Vehicle control device and automated driving system

Abstract

To provide a vehicle control device and an automatic operation system capable of preventing missed detection of a bad road.SOLUTION: In a vehicle control device 100, a bad road traveling unit 1008 determines whether there is a bad road within a fixed range ahead of a vehicle on the basis of a position of the vehicle estimated by a position estimation unit 1001 and a position of a bad road acquired by a map information acquisition unit 1011, and determines whether the bad road has been detected on the basis of road surface information acquired by an environment information acquisition unit 1002. When the presence of the bad road within the fixed range ahead of the vehicle is determined on the basis of the position of the vehicle estimated by the position estimation unit 1001 and the position of the bad road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011, and when non-detection of the bad road is determined on the basis of the road surface information acquired by the environment information acquisition unit 1002, a bad road missed detection determination unit 1006 determines whether bad road detection has been missed on the basis of the position of the bad road and a detectable section of a stereo camera 200.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and an automatic driving system. [Background technology]

[0002] To improve driving comfort, it is necessary for the vehicle suspension to adapt to various road conditions.Recently, technology has been developed that uses a stereo camera attached to the windshield to detect road conditions ahead of the vehicle and adjusts the vehicle suspension appropriately based on the detected road conditions to provide excellent driving comfort (in other words, handling stability and ride comfort).

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a system including a stereo sensor unit consisting of a stereo camera and generating image data, a calculation unit that extracts relevant image portions from the image data based on future vehicle route data and calculates road unevenness changes on the vehicle's future vehicle route based on the generated image data, and a suspension control unit that generates a signal to adapt the vehicle's suspension based on the calculated road unevenness changes. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-100705 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, when a stereo camera is used, the following problem occurs due to limitations on the detection range of the camera. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 6, when a stereo camera is attached to the windshield, for example, the detection range S of the stereo camera in the vertical direction is limited by factors such as the camera's performance, the height h of the attachment position, and the size of the camera's angle of view θ in the vertical direction. This detection range S determines the detection range of the stereo camera in the forward direction of the vehicle by a lower limit of the detection range (Deadlm1) and an upper limit of the detection range (Deadlm2). If a rough road, such as an uneven road, is present within the detection range of the stereo camera, it will be detected by the stereo camera.

[0006] However, as shown in FIG. 7A, when following a preceding vehicle, if the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle is smaller than the upper limit of the detectable section (Deadlm2), the stereo camera cannot detect the rough road even if it is within the detectable section because the preceding vehicle blocks it. If the host vehicle travels parallel to the preceding vehicle in this state, as shown in FIG. 7B, the vehicle will pass the lower limit of the detectable section (Deadlm1) without detecting the rough road (i.e., the distance from the host vehicle to the rough road is smaller than Deadlm1), resulting in a problem of missed detection of the rough road. As a result, the vehicle will travel on the rough road without adjusting the suspension.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve such technical problems, and aims to provide a vehicle control device and an automatic driving system that can prevent failure to detect bad roads. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] a rough road driving unit that adjusts at least one of the vehicle's suspension and vehicle speed to drive on a rough road; a rough road determination unit that determines whether or not a rough road exists within a certain range in front of the vehicle based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit, and determines whether or not a rough road has been detected based on the road surface information acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit; and a rough road detection omission determination unit that, when it is determined that a rough road exists within a certain range in front of the vehicle based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit, and it is determined that a rough road has not been detected based on the road surface information acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit, determines whether or not there has been an omission in the detection of a rough road based on the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit and a detection area of ​​the on-board camera.

[0009] In the vehicle control device according to the present invention, when it is determined that a rough road exists within a certain range ahead of the vehicle based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit, and when it is determined that the rough road has not been detected based on the road surface information acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit, the rough road detection omission determination unit determines whether or not there has been a rough road detection omission based on the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit and the section detectable by the on-board camera. In this way, even if the section detectable by the on-board camera is blocked by a preceding vehicle, it is possible to reliably prevent a rough road from being detected omission. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent failure to detect a bad road. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1]1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle control device according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a control process of the vehicle control device. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process for determining whether or not there is an omission of detection of a rough road. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining vehicle speed adjustment on a rough road; [Figure 5] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an autonomous driving system according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining a detection range and a detectable section of a stereo camera. [Figure 7A] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a problem in the related art. [Figure 7B] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a problem in the related art. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle control device and an automated driving system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, up / down, left / right, front / rear directions and positions are based on a vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the following description is based on the premise that the vehicle cannot avoid rough roads (in other words, cannot travel in a way that detours around rough roads).

[0013] [About vehicle control devices] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a vehicle control device according to an embodiment. A vehicle control device 100 according to this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle 10. Although Fig. 1 shows an example of a passenger car as the vehicle 10, the vehicle 10 is not limited to a passenger car and may be a bus, truck, trailer, or the like. In addition to the vehicle control device 100, the vehicle 10 is equipped with a stereo camera 200, a gyro sensor 300, a suspension 400, and the like.

[0014] The stereo camera 200 corresponds to an "on-board camera" as recited in the claims, and captures an image of the scene ahead of the vehicle 10. The stereo camera 200 is made up of a pair of left and right cameras arranged with a predetermined optical axis spacing (baseline length) so that their optical axes are parallel to each other, and is attached to the front window of the vehicle 10. Each of the pair of left and right cameras is composed of an image sensor such as a CMOS, an optical lens, etc. Note that the on-board camera may be a monocular camera or the like in addition to a stereo camera.

[0015] The gyro sensor 300 detects the acceleration and vibration of the vehicle 10. The vehicle speed sensor 500 detects the speed of the vehicle 10.

[0016] The suspension 400 is disposed on each wheel of the vehicle 10. The suspension 400 may be, for example, an electromagnetic suspension having an electric motor (linear motor, rotary motor) as an electric actuator, a semi-active suspension having a hydraulic shock absorber (hydraulic damper, hydraulic shock absorber) as a hydraulic actuator capable of adjusting damping force, a fully active suspension having a drive cylinder (hydraulic cylinder, air cylinder) as a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator, or an air suspension having an air spring as a pneumatic actuator that also serves as a vehicle height adjustment device capable of adjusting the vehicle height (vehicle height). The actuators (electric motor, hydraulic shock absorber, drive cylinder, air spring, etc.) are controlled by the vehicle control device 100 (more specifically, the rough road traveling unit 1008 of the vehicle control device 100). In other words, the rough road traveling unit 1008 adjusts the suspension 400 by controlling the actuators (electric motor, hydraulic shock absorber, drive cylinder, air spring, etc.).

[0017] The vehicle control device 100 is configured by a microcomputer that combines, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs calculations, a ROM (Read Only Memory) as a secondary storage device that records programs for the calculations, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a temporary storage device that saves the calculation progress and temporary control variables, and performs various controls of the entire vehicle 10 by executing the stored programs.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle control device 100 of this embodiment includes a position estimation unit 1001, an external environment information acquisition unit 1002, a gyro data acquisition unit 1003, a rough road determination unit 1004, a communication control unit 1005, a rough road detection omission determination unit 1006, a rough road detection distance maintenance unit 1007, a rough road driving unit 1008, a calibration unit 1009, a learning value memory unit 1010, a map information acquisition unit 1011, and a map database (map DB) 1012.

[0019] The position estimation unit 1001 estimates the position of the vehicle 10 using a satellite signal receiver (not shown) built into the vehicle 10 or the vehicle control device 100. Specifically, the position estimation unit 1001 estimates the position of the vehicle 10, i.e., the latitude and longitude, by analyzing signals received by the satellite signal receiver from multiple satellites that make up a satellite navigation system. Note that the position estimation unit 1001 may estimate the position of the vehicle 10 based on the detection result of the gyro sensor 300.

[0020] The external environment information acquisition unit 1002 acquires external environment information based on images captured by the stereo camera 200. The external environment information includes, for example, road surface image data indicating road surface information, image data of preceding vehicles and oncoming vehicles, and image data of traffic signs and lanes.

[0021] The gyro data acquisition unit 1003 corresponds to the “vibration acquisition unit” in the claims, and acquires the vibration of the vehicle 10 based on the detection data of the gyro sensor 300 .

[0022] The rough road determination unit 1004 determines whether or not a rough road exists within a certain range (for example, within 2 km) ahead of the vehicle, based on the position of the vehicle 10 estimated by the position estimation unit 1001 and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011. The rough road determination unit 1004 also determines whether or not a rough road has been detected ahead of the vehicle 10, based on road surface image data acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit 1002. If the rough road detection failure determination unit 1006 determines that there is a rough road detection failure and the position of the rough road acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit 1002 is within a certain range ahead of the vehicle 10, the rough road determination unit 1004 determines that the road surface on which the vehicle is traveling is a rough road. Note that the rough road here refers to a road surface on which there are, for example, unevenness, steps, protrusions, or other elevation differences on the road surface, and vibrations generated when the vehicle travels on the road surface are equal to or greater than a preset vibration threshold.

[0023] The communication control unit 1005 controls transmission and reception of information to and from an external server or the like via a communication device (not shown) provided in the vehicle 10. Specifically, the communication control unit 1005 controls the transmission of the learned values ​​of vehicle speed and suspension adjustment stored in the learned value storage unit 1010 to an external server such as a cloud, and the reception of the learned values ​​of vehicle speed and suspension adjustment stored in the external server so as to be performed periodically. Then, when the learned values ​​of vehicle speed and suspension adjustment stored in the external server are received, the communication control unit 1005 stores the received learned values ​​in the learned value storage unit 1010.

[0024] When the rough road determination unit 1004 determines that a rough road exists within a certain range ahead of the vehicle based on the position of the vehicle 10 estimated by the position estimation unit 1001 and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011, and the rough road determination unit 1004 determines that a rough road has not been detected based on the road surface information acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit 1002, the rough road detection omission determination unit 1006 determines whether or not there has been an omission in the detection of a rough road based on the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011 and the detection-enabled section of the stereo camera 200. Note that the detection-enabled section of the stereo camera 200 is, as described above, the section between the detection-enabled section lower limit (Deadlm1) and the detection-enabled section upper limit (Deadlm2) (see, for example, FIG. 6).

[0025] The rough road detection distance maintaining unit 1007 maintains the distance to the preceding vehicle so that the detection-enabled section of the stereo camera 200 is not blocked by the preceding vehicle.

[0026] The rough road traveling unit 1008 travels on a rough road by adjusting at least one of the vehicle's suspension and vehicle speed. Specifically, the rough road traveling unit 1008 travels on a rough road by adjusting the suspension 400 based on road surface image data acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit 1002. Furthermore, if the rough road detection omission determination unit 1006 determines that there has been an omission in the detection of a rough road, the rough road traveling unit 1008 travels on the rough road by adjusting the suspension 400 of the vehicle 10 based on the suspension adjustment learning value stored in the learning value storage unit 1010.

[0027] Furthermore, when the rough road determination unit 1004 determines that a rough road exists within a certain range ahead of the vehicle based on the position of the vehicle 10 estimated by the position estimation unit 1001 and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011, the rough road driving unit 1008 adjusts the vehicle speed based on the learned value of the vehicle speed stored in the learning value memory unit 1010 and drives the vehicle.

[0028] The calibration unit 1009 calibrates the vehicle speed based on the vehicle vibrations acquired by the gyro data acquisition unit 1003 when the vehicle 10 travels on a rough road. Specifically, when the vehicle 10 travels on a rough road, the calibration unit 1009 calculates the vibrations of the vehicle 10 based on the gyro data acquired by the gyro data acquisition unit 1003. If the calculated vibrations of the vehicle 10 exceed a preset threshold, the calibration unit 1009 determines that the vibrations are large and calibrates the vehicle speed for the next time the vehicle travels on that rough road. Furthermore, the calibration unit 1009 updates the learning value by linking the calibrated vehicle speed to the location of the rough road and storing it in the learning value storage unit 1010.

[0029] The learning value storage unit 1010 associates the vehicle speed calibrated by the calibration unit 1009 with the position of the rough road and stores it as a learning value of the vehicle speed. The learning value storage unit 1010 also associates the suspension adjustment value adjusted by the rough road driving unit 1008 with the position of the rough road and stores it as a learning value of the suspension adjustment.

[0030] The map information acquisition unit 1011 acquires map information from the map DB 1012. The map information includes the location of bad roads, lane information, and the like.

[0031] The control processing of the vehicle control device 100 will be described below with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a flowchart showing the control processing of the vehicle control device.

[0032] First, in step S100, the map information acquisition unit 1011 acquires the location of a bad road from the map DB 1012. At this time, the map information acquisition unit 1011 acquires the location of a bad road that exists on the road surface of the travel route from the map DB 1012, for example, based on the travel route of the vehicle.

[0033] In step S101 following step S100, the rough road determination unit 1004 determines whether or not there is a rough road within a certain range (for example, within 2 km) ahead, based on the position of the rough road acquired in step S100 and the position of the host vehicle estimated by the position estimation unit 1001. If it is determined that there is no rough road, the control process returns to step S100. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a rough road, the control process proceeds to step S102.

[0034] In step S102, the rough road traveling unit 1008 acquires a learned value of the vehicle speed stored in the learned value storage unit 1010. The learned value of the vehicle speed here is linked to the rough road position of the travel route when the host vehicle has traveled along the travel route in the past. When the host vehicle travels along the travel route for the first time, the learned value of the vehicle speed is downloaded in advance from an external server such as a cloud server and stored in the learned value storage unit 1010.

[0035] In step S103 following step S102, the vehicle control device 100 determines whether or not adjustment of the vehicle speed is necessary based on the current vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 500 and the learned value of the vehicle speed acquired in step S102. Here, a method for determining whether or not adjustment of the vehicle speed is necessary will be described with reference to FIG.

[0036] In Fig. 4, a rough road vehicle speed of 40 km / h is an example of a learned value of the vehicle speed when traveling on a rough road. As shown in Fig. 4, the vehicle control device 100 first calculates the distance to the rough road based on the position of the rough road acquired in step S100 and the position of the host vehicle estimated by the position estimation unit 1001. In Fig. 4, for example, the distance to the rough road is set to 100 m. Next, the vehicle control device 100 compares the current vehicle speed (for example, 60 km / h) with the learned value of the vehicle speed acquired in step S102 (here, the rough road vehicle speed is 40 km / h). If the comparison result shows that the current vehicle speed is greater than the learned value, the vehicle control device 100 determines that adjustment of the vehicle speed is necessary.

[0037] Next, the vehicle control device 100 calculates the braking distance required to decelerate from the current vehicle speed to the learned value at a deceleration rate of a certain G or less. In FIG. 4, the braking distance is, for example, 50 m. Next, the vehicle control device 100 determines the deceleration start position by calculating backward from the position of the rough road based on the calculated braking distance. In this way, by decelerating in accordance with the adjustment of the vehicle's suspension when traveling on a rough road, it is possible to further suppress vibrations when traveling on a rough road compared to the case where only the suspension is adjusted, and it is possible to avoid sudden braking.

[0038] If it is determined in step S103 that adjustment of the vehicle speed is not necessary, the control process proceeds to step S105. On the other hand, if it is determined that adjustment of the vehicle speed is necessary, the control process proceeds to step S104.

[0039] In step S104, the vehicle control device 100 adjusts the vehicle speed so that it becomes the learned value of the vehicle speed, as described above.

[0040] In step S105 following step S104, the rough road detection distance maintaining unit 1007 maintains the inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle to be at least the same as the upper limit of the detectable section (Deadlm2) so that the preceding vehicle does not block the detectable section of the stereo camera 200. In this way, by preventing the preceding vehicle from blocking the detectable section of the stereo camera 200, it is possible to prevent missed detection of a rough road or the like.

[0041] In step S106 following step S105, the external environment information acquisition unit 1002 acquires road surface image data captured by the stereo camera 200.

[0042] In step S107 following step S106, the rough road determination unit 1004 determines whether or not a rough road has been detected based on the road surface image data acquired in step S106. Note that, since a well-known technique can be used to detect a rough road based on road surface image data, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0043] If it is determined that a rough road has been detected, the control process proceeds to step S108. In step S108, the rough road traveling unit 1008 adjusts the suspension 400 based on the road surface image data acquired in step S106. Since well-known techniques can be used to adjust the vehicle suspension based on the road surface image data, detailed description thereof will be omitted. When step S108 ends, the control process proceeds to step S111.

[0044] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S107 that a bad road has not been detected, the control process proceeds to step S109.

[0045] In step S109, the rough road detection omission determination unit 1006 determines whether or not there is a detection omission of a rough road. The determination of whether or not there is a detection omission of a rough road will be described later. If it is determined that there is a detection omission of a rough road, the control process proceeds to step S110. If it is determined that there is no detection omission of a rough road, the control process proceeds to step S112.

[0046] In step S110, the rough road traveling unit 1008 acquires a learned value of suspension adjustment stored in the learned value storage unit 1010, and adjusts the suspension 400 based on the acquired learned value of suspension adjustment. The learned value of suspension adjustment here is linked to the rough road position of the travel route when the host vehicle has traveled along the travel route in the past. When the host vehicle travels along the travel route for the first time, the learned value of suspension adjustment is the value downloaded in advance from an external server such as a cloud server and stored in the learned value storage unit 1010.

[0047] In step S111 following step S108 or S110, the vehicle control device 100 determines whether or not the vehicle 10 has passed through a rough road based on the rough road position acquired in step S100 and the current position of the vehicle estimated by the position estimation unit 1001. If it is determined that the vehicle 10 has passed through a rough road, the control process proceeds to step S112.

[0048] In step S112, the rough road driving unit 1008 restores the vehicle speed and suspension 400 that were adjusted for driving on a rough road to their pre-adjustment states.

[0049] In step S113 following step S112, the vehicle control device 100 determines whether the gyro data (i.e., vehicle vibration) acquired by the gyro data acquisition unit 1003 when traveling on a rough road is greater than a preset threshold. If it is determined that the gyro data is greater than the threshold, the control process proceeds to step S114. On the other hand, if it is determined that the gyro data is equal to or less than the threshold, the control process proceeds to step S115.

[0050] In step S114, the calibration unit 1009 calibrates the vehicle speed when traveling on a rough road, and updates the learning value by linking the calibrated vehicle speed to the location of the rough road and storing it in the learning value storage unit 1010.

[0051] In step S115, the suspension adjustment value obtained when traveling on a rough road is linked to the position of the rough road and stored in the learning value storage unit 1010, thereby updating the suspension adjustment learning value. This completes the series of control processes.

[0052] The determination process of step S109 will be described below with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the process of determining whether or not there is an omission of detection of a rough road.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 3, in step S1091, the vehicle control device 100 acquires the distance to the preceding vehicle (that is, inter-vehicle distance L1).

[0054] In step S1092 following step S1091, the vehicle control device 100 calculates a distance L2 from the host vehicle to the rough road based on the position of the host vehicle estimated by the position estimation unit 1001 and the position of the rough road acquired in step S100.

[0055] In step S1093 following step S1092, the vehicle control device 100 acquires the detectable section of the stereo camera 200. At this time, the vehicle control device 100 acquires a detectable section lower limit (Deadlm1) and a detectable section upper limit (Deadlm2) for determining the detectable section.

[0056] In step S1094 following step S1093, the vehicle control device 100 determines whether or not a rough road exists within the section detectable by the stereo camera 200 (i.e., whether or not the relationship Deadlm1≦L2≦Deadlm2 is satisfied). If it is determined that a rough road exists within the section detectable by the stereo camera 200, the control process proceeds to step S1095. On the other hand, if it is determined that a rough road does not exist within the section detectable by the stereo camera 200, the process of step S1094 is repeated.

[0057] In step S1095 following step S1094, the rough road determination unit 1004 determines whether or not a rough road has been detected based on the road surface image data acquired in step S106. If it is determined that a rough road has been detected, the control process proceeds to step S108 described above. On the other hand, if it is determined that a rough road has not been detected, the control process proceeds to step S1096. Note that the process of step S1095 is the same as step S107 described above, and may therefore be omitted.

[0058] In step S1096, the vehicle control device 100 determines whether or not the detection-enabled section of the stereo camera 200 is blocked by the preceding vehicle (that is, whether or not the relationship L1≦L2 is satisfied).

[0059] When L1>L2, the vehicle control device 100 determines that the detectable section is not blocked by the preceding vehicle. As a result, the control process proceeds to step S1099. In step S1099, the vehicle control device 100 determines that there is no missed detection of the rough road and that the rough road has been repaired. After step S1099 is completed, the control process proceeds to step S112 described above.

[0060] On the one hand, when L1 ≤ L2 in step S1096, the vehicle control device 100 determines that the detectable section is blocked by the preceding vehicle. As a result, the control process proceeds to step S1097. In step S1097, the vehicle control device 100 determines whether the bad road has gone out of the detectable section of the stereo camera 200 (that is, whether the relationship L2 < Deadlm1 is satisfied).

[0061] When L2 ≥ Deadlm1, the vehicle control device 100 determines that the bad road has not gone out of the detectable section of the stereo camera 200. As a result, the control process returns to step S1095.

[0062] On the other hand, when L2 < Deadlm1, the vehicle control device 100 determines that the bad road has gone out of the detectable section of the stereo camera 200, and the control process proceeds to step S1098. In step S1098, the bad road detection omission determination unit 1006 determines that there is a bad road detection omission. As a result, the control process proceeds to step S110 described above.

[0063] In the vehicle control device 100 configured as described above, when the bad road determination unit 1004 determines that there is a bad road within a certain range in front of the vehicle based on the position of the vehicle 10 estimated by the position estimation unit 1001 and the position of the bad road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011, and determines that the bad road has not been detected based on the road surface image data acquired by the external information acquisition unit 1002, the bad road detection omission determination unit 1006 determines whether there is a bad road detection omission based on the position of the bad road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011 and the detectable section of the stereo camera 200. In this way, even if the detectable section of the stereo camera 200 is blocked by the preceding vehicle, it is possible to reliably prevent the detection omission of the bad road.

[0064] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle 10 cannot avoid a rough road, but the vehicle 10 may travel in a way that allows it to avoid the rough road. In this case, for example, the map information acquisition unit 1011 further acquires lane information included in the map information, and the vehicle control device 100 travels to a driving lane that does not have a rough road based on the lane information and the location of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011. In this way, by changing to a driving lane that does not have a rough road, it is possible to achieve travel that allows it to avoid the rough road.

[0065] Furthermore, the vehicle control device 100 may further include a route generation unit that generates a driving route to the destination, and the route generation unit may generate a driving route that avoids rough roads based on the location of the rough roads acquired by the map information acquisition unit 1011. In this way, a route that can avoid rough roads can be generated, thereby realizing driving that can avoid rough roads.

[0066] [About autonomous driving systems] 5 is a block diagram showing an autonomous driving system according to an embodiment. The autonomous driving system 1 according to this embodiment includes the vehicle 10 described above and a cloud 20 connected to the vehicle 10 so as to be able to communicate with the vehicle 10.

[0067] The cloud 20 corresponds to the "external server" described in the claims, and has a communication unit 201 that communicates with the vehicle 10, and an information storage unit 202 that stores the learned values ​​of vehicle speed and suspension adjustment received by the communication unit 201.

[0068] The communication unit 201 transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle 10 via a network (not shown). The information storage unit 202 performs filtering on the received learned values ​​of vehicle speed and suspension adjustment, as well as the specifications of the vehicle 10, and stores the results.

[0069] In the autonomous driving system 1 configured in this manner, the cloud 20 saves and accumulates the learned vehicle speed values ​​and the learned suspension adjustment values ​​transmitted from the multiple vehicles 10, and transmits the saved learned vehicle speed values ​​and the learned suspension adjustment values ​​to the requesting vehicle in response to a vehicle's request, for example, thereby making it possible for these learned values ​​to be shared among the multiple vehicles. Moreover, because the learned vehicle speed values ​​and the learned suspension adjustment values ​​are linked to the location of the rough road, even if another vehicle is traveling on the rough road for the first time, it can travel based on these learned values, thereby achieving excellent driving comfort.

[0070] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention as set forth in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 1: Autonomous driving system, 10: Vehicle, 20: Cloud, 100: Vehicle control device, 200: Stereo camera (on-board camera), 300: Gyro sensor, 400: Suspension, 500: Vehicle speed sensor, 1001: Position estimation unit, 1002: External information acquisition unit, 1003: Gyro data acquisition unit (vibration acquisition unit), 1004: Rough road judgment unit, 1005: Communication control unit, 1006: Rough road detection omission judgment unit, 1007: Rough road detection distance maintenance unit, 1008: Rough road driving unit, 1009: Calibration unit, 1010: Learning value memory unit, 1011: Map information acquisition unit, 1012: Map DB

Claims

1. a position estimation unit that estimates a position of a vehicle; an external environment information acquisition unit that acquires external environment information including road surface information based on an image captured by an in-vehicle camera that captures an image of the area ahead of the vehicle; a map information acquisition unit that acquires map information including the location of a rough road; a rough road driving unit that adjusts at least one of the suspension and the vehicle speed of the vehicle to drive on rough roads; a rough road determination unit that determines whether or not a rough road is present within a certain range ahead of the vehicle based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit, and that determines whether or not a rough road has been detected based on road surface information acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit; a rough road detection omission determination unit that, when it is determined that a rough road exists within a certain range ahead of the vehicle based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit, and when it is determined that the rough road has not been detected based on the road surface information acquired by the external environment information acquisition unit, determines whether or not there is an omission in the detection of a rough road based on the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit and the section detectable by the on-board camera; Equipped with When the lower limit of the detectable section of the on-board camera in the forward direction of the vehicle is Deadlm1, the upper limit of the detectable section is Deadlm2, the distance to the preceding vehicle is L1, and the distance from the vehicle to the rough road is L2, and the relationship Deadlm1≦L2≦Deadlm2 and L1≦L2 becomes L2<Deadlm1, the rough road detection omission judgment unit judges that there is a rough road detection omission.

2. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a vibration acquisition unit that acquires vibrations of the vehicle; and a calibration unit that calibrates the vehicle speed based on the vibrations of the vehicle acquired by the vibration acquisition unit when the vehicle is traveling on a rough road.

3. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, further comprising a rough road detection distance maintaining unit that maintains a distance from a preceding vehicle so that a detectable section of the vehicle-mounted camera is not blocked by the preceding vehicle.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 , further comprising a learning value storage unit that associates the vehicle speed calibrated by the calibration unit with a position on a rough road and stores the result as a learning value of the vehicle speed.

5. 5. The vehicle control device according to claim 4, wherein when it is determined that a rough road exists within a certain range ahead of the vehicle based on the vehicle position estimated by the position estimation unit and the position of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit, the rough road driving unit adjusts the vehicle speed based on the learned value of the vehicle speed stored in the learning value memory unit.

6. The vehicle control device according to claim 4 , wherein the learning value storage unit associates the suspension adjustment value adjusted by the rough road driving unit with the position of the rough road and stores the adjustment value as a learning value of the suspension adjustment.

7. 7. The vehicle control device according to claim 6, wherein when the rough road detection omission determination unit determines that there has been an omission in the detection of a rough road, the rough road driving unit adjusts the suspension of the vehicle based on the suspension adjustment learning value stored in the learning value memory unit.

8. 7. The vehicle control device according to claim 6, further comprising a communication control unit that controls transmission of the learned values ​​of the vehicle speed and the suspension adjustment stored in the learning value storage unit to an external server and reception of the learned values ​​of the vehicle speed and the suspension adjustment stored in the external server.

9. the map information acquisition unit further acquires lane information included in the map information, The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle control device drives the vehicle to a lane without a rough road based on the lane information and the location of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit.

10. a route generation unit that generates a driving route to a destination; The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the route generation unit generates a driving route that avoids a rough road based on the location of the rough road acquired by the map information acquisition unit.

11. An autonomous driving system comprising a vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device according to any one of claims 6 to 8 and an external server configured to be able to communicate with the vehicle, The external server is an autonomous driving system having a communication unit that communicates with the vehicle and an information storage unit that stores the learned values ​​of vehicle speed and suspension adjustment received by the communication unit.

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