Autonomous Driving Control System

Abstract

To provide an automatic driving control system which can certainly grasp a position of an automatic driving vehicle on a control side even when direct communication is interrupted between a vehicle side and the control side.SOLUTION: An automatic driving control system 100 comprises: a vehicle communication device VEc which is loaded on an automatic driving vehicle VE to perform communication; a control device 50 which communicates with the vehicle communication device VEc to manage position information of the automatic driving vehicle VE; and an infrastructure device 20 which communicates with the vehicle communication device VEc on a different path from that of communication between the control device 50 and the vehicle communication device VEc to communicate the acquired position information of the automatic driving vehicle VE to the control device 50.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an autonomous driving control system that manages position information of an autonomous driving vehicle as part of control over the driving of the autonomous driving vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technology (see Patent Document 1) that transmits necessary information using satellite communication when a communication failure occurs between an autonomous vehicle and a control device that transmits information to the autonomous vehicle.

[0003] However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 requires satellite communication as an alternative means of direct communication between the autonomous vehicle and the control device, and since the distance between the ground and the satellite is long, there is a possibility that significant delays will occur depending on, for example, the amount of communication data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-135320 Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and aims to provide an autonomous driving control system that enables the control side to reliably grasp the position of an autonomous vehicle even if direct communication between the vehicle side and the control side is interrupted, without requiring, for example, satellite communication, etc.

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the autonomous driving control system includes a vehicle communication device that is mounted on an autonomous vehicle and performs communication; a control device that communicates with the vehicle communication device and manages the location information of the autonomous vehicle; and an infrastructure device that communicates with the vehicle communication device via a route different from the communication between the control device and the vehicle communication device and transmits the acquired location information of the autonomous vehicle to the control device.

[0007] In the above-mentioned autonomous driving control system, the infrastructure equipment communicates with the vehicle communication equipment via a route different from the communication between the control equipment and the vehicle communication equipment, and the location information of the autonomous vehicle obtained from the vehicle communication equipment is handled between the infrastructure equipment and the control equipment, so that the control side can determine the location of the autonomous vehicle even if direct communication between the control side and the vehicle side is interrupted.

[0008] In a specific aspect of the present invention, when communication with the vehicle communication device is interrupted, the control device determines the vehicle position based on position information of the autonomously driven vehicle from infrastructure devices. In this case, for example, in response to the interruption of communication with the vehicle communication device, the control device can quickly switch the route for obtaining position information of the autonomously driven vehicle.

[0009] In another aspect of the present invention, the infrastructure device acquires location information of the autonomously driven vehicle by performing short-range wireless communication with the vehicle communication device in a system separate from the communication between the control device and the vehicle communication device. In this case, by using short-range wireless communication as an alternative means, the configuration can be made to be able to cope with, for example, a failure in a wide-area communication network.

[0010] In yet another aspect of the present invention, the infrastructure device has an image sensor, and acquires image information of the autonomously driven vehicle captured by the image sensor as position information of the autonomously driven vehicle. In this case, it becomes possible to acquire the position information of the autonomously driven vehicle based on the image information.

[0011] In yet another aspect of the present invention, the control device determines the vehicle position detection range with different accuracy depending on whether the position information of the autonomous vehicle is information based on communication with a vehicle communication device or information from an infrastructure device. In this case, the position is detected with accuracy according to the situation.

[0012] In yet another aspect of the present invention, the autonomously driven vehicle has a self-position estimation unit, and outputs an estimation result by the self-position estimation unit as position information of the autonomously driven vehicle to a control device via a vehicle communication device. In this case, the position of the autonomously driven vehicle can be grasped based on the self-position estimation by the autonomously driven vehicle.

[0013] In yet another aspect of the present invention, the infrastructure device is installed as a traffic light at an intersection or a bus stop device. In this case, the intersection or bus stop where the autonomous vehicle is located can be identified from the location information transmitted from the infrastructure device.

[0014] In yet another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of infrastructure devices are arranged along the driving route of the autonomous vehicle, and when the control device uses information from one of the plurality of arranged infrastructure devices as current location information of the autonomous vehicle, it determines that the autonomous vehicle is present between the one infrastructure device and an infrastructure device located next to the one infrastructure device along the driving route. In this case, it is possible to grasp the position along the driving route. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an autonomous driving control system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an example configuration of an autonomous driving control system. [Figure 3] 10A and 10B are data diagrams showing an example of an outline of communication content. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an overview of an autonomous driving control system. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of installation of infrastructure equipment. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram for explaining another example of installation of infrastructure equipment. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of information processing related to position information of an autonomously driven vehicle. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram for explaining another example of information processing relating to position information of an autonomously driven vehicle. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of an outline of the operation of a tour bus as an example of an autonomous driving vehicle. [Figure 10]10A to 10D are conceptual diagrams showing an example of how the control side monitors the tour bus. [Figure 11] 10A to 10C are flowcharts illustrating an example of the operation of the automatic driving control system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] An example of an autonomous driving control system according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and other figures. As shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 1, the autonomous driving control system 100 according to this embodiment is a traffic system that controls autonomous vehicles VE, and includes infrastructure equipment 20 that is a roadside device and control equipment 50 that constitutes a control CT, and controls the traveling of the autonomous vehicles VE by communicating with the autonomous vehicles VE. Therefore, the autonomous driving control system 100 can also be considered to be configured to include the communication equipment installed in the autonomous vehicles VE.

[0017] In this example, as shown in the figure, the premise is that the autonomously driven vehicles VE are connected to a control device 50 (control CT) via wide-area wireless communication using various network lines IN, and the control device 50 manages the driving status of the autonomously driven vehicles VE. In particular, the control device 50 continuously communicates to ensure that it is constantly aware of where each autonomously driven vehicle VE is currently traveling, i.e., the location information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. In other words, the autonomously driven vehicles VE are constantly known at the control CT through direct communication between the autonomously driven vehicles VE and the control device 50. Note that various wireless communication methods, such as 4G LTE and 5G, can be applied to the network lines IN.

[0018] However, for various reasons, there is a possibility that communication between the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the control device 50 may be interrupted or delayed. In particular, when the control device 50 communicates with a large number of autonomously driven vehicles VE located in various places in order to manage these vehicles, the network line IN becomes a wide-area communication network, and there is a possibility that communication failures may occur for various reasons.

[0019] In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, infrastructure equipment 20, which is roadside equipment such as traffic lights (traffic lights at intersections) TL and equipment installed at bus stops (bus stops) BS located on the driving route of the autonomously driven vehicle VE, communicates with the autonomously driven vehicle VE via a route different from the communication between the control equipment 50 and the autonomously driven vehicle VE, acquires location information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and communicates the acquired location information to the control equipment, so that, for example, even if direct communication between the control side and the vehicle side is interrupted, the control side can determine the location of the autonomously driven vehicle VE.

[0020] As described above, the autonomous driving control system 100 is composed of infrastructure devices 20 and control devices 50 that constitute the control CT. Here, it is assumed that communication between these and the autonomously driven vehicle VE is established, and therefore in addition to these, communication devices that are mounted on the autonomously driven vehicle VE and communicate position information about the autonomously driven vehicle VE (for example, vehicle communication device VEc, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 2) are also treated as being included in the components that make up the autonomous driving control system 100.

[0021] In FIG. 1 , the infrastructure device 20 of the autonomous driving control system 100 can take various forms, such as a traffic light TL at an intersection or a device at a bus stop BS, as described above. Here, however, it is particularly assumed to be an information providing device IM. That is, equipment that provides information from the infrastructure side to the vehicle side is used as the infrastructure device 20 for acquiring position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. Specifically, for example, in the case of a traffic light TL at an intersection, the information providing device IM is equipment that monitors the situation at the relevant intersection and its surroundings. The infrastructure provides the autonomously driven vehicle VE with information such as the timing of the traffic light TL's switching (light color information) and monitoring results for areas at the intersection and its surroundings that are prone to blind spots, thereby providing driving assistance for the autonomously driven vehicle VE. That is, to enable the provision of information as described above, the information providing device IM communicates with the autonomously driven vehicle VE and acquires information about the position information and driving conditions of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. In this embodiment, by employing the information providing device IM as the infrastructure device 20, the position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE can also be acquired through communication with the autonomously driven vehicle VE.

[0022] Furthermore, the infrastructure equipment 20, which is composed of the information providing device IM, is connected to the control equipment 50, and the control equipment 50 is configured to determine the vehicle position based on the position information of the autonomous vehicle VE from the infrastructure equipment 20, for example, when direct communication with the vehicle communication equipment VEc is interrupted.

[0023] The communication method between the infrastructure device 20 and the autonomously driven vehicle VE can take various forms. It is possible to adopt a method similar to that used for communication between the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the control CT. However, for example, short-range wireless communication, which is a system separate from the communication between the control device 50 and the vehicle communication device VEc, can also be applied. The timing of communication between the infrastructure device 20 and the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the use of the acquired position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE can also take various forms. For example, communication between the infrastructure device 20 and the autonomously driven vehicle VE can be always performed when communication is possible via short-range wireless communication. Alternatively, communication between the infrastructure device 20 and the autonomously driven vehicle VE can be used to acquire position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE only when communication (direct communication) between the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the control CT is interrupted due to some kind of trouble.

[0024] Various modes of communication may also be considered for communication between infrastructure equipment 20 and control equipment 50. It is possible to adopt a method similar to that for communication between infrastructure equipment 20 and an autonomously driven vehicle VE, or communication between an autonomously driven vehicle VE and a control CT, but for example, communication via a dedicated line or communication via a wired connection may also be adopted for communication between infrastructure equipment 20 and control equipment 50.

[0025] Hereinafter, a specific configuration example of the autonomous driving control system 100 will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.

[0026] First, before describing an example configuration of the autonomous driving control system 100, an example will be described of a portion of the autonomous driving vehicle VE that is related to the operation mode of the autonomous driving control system 100. As shown in the figure, the autonomous driving vehicle VE includes a vehicle position estimation unit VEp that is a self-position estimation unit that estimates its own position using, for example, GNSS or the like (not shown), and a vehicle communication device VEc that communicates with the autonomous driving control system 100.

[0027] The vehicle communication equipment VEc is composed of a control communication unit VEm for communicating with the control CT (control equipment 50) of the automatic driving control system 100, and an infrastructure equipment communication unit VEi for communicating with the infrastructure equipment 20.

[0028] The control communication unit VEm is, for example, configured with a device capable of wide-area wireless communication, and transmits position information of the autonomously driving vehicle VE, which is information about the vehicle's own position estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit VEp, to the control device 50. On the other hand, the infrastructure communication unit VEi is, for example, configured with a device capable of short-range wireless communication, and transmits the position information to infrastructure devices 20 that are present within the communication range.

[0029] Next, an example of the infrastructure device 20 and the control device 50 that constitute the autonomous driving control system 100 will be described.

[0030] In the autonomous driving control system 100, the infrastructure device 20 includes an infrastructure communication device 20c, a sensor SE, a sensor processing unit 20s, and a vehicle position estimation unit 20p.

[0031] The infrastructure communication device 20c is composed of a vehicle communication unit 20v for communicating with the automatically driven vehicle VE, and a control communication unit 20m for communicating with the control CT (control device 50).

[0032] The vehicle communication unit 20v is for communicating with the infrastructure equipment communication unit VEi mounted on the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and is configured, for example, with equipment capable of short-range wireless communication, and communicates with autonomously driven vehicles VE that are within a communication range to acquire position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. On the other hand, the control communication unit 20m is, for example, connected by wire to a control CT (control device 50), and transmits the acquired position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE to the control CT (control device 50).

[0033] Here, in the above example, as another method for obtaining position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE, that is, as a method different from communication via infrastructure communication equipment 20c, the position of the autonomously driven vehicle VE is estimated by capturing the autonomously driven vehicle VE with sensor SE.

[0034] The sensor SE is composed of, for example, a camera unit (infrastructure camera) that captures images and generates image data, a LiDAR, a millimeter wave sensor, a ranging unit that performs ranging using radar or the like to generate ranging data, etc. The sensor processing unit 20s analyzes the image data or ranging data acquired (captured) by the sensor SE to extract information such as the position, shape, and color of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. In other words, the sensor SE and the sensor processing unit 20s work together as an image sensor that makes it possible to acquire image information of the autonomously driven vehicle.

[0035] The vehicle position estimation unit 20p estimates the position of the autonomously driven vehicle VE based on various pieces of information acquired about the autonomously driven vehicle VE. To this end, the vehicle position estimation unit 20p includes, for example, a data processing unit 20d that processes the various pieces of acquired data. The data processing unit 20d estimates the position of the autonomously driven vehicle VE from various pieces of information (data) such as the position, shape, and color of the autonomously driven vehicle VE extracted by the sensor processing unit 20s.

[0036] There are various possible methods for estimating the position of an autonomously driven vehicle VE in the vehicle position estimation unit 20p. Here, however, we first consider identifying a target autonomously driven vehicle VE from image data acquired by a sensor SE, as a prerequisite for estimating the position of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. To be under the management of the control CT (control device 50), the autonomously driven vehicle VE is pre-registered. In other words, various pieces of information for identifying the autonomously driven vehicle VE are presumably registered in association with a vehicle ID. Examples of registered information include the vehicle model, color (body color), and vehicle license plate number. Therefore, the vehicle position estimation unit 20p performs image processing on the acquired image data in the data processing unit 20d. In other words, the vehicle shape, color, and the like may be extracted, or an image of the license plate may be extracted to read the vehicle license plate number, thereby enabling identification of the autonomously driven vehicle VE.

[0037] This makes it possible to estimate the position information of the identified autonomous vehicle VE. Most simply, when the vehicle position estimation unit 20p confirms the presence of the autonomous vehicle VE as a result of the image processing, it can estimate that the autonomous vehicle VE is located somewhere within the sensing range of the sensor SE, or it can determine the position of the sensor SE as the autonomous vehicle VE. Additionally, for example, when ranging is performed by the sensor SE, it can be considered that the position of the autonomous vehicle VE can be estimated by determining the distance from the sensor SE from the results of the ranging. It is also possible to estimate the position from the shape of a captured image, for example.

[0038] In other words, the infrastructure device 20 has an image sensor (sensor SE and sensor processing unit 20s), and acquires image information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE captured by the image sensor as position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE by processing the image information in the data processing unit 20d. Note that some or all of the above-mentioned various processes may be performed by the control device 50. In other words, the infrastructure device 20 may acquire the various necessary information and transmit the information, and the various analysis processes may be performed by the control side.

[0039] The estimated position information about the automatically driven vehicle VE obtained as described above is transmitted to the control CT (control device 50) via the control communication unit 20m.

[0040] Furthermore, various modes are possible for the timing of the sensor SE's position estimation operation for the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the use of the acquired estimated position information for the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and for example, the sensor SE may be configured to always sense and transmit the estimation results, or may be configured to be used only when communication (direct communication) between the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the control CT is interrupted due to some kind of trouble, or when communication (indirect communication) between the autonomously driven vehicle VE and infrastructure device 20 is interrupted.

[0041] In the automatic driving control system 100, the control device 50 constituting the control CT includes, for example, a control communication device 50c, a communication monitoring unit CC, a vehicle position management unit VC, an automatic driving management unit DM, and a display device DD.

[0042] The control communication device 50c is composed of a vehicle communication unit 50v for communicating with the automatically driven vehicle VE and an infrastructure device communication unit 50i for communicating with the infrastructure device 20.

[0043] The vehicle communication unit 50v is for communicating with the control communication unit VEm mounted on the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and is configured, for example, by equipment capable of wide-area wireless communication, and receives (acquires) position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE from the autonomously driven vehicle VE. On the other hand, the infrastructure equipment communication unit 50i is, for example, connected by wire to the control communication unit 20m, and receives (receives) position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE from the control communication unit 20m.

[0044] The communication monitoring unit CC is composed of, for example, various electronic circuits and monitors the communication status of the control communication device 50c. That is, it monitors whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the communication status with the autonomously driven vehicle VE via the vehicle communication unit 50v and the communication status with the infrastructure equipment 20 via the infrastructure equipment communication unit 50i.

[0045] The vehicle position management unit VC manages the position of the autonomously driven vehicle VE based on the position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE received by the control communication device 50c. Note that, as shown in Fig. 1, if there are multiple autonomously driven vehicles VE, the vehicle position management unit VC manages the positions (displacement status) of these vehicles in parallel.

[0046] In addition, for example, the autonomous driving management unit DM grasps the driving status of the autonomous driving vehicle VE from the above-mentioned communication status and location management and manages this. In other words, the autonomous driving management unit DM checks for any abnormalities regarding driving. Furthermore, the display device DD performs display processing on various data in the display processing unit DP so that the manager at the control CT can visually grasp each of the above-mentioned situations, and displays the processed results on the control screen DS, which is a display.

[0047] As described above, autonomous driving control system 100 controls autonomous driving by autonomously driven vehicle VE, but from the perspective of managing the position information of autonomously driven vehicle VE in particular, it can be said that autonomous driving control system 100 is mainly comprised of the elements within the area enclosed by dashed line RE. In other words, autonomous driving control system 100 can also be seen as being composed of vehicle communication device VEc of autonomously driven vehicle VE for communication, infrastructure communication device 20c and control communication device 50c of infrastructure device 20, and communication monitoring unit CC and vehicle position management unit VC for communication and position information management.

[0048] 3(A) and 3(B) are data diagrams showing an example of an outline of the content of communication between the vehicle side and the control side (or road side) in the above-described embodiment. FIG. 3(A) shows information transmitted from the vehicle side to the control side (or road side), i.e., information including the position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and FIG. 3(B) shows information managed by the control side. Note that on the vehicle side, i.e., FIG. 3(A), a vehicle ID is used to identify the autonomously driven vehicle VE. The control side (communication device 50) is capable of identifying the autonomously driven vehicle VE with which it is communicating by comparing the information with data about the vehicle ID registered in advance.

[0049] First, as shown in FIG. 3(A), the vehicle transmits location information (current location) of the autonomous vehicle VE along with various IDs and the creation date and time to the control side. In the illustrated example, the location information (current location) includes information on the speed (traveling speed) and direction (azimuth angle) of the autonomous vehicle VE in addition to the latitude and longitude indicating the location where the autonomous vehicle VE is currently located (at the time of transmission). Furthermore, in the illustrated example, driving data is also included. The driving data includes, for example, the destination (destination) of the autonomous vehicle VE and the planned driving route to the destination.

[0050] Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 3(B), information about each autonomously driven vehicle VE is managed collectively on the control side. Specifically, information such as the destination (destination), current location (location information), current communication status, planned driving route, and driving history of each autonomously driven vehicle VE is managed in association with a vehicle ID, and these various parameters are updated as needed through direct communication with the autonomously driven vehicle VE and indirect communication via infrastructure device 20.

[0051] Here, the communication status indicates whether direct communication with the autonomous vehicle VE is taking place, whether indirect communication is taking place via infrastructure equipment 20, whether the autonomous vehicle VE is being detected by the sensor SE of infrastructure equipment 20, or whether communication is down (communication is not possible in any of the above cases).

[0052] The driving history refers to information about the route the autonomous vehicle VE has taken so far. Here, it particularly refers to the most recent location (last confirmed location) confirmed by the control side (communication device 50). For example, while direct or indirect communication with the autonomous vehicle VE is taking place, the last confirmed location coincides with the current location (location information). In contrast, when the autonomous vehicle VE is captured by the sensor SE, the way the last confirmed location is indicated is determined depending on the method of estimating the location of the autonomous vehicle VE based on acquired image data, etc. For example, if the autonomous vehicle VE is estimated to be located somewhere within the sensing range of the sensor SE, the sensing range (e.g., the range from point XX to point YY) becomes the last confirmed location. Furthermore, if communication is not possible with any of the above, the last location where communication was performed by any of the above (e.g., point AA) becomes the last confirmed location.

[0053] FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram outlining the configuration and operation of the above-described autonomous driving control system 100. As shown in the figure and as described above, in the above-described autonomous driving control system 100, the control device 50 communicates with the vehicle communication device VEc installed in the autonomous driving vehicle VE and manages the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle VE. Meanwhile, the infrastructure device 20 communicates with the vehicle communication device VEc via a path different from the communication path between the control device 50 and the vehicle communication device VEc to acquire the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle VE and then transmits the acquired position information of the autonomous driving vehicle VE to the control device 50. In other words, the control side is configured to acquire the same (or equivalent) position information of the autonomous driving vehicle VE via a separate system. This ensures that the control side can reliably determine the position of the autonomous driving vehicle even if direct communication between the vehicle side and the control side is interrupted. Note that in this case, satellite communication or the like is not required for transmitting and receiving the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle VE, and significant delays due to the amount of communication data can be avoided.

[0054] 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an example of an installation of infrastructure equipment 20 in autonomous driving control system 100. The illustration shows an example configuration of infrastructure equipment 20 that uses an information providing device IM that provides driving assistance to autonomously driven vehicles VE at traffic lights TL. Here, traffic lights TL are composed of signal lamps SG and a signal controller SC, and the information providing device IM is built into the signal controller SC, and the information providing device IM also functions as infrastructure equipment 20 that acquires position information of autonomously driven vehicles VE. In other words, the signal controller SC is composed of infrastructure communication equipment 20c and the like for communicating with autonomously driven vehicles VE and the control CT (control equipment 50).

[0055] In the traffic light TL, a signal controller SC performs overall control of all the signal lights SG installed at an intersection (not shown). More specifically, the signal controller SC has information related to the control of the traffic lights (such as light color information) and controls the operation of the signal lights SG accordingly.

[0056] The signal controller SC serves as an information providing device IM and provides the autonomously driven vehicle VE with information on the switching timing of the signal lamp SG, such as light color information, as needed. The signal lamp SG is also provided with a monitoring sensor unit 10, and the signal controller SC predicts collisions based on target information from the sensor unit 10 and position information from the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and functions as the information providing device IM by providing hazard information and the like to the autonomously driven vehicle VE according to the prediction results. The signal controller SC, which serves as infrastructure equipment 20 that communicates with the traffic control CT (control equipment 50), can utilize the sensor unit 10 as a sensor SE. In other words, image data and the like acquired by the sensor unit 10 can be used to identify the autonomously driven vehicle VE.

[0057] All of the infrastructure device 20's functions may be provided in the information providing device IM or the signal controller SC. Alternatively, as shown in the figure, a data processing unit 20d, which performs some of the infrastructure device 20's functions, may be provided separately from the signal controller SC and connected to the signal controller SC (information providing device IM). As described above, the data processing unit 20d is a device for performing image analysis on image data captured by the sensor unit 10 (sensor SE). Various types of data processing unit 20d are applicable, including image processing using artificial intelligence (AI). In the illustrated example, a determination device GR including the data processing unit 20d performs processes such as vehicle number determination based on the image processing performed by the data processing unit 20d. The infrastructure device 20 described above may be configured by adding a data processing unit 20d to an existing signal controller SC with a built-in information providing device IM, so that the location information of the autonomous vehicle VE can be handled by the control side. The required power source may be the same as the power source for operating the traffic light TL.

[0058] FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another example of the installation of infrastructure equipment 20. As an example, an information providing device IM is shown at a bus terminal TE, where buses BU departing and arriving at each bus stop BS are treated as target autonomously driven vehicles VE, and the information providing device IM manages or supports the departure and arrival of the buses. The information providing device IM also functions as infrastructure equipment 20 that acquires location information of the autonomously driven vehicles VE. Specifically, the infrastructure equipment 20 as information providing device IM has a camera CA as a sensor SE, which captures images of the bus terminal TE and performs image analysis processing to extract the vehicle number from the image data acquired by the image capture (performs vehicle number reading), thereby confirming the presence or absence of the bus BU that should be the target autonomously driven vehicle VE. After confirming the presence or absence of the bus BU, the infrastructure equipment 20 transmits the confirmation result to the control CT (control equipment 50).

[0059] The control CT manages bus operations based on the confirmation results from the infrastructure equipment 20. The control equipment 50 transmits signals to each bus BU (autonomously driven vehicle VE) to indicate whether or not it is possible to depart or arrive, for example, according to a bus timetable or the like. Various modes of signal transmission are possible, and the control CT (control equipment 50) may communicate directly with each bus BU (autonomously driven vehicle VE) via communication, or the control CT may operate a departure / arrival signal (not shown) or the like installed in the bus terminal TE. Alternatively, these may coexist.

[0060] In addition, although the bus operation management is performed by the control CT in the above description, it may be performed by the infrastructure equipment 20. In this case, the management of bus operation is completed by the infrastructure equipment 20 managing the bus terminal TE.

[0061] In order to perform the above-described operations, the infrastructure equipment 20 includes, for example, a sensor SE (camera CA), a data processing unit 20d of a determination device GR that reads the vehicle number from image data captured by the camera CA, and infrastructure communication equipment 20c for communicating with the autonomously driven vehicle VE and the control CT (control equipment 50). Note that various types of data processing unit 20d constituting the determination device GR can be applied, but for example, the determination device GR can be used as in the other examples. Furthermore, the infrastructure equipment 20 may be installed remotely from other facilities by including a battery BA.

[0062] Figures 7 and 8 are conceptual diagrams for explaining an example of information processing related to the position information of an autonomously driven vehicle VE. Figure 7 conceptually shows the flow of the position information of an autonomously driven vehicle VE acquired through communication between the vehicle side and the infrastructure side, and Figure 8 conceptually shows the flow of the position information of an autonomously driven vehicle VE acquired by a sensor SE (camera CA).

[0063] Figure 7 shows an example of using the information providing device IM built into the signal controller SC described with reference to Figure 5 as infrastructure equipment 20. In this case, the signal controller SC (information providing device IM), as infrastructure equipment 20, acquires location information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE by communicating with the autonomously driven vehicle VE, and then transmits the acquired location information to the control CT (control equipment 50).

[0064] Fig. 8 shows an example of a case where the vehicle number of an autonomously driven vehicle VE is read by a sensor SE (for example, the camera CA shown in Fig. 6), and in this case, image data etc. acquired by the sensor SE (camera CA) is analyzed in a data processing unit 20d (determination device GR) to recognize the autonomously driven vehicle VE and acquire its location information, and this information obtained as a result of the analysis is transmitted to the control CT (control device 50) by the infrastructure device 20 (information provision device IM). Note that if management of bus operations is performed by the infrastructure device 20 and is completed within the bus terminal TE, it is not necessarily necessary to transmit the recognition information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE to the control CT (control device 50).

[0065] 9 and other figures, an overview of the operation of a tour bus will be described below as one application example of how location information of autonomously driven vehicle VE is managed by control device 50 (control CT) in autonomous driving control system 100. The conceptual diagram shown in Fig. 9 shows how autonomously driven vehicle VE as a tour bus travels around various locations, and the conceptual diagrams in Fig. 10(A) to Fig. 10(D) show how the location information of autonomously driven vehicle VE is displayed on the control screen DS of control device 50 so that an administrator MA in the control CT can visually monitor changes in the location information of autonomously driven vehicle VE.

[0066] 9, multiple infrastructure devices 20 are placed along the travel route of the autonomously driven vehicle VE, indicated by arrow AA1. Various methods are assumed for acquiring the position information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE in each infrastructure device 20, but as long as communication and sensing in the infrastructure devices 20 are operating normally, it is assumed that the control device 50 (control CT) can at least confirm whether the autonomously driven vehicle VE has passed each infrastructure device 20.

[0067] In the control CT (control device 50), for example, as shown in FIG. 10(A), changes in the driving route (operation route) of the autonomously driven vehicle VE are visualized on a control screen DS. More specifically, in the illustrated example, each infrastructure device 20 is represented by a plurality of hatched diamond-shaped marks 20g on the control screen DS, and the line image LLg connecting these marks indicates the driving route of the autonomously driven vehicle VE. The autonomously driven vehicle VE is represented by an image VEg. The location (existence range) of the image VEg (autonomous vehicle VE) is indicated by an area PT on the line image LLg, as shown in FIGS. 10(B) to 10(D). Specifically, FIG. 10(B) shows an example of the display mode of the control screen DS when direct or indirect communication with the autonomously driven vehicle VE is being performed and the current location of the autonomously driven vehicle VE can be pinpointed. In this case, the area PT is displayed as a short range or a dot.

[0068] On the other hand, Figure 10(C) shows an example of a case where communication is unavailable, in which the current location of the autonomously driven vehicle VE is indicated by a wide area PT. More specifically, the illustration shows an example of a display mode in which passage up to mark GA, which is one of the multiple diamond-shaped marks 20g (the presence of the autonomously driven vehicle VE), has been confirmed by the corresponding infrastructure device 20, but subsequent location information cannot be obtained. In this case, the control device 50 confirms that the autonomously driven vehicle VE has reached mark GA, but determines that it has not confirmed that it has reached mark GB, which is one mark 20g indicating the installation location of the next infrastructure device 20, and displays the autonomously driven vehicle VE as being present in any of the areas PT indicating the area between marks GA and GB. In other words, in the above example, when information from one infrastructure device 20 (marked GA) among a plurality of deployed infrastructure devices 20 (marked 20g) is used as the current location information (final history) of the autonomously driven vehicle VE (image VEg), the control device 50 determines that the autonomously driven vehicle VE (image VEg) is present between the one infrastructure device 20 (marked GA) and the infrastructure device 20 (marked GB) that is located next to the one infrastructure device 20 (marked GA) along the driving route. Note that this determination may be made only for a certain period of time (for example, the estimated time it takes to reach mark GB from mark GA) after detecting the passage of the autonomously driven vehicle VE at mark GB after the certain period of time has elapsed, and it may be determined that some abnormality has occurred.

[0069] 10(D) shows, for example, a state in which, even though direct communication with the autonomously driven vehicle VE has been interrupted, the autonomously driven vehicle VE is captured by the sensor SE of the infrastructure device 20 corresponding to the mark GA, which is the first mark 20g, and an area PT is displayed from position information based on position estimation. In other words, in the example shown, it is estimated that the autonomously driven vehicle VE is present somewhere within the sensing range of the sensor SE, and the area PT is displayed as the range shown in the figure.

[0070] As described above, in the above embodiment, the control device 50 determines the vehicle position detection range with different accuracy depending on whether the position information of the autonomously driving vehicle VE is information based on communication with the vehicle communication device VEc (see Figure 2), i.e., whether communication between the vehicle side and the control side is used, or whether the information is information from the infrastructure device 20, i.e., whether communication between the vehicle side and the infrastructure side is used.

[0071] An example of the operation of the autonomous driving control system 100 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in Figure 11. Figure 11(A) is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device 50, Figure 11(B) is a flowchart showing the operation of the infrastructure device 20, and Figure 11(C) is a flowchart showing the operation of the autonomous driving vehicle VE.

[0072] As shown in FIG. 11(A), when the autonomous driving control system 100 is started, the control device 50 first transmits a signal to the infrastructure device 20 to confirm that communication has been established, and confirms whether communication with the infrastructure device 20 has been established (step S101).

[0073] In step S101, if it is confirmed that communication has been established (step S101: Yes), the control device 50 performs a process of receiving information such as the position information and driving route information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE from the infrastructure device 20 (step S102). Note that various information is actually received when the infrastructure device 20 acquires the position information from the autonomously driven vehicle VE via short-range wireless communication or the like and transmits this to the control device 50, as shown by the dashed line DL1.

[0074] In step S101, if communication establishment is not confirmed (step S101: No) or after the receiving process in step S102, the control device 50 transmits a signal to the autonomously driven vehicle VE to confirm that communication has been established, and confirms whether communication has been established with the autonomously driven vehicle VE (step S103).

[0075] In step S103, if it is confirmed that communication has been established (step S103: Yes), control device 50 receives position information of automatically driven vehicle VE directly from automatically driven vehicle VE (step S104). Note that under normal conditions, information such as that shown by dashed line DL2 is periodically received from automatically driven vehicle VE to control device 50.

[0076] When the information reception process is performed in step S104, the control device 50 updates the position of the automatically driven vehicle VE, that is, the position of the image VEg, on the control screen DS based on the acquired information (step S105).

[0077] On the other hand, if communication establishment is not confirmed in step S103 (step S103: No), the control device 50 checks whether or not reception processing of information about the autonomously driven vehicle VE was performed from the infrastructure device 20 in step S102 (step S106), and if it is determined that reception processing was performed (step S106: Yes), the control device 50 updates the position of the autonomously driven vehicle VE, i.e., the position of the image VEg, on the control screen DS based on the information obtained from the infrastructure device 20 (step S107).

[0078] If it is determined in step S106 that reception processing is not being performed (step S106: No), control device 50 ends the series of processes without performing any particular processing, and resumes operations from step S101. Also, if the position of autonomously driven vehicle VE is updated based on step S105 or step S107, control device 50 also ends the series of processes after the update, and resumes operations from step S101.

[0079] As shown in Figure 11 (B), when the autonomous driving control system 100 is started, the infrastructure equipment 20 first transmits a signal to the autonomous driving vehicle VE to confirm that communication has been established, and checks whether communication has been established with the autonomous driving vehicle VE (step S201), and repeats this process until communication is established (step S201: Yes).

[0080] In step S201, if communication establishment is confirmed (step S201: Yes), that is, if an autonomously driven vehicle VE is present within a range where communication is possible via short-range wireless communication, the infrastructure equipment 20 communicates with the corresponding autonomously driven vehicle VE and receives location information of the autonomously driven vehicle VE from the autonomously driven vehicle VE (step S202).

[0081] After the information reception process is performed in step S202, infrastructure device 20 transmits the acquired information, i.e., the position information of autonomously driven vehicle VE, information on the driving route, etc., to control device 50 as shown by dashed line DL1 (step S203). That is, in this case, control device 50 performs the reception process in step S102 described with reference to Fig. 11(A).

[0082] After step S203, the infrastructure device 20 ends the series of processes and resumes the operation from step S201.

[0083] As shown in Figure 11 (C), when the automatically driven vehicle VE is traveling, it transmits a signal to the control device 50 to confirm whether communication has been established, and checks whether communication with the control device 50 has been established (step S301).

[0084] In step S301, if it is confirmed that communication has been established (step S301: Yes), the automatically driven vehicle VE transmits its own position information, etc. to the control device 50, as indicated by the dashed line DL2 (step S302). That is, in this case, the control device 50 performs the reception process in step S104 described with reference to FIG. 11(A).

[0085] In step S301, if communication establishment is not confirmed (step S301: No) or after the receiving process in step S302, the autonomously driven vehicle VE transmits a signal to the infrastructure equipment 20 to confirm communication establishment, and confirms whether communication with the infrastructure equipment 20 has been established (step S303).

[0086] In step S303, if communication establishment is confirmed (step S303: Yes), that is, if an infrastructure device 20 is present within a range where communication is possible via short-range wireless communication, the autonomously driven vehicle VE communicates with the corresponding infrastructure device 20 and transmits its own position information, route information, and the like to the infrastructure device 20, as indicated by dashed line DL3 (step S304). In other words, in this case, the infrastructure device 20 performs the reception process in step S202 described with reference to FIG. 11(B).

[0087] If communication establishment is not confirmed in step S303 (step S303: No) or after the reception process in step S304, the automatically driven vehicle VE ends the series of processes and resumes the operation from step S301.

[0088] As described above, autonomous driving control system 100 according to this embodiment includes vehicle communication device VEc that is mounted on and communicates with autonomously driven vehicle VE, control device 50 that communicates with vehicle communication device VEc and manages position information of autonomously driven vehicle VE, and infrastructure device 20 that communicates with vehicle communication device VEc via a path different from the communication between control device 50 and vehicle communication device VEc and communicates the acquired position information of autonomously driven vehicle VE to control device 50. In the autonomous driving control system 100, infrastructure device 20 communicates with vehicle communication device VEc via a path different from the communication between control device 50 and vehicle communication device VEc, and the position information of autonomously driven vehicle VE acquired from vehicle communication device VEc is handled between infrastructure device 20 and control device 50, so that the control side can determine the position of autonomously driven vehicle VE even if direct communication between the control side and the vehicle side is interrupted.

[0089] 〔others〕 The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0090] First, among the above, the infrastructure devices 20 have been exemplified as being installed at traffic lights TL and bus stops BS, but the present invention is not limited to these and the infrastructure devices 20 may be installed at various locations on the roadside. For example, if the short-distance communication possible range of the infrastructure devices 20 is about 200 m, installing the infrastructure devices 20 at intervals of 200 m can prevent sections where communication with the infrastructure devices 20 is interrupted.

[0091] Furthermore, in the above, in addition to the configuration in which communication is performed between the infrastructure equipment 20, the control equipment 50, and the autonomous vehicle VE (vehicle communication equipment VEc), information sensed by the sensor SE is also provided, but it is also possible to consider a configuration in which sensing by the sensor SE is not used.

[0092] Furthermore, communication between the three parties can be configured using the same 4G LTE, for example. In this case, by using different protocols, for example, other means of communication can remain available even if communication between the vehicle and the control side is interrupted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 10...sensor unit, 20...infrastructure equipment, 20c...infrastructure communication equipment, 20d...data processing unit, 20g...mark, 20m...control communication unit, 20p...vehicle position estimation unit, 20s...sensor processing unit, 20v...vehicle communication unit, 50...control equipment, 50c...control communication equipment, 50i...infrastructure equipment communication unit, 50v...vehicle communication unit, 100...automated driving control system, AA1...arrow, BA...battery, BS...bus stop (stop), BU...bus, CA...camera, CC...communication monitoring unit, CT...control, DD...display unit, DL1~D L3...dashed line, DM...autonomous driving management unit, DP...display processing unit, DS...control screen, GA, GB...mark, GR...judgment device, IM...information provision device, IN...network line, LLg...line image, MA...manager, PT...area, RE...dashed line, SC...signal controller, SE...sensor (image sensor), SG...signal lamp, TE...bus terminal, TL...traffic light, VC...vehicle position management unit, VE...autonomous driving vehicle, VEc...vehicle communication equipment, VEg...image, VEi...communication unit for infrastructure equipment, VEm...communication unit for control, VEP...vehicle position estimation unit

Claims

1. a control device that communicates with a vehicle communication device mounted on the autonomous driving vehicle and manages location information of the autonomous driving vehicle; a plurality of infrastructure devices that are arranged along the travel route of the autonomously driven vehicle, that communicate with the vehicle communication devices by short-range wireless communication using a system separate from the communication between the control device and the vehicle communication devices, and that communicate the acquired position information of the autonomously driven vehicle to the control device; Equipped with an autonomous driving control system in which, when communication with the vehicle communication device is lost and there is no location information for the vehicle communication device from the infrastructure device, the control device determines that the autonomous vehicle is present between the location of one of the infrastructure devices with which communication was last confirmed and the infrastructure device located next to that one of the infrastructure devices along the driving route.

2. 2. The autonomous driving control system according to claim 1, wherein the infrastructure equipment has an image sensor and acquires image information of the autonomous driving vehicle captured by the image sensor as position information of the autonomous driving vehicle.

3. 3. The autonomous driving control system according to claim 1, wherein the control device determines the vehicle position detection range with different accuracy depending on whether the position information of the autonomous driving vehicle is information based on communication with the vehicle communication device or information from the infrastructure device.

4. The autonomous driving control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the autonomous driving vehicle has a self-position estimation unit, and outputs an estimation result by the self-position estimation unit to the control device via the vehicle communication device as position information of the autonomous driving vehicle.

5. The autonomous driving control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the infrastructure equipment is installed as a traffic light at an intersection or a bus stop device.

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