Automatic parking control device

Abstract

To prevent automatic parking control from terminating due to an erroneous operation of a shift lever in semi-automatic parking control in which a driver only operates the shift lever.SOLUTION: A processor 162 of an ECU 160 includes: an automatic parking control unit 162a which parks a vehicle at a designated position with semi-automatic parking control in which a driver only operates a shift lever; and a suspension unit 162d which temporarily suspends the automatic parking control when the driver operates the shift lever to a parking range at the time of turning-back of a steering wheel during the automatic parking control.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic parking control device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, it is known to set a target route from the assistance start position to the target parking position based on the closest set distance at which the vehicle is allowed to approach an obstacle, and if the driver stops the vehicle before the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle reaches the closest set distance, the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle at that time is set as the value of the closest set distance, and the target route is corrected based on the newly set closest set distance (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-135028 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In semi-automated parking, where the driver only manually shifts gears and the vehicle automatically performs other operations, there is a possibility that the driver may operate the shift lever incorrectly. For example, if the shift lever is operated into parking range when the vehicle is turning, the vehicle may determine that the vehicle has parked in the desired position and the automatic parking control may end. In this case, since parking is not actually completed, the driver will have to start the automatic parking setup again from scratch.

[0005] The technology described in the above patent document does not take into consideration the possibility that automatic parking may be terminated due to an incorrect operation of the shift lever by the driver, and is unable to correctly determine whether the user's shift operation is an error or an intended operation, leaving room for improvement.

[0006] In view of the above problems, an object of the present disclosure is to prevent automatic parking control from being terminated due to erroneous operation of the shift lever in semi-automatic automatic parking control in which the driver only operates the shift lever. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The gist of the present disclosure is as follows.

[0008] (1) An automatic parking control unit that parks the vehicle in a designated position through semi-automatic automatic parking control in which the driver only operates the shift lever; an interruption unit that temporarily interrupts the automatic parking control when the driver operates the shift lever to a parking range when turning the steering wheel during the automatic parking control; An automatic parking control device comprising:

[0009] (2) The automatic parking control device described in (1) above, further comprising a warning unit that issues a warning to the driver to operate the shift lever to the drive range or reverse range when the automatic parking control is temporarily interrupted.

[0010] (3) The automatic parking control device described in (1) or (2) above, wherein the automatic parking control unit resumes automatic parking control when the shift lever is operated to the drive range or reverse range while the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present disclosure, in semi-automatic automatic parking control in which the driver only operates the shift lever, it is possible to prevent the automatic parking control from being terminated due to an erroneous operation of the shift lever. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control system mounted on a vehicle. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing functional blocks of a processor of an ECU provided in a vehicle. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of a shift lever. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle automatically parking in a parking lot, viewed from above. [Figure 5] 4 is a flowchart showing a process performed by a processor of an ECU of a vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, several embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, these descriptions are intended to merely exemplify preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention to such specific embodiments. In the following description, similar components will be designated by the same reference numerals.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control system mounted on a vehicle 100. This vehicle control system controls the vehicle 100 by automatic driving. In particular, the vehicle control system according to this embodiment is a system that enables semi-automatic parking when parking the vehicle in a garage as part of the automatic driving. In semi-automatic parking, the driver of the vehicle 100 manually performs only the shift operation, and other operations, i.e., operations such as starting and stopping, acceleration / deceleration, and turning (steering), are performed automatically by the vehicle 100.

[0015] The vehicle control system includes an in-vehicle camera 105, a positioning information receiver 110, a vehicle control device 120, a shift lever 130, one or more sensors 140, an electronic control unit (ECU) 160, a display device 170, a speaker 180, an input device 190, and a storage device 195. These are communicably connected via an in-vehicle network that complies with a standard such as a Controller Area Network (CAN).

[0016] The vehicle-mounted camera 105 has a two-dimensional detector such as a CCD or C-MOS, and an imaging optical system. The vehicle-mounted camera 105 captures the surroundings of the vehicle 100 (for example, the front, sides, or rear of the vehicle) and generates an image representing the surroundings of the vehicle 100.

[0017] The positioning information receiver 110 acquires positioning information that indicates the current position and attitude of the vehicle 100. For example, the positioning information receiver 110 can be a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver.

[0018] The vehicle control devices 120 are various devices related to vehicle control, and include an engine 120a and a motor 120b as drive sources for running the vehicle, a friction brake 120c, a steering device 120d, and a transmission 120e.

[0019] The shift lever 130 changes the shift position of the transmission 120e in response to the driver's operation. The shift position of the transmission 120e is changed by an actuator driven in response to an electric signal generated by the operation of the shift lever 130, for example, by a so-called shift-by-wire system.

[0020] The one or more sensors 140 include sensors for monitoring the surroundings of the vehicle 100, such as a Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor, a Radar sensor, and the like.

[0021] The ECU 160 includes a processor 162, a memory 164, and a communication interface 166. The processor 162 includes one or more CPUs and their peripheral circuits, and provides predetermined functions by executing computer programs that are executablely loaded in a working area of ​​the memory 164. The memory 164 includes, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory and a non-volatile semiconductor memory. The communication interface 166 includes an interface circuit for connecting the ECU 160 to an in-vehicle network or an external communication network.

[0022] The display device 170 is configured, for example, by a liquid crystal display (LCD), and is provided on an instrument panel or near the dashboard inside the vehicle to display a warning to the driver. Similarly, the speaker 180 is provided inside the vehicle and outputs a warning to the driver by voice.

[0023] The input device 190 is a device into which operation information is input by the driver, and is composed of buttons, touch sensors, etc. The input device 190 is operated by the driver to input an instruction to start automatic parking control, information specifying the parking position of the vehicle 100 (parking position specification information), etc.

[0024] The storage device 195 includes, for example, a hard disk drive or an optical recording medium and an access device therefor, and stores various information such as high-resolution maps.

[0025] 2 is a schematic diagram showing functional blocks of processor 162 of ECU 160 provided in vehicle 100. Processor 162 is one aspect of the automatic parking control device according to the present disclosure, and includes an automatic parking control unit 162a, a shift operation determination unit 162b, a turning-back determination unit 162c, an interruption unit 162d, and a warning unit 162e. Each of these units included in processor 162 is a functional module realized by, for example, a computer program running on processor 162. In other words, each of these units included in processor 162 is configured by processor 162 and a program (software) for making it function.

[0026] The automatic parking control unit 162a of the processor 162 parks the vehicle 100 at a specified position by semi-automatic automatic parking control in which the driver only operates the shift lever 130. Specifically, the automatic parking control unit 162a controls the vehicle control device 120 based on the parking position designation information, an image showing the surroundings of the vehicle 100, information detected by the sensor 140 for monitoring the surroundings of the vehicle 100, etc., and parks the vehicle 100 at a position designated by the parking position designation information. At this time, the vehicle control device 120 may control the vehicle control device 120 by referring to the positioning information, the positions of each parking space in the parking lot recorded on a high-definition map, etc.

[0027] After starting the automatic parking control, the automatic parking control unit 162a ends the automatic parking control when the shift lever 130 is operated to the P range. Furthermore, when the shift lever 130 is operated to the D range or the R range while the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended, the automatic parking control unit 162a resumes the automatic parking control.

[0028] The shift operation determination unit 162b of the processor 162 determines the operation of the shift lever 130 by the driver of the vehicle 100. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the shift lever 130. As shown in FIG. 3, the shift lever 130 has shift positions defined corresponding to, in order from the front, P range, R range, N range, D range, and B range. When the driver operates the shift lever 130 to the P range position, the shift position of the transmission 120e is set to the P range. Similarly, when the driver operates the shift lever 130 to another range position, the shift position of the transmission 120e is set to the range operated by the driver.

[0029] The P (parking) range is the shift position used when parking or starting the vehicle, and the R (reverse) range is the shift position used when reversing the vehicle. The D (drive) range is the shift position used when driving normally, and the N (neutral) range is the shift position that cuts off the transmission of driving force to the wheels. The B (brake) range is the shift position used when braking the vehicle, etc.

[0030] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the automatic parking of vehicle 100 in parking lot 10, seen from above. FIG. 4 shows the vehicle 100 parking in parking lot 10, which is, for example, a store, at parking lot 10. When an instruction to start automatic parking control is input to input device 190 at automatic parking start position P1, automatic parking control begins. The instruction to start automatic parking control may include parking position designation information that designates parking position (3). When automatic parking control begins, vehicle 100 moves forward in the direction of arrow A1 to turn, stops at turning position P2, turns the steering wheel, and then reverses (backs) toward parking position (3) in the direction of arrow A2, and stops at parking completion position P3 within the frame of parking position (3).

[0031] At the shift-back position P2, the driver operates the shift lever 130 to change the shift position from D range to R range. At the entry-completion position P3, the driver changes the shift position from R range to P range, thereby ending the automatic parking control. Therefore, at the shift-back position P2, a message prompting the driver to change from D range to R range is displayed on the display device 170, and a message to that effect is output by voice from the speaker 180. Similarly, at the entry-completion position P3, a message prompting the driver to change from R range to P range is displayed or voice is output. While the vehicle 100 moves from position P1 to P3, only the operation of the shift lever 130 is performed by the driver, and other operations of the vehicle 100 other than the change of the shift position are automatically performed under the control of the automatic parking control unit 162a.

[0032] 4 shows an example of backward parking in which vehicle 100 reverses into parking position (3), but in forward parking in which vehicle 100 moves forward into parking position (3), vehicle 100 moves backward in the direction of arrow A1 and forward in the direction of arrow A2 in FIG. 4. Therefore, at turning-around position P2, the driver switches the shift position from R range to D range.

[0033] As shown in Fig. 3, a typical shift lever 130 has P range, R range, N range, and D range arranged in this order from front to back. Therefore, when the driver shifts from D range to R range at the steering position P2, the shift lever 130 may accidentally pass the R range position and reach the P range position. In this case, if a determination is made to end the automatic parking control, parking is not actually completed, and therefore, when the driver inputs a command to start automatic parking control into the input device 190, the automatic parking control will be started. Note that it will be necessary to input the command to start automatic parking control and the parking position designation information into the input device 190 again and start the automatic parking setting again from scratch.

[0034] On the other hand, if the shift lever 130 is operated to the P range at (or immediately before) the parking completion position P3, the driver intends to end automatic parking, and there is no problem even if a determination is made to end the automatic parking control. Similarly, if the shift lever 130 is operated to the P range immediately after the automatic parking start position P1, it is considered that the driver intends to end automatic parking for some reason (for example, because there is an obstacle on the route), and there is no problem even if a determination is made to end the automatic parking control. As described above, the driver's intention to switch to the P range differs depending on the position of the vehicle 100. Immediately after position P1 or at position P3, it is recognized that the intention is to end automatic parking, but at position P2, switching to the P range is recognized as an erroneous operation by the driver.

[0035] In this embodiment, the behavior in response to the driver's operation to P range is differentiated depending on the automatic parking scene, and if it is determined that the switch to P range is an erroneous operation by the driver, the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended without terminating the automatic parking control.

[0036] For this reason, the turning-around determination unit 162c of the processor 162 determines whether or not the vehicle 100 is located at a steering-around point during automatic parking control of the vehicle 100. For example, in the example of Fig. 4, the turning-around determination unit 162c determines whether or not the vehicle 100 is located at a turning-around position P2.

[0037] When the driver operates the shift lever 130 to the P range while turning the steering wheel during automatic parking control, the interruption unit 162d of the processor 162 temporarily interrupts the automatic parking control, thereby preventing the automatic parking from being terminated due to an erroneous operation by the driver.

[0038] On the other hand, the interruption unit 162d does not temporarily interrupt the automatic parking control when the driver operates the shift lever 130 to the P range at a timing other than when the steering wheel is turned back during the automatic parking control, for example, immediately after the parking start position P1 or at the parking completion position P3. In this case, the automatic parking control unit 162a ends the automatic parking control as described above.

[0039] When the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended by the suspension unit 162d, the warning unit 162e of the processor 162 issues a warning to the driver to operate the shift lever 130 into D range (for forward parking) or R range (for reverse parking). Specifically, if the driver erroneously operates the shift lever 130 into P range at the steering position P2 in FIG. 4, the warning unit 162e displays a warning such as "Please operate the shift lever into R range!" on the display device 170, or outputs a similar warning by voice from the speaker 180. This allows the driver who receives the warning to recognize that operating the shift lever 130 into P range was an error.

[0040] When the driver receives the warning and operates the shift lever 130 to D or R range, the suspended automatic parking control is resumed. As described above, because the automatic parking control is not terminated even if the driver operates it incorrectly, the driver does not need to set up automatic parking again from scratch, and the automatic parking control can be resumed by operating the shift lever to D or R range.

[0041] Next, the processing performed by the processor 162 of the ECU 160 of the vehicle 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 5. First, when the driver inputs an instruction to start automatic parking control to the input device 190, the automatic parking control unit 162a starts automatic parking control (step S10). Next, the shift operation determination unit 162b determines whether the driver has operated the shift lever 130 to P range (step S12). If it is determined in step S12 that the shift lever 130 has been operated to P range, the turning determination unit 162c determines whether the vehicle 100 is located at a turning point for the steering wheel (step S14). If it is determined in step S14 that the vehicle 100 is not located at a turning point, the automatic parking control unit 162a ends the automatic parking control (step S16).

[0042] If the vehicle 100 is located at a steering wheel turning point in step S14, the interruption unit 162d temporarily interrupts the automatic parking control (step S18). Next, the warning unit 162e issues a warning to the driver to operate the shift lever 130 to the R range (or the D range in the case of forward parking) (step S20).

[0043] Next, the shift operation determination unit 162b determines whether the driver has operated the shift lever 130 to the R range (step S22). If it is determined in step S12 that the shift lever 130 has been operated to the R range, the automatic parking control unit 162a resumes automatic parking control (step S24). If it is not determined in step S22 that the shift lever 130 has been operated to the R range, the process waits in step S22.

[0044] After step S24, the process returns to step S12, and the automatic parking control continues. Also, if it is determined in step S12 that the driver has not operated the steering wheel to the P range, the process returns to step S12, and the automatic parking control continues.

[0045] As described above, according to this embodiment, if the driver operates the shift lever to P range when turning the steering wheel during automatic parking control, the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended, thereby preventing automatic parking from being terminated due to an erroneous operation by the driver. Since the control in response to the driver's operation is appropriately changed depending on the automatic parking situation, safety and convenience can be ensured. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 160 Electronic Control Unit (ECU) 162 processors 162a Automatic parking control unit 162b Shift operation determination unit 162c Judgment part 162d Interruption 162e Warning section

Claims

1. An automatic parking control unit that parks the vehicle in a specified position using semi-automatic automatic parking control in which the driver only operates the shift lever; an interruption unit that temporarily interrupts the automatic parking control when the driver operates the shift lever to a parking range when turning the steering wheel during the automatic parking control; An automatic parking control device comprising:

2. 2. The automatic parking control device according to claim 1, further comprising a warning unit that issues a warning to the driver to operate the shift lever to a drive range or a reverse range when the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended.

3. 3. The automatic parking control device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic parking control unit resumes the automatic parking control when the shift lever is operated to a drive range or a reverse range while the automatic parking control is temporarily suspended.

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