Control device

Abstract

To efficiently generate a travel route of an automatic operation vehicle traveling on a circuit.SOLUTION: A control device 10 comprises: an overall route generation section 102 which generates an overall route on the basis of a travel route instruction; a target route generation section 103 which generates a target route where a vehicle actually travels thereon in real time on the basis of the overall route; and a follow-up control section 104 which executes route follow-up control of the vehicle on the basis of the target route. The overall route generation section 102 determines whether or not the overall route is a predetermined object route at a predetermined timing after generating the overall route and generates the overall route once again on the basis of the identical travel route instruction only when determining that the overall route is the object route.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] One aspect of the present invention relates to a control device for automatic driving of a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a device that generates a driving route for a vehicle from a departure point to a destination (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When the generated driving route is used for automatic driving control, for example, an overall route (driving route) is generated based on a driving route instruction, a target route is generated in real time based on the overall route, and route tracking control is performed based on the target route. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-38943 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] For example, when an autonomous vehicle travels on a circular road to conduct a durability test, the same route is repeatedly traveled, but setting an autonomous driving route of infinite length is difficult from the viewpoint of memory pressure and communication within the system. For this reason, even when traveling on a circular road, an autonomous driving route of finite length must be set, and it is not possible to efficiently generate a driving route when traveling on a circular road.

[0005] One aspect of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned situation, and aims to provide a control device that can efficiently generate a driving route for an autonomous vehicle traveling on a circular route. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A control device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an overall route generation unit that generates an overall route based on a driving route instruction, a target route generation unit that generates a target route along which the vehicle will actually travel in real time based on the overall route, and a tracking control unit that performs route tracking control of the vehicle based on the target route.At a predetermined timing after generating the overall route, the overall route generation unit determines whether the overall route is a predetermined target route, and only if it is the target route, generates the overall route again based on the same driving route instruction.

[0007] In a route generation device according to one aspect of the present invention, after generating an overall route based on a driving route instruction, if the overall route is a predetermined target route, the same overall route is generated again based on the same driving route instruction. With this configuration, by setting the target route in advance, if a generated overall route is the target route, the same driving route instruction can be reloaded and the same overall route can be easily generated. This allows for efficient route generation while minimizing the length of the generated route and reducing memory load, etc., when repeatedly traveling the same route, such as when traveling on a circular route.

[0008] At a predetermined timing after generating the overall route, the overall route generation unit may determine whether the section on which the vehicle is traveling in real time is a section included in the overall route and a predetermined target section, and may generate the overall route again based on the same travel route instructions only if it is the target section. In this way, by rereading the travel route instructions only if the section on which the vehicle is traveling is a target section, it is possible to configure the overall route to be regenerated only for sections (target sections) other than the section where the durability test is evaluated, for example. This makes it possible to prevent the regeneration of the overall route from affecting the evaluation of the durability test, etc.

[0009] A section ID that uniquely identifies each section along which the vehicle travels is assigned, and the overall route generation unit may generate an overall route again based on the same travel route instructions only if the section ID of the section along which the vehicle is traveling in real time matches the section ID of the target section. By assigning an ID to each section and determining whether the IDs match, it becomes possible to determine whether the section along which the vehicle is traveling is the target section without using GPS or the like. This improves the versatility of the route generation device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently generate a driving route for an autonomously driven vehicle traveling on a closed circuit. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a circuit on which an endurance test of an autonomous vehicle is conducted. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a process performed by the autonomous driving system according to the present embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an autonomous driving system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure executed by the control device shown in FIG. 3. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating an entire route when traveling on a closed circuit, which is executed by the control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same or equivalent elements will be designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a closed circuit 500 on which an endurance test of an autonomous vehicle is conducted. In this embodiment, efficient driving route generation for an autonomous vehicle will be described using an example in which the autonomous vehicle repeatedly travels along the closed circuit 500 shown in Fig. 1 to conduct an endurance test of the autonomous vehicle. Details of the closed circuit 500 will be described later.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the processing performed by the autonomous driving system according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the autonomous driving system according to this embodiment generates an overall route (the overall route along which the vehicle will travel) based on a travel route instruction, generates a target route along which the vehicle will actually travel in real time based on the overall route, and performs path-following control (autonomous driving control) of the vehicle based on the target route. When the autonomous driving system according to this embodiment determines that the vehicle is traveling on a predetermined circular route, it rereads the above-mentioned travel route instruction (the travel route instruction related to the overall route generation that has already been generated) and generates the same overall route again. That is, when the autonomous driving system according to this embodiment determines that the vehicle is traveling on a circular route and that there is no change in the overall route, it quickly and easily generates the overall route by rereading the travel route instruction (details will be described later).

[0015] 3 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of an autonomous driving system 1. The autonomous driving system 1 is mounted on a vehicle and controls the autonomous driving of the vehicle. The autonomous driving system 1 includes, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 20, a map database 30, a surrounding condition sensor 40, a vehicle state sensor 50, a communication device 60, a driving device 70, and a control device 10.

[0016] The GPS receiver 20 receives signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites, calculates the position and direction of the vehicle based on the received signals, and transmits the calculated information to the control device 10.

[0017] The map database 30 is a database that stores in advance information indicating the boundary positions of each lane on a road, etc. The map database 30 is stored in, for example, a predetermined storage device.

[0018] The surrounding condition sensor 40 detects the conditions around the vehicle. Examples of the surrounding condition sensor 40 include a lidar, a radar, and a camera. The lidar uses light to detect targets around the vehicle. The radar uses radio waves to detect targets around the vehicle. The camera captures images of the conditions around the vehicle. The surrounding condition sensor 40 transmits the detected information to the control device 10.

[0019] The vehicle condition sensor 50 detects the driving condition of the vehicle. Examples of the vehicle condition sensor 50 include a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, a yaw rate sensor, and a lateral acceleration sensor. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the vehicle. The steering angle sensor detects the steering angle of the vehicle. The yaw rate sensor detects the yaw rate of the vehicle. The lateral acceleration sensor detects the lateral acceleration acting on the vehicle. The vehicle condition sensor 50 transmits the detected information to the control device 10.

[0020] The communication device 60 performs, for example, V2X communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication). Specifically, the communication device 60 performs V2V communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) with other vehicles. The communication device 60 also performs V2I communication (road-to-vehicle communication) with surrounding infrastructure. Through V2X communication, the communication device 60 can acquire information about the environment around the vehicle. The communication device 60 transmits the acquired information to the control device 10. Note that the communication device 60 may receive a driving route instruction from the outside, for example, by V2X communication. The driving route instruction includes information that enables the generation of an overall route (the entire route along which the vehicle will travel).

[0021] The traveling device 70 includes a steering device, a drive device, a braking device, a transmission, etc. The steering device steers the wheels. The drive device is a power source that generates driving force. Examples of the drive device include an engine and an electric motor. The braking device generates braking force.

[0022] The control device 10 performs automatic driving control to control automatic driving of a vehicle. The control device 10 is a microcomputer equipped with a processor, a storage device, and an input / output interface. The control device 10 is also called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The control device 10 receives various information through the input / output interface. The control device 10 then performs automatic driving control based on the received information.

[0023] The control device 10 includes, as functional blocks, an acquisition unit 101, an overall path generation unit 102, a target path generation unit 103, and a following control unit 104. These functional blocks are realized by the processor of the control device 10 executing a control program stored in a storage device. The control program may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium.

[0024] The acquisition unit 101 acquires information necessary for autonomous driving control. The information acquisition process by the acquisition unit 101 is repeatedly executed in a predetermined cycle. The acquisition unit 101 acquires the position and direction of the vehicle from the GPS receiver 20. The acquisition unit 101 acquires information about road lanes and the like from the map database 30. The acquisition unit 101 acquires information about the surroundings of the vehicle detected by the surrounding condition sensor 40. The acquisition unit 101 acquires information indicating the state of the vehicle detected by the vehicle state sensor 50. The acquisition unit 101 acquires information such as driving route instructions from the communication device 60.

[0025] The overall route generation unit 102 generates an overall route (an overall route along which the vehicle will travel) based on the information (information including at least a travel route instruction) acquired by the acquisition unit 101. The overall route generation unit 102 may generate the overall route by taking into consideration, in addition to the travel route instruction, information such as the position and direction of the vehicle, road lanes, information about the surroundings of the vehicle, and information indicating the state of the vehicle.

[0026] The target route generation unit 103 generates a target route along which the vehicle will actually travel in real time, based on the overall route generated by the overall route generation unit 102. The target route generation by the target route generation unit 103 is repeatedly executed in a predetermined cycle while the vehicle is traveling.

[0027] The following control unit 104 performs path following control of the vehicle based on the target path generated by the target path generation unit 103. The following control unit 104 uses a conventionally well-known following control technique to control each device included in the traveling device 70 so that the vehicle travels while following the target path.

[0028] As described above, in this embodiment, a durability test is performed on a vehicle by repeatedly traveling along the closed circuit 500 as shown in Fig. 1. In this way, when the vehicle travels along the closed circuit 500, the travel route does not change, so the entire route can be generated quickly and easily by reloading the travel route instructions related to the entire route that was once generated.

[0029] Therefore, in the control device 10 of this embodiment, the overall route generation unit 102 determines whether the overall route is a predetermined target route (here, the route of the circular route 500) at a predetermined timing after the overall route is generated, and only if it is the target route, re-reads the same driving route instructions again and generates the same overall route.

[0030] Furthermore, the overall route generation unit 102 may determine whether the section (lane) on which the vehicle is traveling in real time is a section included in the overall route and is a predetermined target section, and may reload the same driving route instructions again to generate the same overall route only if it is a target section. In other words, the overall route generation unit 102 may reload the driving route instructions only when the section on which the vehicle is traveling is a target section, rather than reloading the driving route instructions at any time when the overall route is a predetermined target route.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1, the circuit 500 where a vehicle durability test is performed includes evaluation sections 500a and 500c, which are sections where the durability test is evaluated, and target sections 500b and 500d, which are sections where the durability test evaluation is not performed. If the travel route instructions are reloaded (the entire route is regenerated) in the evaluation sections 500a and 500c, this may affect the durability test evaluation. In this regard, by reloading the travel route instructions (the entire route is regenerated) only in the target sections 500b and 500d, which are sections where the durability test evaluation is not performed, it is possible to prevent the reloading of the travel route instructions (the entire route is regenerated) from affecting the durability test evaluation.

[0032] It should be noted that, for the routes (routes) and sections (lanes) on which the vehicle can travel, an ID that uniquely identifies the route (or section) may be set in advance. In this case, the overall route generation unit 102 can determine that the overall route is the target route when the travel route ID linked to the overall route being traveled matches the target route ID linked to the target route. Furthermore, the overall route generation unit 102 can determine that the section on which the vehicle is traveling is the target section when the travel section ID linked to the section on which the vehicle is traveling in real time matches the target section ID linked to the target section.

[0033] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure executed by the control device 10 shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 4, the control device 10 generates an overall route based on a travel route instruction (step S1). Next, a target route along which the vehicle will actually travel is generated in real time based on the overall route (step S2). Next, route tracking of the vehicle is performed based on the target route (step S3).

[0034] 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure for generating an overall route when traveling on a closed circuit (detailed processing of step S1) executed by the control device 10. As shown in FIG. 5, the control device 10 first determines whether the travel route ID linked to the overall route being traveled matches the target route ID linked to the target route (step S101). If it is determined in step S101 that they do not match, the overall route generation procedure for traveling on a closed circuit is discontinued, and the processing ends (normal overall route generation processing is performed).

[0035] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S101 that they match, it is determined whether the travel section ID associated with the section in which the vehicle is traveling in real time matches the target section ID associated with the target section (step S102). If it is determined in step S102 that they do not match, the timing is different from the overall route generation timing when traveling on a closed circuit, and the process ends.

[0036] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S102 that they match, the travel route instructions related to the generation of the current overall route are read again (step S103), and the same overall route as the current one is generated (step S104). Then, the generated overall route is output (step S105). From step S105 onwards, the processes from step S2 onwards in FIG. 4 are carried out.

[0037] Next, the effects of the control device 10 included in the autonomous driving system 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0038] The control device 10 according to this embodiment comprises an overall route generation unit 102 that generates an overall route based on a driving route instruction, a target route generation unit 103 that generates a target route along which the vehicle will actually travel in real time based on the overall route, and a following control unit 104 that performs path following control of the vehicle based on the target route. At a predetermined timing after generating the overall route, the overall route generation unit 102 determines whether the overall route is a predetermined target route, and only if it is the target route, generates the overall route again based on the same driving route instruction.

[0039] In the control device 10 according to this embodiment, after generating an overall route based on a driving route instruction, if the overall route is a predetermined target route, the same overall route is generated again based on the same driving route instruction. With this configuration, by setting the target route in advance, if a generated overall route is the target route, the same driving route instruction can be reloaded and the same overall route can be easily generated. This allows for efficient route generation while minimizing the length of the generated route and reducing memory load, etc., when repeatedly traveling the same route, such as when traveling on a circular route.

[0040] At a predetermined timing after generating the overall route, the overall route generation unit 102 may determine whether the section on which the vehicle is traveling in real time is a section included in the overall route and a predetermined target section, and may generate the overall route again based on the same travel route instructions only if it is the target section. In this way, by rereading the travel route instructions only if the section on which the vehicle is traveling is a target section, it is possible to configure the overall route to be regenerated only for sections (target sections) other than the section where the durability test is evaluated, for example. This makes it possible to prevent the regeneration of the overall route from affecting the evaluation of the durability test, etc.

[0041] A section ID that uniquely identifies each section along which the vehicle travels is assigned, and the overall route generation unit 102 may regenerate the overall route based on the same travel route instructions only if the section ID of the section along which the vehicle is traveling in real time matches the section ID of the target section. By assigning an ID to each section and determining whether the IDs match, it becomes possible to determine whether the section along which the vehicle is traveling is the target section, even when the accuracy of GPS-based self-location estimation is low. In other words, the versatility of the control device 10 can be improved by using LIDAR or magnetic marker infrastructure or by recognizing a target object that indicates a specified location to recognize the section ID and determine whether the IDs match. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 10...control device, 102...overall path generation unit, 103...target path generation unit, 104...following control unit.

Claims

1. an overall route generation unit that generates an overall route based on a travel route instruction; a target route generation unit that generates a target route along which the vehicle will actually travel in real time based on the entire route; a tracking control unit that performs path tracking control of the vehicle based on the target route, The overall path generation unit A control device that, at a predetermined timing after generating the overall route while performing the route tracking control, determines whether the overall route is a predetermined circular route, and generates the overall route again based on the same driving route instruction only if the overall route is the predetermined circular route.

2. The circuit is a circuit for conducting a durability test of the vehicle, The overall path generation unit 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein, at a predetermined timing after the generation of the overall route, it is determined whether a section on which the vehicle is traveling in real time is a target section that is included in the overall route and is a predetermined section on which the durability test is not performed, and only if the target section is the target section, it generates the overall route again based on the same driving route instruction.

3. A section ID that uniquely identifies each section along which the vehicle travels is set, The overall path generation unit 3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the control device generates the entire route again based on the same driving route instruction only when the section ID of the section in which the vehicle is traveling in real time matches the section ID of the target section.

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