Vehicle assistance systems

Abstract

Problem] To improve an assistance system for a vehicle, said system providing the vehicle with a plurality of services including autonomous driving travel control. [Solution] In an assistance system for a vehicle according to the present invention, an autonomous driving server device executes control for autonomous driving in which the traveling state of the vehicle is determined on the basis of information received from the vehicle and information relating to autonomous driving travel control of the vehicle is generated and transmitted to the vehicle, and relay control, in which information relating to the vehicle including the information acquired from the vehicle is transmitted to a service server device. The service server device uses information from the autonomous driving server device to generate information that can be used for a service of the vehicle without directly transmitting / receiving information to / from the vehicle.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an assistance system for a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Research and development is underway to control the autonomous driving of vehicles such as automobiles using a server device (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] Research and development is also underway to enable vehicles to communicate with server devices, provide information for infotainment, and provide various services to the vehicles. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-179761 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-018284 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] A vehicle whose autonomous driving is controlled by a server device needs to, for example, transmit information about its own driving status to the server device and receive information about the autonomous driving control of its own vehicle from the server device. Furthermore, because the driving environment of the vehicle changes constantly, it is considered necessary to repeatedly perform this transmission and reception between the vehicle and the server device for autonomous driving control at intervals of at least several hundred milliseconds. In a vehicle in such a high-load communication state, if the vehicle also communicates information for services other than autonomous driving control with, for example, a second server device separate from the server device for autonomous driving control, the vehicle's communication load is expected to become extremely large. In this case, the vehicle is more likely to have difficulty continuing to properly perform communication for autonomous driving control. In other words, if the second server device communicates directly with the vehicle, the possibility of communication between the server device for autonomous driving control and the vehicle increases. The more services the vehicle receives, the more likely communication between the server device for autonomous driving control and the vehicle is to be disrupted.

[0006] In this way, vehicle assistance systems that attempt to provide multiple services to vehicles, including autonomous driving cruise control, are required to be able to provide services to vehicles other than autonomous driving cruise control, while suppressing the communication load on the vehicle and making it less likely to interfere with communications for autonomous driving cruise control. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A vehicle assistance system according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an autonomous driving server device for autonomous driving cruise control, capable of repeatedly sending and receiving information to and from a vehicle, and a service server device for sending and receiving information about the vehicle to and from the autonomous driving server device, wherein the autonomous driving server device comprises a vehicle-side communication device used for communication with the vehicle, a first server communication device used for communication with the service server device, and an autonomous driving control unit, and the autonomous driving control unit of the autonomous driving server device determines the driving state of the vehicle based on information acquired by repeatedly receiving from the vehicle by the vehicle-side communication device, generates information related to the autonomous driving cruise control, and sends it to the vehicle-side communication device. and relay control for acquiring information about the vehicle, including information acquired from the vehicle, from the autonomous driving server memory and transmitting the information from the first server communication device to the service server device. The service server device has a second server communication device used for communication with the autonomous driving server device, and a service control unit, and the service control unit of the service server device generates information that can be used for servicing the vehicle using information about the vehicle acquired by sending and receiving information between the second server communication device and the autonomous driving server device, without sending and receiving information directly to and from the vehicle. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The vehicle assistance system of the present invention includes a service server device in addition to an autonomous driving server device for controlling the autonomous driving of the vehicle. The service server device does not exchange information directly with the vehicle, but exchanges information about the vehicle with the autonomous driving server device. In this case, the autonomous driving server device transmits information about the vehicle, including information acquired from the vehicle, to the service server device on behalf of the vehicle. To this end, the autonomous driving server device records the information acquired from the vehicle in an autonomous driving server memory and transmits the information acquired from the autonomous driving server memory to the service server device. Therefore, the service server device does not send or receive information directly to or from the vehicle, but instead generates information that can be used for vehicle services using information about the vehicle obtained by sending or receiving information to or from the automatic driving server device. As a result, the vehicle assistance system of the present invention can generate information in the service server device that is useful for vehicle operation and can be used for vehicle services, without excessively increasing the communication load between the vehicle and the autonomous driving server device so that communication can be performed repeatedly with low latency. In contrast, if a service server device directly transmits and receives information to and from a vehicle separately from the autonomous driving server device, the communication between the service server device and the vehicle is likely to interfere with communication between the vehicle and the autonomous driving server device. The present invention makes it possible to generate and provide information useful to the vehicle that is difficult for the autonomous driving server device to provide, without increasing the communication load on the vehicle, which could interfere with autonomous driving control. Furthermore, the present invention is expected to enable the vehicle to continue to appropriately perform communication for autonomous driving control. The present invention can improve services for vehicles. In this way, the vehicle assistance system of the present invention can provide the vehicle with services other than autonomous driving cruise control while suppressing the communication load on the vehicle and making it less likely to impede communication for autonomous driving cruise control. The vehicle assistance system of the present invention makes it possible to provide the vehicle with multiple services, including autonomous driving cruise control, without impeding autonomous driving cruise control. In the present invention, even if the number of services provided to the vehicle is increased, communication between the vehicle and the server device for autonomous driving cruise control is less likely to be impeded. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an automobile assistance system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the main components of the control system of the automobile shown in FIG. [Figure 3]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the main configuration of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the transmission control of each vehicle executed by the control system of the vehicle shown in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of reception control executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of driving control of multiple vehicles executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device of FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the reception control of each vehicle, which is executed by the control system of the vehicle shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the automatic driving control of each vehicle executed by the vehicle control system of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a timing chart of the driving control of multiple vehicles in the assistance system of FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the main configuration of the service server device of FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of execution management control in the server device, which is executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device of FIG. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of communication information for dealing with vehicle malfunctions in the vehicle assistance system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of reception control executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device of this embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the malfunction estimation control executed by the vehicle malfunction estimation server device. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a graph showing waveforms of yaw rates according to the driving positions of a plurality of vehicles, including a vehicle whose driving is controlled by an assistance system. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a graph showing the degree of similarity between the waveforms of the multiple yaw rates in FIG. 15 for a vehicle whose driving is controlled by an assistance system and those for other vehicles. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of communication information for updating road surface information in the automobile assistance system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a flowchart of control executed by the road surface information update server device of FIG. 17 to update map data based on slippery road surface information. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a flowchart of map data update control executed by the narrow area automated driving server device in accordance with the control of the road surface information update server device in FIG. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a flowchart of the process of generating vehicle driving control information corresponding to the update of map data, which is executed by the narrow-area automated driving server device in step ST25 of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] [First embodiment] Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of an assistance system 1 for an automobile 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The assistance system 1 for an automobile 2 in Fig. 1 assists the automobile 2 in autonomous driving and provides services other than autonomous driving for the automobile 2. FIG. 1 shows multiple automobiles 2 that can be driven autonomously by an assistance system 1. The multiple automobiles 2 are traveling on a road. Multiple base stations 11 of a carrier communication facility 3 are arranged along the road. Additionally, multiple GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites 110 exist in the sky above the earth. The GNSS satellites 110 transmit information about their own positions and the time. By receiving radio waves from the multiple GNSS satellites 110, the automobiles 2 and the like can obtain information about their own positions and the time.

[0012] The assistance system 1 in FIG. 1 has a plurality of narrow-area autonomous driving server devices 50, wide-area autonomous driving server devices 60, a road surface information update server device 5 as a first service server device 70, and a vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 as a second service server device 70, in order to provide a plurality of services including autonomous driving to the automobile 2. The narrow-area autonomous driving server devices 50 and the wide-area autonomous driving server devices 60 basically assist in the autonomous driving of the automobile 2. The road surface information update server devices 5 and the vehicle malfunction estimation server devices 6 are service server devices 70 for providing services other than autonomous driving to the automobile 2.

[0013] The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 is provided in each zone in which one or more base stations 11 of the carrier communication facility 3 can communicate within the area where the assistance system 1 provides autonomous driving services. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 may be connected to a local communication network 12 of the carrier communication facility 3 which is connected to multiple base stations 11, or may be connected directly to the base station 11. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 may be provided as a facility integrated with the base station 11.

[0014] The carrier communication facility 3 includes the above-described multiple base stations 11 and local communication network 12, as well as various gateway devices 15 and a carrier wide area communication network 13. The local communication network 12 and the carrier wide area communication network 13 form the carrier communication networks 12, 13.

[0015] Carrier wide area network 13 may be provided in multiple separate locations in the area where the carrier provides services, or may be provided as a single network. Local communication networks 12 and base stations 11 may be connected to carrier wide area network 13 via a gateway device (not shown). Carrier wide area network 13 may be connected to the Internet 4 via gateway device 15. In this way, carrier communication equipment 3 may be provided in a flexible configuration according to the actual conditions of the area where it is installed. Carrier communication equipment 3 does not include Internet 4 internally. Therefore, various server devices provided in carrier communication equipment 3 can perform broadband high-speed communication with each other within carrier communication equipment 3.

[0016] The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 is connected to, for example, the carrier wide-area communication network 13 through the carrier communication facility 3. The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60, together with the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, provides remote or controlled autonomous driving services to multiple vehicles 2 traveling in the area where the carrier communication facility 3 is installed. However, for simplicity of explanation, the following describes an example in which remote or controlled autonomous driving services are provided to vehicles 2 only by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, out of the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The various controls described below may be shared between the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 according to their respective processing loads and processing capabilities. Even in this case, because both the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 are connected to the carrier communication facility 3 network, they can communicate with each other at high speed over broadband, making it less likely that processing delays will occur. In this way, the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 are set up to be able to communicate with the base station 11 with which the automobile 2 communicates wirelessly, with low latency. This allows the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 to repeatedly send and receive information for autonomous driving between the automobile 2 that is traveling.

[0017] The road surface information update server device 5 and the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 provide services other than the autonomous driving of the automobile 2. The road surface information update server device 5 and the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 are connected to the Internet 4. When these service server devices 70 communicate with the automobile 2, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50, etc., they communicate via the Internet 4 and the network of the carrier communication facility 3. This type of communication causes delays in information compared to communication via only the network of the carrier communication facility 3.

[0018] The road surface information update server device 5 updates the high-precision map data used for autonomous driving based on information collected from the automobile 2. This allows the automobile 2, which is driven autonomously under the assistance system 1, to drive based on high-precision map data that is updated with the latest information collected from the automobile 2. This is expected to improve the driving safety of the automobile 2, which is driven autonomously under the assistance system 1. The road surface information update server device 5 provides a service that improves the safety of the automobile 2.

[0019] The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 estimates malfunctions in the automobile 2 traveling autonomously under the assistance system 1. As a result, if a malfunction occurs in, for example, the suspension of the automobile 2 traveling autonomously under the assistance system 1, the malfunction estimation information can be provided to the automobile 2. This is expected to improve the driving safety of the automobile 2 traveling autonomously under the assistance system 1. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 provides a service that improves the safety of the automobile 2.

[0020] The assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 may provide services other than those described above from a server device connected to the Internet 4. Examples of such services include infotainment services for the automobile 2, entertainment services for the automobile 2, and monitoring services for the automobile 2. It is desirable to be able to provide multiple services to each automobile 2 simultaneously.

[0021] 1 , the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 for autonomous driving of the vehicles 2 are directly connected to the carrier communication networks 12, 13 of the carrier communication facility 3. This allows the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 to repeatedly send and receive information between multiple vehicles 2 at relatively short intervals. The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 and narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 can be used as autonomous driving server devices for continuously performing autonomous driving driving control of multiple vehicles 2.

[0022] In contrast, various service server devices 70 other than those for autonomous driving, such as the road surface information update server device 5 and the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6, are connected to the carrier communication networks 12 and 13 via the Internet 4. This makes it possible to reduce the number of server devices that are directly connected to the carrier communication networks 12 and 13 of the carrier communication facility 3.

[0023] However, even if various service server devices 70 other than those for autonomous driving are connected to the Internet 4 in this way and are not directly connected to the carrier communication networks 12 and 13, the following problems still arise. That is, each service server device 70 needs to send and receive information to and from each vehicle 2 in order to provide services to each vehicle 2. If the number of services provided by the assistance system 1 increases, multiple server devices for each of the multiple services will need to send and receive information to and from each vehicle 2 in order to provide each service to each vehicle 2. As a result, each vehicle 2 will need to communicate with multiple server devices for the multiple services it uses, in addition to communicating with the server device for autonomous driving. There is a high possibility that each vehicle 2 will not be able to withstand the communication of such a large amount of information. In particular, if various service server devices 70 other than those for autonomous driving are connected to the Internet 4, the propagation of information between each service server device 70 and the vehicle 2 will be slow. There is a high possibility that each vehicle 2 will not be able to withstand such communication of information with a large delay.

[0024] Furthermore, the automobile 2 can be driven autonomously under the assistance system 1 by repeatedly transmitting and receiving information for autonomous driving between the automobile 2 and the server device of the assistance system 1 at relatively short intervals. In this case, each automobile 2 must ensure that communications with various service server devices 70 other than those for autonomous driving do not affect the relatively short-period transmission and reception of information for autonomous driving between the automobile 2 and the server device of the assistance system 1. Even if the wireless communication between the base station 11 and the automobile 2 is fifth-generation, it is unlikely that this can be guaranteed for all automobiles 2. Furthermore, in addition to high-speed communications for the autonomous driving of multiple automobiles 2 within the carrier communication networks 12 and 13, an increase in service communications for multiple automobiles 2 via the Internet 4 could result in congestion issues occurring within the carrier communication networks 12 and 13 themselves.

[0025] In this way, when attempting to provide other services to multiple automobiles 2 whose autonomous driving is controlled by the server device of the assistance system 1, simply connecting the server device for the other services to the Internet 4 may not be sufficient to maintain the quality of autonomous driving. For example, because the driving environment of the vehicle 2 changes constantly while the vehicle 2 is moving, it is considered necessary to repeatedly transmit and receive data between the vehicle 2 and a server device at intervals of at least several hundred milliseconds. In such a relatively high-load communication state, if the vehicle 2 were to directly communicate information for services other than the autonomous driving driving control with, for example, a service server device 70 separate from the server device for the autonomous driving driving control, the communication load on the vehicle 2 would likely become extremely large. The vehicle 2 is more likely to have difficulty continuing to properly perform communication for the autonomous driving driving control. In other words, if the service server device 70 for services other than the autonomous driving directly communicates with the vehicle 2, the possibility of disrupting communication between the server device for the autonomous driving driving control and the vehicle 2 increases. The more services the vehicle 2 receives, the more likely communication between the server device for the autonomous driving driving control and the vehicle 2 is to be disrupted.

[0026] In this embodiment, an assistance system 1 for an automobile 2 is presented that makes it possible to provide services other than autonomous driving cruise control to the automobile 2 while suppressing the communication load on the automobile 2 and making it less likely to impede communications for autonomous driving cruise control. In the assistance system 1 for an automobile 2, a server device that provides services other than autonomous driving cruise control does not, in principle, send or receive information directly to the automobile 2, but provides predetermined services to the automobile 2 that is traveling under the service for autonomous driving cruise control provided by the server device. Next, the assistance system 1 for such an automobile 2 will be described in detail.

[0027] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the main configuration of the control system 20 of the automobile 2 in Fig. 1. The automobile 2 is an example of a vehicle. Other examples of vehicles include motorcycles, carts, and personal mobility vehicles. The control system 20 of the automobile 2 in Fig. 2 has a plurality of control devices connected to a vehicle network 30. In Fig. 2, the plurality of control devices are exemplified by a vehicle communication device 21, a vehicle state determination device 22, a host vehicle sensor control device 23, a driving operation control device 24, a cruise control device 25, a drive control device 26, a steering control device 27, a braking control device 28, and an ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) control device 29. In addition to these, other control devices such as an air conditioning device, an occupant monitoring device, a lighting control device, etc. may also be connected to the vehicle network 30.

[0028] The vehicle network 30 may be configured, for example, with a central gateway device and a cable connecting the control device and the central gateway device. Such a vehicle network 30 may conform to, for example, the CAN (Controller Area Network) standard or the LIN (Local Interconnect Network) standard. Other vehicle networks 30 that may be used include those conforming to, for example, the LAN (Local Area Network) standard or a wireless communication standard.

[0029] The vehicle communication device 21 establishes a wireless communication path with a base station 11 outside the vehicle 2, and transmits and receives information to and from the base station 11. In addition to this, the vehicle communication device 21 may also perform V2X (Vehicle to X) communication with, for example, another vehicle 2 that is close to the vehicle itself.

[0030] The vehicle state determination device 22 determines the state of the automobile 2, mainly related to its running. The vehicle state determination device 22 collects information for determining the state of the automobile 2 from other control devices via the vehicle network 30 and records the information in the vehicle state memory 49. Based on the information collected and recorded in the vehicle state memory 49, the vehicle state determination device 22 may determine the state of the automobile 2, for example, malfunctions in the operation of each device in the control system 20, the quality of wireless communication between the vehicle communication device 21 and the base station 11, and the like.

[0031] The host vehicle sensor control device 23 is connected to various sensors provided in the automobile 2. The sensors provided in the automobile 2 include, for example, a vehicle GNSS receiver 31, an acceleration sensor 32, a speed sensor 33, a wheel speed sensor 34, a corner radar 35, a stereo camera 36, ​​a Lidar (Light Detection And Ranging) 37, an all-around camera 38, an actuator sensor 39, and the like. The vehicle GNSS receiver 31 receives radio waves from the GNSS satellites 110 and generates information on the current position and current time of the automobile 2 in which the vehicle GNSS receiver 31 is installed. The acceleration sensor 32 detects the acceleration of the traveling automobile 2. The acceleration sensor 32 may detect acceleration in each of the forward / backward, left / right, up / down directions, acceleration in the pitch direction, acceleration in the yaw direction, acceleration in the roll direction, and the like. The speed sensor 33 detects the speed of the traveling automobile 2 . The wheel speed sensor 34 detects the rotation speed of the wheels of the automobile 2 . The corner radar 35 is provided at the four corners of the body of the automobile 2 and detects the relative direction and distance of structures around the automobile 2 . The stereo camera 36 captures images of the area outside the vehicle in the forward direction of the vehicle 2. The lidar 37 uses a laser to detect the relative direction and distance to structures mainly in front of the automobile 2 . The omnidirectional camera 38 captures images of the outside of the automobile 2 in 360 degrees. The actuator sensor 39 is provided, for example, for a suspension (not shown) of the automobile 2, and detects the operating state of the suspension. The vehicle sensor control device 23 controls the operations of these various sensors and outputs the detection values ​​of the various sensors to the vehicle network 30.

[0032] The driving operation control device 24 is connected to operation members that are provided on the automobile 2 and that are operated by the driver of the automobile 2 to manually drive the automobile 2, such as a steering wheel, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and a shift lever (not shown). The driving operation control device 24 outputs operation information of the driver using these operation members to the vehicle network 30.

[0033] The drive control device 26 is connected to drive system devices such as an engine, motor, and transmission (not shown) provided in the automobile 2. The drive control device 26 uses the engine and motor to generate drive force according to a control value. The drive control device 26 uses the transmission to reduce the drive force of the engine and motor according to the control value and transmit it to the wheels. This causes the wheels of the automobile 2 to rotate. The automobile 2 can accelerate and travel.

[0034] The steering control device 27 is connected to a steering device (not shown) that changes the direction of the wheels of the automobile 2. The steering control device 27 uses the steering device to change the direction of the wheels in accordance with a control value, thereby changing the traveling direction of the automobile 2.

[0035] The braking control device 28 is connected to a braking device (not shown) that suppresses the rotation of the wheels of the automobile 2. The braking control device 28 uses the braking device to apply a braking force to the wheels according to a control value, thereby enabling the automobile 2 to decelerate and stop.

[0036] When another vehicle 2 or the like is approaching from the direction of travel of the vehicle, the ABS control device 29 outputs a control value for exerting a high braking force to the brake control device 28, based on, for example, an image captured by the stereo camera 36. This enables the vehicle 2 to decelerate and stop before interfering with the other vehicle 2 or the like.

[0037] The driving control device 25 outputs control values ​​to the drive control device 26, the steering control device 27, and the braking control device 28, and drives the automobile 2 manually or automatically. For example, in the case of manual driving, the cruise control device 25 generates control values ​​according to operation information of the operating members output by the driving operation control device 24 to the vehicle network 30, and outputs the control values ​​to the drive control device 26, steering control device 27, and braking control device 28. In this way, the automobile 2 travels under the operation of the driver. At this time, the cruise control device 25 may add or subtract a correction value to assist operation to the control values ​​based only on the operation information of the operating members, and output the result to the drive control device 26, steering control device 27, and braking control device 28. In the case of automatic driving of autonomous driving, the cruise control device 25 determines the traveling direction, traveling speed, etc. of the vehicle based on various detection values ​​output by the vehicle sensor control device 23 to the vehicle network 30, for example, based on images captured by the stereo camera 36. The cruise control device 25 also generates control values ​​according to the determination results of the various detection values ​​output by the vehicle sensor control device 23, and outputs them to the drive control device 26, steering control device 27, and braking control device 28. This allows the automobile 2 to travel by autonomous automatic driving. In addition, as will be described later, the driving control device 25 generates control values ​​based on information obtained from the autonomous driving server device and outputs them to the drive control device 26, steering control device 27, and braking control device 28. This allows the automobile 2 to travel autonomously under the remote or supervisory control of the autonomous driving server device. During automatic driving of the autonomous driving, the driving control device 25 may refer to information acquired from the automatic driving server device as needed to generate control values. Also, during automatic driving in accordance with the automatic driving server device, the driving control device 25 may refer to various detection values ​​output by the host vehicle sensor control device 23 to the vehicle network 30 as needed to generate control values.

[0038] The driving control device 25 includes a driving control memory and a driving control CPU (Central Processing Unit). The cruise control memory stores programs, setting information, and the like for the cruise control device 25 to execute the various cruise controls described above. FIG. 2 shows an example of high-precision map data for the vehicle stored in the cruise control memory. The high-precision map data may include information such as link and node information indicating branching and merging points of the roads on which the automobile 2 is traveling, as well as information on the reference trajectory for travel for each lane of the road and information on the positions of stop lines. By traveling based on such information, the autonomously driven automobile 2 can basically stay in its lane and stop at stop lines while traveling. The driving control CPU reads and executes the program recorded in the driving control memory, thereby realizing in the driving control device 25 a driving control unit that controls driving of the automobile 2 under the driving control described above.

[0039] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the main configuration of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 in Fig. 1. The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 may also have a configuration similar to that shown in Fig. 3. Basically, the driving of multiple vehicles 2 traveling in areas where carrier communication networks 12 and 13 are installed can be controlled by multiple narrow-area autonomous driving server devices 50 that divide the area into zones. However, the number of vehicles 2 in each zone differs between urban and suburban areas. Furthermore, the speed ranges of vehicles 2 traveling on expressways and vehicles 2 traveling on public roads are different. For this reason, for example, it is conceivable to install a narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 for vehicles 2 traveling on public roads in urban areas, while managing vehicles 2 traveling in the suburbs or on expressways using a wide-area autonomous driving server device 60. It is desirable to install a combination of narrow-area autonomous driving server devices 50 and wide-area autonomous driving server devices 60 as appropriate.

[0040] The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 in Figure 3 has a server GNSS receiver 51, an autonomous driving server CPU 52, an autonomous driving server memory 53, a first server communication device 54, a base station communication device 55, and an autonomous driving server bus 56 to which these are connected.

[0041] The server GNSS receiver 51 receives radio waves from the GNSS satellites 110 and generates information about the current position and current time of the narrow-area automated driving server device 50 in which the server GNSS receiver 51 is installed. Such current position and current time can have a small error compared to the current position and current time of the automobile 2.

[0042] The base station communication device 55 is connected to the local communication network 12. The base station communication device 55 is used by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 to send and receive information to and from the automobile 2 via the local communication network 12 and the base station 11. FIG. 3 shows the base station 11 as well as a vehicle communication device 21 provided in the control system 20 of the automobile 2. The base station communication device 55 is an automobile 2-side communication device used for communication with the automobile 2 by sending and receiving information to and from the base station 11 that wirelessly communicates with the automobile 2. The automobile 2-side communication device is provided in the base station 11 with which the automobile 2 wirelessly communicates, or is connected to the carrier communication networks 12, 13 that provide the base station 11.

[0043] The first server communication device 54 is connected to the carrier wide area network 13. The first server communication device 54 is used by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 to send and receive information to and from other server devices via the carrier wide area network 13. In FIG. 3, a service server device 70 is shown as an example of another server device. The first server communication device 54 is used for communication with the service server device 70.

[0044] The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 is basically connected to only the carrier wide-area communication network 13 out of the local communication network 12 and the carrier wide-area communication network 13. In this case, the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 only needs to include at least the first server communication device 54. The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 may then send and receive information between other server devices, including the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, and each base station 11 via the carrier wide-area communication network 13. 1 and 3, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 is connected to the local communication network 12 and the carrier wide area communication network 13. Alternatively, for example, if the local communication network 12 is connected to the carrier wide area communication network 13 via a gateway device, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 may be equipped with one communication device connected to the local communication network 12. In this case, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 may send and receive information between other server devices, including the wide area autonomous driving server device 60, and each base station 11 via the local communication network 12, the gateway device, and the carrier wide area communication network 13.

[0045] The autonomous driving server memory 53 records programs, setting information, and the like for autonomous driving by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50. Fig. 3 shows an example of high-precision map data 57 of a controlled area and a vehicle database 58 recorded in the autonomous driving server memory 53. The high-precision map data 57 of a controlled area may be data for an area managed by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50. The vehicle database 58 records information indicating the driving conditions of multiple vehicles 2 traveling in an area managed by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50.

[0046] The autonomous driving server CPU 52 reads and executes a program recorded in the autonomous driving server memory 53. In this way, an autonomous driving control unit is realized in the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50.

[0047] Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8, the control for automatic driving of a plurality of automobiles 2 by the automobile 2 assistance system 1 having the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described. Here, an example will be described in which multiple narrow-area autonomous driving server devices 50 communicate directly with multiple automobiles 2 to remotely or by administrative control the driving of the multiple automobiles 2. Figures 4 to 8 show the control for the autonomous driving of multiple automobiles 2 under the control of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 may also communicate directly with the vehicle 2 to remotely or remotely control the driving of the vehicle 2. In this case, the wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 may execute control similar to that of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 described below.

[0048] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the transmission control of each vehicle 2 executed by the control system 20 of the vehicle 2 in FIG. The control system 20 of the automobile 2 repeatedly executes the transmission control of FIG. 4 for each period required for autonomous driving, for example, by the cruise control CPU or the vehicle communication device 21. Here, an example will be described in which the cruise control CPU executes the transmission control of FIG. 4 using the vehicle communication device 21. The same applies to each of the following controls. Hereinafter, the period required for autonomous driving will be referred to as the cruise control period Tc of the autonomous driving of the automobile 2.

[0049] In step ST1, the driving control CPU of the control system 20 of the automobile 2 determines whether it is the transmission timing of the period required for autonomous driving. The driving control CPU desirably executes a series of controls for driving the automobile 2 at intervals of, for example, within several hundred milliseconds. In this case, the driving control CPU may determine whether it is the transmission timing of the period required for autonomous driving based on whether the driving control period has elapsed since the previous driving control was executed. If the driving control period has not elapsed since the previous driving control was executed, the driving control CPU determines that it is not the transmission timing and repeats this process. On the other hand, if the driving control period has elapsed since the previous driving control was executed, the driving control CPU determines that it is the transmission timing and proceeds to step ST2.

[0050] In step ST2, the cruise control CPU acquires, as host vehicle information, information indicating the latest driving state of the automobile 2. The acquired information may be recorded in the cruise control. The host vehicle information collected here may include, for example, the position, time, speed, acceleration, and cruise control execution status detected by the automobile 2. The speed and acceleration may be in the pitch, yaw, and roll directions, for example. The collected host vehicle information may also include information indicating whether the ABS control device 29 is operating and the timing of its operation, a flag indicating whether or not an occupant is in an emergency, and the like.

[0051] In step ST3, the driving control CPU transmits the latest vehicle information collected in step ST2 from the vehicle communication device 21 to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50. The vehicle communication device 21 transmits the vehicle information to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 via the base station 11 with which a wireless communication path has been established.

[0052] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of reception control executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 of FIG. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 repeatedly executes the reception control of Fig. 5. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 needs to receive each of the vehicle information from multiple vehicles 2 as field information. For this reason, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 needs to repeatedly execute the reception control of Fig. 5 in a substantially steady manner.

[0053] In step ST11, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 determines whether the base station communication device 55 has received new field information. For continuous autonomous driving control, the base station communication device 55 of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 needs to receive vehicle information for each vehicle 2 in the jurisdiction of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 at the intervals required for autonomous driving, via the base station 11 in the jurisdiction of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. Therefore, the base station communication device 55 is likely to be in a state where it is essentially receiving new field information almost continuously. If the base station communication device 55 has received new field information, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 proceeds to step ST12. If the base station communication device 55 has not received new field information, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 repeats this process.

[0054] In step ST12, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 records the vehicle information of each automobile 2 acquired in step ST11 in the autonomous driving server memory 53. As a result, information including the latest vehicle information of multiple automobiles 2 in the jurisdiction is accumulated and recorded in the vehicle database 58 of the autonomous driving server memory 53.

[0055] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the driving control of multiple automobiles 2 executed by the narrow-area automated driving server device 50 of FIG. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 repeatedly executes the cruise control of the multiple vehicles 2 shown in FIG. 6 . The narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 needs to generate and transmit cruise control information for the multiple vehicles 2 for each cruise control period Ts of the server's autonomous driving. It is desirable that the cruise control period Ts of the server's autonomous driving be at least the same as or shorter than the cruise control period Tc of the vehicle 2. If the cruise control period Ts of the server's autonomous driving is longer than the cruise control period Tc of the vehicle 2, the vehicle 2 will receive cruise control information with a delay relative to the cruise control period of the vehicle's own autonomous driving. In this case, the vehicle 2 will need to take measures such as continuing control based on the cruise control information it previously received. A vehicle 2 that receives cruise control information with a delay relative to the cruise control period of the vehicle's own autonomous driving may find it difficult to continue driving smoothly in accordance with the cruise control by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. For this reason, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 needs to repeatedly execute the cruise control of the multiple vehicles 2 shown in FIG. 6 in a substantially steady manner.

[0056] In step ST21, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines whether it is time to generate cruise control information for autonomous driving. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 may determine whether it is time to generate cruise control information for autonomous driving, for example, based on whether the cruise control period Ts for the server's autonomous driving has elapsed since the previous execution. If the cruise control period Ts for the server's autonomous driving has not elapsed, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines that it is not time to generate cruise control information and repeats this process. If the cruise control period Ts for the server's autonomous driving has elapsed, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines that it is time to generate cruise control information and proceeds to step ST22.

[0057] In step ST22, the automatic driving server CPU 52 acquires the latest field information from the automatic driving server memory 53.

[0058] In step ST23, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 maps the multiple vehicles 2 included in the latest field information acquired in step ST22 onto a high-precision map based on high-precision map data for the jurisdiction. The multiple vehicles 2 are mapped on the high-precision map based on their latest positions. The high-precision map used here may be configured as data for each road in the jurisdiction, for example. In this case, each vehicle 2 is mapped on the road on which it is traveling at its latest position.

[0059] In step ST24, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines whether there is interference between the vehicles 2 based on the latest road conditions generated in step ST23. The presence or absence of interference may be determined based on a threshold value of the inter-vehicle distance according to the speed, for example.

[0060] In step ST25, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 generates driving control information for each automobile 2. The driving control information generated here may be a remote control control value that can be used as is for driving control of each automobile 2, or an instruction value for control of acceleration / deceleration steering for generating a control value for each automobile 2. For example, when an automobile 2 in an emergency situation is to be stopped on the shoulder of the road, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 may switch the instruction value for normal control to a control value for remote control. For example, the automatic driving server CPU 52 may generate driving control information to maintain the current speed, etc., for a vehicle 2 that is determined to have no interference. In response to this, the automatic driving server CPU 52 may generate driving control information for suppressing interference for a vehicle 2 that is determined to be interfering.

[0061] In step ST26, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 transmits the driving control information generated in step ST25 to the automobile 2 that is driving using the information. The driving control information is transmitted from the base station communication device 55 to the automobile 2 via the carrier communication networks 12 and 13 and the base station 11.

[0062] In step ST27, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 records the driving control information generated in step ST25 in the autonomous driving server memory 53. As a result, the latest driving control information for multiple automobiles 2 in the jurisdiction is recorded in the vehicle database 58 of the autonomous driving server memory 53.

[0063] In step ST28, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines whether any unprocessed vehicles 2 remain. If any unprocessed vehicles 2 remain, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 returns the process to step ST24. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 basically generates and transmits driving control information for all of the multiple vehicles 2 traveling in its jurisdiction. Once it has finished generating and transmitting driving control information for all of these vehicles 2, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines that no unprocessed vehicles 2 remain, and ends this control.

[0064] In this way, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 generates and transmits driving control information for multiple automobiles 2 for each driving control period Ts of the server's autonomous driving. The process of generating and transmitting driving control information for multiple automobiles 2 takes a certain amount of time.

[0065] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of reception control for each vehicle 2, which is executed by the control system 20 of the vehicle 2 in FIG. The control system 20 of the automobile 2 repeatedly executes the reception control shown in FIG.

[0066] In step ST31, the driving control CPU determines whether the vehicle communication device 21 receives new information through the base station 11. If the narrow area automated driving server device 50 is transmitting driving control information addressed to the vehicle, the vehicle communication device 21 receives the new information. In this case, the driving control CPU determines that the vehicle communication device 21 will receive new information, and proceeds to step ST32. If new information is not received, the driving control CPU repeats this process.

[0067] In step ST32, the driving control CPU records in the driving control memory the new information received by the vehicle communication device 21. As a result, the driving control memory can record the latest driving control information for autonomous driving generated by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 based on the latest driving environment.

[0068] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the automatic driving control of each vehicle 2 executed by the control system 20 of the vehicle 2 in FIG. The control system 20 of the automobile 2 repeatedly executes the automatic driving control of FIG. 8 at every driving control period Tc of the automatic driving of the automobile 2, for example, by using a driving control CPU.

[0069] In step ST41, the driving control CPU determines whether it is time to update the control for automatic driving. The driving control CPU may determine whether it is time to update the control, for example, based on whether the driving control period Tc for automatic driving of the automobile 2 has elapsed since the previous execution. If the driving control period Tc for automatic driving of the automobile 2 has not elapsed, the driving control CPU determines that it is not time to update the control, and repeats this process. When the driving control period Tc for automatic driving of the automobile 2 has elapsed, the automatic driving server CPU 52 determines that it is time to update the control, and proceeds to step ST42.

[0070] In step ST42, the driving control CPU acquires the latest information from the driving control memory. The latest information acquired from the driving control memory may include the latest driving control information for autonomous driving generated by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 based on the latest driving environment.

[0071] In step ST43, the cruise control CPU generates control values ​​based on the information acquired in step ST42 and outputs them to the drive control device 26, steering control device 27, and braking control device 28 of the host vehicle. This allows the cruise control CPU of the cruise control device 25 to drive autonomously in accordance with the latest cruise control information generated by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50.

[0072] FIG. 9 is a timing chart of the driving control of the plurality of automobiles 2 in the assistance system 1 of FIG. 9 shows a vehicle 2, a narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, and a service server device 70. Time flows from top to bottom in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows the main steps of driving control of multiple vehicles 2 by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 described above.

[0073] In order for the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 to control driving, the automobile 2 acquires information about its own vehicle at each driving control period Tc of the automatic driving of the automobile 2 in step ST2, and transmits the vehicle information to the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 in step ST3. The narrow area automatic driving server device 50 receives the vehicle information in step ST11 and records it in the automatic driving server memory 53 in step ST12. The narrow area automatic driving server device 50 also generates driving control information for each driving control period Ts of the server's automatic driving in step ST25 and transmits it in step ST26. The narrow area automatic driving server device 50 also performs driving control for another vehicle 2 not shown in FIG. 9 in step ST60. In step ST31, the automobile 2 receives driving control information from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, and in step ST43, executes driving control based on the driving control information from the server. The driving control in step ST43 is desirably executed repeatedly for each driving control period Tc of the autonomous driving of the automobile 2 in order to perform driving control by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. By maintaining such a synchronized control state between the automobiles 2 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, the multiple automobiles 2 can continue to drive smoothly in accordance with the driving control of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50.

[0074] For example, as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 9, the service server device 70 sends and receives information directly to each vehicle 2 to provide services to the vehicle 2. In this case, the communication load for each vehicle 2 increases. In particular, the service server device 70 communicates with the vehicle 2 via the Internet 4, which is slow. If the vehicle 2 performs such communication, there is a high possibility that the vehicle 2 will not be able to maintain communication for autonomous driving with the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 in the state shown in FIG. 9. It may become difficult for the vehicle 2 to continue executing driving control in accordance with the driving control information from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 for each driving control period Tc of the vehicle 2's autonomous driving.

[0075] Therefore, in this embodiment, the narrow-area automatic driving server device 50 that controls the automatic driving of the automobile 2 further relays information sent and received between the automobile 2 and the service server device 70. In this case, the automobile 2 acquires the information to be transmitted to the service server device 70 as vehicle information in step ST2, and transmits it to the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 in step ST3. The narrow area automatic driving server device 50 receives information from the vehicle 2 in step ST11, and records it in the automatic driving server memory 53 in step ST12. Furthermore, in step ST61 of the remaining time Tr, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 executes server transmission processing to the service server device 70, obtains the information obtained from the automobile 2 from the autonomous driving server memory 53, and transmits it to the service server device 70. This allows the service server device 70 to receive from the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 the information that the automobile 2 attempted to transmit to the service server device 70. Furthermore, in step ST61, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 executes control for relaying. Here, the remaining time Tr refers to a period during which the process of generating and transmitting driving control information for multiple vehicles 2 is not being executed within the server's automatic driving driving control period Ts, which is synchronized with the vehicle 2's automatic driving driving control period Tc. During the server's automatic driving driving control period Ts, a remaining time Tr may occur depending on the number of vehicles 2 whose driving is controlled by the narrow-area automatic driving server device 50. In this embodiment, this remaining time Tr is used to transmit information from the narrow-area automatic driving server device 50 to the service server device 70. If the remaining time Tr is less than the minimum transmission time required to transmit information to the service server device 70, the driving control CPU does not transmit information from the narrow-area automatic driving server device 50 to the service server device 70 during the server's automatic driving driving control period Ts. The service provided by the service server device 70 does not require high real-time service performance, as is the case when automatic driving is controlled by a server.

[0076] Then, the service server device 70 records the information of each vehicle 2 received from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 in the service server memory 72. In step ST62, the service server device 70 executes service processing for that vehicle 2 based on the information of that vehicle 2 acquired through the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The service server device 70 may transmit information on the results of the service processing to the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 as necessary. In this case, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 may transmit the information received from the service server device 70 to the vehicle 2 together with driving control information as necessary in step ST26. In step ST31, the vehicle 2 receives the information transmitted to the vehicle 2 by the service server device 70 via the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, together with the driving control information. This allows the automobile 2 to receive and acquire information sent from the service server device 70 to the automobile 2 and use the information to control the automobile 2, without directly sending and receiving information to and from the service server device 70. The automobile 2 can use services provided by the service server device 70 to the automobile 2, such as infotainment services, entertainment services, and automobile 2 monitoring services. Furthermore, by having the service server device 70 send and receive information to and from the automobile 2 via the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 in this way, an increase in the communication load on the automobile 2 can be suppressed even if the number of services used by the automobile 2 increases. By communicating with the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, which is always capable of high-speed broadband communication, the automobile 2 can use not only autonomous driving provided by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, but also various other services besides autonomous driving.

[0077] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the main configuration of the service server device 70 in Fig. 1. The road surface information update server device 5 and the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 in Fig. 1 may basically have the configuration shown in Fig. 10. The service server device 70 in FIG. 10 includes a service server CPU 71, a service server memory 72, a second server communication device 73, and a service server bus 74 to which these are connected.

[0078] The second server communication device 73 is connected to the Internet 4. The second server communication device 73 is used by the service server device 70 to send and receive information to and from other server devices via the Internet 4 and the carrier communication networks 12, 13. FIG. 10 illustrates, as an example of another server device, a narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 connected to the carrier communication networks 12, 13. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 sends and receives information to and from the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 via the carrier communication networks 12, 13 and the Internet 4 connected to the carrier communication networks 12, 13. Sending and receiving information via the Internet 4 is slower than sending and receiving information via only the carrier communication networks 12, 13.

[0079] The service server memory 72 records programs, setting information, and the like for providing services by the service server device 70. Fig. 10 illustrates high-precision map data 76 of the entire area and a vehicle database 75 recorded in the service server memory 72. The high-precision map data 76 of the entire area may be high-precision map data for an area where the carrier communication networks 12, 13 are installed. The vehicle database 75 records information indicating the driving states, etc. of multiple vehicles 2 whose autonomous driving is being assisted by the assistance system 1 for the vehicle 2.

[0080] The service server CPU 71 reads and executes a program recorded in the service server memory 72. In this way, a service control unit is realized in the service server device . The service server CPU 71 as a service control unit executes various controls for the services provided by the service server device 70 . For example, the service server CPU 71 does not directly exchange information with the automobile 2, but exchanges information with the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 via the second server communication device 73. The service server CPU 71 generates information that can be used for services for the automobile 2 using the information about the automobile 2 that is received and acquired. The service server CPU 71 transmits the generated information from the second server communication device 73 to the narrow area automatic driving server device 50.

[0081] Fig. 11 is a flowchart of execution management control in the server device, executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 in Fig. 1. The wide-area autonomous driving server device 60 may also execute the execution management control in Fig. 11 when relaying information between the automobile 2 and the service server device 70. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 serves as an autonomous driving control unit and repeatedly executes the execution management control of FIG. 11 for each cruise control period Ts of the autonomous driving of the server.

[0082] In step ST51, the automatic driving server CPU 52 executes the remaining time Tr for the driving control period Ts of the automatic driving of the server. 9, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 periodically executes control for autonomous driving for controlling the autonomous driving of the automobile 2 at each server's autonomous driving control period Ts. The control for autonomous driving includes steps ST25, ST26, and ST60. Furthermore, in order to transmit information about the automobile 2 to the service server device 70, the automatic driving server CPU 52 executes relay control for transmitting information to the service server device 70 in step ST61. In this case, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 may, for example, predict or measure the time required for control for autonomous driving depending on the number of automobiles 2 for which driving control information is generated. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 may then calculate the remaining time Tr by subtracting the predicted time or the measured time from the server's autonomous driving driving control period Ts.

[0083] In step ST52, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines whether the remaining time Tr calculated in step ST51 is equal to or greater than the minimum transmission time. Here, the minimum transmission time may be the time required for a series of processes required to transmit a minimum amount of information to the service server device 70. When a device transmits information, it generally adds header information and the like to the information to be transmitted to generate packet data, and the communication device transmits the packet data. Once the communication device has completed transmission, the next information can be transmitted. The minimum transmission processing time required for such a series of processes may be defined as the minimum transmission time. Alternatively, for example, the minimum transmission time may be defined as the minimum transmission processing time plus the normal reception processing time for the information transmitted by the service server device 70 to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50. Then, if the remaining time Tr is not equal to or greater than the minimum transmission time, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 terminates this control so as not to transmit information to the service server device 70. As a result, information transmission to the service server device 70 is not executed during the current autonomous driving cruise control period Ts of the server. If processing is tight so that the remaining time Tr is less than the minimum transmission time, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 can prevent information transmission to the service server device 70. On the other hand, if the remaining time Tr is equal to or greater than the minimum transmission time, the automatic driving server CPU 52 advances the process to step ST53.

[0084] In step ST53, the automatic driving server CPU 52 calculates the amount of information that can be transmitted in the remaining time Tr.

[0085] In step ST54, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 instructs the service server device 70 to transmit information. Note that this instruction to transmit information is closed within the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 may transmit, for example, by inter-program communication, a message instructing execution to a program for executing the server transmission process in step ST61 of FIG.

[0086] As a result, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 executes the server transmission process of step ST61 after completing the control for the autonomous driving of the automobile 2 in the current server autonomous driving control cycle Ts. At this time, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 acquires information on the amount of information calculated in step ST53 from the autonomous driving server memory 53, and transmits it from the first server communication device 54 to the service server device 70. The automatic driving server CPU 52 can end the information transmission process to the service server device 70 before the current automatic driving driving control period Ts of the server ends. The automatic driving server CPU 52 can start processing of the next automatic driving cruise control cycle Ts of the server at the timing that is assumed in advance for that cycle, without delay.

[0087] Furthermore, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 uses the first server communication device 54 to communicate with the service server device 70. This allows the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 to successfully receive information about each vehicle 2 via the base station communication device 55, even during communication with the service server device 70 in step ST61 of FIG.

[0088] As described above, the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 of this embodiment has a service server device 70 in addition to the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 for controlling the autonomous driving of the automobile 2. The narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 is provided in the base station 11 with which the automobile 2 communicates wirelessly, or is connected to the carrier communication networks 12 and 13 that provide the base station 11. As a result, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 is provided to be able to communicate with the base station 11 with which the automobile 2 communicates wirelessly with low latency, and can repeatedly send and receive information with low latency between the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 and the automobile 2 while it is traveling. In contrast, the service server device 70 is connected to the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 via the Internet 4, which is a communication network separate from the carrier communication networks 12 and 13. The service server device 70 does not send and receive information directly to and from the automobile 2, but sends and receives information about the automobile 2 to and from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. At this time, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 records information about the vehicle 2, including information acquired from the vehicle 2, in the autonomous driving server memory 53, and transmits the information acquired from the autonomous driving server memory 53 to the service server device 70 on behalf of the vehicle 2. Furthermore, the service server device 70 generates information usable for services for the vehicle 2 using information about the vehicle 2 acquired by sending and receiving information to and from the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50, without sending and receiving information directly to and from the vehicle 2. As a result, the assistance system 1 for the vehicle 2 of this embodiment can generate information useful for driving the vehicle 2 and usable for services for the vehicle 2 in the service server device 70, without excessively increasing the communication load between the vehicle 2 and the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 so as to enable repeated communication with low latency.

[0089] In contrast, if the service server device 70 directly transmits and receives information to and from the vehicle 2 separately from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, the communication between the service server device 70 and the vehicle 2 is more likely to interfere with the communication between the vehicle 2 and the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. Here, if the service server device 70 communicates with the vehicle 2 via the Internet 4 and the carrier communication networks 12 and 13, the vehicle 2 takes a long time to communicate with the service server device 70. In this case, the increased communication load on the vehicle 2 is likely to be greater than simply an increase in the amount of communication. The vehicle 2 may at least need to frequently switch its communication destination between the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 and the service server device 70. In this embodiment, the service server device 70 can generate and provide information useful for the driving of the vehicle 2, which is difficult for the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 to provide, without increasing the communication load on the vehicle 2, which may interfere with the autonomous driving driving control of the vehicle 2. In this embodiment, the vehicle 2 can continue to appropriately perform communication for autonomous driving driving control. According to this embodiment, the service for the automobile 2 can be improved.

[0090] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 does not execute the control for automatic driving, which sends and receives information for automatic driving control between the vehicle 2, and the relay control of information between the vehicle 2 and the service server device 70 on the same level, but executes the control for automatic driving with priority over the relay control. To this end, during reception control, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 records information received from the automobile by the base station communication device 55, which is a vehicle-side communication device, in the autonomous driving server memory 53. During autonomous driving control, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 determines the driving state of the vehicle based on the information recorded in the autonomous driving server memory 53, and further generates information related to driving control of the autonomous driving of automobile 2 and repeatedly transmits it from the base station communication device 55 to automobile 2. Furthermore, the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 performs execution management control separately from the control for automatic driving and the relay control in order to manage the execution of control for automatic driving, which is periodically performed in the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 for automatic driving cruise control of the vehicle 2, and the execution of relay control for transmitting information to the service server device 70. In the execution management control, the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 manages the execution of relay control so that relay control is performed during the remaining period Tr during which control for automatic driving is not being performed within the automatic driving cruise control period Ts of the server for automatic driving control. This allows the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 to perform relay control to transmit information to and from the service server device 70 at times when control for autonomous driving is not being executed. The transmission of information relating to the driving control of the autonomous driving of the vehicle 2 from the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 to the vehicle 2 while it is traveling is less likely to be hindered due to transmission between the service server device 70 and the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50. The narrow area automatic driving server device 50 can perform control for automatic driving between the vehicle 2 with the same quality or frequency as when relay control between the service server device 70 and the vehicle 2 is not being performed. The autonomous driving server device can control the driving of automobile 2 without reducing the quality or frequency of communication with automobile 2 for controlling the autonomous driving of automobile 2, i.e., without reducing the quality of the autonomous driving control of automobile 2 by narrow area autonomous driving server device 50.

[0091] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 has a base station communication device 55 that sends and receives information to and from the base station 11 that wirelessly communicates with the automobile 2, and a first server communication device 54 that sends and receives information to the service server device 70. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 then transmits information related to the autonomous driving travel control of the automobile 2, which is generated through control for autonomous driving, to the automobile 2 using the base station communication device 55. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 also transmits information related to the automobile 2 that is transmitted using relay control to the service server device 70 using the first server communication device 54. As a result, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 can receive information that is repeatedly transmitted by the automobile 2 via the base station communication device 55, even while it is transmitting information related to the automobile 2 that is transmitted using relay control.

[0092] In this way, the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 of this embodiment can provide services other than autonomous driving cruise control to the automobile 2 while suppressing the communication load on the automobile 2 and making it less likely to impede communication for autonomous driving cruise control. The assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 of this embodiment makes it possible to provide multiple services, including autonomous driving cruise control, to the automobile 2 without impeding autonomous driving cruise control. In this embodiment, even if the number of services to the automobile 2 is increased, communication between the automobile 2 and the server device for autonomous driving cruise control is less likely to be impeded.

[0093] [Second embodiment] Next, an assistance system 1 for an automobile 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The above-described embodiment mainly describes the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 that relays between the automobile 2 and the service server device 70. In this embodiment, a case where the service server device 70 is particularly a vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 will be described. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 acquires information about the vehicle 2, whose autonomous driving is controlled by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, through the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 estimates a malfunction of the vehicle 2 based on the acquired information. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 transmits the malfunction estimation information to the vehicle 2 from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the illustration and description thereof will be omitted. The following description will mainly focus on the differences from the above-described embodiment.

[0094] FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of communication information for dealing with a malfunction of the automobile 2 in the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0095] In this embodiment, the automobile 2 transmits to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50, as its own vehicle information, information for receiving autonomous driving assistance, information notifying the automobile of an emergency situation, and information for estimating a malfunction in the automobile's suspension. For this purpose, the automobile 2 may transmit, for example, driving information such as vehicle speed, position, direction of travel, and yaw rate, as well as information on vehicle abnormality flags including MIL lighting flags, to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 as its own vehicle information. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 records the vehicle information received from the vehicle 2 in the autonomous driving server memory 53. Thereafter, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 can generate driving control information for autonomous driving when the server's autonomous driving control cycle arrives.

[0096] FIG. 13 is a flowchart of reception control executed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 of this embodiment. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 repeatedly executes the reception control of FIG. 13 instead of the reception control of FIG. When the base station communication device 55 as a vehicle-side communication device receives new information from the automobile 2, the automatic driving server CPU 52 repeatedly executes the reception control of FIG. 13 prior to automatic driving travel control of the automobile 2. Steps ST11 and ST12 are the same as those in Fig. 5. However, after executing step ST12, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 advances the processing to step ST71.

[0097] In step ST71, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines whether the host vehicle information received from automobile 2 includes information requiring an emergency response to automobile 2. The host vehicle information may include valid information for vehicle abnormality flags, including MIL illumination flags. In this case, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines that the host vehicle information received from automobile 2 includes information requiring an emergency response to automobile 2, and proceeds to step ST72. If the autonomous driving server CPU 52 does not determine that the host vehicle information received from automobile 2 includes information requiring an emergency response to automobile 2, it terminates this control.

[0098] In step ST72, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 generates a request to switch to autonomous driving for the vehicle 2 requiring emergency response.

[0099] In step ST73, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 transmits the request to switch to autonomous driving generated in step ST72 from the base station communication device 55 to the automobile 2 that transmitted the host vehicle information. Thereafter, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 ends this control. When the automobile 2 receives the request to switch to autonomous driving, it switches control from autonomous driving based on the driving control information of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 to manual driving by the driver or autonomous driving.

[0100] Furthermore, the narrow-area automatic driving server device 50 transmits information received from the automobile 2 to the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6, as shown in FIG. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 receives information for estimating a malfunction of the automobile 2 from the narrow area automatic driving server device 50. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 records the received information in the service server memory 72. As a result, information for estimating a malfunction of the vehicle 2, for the vehicle 2 whose driving is controlled by the narrow area automated driving server device 50, can be accumulated and recorded in the vehicle database 75 of the service server memory 72.

[0101] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the malfunction estimation control executed by the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6. The service server CPU 71 of the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 repeatedly executes the malfunction estimation control of FIG. Basically, the service server CPU 71 may repeatedly execute the malfunction estimation control of FIG. 14 whenever a certain amount of unprocessed information about the automobile 2 has been accumulated in the service server memory 72.

[0102] In step ST81, the service server CPU 71 selects a driving section for evaluating a malfunction of the automobile 2 in the high-precision map data 76 for the entire area of ​​the service server memory 72. The service server CPU 71 may select a driving environment from the route traveled by the automobile 2 that is suitable for determining a malfunction of, for example, the suspension of the automobile 2. Signs of a malfunction of the suspension may occur, for example, when the automobile 2 is traveling at a constant speed on a straight, paved road with few bumps and grooves. Therefore, the service server CPU 71 may select a section where the automobile 2 is traveling at a constant speed on a straight, paved road with few bumps and grooves.

[0103] In step ST82, the service server CPU 71 extracts information on the actual yaw rate of the automobile 2 in the travel section selected in step ST81.

[0104] In step ST83, the service server CPU 71 generates yaw rates of a plurality of virtual automobiles 2 in the travel section. The service server CPU 71 may, for example, execute a driving simulation of a virtual automobile 2 along a driving section, and generate a yaw rate of the virtual automobile 2. Alternatively, for example, the service server CPU 71 may extract, from the service server memory 72, yaw rate information of another vehicle 2 that is actually traveling in the travel section and has no problems, as that of the virtual vehicle 2. Furthermore, the service server CPU 71 may execute a driving simulation of a driving section for a virtual automobile 2 having a malfunction in its suspension, and generate a yaw rate of the virtual automobile 2.

[0105] In step ST84, the service server CPU 71 records in the service server memory 72 the information on the yaw rates of the plurality of virtual automobiles 2 acquired in step ST83.

[0106] In step ST85, the service server CPU 71 determines the degree of similarity between the waveform of the actual yaw rate in the travel section and the waveform of the yaw rate in the travel section of each virtual automobile 2. The service server CPU 71 compares the waveform of the actual yaw rate with the waveform of the yaw rate of each virtual automobile 2.

[0107] In step ST86, the service server CPU 71 determines whether the waveform of the actual yaw rate in the traveling section is highly similar to the waveform of the yaw rate of a virtual automobile 2 with a normal suspension. If the similarity is high, the service server CPU 71 ends this control. If the similarity is not high, the service server CPU 71 proceeds to step ST87.

[0108] In step ST87, the service server CPU 71 transmits the suspension malfunction estimation information from the second server communication device 73 to the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. In addition, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 transmits the suspension malfunction estimation information to the vehicle 2 together with the driving control information. The automobile 2 records the suspension malfunction estimation information in the driving control memory. The automobile 2 may also turn on a warning lamp based on the suspension malfunction estimation information.

[0109] 12, the automobile 2 can receive cruise control information for autonomous driving and a request to switch to autonomous driving for emergency response from the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The automobile 2 can also receive suspension malfunction estimation information from the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 via the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The automobile 2 can use the cruise control service for autonomous driving provided by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, as well as emergency response services and a malfunction estimation service for the automobile itself.

[0110] FIG. 15 is a graph showing waveforms of yaw rates according to the traveling positions of a plurality of automobiles 2, including an automobile 2 whose traveling is controlled by the assistance system 1. In FIG. In Fig. 15, the waveform of the actual yaw rate (Real Data) of the vehicle 2 for which a malfunction is estimated is shown by a dashed line. Fig. 15 also shows the waveforms of the yaw rates of two hypothetical vehicles 2 whose suspensions are operating normally (SimA, SimB) and one hypothetical vehicle 2 whose suspension is not operating normally (SimC). In the case of FIG. 15, the waveform of the actual yaw rate of the automobile 2 for which a malfunction is suspected (Real Data) is highly similar to the waveforms of the yaw rates of two hypothetical automobiles 2 whose suspensions are operating normally (SimA, SimB). In contrast, there is little similarity to the waveform (SimC) of the yaw rate of a hypothetical automobile 2 whose suspension is not functioning normally.

[0111] FIG. 16 is a graph showing the degree of similarity between the waveforms of the multiple yaw rates in FIG. 15 for the vehicle 2 whose traveling is controlled by the assistance system 1 and those for other vehicles 2. In FIG. FIG. 16 shows the cosine similarity (average value) between the waveform of the actual yaw rate (real data) of the automobile 2 for which a malfunction is estimated and the waveform of the yaw rate of each virtual automobile 2. In this case, the cosine similarities (average values) between the yaw rate waveforms (SimA, SimB) of the two virtual automobiles 2 whose suspensions are operating normally are both equal negative values. In contrast, the cosine similarity (average value) with the yaw rate waveform (SimC) of one hypothetical automobile 2 whose suspension is not functioning normally is a positive value.

[0112] In step ST85, the service server CPU 71 may determine the cosine similarity between the yaw rate waveforms as shown in FIG. In addition, in step ST86, the service server CPU 71 may determine the similarity of the waveforms of the actual yaw rates (Real Data) based on the cosine similarity between the waveforms of the yaw rates as shown in FIG. In determining whether or not there is a similarity, the service server CPU 71 may, for example, determine whether or not there is a high similarity to the yaw rate waveform of a hypothetical automobile 2 whose suspension is in a normal state, based on a comparison of multiple cosine similarities (average values) in Figure 16. Alternatively, for example, the service server CPU 71 may determine the similarity based only on the similarity to the waveform of the yaw rate of the virtual automobile 2 in FIG. 16 whose suspension is in a normal state.

[0113] As described above, in this embodiment, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, which is provided so as to be able to communicate with the base station 11 with which the automobile 2 communicates wirelessly and with low latency, executes control to respond to an emergency situation for the automobile 2. Specifically, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 determines whether the information acquired from the automobile 2 includes emergency response information for the autonomous driving travel control by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. If emergency response information is included, the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 transmits an autonomous driving switchover request to the automobile 2 so that the automobile 2 will autonomously control its travel without being controlled by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. Moreover, in this embodiment, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 determines whether emergency response information is included when acquiring information from the vehicle 2 prior to controlling the autonomous driving of the vehicle 2. When the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 receives information on the driving state of the vehicle 2, including the emergency response information, from the vehicle 2, it can immediately transmit an autonomous driving switchover request at that timing. As a result, when the automobile 2 of this embodiment determines that an emergency response to the autonomous driving driving control by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 is necessary, it can notify the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 of this, thereby responding immediately to the situation and switching the driving control of its own vehicle from control by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 to autonomous driving control. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 can take immediate action in response to a situation that requires an immediate response.

[0114] Moreover, in this embodiment, information on the driving state of the vehicle 2 is transmitted from the narrow-area automated driving server device 50 to the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6. The vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 then compares the acquired driving state information of the vehicle 2 with information on the driving state of other vehicles 2 that are deemed to be driving normally or that are deemed not to be driving normally. Furthermore, if the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 cannot determine that the vehicle 2 related to the information on the vehicle 2 is driving normally based on the similarity of the driving state information of the multiple vehicles 2 involved in the comparison, it generates malfunction estimation information indicating that a malfunction is estimated in the vehicle 2 as information usable for services for the vehicle 2 and transmits this to the vehicle 2 via the narrow-area automated driving server device 50. As a result, the assistance system 1 for the vehicle 2 in this embodiment not only provides the vehicle 2 with automated driving control services for responding to emergency situations with low latency and repeatedly and with high quality, but also provides a service of information on the estimated malfunction of the vehicle 2.

[0115] In particular, in this embodiment, the vehicle malfunction estimation server device 6 has a memory that stores map data. The service control unit receives and acquires yaw rate information, which indicates the driving state of the vehicle 2 and is detected by the vehicle 2, as information about the vehicle 2 acquired through the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. The service control unit compares the driving state information of the yaw rate of the vehicle 2 when the vehicle 2 is driving straight at a stable speed in the map data with at least one of yaw rate information of another vehicle 2 driving normally and yaw rate information of another vehicle 2 driving with a suspension malfunction. Furthermore, if the service control unit cannot determine that the vehicle 2 is driving normally based on the similarity of the yaw rate waveform information of the multiple vehicles 2 being compared, it generates malfunction estimation information indicating that a malfunction is estimated in the suspension of the vehicle 2 as information usable for the vehicle 2 service, and transmits this information to the vehicle 2 via the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to determine the possibility of a malfunction in the suspension of the vehicle 2 for a vehicle 2 whose driving can be controlled by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. In this embodiment, the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 not only controls the driving of the automobile 2, but can also provide a service for determining whether there is a possibility of a malfunction occurring in the automobile 2. Moreover, in this embodiment, since only the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 communicates with the automobile 2, even if a service for determining whether there is a possibility of a malfunction occurring in the automobile 2 is added, it is possible to maintain a high-quality service by repeating the autonomous driving driving control of the automobile 2 with low latency.

[0116] [Third embodiment] Next, an assistance system 1 for an automobile 2 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The above-described embodiment mainly describes matters related to the narrow-area automated driving server device 50 that relays between the automobile 2 and the service server device 70. In this embodiment, the case where the service server device 70 is a road surface information update server device 5 will be particularly described. The road surface information update server device 5 acquires information about the automobile 2, whose autonomous driving is controlled by the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50, through the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50. The road surface information update server device 5 determines the road surface conditions of the roads on which the automobile 2 is traveling based on the acquired information. The road surface information update server device 5 updates the high-precision map data for the area under the jurisdiction of the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 based on the determined road surface conditions. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 uses the updated high-precision map data to generate driving control information for the autonomous driving of the automobile 2 and transmits it to the automobile 2. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the illustration and description thereof will be omitted. The following description will mainly focus on the differences from the above-described embodiment.

[0117] FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of communication information for updating road surface information in the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The service server CPU 71 of the road surface information update server device 5 Fig. 17 is an explanatory diagram of communication information for updating road surface information in the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0118] In this embodiment, the automobile 2 transmits to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50, as its own vehicle information, information for receiving autonomous driving assistance, information notifying the automobile of an emergency situation, and information regarding the road surface on which the automobile is traveling. For this reason, the automobile 2 may transmit driving information such as vehicle speed, position, direction of travel, ABS information, wheel speed information, and images of the outside of the vehicle captured by the automobile's stereo camera 36 or the like to the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 as its own vehicle information. The narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 records the vehicle information received from the vehicle 2 in the autonomous driving server memory 53. Thereafter, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 can generate driving control information for autonomous driving when the server's autonomous driving control cycle arrives. In controlling the autonomous driving of the automobile 2, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 can receive and acquire from the automobile 2 not only information on the driving status of the automobile 2 but also information on the exterior images captured by the automobile 2 in a single communication with the automobile 2 each time.

[0119] Furthermore, the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 transmits information received from the automobile 2 to the road surface information update server device 5, as shown in FIG. The road surface information update server device 5 receives information for determining the condition of the road surface on which the automobile 2 is traveling from the narrow area automatic driving server device 50. The road surface information update server device 5 records the received information in the service server memory 72. As a result, the vehicle database 75 in the service server memory 72 can accumulate and record information about the road surface on which the vehicle 2, whose driving is controlled by the narrow area automated driving server device 50, is traveling, as well as information about the vehicle 2 that has traveled on that road surface.

[0120] FIG. 18 is a flowchart of control executed by the road surface information update server device 5 to update map data based on slippery road surface information. The service server CPU 71 of the road surface information update server device 5 repeatedly executes the control of updating the map data in FIG. Basically, the service server CPU 71 may repeatedly execute control to update the map data of FIG. 18 at the timing when a certain amount of unprocessed information about the automobile 2 has been accumulated in the service server memory 72.

[0121] In step ST90, the service server CPU 71 acquires ABS information from the service server memory 72. The ABS information includes information indicating whether the ABS control device 29 is operating and the timing of operation.

[0122] In step ST91, the service server CPU 71 determines whether or not the automobile 2 is in a slipping state based on the acquired ABS information. For example, if a wheel of a moving automobile 2 stops rotating during braking control, the ABS control device 29 executes ABS control to restore the rotation of the wheel. This allows the wheel that was slipping on the road surface to regain grip with the road surface, thereby enhancing the deceleration effect of braking control. Such a road surface makes the automobile 2 more likely to slip. Furthermore, the wheels of the automobile 2 are more likely to slip on the road surface if the road surface is frozen or if the road surface is made up of metal plates or metal manholes. Therefore, if the acquired ABS information includes, for example, information indicating the operation of the ABS control device 29, the service server CPU 71 determines that the running state of the automobile 2 is a slip state, and proceeds to step ST92. If the service server CPU 71 does not determine that the running state of the automobile 2 is a slip state, the service server CPU 71 ends this control.

[0123] In step ST92, the service server CPU 71 sets the section of the road on which the automobile 2 was traveling where the ABS control device 29 was operating as a slip section. The slip section may include a margin section of a predetermined length before and after the section where the ABS control device 29 was operating.

[0124] In step ST93, the service server CPU 71 selects from the service server memory 72 an outside-of-vehicle image capturing the slip section.

[0125] In step ST94, the service server CPU 71 analyzes the road surface of the vehicle exterior image selected in step ST93. The types of road surfaces on which the automobile 2 travels include paved roads, rough roads made of gravel or dirt, etc. The condition of the road surface changes due to rainfall, snowfall, puddles, flooding, falling rocks, etc. Furthermore, the road surface may be provided with manholes, road markings, metal plates used during construction, etc. The service server CPU 71 may analyze the road surface in the vehicle exterior image to analyze the type and condition of the road surface for each road surface feature.

[0126] In step ST95, the service server CPU 71 identifies the road surface condition based on the analysis result in step ST94. The service server CPU 71 identifies the type and condition of the road surface of the slip section. This allows the service server CPU 71 to identify whether the cause of the operation of the ABS control device 29 in the automobile 2 is mainly due to the automobile 2 or mainly due to the road surface. For example, on a dry paved road, the ABS control device 29 is unlikely to operate unless the vehicle 2 is suddenly decelerating. On the other hand, when there is snowfall or puddles on the road surface, the ABS control device 29 may operate even when the automobile 2 is traveling normally. By combining ABS information indicating the operation of the ABS control device 29 with an outside-vehicle image of the road surface, it is possible to accurately identify sections of the road surface where the automobile 2 is likely to slip.

[0127] In step ST96, the service server CPU 71 generates road surface information for the slip section in step ST95. The road surface information for a slip section may be information about a dry paved road, or information about snowfall or puddles on the road surface.

[0128] In step ST97, the service server CPU 71 determines whether the road surface has a low mu. When there is snow or puddles on the road surface, the road surface generally has a low friction coefficient and is slippery. In contrast, when the road surface is a dry paved road, the road surface generally has a high friction coefficient and is not slippery. The service server CPU 71 may determine whether the road surface is low-mu based on the information on the type and condition of the road surface included in the road surface information of the slip section. If it is determined that the road surface in the slip section has a low friction coefficient, the service server CPU 71 advances the process to step ST98. If it is not determined that the road surface in the slip section is low-mu, the service server CPU 71 ends this control.

[0129] In step ST98, the service server CPU 71 updates the high-precision map data 76 for the entire area recorded in the service server memory 72 with the road surface information for the slip section determined to be low-mu. As a result, high-precision map data including the road surface information for the slip section is generated in the service server memory 72.

[0130] In step ST99, the service server CPU 71 transmits high-precision map data including road surface information of slip sections from the second server communication device 73 to the narrow-area automated driving server device 50.

[0131] FIG. 19 is a flowchart of map data update control executed by the narrow area automatic driving server device 50 in accordance with the control of the road surface information update server device 5 in FIG. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 repeatedly executes the map data update control of FIG.

[0132] In step ST101, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 determines whether or not high-precision map data for updating has been received from the road surface information update server device 5. If high-precision map data for updating has not been received from the road surface information update server device 5, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 ends this control. If high-precision map data for updating has been received from the road surface information update server device 5, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 proceeds to step ST102.

[0133] In step ST102, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 updates the high-precision map data of the jurisdiction area recorded in the autonomous driving server memory 53 with the high-precision map data received from the road surface information update server device 5. Thereafter, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 ends this control.

[0134] As a result, the high-precision map data of the jurisdiction recorded in the autonomous driving server memory 53 is updated to include the road surface information of the slip section generated by the road surface information update server device 5.

[0135] FIG. 20 is a flowchart of the process of generating driving control information for the automobile 2 in response to an update of the map data, which is executed by the narrow-area automated driving server device 50 in step ST25 of FIG. The autonomous driving server CPU 52 of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 executes the process of generating driving control information for each vehicle 2 in FIG. 20 in the process of generating driving control information for each vehicle 2 in step ST25 in FIG.

[0136] In step ST111, the automatic driving server CPU 52 determines whether or not there is road surface information for a slip section for the section of the road on which the selected automobile 2 is about to travel. The automatic driving server CPU 52 acquires information on the section of the road on which the selected automobile 2 is about to travel from the latest high-precision map data recorded in the automatic driving server memory 53, and determines whether or not there is road surface information on the slip section. If there is no road surface information for a slip section, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 proceeds to step ST113. On the other hand, if road surface information for a slip section is available, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 advances the process to step ST112.

[0137] In step ST112, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 sets conditions for generating driving control information because the section of the road on which the selected automobile 2 is about to travel includes road surface information for a slip section. Specifically, for example, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 sets conditions for suppressing the speed depending on the road surface conditions in the slip section.

[0138] In step ST113, the automatic driving server CPU 52 generates driving control information for the selected automobile 2. If the processing proceeds from step ST111 to step ST113 because the high-precision map data does not include road surface information for slip sections, the generation conditions for the driving control information do not include the generation conditions in step ST112. In this case, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 generates driving control information based on the normal driving environment, without suppressing speed in accordance with road surface conditions, so as to suppress interference with other vehicles that may potentially interfere. On the other hand, if the high-precision map data includes road surface information for slip sections, the conditions for generating the driving control information include the conditions for generating the driving control information in step ST112. In this case, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 generates driving control information that suppresses interference with other vehicles that may interfere and suppresses the speed in accordance with the road surface conditions.

[0139] The driving control information generated here is transmitted from the narrow-area automatic driving server device 50 to the automobile 2. If the road on which the automobile 2 is traveling is likely to be slippery, the automobile 2 will travel at a slower speed than if the traveling environment were not such.

[0140] As described above, in this embodiment, autonomous driving cruise control of the automobile 2 is performed by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, which is provided so as to be able to communicate with the base station 11 with which the automobile 2 wirelessly communicates with low latency. The road surface information update server device 5 also generates map data including information indicating the road surface condition on which the automobile 2 is slipping. The narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 can thereby perform autonomous driving cruise control of another automobile 2 traveling on the subsequently updated map data in accordance with the road surface condition on which slippage may occur, using map data updated by the road surface information update server device 5 including information indicating the road surface condition on which the automobile 2 is slipping. The assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 of this embodiment not only repeatedly provides the automobile 2 with high-quality autonomous driving cruise control services with low latency, but also, when the automobile 2 is traveling on a road surface on which slippage may occur, can provide an autonomous driving cruise control service to, for example, suppress slippage.

[0141] In particular, in this embodiment, the road surface information update server device 5 acquires operation information about the control devices that operate in the vehicle 2 to prevent the vehicle 2 from slipping, as information about the driving state of the vehicle 2 obtained from the vehicle 2 via the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, analyzes information about the exterior image of the road section where the operating device is operating, determines the condition of the road surface on which the vehicle 2 is slipping, generates map data including information indicative of the road surface condition for the road section where the operating device is operating as information usable for servicing the vehicle 2, transmits this to the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50, and updates the map data stored in the memory of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50. In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to update the map data of the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50 that can be used for driving control of the autonomous driving of the vehicle 2 whose driving can be controlled by the narrow-area autonomous driving server device 50.

[0142] In this embodiment, the assistance system 1 for the automobile 2 not only controls the driving of the automobile 2, but also updates the map data used for the autonomous driving driving control to suppress slippage of the automobile 2, thereby providing a service to make it difficult for the automobile 2 under autonomous driving driving control to drive with excessive slippage. Moreover, in this embodiment, since only the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 communicates with the automobile 2, even if a service to update the map data used for autonomous driving driving control is added, it is possible to maintain a high-quality service for the autonomous driving driving control of the automobile 2 through repetitive low-latency operations.

[0143] The above-described embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention.

[0144] In the above-described embodiment, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 that communicates directly with the automobile 2 has a base station communication device 55 for communicating with the automobile 2 and a first server communication device 54 for communicating with the service server device 70. In the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50, the autonomous driving server CPU 52 prioritizes control for autonomous driving, which communicates with the automobile 2 using the base station communication device 55, over relay control, which communicates with the service server device 70 using the first server communication device 54. Alternatively, for example, the narrow area autonomous driving server device 50 may have the autonomous driving server CPU 52 implement a first processing unit that executes communications using the base station communication device 55 and a second processing unit that executes communications using the first server communication device 54, with the first processing unit being given priority over the second processing unit. In this case, the first processing unit and the second processing unit may execute their respective communication processes using a single common communication device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0145] 1...Assistance system, 2...Automobile (vehicle), 3...Carrier communication equipment, 4...Internet, 5...Road surface information update server device, 6...Vehicle malfunction estimation server device, 11...Base station, 12...Local communication network (carrier communication network), 13...Carrier wide area communication network (carrier communication network), 15...Gateway device, 20...Control system, 21...Vehicle communication device, 22...Vehicle state judgment device, 23...Vehicle sensor control device, 24...Drive operation control device, 25...Driving control device, 26...Drive control device, 27...Steering control device, 28...Braking control device, 29...ABS control device, 30...Vehicle network, 50...Narrow area autonomous driving server device, 51...Server GN SS receiver, 52...autonomous driving server CPU, 53...autonomous driving server memory, 54...first server communication device, 55...base station communication device, 56...autonomous driving server bus, 57...high-precision map data for jurisdiction, 58...vehicle database, 60...wide-area autonomous driving server device, 70...service server device, 71...service server CPU, 72...service server memory, 73...second server communication device, 74...service server bus, 75...vehicle database, 76...high-precision map data for entire area, 110...GNSS satellite, Tc...autonomous driving control period of vehicle, Ts...autonomous driving control period of server, Tr...remaining time

Claims

1. an autonomous driving server device for controlling autonomous driving, capable of repeatedly sending and receiving information to and from a vehicle; a service server device that transmits and receives information about the vehicle to and from the autonomous driving server device; and The autonomous driving server device a vehicle-side communication device used for communication with the vehicle, a first server communication device used for communication with the service server device, an autonomous driving server memory, and an autonomous driving control unit; The autonomous driving control unit of the autonomous driving server device Recording information acquired by repeatedly receiving from the vehicle by the vehicle-side communication device in the autonomous driving server memory; Control for autonomous driving that determines the driving state of the vehicle based on the information recorded in the autonomous driving server memory, generates information related to driving control of the autonomous driving, and repeatedly transmits the information from the vehicle-side communication device to the vehicle; and executing relay control to acquire information about the vehicle, including information acquired from the vehicle, from the autonomous driving server memory and transmit the information from the first server communication device to the service server device; The service server device A second server communication device used for communication with the autonomous driving server device and a service control unit, The service control unit of the service server device generating information that can be used for services of the vehicle using information about the vehicle obtained by transmitting and receiving information between the second server communication device and the autonomous driving server device without transmitting and receiving information directly to and from the vehicle; Vehicle assistance systems.

2. The automatic driving control unit and executing the control for the autonomous driving for the travel control of the autonomous driving between the vehicle using the vehicle-side communication device in preference to the relay control for communication with the service server device using the first server communication device.

10. A vehicle assistance system according to claim 1.

3. The automatic driving control unit In order to manage the execution of the control for the autonomous driving, which is periodically executed for the travel control of the autonomous driving, and the execution of the relay control for transmitting information to the service server device, in the autonomous driving server device, an execution management control is executed separately from the control for the autonomous driving and the relay control; In the execution management control, the execution of the relay control is managed so that the relay control is executed during a remaining period in which the control for the automatic driving is not executed within a cruise control period of the automatic driving of the server for controlling the automatic driving.

3. A vehicle assistance system according to claim 2.

4. the vehicle-side communication device of the autonomous driving server device is a base station communication device that transmits and receives information between the vehicle and a base station that wirelessly communicates with the vehicle, The automatic driving control unit transmitting information regarding the autonomous driving travel control generated by the control for the autonomous driving to the vehicle using the base station communication device; transmitting information about the vehicle to be transmitted under the relay control to the service server device using the first server communication device; enabling the base station communication device to receive information repeatedly transmitted by the vehicle even during transmission of information about the vehicle transmitted under the relay control; 4. A vehicle assistance system according to claim 3.

5. The vehicle-side communication device of the autonomous driving server apparatus is provided in a base station with which the vehicle communicates wirelessly, or is connected to a carrier communication network that provides the base station, the second server communication device of the service server device is connected to a communication network different from the carrier communication network that is connected to the carrier communication network; 5. A vehicle assistance system according to claim 4.

6. The automatic driving control unit When the vehicle-side communication device receives new information from the vehicle, prior to control for the autonomous driving, determine whether or not the information acquired by the vehicle-side communication device from the vehicle includes emergency response information for the autonomous driving driving control by the autonomous driving server device; If the emergency response information is included, an autonomous driving switching request is transmitted from the vehicle-side communication device to the vehicle so that the vehicle can autonomously control its driving without being controlled by the autonomous driving server device, Execute relay control for communication with the service server device to transmit information about the vehicle's running state from the first server communication device to the service server device; The service control unit Acquire information about the vehicle's running state as information about the vehicle acquired by the second server communication device through the autonomous driving server device; comparing the acquired information on the running state of the vehicle with information on the running state of other vehicles; If it cannot be determined that a vehicle related to the information on the vehicle is running normally based on the determination based on the similarity of the information on the running states of the plurality of vehicles related to the comparison, malfunction estimation information indicating that a malfunction of the vehicle has been estimated is generated as information usable for servicing the vehicle.

6. An assistance system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. the service server device has a memory for storing map data; The service control unit Receive and acquire yaw rate information indicating a traveling state of the vehicle detected by the vehicle as information about the vehicle acquired through the autonomous driving server device; comparing information on the yaw rate of the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling straight ahead at a stable speed in the map data with at least one of information on the yaw rate of another vehicle traveling in a normal state and information on the yaw rate of another vehicle traveling with a suspension abnormality; If it cannot be determined that the vehicle is traveling normally based on the similarity of the information on the waveforms of the yaw rates of the plurality of vehicles being compared, malfunction estimation information indicating that a malfunction is estimated to exist in the suspension of the vehicle is generated as information that can be used for servicing the vehicle.

7. A vehicle assistance system according to claim 6.

8. The automatic driving control unit In the control for the automatic driving for the travel control of the automatic driving, A process of acquiring information on an outside image captured by the vehicle in addition to information on a running state of the vehicle from the vehicle; generating autonomous driving control information for controlling the driving of the vehicle while it is traveling based on driving state information acquired from the vehicle, and transmitting the information to the vehicle; Executes control for the autonomous driving for generating information on driving control for the autonomous driving with priority over relay control for communicating with the service server device, and transmits information on the outside image of the vehicle together with information on the driving state of the vehicle to the service server device; the service server device has a memory for storing map data; The service control unit As information about the vehicle obtained from the vehicle through the autonomous driving server device, information about the vehicle exterior image is obtained together with information about the vehicle's running state; determining a slip state of the vehicle relative to a road surface based on the acquired information on the running state of the vehicle; Analyzing the acquired outside-vehicle image information to determine the condition of the road surface on which the vehicle is slipping; generating map data including road surface conditions as information usable for the vehicle service and transmitting the generated map data to the autonomous driving server device; 6. An assistance system for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

9. The service server device As information on the running state of the vehicle obtained from the vehicle through the autonomous driving server device, operation information on a control device that operates in the vehicle to suppress slippage of the vehicle is obtained; analyzing information of the outside-of-vehicle image of the section of the road surface where the operating device is operating to determine the condition of the road surface on which the vehicle is slipping; generating map data including information indicating the road surface conditions for the section of the road surface on which the operating device is operating as information available for servicing the vehicle, and transmitting the generated map data to the autonomous driving server device, thereby updating the map data stored in the memory of the autonomous driving server device; 9. A vehicle assistance system according to claim 8.

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