vehicle

Abstract

To detect a sign of abnormality in an automated driving kit.SOLUTION: A vehicle (1) includes: an interface unit (102) which can communicate with an automated driving kit (20) capable of being attached to and detached from the vehicle, and which gives a control instruction related to automated driving control to each part of the vehicle on the basis of an instruction from the automated driving kit; and a preventive safety device (103) for implementing a preventive safety function of the vehicle. The preventive safety device includes: acquisition means (1031) for acquiring at least one of participant information which is information related to a traffic participant present around the vehicle, and occupant information which is information related to an occupant riding in the vehicle; and performance evaluation means (1032) for evaluating driving performance of the automated driving kit on the basis of the at least one of the participant information and the occupant information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of vehicles. [Background technology]

[0002] As this type of vehicle, for example, a vehicle has been proposed that is automatically driven by outputting control instructions to a functional unit of the vehicle in accordance with instructions from an automatic driving kit that can be attached to and detached from the vehicle (see Patent Document 1).In addition, a vehicle control system has been proposed that includes a first unit that generates a target trajectory based on a driving plan for the vehicle and a second unit that controls vehicle driving so that the vehicle follows the target trajectory, and the second unit intervenes in the driving control amount so as to prevent collision between the vehicle and an obstacle (see Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-123146 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2021-062780 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a vehicle that is being driven automatically using an automatic driving kit, there is a technical problem in that if an abnormality occurs in the function of the automatic driving kit, the vehicle will be unable to continue driving automatically.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle that can detect signs of abnormalities in an autonomous driving kit. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A vehicle according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to be able to communicate with an autonomous driving kit that is detachably attached to the vehicle, and is equipped with an interface unit that issues control instructions related to autonomous driving control to various parts of the vehicle based on instructions from the autonomous driving kit, and a preventive safety device that realizes the preventive safety functions of the vehicle, wherein the preventive safety device is equipped with: acquisition means that acquires at least one of participant information, which is information related to traffic participants present in the vicinity of the vehicle, and occupant information, which is information related to occupants currently riding in the vehicle; and performance evaluation means that evaluates the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit based on at least one of the participant information and the occupant information. When the evaluation value of the driving performance is smaller than a first predetermined value, the preventive safety device intervenes in automatic driving control based on an instruction from the automatic driving kit; when the evaluation value of the driving performance is equal to or larger than the first predetermined value and smaller than a second predetermined value larger than the first predetermined value, the preventive safety device relaxes an operating condition related to the preventive safety function; when the evaluation value of the driving performance is equal to or larger than the second predetermined value and smaller than a third predetermined value larger than the second predetermined value, the preventive safety device issues a notification to the outside of the vehicle. That is it. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the preventive safety device according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] 10 is an example of information indicating a relationship between a reaction and an evaluation. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing another example of the operation of the preventive safety device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment relating to a vehicle will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0009] (Vehicle configuration) In FIG. 1, a vehicle 1 includes a cruise control system 10, a drive actuator 11, a braking actuator 12, a steering actuator 13, a recognition sensor 14, a driving state sensor 15, an external environment sensor 16, an interior environment sensor 17, and a communication device 18.

[0010] An automatic driving device 20 is connected to the vehicle 1. The automatic driving device 20 is a device that is detachable from the vehicle 1 and is independent of the vehicle 1. The automatic driving device 20 may be wired to the cruise control system 10 via a detachable connector. Here, the cruise control system 10 is a system unique to the vehicle 1. The cruise control system 10 is provided by the automobile manufacturer together with the vehicle 1. In contrast, the automatic driving device 20 is often designed and developed by a separate entity from the cruise control system 10. The automatic driving device 20 may also be referred to as an Autonomous Driving Kit (ADK).

[0011] The cruise control system 10 and the automatic driving device 20 may constitute an automatic driving system for automatically driving the vehicle 1. Note that "automated driving" may mean, for example, automatic driving of level 3 or higher in the level definition of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

[0012] Cruise control system 10 may include one or more processors and memory coupled to the processors. Cruise control system 10 may be electrically coupled to on-vehicle actuators (e.g., drive actuator 11, braking actuator 12, and steering actuator 13), on-vehicle sensors (e.g., recognition sensor 14, driving state sensor 15, external environment sensor 16, and interior environment sensor 17), and communication device 18 via an on-vehicle network (e.g., Controller Area Network (CAN)).

[0013] The drive actuator 11 is an actuator for accelerating the vehicle 1. The braking actuator 12 is an actuator for decelerating or stopping the vehicle 1. The steering actuator 13 is an actuator for steering the vehicle 1.

[0014] The recognition sensor 14 may include at least one of a camera (i.e., an image sensor) and a radar sensor (e.g., a millimeter-wave radar or a laser radar). The recognition sensor 14 is used to detect objects (e.g., vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, fallen objects) present around the vehicle 1 and to measure the relative position and relative speed of the detected objects with respect to the vehicle 1. The running condition sensor 15 may include at least one of a speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, and a yaw rate sensor. The running condition sensor 15 is used to measure at least one of physical quantities (e.g., speed, acceleration, yaw rate) and parameters indicating the running condition of the vehicle 1. The external environment sensor 16 is a sensor that acquires information about the external environment of the vehicle 1. The external environment sensor 16 may include at least one of a raindrop sensor and a temperature sensor. The interior environment sensor 17 is a sensor that acquires information about the interior environment of the vehicle 1. The interior environment sensor 17 may include at least one of a camera, a temperature sensor, and a pressure sensor.

[0015] The communication device 18 is a device that enables the vehicle 1 to perform data communication with the outside. The communication device 18 may be connected to an external communication network via wireless communication. Therefore, the vehicle 1 may be a so-called connected car.

[0016] The cruise control system 10 includes a cruise control device 101, a vehicle control interface 102, and an active safety device 103, which are implemented as logically realized functional blocks or as physically realized processing circuits. The cruise control device 101, the vehicle control interface 102, and the active safety device 103 will be described later.

[0017] The automatic driving device 20 is electrically coupled to the ADK sensor 21. The ADK sensor 21 may be configured integrally with the automatic driving device 20. The ADK sensor 21 may be detachably attached to the automatic driving device 20 or the vehicle 1. The ADK sensor 21 is a sensor for acquiring information required when the automatic driving device 20 drives the vehicle 1. For example, the ADK sensor 21 may include a camera, a radar sensor, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor.

[0018] The automatic driving device 20 may have a function of formulating a driving plan. The automatic driving device 20 may calculate a target trajectory along which the vehicle 1 is to travel, based on the formulated driving plan and information acquired by the ADK sensor 21. For example, the target trajectory may include a sequence of points indicating multiple target positions of the vehicle 1, and at least one of a target speed and a target acceleration at each of the multiple target positions. The automatic driving device 20 transmits the calculated target trajectory to the cruise control system 10. Note that the automatic driving device 20 may repeatedly calculate the target trajectory and transmit the calculated target trajectory to the cruise control system 10 at a predetermined interval.

[0019] The target trajectory transmitted from the automatic driving device 20 is input to the cruise control device 101 via the vehicle control interface 102 of the cruise control system 10. For example, the cruise control device 101 calculates at least one of a drive control amount to be instructed to the drive actuator 11, a braking control amount to be instructed to the braking actuator 12, and a steering control amount to be instructed to the steering actuator 13, based on the target trajectory and the measurement results of the cruise state sensor 15.

[0020] The preventive safety device 103 is a device that intervenes in the driving control device 101 to prevent or avoid a collision between the vehicle 1 and an object. Examples of control for preventing or avoiding a collision between the vehicle 1 and an object include control for preventing the vehicle 1 from deviating from its lane (for example, lane departure prevention control, lane keeping assist control), control for maintaining a constant distance between the vehicle 1 and a preceding vehicle (for example, distance control), and control for automatically applying a braking force to the vehicle 1 when there is a high possibility of a collision between the vehicle 1 and an object (for example, collision damage mitigation brake).

[0021] An example of a method for the preventive safety device 103 to intervene in the cruise control device 101 is a method in which the preventive safety device 103 provides an intervention control amount to the cruise control device 101. In this case, the intervention control amount may include at least one of a drive control amount, a braking control amount, and a steering control amount. When an intervention control amount is provided from the preventive safety device 103 to the cruise control device 101, the cruise control device 101 prioritizes the intervention control amount over a control amount calculated from the target trajectory (specifically, at least one of a drive control amount, a braking control amount, and a steering control amount). The cruise control device 101 controls at least one of the drive actuator 11, the braking actuator 12, and the steering actuator 13 in accordance with the intervention control amount.

[0022] The automatic driving device 20 detects objects present around the vehicle 1 based on information acquired by the ADK sensor 21. The automatic driving device 20 then calculates a target trajectory so that the vehicle 1 will not collide with the detected object. Therefore, theoretically, if the cruise control device 101 calculates a control amount (specifically, at least one of a driving control amount, a braking control amount, and a steering control amount) according to the target trajectory calculated by the automatic driving device 20, a collision between the vehicle 1 and the object will not occur. However, if some abnormality occurs in the automatic driving device 20, the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 may be permanently or temporarily degraded. For this reason, the preventive safety device 103 may be activated as a last resort to prevent or avoid a collision between the vehicle 1 and the object.

[0023] From the viewpoint of preventive safety, the preventive safety device 103 has a function as a performance evaluation device that evaluates the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20. The preventive safety device 103 may evaluate the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 based on information obtained from at least one of the recognition sensor 14, the driving condition sensor 15, the external environment sensor 16, and the in-vehicle environment sensor 17. The preventive safety device 103 may evaluate the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 based on information acquired via the communication device 18. Details of the evaluation of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 will be described later. The preventive safety device 103 may take action according to the evaluation result of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20.

[0024] (Performance evaluation method) A method for evaluating the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 performed by the preventive safety device 103 will be described. In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the acquisition unit 1031 of the preventive safety device 103 acquires participant information, which is information related to traffic participants present around the vehicle 1 (step S101). In parallel with the processing of step S101, the acquisition unit 1031 acquires occupant information, which is information related to occupants riding in the vehicle 1 (step S102). The term "traffic participant" refers to a person who is affected by the behavior of the vehicle 1 and a person who influences the behavior of the vehicle 1. However, the term "traffic participant" is not limited to a person, and may also refer to a moving object (e.g., an automobile, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.) used by the person. For example, a driver of another vehicle traveling around the vehicle 1 corresponds to a traffic participant. In this case, the other vehicle driven by the driver may also be referred to as a traffic participant. The traffic participants may include, for example, at least one of an automobile, motorcycle, or bicycle occupant, a pedestrian, a police officer, and a traffic guide.

[0025] Acquisition of participant information will now be described. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire participant information by receiving information transmitted from a traffic participant as participant information via the communication device 18. For example, a traffic participant may evaluate the behavior of the vehicle 1 using an application installed on a terminal device (e.g., a smartphone). The evaluation of the behavior of the vehicle 1 may include, for example, good (+1 point), safe (0 point), normal (-1 point), and dangerous (-2 points). The terminal device may transmit information indicating the traffic participant's evaluation of the behavior of the vehicle 1 to the vehicle 1. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the transmitted information as participant information.

[0026] For example, when a recognition device (e.g., a device corresponding to the recognition sensor 14) mounted on another vehicle in which a traffic participant is riding recognizes the vehicle 1, the other vehicle may automatically evaluate the behavior of the vehicle 1 based on the recognition result of the recognition device (e.g., the speed of the vehicle 1, the distance between the other vehicle and the vehicle 1). The other vehicle may transmit information indicating the evaluation of the behavior of the vehicle 1 to the vehicle 1, for example, by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the transmitted information as participant information.

[0027] The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire, as participant information, information regarding the behavior of traffic participants based on information obtained from the recognition sensor 14. For example, the acquisition unit 1031 may detect the behavior of other vehicles around the vehicle 1 based on the information obtained from the recognition sensor 14. The acquisition unit 1031 may identify an evaluation of the vehicle 1 based on the detected behavior of the other vehicles and information indicating the relationship between the reaction and the evaluation, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire, as participant information, the evaluation of the identified vehicle 1. Note that the concept of other vehicles includes, for example, automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles.

[0028] For example, if the detected behavior of the other vehicle is a movement away from vehicle 1, the acquisition unit 1031 may determine that the evaluation of vehicle 1 is "average (-1 point)". Then, the acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the evaluation of "average (-1 point)" as the participant information. For example, if the detected behavior of the other vehicle is honking its horn at vehicle 1 or flashing its lights at vehicle 1, the acquisition unit 1031 may determine that the evaluation of vehicle 1 is "dangerous (-2 points)". Then, the acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the evaluation of "dangerous (-2 points)" as the participant information.

[0029] The acquisition of occupant information will now be explained. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire occupant information by receiving, as occupant information, information transmitted from an occupant aboard the vehicle 1 via the communication device 18. For example, the occupant may evaluate the behavior of the vehicle 1 using an application installed on a terminal device (e.g., a smartphone). The evaluation of the behavior of the vehicle 1 may include, for example, good (+1 point), safe (0 point), normal (-1 point), and dangerous (-2 points). The terminal device may transmit information indicating the occupant's evaluation of the behavior of the vehicle 1 to the vehicle 1. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the transmitted information as occupant information.

[0030] The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire, as the occupant information, information on the behavior of the occupant based on information obtained from the in-vehicle environment sensor 17. For example, the acquisition unit 1031 may detect the behavior of the occupant based on the information obtained from the in-vehicle environment sensor 17. The acquisition unit 1031 may identify an evaluation of the vehicle 1 based on the detected behavior of the occupant and information indicating the relationship between the reaction and the evaluation, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. The acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the identified evaluation of the vehicle 1 as the occupant information.

[0031] For example, if the detected behavior of the occupant is a grim expression, the acquisition unit 1031 may determine that the evaluation of the vehicle 1 is "average (-1 point)." Then, the acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the evaluation of "average (-1 point)" as the occupant information. For example, if the detected behavior of the occupant is that the seated occupant grabs onto a grip, the acquisition unit 1031 may determine that the evaluation of the vehicle 1 is "dangerous (-2 points)." Then, the acquisition unit 1031 may acquire the evaluation of "dangerous (-2 points)" as the occupant information. Note that a grip refers to a support for supporting the occupant's body. Grips may include, for example, assist grips, armrests, and handrails.

[0032] 2 is repeated at a predetermined interval. For example, if there are no traffic participants around the vehicle 1, the acquisition unit 1031 does not need to acquire participant information in the process of step S101 described above. For example, if the occupant of the vehicle 1 does not evaluate the behavior of the vehicle 1, the acquisition unit 1031 does not need to acquire occupant information in the process of step S102 described above.

[0033] The evaluation unit 1032 of the preventive safety device 103 evaluates the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 based on at least one of the participant information and the occupant information acquired by the acquisition unit 1031. For example, the evaluation unit 1032 may calculate an evaluation value as an evaluation of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 by adding a score (e.g., 1 point, 0 point, −1 point, or −2 points) indicating the evaluation of the vehicle 1 as the participant information and a score (e.g., 1 point, 0 point, −1 point, or −2 points) indicating the evaluation of the vehicle 1 as the occupant information.

[0034] For example, if two people as traffic participants rate vehicle 1 as "average (-1 point)", one person as traffic participants rates vehicle 1 as "dangerous (-2 points)", and one person as a passenger rates vehicle 1 as "average (-1 point)", the evaluation unit 1032 may use "-5 points (= (-2) x 2 + (-2) x 1 + (-1) x 1)" as the evaluation value for evaluating the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20.

[0035] In addition, if the value obtained by adding the above points (i.e., the evaluation value) exceeds a predetermined initial value related to the evaluation of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20, the evaluation unit 1032 may use the initial value as the evaluation value.

[0036] The evaluation unit 1032 may evaluate the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 based on at least one of the participant information and the occupant information acquired by the acquisition unit 1031 during a period from the present time until a predetermined time ago. In other words, the evaluation unit 1032 does not need to take into account participant information and occupant information acquired by the acquisition unit 1031 more than a predetermined time (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.) ago when evaluating the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20.

[0037] The evaluation unit 1032 may perform weighted addition when adding the scores (in other words, when calculating the evaluation value). In this case, the weight may become smaller as the time elapsed since acquisition by the acquisition unit 1031 becomes longer.

[0038] Each of the participant information and the occupant information may include information about the sender. The information about the sender may include information indicating a police officer. The information about the sender may include information indicating the rank of the sender based on the sender's past performance. In this case, when adding up the scores, the evaluation unit 1032 may perform weighted addition using a weight according to the information about the sender. For example, the weight of participant information including information indicating a police officer may be greater than the weight of participant information that does not include information indicating a police officer (for example, including information indicating that the participant is a civilian).

[0039] The preventive safety device 103 performs the operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 4 based on the evaluation value as an evaluation of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 (i.e., the evaluation result of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 by the evaluation unit 1032). In Fig. 4, threshold A is smaller than threshold B, threshold B is smaller than threshold C, and threshold C is smaller than threshold D (i.e., threshold A<threshold B<threshold C<threshold D).

[0040] 4, the preventive safety device 103 determines whether the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than the threshold value A (step S201). If it is determined in the processing of step S201 that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than the threshold value A (step S302: Yes), the preventive safety device 103 causes the driving control device 101 to intervene so that the vehicle 1 moves to the shoulder of the road (step S205).

[0041] In the processing of step S201, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is equal to or greater than threshold value A (step S201: No), the preventive safety device 103 determines whether the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than threshold value B (step S202). In the processing of step S202, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than threshold value B (step S202: Yes), the preventive safety device 103 causes the cruise control device 101 to intervene so as to limit the speed of the vehicle 1 (for example, so that the speed of the vehicle 1 does not exceed a predetermined speed) (step S206).

[0042] In the processing of step S202, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is equal to or greater than threshold B (step S202: No), the preventive safety device 103 determines whether the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than threshold C (step S203). In the processing of step S203, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than threshold C (step S203: Yes), the preventive safety device 103 relaxes the activation conditions of the preventive safety function (in other words, changes the activation conditions so that the preventive safety function is more likely to activate) (step S207).

[0043] In the processing of step S203, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is equal to or greater than the threshold C (step S203: Yes), the preventive safety device 103 determines whether the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than the threshold D (step S204). In the processing of step S204, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is smaller than the threshold D (step S204: Yes), the preventive safety device 103 reports to the outside of the vehicle 1 via the vehicle control interface 102 and the communication device 18 (step S208).

[0044] In the processing of step S208, the preventive safety device 103 may send a report to HELPNET. HELPNET refers to a management center for emergency response operated by at least one of the business that provides the vehicle 1 and the business that maintains the vehicle 1. As a result of the processing of step S208, an emergency response for the vehicle 1 may be performed by an operator of HELPNET. Alternatively, as a result of the processing of step S208, an emergency response for the vehicle 1 may be performed by an automatic response of the HELPNET system. For example, as an emergency response for the vehicle 1, a vehicle stop instruction may be sent from HELPNET to the vehicle 1.

[0045] In the process of step S204, if it is determined that the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 is equal to or greater than the threshold value D (step S204: No), the operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6 is ended. After that, the process of step S201 may be performed.

[0046] 2 and 4 may be performed only when the vehicle 1 is traveling according to the target trajectory calculated by the automatic driving device 20.

[0047] (Technical Effects) When the vehicle 1 is traveling safely (for example, so that the vehicle 1 does not pose a threat to traffic participants), it is considered that the acquisition unit 1031 of the preventive safety device 103 hardly acquires participant information and occupant information. This is because the traffic participants and the occupants of the vehicle 1 do not feel any discomfort in the behavior of the vehicle 1, and therefore the traffic participants and the occupants of the vehicle 1 often do not have the desire to evaluate the behavior of the vehicle 1.

[0048] On the other hand, if traffic participants or occupants of vehicle 1 feel something is wrong with the behavior of vehicle 1, it is likely that the acquisition unit 1031 will acquire a relatively large amount of participant information and occupant information. In this case, it is likely that the evaluation of the behavior of vehicle 1 will be negative (i.e., the score indicating the evaluation will be a negative value). For this reason, the acquisition of a relatively large amount of participant information and occupant information by the acquisition unit 1031 can be interpreted as a sign that an abnormality is occurring in the automatic driving device 20.

[0049] In addition, when the acquisition unit 1031 acquires a relatively large number of negative evaluations, the evaluation value obtained by the evaluation unit 1032 of the preventive safety device 103 as an evaluation of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20 becomes smaller than the initial value related to the evaluation of the driving performance of the automatic driving device 20. For this reason, the evaluation value becoming smaller than the initial value can be interpreted as indicating that there is a sign of an abnormality occurring in the automatic driving device 20. Therefore, it can be said that the vehicle 1 equipped with the preventive safety device 103 is capable of detecting signs of an abnormality in the automatic driving device 20.

[0050] Furthermore, if the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 drops by a predetermined amount or more (for example, if the evaluation value falls below at least one of thresholds A, B, C, and D in the flowchart of FIG. 4), the preventive safety device 103 intervenes in the driving control device 101. Here, if the evaluation value related to the automatic driving device 20 drops by a predetermined amount or more, there is a high possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the automatic driving device 20. In this case, the preventive safety device 103 intervenes in the driving control device 101, thereby ensuring the safety of the vehicle 1.

[0051] Aspects of the invention derived from the above-described embodiments will be described below.

[0052] A vehicle according to one aspect of the invention is configured to be able to communicate with an autonomous driving kit that is detachably attached to the vehicle, and is equipped with an interface unit that gives control instructions related to autonomous driving control to each part of the vehicle based on instructions from the autonomous driving kit, and a preventive safety device that realizes the preventive safety functions of the vehicle, wherein the preventive safety device is equipped with an acquisition means for acquiring at least one of participant information, which is information related to traffic participants present in the vicinity of the vehicle, and occupant information, which is information related to occupants on board the vehicle, and a performance evaluation means for evaluating the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit based on at least one of the participant information and the occupant information.

[0053] In the above-described embodiment, the "autonomous driving device 20" corresponds to an example of an "autonomous driving kit," the "vehicle control interface 102" corresponds to an example of an "interface unit," the "acquisition unit 1031" corresponds to an example of an "acquisition means," and the "evaluation unit 1032" corresponds to an example of a "performance evaluation means."

[0054] The participant information may be information regarding the behavior of the traffic participant with respect to the vehicle, in which the behavior of the traffic participant with respect to the vehicle may include at least one of moving away from the vehicle, honking a horn at the vehicle, and flashing a flashing light at the vehicle.

[0055] The occupant information may be information relating to a behavior of the occupant. In this case, the behavior of the occupant may include at least one of the occupant having a grim expression and the occupant grabbing onto a grip of the vehicle.

[0056] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims and the gist or concept of the invention as can be read from the entire specification, and vehicles with such modifications are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 1...vehicle, 10...cruising control system, 20...automatic driving device, 101...cruising control device, 102...vehicle control interface, 103...preventive safety device, 1031...acquisition unit, 1032...evaluation unit

Claims

1. A vehicle that is configured to be able to communicate with an autonomous driving kit that is detachably attached to the vehicle, and that is equipped with an interface unit that issues control instructions related to autonomous driving control to each part of the vehicle based on instructions from the autonomous driving kit, and a preventive safety device that realizes a preventive safety function of the vehicle, The preventive safety device includes: an acquisition means for acquiring at least one of participant information, which is information relating to traffic participants present around the vehicle, and occupant information, which is information relating to occupants riding in the vehicle; a performance evaluation means for evaluating the driving performance of the autonomous driving kit based on at least one of the participant information and the occupant information; Equipped with When the evaluation value of the driving performance is smaller than a first predetermined value, the preventive safety device intervenes in the automatic driving control based on an instruction from the automatic driving kit, When the evaluation value of the driving performance is equal to or greater than the first predetermined value and is smaller than a second predetermined value that is greater than the first predetermined value, the preventive safety device relaxes an activation condition related to the preventive safety function, When the evaluation value of the driving performance is equal to or greater than the second predetermined value and is smaller than a third predetermined value that is larger than the second predetermined value, the preventive safety device issues a notification to an outside of the vehicle. A vehicle characterized by:

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the participant information is information about the behavior of the traffic participants relative to the vehicle.

3. The vehicle according to claim 2 , wherein the traffic participant's behavior with respect to the vehicle includes at least one of moving away from the vehicle, honking a horn at the vehicle, and flashing a flashing light at the vehicle.

4. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the occupant information is information relating to the behavior of the occupant.

5. 5. The vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the occupant's behavior includes at least one of the occupant having a grim expression and the occupant grabbing onto a grip of the vehicle.

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