Server, control device, and automated driving assistance system

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a server that provides an appropriate information amount of knowledge information that can be used for route planning, target path planning, and control planning for self-driving vehicles. A server 100 comprises a probe information analysis unit 111, a road information acquisition unit 112, a road section extraction unit 113, a knowledge information generation unit 114, a transmission information generation unit 115, and a knowledge information transmission unit 116. The probe information analysis unit 111 analyzes probe information acquired from a plurality of vehicles 10. The road information acquisition unit 112 acquires road information including road identifiers for respective roads. The road section extraction unit 113 divides the plurality of roads into a subdivided plurality of road sections and assigns section identifiers to the road information on respective road sections. The knowledge information generation unit 114 generates knowledge information which influences a driving behavior of each of the vehicles 10 for each road identifier on the basis of a result of the analysis of the probe information. The transmission information generation unit 115 extracts the knowledge information corresponding to the section identifiers of road sections included in a route to a destination of each of the vehicles 10 and generates transmission information corresponding to reception conditions of each of the vehicles 10. The knowledge information transmission unit 116 transmits the transmission information to each of the vehicles 10.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a server, a control device, and an automated driving assistance system. [Background technology]

[0002] There have been known inventions relating to servers that can appropriately determine which types of driving assistance are available on which roads. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a server that includes an assistance type acquisition unit, a road link information generation unit, and an information provision unit (Patent Document 1, Abstract, paragraph 0008, claim 1, etc.).

[0003] The assistance mode acquisition unit acquires, from each vehicle via communication, assistance modes for each road link of the driving assistance performed by the driving assistance device of each vehicle. The road link information generation unit generates road link information in which the assistance modes are linked to road link data for each road link. The information provision unit provides the road link information generated by the road link information generation unit to an information provision destination.

[0004] According to this conventional server, road link information linking the assistance mode of the driving assistance performed by the driving assistance device of each vehicle to road link data is provided to the information recipient, so that the information recipient can appropriately grasp which assistance mode of driving assistance is available on which road (Patent Document 1, paragraph 0009, etc.). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-191516 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Although the road link information generated by the conventional server can be used for route planning of an autonomous vehicle, it is insufficient for use in target trajectory planning or control planning of an autonomous vehicle, which requires more detailed information. Furthermore, if all road link information corresponding to the planned route planned in the route planning of an autonomous vehicle is provided, the amount of information held by the autonomous vehicle may become excessive.

[0007] The present disclosure provides a server that provides an appropriate amount of knowledge information that can be used for path planning, target trajectory planning, and control planning of an autonomous vehicle, a control device that receives the knowledge information and controls the vehicle, and an autonomous driving assistance system that includes these server and control device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure is a server comprising: a probe information analysis unit that analyzes probe information acquired from a plurality of vehicles; a road information acquisition unit that acquires road information including road identifiers of each road that constitutes a road network; a road section extraction unit that divides the plurality of roads into a plurality of smaller road sections and assigns a section identifier to the road information for each of the road sections; a knowledge information generation unit that generates knowledge information that influences the driving behavior of each of the vehicles for each of the section identifiers based on the analysis results of the probe information; a transmission information generation unit that extracts the knowledge information corresponding to the section identifiers of the road sections included in the route to the destination of each of the vehicles and generates transmission information corresponding to the reception conditions of each of the vehicles; and a knowledge information transmission unit that transmits the transmission information to each of the vehicles. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the above aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a server that provides knowledge information with an appropriate amount of information that can be used for route planning, target trajectory planning, and control planning for an autonomous vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of an autonomous driving assistance system according to the present disclosure. [Figure 2] Functional block diagram of the servers that make up the autonomous driving assistance system in Figure 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a control device that constitutes the autonomous driving assistance system of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating the flow of knowledge information generation processing by the server of FIG. 2. [Figure 5] 3 shows an example of a plurality of road sections divided by a road section extraction unit of the server in FIG. 2. [Figure 6] 5 is a detailed flow diagram of a process for setting the information level of FIG. 4 by the server of FIG. 2; [Figure 7] 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of knowledge information distribution processing by the server of FIG. 2; [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow of an automatic driving process performed by the control device of FIG. 3. [Figure 9] 4 is a plan view showing an example of generation of a target trajectory by a target trajectory generation unit of the control device of FIG. 3. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of knowledge information distribution processing by the server of the second embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of an automatic driving process performed by the control device of the second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of a target trajectory generated by a target trajectory generating unit according to the second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of knowledge information distribution processing by the server of the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of a server, a control device, and an autonomous driving assistance system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Embodiment 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of an autonomous driving assistance system according to the present disclosure. The autonomous driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment includes a server 100 and a plurality of control devices 200 mounted on a plurality of vehicles 10. The server 100 and each control device 200 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate information via, for example, a wired communication line and a wireless communication line. More specifically, the server 100 and each control device 200 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate information via, for example, an Internet line INET, a wireless base station WBS, and a communication device 11 mounted on the vehicle 10.

[0013] Server 100 is a computer that includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) 101, memory 102 such as ROM or RAM, non-volatile storage device 103 such as flash memory or a hard disk, and input / output unit 104, and is connected to a network such as the Internet line INET. Server 100 can be configured, for example, by one or more computers. Server 100 may also be configured, for example, by a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or by a combination of a CPU, memory, and FPGA.

[0014] Each vehicle 10 is, for example, a self-driving vehicle that travels autonomously under the control of a control device 200. Each vehicle 10 is, for example, a gasoline engine vehicle, a diesel engine vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, an electric vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle, and is equipped with a control device 200, a communication device 11, a sensor 12, and a storage device 13.

[0015] The control device 200 is configured, for example, by one or more microcontrollers equipped with a CPU, memory, timer, and input / output unit. The control device 200 may also be configured, for example, by an FPGA or ASIC, or by a combination of a CPU, memory, and FPGA. The storage device 13 is, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory or a hard disk.

[0016] The communication device 11 of the vehicle 10 is, for example, a wireless communication device that is communicatively connected to the control device 200 and performs wireless communication with a wireless base station WBS and a roadside communication device. The communication device 11 supports, for example, communication standards such as 3G, 4G, or 5G. The communication device 11 may be directly connected to a server 100 equipped with a wireless communication device via a wireless communication line, or may be indirectly connected to the server 100 via a wireless communication line, the wireless base station WBS, and an internet line INET.

[0017] The sensor 12 detects the driving behavior of the vehicle 10. More specifically, the sensor 12 detects, for example, various physical quantities of the vehicle 10, various operation quantities of the vehicle 10, and objects around the vehicle 10. More specifically, the sensor 12 includes vehicle sensors such as a speed sensor that detects the speed of the vehicle 10, an acceleration sensor that detects the acceleration of the vehicle 10, an angular velocity sensor that detects the angular velocity of the vehicle 10, and an angular acceleration sensor that detects the angular acceleration of the vehicle 10.

[0018] The sensors 12 also include, for example, a pedal sensor that detects the operation amount of an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal, and a steering sensor that detects the rotation angle, angular velocity, angular acceleration, etc. The sensors 12 also include, for example, external sensors such as a monocular camera, a stereo camera, a laser radar, a laser range finder, a millimeter-wave radar, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc. The sensors 12 also include, for example, a position sensor that detects position information of the vehicle 10, such as a receiver for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

[0019] 2 is a functional block diagram of the server 100 constituting the autonomous driving assistance system 300 of FIG. 1. The server 100 includes, for example, a probe information analysis unit 111, a road information acquisition unit 112, a road section extraction unit 113, a knowledge information generation unit 114, a transmission information generation unit 115, and a knowledge information transmission unit 116. The server 100 may also include, for example, a setting unit 117 and an environmental information acquisition unit 118. These units of the server 100 represent functions of the server 100 that are realized by, for example, the CPU 101 loading a program stored in the ROM of the memory 102 into the RAM of the memory 102 and executing the program.

[0020] The server 100 also has, for example, a knowledge information database 121, high-precision map information 122, and probe information 123. Each of these components of the server 100 represents, for example, various types of information stored in the storage device 103 of the server 100. The operation and function of each component of the server 100 shown in Fig. 2 will be described in detail later with reference to a flow diagram.

[0021] Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of a control device 200 constituting the autonomous driving assistance system 300 of Fig. 1. The control device 200 is mounted on, for example, a vehicle 10, and is connected to a communication device 11, a sensor 12, and a storage device 13 of the vehicle 10 so as to be able to communicate information with them. Although not shown in the figure, the control device 200 is also connected to, for example, an electronic control device that drives various actuators of the vehicle 10 so as to be able to communicate information with them.

[0022] The control device 200 includes, for example, a path generation unit 201, a recording unit 202, an information transmission / reception unit 203, a target trajectory generation unit 204, a travel control unit 205, and a drive command unit 206. Each of these units of the control device 200 represents a function of the control device 200 that is realized by, for example, loading a program stored in a ROM in the control device 200 into a RAM by a CPU and executing the program.

[0023] The storage device 13 of the vehicle 10 also includes, for example, a knowledge information database 13a, high-precision map information 13b, and probe information 13c, similar to the storage device 103 of the server 100. Each of these components of the storage device 13 represents, for example, various types of information stored in the storage device 13.

[0024] The route generation unit 201 of the control device 200 generates route information, which is information about a driving route from the current location of the vehicle 10 to a destination, based on, for example, road information in the high-precision map information 13b, position information of the current location of the vehicle 10, and position information of the destination of the vehicle 10. The road information in the high-precision map information 13b includes, for example, road identifiers of each road constituting the road network, lane information, road shapes, etc.

[0025] The route generation unit 201, for example, acquires current position information of the vehicle 10 from the sensor 12 and acquires destination information input by a passenger or manager of the vehicle 10, and generates route information from the current location of the vehicle 10 to the destination based on the high-precision map information 13b. Here, the route information generated by the route generation unit 201 is, for example, information having a resolution sufficient to identify the roads that the vehicle 10 will pass through, and is information in which identifiers of the nodes and links of each road included in the high-precision map information 13b are arranged in the order that the vehicle 10 will pass through.

[0026] The route generation unit 201, for example, generates only one piece of optimal route information and outputs it to the target trajectory generation unit 204. Alternatively, the route generation unit 201 may generate a plurality of pieces of route information and display them together with a map on a mobile information terminal or an in-vehicle monitor, and accept a selection of a travel route by an occupant or manager of the vehicle 10. In this case, the route generation unit 201 outputs, for example, the route information selected by the occupant or manager of the vehicle 10 to the target trajectory generation unit 204.

[0027] The information transmitting / receiving unit 203 of the control device 200 receives knowledge information from the server 100 via the communication device 11 mounted on the vehicle 10. This knowledge information is information that affects the driving behavior of the vehicle 10 on the travel route from the current location of the vehicle 10 to the destination, and is generated by the server 100. The generation of the knowledge information by the server 100 will be described in detail later with reference to a flow diagram.

[0028] The target trajectory generating unit 204 of the control device 200 generates a target trajectory of the vehicle 10 based on, for example, the road information of the high-precision map information 13b, the route information acquired from the route generating unit 201, and the knowledge information acquired from the server 100 via the information transmitting / receiving unit 203. Here, the target trajectory of the vehicle 10 is, for example, information in which absolute positions that the vehicle 10 is scheduled to pass are arranged in the order that the vehicle 10 will pass through.

[0029] In this embodiment, the target trajectory generation unit 204 of the control device 200 generates a target trajectory of the vehicle 10 for each of a plurality of road sections obtained by further dividing a plurality of roads in the high-precision map information 13b to which road identifiers have been assigned. The generation of road sections by the server 100 will also be described in detail later with reference to a flow diagram. The target trajectory generation unit 204 outputs the generated target trajectory to the driving control unit 205, for example.

[0030] The driving control unit 205 of the control device 200 starts the automatic driving of the vehicle 10 when it receives an instruction to start the automatic driving by, for example, an operation by an occupant or a manager of the vehicle 10. The driving control unit 205 generates a control signal based on a control amount for driving the vehicle 10 along the target trajectory input from the target trajectory generation unit 204, for example, and outputs the control signal to the drive command unit 206. The driving control unit 205 interrupts the automatic driving of the vehicle 10 in any of the following cases.

[0031] That is, the driving control unit 205 suspends the autonomous driving of the vehicle 10, for example, when the vehicle 10 arrives at the destination, when an occupant or manager of the vehicle 10 performs manual driving, or when it is determined that it is appropriate to suspend the autonomous driving based on the detection results of the sensor 12. The driving control unit 205 determines that it is appropriate to suspend the autonomous driving, for example, when the driving route generated by the route generation unit 201 cannot be maintained or when the driving route cannot be reached.

[0032] The drive command unit 206 of the control device 200 controls the engine or motor of the vehicle 10, as well as actuators that operate the accelerator pedal, brake pedal, steering, transmission, etc., based on control signals input from the driving control unit 205 during autonomous driving of the vehicle 10. In this way, the control device 200 can cause the vehicle 10 to autonomously travel along a target trajectory on a travel route from the current location of the vehicle 10 to the destination.

[0033] Furthermore, the drive command unit 206 controls actuators that automatically operate the engine or motor, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, steering, transmission, etc. of the vehicle 10 in accordance with the driving operations of the occupant or manager when the vehicle 10 is being manually driven. Here, the driving operations during manual driving include, for example, rotating the steering wheel, depressing the accelerator pedal, depressing the brake pedal, and operating the shift lever.

[0034] The recording unit 202 of the control device 200 records probe information based on the detection results of the sensor 12 that detects the driving behavior of the vehicle 10 in the storage device 13 at a predetermined cycle. The information transmitting / receiving unit 203 of the control device 200 transmits, for example, the route information generated by the route generating unit 201 and the probe information 13c recorded in the storage device 13 by the recording unit 202 to the server 100 at a predetermined cycle via the communication device 11 mounted on the vehicle 10. The information transmitting / receiving unit 203 may be configured to transmit the probe information 13c to the server 100 when a predetermined amount of probe information 13c has been accumulated in the storage device 13.

[0035] The probe information 13c includes, for example, physical quantities such as the speed and acceleration of the vehicle 10, operation amounts of the accelerator pedal, brake pedal, steering, etc. of the vehicle 10, external environment information such as objects around the vehicle 10 and road shapes, and position information of the vehicle 10. The probe information 13c also includes, for example, an identifier of each control device 200, a timestamp, a type of detected value, and the detected value. The probe information 13c is time-series data indicating the state of the vehicle 10 while it is traveling. Based on this probe information 13c, it is possible to calculate the trajectory traveled by the vehicle 10.

[0036] The trajectory of the vehicle 10 is, for example, information that lists absolute positions that the vehicle 10 has passed in the past in the order that the vehicle 10 passed through them. In contrast, the target trajectory described above is information that lists absolute positions that the vehicle 10 is scheduled to pass in the future in the order that the vehicle 10 will pass through them in the future. The absolute positions that make up the trajectory of the vehicle 10 and the target trajectory have, for example, millimeter-level resolution. Here, the absolute position is, for example, a combination of latitude and longitude, and can be rephrased as absolute coordinates.

[0037] 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the flow of knowledge information generation processing by the server 100. When the server 100 starts processing flow P1 shown in FIG. 4, it executes processing P11 for recording probe information. In this processing P11, the probe information analysis unit 111 of the server 100 records the probe information acquired from the multiple vehicles 10 in the storage device 103.

[0038] More specifically, the probe information analysis unit 111 acquires, for example, probe information transmitted at a predetermined cycle from each control device 200 of each vehicle 10 via the communication device 11 via the wireless base station WBS, the Internet line INET, and the input / output unit 104, and records the acquired information in the storage device 103. As a result, the probe information 123 of the multiple vehicles 10 is accumulated in the storage device 103 of the server 100.

[0039] As described above, the probe information 123 includes, for example, an identifier for identifying each control device 200, a timestamp indicating the date and time when the probe information was detected, and the type and value of the detected value of the sensor 12. The type of the detected value of the sensor 12 is, for example, the position information, speed, acceleration, etc. of the vehicle 10. The detected value is, for example, the numerical value of latitude and longitude (degrees, minutes, seconds) in the case of position information.

[0040] Next, the server 100 executes a process P12 to acquire road information included in the route traveled by the vehicle 10 equipped with each control device 200. More specifically, the road information acquisition unit 112 of the server 100 acquires road information from the high-precision map information 122 stored in the storage device 103 based on the position information of each vehicle 10 included in the probe information 123. As described above, the road information includes road identifiers of each road constituting the road network. Furthermore, the road information includes, for example, lane information, road shape, length of road links, nodes included in the road, etc. for each road identifier.

[0041] Next, the server 100 executes a process P13 in which the server 100 divides the roads in the road information assigned with road identifiers into smaller road sections. In this process P13, the road section extraction unit 113 divides the roads for which road information was acquired in the previous process P12 into smaller road sections, and assigns a section identifier to the road information for each road section. An example of a method for dividing the roads into more road sections is, but is not limited to, dividing road links with a distance of 1 km or more between nodes into a plurality of road sections less than 1 km long, and treating all road links with a distance of less than 1 km between nodes as one road section.

[0042] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of roads in road information assigned road identifiers R1 to R4 and a plurality of more subdivided road sections. As shown in FIG. 5, the road assigned road identifier R1 includes nodes N1 to N4 and is divided into three road sections with section identifiers S11 to S13. The road assigned road identifier R2 includes nodes N2, N5, and N7 and is divided into two road sections with section identifiers S21 and S22. The road assigned road identifier R3 includes nodes N3, N6, and N8 and is divided into two road sections with section identifiers S31 and S32. The road assigned road identifier R4 includes nodes N5 and N6 and is divided into one road section with section identifier S41.

[0043] Next, the server 100 executes a process P14 for linking each road section with each piece of probe information. In this process P14, the probe information analysis unit 111 of the server 100 links each piece of probe information to each road section generated in the previous process P13, for example, based on the location information included in the probe information 123. More specifically, the probe information analysis unit 111 assigns, for example, to each piece of probe information, a section identifier of the road section corresponding to the location information of each piece of probe information.

[0044] Next, the server 100 executes a process P15 for analyzing the probe information associated with each road section. In this process P15, the probe information analysis unit 111 of the server 100 analyzes the probe information associated with each road section using an analytical model. More specifically, the probe information analysis unit 111 classifies the probe information for each road section by items of knowledge information, such as day of the week, time of day, and weather, and extracts characteristics of the driving behavior of the vehicle 10 for each combination of items.

[0045] For example, suppose that construction work is carried out on one of the multiple lanes in a certain road section on Saturday and Sunday of the weekend. In this case, the analysis results of the probe information on Saturday and Sunday of the weekend extract a driving behavior characteristic in which the vehicle 10 slows down and changes lanes before the construction site. On the other hand, the analysis results of the probe information on weekdays from Monday to Friday do not extract a driving behavior characteristic similar to that on weekends.

[0046] Next, the server 100 executes a process P16 for setting an information level for the analysis result of the process P15, which is the basis of the knowledge information. In this process P16, the setting unit 117 sets an information level based on the influence that the analysis result of the probe information has on the route to the destination, the target trajectory, or the behavior or control of the vehicle 10, and sets the transmission timing of the transmission information based on the information level.

[0047] Fig. 6 is a detailed flow diagram of process P16 for setting the information level shown in Fig. 4. When the server 100 starts process P16, the setting unit 117 executes process P161 for acquiring the analysis results of the probe information for each road section that forms the basis of the knowledge information from the probe information analysis unit 111. Next, the setting unit 117 executes process P162 for determining whether each analysis result affects the route of the vehicle 10.

[0048] In this process P162, if the setting unit 117 determines that the analysis result of the probe information will affect the route from the current location of the vehicle 10 to the destination (YES), it executes process P163, which sets the information level of the analysis result to 1. Here, the setting unit 117 determines that the analysis result of the probe information will affect the route of the vehicle 10 if it indicates, for example, a road closure, congestion caused by lane restrictions, or a long wait at a railroad crossing that has a long closure time.

[0049] On the other hand, if the setting unit 117 determines in process P162 that the analysis result of the probe information does not affect the route of the vehicle 10 (NO), it executes process P164 to determine whether or not the analysis result will affect the target trajectory of the vehicle 10. If the setting unit 117 determines in process P164 that the analysis result of the probe information will affect the target trajectory of the vehicle 10 (YES), it executes process P165 to set the information level of the knowledge information to 2.

[0050] Here, the setting unit 117 determines that the analysis results of the probe information will affect the target trajectory when it is necessary to change the target trajectory of the vehicle 10 without changing the route, for example, when changing lanes to avoid congestion at the exit or merging lane of a highway, or when changing lanes to avoid congestion in the right-turn lane when driving on the left.

[0051] On the other hand, if the setting unit 117 determines in process P164 that the analysis result of the probe information does not affect the target trajectory of the vehicle 10 (NO), it executes process P166, which sets the information level of the analysis result to 3. Here, the setting unit 117 determines that the analysis result of the probe information does not affect the target trajectory of the vehicle 10 if it only affects the behavior or control of the vehicle 10, such as deceleration or changes to suspension parameters to safely pass over bumps or potholes in the road.

[0052] As described above, the setting unit 117 sets the information level, for example, as shown in Table 1 below, based on the influence of the analysis results of the probe information for each road section on the route, target trajectory, or behavior or control of the vehicle 10. That is, for example, when the influence range of the analysis results of the probe information is the route, target trajectory, and behavior or control of the vehicle 10, the setting unit 117 sets the information level to 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

[0053] [Table 1]

[0054] After setting the information level of the analysis result of the probe information in the above-mentioned process P163, process P165, or process P166, the setting unit 117 executes process P167 for setting the transmission timing of the transmission information. In this process P167, the setting unit 117 sets the transmission timing of the transmission information based on the information level. Note that the transmission information is information generated by the transmission information generation unit 115 in process P18, which will be described later, and includes knowledge information generated in process P17, which will be described later, based on the analysis result of the probe information.

[0055] Here, the transmission timing of the transmission information is the time limit for transmitting the transmission information including the knowledge information in order to utilize the knowledge information that influences the driving behavior of the vehicle 10 in each control device 200. For example, if the knowledge information indicates a road closure on a certain road section and the affected area is the route from the current location of the vehicle 10 to the destination, the transmission information must be transmitted before the vehicle 10 reaches the branch point just before the closed road section. In this case, the transmission timing of the transmission information is until the vehicle 10 reaches the branch point. With the above, the process P16 shown in FIG. 6 ends.

[0056] Next, the server 100 executes a process P17 for generating knowledge information, as shown in Fig. 4. In this process P17, the knowledge information generation unit 114 of the server 100 generates knowledge information that influences the driving behavior of each vehicle 10 for each section identifier of a road section, based on the analysis result of the probe information described above. An example of the knowledge information generated by the knowledge information generation unit 114 is shown in Table 2 below.

[0057] [Table 2]

[0058] As shown in Table 2, the knowledge information includes items such as an identifier (ID), a road ID, a section ID, a lane, a level (Lv.), a day of the week, a time period, a condition, a location, and a content. An ID of the knowledge information is assigned to each piece of knowledge information in order to identify the piece of knowledge information. The road ID is, for example, a road identifier assigned to each road link included in the high-precision map information 122. As described above, the section ID is a section identifier assigned when multiple roads assigned road IDs are subdivided into multiple road sections by the road section extraction unit 113.

[0059] The lanes in Table 2 indicate the lanes of the road section where each piece of knowledge information affects the driving behavior of the vehicle 10. The level indicates the information level of each piece of knowledge information set by the setting unit 117, as described above. The day of the week and time period indicate the day of the week and time period to which each piece of knowledge information applies. The conditions, location, and content respectively indicate the execution conditions, execution location, and execution content of the driving behavior that the vehicle 10 should perform based on each piece of knowledge information. Note that Table 2 is an example of knowledge information, and the items of knowledge information are not limited to the example shown in Table 2.

[0060] For example, knowledge information with ID 2 in Table 2 is knowledge information for a road section with section ID S12 on a road with road ID R1, and is knowledge information with information level 2 that affects the target trajectory of vehicle 10 traveling on a road section including lanes L1 and L2. This knowledge information is generated based on the analysis result of probe information that road construction is being carried out on lane L1 between 8:00 and 10:00 and between 16:00 and 18:00 on weekdays. This knowledge information indicates, for example, that vehicle 10 traveling on lane L1 at the corresponding date and time should change lanes to lane L2 10 meters from point X1, Y1 where the road construction is being carried out.

[0061] Next, the server 100 executes process P18 for recording the generated knowledge information, as shown in Fig. 4. In this process P18, the knowledge information generation unit 114 of the server 100 records the knowledge information generated in the above-mentioned process P17 in the knowledge information database 121 of the storage device 103. This completes process flow P1 of the knowledge information generation process by the server 100 shown in Fig. 4. Next, the server 100 distributes the knowledge information to each vehicle 10.

[0062] 7 is a flow diagram showing the flow of knowledge information distribution processing by the server 100. When the server 100 starts processing flow P2 shown in FIG. 7, it executes processing P21 to determine whether or not a request for knowledge information transmitted from the control device 200 of each vehicle 10 has been received. The request for knowledge information transmitted from the control device 200 mounted in each vehicle 10 via the communication device 11 of each vehicle 10 includes, for example, location information of the current location of each vehicle 10, route information from the current location to the destination, and the free space of the storage device 13 of each vehicle 10.

[0063] In this process P21, if the transmission information generation unit 115 of the server 100 determines that it has not received a request for knowledge information from each vehicle 10 (NO), it terminates the process flow P2 shown in Fig. 7. Thereafter, the server 100 resumes the process flow P2 at a predetermined period. On the other hand, in process P21, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines that it has received a request for knowledge information from the control device 200 of at least one vehicle 10 (YES), it executes process P22 to extract knowledge information to be transmitted to that vehicle 10.

[0064] In this process P22, the transmission information generation unit 115, for example, refers to the route information included in the received knowledge information request. Then, the transmission information generation unit 115 extracts knowledge information corresponding to the section identifiers of the road sections included in the route to the destination of each vehicle 10 from the knowledge information database 121 in the storage device 103. For example, as shown in Table 2 above, it is assumed that the route information of the vehicle 10 referred to by the transmission information generation unit 115 includes roads with road IDs R1 and R2. In this case, the transmission information generation unit 115 extracts from the knowledge information database 121 knowledge information with IDs (1, 2, and 3) that includes the section ID (S11, S12, or S21) corresponding to the road ID (R1 and R2).

[0065] Next, the server 100 executes a process P23 for determining whether or not knowledge information has been extracted. In this process P23, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines, for example, that no knowledge information has been extracted in the previous process P22 (NO), the server 100 terminates the process flow P2 shown in Fig. 7 and then resumes the process flow P2 at a predetermined interval. On the other hand, in process P23, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines, for example, that knowledge information has been extracted in the previous process P22 (YES), the server 100 executes a process P24 for selecting knowledge information to be transmitted to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10.

[0066] In this process P24, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 of the server 100 determines whether or not to transmit each piece of knowledge information to the control device 200 of the corresponding vehicle 10, for example, based on the execution conditions of each piece of knowledge information extracted in process P22. For example, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 compares the day of the week and time period on which the vehicle 10 requesting the knowledge information travels through the road section of each section ID with the day of the week and time period (see Table 2) included in the knowledge information extracted from the knowledge information database 121. For example, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 selects knowledge information for which the comparison result matches as the knowledge information to be transmitted to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10.

[0067] Next, the server 100 executes a process P25 for determining whether or not any knowledge information has been selected. In this process P23, for example, if the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 determines that no knowledge information has been selected in the previous process P24 (NO), the server 100 ends the process flow P2 shown in Fig. 7 and then resumes the process flow P2 at a predetermined interval. On the other hand, in process P25, for example, if the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 determines that the knowledge information has been selected in the previous process P24 (YES), the server 100 executes a process P26 for generating a transmission packet of the knowledge information to be transmitted to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10.

[0068] In this process P26, the transmission information generation unit 115 of the server 100 generates one transmission packet by, for example, collecting together the knowledge information of one or more IDs selected in process P24. For example, suppose that the route of the vehicle 10 equipped with the control device 200 that requested the knowledge information includes a road with road ID R1 shown in FIG. 5, and the vehicle 10 travels through a road section with section ID S12 between 9:00 a.m. on a weekday. In this case, the transmission information generation unit 115 generates, as one transmission packet, the knowledge information with ID 2 shown in Table 2 that was extracted in process P22 and selected in process P24. Note that if multiple pieces of knowledge information are selected in process P24, the transmission information generation unit 115 generates one transmission packet collecting together the selected pieces of knowledge information.

[0069] Next, the server 100 executes, for example, a process P27 for determining whether the amount of information in the transmission packet is equal to or less than a threshold. In this process P27, the transmission information generation unit 115 sets the threshold to, for example, the free space in the storage device 13 of each vehicle 10 included in the request for knowledge information received from the control device 200. In this process P27, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines that the amount of information in the transmission packet generated in the previous process P26 is equal to or less than the threshold (YES), the server 100 executes a process P28 for transmitting the knowledge information.

[0070] In this process P28, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 of the server 100 transmits the transmission packet generated by the transmission information generating unit 115 in process P26 as transmission information to the control device 200 that requested the knowledge information. The control device 200 of the vehicle 10 that received the transmission packet as transmission information, for example, records the knowledge information included in the transmission information in the knowledge information database 13a of the storage device 13, and uses it for controlling the vehicle 10. Thereafter, the server 100 ends process flow P2 shown in Fig. 7 and executes it repeatedly at a predetermined cycle.

[0071] On the other hand, in the above-mentioned process P27, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines that the amount of information in the transmission packet generated in the previous process P26 exceeds the threshold (NO), the server 100 executes process P29 to modify the transmission packet. If the amount of information in the transmission packet exceeds the threshold, the control device 200 of the vehicle 10 that receives the transmission packet will not be able to record the knowledge information in the knowledge information database 13a of the storage device 13, and there is a risk that the knowledge information will not be usable.

[0072] Therefore, in process P29, the transmission information generation unit 115 of the server 100 divides the transmission packets generated in process P26 into packets for each section ID of the road section included in the knowledge information. As a result, the transmission information generation unit 115 generates transmission packets as transmission information corresponding to the reception conditions of each vehicle 10.

[0073] For example, assume that a transmission packet includes three section IDs, S11, S12, and S13, as shown in the following Table 3. In this case, the transmission information generation unit 115 divides the transmission packet shown in Table 3 into, for example, first divided packets with IDs 1 to 5 and section ID S11, second divided packets with IDs 6 and 7 and section ID S12, and third divided packets with IDs 8 and 9 and section ID S13.

[0074] [Table 3]

[0075] Thereafter, the server 100 again executes the above-mentioned process P27. In this process P27, the transmission information generation unit 115 determines whether the amount of information in each of the fragmented packets is equal to or less than the threshold. If the transmission information generation unit 115 determines that the amount of information in all of the fragmented packets is equal to or less than the threshold (YES), the server 100 executes the above-mentioned process P28. In this process P28, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 transmits each of the fragmented packets in the order in which the vehicle 10 travels through the road sections with the section IDs included in each of the fragmented packets.

[0076] On the other hand, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines in process P27 that the amount of information in the first divided packet exceeds the threshold (NO), the server 100 executes process P29 again to modify the transmission packet. In process P29, the transmission information generation unit 115 further divides the first divided packet into a plurality of smaller divided packets, for example, as shown in Table 4 below.

[0077] [Table 4]

[0078] In the example shown in Table 4, the transmission information generation unit 115 re-divides the first divided packet, which includes IDs of multiple pieces of knowledge information, into three smaller divided packets, each of which includes IDs of two or less pieces of knowledge information. Furthermore, the transmission information generation unit 115 assigns, for example, new section IDs (S111, S112, and S113) to the road sections of each smaller divided packet. This allows the smaller divided packets to be rearranged in the order in which the vehicle 10 travels through each road section.

[0079] Thereafter, the server 100 again executes the above-mentioned process P27. In this process P27, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines that the amount of information in each of the small divided packets is equal to or less than the threshold (YES), the server 100 executes the above-mentioned process P28. In this process P28, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 transmits each of the small divided packets and each of the divided packets to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10 in the order in which the vehicle 10 travels each road section.

[0080] Here, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 transmits, for example, the small divided packets or divided packets one by one. The knowledge information transmitting unit 116 transmits the next small divided packet or divided packet after, for example, control of the control device 200 based on the knowledge information included in the transmitted small divided packet or divided packet is completed. Thereafter, the server 100 terminates the process flow P2 shown in Fig. 7 and repeatedly executes the process flow P2 at a predetermined cycle.

[0081] Fig. 8 is a flow diagram showing the flow of the autonomous driving process by the control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10 shown in Fig. 3. The control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10 starts the process flow P3 shown in Fig. 8, for example, when a new destination of each vehicle 10 is set. An occupant or manager of each vehicle 10 sets the destination of the vehicle 10 in the control device 200, for example, via an input device mounted on the vehicle 10 or an information terminal carried by the occupant or manager.

[0082] 8, the control device 200 executes a process P31 for planning a route from the current location of the vehicle 10 to the destination. In this process P31, the route generation unit 201 of the control device 200 generates route information from the current location to the destination based on road information including the road identifiers of each road constituting the road network, and position information of the current location of the vehicle 10 and the destination, as described above.

[0083] Next, the control device 200 executes a process P32 for requesting knowledge information. In this process P32, the information transmitting / receiving unit 203 of the control device 200 transmits a request for knowledge information to the server 100 via the communication device 11. As described above, the request for knowledge information includes, for example, location information of the current location of each vehicle 10, route information from the current location to the destination, and the free space of the storage device 13 of each vehicle 10.

[0084] Next, the control device 200 executes a process P33 for determining whether or not knowledge information has been received. In the process P33, for example, if the information transmitting / receiving unit 203 determines that knowledge information has not been received (NO), the control device 200 executes a process P37 for generating a target trajectory. In this process P37, the target trajectory generating unit 204 generates a target trajectory of the vehicle 10 for each road based on the route information generated in the process P31.

[0085] On the other hand, if the information transmitting / receiving unit 203 determines in process P33 that it has received the knowledge information (YES), the control device 200 executes process P34 to store the knowledge information. In process P34, the recording unit 202 records the received knowledge information in the knowledge information database 13a of the storage device 13. Thereafter, the control device 200 executes process P35 to acquire the knowledge information and process P36 to determine whether the influence range of the acquired knowledge information is a route.

[0086] In process P35, for example, the target trajectory generation unit 204 acquires knowledge information of each road section along which the vehicle 10 is scheduled to travel from the knowledge information database 13a of the storage device 13, based on the route information of the vehicle 10. Furthermore, in process P36, for example, the target trajectory generation unit 204 determines whether the influence range of the knowledge information is a route, based on the information level of the acquired knowledge information.

[0087] In this process P36, if the information level of the knowledge information of any road section on the route is 1, the target trajectory generation unit 204 determines that the influence range of the knowledge information is at the route planning stage (YES). In this case, the control device 200 executes process P31 for planning the route again, and the route generation unit 201 generates a route that does not include road sections corresponding to knowledge information with an information level of 1. On the other hand, in process P36, if the information level of the knowledge information of all road sections on the route is not 1, the target trajectory generation unit 204 determines that the influence range of each piece of knowledge information is not the route (NO).

[0088] In this case, the control device 200 executes a process P37 for generating a target trajectory of the vehicle 10. In this process P37, the target trajectory generation unit 204 generates a target trajectory based on the route information generated in the above-mentioned process P31 for road sections where the information level of the knowledge information is 3, i.e., for road sections where the scope of influence of the knowledge information is the behavior or control of the vehicle 10. On the other hand, in this process P37, the target trajectory generation unit 204 generates a target trajectory based on the content of the knowledge information for road sections where the information level of the knowledge information is 2, i.e., for road sections where the scope of influence of the knowledge information is the target trajectory.

[0089] 9 is a plan view showing an example of the target trajectory T1 generated by the target trajectory generation unit 204 based on the content of the knowledge information. In FIG. 9, the target trajectory T0 of the vehicle 10 when no knowledge information is used is represented by a dashed line, and the target trajectory T1 based on the content of the knowledge information is represented by a solid line. For example, assume that the knowledge information with ID 2 shown in Table 2 above is the knowledge information for a two-lane road section with section ID S12 shown in FIG. 9. In this road section, road construction CS is being carried out within a predetermined range from position X1, Y1 of lane L1 from 8:00 to 10:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00 on weekdays, and that the vehicle 10 will be traveling on lane L1 of this road section during those time periods on weekdays.

[0090] In this case, the target trajectory generation unit 204 generates a target trajectory T1 for causing the vehicle 10 traveling on lane L1 to change lanes to the adjacent lane L2 10 m before the point X1, Y1 where the road construction CS is being carried out, based on the knowledge information for the road section with section ID S12 in Table 2. This makes it possible to avoid sudden deceleration or sudden course changes and allow the vehicle 10 to travel smoothly, compared to when the vehicle 10 changes lanes after the road construction CS is detected by the sensor 12 of the vehicle 10.

[0091] Thereafter, the control device 200 executes a process P38 for controlling the traveling of the vehicle 10. In this process P38, the traveling control unit 205 generates, for example, an operation command for causing the vehicle 10 to travel along the target trajectory T1, and outputs the operation command to the drive command unit 206. The drive command unit 206 operates the actuators of the various parts of the vehicle 10 based on the operation command input from the traveling control unit 205.

[0092] As a result, the drive command unit 206 controls the accelerator, brake, steering, transmission, etc. of the vehicle 10 to cause the vehicle 10 to autonomously travel along the target trajectory T1. Note that, when causing the vehicle 10 to travel along the target trajectory T1 based on the knowledge information, the travel control unit 205 may notify the occupants of the vehicle 10 via a user interface about the knowledge information, such as "changing lanes to avoid road construction."

[0093] Next, the control device 200 executes a process P39 for determining whether or not the vehicle 10 has arrived at the destination. In this process P39, the driving control unit 205 determines whether or not the vehicle 10 has arrived at the destination based on the position information of the vehicle 10 acquired from the sensor 12. The control device 200 repeats the processes P38 and P39 until the vehicle 10 arrives at the destination, and ends the process flow P3 shown in FIG. 8 when the vehicle 10 arrives at the destination.

[0094] The following describes the operations of the server 100, the control device 200, and the automatic driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment.

[0095] In recent years, progress has been made in putting self-driving cars, which are equipped with sensors that detect surrounding objects and can drive autonomously to their destinations, into practical use. However, there is a risk that the sensors installed in cars will not be able to detect objects or events that affect the driving behavior of the car, depending on the shape of the road on which the car is traveling and the obstacles in the surrounding area.

[0096] The conventional server described in the aforementioned Patent Document 1 provides road link information that links the assistance modes of driving assistance performed by the driving assistance device of each vehicle to road link data. However, the road link information linked to road link data is insufficient for use in target trajectory planning and control planning of an autonomous vehicle, which require more detailed information. Furthermore, if all road link information corresponding to the planned route planned in the route planning of an autonomous vehicle is provided, the amount of information held by the autonomous vehicle may become excessive.

[0097] In contrast, the server 100 of this embodiment includes, as described above, a probe information analysis unit 111, a road information acquisition unit 112, a road section extraction unit 113, a knowledge information generation unit 114, a transmission information generation unit 115, and a knowledge information transmission unit 116. The probe information analysis unit 111 analyzes probe information acquired from multiple vehicles 10. The road information acquisition unit 112 acquires road information including road identifiers for each road constituting a road network. The road section extraction unit 113 subdivides the multiple roads into multiple road sections and assigns section identifiers to the road information for each road section. The knowledge information generation unit 114 generates knowledge information that influences the driving behavior of each vehicle 10 for each section identifier based on the analysis results of the probe information. The transmission information generation unit 115 extracts knowledge information corresponding to the section identifiers of road sections included in the route to the destination of each vehicle 10 and generates transmission information corresponding to the reception conditions of each vehicle 10. The knowledge information transmitting unit 116 transmits the transmission information to each vehicle 10 .

[0098] As described above, the control device 200 of this embodiment is mounted on the vehicle 10 and includes a route generation unit 201, a recording unit 202, an information transmission / reception unit 203, a target trajectory generation unit 204, and a driving control unit 205. The route generation unit 201 generates route information from the current location to the destination based on road information including road identifiers of each road constituting a road network and location information of the current location of the vehicle 10 and the destination. The recording unit 202 records probe information based on the detection results of the sensor 12 that detects the driving behavior of the vehicle 10. The information transmission / reception unit 203 transmits the route information and the probe information to the server 100 via the communication device 11 mounted on the vehicle 10, and receives knowledge information that influences the driving behavior from the server 100. The target trajectory generation unit 204 generates a target trajectory for the vehicle 10 for each of multiple road sections that are obtained by further dividing multiple roads based on the road information, route information, and knowledge information. The driving control unit 205 causes the vehicle 10 to drive along the target trajectory. Furthermore, the autonomous driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment includes the above-mentioned server 100 and a plurality of control devices 200 mounted on a plurality of vehicles 10.

[0099] With this configuration, the server 100 of this embodiment can collect and analyze probe information based on detection results of sensors 12 mounted on multiple vehicles 10 from multiple control devices 200. Furthermore, the server 100 can generate knowledge information that influences the driving behavior of the vehicle 10 based on the analysis results of the probe information, and associate each piece of knowledge information with each of multiple road sections that are obtained by further dividing multiple roads that make up a road network. Furthermore, the server 100 generates transmission information including knowledge information for each road section included in the route of the vehicle 10 in accordance with the reception conditions of the vehicle 10, such as the free space in the storage device 103, and transmits the information to the vehicle 10. Therefore, the server 100 and the autonomous driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment can provide each control device 200 with detailed and appropriate amounts of knowledge information that can be used for target trajectory planning and control planning for the vehicle 10.

[0100] Therefore, according to the control device 200 of this embodiment, it is possible to perform automated driving of the vehicle 10 more efficiently, safely, and comfortably based on knowledge information for each of a plurality of road sections obtained by further subdividing the plurality of roads that make up a road network. That is, according to the server 100, control device 200, and automated driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment, by using knowledge information for each road section, it is possible to appropriately deal with objects and events that cannot be detected by the sensors 12 mounted on the vehicle 10 and that affect the driving behavior of the vehicle 10. Therefore, according to the server 100, control device 200, and automated driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment, it is possible to plan a route and target trajectory for the vehicle 10 more efficiently, safely, and comfortably than conventional servers, and it is possible to achieve more efficient, safe, and comfortable automated driving of the vehicle 10.

[0101] Furthermore, as described above, the server 100 of this embodiment further includes the setting unit 117, which sets an information level based on the influence of the analysis results of the probe information on the route, target trajectory, or behavior or control of the vehicle 10, and the transmission timing of the transmission information based on that information level.

[0102] With this configuration, the server 100 of this embodiment can assign an information level to knowledge information that affects the driving behavior of the vehicle based on the extent of its influence. This allows the server 100 to transmit transmission information including knowledge information to the vehicle 10 at appropriate transmission timing depending on the influence on the route, target trajectory, behavior, or control of the vehicle 10.

[0103] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide a server 100 that provides knowledge information with an appropriate amount of information that can be used for route planning, target trajectory planning, and control planning of an autonomous vehicle, a control device 200 that receives the knowledge information and controls the vehicle 10, and an autonomous driving assistance system 300 that includes the server 100 and the control device 200.

[0104] [Embodiment 2] Next, a second embodiment of a server, a control device, and an automated driving assistance system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the first embodiment described above and Figures 10 to 12. The configurations of the server 100, the control device 200, and the automated driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment are similar to the configurations of the server 100, the control device 200, and the automated driving assistance system 300 of the first embodiment described above, and therefore, similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0105] The server 100, the control device 200, and the automated driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment differ from the server 100, the control device 200, and the automated driving assistance system 300 of the above-described first embodiment mainly in the processing by the knowledge information transmission unit 116 of the server 100. In this embodiment, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 sequentially transmits transmission information corresponding to road sections included in a predetermined range ahead of the vehicle 10, based on the position information of each vehicle 10 included in the probe information.

[0106] 10 is a flow diagram showing the flow of knowledge information distribution processing by the server 100 of this embodiment. When the server 100 starts processing flow P4 shown in FIG. 10, it executes processing P41 to acquire probe information based on the detection results of the sensors 12 from the control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10. In this processing P41, the probe information analysis unit 111 of the server 100 receives the probe information transmitted from the control device 200 and stores it in the storage device 103.

[0107] Next, the server 100 executes process P42 to extract a road section and process P43 to extract knowledge information. In process P42, the road section extraction unit 113 of the server 100 extracts a road section along which the vehicle 10 will travel, based on the route to the destination of the vehicle 10 acquired from the control device 200 and the position information of the vehicle 10 included in the probe information. In process P43, the knowledge information generation unit 114 extracts knowledge information corresponding to the road section extracted in the previous process P42 from the knowledge information database 121 of the storage device 103.

[0108] Next, the server 100 executes a process P44 for determining whether or not knowledge information has been extracted. In this process P44, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines, for example, that no knowledge information has been extracted in the previous process P43 (NO), the server 100 terminates the process flow P4 shown in Fig. 10 and then resumes the process flow P4 at a predetermined interval. On the other hand, in process P44, if the transmission information generation unit 115 determines, for example, that knowledge information has been extracted in the previous process P43 (YES), the server 100 executes a process P45 for selecting knowledge information to be transmitted to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10.

[0109] In this process P45, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 of the server 100 selects the knowledge information to be transmitted to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10 based on the execution conditions of each piece of knowledge information extracted in process P43, for example, similar to process P24 in embodiment 1.

[0110] Next, the server 100 executes a process P46 for determining whether or not selected knowledge information has been present. In this process P46, for example, if the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 determines that no knowledge information has been selected in the previous process P45 (NO), the server 100 terminates the process flow P4 shown in Fig. 10 and then resumes the process flow P4 at a predetermined interval. On the other hand, in process P46, for example, if the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 determines that the knowledge information has been selected in the previous process P45 (YES), the server 100 executes a process P47 for formulating a transmission plan for the knowledge information to be transmitted to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10.

[0111] In this process P47, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 of the server 100 formulates a transmission plan for the transmission information so as to minimize the amount of knowledge information held by the control device 200 of the vehicle 10. Specifically, the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 sequentially transmits transmission information corresponding to road sections included in a predetermined range ahead of the vehicle 10, for example, based on the position information of each vehicle 10 included in the probe information.

[0112] Furthermore, similar to process P16 shown in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment described above, the setting unit 117 may set the transmission timing of the transmission information based on the information level. In this case, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 sequentially transmits the transmission information according to the set transmission timing. That is, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 may, for example, identify the stage of the autonomous driving process for each vehicle 10 as either a path plan, a target trajectory plan, or a behavior or control plan for the vehicle 10, and sequentially transmit to each vehicle 10 transmission information including knowledge information to be used in the identified stage of the autonomous driving process.

[0113] In this embodiment, the knowledge information generation unit 114 adds a transmission deadline to the knowledge information items shown in Table 2 described in Embodiment 1, for example. The transmission deadline for the knowledge information with ID 1 shown in Table 2 is set, for example, 100 m before the last branch point of the road with road ID R0 that connects to the road with road ID R1, so that a change to a route that does not include the closed road with road ID R1 can be smoothly implemented.

[0114] Next, the server 100 executes a process P48 for transmitting knowledge information. In this process P48, the knowledge information transmitter 116 refers to the location information based on the probe information acquired from the vehicle 10, and if the location information matches the transmission plan formulated in the previous process P47, transmits transmission information including the knowledge information based on the transmission plan to the control device 200 of the vehicle 10. As a result, the server 100 ends the process flow P4 shown in Fig. 10 and repeatedly executes the process flow P4 at a predetermined period.

[0115] 11 is a flow diagram showing the flow of the autonomous driving process of the vehicle 10 by the control device 200 of this embodiment. As in the above-described first embodiment, when a new destination of each vehicle 10 is set, the control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10 starts the process flow P5 shown in FIG. 11 and executes process P51 for planning a route. In this process P31, the route generation unit 201 of the control device 200 generates route information from the current location to the destination, as in the above-described first embodiment.

[0116] Next, the control device 200 executes a process P52 for generating a target trajectory of the vehicle 10 and a process P53 for controlling the driving of the vehicle 10. In the process P52, the target trajectory generation unit 204 generates a target trajectory of the vehicle 10 for the route of the vehicle 10 planned in the previous process P51. In addition, in the process P53, the driving control unit 205 generates, for example, an operation command for driving the vehicle 10 along the target trajectory T1, and outputs the operation command to the drive command unit 206.

[0117] The drive command unit 206 operates actuators of various parts of the vehicle 10 based on the operation command input from the driving control unit 205. As a result, the drive command unit 206 controls the accelerator, brake, steering, transmission, etc. of the vehicle 10, and causes the vehicle 10 to autonomously drive along a target trajectory.

[0118] Next, the control device 200 executes a process P54 for transmitting probe information and a process P55 for acquiring knowledge information. In the process P54, the information transmitting / receiving unit 203 transmits the probe information 13c detected by the sensor 12 and recorded in the storage device 13 by the recording unit 202 to the server 100 via the communication device 11. In the process P55, the information transmitting / receiving unit 203 receives the transmission information sequentially transmitted at an appropriate transmission timing from the server 100 via the communication device 11, acquires the knowledge information included in the transmission information, and records it in the knowledge information database 13a of the storage device 13.

[0119] Next, the control device 200 executes a process P56 to determine whether the knowledge information acquired in the previous process P55 affects the route of the vehicle 10, i.e., whether the information level of the knowledge information is 1. In this process P56, if the traveling control unit 205 determines that the information level of the knowledge information is 1 (YES), the control device 200 executes the process P51 to plan a route again.

[0120] In this case, the route generation unit 201 of the control device 200 generates new route information for the vehicle 10 based on the road information in the high-precision map information 13b, the current location and destination of the vehicle 10, and the knowledge information. On the other hand, if the traveling control unit 205 determines in process P56 that the information level of the knowledge information is not 1 (NO), the control device 200 executes process P57 to determine whether the vehicle 10 has arrived at the destination.

[0121] In this process P57, the traveling control unit 205 determines whether the vehicle 10 has arrived at the destination based on the position information of the vehicle 10 acquired from the sensor 12. The control device 200 repeats processes P52 to P57 until the vehicle 10 arrives at the destination, and ends the process flow P5 shown in Fig. 11 when the vehicle 10 arrives at the destination.

[0122] Fig. 12 is a plan view showing an example of generation of a target trajectory T1 by the target trajectory generation unit 204 of this embodiment. In Fig. 12, in the target trajectory T0 of the vehicle 10 when no knowledge information is used and the target trajectory T1 based on the content of the knowledge information, normal driving is represented by a solid line and slow driving is represented by a dashed line. The control device 200 of this embodiment can generate a target trajectory T1 that reflects the knowledge information included in the transmission information by generating a target trajectory after receiving transmission information transmitted from the server 100.

[0123] For example, suppose that the knowledge information with ID 3 in Table 2 above is knowledge information for a road section with one lane in each direction and section ID S21 shown in Fig. 12. In this road section, a bump B for reducing the speed of the vehicle 10 is provided at positions X2, Y2 on lane L1 every day, all day long, and the vehicle 10 travels on lane L1 in this road section.

[0124] In this case, the target trajectory generation unit 204 generates a target trajectory T1 for this road section, based on the knowledge information for the road section with section ID S21 in Table 2, that causes the vehicle 10, traveling in lane L1 at a speed of 9 km / h or more, to slow down 5 m before the point X2, Y2 where bump B is located. This makes it possible to avoid sudden deceleration and allow the vehicle 10 to travel safely and comfortably, compared to the target trajectory T0 that causes the vehicle 10 to decelerate after bump B is detected by the sensor 12 of the vehicle 10.

[0125] As described above, in the server 100 of this embodiment, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 sequentially transmits transmission information corresponding to road sections included in a predetermined range ahead of the vehicle 10 based on the position information of each vehicle 10 included in the probe information. With this configuration, it becomes possible to provide detailed knowledge information necessary for safe and comfortable autonomous driving of the vehicle 10 with the minimum amount of information required when needed by the vehicle 10.

[0126] Furthermore, in the server 100 of this embodiment, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 identifies the stage of the autonomous driving process for each vehicle 10 as either a path plan, a target trajectory plan, or a behavior or control plan for the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the knowledge information transmission unit 116 transmits transmission information including knowledge information to be used in the identified stage of the autonomous driving process to each vehicle 10. This configuration also makes it possible to provide detailed knowledge information necessary for safe and comfortable autonomous driving of the vehicle 10 with the minimum amount of information required when needed by the vehicle 10.

[0127] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide a server 100 that provides knowledge information with an appropriate amount of information that can be used for route planning, target trajectory planning, and control planning of an autonomous vehicle, a control device 200 that receives the knowledge information and controls the vehicle 10, and an autonomous driving assistance system 300 that includes the server 100 and the control device 200.

[0128] [Embodiment 3] Next, a third embodiment of the server, control device, and autonomous driving assistance system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 13, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 and 8 of the first embodiment described above.

[0129] The server 100, control device 200, and automated driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment differ from the server 100, control device 200, and automated driving assistance system 300 of the above-described first embodiment mainly in the processing of the road section extraction unit 113 of the server 100. Other configurations of the server 100, control device 200, and automated driving assistance system 300 of this embodiment are similar to the configurations of the server 100, control device 200, and automated driving assistance system 300 of the above-described first embodiment, so similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0130] The server 100 includes, for example, an environmental information acquisition unit 118 shown in FIG. 2. The environmental information acquisition unit 118 acquires environmental information related to the external environment of each road included in the planned route of each vehicle 10. Here, the environmental information includes, for example, information related to weather, temperature, and humidity. The environmental information may also include, for example, information related to a network connection environment. The environmental information acquisition unit 118 acquires the environmental information from outside the server 100 via, for example, an Internet line INET.

[0131] 13 is a flow diagram showing the flow of knowledge information distribution processing by the server 100 of this embodiment. When the server 100 starts processing flow P6 shown in FIG. 13, it executes processing P61 to acquire route information to the destination of each vehicle 10 from the control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10. In this processing P61, for example, the road section extraction unit 113 of the server 100 acquires route information including road identifiers, section identifiers, and nodes from the control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10.

[0132] Next, the server 100 executes a process P62 for acquiring probe information. In this process P62, for example, the probe information analysis unit 111 of the server 100 acquires probe information based on the detection results of the sensors 12 from the control device 200 mounted on each vehicle 10. The probe information includes, for example, traveling information of the vehicle 10 such as position, speed, acceleration, angular velocity, and angular acceleration.

[0133] Next, the server 100 executes process P63 for acquiring environmental information and process P64 for acquiring road shape. In process P63, for example, the environmental information acquisition unit 118 of the server 100 acquires environmental information related to the external environment of the road included in the route information acquired by the road section extraction unit 113 in process P61. In process P64, for example, the road information acquisition unit 112 of the server 100 acquires the road shape of the road included in the route information acquired by the road section extraction unit 113 in process P61 from the high-precision map information 122. The road shape includes attributes related to the road, such as the road gradient, curves, and whether or not there is a tunnel.

[0134] Next, the server 100 executes process P65 to modify the road section. In this process P65, for example, the road section extraction unit 113 of the server 100 sets the length of the road section based on the travel information of each vehicle 10 based on the probe information, the environmental information of each road on which each vehicle 10 travels, and the road shape included in the road information of each road on which each vehicle 10 travels.

[0135] More specifically, for example, the length of the road section can be changed depending on the speed of the vehicle 10, so that knowledge information can be transmitted to the vehicle 10 at an appropriate timing. Also, if the detection accuracy of the sensor 12 of the vehicle 10 decreases due to weather, the length of the road section can be increased so that more knowledge information can be transmitted to the vehicle 10. Also, multiple road sections that have many tunnels and make it difficult to connect to the network of the control device 200 of the vehicle 10 may be grouped together as a single road section, and knowledge information can be transmitted in advance.

[0136] Next, the server 100 executes a process P66 for determining whether the amount of information to be transmitted is equal to or less than a threshold. In this process P66, the transmission information generation unit 115 of the server 100 generates the knowledge information for each road section corrected in the previous process P65 as one transmission packet. The knowledge information transmission unit 116 of the server 100 also determines whether the amount of information in each transmission packet is equal to or less than a threshold.

[0137] In this process P66, if the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 determines that the amount of information in the transmission packet is greater than the threshold (NO), the server 100 repeats the process P66 to reduce the amount of information in the transmission packet. On the other hand, if the knowledge information transmitting unit 116 determines that the amount of information in the transmission packet is equal to or less than the threshold (YES), the server 100 executes a process P67 for formulating a transmission plan and a process P68 for transmitting knowledge information, similar to the processes P47 and P48 in the second embodiment described above, and then ends the process flow P6 shown in Fig. 13.

[0138] As described above, the server 100 of this embodiment further includes an environmental information acquisition unit 118 that acquires environmental information related to the external environment of each road included in the planned route of each vehicle 10. In addition, the road section extraction unit 113 sets the length of the road section based on the travel information of each vehicle 10 based on the probe information, the environmental information of each road on which each vehicle 10 travels, and the road shape included in the road information of each road on which each vehicle 10 travels.

[0139] With this configuration, the server 100 of this embodiment can not only achieve the same effects as the server 100 of the first embodiment described above, but also suppress a decrease in reliability due to the influence of driving information of the vehicle 10, road environmental information, and road shape. Therefore, this embodiment can provide the server 100 that provides knowledge information with an appropriate amount of information that can be used for route planning, target trajectory planning, and control planning of an autonomous vehicle, the control device 200 that receives the knowledge information and controls the vehicle 10, and the autonomous driving assistance system 300 that includes the server 100 and the control device 200.

[0140] The above has described in detail embodiments of the server, control device, and autonomous driving assistance system according to the present disclosure using drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there are design changes, etc., within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present disclosure, they are included in the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0141] 10 vehicles 11. Communications equipment 12 sensors 100 servers 111 Probe Information Analysis Department 112 Road information acquisition department 113 Road section extraction unit 114 Knowledge information generation section 115 Transmission information generation unit 116 Knowledge Information Transmission Department 117 Setting section 118 Environmental Information Acquisition Department 200 control device 201 Route Generation Unit 202 Recording Department 203 Information Transmitter / Receiver 204 Target trajectory generation section 205 Travel control unit 300 Autonomous Driving Assistance System R1~R4 Road identifier S11~S41 Section identifier T1 target trajectory

Claims

1. a probe information analysis unit that analyzes probe information acquired from a plurality of vehicles; a road information acquisition unit that acquires road information including road identifiers of each road that constitutes a road network; a road section extraction unit that divides the plurality of roads into a plurality of smaller road sections and assigns a section identifier to the road information of each of the road sections; a knowledge information generating unit that generates knowledge information that influences the driving behavior of each of the vehicles for each of the section identifiers based on an analysis result of the probe information; a transmission information generating unit that extracts the knowledge information corresponding to the section identifiers of the road sections included in the route to the destination of each of the vehicles and generates transmission information corresponding to the reception conditions of each of the vehicles; a knowledge information transmitting unit that transmits the transmission information to each of the vehicles; Equipped with The transmission information generation unit A server sets the free space in the storage device of each of the vehicles as a threshold, and when the amount of information in the transmission packet as the transmission information exceeds the threshold, divides the transmission packet into sections of the road sections included in the knowledge information, and generates the transmission packet as the transmission information corresponding to the reception conditions of each of the vehicles, with the amount of information being equal to or less than the threshold.

2. 2. The server according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit that sets an information level based on an influence that an analysis result of the probe information has on the route, target trajectory, or behavior or control of the vehicle, and a transmission timing of the transmission information based on the information level.

3. an environmental information acquisition unit that acquires environmental information regarding an external environment of each of the roads included in the planned route of each of the vehicles; 2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the road section extraction unit sets the length of the road section based on travel information of each of the vehicles based on the probe information, the environmental information of each of the roads on which each of the vehicles travel, and a road shape included in the road information of each of the roads on which each of the vehicles travel.

4. 2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the knowledge information transmission unit sequentially transmits the transmission information corresponding to the road section included in a predetermined range ahead of the vehicle based on position information of each of the vehicles included in the probe information.

5. 2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the knowledge information transmission unit identifies the stage of the autonomous driving process in each of the vehicles as being a stage of path planning, target trajectory planning, or behavior or control planning for the vehicle, and transmits the transmission information including the knowledge information used in the identified stage of the autonomous driving process to each of the vehicles.

6. A control device mounted on a vehicle, a route generating unit that generates route information from the current location to the destination based on road information including road identifiers of each road constituting a road network and location information of the current location of the vehicle and the destination; a recording unit that records probe information based on a detection result of a sensor that detects the driving behavior of the vehicle; an information transmitting / receiving unit that transmits the route information and the probe information to a server via a communication device mounted on the vehicle and receives knowledge information that influences the driving behavior from the server; a target trajectory generating unit that generates a target trajectory of the vehicle for each of a plurality of road sections obtained by further dividing the plurality of roads based on the road information, the route information, and the knowledge information; a travel control unit that causes the vehicle to travel along the target trajectory; Equipped with The information transmitting and receiving unit sending a request for the knowledge information including free space in a storage device of the vehicle to the server; Control device.

7. An autonomous driving assistance system comprising the server according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and a plurality of control devices mounted on a plurality of the vehicles, The control device a route generating unit that generates route information from the current location to the destination based on the road information of each of the roads and position information of the current location of the vehicle and the destination; a recording unit that records the probe information based on a detection result of a sensor that detects the driving behavior of the vehicle; an information transmitting / receiving unit that transmits the route information and the probe information to the server via a communication device mounted on the vehicle and receives the knowledge information from the server; a target trajectory generating unit that generates a target trajectory of the vehicle for each of the road sections based on the road information, the route information, and the knowledge information; a travel control unit that causes the vehicle to travel along the target trajectory; Equipped with The information transmitting and receiving unit sending a request for the knowledge information including free space in a storage device of the vehicle to the server; Autonomous driving assistance system.

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