Control device and unmanned operation method
The control device prioritizes vehicles based on avoidance and mitigation performance to manage intersection entries, reducing collisions and path blockages in autonomous driving systems.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
- Filing Date
- 2023-10-24
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-23
Smart Images
Figure 0007878253000001 
Figure 0007878253000002 
Figure 0007878253000003
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device and an autonomous driving method.
Background Art
[0002] In the manufacturing process of vehicles, a technology for driving a vehicle by autonomous driving is known (for example, Patent Document 1).
Prior Art Documents
Patent Documents
[0003]
Patent Document 1
Summary of the Invention
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
[0004] In the above document, when a plurality of moving bodies attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, it does not consider which moving body should pass through the intersection in order.
Means for Solving the Problems
[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms.
[0006] (1) According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a control device is provided. The control device includes an information acquisition unit that acquires performance information regarding at least one of an avoidance performance for avoiding a collision with an obstacle and a mitigation performance for mitigating an impact at the time of a collision with the obstacle of a plurality of moving bodies that can move by autonomous driving, and a control unit that controls the autonomous driving of at least one of the plurality of moving bodies. When the plurality of moving bodies attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the control unit controls the at least one moving body so that the plurality of moving bodies pass through the intersection in a priority order determined in descending order of the at least one performance using the performance information. This type of control device reduces the likelihood of a preceding vehicle colliding with an obstacle at an intersection and blocking the path of a following vehicle. Even if the preceding vehicle does collide with an obstacle at an intersection, the impact of the collision can be minimized. Therefore, even if the path of a following vehicle is blocked by a collision between the preceding vehicle and an obstacle, it can be recovered quickly. (2) In the control device of the above form, the control unit may set the priority higher the higher the avoidance performance, and if the avoidance performance is the same, the priority may be set higher the higher the mitigation performance. According to this type of control device, when comparing a mobile object with high evasion capabilities to one with low evasion capabilities, the mobile object with high evasion capabilities will be allowed to take the lead, thereby reducing the likelihood of the leading mobile object colliding with an obstacle. (3) In the control device of the above form, the performance information includes information indicating whether or not the moving body is equipped with an automatic avoidance function, which is a function that automatically avoids collisions with obstacles, and the control unit may give a higher priority to the moving body equipped with the automatic avoidance function than to the moving body not equipped with the automatic avoidance function. According to this type of control device, when comparing a mobile body equipped with an automatic avoidance function with a mobile body without an automatic avoidance function, the mobile body equipped with the automatic avoidance function is allowed to proceed first, thereby reducing the likelihood of the leading mobile body colliding with an obstacle. (4) In the control device of the above form, the plurality of mobile bodies are moved by unmanned operation in a factory that manufactures the plurality of mobile bodies, the performance information includes information indicating the number of times the mobile bodies have been re-inspected in the factory, and the control unit may set the priority higher the fewer the number of re-inspections. With this type of control device, the fewer re-inspections required, the lower the probability of a malfunction occurring in the moving object, thus reducing the likelihood of the preceding moving object colliding with an obstacle. (5) According to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, an unmanned driving method is provided. This unmanned driving method includes an information acquisition step of acquiring performance information relating to at least one of the following performances of a plurality of mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned driving: avoidance performance to avoid collision with an obstacle and mitigation performance to reduce the impact when a collision occurs with an obstacle; and an unmanned driving step of moving the plurality of mobile bodies by unmanned driving, wherein if the plurality of mobile bodies are to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the unmanned driving step of causing the plurality of mobile bodies to pass through the intersection in order of priority determined using the performance information in order of the highest performance of at least one of the performances. This form of unmanned driving reduces the likelihood of a preceding vehicle colliding with an obstacle at an intersection and blocking the path of a following vehicle. Even if the preceding vehicle does collide with an obstacle at an intersection, the impact of the collision can be minimized. Therefore, even if the path of a following vehicle is blocked by a collision between the preceding vehicle and an obstacle, it can be recovered quickly. This disclosure can also be implemented in various forms other than control devices and unmanned operation methods. For example, it can be implemented in the form of unmanned operation systems, remote control systems, methods for manufacturing mobile objects, methods for manufacturing vehicles, computer programs, and recording media on which computer programs are stored. [Brief explanation of the drawing]
[0007] [Figure 1A] An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of an unmanned driving system. [Figure 1B] An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2A] An explanatory diagram showing how vehicles are moved remotely within a factory. [Figure 2B] A flowchart illustrating the procedure for controlling the vehicle's movement according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] A flowchart illustrating the process of determining priorities. [Figure 4] An explanatory diagram showing multiple vehicles passing through an intersection. [Figure 5]An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the unmanned operation system of the second embodiment. [Figure 6] An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 7] A flowchart illustrating the procedure for controlling the vehicle's movement according to the second embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]
[0008] A. First Embodiment: Figure 1A is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the unmanned operation system 10 in the first embodiment. The unmanned operation system 10 is used in a factory that manufactures mobile objects to move them by unmanned operation.
[0009] In this disclosure, “mobile object” means an object that can move, such as a vehicle or an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (so-called flying car). A vehicle may be a wheeled vehicle or a tracked vehicle, such as a passenger car, truck, bus, motorcycle, car, tank, or construction vehicle. Vehicles include electric vehicles (BEVs: Battery Electric Vehicles), gasoline vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. If the mobile object is not a vehicle, the terms “vehicle” and “car” in this disclosure may be replaced with “mobile object” as appropriate, and the term “driving” may be replaced with “moving” as appropriate.
[0010] "Unmanned operation" means driving without the operation of an onboard passenger. Driving operation refers to operations related to at least one of the following: "driving," "turning," or "stopping" of the vehicle 100. Unmanned operation 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 operating under unmanned operation may have passengers on board who do not perform driving operations. Passengers who do not perform driving operations include, for example, people simply sitting in the seats of the vehicle 100, or people performing tasks other than driving operations, such as assembly, inspection, or operating switches, while on board the vehicle 100. Driving with the operation of an onboard passenger is sometimes called "manned operation."
[0011] In this specification, "remote control" includes "fully remote control," in which all operations of the vehicle 100 are completely determined from outside the vehicle 100, and "partial remote control," in which some operations of the vehicle 100 are determined from outside the vehicle 100. Furthermore, "autonomous control" includes "fully autonomous control," in which the vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own operations without receiving any information from external devices, and "partial autonomous control," in which the vehicle 100 autonomously controls its own operations using information received from external devices.
[0012] In this embodiment, the unmanned driving system 10 comprises a mobile vehicle 100, a remote control device 200, a group of external sensors 300 installed in the factory, and a process control device 400 for managing the manufacturing process of the vehicle 100 in the factory. The remote control device 200 is sometimes simply referred to as the control device. The unmanned driving system 10 is sometimes referred to as the remote control system.
[0013] In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is configured to be able to travel by remote control. The vehicle 100 is configured as an electric vehicle. The vehicle 100 includes a drive device 110 for accelerating the vehicle 100, a steering device 120 for changing the traveling direction of the vehicle 100, a braking device 130 for decelerating the vehicle 100, a communication device 140 for communicating with a remote control device 200 by wireless communication, and a vehicle control device 150 for controlling each part of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the drive device 110 includes a battery, a traveling motor driven by the power of the battery, and drive wheels rotated by the traveling motor.
[0014] FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device 150. The vehicle control device 150 is constituted by a computer including a processor 151, a memory 152, an input / output interface 153, and an internal bus 154. The processor 151, the memory 152, and the input / output interface 153 are connected so as to be able to communicate bidirectionally via the internal bus 154. The drive device 110, the steering device 120, the braking device 130, the communication device 140, and an obstacle sensor 160 are connected to the input / output interface 153. By executing a computer program PG1 stored in advance in the memory 152, the processor 151 functions as a travel control unit 155 that executes travel control of the vehicle 100. "Travel control" means, for example, adjustment of the acceleration, speed, and steering angle of the vehicle 100. By executing travel control, that is to say, by controlling the drive device 110, the steering device 120, and the braking device 130, the travel control unit 155 causes the vehicle 100 to travel. When a passenger is on board the vehicle 100, the travel control unit 155 can cause the vehicle 100 to travel by controlling the various devices 110 to 130 according to the operation of the passenger. In this embodiment, regardless of whether a passenger is on board the vehicle 100, the travel control unit 155 can cause the vehicle 100 to travel by controlling the various devices 110 to 130 according to a control command received from the remote control device 200. Note that the travel control unit 155 may be simply referred to as a control unit.
[0015] As shown in FIG. 1A, in this embodiment, the vehicle 100 further includes an obstacle sensor 160 for detecting obstacles around the vehicle 100. The obstacle sensor 160 is, for example, a camera, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), or a millimeter-wave radar. When a collision between the obstacle detected by the obstacle sensor 160 and the vehicle 100 is predicted, the vehicle 100 has an automatic avoidance function that avoids the collision with the obstacle by the steering device 120 and the braking device 130 regardless of the driver's operation or the control command from the remote control device 200. Note that in other embodiments, the vehicle 100 may not have the automatic avoidance function. In this case, the vehicle 100 may not include the obstacle sensor 160.
[0016] The remote control device 200 is a control device for remotely controlling the vehicle 100. The remote control device 200 is composed of 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 communicably connected bidirectionally via the internal bus 204. A communication device 205 for communicating with the vehicle 100 by wireless communication is connected to the input / output interface 203. In this embodiment, the communication device 205 can communicate with the external sensor group 300 and the process management device 400 by wired or wireless communication.
[0017] The processor 201 functions as an information acquisition unit 210 and a remote control unit 220 by executing a computer program PG2 pre-stored in memory 202. The information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information relating to at least one of the vehicle 100's ability to avoid collisions with obstacles and its ability to mitigate the impact of collisions with obstacles. In the following description, the ability to avoid collisions with obstacles will be referred to as avoidance performance, and the ability to mitigate the impact of collisions with obstacles will be referred to as mitigation performance. In this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information from the process control device 400 that includes information relating to both the avoidance performance and mitigation performance of the vehicle 100. The remote control unit 220 generates a control command for remotely controlling the vehicle 100 and transmits the control command to the vehicle 100 to make the vehicle 100 move. In this embodiment, the control command is the same as the driving control signal described later. The remote control device 200 may be simply referred to as the control device, and the remote control unit 220 may be simply referred to as the control unit.
[0018] The external sensor group 300 is composed of multiple external sensors. External sensors are sensors installed on the outside of the vehicle 100. The external sensors are used to detect the position and orientation of the vehicle 100. In this embodiment, the external sensor group 300 is composed of multiple cameras installed in the factory. Each camera is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with the remote control device 200 via wired or wireless communication.
[0019] The process control device 400 manages the entire manufacturing process of the vehicle 100 in the factory. The process control device 400 consists of at least one computer. The process control device 400 is equipped with a communication device (not shown) and can communicate with the remote control device 200 by wired or wireless communication. When the remote control device 200 starts remote control of the vehicle 100, the process control device 400 transmits the identification number and performance information of the vehicle 100 to be remotely controlled to the remote control device 200.
[0020] Figure 2A is an explanatory diagram showing how vehicle 100 moves remotely within factory KJ. Figure 2A shows two vehicles 100A and 100B. In the following description, when the two vehicles 100A and 100B are not specifically distinguished, they will simply be referred to as vehicle 100. In this embodiment, factory KJ comprises a first location PL1, a second location PL2, and a third location PL3. Vehicle 100 is assembled in the first location PL1 and the second location PL2. In the third location PL3, inspections are performed on the vehicle 100 assembled in the first location PL1 and the vehicle 100 assembled in the second location PL2. Each location PL1 to PL3 is connected by a travel path SR on which vehicle 100 can travel. An intersection KT is provided on the travel path SR. In the following explanation, the section of the road SR between location PL1 and intersection KT will be referred to as road SR1, the section between location PL2 and intersection KT as road SR2, and the section between intersection KT and location PL3 as road SR3. When explaining each road SR1 to SR3 without making a specific distinction, they will simply be referred to as road SR.
[0021] Vehicles 100 assembled at location PL1 and vehicles 100 assembled at location PL2 are equipped with at least a drive unit 110, a steering unit 120, a braking unit 130, a communication unit 140, and a vehicle control unit 150. Vehicles 100 assembled at location PL1 are remotely controlled by a remote control unit 200 and travel from location PL1 through intersection KT to location PL3, while vehicles 100 assembled at location PL2 are remotely controlled by a remote control unit 200 and travel from location PL2 through intersection KT to location PL3. Vehicles 100 that pass the inspection at location PL3 are shipped from factory KJ. Vehicles 100 that fail the inspection are repaired and then reinspected.
[0022] Referring to Figure 2A, a brief explanation will be given of how the remote control unit 220 moves the vehicle 100 by remote control. The remote control unit 220 determines a target route for the vehicle 100 to travel to its destination via the travel path SR. In this embodiment, the target route is the reference route described later. Multiple cameras 301 are installed in factory KJ to photograph the travel path SR, and the remote control unit 220 can obtain the relative position and orientation of the vehicle 100 with respect to the target route in real time by analyzing the images captured by each camera 301. The multiple cameras 301 are included in the external sensor group 300. The remote control unit 220 generates a control command to drive the vehicle 100 along the target route and transmits the control command to the vehicle 100. The vehicle control device 150 mounted on the vehicle 100 drives the vehicle 100 by controlling the drive unit 110, steering unit 120, and braking unit 130 according to the received control command. Therefore, the vehicle 100 can be moved without using transport devices such as cranes or conveyors.
[0023] In this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 can remotely control and operate multiple vehicles 100A and 100B simultaneously and in parallel. For example, the remote control unit 220 can remotely control vehicle 100A to move from a first location PL1 to a third location PL3, while remotely controlling vehicle 100B to move from a second location PL2 to a third location PL3.
[0024] Figure 2B is a flowchart showing the procedure for controlling the vehicle 100's movement in the first embodiment. Referring to Figure 2B, the method by which the remote control unit 220 of the remote control device 200 drives the vehicle 100 remotely will be described in more detail. In step S1, the remote control unit 220 acquires vehicle position information of the vehicle 100 using the detection result output from an external sensor, which is a sensor located outside the vehicle 100. The vehicle position information is the position information that forms the basis for generating the driving control signal. In this embodiment, the vehicle position information includes the position and orientation of the vehicle 100 in the reference coordinate system of factory KJ. In this embodiment, the reference coordinate system of factory KJ is the global coordinate system, and any position within factory KJ is represented by the X, Y, Z coordinates in the global coordinate system. In this embodiment, the external sensor is a camera 301, and the external sensor outputs an captured image as a detection result. That is, in step S1, the remote control unit 220 acquires vehicle position information using the captured image acquired from the camera 301, which is the external sensor.
[0025] In detail, in step S1, the remote control unit 220, for example, detects the outline of the vehicle 100 from the captured image, calculates the coordinates of the vehicle 100's positioning point in the coordinate system of the captured image, i.e., the local coordinate system, and obtains the position of the vehicle 100 by converting the calculated coordinates to coordinates in the global coordinate system. The outline of the vehicle 100 included in the captured image can be detected, for example, by inputting the captured image into a detection model utilizing artificial intelligence. The detection model is prepared, for example, within or outside the unmanned driving system 10 and stored in the memory 202 of the remote control device 200. Examples of detection models include pre-trained machine learning models that have been trained to implement either semantic segmentation or instance segmentation. As this machine learning model, for example, a convolutional neural network (CNN) trained by supervised learning using a training dataset can be used. The training dataset includes, for example, multiple training images containing vehicle 100, and labels indicating whether each region in the training images represents vehicle 100 or something other than vehicle 100. During CNN training, it is preferable to update the CNN parameters using backpropagation to reduce the error between the output of the detection model and the labels. The processor 201 can also obtain the orientation of vehicle 100 by, for example, using the optical flow method to estimate the orientation of the vehicle 100's movement vector calculated from the positional changes of the vehicle 100's feature points between frames of the captured images.
[0026] In step S2, the remote control unit 220 determines the next target location that the vehicle 100 should head to. In this embodiment, the target location is represented by X, Y, Z coordinates in the global coordinate system. The memory 202 of the remote control device 200 stores in advance a reference route, which is the path that the vehicle 100 should travel. The route is represented by a node indicating the starting point, nodes indicating waypoints, a node indicating the destination, and links connecting each node. The remote control unit 220 uses the vehicle position information and the reference route to determine the next target location that the vehicle 100 should head to. The remote control unit 220 determines the target location on the reference route beyond the current location of the vehicle 100.
[0027] In step S3, the remote control unit 220 generates a driving control signal to drive the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In this embodiment, the driving control signal includes the acceleration and steering angle of the vehicle 100 as parameters. 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. The remote control unit 220 calculates the driving speed of the vehicle 100 from the change in the position of the vehicle 100 and compares the calculated driving speed with the target speed. Overall, the remote control unit 220 determines the acceleration so that the vehicle 100 accelerates if the driving speed is lower than the target speed, and determines the acceleration so that the vehicle 100 decelerates if the driving speed is higher than the target speed. Furthermore, the remote control unit 220 determines the steering angle and acceleration to prevent the vehicle 100 from deviating from the reference path when the vehicle 100 is located on the reference path, and determines the steering angle and acceleration to return the vehicle 100 to the reference path when the vehicle 100 is not located on the reference path, in other words, when the vehicle 100 has deviated from the reference path.
[0028] In step S4, the remote control unit 220 transmits the generated driving control signal to the vehicle 100. The remote control unit 220 repeats the process of acquiring the position of the vehicle 100, determining the target position, generating the driving control signal, and transmitting the driving control signal at predetermined intervals.
[0029] In step S5, the vehicle control device 150 mounted on the vehicle 100 receives a driving control signal transmitted from the remote control device 200. In step S6, the vehicle control device 150 uses the received driving control signal to control the drive unit 110, the steering unit 120, and the braking unit 130, thereby driving the vehicle 100 at the acceleration and steering angle indicated in the driving control signal. The vehicle control device 150 repeats the reception of the driving control signal and the control of the various devices 110 to 130 at predetermined intervals.
[0030] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of the priority determination process. The priority determination process is repeatedly executed by the remote control device 200 during the period in which the vehicle 100 is remotely controlled. When the priority determination process starts, in step S110, the information acquisition unit 210 acquires performance information for each vehicle 100 to be remotely controlled from the process control device 400.
[0031] In step S120, the remote control unit 220 determines the priority of each vehicle 100 using the performance information. In this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 assigns a higher priority to a vehicle 100 the higher its avoidance performance. If the avoidance performance is the same, in other words, if there is no difference in avoidance performance, the remote control unit 220 assigns a higher priority to a vehicle 100 the higher its mitigation performance.
[0032] Regarding avoidance performance, for example, between a vehicle 100 equipped with an automatic avoidance function and a vehicle 100 without an automatic avoidance function, the vehicle 100 equipped with the automatic avoidance function has higher avoidance performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 equipped with the automatic avoidance function than to the vehicle 100 without the automatic avoidance function. Furthermore, if the avoidance performance due to the automatic avoidance function is improved by machine learning, the vehicle 100 that has been trained has higher avoidance performance than the vehicle 100 that has not been trained. Therefore, in this embodiment, when comparing two vehicles 100 equipped with an automatic avoidance function, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 that has been trained than to the vehicle 100 that has not been trained.
[0033] Regarding avoidance performance, when the vehicle 100 is driven at factory KJ, restrictions may be placed on the vehicle 100's maximum speed, braking force, and steering angle, and these restrictions may be removed before shipment. Between a vehicle 100 with restricted braking force and steering angle and a vehicle 100 without restrictions on braking force and steering angle, the vehicle 100 without restrictions on braking force and steering angle has higher avoidance performance. Therefore, in this embodiment, if there is no difference in avoidance performance based on the presence or absence of the automatic avoidance function, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 without restrictions on braking force and steering angle than to the vehicle 100 with restrictions on braking force and steering angle.
[0034] Regarding avoidance performance, the fewer the number of re-inspections of the steering system 120, braking system 130, and obstacle sensor 160, the lower the probability of malfunctions in the steering system 120, braking system 130, and obstacle sensor 160, and therefore the higher the avoidance performance. For this reason, in this embodiment, if there is no difference in avoidance performance based on the presence or absence of an automatic avoidance function or the presence or absence of restrictions on braking force, the remote control unit 220 will give a higher priority to the vehicle 100 the fewer the number of re-inspections of the steering system 120, braking system 130, and obstacle sensor 160.
[0035] Regarding mitigation performance, the lighter the weight of the vehicle 100, the lower its kinetic energy, and therefore the higher its mitigation performance. For this reason, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the lighter the weight of the vehicle 100. Between a vehicle 100 with a front bumper and a vehicle 100 without a front bumper, the vehicle 100 with a front bumper has higher mitigation performance. For this reason, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to the vehicle 100 with a front bumper than to the vehicle 100 without a front bumper. In a comparison of two vehicles 100 with different weights, if the lighter vehicle 100 does not have a front bumper and the heavier vehicle 100 does have a front bumper, the remote control unit 220 gives a predetermined priority to one of them higher than the other.
[0036] In this embodiment, if the avoidance performance and mitigation performance are the same, in other words, if there is no superiority or inferiority in avoidance and mitigation performance, the remote control unit 220 will give a higher priority to the vehicle 100 that is attempting to enter the intersection from a predetermined direction. For example, the remote control unit 220 will give a higher priority to the vehicle 100 that is attempting to enter the intersection KT from the first road SR1 than to the vehicle 100 that is attempting to enter the intersection KT from the second road SR2. However, if there is no superiority or inferiority in avoidance and mitigation performance, the remote control unit 220 may give a lower priority to the vehicle 100 that is attempting to enter the intersection KT from the first road SR1 than to the vehicle 100 that is attempting to enter the intersection KT from the second road SR2. After that, the remote control unit 220 will terminate the priority determination process. Step S110 is sometimes called the information acquisition process, and step S120 is sometimes called the priority determination process.
[0037] Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram showing how two vehicles 100A and 100B pass through intersection KT according to the priority determined by the priority determination process. Using Figure 4, the remote control method for vehicles 100A and 100B in this embodiment will be explained. The remote control method is sometimes called the unmanned driving method. The process of moving vehicles 100A and 100B by remote control is sometimes called the remote control process or the unmanned driving process. In Figure 4, vehicle 100A has a higher priority than vehicle 100B. As shown in the upper part of Figure 4, if two vehicles 100A and 100B attempt to enter intersection KT from different directions at the same time, as shown in the middle part of Figure 4, the remote control unit 220 allows the vehicle with the higher priority, 100A, to enter intersection KT, and has the vehicle with the lower priority, 100B, wait to enter intersection KT. In this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 stops vehicle 100B, thereby making vehicle 100B wait to enter intersection KT. Alternatively, the remote control unit 220 may also make vehicle 100B wait to enter intersection KT by slowing down vehicle 100B within a range where vehicle 100B does not stop. As shown in the lower part of Figure 4, after vehicle 100A has passed intersection KT, the remote control unit 220 makes vehicle 100B pass through intersection KT.
[0038] As described above, in the unmanned driving system 10 of this embodiment, if multiple vehicles 100 are attempting to enter intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control unit 220 will allow the multiple vehicles 100 to pass through intersection KT in order of priority determined using performance information. Therefore, it is possible to suppress multiple vehicles 100 from entering intersection KT at the same time. In particular, in this embodiment, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to a vehicle 100 the higher its avoidance performance, thus preventing a preceding vehicle 100 from colliding with an obstacle at intersection KT or the third roadway SR3 and blocking the path of a following vehicle 100. Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the avoidance performance is the same, the remote control unit 220 gives a higher priority to a vehicle 100 the higher its mitigation performance, so even if a preceding vehicle 100 collides with an obstacle at intersection KT or the third roadway SR3, damage to the vehicle 100 and the obstacle can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the situation in which the path of the following vehicle 100 is blocked from lasting for an extended period.
[0039] B. Second Embodiment: Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the unmanned driving system 10b in the second embodiment. Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle control device 150 in the second embodiment. As shown in Figure 5, the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the unmanned driving system 10 does not have a remote control device 200, and the vehicle 100 is driven by autonomous control rather than remote control. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment unless otherwise specified. The method of driving the vehicle 100 by autonomous control is sometimes called an autonomous automatic driving method or an unmanned driving method.
[0040] In this embodiment, the vehicle 100 is configured to be able to travel by autonomous control. The vehicle 100 can communicate with the external sensor group 300 and the process control device 400 by wireless communication using the communication device 140. As shown in Figure 6, in this embodiment, the processor 151 of the vehicle control device 150 functions as a driving control unit 155b and an information acquisition unit 156 by executing a computer program PG1 that is pre-stored in the memory 152.
[0041] The driving control unit 155b generates its own driving control signals and uses these signals to control the drive unit 110, steering unit 120, and braking unit 130, thereby driving the vehicle 100. The memory 152 stores reference paths, detection models, and other information in advance. The vehicle control device 150 is sometimes simply referred to as the control device, and the driving control unit 155b is sometimes simply referred to as the control unit.
[0042] The information acquisition unit 156 acquires performance information of its own vehicle and performance information of other vehicles from the process control device 400. If the performance information of its own vehicle is pre-stored in the memory 152, the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire the performance information of its own vehicle from the memory 152. If the own vehicle and other vehicles can communicate via wireless communication using the communication device 140, the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire performance information of other vehicles from other vehicles.
[0043] In this embodiment, the priority determination process shown in Figure 3 is performed by the vehicle control device 150. When the vehicle and another vehicle attempt to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time, the information acquisition unit 156 acquires performance information of the vehicle and the other vehicle attempting to enter the intersection. The information acquisition unit 156 can detect, for example, that the vehicle and another vehicle are attempting to enter the intersection from different directions at the same time using the obstacle sensor 160. The driving control unit 155b determines the priority of the vehicle and the other vehicle using the performance information acquired by the information acquisition unit 156. The driving control unit 155b controls the vehicle so that the vehicle and the other vehicle pass through intersection KT according to the priority determined by the priority determination process.
[0044] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure for controlling the movement of the vehicle 100 in the second embodiment. In step S11, the movement control unit 155b of the vehicle control device 150 acquires vehicle position information using the detection result output from the camera 301, which is an external sensor. In step S21, the movement control unit 155b determines the target position to which the vehicle 100 should next go. In step S31, the movement control unit 155b generates a movement control signal to drive the vehicle 100 toward the determined target position. In step S41, the movement control unit 155b uses the generated movement control signal to control the drive unit 110, the steering unit 120, and the braking unit 130, thereby driving the vehicle 100 according to the parameters expressed in the movement control signal. The movement control unit 155b repeats the acquisition of vehicle position information, determination of the target position, generation of the movement control signal, and control of the various devices 110 to 130 at predetermined intervals.
[0045] According to the unmanned driving system 10b of this embodiment described above, similar to the first embodiment, when multiple vehicles 100 are attempting to enter intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the multiple vehicles 100 can be allowed to pass through intersection KT in order of priority determined using performance information. Therefore, it is possible to suppress multiple vehicles 100 from entering intersection KT at the same time.
[0046] C. Other embodiments: (C1) In the unmanned driving systems 10 and 10b of the embodiments described above, the information acquisition unit 210 and the information acquisition unit 156 acquire performance information that includes information on both avoidance performance and mitigation performance, and the remote control unit 220 and the driving control unit 155b give higher priority to the vehicle 100 the higher the avoidance performance of the vehicle 100, and if there is no difference in the superiority of the avoidance performance, the higher the mitigation performance of the vehicle 100, the higher the priority of the vehicle 100. In contrast, the information acquisition unit 210 and the information acquisition unit 156 may acquire performance information that includes information on either avoidance performance or mitigation performance. In this case, the remote control unit 220 and the driving control unit 155b give higher priority to the vehicle 100 the higher the performance of either avoidance performance or mitigation performance.
[0047] (C2) In each of the above embodiments, the external sensor is a camera 301. However, the external sensor does not have to be a camera 301; for example, it may be a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). In this case, the detection result output from the external sensor may be 3D point cloud data representing the vehicle 100. In this case, the remote control unit 220 and the driving control unit 155b may acquire vehicle position information by template matching using the 3D point cloud data as the detection result and pre-prepared reference point cloud data.
[0048] (C3) In the first embodiment described above, the remote control device 200 performs the processing from acquiring vehicle position information to generating a driving control signal. Alternatively, the vehicle 100 may perform at least a part of the processing from acquiring vehicle position information to generating a driving control signal. For example, the following forms (1) to (3) may be used.
[0049] (1) The remote control device 200 may acquire vehicle position information, determine the next target location to which the vehicle 100 should go, and generate a route from the vehicle 100's current location, as shown in the acquired vehicle position information, to the target location. The remote control device 200 may generate a route to the target location between the current location and the destination, or it may generate a route to the destination. The remote control device 200 may transmit the generated route to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 may generate a driving control signal so that the vehicle 100 travels along the route received from the remote control device 200, and may use the generated driving control signal to control the drive unit 110, the steering unit 120, and the braking unit 130.
[0050] (2) The remote control device 200 may acquire vehicle position information and transmit the acquired vehicle position information to the vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 may determine the next target location to which the vehicle 100 should go, generate a route from the vehicle 100's current location shown in the received vehicle position information to the target location, generate a driving control signal so that the vehicle 100 travels along the generated route, and use the generated driving control signal to control the drive unit 110, the steering unit 120, and the braking unit 130.
[0051] (3) In the embodiments of (1) and (2) above, the vehicle 100 is equipped with internal sensors, and the detection results output from the internal sensors may be used in at least one of the generation of a route and the generation of a driving control signal. The internal sensors are sensors mounted on the vehicle 100. The internal sensors may include, for example, sensors that detect the motion state of the vehicle 100, sensors that detect the operating state of each part of the vehicle 100, and sensors that detect the environment around the vehicle 100. Specifically, the internal sensors may include, for example, cameras, LiDAR, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sensors, GPS sensors, acceleration sensors, gyro sensors, etc. For example, in the embodiment of (1) above, the remote control device 200 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensors and reflect the detection results of the internal sensors in the route when generating a route. In the embodiment of (1) above, the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensors and reflect the detection results of the internal sensors in the driving control signal when generating a driving control signal. In the embodiment of (2) above, the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensors and reflect the detection results of the internal sensors in the route when generating a route. In the embodiment described in (2) above, the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection results of the internal sensors and reflect the detection results of the internal sensors in the driving control signal when generating the driving control signal.
[0052] (C4) In the second embodiment described above, the vehicle 100 is equipped with an internal sensor, and the detection result output from the internal sensor may be used in at least one of the generation of the route and the generation of the driving control signal. For example, the vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result from the internal sensor and reflect the detection result from the internal sensor in the route when generating the route. The vehicle 100 may acquire the detection result from the internal sensor and reflect the detection result from the internal sensor in the driving control signal when generating the driving control signal.
[0053] (C5) In the second embodiment described above, the vehicle 100 acquires vehicle position information using the detection results of the camera 301, which is an external sensor. In contrast, the vehicle 100 may be equipped with an internal sensor, and the vehicle 100 may acquire vehicle position information using the detection results of the internal sensor, determine the next target location to which the vehicle 100 should go, generate a route from the vehicle 100's current location shown in the acquired vehicle position information to the target location, generate a driving control signal for driving along the generated route, and use the generated driving control signal to control the drive unit 110, steering unit 120, and braking unit 130. In this case, the vehicle 100 can drive without using the detection results of the external sensor at all. The vehicle 100 may also acquire the target arrival time and congestion information from outside the vehicle 100 and reflect the target arrival time and congestion information in at least one of the route and the driving control signal.
[0054] (C6) In the first embodiment described above, the remote control device 200 automatically generates a driving control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100. Alternatively, the remote control device 200 may generate a driving control signal to be transmitted to the vehicle 100 according to the operation of an external operator located outside the vehicle 100. For example, an external operator may operate a control device that includes a display for displaying captured images output from an external sensor, a camera 301, a steering wheel for remotely controlling the vehicle 100, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and a communication device for communicating with the remote control device 200 via wired or wireless communication, and the remote control device 200 may generate a driving control signal in response to the operation applied to the control device. In this configuration, the remote control device 200 may display information on the control device's display indicating whether the remotely driven vehicle has priority when a remotely driven vehicle being remotely driven by an operator and another vehicle are attempting to enter intersection KT from different directions at the same time. In this case, the operator can easily determine whether the remotely driven vehicle has priority by referring to the information displayed on the display. Furthermore, in this configuration, if a remotely operated vehicle being remotely operated by an operator and another vehicle are both attempting to enter intersection KT from different directions at the same time, the remote control device 200 may switch the remotely operated vehicle from remotely operated to remotely automated operation, allowing the vehicle being remotely operated by the operator and the other vehicle to pass through the intersection according to priority using remotely automated operation, and then switch the vehicle being remotely operated by the operator back from remotely automated operation to remotely operated operation.
[0055] (C7) In each of the above embodiments, the vehicle 100 only needs to have a configuration that allows it to move by unmanned operation, and may take the form of a platform having the configuration described below. Specifically, in order for the vehicle 100 to perform the three functions of "driving," "turning," and "stopping" by unmanned operation, it only needs to be equipped with at least a drive unit 110, a steering unit 120, a braking unit 130, and a vehicle control unit 150. When the vehicle 100 acquires information from the outside for unmanned operation, the vehicle 100 may further be equipped with a communication device 140. That is, the vehicle 100 that can move by unmanned operation does not need to have at least some of the interior parts such as a driver's seat and dashboard, at least some of the exterior parts such as bumpers and fenders, and does not need to have a body shell. In this case, the remaining parts such as the body shell may be attached to the vehicle 100 before it is shipped from factory KJ, or the remaining parts such as the body shell may be attached to the vehicle 100 after it has been shipped from factory KJ, while the remaining parts such as the body shell are not attached to the vehicle 100. Each part may be attached from any direction, such as the top, bottom, front, rear, right, or left side of the vehicle 100, and they may be attached from the same direction or from different directions. The positioning of the platform can also be determined in the same way as for the vehicle 100 in the first embodiment.
[0056] (C8) Vehicle 100 may be manufactured by combining multiple modules. A module means a unit composed of multiple parts grouped together according to the part or function of the vehicle 100. For example, the platform of vehicle 100 may be manufactured by combining a front module that constitutes the front part of the platform, a central module that constitutes the central part of the platform, and a rear module that constitutes the rear part of the platform. The number of modules that constitute the platform is not limited to three, but may be two or fewer, or four or more. In addition to, or instead of, the parts that constitute the platform may be modularized, as well as parts that constitute parts of the vehicle 100 that are different from the platform. Various modules may also include any exterior parts such as bumpers and grilles, or any interior parts such as seats and consoles. Furthermore, not limited to vehicle 100, any type of mobile body may be manufactured by combining multiple modules. Such modules may be manufactured, for example, by joining multiple parts by welding or fasteners, or by integrally molding at least a part of the parts that constitute the module as a single part by casting. A molding technique for integrally molding a single component, especially a relatively large component, is also called gigacast or megacast. For example, the front module, central module, and rear module mentioned above may be manufactured using gigacast.
[0057] (C9) Transporting vehicle 100 using the unmanned operation of vehicle 100 is also called "autonomous transport." The configuration for realizing autonomous transport is also called a "vehicle remote control autonomous driving transport system." Furthermore, a production method that uses autonomous transport to produce vehicle 100 is also called "autonomous production." In autonomous production, for example, at factory KJ where vehicle 100 is manufactured, at least a portion of the transport of vehicle 100 is realized by autonomous transport.
[0058] (C10) In each of the above embodiments, some or all of the functions and processes implemented in software may be implemented in hardware. Also, some or all of the functions and processes implemented in hardware may be implemented in software. As hardware for implementing the various functions in each of the above embodiments, various circuits such as integrated circuits and discrete circuits may be used.
[0059] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various configurations without departing from its spirit. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the summary of the invention can be replaced or combined as appropriate in order to solve some or all of the above-described problems, or to 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 deleted as appropriate. [Explanation of Symbols]
[0060] 10,10b...Unmanned driving system, 100...Vehicle (mobile body), 110...Drive unit, 120...Steering unit, 130...Braking unit, 140...Communication device, 150...Vehicle control device, 151...Processor, 152...Memory, 153...Input / output interface, 154...Internal bus, 155,155b...Driving control unit, 156...Information acquisition unit, 160...Obstacle sensor, 200...Remote control device, 201...Processor, 202...Memory, 203...Input / output interface, 204...Internal bus, 205...Communication device, 210...Information acquisition unit, 220...Remote control unit, 300...External sensor group, 301...Camera, 400...Process control device
Claims
1. A control device, An information acquisition unit that acquires performance information relating to at least one of the following performance characteristics of multiple mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned operation: avoidance performance to avoid collisions with obstacles and mitigation performance to reduce the impact when a collision occurs with an obstacle. A control unit for controlling the unmanned operation of at least one of the plurality of mobile bodies, wherein when the plurality of mobile bodies attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the control unit controls the at least one mobile body so that it passes through the intersection in a priority order determined using the performance information, in order of the performance of at least one of the mobile bodies, Equipped with, The control unit is a control device that assigns a higher priority to the unit with higher avoidance performance, and if the avoidance performance is the same, assigns a higher priority to the unit with higher mitigation performance.
2. A control device, An information acquisition unit that acquires performance information relating to at least one of the following performance characteristics of multiple mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned operation: avoidance performance to avoid collisions with obstacles and mitigation performance to reduce the impact when a collision occurs with an obstacle. A control unit for controlling the unmanned operation of at least one of the plurality of mobile bodies, wherein when the plurality of mobile bodies attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the control unit controls the at least one mobile body so that it passes through the intersection in a priority order determined using the performance information, in order of the performance of at least one of the mobile bodies, Equipped with, The performance information includes information indicating whether or not the moving body is equipped with an automatic avoidance function, which is a function that automatically avoids collisions with obstacles. The control unit is a control device that gives a higher priority to the moving body equipped with the automatic avoidance function than to the moving body not equipped with the automatic avoidance function.
3. A control device, An information acquisition unit that acquires performance information relating to at least one of the following performance characteristics of multiple mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned operation: avoidance performance to avoid collisions with obstacles and mitigation performance to reduce the impact when a collision occurs with an obstacle. A control unit for controlling the unmanned operation of at least one of the plurality of mobile bodies, wherein when the plurality of mobile bodies attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the control unit controls the at least one mobile body so that it passes through the intersection in a priority order determined using the performance information, in order of the performance of at least one of the mobile bodies, Equipped with, The aforementioned multiple mobile units are moved by unmanned operation in a factory that manufactures the aforementioned multiple mobile units. The performance information includes information indicating the number of times the mobile body has been reinspected at the factory. The control unit is a control device that increases the priority as the number of re-examinations decreases.
4. An unmanned driving method, An information acquisition step to acquire performance information regarding at least one of the following performance characteristics of multiple mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned operation: avoidance performance to avoid collisions with obstacles and mitigation performance to reduce the impact when a collision occurs with an obstacle; An unmanned operation process for moving the plurality of moving objects by unmanned operation, wherein if the plurality of moving objects attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the unmanned operation process for instructing the plurality of moving objects to pass through the intersection in order of priority determined using the performance information, in order of the performance of at least one of them being higher. Equipped with, An unmanned operation method in which, in the unmanned operation process, the higher the avoidance performance, the higher the priority, and if the avoidance performance is the same, the higher the mitigation performance, the higher the priority.
5. An unmanned operation method, An information acquisition step to acquire performance information regarding at least one of the following performance characteristics of multiple mobile bodies that can be moved by unmanned operation: avoidance performance to avoid collisions with obstacles and mitigation performance to reduce the impact when a collision occurs with an obstacle; An unmanned operation process for moving the plurality of moving objects by unmanned operation, wherein if the plurality of moving objects attempt to enter an intersection from different directions at the same time, the unmanned operation process for instructing the plurality of moving objects to pass through the intersection in order of priority determined using the performance information, in order of the performance of at least one of them being higher. Equipped with, The performance information includes information indicating whether or not the moving body is equipped with an automatic avoidance function, which is a function that automatically avoids collisions with obstacles. An unmanned operation method in which, in the unmanned operation process, the priority of the moving body equipped with the automatic avoidance function is set higher than the priority of the moving body not equipped with the automatic avoidance function.