figure 17] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10f. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining two lane changes for overtaking. [Figure 19] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1g. [Figure 20] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10g. [Figure 21] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1h. [Figure 22] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10h. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] A number of embodiments for disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For convenience of description, in a number of embodiments, parts having the same functions as parts shown in the drawings used in the previous description may be given the same reference numerals and their description may be omitted. For parts given the same reference numerals, the description in other embodiments may be referred to.

[0013] (Embodiment 1) <Overall configuration of vehicle system 1> Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. A vehicle system 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be used in a vehicle capable of automatic driving (hereinafter, an automatic driving vehicle). As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle system 1 includes an automatic driving ECU 10, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map database (hereinafter, a map DB) 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surroundings monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU (Human Machine Interface Control Unit) 22, and a blind mechanism 23. For example, the automatic driving ECU 10, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the surroundings monitoring sensor 15, the vehicle control ECU 16, the body ECU 17, the HCU 22, and the blind mechanism 23 may be configured to be connected to an in-vehicle LAN (see the LAN in FIG. 1). Although the vehicle using the vehicular system 1 is not necessarily limited to an automobile, the following description will be given taking the case of using the vehicular system 1 in an automobile as an example.

[0014] There can be multiple levels of autonomous driving for autonomous vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "automation levels"), as defined by, for example, the SAE. The automation levels are classified into LV0 to 5, for example, as follows:

[0015] LV0 is the level at which the driver performs all driving tasks without the system intervening. The driving task may be rephrased as a dynamic driving task. The driving task may be, for example, steering, acceleration / deceleration, and surrounding monitoring. LV0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. LV1 is the level at which the system assists with either steering or acceleration / deceleration. LV1 corresponds to so-called driving assistance. LV2 is the level at which the system assists with both steering and acceleration / deceleration. LV2 corresponds to so-called partial driving automation. Note that LV1-2 are also considered to be part of autonomous driving.

[0016] For example, LV1-2 autonomous driving is autonomous driving in which the driver has a duty to monitor safe driving (hereinafter, simply referred to as the duty to monitor). In other words, it corresponds to autonomous driving with a duty to monitor. The duty to monitor includes visual monitoring of the surroundings. LV1-2 autonomous driving can be rephrased as autonomous driving in which a second task is not permitted. A second task is an act other than driving that is permitted for the driver, and is a specific act that is specified in advance. A second task can also be rephrased as a secondary activity, other activity, etc. It is considered that a second task must not prevent the driver from responding to a request from the autonomous driving system to take over driving operations. As an example, actions such as watching content such as videos, operating a smartphone, reading, and eating are assumed to be second tasks.

[0017] LV3 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks under certain conditions, and the driver takes over driving operations in an emergency. LV3 autonomous driving requires the driver to be able to respond quickly when the system requests a handover of driving. This handover of driving can also be said to be a transfer of the responsibility of monitoring the surroundings from the vehicle's system to the driver. LV3 corresponds to so-called conditional driving automation. LV3 includes area-limited LV3, which is limited to a specific area. The specific area referred to here may be an expressway. The specific area may be, for example, a specific lane. LV3 also includes traffic jam-limited LV3, which is limited to traffic jams. Traffic jam-limited LV3 may be configured to be limited to traffic jams on an expressway, for example. The expressway may include a motorway.

[0018] Level 4 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks except under certain circumstances such as on unmanageable roads or in extreme environments. Level 4 corresponds to what is known as highly automated driving. Level 5 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in any environment. Level 5 corresponds to fully automated driving. Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous driving can be implemented, for example, on driving sections where high-precision map data has been developed. High-precision map data will be discussed later.

[0019] For example, autonomous driving at LV3 to 5 is autonomous driving where the driver has no monitoring obligation. In other words, it corresponds to autonomous driving without monitoring obligation. Autonomous driving at LV3 to 5 can be said to be autonomous driving where a second task is permitted. Of autonomous driving at LV3 to 5, autonomous driving at LV4 or higher corresponds to autonomous driving where the driver is permitted to sleep. In other words, it corresponds to sleep-permitted autonomous driving. Of autonomous driving at LV3 to 5, autonomous driving at level 3 corresponds to autonomous driving where the driver is not permitted to sleep. The autonomous driving vehicle of this embodiment is assumed to be capable of switching the automation level. The automation level may be configured to be switchable only between some of the levels LV0 to 5. The autonomous driving vehicle of this embodiment is assumed to be capable of at least performing sleep-permitted autonomous driving.

[0020] The communication module 11 transmits and receives information to and from a center outside the vehicle via wireless communication. That is, it performs wide-area communication. The communication module 11 receives congestion information and the like from the center via wide-area communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information to and from other vehicles via wireless communication. That is, it may perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information to and from a roadside device installed on the roadside via wireless communication. That is, it may perform road-to-vehicle communication. When performing road-to-vehicle communication, the communication module 11 may receive information on surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the roadside device. Also, the communication module 11 may receive information on surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the center via wide-area communication.

[0021] Locator 12 includes a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver and an inertial sensor. The GNSS receiver receives positioning signals from a plurality of positioning satellites. The inertial sensor includes, for example, a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. Locator 12 sequentially measures the position of the vehicle (hereinafter, the vehicle position) on which locator 12 is mounted, by combining the positioning signals received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results of the inertial sensor. The vehicle position may be expressed, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Note that the vehicle position may also be measured using a travel distance calculated from a signal sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

[0022] The map DB 13 is a non-volatile memory and stores high-precision map data. The high-precision map data is map data with higher precision than map data used for route guidance in the navigation function. The map DB 13 may also store map data used for route guidance. The high-precision map data includes information that can be used for automatic driving, such as three-dimensional shape information of roads, information on the number of lanes, and information indicating the travel direction permitted for each lane. In addition, the high-precision map data may include node point information indicating the positions of both ends of road markings such as dividing lines. The locator 12 may be configured not to use a GNSS receiver by using the three-dimensional shape information of the road. For example, the locator 12 may be configured to specify the vehicle position using the three-dimensional shape information of the road and the detection results of a perimeter monitoring sensor 15 such as a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging / Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) or a perimeter monitoring camera that detects a point cloud of characteristic points of the road shape and structures. The three-dimensional shape information of the road may be generated based on a captured image by REM (Road Experience Management).

[0023] Map data distributed from an external server may be received by wide area communication via the communication module 11 and stored in the map DB 13. In this case, the map DB 13 may be a volatile memory, and the communication module 11 may successively acquire map data of an area corresponding to the vehicle position.

[0024] The vehicle state sensor 14 is a group of sensors for detecting various states of the vehicle. Examples of the vehicle state sensor 14 include a vehicle speed sensor, a steering torque sensor, an accelerator sensor, and a brake sensor. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the vehicle. The steering torque sensor detects the steering torque applied to the steering wheel. The accelerator sensor detects whether or not the accelerator pedal is depressed. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator depression force sensor that detects the depression force applied to the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator stroke sensor that detects the depression amount of the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator switch that outputs a signal according to whether or not the accelerator pedal is depressed. The brake sensor detects whether or not the brake pedal is depressed. The brake sensor may be a brake depression force sensor that detects the depression force applied to the brake pedal. The brake sensor may be a brake stroke sensor that detects the depression amount of the brake pedal. The brake sensor may be a brake switch that outputs a signal according to whether or not the brake pedal is depressed. The vehicle state sensor 14 outputs the detected sensing information to the in-vehicle LAN. The sensing information detected by the vehicle state sensor 14 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via an ECU mounted in the vehicle.

[0025] The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 monitors the environment around the vehicle. As an example, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects obstacles around the vehicle, such as moving objects such as pedestrians and other vehicles, and stationary objects such as objects fallen on the road. In addition, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects road markings such as lane markings around the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 is, for example, a perimeter monitoring camera that captures a predetermined range around the vehicle, a millimeter wave radar that transmits a search wave to a predetermined range around the vehicle, a sonar, a LIDAR, or other sensor. The predetermined range may be a range that at least partially includes the front, rear, left, and right of the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring camera sequentially outputs the captured images as sensing information to the automatic driving ECU 10. The sensor that transmits the search wave, such as the sonar, millimeter wave radar, or LIDAR, sequentially outputs the scan result based on the received signal obtained when receiving the reflected wave reflected by the obstacle to the automatic driving ECU 10 as sensing information. The sensing information detected by the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may be configured to be output to the automatic driving ECU 10 without going through the in-vehicle LAN.

[0026] The vehicle control ECU 16 is an electronic control device that performs driving control of the vehicle. Examples of driving control include acceleration / deceleration control and / or steering control. The vehicle control ECU 16 includes a steering ECU that performs steering control, a power unit control ECU that performs acceleration / deceleration control, and a brake ECU. The vehicle control ECU 16 performs driving control by outputting control signals to each driving control device mounted on the vehicle, such as an electronically controlled throttle, a brake actuator, and an EPS (Electric Power Steering) motor.

[0027] The body ECU 17 is an electronic control device that controls the electrical equipment of the vehicle. The body ECU 17 controls the direction indicators of the vehicle. The direction indicators are also called turn signal lamps, turn lamps, or blinker lamps. The body ECU 17 may successively detect the reclining position of the seat of the vehicle. The reclining position may be detected from the rotation angle of a reclining motor. Note that, in this embodiment, the reclining position is detected by the body ECU 17 as an example, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the reclining position may be detected by a seat ECU that adjusts the seat environment.

[0028] The indoor camera 18 captures an image of a predetermined range in the vehicle cabin. The indoor camera 18 preferably captures an image of an area including at least the driver's seat of the vehicle. It is more preferable that the indoor camera 18 captures an image of an area including the passenger seat and the rear seat in addition to the driver's seat of the vehicle. The indoor camera 18 is composed of, for example, a near-infrared light source and a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls them. The indoor camera 18 captures an image of an occupant of the vehicle irradiated with near-infrared light by the near-infrared light source using the near-infrared camera. The image captured by the near-infrared camera is subjected to image analysis by the control unit. The control unit performs image analysis on the captured image to detect the facial features of the occupant. The control unit may detect the facial direction, wakefulness, etc. of the occupant based on the detected facial features of the occupant. The wakefulness may be detected, for example, by the degree of opening and closing of the eyelids.

[0029] The biosensor 19 measures bioinformation of the occupant of the vehicle. The biosensor 19 sequentially outputs the measured bioinformation to the HCU 22. The biosensor 19 may be configured to be provided in the vehicle. The biosensor 19 may be configured to be provided in a wearable device worn by the occupant. When the biosensor 19 is provided in the vehicle, it may be provided, for example, in a steering wheel, a seat, or the like. When the biosensor 19 is provided in a wearable device, it may be configured to have the HCU 22 acquire the measurement result of the biosensor 19 via, for example, a short-range communication module. Examples of bioinformation measured by the biosensor 19 include respiration, pulse, heart rate, and the like. Note that the biosensor 19 may be configured to measure bioinformation other than respiration, pulse, and heart rate. For example, the biosensor 19 may measure brain waves, heart rate fluctuations, sweating, body temperature, blood pressure, skin conductance, and the like.

[0030] The presentation device 20 is provided in the vehicle and presents information to the interior of the vehicle. In other words, the presentation device 20 presents information to the passengers of the vehicle. The presentation device 20 presents information under the control of the HCU 22. The presentation device 20 includes, for example, a display and an audio output device.

[0031] The display device notifies by displaying information. Examples of the display device that can be used include a meter MID (Multi Information Display), CID (Center Information Display), an indicator lamp, and HUD (Head-Up Display). The audio output device notifies by outputting audio. Examples of the audio output device include a speaker.

[0032] The meter MID is a display provided in front of the driver's seat inside the vehicle. As an example, the meter MID may be provided in a meter panel. The CID is a display provided in the center of the vehicle's instrument panel. An example of an indicator lamp is a lamp that flashes to indicate the direction in which the vehicle is changing course.

[0033] The HUD is provided in the vehicle cabin, for example, on the instrument panel. The HUD projects a display image formed by a projector onto a predetermined projection area on the windshield as a projection member. The light of the image reflected by the windshield into the vehicle cabin is perceived by the driver sitting in the driver's seat. This allows the driver to visually recognize a virtual image of the display image formed in front of the windshield superimposed on a part of the foreground. The HUD may be configured to project a display image onto a combiner provided in front of the driver's seat, instead of onto the windshield.

[0034] The user input device 21 accepts input from a user. The user input device 21 may be an operation device that accepts operation input from a user. The operation device may be a mechanical switch or a touch switch integrated with a display. Note that the user input device 21 is not limited to an operation device that accepts operation input, so long as it is a device that accepts input from a user. For example, the user input device 21 may be a voice input device that accepts voice command input from a user.

[0035] The HCU 22 is mainly composed of a computer equipped with a processor, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, an I / O, and a bus connecting these. The HCU 22 executes various processes related to the interaction between the occupant and the vehicle's system by executing a control program stored in the non-volatile memory.

[0036] The blind mechanism 23 is a mechanism capable of switching the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle. The blind mechanism 23 changes the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle, and may be configured to be provided on a window of the vehicle. The blind mechanism 23 may be configured to be provided on the front window, rear window, or side window of the vehicle. For example, a light-control film capable of switching between a light-transmitting state and a light-blocking state by application of a voltage may be used as the blind mechanism 23. The blind mechanism 23 may be in a light-transmitting state when not in operation, and in a light-blocking state when in operation. The blind mechanism 23 may be configured to use something other than a light-control film. For example, a mechanism may be used that switches the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle by electrically closing louvers, curtains, or the like.

[0037] The autonomous driving ECU 10 is mainly configured as a computer including a processor, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, an I / O, and a bus connecting these. The autonomous driving ECU 10 executes processes related to autonomous driving by executing a control program stored in the non-volatile memory. This autonomous driving ECU 10 corresponds to a vehicle control device. In this embodiment, the autonomous driving ECU 10 is used in a vehicle that is capable of at least performing sleep-permitted autonomous driving. The configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described in detail below.

[0038] <Outline of Autonomous Driving ECU 10> Next, the schematic configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the autonomous driving ECU 10 includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105, a stimulus reduction control unit 106, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The execution of the processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10 by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be configured in the form of hardware using one or more ICs or the like. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware members.

[0039] The driving environment recognition unit 101 recognizes the driving environment of the vehicle from the vehicle position acquired from the locator 12, the map data acquired from the map DB 13, and the sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit 101 recognizes the position, shape, and moving state of objects around the vehicle using these pieces of information, and generates a virtual space that reproduces the actual driving environment. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may recognize the presence, relative position, and relative speed of surrounding vehicles as the driving environment from the sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may recognize the vehicle position on the map from the vehicle position and the map data. When the driving environment recognition unit 101 can acquire position information, speed information, and the like of surrounding vehicles via the communication module 11, it may recognize the driving environment using these pieces of information as well.

[0040] The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also determine whether the driving area is a manual driving area (hereinafter, MD area) in the driving area of ​​the vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also determine whether the driving area is an automatic driving area (hereinafter, AD area) in the driving area of ​​the vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also determine whether the AD area is an ST section and a non-ST section, which will be described later.

[0041] An MD area is an area where automated driving is prohibited. In other words, an MD area is an area where it is specified that the driver is to perform all of the longitudinal control, lateral control, and surrounding monitoring of the vehicle. The longitudinal direction is the direction that coincides with the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle. The lateral direction is the direction that coincides with the width direction of the vehicle. The longitudinal control corresponds to the acceleration / deceleration control of the vehicle. The lateral control corresponds to the steering control of the vehicle. For example, the MD area may be a general road. The MD area may also be a driving section of a general road for which high-precision map data is not available.

[0042] An AD area is an area where autonomous driving is permitted. In other words, an AD area is an area where it is specified that the vehicle can substitute for one or more of longitudinal control, lateral control, and periphery monitoring. For example, an AD area may be a highway. An AD area may be a driving section where high-precision map data is available. For example, area-limited LV3 autonomous driving may be permitted only on highways. Traffic jam-limited LV3 autonomous driving may be permitted only when there is a traffic jam in an AD area.

[0043] AD areas are divided into ST sections and non-ST sections. ST sections are sections where area-limited LV3 autonomous driving (hereinafter, area-limited autonomous driving) is permitted. Non-ST sections are sections where LV2 or lower autonomous driving and congestion-limited LV3 autonomous driving are possible. In this embodiment, there is no distinction between non-ST sections where LV1 autonomous driving is permitted and non-ST sections where LV2 autonomous driving is permitted. Non-ST sections may be sections of AD areas that do not fall under the ST section category.

[0044] The behavior determination unit 102 switches the control entity of the driving operation between the driver and the system of the vehicle. When the control right of the driving operation is on the system side, the behavior determination unit 102 determines a driving plan for driving the vehicle based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit 101. The driving plan may determine the route to the destination and the behavior that the vehicle should take to arrive at the destination. Examples of the behavior include going straight, turning right, turning left, changing lanes, etc.

[0045] Furthermore, the behavior determination unit 102 switches the automation level of the autonomous driving of the vehicle as necessary. The behavior determination unit 102 determines whether or not the automation level can be increased. For example, when the vehicle moves from an MD area to an AD area, it may be determined that autonomous driving can be switched from LV4 or lower to LV4 or higher. If the behavior determination unit 102 determines that the automation level can be increased and the increase in the automation level is approved by the driver, the behavior determination unit 102 may increase the automation level.

[0046] The behavior determination unit 102 may lower the automation level when it determines that a lowering of the automation level is necessary. Examples of cases where it is determined that a lowering of the automation level is necessary include when an override is detected, when a planned driving changeover is performed, and when an unplanned driving changeover is performed. An override is an operation by which the driver of the vehicle spontaneously acquires control of the vehicle. In other words, an override is an operation intervention by the driver of the vehicle. The behavior determination unit 102 may detect the override from sensing information obtained from the vehicle state sensor 14. For example, the behavior determination unit 102 may detect the override when the steering torque detected by the steering torque sensor exceeds a threshold value. The behavior determination unit 102 may detect the override when the accelerator sensor detects depression of the accelerator pedal. Alternatively, the behavior determination unit 102 may detect the override when the brake sensor detects depression of the brake pedal. A planned driving changeover is a planned driving changeover determined by the system. An unplanned driving changeover is an unplanned and sudden driving changeover determined by the system.

[0047] When the control right of driving operation is on the side of the vehicle's system, the control execution unit 103 executes acceleration / deceleration control, steering control, etc. of the vehicle in accordance with the driving plan determined by the action determination unit 102 in cooperation with the vehicle control ECU 16. The control execution unit 103 includes an LCA control unit 131 as a sub-functional block.

[0048] The LCA control unit 131 automatically changes lanes. The LCA control unit 131 performs LCA control to automatically change lanes from the own lane to an adjacent lane. In the LCA control, a planned driving trajectory is generated that smoothly connects a target position of the own lane and the center of the adjacent lane based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit 101. Then, the steering angle of the steering wheel of the own vehicle is automatically controlled according to the planned driving trajectory to change lanes from the own lane to the adjacent lane. During automatic driving at LV4 or higher, the LCA control unit 131 may start the automatic lane change when the surrounding situation satisfies a condition that allows lane change (hereinafter, the surrounding condition). During automatic driving at LV3 or lower, the LCA control unit 131 may start the automatic lane change on the condition that a lane change request is received from the driver via the user input device 21.

[0049] In this embodiment, for convenience, the control execution unit 103 may perform other driving controls such as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control and LTA (Lane Tracing Assist) control in addition to LCA control, although the description is omitted. ACC control is a control that realizes constant speed driving of the host vehicle at a set vehicle speed or driving to follow a preceding vehicle. LTA control is a control that keeps the host vehicle driving within the lane. In LTA control, steering control is performed to keep the host vehicle driving within the lane. When starting a lane change under LCA control, it is sufficient to temporarily interrupt LTA control to allow the host vehicle to leave the lane. Then, after the lane change is completed, LTA control is resumed.

[0050] The HCU communication unit 104 performs processing for outputting information to the HCU 22 and processing for acquiring information from the HCU 22. The HCU communication unit 104 acquires the detection result of the indoor camera 18 and the measurement result of the biosensor 19. The HCU communication unit 104 includes a presentation processing unit 141 as a sub-functional block. The presentation processing unit 141 indirectly controls the presentation of information on the presentation device 20.

[0051] The presentation processing unit 141 causes the presentation device 20 to present at least one of information prompting the driver to monitor the surroundings and information notifying the driver that a lane change will be made at the time when the LCA control unit 131 is scheduled to change lanes. This time when a lane change is scheduled corresponds to the time when a specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled. The information presentation prompting the driver to monitor the surroundings (hereinafter, monitoring promotion presentation) is a display, a voice output, etc. that prompts the driver to monitor the surroundings. An example of the monitoring promotion presentation is a text display or a voice output such as "Please check the surroundings of your vehicle". The information presentation notifying the driver that a lane change will be made (hereinafter, lane change presentation) is, for example, a blinking indicator lamp that indicates the direction of the lane change of the vehicle. Hereinafter, the monitoring promotion presentation and lane change presentation are referred to as information presentation for the interior. The presentation processing unit 141 corresponds to a first in-vehicle presentation control unit. It should be noted that, when a lane change is scheduled, the body ECU 17 turns on the turn indicator in the direction of the scheduled lane change.

[0052] The state estimation unit 105 estimates the state of the occupant of the vehicle. The state estimation unit 105 estimates the state of the occupant based on information acquired from the HCU 22 by the HCU communication unit 104 and information acquired from the body ECU 17. The state estimation unit 105 includes a driver state estimation unit 151 and a passenger state estimation unit 152 as sub-functional blocks.

[0053] The driver state estimation unit 151 estimates the state of the driver of the vehicle. The process in the driver state estimation unit 151 corresponds to a driver state estimation step. The driver state estimation unit 151 at least estimates whether the driver is asleep or not. The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate that the driver is asleep when the driver's wakefulness detected by the interior camera 18 is a degree indicating a sleeping state. The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate that the driver is asleep when the measurement result of the driver by the biosensor 19 is a result characteristic of a sleeping state. The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate that the driver is asleep when the reclining position of the driver's seat acquired from the body ECU 17 is a position reclined to an angle at which a sleeping state is estimated. The reclining position of the driver's seat may be configured to be acquired from the seat ECU.

[0054] The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate that the driver is in an awake state when the driver's wakefulness level detected by the interior camera 18 is a level indicating an awake state. The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate that the driver is in an awake state when the measurement result of the driver by the biosensor 19 is not a result characteristic of a sleep state. The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate that the driver is in an awake state when the reclining position of the driver's seat acquired from the body ECU 17 is not a position where the driver is reclined to an angle at which a sleep state is estimated. The driver state estimation unit 151 may also estimate whether the driver estimated to be in an awake state is gripping the steering wheel by using the detection result of a grip sensor that detects whether the steering wheel is being gripped or not.

[0055] The passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates the state of a passenger of the vehicle other than the driver of the vehicle. The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate the state of a passenger when a passenger is present. The state estimation unit 105 may determine whether a passenger is present or not using a seating sensor or the like on a seat other than the driver's seat.

[0056] The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate that the passenger is in an awake state when the passenger's wakefulness level detected by the interior camera 18 is a level indicating an awake state. The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate that the passenger is in an awake state when the measurement result of the passenger by the biosensor 19 is not a result characteristic of a sleeping state. The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate that the passenger is in an awake state when the reclining position of the passenger's seat acquired from the body ECU 17 is not a position reclined to an angle at which a sleeping state is estimated. The reclining position of the passenger's seat may also be configured to be acquired from the seat ECU.

[0057] The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate that the passenger is asleep when the passenger's alertness detected by the interior camera 18 is a degree indicating a sleeping state. The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate that the passenger is asleep when the measurement result of the passenger by the biosensor 19 is a result characteristic of a sleeping state. The passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate that the passenger is asleep when the reclining position of the passenger's seat acquired from the body ECU 17 is a position reclined to an angle at which a sleeping state is estimated.

[0058] When the driver's state is estimated by the HCU 22, the driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate the driver's state by acquiring the estimation result of the driver's state by the HCU 22. When the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates the passenger's state by the HCU 22, the passenger state estimation unit 152 may estimate the passenger's state by acquiring the estimation result of the passenger's state by the HCU 22.

[0059] When the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 performs control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. The process in the stimulus reduction control unit 106 corresponds to a stimulus reduction control step. The stimulus reduction control unit 106 performs control to suppress at least one of the information presentation of the monitoring prompt presentation and the lane change presentation when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes (hereinafter, information presentation suppression control) as a control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. That is, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 performs information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information for the interior. For example, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 may perform the information presentation suppression control by instructing the presentation processing unit 141. The suppression of the presentation of information for the interior may be not presenting information for the interior. The suppression of the presentation of information for the interior may be performed by lowering the intensity of the presentation of information for the interior to a level lower than the intensity when the driver state estimation unit 151 does not estimate that the driver is asleep. Examples of the intensity reduction in this case include lowering the brightness of the display and lowering the volume of the audio output.

[0060] According to the above configuration, when it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, control is performed to suppress the monitoring prompt notification and lane change notification when a lane change is planned. Therefore, if the driver is asleep when a lane change is planned during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, the driver's sleep is less likely to be disturbed by the stimulation caused by the information presented to the driver. As a result, it is possible to further improve convenience for the driver during autonomous driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep.

[0061] When the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is in an awake state, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 preferably does not perform information presentation suppression control even when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes. According to this, even if the driver is asleep, if the passenger is awake, the vehicle performs information presentation to the interior in the same manner as when the driver is not asleep when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes. Therefore, it is easy for the awake passenger to confirm the monitoring promotion presentation and lane change presentation, and the passenger can feel reassured about the automatic driving.

[0062] When the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the vehicle, it is preferable that the stimulus reduction control unit 106 does not perform information presentation suppression control. In other words, it is preferable not to suppress the presentation of information for the interior. According to this, even during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, if the driver is awake, the driver can feel reassured about the autonomous driving even if the lane is changed by encouraging the driver to monitor the surroundings or notifying the driver that a lane change is about to occur.

[0063] The stimulus reduction control unit 106 may be configured to perform information presentation suppression control when the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, but when the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is gripping the steering wheel. According to this, when there is a high possibility that the driver is paying attention to driving during sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, it is possible to reduce the annoyance of the driver by suppressing the prompting of surrounding monitoring or the notification of a lane change. The driver state estimation unit 151 may estimate the state in which the driver is gripping the steering wheel based on the detection result of the steering wheel grip sensor, etc.

[0064] When the host vehicle is in a standby state when the host vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 preferably causes the presentation processing unit 141 to perform at least a monitoring prompt presentation as an indoor information presentation without performing the information presentation suppression control. On the other hand, when the host vehicle is not in a standby state when the host vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 preferably performs the information presentation suppression control to suppress at least a monitoring prompt presentation as an indoor information presentation. In this case, the information presentation suppression control is preferably a control that does not cause a monitoring prompt presentation. The standby state indicates a state in which the host vehicle is made to wait until a lane change is possible. According to this, when the host vehicle is in a standby state, the monitoring prompt presentation is made to make the occupant aware of the current situation in the standby state, thereby giving a sense of security about the automatic driving. On the other hand, when the host vehicle is not in a standby state, the lane change is made smoother by the amount of time required for the monitoring prompt presentation to be omitted. In addition, the lane change can be made with a margin by the amount of time required for the monitoring prompt presentation to be omitted. The LCA control unit 131 may determine whether the host vehicle is in a standby state based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit 101, etc. The behavior determining unit 102 may determine whether or not the device is in a standby state.

[0065] The blind control unit 107 reduces the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle by controlling the blind mechanism 23. When the stimulus reduction control unit 106 does not perform information presentation suppression control and the presentation processing unit 141 performs at least surveillance promotion presentation as indoor information presentation, it is preferable that the blind control unit 107 does not reduce the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle. This makes it easier to check the outside of the vehicle from inside the vehicle when the surveillance promotion presentation is performed.

[0066] The blind control unit 107 may be capable of switching which of the front window, rear window, and side windows the amount of external light taken in should be reduced for, depending on who among the driver and the passengers is estimated to be in a sleeping state by the state estimation unit 105. When all the occupants are in a sleeping state, the blind control unit 107 may reduce the amount of external light taken in by all of the front window, rear window, and side windows as a default, for example.

[0067] <Processing related to reducing stimuli in the autonomous driving ECU 10> Here, an example of the flow of processing related to control for reducing irritation to the driver in the automatic driving ECU 10 (hereinafter, irritation reduction related processing) will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 3. The flowchart of Fig. 3 may be configured to be started when, for example, a switch for starting the internal combustion engine or motor generator of the vehicle (hereinafter, power switch) is turned on.

[0068] First, in step S1, if the host vehicle is in autonomous driving at LV4 or higher (YES in S1), the process proceeds to step S2. In other words, if the host vehicle is in sleep-permitted autonomous driving, the process proceeds to S2. On the other hand, if the host vehicle is in driving at less than LV4 (NO in S1), the process proceeds to step S9. Driving at less than LV4 also includes manual driving at LV0. The automation level of the host vehicle may be identified by the action determination unit 102.

[0069] In step S2, if a lane change is planned (YES in S2), the process proceeds to step S3. In the following figures, lane change is represented as LC. On the other hand, if a lane change is not planned (NO in S2), the process proceeds to step S9. Whether a lane change is planned or not can be determined by the LCA control unit 131.

[0070] In step S3, if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep (YES in S3), the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep (NO in S3), the process proceeds to step S6.

[0071] In step S4, if a passenger is present (YES in S4), the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if a passenger is not present (NO in S4), the process proceeds to step S7. Whether or not a passenger is present may be estimated by passenger state estimation unit 152.

[0072] In step S5, if the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is awake (YES in S5), the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is not awake (NO in S5), the process proceeds to step S7. In step S6, the presentation processing unit 141 causes the presentation of information for the interior to be performed without restraint, and the process proceeds to step S9.

[0073] In step S7, if the vehicle is in a standby state (YES in S7), the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if the vehicle is not in a standby state (NO in S7), the process proceeds to step S8. Whether the vehicle is in a standby state or not can be determined by the LCA control unit 131. In step S8, the stimulus reduction control unit 106 performs information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information for the interior by the presentation processing unit 141, and the process proceeds to step S9.

[0074] In step S9, if it is time to end the stimulus reduction-related processing (YES in S9), the stimulus reduction-related processing is ended. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the stimulus reduction-related processing (NO in S9), the process returns to S1 and is repeated. An example of the timing to end the stimulus reduction-related processing is when the power switch of the vehicle is turned off.

[0075] In the flowchart of Fig. 3, the processes of S4 to S5 may be omitted. In this case, if YES in S3, the process may proceed to S7. In the flowchart of Fig. 3, the process of S7 may be omitted. In this case, if NO in S4 and if NO in S5, the process may proceed to S8. In the flowchart of Fig. 3, the processes of S4 to S5 and S7 may be omitted. In this case, if YES in S3, the process may proceed to S8.

[0076] (Embodiment 2) The configuration is not limited to that of the first embodiment, but may be that of the following second embodiment. An example of the configuration of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0077] <Schematic configuration of vehicle system 1a> The vehicle system 1a shown in Fig. 4 can be used in an autonomous vehicle. As shown in Fig. 4, the vehicle system 1a includes an autonomous driving ECU 10a, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1a is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1a includes an autonomous driving ECU 10a instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0078] <Outline of the configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10a> Next, the schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10a will be described with reference to FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic driving ECU 10a includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104a, a state estimation unit 105, a stimulus reduction control unit 106a, and a blind control unit 107a as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10a is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment except that the automatic driving ECU 10a includes the HCU communication unit 104a, the stimulus reduction control unit 106a, and the blind control unit 107a instead of the HCU communication unit 104, the stimulus reduction control unit 106, and the blind control unit 107. This automatic driving ECU 10a also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10a by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0079] The HCU communication unit 104a includes a presentation processing unit 141a as a sub-functional block. The HCU communication unit 104a is similar to the HCU communication unit 104 of the first embodiment except that the presentation processing unit 141 is replaced by the presentation processing unit 141a.

[0080] The presentation processing unit 141a causes at least the presentation device 20 to provide a lane change presentation when a lane change is planned. As described in the first embodiment, the lane change presentation is, for example, a flashing indicator lamp indicating the direction of the vehicle's lane change. This lane change presentation corresponds to the in-vehicle presentation. The presentation processing unit 141a corresponds to the second in-vehicle presentation control unit. As described in the first embodiment, when a lane change is planned, the body ECU 17 turns on a turn indicator in the direction of the planned lane change. This turning on of the turn indicator corresponds to the outside-vehicle presentation.

[0081] The stimulus reduction control unit 106a also performs control to reduce the stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle. This processing in the stimulus reduction control unit 106a also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control step. The stimulus reduction control unit 106a performs information presentation suppression control to at least suppress lane change presentation when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, as a control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. On the other hand, even if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, the stimulus reduction control unit 106a does not suppress the illumination of the turn signal in the direction of the planned lane change in the body ECU 17. The stimulus reduction control unit 106a may perform information presentation suppression control by, for example, issuing an instruction to the presentation processing unit 141a. The suppression of the in-vehicle presentation may be performed by lowering the intensity of the lane change presentation to a level lower than the intensity when the driver state estimation unit 151 does not estimate that the driver is asleep. In this case, examples of lowering the intensity include lowering the brightness of the display and lowering the volume of the audio output.

[0082] According to the above configuration, when it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, control is performed to suppress lane change notification when a lane change is planned. Therefore, if the driver is asleep when a lane change is planned during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, the driver's sleep is less likely to be disturbed by the stimulation of the information presented to the driver. As a result, it is possible to further improve convenience for the driver during autonomous driving in which the driver's sleep is permitted. Meanwhile, since the illumination of the turn signal facing outside the vehicle is not suppressed, it is not difficult for the drivers of surrounding vehicles to recognize the planned lane change of the vehicle.

[0083] When the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is in an awake state, the stimulus reduction control unit 106a preferably does not perform information presentation suppression control even when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes. According to this, even if the driver is asleep, if the passenger is awake, the vehicle performs the interior presentation in the same manner as when the driver is not asleep when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes. Therefore, it is easy for the awake passenger to confirm the lane change presentation, and the passenger can feel reassured about the automatic driving.

[0084] When the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the vehicle, it is preferable that the stimulus reduction control unit 106a not perform information presentation suppression control. In other words, it is preferable not to suppress the in-vehicle presentation. According to this, even during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, if the driver is awake, the intensity of the information presentation is notified that a lane change will be made without reducing it, so that the driver can feel at ease about the autonomous driving even if the lane is changed.

[0085] The stimulus reduction control unit 106a may be configured to perform information presentation suppression control when the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the host vehicle and the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is gripping the steering wheel. According to this, when there is a high possibility that the driver is paying attention to driving during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the host vehicle, it is possible to reduce the annoyance to the driver by suppressing in-vehicle presentation.

[0086] The blind control unit 107a is similar to the blind control unit 107 of the first embodiment, except that it controls the blind mechanism 23 regardless of whether or not the stimulation reduction control unit 106 performs information presentation suppression control.

[0087] <Processing related to stimulus reduction in the autonomous driving ECU 10a> Here, an example of the flow of the stimulus reduction-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10a will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 6. The flowchart of Fig. 6 may be configured to be started when the power switch of the host vehicle is turned on, for example.

[0088] First, in step S21, if the vehicle is in automatic driving mode at LV4 or higher (YES in S21), the process proceeds to step S22. On the other hand, if the vehicle is in automatic driving mode at less than LV4 (NO in S21), the process proceeds to step S28. In step S22, if a lane change is planned (YES in S22), the process proceeds to step S23. On the other hand, if a lane change is not planned (NO in S22), the process proceeds to step S28.

[0089] In step S23, if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep (YES in S23), the process proceeds to step S24. On the other hand, if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep (NO in S23), the process proceeds to step S27. In step S24, if a passenger is present (YES in S24), the process proceeds to step S26. On the other hand, if a passenger is not present (NO in S24), the process proceeds to step S25. In step S25, the stimulus reduction control unit 106a performs notification presentation suppression control to suppress in-vehicle presentation by the presentation processing unit 141a, and the process proceeds to step S28.

[0090] In step S26, if the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is in an awake state (YES in S26), the process proceeds to step S27. On the other hand, if the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is not in an awake state (NO in S26), the process proceeds to step S25. In step S27, the presentation processing unit 141a causes in-vehicle presentation to be performed without restraint, and the process proceeds to step S28.

[0091] In step S28, if it is time to end the stimulation reduction-related process (YES in S28), the stimulation reduction-related process is ended. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the stimulation reduction-related process (NO in S28), the process returns to S21 and is repeated. In the flowchart of FIG. 6, the process of S24 to S25 may be omitted. In this case, the process may proceed to S25 if YES in S23.

[0092] (Embodiment 3) In the first and second embodiments, when it is estimated that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, the control is performed to suppress the presentation of information when a lane change is scheduled, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the stimulus reduction control unit 106, 106a may be configured to perform control to suppress the presentation of information when a behavior change of the vehicle other than a lane change is scheduled.

[0093] For example, if it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the host vehicle, control may be performed to suppress the presentation of information when acceleration of a certain acceleration or more is scheduled. In this case, the scheduled acceleration of a certain acceleration or more corresponds to the scheduled time of a specific vehicle behavior change. If it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the host vehicle, control may be performed to suppress the presentation of information when deceleration of a certain deceleration or more is scheduled. In this case, the scheduled deceleration of a certain deceleration or more corresponds to the scheduled time of a specific vehicle behavior change. If it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the host vehicle, control may be performed to suppress the presentation of information when turning at a certain steering angle or more is scheduled. In this case, the scheduled turning at a certain steering angle or more corresponds to the scheduled time of a specific vehicle behavior change.

[0094] Even with the above configuration, if it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, control is performed to reduce the irritation caused by the information presented to the driver. This makes it possible to further improve convenience for the driver during autonomous driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep.

[0095] (Embodiment 4) In the above embodiment, the state estimation unit 105 is configured to include the passenger state estimation unit 152, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the state estimation unit 105 may be configured not to include the passenger state estimation unit 152.

[0096] (Embodiment 5) In the above embodiment, when it is estimated that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the vehicle, the control is performed to suppress the presentation of information when a specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the configuration of the following embodiment 5 may be used. An example of the configuration of the embodiment 5 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0097] <Schematic configuration of vehicle system 1b> The vehicle system 1b shown in Fig. 7 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 7, the vehicle system 1b includes an autonomous driving ECU 10b, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1b is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1b includes an autonomous driving ECU 10b instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0098] <Outline of the configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10b> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10b will be described with reference to FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the automatic driving ECU 10b includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103b, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105b, a stimulus reduction control unit 106b, and a blind control unit 107a as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10b is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment, except that the automatic driving ECU 10b includes the control execution unit 103b, the state estimation unit 105b, the stimulus reduction control unit 106b, and the blind control unit 107a instead of the control execution unit 103, the state estimation unit 105, the stimulus reduction control unit 106, and the blind control unit 107. This automatic driving ECU 10b also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10b by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method. The blind control unit 107a is similar to the blind control unit 107a of the second embodiment.

[0099] The control execution unit 103b includes an LCA control unit 131b as a sub-functional block. The control execution unit 103b is similar to the control execution unit 103 of the first embodiment, except that the control execution unit 103b includes an LCA control unit 131b instead of the LCA control unit 131. The LCA control unit 131b is similar to the LCA control unit 131 of the first embodiment, except that the LCA control unit 131b imposes restrictions on automatic lane changes in accordance with an instruction from the state estimation unit 105b.

[0100] The state estimation unit 105b includes a driver state estimation unit 151 as a sub-functional block. The state estimation unit 105b is similar to the state estimation unit 105 of the first embodiment, except that the state estimation unit 105b does not include the passenger state estimation unit 152.

[0101] The stimulus reduction control unit 106b also performs control to reduce the stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle. This processing in the stimulus reduction control unit 106b also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control step. The stimulus reduction control unit 106b performs control to suppress lane changes that are not essential for driving the planned route to the destination in the sleep-permitted automatic driving (hereinafter, unnecessary lane changes) as control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. The control to suppress unnecessary lane changes is hereinafter referred to as lane change suppression control. Note that the destination in the sleep-permitted automatic driving may be a destination set by the occupant of the vehicle via the user input device 21. The destination in the sleep-permitted automatic driving may be a destination automatically estimated by the automatic driving ECU 10b from the driving history of the vehicle. The stimulus reduction control unit 106b may perform lane change suppression control by, for example, issuing an instruction to the LCA control unit 131b.

[0102] As the lane change suppression control, the irritation reduction control unit 106b preferably performs control to suppress at least lane changes for overtaking (hereinafter, overtaking suppression control). As the lane change suppression control, the irritation reduction control unit 106b may perform control to suppress lane changes to clear the way for the purpose of allowing a following vehicle to go ahead of the own vehicle, in addition to the overtaking suppression control. The irritation reduction control unit 106b may suppress unnecessary lane changes by reducing the number or frequency of unnecessary lane changes compared to a case where unnecessary lane changes are not suppressed. The irritation reduction control unit 106b may suppress unnecessary lane changes by not performing unnecessary lane changes.

[0103] According to the above configuration, when it is estimated that the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, control is performed to suppress lane changes that are not essential for driving the planned route to the destination during sleep-permitted autonomous driving. Therefore, when the driver is asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, sleep is less likely to be disturbed by stimuli caused by behavior changes when changing lanes that are not essential for driving the planned route to the destination during sleep-permitted autonomous driving. As a result, it is possible to further improve convenience for the driver during autonomous driving in which the driver is permitted to sleep.

[0104] It is preferable that the stimulus reduction control unit 106b not perform lane change suppression control when the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep during sleep-permitted autonomous driving of the vehicle. According to this, even during sleep-permitted autonomous driving, if the driver is awake, it is possible to reduce the stress of the driver by prioritizing smooth driving without performing lane change suppression control.

[0105] Even when performing lane change suppression control, the irritation reduction control unit 106b preferably does not suppress lane changes to clear the way for the following vehicle to go ahead of the own vehicle in a situation where it is estimated that traffic trouble should be avoided. An example of a situation where it is estimated that traffic trouble should be avoided is when the vehicle speed of the following vehicle is equal to or greater than a threshold value and the distance between the following vehicle and the own vehicle is less than a specified value. According to this, even when performing lane change suppression control, it is possible to avoid traffic trouble by clearing the way for the following vehicle that is tailgating.

[0106] <Stimulus reduction-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10b> Here, an example of the flow of the stimulus reduction-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10b will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 9. The flowchart of Fig. 9 may be configured to be started when the power switch of the host vehicle is turned on, for example.

[0107] First, in step S41, if the host vehicle is in automatic driving mode at LV4 or higher (YES in S41), the process proceeds to step S42. On the other hand, if the host vehicle is in automatic driving mode at LV4 or lower (NO in S41), the process proceeds to step S44.

[0108] In step S42, if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is asleep (YES in S42), the process proceeds to step S43. On the other hand, if the driver state estimation unit 151 estimates that the driver is not asleep (NO in S42), the process proceeds to step S44. In step S43, the stimulus reduction control unit 106b performs lane change suppression control to suppress unnecessary lane changes in the LCA control unit 131b, and the process proceeds to step S44.

[0109] In step S26, if the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is in an awake state (YES in S26), the process proceeds to step S27. On the other hand, if the passenger state estimation unit 152 estimates that the passenger is not in an awake state (NO in S26), the process proceeds to step S25. In step S27, the presentation processing unit 141 causes in-vehicle presentation to be performed without restraint, and the process proceeds to step S28.

[0110] In step S44, if it is time to end the stimulus reduction-related process (YES in S44), the stimulus reduction-related process is ended. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the stimulus reduction-related process (NO in S44), the process returns to S41 and is repeated.

[0111] (Embodiment 6) The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 6. An example of the configuration of embodiment 6 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0112] <Schematic configuration of vehicle system 1c> The vehicle system 1c shown in Fig. 10 can be used in an autonomous vehicle. As shown in Fig. 10, the vehicle system 1c includes an autonomous driving ECU 10c, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1c is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1c includes the autonomous driving ECU 10c instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0113] <Outline of the autonomous driving ECU 10c> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10c will be described with reference to FIG. 11. As shown in FIG. 11, the automatic driving ECU 10c includes a driving environment recognition unit 101c, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105, a stimulus reduction control unit 106c, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10c includes the driving environment recognition unit 101c instead of the driving environment recognition unit 101. The automatic driving ECU 10c includes the stimulus reduction control unit 106c instead of the stimulus reduction control unit 106. Except for these points, the automatic driving ECU 10c is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This automatic driving ECU 10c also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10c by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0114] The driving environment recognition unit 101c is the same as the driving environment recognition unit 101 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences. The driving environment recognition unit 101c identifies whether the vehicle is driving on an autonomous driving road. This driving environment recognition unit 101c corresponds to a driving state identification unit. The driving environment recognition unit 101c may identify whether the vehicle is driving on an autonomous driving road based on whether the vehicle position on the map corresponds to the autonomous driving road. In this case, the map DB 13 includes information on the autonomous driving road. The autonomous driving road is a road on which only autonomous vehicles can travel. The autonomous driving road may be a part of multiple lanes. The autonomous driving road may be a road on which only autonomous vehicles can travel during autonomous driving.

[0115] The stimulus reduction control unit 106c is similar to the stimulus reduction control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes this difference. When the driving environment recognition unit 101c identifies that the vehicle is driving on an autonomous driving road, the stimulus reduction control unit 106c performs control to reduce the stimulus to the vehicle occupant. This is performed regardless of whether the state estimation unit 105 estimates that the vehicle occupant is asleep. This state estimation unit 105 corresponds to the occupant state estimation unit.

[0116] The stimulus reduction control unit 106c is the same as the stimulus reduction control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes this difference. When the driving environment recognition unit 101c identifies that the vehicle is driving on an autonomous driving road, the stimulus reduction control unit 106c performs control to reduce the stimulus to the vehicle occupant. This is performed regardless of whether the state estimation unit 105 estimates that the vehicle occupant is asleep. The processing in the stimulus reduction control unit 106c also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control process. Hereinafter, the control to reduce the stimulus to the vehicle occupant is called occupant stimulus reduction control. If the occupant stimulus reduction control is a control to reduce the stimulus received by the passenger as well as the driver, it may be the same as the above-mentioned information presentation suppression control, lane change suppression control, and overtaking suppression control. The occupant to be targeted here may be limited to the driver.

[0117] Autonomous driving roads have fewer disturbances than roads other than autonomous driving roads because no vehicles other than autonomous driving vehicles travel on them. Therefore, while the vehicle is traveling on an autonomous driving road, the occupants are less likely to pay attention to the driving of the vehicle. According to the configuration of the sixth embodiment, in such a situation where the occupants are less likely to pay attention to the driving of the vehicle, it is possible to reduce irritation to the occupants, regardless of whether the occupants are asleep or not. As a result, it is possible to make the occupants more relaxed in a situation where the occupants are less likely to pay attention to the driving of the vehicle.

[0118] (Embodiment 7) The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 7. An example of the configuration of embodiment 7 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0119] <Schematic configuration of vehicle system 1d> The vehicle system 1d shown in Fig. 12 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 12, the vehicle system 1d includes an autonomous driving ECU 10d, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1d is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1d includes the autonomous driving ECU 10d instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0120] <Outline of the autonomous driving ECU 10d> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10d will be described with reference to FIG. 13. As shown in FIG. 13, the automatic driving ECU 10d includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102d, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104d, a state estimation unit 105, a stimulus reduction control unit 106d, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10d includes the behavior determination unit 102d instead of the behavior determination unit 102. The automatic driving ECU 10d includes the HCU communication unit 104d instead of the HCU communication unit 104. The automatic driving ECU 10d includes the stimulus reduction control unit 106d instead of the stimulus reduction control unit 106. Except for these points, the automatic driving ECU 10d is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This automatic driving ECU 10d also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10d by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0121] The behavior determination unit 102d is the same as the behavior determination unit 102 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences. The behavior determination unit 102d determines whether or not the host vehicle is in the above-mentioned standby state. That is, the behavior determination unit 102d identifies whether or not the host vehicle is in a standby state. The standby state is a state in which the host vehicle is made to wait until the host vehicle is able to change lanes when the host vehicle is scheduled to change lanes. The lane change here is an automatic lane change, as described above. Hereinafter, the automatic lane change will simply be referred to as lane change. The behavior determination unit 102d may identify whether or not the host vehicle is in a standby state based on the recognition result of the traveling environment by the traveling environment recognition unit 101, etc. The behavior determination unit 102d may determine to set the host vehicle in a standby state when a surrounding vehicle is detected within a certain range of the lane in which the host vehicle is scheduled to change lanes. The certain range may be arbitrarily settable. The behavior determination unit 102d sequentially identifies whether or not the host vehicle is in a standby state. In this way, the behavior determining unit 102d determines whether the waiting state of the vehicle has continued for a predetermined time. The predetermined time may be set arbitrarily. The behavior determining unit 102d also corresponds to a driving state determining unit.

[0122] The HCU communication unit 104d includes a presentation processing unit 141d as a sub-functional block. The HCU communication unit 104d is similar to the HCU communication unit 104 of the first embodiment except that the presentation processing unit 141 is replaced by the presentation processing unit 141d.

[0123] The presentation processing unit 141d is the same as the presentation processing unit 141 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences. When the behavior determining unit 102d identifies that the vehicle is in a standby state, the presentation processing unit 141d causes at least the presentation device 20 to perform a monitoring prompting presentation and a standby state presentation. The behavior determining unit 102d may identify that the vehicle is in a standby state. The monitoring prompting presentation is information presentation that prompts surrounding monitoring, as described in the first embodiment. The standby state presentation is information presentation that notifies the vehicle that the vehicle is in a standby state. As an example of the standby state presentation, an image indicating that the vehicle cannot start changing lanes may be displayed on the meter MID. As another example of the standby state presentation, a text display such as "Standing state", a voice output, etc. may be mentioned. The combination of the monitoring prompting presentation and the standby state presentation corresponds to a standby-related presentation. The presentation processing unit 141d corresponds to a third in-vehicle presentation control unit.

[0124] The stimulus reduction control unit 106d is the same as the stimulus reduction control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes this difference. When the behavior determination unit 102d determines that the standby state of the vehicle has continued for a predetermined time, the stimulus reduction control unit 106d causes the standby-related presentation to be performed again. On the other hand, when the behavior determination unit 102d does not determine that the standby state of the vehicle has continued for a predetermined time, the stimulus reduction control unit 106d does not cause the standby-related presentation to be performed again. This makes it possible to suppress frequent standby-related presentations when the vehicle is in a standby state. Therefore, it is possible to make the occupant of the vehicle less likely to feel annoyed. The processing in the stimulus reduction control unit 106d also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control process.

[0125] In addition, the passenger who is the target of stimulus reduction by the stimulus reduction control unit 106d may be limited to the driver. In addition, the running environment recognition unit 101 or the control execution unit 103 may be configured to specify whether the vehicle is in a standby state or not.

[0126] (Embodiment 8) The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 8. An example of the configuration of embodiment 8 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0127] <Outline of the configuration of the vehicle system 1e> The vehicle system 1e shown in Fig. 14 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 14, the vehicle system 1e includes an autonomous driving ECU 10e, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1e is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1e includes the autonomous driving ECU 10e instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0128] <Outline of Autonomous Driving ECU 10e> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10e will be described with reference to FIG. 15. As shown in FIG. 15, the automatic driving ECU 10e includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105e, a stimulus reduction control unit 106e, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10e includes a state estimation unit 105e instead of the state estimation unit 105. The automatic driving ECU 10e includes a stimulus reduction control unit 106e instead of the stimulus reduction control unit 106. Except for these points, the automatic driving ECU 10e is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This automatic driving ECU 10e also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10e by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0129] The state estimation unit 105e includes a driver state estimation unit 151e and a passenger state estimation unit 152e as sub-functional blocks. The driver state estimation unit 151e is similar to the driver state estimation unit 151 of the first embodiment except for some different processing. The passenger state estimation unit 152e is similar to the passenger state estimation unit 152 of the first embodiment except for some different processing. These differences will be described below.

[0130] The driver state estimation unit 151e estimates whether the driver is performing the second task. The second task is an action other than driving that the driver is permitted to perform during autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation, as described above. Examples include watching content such as videos, operating a smartphone, reading, eating, and other actions. The driver state estimation unit 151e may estimate whether the driver is performing the second task from an image of the driver captured by the indoor camera 18. In this case, the driver state estimation unit 151e may use a learning device generated by machine learning. Alternatively, the driver state estimation unit 151e may estimate whether the driver is performing the second task by referring to playback information of the content by the HCU 22. The driver state estimation unit 151e may acquire the playback information of the content via the HCU communication unit 104.

[0131] The passenger state estimation unit 152e estimates whether or not the passenger is performing an action equivalent to the second task. An action equivalent to the second task is an action similar to the second task, except that it is an action of the passenger. The passenger state estimation unit 152e may estimate whether or not the passenger is performing the second task from an image of the passenger captured by the interior camera 18. The state estimation unit 105e also corresponds to an occupant state estimation unit. An action equivalent to the second task is hereinafter referred to as an action equivalent to the second task. The second task or an action equivalent to the second task is hereinafter referred to as a target action.

[0132] The stimulus reduction control unit 106e is similar to the stimulus reduction control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences are described below. The stimulus reduction control unit 106e performs occupant stimulus reduction control when the state estimation unit 105e has determined that the target behavior is being performed. Determining that the target behavior is being performed by the state estimation unit 105e corresponds to determining that at least one of the occupants is performing the target behavior. The occupant stimulus reduction control may be similar to that described in the sixth embodiment. The processing in this stimulus reduction control unit 106e also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control process.

[0133] When a driver is performing a second task, if the second task is interrupted, the comfort of the driver is impaired. When a passenger is performing an action equivalent to a second task, if the action equivalent to the second task is interrupted, the comfort of the passenger is impaired. According to the configuration of the eighth embodiment, the passenger stimulus reduction control makes it difficult to interrupt the second task and the action equivalent to the second task. Therefore, the comfort of the passenger is not easily impaired.

[0134] In addition, the stimulus reduction control unit 106e may be configured as follows when it is possible to perform occupant stimulus reduction control by distinguishing between occupants. The stimulus reduction control unit 106e may be configured to perform occupant stimulus reduction control by focusing on an occupant who is identified as performing a target behavior. For example, this configuration can be applied to audio output from a directional speaker. Also, the occupant targeted for stimulus reduction by the stimulus reduction control unit 106e may be limited to the driver.

[0135] (Embodiment 9) The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 9. An example of the configuration of embodiment 9 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0136] <Outline of the configuration of the vehicle system 1f> The vehicle system 1f shown in Fig. 16 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 16, the vehicle system 1f includes an autonomous driving ECU 10f, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1f is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1f includes the autonomous driving ECU 10f instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0137] <Outline of Autonomous Driving ECU 10f> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10f will be described with reference to FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 17, the automatic driving ECU 10f includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102f, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105, a stimulus reduction control unit 106f, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10f includes a behavior determination unit 102f instead of the behavior determination unit 102. The automatic driving ECU 10f includes a stimulus reduction control unit 106f instead of the stimulus reduction control unit 106. Except for these points, the automatic driving ECU 10f is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This automatic driving ECU 10f also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10f by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0138] The behavior determination unit 102f is the same as the behavior determination unit 102 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences. The behavior determination unit 102f identifies the lane change of the vehicle. This lane change is an automatic lane change. The behavior determination unit 102f may identify the lane change of the vehicle from the determined driving plan. The behavior determination unit 102f distinguishes and identifies a lane change involving overtaking and a lane change without overtaking. This behavior determination unit 102f also corresponds to a driving state determination unit. Hereinafter, a lane change involving overtaking is called an overtaking lane change. Hereinafter, a lane change without overtaking is called a non-overtaking lane change.

[0139] The stimulus reduction control unit 106f is similar to the stimulus reduction control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes this difference. The stimulus reduction control unit 106f performs occupant stimulus reduction control when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The occupant stimulus reduction control may be similar to that described in the sixth embodiment. The predetermined condition may be, for example, similar to the condition under which the stimulus reduction control units 106, 106a, and 106b reduce the stimulus to the driver. In this case, the occupant stimulus reduction control may perform control to reduce the stimulus to the driver. In addition, the predetermined condition may be, for example, similar to the condition under which the stimulus reduction control units 106c, 106d, and 106e reduce the stimulus to the driver.

[0140] The stimulus reduction control unit 106f changes the degree of stimulus reduction in the occupant stimulus reduction control depending on whether an overtaking lane change is identified or a non-overtaking lane change is identified. An overtaking lane change and a non-overtaking lane change are identified by the behavior determination unit 102f. The necessity of stimuli for the occupant may differ between an overtaking lane change and a non-overtaking lane change. In response to this, the above configuration makes it possible to change the degree of reduction of stimuli for the occupant depending on this necessity. The processing in this stimulus reduction control unit 106f also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control process.

[0141] When a non-overtaking lane change is identified, the stimulus reduction control unit 106f may increase the degree of stimulus reduction in the occupant stimulus reduction control compared to when an overtaking lane change is identified. Compared to an overtaking lane change, a non-overtaking lane change has a smaller effect on the lane change from a vehicle ahead of the vehicle. Therefore, it is considered that a non-overtaking lane change requires less stimulus for the occupant than an overtaking lane change. Therefore, according to the above configuration, even when the occupant stimulus reduction control is performed, it is possible to reduce the degree of stimulus reduction for the occupant in the case of a lane change that requires a higher stimulus for the occupant.

[0142] When identifying an overtaking lane change, the irritation reduction control unit 106f is preferably configured as follows: It is preferable that the irritation reduction control unit 106f increases the degree of reduction of irritation in the occupant irritation reduction control for the second lane change of two lane changes for overtaking compared to the first lane change.

[0143] Here, the two lane changes for overtaking will be explained with reference to FIG. 18. HV in FIG. 18 indicates the host vehicle. OV in FIG. 18 indicates the vehicle ahead of the host vehicle. The vehicle indicated by the wavy line in FIG. 18 indicates the future host vehicle in the overtaking lane change. Fi in FIG. 18 indicates the first lane change. Se in FIG. 18 indicates the second lane change. As shown in FIG. 18, the lane change from the host vehicle HV's driving lane to the adjacent lane is the first lane change. And the lane change from the adjacent lane back to the original driving lane is the second lane change.

[0144] When the above-mentioned lane change notification is performed in the overtaking lane change, if the notification is given in the first lane change, the occupant's attention is directed to the notification in the vehicle. Therefore, even if the notification is reduced in the second lane change, the occupant is more likely to notice the notification. In addition, the speed of vehicles traveling in the overtaking lane is generally faster than that in the non-overtaking lane. Therefore, it is considered that the occupant needs to pay less attention to the driving of the vehicle in the second lane change than in the first lane change. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to suppress unnecessary stimulation to the occupant and improve the comfort for the occupant.

[0145] In addition, the passenger who is the target of the stimulus reduction by the stimulus reduction control unit 106f may be limited to the driver. In addition, the running environment recognition unit 101 or the control execution unit 103 may be configured to specify whether the vehicle is changing to an overtaking lane or not changing to an overtaking lane.

[0146] (Embodiment 10) The configuration is not limited to that of the ninth embodiment, and may be that of the following tenth embodiment. An example of the configuration of the tenth embodiment will be described below. The tenth embodiment is similar to the configuration of the ninth embodiment, except that the processing in the stimulation reduction control unit 106f is partially different. This difference will be described below.

[0147] When an overtaking lane change is specified, the stimulus reduction control unit 106f increases the degree of stimulus reduction in the occupant stimulus reduction control compared to when a non-overtaking lane change is specified. The overtaking lane change and the non-overtaking lane change may be specified by the behavior determination unit 102f. In the overtaking lane change, there are more disturbances than in the non-overtaking lane change because the vehicle ahead is overtaken. Therefore, in the automatic driving without monitoring obligation, it is considered that the condition for starting the overtaking lane change is stricter than that for the non-overtaking lane change. In this case, it is considered that the occupant needs to pay less attention to the driving of the vehicle in the overtaking lane change than in the non-overtaking lane change. In contrast, according to the configuration of the tenth embodiment, it is possible to make the occupant more relaxed in the lane change in which the occupant needs to pay less attention to the driving of the vehicle.

[0148] (Embodiment 11) The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 11. An example of the configuration of embodiment 11 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0149] <Outline of the configuration of the vehicle system 1g> The vehicle system 1g shown in Fig. 19 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 19, the vehicle system 1g includes an autonomous driving ECU 10g, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1g is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1g includes an autonomous driving ECU 10g instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0150] <Outline of Autonomous Driving ECU 10g> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10g will be described with reference to FIG. 20. As shown in FIG. 20, the automatic driving ECU 10g includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105g, a stimulus reduction control unit 106g, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10g includes a state estimation unit 105g instead of the state estimation unit 105. The automatic driving ECU 10g includes a stimulus reduction control unit 106g instead of the stimulus reduction control unit 106. Except for these points, the automatic driving ECU 10g is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This automatic driving ECU 10g also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10g by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0151] The state estimation unit 105g includes a driver state estimation unit 151g and a passenger state estimation unit 152g as sub-functional blocks. The driver state estimation unit 151g is similar to the driver state estimation unit 151 of the first embodiment except for some different processing. The passenger state estimation unit 152g is similar to the passenger state estimation unit 152 of the first embodiment except for some different processing. These differences will be described below.

[0152] The driver state estimation unit 151g estimates whether the driver is in a relaxed state. The driver state estimation unit 151g may estimate whether the driver is in a relaxed state from an image of the driver captured by the interior camera 18. In this case, the driver state estimation unit 151g may use a learning device generated by machine learning. Alternatively, the driver state estimation unit 151g may estimate that the driver is in a relaxed state when the reclining position of the driver's seat is a position where the driver is reclined to an angle at which the relaxed state is estimated. The reclining position of the driver's seat may be acquired from the body ECU 17. The reclining position of the driver's seat may be acquired from the seat ECU. When a configuration is adopted in which the relaxed state is estimated from the reclining position, the sleeping state may not be estimated from the reclining position.

[0153] The passenger state estimation unit 152g estimates whether the passenger is in a relaxed state. The passenger state estimation unit 152g may estimate whether the passenger is in a relaxed state from an image of the passenger captured by the interior camera 18. The state estimation unit 105g also corresponds to an occupant state estimation unit. The driver state estimation unit 151g may estimate that the passenger is in a relaxed state when the reclining position of the passenger's seat is a position where the passenger is reclined to an angle at which the relaxed state is estimated.

[0154] The stimulus reduction control unit 106g is the same as the stimulus reduction control unit 106 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes this difference. When it is estimated that all occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed, the stimulus reduction control unit 106g performs control not to notify the driver of a lane change. This processing in the stimulus reduction control unit 106g also corresponds to a stimulus reduction control step. All occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed, which indicates that all occupants of the vehicle are either asleep or relaxed. The state estimation unit 105g may specify that all occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed. The control not to notify the driver of a lane change may be, for example, control not to notify the driver of a lane change. This control is included in, for example, information presentation suppression control.

[0155] When all the occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed, it is considered that none of the occupants are paying attention to driving the vehicle. In such a case, even if no notification regarding lane change is given when changing lanes, the occupants are unlikely to have doubts about the behavior of the vehicle. According to the configuration of the eleventh embodiment, it is possible to prioritize the relaxation of the occupants in a situation where the occupants are unlikely to have doubts about the behavior of the vehicle.

[0156] In the eleventh embodiment, the state estimation unit 105g is configured to identify the sleeping state or the relaxed state of the occupant, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the state estimation unit 105g may be configured to identify only the sleeping state of the occupant among the sleeping state and the relaxed state. In this case, when it is estimated that all the occupants of the vehicle are sleeping, the stimulus reduction control unit 106g may perform control not to notify the driver of the lane change.

[0157] (Embodiment 12) The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 12. An example of the configuration of embodiment 12 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0158] <Outline of the Vehicle System 1h> The vehicle system 1h shown in Fig. 21 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 21, the vehicle system 1h includes an autonomous driving ECU 10h, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, an interior camera 18, a biosensor 19, a presentation device 20, a user input device 21, an HCU 22, and a blind mechanism 23. The vehicle system 1h is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1h includes the autonomous driving ECU 10h instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0159] <Outline of Autonomous Driving ECU 10h> Next, a schematic configuration of the automatic driving ECU 10h will be described with reference to FIG. 22. As shown in FIG. 22, the automatic driving ECU 10h includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103h, an HCU communication unit 104, a state estimation unit 105h, a stimulus reduction control unit 106, and a blind control unit 107 as functional blocks. The automatic driving ECU 10h includes a control execution unit 103h instead of the control execution unit 103. The automatic driving ECU 10h includes a state estimation unit 105h instead of the state estimation unit 105. Except for these points, the automatic driving ECU 10h is similar to the automatic driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This automatic driving ECU 10h also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the automatic driving ECU 10h by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0160] The state estimation unit 105h includes a driver state estimation unit 151h and a passenger state estimation unit 152h as sub-functional blocks. The driver state estimation unit 151h is similar to the driver state estimation unit 151 of the first embodiment except for some different processing. The passenger state estimation unit 152h is similar to the passenger state estimation unit 152 of the first embodiment except for some different processing. These differences will be described below.

[0161] The driver state estimation unit 151h preferably estimates whether or not the driver is in a state in which it is undesirable for the lateral acceleration of the vehicle to be applied to the driver (hereinafter, referred to as a driver lateral G avoidance state). The lateral acceleration of the vehicle is so-called lateral G. Examples of the driver lateral G avoidance state include car sickness and a state in which the driver faces other passengers. The state in which the driver faces other passengers may be a state that is realized by the rotation of the seat or the like. The driver state estimation unit 151h may estimate whether or not the driver is in a lateral G avoidance state from an image of the driver captured by the interior camera 18. In this case, the driver state estimation unit 151h may use a learning device generated by machine learning. Alternatively, the driver state estimation unit 151h may estimate that the driver is in a lateral G avoidance state, such as a state in which the driver faces other passengers, based on the rotation state of the driver's seat. The rotation state of the driver's seat may be acquired from the body ECU 17. The rotation state of the driver's seat may be configured to be acquired from the seat ECU.

[0162] The driver state estimation unit 151h preferably estimates an abnormal physical condition of the driver of the vehicle. The abnormal physical condition is an abnormal physical condition such as fainting. The driver state estimation unit 151h may estimate whether the driver is in an abnormal physical condition from an image of the driver captured by the indoor camera 18. The driver state estimation unit 151h may estimate the driver's lateral G avoidance state, such as car sickness, or an abnormal physical condition from the driver's biological information measured by the biological sensor 19.

[0163] The passenger state estimation unit 152h estimates whether the passenger is in a state where it is undesirable for the lateral acceleration of the vehicle to be applied to the passenger (hereinafter, passenger lateral G avoidance state). The passenger lateral G avoidance state may be the same as the driver lateral G avoidance state. In addition, in the case where the vehicle is a passenger vehicle such as a bus or a taxi, the passenger lateral G avoidance state may include a state in which the seat belt is not fastened. The passenger state estimation unit 152h may estimate the passenger lateral G avoidance state in the same manner as the driver state estimation unit 151h estimates the driver lateral G avoidance state. The passenger state estimation unit 152h may estimate the seat belt fastening state from an image of the driver captured by the interior camera 18, for example. In the following, the driver lateral G avoidance state and the passenger lateral G avoidance state are collectively referred to as the lateral G avoidance state.

[0164] The passenger state estimation unit 152h preferably estimates an abnormal physical condition of a passenger of the vehicle. The passenger state estimation unit 152h may estimate whether the passenger is in an abnormal physical condition from an image of the passenger captured by the interior camera 18. The passenger state estimation unit 152h may estimate a driver lateral G avoidance state or an abnormal physical condition, such as car sickness, from biological information of the passenger measured by the biological sensor 19.

[0165] The control execution unit 103h includes an LCA control unit 131h as a sub-functional block. The control execution unit 103h is similar to the control execution unit 103 of the first embodiment, except that the control execution unit 103h includes an LCA control unit 131h instead of the LCA control unit 131. The LCA control unit 131h is similar to the LCA control unit 131 of the first embodiment, except that some processing is different. The following describes this difference.

[0166] The LCA control unit 131h changes the distance required from the start to the completion of lane change when changing lanes of the vehicle according to the state of the occupant of the vehicle estimated by the state estimation unit 105h. Hereinafter, the distance required from the start to the completion of lane change when changing lanes of the vehicle is referred to as lane change distance. The LCA control unit 131h may change the lane change distance, for example, by lengthening or shortening the distance in the planned driving trajectory when changing lanes. By changing the lane change distance, it is possible to quickly complete the lane change and reduce the lateral G applied to the occupant when changing lanes. Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to perform lane change with a behavior required according to the state of the occupant. This LCA control unit 131h corresponds to the lane change control unit.

[0167] When the state estimation unit 105h estimates the lateral G avoidance state, it is preferable that the LCA control unit 131h lengthens the lane change distance compared to when the lateral G avoidance state is not estimated. When an occupant is in the lateral G avoidance state, it is preferable for the occupant to reduce the lateral G of the host vehicle when changing lanes. In contrast, according to the above configuration, when an occupant is in the lateral G avoidance state, it is possible to reduce the lateral G of the host vehicle when changing lanes. Therefore, it is possible to improve the comfort for the occupant.

[0168] When the state estimation unit 105h estimates an abnormal physical condition of the occupant, the LCA control unit 131h preferably shortens the lane change distance compared to when the abnormal physical condition is not estimated. When the occupant is in an abnormal physical condition, it is preferable to quickly change lanes and move the vehicle to an evacuation location. In contrast, according to the above configuration, when the occupant is in an abnormal physical condition, it is possible to quickly complete the lane change. Examples of the evacuation location include a road shoulder, a service area, a parking area, and the like. Note that the abnormal physical condition of the occupant estimated by the state estimation unit 105h may be limited to the abnormal physical condition of the driver.

[0169] (Embodiment 13) In the above embodiment, the automatic driving ECU 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f, 10g, 10h is provided with the blind control unit 107, 107a, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the automatic driving ECU 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f, 10g, 10h may not be provided with the blind control unit 107, 107a. As an example, the body ECU 17 may be configured to perform the function of the blind control unit 107, 107a. Also, the vehicle system 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f, 1g, 1h may not include the blind control unit 107, 107a and the blind mechanism 23.

[0170] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in the different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. The control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer constituting a processor programmed to execute one or more functions embodied by a computer program. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated hardware logic circuit. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by one or more dedicated computers configured by a combination of a processor that executes a computer program and one or more hardware logic circuits. The computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transient tangible recording medium as instructions executed by the computer.

[0171] (Disclosed technical idea) This specification discloses multiple technical ideas described in the following multiple dependent claims. Some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, where the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. Furthermore, some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, where the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. The claims described in these multiple dependent forms define multiple technical ideas.

[0172] (Technical thought 1) A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A vehicle control device comprising: a stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle.

[0173] (Technical thought 2) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 1, The stimulus reduction control unit (106) is a vehicle control device that performs information presentation suppression control, which is control to suppress the presentation of information at a specific scheduled vehicle behavior change of the vehicle, as a control to reduce stimulus to the driver.

[0174] (Technical Thought 3) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 2, a passenger state estimation unit (152) for estimating a state of a passenger of the vehicle other than the driver, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that does not perform the information presentation suppression control when the passenger state estimation unit estimates that the passenger is in an awake state, even when the specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled.

[0175] (Technical Thought 4) The vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 2 or 3, a first in-vehicle presentation control unit (141) that, when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, presents, to an interior of the vehicle, at least one of information prompting the driver to monitor the surroundings and information notifying the driver that a lane change will be made; The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that performs information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information for the interior by the first in-vehicle presentation control unit when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, as control to suppress the presentation of information when the specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled.

[0176] (Technical Thought 5) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 4, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that does not perform the information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information for the interior when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is not asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle.

[0177] (Technical Thought 6) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 4 or 5, The first in-vehicle presentation control unit is configured to present at least information that prompts the driver to monitor his or her surroundings as the indoor information presentation, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the vehicle enters a standby state in which the vehicle waits until a lane change is possible at the time when the vehicle is scheduled to make a lane change, causes the first in-vehicle presentation control unit to present the information intended for the interior without performing the information presentation suppression control, and, when the vehicle does not enter the standby state at the time when the vehicle is scheduled to make a lane change, performs the information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information intended for the interior.

[0178] (Technical Thought 7) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 4 to 6, a blind control unit (107) that reduces an amount of external light taken into a room of the vehicle by controlling a blind mechanism that can switch an amount of external light taken into a room of the vehicle; The first in-vehicle presentation control unit is configured to present at least information that prompts the driver to monitor his or her surroundings as the indoor information presentation, The blind control unit is a vehicle control device that does not reduce the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle when the stimulation reduction control unit does not perform the information presentation suppression control and instead performs the indoor information presentation.

[0179] (Technical Thought 8) The vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 2 or 3, a second in-vehicle presentation control unit (141a) that, when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, performs in-vehicle presentation, which is information presentation for notifying an interior of the vehicle that a lane change will be made, The stimulus reduction control unit (106a) is a control device for a vehicle that, when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, does not suppress outside-vehicle presentation, which is information presentation to the outside of the vehicle notifying the driver that a lane change is about to occur, while performing the information presentation suppression control such that the second in-vehicle presentation control unit provides the in-vehicle presentation with a weaker intensity than when the driver state estimation unit does not estimate that the driver is asleep.

[0180] (Technical Thought 9) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 1, The stimulus reduction control unit (106b) is a vehicle control device that performs lane change suppression control, which is a control to suppress lane changes that are not essential for traveling the planned route to the destination during the sleep-permitted automatic driving, as a control to reduce stimulus to the driver.

[0181] (Technical Thought 10) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 9, The irritation reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that performs control to suppress lane changes for overtaking as the lane change suppression control.

[0182] (Technical Thought 11) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 10, A running condition identification unit (101c) that identifies a running condition of the vehicle; an occupant state estimation unit (105) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle; The stimulus reduction control unit (106c) is a vehicle control device that performs control to reduce stimuli to the occupant when the driving condition identification unit identifies that the vehicle is driving on a road dedicated to autonomous driving, regardless of whether the occupant condition estimation unit estimates that the occupant is asleep.

[0183] (Technical Thought 12) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 11, A running condition identification unit (102d) that identifies a running condition of the vehicle; a third in-vehicle presentation control unit (141d) that, when it is determined by the driving state determination unit that the vehicle is in a standby state in which the vehicle is in a standby state until a lane change is possible when the vehicle is scheduled to make an automatic lane change, causes a wait-related presentation to be made to an interior of the vehicle, which is information presentation that prompts the driver to monitor a surrounding area and information presentation that notifies the driver that the vehicle is in the standby state; The stimulus reduction control unit (106d) is a vehicle control device that, when the driving condition identification unit identifies that the standby state has continued for a predetermined time, causes the standby-related presentation to be presented again, but, when the driving condition identification unit does not identify that the standby state has continued for the predetermined time, does not cause the standby-related presentation to be presented again.

[0184] (Technical Thought 13) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 12, An occupant state estimation unit (105e) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle, The stimulus reduction control unit (106e) is a vehicle control device that performs control to reduce stimuli to the occupants when the occupant state estimation unit determines that at least one of the occupants is performing a second task, which is an action other than driving that the driver is permitted to perform during autonomous driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, or an action equivalent to the second task.

[0185] (Technical Thought 14) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 13, A running condition identification unit (102f) is provided for identifying a running condition of the vehicle, The stimulus reduction control unit (106f) is a vehicle control device that changes the degree of reduction in the stimulus to the occupant depending on whether the driving condition identification unit identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking or not.

[0186] (Technical Thought 15) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 14, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that increases the degree of reduction when the driving condition identification unit identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle that does not involve overtaking, compared to when the driving condition identification unit identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle that involves overtaking.

[0187] (Technical Thought 16) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 14 or 15, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the driving condition identification unit identifies an automatic lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking, increases the degree of reduction for the second lane change of two lane changes required for the overtaking compared to the first lane change.

[0188] (Technical Thought 17) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 16, An occupant state estimation unit (105g) that estimates a state of an occupant of the vehicle, The stimulus reduction control unit (106g) is a vehicle control device that performs control not to issue a notification regarding a lane change when it is estimated that all occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed.

[0189] (Technical Thought 18) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 17, an occupant state estimation unit (105h) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle; A vehicle control device comprising: a lane change control unit (131h) that changes the distance required from the start to the completion of a lane change when the vehicle is changing lanes in accordance with the state of the occupant estimated by the occupant state estimation unit.

[0190] (Technical Thought 19) A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 18, The lane change control unit is a vehicle control device that, when it estimates a state of an occupant in which it is undesirable for the lateral acceleration of the vehicle to be applied to the occupant, extends the distance required from the start to the completion of a lane change when the vehicle is changing lanes autonomously, compared to when this state is not estimated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0191] 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1f, 1g, 1h Vehicle system, 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f, 10g, 10h Autonomous driving ECU (vehicle control device), 101c Driving environment recognition unit (driving state identification unit), 102d, 102f Action judgment unit (driving state identification unit), 104 HCU communication unit, 105, 105b, 105e, 105g, 105h State estimation unit (occupant state estimation unit), 106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h Stimulus reduction control unit, 107, 107a Blind control unit, 131f LCA control unit (lane change control unit), 141 Presentation processing unit (first in-vehicle presentation control unit), 141a presentation processing unit (second in-vehicle presentation control unit), 141d presentation processing unit (third in-vehicle presentation control unit), 151 driver state estimation unit, 152 passenger state estimation unit

Claims

1. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; A running condition identification unit (101c) that identifies a running condition of the vehicle; an occupant state estimation unit (105) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle; The stimulus reduction control unit (106c) is a vehicle control device that performs control to reduce stimuli to the occupant when the driving condition identification unit identifies that the vehicle is driving on a road dedicated to autonomous driving, regardless of whether the occupant condition estimation unit estimates that the occupant is asleep.

2. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; A running condition identification unit (102d) that identifies a running condition of the vehicle; a third in-vehicle presentation control unit (141d) that, when it is determined by the driving state determination unit that the vehicle is in a standby state in which the vehicle is to wait until a lane change is possible when the vehicle is scheduled to make an automobile lane change, causes a wait-related presentation to be made to an interior of the vehicle, which is information presentation that prompts the driver to monitor a surrounding area and information presentation that notifies the driver that the vehicle is in the standby state; The stimulus reduction control unit (106d) is a vehicle control device that, when the driving condition identification unit identifies that the standby state has continued for a predetermined time, causes the standby-related presentation to be presented again, but, when the driving condition identification unit does not identify that the standby state has continued for the predetermined time, does not cause the standby-related presentation to be presented again.

3. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; a running condition identification unit (102f) that identifies a running condition of the vehicle; The stimulus reduction control unit (106f) is a vehicle control device that changes the degree of reduction in the stimulus to the occupants of the vehicle depending on whether the driving condition identification unit identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking or not.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that increases the degree of reduction when the driving condition identification unit identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle that does not involve overtaking, compared to when the driving condition identification unit identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle that involves overtaking.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the driving condition identification unit identifies an automatic lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking, increases the degree of reduction for the second lane change of two lane changes required for the overtaking compared to the first lane change.

6. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; an occupant state estimation unit (105g) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle; The stimulus reduction control unit (106g) is a vehicle control device that performs control not to issue a notification regarding a lane change when it is estimated that all occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed.

7. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; an occupant state estimation unit (105h) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle; A vehicle control device comprising: a lane change control unit (131h) that changes the distance required from the start to the completion of a lane change when the vehicle is changing lanes in accordance with the state of the occupant estimated by the occupant state estimation unit.

8. The vehicle control device according to claim 7, The lane change control unit is a vehicle control device that, when it estimates a state of an occupant in which it is undesirable for the lateral acceleration of the vehicle to be applied to the occupant, extends the distance required from the start to the completion of a lane change when the vehicle is changing lanes automatically, compared to when this state is not estimated.

9. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, The stimulus reduction control unit (106) is a vehicle control device that performs information presentation suppression control, which is control to suppress the presentation of information at a specific scheduled vehicle behavior change of the vehicle, as a control to reduce stimulus to the driver.

10. The vehicle control device according to claim 9, A passenger state estimation unit (152) for estimating a state of a passenger of the vehicle other than the driver, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that does not perform the information presentation suppression control when the passenger state estimation unit estimates that the passenger is in an awake state, even when the specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled.

11. The vehicle control device according to claim 9, a first in-vehicle presentation control unit (141) that, when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, presents, to a vehicle interior, at least one of information prompting a driver to monitor surroundings and information notifying the driver that a lane change will be made; The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that performs information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information for the interior by the first in-vehicle presentation control unit when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, as a control to suppress information presentation when the specific vehicle behavior change is scheduled.

12. The vehicle control device according to claim 11, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that does not perform the information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information for the interior when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is not asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle.

13. The vehicle control device according to claim 11, The first in-vehicle presentation control unit is configured to present at least information that prompts the driver to monitor a surrounding area as the indoor information presentation, The stimulus reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the vehicle enters a standby state in which the vehicle waits until a lane change is possible when the vehicle is scheduled to make a lane change, causes the first in-vehicle presentation control unit to present the information intended for the interior without performing the information presentation suppression control, and, when the vehicle does not enter the standby state when the vehicle is scheduled to make a lane change, performs the information presentation suppression control to suppress the presentation of information intended for the interior.

14. The vehicle control device according to claim 11, a blind control unit (107) that reduces an amount of external light taken into a room of the vehicle by controlling a blind mechanism that can switch an amount of external light taken into the room of the vehicle; The first in-vehicle presentation control unit is configured to present at least information that prompts the driver to monitor a surrounding area as the indoor information presentation, The blind control unit is a vehicle control device that does not reduce the amount of external light taken into the interior of the vehicle when the stimulation reduction control unit does not perform the information presentation suppression control and instead performs the indoor information presentation.

15. The vehicle control device according to claim 9, a second in-vehicle presentation control unit (141a) that, when the vehicle is scheduled to change lanes, performs in-vehicle presentation, which is information presentation notifying an interior of the vehicle that a lane change will be made, The stimulus reduction control unit (106a) is a vehicle control device that, when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, does not suppress external presentation, which is information presentation to the outside of the vehicle notifying the driver that a lane change will be made, while performing the information presentation suppression control in which the second in-vehicle presentation control unit performs the in-vehicle presentation at a weaker intensity than when the driver state estimation unit does not estimate that the driver is asleep.

16. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, A driver state estimation unit (151, 151e, 151g, 151h) that estimates the state of the driver; A stimulus reduction control unit (106, 106a, 106b, 106c, 106d, 106e, 106f, 106g, 106h) that performs control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation unit estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, The stimulus reduction control unit (106b) is a vehicle control device that performs lane change suppression control, which is a control to suppress lane changes that are not essential for traveling the planned route to the destination during the sleep-permitted automatic driving, as a control to reduce stimulus to the driver.

17. The vehicle control device according to claim 16, The irritation reduction control unit is a vehicle control device that performs control to suppress lane changes for overtaking as the lane change suppression control.

18. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 17, An occupant state estimation unit (105e) for estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle, The stimulus reduction control unit (106e) is a vehicle control device that performs control to reduce stimuli to the occupants when the occupant state estimation unit determines that at least one of the occupants is performing a second task, which is an action other than driving that the driver is permitted to perform during autonomous driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, or an action equivalent to that second task.

19. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; a running condition identification step of identifying a running condition of the vehicle; an occupant state estimating step of estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle, In the stimulus reduction control process, when the driving condition identification process identifies that the vehicle is driving on a road dedicated to autonomous driving, the vehicle control method performs control to reduce the stimulus to the occupant, regardless of whether the occupant state estimation process estimates that the occupant is asleep.

20. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; a running condition identification step of identifying a running condition of the vehicle; a third in-vehicle presentation control step of, when it is determined in the driving state determination step that the vehicle is in a standby state in which the vehicle is made to wait until a lane change is possible when the vehicle is scheduled to make an automated lane change, presenting information prompting a driver to monitor a periphery and a standby-related presentation that notifies a driver of the vehicle in the standby state, to a passenger compartment of the vehicle; In the stimulus reduction control process, if the driving condition identification process determines that the standby state has continued for a predetermined time, the standby-related presentation is made again, whereas if the driving condition identification process does not determine that the standby state has continued for the predetermined time, the standby-related presentation is not made again.

21. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; a running condition specifying step of specifying a running condition of the vehicle, In the stimulus reduction control process, a vehicle control method is provided in which the degree of reduction in the stimulus to the vehicle occupants is changed depending on whether the driving condition identification process identifies an automated lane change of the vehicle involving overtaking or not.

22. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; an occupant state estimating step of estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle, In the stimulus reduction control step, when it is estimated that all occupants of the vehicle are asleep or relaxed, a control is performed not to issue a notification regarding a lane change.

23. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle; an occupant state estimating step of estimating a state of an occupant of the vehicle; and a lane change control process for changing the distance required from start to completion of a lane change when the vehicle is changing lanes in accordance with the state of the occupant estimated in the occupant state estimation process.

24. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, In the stimulus reduction control process, the vehicle control method performs information presentation suppression control, which is control to suppress the presentation of information at a specific scheduled vehicle behavior change of the vehicle, as a control to reduce the stimulus to the driver.

25. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs sleep-permitted automatic driving in which a driver is permitted to sleep, Executed by at least one processor, A driver state estimating step of estimating a state of the driver; a stimulus reduction control step of performing control to reduce a stimulus to the driver when the driver state estimation step estimates that the driver is asleep during the sleep-permitted automatic driving of the vehicle, In the stimulus reduction control process, a vehicle control method performs lane change suppression control, which is a control to suppress lane changes that are not essential for traveling the planned route to the destination during the sleep-permitted automatic driving, as a control to reduce the stimulus to the driver.

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