Vehicle control device

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device capable of controlling a vehicle without making an occupant of the vehicle feel stress even when a travel condition making the occupant feel stress changes.SOLUTION: In a vehicle control device, a recording unit 11 records a profile including biological information of an occupant of a vehicle, a travel condition and a travel environment of the vehicle. A profile extraction unit 122 extracts the profile of the occupant from the recording unit. A driving behavior planning unit 123 plans a driving behavior of the vehicle based on the profile of the occupant. A control target calculation unit 124 calculates a target route and a target speed of the vehicle based on the driving behavior. A stress detection unit 125 detects that the occupant feels stress based on the biological information of the occupant. A driving behavior correction unit 126 corrects the target speed calculated by a control target calculation unit when detecting that the occupant feels the stress by the stress detection unit in traveling of the vehicle by control of the vehicle control unit 17.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, inventions related to a vehicle driving control system configured to perform driving control of a vehicle by automatic driving (including driving support) are known. The vehicle driving control system described in Patent Document 1 includes a driver operation measuring device that measures a driver's driving operation, a user anxiety level measuring device that measures the degree of user anxiety, and a driving control device (the same document, summary, claim 1, paragraph 0006).

[0003] When it is determined by the driving control device that the user is anxious based on the measurement result of the user anxiety level measured by the user anxiety level measuring device, the driving control device determines the anxiety factor causing the anxiety based on the user's characteristic data regarding the driving situation of the vehicle. The driving control device changes the driving control of the vehicle so that the user's anxiety is reduced by adjusting the degree of driving control of the vehicle based on the determined anxiety factor.

[0004] In addition, in the above conventional driving control system, the driver measures, using a driver biometric condition detector, a driver driving operation detector, and a self-vehicle position measuring means, where the vehicle is, in what driving (automatic driving, manual driving) state, and what kind of reaction the driver shows, and uses the measurement for on-site driving control and records the data in a recording means for later analysis and use in predictive control. In this case, the above data is recorded as driver characteristic data. Information on the driver's characteristic actions and reactions is transmitted to a center server via a wireless communication network (for example, a mobile phone communication network) using a communication means, and the information is recorded in the center server as needed. (The same document, paragraph 0019).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] In the conventional driving control system, when it is determined that the user is anxious, the extraction of the user's anxiety factors is performed based on the pre-recorded characteristic data, and the driving control parameters are set based on the anxiety factors (see the same document, paragraphs 0086 - 0091, etc.). Therefore, when the driving conditions under which the user feels anxious change, a deviation occurs between the characteristic data registered by the user in the past and the driving conditions under which the user feels anxious. When such a deviation occurs, the adjustment of the control degree of the vehicle driving control becomes inappropriate, and there is a possibility that the user may feel stress such as anxiety and discomfort.

[0007] The present disclosure provides a vehicle control device capable of controlling a vehicle without causing stress to the vehicle occupants even when the driving conditions under which the vehicle occupants feel stress change.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle, a recording unit that records biometric information for detecting stress of the vehicle occupants, driving conditions including an allowable speed range of the vehicle, and a profile including a driving environment around the vehicle; a profile extraction unit that extracts the profile of the occupants from the recording unit; a driving behavior planning unit that plans the driving behavior of the vehicle based on the profile of the occupants extracted by the profile extraction unit; a control target calculation unit that calculates a target route and a target speed of the vehicle based on the driving behavior planned by the driving behavior planning unit; a vehicle control unit that controls an actuator mounted on the vehicle to drive the vehicle at the target route and the target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit; A stress detection unit that detects that the occupant is feeling stress based on the biometric information of the occupant; When it is detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is feeling stress during the running of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, a driving behavior correction unit that corrects the target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit; During the running of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, when it is detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is not feeling stress, and when the target speed is lower than the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile or higher than the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile, a profile update unit that updates the lower limit speed or the upper limit speed to the target speed; comprising; When it is detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is feeling stress during the running of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, the driving behavior correction unit acquires the upper limit speed and the lower limit speed from the profile extraction unit, corrects the target speed to the lower limit speed when the running speed of the vehicle is lower than the lower limit speed, corrects the target speed to the upper limit speed when the running speed of the vehicle is higher than the upper limit speed, and reduces the target speed when the running speed of the vehicle is between the lower limit speed and the upper limit speed; When it is not detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is feeling stress during the running of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, the target speed is between the lower limit speed and the upper limit speed, and when it was detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant was feeling stress in the previous processing iteration, the profile update unit updates the upper limit speed to the target speed A vehicle control device characterized by the above.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the above aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device capable of controlling a vehicle without causing stress to the occupant even when the driving conditions under which the occupant of the vehicle feels stress change.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of Embodiment 1 of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure. The vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment is mounted on a vehicle 1 such as a gasoline vehicle, a diesel vehicle, a hydrogen vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle, and constitutes a part of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) or an autonomous driving system (ADS) of the vehicle 1. The vehicle control device 10 can be configured by, for example, one or more microcontrollers including a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, a timer, and an input / output unit. The vehicle control device 10 may include a storage device such as a hard disk, for example.

[0013] In addition to the vehicle control device 10, the vehicle 1 is equipped with, for example, an external sensor 2, an internal sensor 3, a navigation system 4, a human machine interface (HMI) device 5, a biological information sensor 6, a steering control mechanism 7, a speed control mechanism 8, and a brake control mechanism 9. Although not shown in the figure, in addition to these components, the vehicle 1 is equipped with various devices and communication networks that a normal vehicle has.

[0014] The external sensor 2 is a sensor that detects external information around the vehicle 1. The external sensor 2 includes, for example, one or more of an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a millimeter-wave radar, a lidar, a monocular camera, and a stereo camera.

[0015] The internal sensor 3 is a sensor that detects internal information of the vehicle 1. The internal information is, for example, a physical quantity of the vehicle 1 and includes at least one of the vehicle 1's speed, acceleration, angular velocity, attitude, steering angle, steering torque, pedal depression amount, and pedal depression speed. The internal sensor 3 includes, for example, at least one of a wheel speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a steering angle sensor, a steering torque sensor, and a pedal sensor.

[0016] The navigation system 4 is, for example, a computer system that includes a receiver of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and a storage device in which map information is recorded, and calculates the position information of the vehicle 1 and the route to the destination. The navigation system 4 receives inputs such as the destination of the vehicle 1 via, for example, the HMI device 5. Further, the navigation system 4 estimates the position of the vehicle 1 on the map based on, for example, the position information of the vehicle 1 and the surrounding map information, the image information obtained from the stereo camera of the external sensor 2, and the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 obtained from the internal sensor 3. The navigation system 4 outputs, for example, the position information of the vehicle 1 and the map information to the vehicle control device 10.

[0017] The HMI device 5 is a device for, for example, the passengers of the vehicle 1 to input information to the navigation system 4 and the vehicle control device 10, or for the navigation system 4 and the vehicle control device 10 to provide information to the passengers of the vehicle 1. The HMI device 5 includes, for example, input devices such as a touch panel, operation buttons, a voice recognition device, and a seat adjuster, and output devices such as an image display device, a display lamp, a vibrator that gives vibration to the passengers, and a speaker. The passengers of the vehicle 1 can, for example, switch between the automatic driving and the manual driving of the vehicle 1 via the HMI device 5.

[0018] The biometric information sensor 6 is a sensor that detects biometric information for detecting the stress of the passengers of the vehicle 1. Here, the biometric information for detecting stress is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include an electrocardiogram, an electroencephalogram, and a galvanic skin response (GSR). That is, the biometric information sensor 6 can include, for example, at least one of an electrocardiograph, an electroencephalograph, and a GSR sensor. The biometric information sensor 6 can adopt various types of sensors, such as a wearable type worn by the passengers of the vehicle 1 or an embedded type embedded in the steering wheel of the vehicle 1.

[0019] The steering control mechanism 7 is, for example, an electric power steering (EPS) including an actuator that generates a steering torque. The steering control mechanism 7 operates based on the steering operation of the driver of the vehicle 1 during manual driving of the vehicle 1, and operates based on the control command value of the vehicle control device 10 during automatic driving or driving assistance of the vehicle 1 to control the steering angle of the vehicle 1.

[0020] The speed control mechanism 8 is, for example, a mechanism that controls the torque for driving the vehicle 1. When the vehicle 1 is an internal combustion engine vehicle, the speed control mechanism 8 controls the supply amounts of fuel and air to the engine. Also, when the vehicle 1 is an electric vehicle, the speed control mechanism 8 controls the torque of the motor. The speed control mechanism 8 controls the torque based on the operation of the accelerator pedal of the driver of the vehicle 1 during manual driving of the vehicle 1, and controls the torque based on the control command value of the vehicle control device 10 during automatic driving of the vehicle 1.

[0021] The brake control mechanism 9 is, for example, a hydraulic brake control mechanism. The brake control mechanism 9 may include a regenerative brake control mechanism. The brake control mechanism 9 controls the braking force applied to the wheels based on the operation of the brake pedal of the driver of the vehicle 1 during manual driving of the vehicle 1, and controls the braking force applied to the wheels based on the control command value of the vehicle control device 10 during automatic driving of the vehicle 1.

[0022] The vehicle control device 10 includes, for example, a recording unit 11, a recognition and judgment unit 12, a vehicle motion control unit 13, a steering control unit 14, an accelerator control unit 15, and a brake control unit 16. Each part of these vehicle control devices 10 represents a function realized by executing a program stored in a memory by, for example, a CPU that constitutes the vehicle control device 10. Note that the above vehicle control device 10 may be configured such that individual parts or functions are constituted by individual electronic control units (ECUs), or a plurality of parts or functions may be constituted by one ECU.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a table showing an example of the profile PRF of the passengers of the vehicle 1 recorded in the recording unit 11. The recording unit 11 stores, for example, the profile PRF of the passengers of the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. 2 for each passenger of the vehicle 1 and creates a database. Here, the profile PRF of each passenger includes biometric information for detecting the stress of the passengers of the vehicle 1, driving conditions including the allowable speed range of the vehicle 1, and the driving environment around the vehicle 1.

[0024] In the example shown in FIG. 2, the biometric information for detecting the stress of the occupant included in the profile PRF is the average value of the intervals (RR intervals) from one QRS wave to the next QRS wave in the electrocardiogram, that is, the average RR interval. The average RR interval becomes shorter than at rest when the occupant of vehicle 1 feels stress. Therefore, for example, based on the average RR interval of the occupant of vehicle 1 at rest and the average RR interval when the occupant feels stress, by setting a threshold value for the average RR interval, the stress of the occupant of vehicle 1 can be detected. Note that the average RR interval is an example of biometric information, and it is also possible to use other biometric information in the profile PRF.

[0025] Also, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the driving conditions of vehicle 1 included in the profile PRF include control parameters of vehicle 1 such as the allowable acceleration / deceleration in addition to the allowable speed range. Also, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the driving environment around vehicle 1 included in the profile PRF includes, for example, road classifications such as urban general roads, local general roads, and highways, as well as weather, day / night, and lane width. Also, the driving environment may include, for example, traffic volume and the curvature of the road curve.

[0026] Also, the profile PRF for each occupant of vehicle 1 recorded in the recording unit 11 may include the driving characteristics of the occupant of vehicle 1, such as the inter-vehicle distance during manual driving by each occupant of vehicle 1, the average number of braking operations, the number of times various driving support functions are used, and the number of times of manual driving. Also, the profile PRF recorded in the recording unit 11 is, for example, derived in advance from the past driving data of vehicle 1. Also, the profile PRF may be made registrable and editable by the occupant of vehicle 1 via the HMI device 5, for example.

[0027] The cognitive judgment unit 12 recognizes the environment and objects around the vehicle 1 based on, for example, the detection results of the external sensor 2. Further, the cognitive judgment unit 12 acquires the recognition result based on the detection results of the external sensor 2, the detection results of the internal sensor 3, the position information and the like which are the outputs of the navigation system 4, the profile PRF of the vehicle 1 recorded in the recording unit 11, and the biological information from the biological information sensor 6. Although details will be described later, the cognitive judgment unit 12 calculates a target route and a target speed based on the acquired information and outputs them to the vehicle motion control unit 13.

[0028] The vehicle motion control unit 13 calculates a control command value for the vehicle 1 to travel on the target route at the target speed and outputs it to the steering control unit 14, the accelerator control unit 15, and the brake control unit 16. The steering control unit 14, the accelerator control unit 15, and the brake control unit 16 output control signals for driving the steering control mechanism 7, the speed control mechanism 8, and the brake control mechanism 9 respectively based on the control command values input from the vehicle motion control unit 13.

[0029] In the present embodiment, the vehicle control unit 17 is constituted by the vehicle motion control unit 13, the steering control unit 14, the accelerator control unit 15, and the brake control unit 16. The vehicle control unit 17 controls, for example, the actuators mounted on the vehicle 1 during the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 and causes the vehicle 1 to travel at the target route and the target speed calculated by the cognitive judgment unit 12.

[0030] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment will be described in more detail. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the cognitive judgment unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 3, the cognitive judgment unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 includes, for example, a profile extraction unit 122, a driving behavior planning unit 123, a control target calculation unit 124, a stress detection unit 125, and a driving behavior correction unit 126. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the cognitive judgment unit 12 further includes a recognition unit 121.

[0032] Each part of the recognition and determination unit 12 represents a function realized by hardware including a CPU and a memory, such as a microcontroller. Specifically, by executing a program uploaded to the memory by the CPU, the functions of each part of the recognition and determination unit 12 shown in FIG. 3 can be realized. Note that each function of the recognition and determination unit 12 may be realized by individual hardware, or a plurality of functions may be realized by one piece of hardware.

[0033] When the vehicle control device 10 is manually operated by an occupant of the vehicle 1, for example, the profile PRF of the occupant who is the driver is recorded in the recording unit 11. Here, the vehicle control device 10 recognizes the driving environment around the vehicle 1 based on the detection result of the external sensor 2 by, for example, the recognition unit 121 of the recognition and determination unit 12. Further, the vehicle control device 10 acquires biometric information for detecting the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1, such as an electrocardiogram, by, for example, the stress detection unit 125. Further, the vehicle control device 10 acquires the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 from the internal sensor 3, for example.

[0034] The recording unit 11 of the vehicle control device 10 records and creates a database of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 as shown in FIG. 2 based on the above information acquired during manual driving by the occupant of the vehicle 1. As described above, the profile PRF includes biometric information for detecting the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1, driving conditions including the allowable speed range of the vehicle 1, and the driving environment around the vehicle 1. Further, the vehicle control device 10 may record the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 in the recording unit 11 based on information input via the HMI device 5 by the occupant of the vehicle 1, for example.

[0035] After that, when the vehicle control device 10 performs automatic driving of the vehicle 1, it starts the processing flow shown in FIG. 4. First, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P1 of extracting the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1. In this process P1, the profile extraction unit 122 of the vehicle control device 10 extracts the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 from the recording unit 11 in which the database of the profile PRF is recorded.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the process P1 of extracting the profile in FIG. 4. When the profile extraction unit 122 starts the process P1 of extracting the profile shown in FIG. 5, it first executes a process P11 of selecting the profile PRF. In this process P11, the profile extraction unit 122 receives, for example, the selection of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 by the occupant of the vehicle 1 via the HMI device 5. The selection of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 by the occupant can also be performed by biometric authentication such as fingerprint authentication. The profile extraction unit 122 selects a plurality of data of the profile PRF of the occupant from the recording unit 11 based on the selection of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 by the occupant.

[0037] Next, the profile extraction unit 122 executes a process P12 of acquiring the driving environment, which is the recognition result of the recognition unit 121. Next, the profile extraction unit 122 executes a process P13 of extracting the data of the profile PRF that is closest to the driving environment acquired from the recognition unit 121 from among the plurality of data of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 selected in the previous process P11. Here, as a method for extracting the data of the profile PRF, for example, data in which each item of the driving environment such as road classification, weather, and lane width matches more can be extracted.

[0038] Specifically, when the content of the same item in the driving environment of the plurality of data of the driving environment acquired from the recognition unit 121 matches the profile PRF, the evaluation value of that item is set to "1", and when the content of the same item does not match, the evaluation value of that item is set to "0". Then, for each piece of data of the profile PRF, the total value of the evaluation values of each item in the driving environment is calculated, and the data with the maximum total value of the evaluation values is extracted from the plurality of data of the profile PRF. Note that when the importance levels of the items in the driving environment are different, weights corresponding to the importance levels may be assigned to the evaluation values for each item.

[0039] Next, the profile extraction unit 122 executes a process P14 of outputting the data of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 extracted in the above-described process P13 to the driving behavior planning unit 123, the control target calculation unit 124, and the driving behavior correction unit 126, and ends the process P1 shown in FIG. 5. As described above, in the process P1, the profile extraction unit 122 extracts the data closest to the driving environment around the vehicle 1 from the plurality of data of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 and outputs it to the driving behavior planning unit 123, the control target calculation unit 124, and the driving behavior correction unit 126.

[0040] Next, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P2 of planning a driving behavior, for example, as shown in FIG. 4. In this process P2, the driving behavior planning unit 123 plans the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 based on, for example, the driving conditions of the vehicle 1 and the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1. More specifically, the driving behavior planning unit 123 acquires the driving conditions of the vehicle 1 from the internal sensor 3, and acquires the position information of the vehicle 1, the map information around the vehicle 1, the route information to the destination of the vehicle 1, etc. from the navigation system 4, and acquires the data of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 from the profile extraction unit 122.

[0041] Furthermore, based on the acquired information and data, the driving behavior planning unit 123 plans the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 and outputs it to the control target calculation unit 124. Here, the driving behaviors planned by the driving behavior planning unit 123 include, for example, driving within a lane, lane merging, lane changing, lane branching, turning right or left at an intersection, going straight through an intersection, etc., and are realized by the control functions of autonomous driving. Note that the driving behaviors planned by the driving behavior planning unit 123 are not limited to these, and may be expressed, for example, by information on the driving lane.

[0042] Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P3 of calculating a control target. In this process P3, the control target calculation unit 124 calculates the target path and target speed of the vehicle 1 based on the driving behavior planned by the driving behavior planning unit 123. More specifically, the control target calculation unit 124 calculates a control target including the target path and target speed of the vehicle 1 based on, for example, the driving behavior from the driving behavior planning unit 123, the map information and route information from the navigation system 4, the recognition result by the recognition unit 121, and the detection result of the internal sensor 3.

[0043] FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining the process P4 of controlling the vehicle in FIG. 4 to the process P6 of modifying the driving behavior. When the vehicle control device 10 finishes the process P3 of calculating the control target shown in FIG. 4, it executes a process P4 of controlling the vehicle 1. In this process P4, the vehicle control unit 17 of the vehicle control device 10 controls the actuators of the steering control mechanism 7, speed control mechanism 8, and brake control mechanism 9 mounted on the vehicle 1, and drives the vehicle 1 along the target path and target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit 124.

[0044] As a result, the vehicle 1 passes through the position N0 on the road R1 with a wide lane width at a speed of 40 km / h, turns left onto the road R2 with a narrow lane width as shown in FIG. 6, and travels along a path of going straight from the position N1 to the position N2 on the road R2 at a speed of 40 km / h. During the driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P5 of detecting the stress shown in FIG. 4.

[0045] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing details of the process P5 for detecting the stress in Figure 4. In this process P5, the stress detection unit 125 that constitutes the recognition and judgment unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 detects that the occupant of the vehicle 1 is feeling stress based on the biometric information of the occupant. When this process P5 starts, the stress detection unit 125 first executes a process P51 of acquiring the biometric information of the occupant of the vehicle 1 from the biometric information sensor 6.

[0046] Figure 8 is an electrocardiogram showing an example of the biometric information of the occupant of the vehicle 1 detected by the biometric information sensor 6 in Figure 1. As described above, the biometric information sensor 6 mounted on the vehicle 1 includes, for example, an electrocardiograph. In this case, in the process P51 of acquiring the biometric information shown in Figure 7, the stress detection unit 125 acquires an electrocardiogram as shown in Figure 8 as the biometric information of the occupant of the vehicle 1 from the electrocardiograph as the biometric information sensor 6. Further, as shown in Figure 7, the stress detection unit 125 executes a preprocessing operation P52 and performs preprocessing such as filtering to remove noise signals generated by power supply, body movement, poor contact, etc. on the biometric information such as the electrocardiogram.

[0047] Next, the stress detection unit 125 executes a feature extraction operation P53 as shown in Figure 7. In this operation P53, the stress detection unit 125 extracts feature amounts from the preprocessed biometric information such as the electrocardiogram. Here, the feature amount of the biometric information means a statistic that can accurately discriminate the presence or absence of stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1, and one or more feature amounts can be used. The feature amounts to be extracted differ depending on the type of biometric information.

[0048] For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when the biological information is an electrocardiogram, the average value of the RR interval, which is the interval from one QRS wave to the next QRS wave, and the average heart rate are extracted as feature quantities. Generally, the shorter the RR interval, the higher the tendency of stress. Also, the higher the average heart rate, the higher the tendency of stress. Therefore, in the electrocardiogram of FIG. 8, the RR intervals indicated by RR1, RR2, RR3, …, RR(n - 1), RRn can be used to determine the presence or absence of stress. Note that stress can also be described, for example, as discomfort, anxiety, tension, or fear.

[0049] Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the stress detection unit 125 executes a process P54 for determining whether the occupant of the vehicle 1 is feeling stress. The stress detection unit 125 determines whether the occupant is feeling stress, for example, using a stress determination model. The stress determination model is obtained, for example, by extracting the feature quantities of the electrocardiogram when stress is felt in advance and the feature quantities of the electrocardiogram in normal times when stress is not felt, and performing machine learning using those feature quantities.

[0050] The stress detection unit 125 estimates whether the occupant is feeling stress, for example, by extracting the feature quantities from the electrocardiogram of the occupant measured during the running of the vehicle 1 and giving the feature quantities to the stress determination model. However, if the learning data used to obtain the stress determination model is old, the determination accuracy of the presence or absence of stress may decrease. In this case, biological information such as the electrocardiogram of the occupant in normal times before the vehicle 1 starts running can be detected, and the stress determination model can be updated using the detected biological information.

[0051] Further, the stress detection unit 125 may determine the presence or absence of stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1 by a method different from the method using the stress determination model. For the stress detection unit 125, for example, the average value and standard deviation of the normal RR interval of the occupant are pre-recorded as the normal RR interval and the RR interval deviation. The stress detection unit 125 determines that the occupant is feeling stress, for example, when the RR interval of the occupant during the running of the vehicle 1 is shorter than the value obtained by subtracting the RR interval deviation from the normal RR interval.

[0052] Further, for the stress detection unit 125, for example, the average value and standard deviation of the normal heart rate of the occupant may be pre-recorded as the normal heart rate and the heart rate deviation. In this case, the stress detection unit 125 determines that the occupant is feeling stress, for example, when the heart rate of the occupant during the running of the vehicle 1 is higher than the value obtained by adding the heart rate deviation to the normal heart rate. Note that the method by which the stress detection unit 125 determines the presence or absence of stress of the occupant is not limited to these methods.

[0053] In the process P54 shown in FIG. 7, when the stress detection unit 125 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 is not feeling stress (NO), the stress detection unit 125 maintains the correction flag for determining whether driving behavior needs to be corrected in the process P6 described later at 0 and ends the process P5 shown in FIG. 7. Further, in this process P54, when the stress detection unit 125 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 is feeling stress (YES), the stress detection unit 125 executes a process P55 for setting the correction flag. In this process P55, the stress detection unit 125, for example, changes the correction flag from 0 to 1, outputs the changed correction flag to the driving behavior correction unit 126, and ends the process P5 shown in FIG. 7.

[0054] Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P6 for modifying the driving behavior. This process P6 is executed by a driving behavior modification unit 126 that constitutes the cognitive judgment unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10. In process P6, when the stress detection unit 125 detects that the occupant is feeling stress during the running of vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the driving behavior modification unit 126 modifies the target speed calculated by the target speed calculation unit 124 of vehicle 1.

[0055] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the details of process P6 for modifying the driving behavior in FIG. 4. When starting process P6 for modifying the driving behavior, the driving behavior modification unit 126 first executes a process P61 of acquiring a modification flag from the stress detection unit 125. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the occupant of vehicle 1 traveling at a traveling speed of 40 km / h at position N0 on a wide road R1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17 is not feeling stress.

[0056] In this case, the modification flag that the driving behavior modification unit 126 acquires from the stress detection unit 125 in process P61 is "0", indicating that modification of the driving behavior is not required. Therefore, in process P62 for determining whether modification of the next driving behavior is necessary, the driving behavior modification unit 126 determines that the modification flag is not "1" (NO), that is, modification of the driving behavior is not required, and ends process P6 for modifying the driving behavior without changing the target speed. In this way, when the occupant is not feeling stress, there is no need to replan the target speed and the target route, so the computational load on the vehicle control device 10 can be reduced.

[0057] After that, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P7 for determining whether or not the vehicle 1 has reached the destination. In this process P7, the control target calculation unit 124 acquires, for example, the current position information of the vehicle 1 and the position information of the destination of the vehicle 1 from the navigation system 4, and determines whether or not the vehicle 1 has reached the destination. When the control target calculation unit 124 determines in the process P7 that the vehicle has not reached the destination (NO), the vehicle control device 10 maintains the target speed and executes the process P4 for controlling the vehicle 1 as described above.

[0058] As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle 1 travels straight while maintaining a traveling speed of 40 km / h at the position N0 on the road R1 with a wide width, and turns left from the road R1 toward the position N1 on the road R2 with a narrow width. After that, as shown in FIG. 4, the process P5 for detecting the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1 is executed again by the stress detection unit 125. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the occupant of the vehicle 1 traveling at a traveling speed of 40 km / h at the position N1 on the road R2 with a narrow width feels stress under the control of the vehicle control unit 17.

[0059] In this case, in the process P54 shown in FIG. 7, the stress detection unit 125 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress (YES), and changes the correction flag to 1 in the process P55. Therefore, in the process P61 shown in FIG. 9, the correction flag acquired by the driving behavior correction unit 126 from the stress detection unit 125 is "1", indicating that correction of the driving behavior is necessary. Therefore, in the next process P62, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the correction flag is "1" (YES), that is, the driving behavior needs to be corrected, and executes the process P63 for acquiring the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 from the external sensor 2.

[0060] Next, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P64 of acquiring the profile PRF of the vehicle 1's occupant corresponding to the driving environment recognized by the recognition unit 121 from the profile extraction unit 122. More specifically, in this process P64, the driving behavior correction unit 126 acquires, from the profile extraction unit 122, for example, the profile PRF corresponding to the driving environment of a narrow road R2, and acquires the upper speed and the lower speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF.

[0061] Next, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P65 of determining whether the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is lower than the lower speed acquired in the previous process P64. In this process P65, when the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is not lower than the lower speed (NO), that is, when it determines that the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is equal to or higher than the lower speed, it executes a process P67 of determining whether the traveling speed is higher than the upper speed.

[0062] In this process P67, when the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is higher than the upper speed (YES), it executes a process P68 of setting the target speed to the upper speed of the road R2, and ends the process P6 shown in FIG. 9. Thereafter, in the process P7 shown in FIG. 4, when the control target calculation unit 124 determines that the vehicle 1 has not reached the destination (NO), the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P4 of controlling the vehicle 1 using the target speed corrected to the upper speed as described above.

[0063] As a result, as in the example shown in FIG. 6, the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 decreases from 40 km / h at the position N1 of the narrow road R2 to 30 km / h, which is the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range of the profile PRF corresponding to the driving environment of the road R2. Thereafter, the vehicle 1 travels straight toward the position N2 of the road R2 at the decreased speed of 30 km / h. Thereby, the stress on the occupant of the vehicle 1 traveling on the narrow road R2 can be reduced by the control of the vehicle control unit 17. However, even if the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 decreases to the aforementioned upper speed, for example, due to a change in the driving environment of the road R2, the stress on the occupant of the vehicle 1 may not be sufficiently reduced.

[0064] In this case, in processes P54 and P55 shown in FIG. 7, the stress detection unit 125 detects the stress of the occupant again and sets the correction flag to 1. In process P62 shown in FIG. 9, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the correction flag is 1 (YES). Then, the driving behavior correction unit 126 repeats the above-described processes P63 to P65 and executes process P67 again. Here, the target speed of the vehicle 1 is the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range of the profile PRF corresponding to the driving environment of the road R2. Therefore, in process P67, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is not higher than the upper limit speed (NO), that is, the traveling speed is equal to or lower than the upper limit speed.

[0065] Then, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P69 to further decrease the target speed. Here, the driving behavior correction unit 126 corrects, for example, the target speed so that the vehicle 1 decelerates by a predetermined speed within the range of the allowable acceleration / deceleration speed extracted according to the driving environment of the road R2 from the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 2, and outputs it to the control target calculation unit 124. As a result, in process P4 shown in FIG. 4, the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 traveling toward the position N2 of the road R2 shown in FIG. 6 further decreases by a predetermined speed. Thereby, the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1 traveling on the narrow road R2 can be reduced by the control of the vehicle control unit 17.

[0066] On the other hand, it is also conceivable that the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress because the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is too low. For example, this is the case where the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is lower than the lower limit speed of the allowable traveling speed of the profile PRF of the occupant extracted according to the driving environment of the road R2 on which the vehicle 1 is traveling. In this case, in processes P54 and P55 shown in FIG. 7, the stress detection unit 125 detects the stress of the occupant and sets the correction flag to 1. In process P62 shown in FIG. 9, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the correction flag is 1 (YES).

[0067] Then, the driving behavior correction unit 126 repeats the above-described processes P63 to P65. Here, the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is lower than the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range of the profile PRF corresponding to the traveling environment of the road R2. Therefore, in process P65, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is lower than the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range (YES).

[0068] Then, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P66 to correct the target speed to the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range, outputs the corrected target speed to the control target calculation unit 124, and ends the process P6 shown in FIG. 9. As a result, in the process P4 shown in FIG. 4, the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 traveling toward the position N2 of the road R2 shown in FIG. 6 increases from a speed lower than the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range to the lower limit speed. Thereby, the stress on the occupants of the vehicle 1 traveling on the road R2 can be reduced by the control of the vehicle control unit 17.

[0069] Thereafter, when it is determined by the control target calculation unit 124 that the vehicle 1 has reached the destination, for example, in the process P7 shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 ends the process flow shown in FIG. 4.

[0070] As described above, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment is mounted on the vehicle 1 and includes a recording unit 11, a profile extraction unit 122, a driving behavior planning unit 123, a control target calculation unit 124, a vehicle control unit 17, a stress detection unit 125, and a driving behavior correction unit 126. The recording unit 11 records biometric information for detecting the stress of the passengers of the vehicle 1, driving conditions including the allowable speed range of the vehicle 1, and a profile PRF including the driving environment around the vehicle 1. The profile extraction unit 122 extracts the passenger profile PRF from the recording unit 11. The driving behavior planning unit 123 plans the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 based on the passenger profile PRF extracted by the profile extraction unit 122. The control target calculation unit 124 calculates the target route and target speed of the vehicle 1 based on the driving behavior planned by the driving behavior planning unit 123. The vehicle control unit 17 controls the actuators mounted on the vehicle 1 to drive the vehicle 1 at the target route and target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit 124. The stress detection unit 125 detects that the passenger is feeling stress based on the biometric information of the passenger. When the stress detection unit 125 detects that the passenger is feeling stress during the driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the driving behavior correction unit 126 corrects the target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit 124.

[0071] With such a configuration, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment extracts the profile PRF of the occupant from the recording unit 11, plans the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 based on the profile PRF of the occupant, and can drive the vehicle 1 at a traveling speed within the allowable speed range of the occupant. Therefore, the vehicle 1 can be driven at a comfortable traveling speed for each occupant, and it is possible to prevent the occupants of the vehicle 1 from feeling stress. Further, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment can detect the stress and correct the target speed of the vehicle 1 even when, for example, the driving environment around the vehicle 1 changes or the feeling of the occupant of the vehicle 1 changes and the occupant feels stress during the driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17. Thereby, the stress of the occupants of the vehicle 1 can be reduced, the intervention of the occupants with respect to the control of the vehicle 1 by the vehicle control unit 17 can be suppressed, and the usability of the vehicle control device 10 can be improved.

[0072] Also, in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, when the stress detection unit 125 detects that the occupant is feeling stress during the driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the driving behavior correction unit 126 operates as follows. The driving behavior correction unit 126 acquires the upper limit speed and the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF from the profile extraction unit 122. The driving behavior correction unit 126 corrects the target speed to the lower limit speed when the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is lower than the lower limit speed. The driving behavior correction unit 126 corrects the target speed to the upper limit speed when the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is higher than the upper limit speed. The driving behavior correction unit 126 decreases the target speed when the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 is between the lower limit speed and the upper limit speed.

[0073] With such a configuration, when the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 is outside the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant and the occupant is feeling stressed, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment can change the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 within the allowable speed range of the occupant. Further, even when the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 is within the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment can reduce the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 when the occupant is feeling stressed. Thereby, the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1 can be reduced without reducing the safety of the vehicle 1.

[0074] Note that even when the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 is within the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment may increase the target speed of the vehicle 1 within that allowable speed range when the occupant is feeling stressed. Thereby, when the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 is too slow due to a change in the driving environment around the vehicle 1 or a change in the perception of the occupant of the vehicle 1 and this is causing stress to the occupant, the vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 can be increased to reduce the stress of the occupant.

[0075] As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device 10 that can control the vehicle 1 without causing stress to the occupant even when the driving conditions under which the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress change.

[0076] [Embodiment 2] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 to 9 of the foregoing Embodiment 1 and with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, Embodiment 2 of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure will be described.

[0077] FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a recognition determination unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment is different from the vehicle control device 10 according to the first embodiment described above in that the recognition determination unit 12 further includes a profile update unit 127. Since other configurations of the vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment are the same as those of the vehicle control device 10 according to the first embodiment described above, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0078] The profile update unit 127 represents a function realized by hardware including a CPU and a memory, like the other units of the recognition determination unit 12 described above. In the process P6 of modifying the driving behavior shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment executes a process P6A of recording a target speed (not shown) and a process P6B of recording a profile immediately before the end of the process flow by the driving behavior modification unit 126 shown in FIG. 9.

[0079] In the process P6A of recording the target speed, the driving behavior modification unit 126 records the maintained or changed target speed by any of the processes P62, P66, P68, and P69 shown in FIG. 9 and outputs it to the profile update unit 127. Next, in the process P6B of recording the profile, the driving behavior modification unit 126 records a profile PRF corresponding to the driving environment around the vehicle 1 recognized by the recognition unit 121, outputs it to the profile update unit 127, and ends the process P6 of modifying the driving behavior. After that, before executing a process P7 of determining whether or not the vehicle control device 10 has reached the destination shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P8 of updating the profile PRF.

[0080] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing details of the process P8 by the profile update unit 127 in FIG. 10. When starting the process P8 shown in FIG. 11, the profile update unit 127 first executes a process P801 of acquiring a correction flag from the stress detection unit 125. Here, as described above, the correction flag acquired by the profile update unit 127 from the stress detection unit 125 becomes "1" when the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress, and becomes "0" when the occupant of the vehicle 1 does not feel stress.

[0081] Next, the profile update unit 127 executes a process P802 for determining whether the occupant of the vehicle 1 is feeling stress. In this process P802, when the correction flag acquired in the previous process P801 is 1, the profile update unit 127 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 is feeling stress (YES), and ends the process P8 shown in FIG. 11.

[0082] As described above, when the correction flag acquired by the profile update unit 127 in the process P8 is 1, in the process P6 for correcting the driving behavior shown in FIG. 9, the target speed is corrected by the driving behavior correction unit 126. Therefore, after the end of the process P8 shown in FIG. 11, when the vehicle control device 10 determines that it has not reached the destination (NO) as shown in FIG. 4, it returns to the process P4 and controls the vehicle based on the corrected target speed.

[0083] On the other hand, in the process P802 shown in FIG. 11, when the correction flag acquired in the previous process P801 is 0, the profile update unit 127 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 is not feeling stress (NO). In this case, the profile update unit 127 updates the upper speed limit or the lower speed limit of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1, or maintains the upper speed limit and the lower speed limit, for example, by executing each of the processes described below.

[0084] The profile update unit 127 first executes a process P803 for acquiring the target speed set in the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10. Next, the profile update unit 127 executes a process P804 for acquiring the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 extracted in the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10. Next, the profile update unit 127 executes a process P805 for determining whether the target speed acquired in the process P803 is outside the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF acquired in the process P804.

[0085] In this process P805, when the profile update unit 127 determines that the target speed is outside the allowable speed range (YES), it executes a process P806 to determine whether the target speed is lower than the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range. In this process P806, when the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the target speed is lower than the lower limit speed (YES), it executes a process P807 to update the profile PRF. In this process P807, the profile update unit 127 updates the lower limit speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 to the target speed set in the previous processing iteration, and ends the process P8 shown in FIG. 11.

[0086] On the other hand, in the above-described process 806, when the profile update unit 127 determines that the target speed is not lower than the lower limit speed (NO), that is, when the target speed is higher than the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range, it executes a process P808 to update the profile PRF. In this process P808, the profile update unit 127 updates the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 to the target speed set in the previous processing iteration, and ends the process P8 shown in FIG. 11.

[0087] Also, in the above-described process P805, when the profile update unit 127 determines that the target speed is not outside the allowable speed range (NO), it executes a process P809 to acquire the correction flag in the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10. In this case, the target speed in the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10 is within the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF extracted in the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10.

[0088] Next, the profile update unit 127 executes a process P810 for determining whether the occupant of the vehicle 1 felt stress during the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10. In this process P810, when the correction flag of the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10 acquired in the previous process P809 is 1, the profile update unit 127 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 felt stress (YES). In this case, the profile update unit 127 executes the above-described process P808, updates the upper speed limit of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 to the target speed set in the previous processing iteration, and ends the process P8 shown in FIG. 11.

[0089] On the other hand, in the above-described process P810, when the correction flag of the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10 acquired in the previous process P809 is 0, the profile update unit 127 determines that the occupant of the vehicle 1 did not feel stress (NO). In this case, the profile update unit 127 does not update the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1, maintains the upper and lower speed limits of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF, and ends the process P8 shown in FIG. 11.

[0090] As described above, when the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment satisfies the following first and second conditions, the vehicle control device 10 further includes a profile update unit 127 that updates the lower speed limit or the upper speed limit of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 to the target speed of the vehicle 1. The first condition is that it is not detected by the stress detection unit 125 that the occupant feels stress during the running of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17. The second condition is that the target speed is lower than the lower speed limit or higher than the upper speed limit.

[0091] With such a configuration, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment can update the profile PRF of the occupant, for example, when the occupant's perception of the driving conditions of the vehicle 1 changes, and the occupant no longer feels stress under driving conditions where stress was felt in the past, or vice versa. Therefore, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, even when the driving conditions under which the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress change, it is possible to control the vehicle 1 without making the occupant feel stress. As a result, it is possible to suppress control intervention by the occupant of the vehicle 1 during the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 by the control of the vehicle control device 10, and improve the usability of the vehicle control device 10.

[0092] Further, in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, when the profile update unit 127 satisfies the following first to third conditions, the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF is updated to the target speed. The first condition is that it is not detected by the stress detection unit 125 that the occupant feels stress during the driving of the vehicle 1 by the control of the vehicle control unit 17. The second condition is that the target speed is within the range from the lower limit speed to the upper limit speed of the allowable speed range. The third condition is that it was detected by the stress detection unit 125 in the previous processing iteration that the occupant feels stress.

[0093] With such a configuration, the profile PRF can be updated according to the latest sensations of the occupants of the vehicle 1. More specifically, for example, assume that the stress of the occupant is detected while the vehicle 1 is traveling within the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 extracted according to the driving environment around the vehicle 1. Then, assume that the target speed is corrected by the driving behavior correction unit 126 and the occupant of the vehicle 1 no longer feels stress. In such a case, by updating the profile PRF based on the corrected target speed at which the occupant of the vehicle 1 no longer feels stress, it is possible to more reliably prevent the occupant from feeling stress when the vehicle 1 is controlled by the vehicle control device 10 thereafter. In addition, the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control device 10 can be made closer to the driving sensation of the occupant of the vehicle 1, reducing motion sickness and improving safety.

[0094] As described above, according to the present embodiment, even when the driving conditions under which the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress change, it is possible to provide the vehicle control device 10 that can control the vehicle 1 without making the occupant feel stress.

[0095] [Embodiment 3] Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, Embodiment 3 of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure will be described by referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 6 to 8, and 10 of the aforementioned Embodiments 1 and 2.

[0096] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing details of the process P1 for extracting the profile of FIG. 4. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the process P8 of the profile update unit 127 of FIG. 10. The operations of the profile extraction unit 122 and the profile update unit 127 of the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment are different from those of the vehicle control device 10 according to the aforementioned Embodiment 2, respectively. Other configurations of the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment are the same as those of the vehicle control device 10 of the aforementioned Embodiment 2, so the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0097] When the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment starts the process P1 of extracting the profile shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. 12, the profile extraction unit 122 executes a process P11 of selecting a profile, a process P12 of acquiring a driving environment, and a process P13 of extracting a profile. These processes P11, P12, and P13 are the same as the processes P11, P12, and P13 of the profile extraction unit 122 described with reference to FIG. 5 in the foregoing Embodiment 1.

[0098] In the present embodiment, the profile extraction unit 122 then executes a process P15 of determining the analogy of the driving environment. In this process P15, the profile extraction unit 122 determines the analogy of the driving environment based on whether the similarity between the driving environment included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 extracted in the previous process and the driving environment around the vehicle 1 recognized by the recognition unit 121 is equal to or greater than a threshold value. Here, the similarity of the driving environment can be, for example, the total value of the evaluation values of the items where the driving environments match, similar to the foregoing process P13. Note that the evaluation value when the items of the driving environment match may be weighted from 0 to 1 for each item as described above.

[0099] As an example of the weighting of the evaluation values of each item for calculating the similarity of the driving environment, when the weather, which is one of the items of the driving environment, is "rain" but the precipitation is very small with light rain, a relatively low weight of about 0.3 can be assigned to the weather item. Also, when the driving environment is recognized using a machine learning model, the weight can be determined according to the confidence level of the output value of the machine learning model. Note that the calculation of the similarity of the driving environment is not limited to the foregoing method.

[0100] In addition, the threshold value for determining the analogy of the driving environment is determined in advance and recorded in the profile extraction unit 122. The threshold value is an item that affects the detection performance of the external sensor 2, such as weather or day and night, and can be determined based on the number of items that need to match at least to ensure the driving safety of the vehicle 1. In the process P15 of determining the analogy of this driving environment, when the similarity of the driving environment is lower than the threshold value, the profile extraction unit 122 determines that the driving environments are not similar (NO).

[0101] In this case, the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 recorded in the recording unit 11 does not include data on a driving environment similar to the driving environment recognized by the vehicle 1. Therefore, the profile extraction unit 122 executes a process P17 of setting the registration flag to "1". The "1" of the registration flag indicates that new data needs to be registered in the occupant profile PRF. After that, the driving environment recognized by the recognition unit 121 is recorded in the recording unit 11. After that, the profile extraction unit 122 executes the process P14 of outputting the aforementioned profile and ends the process P1 shown in FIG. 12.

[0102] On the other hand, in the aforementioned process P15, when the similarity of the driving environment is equal to or higher than the threshold value, the profile extraction unit 122 determines that the driving environments are similar (YES). In this case, the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 recorded in the recording unit 11 includes data on a driving environment similar to the driving environment recognized by the vehicle 1. Therefore, the profile extraction unit 122 executes a process P16 of setting the registration flag to "0". The "0" of the registration flag indicates that new data does not need to be registered in the occupant profile PRF. After that, the profile extraction unit 122 executes the process P14 of outputting the aforementioned profile and ends the process P1 shown in FIG. 12.

[0103] After that, after the vehicle control device 10 executes processes P2 to P6 shown in FIG. 4 and before executing process P7, similar to the vehicle control device 10 of Embodiment 2, the vehicle control device 10 executes a process P8 of updating the profile PRF. In this process P8, the profile update unit 127 that constitutes the recognition determination unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment first executes a process P811 of acquiring a registration flag.

[0104] Next, the profile update unit 127 executes a process P812 of determining whether new data needs to be registered in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1. In this process P812, when the registration flag acquired from the profile extraction unit 122 is 1, the profile update unit 127 determines that new data needs to be registered (YES). In this case, the profile update unit 127 executes processes P813 and P814 of acquiring the target speed and driving conditions of the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10.

[0105] Furthermore, the profile update unit 127 executes a process P815 of registering new data of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 in the profile database recorded in the recording unit 11. In this process P815, the profile update unit 127 creates new data of the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 using the target speed and driving conditions acquired in the previous processes P813 and P814 and the new driving environment recorded in the recording unit 11 by the profile extraction unit 122. Furthermore, the profile update unit 127 registers it in the profile database of the created recording unit 11 and ends the process P8 shown in FIG. 13.

[0106] On the other hand, in the above-described process P812, when the registration flag is 0, the profile update unit 127 determines that new data does not need to be registered (NO). In this case, the profile update unit 127 executes processes P801 to P810 similar to those of Embodiment 2 described above.

[0107] As described above, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment includes a recognition unit 121 that recognizes the driving environment based on the detection results of the external sensor 2 mounted on the vehicle 1. Further, when the similarity between the driving environment included in the extracted profile PRF and the driving environment recognized by the recognition unit 121 is less than the threshold value, the profile extraction unit 122 registers new data based on the driving environment recognized by the recognition unit 121 in the profile PRF.

[0108] As a result, when the vehicle 1 encounters a driving environment corresponding to the driving environment of the new data registered in the profile PRF during automatic driving by the vehicle control unit 17, by referring to the new data, it becomes possible to drive the vehicle 1 under driving conditions in which the passengers of the vehicle 1 do not feel stress. Also, when the passengers of the vehicle 1 feel stress under the driving conditions of the new data in the profile PRF, similar to the first and second embodiments described above, the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 can be modified to reduce the stress on the passengers of the vehicle 1.

[0109] Therefore, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, not only can the same effects as the vehicle control devices 10 of the first and second embodiments described above be achieved, but also the driving comfort of the vehicle 1 can be improved, and the adaptability and usability of the vehicle control device 10 can be further improved.

[0110] [Embodiment 4] Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 to 8 of the first embodiment described above and FIGS. 14 to 17, an embodiment 4 of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure will be described.

[0111] FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the recognition determination unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment is connected to a wireless communication device R mounted on the vehicle 1. The wireless communication device R receives traffic information and vehicle information via a communication line such as a wireless communication line or the Internet. Information input from the wireless communication device R to the recognition determination unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 is input to, for example, the driving behavior modification unit 126. Note that the wireless communication device R may use, for example, a general in-vehicle data communication device, a vehicle-road communication device, a mobile terminal, or the like.

[0112] Further, in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, in addition to the internal environment information from the internal environment sensor 3, route information and map information from the navigation system 4 and the recognition result of an object from the recognition unit 121 are input to the driving behavior modification unit 126 of the recognition determination unit 12. Hereinafter, the operation of the driving behavior modification unit 126 in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

[0113] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the driving behavior modification unit 126 in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment. Similar to the first embodiment described above, the vehicle control device 10 executes processes P1 to P5 shown in FIG. 4 and then executes a process P6 for modifying the driving behavior shown in FIG. 15. In this process P6, the driving behavior modification unit 126 executes a process P601 for acquiring a modification flag and a process P602 for determining whether or not to modify the driving behavior, similar to processes P61 and P62 of the first embodiment.

[0114] FIG. 16 is a plan view showing the behavior of the vehicle 1 when the occupant does not feel stress during the running of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17. When the occupant does not feel stress at the time t = 0 of the previous processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10, the modification flag acquired in the process P601 of FIG. 15 is 0, indicating that there is no need to modify the driving behavior.

[0115] In this case, in the following process P602, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the correction flag is not 1 and that there is no need to correct the driving behavior (NO), and ends the process P6 shown in FIG. 15. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the vehicle 1 continues to travel in the same center lane at the time t = 1 of the current process iteration without changing lanes from the center lane in which it was traveling at the time t = 0 of the previous process iteration of the vehicle control device 10.

[0116] On the other hand, FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the behavior of the vehicle 1 when the occupant feels stress during the running of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17. When the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress at the time t = 0 of the previous process iteration of the vehicle control device 10, the correction flag acquired in the process P601 is 1, indicating that the driving behavior needs to be corrected.

[0117] In this case, in the process P602, the driving behavior correction unit 126 determines that the correction flag is 1 and that the driving behavior needs to be corrected (YES), and executes the process P603 shown in FIG. 15 to acquire traffic information from the wireless communication device R. Further, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P604 of acquiring route information and map information from the navigation system 4, a process P605 of acquiring the recognition result of the objects around the vehicle 1 from the recognition unit 121, and a process P606 of acquiring internal information from the internal sensor 3.

[0118] Thereafter, based on the information acquired in the previous processes P603 to P606, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P607 of specifying the lane in which the vehicle 1 is traveling and a process P608 of specifying a lane in which the vehicle 1 can travel and has no history of traveling within a predetermined time. In this process P608, the driving behavior correction unit 126 specifies, for example, a lane in which the vehicle 1 can travel within a route where contact between the vehicle 1 and other vehicles or obstacles can be avoided and the vehicle 1 can reach the destination. Also, the history of the lanes and routes traveled by the vehicle 1 within a predetermined time can be recorded, for example, in the memory constituting the cognitive judgment unit 12, the recording unit 11, the memory of the navigation system 4, or the memory of the cloud server via the wireless communication device R.

[0119] Next, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P609 of identifying the lane with the least traffic volume and the most available space from the drivable lanes identified in the previous process P608. After that, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P610 of correcting the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 so that the vehicle 1 changes lanes to the available lane identified in the previous process P609, outputs the corrected driving behavior to the control target calculation unit 124, and ends the process P6 shown in FIG. 15.

[0120] As a result, in the process P4 shown in FIG. 4, the control target calculation unit 124 outputs the target speed and the target route based on the corrected driving behavior to the vehicle control unit 17. Further, the vehicle control unit 17 controls the steering control mechanism 7, the speed control mechanism 8, and the brake control mechanism 9 according to the target speed and the target route input from the control target calculation unit 124, and changes the lane of the vehicle 1.

[0121] As a result, as shown in FIG. 17, at time t = 1 of the current processing iteration, the vehicle 1 changes lanes from the center lane on which it was traveling at time t = 0 of the previous processing iteration to the right lane. After that, when the vehicle 1 travels smoothly and the passengers of the vehicle 1 do not feel stress, at time t = 3 of the next processing iteration of the vehicle control device 10, the vehicle 1 continues to travel in the same right lane without changing lanes.

[0122] In addition, if the passengers of the vehicle 1 still feel stress after the vehicle 1 changes lanes to the right lane at time t = 1, the vehicle control device 10 changes lanes to the left lane without a driving history for a predetermined time at time t = 3, for example. Note that the cycle of correcting the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 can be appropriately set so that excessive correction is not performed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the passengers of the vehicle 1 from feeling stress due to frequent correction of the driving behavior.

[0123] As described above, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment includes a recognition unit 121 that recognizes an object around the vehicle 1 based on the detection result of the external sensor 2 mounted on the vehicle 1. Further, when it is detected by the stress detection unit 125 that the occupant is feeling stress during the running of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment operates as follows. The driving behavior correction unit 126 acquires traffic information via the wireless communication device R mounted on the vehicle 1, acquires map information and route information of the vehicle 1 from the navigation system 4 mounted on the vehicle 1, and acquires internal information of the vehicle 1 from the detection result of the internal sensor 3 mounted on the vehicle 1. Further, the driving behavior correction unit 126 corrects the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 based on the acquired traffic information, map information, route information, and internal information so that the vehicle 1 can travel and no other vehicle has traveled for a predetermined time, and changes the lane to the lane with the least traffic volume.

[0124] With such a configuration, when the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment can change the lane of the vehicle 1 to the lane with the least traffic volume and reduce the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1. As a result, during the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 by the vehicle control unit 17, the control intervention by the occupant of the vehicle 1 can be reduced, the driving safety of the vehicle 1 can be improved, and the usability of the vehicle control device 10 can be improved. Note that the vehicle control device 10 may implement the present embodiment after implementing Embodiment 1. Thereby, the effects of both embodiments can be enjoyed.

[0125] [Embodiment 5] Hereinafter, Embodiment 5 of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure will be described by referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 to 8, and FIGS. 14 to 17 of the aforementioned Embodiments 1 and 4.

[0126] The vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment is different from the aforementioned Embodiment 4 in that the driving behavior modification unit 126 modifies the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 using the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1 extracted by the profile extraction unit 122. Other configurations of the vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment are the same as those of the vehicle control device 10 of the aforementioned Embodiment 4, so the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

[0127] After the vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment performs the processes P1 to P5 shown in FIG. 4, it performs the process P6 shown in FIG. 15. Similar to Embodiment 4 described above, the driving behavior modification unit 126 executes processes P601 and P602, and when it is determined in process P602 that the occupant of the vehicle 1 is feeling stress (YES), it executes processes P603 to P607.

[0128] Thereafter, in the vehicle control device 10 of this embodiment, the driving behavior modification unit 126 executes a process P611 (not shown) of acquiring the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1. In this process P611, the driving behavior modification unit 126 acquires, from the profile extraction unit 122, the profile PRF of the occupant corresponding to the driving environment around the vehicle 1 recognized by the recognition unit 121.

[0129] Next, similar to Embodiment 4 described above, after the driving behavior modification unit 126 executes the process P608 of specifying the drivable lanes, instead of the process P609 of specifying the available lanes, it executes the following process P612 (not shown). In this process P612, the driving behavior modification unit 126 specifies, from the drivable lanes specified in the previous process P608, the lane that best matches the driving conditions included in the profile PRF of the occupant of the vehicle 1.

[0130] More specifically, in process P612, the driving behavior modification unit 126 acquires driving conditions such as the average speed of other vehicles traveling in the lane specified in the previous process P608 based on the traffic information acquired in process P603. Further, the driving behavior modification unit 126 compares the driving conditions of each lane acquired based on the traffic information with the driving conditions included in the profile PRF of the passengers of vehicle 1 acquired in process P611. Then, the driving behavior modification unit 126 identifies the lane with the driving conditions that most closely match the driving conditions included in the profile PRF.

[0131] After that, the driving behavior modification unit 126 executes process P610 to modify the driving behavior in the same manner as in the aforementioned Embodiment 4, outputs the modified driving behavior to the control target calculation unit 124, and ends process P6 shown in FIG. 15. As a result, vehicle 1 changes lanes to the lane that most closely matches the driving conditions included in the profile PRF of the passengers among the lanes where it is possible to drive, for example, a lane whose average speed is within the allowable speed range included in the profile PRF.

[0132] As described above, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment includes a recognition unit 121 that recognizes objects around vehicle 1 based on the detection results of the external sensor 2 mounted on vehicle 1. When it is detected by the stress detection unit 125 that the passengers are feeling stress during the driving of vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment operates as follows. The driving behavior modification unit 126 acquires traffic information via the wireless communication device R mounted on vehicle 1, acquires map information and the route information of vehicle 1 from the navigation system 4 mounted on vehicle 1, and acquires the internal information of vehicle 1 from the detection results of the internal sensor 3 mounted on vehicle 1. Further, the driving behavior modification unit 126 acquires the profile PRF of the passengers of vehicle 1 from the profile extraction unit 122. Then, based on the acquired traffic information, map information, route information, internal information, and the recognition result of the recognition unit 121, the driving behavior modification unit 126 changes the driving behavior of vehicle 1 so that vehicle 1 can drive, there are no other vehicles traveling for a predetermined time, and it changes lanes to a lane whose average speed is within the allowable speed range of the profile PRF.

[0133] With such a configuration, when the vehicle occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress during the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment can change lanes to a lane with driving conditions that match the profile PRF of the occupant. Thereby, the stress on the occupant of the vehicle 1 can be reduced, and the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 by the vehicle control unit 17 can be made closer to the driving feeling during the manual driving of the vehicle 1 by the occupant. As a result, the control intervention of the occupant with respect to the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 by the vehicle control unit 17 can be suppressed, and the driving safety of the vehicle 1 and the usability of the vehicle control device 10 can be improved. Note that the vehicle control device 10 may implement the present embodiment after implementing Embodiment 1. Thereby, the effects of both embodiments can be enjoyed.

[0134] [Embodiment 6] Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 4 to 8, and 14 of the aforementioned Embodiments 1 and 4, and referring to FIG. 18, Embodiment 5 of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure will be described.

[0135] The vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment is different from the vehicle control device 10 according to the aforementioned Embodiment 4 in that the driving behavior correction unit 126 performs statistical processing to replan the driving behavior of the vehicle 1. Other aspects of the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment are the same as those of the vehicle control device 10 of the aforementioned Embodiment 4, so the same parts will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, the operation of the driving behavior correction unit 126 in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment will be described.

[0136] FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the driving behavior correction unit 126 in the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment. The vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment performs the process P6 shown in FIG. 18 after performing the processes P1 to P5 shown in FIG. 4. Similar to the aforementioned Embodiment 4, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes the processes P601 and P602, and when it is determined in the process P602 that the occupant of the vehicle 1 feels stress (YES), it executes the process P604 of acquiring route information and map information from the navigation system 4.

[0137] Next, the driving behavior correction unit 126 of the present embodiment executes a process P613 of acquiring past information. In this process P613, the driving behavior correction unit 126 acquires the biometric information of the passengers of the vehicle 1, the driving conditions of the vehicle 1, and the driving environment recorded in the past. Here, the biometric information of the passengers is, for example, the RR interval and heart rate shown in FIG. 8, the driving conditions of the vehicle 1 are, for example, the driving speed and acceleration of the vehicle 1, and the driving environment of the vehicle 1 is, for example, road classification, weather, and lane width.

[0138] Next, as shown in FIG. 18, the driving behavior correction unit 126 of the present embodiment executes a statistical process P614 using the past information acquired in the previous process P613. In this statistical process P614, the driving behavior correction unit 126 calculates, for example, the average value and standard deviation of biometric information such as the RR interval and heart rate of the passengers for each lane width of the driving environment. In addition, the driving behavior correction unit 126 calculates, for example, the average value and standard deviation of biometric information such as the RR interval and heart rate of the passengers for each speed range obtained by dividing the speed of the driving conditions by 10 km / h. Further, the driving behavior correction unit 126 may calculate the average value and standard deviation of the biometric information of the passengers for a plurality of conditions of the driving environment and driving conditions.

[0139] Next, the driving behavior correction unit 126 of the present embodiment executes a process P615 of specifying the optimal driving conditions that minimize the stress of the passengers of the vehicle 1 based on the results of the statistical process P614. For example, when an electrocardiogram is used as biometric information for detecting the stress of the passengers of the vehicle 1 and the average RR interval is calculated for each lane width in the statistical process P614, the optimal driving conditions including the lane width with the maximum average RR interval are specified.

[0140] Next, the driving behavior correction unit 126 executes a process P610 of re-planning the driving route of the vehicle 1 and correcting the driving behavior of the vehicle 1 so as to satisfy the optimal driving conditions specified in the previous process P615 as much as possible, and ends the process P6 shown in FIG. 18. As a result, in the process P4 shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle control device 10 drives the vehicle 1 along the target route that satisfies the optimal driving conditions re-planned in the process P6 as much as possible.

[0141] As described above, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment includes a recognition unit 121 that recognizes an object around the vehicle 1 based on the detection result of the external sensor 2 mounted on the vehicle 1. When the stress detection unit 125 detects that the occupant is feeling stress during the running of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment operates as follows. The driving behavior correction unit 126 acquires map information and route information of the vehicle 1 from the navigation system 4 mounted on the vehicle 1, and acquires the occupant's biological information, the driving conditions and the driving environment of the vehicle 1 recorded in the past, and performs statistical processing. Further, the driving behavior correction unit 126 specifies the optimal driving conditions that minimize the stress of the occupant based on the result of the statistical processing, and replans the driving behavior based on the optimal driving conditions.

[0142] With such a configuration, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, for example, when the vehicle 1 is traveling along a target route that includes many relatively narrow roads and the stress of the occupant of the vehicle 1 is detected, a target route that includes many relatively wide roads is replanned. Therefore, according to the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the stress of the occupant during the automatic driving of the vehicle 1 under the control of the vehicle control unit 17, suppress the control intervention by the occupant, and improve the driving safety of the vehicle 1 and the usability of the vehicle control device 10. Note that the vehicle control device 10 may implement this embodiment after implementing Embodiment 1, 4, or 5. Thereby, the effects of each embodiment can be enjoyed.

[0143] As described above, the embodiments of the vehicle control device according to the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there are design changes and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present disclosure, they are included in the present disclosure.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0144] 1 Vehicle, 2 External sensor, 3 Internal sensor, 4 Navigation system, 10 Vehicle control device, 11 Recording unit, 121 Recognition unit, 122 Profile extraction unit, 123 Driving Action Planning Unit, 124 Control Target Calculation Unit, 125 Stress Detection Unit, 126 Driving Action Correction Unit, 127 Profile Update Unit, 17 Vehicle Control Unit, PRF Profile, R Wireless Communication Device (Communication Device).

Claims

1. A vehicle control device mounted on a vehicle, comprising: a recording unit that records biometric information for detecting stress of an occupant of the vehicle, driving conditions including an allowable speed range of the vehicle, and a profile including a driving environment around the vehicle; a profile extraction unit that extracts the profile of the occupant from the recording unit; a driving behavior planning unit that plans a driving behavior of the vehicle based on the profile of the occupant extracted by the profile extraction unit; a control target calculation unit that calculates a target route and a target speed of the vehicle based on the driving behavior planned by the driving behavior planning unit; a vehicle control unit that controls an actuator mounted on the vehicle to drive the vehicle at the target route and the target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit; a stress detection unit that detects that the occupant is feeling stress based on the biometric information of the occupant; a driving behavior correction unit that corrects the target speed calculated by the control target calculation unit when it is detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is feeling stress during driving of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit; a profile update unit that updates the lower limit speed or the upper limit speed to the target speed when it is not detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is feeling stress during driving of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, and the target speed is lower than the lower limit speed included in the profile or higher than the upper limit speed included in the profile; characterized in that when it is detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is feeling stress during driving of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, the driving behavior correction unit acquires the upper limit speed and the lower limit speed from the profile extraction unit, corrects the target speed to the lower limit speed when the driving speed of the vehicle is lower than the lower limit speed, corrects the target speed to the upper limit speed when the driving speed of the vehicle is higher than the upper limit speed, and reduces the target speed when the driving speed of the vehicle is between the lower limit speed and the upper limit speed. The profile update unit updates the upper limit speed to the target speed when it is detected by the stress detection unit that the occupant is not feeling stress during the running of the vehicle under the control of the vehicle control unit, the target speed is from the lower limit speed to the upper limit speed, and it was detected by the stress detection unit in the previous processing iteration that the occupant was feeling stress. A vehicle control device characterized by the above.

2. The vehicle further includes a recognition unit that recognizes the driving environment based on the detection result of an external sensor mounted on the vehicle. The profile extraction unit registers new data based on the driving environment recognized by the recognition unit in the profile when the similarity between the driving environment included in the extracted profile and the driving environment recognized by the recognition unit is less than a threshold value. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

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