vehicle

Abstract

To provide a vehicle configured so that some or all of various types of driving control that are necessary in travelling can be automatically executed without requiring operation by a driver, which enables some or all of driving control in automatic execution to be forcibly stopped at an appropriate timing.SOLUTION: An automatic driving control device, which is mounted on a vehicle, comprises a driving mode setting part and an automatic control part. The driving mode setting part sets a driving mode of the vehicle to either of an advanced automatization mode or a basic mode. When the driving mode is set to the advanced automatization mode, the automatic control part automatically executes automatic driving operation which is driving operation set to be automatically executed, and when a predetermined event requiring cancellation occurs, stops at least one of the automatic driving operation in execution.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This international application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-234665, filed with the Japan Patent Office on November 19, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. [Technical Field]

[0002] The present disclosure relates to an automatic driving control device that can automatically perform at least some of the various driving actions required for a driver to drive a vehicle, such as various decisions and operations by the driver, without requiring any operation by the driver. [Background technology]

[0003] Various technologies for realizing autonomous driving of vehicles have been proposed, and some have been put into practical use. Patent Document 1 listed below discloses an autonomous vehicle that can drive autonomously according to a preset driving plan. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-59274 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] One of the ultimate goals of autonomous driving technology is to enable a vehicle to reach its destination simply by setting the destination, without any driver involvement in the driving process. However, the current situation is that the level of reliability necessary to make this a reality has not yet been reached.

[0006] Furthermore, the more advanced autonomous driving technology becomes, the more desirable it is to be able to take appropriate measures against abnormalities in the onboard computer that realizes autonomous driving. Specifically, when adopting autonomous driving technology, it is desirable to be able to disable at least a portion of the control currently being performed automatically and leave it to the driver's operation, or to forcibly control the vehicle's behavior in a safe direction, as necessary.

[0007] In one aspect of the present disclosure, in a vehicle that is capable of automatically executing at least some of the various driving controls necessary for driving without the need for driver operation, it is desirable to be able to forcibly stop at least some of the controls that are being automatically executed at an appropriate time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] An automatic driving control device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is mounted on a vehicle and includes a surrounding information acquisition unit, a driving mode setting unit, an automatic control unit, and a cancellation-requiring event determination unit. The surrounding information acquisition unit acquires surrounding information, which is information about the surroundings of the vehicle. More specifically, the surrounding information is information that indicates the state of the surroundings of the vehicle and is necessary for automatically executing multiple types of driving operations required for driving the vehicle without requiring driver operation.

[0009] The driving mode setting unit sets the driving mode of the vehicle to either a highly automated mode or a basic mode. The highly automated mode is a driving mode in which at least some of the multiple types of driving actions required for vehicle travel are automatically performed based on surrounding information. The basic mode is a driving mode in which the types of automatic driving actions that are automatically performed are fewer or slightly fewer than those in the highly automated mode. This is an operating mode where the power consumption is almost zero.

[0010] The automatic control unit executes the automatic driving operation set in the driving mode based on the driving mode set by the driving mode setting unit. The cancellation-requiring event determination unit determines whether a predetermined cancellation-requiring event has occurred, at least when the driving mode is the highly automated mode. The cancellation-requiring event is a predetermined event that requires the cancellation (stopping of execution) of at least one of the automatic driving operations that are set to be executed.

[0011] When the driving mode is set to at least the highly automated mode, if the cancellation event determination unit determines that a cancellation event has occurred, the automatic control unit stops the execution of at least one of the automatic driving operations that are set to be executed.

[0012] According to the automatic driving control device configured in this manner, when the driving mode is set to at least the highly automated mode (i.e., when at least one automatic driving operation is set to be executed), if an event requiring cancellation occurs, at least one of the automatic driving operations that should be executed is cancelled from the list of operations to be executed and will no longer be executed by the automatic control unit.

[0013] Therefore, even if a cancellation event occurs that may cause the automatic driving operation to stop working properly, it is possible to prevent the vehicle's driving from becoming unintentionally unstable. When the driving mode is set to a driving mode having at least one automatic driving operation to be executed, if the cancellation-requiring event determination unit determines that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred, the automatic control unit may stop all automatic driving operations to be executed in that driving mode. In other words, if a cancellation-requiring event occurs, the automatic control unit does not perform any automatic driving operations. In this way, even if a cancellation-requiring event occurs that may prevent the automatic driving operation from being performed normally, it is possible to more reliably prevent the vehicle's driving from becoming unintentionally unstable.

[0014] Here, the vehicle may include an alarm unit and a release permission determination unit. When the release permission event determination unit determines that a release permission event has occurred, the alarm unit notifies a vehicle occupant that a release permission event has occurred. The release permission determination unit determines whether a specific release permission action has been taken by the vehicle occupant after the alarm unit has notified the vehicle occupant. When the release permission determination unit determines that a release permission action has been taken, the automatic control unit may stop the execution of an automatic driving action that should be stopped. Then, when the release permission determination unit does not determine that a release permission action has been taken, the automatic control unit may execute a predetermined automatic stop process to stop the vehicle from traveling.

[0015] In the automatic driving control device configured in this way, when a cancellation event occurs, the automatic driving operation is not stopped unconditionally, but an announcement is made in advance. Then, if the vehicle occupant expresses their intention in response to the announcement, the automatic driving operation is stopped. In this way, it is possible to prevent the running state of the vehicle from becoming unstable due to the stopping of the automatic driving operation. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1A is a side view of a vehicle according to an embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a top view of the vehicle according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a vehicle according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram showing the automatic driving level of each driving mode, and FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram showing that the control content at each automatic driving level may be set arbitrarily. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an overview of autonomous driving. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart of an autonomous driving level setting process. [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart showing details of the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process in the autonomous driving level setting process of FIG. 5. [Figure 7]7 is a flowchart showing details of the system monitoring process in the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] 7 is a flowchart showing details of the inside / outside behavior monitoring process in the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. 6. [Figure 9] 7 is a flowchart showing details of an environment monitoring process in the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. 6. [Figure 10] FIG. 10A is a flowchart of the driving history recording process, and FIG. 10B is a flowchart showing details of the self-diagnosis process in the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart of a control state monitoring process according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. [First embodiment] (1) Vehicle 1 Configuration Fig. 1A shows a side view of a vehicle 1 according to this embodiment, and Fig. 1B shows a top view of the vehicle 1. However, Fig. 1A and Fig. 1B simply illustrate the arrangement of various cameras, radars, sensors, etc. in the vehicle 1, with the aim of mainly clarifying the arrangement of these devices.

[0018] 1A and 1B, vehicle 1 is equipped with at least a front camera 2, a rear camera 3, a left side camera 4, a right side camera 5, and an interior camera 6 as cameras for capturing images of the interior and exterior of vehicle 1. Each of cameras 2 to 6 is a camera capable of capturing color images and videos. Each of cameras 2 to 6 may be a monocular camera, or may be a stereo camera equipped with multiple lenses so that depth information can also be obtained.

[0019] The front camera 2 is mounted on the front end of the ceiling inside the vehicle cabin so as to face forward. This front camera 2 can capture a wide range of images in front of the vehicle 1. The rear camera 3 is mounted on the rear end of the ceiling inside the vehicle cabin so as to face backward. This rear camera 3 can capture a wide range of images behind the vehicle 1.

[0020] The left side camera 4 is provided on the left side of the vehicle 1 so as to face left. This left side camera 4 can capture a wide range of images on the left side of the vehicle 1. The right side camera 5 is provided on the right side of the vehicle 1 so as to face right. This right side camera 5 can capture a wide range of images on the right side of the vehicle 1.

[0021] The interior camera 6 is provided at the front end of the ceiling inside the vehicle cabin so as to face rearward (into the vehicle cabin). The interior camera 6 can capture an image of at least the upper half of the driver's body inside the vehicle cabin.

[0022] 1A and 1B, the vehicle 1 is equipped with a front radar device 11, a rear radar device 12, a left-side viewing radar device 13, and a right-side viewing radar device 14. In this embodiment, each of the radar devices 11 to 14 is a millimeter-wave radar. As is well known, a millimeter-wave radar is a radar that transmits millimeter-wave radio waves and receives the reflected waves with multiple receiving antennas, thereby detecting target information related to targets around the vehicle 1 based on the relationship between the transmitted waves and each received wave and the relationship between the received waves. The target information that can be detected by each of the radar devices 11 to 14 includes the presence or absence of a target in the detection direction, the distance to the target, the direction of the target relative to the vehicle 1, and the moving speed of the target (relative speed with respect to the vehicle 1).

[0023] Specifically, the front radar device 11 is provided at the front end of the vehicle 1 and transmits and receives millimeter waves of a predetermined frequency to and from the front of the vehicle 1. This front radar device 11 can acquire target information related to targets in front of the vehicle 1. The rear radar device 12 is provided at the rear end of the vehicle 1 and transmits and receives millimeter waves of a predetermined frequency to and from the rear of the vehicle 1. This rear radar device 12 can acquire target information related to targets behind the vehicle 1. The left side radar device 13 is provided on the left side of the vehicle 1 and transmits and receives millimeter waves of a predetermined frequency to and from the left side of the vehicle 1. This left side radar device 13 can acquire target information related to targets on the left side of the vehicle 1. The right side radar device 14 is provided on the right side of the vehicle 1 and transmits and receives millimeter waves of a predetermined frequency to and from the right side of the vehicle 1. This right side radar device 14 can acquire target information related to targets on the right side of the vehicle 1.

[0024] 1A and 1B, the vehicle 1 is also equipped with a solar radiation sensor 16 and a rainfall sensor 17. The solar radiation sensor 16 is installed at the bottom of the windshield 9 at the front of the vehicle interior. The solar radiation sensor 16 is capable of detecting the amount of solar radiation on the vehicle 1 and, in turn, the brightness around the vehicle 1. The rainfall sensor 17 is installed at the top of the windshield 9 on the interior side of the vehicle interior. The rainfall sensor 17 is capable of detecting the presence or absence of rainfall and the amount of rainfall.

[0025] (2) Electrical configuration of vehicle 1 The electrical configuration of vehicle 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, vehicle 1 is equipped with an automatic driving control device 30. Automatic driving control device 30 mainly has a mode switching function and an automatic driving function. The mode switching function is a function that sets the driving mode of vehicle 1 to either a highly automated mode or a basic mode. The automatic driving function is a function that executes automatic driving according to the automatic driving level of the set driving mode (see FIG. 3A; details will be described later). As will be described later, automatic driving control device 30 appropriately switches the driving mode of vehicle 1 according to various factors such as the driving state of vehicle 1, the surrounding conditions of vehicle 1, and the state of the driver of vehicle 1.

[0026] There are several types of autonomous driving for vehicles, including partial autonomous driving and fully autonomous driving. Partial autonomous driving is a form of autonomous driving in which some of the various driving actions required by the driver to drive the vehicle are automated. Note that automation here means that the vehicle can be performed without the need for driver operation, etc. Fully autonomous driving is a form of autonomous driving in which the vehicle's journey to a set destination is fully automated without the need for driver operation, etc. In the following, the parameter indicating the degree of type and number of driving actions that are automated in autonomous driving is referred to as the autonomous driving level. Fully autonomous driving is a higher level of autonomous driving than partial autonomous driving. Furthermore, there are various levels of partial autonomous driving depending on the type and number of driving actions that are automated.

[0027] The vehicle 1 of this embodiment is configured to be capable of not only partial autonomous driving but also fully autonomous driving by the automatic driving control device 30. In this embodiment, the driver can freely change the setting of the autonomous driving level, that is, which of the various driving operations required for driving are automated and which are performed by the driver.

[0028] More specifically, in this embodiment, there are seven main automatic control functions for realizing fully automated driving: automatic start / stop control, lane keeping control, inter-vehicle distance control, lane change control, right / left turn control, collision prevention control, and parking control. The automatic driving control device 30 can execute these seven automatic control functions, and fully automated driving can be realized by executing all seven automatic control functions.

[0029] Conversely, by executing any six or fewer of the seven automatic control functions, partial automated driving can be achieved. In this embodiment, it is possible to arbitrarily set which of the seven automatic control functions are to be executed in the highly automated mode.

[0030] The specific details of the seven types of automatic control functions will be explained in detail later. The more of the seven types of automatic control functions that are executed, the higher the level of autonomous driving. Specifically, when none of the seven types of automatic control functions are executed, the autonomous driving level is level 0. When n types of the seven types of automatic control functions are executed, the autonomous driving level is level n. Therefore, in a level 0 driving mode, the driver must determine and operate the control operations corresponding to the seven types of automatic control functions. On the other hand, driving modes from level 1 to level 6 are driving modes in which partial autonomous driving is performed. A level 7 driving mode is a driving mode in which fully autonomous driving is performed.

[0031] In this embodiment, the highly automated mode is a driving mode in which automated driving is performed at an automated driving level of level 1 or higher. On the other hand, the basic mode is a driving mode in which the automated driving level is relatively lower than that of the highly automated mode. For example, if the highly automated mode is level n, the basic mode can be set to any of level n-1 to level 0.

[0032] In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity and ease of understanding, the basic mode will be described assuming that the autonomous driving level is set to Level 0. Level 0 is a level in which none of the seven types of automatic control functions are executed, and the driver must perform most of the various driving operations required for driving.

[0033] The automatic driving control device 30 has a control unit 30a and a memory 30b. Specifically, the memory 30b includes a ROM, a RAM, and various other storage media (e.g., an EEPROM, a flash memory). The control unit 30a executes various programs stored in the memory 30b to realize various functions including the mode switching function and the automatic driving function described above. The control unit 30a includes at least a CPU.

[0034] The various programs stored in memory 30b include a program (so-called security software) capable of detecting external unauthorized operations, computer viruses, unauthorized software and data, and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as "unauthorized factors"). By running this security software, the control unit 30a constantly monitors for the presence or absence of unauthorized factors. If an unauthorized factor is detected, various unauthorized response processes are executed. The unauthorized response processes include a process of forcibly setting the autonomous driving level to level 0 to prevent any automatic control functions from operating. Various other specific details of the unauthorized response processes are conceivable. For example, the unauthorized response processes may output a warning to the driver by voice or may forcibly decelerate or stop the vehicle 1. Furthermore, the connection between the control unit 30a and each of the communication units 31-35 may be physically cut off, thereby preventing external access to the automatic driving control device 30 via wireless communication.

[0035] 1A and 1B are connected to the cameras 2-6, radar devices 11-14, and sensors 21-23. A control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 controls the operation of each of the cameras 2-6 individually, and acquires the photographing results (image data) from each of the cameras 2-6 and stores them in a memory 30b. The acquisition and storage of the image data are repeated at predetermined time intervals.

[0036] The control unit 30a can recognize various situations inside and outside the vehicle based on the image data from each of the cameras 2 to 6. For example, from the image data from the interior camera 6, it can recognize the movements, facial expressions, line of sight, eye state, etc. of the occupants (mainly the driver).

[0037] This allows the control unit 30a to determine whether or not the driver is behaving abnormally based on the image data of the interior camera 6. This means that the driver is either in a state where he or she may not be able to operate the vehicle 1 normally, or in a state where the driver feels uneasy about the operation of the vehicle 1 due to the autonomous driving function not working properly. Examples of the former include the driver looking away for too long, falling asleep, or fainting. Examples of the latter include the driver having an expression of surprise, worry, or fear.

[0038] Furthermore, the control unit 30a can use various image recognition processes to recognize vehicles ahead, oncoming vehicles, vehicles in adjacent lanes traveling diagonally ahead, lane markings, crosswalks, pedestrians, intersections, other vehicles entering crossroads at intersections, road signs, traffic lights, signboards, etc. in the direction of travel, rainfall conditions, snowfall conditions, fog conditions, ambient brightness, and other objects around the vehicle, based on image data from the forward camera 2. Note that recognizable road signs also include letters and marks painted on the road surface.

[0039] This allows the control unit 30a to recognize pedestrian behavior, pedestrian behavior and line of sight, whether oncoming vehicles are flashing their lights, weather conditions, and the like, based on image data from the front camera 2. More specifically, weather conditions can be recognized, such as whether a predetermined amount of rain or snow is falling, or whether thick fog is occurring. From the pedestrian behavior, it can be recognized whether the pedestrian is feeling uneasy about the vehicle 1. More specifically, if the pedestrian is looking at the vehicle 1 and their facial expression expresses a specific emotion such as surprise, worry, or fear, it can be determined that the pedestrian is feeling uneasy about the vehicle 1. Furthermore, if the gazes of a predetermined number or more pedestrians are directed at the vehicle 1, it can be recognized that the vehicle 1 may not be operating normally.

[0040] Furthermore, the control unit 30a can recognize the distance and relative speed to the vehicle ahead, the traveling state of the vehicle relative to the road, and the contents of road signs and billboards based on the image data from the front camera 2. Therefore, based on the recognition results of the contents of road signs and billboards, it can recognize various sign information such as speed limits, whether or not a stop is required, and whether or not parking is permitted. It can also recognize, for example, areas with high accident rates, school zones, and other specific environments (for example, areas where animals are frequently seen).

[0041] In addition, based on the image data from the rear camera 3, the control unit 30a can recognize rear vehicles, vehicles in adjacent lanes traveling diagonally rearward, the brightness of the surroundings, pedestrians, sign information painted on the road surface, and other objects around the vehicle through various image recognition processes.

[0042] This allows the control unit 30a to recognize, for example, the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle and the vehicle behind, and whether or not the vehicle behind is flashing its lights, based on the image data from the rear camera 3. Furthermore, like the image data from the front camera 2, the image data from the rear camera 3 can also be used to recognize pedestrian behavior, pedestrian behavior and line of sight, weather conditions, and the like.

[0043] In addition, based on image data from the left side camera 4 and the right side camera 5, the control unit 30a can recognize vehicles to the side of the vehicle (including vehicles on the front left, rear left, front right, and rear right), road signs on the side of the road the vehicle is traveling on, lane markings, pedestrians, ambient brightness, and other objects around the vehicle through various image recognition processes.

[0044] This allows the control unit 30a to recognize, for example, the relative distance and relative speed between the vehicle and the vehicle on the side, based on the image data from each of the side cameras 4 and 5. Furthermore, like the image data from the front camera 2, the image data from each of the side cameras 4 and 5 can also be used to recognize the behavior of pedestrians, their behavior and line of sight, weather conditions, and the like.

[0045] The control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 controls each of the radar devices 11 to 14 individually, acquires target detection results from each of the radar devices 11 to 14, and stores the results in a memory 30b. The acquisition and storage of the detection results from each of the radar devices 11 to 14 is repeated at predetermined time intervals. Based on the detection results from each of the radar devices 11 to 14, the control unit 30a can calculate and acquire the presence or absence of a target, the distance to the target, the direction of the target, the relative speed of the target as seen from the vehicle 1, and the like.

[0046] The detection results of the front radar device 11 mainly provide information on targets in front of the vehicle (including diagonally forward on the left and right). The detection results of the rear radar device 12 mainly provide information on targets behind the vehicle (including diagonally rear on the left and right). The detection results of the left side viewing radar device 13 mainly provide information on targets on the left side of the vehicle (including the front left and rear left). The detection results of the right side viewing radar device 14 mainly provide information on targets on the right side of the vehicle (including the front right and rear right).

[0047] Furthermore, the control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 can determine the brightness of the driving environment based on the detection signal from the solar radiation sensor 16, and determine whether the brightness is that of nighttime or a similar situation (hereinafter simply referred to as "nighttime"). The vehicle 1 is equipped with headlights (not shown). The headlights can be turned on and off by the driver's operation, or can be turned on and off automatically by setting the light mode to auto mode. When the light mode is set to auto mode, the control unit 30a automatically turns on the headlights if it is determined that it is nighttime based on the detection signal from the solar radiation sensor 16, and automatically turns off the headlights if it is not nighttime. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the driving mode is set to the highly automated mode, the light mode is forcibly set to auto mode.

[0048] Furthermore, the control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 can determine the presence or absence of rain and the amount of rain based on the detection signal from the rainfall sensor 17. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 1 is equipped with components connected to the automatic driving control device 30, such as a wheel speed sensor 18, a current sensor 19, a steering amount sensor 20, an interior contact sensor 21, an engine room temperature sensor 22, an engine room sound sensor 23, a tire pressure sensor 24, a suspension sensor 25, an exterior sound sensor 26, and an impact sensor 27.

[0049] The wheel speed sensors 18 are provided on the four wheels, front, rear, left and right, of the vehicle 1, and output detection signals (wheel speed signals) indicating the rotational speeds of the corresponding wheels. The wheel speed signals from the wheel speed sensors 18 are input to the automatic driving control device 30.

[0050] The control unit 30a can detect the rotation speed of each wheel based on the wheel speed signal from each wheel speed sensor 18. Then, from the detection result, it can detect, for example, whether or not slip is occurring.

[0051] The current sensors 19 are provided for one or more of the numerous electrical wirings provided in the vehicle 1, and output detection signals (current detection signals) that indicate the currents flowing through the electrical wirings. The current detection signals from the current sensors 19 are input to the automatic driving control device 30.

[0052] The control unit 30a can detect the current in the corresponding electrical wiring based on the current detection signal from the current sensor 19. Then, from the detection result, it can detect, for example, whether an overcurrent is flowing in a specific electrical wiring. The overcurrent here refers to a large current that theoretically should not flow when the vehicle 1 is operating normally, and could be, for example, a large current or surge current that may be generated by a lightning strike.

[0053] The current sensor 19 may be provided on the body of the vehicle 1 so as to detect the current flowing through the body. In this way, when the vehicle 1 is struck by lightning, the current flowing through the vehicle 1 to the ground is detected. Where and how the current sensor 19 is installed may be determined appropriately so that it can detect that the vehicle 1 has been struck by lightning.

[0054] The steering amount sensor 20 is provided to directly or indirectly detect the steering amount of the steering wheels. The steering amount sensor 20 may be provided, for example, on a column shaft connecting the steering wheel 10 (see FIGS. 1A and 1B) and a steering mechanism. However, the vehicle 1 of this embodiment is equipped with an electric power steering device that can control the steering of the steering wheels by a motor, and is provided with a rotation sensor for detecting the rotation position of the motor (and therefore the steering state) for steering control. Therefore, the steering amount sensor 20 does not have to be provided separately, and the rotation sensor may be used as the steering amount sensor 20. In other words, the specific configuration and installation location of the steering amount sensor 20 may be determined as appropriate so that the steering amount can be detected.

[0055] The control unit 30a can detect the steering amount of the steered wheels based on the detection signal from the steering amount sensor 20. Then, from the detection result, it can detect, for example, the state and rate of change of the steering amount. This makes it possible to determine whether the automatic steering control is being performed appropriately when the driving level is set to a level where steering is performed automatically (i.e., when the driving level is set to a level where at least one of lane keeping control, lane change control, and right / left turn control is performed). Specifically, for example, if the rate of change of the steering amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (i.e., if the rate of change is excessive), it can be determined that the automatic steering control is not being performed normally. Alternatively, it can be determined that the automatic steering control is not being performed normally when the vehicle is not traveling within the lane (for example, when the vehicle is crossing a lane marking) or when the vehicle goes straight when it should turn right or left.

[0056] The interior contact sensor 21 is a sensor for detecting when an occupant of the vehicle 1 touches a specific part inside the vehicle, and is provided at that specific part (hereinafter also referred to as the "specific contact part inside the vehicle"). The specific contact part inside the vehicle can be determined as appropriate, and may be, for example, a specific part on the driver's seat, the steering wheel 10 or the vicinity thereof, etc.

[0057] As will be described later, the interior contact sensor 21 is provided to enable the driver to quickly (emergently) cancel autonomous driving when the autonomous driving level of the vehicle 1 is set to level 1 or higher. In other words, if the driver wants to cancel autonomous driving for some reason when the autonomous driving level is level 1 or higher, the autonomous driving will be forcibly canceled if the driver touches a specific contact area inside the vehicle. Therefore, the specific configuration and installation location of the interior contact sensor 21 may be determined as appropriate so that it can detect when the driver touches a specific contact area inside the vehicle.

[0058] In this embodiment, "cancelling" autonomous driving means setting the autonomous driving level to Level 0. However, this is merely an example. For example, stopping at least one of the currently executing automatic control functions may be defined as "cancelling" autonomous driving. For example, if a certain automatic control function is operating and the driver senses that the automatic control function may not be operating normally and touches a specific contact point inside the vehicle, "cancelling" autonomous driving may be defined as forcibly stopping one or more automatic control functions, including at least that automatic control function.

[0059] The engine room temperature sensor 22 is provided in a predetermined location in or near the engine room of the vehicle 1, and outputs a detection signal corresponding to the temperature of the engine room. The control unit 30a can detect the temperature of the engine room based on the detection signal from the engine room temperature sensor 22. If the detected temperature of the engine room is excessively high (for example, above a predetermined temperature threshold), it can be determined that some abnormality has occurred in the engine or its surroundings.

[0060] The engine room sound sensor 23 is provided in a predetermined location in or near the engine room of the vehicle 1 for the purpose of detecting sounds generated mainly in the engine room, and outputs a detection signal corresponding to the volume of sounds around the installation location. The control unit 30a can detect sounds generated in the engine room based on the detection signal from the engine room sound sensor 23. If the detected sound in the engine room is excessively loud (for example, above a predetermined volume threshold), it can determine that some kind of abnormality has occurred in the engine or its surroundings.

[0061] The tire pressure sensors 24 are provided on the front, rear, left and right four wheels of the vehicle 1, and output detection signals (air pressure signals) indicating the air pressure of the tires of the corresponding wheels. The air pressure signals from the tire pressure sensors 24 are input to the automatic driving control device 30.

[0062] The control unit 30a can detect the air pressure of the tires of each wheel based on the air pressure signals from each tire pressure sensor 24. Then, from the detection results, it can detect, for example, whether or not an abnormality (e.g., a puncture) has occurred in any of the tires.

[0063] The suspension sensor 25 outputs a detection signal indicating the amount of expansion / contraction of the suspension of the vehicle 1 (e.g., the amount of expansion / contraction of a shock absorber or spring). The control unit 30a can detect the behavior of the vehicle 1 (mainly vertical behavior) based on the detection signal from the suspension sensor 25. If the autonomous driving level of the vehicle 1 is set to level 1 or higher and an automatic control function to be executed is not operating normally, the behavior of the vehicle 1 may become unstable. For example, unstable behavior such as sudden acceleration, sudden stopping, or sharp turning may automatically occur. Such unstable behavior manifests as suspension behavior. Therefore, the control unit 30a can determine the stability of the behavior of the vehicle 1 based on the detection signal from the suspension sensor 25 (i.e., based on the amount of expansion / contraction of the suspension itself or its rate of change), and ultimately, if an automatic control function is operating, can determine whether the automatic control function is operating normally.

[0064] The external sound sensor 26 is provided mainly for the purpose of detecting sounds generated around the vehicle 1. Based on the detection signal from the external sound sensor 26, the control unit 30a can detect the type and volume of sounds generated around the vehicle 1. For example, if another vehicle is honking its horn, the control unit 30a can detect this.

[0065] When an impact is applied to the vehicle 1 from outside the vehicle 1, the impact sensor 27 outputs a detection signal corresponding to the level of the impact. The control unit 30a can detect the presence or absence and level of an external impact on the vehicle 1 based on the detection signal from the impact sensor 27. The impacts that can be detected by the impact sensor 27 include a wide range of levels of impact, from a relatively large level of impact such as a collision with another vehicle or a road structure, to a relatively low level of impact such as an impact caused by a person outside the vehicle 1 hitting the vehicle 1.

[0066] In addition, as shown in Figure 2, the vehicle 1 is equipped with a GPS communication unit 31, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 32, a road-to-vehicle communication unit 33, a pedestrian-to-vehicle communication unit 34, and an LTE communication unit 35 as components connected to the automatic driving control device 30.

[0067] The GPS communication unit 31 receives radio waves from multiple GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites and outputs information contained in the received radio waves (GPS information) to the automatic driving control device 30. The control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 can calculate the current position of the vehicle 1 based on the information received by the GPS communication unit 31.

[0068] The automatic driving control device 30 also has a route guidance function, which is one of the various element functions for realizing the automatic driving function. The route guidance function calculates an appropriate route from the current position to the destination based on the current position of the vehicle 1 calculated based on GPS information and the destination set by the driver, and controls the vehicle 1 to travel along that route to the destination.

[0069] The route guidance function also includes a function to recognize road conditions around the vehicle 1 (for example, the shape of the route to the destination, the vehicle width, etc.), and a function to recognize the presence and operating status of infrastructure in the traveling direction (for example, the status of traffic lights in the traveling direction, the presence or absence of intersections, the presence or absence of pedestrian crossings, speed limits, regulation information, etc.). The control unit 30a also uses these various recognition results to realize the above-mentioned guidance control.

[0070] The content of the guidance control of the vehicle 1 in the route guidance function varies depending on the autonomous driving level. For example, when the autonomous driving level is set to fully autonomous driving level 7, the guidance control is to provide route information (information on the direction and route the vehicle should travel) necessary to execute multiple types of automatic control functions (seven types as described above in this embodiment) required to achieve fully autonomous driving. Also, for example, when the autonomous driving level is set to predetermined levels 1 to 6 (partially autonomous driving) that are lower than fully autonomous driving, the guidance control is to provide route information for automatic control functions necessary for partial autonomous driving out of the multiple types of automatic control functions, and to provide guidance (e.g., voice guidance) to the driver about the driving route as needed.

[0071] When the autonomous driving level is set to any of levels 1 to 6, i.e., when one or more of the seven types of automatic control functions are set to be executed, the control unit 30a provides at least the information necessary for the set automatic control function as guidance control.

[0072] Map data and other various data required for the route guidance function are stored in memory 30b. The control unit 30a executes the program for the route guidance function stored in memory 30b while referring to the various data, thereby realizing the route guidance function (i.e., the above-mentioned guidance control).

[0073] The vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 32 is a communication module for wirelessly transmitting and receiving various data to and from other vehicles other than the host vehicle. The control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 can acquire information about other vehicles in the vicinity (e.g., traveling direction, traveling speed, position, etc.) via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 32. Conversely, information about the host vehicle 1 can also be transmitted to other vehicles.

[0074] The control unit 30a can also know the relative relationship between the host vehicle and other vehicles by acquiring the positions and driving conditions of other vehicles through vehicle-to-vehicle communication. For example, it can detect the relative distance and relative speed between the host vehicle and other vehicles.

[0075] In addition, information that can be transmitted and received via vehicle-to-vehicle communication includes information about the driving mode. The control unit 30a can also transmit and receive information about whether the driving mode is set to the highly automated mode or the basic mode, and the automated driving level in the set driving mode.

[0076] The road-to-vehicle communication unit 33 is a communication module for receiving various information wirelessly transmitted from a road communication device 81 (see FIG. 4) installed on the road (ground side). The various information received by the road-to-vehicle communication unit 33 is input to the automatic driving control device 30.

[0077] The roadside communication device 81 is connected to a server (not shown) and receives various information from the server. The server aggregates various road traffic information, such as various types of infrastructure information (for example, traffic light information, road regulation information, and other types of information related to driving routes) and information on the presence of other vehicles and pedestrians. The server transmits, for each road communication device 81, individual road information related to that road communication device 81 based on the aggregated road traffic information. The individual road information is information targeted at vehicles traveling within the communication area of ​​that road communication device 81, and includes various types of road traffic information within that communication area and various types of concurrent traffic information beyond that area (in the direction of travel). Each road communication device 81 wirelessly transmits the individual road information transmitted from the server within its predetermined communication area.

[0078] The control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 can acquire various road traffic information related to the surroundings of the vehicle and the roadway in the travel direction via the road-to-vehicle communication unit 33. The information that the control unit 30a can acquire via the road-to-vehicle communication unit 33 includes section information related to driving sections where caution is required when driving (hereinafter also referred to as "cautionary sections"), such as accident-prone areas, school zones, and areas where animals are likely to be seen. By linking the acquired section information with a route guidance function, the control unit 30a can recognize the relative relationship between the cautionary section and the vehicle 1, such as whether the vehicle 1 is currently traveling in the cautionary section indicated by the section information and how much further it will travel before entering the cautionary section. Information related to sections or points other than the cautionary section may be acquired as section information.

[0079] Each roadside communication device 81 shown in Fig. 4 is equipped with a camera 82. Each camera 82 captures an image of the road and transmits the captured image data to a server via a network.

[0080] The server can obtain road traffic information around each camera 82 from the image data transmitted from that camera. Specifically, the server can recognize the shape of the road, lanes, and traffic light status from the image data. The server can also recognize the driving status and license plate number of a vehicle in motion. The server can also determine whether the vehicle in the image data is driving normally based on the image data. For example, if a vehicle passes through a traffic light that is red without stopping, it can be determined that the vehicle is not driving normally.

[0081] Vehicle 1 can also transmit various types of information regarding its own status via road-to-vehicle communication unit 33. The information transmitted from vehicle 1 is received by roadside communication device 81 and collected in a server. The server can individually recognize and manage the status of multiple vehicles, including vehicle 1, and can also notify a specific vehicle of the status of other vehicles as needed. Therefore, for example, it is possible to know information such as the level of autonomous driving set in other vehicles around the vehicle, that is, the extent to which the automatic control functions of the other vehicles around the vehicle are operating.

[0082] The pedestrian-to-vehicle communication unit 34 is a communication module for wirelessly communicating with a communication terminal (e.g., a mobile phone or a smartphone) carried by a pedestrian on the ground. When the communication terminal carried by the pedestrian is configured to be able to wirelessly transmit terminal position information indicating the position of the communication terminal (i.e., the pedestrian's position), the pedestrian-to-pedestrian communication unit 34 can receive the terminal position information transmitted from the communication terminal. The terminal position information received by the pedestrian-to-pedestrian communication unit 34 is input to the automatic driving control device 30. The automatic driving control device 30 can also inform the pedestrian of the position information of the vehicle 1, etc., by wirelessly transmitting various information such as the position information of the vehicle 1 from the pedestrian-to-pedestrian communication unit 34 to the pedestrian's communication terminal.

[0083] The control unit 30a of the automatic driving control device 30 can know the position and movement of pedestrians based on the terminal position information received via the pedestrian-to-vehicle communication unit 34. Detection can be performed using the cameras and radar devices described above, but in addition, the presence or absence of pedestrians and the sudden appearance of pedestrians can also be detected from information obtained via the pedestrian-to-vehicle communication unit 34.

[0084] The LTE communication unit 35 is a communication module for realizing wireless communication according to LTE, a well-known mobile phone communication standard. The control unit 30a can acquire various information necessary for autonomous driving of the vehicle 1 and update existing information (for example, updating map data) via the LTE communication unit 35 (i.e., by LTE wireless communication). Note that it is not essential to acquire or update such various information by LTE wireless communication, and other wireless communication may be used instead.

[0085] In addition, the vehicle 1 is equipped with components connected to the automatic driving control device 30, such as an operation unit 36, a display unit 37, a speaker 38, an automatic driving switch 41, a level setting operation unit 42, an emergency stop lever 43, and a release reset switch 44, as shown in Figure 2.

[0086] The operation unit 36 ​​is an input interface for receiving various input operations for the vehicle 1 by the occupants of the vehicle 1, including the driver. The display unit 37 is an output interface for visually providing various information to the occupants of the vehicle 1, including the driver. Various information, including map information in the route guidance function, is also displayed on the display unit 37. The speaker 38 outputs audio based on various audio signals output from the automatic driving control device 30.

[0087] The autonomous driving switch 41 is a switch for setting the driving mode of the vehicle 1 to the highly automated mode. In order to set the driving mode to the highly automated mode and perform autonomous driving, the driver of the vehicle 1 must switch the autonomous driving switch 41 to the on side. On the other hand, when the autonomous driving switch 41 is switched to the off side, the driving mode is set to the basic mode.

[0088] The emergency stop lever 43 is an operating means for forcibly canceling autonomous driving when the autonomous driving level of the vehicle 1 is level 1 or higher (i.e., forcibly switching the autonomous driving level to level 0), and is provided in a predetermined location inside the vehicle cabin (for example, on the ceiling). If the emergency stop lever 43 is operated when the autonomous driving level of the vehicle 1 is set to level 1 or higher, the autonomous driving is forcibly canceled. If the driver recognizes that a fraudulent factor such as a computer virus or unauthorized operation has occurred, or if the driver recognizes that the automatic control function is not operating normally, the driver can forcibly cancel autonomous driving by operating the emergency stop lever 43, and drive the vehicle 1 by the driver's own driving operation.

[0089] The level setting operation unit 42 is a user interface for accepting an operation by the driver to set the automatic driving level (details will be described later). The release reset switch 44 is a switch for resetting the release state after autonomous driving is forcibly released and the autonomous driving level is forcibly set to level 0. In this embodiment, as will be described later, when the autonomous driving level is set to level 1 or higher, if a predetermined event requiring release that should cause autonomous driving to be released occurs, autonomous driving is forcibly released. Specifically, an autonomous driving release flag, which will be described later, is set.

[0090] When automatic driving is forcibly canceled, the canceled state is maintained in principle (the automatic driving cancellation flag remains set), but the canceled state can be reset (the automatic driving cancellation flag is reset) by pressing the cancellation reset switch 44. When the canceled state is reset, the driving mode is set to a mode corresponding to the operation state of the automatic driving switch, and the automatic driving level is set to a level corresponding to the set driving mode (the level set by the level setting operation unit 42).

[0091] Furthermore, the vehicle 1 includes, as components connected to the automatic driving control device 30, a travel drive control unit 46, a brake control unit 47, and a steering control unit 48, as shown in FIG.

[0092] The driving control unit 46 controls the driving of the vehicle 1 by controlling the engine and transmission (not shown) based on various information such as the depression amount of the accelerator pedal (not shown), the operating position of the shift lever (not shown), the vehicle speed, and the engine speed.

[0093] On the other hand, when the autonomous driving level is set to Level 1 or higher, i.e., when one of the seven automatic control functions is executed, the autonomous driving control device 30 outputs control information necessary to realize the target automatic control function to the driving control unit 46. In this case, the driving control unit 46 automatically controls the engine and the transmission in accordance with the control information from the autonomous driving control device 30, even if the accelerator pedal is not depressed. Note that although the vehicle 1 of this embodiment is equipped with an engine as a driving source for driving, the autonomous driving control device of the present disclosure can also be applied to vehicles equipped with a driving source for driving other than an engine (e.g., an electric motor). In that case, the driving control unit 46 shown in FIG. 2 has the function of controlling the driving source for driving of the vehicle. Furthermore, when a driving source for driving other than an engine is equipped, the engine compartment temperature sensor 22 and the engine compartment sound sensor 23 described above may be installed for the purpose of detecting the temperature and sound of the driving source or its surroundings, respectively.

[0094] The brake control unit 47 controls a brake device (not shown) based on the amount of depression of a brake pedal (not shown). On the other hand, when the autonomous driving level is set to level 1 or higher, that is, when one of the seven types of automatic control functions is executed, the autonomous driving control device 30 outputs control information required to realize the automatic control function to be executed to the travel drive control unit 46. In this case, the brake control unit 47 automatically controls the brake device in accordance with the control information from the autonomous driving control device 30, even if the brake pedal is not depressed.

[0095] The steering control unit 48 has two main functions. One is a so-called electric power steering function. That is, it assists the driver in operating the steering wheel 10 using a motor. The other is an automatic steering function that automatically steers the steered wheels (e.g., front wheels) of the vehicle 1 without the need for driver operation. The steering of the steered wheels is basically performed by the driver operating the steering wheel 10, but when at least one of the seven types of automatic control functions described above, excluding automatic start / stop control and inter-vehicle distance control, is executed, the steering control unit 48 automatically controls the steering of the steered wheels by controlling the motor in accordance with control information from the automatic driving control device 30, even if the driver is not operating the steering wheel 10.

[0096] (3) Explanation of the autonomous driving function In the vehicle 1 of this embodiment, the automatic driving control device 30 can acquire and detect various pieces of information necessary to realize the above-described automatic driving function.

[0097] Information that can be used to realize an autonomous driving function includes, first of all, information such as the position and speed of the vehicle (subject vehicle information). The subject vehicle position can be obtained by calculation based on GPS information. The subject vehicle speed can be obtained by calculation based on a vehicle speed signal from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown), a detection signal from the steering amount sensor 20, a yaw rate signal from a yaw rate sensor (not shown), and the like. The subject vehicle speed can also be calculated from the rate of change of the subject vehicle position.

[0098] Information that can be used to realize the autonomous driving function also includes information about surrounding objects. Specifically, this includes various objects around the vehicle, such as vehicles in front, behind, to the side, oncoming vehicles, vehicles crossing the intersection, pedestrians, bicycles, road structures and fixed installations, and obstacles. This information is about the relative position, distance, and speed of objects (including people and animals) in relation to the vehicle.

[0099] Information about these surrounding objects can be acquired based on the image data from the cameras 2 to 5 and the detection results from the radar devices 11 to 14. Various technologies for recognizing surrounding objects based on the image data and the detection results from the radar devices have been proposed and put into practical use, so a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0100] Information about surrounding objects can also be obtained by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road-to-vehicle communication, and pedestrian-to-vehicle communication. For example, by performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication with surrounding vehicles, the vehicle can recognize not only the surrounding vehicles visible to the vehicle itself, but also the positions and movements of surrounding vehicles that are in blind spots and not directly visible to the vehicle itself. As described above, road-to-vehicle communication can acquire information about the presence of surrounding vehicles, pedestrians, etc. As described above, pedestrian-to-vehicle communication can learn the positions and movements of pedestrians based on the terminal position information received via the pedestrian-to-vehicle communication unit 34.

[0101] By using one or more of vehicle-to-vehicle communication, road-to-vehicle communication, and pedestrian-to-vehicle communication, it is possible to, for example, obtain information on oncoming vehicles during normal driving (especially on curves) or when turning right in order to prevent head-on collisions with oncoming vehicles, obtain information on motorcycles on the left side or behind in order to prevent motorcycles from being hit when turning left, obtain information on vehicles on the side (rear side) when changing lanes, obtain information on vehicles in front in order to prevent or suppress rear-end collisions, obtain information on other vehicles traveling on the side of the intersection in order to prevent head-on collisions at intersections, and obtain information on pedestrians, etc. in order to prevent collisions with pedestrians, etc.

[0102] Additionally, information that can be used to realize the autonomous driving function also includes information about various road markings painted directly on the road, such as lane markings (including parking markings), pedestrian crossings, and stop lines. Information about road markings includes the location and content of the road markings. This information about road markings can be acquired based on the image data captured by each of the cameras 2 to 6. Various technologies for recognizing road markings from image data have been proposed and put to practical use, so a description of these will be omitted here.

[0103] Information about road signs in the direction of travel can also be obtained through road-to-vehicle communication. Although the vehicle 1 of this embodiment is not equipped with a laser radar, it is also possible to obtain information about various road signs.

[0104] Additionally, information that can be used to realize the autonomous driving function also includes information on traffic lights, railroad crossings, signs (including billboards), intersections, junctions / diverging points, sidewalks, obstacles, dangerous areas, and other above-ground structures (hereinafter collectively referred to as "infrastructure-related information"). In addition to the presence and location of the various objects mentioned above, infrastructure-related information also includes information on the color of traffic lights, the operating status of railroad crossings, and the display content of signs and billboards. Infrastructure-related information can also be recognized and acquired based on the photographic data of each camera 2 to 6, and can also be acquired through road-to-vehicle communication. Various types of infrastructure information can also be acquired from the route guidance function described above, which is based on GPS information, map data, etc.

[0105] Another type of information that can be used to realize autonomous driving functions is traffic regulation information. For example, if there are traffic regulations in place in the direction of travel due to construction, accidents, natural disasters, etc., this regulation information can be obtained through road-to-vehicle communication.

[0106] Among various types of information necessary for realizing the automatic driving function (realizing the seven types of automatic control functions described above in this embodiment), such as the information about the surrounding objects, the information about road signs, the infrastructure-related information, and the regulation information, information about the surroundings of the vehicle 1 in particular is an example of the surrounding information of the present disclosure. Equivalent.

[0107] The automatic driving control device 30 can achieve automatic driving by acquiring the various types of information described above and controlling the travel drive control unit 46, brake control unit 47, steering control unit 48, and other necessary in-vehicle devices based on that information. Specifically, it can execute the seven types of automatic control functions described above. As described above, the seven types of automatic control functions in this embodiment are automatic start / stop control, lane keeping control, vehicle-to-vehicle distance control, lane change control, right / left turn control, collision prevention control, and parking control.

[0108] The automatic start / stop control is a control that automatically stops the vehicle 1 when a condition for stopping is met while the vehicle is traveling, and automatically starts the vehicle 1 after the condition for stopping is lifted. This control is performed using information about the vehicle itself, as well as information about surrounding objects obtained from the cameras 2-5 and the radar sensors 11-14, and infrastructure-related information and regulatory information obtained through road-to-vehicle communication. For example, the automatic start / stop control allows the vehicle to continue traveling if the traffic light at an intersection is green and to stop if the light is red or yellow; to stop the vehicle if a railroad crossing is detected ahead and the crossing barrier is down; and to stop the vehicle once and then start again if the crossing barrier is not down. The vehicle also automatically stops if an obstacle or the like is detected ahead.

[0109] Lane keeping control is a control configured to automatically steer the steering wheels so that the vehicle travels along the lane without deviating from the lane markings. This control is performed in cooperation with the route guidance function, using information on the vehicle itself as well as information on road markings (especially lane markings) obtained from the cameras 2 to 5 and the radar sensors 11 to 14.

[0110] The inter-vehicle distance control is a control that controls the speed to maintain a fixed distance between the vehicle and another vehicle when there is another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle, and controls the vehicle to travel at a set speed when there is no other vehicle ahead. This control is performed using information about the vehicle itself as well as information about surrounding objects (especially the vehicle ahead) obtained mainly from the cameras 2 to 5 and the radar sensors 11 to 14.

[0111] Lane change control is a control that, when a lane change (steering for lane change) is necessary, detects other vehicles in the adjacent lane to which the vehicle is to change, and automatically changes lanes while controlling the driving force, braking force, and steering to avoid colliding with other vehicles depending on the presence, position, speed, etc. of other vehicles. This control is performed using information about the vehicle itself, as well as information about surrounding objects (particularly other vehicles in adjacent lanes), information about lane markings, and information about other vehicles (vehicles traveling in adjacent lanes) obtained from the cameras 2 to 5 and the radar sensors 11 to 14, and information about other vehicles obtained through vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0112] Right / left turn control is a control that, when it becomes necessary to turn right or left, automatically makes a right or left turn without colliding with oncoming vehicles, vehicles traveling at an intersection, other vehicles around the vehicle, pedestrians, etc. This control is performed using information about the vehicle itself, as well as information about surrounding objects obtained from the cameras 2 to 5 and the radar sensors 11 to 14, information about other vehicles obtained through vehicle-to-vehicle communication, information about pedestrians, etc. obtained through pedestrian-to-vehicle communication, etc.

[0113] Collision prevention control is a control that automatically steers or brakes / stops the vehicle to prevent it from colliding with an obstacle that exists on the road in the vehicle's traveling direction. This is performed using information about surrounding objects obtained from the cameras 2 to 5 and the radar sensors 11 to 14, as well as infrastructure-related information and regulation information obtained through road-to-vehicle communication.

[0114] When a specific target parking position (for example, a parking space in a specific parking lot) is set as the destination, parking control calculates the travel trajectory to the target parking position and moves the vehicle along that travel trajectory. This is a control that controls driving force, braking force and steering to automatically park the vehicle.

[0115] The system is configured so that the driver or the like can arbitrarily set which of the seven types of control functions to execute, i.e., the autonomous driving level. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, the autonomous driving level can be arbitrarily set in both the highly automated mode and the basic mode. However, in the basic mode, level 7 cannot be set, and any of levels 0 to 6 can be set. On the other hand, in the highly automated mode, level 0 cannot be set, and any of levels 1 to 7 can be set. Furthermore, the level of the basic mode can be set within a range of levels lower than the level of the highly automated mode. Conversely, the level of the highly automated mode can be set within a range of levels higher than the level of the basic mode.

[0116] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A , at level 1, control A (e.g., lane keeping control) is executed. At level 2, control B (e.g., inter-vehicle distance control) is executed in addition to control A. At level 3, control C (e.g., automatic start / stop control) is executed in addition to controls A and B. At level 4, control D (e.g., collision prevention control) is executed in addition to controls A, B, C, and D. At level 5, control E (e.g., lane change control) is executed in addition to controls A, B, C, D, and E. At level 6, control F (e.g., right / left turn control) is executed in addition to controls A, B, C, D, and E. At level 7, control G (e.g., parking control) is executed in addition to controls A, B, C, D, E, and F. In other words, the higher the level, the more types of automatic control functions are executed, and at level 7, the vehicle is fully autonomous.

[0117] The level setting for each driving mode can be performed individually for each driving mode by operating a level setting operation unit 42 provided near the driver's seat. In this embodiment, the autonomous driving level for the basic mode is set to level 0 by default, and the autonomous driving level for the highly automated mode is set to level 1 by default. The currently set autonomous driving level can be arbitrarily changed for each driving mode. For example, if the basic mode is set to level 0, the highly automated mode can be arbitrarily changed between levels 1 to 7. Also, for example, if the basic mode is set to level 1, the highly automated mode can be arbitrarily changed between levels 2 to 7. Also, for example, if the highly automated mode is set to level 4, the basic mode can be arbitrarily changed between levels 0 to 3.

[0118] It should be noted that which automatic control function is executed at which level is not limited to the example shown in Fig. 3A. For example, it is not necessary that the number of automatic control functions executed increases by one each time the level increases by one. Which automatic control function is executed at which level may be determined as appropriate.

[0119] Furthermore, while assuming that the number of automatic control functions executed increases by one each time the level increases by one, as shown in FIG. 3A, the contents of Control A to Control G may be set by the driver or the like as desired, as shown in FIG. 3B.

[0120] In the vehicle 1 of this embodiment, when the autonomous driving switch 41 is turned off, the driving mode is set to basic mode. On the other hand, when the autonomous driving switch 41 is turned on, the driving mode becomes highly automated mode under certain conditions. Note that when the vehicle is set to perform lane change control, right / left turn control, and parking control, it is necessary to set a destination (a target parking position in the case of parking control). Specifically, the route guidance function is started and the destination is input via the touch panel. When a destination is set, autonomous driving is basically performed in cooperation with the route guidance function, while checking the position of the vehicle itself, to follow the calculated route to the destination.

[0121] Various control examples in the highly automated mode when the automated driving level of the highly automated mode is set to level 7 will be described using FIG. 4. Each of the vehicles 61 to 67 shown in FIG. 4 has the same configuration as the vehicle 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A vehicle traveling within the communication area of ​​the roadside communication device 81 can receive individual road information from the roadside communication device 81. At least four of the vehicles in FIG. 4 (61, 65, 66, 67) can receive individual road information from at least two nearby roadside communication devices 81a, 81b. Specifically, they can obtain information on a traffic light 71 ahead, information on an oncoming vehicle 62, information on a pedestrian 76, etc.

[0122] Furthermore, at least the vehicle 63 can receive individual road information from at least the roadside communication devices 81c in its vicinity. Specifically, the vehicle 63 can acquire information such as the presence of a stop sign 73 (i.e., that the vehicle should stop), and the fact that another vehicle 64 is approaching from the right.

[0123] Furthermore, at least the vehicle 64 can receive individual road information from at least the roadside communication device 81d in its vicinity. Specifically, it can acquire information such as that another vehicle 63 is approaching from the left.

[0124] Furthermore, at least the vehicle 62 can receive individual road information from at least the roadside communication device 81e in its vicinity. Specifically, the vehicle 62 can acquire information such as information about the traffic light 72 ahead, the presence of an oncoming vehicle 61 about to turn right, the presence of a pedestrian crossing in the direction of the left turn, and the presence of a pedestrian 76 at the crosswalk.

[0125] Furthermore, each vehicle 61-66 can obtain various information from its own cameras 2-6 and radar devices 11-14, and can also obtain various information through vehicle-to-vehicle communication and pedestrian-to-vehicle communication. For example, vehicle 65 can detect a vehicle 67 ahead and a vehicle 66 on its right side using a camera or radar device, thereby enabling it to travel while maintaining an appropriate distance from the vehicle 67 ahead, and when a lane change is necessary, change lanes at an appropriate timing while taking into account the positional relationship with the vehicle 66 on its right side. Furthermore, vehicle 65 can detect a pedestrian 77 running out into the road using a camera or radar device, and in that case, can perform appropriate deceleration control to avoid colliding with the pedestrian 77 while taking into account the distance from the vehicle 65 behind.

[0126] This allows each vehicle 61-66 to automatically travel appropriately along the route to the destination using various information, such as various information obtained by the vehicle itself and various information obtained from the road. Specifically, each vehicle 61-66 can automatically travel appropriately along the route, avoiding contact with other vehicles, pedestrians, and other road structures, and obeying traffic signals and traffic rules, mainly by automatically controlling the travel drive control unit 46, the brake control unit 47, and the steering control unit 48.

[0127] (4) Autonomous driving level setting process Next, the autonomous driving level setting process executed by the control unit 30a of the autonomous driving control device 30 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The autonomous driving level setting process in Fig. 5 is a process for switching the driving mode of the vehicle 1 to either the highly automated mode or the basic mode, and for determining whether autonomous driving should be cancelled when the autonomous driving level is level 1 or higher, and forcibly setting the autonomous driving level to level 0 if it is determined that autonomous driving should be cancelled.

[0128] When the control unit 30a is started by turning on a power switch (e.g., an ignition switch) not shown in the figure of the vehicle 1, it reads the program for the autonomous driving level setting process of Figure 5 from the memory 30b and executes it repeatedly at a predetermined control period.

[0129] When the control unit 30a starts the automatic driving level setting process of FIG. 5, the automatic driving level setting process is performed in S10. The automatic driving cancellation flag is set when it is determined that automatic driving should be cancelled, and specifically, is set in S119 in FIG. 6, which will be described later.

[0130] If the autonomous driving cancellation flag is set (S10: YES), the autonomous driving level is set to level 0 in S70. That is, regardless of whether the driving mode is set to highly automated mode or basic mode, the autonomous driving level is forcibly set to level 0, and all of the seven types of automatic control functions described above are prevented from being executed. Then, in S80, a predetermined error notification is issued to notify the occupants of vehicle 1 that autonomous driving has been forcibly canceled, and the autonomous driving level setting process is terminated.

[0131] While this automatic driving cancellation flag is set, none of the seven automatic control functions are activated, and therefore the driver must perform all driving operations corresponding to the seven automatic control functions (driving operations that can be performed automatically by each automatic control function). Note that the automatic driving cancellation flag can be reset by pressing the cancellation reset switch 44, as described above.

[0132] If the automatic driving cancellation flag is not set in S10 (S10: NO), it is determined in S20 whether the emergency stop flag is set. The emergency stop flag is set when it is determined that the vehicle 1 should be stopped urgently, and specifically, it is a flag set in S120 in FIG. 6, which will be described later.

[0133] If the emergency stop flag is set (S20: YES), emergency stop processing is executed in S90. The emergency stop processing is processing for stopping the vehicle 1 as quickly as possible while maintaining safety. The specific processing content of the emergency stop processing may be determined as appropriate so that the vehicle can be stopped as quickly as possible while maintaining safety. For example, one possible processing content is to decelerate the vehicle 1 and pull over to the shoulder of the road to stop it while monitoring with cameras, radar devices, etc. to avoid contact with objects outside the vehicle (including other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.).

[0134] If the emergency stop flag is not set in S20 (S20: NO), it is determined in S30 whether the automatic operation switch 41 is on. If the automatic operation switch 41 is on (S30: YES), the operation mode is set to the highly automated mode in S40 and the process proceeds to S60. If the automatic operation switch 41 is off (S30: NO), the operation mode is set to the basic mode in S50 and the process proceeds to S60.

[0135] If the driving mode is set to the highly automated mode in S40, the control unit 30a executes automatic control functions based on the automated driving level set as the highly automated mode in S55. For example, if level 6 is set as the highly automated mode, six types of automatic control functions, Controls A to F (see FIG. 3A), are executed. Also, if level 7 is set as the highly automated mode, all seven types of automatic control functions, Controls A to G, are executed to achieve fully automated driving. Furthermore, the execution of the automatic control functions in S55 is performed based on various types of information, including the aforementioned ambient information, acquired as needed.

[0136] When the driving mode is set to the basic mode in S50, the control unit 30a executes an automatic control function based on the automatic driving level set as the basic mode in S50. For example, when level 1 is set as the basic mode, the automatic control function of control A (see FIG. 3A) is executed. In this case, the automatic control function is also executed based on various information, including the above-mentioned surrounding information, as needed. However, in the basic mode, If level 0 is set as the mode, all automatic control functions will not be executed.

[0137] In S60, an autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process is executed. This autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process has two main purposes. One is to determine whether or not it is necessary to forcibly set the autonomous driving level to level 0 when the autonomous driving level is set to level 1 or higher, and to set an autonomous driving cancellation flag if it is necessary to forcibly set it to level 0. The other purpose is to determine whether or not it is necessary to make an emergency stop of vehicle 1 when the autonomous driving level is set to level 1 or higher, and to set an emergency stop flag if it is necessary to make an emergency stop.

[0138] Details of the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process of S60 are as shown in Figure 6. When the control unit 30a proceeds to the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process of S60, it determines in S111 whether the autonomous driving level set in the current driving mode is level 1 or higher, as shown in Figure 6. If the autonomous driving level is not level 1 or higher (i.e., level 0) (S111: NO), the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process of Figure 6 ends, and thereby the autonomous driving level setting process of Figure 5 ends.

[0139] If the autonomous driving level set in the current driving mode is 1 or higher (S111: YES), system monitoring processing is executed in S112. The system monitoring processing in S112 is processing for monitoring the operating state of the vehicle 1 (including the execution state of the automatic control function) and determining whether a predetermined event (a cancellation event) has occurred that should forcibly switch the autonomous driving level to level 0. Details of the system monitoring processing in S112 will be described later using FIG. 7.

[0140] In S113, an inside / outside behavior monitoring process is executed. The inside / outside behavior monitoring process of S113 is a process for monitoring the behavior of vehicle occupants inside the vehicle 1, the behavior of pedestrians and other vehicles outside the vehicle 1, and determining whether a cancellation event has occurred that requires the autonomous driving level to be forcibly switched to level 0. The inside / outside behavior monitoring process of S113 will be described in detail later using FIG. 8.

[0141] In S114, an environment monitoring process is executed. The environment monitoring process in S114 is a process for monitoring the environment around the vehicle 1 and determining whether a cancellation event has occurred that requires the autonomous driving level to be forcibly switched to level 0. The environment monitoring process in S114 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 9.

[0142] In S115, a self-diagnosis process is executed. The self-diagnosis process in S115 is a process for self-diagnosing whether the execution state of the automatic control function by the control unit 30a itself is normal or not by comparing it with past execution results. The details of the self-diagnosis process in S115 will be described later with reference to FIG. 10B.

[0143] In S116, it is determined whether or not a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in any of the processes from S112 to S115. If it is not determined that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred (S116: NO), the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. 6 is terminated. If it is determined that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in any of the processes from S112 to S115 (S116: YES), in S117 an advance notification of automatic driving cancellation is given to the occupants of the vehicle 1. This notification is given to the occupants in advance to cancel automatic driving, based on the occurrence of a cancellation-requiring event that requires cancellation of automatic driving. This notification may be given in various ways that can make the occupants of the vehicle 1 aware that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred and that automatic driving should be canceled. Specific notification methods include, for example, issuing a predetermined message by voice, or displaying a visual message to the occupants using the display unit 37. Alternatively, a method of transmitting a signal or vibrating the seat may be adopted.

[0144] In S118, it is determined whether the automated driving can be cancelled. In other words, this determination is a process for determining whether the driver is in a state where he or she can perform the driving operation himself or herself when the driving operation that was previously performed automatically is no longer performed automatically due to the cancellation of the automated driving. The basis for determining whether the automated driving can be cancelled may be determined as appropriate. For example, the determination may be based on whether the driver has performed a specific cancellation permission action, based on the driver's state and behavior. The cancellation permission action is an action that indicates that the driver is in a state where he or she can perform the driving operation himself or herself. The cancellation permission action also includes a stationary state in which the driver is stationary in a specific state. The cancellation permission action may be at least one of a plurality of actions or states, such as the driver gripping the steering wheel 10 with at least one hand, the driver gripping the steering wheel 10 with both hands, the driver's eyes being open, the driver's gaze directed forward of the vehicle, or the driver's behavior being normal (for example, a state where a positive determination is made in the determination process of S204 described below). The control unit 30a may determine, based on image data from the indoor camera 6, for example, whether or not the release permission operation is being performed.

[0145] If it is determined that the autonomous driving can be cancelled (S118: YES), the autonomous driving cancellation flag is set in S119. As a result, when the determination process of S10 in FIG. 5 is executed next time, a positive determination is made and the process proceeds to S70, where the autonomous driving level is forcibly set to level 0.

[0146] If it is determined in S118 that the autonomous driving cannot be cancelled (S118: NO), the emergency stop flag is set in S120. As a result, when the determination process of S20 in Fig. 5 is executed next time, a positive determination is made and the process proceeds to S90, where the emergency stop process is executed.

[0147] Next, the system monitoring process of S112 in the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process of Fig. 6 will be specifically explained using Fig. 7. When the process proceeds to the system monitoring process of S112, as shown in Fig. 7, in S161 it is determined whether the distance to the other vehicle is normal. The distance to the other vehicle can be detected based on the detection results of other vehicles around the vehicle by the cameras 2-5 and the radar devices 11-14. It can also be detected based on the position information of the other vehicles and the vehicle's position information obtained via vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

[0148] The determination of whether the distance to the other vehicle is normal may be made, for example, by setting a distance threshold and determining that the distance to the other vehicle is normal if the distance is equal to or greater than that threshold. In this case, the threshold may be set individually depending on the position of the other vehicle relative to the host vehicle (for example, whether the other vehicle is in front of, behind, or to the side of the host vehicle). Of course, the determination of whether the distance to the other vehicle is normal may be made using a method other than the above example.

[0149] If the distance to the other vehicle is not normal (S161: NO), proceed to S169. If the distance to the other vehicle is not normal, the risk of a collision with the other vehicle increases. This may be due to the automatic control function not operating normally. Therefore, if the distance to the other vehicle is not normal, it is determined in S169 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred, in order to forcibly cancel automatic driving and leave driving operation of vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, an abnormal distance to the other vehicle is one of the events requiring cancellation.

[0150] If the distance to the other vehicle is normal (S161: YES), it is determined in S162 whether the relative speed to the other vehicle is normal. As with the distance to the other vehicle, the relative speed to the other vehicle can be detected based on the detection results of other vehicles around the vehicle by each of the cameras 2-5 and each of the radar devices 11-14.

[0151] The determination of whether the relative speed with respect to another vehicle is normal may be made, for example, by setting a threshold value for the relative speed and determining that the relative speed with respect to another vehicle is normal if it is equal to or less than the threshold value. In this case, the threshold value may be set individually depending on the position of the other vehicle relative to the own vehicle (for example, whether it is in front of, behind, or to the side of the own vehicle). Of course, the determination of whether the relative speed with respect to another vehicle is normal may be made by a method other than the above example.

[0152] If the relative speed with respect to other vehicles is not normal (S162: NO), proceed to S169. If the relative speed with respect to other vehicles is not normal, there is a possibility of a collision with another vehicle. It may also be that the vehicle is not following the flow of surrounding traffic. One possible cause of this is that the automatic control function is not operating normally. Therefore, if the relative speed with respect to other vehicles is not normal, it is determined in S169 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred, in order to forcibly cancel automatic driving and leave driving operation of vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, an abnormal relative speed with respect to other vehicles is one of the events requiring cancellation.

[0153] If the relative speed with respect to the other vehicle is normal (S162: YES), it is determined in S163 whether the behavior of the suspension is normal. The behavior of the suspension can be detected based on the detection result of the suspension sensor 25.

[0154] To determine whether the suspension is behaving normally, a threshold value may be set for the amount of extension / contraction of the suspension, and if the amount of extension / contraction is equal to or less than the threshold, the suspension may be determined to be normal. Alternatively, a threshold value may be set for the rate of change of the amount of extension / contraction, and if the rate of change of the amount of extension / contraction is equal to or less than the threshold, the suspension may be determined to be normal. If multiple suspension sensors 25 are provided, the overall determination may be made based on the detection results from the multiple suspension sensors 25, as appropriate. For example, if the extension / contraction amount of any one of the multiple suspension sensors 25 exceeds a threshold, the suspension may be determined to be behaving abnormally.

[0155] If the suspension behavior is not normal (S163: NO), the process proceeds to S169. If the suspension behavior is not normal, it is possible that the automatic control function is not operating normally. In other words, if the automatic control function is not operating normally, unstable behavior such as sudden starts, sudden stops, and sharp turns may occur, which may cause the suspension to expand and contract significantly. Therefore, if the suspension behavior is not normal, it is determined in S169 that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred, in order to forcibly cancel automatic driving and leave driving operation of vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, abnormal suspension behavior is one of the cancellation-requiring events.

[0156] If the suspension behavior is normal (S163: YES), then in S164 it is determined whether the engine compartment is normal. Specifically, it is determined whether the temperature in the engine compartment is normal and no abnormal noise is occurring. The temperature in the engine compartment can be detected based on the detection result of the engine compartment temperature sensor 22, and the sound generated from the engine compartment can be detected based on the detection result of the engine compartment sound sensor 23.

[0157] The determination of whether the engine room is normal may be made, for example, by setting a temperature threshold for the temperature in the engine room and a volume threshold for the sound in the engine room, and determining that the engine room is normal when the temperature in the engine room is equal to or lower than the temperature threshold and the sound in the engine room is equal to or lower than the volume threshold.The sound quality of the engine room sound may be analyzed, and if a sound quality equivalent to that which may occur when an abnormality occurs is detected, it may be determined that the engine room is abnormal.

[0158] If the engine compartment is not normal (S164: NO), the process proceeds to S169. If the engine compartment is not normal, the automatic control function may not be operating normally. That is, if the automatic control function is not operating normally, the automatic driving control device 30 may not be able to control the driving control unit 46 normally, which may cause the driving control unit 46 to be unable to control the engine, transmission, etc. normally. Therefore, if the engine compartment is not normal, it is determined in S169 that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in order to forcibly cancel automatic driving and leave driving operation of the vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, an engine compartment that is not normal is one of the cancellation-requiring events.

[0159] If the engine compartment is normal (S164: YES), then in S165 it is determined whether or not an abnormal current is occurring. The abnormal current here refers to the above-mentioned overcurrent (for example, an excessive current that can occur during a lightning strike). The determination of whether or not an abnormal current is occurring can be made based on the detection result of current sensor 19. For example, a threshold value may be set for the current to be detected, and if the detected current is equal to or greater than that threshold, it may be determined that an abnormal current has occurred.

[0160] If an abnormal current is occurring (S165: YES), the process proceeds to S169. If an abnormal current is occurring, there is a possibility that the automatic control function will not operate normally due to the abnormal current. Therefore, if an abnormal current is occurring, it is determined in S169 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred in order to forcibly cancel automatic driving and leave driving operation of the vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, the occurrence of an abnormal current due to various factors such as lightning is one type of event requiring cancellation.

[0161] If an abnormal current is not occurring (S165: NO), it is determined in S166 whether or not a tire has been punctured. Whether or not a tire has been punctured can be detected based on the detection result of the tire pressure sensor 24.

[0162] To determine whether a tire has a puncture, for example, a threshold value may be set for the air pressure, and if the air pressure of any one of the four tires is below the threshold value, it may be determined that a puncture has occurred.

[0163] If a flat tire has occurred (S166: YES), the process proceeds to S169. If a flat tire has occurred, there is a possibility that the automatic control function will not be able to control the vehicle 1 normally due to the flat tire. Therefore, if a flat tire has occurred, it is determined in S169 that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automatic driving and leave the driving operation of the vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, a flat tire is one of the cancellation-requiring events.

[0164] If no tire puncture has occurred (S166: NO), the process proceeds to S167, where it is determined whether or not slippage has occurred. Whether or not slippage has occurred can be detected based on the detection results of the wheel speed sensors 18 of each wheel. For example, the detection results of the wheel speed sensors 18 may be compared, and if the difference between the highest and lowest wheel speeds is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it may be determined that slippage has occurred.

[0165] If a slip has occurred (S167: YES), the process proceeds to S169. If a slip has occurred, there is a possibility that the automatic control function will not be able to control the vehicle 1 normally due to the slip. Therefore, if a slip has occurred, it is determined in S169 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automatic driving and leave driving operation of the vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, the occurrence of a slip is one of the events requiring cancellation.

[0166] If no slippage occurs (S167: NO), check in S168 whether the steering condition is normal. The steering state can be detected based on the detection result of the steering amount sensor 20. Whether the steering state is normal or not may be determined, for example, by setting a threshold value for the steering amount based on the neutral position, and determining that the steering state is normal if the steering amount from the neutral position is equal to or less than the threshold value. Alternatively, for example, a threshold value may be set for the rate of change in the steering amount, and determining that the steering state is normal if the rate of change in the steering amount is equal to or less than the threshold value.

[0167] If the steering state is not normal (S163: NO), the process proceeds to S169. If the steering state is not normal, it is possible that the automatic control function is not operating normally. Therefore, if the steering state is not normal, it is determined in S169 that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automatic driving and leave driving operation of the vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, an abnormal steering state is one of the cancellation-requiring events.

[0168] If the steering state is normal (S168: YES), the system monitoring process in FIG. 7 (ie, the process of S112 in FIG. 6) ends. Next, the interior / exterior behavior monitoring process of S113 in the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process of Fig. 6 will be specifically described with reference to Fig. 8. When proceeding to the interior / exterior behavior monitoring process of S113, as shown in Fig. 8, it is determined in S201 whether or not contact with a specific contact area inside the vehicle by an occupant of the vehicle 1 has been detected. The presence or absence of contact with the specific contact area inside the vehicle can be determined based on the detection result of the interior contact sensor 21.

[0169] If contact with the specific contact area inside the vehicle is detected (S201: YES), the process proceeds to S210. The instruction manual for the vehicle 1 of this embodiment explains that if the driver feels something is wrong or anxious about the operating state of the automatic control function, the driver can forcibly cancel the autonomous driving by touching the specific contact area inside the vehicle or by operating the emergency stop lever 43. Therefore, the detection of contact with the specific contact area inside the vehicle can be determined to be an indication that the driver of the vehicle 1 has expressed a desire to forcibly cancel the autonomous driving.

[0170] Therefore, if contact with a specific contact part inside the vehicle is detected, it is determined in S210 that a cancellation event has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automated driving and leave the driver in charge of driving the vehicle 1. In other words, the detection of contact with a specific contact part inside the vehicle is one of the cancellation events.

[0171] If no contact with the specific contact area inside the vehicle is detected (S201: NO), it is determined in S202 whether the emergency stop lever 43 has been operated. If the emergency stop lever 43 has been operated (S202: YES), the process proceeds to S210. When the emergency stop lever 43 has been operated, it can be determined that an occupant of the vehicle 1 has expressed an intention to forcibly cancel the autonomous driving.

[0172] Therefore, when the emergency stop lever 43 is operated, it is determined in S210 that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automatic driving and leave the driver in charge of driving the vehicle 1. In other words, the operation of the emergency stop lever 43 is one of the cancellation-requiring events.

[0173] If the emergency stop lever 43 has not been operated (S202: NO), it is determined in S203 whether an external impact has been detected. As described above, the external impact here includes a large impact such as a collision with another vehicle, and a small impact such as a pedestrian or other outside person hitting the vehicle 1.

[0174] The presence or absence of an external impact can be determined based on the detection result of the impact sensor 27. If an external impact is detected (S203: YES), the process proceeds to S210. If an external impact is detected, it means that damage has occurred to the vehicle 1 and the vehicle 1 cannot run normally. It is also possible that the automatic control function of Vehicle 1 has stopped working properly, causing Vehicle 1 to behave abnormally, or that someone outside the vehicle has noticed something unusual happening to the driver of Vehicle 1, and so the person outside the vehicle may have tried to warn the occupants of Vehicle 1 by hitting Vehicle 1 or other means.

[0175] Therefore, if an external impact is detected, it is determined in S210 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automated driving and leave the driver in charge of driving the vehicle 1. In other words, the detection of an external impact is one of the events requiring cancellation.

[0176] If no external impact is detected (S203: NO), then in S204, it is determined whether the driver's behavior is normal. The driver's behavior can be recognized by analyzing the data captured by the interior camera 6. For example, if the driver is looking aside for a certain period of time or more, if the driver's eyes are closed for a certain period of time or more, or if the driver has an expression of surprise, worry, or fear, then it can be determined that the driver's behavior is abnormal. Of course, it is also possible to determine whether the driver's behavior is normal or not based on other criteria.

[0177] If it is determined that the driver's behavior is abnormal (S204: YES), the process proceeds to S210. If it is determined that the driver's behavior is abnormal, it is possible that something unusual has happened to the driver, or that the automatic control function of the vehicle 1 is no longer operating normally.

[0178] Therefore, if it is determined that the driver's behavior is not normal, it is determined in S210 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred so that the automated driving is forcibly cancelled and the driver is given control of the vehicle 1, or an emergency stop is made to the vehicle 1. In other words, the fact that the driver's behavior is determined to be abnormal is one of the events requiring cancellation.

[0179] If the driver's behavior is determined to be normal (S204: NO), the process proceeds to S205, where it is determined whether or not the pedestrian is looking at the vehicle. As described above, whether or not the pedestrian is looking at the vehicle can be determined by analyzing the image data captured by each of cameras 2 to 5.

[0180] If pedestrians are looking at the vehicle (S205: YES), the process proceeds to S208, where it is determined whether a predetermined number of pedestrians or more are looking at the vehicle (i.e., whether the vehicle is receiving a high level of attention from pedestrians). If the number of pedestrians looking at the vehicle is less than the predetermined number (i.e., the vehicle is not receiving a high level of attention) (S208: NO), the process proceeds to S209.

[0181] In S209, it is determined whether the behavior of a pedestrian who is looking at the vehicle is normal. The criteria for determining whether the behavior of a pedestrian who is looking at the vehicle is normal may be determined as appropriate. For example, if the pedestrian has a specific facial expression or behavior such as surprise, worry, or fear, the pedestrian's behavior may be determined to be abnormal.

[0182] If it is determined in S208 that a predetermined number of pedestrians or more are looking at the vehicle (S208: YES), or if it is determined in S209 that the behavior of the pedestrians looking at the vehicle is abnormal (S209: NO), the process proceeds to S210.

[0183] The fact that many pedestrians are focusing their gaze on the vehicle itself may mean that the automatic control function of vehicle 1 is not functioning properly, causing vehicle 1 to behave abnormally, or that something unusual is happening to the driver of vehicle 1. Also, even if the number of pedestrians looking at the vehicle itself is small, if the pedestrians' behavior is abnormal, it may still be a sign that the automatic control function of vehicle 1 is not functioning properly. It is possible that vehicle 1 is behaving abnormally or that something is wrong with the driver of vehicle 1.

[0184] Therefore, if the gazes of many pedestrians are concentrated on one vehicle or if the behavior of the pedestrians who are looking at the vehicle is abnormal, it is determined in S210 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred, so that the automated driving is forcibly cancelled and the driver is given control of the vehicle 1, or an emergency stop is made to the vehicle 1. In other words, the gazes of many pedestrians are concentrated on one vehicle or the behavior of the pedestrians who are looking at the vehicle is abnormal, both of which are events requiring cancellation.

[0185] If pedestrians are not looking at the vehicle (S205: NO), or if pedestrians are looking at the vehicle but the number of pedestrians is small and their behavior is normal (S209: YES), the process proceeds to S206.

[0186] In S206, it is determined whether or not another vehicle (mainly an oncoming vehicle or a vehicle behind) has flashed its light. Whether or not another vehicle has flashed its light can be determined mainly by analyzing the image data captured by the front camera 2 and the rear camera 3. If another vehicle has flashed its light (S206: YES), the process proceeds to S210.

[0187] Being flashed by another vehicle may mean that the automatic control function of vehicle 1 is not functioning properly, causing vehicle 1 to behave abnormally, and that the driver of the other vehicle may have noticed this abnormal behavior and issued a warning. Therefore, when another vehicle flashes its vehicle, S210 determines that an event requiring a deactivation has occurred, so that the automated driving can be forcibly deactivated and the driver can take control of vehicle 1, or vehicle 1 can be brought to an emergency stop. In other words, being flashed by another vehicle is one type of event requiring a deactivation.

[0188] If the other vehicle has not honked its horn (S206: NO), the process proceeds to S207, where it is determined whether the other vehicle has honked its horn. Whether the other vehicle has honked its horn can be determined mainly based on the detection results of the external sound sensor 26. If the other vehicle has honked its horn (S207: YES), the process proceeds to S210.

[0189] When another vehicle honks its horn, it is possible that the automatic control function of vehicle 1 has stopped working properly, causing vehicle 1 to behave abnormally, and that the driver of the other vehicle has noticed this abnormal behavior and issued a warning. Therefore, when another vehicle honks its horn, S210 determines that an event requiring deactivation has occurred, so that the automated driving can be forcibly deactivated and the driver can take control of vehicle 1, or vehicle 1 can be brought to an emergency stop. In other words, when another vehicle honks its horn, it is one of the events requiring deactivation.

[0190] Next, the environmental monitoring process of S114 in the autonomous driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. 6 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. 9. When the process proceeds to the environmental monitoring process of S114, as shown in FIG. 9, in S251, it is determined whether the weather around the vehicle 1 is in a heavy rain state. The determination of whether the weather is in a heavy rain state can be made based on the detection signal from the rainfall sensor 17, for example, by setting a threshold value for the amount of detection and comparing it with that threshold value. Of course, the determination of whether the weather is in a heavy rain state can also be made using other methods. For example, the determination can be made by analyzing the amount of rain from the image data captured by each of the cameras 2 to 5.

[0191] If it is determined that heavy rain is occurring (S251: YES), the process proceeds to S256. If it is not determined that heavy rain is occurring (S251: NO), the process proceeds to S252. In S252, it is determined whether or not the weather around the vehicle 1 is in a heavy snow condition. The determination of whether or not the weather is in a heavy snow condition may be made, for example, by analyzing the amount of snowfall from the photographic data of each of the cameras 2 to 5. Of course, the determination of whether or not the weather is in a heavy snow condition may also be made using other methods.

[0192] If it is determined that there is heavy snow (S252: YES), the process proceeds to S256. If it is not determined that there is heavy snow (S252: NO), the process proceeds to S253. In S253, it is determined whether or not the area around the vehicle 1 is in a dense fog state. The determination of whether or not the area is in a dense fog state may be made in the same manner as the method for determining whether or not the area is in a heavy snow state, for example, by analyzing the fog generation state from the photographic data of each of the cameras 2 to 5. Of course, it is also possible to determine whether or not the area is in a dense fog state using other methods.

[0193] If it is determined that the condition is dense fog (S253: YES), the process proceeds to S256. If it is not determined that the condition is dense fog (S253: NO), the process proceeds to S254. When it is determined that the weather is heavy rain, heavy snow, or dense fog (hereinafter collectively referred to as "bad weather"), visibility ahead of the vehicle is poor, and there is a risk that the automatic control function will not operate normally. Therefore, in the case of bad weather, it is determined in S256 that a deactivation event has occurred, in order to forcibly deactivate the automatic driving and leave driving operation of vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, bad weather is one of the deactivation events.

[0194] In S254, it is determined whether the vehicle 1 is traveling through a caution section. As described above, caution sections in this embodiment include at least accident-prone areas, school zones, and areas where animals are likely to appear. Whether the vehicle 1 is traveling through a caution section can be determined based on section information obtained via road-to-vehicle communication. Alternatively, if the image data captured by the front camera 2 includes signs or road signs indicating the caution section, the determination can also be based on this.

[0195] If it is determined that vehicle 1 is traveling in a caution section (S254: YES), the process proceeds to S256. When vehicle 1 is traveling in a caution section, it may be preferable for the driver to operate the vehicle while paying attention to the direction of travel, rather than relying on the automatic control function. Therefore, when vehicle 1 is traveling in a caution section, it is determined in S256 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred, in order to forcibly cancel automatic driving and leave driving operation of vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, vehicle 1 traveling in a caution section is one of the events requiring cancellation.

[0196] If the vehicle 1 is not traveling in a caution section (S254: NO), proceed to S255. In S255, it is determined whether the average autonomous driving level of other surrounding vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the "surrounding average level") is below a predetermined level (for example, level 1 or below). If the surrounding average level is higher than the predetermined level (S255: NO), the environment monitoring process ends. On the other hand, if the surrounding average level is below the predetermined level (S255: YES), proceed to S256.

[0197] The surrounding average level can be derived by acquiring the autonomous driving levels set for the other vehicles traveling around the subject vehicle and calculating the average of the acquired autonomous driving levels. The autonomous driving levels of the other vehicles around the subject vehicle can be acquired directly through vehicle-to-vehicle communication or indirectly through road-to-vehicle communication.

[0198] When the surrounding average level is below a predetermined level, it means that many of the surrounding vehicles have their automated driving level kept low. This means that it is highly likely that the drivers of many of the surrounding vehicles are driving by themselves without relying on the automated control function. If many of the surrounding drivers are driving without relying on the automated control function, it is possible that the area in which the vehicle is currently traveling is an area where, for some reason, it is preferable for the driver to drive by themselves rather than by automated driving.

[0199] Therefore, if the surrounding average level is below a predetermined level, it is determined in S256 that an event requiring cancellation has occurred in order to forcibly cancel the automatic driving and leave the driving operation of the vehicle 1 to the driver himself. In other words, the surrounding average level being below a predetermined level is one of the events that require cancellation.

[0200] Next, the self-diagnosis process of S115 in the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of FIG. 6 will be described. Prior to the description of the self-diagnosis process, the driving history recording process shown in FIG. 10A will be described first.

[0201] 10A is a process for storing, as a history, various specific control operations (however, control operations automatically performed by the automatic control function) performed while the vehicle 1 is traveling, in association with the location where the specific control operation was performed. The types and number of specific control operations to be stored as history may be determined as appropriate. For example, an operation of temporarily stopping while traveling, an operation of decelerating even when there are no other vehicles ahead, etc. may be determined as specific control operations.

[0202] If the automatic control function is operating normally, vehicle 1 should automatically stop where there is a stop road sign or stop line. It should also slow down for safety before a pedestrian crossing, even if there is no vehicle ahead. On the other hand, if the automatic control function is not operating normally, the vehicle may pass through a stop road sign without stopping, or may pass through a pedestrian crossing without slowing down. In other words, if the automatic control function is not operating normally, the vehicle may drive differently than before, even if it is driving through the same place it has driven through before.

[0203] Therefore, in this embodiment, past driving history is linked to the location and stored, and the next time the vehicle drives through the same location, it is compared with the past operating state, and if the driving behavior is different from the past (for example, if the vehicle stopped temporarily in the past but passed through this time), it is determined that the automatic control function is not operating normally and that automatic driving should be canceled.

[0204] When the control unit 30a starts operation, it executes the driving history recording process of Fig. 10A in parallel with the autonomous driving level setting process of Fig. 5. When the control unit 30a starts the driving history recording process of Fig. 10A, it determines in S301 whether the vehicle 1 has traveled a certain distance. It continues the determination of S301 until the certain distance has been traveled. If the certain distance has been traveled (S301: YES), it proceeds to S302.

[0205] In S302, the specific control operation performed in the travel section of the fixed distance is stored as specific control information together with the location information where the specific control operation was performed. If a specific control operation at the same location has already been stored, the stored content is updated. After storing the specific control information performed in the travel section of the fixed distance, the process returns to S301. In this way, every time the vehicle travels a fixed distance, the specific control information storage process is performed for the travel section of the fixed distance.

[0206] Next, the self-diagnosis processing of S115 in Fig. 6 will be described with reference to Fig. 10B. When the self-diagnosis processing of S115 is started, as shown in Fig. 10B, in S351, it is determined whether the current traveling position has been traveled to in the past. This determination can be made by comparing the current position based on GPS information with the position information linked to the specific control information stored in memory 30b.

[0207] If the current driving position is not linked to any of the specific control information stored in memory 30b, the current driving position is considered to have not been driven to in the past (S351: NO), and the self-diagnosis process ends. If the current driving position matches or is close to the position information linked to any of the specific control information stored in memory 30b, the current driving position is considered to have been driven to in the past (S351: YES), and the process proceeds to S352.

[0208] In S352, past specific control information corresponding to the current driving position is read from memory 30b. That is, it is confirmed whether or not specific control operations have been performed in the past at the current driving location. In S353, it is determined whether the current driving state is different from the past. More specifically, it is determined whether or not a specific control operation previously performed at the same location has been performed this time. If the current driving state is different from the past, i.e., if a specific control operation previously performed at the same location has not been performed this time (S353: YES), proceed to S354 and determine that a release-requiring event has occurred. If the current driving state is not different from the past, i.e., if a specific control operation previously performed at the same location has been performed this time (S353: NO), the self-diagnosis process ends.

[0209] (5) Effects of the First Embodiment According to the vehicle 1 of the present embodiment described above, when the autonomous driving level is level 1 or higher (i.e., when the automatic control function is operating), it is determined whether a cancellation event has occurred that requires the autonomous driving to be cancelled (S112 to S115 in FIG. 6). If a cancellation event has occurred, the autonomous driving level is forcibly set to level 0. In other words, if a cancellation event has occurred, all operation of the automatic control function is stopped, regardless of the setting state of the driving mode, and driving operation of the vehicle 1 is left to the driver.

[0210] Therefore, if a cancellation event occurs, the driver can drive the vehicle 1 by himself / herself, which can prevent the vehicle 1 from operating unstable due to malfunction of the automatic control function, etc.

[0211] In addition, in this embodiment, a large number of events are considered as events requiring cancellation, and a determination is made for each event one by one. Specifically, as shown in S161 of Fig. 7, the distance to another vehicle is determined, and if the distance to the other vehicle is not normal, the automatic driving is forcibly canceled. Therefore, even if vehicle 1 is on the verge of colliding with another vehicle due to a malfunction of the automatic control function, the driver can avoid the collision by operating the vehicle himself.

[0212] Furthermore, as shown in S162 of Fig. 7, the relative speed with respect to other vehicles is judged, and if the relative speed with respect to other vehicles is abnormal, the automatic driving is forcibly canceled. Therefore, even if vehicle 1 is on the verge of colliding with another vehicle due to a malfunction of the automatic control function or the like, the driver can avoid this by operating the vehicle himself. Also, even if the traveling speed of vehicle 1 is different from the speed of many surrounding vehicles and is not keeping up with the flow of surrounding traffic due to a malfunction of the automatic control function or the like, the driver can avoid this by operating the vehicle himself.

[0213] Furthermore, as shown in S163 of Figure 7, the behavior of the suspension is judged, and if the behavior is abnormal, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled. Therefore, even if the vehicle 1 begins to exhibit abnormal behavior due to a malfunction of the automatic control function, the driver can avoid this by operating the vehicle himself.

[0214] Furthermore, as shown in S164 in Figure 7, the condition of the engine room (temperature and sound) is judged, and if it is not normal, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled. Therefore, if an abnormality occurs in the engine room due to a malfunction of the automatic control function, the driver can minimize the impact by operating the vehicle himself.

[0215] Furthermore, as shown in S165 of FIG. 7, if an abnormal current occurs in the electrical wiring inside the vehicle 1 (where the current sensor 19 is installed), the automatic driving is forcibly canceled. Therefore, even if an excessive current flows due to a lightning strike or the like, the automatic control function is not canceled. This makes it possible to prevent the running state of the vehicle 1 from becoming unstable due to malfunction of the control unit.

[0216] Furthermore, as shown in S166 and S167 of Fig. 7, if a tire gets punctured or a slip occurs, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled. Therefore, if the reliability of driving by the automatic control function is reduced due to a tire puncture or a slip, the driver can operate the vehicle 1 appropriately by his / her own driving operation (for example, by slowly decelerating to a stop or smoothly recovering from a slip state).

[0217] Furthermore, as shown in S168 of Figure 7, if the steering state of the steering wheels is abnormal, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled. Therefore, even if the steering wheels of the vehicle 1 start to behave abnormally due to a malfunction of the automatic control function, the driver can avoid this by operating the vehicle himself.

[0218] Furthermore, as shown in S201 and S202 in Fig. 8, when contact with a specific contact area inside the vehicle by an occupant is detected, or when an emergency stop lever is operated by an occupant, the autonomous driving is forcibly cancelled. Therefore, if a situation arises in which the driver wishes to cancel the autonomous driving, such as when the behavior of vehicle 1 becomes unstable, the driver can quickly cancel the autonomous driving at his or her own will.

[0219] Furthermore, as shown in S203 of Fig. 8, if an external impact is detected, the automatic driving is forcibly canceled. Therefore, even if there is a risk that the automatic control function will not operate normally due to an external impact, the driver can operate the vehicle 1 appropriately by driving it himself.

[0220] 8, if the driver's behavior is not normal (for example, if the driver has a look of surprise or fear), the automatic driving is forcibly canceled. Therefore, even if the driving state of the vehicle 1 becomes unstable to the extent that the driver shows a look of surprise or fear due to a malfunction of the automatic control function, the driver can quickly avoid this by operating the vehicle himself.

[0221] Furthermore, as shown in S205, S206, and S207 in Fig. 8, if the vehicle attracts the gaze of pedestrians, if a pedestrian looking at the vehicle behaves abnormally (for example, pointing at the vehicle with a surprised expression), or if another vehicle honks its horn or flashes its lights, the system will forcibly cancel autonomous driving. This is because if pedestrians or other vehicles take some kind of action against the vehicle, it is possible that the vehicle's driving condition is unstable, and this may be due to a malfunction of the automatic control function or the like.

[0222] 9, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled in bad weather such as heavy rain, heavy snow, dense fog, etc. Therefore, even if the automatic control function does not operate normally due to bad weather, causing the vehicle 1 to run unstably, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled, allowing the driver to drive the vehicle 1 appropriately by operating the vehicle himself.

[0223] Furthermore, as shown in S254 of Fig. 9, when the vehicle 1 is traveling through a caution section, the automatic driving is forcibly cancelled. This allows the driver to drive the vehicle through the caution section appropriately by themselves without relying on the automatic control function.

[0224] Also, as shown in Figure 10B, when the vehicle travels again in a place where it has traveled before, if the specific control action that was performed in the past is not performed this time, the automatic control function will operate normally. This system automatically cancels automatic driving if the driver does not operate the vehicle properly, preventing problems that may arise from malfunctioning of the automatic control function.

[0225] Furthermore, in this embodiment, when a cancellation-requiring event occurs, the autonomous driving is not cancelled unconditionally, but the occupant is notified that the autonomous driving will be cancelled (S117 in FIG. 6). Then, if it is confirmed that the autonomous driving can be cancelled, such as by receiving a predetermined response from the occupant (YES in S118 in FIG. 6), the autonomous driving is cancelled. This allows the autonomous driving to be cancelled smoothly and appropriately, allowing the driver to take over driving operations.

[0226] On the other hand, if the occupant does not respond as expected even after being notified that automatic driving will be cancelled (NO in S118), the system automatically brings the vehicle 1 to an emergency stop. Therefore, if the driver falls asleep or faints, for example, and it becomes difficult for the driver to drive the vehicle 1, the vehicle 1 can be brought to a swift and appropriate stop, thereby preventing unexpected situations from occurring.

[0227] The control unit 30a corresponds to an example of a surrounding information acquisition unit, a driving mode setting unit, an automatic control unit, a cancellation-requiring event determination unit, a notification unit, and a cancellation permission determination unit. The processes of S40 and S50 in FIG. 5 correspond to an example of a process of the driving mode setting unit. The process of S55 in FIG. 5 corresponds to an example of a process of the surrounding information acquisition unit. The processes of S55 in FIG. 5 and S118 to S120 in FIG. 6 correspond to an example of a process of the automatic control unit. The process of S120 in FIG. 6 corresponds to an example of an automatic stop process among the processes of the automatic control unit. The processes of S112, S113, S114, and S115 in FIG. 6 correspond to an example of a process of the cancellation-requiring event determination unit. The process of S117 in FIG. 6 corresponds to an example of a process of the notification unit, and the process of S118 in FIG. 6 corresponds to an example of a process of the cancellation permission determination unit.

[0228] [Second embodiment] The electrical configuration of the vehicle of the second embodiment is shown in Fig. 11. In Fig. 11, the same components as those in the vehicle 1 of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0229] As shown in Fig. 11, the vehicle of the second embodiment includes an automatic driving control device 101 and a monitoring device 102. Except for the fact that the automatic driving control device 101 has a function for performing data communication with the monitoring device 102 via a network 100, the automatic driving control device 101 has basically the same configuration and operates in the same manner as the automatic driving control device 101 of the first embodiment. That is, the control unit 101a of the automatic driving control device 101 executes the automatic driving level setting process (see Fig. 5) in accordance with various programs stored in the memory 101b, similar to the vehicle 1 of the first embodiment. The automatic driving control device 101 also executes an automatic control function based on the set automatic driving level.

[0230] 11, the cameras 2 to 6, the radar devices 11 to 14, and the sensors 16 to 27 in the vehicle 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are collectively illustrated as a detection means group 111. Also, in FIG. 11, the communication units 31 to 35 in the vehicle 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 are collectively illustrated as a communication means group 112.

[0231] The autonomous driving control device 101 of this embodiment further periodically transmits the execution status of the automatic control function corresponding to the autonomous driving level (the result of the control calculation) as one piece of control information to the monitoring device 102 via the network 100. Furthermore, if a cancellation event occurs as a result of the autonomous driving level setting process, the autonomous driving control device 101 at least transmits that fact (the fact that a cancellation event has occurred) as one piece of control information to the monitoring device 102 via the network 100 periodically.

[0232] The monitoring device 102 is provided to monitor whether the various controls performed by the automatic driving control device 101 are operating normally. That is, the monitoring device 102 basically has the same configuration as the automatic driving control device 101, and like the automatic driving control device 101, the control unit 102a executes control calculations for the automatic control functions based on the set automatic driving level.

[0233] That is, the monitoring device 102 does not actually execute the automatic control function, but performs the control calculations for the automatic control function in the same way as the automatic driving control device 101. In other words, both the automatic driving control device 101 and the monitoring device 102 execute the control calculations required to realize the automatic control function according to the set automatic driving level.

[0234] Therefore, assuming that the monitoring device is operating normally, and if the automatic driving control device 101 is normal, the results of the control calculations of both should be the same. On the other hand, if an abnormality occurs in the automatic driving control device 101 and the automatic control function does not operate normally, the results of the control calculations of both may be different (the calculation result of the automatic driving control device 101 may be abnormal).

[0235] Therefore, the monitoring device 102 compares its own control calculation result with the control calculation result by the automatic driving control device 101, and if the two do not match, it forcibly cancels the automatic control function by the automatic driving control device 101. Specifically, the control unit 102a of the monitoring device 102 executes the control state monitoring process shown in FIG.

[0236] 12 starts, the control unit 102a of the monitoring device 102 executes calculation processing of the automatic control function corresponding to the set automatic driving level in S501. In S502, the control unit 102a acquires the calculation results of the control calculation of the automatic control function in the automatic driving control device 101 from the automatic driving control device 101 via the network 100.

[0237] In S503, the result of its own calculation performed in S501 is compared with the result of calculation by the automatic driving control device 101 acquired in S502, and it is determined whether the two match. If the two do not match (S503: NO), it is determined that the result of calculation by the automatic driving control device 101 is not normal, and in S508, a forced release process is executed to forcibly release the automatic control function by the automatic driving control device 101.

[0238] There are various possible specific details of the forced cancellation process of S508. For example, the monitoring device 102 may instruct the travel drive control unit 46, the brake control unit 47, and the steering control unit 48 to ignore control commands from the automatic driving control device 101, so that each of these control units 46 to 48 operates independently of the automatic driving control device 101 (i.e., automatic driving is canceled).

[0239] Also, for example, determination information indicating that the calculation results do not match may be transmitted to the automatic driving control device 101 via the network 100, thereby causing the automatic driving control device 101 to forcibly cancel automatic driving.

[0240] Furthermore, for example, switches for connecting / disconnecting the electrical connection between the automatic driving control device 101 and the travel drive control unit 46, between the automatic driving control device 101 and the brake control unit 47, and between the automatic driving control device 101 and the steering control unit 48 may be provided. Then, by turning off at least one of the switches (i.e., disconnecting the electrical connection), it may be possible to prevent control from the automatic driving control device 101.

[0241] Furthermore, one possible reason why the calculation results by the automatic driving control device 101 are not normal is that the automatic driving control device 101 is being illegally accessed from outside. For this reason, a switch for connecting / disconnecting the electrical connection between the communication means group 112 and the automatic driving control device 101 may be provided between the communication means group 112 and the automatic driving control device 101, and physical access from outside may be prevented by turning off this switch (i.e., disconnecting the electrical connection).

[0242] If the calculation results match in S503 (S503: YES), it is determined whether or not a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in S504. Specifically, it is determined whether or not a cancellation-requiring event has occurred by performing processes identical to the processes in S112 to S115 in the automatic driving cancellation confirmation process of the first embodiment shown in Figure 6.

[0243] In S505, it is determined whether or not a cancellation-requiring event has occurred based on the determination result of S504. If a cancellation-requiring event has not occurred (S505: NO), the control state monitoring process is terminated. If a cancellation-requiring event has occurred (S505: YES), in S506, the determination result of whether or not a cancellation-requiring event has occurred in the automatic driving control device 101 is obtained from the automatic driving control device 101 via the network 100.

[0244] In S507, based on the result obtained in S506, it is determined whether the automatic driving control device 101 has also determined that a cancellation requiring event has occurred. If the automatic driving control device 101 has also determined that a cancellation requiring event has occurred, it is determined that the automatic driving control device 101 is operating normally, and the control state monitoring process is terminated. On the other hand, if the automatic driving control device 101 has not determined that a cancellation requiring event has occurred, it is determined that the automatic driving control device 101 is not operating normally for some reason, and the process proceeds to S508, where the forced release process is executed as described above.

[0245] The vehicle of the second embodiment described above provides the following advantages in addition to the advantages of the first embodiment. That is, in the second embodiment, a monitoring device 102 is provided in addition to the automatic driving control device 101. The monitoring device 102 also performs control calculations similar to those performed by the automatic driving control device 101, compares the calculation results with those of the automatic driving control device 101, and determines whether the automatic driving control device 101 is operating normally depending on whether the two match.

[0246] In other words, two independent computers are made to perform the same control calculations, and by checking whether the results of the calculations match, it is possible to determine whether the operation of one of the computers (here, the automatic driving control device 101) is normal.

[0247] If the two calculation results do not match, the monitoring device 102 executes a forced cancellation process (S508 in FIG. 12) to forcibly cancel the autonomous driving. Note that, similar to the first embodiment, the autonomous driving control device 101 cancels the autonomous driving itself when a cancellation-requiring event occurs. In the second embodiment, the monitoring device 102 also performs a forced cancellation process to cancel the autonomous driving. Therefore, when a situation arises in which the autonomous driving should be cancelled, the autonomous driving can be cancelled more reliably.

[0248] [Other embodiments] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and can take various forms.

[0249] (1) The specific examples of events requiring cancellation shown in the above embodiments are merely examples. It is also possible to determine whether or not other events that are considered to require cancellation of autonomous driving have occurred, and to cancel autonomous driving if they have occurred.

[0250] For example, in the first embodiment, an example was shown in which autonomous driving was cancelled when the driver behaved abnormally, but autonomous driving may also be cancelled based on the behavior of other occupants other than the driver.

[0251] Furthermore, whether or not to deactivate autonomous driving may be determined based on the content of the occupants' speech, not just the behavior of the occupants (including the driver). For example, if someone says, "There's an ambulance approaching from behind!", the autonomous driving may be deactivated and the driver may be given control of the vehicle. In other words, the autonomous driving may be deactivated in response to specific phrases or sentences.

[0252] In addition, the infrastructure may monitor the vehicle's driving state, and if the driving state is unstable (i.e., if there is a possibility that the automatic control function is not operating normally), the infrastructure may notify the vehicle of this fact via road-to-vehicle communication, etc. Then, if the vehicle receives the notification from the infrastructure, it may forcibly cancel the automatic driving.

[0253] (2) In the above embodiment, if an event requiring deactivation occurs when the autonomous driving level is at level 1 or higher, the autonomous driving level is forcibly set to level 0. However, if an event requiring deactivation occurs when the autonomous driving level is at or above a predetermined level n, which is higher than level 1, the autonomous driving level may be set to 0 (i.e., ignored if the level is below n). Alternatively, if an event requiring deactivation occurs when the driving mode is in highly automated mode, the autonomous driving level may be forcibly set to level 0, and if the driving mode is in basic mode, the basic mode setting may be maintained even if an event requiring deactivation occurs.

[0254] Furthermore, when a deactivation event occurs, it is not necessary to set the autonomous driving level to level 0, but the autonomous driving level may be lowered to at least a level lower than the current level. For example, when a deactivation event occurs while in the highly automated mode, the mode may be switched to the basic mode.

[0255] (3) The cameras and radar devices necessary to realize autonomous driving may be installed anywhere in the vehicle 1, and any number of cameras and radar devices may be installed. The installation locations and number of cameras and radar devices may be determined appropriately so as to realize the desired automatic control function. Furthermore, the on-board equipment necessary to realize autonomous driving is not limited to the various equipment shown in Figures 1 and 2.

[0256] (4) In addition, the function of one component in the above embodiments may be distributed among multiple components, or the functions of multiple components may be integrated into one component. Furthermore, at least a portion of the configuration of the above embodiments may be replaced with a known configuration having a similar function. Furthermore, a portion of the configuration of the above embodiments may be omitted. Furthermore, at least a portion of the configuration of the above embodiments may be added to or substituted for the configuration of another of the above embodiments. Note that any aspect included in the technical idea identified only by the wording of the claims is an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0257] [Technical concept understood from the embodiment] At least the following technical ideas can be understood from the various embodiments described above in detail. (A) An automatic driving control device mounted on a vehicle, a surrounding information acquisition unit that acquires surrounding information that is information about the surroundings of the vehicle; a driving mode setting unit that sets the driving mode of the vehicle to either a highly automated mode in which at least some of a plurality of types of driving operations required for driving the vehicle are automatically performed based on the surrounding information, or a basic mode in which the types of automated driving operations that are the driving operations to be automatically performed are fewer than those in the highly automated mode or are zero; Based on the operation mode set by the operation mode setting unit, an automatic control unit that executes the automatic driving operation set in accordance with the a cancellation-requiring event determination unit that, when the driving mode is set to a driving mode having at least one of the automatic driving operations to be executed, determines whether a predetermined cancellation-requiring event has occurred that requires cancellation of at least one of the automatic driving operations set in the driving mode; Equipped with When the operation mode is set to an operation mode having at least one of the automatic driving operations to be executed, if the cancellation-requiring event determination unit determines that the cancellation-requiring event has occurred, the automatic control unit stops the execution of at least one of the set automatic driving operations. Automatic driving control device.

[0258] In the automatic driving control device of the above configuration, not only does the cancellation-required event judgment unit judge whether or not a cancellation-required event has occurred when the driving mode is set to the highly automated mode, but also, even when the driving mode is set to the basic mode, if that basic mode is set to perform at least one of multiple types of automatic driving operations, the cancellation-required event judgment unit judges whether or not a cancellation-required event has occurred.

[0259] In other words, regardless of the type of driving mode that is set, if at least one of multiple types of automatic driving operations is set to be executed, the cancellation-requiring event determination unit determines whether a cancellation-requiring event has occurred. If it is determined that a cancellation-requiring event has occurred, at least one of the automatic driving operations to be executed is stopped.

[0260] An event requiring cancellation is an event that may occur due to the automatic driving operation currently being performed not being performed normally, or an event that is currently being performed normally but the occurrence of the event may cause a disruption to the execution of the automatic driving operation.

[0261] One or more cancel requiring events may be set in advance. When multiple cancel requiring events are set, the cancel requiring event determination unit may determine whether or not all of the multiple cancel requiring events have occurred, or may determine whether or not some of the multiple cancel requiring events have occurred. In the latter case, which of the multiple cancel requiring events is to be determined may be determined as appropriate. For example, at least one of a cancel requiring event that occurs when an automatic driving operation set to be executed in the current driving mode is not executed normally, and a cancel requiring event that may interfere with the automatic driving operation may be included in the determination targets.

[0262] Furthermore, the timing at which the cancel-requiring-event determination unit determines whether a cancel-requiring event has occurred may be determined as appropriate, other than the above. For example, whether the cancel-requiring-event determination unit should determine whether a cancel-requiring event has occurred, and if so, the specific timing at which the determination should be made, may be determined depending on the number and type of automatic driving operations that are set to be executed in the current driving mode. (B) In (A) above, An automatic driving control device in which the event requiring cancellation is set to be at least one of the following operating states: at least one operating state that may occur when there is a possibility that the automatic driving operation set as the target for execution is not being executed normally; and at least one operating state that may cause the automatic driving operation set as the target for execution to not be executed normally.

[0263] In this way, by appropriately setting the vehicle operating state in which the autonomous driving operation is not being performed normally (or may not be performed normally) as a cancellation event, the autonomous driving operation that is being performed can be It is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the rolling operation should be stopped. (C) In (A) or (B) above, An automatic driving control device in which the event requiring cancellation is set to at least one of the following: an occupant of the vehicle exhibiting a specific first behavior, a person around the vehicle exhibiting a specific second behavior, and another vehicle around the vehicle performing a specific third action.

[0264] If an autonomous driving operation currently in progress ceases to be performed normally, the impact will be reflected in the vehicle's operating state, which may cause the vehicle's occupants to exhibit specific behavior (for example, expressions of surprise or anxiety), people around the vehicle to exhibit specific behavior (for example, many people focusing their gaze on the vehicle or pointing at it), or other vehicles (more specifically, occupants of other vehicles) to perform specific actions toward the vehicle (for example, honking the horn or flashing their lights). Therefore, by setting at least one of the first behavior, second behavior, and third behavior as a deactivation event, it is possible to appropriately determine whether the autonomous driving operation currently in progress should be stopped. (D) In ​​any one of (A) to (C) above, An automatic driving control device in which the event requiring cancellation is set to be a specific environment set in advance around the vehicle.

[0265] A specific environment refers to an environment in which the currently executing automated driving operation may not be performed normally, or an environment in which one or more specific automated driving operations should not be performed, such as bad weather such as heavy rain or thick fog, or when the vehicle is traveling in an area where it is considered preferable to leave the vehicle to the driver's own control rather than automated driving, such as a school zone or an area prone to accidents.

[0266] By setting the presence of a vehicle in such a specific environment as a cancellation event, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the ongoing automatic driving operation should be stopped. [Explanation of symbols]

[0267] 1...vehicle, 2...front camera, 3...rear camera, 4...left side camera, 5...right side camera, 6...interior camera, 9...front window, 10...steering wheel, 11...front radar device, 12...rear radar device, 13...left side radar device, 14...right side radar device, 16...solar radiation sensor, 17...rainfall sensor, 18...wheel speed sensor, 19...current sensor, 20...steering amount sensor, 21...interior contact sensor, 22...engine compartment temperature sensor, 23...engine compartment sound sensor, 24...tire air pressure sensor, 25...suspension sensor, 26...exterior sound sensor, 27...impact sensor, 30,101...auto Automatic driving control device, 30a, 101a, 102a...control unit, 30b, 101b, 102b...memory, 31...GPS communication unit, 32...vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit, 33...road-to-vehicle communication unit, 34...pedestrian-to-vehicle communication unit, 35...LTE communication unit, 36...operation unit, 37...display unit, 38...speaker, 41...automatic driving switch, 42...level setting operation unit, 43...emergency stop lever, 44...release reset switch, 46...travel drive control unit, 47...brake control unit, 48...steering control unit, 81...road communication device, 82...camera, 100...network, 102...monitoring device, 111...detection means group, 112...communication means group.

Claims

1. A vehicle, Acquire surrounding information that is information about the surroundings of the vehicle; The vehicle has a driving mode including a highly automated mode in which there are multiple types of automatic control functions that execute driving operations based on the surrounding information, and a basic mode in which there are fewer types of automatic control functions than in the highly automated mode, When the driving mode of the vehicle is the highly automated mode, the vehicle travels in accordance with the highly automated mode, and when the driving mode of the vehicle is the basic mode, the vehicle travels in accordance with the basic mode; the basic mode includes a collision prevention control for automatically steering the vehicle so as not to collide with an obstacle when the obstacle exists on a road in the traveling direction of the vehicle, storing a position where a control operation automatically performed in the automatic control function has been performed; vehicle.

2. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, the highly automated mode includes lane change control; vehicle.

3. 3. A vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, The control operation automatically performed in the automatic control function includes an operation of temporarily stopping while traveling or an operation of decelerating even if there is no other vehicle ahead. vehicle.

4. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, Link past driving history to location and store it. vehicle.

5. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, determining whether the vehicle has traveled to the current travel position in the past; vehicle.

6. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, When an event requiring cancellation occurs in the highly automated mode, at least one of the automatic control functions is cancelled. vehicle.

7. 7. A vehicle according to claim 6, an electric motor as a driving source for traveling; an impact sensor; When the vehicle is traveling in the highly automated mode and receives an impact from outside the vehicle, it is determined that the cancellation-requiring event has occurred. vehicle.

8. 8. The vehicle according to claim 7, When the vehicle receives an external impact, it makes an emergency stop. vehicle.

9. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 8, Execute a process of monitoring the behavior of the vehicle inside or outside the vehicle, or a process of monitoring the environment around the vehicle. vehicle.

10. 10. The vehicle according to claim 9, When a cancellation event occurs that requires cancellation of the automatic driving, a notification is given to the occupants in advance of the cancellation of the automatic driving. vehicle.

11. 10. The vehicle according to claim 9, determining whether the automatic control function can be deactivated or not, and performing an emergency stop if it is determined that the automatic control function cannot be deactivated; vehicle.

12. 10. The vehicle according to claim 9, Determine whether the driver's behavior is normal or not, and if it is determined that the driver's behavior is not normal, perform an emergency stop. vehicle.

13. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 12, determining whether or not a horn has been sounded by another vehicle, and disabling the automatic control function if it is determined that a horn has been sounded by the other vehicle; vehicle.

14. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 13, If the suspension behavior is abnormal, the automatic control function is deactivated. vehicle.

15. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 14, If a tire is punctured, the automatic control function is deactivated. vehicle.

16. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 15, Transmitting the execution status of the automatic control function according to the automatic driving level to a monitoring device via a network. vehicle.

Images