Vehicle control device and vehicle control system

Abstract

A vehicle control device (2) is provided with an information integration unit (21) and a risk assessment unit (22). The information integration unit (21) generates a common blind spot map including positional information of a common blind spot of a vehicle sensor (VS) and an infrastructure sensor (IS). The risk assessment unit (22) determines the risk of an obstructed object that may be located around the vehicle (V) being located in the common blind spot on the basis of the common blind spot map and the size of the obstructed object. On the basis of the risk determination result, the risk assessment unit (22) determines whether or not the vehicle (V) can enter a risk area adjacent to the common blind spot, and if the result of the determination is that the vehicle (V) cannot enter the risk area, transmits a stop position before the risk area to the vehicle (V).

Description

Vehicle control device and vehicle control system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system.

[0002] A display control system that controls the display of information on a vehicle has been known (see Patent Document 1 below). The display control system described in Patent Document 1 includes an infrastructure sensor information acquisition unit, a blind spot information generation unit, and a display control unit (see claim 1, paragraph 0006, etc.).

[0003] The infrastructure sensor information acquisition unit acquires infrastructure sensor information obtained by infrastructure sensors installed around a road detecting the periphery of a vehicle on the road. The blind spot information generation unit generates blind spot information regarding blind spot areas caused by obstacles when viewed from the vehicle based on the infrastructure sensor information. The display control unit controls the blind spot information to be displayed on the vehicle.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-161066

[0005] For example, at a container port where many containers are accumulated, the location of obstacles frequently changes as new containers are unloaded from container ships and accumulated, or accumulated containers are loaded onto trailers and transported out. In such a location, blind spots may occur from both vehicle sensors that are mounted on a vehicle and detect obstacles around the vehicle, and infrastructure sensors that are mounted outside the vehicle and detect obstacles around the vehicle.

[0006] The display control system described in Patent Document 1 detects an object present in a blind spot area that is a blind spot from the perspective of a vehicle sensor installed in the vehicle using an infrastructure sensor installed on the road, and can display blind spot information regarding the blind spot area on the vehicle. However, this conventional display control system does not take into account the possibility of an area being blinded by both the vehicle sensor and the infrastructure sensor.

[0007] The present disclosure provides a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system that can address the risk of blind spots occurring in both vehicle sensors mounted on a vehicle and infrastructure sensors located adjacent to the location where the vehicle is traveling.

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle control device comprising: an information integration unit that generates a common blind spot map including position information of a common blind spot that is a blind spot of both a vehicle sensor that is mounted on a vehicle and detects objects around the vehicle and an infrastructure sensor that is positioned adjacent to the vehicle's travel path and detects objects around the vehicle; a risk assessment unit that determines the risk of an obstructed object being present in the common blind spot based on the common blind spot map and the size of the obstructed object that may be present around the vehicle; and an entry feasibility determination unit that determines whether the vehicle can enter a risk area adjacent to the common blind spot based on the risk assessment result by the risk assessment unit, and transmits a stopping position before the risk area to the vehicle if the entry feasibility determination result is not allowable.

[0009] According to the above-described aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system that can address the risk of a blind spot occurring in both a vehicle sensor mounted on a vehicle and an infrastructure sensor located adjacent to the location where the vehicle is traveling.

[0010] 1B. A block diagram showing a first embodiment of a vehicle control system according to the present disclosure. A block diagram showing details of a risk assessment unit of the vehicle control system of FIG. 1A. A flowchart illustrating the operation of the vehicle control device of FIG. 1A. A flowchart illustrating a modified example of the operation of the vehicle control device of FIG. 1A. A flowchart illustrating a modified example of the operation of the vehicle control device of FIG. 1A. A plan view showing a common blind spot between the vehicle sensor and the infrastructure sensor of FIG. 1A. A plan view showing an example of a method for determining an obstructed object that may exist around the vehicle of FIG. 1A. A plan view illustrating the processing of a risk determination unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B. A plan view illustrating the processing of the risk determination unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B. A plan view illustrating the processing of a path prediction unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B. A plan view illustrating the processing of the path prediction unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B. A plan view illustrating the processing of an entry feasibility determination unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B. A flow diagram illustrating the operation of a vehicle control device constituting the vehicle control system of FIG. 1A. A plan view showing an example of a method for determining an obstructed object that may exist around the vehicle of FIG. 1A. A plan view illustrating the processing of a risk determination unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B. FIG. 1C is a plan view illustrating the processing of a risk determination unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B; FIG. 1D is a plan view illustrating the processing of a path prediction unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B; FIG. 1E is a plan view illustrating the processing of a path prediction unit constituting the risk assessment unit of FIG. 1B;

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Embodiment 1] Fig. 1A is a block diagram showing embodiment 1 of a vehicle control system according to the present disclosure. Fig. 1B is a block diagram showing details of the risk assessment unit 22 of the vehicle control system 1 of Fig. 1A. Note that Fig. 1A shows only one vehicle V out of multiple vehicles V for simplification.

[0013] The vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment is configured, for example, by a vehicle control device 2 that controls a plurality of vehicles V, and a vehicle control device 3 mounted on each vehicle V. As described below, the vehicle control device 2 and the vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment address the risk of blind spots occurring for both the vehicle sensors VS mounted on each of the plurality of vehicles V and the infrastructure sensors IS disposed adjacent to the locations where each vehicle V is traveling, and improve the traveling efficiency of the vehicles V while ensuring the safety of their traveling.

[0014] The vehicle control device 2 is configured, for example, by a computer such as a network server connected to a network. For example, as shown in FIG. 1A, the vehicle control device 2 has an information integration unit 21 and a risk assessment unit 22. For example, as shown in FIG. 1B, the risk assessment unit 22 has a risk determination unit 221 and an entry feasibility determination unit 223. For example, the risk assessment unit 22 may further have a route prediction unit 222. Each of these units of the vehicle control device 2 represents a function of the vehicle control device 2 that is realized by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) executing a program stored in a memory such as a ROM or RAM.

[0015] The vehicle control device 3 is, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU) that controls the traveling of the vehicle V using the detection results of vehicle sensors VS mounted on the vehicle V. That is, the vehicle V is, for example, an autonomous vehicle capable of autonomous driving (AD) by the vehicle control device 3. Note that the vehicle V may also be, for example, a manually driven vehicle equipped with an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) including the vehicle control device 3. The vehicle control device 2 is connected to the vehicle control device 3 mounted on each vehicle V so as to be able to communicate information with them, for example, via a wireless communication line and a network.

[0016] The vehicle sensors VS include external sensors such as a camera, millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR (laser radar), and ultrasonic sensors that are mounted on the vehicle V and detect objects around the vehicle V. The vehicle sensors VS also include various sensors mounted on the vehicle V, such as a receiver for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, an accelerator sensor, a brake sensor, a steering angle sensor, a shift position sensor, and a torque sensor.

[0017] The infrastructure sensor IS is an external sensor such as a camera, millimeter wave radar, LiDAR (laser radar), or ultrasonic sensor, and is a roadside sensor that is arranged adjacent to the travel path of the vehicle V and detects objects around the vehicle V. The infrastructure sensor IS is connected to the vehicle control device 2 via a network, for example, so as to be able to communicate information with the vehicle control device 2.

[0018] The operation of the vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 2A to 7. Figure 2A is a flowchart explaining the operation of the vehicle control device 2 of Figure 1A. Figures 2B and 2C are flowcharts explaining modified examples of the operation of the vehicle control device 2 of Figure 1A. Figure 3 is a plan view showing a common blind spot CBA between the vehicle sensor VS and the infrastructure sensor IS of Figure 1A.

[0019] 2A to 2C, the vehicle control device 2 executes process P1 for generating a common blind spot map Mb using the information integrator 21. More specifically, the information integrator 21 acquires, for example, from the vehicle control device 3 of the vehicle V via a wireless communication line and a network, the results of detection of objects around the vehicle V by the vehicle sensor VS mounted on the vehicle V.

[0020] The information integrator 21 also acquires detection results of objects around the vehicle V from, for example, infrastructure sensors IS adjacent to the travel route of the vehicle V. Furthermore, the information integrator 21 integrates, for example, the detection results of the vehicle sensors VS and the detection results of the infrastructure sensors IS to generate a common blind spot map Mb that includes position information of a common blind spot CBA that is a blind spot of both the vehicle sensors VS and the infrastructure sensors IS, as shown in FIG.

[0021] Next, the vehicle control device 2 executes a process P6 for determining whether the vehicle V can enter a risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA, as shown in Fig. 2A. Note that the information integration unit 21 may execute processes P2 to P5 shown in Fig. 2B and 2C after the end of process P1 and before the start of process P6.

[0022] In process P2, the information integration unit 21 determines whether or not an entry request into the risk area RA, which will be described later, has been received from the vehicle V. If the information integration unit 21 determines in process P2 that an entry request has not been received (NO), the information integration unit 21 repeats the process of generating the common blind spot map Mb in process P1 at a predetermined cycle until it determines that an entry request has been received (YES). This allows the common blind spot map Mb to be updated to the latest state until an entry request into the risk area RA is received from the vehicle V. If the vehicle control device 2 determines in process P2 that an entry request has been received (YES), it executes process P3, for example, to generate a risk map Mr (see FIG. 4C ).

[0023] Fig. 4A is a plan view showing an example of a method for defining an obstructed object HO that may exist around the vehicle V in Fig. 1A. Figs. 4B and 4C are plan views illustrating process P3 of the risk determination unit 221 constituting the risk assessment unit 22 in Fig. 1B. In process P3, the risk determination unit 221 acquires, for example, the size of the obstructed object HO stored in the memory of the vehicle control device 2, as shown in Fig. 4A.

[0024] The shape and size of the obstructed object HO that may be present around the vehicle V are set in advance by, for example, a user or administrator of the vehicle control system 1 and the vehicle control device 2 and stored in the memory of the vehicle control device 2. The obstructed object HO includes, for example, moving objects and stationary objects. Moving objects include, for example, vehicles and pedestrians. Stationary objects include, for example, parked vehicles and other obstacles OB.

[0025] For example, if the vehicle V is a trailer that carries out a container at a container port, there is a possibility that other trailers are present around the vehicle V. Therefore, a user or administrator of the vehicle control system 1 and the vehicle control device 2 defines the trailer as the obstructed object HO, for example, as shown in Fig. 4A, and inputs the total length L, width W, etc. of the trailer as the size of the obstructed object HO into the vehicle control device 2 and stores them in memory.

[0026] In process P3, the risk determination unit 221 scans the common blind spot CBA with the hidden object HO based on the common blind spot map Mb and the size of the hidden object HO, and determines whether or not there is an area in the common blind spot CBA that contains the entire hidden object HO, as shown in Fig. 4B. When the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is an area in the common blind spot CBA that contains the entire hidden object HO, as shown in Fig. 4B, it generates a risk map Mr that includes position information of the area that contains the hidden object HO, as shown in Fig. 4C.

[0027] Thereafter, the vehicle control device 2 executes a process P4 in which, for example, the route prediction unit 222 generates a predicted route ER (see FIG. 5B ) of the hidden object HO. In this process P4, the route prediction unit 222 generates a predicted route ER of the moving body as the hidden object HO for which the risk determination unit 221 has determined that there is a risk of the moving body being in the common blind spot CBA.

[0028] 5A and 5B are plan views illustrating the processing of the route prediction unit 222 constituting the risk assessment unit 22 of FIG. 1B . The route prediction unit 222 acquires high-precision map data HD of the surroundings of the vehicle V. The high-precision map data HD includes information such as road locations, road directions, traffic regulations, and speed limits, and is stored in the memory of the vehicle control device 2. Furthermore, the route prediction unit 222 generates a predicted route ER of an obstructed object HO, which is a moving object that may be present in the shared blind spot CBA, as shown in FIG. 5B , based on the acquired high-precision map data HD and the risk map Mr shown in FIG. 4C . Thereafter, the vehicle control device 2 executes a process P6 to determine whether the vehicle V can enter a risk area RA adjacent to the shared blind spot CBA, as shown in FIG. 2B .

[0029] 2C , the vehicle control device 2 may execute a process P5 for acquiring a route for the vehicle V before the process P6. In the process P5, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 of the vehicle control device 2 acquires, for example, a planned route VR (see FIG. 6 ), which is the route along which the vehicle V is scheduled to travel, from the vehicle control device 3 of the vehicle V via a wireless communication line and a network. Thereafter, the vehicle control device 2 executes a process P6 for determining whether the vehicle V is permitted to enter the risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA.

[0030] 6 is a plan view illustrating the processing of the entry feasibility determination unit 223 constituting the risk assessment unit 22 in FIG. 1B. In processing P6 shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines whether the vehicle V can enter the risk area RA based on the risk determination result by the risk determination unit 221. The risk area RA is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4C, an area adjacent to an area in the common blind spot CBA where the risk determination unit 221 has determined that there is a risk of an obstructed object HO being present.

[0031] More specifically, the risk area RA is, for example, a band-shaped area through which a moving body as an obstructed object HO, which has been determined by the risk determination unit 221 to have a risk of being in the common blind spot CBA, passes when moving along its predicted route ER, as shown in Fig. 5B . In process P6, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines that entry is not permitted (NO) when the vehicle V is attempting to enter the risk area RA adjacent to the obstructed object HO, which has been determined to have a risk of being in the common blind spot CBA, as shown in Fig. 4C .

[0032] More specifically, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines that entry is not permitted when the vehicle V is attempting to enter a band-shaped risk area RA that a hidden object HO, as a moving object determined to have a risk of being in the common blind spot CBA, will pass through if it moves along its predicted route ER, as shown in Fig. 5B . More specifically, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines that entry is not permitted when the risk area RA that the hidden object HO, as a moving object moving along the predicted route ER, may pass through overlaps with the planned route VR of the vehicle V, as shown in Fig. 6 .

[0033] That is, for example, when the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is a risk of a moving object being present in the common blind spot CBA, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines whether or not the vehicle V can enter the risk area RA, based on the planned route VR of the vehicle V and the predicted route ER of the moving object generated by the route prediction unit 222. When the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines in process P6 that the vehicle V cannot enter the risk area RA (NO), it executes process P7, which transmits the stopping position SP to the vehicle V. The stopping position SP is set, for example, at a position on the planned route VR of the vehicle V, before the risk area RA, as shown in FIG.

[0034] 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the vehicle control device 3 constituting the vehicle control system 1 of FIG. 1A. For example, when a risk area RA exists ahead of the planned route VR, the vehicle control device 3 starts the processing flow shown in FIG. 7 and executes process P31, which transmits a request to enter the risk area RA. When the vehicle control device 2 receives the entry request from the vehicle V, it determines, for example, in process P2 shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, that an entry request has been made from the vehicle V (YES), executes processes P2 to P6 described above, and transmits the determination result of whether entry is permitted to the vehicle V.

[0035] When the vehicle control device 3 mounted on the vehicle V receives the determination result of impossibility of entry into the risk area RA and the stopping position SP from the vehicle control device 2, it determines that entry is not permitted (NO) in the entry possibility determination process P32 shown in Figure 7. In this case, the vehicle control device 3 controls the traveling of the vehicle V and executes process P33 to stop the vehicle V at the stopping position SP received from the vehicle control device 2.

[0036] In addition, in process P7 of transmitting the above-mentioned stop position SP, the entry permission determination unit 223 of the vehicle control device 2 may transmit, together with the stop position SP, a deceleration start position DSP (see FIG. 6 ) at which the vehicle V starts decelerating to stop at the stop position SP to the vehicle V. In this case, in process P33 of stopping the vehicle V at the stop position SP, the vehicle control device 3 controls the traveling of the vehicle V so as to decelerate the vehicle V from the deceleration start position DSP received from the vehicle control device 2.

[0037] 2C , after completing the process P7 of transmitting the stop position SP, the entry possibility determination unit 223 may execute a process P8 of transmitting to the vehicle V a speed profile for stopping the vehicle V at the stop position SP. In this case, the vehicle control device 3 controls the traveling of the vehicle V so as to decelerate the vehicle V in accordance with the speed profile received from the vehicle control device 2 in a process P33 of stopping the vehicle V at the stop position SP.

[0038] 2A to 2C and executes them repeatedly at a predetermined cycle. Furthermore, the vehicle control device 3 ends the processing flow shown in FIG. 7 and executes it repeatedly at a predetermined cycle. That is, in the above-described processing P7, the vehicle control device 2 transmits the stopping position SP to the vehicle V using the entry feasibility determination unit 223, and then executes processing P1 to regenerate the common blind spot CBA using the information integration unit 21. Furthermore, the risk determination unit 221 re-determines the risk that an obstructed object HO exists in the common blind spot CBA, and the entry feasibility determination unit 223 re-determines the entry feasibility based on the re-determination result of the risk determination unit 221 and re-transmits the determination to the vehicle V.

[0039] As a result, if the blind spot of the vehicle sensor VS decreases and the common blind spot CBA becomes smaller than the size of the obstructed object HO while the vehicle V is decelerating and stopping at the stopping position SP, the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is no risk that the obstructed object HO is present in the common blind spot CBA. As a result, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines that entry into the risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA is permitted (YES) in process P6 for determining entry feasibility, and executes process P9 for transmitting the determination result of permission to enter the risk area RA to the vehicle V.

[0040] When the vehicle control device 3 receives the determination result that entry into the risk area RA is permitted from the vehicle control device 2, it determines in process P32 shown in Fig. 7 that entry of the vehicle V into the risk area RA is permitted (YES), and executes process P34 in which the vehicle V travels along the planned route VR. Thereafter, the vehicle control device 3 ends the process flow shown in Fig. 7 and repeats it at a predetermined cycle.

[0041] The operation of the vehicle control system 1 and the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment will be described below.

[0042] 3 , for example, in a container port where a large number of obstacles OB such as containers are accumulated, the location of the obstacles OB is frequently changed as new containers are unloaded from container ships and accumulated containers are loaded onto trailers and transported out. In such a location, there may be areas that are blind spots from both the vehicle sensor VS that is mounted on the vehicle V and detects obstacles OB around the vehicle V, and the infrastructure sensor IS that is disposed outside the vehicle V and detects obstacles OB around the vehicle V.

[0043] The display control system described in Patent Document 1 detects an object present in a blind spot area that is a blind spot from the perspective of a vehicle sensor installed in the vehicle using an infrastructure sensor installed on the road, and can display blind spot information regarding the blind spot area on the vehicle. However, this conventional display control system does not take into account the possibility of an area being blinded by both the vehicle sensor and the infrastructure sensor.

[0044] In contrast, the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment includes an information integrator 21, a risk assessor 221, and an entry feasibility determiner 223. The information integrator 21 generates a common blind spot map Mb including position information of a common blind spot CBA that is a blind spot of both a vehicle sensor VS mounted on the vehicle V and detecting objects around the vehicle V, and an infrastructure sensor IS arranged adjacent to the vehicle V's travel path and detecting objects around the vehicle V. The risk assessor 221 assesses the risk of an obstructed object HO being present in the common blind spot CBA based on the common blind spot map Mb and the size of an obstructed object HO that may be present around the vehicle V. The entry feasibility determiner 223 determines whether the vehicle V can enter a risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA based on the risk assessment result by the risk assessor 221, and if the entry feasibility assessment result indicates that entry is not permitted, transmits to the vehicle V a stopping position SP that is located before the risk area RA.

[0045] With this configuration, the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment can have the risk determination unit 221 determine the risk of the presence of an obstructed object HO in the common blind spot CBA based on the common blind spot map Mb generated by the information integration unit 21 and the size of the obstructed object HO. Therefore, if the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is no risk of the presence of an obstructed object HO in the common blind spot CBA, the vehicle V entering the risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA can travel without slowing down or stopping. Therefore, even if the vehicle sensor VS and the infrastructure sensor IS have a common blind spot CBA, the driving efficiency of the vehicle V equipped with an advanced driving assistance system or the vehicle V that is an autonomous vehicle can be improved while ensuring safety. Furthermore, if the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is a risk of the presence of an obstructed object HO in the common blind spot CBA, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines that the vehicle V cannot enter the risk area RA, and transmits a stopping position SP before the risk area RA to the vehicle V. This makes it possible to reliably avoid contact between the vehicle V and the obstructed object HO that may be present in the common blind spot CBA, thereby improving safety.

[0046] Furthermore, in the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment, the entry possibility determination unit 223 transmits to the vehicle V a deceleration start position DSP at which the vehicle V starts decelerating in order to stop at the stop position SP. With this configuration, the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment can avoid sudden deceleration of the vehicle V before the stop position SP and can safely stop the vehicle V at the stop position SP before the risk area RA.

[0047] Furthermore, in the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment, the entry possibility determination unit 223 transmits a speed profile for stopping the vehicle V at the stop position SP to the vehicle V. With this configuration, the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment can not only avoid sudden deceleration of the vehicle V before the stop position SP, but also can stop the vehicle V at the stop position SP more safely and smoothly at a predetermined deceleration.

[0048] The vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment further includes a route prediction unit 222 that generates a predicted route ER of a moving body as an obstructed object HO that has been determined to have a risk of being in the common blind spot CBA by the risk determination unit 221. When the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is a risk of a moving body being in the common blind spot CBA, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines whether or not to allow the vehicle V to enter the risk area RA based on the planned route VR of the vehicle V and the predicted route ER of the moving body generated by the route prediction unit 222.

[0049] This configuration can more reliably avoid contact between the vehicle V and the hidden object HO, which is a moving object traveling along the predicted route ER, thereby improving safety. Even if there is a risk that the hidden object HO is present in the common blind spot CBA, for example, there may be cases where the area through which the hidden object HO traveling along the predicted route ER passes does not overlap with the area through which the vehicle V traveling along the planned route VR passes. In such cases, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 can determine whether entry into the risk area RA is permitted, thereby preventing the vehicle V from slowing down and stopping before the risk area RA, thereby improving the traveling efficiency of the vehicle V while ensuring its safety.

[0050] Furthermore, in the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment, after the entry feasibility determination unit 223 transmits the stopping position SP to the vehicle V, the information integration unit 21 regenerates the common blind spot map Mb. Furthermore, the risk determination unit 221 re-determines the risk of the presence of an obstructed object HO in the common blind spot CBA. Then, based on the re-determination result of the risk determination unit 221, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 re-determines whether the vehicle V can enter the risk area RA and re-transmits the determination result to the vehicle V.

[0051] With this configuration, as described above, when the vehicle V moves forward and the blind spot of the vehicle sensor VS decreases, and the common blind spot CBA becomes smaller than the size of the obstructed object HO, the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is no risk of the obstructed object HO being present in the common blind spot CBA. As a result, the entry feasibility determination unit 223 determines whether entry into the risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA is permitted, and transmits the determination result that entry into the risk area RA is permitted to the vehicle V. Therefore, the vehicle control device 2 of this embodiment reduces the number of times the vehicle V stops before the risk area RA, enabling the vehicle V to travel efficiently while ensuring safety.

[0052] The vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment also includes the vehicle control device 2 described above, and a vehicle control device 3 that is mounted on the vehicle V and transmits a request to enter the risk area RA to the vehicle control device 2. When the entry possibility determination unit 223 of the vehicle control device 2 receives a request to enter the risk area RA from the vehicle V, it transmits a determination result of whether entry into the risk area RA is permitted to the vehicle V. When the vehicle control device 3 receives a determination result of no entry from the vehicle control device 2, it receives a stopping position SP from the vehicle control device 2 and stops the vehicle V at the stopping position SP.

[0053] With this configuration, in the vehicle control system 1 of the present embodiment, the risk determination unit 221 of the vehicle control device 2 can determine the risk of the presence of an obstructed object HO in the common blind spot CBA based on the common blind spot map Mb generated by the information integrator 21 of the vehicle control device 2 and the size of the obstructed object HO. Therefore, when the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is no risk of the presence of an obstructed object HO in the common blind spot CBA, the vehicle V entering the risk area RA adjacent to the common blind spot CBA can be allowed to travel without slowing down or stopping by the vehicle control device 3. Therefore, even when the vehicle sensor VS and the infrastructure sensor IS have a common blind spot CBA, it is possible to improve the driving efficiency of a vehicle V equipped with an advanced driving assistance system or a vehicle V that is an autonomous vehicle while ensuring safety. Furthermore, when the risk determination unit 221 of the vehicle control device 2 determines that there is a risk that an obstructed object HO exists in the common blind spot CBA, the entry possibility determination unit 223 of the vehicle control device 2 determines that the vehicle V cannot enter the risk area RA, and a stopping position SP before the risk area RA is transmitted to the vehicle control device 3 mounted on the vehicle V. This makes it possible to reliably avoid contact between the vehicle V and the obstructed object HO that may exist in the common blind spot CBA, thereby improving safety.

[0054] Furthermore, in the vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment, the entry possibility determination unit 223 of the vehicle control device 2 transmits to the vehicle V a deceleration start position DSP at which the vehicle V starts decelerating in order to stop at the stop position SP. Furthermore, the vehicle control device 3 decelerates the vehicle V from the deceleration start position DSP received from the vehicle control device 2. With this configuration, as described above, the vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment can avoid sudden deceleration of the vehicle V before the stop position SP and can safely stop the vehicle V at the stop position SP before the risk area RA.

[0055] Furthermore, in the vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment, the entry permission determination unit 223 of the vehicle control device 2 transmits to the vehicle V a speed profile for stopping the vehicle V at the stopping position SP. Furthermore, the vehicle control device 3 decelerates the vehicle V in accordance with the speed profile received from the vehicle control device 2. With this configuration, as described above, the vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment not only can avoid sudden deceleration of the vehicle V before the stopping position SP, but can also stop the vehicle V at the stopping position SP more safely and smoothly at a predetermined deceleration.

[0056] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to provide a vehicle control device 2 and a vehicle control system 1 that can deal with the risk of a blind spot occurring in both the vehicle sensor VS mounted on the vehicle V and the infrastructure sensor IS located adjacent to the location where the vehicle V is traveling.

[0057] [Embodiment 2] Hereinafter, a second embodiment of a vehicle control device and a vehicle control system according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figures 8A to 9B. Figure 8A is a plan view showing an example of a method for defining an obstructed object HO that may exist around the vehicle V of Figure 1A. Figures 8B and 8C are plan views illustrating the processing of a risk determination unit 221 constituting the risk assessment unit 22 of Figure 1B.

[0058] The vehicle control device 2 and vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment differ from the vehicle control device 2 and vehicle control system 1 of the above-described first embodiment in that the size of a pedestrian is stored as an obstructed object HO in the memory of the vehicle control device 2. Other aspects of the vehicle control device 2 and vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment are similar to those of the vehicle control device 2 and vehicle control system 1 of the above-described first embodiment, and therefore similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0059] 2B and 2C, the risk determination unit 221 acquires, for example, as shown in Fig. 8A, the size of the pedestrian as the obstructed object HO stored in the memory of the vehicle control device 2. Also, in process P3, the risk determination unit 221 scans the common blind spot CBA with the obstructed object HO based on the common blind spot map Mb and the size of the obstructed object HO, and determines whether or not there is an area in the common blind spot CBA that encompasses the entire obstructed object HO, for example, as shown in Fig. 8B.

[0060] When the risk determination unit 221 determines that there is an area in the common blind spot CBA that encompasses the entirety of the obstructed object HO as shown in Fig. 8B , it generates a risk map Mr that includes position information of the area that encompasses the obstructed object HO as shown in Fig. 8C . Thereafter, the vehicle control device 2 executes, for example, process P4 in which the route prediction unit 222 generates a predicted route for the obstructed object HO. In this process P4, the route prediction unit 222 generates a predicted route for a pedestrian that is the obstructed object HO that has been determined by the risk determination unit 221 to be at risk of being in the common blind spot CBA.

[0061] 9A and 9B are plan views illustrating the processing of the route prediction unit 222 that constitutes the risk assessment unit in Fig. 1B. The route prediction unit 222 acquires high-precision map data HD of the surroundings of the vehicle V. The high-precision map data HD includes information such as road positions, sidewalks SW, and crosswalks PC, and is stored in the memory of the vehicle control device 2.

[0062] Furthermore, the path prediction unit 222 generates a predicted path ER of the obstructed object HO, which may be a pedestrian in the shared blind spot CBA, as shown in Fig. 9B, for example, based on the acquired high-precision map data HD and the risk map Mr shown in Fig. 8C. Thereafter, the vehicle control device 2 executes a process P6 for determining whether the vehicle V can enter a risk area RA adjacent to the shared blind spot CBA, as shown in Fig. 2B, for example.

[0063] With this configuration, the vehicle control device 2 and vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment can achieve the same effects as the vehicle control device 2 and vehicle control system 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment 1, even when the obstructed object HO is a pedestrian.

[0064] The above has described in detail embodiments of the vehicle control device and vehicle control system according to the present disclosure using the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there are design changes, etc., within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present disclosure, they are included in the present disclosure.

[0065] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Vehicle control system 2 Vehicle control device 3 Vehicle control device 21 Information integration unit 221 Risk determination unit 222 Route prediction unit 223 Entry feasibility determination unit CBA Common blind spot DSP Deceleration start position ER Predicted route HO Obstructed object IS Infrastructure sensor RA Risk area SP Stop position V Vehicle VR Planned route VS Vehicle sensor

Claims

1. A vehicle control device comprising: an information integration unit that generates a common blind spot map including position information of a common blind spot that is a blind spot of both a vehicle sensor mounted on a vehicle and detecting objects around the vehicle, and an infrastructure sensor arranged adjacent to the vehicle's driving path and detecting objects around the vehicle; a risk determination unit that determines a risk of an obstructed object being present in the common blind spot based on the common blind spot map and the size of the obstructed object that may be present around the vehicle; and an entry feasibility determination unit that determines whether the vehicle can enter a risk area adjacent to the common blind spot based on a result of the risk determination by the risk determination unit, and transmits a stopping position before the risk area to the vehicle if the entry feasibility determination result is not possible.

2. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, characterized in that the entry feasibility determination unit transmits to the vehicle a deceleration start position at which the vehicle starts to decelerate in order to stop at the stopping position.

3. A vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the entry possibility determination unit transmits to the vehicle a speed profile for the vehicle to stop at the stopping position.

4. The vehicle control device of claim 1, further comprising a route prediction unit that generates a predicted route of a moving body as the obstructed object whose risk of being in the common blind spot has been determined by the risk assessment unit, and the entry feasibility determination unit determines whether or not to enter the risk area based on the planned route of the vehicle and the predicted route of the moving body generated by the route prediction unit when the risk assessment unit determines that there is a risk of the moving body being in the common blind spot.

5. The vehicle control device of claim 1, characterized in that after the entry feasibility determination unit transmits the stopping position to the vehicle, the information integration unit regenerates the common blind spot map, the risk assessment unit reassesss the risk that the obstructed object is present in the common blind spot, and the entry feasibility determination unit reassesss the entry feasibility based on the reassessment result of the risk assessment unit and retransmits it to the vehicle.

6. A vehicle control system comprising the vehicle control device described in claim 1, and a vehicle control device mounted on the vehicle and transmitting a request to enter the risk area to the vehicle control device, wherein the entry feasibility determination unit of the vehicle control device transmits the determination result of entry feasibility to the vehicle when it receives the entry request from the vehicle, and when the vehicle control device receives the determination result of no entry from the vehicle control device, it receives the stopping position from the vehicle control device and stops the vehicle at the stopping position.

7. The vehicle control system described in claim 6, characterized in that the entry feasibility determination unit of the vehicle control device transmits to the vehicle a deceleration start position at which the vehicle starts to decelerate in order to stop at the stopping position, and the vehicle control device decelerates the vehicle from the deceleration start position received from the vehicle control device.

8. The vehicle control system described in claim 6, characterized in that the entry feasibility determination unit of the vehicle control device transmits to the vehicle a speed profile for the vehicle to stop at the stopping position, and the vehicle control device decelerates the vehicle in accordance with the speed profile received from the vehicle control device.

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