control device

Abstract

To prevent the travel of a vehicle by unmanned operation from becoming unstable.SOLUTION: A control device comprises: an acquisition section which acquires detection data from a sensor detecting a travel state of a vehicle capable of traveling by unmanned operation; a determination section which determines whether or not the vehicle is located in a specific area where the detection data is susceptible to external disturbance; and a travel control section which is capable of controlling the travel of the vehicle using the detection data, and brings a contribution level of the detection data to travel control of the vehicle to be low when the determination section determines that the vehicle is located in the specific area, as compared with a case where the determination section determines that the vehicle is located outside the specific area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device for controlling a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a transport system that uses a dedicated control unit to control an autonomously driven vehicle when transporting the vehicle from an assembly plant to a finished vehicle yard. The transport system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured such that a control unit capable of communicating with the vehicle is installed (temporarily placed) inside the vehicle's cabin, and the vehicle drives autonomously based on transport information received by the control unit from a server device outside the vehicle. Patent Document 1 states that the control unit is removed by a worker after the vehicle arrives at the finished vehicle yard, thereby preventing the addition of unnecessary systems to the vehicle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-064388 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Autonomously driven vehicles are not limited to those transported from an assembly plant to a finished vehicle yard as in Patent Document 1. For example, when transporting completed vehicles to an inspection area within a factory, instead of transporting the vehicle by conveyor or other means, the vehicle may be transported (self-propelled) to an appropriate inspection area by automated driving. Meanwhile, during the final inspection of a manufactured vehicle, checking for assembly and rattle may cause the vehicle to sway. Autonomously driven vehicles control the steering angle and other parameters based on external information and data acquired from multiple sensors installed on the vehicle. Therefore, by performing the above-mentioned inspection while acquiring these data, it is possible to obtain data that takes into account the vehicle sway caused by the inspection. For example, when automatically controlling the steering angle of a vehicle, the target steering angle control value may be calculated using the vehicle's lateral acceleration or yaw rate. Vehicle sway caused by the inspection may affect the calculation results. In such a case, the vehicle may significantly deviate from the intended route during autonomous driving. The device in Patent Document 1 did not consider the possibility that inspections may reduce the stability of autonomous driving, leaving room for improvement.

[0005] Therefore, there is a demand for technology that can prevent unstable driving of autonomously driven vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.

[0007] (1) According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a control device including: an acquisition unit that acquires detection data from a sensor that detects a driving state of an unmanned vehicle; a determination unit that determines whether the detection data is located within a specific area where the vehicle is susceptible to disturbances; and a driving control unit that can control driving of the vehicle using the detection data, wherein, when the determination unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area, the driving control unit reduces the contribution of the detection data to driving control of the vehicle compared to when the determination unit determines that the vehicle is located outside the specific area. According to the control device of this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the running of the vehicle from becoming unstable due to unmanned driving. (2) In the control device of the above aspect, the determination unit may determine whether the vehicle is located within the specific area by using position information of the vehicle and a map indicating the specific area. According to the control device of this embodiment, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the vehicle is located within a specific area. (3) In the control device of the above form, when there are no people within the specific area, the driving control unit may not need to reduce the contribution of the detection data to the driving control of the vehicle compared to when the determination unit determines that the vehicle is located outside the specific area, even if the determination unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area. According to the control device of this aspect, when no person is present within a predetermined area, the degree of contribution of the detection data is reduced, thereby making it possible to prevent a decrease in the vehicle's driving performance. (4) In the control device of the above form, when the vehicle is located within the specific area and a slope exists on the vehicle's travel route, the travel control unit may control the vehicle's travel in accordance with the gradient of the slope. According to the control device of this aspect, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the running performance of the vehicle when the vehicle runs on a slope. (5) In the control device of the above form, when the judgment unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area, the driving control unit may control the driving of the vehicle without using a parameter corresponding to the acceleration of the vehicle and a parameter corresponding to the yaw rate of the vehicle contained in the detection data. According to the control device of this embodiment, it is possible to prevent the unmanned vehicle from becoming unstable when traveling through a specific section where the vehicle is prone to shaking. (6) In the control device of the above aspect, the driving control unit may execute a notification by an alarm device when it determines that the detection data is affected by the disturbance outside the specific area. According to the control device of this embodiment, it is possible to notify that there is a possibility that the driving of an unmanned vehicle may become unstable outside a specific area. The present disclosure may be realized in various forms other than a control device, such as a system, a method, a computer program, or a recording medium on which a computer program is recorded. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for vehicle control according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of control executed by the control device. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing another example of control executed by the control device. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing yet another example of control executed by the control device. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment. [Figure 9]10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for vehicle control according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A. First embodiment: FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a system 10 including a server 200, which is a control device in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle 100. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the server 200. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 includes a vehicle 100 that can travel in an unmanned driving mode, the server 200, a plurality of external sensors 300, and an alarm device 400. In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle). Note that the vehicle 100 is not limited to an electric vehicle as long as it can travel in an unmanned driving mode, and may be, for example, a gasoline vehicle, a diesel vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle.

[0010] In this disclosure, "unmanned driving" refers to driving that is not performed by a passenger aboard the vehicle 100. "Driving operation" refers to an operation related to at least one of "driving," "turning," and "stopping" of the vehicle 100. Unmanned driving is achieved by automatic or manual remote control using a device located outside the vehicle 100, or by autonomous control of the vehicle 100. A passenger who does not perform driving operations may be on board the vehicle 100 that is traveling in an unmanned driving mode. Passengers who do not perform driving operations include, for example, a person simply sitting in the driver's seat of the vehicle 100 or a person performing an action other than driving operations. Actions other than driving operations include, for example, assembling parts for the vehicle 100, inspecting the vehicle 100, and operating switches provided on the vehicle 100. In the following description, unmanned driving achieved by automatic remote control using a device located outside the vehicle 100 and unmanned driving achieved by autonomous control of the vehicle 100 are referred to as "autonomous driving." In addition, driving by a passenger is sometimes called "manned driving."

[0011] In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is configured to be able to travel under remote control by the server 200. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2, the vehicle 100 includes an ECU 110 for controlling each part of the vehicle 100, an actuator group 120 including at least one actuator that is driven under the control of the ECU 110, a communication device 130 for communicating with the server 200 via wireless communication, and an internal sensor group 140 including at least one internal sensor. In the present disclosure, the internal sensor refers to a sensor mounted on the vehicle 100 for acquiring information about the vehicle 100.

[0012] The actuator group 120 includes a drive unit actuator for accelerating the vehicle 100, a steering unit actuator for changing the traveling direction of the vehicle 100, and a braking unit actuator for decelerating the vehicle 100. The drive unit includes a battery, a traction motor 121 driven by the battery power, and wheels rotated by the traction motor 121. The actuators of the drive unit include the traction motor 121. The traction motor 121 is a drive power source that outputs torque for generating driving force for the vehicle 100. The traction motor 121 is configured by, for example, a motor (motor generator) with a power generating function such as a permanent magnet synchronous motor. Although not shown in the figure, the vehicle 100 is also equipped with various devices necessary for manned driving, such as a steering wheel, an accelerator pedal, and a brake pedal, as well as lighting devices and direction indicator devices.

[0013] The internal sensor group 140 includes, as internal sensors, a wheel speed sensor 141 for detecting pulses of the wheel speed of each wheel, an acceleration sensor 142 for detecting the lateral and longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle 100, a yaw rate sensor 143 for detecting the rate of change in the yaw angle of the vehicle 100, a steering angle sensor 144 for detecting the steering angle of the vehicle 100, and a motor resolver 145 for detecting the rotation angle of the driving motor 121. These internal sensors are electrically connected to the ECU 110 and each actuator, for example, by a CAN, a wire harness, or the like, and are configured to output, as detection data, an electric signal corresponding to the detected value or calculated value of the acquired data to the ECU 110.

[0014] The ECU 110 is configured by a computer including a processor 111, a memory 112, an input / output interface 113, and an internal bus 114. The memory 112 includes a ROM and a RAM. The processor 111, the memory 112, and the input / output interface 113 are connected via the internal bus 114 to enable bidirectional communication. The input / output interface 113 is connected to an actuator group 120, a communication device 130, and an internal sensor group 140.

[0015] The processor 111 functions as an actuator control unit 119 by executing a computer program PG1 stored in advance in the memory 112. The actuator control unit 119 transmits detection data of the internal sensor group 140 to the server 200. The actuator control unit 119 receives a driving control signal from the server 200 and controls the actuator group 120 in accordance with the received driving control signal. In this embodiment, the driving control signal includes, as parameters, the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100. The driving control signal may include the speed of the vehicle 100 instead of the acceleration of the vehicle 100. When a passenger is on board the vehicle 100, the actuator control unit 119 controls the actuator group 120 in accordance with the driving operation of the passenger, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel. Regardless of whether a passenger is on board the vehicle 100, the actuator control unit 119 controls the actuator group 120 in accordance with the driving control signal received from the server 200, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to travel.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 3 , the server 200 is configured by a computer including a processor 201, a memory 202, an input / output interface 203, and an internal bus 204. The memory 202 includes a ROM and a RAM. The processor 201, the memory 202, and the input / output interface 203 are connected via the internal bus 204 to enable bidirectional communication. The input / output interface 203 is connected to a communication device 205 for communicating with the vehicle 100 via wireless communication. The input / output interface 203 acquires detection data from sensors that detect the running state of the vehicle 100 via the communication device 205. For this reason, the input / output interface 203 may be referred to as an acquisition unit. The sensors that detect the running state of the vehicle 100 include internal sensors 141 to 145 and an external sensor 300. In this embodiment, the communication device 205 can communicate with the external sensor 300 and the notification device 400 via wired or wireless communication. In this embodiment, the server 200 may be referred to as a control device. In this embodiment, the server 200 can also be called a remote control device.

[0017] The processor 201 executes a computer program PG2 pre-stored in the memory 202, thereby functioning as a vehicle position estimation unit 210, a detection unit 220, and a driving control unit 230. The vehicle position estimation unit 210 acquires detection data output from the external sensor 300, and estimates the current position and orientation of the vehicle 100 using the acquired detection data. In addition to the detection data output from the external sensor 300, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 may also acquire detection data such as acceleration and yaw rate output from the internal sensor group 140, and estimate the current position and orientation of the vehicle 100 using the acquired detection data.

[0018] The detection unit 220 detects that the vehicle 100 is located in a specific area where the detection data of the sensors that detect the traveling state of the vehicle 100 is susceptible to external disturbances. In other words, the detection unit 220 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located in a specific area where the detection data of the sensors that detect the traveling state of the vehicle 100 is susceptible to external disturbances. For this reason, the detection unit 220 may be referred to as a determination unit. In the present disclosure, a disturbance refers to a factor that destabilizes the traveling control of the vehicle 100. Examples of the disturbance include rocking of the vehicle 100, wheel spin, and a person passing between the vehicle 100 and the external sensor 300, causing the vehicle 100 to be hidden from the external sensor 300. The sensors that detect the traveling state of the vehicle 100 include the sensors 141 to 145 of the internal sensor group 140 and the external sensor 300. The driving control unit 230 feeds back detection data from at least one of the sensors 141 to 145, 300 that detects the driving state of the vehicle 100 to the driving control of the vehicle 100. Therefore, if the detection data fed back to the driving control of the vehicle 100 is affected by an external disturbance, the driving control of the vehicle 100 becomes unstable.

[0019] For example, if the vehicle 100 sways, the detection data of the acceleration sensor 142 and the yaw rate sensor 143 mounted on the vehicle 100 may be affected by the swing, which may destabilize the control of the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100. If the vehicle 100 sways due to traveling on an uneven road surface, not only are the detection data of the acceleration sensor 142 and the yaw rate sensor 143 affected by the swing, but the direction of the steered wheels may shift left and right, which may cause the detection data of the steering angle sensor 144 to be affected by the swing. If the detection data of the steering angle sensor 144 is affected by the swing, the control of the steering angle of the vehicle 100 may become unstable. If wheel spin occurs in the wheels, the detection data of the wheel speed sensor 141 and the motor resolver 145 may be affected by the wheel spin, which may cause the control of the speed of the vehicle 100 to become unstable. If the vehicle 100 is hidden from the external sensor 300 due to people passing between the external sensor 300 and the vehicle 100, the accuracy of estimating the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 using the external sensor 300 may decrease, and the driving control of the vehicle 100 may become unstable.

[0020] In this embodiment, the detection unit 220 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located within a swing area RG, which is a specific area in which detection data used for driving control of the vehicle 100 is susceptible to swing. In the following description, the specific area in which detection data from a sensor that detects the driving state of the vehicle 100 is susceptible to swing is referred to as the swing area RG, and the detection unit 220 is referred to as the swing area detection unit 220. As described above, an inspection that causes swinging of the vehicle 100 may be performed to check the assembly of the vehicle 100 and check for backlash. Therefore, the swing area detection unit 220 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located within the swing area RG, which is a specific area in which such an inspection is performed. In this embodiment, a swing area map MP indicating the range of the swing area RG is stored in advance in the memory 202. The swing area detection unit 220 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located within the swing area RG using the swing area map MP and the current position of the vehicle 100 estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit 210.

[0021] The driving control unit 230 controls the driving of the vehicle 100 using detection data from at least one sensor 141-145, 300 that detects the driving state of the vehicle 100. When the swing area detection unit 220 determines that the vehicle 100 is located within the swing area RG, the driving control unit 230 reduces the contribution of the detection data to driving control of the vehicle 100 compared to when the swing area detection unit 220 determines that the vehicle 100 is located outside the swing area RG. In the present disclosure, reducing the contribution of the detection data to driving control of the vehicle 100 includes, for example, when a control command value related to driving control is calculated from multiple parameters including the detection data, reducing the weighting coefficient of the detection data in a calculation formula for calculating the control command value, setting the weighting coefficient of the detection data to zero, or changing the calculation formula for calculating the control command value to another calculation formula in which the detection data is not included in the parameters. Changing the calculation formula for calculating the control command value to another calculation formula in which the detection data is not included in the parameters includes fixing the control command value to a constant value.

[0022] In this embodiment, the driving control unit 230 is configured to calculate a control command value for driving the vehicle 100 in an autonomous driving mode and to switch the driving mode in the autonomous driving control depending on the area in which the vehicle 100 is driving. The driving control unit 230 generates a driving control signal including the control command value and transmits the generated driving control signal to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 has, as driving modes for autonomous driving, a normal area driving mode set when driving on public roads or between yards within a factory KJ, for so-called normal autonomous driving, and a swing area driving mode set when driving in the swing area RG described above. The driving control unit 230 is configured to switch the driving mode to the swing area driving mode when receiving information from the swing area detection unit 220 that the vehicle 100 will be driving in the swing area RG. The swing area driving mode is sometimes referred to as a specific area driving mode.

[0023] The oscillating area driving mode is set, for example, when the vehicle 100 is traveling autonomously through a factory KJ and traveling through an oscillating area RG where the vehicle 100 may oscillate due to an inspection or the like, as described above. For example, many inspections and tests are performed when the vehicle 100 is shipped, and depending on the type of inspection or test, the vehicle 100 may oscillate. During autonomous driving, the vehicle travels based on data detected by the internal sensor group 140, the external sensor 300, etc. Therefore, if the vehicle 100 oscillates, the autonomous driving is performed based on changes in the acceleration and yaw rate of the vehicle 100 caused by the oscillating. As a result, the vehicle 100 may deviate from a predetermined route or collide with another vehicle or a worker. To prevent such a situation, the oscillating area driving mode is set when the vehicle 100 travels autonomously through an area where the vehicle 100 is intentionally oscillated.

[0024] Therefore, the oscillating area driving mode is a driving mode configured to suppress the effect of oscillating on automatic driving when vehicle 100 is oscillated due to inspection, etc. In other words, in the oscillating area driving mode, automatic driving control is performed based on predetermined parameters that are relatively less affected by oscillating due to inspection, etc., and include at least one of a parameter corresponding to the wheel speed, a parameter corresponding to the rotation speed of travel motor 121, which is the driving force source, and a parameter corresponding to the steering angle of vehicle 100.

[0025] For example, in control of the vehicle 100 in the longitudinal direction, feedback control is performed by calculating the vehicle speed and acceleration of the vehicle 100 from pulses of wheel speeds that are less susceptible to rocking and the rotation speed of the traction motor 121 based on the motor resolver 145, and automatic driving control is also performed based on information from the external sensor 300. In addition, in control of the vehicle 100 in the left-right direction (lateral direction), automatic driving control is performed by performing feedback control based on the steering angle of the vehicle 100, information from the external sensor 300, and the vehicle speed calculated as described above. Alternatively, automatic driving control is performed by narrowing the dead zone in the sensitivity characteristics of the sensors that are less susceptible to rocking of the vehicle 100 compared to the normal area driving mode, or by not setting a dead zone. The rocking area driving mode may be executed by performing at least one of these controls.

[0026] On the other hand, the oscillating area driving mode is configured to stop referencing a parameter corresponding to the acceleration of the vehicle 100 and a parameter corresponding to the yaw rate of the vehicle 100, among the multiple parameters referenced for autonomous driving. These parameters are relatively susceptible to the influence of oscillating motion of the vehicle 100 when the vehicle 100 oscillates due to an inspection. In other words, the oscillating area driving mode is a driving mode that controls autonomous driving based on values ​​of sensors, etc. that are relatively less affected by oscillating motion of the vehicle 100 due to an inspection, without referencing values ​​of sensors, etc. that are relatively more susceptible to the influence. Therefore, the normal area driving mode for autonomous driving in areas other than the oscillating area RG is capable of performing robust driving control on, for example, inclined road surfaces, whereas the oscillating area driving mode is configured to perform robust driving control against oscillating motion of the vehicle 100 due to an inspection, etc.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1 , the exterior sensor 300 is located outside the vehicle 100. The exterior sensor 300 is used to detect the position and orientation of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the exterior sensor 300 is a camera installed in the factory KJ. The exterior sensor 300 is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with the server 200 via wired or wireless communication. Note that the exterior sensor 300 is not limited to a camera and may be, for example, a LiDAR.

[0028] The notification device 400 is a device for notifying the manager of the system 10 and workers at the factory KJ that an abnormality has occurred in the factory KJ. In the following description, the manager of the system 10 and workers at the factory KJ will be referred to as the manager, etc. The notification device 400 is, for example, an alarm buzzer provided in the factory KJ, an alarm lamp provided in the factory KJ, or a display provided in the factory KJ. The notification device 400 may be a tablet terminal carried by the manager, etc. The notification device 400 is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with the server 200 via wired or wireless communication.

[0029] In this embodiment, the factory KJ includes a first location PL1 and a second location PL2. The first location PL1 and the second location PL2 are connected by a travel path SR along which the vehicle 100 can travel. In the factory KJ, a plurality of external sensors 300 are installed along the travel path SR. The first location PL1 is a location where the vehicle 100 is assembled. The vehicle 100 assembled in the first location PL1 is ready to travel in an unmanned manner. The vehicle 100 travels in an unmanned manner from the first location PL1 to the second location PL2 via the travel path SR. A swing area RG is provided on the travel path SR, and the vehicle 100 undergoes inspection in the swing area RG. The second location PL2 is a location where the vehicle 100 that has passed the inspection is stored. The vehicle 100 that has passed the inspection is then shipped from the factory KJ. Any position within the factory KJ where the vehicle 100 can travel is expressed by X, Y, and Z coordinates in a global coordinate system GA.

[0030] 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the automatic driving control in this embodiment. The processor 201 of the server 200 executes a first routine R100, and the processor 111 of the vehicle 100 executes a second routine R200.

[0031] The first routine R100 includes steps S110, S120, S130, and S140. In step S110, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 acquires vehicle position information using the detection data output from the exterior sensors 300. To acquire the vehicle position information, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 can use detection data such as acceleration and yaw rate acquired from the internal sensors 140 in addition to the detection data output from the exterior sensors 300. In this embodiment, the vehicle position information includes the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 in the global coordinate system GA. In this embodiment, the exterior sensors 300 are cameras installed in the factory KJ, and output images as detection data. The positions of the individual exterior sensors 300 are fixed, and the relative relationships between the global coordinate system GA and the local coordinate systems of the individual exterior sensors 300 are known. A coordinate transformation matrix for converting coordinates in the global coordinate system GA and coordinates in the local coordinate systems of the individual exterior sensors 300 mutually is also known. Therefore, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 can use the image acquired from the outside-vehicle sensor 300 to acquire the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 in the global coordinate system GA.

[0032] Regarding a method for acquiring the position of the vehicle 100, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 can acquire the position of the vehicle 100 by, for example, detecting the outline of the vehicle 100 from an image, calculating the coordinates of the positioning point of the vehicle 100 in the coordinate system of the image, in other words, the local coordinate system of the exterior sensor 300, and converting the calculated coordinates into coordinates in the global coordinate system GA. The outline of the vehicle 100 included in the image can be detected, for example, by inputting the image into a detection model using artificial intelligence. Examples of the detection model include a trained machine learning model trained to realize either semantic segmentation or instance segmentation. For example, this machine learning model can be a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained by supervised learning using a training dataset. The training dataset includes, for example, multiple training images including the vehicle 100 and ground truth labels indicating whether each region in the training image represents the vehicle 100 or a region other than the vehicle 100. During CNN training, it is preferable to update the parameters of the CNN by backpropagation (error backpropagation method) so as to reduce the error between the output result of the detection model and the correct label. Regarding the method of acquiring the orientation of the vehicle 100, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 can acquire the orientation of the vehicle 100 by, for example, using an optical flow method to calculate a movement vector of the vehicle 100 from the positional changes of feature points of the vehicle 100 between image frames, and estimating the orientation of the vehicle 100 based on the orientation of the movement vector.

[0033] In step S120, the driving control unit 230 determines a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. In this embodiment, the target position is represented by X, Y, and Z coordinates in the global coordinate system GA. The server 200 pre-stores an ideal route IR along which the vehicle 100 should travel. The ideal route IR is represented by nodes indicating the departure point, nodes indicating passing points, nodes indicating the destination, and links connecting the nodes. The driving control unit 230 uses the position information of the vehicle 100 and the ideal route IR to determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. The driving control unit 230 determines a target position on the ideal route IR that is ahead of the current location of the vehicle 100.

[0034] In step S130, the driving control unit 230 generates a driving control signal for driving the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In this embodiment, the driving control signal includes the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100 as parameters. For example, the driving control unit 230 calculates the current driving speed of the vehicle 100 from the change in the position of the vehicle 100 and compares the calculated driving speed with a predetermined target speed of the vehicle 100. If the driving speed is lower than the target speed, the driving control unit 230 determines the acceleration so that the vehicle 100 accelerates. If the driving speed is higher than the target speed, the driving control unit 230 determines the acceleration so that the vehicle 100 decelerates. If the vehicle 100 is located on the ideal route IR, the driving control unit 230 determines the steering angle so that the vehicle 100 does not deviate from the ideal route IR. If the vehicle 100 is not located on the ideal route IR, in other words, if the vehicle 100 has deviated from the ideal route IR, the driving control unit 230 determines the steering angle so that the vehicle 100 returns to the ideal route IR. When determining the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100, the traveling control unit 230 can use detection data such as acceleration, speed, and steering angle acquired from the internal sensor group 140.

[0035] In step S140, the driving control unit 230 transmits a driving control signal to the vehicle 100. The processor 201 repeats a first routine R100 at a predetermined cycle, which includes obtaining position information of the vehicle 100, determining a target position, generating a driving control signal, and transmitting the driving control signal.

[0036] The processor 111 of the vehicle 100 executes a second routine R200 while the first routine R100 is being executed. The second routine R200 includes steps S210 and S220. In step S210, the actuator control unit 119 receives a driving control signal from the server 200. In step S220, the actuator control unit 119 controls the actuator group 120 using the received driving control signal to cause the vehicle 100 to drive at the acceleration and steering angle included in the driving control signal. The processor 111 repeats the second routine R200, which includes receiving the driving control signal and controlling the actuator group 120, at a predetermined cycle. According to the system 10 of this embodiment, the vehicle 100 can be driven by remote control, and therefore the vehicle 100 can be moved without using transportation equipment such as a crane or a conveyor.

[0037] 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for selecting a driving mode. This processing is repeatedly executed by processor 201 of server 200. In step S1, it is determined that vehicle 100 is under automatic driving control. If automatic driving control is not being performed and the result of step S1 is negative, this flowchart is temporarily terminated without executing any further control.

[0038] On the other hand, if a positive determination is made in step S1 because automatic driving control is being performed, the process proceeds to step S2, where it is determined that the area in which the vehicle 100 is currently traveling is within the fluctuation area RG. In step S2, for example, it is determined that the vehicle 100 is traveling in the fluctuation area RG based on the current position of the vehicle 100 estimated by the vehicle position estimation unit 210 and the fluctuation area map MP. When the vehicle 100 travels in the fluctuation area RG, there is a possibility that unintended changes in acceleration or yaw rate may occur in the vehicle 100 due to fluctuations caused by inspection or the like. In step S2, it is determined that the vehicle 100 is traveling in an area where such fluctuations may occur. If a positive determination is made in step S2 because the vehicle 100 is traveling in the fluctuation area RG, the process proceeds to step S3, where fluctuation area traveling control is executed.

[0039] In step S3, since the vehicle 100 is traveling through the swaying area RG, the swaying area driving mode is selected as the driving mode for the automatic driving control. As described above, the swaying area driving mode is a driving mode that takes into account the swaying of the vehicle 100 due to inspections, etc. In the swaying area driving mode, data acquisition from the acceleration sensor 142 and the yaw rate sensor 143, which are susceptible to the swaying of the vehicle 100, is stopped, and the vehicle 100 is controlled based on values ​​calculated based on wheel speed pulses and motor rotation speed, which are less susceptible to the swaying of the vehicle 100. The automatic driving of the vehicle 100 is performed by narrowing the dead zone of sensors, etc., which are less susceptible to the swaying compared to normal automatic driving control. Alternatively, the automatic driving of the vehicle 100 is performed using the speed, acceleration, yaw rate, etc. of the vehicle 100 obtained from external information about the vehicle 100 acquired by the external sensor 300. Note that all of these may be performed when the swaying area driving mode is set, or at least one of them may be performed. Once the swaying area driving mode configured in this manner is set, this flowchart is temporarily terminated.

[0040] Conversely, if the vehicle 100 is not traveling through the swing area RG and therefore a negative determination is made in step S2, the process proceeds to step S4, where normal automatic driving control is performed. If the process proceeds to step S4, the vehicle 100 is unlikely to be swung due to an inspection or the like, and therefore the vehicle 100 can be driven by automatic driving without setting the swing area driving mode described above. Therefore, in step S4, this flowchart ends without changing the driving mode, i.e., with the normal area driving mode setting maintained.

[0041] As described above, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the vehicle 100 travels autonomously through a fluctuation area RG where fluctuations may occur due to inspections or the like within the factory KJ, the fluctuation area driving mode is set. The fluctuation area driving mode is a driving mode for autonomous driving in which the vehicle 100 is controlled based on predetermined parameters that are less susceptible to fluctuations caused by such inspections or the like, i.e., predetermined robust parameters, among multiple parameters referenced for autonomous driving, or the vehicle 100 is controlled by further increasing the sensitivity of the predetermined robust parameters, or the vehicle 100 is controlled using the vehicle speed, acceleration, yaw rate, etc. of the vehicle 100 calculated using detection data from the external sensor 300. By setting the fluctuation area driving mode configured in this manner, even if fluctuations occur in the vehicle 100 due to inspections or the like, the vehicle 100 is less likely to be affected by the fluctuations in the autonomous driving. In other words, it is possible to prevent the behavior of the vehicle 100 from becoming unstable due to vibrations caused by inspections, etc., so that automatic driving can be performed while preventing the vehicle 100 from deviating from the ideal route IR or coming into contact with other vehicles, etc. or workers.

[0042] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a first example of a processing procedure for selecting a driving mode in another embodiment. In the other embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the same control as in steps S1 and S2 shown in Fig. 5 is performed, and if the answer in step S2 is affirmative because the vehicle is traveling in the swing area RG, the process proceeds to step S11.

[0043] In step S11, it is determined whether or not a worker is present around the vehicle 100. Specifically, in step S11, it is determined that no worker is present around the vehicle 100 in the swing area RG based on information acquired from the external vehicle sensor 300 and operation management information acquired from a process management system (not shown) or the like. Alternatively, it may be determined that no worker is present within a predetermined range from the vehicle 100, taking into consideration the automatic driving performance of the vehicle 100. If a positive determination is made in step S11 due to the presence of a worker around the vehicle 100, the process proceeds to step S3, and the swing area driving mode is set as the driving mode.

[0044] On the other hand, if the determination in step S11 is negative because no workers are present around the vehicle 100, the process proceeds to step S4, where the normal area driving mode is set as the driving mode. That is, if it is confirmed that no workers are present around the vehicle 100, the possibility of the worker coming into contact with the vehicle 100 during autonomous driving is low. Therefore, in such a case, the vehicle can be driven autonomously within the swinging area in the normal area driving mode. The swinging area driving mode changes the referenced parameters as described above, and therefore can reduce the possibility of the vehicle 100 coming into contact with a worker. However, for example, when the vehicle 100 is driving on an inclined road, the control performance of the autonomous driving may be degraded. In contrast, the normal area driving mode allows the vehicle 100 to travel stably even on such slopes, thereby suppressing a degradation in the control performance of the autonomous driving even within the swinging area RG.

[0045] Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a second example of a processing procedure for selecting a driving mode in another embodiment. In the another embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the same control as in steps S1 and S2 shown in Fig. 5 is performed. If a positive determination is made in step S2 because the vehicle is traveling through the swing area RG, the process proceeds to step S21, where it is determined that the road surface within the swing area RG is inclined. If a negative determination is made in step S2 because the vehicle is not traveling through the swing area RG, the process proceeds to step S4, where the normal area driving mode is set, and this flowchart is temporarily terminated.

[0046] In step S21, for example, when information about the area in which the vehicle 100 is traveling is acquired in step S2, it is determined that a slope exists on the ideal route IR, which is the travel route that the vehicle 100 should travel within the swinging area RG. As described above, in the swinging area traveling mode, changing the parameters to be referenced may result in a decrease in the autonomous driving performance when the vehicle 100 travels on a slope, compared to the normal area traveling mode. Therefore, in step S21, it is determined that information about such a slope has been sent from the server 200. If a negative determination is made in step S21 because no slope exists on the ideal route IR of the vehicle 100 in the swinging area RG, the process proceeds to step S3, and the swinging area traveling mode is set.

[0047] On the other hand, if the answer to step S21 is affirmative because a slope exists on the ideal route IR of the vehicle 100 in the swing area RG, the process proceeds to step S22, where gradient correction is performed. In step S22, among the multiple parameters used in the swing area driving mode, parameters that are relatively significantly affected by driving on a slope are corrected taking into account the gradient of the slope, such as gradient resistance. For example, if the slope is an uphill slope, the control value is corrected to increase the drive torque output from the driving motor 121. If the slope is a downhill slope, the control value is corrected to increase the braking force generated at each wheel, or the torque distribution between the front and rear wheels is corrected.

[0048] Once the gradient correction in step S22 is complete, the process proceeds to step S3, where the swaying area driving mode is set. In step S3, the vehicle 100 is driven autonomously in the swaying area driving mode according to the gradient-corrected parameters. This flowchart is temporarily terminated once the swaying area driving mode has been set. With this configuration, if a slope exists within the swaying area RG, autonomous driving is performed in the swaying area driving mode based on the gradient-corrected parameters. Therefore, even when the swaying area driving mode is set, a decrease in the driving performance of the vehicle 100 due to the autonomous driving caused by changing the referenced parameters can be suppressed.

[0049] According to the present embodiment described above, it is possible to prevent the autonomous driving of the vehicle 100 from becoming unstable. Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above examples and may be modified as appropriate within the scope of achieving the object of the present disclosure. For example, a sign or other landmark indicating that the vehicle is in the swing area RG may be installed, and the exterior sensor 300 may detect the landmark to determine whether the vehicle 100 is traveling within the swing area RG. With such a configuration, it is possible to estimate whether the vehicle 100 is traveling within the swing area RG without using the swing area map MP described above. Furthermore, the swing area driving mode may include limiting the vehicle speed and driving the vehicle 100 autonomously.

[0050] In the processing shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 , when the traveling control unit 230 determines that the vehicle 100 is located outside the swing area RG and that the detection data used for the traveling control of the vehicle 100 is affected by a disturbance, the traveling control unit 230 may notify a manager or the like that the traveling state of the vehicle 100 may be unstable using the alarm device 400. For example, when a measurement value included in the detection data deviates from a predetermined range or when a measurement value included in the detection data fluctuates wildly, the traveling control unit 230 determines that the detection data used for the traveling control of the vehicle 100 is affected by a disturbance. In this case, the manager or the like can be made aware at an early stage that the traveling state of the vehicle 100 may be unstable. Therefore, when the traveling state of the vehicle 100 becomes unstable, it is possible to take appropriate measures at an early stage.

[0051] B. Second embodiment: FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle 100 equipped with an ECU 110, which is a control device in the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of automatic driving control in this embodiment. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the vehicle 100 does not travel by being remotely controlled from the server 200, but rather travels by autonomous control. The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment unless otherwise specified. In this embodiment, the ECU 110 may be referred to as a control device.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 8 , in this embodiment, the communication device 130 of the vehicle 100 can communicate with the vehicle exterior sensor 300 and the notification device 400 via wireless communication. In this embodiment, the processor 111 of the vehicle 100 executes a computer program PG1 pre-stored in the memory 112 to function as a vehicle position estimation unit 115, a detection unit 116, a driving control unit 117, and an actuator control unit 119. Similar to the vehicle position estimation unit 210 shown in FIG. 3 , the vehicle position estimation unit 115 acquires vehicle position information using detection data from the vehicle exterior sensor 300 and the detection data from the internal sensor group 140. Similar to the detection unit 220 shown in FIG. 3 , the detection unit 116 detects that the vehicle 100 is located in a specific area where detection data from sensors detecting the driving state of the vehicle 100 is susceptible to external disturbances. In this embodiment, the detection unit 116 acquires the fluctuation area map MP from the server 200 and detects that the vehicle 100 is located in the fluctuation area RG using the vehicle position information acquired by the vehicle position estimation unit 115 and the fluctuation area map MP. Therefore, in the following description, the detection unit 116 will be referred to as the fluctuation area detection unit 116. The driving control unit 117 switches the driving mode in the autonomous driving control depending on the area in which the vehicle 100 is driving, similar to the driving control unit 230 shown in FIG. 3. The driving control unit 117 generates a driving control signal depending on the driving mode, similar to the driving control unit 230 shown in FIG. 3. The actuator control unit 119 acquires the driving control signal generated by the driving control unit 117 and controls the actuator group 120 according to the acquired driving control signal. Note that in this embodiment, the server 200 does not include the vehicle position estimation unit 210, the detection unit 220, and the driving control unit 230 shown in FIG. 3. If the fluctuation area map MP is stored in advance in the memory 112 of the ECU 110, the system 10 does not need to include the server 200. The input / output interface 113 may be referred to as an acquisition unit, and the detection unit 116 may be referred to as a determination unit.

[0053] As shown in FIG. 9 , in this embodiment, the processor 111 of the vehicle 100 executes a third routine R300 during autonomous driving control. The third routine R300 includes steps S310, S320, S330, and S340. In step S310, the vehicle position estimation unit 115 acquires position information of the vehicle 100 using detection data output from the external sensor 300. To acquire the position information of the vehicle 100, the vehicle position estimation unit 115 may use detection data output from the internal sensor group 140. In step S320, the driving control unit 117 determines a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. In this embodiment, the memory 112 pre-stores an ideal route IR. In step S330, the driving control unit 117 generates a driving control signal for driving the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. The driving control unit 117 may use the detection data output from the internal sensor group 140 to generate the driving control signal. In step S340, actuator control unit 119 controls actuator group 120 using the driving control signal generated by driving control unit 117, thereby causing vehicle 100 to drive at the acceleration and steering angle indicated in the driving control signal. Processor 111 repeats a third routine R300, which includes obtaining position information of vehicle 100, determining a target position, generating a driving control signal, and controlling actuator group 120, at a predetermined cycle.

[0054] According to the present embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to prevent the autonomous driving of the vehicle 100 from becoming unstable. In particular, in the present embodiment, the vehicle 100 can be driven by autonomous control of the vehicle 100 without remotely controlling the vehicle 100 from the outside.

[0055] C. Third embodiment: FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle 100 equipped with an ECU 110, which is a control device in the third embodiment. The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that the vehicle 100 is equipped with a group of external sensors 150. The other configurations are the same as those in the second embodiment unless otherwise specified. In this embodiment, the ECU 110 may be referred to as a control device.

[0056] The external sensor group 150 includes at least one external sensor. In the present disclosure, the external sensor refers to a sensor mounted on the vehicle 100 for acquiring information on the external environment of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the external sensor group 150 includes a camera 151 and a LiDAR 152 as external sensors. The external sensor group 150 is connected to an input / output interface 113 of the ECU 110.

[0057] In this embodiment, the vehicle position estimation unit 115 acquires vehicle position information using detection data from the external sensor group 150 and detection data from the internal sensor group 140. The fluctuation area detection unit 116 acquires a fluctuation area map MP from the server 200, and detects that the vehicle 100 is located in the fluctuation area RG using the vehicle position information acquired by the vehicle position estimation unit 115 and the fluctuation area map MP. The driving control unit 117 switches the driving mode in the autonomous driving control depending on the area in which the vehicle 100 is driving. The driving control unit 117 generates a driving control signal depending on the driving mode. The actuator control unit 119 acquires the driving control signal generated by the driving control unit 117, and controls the actuator group 120 depending on the acquired driving control signal. In this embodiment, the sensors that detect the driving state of the vehicle 100 include the sensors 141 to 145 of the internal sensor group 140 and the sensors 151 to 152 of the external sensor group 150. The driving control unit 230 feeds back detection data from at least one of the sensors 141-145, 151-152 that detect the driving state of the vehicle 100 to the driving control of the vehicle 100. Note that the input / output interface 113 may be referred to as an acquisition unit, and the swing area detection unit 116 may be referred to as a determination unit.

[0058] According to the present embodiment described above, as in the second embodiment, it is possible to prevent the autonomous driving of the vehicle 100 from becoming unstable. In particular, in this embodiment, even if the external vehicle sensor 300 is not installed in the factory KJ, the vehicle position estimation unit 210 can acquire vehicle position information.

[0059] D. Other Embodiments: (D1) In each of the above-described embodiments, the fluctuation area detection units 116, 220 determine whether the vehicle 100 is located within the fluctuation area RG using the position information of the vehicle 100 and the fluctuation area map MP. Alternatively, the fluctuation area detection units 116, 220 may determine whether the vehicle 100 is located within the fluctuation area RG without using the fluctuation area map MP. For example, if the fluctuation area RG is an area where the vehicle 100 experiences fluctuation due to road surface irregularities, the road surface irregularity pattern is known. Therefore, a test conducted in advance can be performed to run the vehicle 100 within the fluctuation area RG, thereby determining what frequency of noise is added to the detection data of the acceleration sensor 142 mounted on the vehicle 100 traveling within the fluctuation area RG. The fluctuation area detection units 116, 220 may determine whether the vehicle 100 is located within the fluctuation area RG by detecting that noise of a predetermined frequency determined by the test has been added to the detection data of the acceleration sensor 142. In this case, the driving control units 117, 230 may perform a filter process to remove noise from the detection data of the acceleration sensor 142 during the swing area driving mode, and then use the detection data of the acceleration sensor 142 to determine a control command value for acceleration.

[0060] (D2) In each of the above-described embodiments, the control devices 110 and 200 that control the travel of the vehicle 100 set the swing area travel mode when the vehicle 100 travels in the swing area RG. In other words, the control devices 110 and 200 set a specific travel mode different from the normal travel mode when the vehicle 100 travels in a specific area. In contrast, the control devices 110 and 200 may set a specific travel mode different from the normal travel mode when the vehicle 100 travels in a specific area other than the swing area RG. For example, when detecting the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 using an image captured by the external sensor 300 installed in the factory KJ, a worker passing between the external sensor 300 and the vehicle 100 may obscure the vehicle 100, reducing the detection accuracy of the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 and making the travel of the vehicle 100 unstable. Therefore, when the vehicle 100 travels within a specific area where there is a lot of worker traffic, the contribution of the external sensor 300 in acquiring the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 may be reduced compared to when the vehicle 100 travels outside the specific area. Also, for example, when detecting the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 using an image captured by the external sensor 300 installed in the factory KJ, the influence of sunlight or the like may make it difficult to detect the vehicle 100 in the image, resulting in unstable traveling of the vehicle 100. Therefore, when the vehicle 100 travels within a specific area that is susceptible to the influence of sunlight or the like on a day and time when the vehicle 100 is susceptible to the influence of sunlight or the like, the contribution of the external sensor 300 in acquiring the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 may be reduced compared to when the vehicle 100 travels outside the specific area.

[0061] (D3) In the first embodiment described above, the server 200 executes the processes from acquiring the position information of the vehicle 100 to generating the driving control signal. However, at least a part of the processes from acquiring the position information of the vehicle 100 to generating the driving control signal may be executed by the vehicle 100. For example, the following forms (1) to (3) may be used.

[0062] (1) The server 200 may acquire position information of the vehicle 100, determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head, and generate a route from the current location of the vehicle 100 indicated in the acquired position information to the target position. The server 200 may generate a route to the target position between the current location and the destination, or may generate a route to the destination. The server 200 may transmit the generated route to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 may generate a driving control signal so that the vehicle 100 drives on the route received from the server 200, and control the actuator group 120 using the generated driving control signal.

[0063] (2) Server 200 may acquire location information of vehicle 100 and transmit the acquired location information to vehicle 100. Vehicle 100 may determine a target location to which vehicle 100 should next head, generate a route from the current location of vehicle 100 indicated in the received location information to the target location, generate a driving control signal so that vehicle 100 travels on the generated route, and control actuator group 120 using the generated driving control signal.

[0064] (3) In the above embodiments (1) and (2), the vehicle 100 may be equipped with the internal sensor group 140 or the external sensor group 150, and detection data output from the internal sensor group 140 or the external sensor group 150 may be used for at least one of generating a route and generating a driving control signal. For example, in the above embodiment (1), the server 200 may acquire detection data from the internal sensor group 140 or the external sensor group 150, and may reflect the detection data from the internal sensor group 140 or the external sensor group 150 in the route when generating a route. In the above embodiment (1), the vehicle 100 may acquire detection data from the internal sensor group 140 or the external sensor group 150, and may reflect the detection data from the internal sensor group 140 or the external sensor group 150 in the driving control signal when generating a driving control signal. For example, in the above embodiment (2), the vehicle 100 may acquire detection data from the internal sensor group 140 and the external sensor group 150, and may reflect the detection data from the internal sensor group 140 and the external sensor group 150 in the route when generating the route. In the above embodiment (2), the vehicle 100 may acquire detection data from the internal sensor group 140 and the external sensor group 150, and may reflect the detection data from the internal sensor group 140 and the external sensor group 150 in the route when generating the travel control signal.

[0065] (D4) In the first embodiment described above, the server 200 may acquire a target arrival time at the destination of the vehicle 100 and traffic congestion information, and may reflect the target arrival time and traffic congestion information in at least one of the route and the traveling control signal. Also, in the second and third embodiments described above, the vehicle 100 may acquire a target arrival time at the destination and traffic congestion information from outside the vehicle 100, and may reflect the target arrival time and traffic congestion information in at least one of the route and the traveling control signal.

[0066] (D5) In each of the above-described embodiments, all of the functional configurations of the system 10 may be provided in the vehicle 100. In other words, the processing performed by the system 10 described in the present disclosure may be performed by the vehicle 100 alone.

[0067] (D6) In the first embodiment described above, the server 200 automatically generates the driving control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100. However, the server 200 may generate the driving control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100 in accordance with manual operation by an operator located outside the vehicle 100. For example, the operator may operate a control device including a display that displays images output from the external sensor 300, a steering wheel for remotely operating the vehicle 100, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and a communication device for communicating with the server 200 via wired or wireless communication, and the server 200 may generate the driving control signal in accordance with the operation applied to the control device.

[0068] (D7) In each of the above-described embodiments, the vehicle 100 may have a configuration capable of moving by unmanned driving, and may be in the form of a platform having the configuration described below, for example. Specifically, the vehicle 100 may have at least an ECU 110 and an actuator group 120 to perform the three functions of "running," "turning," and "stopping" by unmanned driving. When the vehicle 100 acquires information from the outside for unmanned driving, the vehicle 100 may further have a communication device 130. When detection data from the internal sensor group 140 is used for unmanned driving, the vehicle 100 may further have the internal sensor group 140. When detection data from the external sensor group 150 is used for unmanned driving, the vehicle 100 may further have the external sensor group 150. In other words, the vehicle 100 capable of moving by unmanned driving may not be equipped with at least some interior parts such as seats and a dashboard, may not be equipped with at least some exterior parts such as bumpers and fenders, and may not be equipped with a body shell. In this case, the remaining parts such as the body shell may be attached to the vehicle 100 before the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory KJ, or the remaining parts such as the body shell may be attached to the vehicle 100 after the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory KJ without the remaining parts such as the body shell being attached to the vehicle 100. Each part may be attached from any direction, such as the top, bottom, front, rear, right side, or left side of the vehicle 100, and may be attached from the same direction or from different directions. Note that the position of the platform configuration may also be determined in the same way as for the vehicle 100 in each of the above embodiments.

[0069] (D8) The vehicle 100 may be manufactured by combining multiple modules. A module refers to a unit composed of multiple parts grouped according to the location or function of the vehicle 100. For example, the platform of the vehicle 100 may be manufactured by combining a front module that forms the front part of the platform, a central module that forms the center part of the platform, and a rear module that forms the rear part of the platform. The number of modules that form the platform is not limited to three, and may be two or less, or four or more. In addition to or instead of the parts that form the platform, parts that form parts of the vehicle 100 other than the platform may be modularized. The various modules may include any exterior parts such as a bumper or a grille, or any interior parts such as a seat or a console. In addition to the vehicle 100, any type of mobile object may be manufactured by combining multiple modules. Such a module may be manufactured, for example, by joining multiple parts by welding or fasteners, or by integrally molding at least some of the parts that form the module into a single part by casting. The molding method for integrally molding a single component, particularly a relatively large component, is also called gigacasting or megacasting. For example, the front module, center module, and rear module described above may be manufactured using gigacasting.

[0070] (D9) In each of the above-described embodiments, vehicle 100 is not limited to a passenger car, and may be, for example, a truck, a bus, a construction vehicle, or the like. Vehicle 100 is not limited to a four-wheeled vehicle, and may be, for example, a two-wheeled vehicle. Vehicle 100 is not limited to a vehicle that runs on wheels, and may be a vehicle that runs on caterpillars.

[0071] (D10) Transporting vehicle 100 using the unmanned driving of vehicle 100 is also called "self-propelled transport." The configuration for realizing self-propelled transport is also called a "vehicle remote-controlled autonomous transport system." The production method for producing vehicle 100 using self-propelled transport is also called "self-propelled production." In self-propelled production, for example, at a factory KJ where vehicle 100 is manufactured, at least a portion of the transport of vehicle 100 is realized by self-propelled transport.

[0072] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be realized in various configurations without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each aspect described in the Summary of the Invention section can be appropriately replaced or combined to solve some or all of the above-described problems or achieve some or all of the above-described effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be appropriately deleted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 10...system, 100...vehicle, 111...processor, 112...memory, 113...input / output interface, 114...internal bus, 115...vehicle position estimation unit, 116...sway area detection unit, 117...driving control unit, 119...actuator control unit, 120...actuator group, 121...driving motor, 130...communication device, 140...internal sensor group, 141...wheel speed sensor, 142...acceleration sensor, 143...yaw rate sensor, 144...steering angle sensor, 145...motor resolver, 150...external sensor group, 151...camera, 152...LiDAR, 200...server, 201...processor, 202...memory, 203...input / output interface, 204...internal bus, 205...communication device, 210...vehicle position estimation unit, 220...sway area detection unit, 230...driving control unit, 300...external sensor, 400...alarm device

Claims

1. A control device, an acquisition unit that acquires detection data from a sensor that detects the driving state of the unmanned vehicle; a determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is located within a specific area that is predetermined as an area where the detection data is susceptible to disturbances caused by road surface conditions; a driving control unit capable of controlling driving of the vehicle using the detection data, wherein when the determination unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area, the driving control unit reduces the contribution of the detection data to driving control of the vehicle compared to when the determination unit determines that the vehicle is located outside the specific area; A control device comprising:

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, The determination unit determines whether the vehicle is located within the specific area using the vehicle's position information and a map indicating the specific area.

3. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, The determination unit further determines whether a person is present in the specific area, The driving control unit, when the judgment unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area and that a person is present within the specific area, reduces the contribution of the detection data to the driving control of the vehicle compared to when the judgment unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area and that no person is present within the specific area.

4. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, the detection data includes a parameter corresponding to an acceleration of the vehicle and a parameter corresponding to a yaw rate of the vehicle; The driving control unit controls the driving of the vehicle without using a parameter corresponding to the acceleration of the vehicle and a parameter corresponding to the yaw rate of the vehicle contained in the detection data when the judgment unit determines that the vehicle is located within the specific area.

5. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, The control device, when the traveling control unit determines that the detection data is affected by the disturbance outside the specific area, executes an alert by an alert device.

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