Vehicle control program, vehicle control device, and vehicle control method

Abstract

To provide a control program for a vehicle, a control device for a vehicle, and a vehicle control method, which are capable of performing more appropriate drive support control in a scene to avoid contact with an obstacle.SOLUTION: A control program for a vehicle of an embodiment causes a computer to: recognize a peripheral situation of a vehicle; detect a steering condition of a crew member of the vehicle; detect a speed operation of the vehicle by the crew member; determine that there is a possibility that the vehicle will come into contact with an obstacle based on the peripheral situation of the vehicle that has been recognized, and execute an avoidance steering support so as to avoid contact with the obstacle when a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold value is detected from the steering condition of the crew member; and to execute a stop control for stopping the avoidance steering support when a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold value is detected from the detected speed operations during the execution of the avoidance steering support, wherein the vehicle control program suppresses the execution of the stop control when a predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the avoidance steering support.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control program, a vehicle control device, and a vehicle control method. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, efforts to provide access to sustainable transportation systems that take into consideration vulnerable traffic participants have been gaining momentum. To achieve this, efforts are being focused on research and development into preventive safety technologies to further improve traffic safety and convenience. In relation to this, a cruise control device has been disclosed in recent years that changes the override threshold, which is the criterion for determining whether to intervene and disable the automatic lane change function when the system deviates from its operational design range, to a value higher than that used under normal conditions within the system operational design range (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-132045 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in preventive safety technology, no consideration has been given to how to design the override threshold for terminating steering assist control to avoid contact between the vehicle and an obstacle. As a result, there has been an issue that appropriate driving assistance may not be provided during steering assist control to avoid contact with an obstacle.

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one of the objects of the present application is to provide a vehicle control program, a vehicle control device, and a vehicle control method that are capable of performing more appropriate driving assistance control in situations where contact with an obstacle is to be avoided, thereby contributing to the development of a sustainable transportation system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The vehicle control program, the vehicle control device, and the vehicle control method according to the present invention employ the following configuration. (1): A vehicle control program according to one embodiment of the present invention causes a computer to recognize the surrounding conditions of a vehicle, detect the steering state of an occupant of the vehicle, detect the speed operation of the vehicle by the occupant, determine that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle based on the recognized surrounding conditions of the vehicle, and if a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the steering state of the occupant, execute avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle, and if a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the detected speed operation during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, execute a stop control to stop the avoidance steering assistance, and suppress the execution of the stop control when a predetermined condition is met during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance.

[0007] (2) In the aspect (1) above, the predetermined condition includes being within a predetermined time from the start of the avoidance steering assistance.

[0008] (3) In the above aspect (1), the predetermined condition includes a condition that a steering amount equal to or greater than a third threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value is detected from the steering state.

[0009] (4): In the above aspect (1), when the execution of the stop control is suppressed, the vehicle control program increases the value of the second threshold value compared to when the execution of the stop control is not suppressed.

[0010] (5): In the aspect (4) above, the speed operation includes operation of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle, and the second threshold value is a threshold value for the opening degree of the accelerator pedal.

[0011] (6): In the aspect (4) above, the speed operation includes operation of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle, and the second threshold value is a threshold value for a rate of change in the opening degree of the accelerator pedal.

[0012] (7) In the above aspect (1), the vehicle control program does not execute the stop control if the predetermined condition is satisfied during execution of the avoidance steering assistance.

[0013] (8): In the above aspect (1), if the predetermined condition is met during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, the vehicle control program does not execute a judgment regarding the suppression of the stop control using the rate of change of the accelerator pedal opening of the vehicle.

[0014] (9) In the above aspect (1), the speed operation includes an operation related to the accelerator pedal opening of the vehicle and a rate of change of the accelerator pedal opening.

[0015] (10): A vehicle control device according to another aspect of the present invention includes a recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding conditions of the vehicle, a steering state detection unit that detects the steering state of an occupant of the vehicle, a speed operation detection unit that detects speed operations of the vehicle by the occupant, a steering control unit that determines that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle based on the surrounding conditions of the vehicle recognized by the recognition unit, and that executes avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle when a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the steering state of the occupant detected by the steering state detection unit, and a stop control unit that stops the avoidance steering assistance when a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the speed operation detected by the speed operation detection unit during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, and the stop control unit is a vehicle control device that suppresses the execution of the stop control when a predetermined condition is met during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance.

[0016] (11): Another aspect of the present invention relates to a vehicle control method in which a computer recognizes the surrounding conditions of a vehicle, detects the steering state of an occupant of the vehicle, detects the speed operation of the vehicle by the occupant, and determines based on the recognized surrounding conditions of the vehicle that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle, and if a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the detected steering state of the occupant, executes avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle, and if a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the detected speed operation during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, cancels the avoidance steering assistance, and if predetermined conditions are met during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, suppresses the execution of the cancellation control. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the above aspects (1) to (11), more appropriate driving assistance control can be performed in situations where contact with an obstacle needs to be avoided. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle on which a vehicle control device according to an embodiment is mounted; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a driving state detection unit 130. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a vehicle control unit 140. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the content of vehicle control relating to contact avoidance. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the details of attention-attraction control. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the content of contact warning control. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the content of automatic steering avoidance control. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining steering control after a driver steering trigger. [Figure 9] 10 is a diagram for explaining driver steering assistance and cancellation control executed by a vehicle control unit 140. FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining vehicle control when an accelerator operation is performed after a predetermined time ΔT has elapsed since the start of driver steering assist control. [Figure 11] 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100 in the embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a stop control process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle control program, a vehicle control device, and a vehicle control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] [Overall configuration] 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device according to an embodiment. The vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device (hereinafter referred to as the subject vehicle M) is, for example, a two-wheeled, three-wheeled, or four-wheeled vehicle, and its drive source is an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, an electric motor, or a combination thereof. The electric motor operates using power generated by a generator connected to the internal combustion engine, or discharged power from a secondary battery or a fuel cell.

[0021] The host vehicle M is equipped with, for example, a camera 10, a radar device 12, a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) 14, an object recognition device 16, a communication device 20, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 30, vehicle sensors 40, a navigation device 50, an MPU (Map Positioning Unit) 60, a driver monitor camera 70, driving operators 80, a driving assistance device 100, a driving force output device 200, a braking device 210, and a steering device 220. These devices and equipment are connected to each other via multiple communication lines such as a CAN (Controller Area Network) communication line, serial communication lines, a wireless communication network, etc. Note that the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example, and some of the configuration may be omitted, or other configurations may be added. The driving assistance device 100 is an example of a "vehicle control device."

[0022] The camera 10 is, for example, a digital camera that uses a solid-state imaging element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). The camera 10 is attached to any location on the host vehicle M. For example, when capturing an image of the area ahead of the host vehicle M, the camera 10 is attached to the top of the front windshield or the back of the rearview mirror. The camera 10, for example, periodically and repeatedly captures images of the area around the host vehicle M. The camera 10 may be a stereo camera.

[0023] The radar device 12 emits radio waves such as millimeter waves around the vehicle M and detects radio waves reflected by an object (reflected waves) to detect at least the position (distance and direction) of the object. The radar device 12 is attached to any location on the vehicle M. The radar device 12 may detect the position and speed of an object using an FM-CW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) method.

[0024] The LIDAR 14 irradiates the surroundings of the vehicle M with light (or electromagnetic waves with wavelengths similar to light) and measures the scattered light. The LIDAR 14 detects the distance to the target based on the time between light emission and light reception. The irradiated light is, for example, pulsed laser light. The LIDAR 14 is attached to any location on the vehicle M.

[0025] The object recognition device 16 performs sensor fusion processing on the detection results from some or all of the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the LIDAR 14 to recognize the position, type, speed, etc. of the object. The object recognition device 16 outputs the recognition results to the driving assistance device 100. The object recognition device 16 may output the detection results from the camera 10, the radar device 12, and the LIDAR 14 directly to the driving assistance device 100. The object recognition device 16 may be omitted from the host vehicle M. Some or all of the camera 10, the radar device 12, the LIDAR 14, and the object recognition device 16 are examples of "external environment detection devices."

[0026] The communication device 20 communicates with other vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle M, for example, using a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, Bluetooth (registered trademark), DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), etc., or communicates with various server devices via a wireless base station.

[0027] The HMI 30 presents various information to an occupant of the vehicle M and accepts input operations from the occupant. The HMI 30 includes, for example, a display unit 32 and a speaker 34. The display unit 32 is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display device. The display unit 32 displays various images (including videos) in the embodiment. The display unit 32 may be integrated with the input unit as a touch panel. The speaker 34 outputs a predetermined sound (e.g., an alarm). Furthermore, the HMI 30 may include, in addition to (or instead of) the display unit 32 and the speaker 34, a microphone, a buzzer, a vibration generator (vibrator), a touch panel, a switch, a key, or the like. The switch may include, for example, a selector switch that switches whether or not a predetermined driving assistance is executed in the driving assistance device 100.

[0028] The vehicle sensor 40 includes a speed sensor that detects the speed of the host vehicle M, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, a yaw rate sensor that detects the yaw rate (for example, the rotational angular velocity around a vertical axis passing through the center of gravity of the host vehicle M), a steering angle sensor that detects the steering angle (the angle (actual steering angle) or torque amount of the steering wheel of the host vehicle M), and a direction sensor that detects the direction of the host vehicle M. The vehicle sensor 40 may also be provided with a position sensor that detects the position of the host vehicle M. The position sensor is, for example, a sensor that acquires position information (longitude and latitude information) from a GPS (Global Positioning System) device. The position sensor may also be a sensor that acquires position information using a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 51 of the navigation device 50.

[0029] The navigation device 50 includes, for example, a GNSS receiver 51, a navigation HMI 52, and a route determination unit 53. The navigation device 50 stores first map information 54 in a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory. The GNSS receiver 51 identifies the position of the vehicle M based on signals received from GNSS satellites. The position of the vehicle M may be identified or supplemented by an inertial navigation system (INS) that uses the output of the vehicle sensors 40. The navigation HMI 52 includes a display device, a speaker, a touch panel, keys, etc. The navigation HMI 52 may share some or all of the components with the HMI 30 described above. The route determination unit 53 determines, for example, a route (hereinafter, a route on a map) from the position of the vehicle M identified by the GNSS receiver 51 (or any input position) to a destination input by the occupant using the navigation HMI 52, with reference to the first map information 54. The first map information 54 is information that represents road shapes using, for example, links indicating roads and nodes connected by the links. The first map information 54 may also include information such as road curvature and POI (Point of Interest) information. The route on the map is output to the MPU 60. The navigation device 50 may provide route guidance using the navigation HMI 52 based on the route on the map. The navigation device 50 may be realized, for example, by the functions of a terminal device such as a smartphone or tablet device carried by the occupant. The navigation device 50 may transmit the current position and destination to a navigation server via the communication device 20 and obtain a route equivalent to the route on the map from the navigation server.

[0030] The MPU 60 includes, for example, a recommended lane determination unit 61 and stores second map information 62 in a storage device such as an HDD or flash memory. The recommended lane determination unit 61 divides the route on the map provided by the navigation device 50 into a plurality of blocks (for example, every 100 m in the vehicle travel direction) and determines a recommended lane for each block by referring to the second map information 62. The recommended lane determination unit 61 determines the number of lanes from the left in which to travel. Furthermore, when a branch point is present on the route on the map, the recommended lane determination unit 61 determines the recommended lane so that the host vehicle M can travel on a reasonable route to the branch point. The second map information 62 is map information with higher accuracy than the first map information 54. The second map information 62 includes, for example, information on the center of lanes, lane boundary information such as road dividing lines that divide lanes, etc. The second map information 62 may include road information, traffic regulation information, address information (address and postal code), facility information, telephone number information, etc. The second map information 62 may be updated as needed by the communication device 20 communicating with other devices. The first map information 54 and the second map information 62 may be stored in a storage unit within the driving assistance device 100.

[0031] The driver monitor camera 70 is a digital camera using a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD or CMOS. The driver monitor camera 70 is mounted at a position and orientation that allows it to capture an image of the head and upper body (including the position of the hands) of a passenger seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle M from the front (in an orientation that captures the face). For example, the driver monitor camera 70 is mounted on top of a display device provided in the center of the instrument panel of the vehicle M. For example, based on the orientation of the driver's face included in the camera image captured by the driver monitor camera 70 (the orientation of the face relative to the mounting position and shooting direction of the driver monitor camera 70), it is possible to determine whether the driver is paying attention to the surroundings of the vehicle M (for example, whether the driver's face is at least facing the traveling direction of the vehicle M). Furthermore, based on the driver's posture included in the camera image, it is possible to determine whether the driver's posture is poor (in other words, whether the driver's posture is likely to cause the driver to perform unintended driving operations). In addition, since the camera image includes the driver and the steering wheel 82, it is also possible to determine from the captured image whether the driver is gripping the steering wheel 82. The driver monitor camera 70 captures images of the interior of the vehicle M, including the driver, from its installed position at predetermined intervals, and outputs the captured images to the driving assistance device 100.

[0032] The driving operators 80 include, for example, a steering wheel 82, an accelerator pedal 84, a brake pedal 86, a turn signal switch, a shift lever, and other operators. The driving operators 80 are fitted with sensors that detect the amount of operation or the presence or absence of operation, and the detection results are output to the driving assistance device 100 or some or all of the driving force output device 200, the braking device 210, and the steering device 220.

[0033] For example, the steering wheel 82 is provided with a steering wheel sensor (SW sensor) 82A. The SW sensor 82A detects whether the driver is gripping the steering wheel 82 by using a contact sensor, a pressure sensor, or the like. The SW sensor 82A also detects the amount of operation (steering amount, steering input torque, steer torque) and operation speed (steering angular velocity) of the steering wheel 82 input (operated) by the driver. The SW sensor 82A may also detect the rate of change in operation (rate of change in torque). The steering wheel 82 does not necessarily have to be annular, and may be in the form of an irregularly shaped steering wheel, a joystick, a button, or the like. In this case, the SW sensor 82A detects the amount of operation according to the respective form.

[0034] An accelerator pedal sensor (AP sensor) 84A is attached to the accelerator pedal 84. The AP sensor 84A detects the amount of operation (opening) of the accelerator pedal 84, which changes in response to the driver's operation of the accelerator pedal 84. A brake pedal sensor (BP sensor) 86A is provided to the brake pedal 86. The BP sensor 86A detects the amount of operation (opening) of the brake pedal 86, which changes in response to the driver's operation of the brake pedal 86. The AP sensor 84A and the BP sensor 86A may also detect the rate of change in the opening over a predetermined period of time (opening change rate).

[0035] The driving force output device 200 outputs a driving force (torque) to the driving wheels for driving the host vehicle M. The driving force output device 200 includes, for example, a combination of an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, a transmission, etc., and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls these. The ECU controls the above components in accordance with information input from the driving assistance device 100 or information input from the driving operator 80.

[0036] Braking device 210 includes, for example, a brake caliper, a cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the brake caliper, an electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, and an ECU. The ECU controls the electric motor according to information input from driving assistance device 100 or information input from driving operator 80, so that a brake torque corresponding to the braking operation is output to each wheel. Braking device 210 may include a backup mechanism that transmits hydraulic pressure generated by operation of a brake pedal included in driving operator 80 to the cylinder via a master cylinder. Note that braking device 210 is not limited to the configuration described above, and may also be an electronically controlled hydraulic brake device that controls an actuator according to information input from driving assistance device 100 to transmit hydraulic pressure from a master cylinder to the cylinder.

[0037] The steering device 220 includes, for example, a steering ECU and an electric motor. The electric motor applies force to a rack and pinion mechanism to change the direction of the steered wheels. The steering ECU drives the electric motor to change the direction of the steered wheels in accordance with information input from the driving assistance device 100 or information input from the driving operator 80.

[0038] [Driving assistance devices] The driving assistance device 100 includes, for example, a recognition unit 110, a contact possibility determination unit 120, a driving state detection unit 130, a vehicle control unit 140, an HMI control unit 150, and a storage unit 160. The recognition unit 110, the contact possibility determination unit 120, the driving state detection unit 130, the vehicle control unit 140, and the HMI control unit 150 are realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). Furthermore, some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device having a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD or flash memory of the driving assistance device 100, or may be stored in a removable storage medium such as a DVD or CD-ROM, and installed in the HDD or flash memory of the driving assistance device 100 by inserting the storage medium (non-transitory storage medium) into a drive device. The HMI control unit 150 is an example of a "notification control unit."

[0039] For example, the driving force output device 200, the braking device 210, and the steering device 220 are configured internally so that instructions from the driving support device 100 to the driving force output device 200, the braking device 210, and the steering device 220 are executed with priority over detection results from the driving operator 80. Regarding braking, if the braking force based on the operation amount of the brake pedal 86 is greater than the instruction from the driving support device 100, the latter may be executed with priority. Furthermore, communication priority in an in-vehicle local area network (LAN) may be used as a mechanism for executing instructions from the driving support device 100 with priority. Regarding steering, the steering force based on the instruction from the driving support device 100 may be added together with the steering force based on the operation amount of the steering wheel 82 by the driver.

[0040] The storage unit 160 may be realized by the various storage devices described above, or a solid state drive (SSD), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a read only memory (ROM), or a random access memory (RAM). The storage unit 160 stores, for example, a program (e.g., a vehicle control program), information used by components in the driving assistance device 100, and various other information. The storage unit 160 may also store the map information described above (first map information 54, second map information 62).

[0041] The recognition unit 110 recognizes the surrounding conditions of the vehicle M based on information input from an external environment detection device. For example, the recognition unit 110 recognizes the position (relative position, inter-vehicle distance), speed (relative speed), acceleration, and other states of objects present in the vicinity (e.g., within a predetermined distance from the vehicle M). Examples of objects include other vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, etc. The position of an object is recognized as a position on an absolute coordinate system with a representative point of the vehicle M (e.g., the center of gravity or the center of the drive shaft) as the origin, and is used for control. The position of an object may be represented by a representative point such as the center of gravity or a corner of the object, or may be represented by an area. The "state" of an object may include the acceleration or jerk of the object, or the "behavior state" (e.g., whether or not the vehicle is changing lanes or is about to change lanes). The recognition unit 110 also recognizes the relative position and relative speed of the object.

[0042] The recognition unit 110 also recognizes the shape of lanes around the host vehicle M. For example, the recognition unit 110 compares the pattern of road dividing lines (e.g., an arrangement of solid and dashed lines) obtained from the second map information 62 with the pattern of road dividing lines around the host vehicle M recognized from the image captured by the camera 10 to recognize the shape and line type of the lane (driving lane) in which the host vehicle M is traveling and adjacent lanes adjacent to the driving lane. The recognition unit 110 may recognize road boundaries (road boundaries) including not only road dividing lines but also road dividing lines, shoulders, curbs, medians, guardrails, etc., to recognize the driving lane and adjacent lanes. This recognition may take into account the position of the host vehicle M obtained from the navigation device 50 and processing results by the INS. The recognition unit 110 recognizes obstacles, stop lines, red lights, toll booths, and other road phenomena from the object recognition results. Obstacles are objects that the host vehicle M must avoid contacting, and include, for example, other vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, etc.

[0043] When recognizing the driving lane, the recognition unit 110 recognizes the position and attitude of the host vehicle M with respect to the driving lane. For example, the recognition unit 110 may recognize the deviation of the reference point of the host vehicle M from the center of the lane and the angle it forms with a line connecting the centers of the lanes in the traveling direction of the host vehicle M as the relative position and attitude of the host vehicle M with respect to the driving lane. Alternatively, the recognition unit 110 may recognize the position of the reference point of the host vehicle M with respect to either side edge of the driving lane (a road dividing line or a road boundary) as the relative position of the host vehicle M with respect to the driving lane.

[0044] The contact possibility determination unit 120 determines whether or not there is a possibility of contact between the host vehicle M and an obstacle (e.g., another vehicle) based on the surrounding conditions (external environment information) recognized by the recognition unit 110. For example, the contact possibility determination unit 120 determines whether or not there is a possibility of contact between the host vehicle M and another vehicle based on a contact margin value with respect to another vehicle (leading vehicle) present ahead of the host vehicle M based on the surrounding conditions. The contact margin value is, for example, a value set based on a time to collision (TTC), but may also be a value set based on a time headway (THW). The time to collision (TTC) is derived, for example, by dividing the relative distance by the relative speed in the relationship between the host vehicle M and the other vehicle. The time headway (THW) is derived, for example, by dividing the relative distance (inter-vehicle distance) by the speed of the host vehicle M. The contact margin time TTC may be derived using, for example, a trained model or a predetermined function that outputs the contact margin time TTC when the positions and velocities of the host vehicle M and the other vehicle are input, or may be derived using a correspondence table in which the relative speed and relative position are associated with the contact margin time TTC. The above derivation method also applies to the inter-vehicle time THW. For example, the shorter the contact margin time TTC (or the inter-vehicle time THW), the smaller the contact margin value (in other words, the longer the contact margin time, the larger the contact margin value). For example, the contact possibility determination unit 120 determines that there is a possibility of contact between the host vehicle M and the other vehicle when the contact margin value is less than a threshold, and determines that there is no possibility of contact when the contact margin value is equal to or greater than the threshold. In the following, the contact margin time TTC will be described as an example of the contact margin value.

[0045] The driving state detection unit 130 detects the driving state of an occupant (driver) of the host vehicle M. FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the driving state detection unit 130. The driving state detection unit 130 includes, for example, a steering state detection unit 132, a speed operation detection unit 134, and a distracted driving determination unit 136. The steering state detection unit 132 detects, for example, whether the steering wheel 82 is being gripped or not, or information regarding the operation amount (steering amount (steering input torque), steering torque change rate). The steering state detection unit 132 may also detect information regarding the driver's steering speed and steering angle speed (speed required to reach a predetermined steering angle amount). The steering state detection unit 132 may also detect a state in which the driver is not performing a steering operation. The steering state detection unit 132 performs the above-mentioned detections based on, for example, the detection results of the SW sensor 82A and the vehicle sensor 40, the driver's behavior obtained from the camera image of the driver monitor camera 70, etc.

[0046] Speed ​​operation detection unit 134 detects the driver's speed operation based on the detection results of AP sensor 84A and BP sensor 86A, the detection results of vehicle sensor 40, etc. The speed operation includes, for example, at least one of an accelerator operation (opening) of accelerator pedal 84 and a brake operation (opening) of brake pedal 86. The speed operation may also include at least one of an opening change rate over a predetermined time due to accelerator operation and an opening change rate over a predetermined time due to brake operation. The speed operation detection unit 134 may also detect a state in which the driver is not operating the accelerator or brake.

[0047] The absentminded driving determination unit 136 determines whether the driver is driving absentmindedly. The absentminded driving is, for example, driving in a state in which the driver's driving operation of the vehicle M becomes slow (or does not operate at all) due to a decrease in the driver's attention, etc. For example, based on the detection result of the SW sensor 82A, the absentminded driving determination unit 136 determines that the driver is driving absentmindedly when the state in which the steering operation of the steering wheel 82 by the driver is less than a predetermined threshold continues for a predetermined time or more, and determines that the driver is not driving absentmindedly when the state does not continue for the predetermined time or more.

[0048] Furthermore, instead of (or in addition to) the driver's steering operation, the absentminded driving determination unit 136 may determine that the driver is driving absentmindedly when a state in which the rate of change in the opening degree of the accelerator pedal 84 and the brake pedal 86 is less than a threshold continues for a predetermined time or more based on the detection results of the AP sensor 84A and the BP sensor 86A. Furthermore, instead of (or in addition to) the above determination, the driving state detection unit 130 may determine that the driver is driving absentmindedly when a state in which it has been detected that the driver's state is not suitable for driving continues for a predetermined time or more, and may determine that the driver is not driving absentmindedly when the state does not continue for the predetermined time or more. For example, based on the analysis results of the image captured by the driver monitor camera 70, the absentminded driving determination unit 136 detects that the driver's state is not suitable for driving when the driver is not monitoring the surroundings (particularly the front) of the vehicle M due to looking away, or when a predetermined facial expression (a face that looks sleepy, a face that looks pained), etc., indicates that the driver's concentration is reduced.

[0049] The predetermined time may be a fixed time or a variable time. The predetermined time may be set, for example, according to the time to contact TTC between the host vehicle M and an obstacle (e.g., a preceding vehicle) in the vicinity of the host vehicle M and the speed of the host vehicle M. Specifically, the predetermined time is set to be shorter as the speed of the host vehicle M increases, or set to be shorter as the time to contact TTC decreases. This makes it possible to more appropriately determine whether the host vehicle M is driving absentmindedly, based on the situation of the host vehicle M and the surrounding situation, which are based on the speed of the host vehicle M and the positional relationship between the host vehicle M and the obstacle. The determination of absentminded driving may be made comprehensively based on the determination results of the above-mentioned multiple conditions.

[0050] The vehicle control unit 140 controls one or both of the steering and acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle M based on the surrounding conditions recognized by the recognition unit 110, thereby providing driving assistance to the driver. For example, the vehicle control unit 140 generates a future target trajectory so that the host vehicle M travels along the recommended lane determined by the MPU 60, and controls one or both of the steering and acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle M based on the surrounding conditions so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory. The vehicle control unit 140 may also control one or both of the steering and acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle M based on processing results of at least one of the contact possibility determination unit 120 and the driving state detection unit 130. For example, the vehicle control unit 140 generates an avoidance target trajectory for avoiding contact when it is determined that the host vehicle M may contact an obstacle, and controls one or both of the steering and acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle M so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated avoidance target trajectory. Furthermore, the vehicle control unit 140 may perform control (override control) to stop the vehicle control being executed and switch to manual driving by the driver in response to a predetermined driving operation by the driver during vehicle control. Details of the processing by the vehicle control unit 140 will be described later.

[0051] The HMI control unit 150 notifies the occupants (including the driver) of predetermined information via the HMI 30. The predetermined information includes, for example, information related to the traveling of the vehicle M, such as information related to the state of the vehicle M and information related to driving assistance control. The information related to the state of the vehicle M includes, for example, the speed of the vehicle M, engine speed, and shift position. The information related to driving control includes, for example, the type of driving assistance control being executed (for example, gentle deceleration control, centering steering control, contact avoidance braking control, contact avoidance steering control, and lane keeping steering control), the reason for activation of the driving assistance control, the status of the driving assistance control, and the like. The information related to driving assistance control may include information related to a warning to the driver and a contact warning alarm. The predetermined information may also include information related to the current location and destination of the vehicle M, the remaining amount of fuel, and the like, and may also include information unrelated to the traveling control of the vehicle M, such as television programs, content (for example, movies) stored on a storage medium such as a DVD, and the like.

[0052] For example, the HMI control unit 150 may generate an image including the above-described predetermined information and display the generated image on the display unit 32 of the HMI 30, or may generate sound indicating the predetermined information and output the generated sound from the speaker 34 of the HMI 30. The timing at which the sound is output may be, for example, when driving control is started or stopped, when the image to be displayed is switched, or when the host vehicle M has entered a predetermined state. Furthermore, the HMI control unit 150 may output the information received by the HMI 30 to the vehicle control unit 140, etc.

[0053] [Vehicle control unit] Next, the vehicle control unit 140 will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the vehicle control unit 140. The vehicle control unit 140 includes, for example, a braking control unit 142, a steering control unit 144, and a stop control unit 146. For example, the vehicle control unit 140 performs warning control and avoidance control to avoid contact between the host vehicle M and an obstacle through control by the braking control unit 142 and the steering control unit 144. The warning control is a control that is activated when the host vehicle M approaches an obstacle, and includes, for example, slow deceleration control and centering steering control, which will be described later. The avoidance control is a control that is activated when the host vehicle M approaches an obstacle more closely than the warning control would activate, and includes, for example, contact avoidance braking control and contact avoidance steering control, which will be described later. These controls are examples of driving assistance control that assist the driver in driving.

[0054] When it is determined based on the recognition result of the recognition unit 110 that an obstacle is present ahead of the host vehicle M, the braking control unit 142 performs braking control of the host vehicle M based on the target deceleration of the host vehicle M. For example, the braking control unit 142 sets a deceleration state based on the contact margin time TTC between the host vehicle M and the obstacle, and executes deceleration control based on the set deceleration state. The braking control unit 142 includes, for example, a gradual deceleration control unit 142A and a contact avoidance braking control unit 142B.

[0055] The gradual deceleration control unit 142A performs gradual deceleration control of the host vehicle M when the recognition unit 110 determines that an obstacle (e.g., another vehicle) is present ahead of the host vehicle M. The gradual deceleration control is a control (attention control) that notifies the driver that an obstacle is approaching by a vehicle behavior (change in longitudinal G) of deceleration and urges the driver to pay attention to the obstacle, and is different from contact avoidance control that avoids contact with the obstacle (however, it may result in avoiding contact with the obstacle). For example, when it is determined that an obstacle is present ahead of the host vehicle M, the gradual deceleration control unit 142A derives a target deceleration of the host vehicle M and decelerates the host vehicle M to approach the derived target deceleration without the driver's operation. For example, the gradual deceleration control unit 142A generates a target trajectory including speed information and performs deceleration control of the host vehicle M so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory. The gradual deceleration control may be executed when the driving state detection unit 130 detects that the driver is driving absentmindedly, or when the contact margin value satisfies the activation condition for the gradual deceleration control.

[0056] The contact avoidance braking control unit 142B performs emergency braking control to avoid contact between the host vehicle M and an obstacle. For example, when the contact possibility determination unit 120 determines that there is a possibility of contact between the host vehicle M and an obstacle, the contact avoidance braking control unit 142B performs braking control (deceleration control) to avoid contact. The braking control performed by the contact avoidance braking control unit 142B includes, for example, Collision Mitigation Brake System (CMBS) control that supports contact avoidance or damage mitigation. For example, the contact avoidance braking control unit 142B generates a target trajectory including speed information, and performs deceleration control of the host vehicle M so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory. The braking control performed by the contact avoidance braking control unit 142B may be performed, for example, after gradual deceleration control, or may be performed when a contact margin value satisfies an activation condition for contact avoidance braking control.

[0057] The steering control unit 144 controls the steering of the host vehicle M. The steering control unit 144 includes, for example, a centering steering control unit 144A and a contact avoidance steering control unit 144B.

[0058] When the recognition unit 110 determines that an obstacle exists ahead of the host vehicle M, the centering steering control unit 144A generates a target trajectory for moving the host vehicle M toward the center of the driving lane, and performs steering control (centering steering control) so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory. This steering control is not intended to avoid contact with the obstacle, but rather to notify the driver of an approaching obstacle and prompt attention to the obstacle by vehicle behavior (change in lateral G) that moves laterally toward the center (however, it may result in avoiding contact with the obstacle). This steering control can make the driver aware of an obstacle ahead early, contributing to driving to avoid contact. Note that the centering steering control may be performed when the driving state detection unit 130 detects that the driver is driving aimlessly, or may be performed when the contact margin value satisfies the steering control activation condition. In addition, the above-mentioned gradual deceleration control and centering steering control may be performed separately or simultaneously at the same timing (e.g., during the attention-attention control phase).

[0059] When the contact possibility determination unit 120 determines that there is a possibility of contact between the host vehicle M and an obstacle, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B generates a target trajectory (avoidance target trajectory) for avoiding contact and executes steering control related to avoidance steering assistance so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory. For example, when avoidance is possible within the driving lane of the host vehicle M, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B performs steering control to move the host vehicle M in a direction that will not contact the obstacle within a range that does not deviate from the same lane, without relying on a steering operation by the driver. Furthermore, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B may, for example, use a steering operation by the driver (for example, a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold) as a trigger (driver steering trigger) to perform steering control of the host vehicle M so that the behavior of the host vehicle M after the avoidance operation is stable after the host vehicle M has crossed a dividing line that separates the driving lane and performed an avoidance operation against the obstacle. In the steering control of the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B, for example, feedforward control or feedback control is performed as needed based on the avoidance target trajectory and the position of the vehicle M to adjust the steering angle of the vehicle M. The steering control executed by the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B may be executed, for example, after the centering steering control, or may be executed when the contact margin value satisfies the operating conditions of the steering control.

[0060] The abort control unit 146 determines (override determination) whether to execute abort control in response to a driving operation by the driver (driver operation) during execution of the above-mentioned braking control (gradual deceleration control, contact avoidance braking control) or steering control (centering steering control, contact avoidance steering control). If it is determined that the abort control is to be executed, the abort control unit 146 executes abort control (override control) to abort the braking control or steering control being executed and switch to manual driving by the driver.

[0061] For example, the abort control unit 146 makes an override determination based on the content of the accelerator operation or brake operation of the driver detected by the driving state detection unit 130. In this case, the abort control unit 146 determines to execute the abort control when, for example, during braking control or steering control, the driver's accelerator operation amount (opening of the accelerator pedal 84 detected by the AP sensor 84A) or brake operation amount (opening of the brake pedal 86 detected by the BP sensor 86A) becomes equal to or greater than a speed override threshold. Furthermore, instead of (or in addition to) the above-mentioned operation amount, the abort control unit 146 may determine to execute the abort control when the opening change rate becomes equal to or greater than a speed override threshold. The speed override threshold is an example of a "second threshold." The second threshold is a threshold for the opening or a threshold for the opening change rate depending on the determination target.

[0062] Furthermore, the abort control unit 146 may make an override determination based on the content of the steering operation of the driver using the steering wheel 82. For example, the abort control unit 146 determines to perform override control when the steering input torque due to the driver's steering operation becomes equal to or greater than a steering override threshold during braking control or steering control. The steering override threshold is a value greater than the first threshold (driver steering trigger).

[0063] In addition to the vehicle control described above, the vehicle control unit 140 may perform steering control related to lane keeping steering assistance, for example, as LKAS (Lane Keeping Assistance System) control (lane keeping control), so that the host vehicle M stays within the driving lane (in other words, so that the host vehicle M is prevented from deviating from the driving lane). For example, in the lane keeping control, the vehicle control unit 140 controls the steering device 220 to prevent the host vehicle M from deviating from the driving lane recognized by the recognition unit 110, thereby assisting the driver's steering operation. In this case, the vehicle control unit 140 generates a target trajectory (lane keeping target trajectory) so that the host vehicle M travels in the center of the driving lane, and performs steering control of the host vehicle M so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory. In the steering control by the vehicle control unit 140, for example, feedforward control or feedback control is performed as needed based on the lane keeping target trajectory and the position of the host vehicle M, to adjust the steering angle of the host vehicle M. Furthermore, the vehicle control unit 140 may also execute similar control in the case of RDM (Road Departure Mitigation) control instead of LKAS control.

[0064] [Vehicle control for collision avoidance] Next, the details of vehicle control related to contact avoidance in the embodiment will be specifically described. In the following description, it is assumed that the obstacle is another vehicle (preceding vehicle) traveling ahead of the host vehicle M. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the details of vehicle control related to contact avoidance. The example of FIG. 4 shows the details of vehicle control when it is determined that there is a possibility of contact based on the contact margin time TTC. In the example of FIG. 4, it is assumed that time T1 is the earliest, followed by times T2, T3, T4, and T5 in that order. In the example of FIG. 4, it is assumed that the driving state detection unit 130 has been continuously determining whether or not the vehicle is driving aimlessly at a predetermined cycle since a stage before time T1.

[0065] First, it is assumed that at time T1, the contact possibility determination unit 120 determines that there is a possibility of contact between the host vehicle M and another vehicle. When it is determined that there is a possibility of contact, the vehicle control unit 140 performs attention calling control ((1) in FIG. 4) to call the driver's attention to the surroundings (particularly the traveling direction) based on the time to contact TTC and the result of the absentminded driving determination.

[0066] Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining the details of attention-calling control. The example of Fig. 5 shows two lanes L1 and L2 that can be traveled in the same direction (X-axis direction in the figure). Lane L1 is divided by road dividing lines LN1 and LN2, and lane L2 is divided by road dividing lines LN2 and LN3. In the example of Fig. 5, it is assumed that a host vehicle M is traveling on lane L1 at a speed VM, and another vehicle m1 is present ahead of the host vehicle M and is traveling on lane L1 at a speed Vm1.

[0067] 5, the vehicle control unit 140 performs the attention-calling control when the time to contact TTC based on the relative position and relative speed between the host vehicle M and the other vehicle m1 reaches time T2 and is determined to be less than the first predetermined time, and the driver is determined to be driving carelessly. Time T2 is, for example, the time when the time to contact TTC reaches approximately 3 to 4 seconds.

[0068] The attention calling control includes, for example, at least one of gradual deceleration control and centering steering control. The gradual deceleration control executed in the attention calling control is control in a first deceleration state. The gradual deceleration control unit 142A sets a target deceleration (first target deceleration) so that a load (longitudinal G) of a first upper limit deceleration (approximately 0.1 [G]) is applied to the driver in the traveling direction (longitudinal direction). In addition, in the attention calling control (first deceleration state), the gradual deceleration control unit 142A may first perform the gradual deceleration control at a first deceleration rate (e.g., 0.05 [G] longitudinal G), and then perform the deceleration control at a second deceleration rate (e.g., 0.1 [G] longitudinal G) that is greater than the first deceleration rate. By controlling the deceleration rate to increase in a stepwise manner in this way, it is possible to reduce the load on occupants such as the driver when the execution of the gradual deceleration control starts, and to prevent the occupants from being surprised by the gradual deceleration control.

[0069] 5, the centering steering control unit 144A performs centering steering control to steer the host vehicle M so that a reference point such as the center of gravity or center of the host vehicle M is positioned in the center of the driving lane (lane L1) based on the recognition result by the recognition unit 110, map information, etc. In the example of FIG. 5, the vehicle control unit 140 generates a future target trajectory K1 of the host vehicle M corresponding to the gradual deceleration control and the centering steering control, and controls the steering and speed of the host vehicle M so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated target trajectory K1.

[0070] At time T2, the HMI control unit 150 may generate an image including information indicating the reason for activation of the driver's attention-request control (gradual deceleration control, centering steering control), and notify the driver by displaying the generated image on the display unit 32. The image may also include information urging attention. However, in this case, audio output may not be required. This allows the driver to be easily informed that the host vehicle M is approaching another vehicle m1, urging attention and prompting the driver to take early avoidance action.

[0071] Returning to FIG. 4, when the time to contact TTC reaches time T3 when the driver does not respond to the attention call (or override control) even after the above-mentioned attention call control is performed and the second predetermined time (second predetermined time<first predetermined time) and it is determined that the driver is driving carelessly, the contact attention warning control ((2) in FIG. 4) is performed. Whether or not the driver has responded to the attention call is determined, for example, based on a camera image captured by the driver monitor camera 70. Time T3 is the time when the time to contact TTC reaches, for example, about 2 seconds.

[0072] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the details of the contact warning control. FIG. 6 shows a situation in which the time to contact TTC becomes 2 seconds without the driver operating the accelerator pedal, as in the situation shown in FIG. 5. In the contact warning control stage, the gradual deceleration control unit 142A sets a target deceleration (second target deceleration), executes gradual deceleration control according to the set second target deceleration, generates a target trajectory K2, and controls the host vehicle M to travel along the generated target trajectory K2. The gradual deceleration control executed in the contact warning control is control in the second deceleration state. In the second deceleration state, the gradual deceleration control unit 142A sets the target deceleration (second target deceleration) so that a load (longitudinal G) greater than the first upper limit deceleration is applied to the driver in the traveling direction (longitudinal direction) at or below a second upper limit deceleration (approximately 0.2 G). This makes it possible to more clearly notify the driver that the host vehicle M is approaching another vehicle m1. In this way, deceleration control is performed while increasing the deceleration rate as needed, which creates more time for the driver to notice the other vehicle m1, allowing the driver to drive in a way that allows them to avoid contact with the other vehicle m1 with ease.

[0073] During the contact warning control, the centering steering control unit 144A may execute centering steering control in addition to (or instead of) the gradual deceleration control. During the contact warning control, the HMI control unit 150 may execute control (warning escalation control) to highlight an image of the attention information displayed on the display unit 32 or to output an alarm to the speaker 34. This allows the driver to be notified by an image or sound that there is a high possibility of contact while further decelerating, and more clearly urges the driver to be careful and to take control to avoid contact. The above-mentioned attention calling control and contact warning control are controls executed as "warning control".

[0074] 4, after executing the contact attention warning control, the vehicle control unit 140 executes automatic steering avoidance control at time T4 when it determines that automatic avoidance is possible within the driving lane based on the surrounding conditions recognized by the recognition unit 110 ((3) in FIG. 4). Time T4 is a time when the host vehicle M is closer to the other vehicle m1 than time T3 (for example, before the time to contact TTC is about 2 seconds).

[0075] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the content of the automatic steering avoidance control. The example of FIG. 7 illustrates a control in the case where the driver does not perform a predetermined accelerator operation after the execution of the contact attention warning control. In this case, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B recognizes the area of ​​the driving lane (lane L1) and the position of the other vehicle m1 based on the recognition result by the recognition unit 110, and if an avoidance space exists in the driving lane, generates an avoidance target trajectory K3 for traveling through the avoidance space, and executes steering control so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated avoidance target trajectory K3. In this case, the vehicle control unit 140 may execute acceleration / deceleration control as necessary. Furthermore, during the automatic steering avoidance control, the HMI control unit 150 may continue to execute the above-mentioned warning escalation control. As a result, when steering avoidance is possible with highly safe control, more appropriate vehicle control can be achieved by executing automatic steering control.

[0076] In addition, the vehicle control unit 140 may execute CMBS control in parallel with the contact avoidance braking control unit 142B at the timing of time T4. When the CMBS control is executed, the above-mentioned automatic steering avoidance control and the driver steering assist control described later may not be executed. In this case, the HMI control unit 150 may output an alarm (image, sound) related to the CMBS control.

[0077] Returning to FIG. 4, at time T5 when the driver operates the steering wheel 82 (detects the driver steering trigger) to perform a steering operation in a direction to avoid the other vehicle m1, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B executes contact avoidance steering control (driver steering assistance (one example of avoidance steering assistance)) to prevent the vehicle from further departing from the adjacent lane (lane L2) adjacent to the driving lane (lane L1) ((4) in FIG. 4). The driver steering trigger here is, for example, when the steering input torque by the driver to avoid the other vehicle m1 becomes equal to or greater than a first threshold (and less than a steering override threshold). The driver steering assistance control may be executed after the automatic steering avoidance control, or may be executed after the contact attention warning control (at the timing of time T4 without executing the automatic steering avoidance control).

[0078] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining steering control after a driver steering trigger. In the example of FIG. 8, when the host vehicle M is about to come into contact with another vehicle m1 and a driver steering trigger is detected, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B allows the host vehicle M to move from lane L1 to adjacent lane L2 and performs steering control of the host vehicle M so that the host vehicle M does not further deviate from the adjacent lane L2. In this case, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B generates an avoidance target trajectory K4 for changing lanes to lane L2, and controls the steering of the host vehicle M so that the position of the host vehicle M approaches the avoidance target trajectory K4 through a steering operation by the driver, thereby performing avoidance steering assistance. In this case, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B may apply a reaction force to the steering wheel 82 in response to the driver's steering operation to suppress the steering input torque amount, instead of (or in addition to) the steering control. Furthermore, during driver steering assistance, the HMI control unit 150 may continue to perform the above-described warning escalation control. This allows for more appropriate vehicle control to be achieved even when emergency avoidance steering is performed by the driver's steering operation.

[0079] Returning to FIG. 4, when the time to contact TTC approaches the limit value after the attention warning control shown in FIG. 4(1) and the driver performs a steering operation, the vehicle control unit 140 executes driver steering assistance so as not to cross further into the adjacent lane (FIG. 4(5)), similar to the control of FIG. 4(4)(4). In this case, the HMI control unit 150 may execute notification control such as a notification or an alarm that the driver steering assistance control is operating. The above-mentioned contact avoidance braking control and contact avoidance steering control are controls executed as "avoidance control".

[0080] [Suppress Abort Control] For example, in the driver steering assist control shown in (4) and (5) of Fig. 4 described above, when the steering control unit 144 (vehicle system) executes steering (steering angle) control to move the host vehicle M closer to the avoidance target trajectory K4 during driver steering assistance (and when override control is not being executed), the driver's posture may be disrupted due to a change in the behavior (particularly lateral movement) of the host vehicle M. In this case, the driver's posture may be disrupted, causing the driver to unintentionally operate the accelerator pedal 84 or the brake pedal 86, which may result in the execution of the abort control by the abort control unit 146. Therefore, in the embodiment, when a predetermined condition is satisfied during driver steering assistance, the abort control unit 146 suppresses the execution of the abort control to abort the driver steering assist control.

[0081] For example, as a first predetermined condition, if the driver performs a speed operation (e.g., an accelerator operation) within a predetermined time after the start of driver steering assistance, the cancel control unit 146 suppresses the execution of the cancel control (makes the cancel control less likely to be executed) even if the driver performs an accelerator operation equal to or greater than the speed override threshold.

[0082] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the driver steering assist and cancellation control executed by the vehicle control unit 140. The example of FIG. 9 shows the behavior of the host vehicle M before and after the driver steering assist control is started, the vehicle control state, and the accelerator operation state of the driver on the accelerator pedal 84. In the example of FIG. 9, time Ta is assumed to be the earliest, followed by times Tb, Tc, and Td in that order. In the example of FIG. 9, the position and speed VM of the host vehicle M at time T* are assumed to be represented as M(t*) and VM(t*).

[0083] At time Ta, the vehicle control state of the host vehicle M is in the OFF state. At this point in time, the host vehicle M may be executing control such as LKAS, for example, in response to an instruction from the driver (an instruction to execute driving assistance using a changeover switch or the like). At time Tb, the host vehicle M satisfies the execution condition for the contact attention warning shown in (2) of FIG. 4, so that contact attention warning control is executed. Thereafter, the vehicle control unit 140 starts driver steering assistance control when a driver steering trigger is detected, and executes driver steering assistance (avoidance steering assistance) control so that the host vehicle M travels along the avoidance target trajectory K4.

[0084] Here, immediately after the driver steering assist control is initiated, there is a high possibility that the driver's posture will be disrupted due to a change in the behavior of the host vehicle M that is not intended by the driver, as described above. Therefore, the vehicle control unit 140 suppresses the execution of the stop control, for example, until a predetermined time ΔT has elapsed since the driver steering assist control was initiated, even if the accelerator operation is equal to or greater than the override threshold. The predetermined time ΔT may be, for example, a predetermined fixed time, or may be a variable time depending on the driving situation of the host vehicle M (for example, the positional relationship (relative position) between the host vehicle M and a surrounding obstacle (another vehicle m1) or the speed VM of the host vehicle M) or the surrounding situation (for example, the road shape or the width of the traveling lane).

[0085] Suppressing the execution of the abort control includes, for example, increasing the speed override threshold (second threshold) by a predetermined amount compared to the speed override threshold in normal times, thereby making it more difficult to execute the abort control. Here, normal times refer to a time period when the execution of the abort control is not suppressed, for example, a time period before or after the predetermined time ΔT (in the example of FIG. 9, during contact warning control or during driver operation assistance control after the predetermined time ΔT has elapsed). The predetermined amount may be, for example, a fixed amount determined in advance, or may be a variable amount depending on the driving conditions of the host vehicle M and the surrounding conditions.

[0086] In the example of Figure 9, the driver operates the accelerator pedal at a speed equal to or greater than the speed override threshold during the period from when the driver steering assist control is started by the driver steering trigger until a predetermined time ΔT has elapsed (the accelerator operation "ON" state shown in Figure 9), but no stop control is performed for the accelerator operation during this period, and the driver steering assist control continues to be performed even at times Tc and Td.

[0087] If an accelerator operation equal to or greater than a speed override threshold that is increased by a predetermined amount from normal operation is detected before the predetermined time ΔT has elapsed, the abort control unit 146 executes the abort control. This makes it more difficult to execute the abort condition by tightening the execution condition of the abort control, but it is possible to prevent the abort control from becoming completely impossible to execute.

[0088] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining vehicle control when an accelerator operation is performed after a predetermined time ΔT has elapsed since the start of driver steering assist control. The example in FIG. 10 differs from FIG. 9 in that the accelerator operation is performed at a timing after the predetermined time ΔT. As shown in FIG. 10, if an accelerator operation equal to or greater than the speed override threshold is performed at a timing after the predetermined time ΔT (and while the driver steering assist control is being executed), the cancellation control unit 146 executes cancellation control for the driver steering assist control being executed. Therefore, at time Td shown in FIG. 10, the vehicle control state is in the OFF state, and the host vehicle M travels under manual driving by the driver. Note that when the driver steering assist control is canceled by the cancellation control, the HMI control unit 150 may notify the driver by outputting information indicating the cancellation to the HMI 30. This allows the driver to understand that the driver steering assist control has been canceled midway due to accelerator steering and to be conscious of appropriate driving.

[0089] As described above, by suppressing the execution of the stop control until the predetermined time ΔT has elapsed since the execution of the driver steering assist control was started, it is possible to prevent the driver steering assist control from being stopped (or the vehicle being switched to manual driving) due to an accelerator operation that is not intended by the driver (due to the driver losing posture). Therefore, it is possible to perform more appropriate driving assist control in situations where contact with an obstacle needs to be avoided.

[0090] Furthermore, instead of (or in addition to) the first predetermined condition described above, the cancel control unit 146 may suppress the execution of cancel control for the driver steering assist control when the steering amount of the driver's steering operation during the driver steering assist control is equal to or greater than a third threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value, as a second predetermined condition. The steering amount is acquired, for example, based on the detection result of the SW sensor 82A or the detection result of the steering state detection unit 132. The third threshold value is a value less than the steering override threshold value. If the driver's posture is disturbed due to a change in the behavior of the host vehicle M during driver steering assist, the driver may perform an unintended steering operation due to the disturbance. Therefore, when a steering amount equal to or greater than the third threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value that serves as the determination condition for the driver steering trigger as described above is detected, the cancel control for the driver's accelerator operation is suppressed. This enables more appropriate driving assist control to be performed, as described above.

[0091] In addition, the cancellation control unit 146 may not execute the cancellation control until a predetermined time ΔT has elapsed since the driver steering assistance control was started, even if the steering amount of the driver's steering operation is equal to or greater than the steering override threshold.

[0092] Furthermore, the abort control unit 146 may use the steering speed instead of the steering amount of the steering operation to determine whether to suppress the execution of the abort control. When the driver's posture is disturbed, there is a high possibility that the steering operation will be faster than during normal driving. Therefore, the abort control unit 146 suppresses the execution of the abort control when the steering speed during the driver steering assist control is equal to or greater than a predetermined speed.

[0093] The accelerator operation by the driver also includes the accelerator opening. The accelerator operation by the driver may also include the rate of change of the accelerator opening. If there is a high possibility that the driver's posture will deteriorate, the override threshold may be suppressed, and if the driver wishes to override, it may be possible to override. The abort control unit 146 may also use both the accelerator opening and the rate of change of the accelerator opening as the accelerator operation threshold. This allows for a more appropriate determination of whether to execute override control using more precise accelerator operation by the driver.

[0094] When a predetermined condition is satisfied, the abort control unit 146 may suppress the execution of the abort control by limiting the objects of determination instead of (or in addition to) suppressing the execution of the abort control by setting a higher speed override threshold than normal. For example, if the abort control unit 146 normally uses the accelerator operation amount (opening of the accelerator pedal) or the opening change rate as the object of determination, the abort control unit 146 does not perform the determination using the opening change rate when the abort control is suppressed. If the driver's posture deteriorates, there is a high possibility that the opening change rate will change suddenly. Therefore, by disabling the override determination based on the opening change rate when the abort control is suppressed, it is possible to more appropriately suppress the execution of the abort control unintentionally by the driver.

[0095] Furthermore, the abort control unit 146 may perform control so as not to execute the abort control temporarily (for example, for a period of time ΔT after the start of the driver steering assist control) when a predetermined condition is met during the execution of the driver steering assist control. In situations where there is a high possibility that the driver's posture may become unstable, the abort control may be completely disabled, thereby enabling control that is easy for the driver to understand regardless of the amount of accelerator operation. In this case, the HMI control unit 150 may notify the driver by causing the HMI 30 to output information indicating that the abort control will temporarily be unable to be executed. This allows the driver to understand that the abort control will temporarily be unable to be executed, and to be conscious of appropriate driving. In the embodiments, "suppressing the execution of the abort control" may include "not executing the abort control."

[0096] [Processing flow] Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the driving assistance device 100 in the embodiment. In the example of Fig. 11, of the processing executed by the driving assistance device 100, the description will mainly focus on the processing for suppressing the stop control during driver steering assistance. In addition to the processing shown in Fig. 11, the driving assistance device 100 can execute a contact possibility determination processing, a distracted driving determination processing, an attention calling control processing, a contact attention warning control processing, an automatic steering avoidance control processing, and the like, as shown in Fig. 4, depending on the execution conditions described above. The processing shown in Fig. 11 may be executed repeatedly at a predetermined timing.

[0097] In the example of FIG. 11, the recognition unit 110 recognizes the surrounding conditions of the host vehicle M (step S100). Next, the driving state detection unit 130 detects the steering state of the driver (step S110). Next, the contact possibility determination unit 120 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the host vehicle M will contact an obstacle (step S120). If it is determined that there is a possibility of contact with the obstacle, the contact avoidance steering control unit 144B generates an avoidance target trajectory for the host vehicle M to avoid contact with the obstacle (step S130), and executes avoidance steering assistance so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated avoidance target trajectory (step S140). Note that the avoidance steering assistance by the processing of step S140 is, for example, driver steering assistance control that is executed upon detection of a driver steering trigger.

[0098] Next, the cancellation control unit 146 determines whether or not a steering operation by the driver has been detected during execution of the avoidance steering assistance (step S150). If it is determined that a steering operation by the driver has been detected during execution, the cancellation control unit 146 determines whether or not a condition related to accelerator operation satisfies a predetermined condition (step S160). If it is determined that the predetermined condition is satisfied, the cancellation control unit 146 suppresses execution of the cancellation control (step S170). On the other hand, if it is determined that the predetermined condition is not satisfied, the cancellation control unit 146 executes the cancellation control (step S180). This ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0099] Furthermore, if the processing of step S120 determines that there is no possibility of contact with an obstacle, or if the processing of step S150 determines that the driver's accelerator operation has not been detected while evasive steering assistance is being performed, the processing of this flowchart ends.

[0100] Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the stop control process. Note that the example of Fig. 12 shows a process in which, after the avoidance steering assist control has been started, the stop control is suppressed by adjusting the determination condition for whether or not the stop control is executed based on whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied. The process shown in Fig. 12 may be repeatedly executed at predetermined timings while the avoidance steering assist control is being executed.

[0101] In the example of FIG. 12 , the abort control unit 146 acquires the opening degree of the accelerator pedal 84 of the driver using the speed operation detection unit 134 (step S200) and acquires the opening degree change rate over a predetermined time period (step S210). Next, the abort control unit 146 determines whether a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of avoidance steering assistance, as a predetermined condition (step S220). If it is determined that the predetermined time period has not elapsed (i.e., if it is determined that the predetermined condition is not satisfied), the abort control unit 146 determines whether the opening degree or the opening degree change rate is equal to or greater than a second threshold value (speed override threshold value) (step S230). If it is determined that the opening degree or the opening degree change rate is equal to or greater than the second threshold value, the abort control unit 146 executes abort control (step S240). If it is determined that the opening degree or the opening degree change rate is less than the second threshold value, the abort control unit 146 terminates the process without executing abort control.

[0102] Furthermore, in the processing of step S220, if it is determined that a predetermined time has not yet elapsed since the start of avoidance steering assistance (i.e., if it is determined that a predetermined condition is satisfied), only the opening degree is the subject, and it is further determined whether the opening degree is equal to or greater than a threshold value that is greater than the second threshold value (step S250). If it is determined that the opening degree is equal to or greater than a threshold value that is greater than the second threshold value, the abort control unit 146 executes abort control (step S240), and if it is less than the threshold value, the process ends without executing abort control. This ends the present flowchart.

[0103] 12, no override determination is made based on the accelerator pedal opening change rate until a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of avoidance steering assist. Furthermore, in the process of step S250, the threshold value used to determine whether or not to execute the stop control is set to be larger than the second threshold value used in the process of step S230. By making the conditions for executing the stop control stricter in this way, it is possible to suppress the execution of the stop control.

[0104] As described above, according to the embodiment, the vehicle control program causes the computer to recognize the surrounding conditions of the vehicle M, detect the steering state of the driver (an example of a passenger) of the vehicle, detect the speed operation of the vehicle by the driver, determine that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle based on the recognized surrounding conditions of the vehicle, and if a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the steering state of the driver, execute avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle, and if a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the detected speed operation during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, execute cancellation control to cancel the avoidance steering assistance.By suppressing the execution of the cancellation control when predetermined conditions are met during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, more appropriate driving assistance control can be provided to the driver in situations where contact with an obstacle needs to be avoided.

[0105] Furthermore, according to the embodiment, for example, at the start (initial stage) of evasive steering assistance, it is highly likely that the driver's posture is out of order, so by setting the override threshold stricter than usual and suppressing the execution of the cancel control, it is possible to suppress the execution of override (cancel control) due to an accelerator operation unintended by the driver. Furthermore, according to the embodiment, when the steering amount during evasive steering assistance becomes equal to or greater than the third threshold, it is highly likely that the driver's posture is out of order, so by suppressing the execution of the cancel control, it is possible to suppress the execution of override due to an accelerator operation unintended by the driver.

[0106] [Variations] In the above-described embodiment, the driver steering assist control may perform contact avoidance steering control within the driving lane (lane L1) in addition to (or instead of) performing steering control so as not to deviate from lane L2 when the host vehicle M moves from the driving lane (lane L1) to an adjacent lane (lane L2) as shown in Fig. 8. In this case, the driver steering assist control generates an avoidance target trajectory so as to avoid contact with an obstacle and not to deviate from the driving lane, and performs avoidance steering assist so that the host vehicle M travels along the generated avoidance target trajectory. Furthermore, if a steering operation by the driver is detected during this steering control, the avoidance steering assist is suppressed.

[0107] In addition, in an embodiment, the steering control unit 144 may execute the suppression control of the above-mentioned stop control in addition to (or instead of) the driver steering assistance control, for example, when the driver's steering operation or speed is detected during automatic steering avoidance control as shown in Figure 7 (and when override control is not executed).

[0108] Furthermore, in the embodiment, instead of (or in addition to) the above-described predetermined condition, it may be possible to determine whether the driver's posture is actually unstable from the camera image of the driver monitor camera 70, and control the execution of the abort control based on the determination result. In this case, the driving state detection unit 130, for example, extracts the driver's posture from the analysis result of the camera image of the driver monitor camera 70, and determines that the driver's posture is unstable if the extracted driver's posture has changed by a predetermined amount or more from a predetermined basic posture (a posture facing forward) (for example, if the posture is tilted sideways due to lateral G). The abort control unit 146 suppresses the execution of the abort control while the driving state detection unit 130 determines that the driver's posture is unstable, as a predetermined condition. Note that the abort control unit 146 may not suppress the execution of the abort control if the driving state detection unit 130 determines that the driver's posture is not unstable, even before a predetermined time has elapsed since the driver steering assist control was started. Furthermore, if the driver's posture remains unstable even after the predetermined time has elapsed, the execution of the stop control may be continued to be suppressed until the driver's posture returns to normal (returns to the basic posture). This allows the driver's posture to be more accurately grasped from the camera image, and more appropriate driving assistance control can be performed according to the driver's posture.

[0109] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the accelerator operation by the driver has been used as an example of the override determination during execution of the driver steering assist control, but the brake operation may be used instead of (or in addition to) the accelerator operation.

[0110] In the above-described embodiment, contact avoidance steering control (driver steering assist control) after executing attention warning control (slow deceleration control, centering control) was described, but the present invention may also be applied to cases where driver steering assist control is executed without performing attention warning control.

[0111] Furthermore, the numerical values ​​shown in the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and may be adjusted as appropriate depending on the road conditions (shape, number of lanes, road type), the driver's driving condition (degree of absentmindedness), the vehicle conditions (speed, vehicle type, shape, number of passengers), etc.

[0112] The above-described embodiment can be expressed as follows. a storage medium for storing computer-readable instructions; a processor connected to the storage medium; The processor executes the computer-readable instructions to: Recognizes the vehicle's surroundings, Detecting a steering state of an occupant of the vehicle; detecting a speed manipulation of the vehicle by the occupant; determining that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle based on the recognized surrounding conditions of the vehicle, and when a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the detected steering state of the occupant, executing avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle; When a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the detected speed operation during execution of the avoidance steering assist, the avoidance steering assist is stopped; When a predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, the execution of the stop control is suppressed. Vehicle control device.

[0113] The above describes the form for carrying out the present invention using an embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0114] 10...camera, 12...radar device, 14...LIDAR, 16...object recognition device, 20...communication device, 30...HMI, 40...vehicle sensor, 50...navigation device, 60...MPU, 70...driver monitor camera, 80...driving operator, 82...steering wheel, 84...accelerator pedal, 86...brake pedal, 100...driving assistance device, 110...recognition unit, 120...contact possibility determination unit, 130...driving state detection unit, 132...steering state detection unit, 134...speed operation detection unit, 136...distracted driving determination unit, 140...vehicle control unit, 142...braking control unit, 144...steering control unit, 146...cancellation control unit, 150...HMI control unit, 160...memory unit, 200...driving force output device, 210...brake device, 220...steering device, M...host vehicle

Claims

1. On the computer, Recognizing the surroundings of the vehicle; Detecting a steering state of an occupant of the vehicle; detecting a speed manipulation of the vehicle by the occupant; determining that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle based on the recognized surrounding conditions of the vehicle, and when a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the steering state of the occupant, executing avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle; executing a stop control to stop the avoidance steering assist when a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the detected speed operation during the execution of the avoidance steering assist; When a predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, the execution of the stop control is suppressed, the predetermined condition includes that a steering amount equal to or greater than a third threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value is detected from the steering state. Vehicle control program.

2. The predetermined condition includes being within a predetermined time from the start of the avoidance steering assistance. The vehicle control program according to claim 1 .

3. When the execution of the cancel control is suppressed during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, the value of the second threshold is increased compared to the control state before the execution of the cancel control is suppressed. The vehicle control program according to claim 1 .

4. the speed operation includes operation of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle; The second threshold value is a threshold value for the accelerator pedal depression degree. The vehicle control program according to claim 3 .

5. the speed operation includes operation of an accelerator pedal of the vehicle; the second threshold value is a threshold value for a rate of change of the accelerator pedal depression degree, The vehicle control program according to claim 3 .

6. When the predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, the stop control is not executed. The vehicle control program according to claim 1 .

7. When the predetermined condition is satisfied during execution of the avoidance steering assistance, a determination regarding suppression of the stop control using a rate of change in an accelerator pedal opening of the vehicle is not executed. The vehicle control program according to claim 1 .

8. The speed operation includes an operation related to an accelerator pedal depression degree of the vehicle and a rate of change of the accelerator pedal depression degree. The vehicle control program according to claim 1 .

9. a recognition unit that recognizes the surrounding situation of the vehicle; a steering state detection unit that detects a steering state of an occupant of the vehicle; a speed control detection unit that detects a speed control of the vehicle by the occupant; a steering control unit that determines that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle based on the surrounding conditions of the vehicle recognized by the recognition unit, and that performs avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle when a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the steering state of the occupant detected by the steering state detection unit; a stop control unit that executes stop control to stop the avoidance steering assist when a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the speed operations detected by the speed operation detection unit during execution of the avoidance steering assist, the stop control unit suppresses execution of the stop control when a predetermined condition is satisfied during execution of the avoidance steering assist, the predetermined condition includes that a steering amount equal to or greater than a third threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value is detected from the steering state. Vehicle control device.

10. The computer Recognizes the vehicle's surroundings, Detecting a steering state of an occupant of the vehicle; detecting a speed manipulation of the vehicle by the occupant; determining, based on the recognized surrounding conditions of the vehicle, that there is a possibility of contact between the vehicle and an obstacle, and, when a steering amount equal to or greater than a first threshold is detected from the detected steering state of the occupant, executing avoidance steering assistance to avoid contact with the obstacle; When a speed operation equal to or greater than a second threshold is detected from the detected speed operations during execution of the avoidance steering assist, a stop control is executed to stop the avoidance steering assist; When a predetermined condition is satisfied during the execution of the avoidance steering assistance, the execution of the stop control is suppressed, the predetermined condition includes that a steering amount equal to or greater than a third threshold value that is greater than the first threshold value is detected from the steering state. Vehicle control method.

Images