System, server, vehicle and method

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of appropriately executing guide follow-up control.SOLUTION: A system includes: a position determination part for determining whether or not a vehicle is positioned in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination part for determining whether or not a wheel of the vehicle is brought into contact with an obstacle; and a control part for controlling travel of the vehicle, according to a determination result of the position determination part and a determination result of the contact determination part. The control part executes first control of traveling the vehicle so that it follows a target track or stopping the vehicle when it is determined by the position determination part that the vehicle is not positioned in the guide area, and it is determined by the contact determination part that the wheel of the vehicle is brought into contact with the obstacle, or second control of travelling the vehicle so that it follows the obstacle, when it is determined by the position determination part that the vehicle is positioned in the guide area and it is determined by the contact determination part that the wheel of the vehicle is brought into contact with the obstacle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a system, a server, a vehicle, and a method. [Background technology]

[0002] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-265438 is a known technical document relating to an automated driving system. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-265438 discloses a technology in which map data including information on a guide guide section and a driving route is stored in a storage device of a vehicle, and the vehicle is controlled to prevent deviation from the driving route. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-265438 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When map data is stored in a vehicle storage device as in the above-mentioned conventional technology, it may be necessary to simplify the information about the guide included in the map data. However, if the information about the guide is simplified, it may become difficult to appropriately execute guide following control that causes the vehicle to travel so as to follow the guide.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technique that can appropriately execute guide following control. [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 system including: a position determination unit that determines whether a vehicle is located in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; and a control unit that controls traveling of the vehicle in accordance with the determination result from the position determination unit and the determination result from the contact determination unit. The control unit executes a first control to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle; and a second control to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle. According to this type of system, the vehicle can be made to travel so as to follow the guide. (2) The system of the above form may further include a direction determination unit that determines the guidance direction of the guide based on the direction of the load that the wheels of the vehicle receive from the guide, and the control unit may cause the vehicle to travel along the guidance direction. According to this type of system, the vehicle can be made to travel in the direction guided by the guide. (3) In the system of the above aspect, when the guidance direction differs from the target trajectory, the control unit may correct the target trajectory so as to be in line with the guidance direction. According to this type of system, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from traveling outside the guide. (4) In the system of the above form, the position determination unit may determine whether the vehicle is located in the guide area based on the recognition results of a sign corresponding to the guide area or a road marking corresponding to the guide area, based on an image captured by the vehicle's front camera. According to this type of system, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the vehicle is located in the guide area. (5) According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a server including: a position determination unit that determines whether a vehicle is located in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; and a remote control unit that remotely controls traveling of the vehicle in accordance with the determination result from the position determination unit and the determination result from the contact determination unit. The remote control unit executes a first control to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle; and a second control to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle. According to the server of this type, the vehicle can be made to travel so as to follow the guide. (6) According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a vehicle including: a position determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is located in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; and a driving control unit that controls driving of the vehicle in accordance with the determination result from the position determination unit and the determination result from the contact determination unit. The driving control unit executes a first control to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle; and executes a second control to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle. According to this type of vehicle, the vehicle can be made to travel so as to follow the guide. (7) According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method comprising: a position determination step of determining whether a vehicle is located in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination step of determining whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; and a control step of controlling traveling of the vehicle according to the determination result of the position determination step and the determination result of the contact determination step. The control step performs a first control of causing the vehicle to travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle when it is determined in the position determination step that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and it is determined in the contact determination step that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle; and a second control of causing the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle when it is determined in the position determination step that the vehicle is located in the guide area and it is determined in the contact determination step that the wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle. According to the method of this aspect, the vehicle can be made to travel so as to follow the guide. The present disclosure may be realized in various forms other than a system, a server, a vehicle, and a method, such as a computer program and a recording medium on which the computer program is recorded. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] An explanatory diagram showing the factory site. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for vehicle travel control in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining a position. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for control within a guide area. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for outside guide area control. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle according to a second embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for vehicle travel control according to a second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a guide portion according to another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] A. First embodiment: FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a system 10 in a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a site 90 of a factory FC. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle 100. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a server 200. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the system 10 includes a vehicle 100, a server 200, and at least one external sensor 300.

[0010] Vehicle 100 moves by means of wheels WH. In the present disclosure, wheels WH include caterpillar tracks. Vehicle 100 is, for example, a passenger car, a truck, a bus, a two-wheeled vehicle, a four-wheeled vehicle, a tank, a construction vehicle, etc. Vehicle 100 is, for example, a gasoline-powered vehicle, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an electric vehicle (BEV: Battery Electric Vehicle), or a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV: Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle).

[0011] The vehicle 100 is configured to be capable of traveling by unmanned driving. "Unmanned driving" refers to driving without the driver's control. Driving control refers to operations related to at least one of "running," "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 vehicle 100 traveling by unmanned driving may have a driver on board who does not operate the vehicle. Examples of drivers who do not operate the vehicle include a person simply sitting in a seat in the vehicle 100, or a person who is riding in the vehicle 100 and performing tasks other than driving operations, such as assembly, inspection, or operating switches. 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." Note that driving with a driver operating the vehicle is sometimes referred to as "manned driving."

[0012] In this specification, "remote control" includes "full remote control" in which all of the operations of vehicle 100 are completely determined from outside vehicle 100, and "partial remote control" in which some of the operations of vehicle 100 are determined from outside vehicle 100. Furthermore, "autonomous control" includes "full autonomous control" in which vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own operations without receiving any information from devices external to vehicle 100, and "partial autonomous control" in which vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own operations using information received from devices external to vehicle 100.

[0013] In this embodiment, the system 10 is used in a factory FC that manufactures vehicles 100. The reference coordinate system of the factory FC is a global coordinate system GC. That is, any position in the factory FC is expressed by X, Y, and Z coordinates in the global coordinate system GC. The factory FC has a first location PL1 and a second location PL2. The first location PL1 and the second location PL2 are connected by a road 20 along which the vehicle 100 can travel. A plurality of external sensors 300 are installed along the road 20 in the factory FC. The position of each external sensor 300 in the factory FC is adjusted in advance. The vehicle 100 moves from the first location PL1 to the second location PL2 along the road 20 in an unmanned driving manner.

[0014] The external sensor 300 is a sensor located outside the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the external sensor 300 is a sensor for acquiring the position and orientation of the vehicle 100. Specifically, the external sensor 300 is configured by a camera. The camera as the external sensor 300 captures an image of the vehicle 100 passing through the road 20 and outputs the captured image as a detection result. The external sensor 300 is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with other devices such as the server 200 via wired communication or wireless communication.

[0015] 2 shows an example of a site 90 of a factory FC. In the following description, the site 90 of the factory FC will be referred to as the factory site 90. In this embodiment, the factory FC is a factory where the vehicle 100 is manufactured. Note that the factory FC is not limited to a factory where the vehicle 100 is manufactured, and may be, for example, a factory where the vehicle 100 is maintained.

[0016] The vehicle 100 travels on a road 20 within the factory site 90. The road 20 is a driving path along which the vehicle 100 must travel within the factory site 90. The road 20 is demarcated, for example, by white lines formed on the road surface. The vehicle 100 travels along a target trajectory 21 for autonomous driving. The target trajectory 21 is set to extend along the road 20. The target trajectory 21 may be erroneously set to the center of the road 20 or in a direction deviating from the road 20 due to a sensor abnormality or other influence.

[0017] The factory site 90 includes a guide area 30. In this embodiment, the factory site 90 includes a plurality of guide areas 30. The guide area 30 is an area within the road 20. A guide section 40 is provided in the guide area 30. The guide section 40 has an uneven structure provided on the road surface of the factory site 90. In other words, the guide area 30 is an area that includes at least one of a recessed section provided on the road surface and a protruding section provided on the road surface. The guide section 40 includes a pair of guide rails 41 and a guide hole 42. Note that the guide rails 41 may sometimes be simply referred to as a guide.

[0018] The guide rails 41 are convex portions formed on the road surface of the factory site 90. When viewed vertically, the pair of guide rails 41 are aligned in the width direction of the road 20. When viewed vertically, the guide rail 41 includes an inclined portion 41a that is inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the road 20, and a parallel portion 41b that is parallel to the traveling direction. The width between the pair of inclined portions 41a gradually decreases as the vehicle progresses in the traveling direction. The parallel portion 41b is located downstream of the inclined portion 41a in the traveling direction. The guide rails 41 guide the vehicle 100 along a guiding direction D. When viewed vertically, the guiding direction D is parallel to the extending direction of the guide rails 41.

[0019] The guide hole 42 is a recess formed in the road surface of the factory site 90. The guide hole 42 is located downstream of the guide rail 41 in the traveling direction of the road 20. When viewed vertically, the guide hole 42 extends along the width direction of the road 20. The guide hole 42 leads to a pair of parallel portions 41b.

[0020] Signs 51 or road markings 52 corresponding to the guide area 30 are provided on the factory site 90. The signs 51 are provided just before the guide area 30 in the direction of travel on the road 20. In other words, the vehicle 100 passes the sign 51 before passing the guide area 30. The sign 51 is provided, for example, on the outside of the road 20. For example, letters or symbols for identifying the guide area 30 are displayed on the sign 51.

[0021] The road markings 52 are provided just before the guide area 30 in the traveling direction of the road 20. In other words, the vehicle 100 passes through the guide area 30 after passing the road markings 52. The road markings 52 are provided, for example, on the surface of the road 20. The road markings 52 are, for example, letters or symbols for recognizing the guide area 30.

[0022] 3, the vehicle 100 includes an ECU 110 for controlling each part of the vehicle 100, a communication device 120 for communicating with an external device such as a server 200 via wireless communication, an on-board sensor 140, and an actuator group 150 including at least one actuator that is driven under the control of the ECU 110. In this embodiment, the actuator group 150 includes a drive actuator 151, a brake actuator 152, and a steering actuator 153.

[0023] In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 further includes a front camera 130. The front camera 130 is provided inside the cabin of the vehicle 100. The front camera 130 captures an image ahead of the vehicle 100. The front camera 130 transmits information about the captured image to the ECU 110. The information about the captured image is transmitted from the ECU 110 to the server 200 via the communication device 120. Note that the vehicle 100 does not necessarily have to include the front camera 130.

[0024] The on-vehicle sensor 140 is an internal sensor provided in the vehicle 100. The on-vehicle sensor 140 detects the running state of the vehicle 100. The on-vehicle sensor 140 includes, for example, a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a sensor for detecting the driving torque of the vehicle 100, and a sensor for detecting the steering torque of the vehicle 100. The on-vehicle sensor 140 detects, for example, the driving torque of the vehicle 100 and the steering torque of the vehicle 100 as the running state of the vehicle 100. The on-vehicle sensor 140 transmits information related to the running state of the vehicle 100 to the ECU 110. The information related to the running state of the vehicle 100 is transmitted from the ECU 110 to the server 200 via the communication device 120.

[0025] The drive actuator 151 controls the drive force of the vehicle 100 in response to a driving control signal from the ECU 110. Specifically, the drive actuator 151 controls the amount of air supplied to the engine (throttle opening) to control the drive force of the vehicle 100. If the vehicle 100 is a hybrid vehicle, in addition to the amount of air supplied to the engine, a driving control signal from the ECU 110 is input to a motor serving as a power source to control the drive force. If the vehicle 100 is an electric vehicle, a driving control signal from the ECU 110 is input to a motor serving as a power source to control the drive force. In these cases, the motor serving as a power source constitutes the drive actuator 151.

[0026] The brake actuator 152 controls the braking force of the vehicle 100 in response to a driving control signal from the ECU 110. Specifically, the brake actuator 152 controls a brake system in response to the driving control signal from the ECU 110, and controls the braking force applied to the wheels of the vehicle 100. As the brake system, for example, a hydraulic brake system can be used.

[0027] The steering actuator 153 controls the steering torque or steering angle of the vehicle 100 in response to a driving control signal from the ECU 110. Specifically, the steering actuator 153 controls the drive of an assist motor that controls the steering torque or steering angle in the electric power steering system in response to the driving control signal from the ECU 110.

[0028] 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 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 a communication device 120, a front camera 130, an on-board sensor 140, and actuators 151 to 153 of an actuator group 150. In this embodiment, the processor 111 functions as a driving control unit 115 by executing a computer program PG1 stored in advance in the memory 112.

[0029] The driving control unit 115 controls the actuator group 150 to drive the vehicle 100. The driving control unit 115 controls the actuator group 150 using a driving control signal received from the server 200 to drive the vehicle 100. The driving control signal is a control signal for driving the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the driving control signal includes the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100 as parameters. In other embodiments, the driving control signal may include the speed of the vehicle 100 as a parameter instead of or in addition to the acceleration of the vehicle 100.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 4, 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 processor 201, the memory 202, and the input / output interface 203 are connected via the internal bus 204 to enable bidirectional communication. A communication device 205 is connected to the input / output interface 203 for communicating with various devices external to the server 200. The communication device 205 can communicate with the vehicle 100 via wireless communication and can communicate with each external sensor 300 via wired or wireless communication. The processor 201 executes a computer program PG2 pre-stored in the memory 202 to function as a remote control unit 210, a position determination unit 220, a contact determination unit 230, and a direction determination unit 240.

[0031] The remote control unit 210 acquires position information of the vehicle 100 using the external sensor 300, generates a driving control signal for controlling the actuator group 150 of the vehicle 100 according to the position information of the vehicle 100, and transmits the driving control signal to the vehicle 100, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to drive by remote control. The remote control unit 210 may generate and output not only the driving control signal but also control signals for controlling actuators that operate various accessories provided in the vehicle 100 and various equipment such as wipers, power windows, and lamps. In other words, the remote control unit 210 may operate these various equipment and accessories by remote control.

[0032] The position determination unit 220 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30. "The vehicle is located in the guide area" means that the vehicle 100 is located within the guide area 30 or near the guide area 30. In this embodiment, guide area information indicating the range of the guide area 30 is stored in advance in the memory 202. The position determination unit 220 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located within the range of the guide area 30 based on the guide area information and the position information of the vehicle 100 acquired by the remote control unit 210. Note that the position determination unit 220 may determine that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 when the vehicle 100 is located within the range of the guide area 30 or near the guide area 30.

[0033] In a configuration in which the vehicle 100 is equipped with the forward camera 130, the position determination unit 220 may determine whether or not the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 from the recognition result of the signboard 51 or the road marking 52 based on the image captured by the forward camera 130 of the vehicle 100. Specifically, the position determination unit 220 may determine that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 if the size of the characters, symbols, etc. displayed on the signboard 51 or the road marking 52 in the captured image captured by the forward camera 130 is larger than a predetermined value. The position determination unit 220 recognizes the signboard 51 or the road marking 52 appearing in the captured image by well-known image processing methods such as edge extraction, noise removal, pattern matching, deep learning, etc.

[0034] The contact determination unit 230 determines whether the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with an obstacle based on the detection result of the on-board sensor 140. Specifically, the contact determination unit 230 determines that the wheel WH is in contact with an obstacle, for example, when the difference between the driving torque of the vehicle 100, the steering torque of the vehicle 100, the driving torque of the assist motor, or the like and an assumed value is larger than a predetermined value. In a configuration in which the vehicle 100 is equipped with a front camera 130, the contact determination unit 230 may determine that the wheel WH is in contact with an obstacle, for example, when the difference between the orientation of the vehicle 100 and an assumed value in an image captured by the front camera 130 is larger than a predetermined value. The contact determination unit 230 determines that the wheel WH is in contact with an obstacle, for example, when the difference between the vehicle speed, acceleration, yaw rate, or the like of the vehicle 100 and an assumed value is larger than a predetermined value. Each of the above assumed values ​​may be a preset value. Each of the above estimated values ​​is a value obtained by sequentially calculating the torque generated when assuming that vehicle 100 is traveling on a smooth road surface, based on vehicle conditions such as the vehicle speed or steering angle of vehicle 100.

[0035] The direction determination unit 240 determines the guide direction D of the guide rail 41 based on the direction of the load that the wheel WH receives from the guide rail 41. The direction determination unit 240 estimates the magnitude and direction of the disturbance torque that is generated due to the load that the wheel WH receives from the guide rail 41 based on the current steering angle and the drive torque of the assist motor controlled by the electric power steering system. The direction determination unit 240 determines the guide direction D based on the magnitude and direction of the disturbance torque.

[0036] In this embodiment, the remote control unit 210 remotely controls the traveling of the vehicle 100 based on the determination results of the position determination unit 220 and the contact determination unit 230. Specifically, the remote control unit 210 executes target trajectory tracking control when the position determination unit 220 determines that the vehicle 100 is not located in the guide area 30 and the contact determination unit 230 determines that the wheel WH is in contact with an obstacle. In the target trajectory tracking control, the remote control unit 210 treats the obstacle as a disturbance and causes the vehicle 100 to travel so as to follow the target trajectory 21. In the target trajectory tracking control, the remote control unit 210 causes the vehicle 100 to travel so as to overcome the obstacle. In the target trajectory tracking control, the remote control unit 210 does not execute control of the steering angle to avoid the obstacle.

[0037] The remote control unit 210 executes guide following control when the position determination unit 220 determines that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 and the abutment determination unit 230 determines that the wheel WH is in abutment with an obstacle. In the guide following control, the remote control unit 210 causes the vehicle 100 to travel so as to follow the guide rail 41, which is the obstacle. In the guide following control, the remote control unit 210 causes the vehicle 100 to travel so as not to go over the guide rail 41. In the guide following control, the remote control unit 210 executes control of the steering angle to avoid the guide rail 41.

[0038] In the guide following control, the remote control unit 210 causes the vehicle 100 to travel along the guide direction D of the guide rail 41 determined by the direction determination unit 240. The remote control unit 210 changes the steering angle toward the guide direction D determined by the direction determination unit 240. The remote control unit 210 changes the steering angle so as to reduce the disturbance torque generated by the load that the wheel WH receives from the guide rail 41. The remote control unit 210 continues to change the steering angle until the disturbance torque becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value. As a result, the vehicle 100 travels along the guide direction D. The vehicle 100 may travel with the wheel WH in contact with the guide rail 41. Note that the remote control unit 210 may temporarily stop the vehicle 100 when the wheel WH abuts against the guide hole 42.

[0039] When the guidance direction D differs from the target trajectory 21, the remote control unit 210 corrects the target trajectory 21 to align with the guidance direction D. The guidance direction D differing from the target trajectory 21 means, for example, that the angle between the guidance direction D and the target trajectory 21 is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle. The guidance direction D differing from the target trajectory 21 may also mean that the distance between the guide rail 41 and the target trajectory 21 in the width direction of the road 20 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. The predetermined angle and the predetermined distance are not particularly limited and can be set to any value in advance. The predetermined angle and the predetermined distance may be determined in advance based on, for example, the width of the vehicle 100 and the width of the road 20.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 2, the target trajectory 21 may include a deviation area 21a. The deviation area 21a is located within the guide area 30. The deviation area 21a is inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the road 20. The deviation area 21a is inclined with respect to the guidance direction D. The angle between the guidance direction D and the deviation area 21a is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle. The distance between one guide rail 41 and the target trajectory 21 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. In other words, the deviation area 21a differs from the guidance direction D. If the vehicle 100 travels along the deviation area 21a, there is a risk that it will deviate from the road 20. The remote control unit 210 corrects the deviation area 21a to a correction area 21b. The extension direction of the correction area 21b approximately coincides with the guidance direction D.

[0041] 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for driving control of the vehicle 100 in this embodiment. In the processing procedure in FIG. 5, the processor 201 of the server 200 functions as the remote control unit 210 by executing the computer program PG2. Also, the processor 111 of the vehicle 100 functions as the driving control unit 115 by executing the computer program PG1.

[0042] In step S110, the remote control unit 210 acquires vehicle position information of the vehicle 100 using the detection results output from the external sensor 300. The vehicle position information is position information that serves as the basis for generating a driving control signal. In this embodiment, the vehicle position information includes the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 in the global coordinate system GC of the factory FC. Specifically, in step S110, the remote control unit 210 acquires the vehicle position information using a captured image acquired from a camera, which is the external sensor 300.

[0043] In detail, in step S110, the remote control unit 210, for example, detects the outer shape of the vehicle 100 from the captured image, calculates the coordinates of the positioning point of the vehicle 100 in the coordinate system of the captured image, i.e., the local coordinate system, and converts the calculated coordinates into coordinates in the global coordinate system GC, thereby acquiring the position of the vehicle 100. The outer shape of the vehicle 100 contained in the captured image can be detected, for example, by inputting the captured image into a detection model DM that utilizes artificial intelligence. The detection model DM is prepared, for example, inside or outside the system 10 and pre-stored in the memory 202 of the server 200. The detection model DM can be, for example, a trained machine learning model that has been trained to achieve either semantic segmentation or instance segmentation. For example, a convolutional neural network (hereinafter, CNN) trained by supervised learning using a training dataset can be used as this machine learning model. The training dataset includes, for example, a plurality of training images including the vehicle 100, and labels indicating whether each region in the training images represents the vehicle 100 or a region other than the vehicle 100. During CNN training, it is preferable to update the CNN parameters using backpropagation (backpropagation) to reduce the error between the output result of the detection model DM and the label. Furthermore, the remote control unit 210 can acquire the orientation of the vehicle 100 by estimating the orientation based on the orientation of the movement vector of the vehicle 100 calculated from the positional changes of feature points of the vehicle 100 between frames of captured images, for example, using an optical flow method.

[0044] In step S120, the remote control unit 210 determines a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head, and a target trajectory 21 along which the vehicle 100 will move from its current location to the target position. In this embodiment, the target position is represented by X, Y, and Z coordinates in a global coordinate system GC. A reference route RR, which is the route the vehicle 100 should travel, is stored in advance in the memory 202 of the server 200. The route is represented by nodes indicating the departure point, nodes indicating passing points, nodes indicating the destination, and links connecting the nodes. The remote control unit 210 uses the vehicle position information and the reference route RR to determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. The remote control unit 210 determines a target position on the reference route RR that is ahead of the current location of the vehicle 100.

[0045] In step S130, the remote control unit 210 generates a travel control signal for causing the vehicle 100 to travel toward the determined target position. The remote control unit 210 calculates the travel speed of the vehicle 100 from the change in the position of the vehicle 100 and compares the calculated travel speed with the target speed. If the travel speed is lower than the target speed, the remote control unit 210 determines an acceleration rate so that the vehicle 100 accelerates. If the travel speed is higher than the target speed, the remote control unit 210 determines an acceleration rate so that the vehicle 100 decelerates. Furthermore, if the vehicle 100 is located on the reference route RR, the remote control unit 210 determines a steering angle and acceleration rate so that the vehicle 100 does not deviate from the reference route RR. If the vehicle 100 is not located on the reference route RR, in other words, if the vehicle 100 has deviated from the reference route RR, the remote control unit 210 determines a steering angle and acceleration rate so that the vehicle 100 returns to the reference route RR.

[0046] In step S140, remote control unit 210 transmits the generated driving control signal to vehicle 100. Remote control unit 210 repeats, at a predetermined cycle, acquisition of vehicle position information, determination of a target position, generation of a driving control signal, and transmission of the driving control signal.

[0047] In step S150, the driving control unit 115 receives a driving control signal transmitted from the server 200. In step S160, the driving control unit 115 controls the actuator group 150 using the received driving control signal, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to drive at the acceleration and steering angle indicated in the driving control signal. The driving control unit 115 repeats receiving the driving control signal and controlling the actuator group 150 at a predetermined cycle. According to the system 10 of this embodiment, the vehicle 100 can be driven by remote control, and the vehicle 100 can be moved without using transportation equipment such as a crane or conveyor.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the position determination process executed by the processor 201 of the server 200. In step S1, the processor 201 determines whether or not the vehicle 100 is autonomously driving. If the processor 201 determines that the vehicle 100 is autonomously driving (step S1: YES), the process proceeds to step S2. If the processor 201 determines that the vehicle 100 is not autonomously driving (step S1: NO), the process ends. In step S2, the processor 201 determines whether or not the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30. If the processor 201 determines that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 (step S2: YES), the process proceeds to step S3. If the processor 201 determines that the vehicle 100 is not located in the guide area 30 (step S2: NO), the process proceeds to step S4. In step S3, the processor 201 executes in-guide-area control. In step S4, the processor 201 executes out-of-guide-area control.

[0049] 7 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for the in-guide area control. In step S31, the processor 201 determines whether the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with an obstacle. If the processor 201 determines that the wheel WH is in contact with an obstacle (step S31: YES), the process proceeds to step S32. If the processor 201 determines that the wheel WH is not in contact with an obstacle (step S31: NO), the process proceeds to step S33. In step S32, the processor 201 executes guide following control. In step S33, the processor 201 executes target trajectory following control. Note that the target trajectory following control may be referred to as first control, and the guide following control may be referred to as second control.

[0050] 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for outside-guide-area control. In step S41, the processor 201 determines whether the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with an obstacle. If the processor 201 determines that the wheel WH is in contact with an obstacle (step S41: YES), the processor 201 proceeds to step S42. If the processor 201 determines that the wheel WH is not in contact with an obstacle (step S41: NO), the processor 201 ends the current processing.

[0051] In step S42, the processor 201 determines whether the load that the vehicle 100 receives from the obstacle is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. The predetermined threshold is determined in advance based on the specifications of the vehicle 100 or the shape of the guide rail 41. For example, the predetermined threshold increases as the degree of unevenness of the guide rail 41 increases.

[0052] If the processor 201 determines that the load received by the vehicle 100 from the obstacle is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold (step S42: YES), the processor 201 proceeds to step S43. If the processor 201 determines that the load received by the vehicle 100 from the obstacle is greater than the predetermined threshold (step S42: NO), the processor 201 proceeds to step S44. In step S43, the processor 201 executes target trajectory tracking control. In step S44, the processor 201 executes obstacle avoidance control. The obstacle avoidance control is executed using known technology. The target trajectory tracking control may be referred to as the first control, and the obstacle avoidance control may be referred to as the third control.

[0053] According to the system 10 of the present embodiment described above, when the position determination unit 220 determines that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 and the abutment determination unit 230 determines that the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is abutting an obstacle, the remote control unit 210 executes the guide-following control, assuming that the obstacle is the guide rail 41. As a result, even when the information about the guide rail 41 included in the guide area 30 is simplified (for example, when there is no detailed information about the shape of the guide rail 41), when the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30, the remote control unit 210 can execute the guide-following control based on the determination result of whether the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is abutting an obstacle. Therefore, according to the system 10, the guide-following control can be executed appropriately. Furthermore, according to the system 10, the position of the vehicle 100 can be controlled more accurately.

[0054] The system 10 includes a direction determination unit 240 that determines the guide direction D of the guide rail 41 based on the direction of the load that the wheels WH of the vehicle 100 receive from the guide rail 41. The remote control unit 210 causes the vehicle 100 to travel along the guide direction D. This allows the guide following control to be performed appropriately even when the information about the guide rail 41 included in the guide area 30 is simplified.

[0055] When the guide direction D differs from the target trajectory 21, the remote control unit 210 corrects the target trajectory 21 so that it follows the guide direction D. This makes it possible to more appropriately perform guide following control.

[0056] The position determination unit 220 may determine whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 from the recognition result of the signboard 51 or the road marking 52 based on the image captured by the front camera 130 of the vehicle 100. This makes it possible to easily determine whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30, and to appropriately execute guide following control.

[0057] B. Second embodiment: Fig. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a system 10b in the second embodiment. Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle 100. The system 10b in this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it does not include a server 200 and that the vehicle 100 travels under autonomous control of the vehicle 100. The other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment unless otherwise specified.

[0058] 10 , in this embodiment, the processor 111 of the ECU 110 executes a computer program PG1 pre-stored in the memory 112, thereby functioning as a cruise control unit 115, a position determination unit 116, a contact determination unit 117, and a direction determination unit 118. The cruise control unit 115 acquires output results from the external sensors 300, generates cruise control signals using the output results, and outputs the generated cruise control signals to operate the actuator group 150, thereby enabling the vehicle 100 to travel by autonomous control. In this embodiment, in addition to the computer program PG1, a detection model DM and a reference route RR are pre-stored in the memory 112.

[0059] The functions of the position determination unit 116, the contact determination unit 117, and the direction determination unit 118 are similar to the functions of the position determination unit 220, the contact determination unit 230, and the direction determination unit 240 shown in Fig. 4. That is, the position determination unit 116 determines whether or not the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30. The contact determination unit 117 determines whether or not the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with an obstacle. The direction determination unit 118 determines the guide direction D of the guide rail 41 based on the direction of the load that the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 receives from the guide rail 41.

[0060] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for driving control of the vehicle 100 in the second embodiment. In the processing procedure of FIG. 11, the processor 111 of the vehicle 100 functions as the driving control unit 115 by executing the computer program PG1. In step S210, the driving control unit 115 acquires vehicle position information using detection results output from a camera, which is the external sensor 300. In step S220, the driving control unit 115 determines a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next head. In step S230, the driving control unit 115 generates a driving control signal for driving the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In step S240, the driving control unit 115 controls the actuator group 150 using the generated driving control signal, thereby causing the vehicle 100 to drive in accordance with parameters represented in the driving control signal. The driving control unit 115 repeatedly acquires vehicle position information, determines a target position, generates a driving control signal, and controls the actuators at a predetermined cycle.

[0061] In this embodiment, the processes shown in Fig. 6 to Fig. 8 are executed by the ECU 110 of the vehicle 100. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 6, when the vehicle 100 is in autonomous driving and the position determination unit 116 determines that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30, the in-guide-area control is executed. When the vehicle 100 is in autonomous driving and the position determination unit 116 does not determine that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30, the out-guide-area control is executed. As shown in Fig. 7, in the in-guide-area control, when the abutment determination unit 117 determines that the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in abutment with an obstacle, the guide-following control is executed. In the in-guide-area control, when the abutment determination unit 117 does not determine that the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in abutment with an obstacle, the target-trajectory following control is executed. 8, in the outside guide area control, if the contact determination unit 117 determines that the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with an obstacle and also determines that the load applied to the wheel WH is equal to or less than the threshold, the target trajectory tracking control is executed. In the outside guide area control, if the contact determination unit 117 determines that the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with an obstacle and also determines that the load applied to the wheel WH is not equal to or less than the threshold, the obstacle avoidance control is executed.

[0062] According to the system 10b of the present embodiment described above, similarly to the first embodiment, the vehicle 100 can be caused to travel so as to follow the guide rail 41. In particular, in the present embodiment, the vehicle 100 can be caused to travel so as to follow the guide rail 41 by autonomous control of the vehicle 100, without remote control of the vehicle 100 by the server 200.

[0063] C. Other Embodiments (C1) FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the guide unit 40 in another embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the guide rail 41 may be a recess formed in the road surface and extending in the desired direction to guide the vehicle 100. The cross section of the guide rail 41 may be, for example, V-shaped. In this case, the remote control unit 210 shown in FIG. 4 or the traveling control unit 115 shown in FIG. 10 may control the steering angle so that the reaction force from the road surface estimated from the steering torque or the lateral acceleration of the vehicle 100 detected by the on-board sensor 140 becomes approximately zero. This allows the lateral position of the vehicle 100 to be accurately adjusted with respect to the guide rail 41.

[0064] (C2) In the second embodiment, the guide following control function of the traveling control unit 115 may be turned off when the vehicle 100 is shipped from the factory site 90. This allows the guide following control to be executed only when the vehicle 100 is located within the factory site 90, thereby preventing erroneous execution of traveling control when the vehicle 100 is located on a public road.

[0065] (C3) In each of the above embodiments, at least one of the signs 51 and the road markings 52 may not be provided on the factory site 90.

[0066] (C4) In each of the above embodiments, the guide portion 40 does not have to include the guide hole 42.

[0067] (C5) In the first embodiment, the system 10 does not need to include the direction determination unit 240, and the remote control unit 210 does not need to correct the target trajectory 21. In the second embodiment, the system 10b does not need to include the direction determination unit 118, and the traveling control unit 115 does not need to correct the target trajectory 21.

[0068] (C6) In each of the above embodiments, the external sensor 300 is a camera. However, the external sensor 300 does not have to be a camera and may be, for example, a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor. In this case, the detection result output by the external sensor 300 may be three-dimensional point cloud data representing the vehicle 100. In this case, the server 200 or the vehicle 100 may acquire vehicle position information by template matching using the three-dimensional point cloud data as the detection result and reference point cloud data prepared in advance.

[0069] (C7) In each of the above embodiments, the position determination unit 220, 116 determines whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 using vehicle position information acquired using the external sensor 300 and guide area information indicating the range of the guide area 30. Alternatively, the position determination unit 220, 116 may recognize the signboard 51 or road marking 52 using the front camera 130 mounted on the vehicle 100 and determine whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 from the recognition result. If the vehicle 100 is equipped with LiDAR, the position determination unit 220, 116 may recognize the signboard 51 or road marking 52 using the LiDAR and determine whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 from the recognition result. The position determination unit 220, 116 may determine whether the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 using a captured image output from a camera, which is the external sensor 300. If the external sensor 300 is a LiDAR, the position determination units 220, 116 may determine whether or not the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 using three-dimensional point cloud data output from the LiDAR, which is the external sensor 300. If the identification number of the external sensor 300 that monitors the guide area 30, among the multiple external sensors 300 installed in the factory site 90, is stored in advance in the memory 202, 112, the position determination units 220, 116 may determine that the vehicle 100 is located in the guide area 30 when the vehicle 100 is detected by the external sensor 300 that monitors the guide area 30.

[0070] (C8) In each of the above embodiments, the contact determination unit 230, 117 determines whether or not the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with the guide rail 41, using the detection result of the on-board sensor 140 mounted on the vehicle 100. In contrast to this, the contact determination unit 230, 117 may determine whether or not the wheel WH of the vehicle 100 is in contact with the guide rail 41, using the detection result of the external sensor 300. For example, the contact determination unit 230, 117 may detect the wheel WH and the guide rail 41 from an image captured by a camera that is the external sensor 300, and determine whether or not the wheel WH and the guide rail 41 are in contact with each other based on the positional relationship between the wheel WH and the guide rail 41.

[0071] (C9) In the first embodiment, the processes from obtaining vehicle position information to generating a driving control signal are executed by the server 200. However, at least a part of the processes from obtaining vehicle position information to generating a driving control signal may be executed by the vehicle 100. For example, the following forms (1) to (3) may be used.

[0072] (1) The server 200 may acquire vehicle position information, 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 vehicle 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 150 using the generated driving control signal.

[0073] (2) Server 200 may acquire vehicle position information and transmit the acquired vehicle position information to vehicle 100. Vehicle 100 may determine a target position to which vehicle 100 should next head, generate a route from the current location of vehicle 100 indicated in the received vehicle position information to the target position, generate a driving control signal so that vehicle 100 travels on the generated route, and control actuator group 150 using the generated driving control signal.

[0074] (3) In the above embodiments (1) and (2), the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and detection results output from the internal sensor may be used for at least one of generating a route and generating a driving control signal. The internal sensor is a sensor equipped in the vehicle 100. The internal sensor may include, for example, a sensor that detects the motion state of the vehicle 100, a sensor that detects the operating state of each part of the vehicle 100, and a sensor that detects the environment around the vehicle 100. Specifically, the internal sensor may include, for example, a camera, LiDAR, millimeter-wave radar, an ultrasonic sensor, a GPS sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, etc. For example, in the above embodiment (1), the server 200 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensor and reflect the detection results of the internal sensor in the route when generating a route. In the above embodiment (1), the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensor and reflect the detection results of the internal sensor in the driving control signal when generating a driving control signal. In the above embodiment (2), the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensor and reflect the detection results of the internal sensor in the route when generating a route. In the above embodiment (2), the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result of the internal sensor, and when generating the driving control signal, may reflect the detection result of the internal sensor in the driving control signal.

[0075] (C10) In the second embodiment, the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and the detection results output from the internal sensor may be used for at least one of generating a route and generating a driving control signal. For example, the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensor and, when generating a route, reflect the detection results of the internal sensor in the route. The vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensor and, when generating a driving control signal, reflect the detection results of the internal sensor in the driving control signal.

[0076] (C11) In each of the above embodiments, the vehicle 100 acquires vehicle position information using the detection results of the external sensor 300. Alternatively, the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, acquire vehicle position information using the detection results of the internal sensor, determine a target position to which the vehicle 100 should next travel, generate a route from the current location of the vehicle 100 represented in the acquired vehicle position information to the target position, generate a driving control signal for traveling along the generated route, and control the actuator group 150 using the generated driving control signal. For example, a camera or LiDAR may be used as the internal sensor for acquiring the vehicle position information. In this case, the vehicle 100 can travel without using any detection results of the external sensor 300. The vehicle 100 may acquire a target arrival time or congestion information from outside the vehicle 100 and reflect the target arrival time or congestion information in at least one of the route and the driving control signal. Furthermore, all of the functional configurations of the systems 10 and 10b may be provided in the vehicle 100. That is, the processing performed by systems 10 and 10b in the present disclosure may be performed by vehicle 100 alone.

[0077] (C12) In the first embodiment described above, the server 200 automatically generates a driving control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100. However, the server 200 may generate a driving control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100 in accordance with the operation of an external operator located outside the vehicle 100. For example, the external operator may operate a control device including a display that displays an image output from the external sensor 300, a steering wheel for remotely controlling 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 a driving control signal in accordance with the operation applied to the control device.

[0078] (C13) In each of the above embodiments, the vehicle 100 may be configured to be able to travel by unmanned driving, and may be in the form of a platform having the configuration described below, for example. Specifically, the vehicle 100 may be configured to have at least an ECU 110 and an actuator group 150 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 be configured with a communication device 120. In other words, the vehicle 100 that can travel by unmanned driving may not be equipped with at least some of its interior parts, such as a driver's seat and a dashboard, may not be equipped with at least some of its 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 FC, 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 FC without the remaining parts, such as the body shell. Each component may be attached from any direction, such as the upper, lower, front, rear, right 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 manner as for the vehicle 100 in the first embodiment.

[0079] (C14) 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 that are not part of 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.

[0080] (C15) 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 FC where vehicle 100 is manufactured, at least a portion of the transport of vehicle 100 is realized by self-propelled transport.

[0081] (C16) In each of the above embodiments, some or all of the functions and processes implemented by software may be implemented by hardware. Furthermore, some or all of the functions and processes implemented by hardware may be implemented by software. Hardware for implementing the various functions in each of the above embodiments may be implemented by various circuits, such as integrated circuits or discrete circuits.

[0082] 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]

[0083] 10, 10b...system, 20...road, 21...target trajectory, 21a...deviation area, 21b...correction area, 30...guide area, 40...guidance section, 41...guide rail, 41a...inclined section, 41b...parallel section, 42...guide hole, 51...signboard, 52...road marking, 90...factory site, 100...vehicle, 111...processor, 112...memory, 113...input / output interface, 114...internal bus, 115...travel control unit, 116...position determination unit, 117...contact determination unit, 118...direction Direction determination unit, 120...communication device, 130...front camera, 140...vehicle-mounted sensor, 150...actuator group, 151...drive actuator, 152...brake actuator, 153...steering actuator, 200...server, 201...processor, 202...memory, 203...input / output interface, 204...internal bus, 205...communication device, 210...remote control unit, 220...position determination unit, 230...contact determination unit, 240...direction determination unit, 300...external sensor

Claims

1. 1. A system comprising: a position determination unit that determines whether or not a vehicle is located in a guide area that includes a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a control unit that controls the traveling of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination unit and a determination result of the contact determination unit; a direction determination unit that determines a guidance direction of the guide based on a direction of a load that the wheel of the vehicle receives from the guide; Equipped with The control unit when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a first control to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a second control to cause the vehicle to travel along the guide direction. system.

2. 10. The system of claim 1, The control unit corrects the target trajectory to align with the guidance direction when the guidance direction differs from the target trajectory.

3. 1. A system comprising: a position determination unit that determines whether or not a vehicle is located in a guide area that includes a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a control unit that controls the traveling of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination unit and a determination result of the contact determination unit; Equipped with the position determination unit determines whether the vehicle is located in the guide area from a recognition result of a signboard corresponding to the guide area or a road marking corresponding to the guide area, based on an image captured by a front camera of the vehicle; The control unit when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a first control to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; When the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, a second control is executed to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle. system.

4. a server, a position determination unit that determines whether or not a vehicle is located in a guide area that includes a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a remote control unit that remotely controls the traveling of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination unit and a determination result of the contact determination unit; a direction determination unit that determines a guidance direction of the guide based on a direction of a load that the wheel of the vehicle receives from the guide; Equipped with The remote control unit when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a first control to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a second control to cause the vehicle to travel along the guide direction. server.

5. a server, a position determination unit that determines whether or not a vehicle is located in a guide area that includes a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a remote control unit that remotely controls the traveling of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination unit and a determination result of the contact determination unit; Equipped with the position determination unit determines whether the vehicle is located in the guide area from a recognition result of a signboard corresponding to the guide area or a road marking corresponding to the guide area, based on an image captured by a front camera of the vehicle; The remote control unit when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a first control to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; When the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, a second control is executed to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle. server.

6. A vehicle, a position determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is located in a guide area that includes a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a travel control unit that controls travel of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination unit and a determination result of the contact determination unit; a direction determination unit that determines a guidance direction of the guide based on a direction of a load that the wheel of the vehicle receives from the guide; Equipped with The traveling control unit when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a first control to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a second control to cause the vehicle to travel along the guide direction. vehicle.

7. A vehicle, a position determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is located in a guide area that includes a guide having an uneven structure provided on a road surface; a contact determination unit that determines whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a travel control unit that controls travel of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination unit and a determination result of the contact determination unit; Equipped with the position determination unit determines whether the vehicle is located in the guide area from a recognition result of a signboard corresponding to the guide area or a road marking corresponding to the guide area, based on an image captured by a front camera of the vehicle; The traveling control unit when the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, executes a first control to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; When the position determination unit determines that the vehicle is located in the guide area and the contact determination unit determines that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, a second control is executed to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle. vehicle.

8. 1. A method comprising: a position determination step of determining whether or not the vehicle is located in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure provided on the road surface; a collision determination step of determining whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a control step of controlling the traveling of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination step and a determination result of the contact determination step; a direction determination step of determining a guidance direction of the guide based on a direction of a load that the wheel of the vehicle receives from the guide; Equipped with In the control step, when it is determined in the position determination step that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and when it is determined in the abutment determination step that a wheel of the vehicle is in abutment with the obstacle, a first control is executed to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; When it is determined in the position determination step that the vehicle is located in the guide area and when it is determined in the collision determination step that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, a second control is executed to cause the vehicle to travel along the guide direction. method.

9. 1. A method comprising: a position determination step of determining whether or not the vehicle is located in a guide area including a guide having an uneven structure provided on the road surface; a collision determination step of determining whether a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with an obstacle using a detection result from an on-board sensor mounted on the vehicle or a detection result from an external sensor located outside the vehicle; a control step of controlling the traveling of the vehicle in accordance with a determination result of the position determination step and a determination result of the contact determination step; Equipped with In the position determination step, it is determined whether the vehicle is located in the guide area based on a recognition result of a signboard or a road marking corresponding to the guide area, based on an image captured by a front camera of the vehicle; In the control step, when it is determined in the position determination step that the vehicle is not located in the guide area and when it is determined in the abutment determination step that a wheel of the vehicle is in abutment with the obstacle, a first control is executed to make the vehicle travel so as to follow a target trajectory or to stop the vehicle; When it is determined in the position determination step that the vehicle is located in the guide area and when it is determined in the collision determination step that a wheel of the vehicle is in contact with the obstacle, a second control is executed to cause the vehicle to travel so as to follow the obstacle. method.

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