Vehicle control device and vehicle control method

Abstract

An automatic driving ECU (10) that can be used in a vehicle, said automatic driving ECU (10) being provided with: a sound detection unit (104) that distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds, which are sounds that are estimated to be indicative of situations that are estimated to cause anxiety to occupants of the vehicle, from sounds outside the vehicle; and a vehicle control unit (109) that controls the host vehicle in accordance with the type of the anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit (104). The automatic driving ECU (10) can control the vehicle so as to reduce anxiety of the occupants due to anxiety sounds.

Description

Vehicle control device and vehicle control method CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based on Patent Application No. 2024-070076 filed in Japan on April 23, 2024, and Patent Application No. 2024-174624 filed in Japan on October 3, 2024, and the contents of the base applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method.

[0003] Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for detecting predetermined characteristics from external noise and controlling the running of a vehicle in accordance with the characteristics of the external noise. Patent Literature 1 also discloses a method for controlling the vehicle to stop on the shoulder of the road when the characteristics of the external noise resemble those of an ambulance siren.

[0004] International Publication No. 2018 / 079584

[0005] However, outside vehicle sounds include not only emergency vehicle sirens but also other sounds that can make occupants feel uneasy. When such sounds are detected, it is necessary to control the vehicle in a way that reduces the occupants' anxiety caused by the sounds.

[0006] One object of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method that can reduce the anxiety of occupants caused by sounds that are expected to make occupants feel uneasy.

[0007] The symbols in parentheses in the claims indicate a correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described below as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objective, the vehicle control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle and includes a sound detection unit that distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds, which are sounds outside the vehicle that are presumed to be situations that are presumed to cause anxiety to the vehicle occupants, and a vehicle control unit that controls the vehicle according to the type of anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the vehicle control method of the present disclosure is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle, and includes a sound detection process executed by at least one processor that distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds from sounds outside the vehicle, which are sounds that are estimated to be indicative of situations that are likely to cause anxiety to vehicle occupants, and a vehicle control process that controls the vehicle depending on the types of anxiety sounds detected in the sound detection process.

[0010] According to the above configuration, the vehicle is controlled in accordance with the type of anxiety sound that is estimated to cause anxiety to the vehicle occupants, so it is possible to control the vehicle in a way that reduces the anxiety of the occupants caused by that sound. As a result, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the occupants caused by the sound that is estimated to cause anxiety to the occupants.

[0011] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system in embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a forward obstacle sound response process at a constant speed. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of an anxiety sound response process during LCA. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a first door lock related process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a sensor cooperation related process. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 2. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of a second door lock related process. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 3. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system in embodiment 4. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 4. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system in embodiment 5. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 5. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 6. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 7. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 8. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving ECU in embodiment 9.

[0012] A number of embodiments for the purpose of disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For the sake of convenience, parts having the same functions as parts shown in the drawings used in the previous explanations in the number of embodiments will be given the same reference numerals, and their description may be omitted. For parts given the same reference numerals, the explanations in other embodiments may be referred to.

[0013] (First Embodiment) <Overview of Vehicle System 1> A first embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be used in a vehicle capable of autonomous driving (hereinafter, referred to as an autonomous vehicle). As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle system 1 includes an autonomous driving ECU 10, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map database (hereinafter, referred to as a map DB) 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a perimeter monitoring sensor 15, an acoustic sensor 16, a cruise control ECU 17, a body ECU 18, an alarm device 19, an interior camera 20, a user input device 21, and an HCU (Human Machine Interface Control Unit) 22. For example, the autonomous driving ECU 10, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15, the acoustic sensor 16, the cruise control ECU 17, the body ECU 18, and the HCU 22 may be connected to an in-vehicle LAN (LAN) (see the LAN in FIG. 1 ). Although the vehicle using the vehicle system 1 is not necessarily limited to an automobile, the following description will be given taking the case of using the system in an automobile as an example.

[0014] There are multiple levels of autonomous driving for autonomous vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "automation levels"), as defined by the SAE, for example. The automation levels are classified into LV0 to LV5 as follows:

[0015] LV0 is the level at which the driver performs all driving tasks without system intervention. The driving task may also be referred to as a dynamic driving task. Driving tasks include, for example, steering, acceleration / deceleration, and surrounding monitoring. LV0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. LV1 is the level at which the system assists with either steering or acceleration / deceleration. LV1 corresponds to so-called driving assistance. LV2 is the level at which the system assists with both steering and acceleration / deceleration. LV2 corresponds to so-called partial driving automation. Note that LV1 and LV2 are also considered to be part of automated driving.

[0016] For example, automated driving levels 1 to 2 are levels in which the driver has the responsibility to monitor safe driving (hereinafter simply referred to as the monitoring responsibility). Driving levels 0 to 2 correspond to driving with a monitoring responsibility. Monitoring responsibility includes visual monitoring of the surroundings. Level 3 automated driving is a level in which the system can perform all driving tasks under certain conditions, with the driver taking over driving operations in emergencies. Level 3 automated driving requires the driver to be able to respond quickly when the system requests a handover. This handover can also be described as the transfer of the responsibility to monitor the surroundings from the vehicle's system to the driver. Level 3 corresponds to so-called conditional automated driving. Level 4 automated driving is a level in which the system can perform all driving tasks except under certain circumstances, such as on uncontrollable roads or in extreme environments. Level 4 corresponds to so-called highly automated driving. Level 5 automated driving is a level in which the system can perform all driving tasks in any environment. Level 5 corresponds to so-called fully automated driving. Autonomous driving at levels 4 and 5 may be implemented, for example, in driving sections where high-precision map data is available. High-precision map data will be described later. Autonomous driving at levels 3 and above is automated driving where the driver is not required to monitor. The automation level may be configured to be switchable only among some of levels 0 to 5.

[0017] The communication module 11 transmits and receives information to and from a center external to the vehicle via wireless communication. That is, it performs wide-area communication. The communication module 11 receives traffic congestion information and the like from the center via wide-area communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information to and from other vehicles via wireless communication. That is, it may perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information to and from a roadside device installed on the roadside via wireless communication. That is, it may perform road-to-vehicle communication. When performing road-to-vehicle communication, the communication module 11 may receive information about surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the roadside device. Furthermore, the communication module 11 may receive information about surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via wide-area communication via the center.

[0018] The locator 12 includes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and an inertial sensor. The GNSS receiver receives positioning signals from multiple positioning satellites. The inertial sensor includes, for example, a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. The locator 12 sequentially determines the vehicle position of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the vehicle position) by combining the positioning signals received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results of the inertial sensor. The vehicle position may be expressed, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Note that the vehicle position may also be determined using a travel distance calculated from signals sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

[0019] The map DB 13 is a non-volatile memory that stores high-precision map data. The high-precision map data is map data with higher precision than the map data used for route guidance in the navigation function. The high-precision map data includes information usable for automated driving, such as three-dimensional road shape information, information on the number of lanes, and information indicating the permitted travel direction for each lane. The high-precision map data may also include node point information indicating the positions of both ends of road markings such as lane markings. The map DB 13 may also store map data used for route guidance. Note that the locator 12 may be configured to use three-dimensional road shape information without using a GNSS receiver. For example, the locator 12 may be configured to determine the vehicle's position using three-dimensional road shape information and detection results from the perimeter monitoring sensor 15. The three-dimensional road shape information may be generated based on captured images using REM (Road Experience Management).

[0020] Map data distributed from an external server may be received via wide-area communication via the communication module 11 and stored in the map DB 13. In this case, the map DB 13 may be configured as a volatile memory, and the communication module 11 may successively acquire map data for an area corresponding to the vehicle position.

[0021] The vehicle condition sensor 14 is a group of sensors for detecting various conditions of the vehicle. The vehicle condition sensor 14 includes a vehicle speed sensor, a seating sensor, etc. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the vehicle. The seating sensor detects whether an occupant is seated in each seat. The seating sensor may also detect weight. The vehicle condition sensor 14 outputs the detected sensing information to an in-vehicle LAN. The sensing information detected by the vehicle condition sensor 14 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via an ECU installed in the vehicle.

[0022] The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 monitors the environment surrounding the vehicle. That is, it performs perimeter monitoring. As an example, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects obstacles around the vehicle, such as moving objects such as pedestrians and other vehicles, and stationary objects such as fallen objects on the road. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may also be referred to as an obstacle sensor. Alternatively, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may detect road markings such as lane markings around the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may also be referred to as an autonomous sensor. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may be, for example, a perimeter monitoring camera that captures an image of a predetermined range around the vehicle, or a search wave sensor that transmits search waves within a predetermined range around the vehicle. Examples of search wave sensors include millimeter-wave radar, sonar, and LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging / Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging). The predetermined range may be a range that at least partially includes the front, rear, left, and right sides of the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring camera sequentially captures and outputs the captured images to the autonomous driving ECU 10 as sensing information. The search wave sensor sequentially outputs the scanning results based on the received signals obtained when receiving the reflected waves reflected by an obstacle to the autonomous driving ECU 10 as sensing information.

[0023] The acoustic sensor 16 is installed in the vehicle and collects external sounds reaching the vehicle. External sounds refer to sounds from outside the vehicle. The acoustic sensor 16 may be, for example, a capacitor microphone that outputs an electrical signal based on a change in capacitance caused by a thin diaphragm that vibrates in response to sound pressure. The acoustic sensor 16 may include, for example, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or the like as a microphone element that converts air vibrations into an electrical signal. Instead of a MEMS, a piezoelectric element may be used as the microphone element in the acoustic sensor 16. The acoustic sensor 16 is installed with the sound collection surface of the microphone element facing the outside of the vehicle. The acoustic sensor 16 may be installed, for example, on the front, rear, left and right sides, and top of the vehicle. The acoustic sensor 16 may be installed, for example, on the front emblem, front camera module, front millimeter-wave radar, etc. on the front of the vehicle. The acoustic sensor 16 may be installed, for example, on the rear camera module, back door, rear of the rear hatch, etc. on the rear of the vehicle. The installation positions on the side of the vehicle may be, for example, the side mirrors, doors, pillars, and side cameras. The installation position Ps4 on the top surface of the vehicle may be, for example, the roof panel, the top surface of the trunk lid, a sunroof, a roof rail, an ADAS sensor module, and an antenna module. The acoustic sensor 16 may be installed at multiple locations among these installation positions, or at only one location. It is preferable that the acoustic sensor 16 be installed at multiple locations on the vehicle so that the direction from which an external sound is coming can be identified.

[0024] The cruise control ECU 17 is an electronic control device that controls the cruise of the host vehicle. Examples of cruise control include acceleration / deceleration control and / or steering control. The cruise control ECU 17 includes a steering ECU that controls steering, a power unit control ECU that controls acceleration / deceleration, and a brake ECU. The cruise control ECU 17 controls the cruise by outputting control signals to each cruise control device mounted on the host vehicle. Examples of cruise control devices include an electronically controlled throttle, a brake actuator, and an EPS (Electric Power Steering) motor.

[0025] The body ECU 18 is an electronic control device that controls the electrical components of the vehicle. The body ECU 18 locks and unlocks each vehicle door by outputting a drive signal for controlling the locking and unlocking of each vehicle door to a door lock motor provided in each vehicle door. The body ECU 18 locks the door by outputting a lock signal to the door lock motor. The body ECU 18 unlocks the door by outputting an unlock signal to the door lock motor.

[0026] The notification device 19 is provided in the vehicle and provides a notification to the vehicle interior. That is, the notification device 19 provides a notification to the vehicle occupants. The notification device 19 provides a notification according to instructions from the HCU 22. The notification device 19 includes, for example, a display device and an audio output device. The display device provides a notification by displaying information. Examples of the display device that can be used include a meter MID (Multi Information Display), a CID (Center Information Display), and a HUD (Head-Up Display). The meter MID is a display device provided in front of the driver's seat in the vehicle interior. As an example, the meter MID may be provided in a meter panel. The CID is a display device located in the center of the vehicle's instrument panel. The HUD is provided in the vehicle interior, for example, on the instrument panel. The HUD projects a display image formed by a projector onto a predetermined projection area on the front windshield, which serves as a projection member. The light of the image reflected by the windshield toward the interior of the vehicle is perceived by the driver seated in the driver's seat. This allows the driver to see a virtual image of the display image formed in front of the windshield superimposed on part of the foreground. The HUD may be configured to project the display image onto a combiner provided in front of the driver's seat instead of onto the windshield. The audio output device notifies the driver by outputting audio. Examples of the audio output device include a speaker.

[0027] The interior camera 20 is an imaging device that captures an image of a predetermined range within the interior of the vehicle. The interior camera 20 may capture an image of an area including the driver's seat, passenger seat, and rear seats of the vehicle. The interior camera 20 is configured, for example, with a near-infrared light source, a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls these. The interior camera 20 uses the near-infrared camera to capture an image of the vehicle occupant irradiated with near-infrared light by the near-infrared light source.

[0028] The user input device 21 accepts input from the occupant. The user input device 21 may be an operation device that accepts operation input from the occupant. The operation device may be a mechanical switch or a touch switch integrated with a display. Note that the user input device 21 is not limited to an operation device that accepts operation input, as long as it is a device that accepts input from the occupant. For example, the user input device 21 may be a voice input device that accepts voice command input from the occupant.

[0029] The HCU 22 is primarily composed of a computer equipped with a processor, volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, I / O, and a bus connecting these. The HCU 22 executes various processes related to the interaction between the occupant and the vehicle's systems by executing a control program stored in the nonvolatile memory. The HCU 22 acquires images captured by the interior camera 20. The HCU 22 performs image analysis on the images captured by the interior camera 20 to detect features such as the occupant's face. The HCU 22 may identify the presence and type of occupant based on the detected features. The occupant's type may be identified by distinguishing between a child and an adult, for example. The occupant's type may be identified by gender, whether the occupant is elderly, or other such features. The detection of features such as the occupant's face may be performed by a control unit of the interior camera 20. The HCU 22 may also identify the occupant's seating position based on the position where the occupant's presence was detected. The HCU 22 causes the alarm device 19 to issue an alarm.

[0030] The autonomous driving ECU 10 is mainly composed of a computer including, for example, a processor, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, I / O, and a bus connecting these. The autonomous driving ECU 10 executes various processes by executing control programs stored in the non-volatile memory. This autonomous driving ECU 10 corresponds to a vehicle control device. The configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described in detail below.

[0031] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described using FIG. 2 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the autonomous driving ECU 10 includes functional blocks, such as a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, a sound detection unit 104, an abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105, a body ECU communication unit 106, an HCU communication unit 107, an occupant identification unit 108, and a vehicle control unit 109. The execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10 by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be configured as hardware using one or more ICs, etc. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be implemented by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware components.

[0032] The driving environment recognition unit 101 recognizes the driving environment of the vehicle from the vehicle position, map data, and sensing information acquired from the periphery monitoring sensor 15. The vehicle position may be acquired from the locator 12. The map data may be acquired from the map DB 13. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit 101 uses this information to recognize the positions, shapes, and movement states of objects around the vehicle, and generates a virtual space that reproduces the actual driving environment. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also recognize the existence, relative position, and relative speed of objects around the vehicle from the sensing information as part of the driving environment. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may recognize the vehicle position on the map from the vehicle position and map data. If position information, speed information, etc. of surrounding vehicles, etc. can be acquired via the communication module 11, the driving environment recognition unit 101 may also use this information to recognize the driving environment.

[0033] The behavior determination unit 102 switches the control entity of the driving operation between the driver and the system of the host vehicle. When the system has control of the driving operation, the behavior determination unit 102 determines a driving plan for driving the host vehicle based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit 101. As the driving plan, a long-term / mid-term driving plan and a short-term driving plan are generated. In the long-term / mid-term driving plan, a planned driving route for directing the host vehicle to a set destination is generated. This planned driving route is a route consisting of multiple links. The behavior determination unit 102 may generate this planned driving route in a manner similar to route search in a navigation function. This route search may be performed, for example, by cost calculation using the Dijkstra algorithm. In the short-term driving plan, the behavior determination unit 102 generates a driving plan for realizing driving in accordance with the long-term / mid-term driving plan using a virtual space around the generated host vehicle. Specifically, the behavior determination unit 102 determines the execution of driving control according to the situation at hand. Examples of this driving control include lane change control (hereinafter referred to as LCA control). LCA control is a driving control that causes the vehicle to change lanes into adjacent lanes. LCA control involves performing acceleration / deceleration control and steering control to cause the vehicle to change lanes.

[0034] The control execution unit 103 executes driving control in cooperation with the driving control ECU 17 when the control authority for driving operation is on the system side of the host vehicle. The control execution unit 103 executes driving control such as acceleration / deceleration control and steering control of the host vehicle in accordance with the driving plan determined by the action determination unit 102. In other words, the control execution unit 103 performs automatic driving. The control execution unit 103 also executes adaptive cruise control (ACC) control and the like. ACC control is constant speed driving control of the host vehicle at a set vehicle speed and / or control for following a preceding vehicle. In constant speed driving control, acceleration / deceleration control is performed to drive the host vehicle at a set vehicle speed. In follow-up driving control, acceleration / deceleration control is performed to maintain the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the nearest preceding vehicle at a target inter-vehicle distance. The target inter-vehicle distance may be set according to the speed of the host vehicle, for example.

[0035] The sound detection unit 104 distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds from outside the vehicle. Anxiety sounds are sounds that are estimated to be caused by an event that is estimated to cause anxiety to the occupants of the vehicle. The processing by the sound detection unit 104 corresponds to the sound detection process. Types of anxiety sounds include runaway sounds, flat tire sounds, explosion sounds, truck sounds, screams, horn sounds, sudden braking sounds, collision sounds, vehicle impact sounds, and verbal abuse. Runaway sounds are sounds made by other vehicles driving recklessly. Examples of runaway sounds include the exhaust sound of a muffler with the silencer removed and the loud sound of a horn. A flat tire sound is the sound of a tire bursting on the vehicle or another vehicle. An explosion sound is a sound made when an explosive such as gas explodes. For example, an explosion sound is made when a fire breaks out in a vehicle or facility. Truck sounds are sounds characteristic of trucks. Examples of truck sounds include engine sounds and air sounds that are characteristic of trucks. A scream is a human scream. Screams are generated, for example, when a person encounters an incident. Sudden braking sounds are sounds generated when another vehicle brakes suddenly. Examples of sudden braking sounds include squealing. Collision sounds are sounds of other vehicles colliding. Examples of collision sounds include the sound of vehicles colliding with each other, and the sound of a vehicle colliding with a structure. Vehicle impact sounds are sounds such as the door, window, or body of one's own vehicle being slammed or kicked. Cursing is a person's cursing. Vehicle impact sounds and cursing are sounds generated when one's own vehicle is the victim of aggressive driving, etc.

[0036] The sound detection unit 104 distinguishes and detects the type of anxiety sound based on the electrical signal (hereinafter referred to as sound data) obtained by collecting external vehicle sounds with the acoustic sensor 16 and converting it into a frequency domain data. For example, the sound detection unit 104 may digitize the sound data or convert it into frequency domain data. Conversion to frequency domain data may be performed using a discrete Fourier transform, a fast Fourier transform, or the like. The sound detection unit 104 distinguishes and detects the type of anxiety sound from the sound data obtained by the acoustic sensor 16 by using a learning device that has machine-learned the characteristics of sound data for each type of anxiety sound. It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104 also detects the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming by providing multiple acoustic sensors 16 on the vehicle. The sound detection unit 104 may detect the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming by, for example, determining which acoustic sensor 16 on the vehicle is collecting the louder anxiety sound. The sound detection unit 104 may determine that an anxiety sound has been detected when the volume of the anxiety sound is equal to or greater than a threshold for determining that sound has been detected (hereinafter referred to as the sound determination threshold). This is to prevent noise from being detected as an anxiety sound. The sound determination threshold may be any value that can be set. The volume of the sound may be sound pressure, or may be a physical quantity that varies depending on the volume of the sound in the sound data.

[0037] It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104 distinguishes and detects, as the anxiety sound, at least a front obstacle sound, which is a sound made when a collision or sudden braking occurs in front of the vehicle. Examples of the front obstacle sound include a collision sound from the front, a sudden braking sound from the front, etc.

[0038] It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104 distinguishes and detects at least incident-encounter sounds, which are sounds that are presumed to indicate that the vehicle has encountered an incident, as anxiety sounds. Examples of incident-encounter sounds include shouting, screaming, and vehicle impact sounds.

[0039] It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104 be able to detect not only anxiety sounds but also siren sounds from emergency vehicles. Hereinafter, siren sounds from emergency vehicles will be simply referred to as siren sounds. Siren sounds include the sounds of sirens from ambulances, fire engines, police cars, etc. Siren sounds are not included in anxiety sounds. The sound detection unit 104 can distinguish siren sounds from anxiety sounds from the sound data obtained by the acoustic sensor 16 by using a learning device that has machine-learned the characteristics of siren sound data.

[0040] It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104 sets different sound judgment thresholds for anxiety sounds and siren sounds. This makes it possible to set different eases of detection for anxiety sounds and siren sounds. It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104 sets a sound judgment threshold for determining that an anxiety sound has been detected lower than a sound judgment threshold for determining that a siren sound has been detected. A situation causing an anxiety sound is more likely to cause anxiety to the occupants of the vehicle than a situation causing a siren sound. In contrast, by making it easier to detect anxiety sounds than siren sounds, it becomes easier to avoid situations causing anxiety to the occupants of the vehicle. As a result, it becomes possible to make it less likely that an anxiety sound will be caused to the occupants of the vehicle.

[0041] The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 identifies the presence or absence of an abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may identify the presence or absence of an abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle from the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101. The abnormality referred to here is an abnormality presumed to be indicated by an unsettling sound. In the case of a runaway sound, the presence of a vehicle driving recklessly may be exemplified. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may identify the presence or absence of a vehicle driving recklessly from the coasting movement of other vehicles, the body paint, shape, etc. characteristic of a vehicle driving recklessly, recognized from images from a surrounding monitoring camera. In the case of a flat tire sound, for example, the change in the inclination of the road surface relative to the vehicle may be exemplified. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may identify the change in the inclination of the road surface relative to the vehicle based on whether the inclination of the road surface relative to the vehicle, which had been recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101 up to that point, has continuously changed to a different inclination. In the case of an explosion sound, the presence of a flame may be exemplified. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may identify the presence or absence of a flame based on whether a flame is recognized from images from a surrounding monitoring camera. In the case of a truck sound, the presence of a truck may be exemplified. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may determine the presence or absence of a truck based on whether or not a truck is recognized from an image captured by a surrounding monitoring camera. Examples of the presence of a person include screams, curses, and vehicle impact sounds. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may determine the presence or absence of a person based on whether or not a person is recognized from an image captured by a surrounding monitoring camera. Examples of the presence or absence of a vehicle include a horn sound. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may determine the presence or absence of a vehicle approaching the rear of the vehicle based on whether or not the driving environment recognition unit 101 recognizes another vehicle approaching the rear of the vehicle. Examples of the presence or absence of a sudden braking sound and collision sound include the presence of another vehicle that has suddenly decelerated or stopped in front of the vehicle. The abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 may determine the presence or absence of a vehicle that has suddenly decelerated or stopped in front of the vehicle based on changes in the position of objects surrounding the vehicle sequentially recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101. Note that the abnormality referred to here may also be an abnormality presumed to be indicated by an unsettling sound caused by an object in the vicinity of the vehicle.

[0042] The body ECU communication unit 106 outputs information to the body ECU 18 and acquires information from the body ECU 18. The body ECU communication unit 106 acquires information such as the lock status of each vehicle door from the body ECU 18. The lock status information is information indicating whether the doors are locked or unlocked. The body ECU communication unit 106 sends instructions to the body ECU 18, causing the body ECU 18 to lock or unlock each vehicle door.

[0043] The HCU communication unit 107 outputs information to the HCU 22 and acquires information from the HCU 22. The HCU communication unit 107 acquires information such as the presence, type, and seating position of an occupant identified by the HCU 22. The HCU communication unit 107 includes an interior notification processing unit 171 as a sub-functional block. The interior notification processing unit 171 sends an instruction to the HCU 22 to cause the notification device 19 to issue a notification.

[0044] The occupant identification unit 108 identifies the type of occupant of the vehicle and the seating position of the occupant in the vehicle. The occupant identification unit 108 may identify these from information on the type of occupant and the seating position acquired from the HCU 22 by the HCU communication unit 107. The occupant identification unit 108 may also identify the type of occupant of the vehicle and the seating position of the occupant in the vehicle from the detection result of the seating sensor in the vehicle state sensor 14. In this case, it may be possible to identify whether the occupant is an adult or a child from the weight detected by the seating sensor that also detects weight.

[0045] The vehicle control unit 109 controls the vehicle in accordance with the type of anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit 104. In this way, the vehicle is controlled in accordance with the type of anxiety sound that is estimated to cause anxiety to the occupants of the vehicle, and therefore it is possible to control the vehicle in a way that reduces the anxiety of the occupants caused by that sound. As a result, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the occupants caused by the sound that is estimated to cause anxiety to the occupants. This processing by the vehicle control unit 109 corresponds to a vehicle control process.

[0046] For example, the control of the host vehicle in accordance with the type of anxiety sound may be as follows. When the sound detection unit 104 detects a forward obstacle sound during constant speed cruise control, the vehicle control unit 109 preferably sets the set vehicle speed for constant speed cruise control to a fixed value equal to the previously set vehicle speed or a value lower than the previously set vehicle speed until the end of a predetermined period or a predetermined section of travel. This makes it possible to reduce the likelihood of the host vehicle being involved in a problem ahead of the host vehicle that is estimated to be indicated by a forward obstacle sound during constant speed cruise control. As a result, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the occupants regarding the forward obstacle sound. Here, the "predetermined period or until the end of travelling through a predetermined section" may refer to the period from the detection of the forward obstacle sound until the end of travelling through the predetermined period or the predetermined section. Alternatively, the "predetermined period or until the end of travelling through a predetermined section of travel" may refer to the period from the start of control of the host vehicle in accordance with the type of anxiety sound until the end of travelling through the predetermined period or the predetermined section of travel. The predetermined period may be any settable time. The predetermined section may be any settable distance. The predetermined section may be any settable number of links. The vehicle control unit 109 may instruct the control execution unit 103 to set the set vehicle speed for constant speed cruise control to a fixed value equal to the previous set vehicle speed or a value lower than the previous set vehicle speed.

[0047] Here, an example of the flow of processing related to control by the vehicle control unit 109 when a forward obstacle sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 during constant speed cruise control (hereinafter referred to as constant speed forward obstacle sound response processing) will be described using the flowchart in Figure 3. The flowchart in Figure 3 may be configured to be started when a forward obstacle sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 during constant speed cruise control.

[0048] First, in step S1, the vehicle control unit 109 restricts the set vehicle speed of the constant speed cruise control to a fixed value that is the same as the set vehicle speed before the forward obstacle sound was detected, or to a value lower than the set vehicle speed up to that point. In step S2, if it is time to release the restriction imposed in S1 (YES in S2), the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if it is not time to release the restriction (NO in S2), the process proceeds to step S4. The release timing is the point at which traveling for a predetermined period or a predetermined section has ended since the detection of the forward obstacle sound.

[0049] In step S3, the vehicle control unit 109 releases the restriction made in S1 and ends the constant speed forward obstacle sound response process. In step S4, if it is time to end the constant speed forward obstacle sound response process (YES in S4), the constant speed forward obstacle sound response process ends. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the constant speed forward obstacle sound response process (NO in S4), the process returns to S2 and is repeated. Examples of timings to end the constant speed forward obstacle sound response process include switching to manual driving at automation level 0 and turning off the power switch. The power switch is a switch for starting the internal combustion engine or motor generator of the vehicle.

[0050] When the sound detection unit 104 detects a forward obstacle sound while the vehicle control unit 109 is not in constant speed cruise control, the vehicle control unit 109 may do the following. The vehicle control unit 109 may decelerate or temporarily stop the host vehicle. The period for deceleration may be, for example, a predetermined period from the detection of the forward obstacle sound or until the end of traveling a predetermined section. The period for temporary stopping may be, for example, a predetermined period from the detection of the forward obstacle sound. This makes it less likely that the host vehicle will be involved in trouble ahead of the host vehicle that is estimated to be indicated by the forward obstacle sound. As a result, it is possible to reduce the anxiety of the occupants regarding the forward obstacle sound.

[0051] When the sound detection unit 104 identifies an unsettling sound during LCA control, the vehicle control unit 109 preferably interrupts the LCA control and puts the vehicle into standby mode, and causes the alarm device 19 to issue a monitoring prompt notification. When interrupting the LCA control and putting the vehicle into standby mode, the vehicle may return to the center of the vehicle's lane and wait there, or may pull over to the lane boundary line on the side of the lane change destination. The vehicle control unit 109 may instruct the control execution unit 103 to put the LCA control into standby mode. The monitoring prompt notification is a notification that prompts the vehicle occupants to monitor the surroundings. The monitoring prompt notification may be issued by display or audio output. The vehicle control unit 109 may cause the alarm device 19 to issue the monitoring prompt notification via the interior notification processing unit 171 and the HCU 22. Then, the vehicle control unit 109 may resume lane change control when it is determined that there is no abnormality around the vehicle. The absence of an abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle may be determined by the abnormality presence / absence determination unit 105. Alternatively, the vehicle control unit 109 may determine that there is no abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle when the user input device 21 receives an input indicating that there is no abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle. This input is made by an occupant who visually confirms that there is no abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle. The vehicle control unit 109 may determine that the user input device 21 has received an input indicating that there is no abnormality in the vicinity of the vehicle from information acquired from the HCU 22 by the HCU communication unit 107.

[0052] According to the above configuration, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from changing lanes to approach a location where an abnormality that is presumed to be indicated by the anxiety sound is occurring, and to change lanes after confirming that there is no abnormality. The anxiety sound here may be, for example, an anxiety sound in the direction in which the vehicle is about to change lanes. Note that the monitoring promotion notification may be performed even during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which there is no obligation to monitor the surroundings. Even during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, the vehicle is encouraged to monitor the surroundings, which makes it possible to reduce the anxiety of the occupants.

[0053] Here, an example of the flow of processing related to control by the vehicle control unit 109 when an unsettling sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 during LCA control (hereinafter referred to as an unsettling sound response processing during LCA) will be described using the flowchart in Figure 4. The flowchart in Figure 4 may be configured to be started when an unsettling sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 during LCA control.

[0054] First, in step S21, the vehicle control unit 109 interrupts the LCA control midway. In step S22, the vehicle control unit 109 issues a monitoring prompt notification. Note that the processing of S21 and the processing of S22 may be performed in parallel, or the order of these steps may be reversed. In step S23, if it is determined that there is no abnormality in the vicinity of the host vehicle (YES in S23), the process proceeds to step S24. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an abnormality in the vicinity of the host vehicle (NO in S23), the process proceeds to step S25. As described above, the absence of an abnormality in the vicinity of the host vehicle may be determined by the abnormality presence / absence determination unit 105 or by the vehicle control unit 109.

[0055] In step S24, the vehicle control unit 109 waits and resumes LCA control, thereby terminating the LCA anxiety sound response process. In step S25, if it is time to end the LCA anxiety sound response process (YES in S25), the LCA anxiety sound response process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the LCA anxiety sound response process (NO in S25), the process returns to S23 and is repeated. Examples of timings to end the LCA anxiety sound response process include switching to manual driving at automation level 0 and turning off the power switch.

[0056] It is preferable that the vehicle control unit 109 locks the doors of the vehicle when the sound detection unit 104 detects an unsettling sound while the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed below a specified value. Hereinafter, locking the doors will be referred to as door lock. A low speed below a specified value may be a speed that is approximately slow and can be set arbitrarily. As an example, it may be 10 km / h. The vehicle control unit 109 may lock the doors via the body ECU communication unit 106 and the body ECU 18.

[0057] When the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed below a specified value, it is highly likely that the abnormality presumed to be indicated by the anxiety sound cannot be quickly ignored. In contrast, with the above configuration, even in such a case, the doors can be locked to protect the occupants from the abnormality presumed to be indicated by the anxiety sound. As a result, the anxiety of the occupants caused by the anxiety sound can be reduced. For example, the anxiety sound targeted for this vehicle control may be limited to incident-encounter sounds. This makes it possible to protect the occupants from the incident presumed to be indicated by the incident-encounter sounds. As a result, the anxiety of the occupants caused by the incident-encounter sounds can be reduced. Examples of abnormalities presumed to be indicated by incident-encounter sounds include aggressive driving and violence from the perpetrator of the incident. For example, the anxiety sound targeted for this vehicle control may be limited to explosion sounds. This makes it possible to prevent the occupants from panicking and running out of the vehicle due to the explosion presumed to be indicated by the explosion sound.

[0058] When the sound detection unit 104 detects an anxiety sound while the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed equal to or lower than the aforementioned specified value, the vehicle control unit 109 preferably performs the following operation. The vehicle control unit 109 preferably switches whether to lock the door corresponding to the seating position of the occupant, depending on the type of occupant identified by the occupant identification unit 108. Occupant types may have different tendencies to panic in response to anxiety sounds. In contrast, the above configuration makes it possible to selectively lock doors corresponding to the seating positions of occupants of a type who are prone to panic in response to anxiety sounds. This makes it possible to protect the occupants while reducing unnecessary processing. For example, doors corresponding to the seating positions of adult occupants may not be locked, while doors corresponding to the seating positions of child occupants may be locked. Note that the seating positions for each type of occupant may be identified by the occupant identification unit 108. For example, the anxiety sounds that are the subject of this vehicle control may be limited to explosion sounds. This makes it possible to reduce unnecessary processing while making it easier to protect children who are likely to panic and run out of the vehicle due to the explosion that the explosion sound is presumed to indicate.

[0059] 5, an example of the flow of processing related to door lock control by the vehicle control unit 109 when an unsettling sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 (hereinafter referred to as first door lock related processing) will be described. The flowchart of FIG. 5 may be configured to be started when the power switch of the vehicle is turned on.

[0060] First, in step S41, if the sound detection unit 104 detects an unsettling sound (YES in S41), the process proceeds to step S42. On the other hand, if the sound detection unit 104 has not detected an unsettling sound (NO in S41), the process proceeds to step S47. In step S42, if the host vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed equal to or less than the aforementioned specified value (YES in S42), the process proceeds to step S43. On the other hand, if the host vehicle is traveling at a speed greater than the aforementioned specified value (NO in S42), the process proceeds to step S47.

[0061] In step S43, the vehicle control unit 109 locks the door corresponding to the seating position of the occupant, depending on the type of occupant identified by the occupant identification unit 108. As an example, the vehicle control unit 109 locks the door corresponding to the seating position of the occupant, based on the type of occupant identified by the occupant identification unit 108 being a child occupant. In step S44, if it is time to release the door lock performed in S43 (YES in S44), the process proceeds to step S45. On the other hand, if it is not time to release the door lock (NO in S44), the process proceeds to step S46. The timing for releasing the door lock may be, for example, when the speed of the host vehicle becomes higher than the aforementioned specified value.

[0062] In step S45, the vehicle control unit 109 releases the door lock performed in S43, and proceeds to step S47. Meanwhile, in step S46, if it is time to end the first door lock-related process (YES in S46), the first door lock-related process is terminated. Meanwhile, if it is not time to end the first door lock-related process (NO in S46), the process returns to S44 and repeats the process. Examples of timing to end the first door lock-related process include turning off the power switch. In step S47, if it is time to end the first door lock-related process (YES in S47), the first door lock-related process is terminated. Meanwhile, if it is not time to end the first door lock-related process (NO in S47), the process returns to S41 and repeats the process.

[0063] When the sound detection unit 104 detects a horn sound, abusive language, or the sound of a truck, the vehicle control unit 109 may take the following action: If the vehicle is traveling in a passing lane, the vehicle control unit 109 may change lanes to a lane that is not a passing lane. As another example, the vehicle control unit 109 may stop the host vehicle on the shoulder of the road. As another example, the vehicle control unit 109 may drive the host vehicle to the shoulder of the road to make way for a following vehicle. With these configurations, when the host vehicle is being tailgated or feels pressured by a truck, it is possible to allow the tailgating vehicle or truck to pass by first. As a result, it is possible to make the occupants of the host vehicle less likely to feel anxious.

[0064] The vehicle control unit 109 may stop the vehicle when the sound detection unit 104 detects a puncture sound. This eliminates the need for the occupants to worry about whether the vehicle is still running with a puncture. Furthermore, when the sound detection unit 104 detects an explosion sound, the vehicle control unit 109 may prevent the vehicle from heading in the direction of the detected explosion sound. For example, if the explosion sound is detected ahead, the vehicle control unit 109 may stop the vehicle. If the explosion sound is detected in a direction other than ahead, the vehicle control unit 109 may change course to move away from the direction of the detected explosion sound. This prevents the vehicle from approaching an explosion that is presumably indicated by the explosion sound. This reduces the occupants' anxiety about the explosion sound. Note that, when the vehicle control unit 109 performs vehicle driving control, it is preferable that the vehicle control unit 109 start the driving control after causing the alarm device 19 to issue a notification that the driving control will be performed. This reduces the occupants' anxiety about the driving control.

[0065] When the sound detection unit 104 detects an anxiety sound, the vehicle control unit 109 preferably determines whether to control the vehicle using the sensing results from the periphery monitoring sensor 15. Unlike a siren, anxiety sounds are unlikely to be continuously detected. Therefore, compared to a siren, there is a higher probability of false detection. In contrast, with the above configuration, by also using the sensing results from the periphery monitoring sensor 15 to determine whether to control the vehicle, it is possible to reduce unnecessary control of the vehicle due to false detection. As an example, even if the sound detection unit 104 detects an anxiety sound, if the abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 determines that there is no abnormality around the vehicle, the vehicle control unit 109 may not control the vehicle in response to the anxiety sound. On the other hand, if the sound detection unit 104 detects an anxiety sound and the abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 determines that there is an abnormality around the vehicle, the vehicle control unit 109 may control the vehicle in response to the anxiety sound.

[0066] 6, an example of the flow of processing related to switching on / off of control of the vehicle in the vehicle control unit 109 using the sensing results of the periphery monitoring sensor 15 when an unsettling sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 (hereinafter referred to as sensor cooperation processing) will be described. The flowchart in FIG. 6 may be configured to start when the power switch of the vehicle is turned on.

[0067] First, in step S61, if the sound detection unit 104 detects an unsettling sound (YES in S61), the process proceeds to step S62. On the other hand, if the sound detection unit 104 has not detected an unsettling sound (NO in S61), the process proceeds to step S64. In step S62, if the abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 has identified that there is an abnormality in the vicinity of the host vehicle (YES in S62), the process proceeds to step S63. On the other hand, if the abnormality presence / absence identification unit 105 has identified that there is no abnormality in the vicinity of the host vehicle (NO in S62), the process proceeds to step S64.

[0068] In step S63, the vehicle control unit 109 controls the host vehicle as described above in accordance with the type of anxiety sound identified in S61. Regarding this control of the host vehicle, control that is preferably performed temporarily may be performed from the time the anxiety sound is detected or from the time control of the host vehicle according to the type of anxiety sound is started until the end of a predetermined period or a predetermined section of driving. In step S64, if it is time to end the sensor cooperation-related processing (YES in S64), the sensor cooperation-related processing is ended. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the sensor cooperation-related processing (NO in S64), the process returns to S61 and repeats the process. Examples of timings for ending the sensor cooperation-related processing include turning off the power switch.

[0069] (Embodiment 2) The control of door locks when an unsettling sound is detected is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, but may be the configuration of the following embodiment 2. An example of the configuration of embodiment 2 will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of embodiment 2 is similar to the vehicle system 1 of embodiment 1, except that it includes an autonomous driving ECU 10a instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0070] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10a> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10a will be described using Figure 7. The autonomous driving ECU 10a is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10a is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for the fact that it includes a vehicle control unit 109a instead of the vehicle control unit 109 and that it includes an approaching object identification unit 110. This autonomous driving ECU 10a also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10a by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0071] The approaching object identification unit 110 identifies the presence or absence of an object approaching the vehicle based on the sensing results of the periphery monitoring sensor 15. For example, the approaching object identification unit 110 may identify the presence or absence of an object approaching the vehicle based on changes in the positions of objects around the vehicle that are successively recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101.

[0072] The vehicle control unit 109a is similar to the vehicle control unit 109 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The vehicle control unit 109a stops the vehicle when the sound detection unit 104 detects an incident encounter sound. The vehicle control unit 109a simply issues an instruction to the control execution unit 103 to stop the vehicle. After the vehicle has stopped, the vehicle control unit 109a causes the doors to be locked when the approaching object identification unit 110 identifies an object approaching the vehicle. In this way, stopping the vehicle allows the occupant to confirm and report the incident that is presumed to be indicated by the incident encounter sound. Locking the doors also makes it possible to protect the occupant.

[0073] Here, an example of the flow of processing related to door lock control by the vehicle control unit 109a when an incident-encounter sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104 while the host vehicle is traveling (hereinafter referred to as second door lock-related processing) will be described using the flowchart of Figure 8. The flowchart of Figure 8 starts when the incident-encounter sound is detected by the sound detection unit 104.

[0074] First, in step S81, vehicle control unit 109a stops the host vehicle. In step S82, if approaching object identification unit 110 identifies that there is an object approaching the host vehicle (YES in S82), the process proceeds to step S83. On the other hand, if approaching object identification unit 110 identifies that there is no object approaching the host vehicle (NO in S82), the process proceeds to step S84.

[0075] In step S83, the vehicle control unit 109a causes the doors to be locked, and the second door lock-related process is terminated. The doors may be locked for all doors of the host vehicle. As described in the first embodiment, the door locking may be performed by switching whether or not to lock the door corresponding to the seating position of the occupant identified by the occupant identification unit 108, depending on the type of the occupant. Meanwhile, in step S84, the vehicle control unit 109a may start the host vehicle, for example, from a stop, and the second door lock-related process is terminated.

[0076] (Embodiment 3) The configuration of the vehicle system 1 of the embodiment 3 is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and may be the configuration of the following embodiment 3. An example of the configuration of embodiment 3 will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of embodiment 3 is similar to the vehicle system 1 of embodiment 1, except that it includes an autonomous driving ECU 10b instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0077] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10b> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10b will be described using Figure 9. The autonomous driving ECU 10b is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10b is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for the fact that it includes a vehicle control unit 109b instead of the vehicle control unit 109. This autonomous driving ECU 10b also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10b by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0078] The vehicle control unit 109b is the same as the vehicle control unit 109 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. When the sound detection unit 104 detects an unsettling sound, the vehicle control unit 109a causes the vehicle to drive slowly at a speed equal to or lower than a specified value, and causes the alarm device 19 to issue a monitoring prompt notification. The low speed equal to or lower than the specified value may be a speed equivalent to driving slowly, and may be set arbitrarily. For example, it may be 10 km / h. The monitoring prompt notification may be the same as that described in the first embodiment.

[0079] As described in the first embodiment, anxiety sounds have a higher probability of false detection than siren sounds. In contrast, with the above configuration, when an anxiety sound is detected, the vehicle is slowed down, allowing the occupant to check their surroundings in a state where they can easily see their surroundings. Therefore, even if an anxiety sound is falsely detected, the occupant can eliminate their anxiety by checking their surroundings. For example, the anxiety sounds targeted for vehicle control may be limited to explosion sounds or flat tire sounds. Furthermore, the monitoring promotion notification may be a notification that prompts the occupant to check an abnormality that is presumed to be indicated by the anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit 104. The monitoring promotion notification may be issued even during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, which does not require the occupant to monitor their surroundings. Even during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, the occupant is encouraged to monitor their surroundings, thereby eliminating their anxiety.

[0080] (Fourth embodiment) The configuration is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be the following configuration of a fourth embodiment. An example of the configuration of the fourth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0081] <General Configuration of Vehicle System 1c> First, the vehicle system 1c of the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the vehicle system 1c is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except for some differences. The vehicle system 1c includes an autonomous driving ECU 10c instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10. The vehicle system 1c includes a map DB 13c instead of the map DB 13. The vehicle system 1c includes an acoustic sensor 16c instead of the acoustic sensor 16. The vehicle system 1c includes an HCU 22c instead of the HCU 22. The vehicle system 1c includes an in-vehicle microphone 23. Except for these differences, the vehicle system 1c is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment.

[0082] The map DB 13c is similar to the map DB 13 of the first embodiment, except that the stored map data is partially different. The following describes these differences. The map data corresponds to map information. The map DB 13c preferably includes hazard map information in the map data. The hazard map information includes information on evacuation sites in the event of a disaster, information on areas that may be flooded by a tsunami, information on areas at risk of landslides, etc. Note that the hazard map information does not necessarily have to be included in the map DB 13c, and may instead be available to the autonomous driving ECU 10c via the communication module 11.

[0083] The acoustic sensor 16c is preferably a sound vibration sensor that detects vibrations other than sounds in the audible range. Although the acoustic sensor 16c may be the same as the acoustic sensor 16 of the first embodiment, the following description will be given taking the case where the acoustic sensor is a sound vibration sensor as an example. The acoustic sensor 16c may convert vibrations other than sounds in the audible range into electrical signals and output them.

[0084] The interior microphone 23 is a microphone that collects sounds from inside the vehicle. The interior microphone 23 collects the sounds, converts them into electrical signals, and outputs them to the HCU 22c. The interior microphones 23 may be arranged in multiple locations in the vehicle.

[0085] The HCU 22c is similar to the HCU 22 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences will be explained below. The HCU 22c distinguishes and recognizes at least an alarm sound emitted from a mobile device when an earthquake occurs from the electrical signal output from the in-vehicle microphone 23. This alarm sound is the sound that is emitted when an earthquake early warning is issued. This alarm sound will be referred to as an early warning sound hereinafter. An example of the mobile device is a multi-function mobile phone.

[0086] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10c> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10c will be described using FIG. 11 . The autonomous driving ECU 10c is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes a sound detection unit 104c instead of the sound detection unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes a vehicle control unit 109c instead of the vehicle control unit 109. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes an earthquake state identification unit 111. Except for these differences, the autonomous driving ECU 10c is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10c also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10c by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0087] The sound detection unit 104c is similar to the sound detection unit 104 of embodiment 1, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. The sound detection unit 104c distinguishes and detects at least earthquake-related sounds, which are sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake, as anxiety sounds. For example, the sound detection unit 104c may detect earthquake-related sounds as follows. By using a learning device that has machine-learned the characteristics of sound data related to the occurrence of an earthquake, earthquake-related sounds may be distinguished and detected from the audible sound data obtained by the acoustic sensor 16c. Examples of sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake include the sounds of seismic activity and the sounds of cars shaking. The sounds of seismic activity can also be referred to as rumbling.

[0088] It is preferable that the sound detection unit 104c distinguishes and detects earthquake-related sounds using the above-mentioned early warning sound collected by the in-vehicle microphone 23 in addition to sounds outside the vehicle. By using the early warning sound, it becomes possible to distinguish and detect earthquake-related sounds with greater accuracy. Note that the sounds outside the vehicle are sounds collected by the acoustic sensor 16c.

[0089] The sound detection unit 104c preferably also distinguishes and detects warning sounds that are precursors to secondary disasters caused by earthquakes as anxiety sounds. Examples of warning sounds include the warning sounds of a landslide, the warning sounds of a collapsing house, and the sound of an approaching tsunami. The warning sounds of a landslide may be distinguished and detected by distinguishing sounds that are characteristic of a landslide. One example of a warning sound of a landslide is the sound of tree roots being severed. One example of a warning sound of a collapsing house is the sound of pillars creaking. For example, the sound detection unit 104c may distinguish and detect warning sounds from the audible sound data obtained by the acoustic sensor 16c by using a learning device that has machine-learned the characteristics of the sound data of warning sounds.

[0090] The sound detection unit 104c may also use map data acquired from the map DB 13c to detect the warning sound. For example, the sound detection unit 104c may detect the warning sound of a landslide on the condition that a slope exists near the current position of the vehicle. For example, the sound detection unit 104c may detect the warning sound of a house collapsing on the condition that a house exists near the current position of the vehicle. For example, the sound detection unit 104c may detect the warning sound of an approaching tsunami on the condition that a coast exists near the current position of the vehicle. This makes it possible to suppress erroneous detection of the warning sound. The current position of the vehicle is assumed to be the vehicle position determined by the locator 12. The same applies hereinafter.

[0091] The earthquake state identification unit 111 identifies the magnitude of the earthquake when the sound detection unit 104c detects an earthquake-related sound. The earthquake state identification unit 111 may identify the magnitude of the earthquake from the earthquake-related sound detected by the sound detection unit 104c. The magnitude of the earthquake may be, for example, the magnitude of the earthquake shaking. The earthquake state identification unit 111 may identify the magnitude of the earthquake from the sound of seismic motion, the magnitude of which changes depending on the magnitude of the earthquake. The magnitude of the earthquake may be classified by seismic intensity or by a method other than seismic intensity. The earthquake state identification unit 111 may identify the magnitude of the earthquake from data of vibrations outside the audible range obtained by the acoustic sensor 16c. In this case, the magnitude of the earthquake may be identified using data of vibrations characteristic of the occurrence of an earthquake that change depending on the magnitude of the earthquake, among the data of vibrations outside the audible range. Alternatively, if information on the seismic intensity of the earthquake can be obtained from a center via the communication module 11, the earthquake state identification unit 111 may identify the magnitude of the earthquake from this seismic intensity information.

[0092] When the sound detection unit 104c detects an earthquake-related sound, the earthquake state identification unit 111 preferably also identifies the timing at which the earthquake shaking subsides (hereinafter, "termination timing"). The earthquake state identification unit 111 may identify the termination timing from the earthquake-related sound detected by the sound detection unit 104c. The earthquake state identification unit 111 may identify the termination timing, for example, from a change in the sound of seismic motion. As an example, the earthquake state identification unit 111 may determine the termination timing as the timing at which the volume of the seismic motion falls below a threshold. The threshold here may be a value that distinguishes between the presence or absence of an earthquake and may be an arbitrarily settable value. Alternatively, the earthquake state identification unit 111 may determine the termination timing from data on vibrations outside the audible range obtained by the acoustic sensor 16c. In this case, the termination timing may be the timing at which the volume of vibrations characteristic of the occurrence of an earthquake falls below a threshold. The threshold here may also be a value that distinguishes between the presence or absence of an earthquake and may be an arbitrarily settable value. Additionally, if the earthquake state identification unit 111 can acquire information on the progress of the earthquake from the center via the communication module 11, it may identify the timing of the end of the earthquake from this information on the progress.

[0093] The vehicle control unit 109c is the same as the vehicle control unit 109 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. These differences will be described below. When the sound detection unit 104c detects earthquake-related sounds, the vehicle control unit 109c controls the vehicle in accordance with the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit 111. This makes it possible to perform control appropriate to the magnitude of the earthquake when the control appropriate for the vehicle differs depending on the magnitude of the earthquake.

[0094] When the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake condition identification unit 111 is equal to or greater than a specified value, the vehicle control unit 109c preferably makes an emergency stop on the shoulder of the road. The emergency stop on the shoulder of the road may be performed by automatic driving. On the other hand, when the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake condition identification unit 111 is less than a specified value, the vehicle control unit 109c preferably allows the vehicle to continue traveling. In this case, the traveling may be performed by automatic driving of level 1 or higher, or by manual driving. Here, continuing traveling means not making an emergency stop on the shoulder of the road. When the magnitude of the earthquake is large, the vehicle is less likely to be damaged if it is stopped, whereas when the magnitude of the earthquake is small, there is little need to stop the vehicle. In contrast, with the above configuration, it is possible to stop the vehicle on the shoulder of the road only when the magnitude of the earthquake is such that stopping the vehicle is highly necessary.

[0095] When the sound detection unit 104c detects an earthquake-related sound, the vehicle control unit 109c may cause the alarm device 19 to issue an earthquake response alert. An earthquake response alert is an alert for the occupants of the vehicle regarding how to respond to an earthquake. Examples of earthquake response alerts include the following: An earthquake response alert is a caution driving alert that warns the occupants to drive with caution around their surroundings. An earthquake response alert is a protection instruction alert that instructs the occupants to protect themselves on the spot. An earthquake response alert is an evacuation instruction alert that instructs the occupants to evacuate. The vehicle control unit 109c may change the content of the earthquake response alert depending on the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit 111. This makes it possible to issue an earthquake response alert that is appropriate for the occupants of the vehicle depending on the magnitude of the earthquake, when the earthquake response alert appropriate for the occupants of the vehicle differs depending on the magnitude of the earthquake.

[0096] It is preferable that the vehicle control unit 109c change the content of the earthquake response notification depending on whether the shaking is continuing or has ended. Continuing shaking refers to a state in which the earthquake shaking is continuing before the end timing identified by the earthquake state identification unit 111. Ending shaking refers to a state in which the earthquake shaking has subsided after the end timing identified by the earthquake state identification unit 111. This makes it possible to issue an appropriate earthquake response notification depending on whether the shaking is continuing or has ended, in cases where the earthquake response notification appropriate for the occupants of the vehicle differs depending on whether the shaking is continuing or has ended.

[0097] The vehicle control unit 109c preferably issues a protection instruction notification while the shaking continues, and issues an evacuation instruction notification after the shaking has ended. This makes it possible to issue a protection instruction notification when it is possible that movement is difficult while the earthquake shaking is continuing and it is preferable to protect the occupants rather than move. On the other hand, it makes it possible to issue an evacuation instruction notification after the earthquake shaking has ended when evacuation is preferable.

[0098] The vehicle control unit 109c preferably issues an evacuation instruction notification that instructs the occupant to evacuate according to the current location of the vehicle. This makes it possible to evacuate appropriately according to the current location of the vehicle when the evacuation method appropriate for the occupant varies depending on the current location of the vehicle. Examples of notifications that instruct the occupant to evacuate according to the current location of the vehicle include the following. First, a notification instructing the occupant to evacuate to the nearest evacuation site from the current location of the vehicle is given. Another example is a notification instructing the occupant to evacuate to higher ground if there is a possibility that a tsunami will reach the current location of the vehicle. The vehicle control unit 109c may determine whether there is a possibility that a tsunami will reach the current location of the vehicle based on the vehicle location and information on tsunami inundation areas in the hazard map. The vehicle control unit 109c may obtain the hazard map from the map DB 13c or from a center via the communication module 11. If there is no possibility that a tsunami will reach the current location of the vehicle, the vehicle control unit 109c may issue a notification instructing the vehicle to evacuate to the nearest evacuation site from the current location of the vehicle. The evacuation site may be a designated emergency evacuation site established for each region.

[0099] The vehicle control unit 109c may change the evacuation instructions as described above depending on whether or not there is a possibility of a tsunami reaching the current location of the vehicle after the shaking has ended. When evacuating after the shaking of a large earthquake has ended, it is preferable to park the vehicle on the side of the road, leave the vehicle keys inside, and evacuate on foot. However, if there is a possibility of a tsunami approaching, it may be too late to evacuate on foot. Therefore, if the magnitude of the earthquake is equal to or greater than the specified value and there is a possibility of a tsunami reaching the current location of the vehicle, the vehicle control unit 109c may instruct the vehicle to evacuate to higher ground after the shaking has ended. On the other hand, if the magnitude of the earthquake is equal to or greater than the specified value and there is no possibility of a tsunami reaching the current location of the vehicle, the vehicle control unit 109c may instruct the vehicle to leave the vehicle and evacuate to an evacuation site on foot after the shaking has ended. The magnitude of the earthquake may be identified by the earthquake state identification unit 111.

[0100] It is preferable that the vehicle control unit 109c issue an evacuation instruction announcement when the shaking has ended and the sound detection unit 104c has detected a precursory sound. This makes it possible to issue an evacuation instruction announcement only when a precursory sound has been detected after the shaking has ended. Therefore, it becomes possible to issue an evacuation instruction announcement only when there is a high possibility of a secondary disaster due to the earthquake and a high need for evacuation. Therefore, it becomes possible to issue an evacuation instruction announcement as needed while suppressing unnecessary evacuation instruction announcements. If the shaking is continuing, the vehicle control unit 109c may issue a protection instruction announcement. If the shaking has ended and the sound detection unit 104c has not detected a precursory sound, the vehicle control unit 109c may issue an announcement urging the driver to drive with caution.

[0101] When issuing an evacuation instruction notification, the vehicle control unit 109c preferably issues the evacuation instruction notification in combination with map data. As an example, the evacuation instruction notification may be performed by displaying the vehicle's position and an evacuation site on a map. Alternatively, a route from the vehicle's position to the evacuation site may also be displayed. Alternatively, the evacuation instruction notification may be performed by displaying the vehicle's position and a tsunami inundation area on a map. Alternatively, the evacuation instruction notification may be performed by displaying the vehicle's position and an area of ​​high ground outside the tsunami inundation area on a map. This makes it easier for the occupants to specifically recognize the evacuation behavior required in response to the evacuation instruction notification.

[0102] (Fifth embodiment) The configuration is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be the following configuration of a fifth embodiment. An example of the configuration of the fifth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0103] <General Configuration of Vehicle System 1d> First, a vehicle system 1d according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12, the vehicle system 1d is similar to the vehicle system 1 according to the first embodiment, except for some differences. The vehicle system 1d includes an autonomous driving ECU 10d instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10. The vehicle system 1d includes an acoustic sensor 16c instead of the acoustic sensor 16. The vehicle system 1d includes an HCU 22c instead of the HCU 22. The vehicle system 1d includes an in-vehicle microphone 23. Except for these differences, the vehicle system 1d is similar to the vehicle system 1 according to the first embodiment. The acoustic sensor 16c, the HCU 22c, and the in-vehicle microphone 23 are the same as those described in the fourth embodiment.

[0104] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10d> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10d will be described using Figure 13. The autonomous driving ECU 10d is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10d includes a sound detection unit 104d instead of the sound detection unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes a vehicle control unit 109d instead of the vehicle control unit 109. Except for these differences, the autonomous driving ECU 10d is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10d also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10d by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0105] The sound detection unit 104d is similar to the sound detection unit 104 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. These differences will be described below. The sound detection unit 104d distinguishes and detects at least any of the above-mentioned earthquake-related sounds, explosion sounds, and collision sounds as anxiety sounds. Earthquake-related sounds may be detected in the same manner as described in the fourth embodiment. Explosion sounds and collision sounds may be detected in the same manner as described in the first embodiment.

[0106] The vehicle control unit 109d is similar to the vehicle control unit 109 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. When the sound detection unit 104d detects an unsettling sound, such as an earthquake-related sound, an explosion sound, or a collision sound, the vehicle control unit 109d transmits information about the current location of the vehicle to an external device. This makes it possible to notify an external device of the location where the vehicle encountered an earthquake, explosion, or collision with another vehicle. The information about the current location of the vehicle may be the vehicle location measured by the locator 12. The information about the current location of the vehicle may be transmitted via the communication module 11. The destination to which the information about the current location of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the current location destination) may be pre-registered in a non-volatile memory of the vehicle. The current location destination may be registered by pre-storing the address of the current location destination in the non-volatile memory.

[0107] The current location transmission destination may be a terminal of a person who has a private relationship with the occupant of the vehicle. Examples of such a person who has a private relationship with the occupant include family members. The terminal may be a mobile terminal or a fixed terminal. This makes it possible to notify a person who has a private relationship with the occupant of the vehicle of the location where the vehicle encountered an earthquake, explosion, or collision with another vehicle. As a result, the current location of the vehicle can be notified to people who want to know the safety of the occupant of the vehicle in the event of an earthquake, explosion, or collision with another vehicle. The current location transmission destination may also be a terminal of a public institution that deals with issues related to anxiety sounds such as earthquake-related sounds, explosion sounds, and collision sounds. Examples of such public institutions include police stations, fire stations, and emergency hospitals. When using such a public institution terminal as the current location transmission destination, the vehicle control unit 109d may transmit information about the current location of the vehicle to the public institution's terminal corresponding to the type of anxiety sound.

[0108] Sixth Embodiment The configuration of the vehicle system 1 of the sixth embodiment is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and may be the configuration of the following sixth embodiment. An example of the configuration of the sixth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of the sixth embodiment is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that it includes an autonomous driving ECU 10e instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0109] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10e> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10e will be described using FIG. 14 . The autonomous driving ECU 10e is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10e includes a sound detection unit 104e instead of the sound detection unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10e includes a vehicle control unit 109e instead of the vehicle control unit 109. Except for these differences, the autonomous driving ECU 10e is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10e also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10e by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0110] The sound detection unit 104e is similar to the sound detection unit 104 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences will be described below. The sound detection unit 104e distinguishes and detects at least any of the above-mentioned explosion sounds, fire sounds, and incident encounter sounds as anxiety sounds. Explosion sounds and incident encounter sounds may be detected in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. Fire sounds are sounds related to the outbreak of a fire. Fire sounds may be distinguished and detected from sound data obtained by the acoustic sensor 16 by using a learning device that has machine-learned the features of fire sound sound data.

[0111] The vehicle control unit 109e is similar to the vehicle control unit 109 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. When the sound detection unit 104e detects an unsettling sound, such as an explosion sound, a fire sound, or an incident sound, the vehicle control unit 109e automatically notifies a terminal of a public institution that deals with the problem corresponding to the unsettling sound. This makes it possible to notify the public institution that deals with these problems of an explosion, fire, or incident. Furthermore, because the automatic notification is made, the public institution can easily confirm that the explosion, fire, or incident is not a false alarm based on the automatic notifications from a large number of vehicles equipped with the autonomous driving ECU 10e. As a result, the public institution can more quickly respond to the explosion, fire, or incident. The vehicle control unit 109e can make the automatic notification via the communication module 11.

[0112] The vehicle control unit 109e may include information about the current location of the vehicle in the automatic report. This makes it easier for public institutions to identify the location of an explosion, fire, or other incident. The vehicle control unit 109e may also cause the automatic report to be sent to a terminal of a public institution that corresponds to the type of disturbing sound.

[0113] (Seventh embodiment) The configuration of the vehicle system 1 of the seventh embodiment is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiments, and may be the configuration of the following seventh embodiment. An example of the configuration of the seventh embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of the seventh embodiment is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that it includes an autonomous driving ECU 10f instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0114] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10f> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10f will be described using FIG. 15 . The autonomous driving ECU 10f is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10f includes a sound detection unit 104f instead of the sound detection unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10f includes a vehicle control unit 109f instead of the vehicle control unit 109. Except for these differences, the autonomous driving ECU 10f is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10f also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10f by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0115] The sound detection unit 104f is similar to the sound detection unit 104 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. The sound detection unit 104f distinguishes between and detects, as anxiety sounds, at least any of the above-described explosion sounds, fire sounds, and incident-encounter sounds. Explosion sounds and incident-encounter sounds may be detected in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. Fire sounds may be detected in the same manner as described in the sixth embodiment. The sound detection unit 104f also detects the direction from which anxiety sounds such as explosion sounds, fire sounds, and incident-encounter sounds are coming. The sound detection unit 104f may detect the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming based on which of the acoustic sensors 16 installed at multiple locations on the vehicle, as described in the first embodiment, collected the louder anxiety sound. As an example, the sound detection unit 104f may detect which of the four directions (front, rear, left, right, etc.) from the vehicle the anxiety sound is coming from. The sound detection unit 104f may detect the direction from which the disturbing sound comes, from any direction other than the four directions described above.

[0116] The vehicle control unit 109f is similar to the vehicle control unit 109 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. When the sound detection unit 104f detects an anxiety sound, such as an explosion sound, a fire sound, or an incident sound, the vehicle control unit 109f controls the vehicle to travel in a direction away from the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming. This makes it possible to quickly move away from phenomena such as explosions, fires, and incidents, which are preferable to move away from quickly without stopping the vehicle. The vehicle control in the direction away from the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming may be performed, for example, as follows. The vehicle control in the direction away from the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming may be performed within a range in which the vehicle can travel. When the anxiety sound is coming from the left or right side of the vehicle, the vehicle may be moved away from the direction of arrival by, for example, automatic steering. When the anxiety sound is coming from ahead of the vehicle, the vehicle may be moved away from the direction of arrival by, for example, automatic reverse or reverse direction change. If the disturbing noise is coming from behind the vehicle, the driver can move away from the direction of the noise by, for example, accelerating the vehicle.

[0117] (Embodiment 8) The configuration of the embodiment 8 described below may be adopted, without being limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments. An example of the configuration of embodiment 8 will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of embodiment 8 is similar to the vehicle system 1 of embodiment 1, except that it includes an autonomous driving ECU 10g and a vehicle state sensor 14g instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10 and the vehicle state sensor 14.

[0118] The vehicle condition sensor 14g is similar to the vehicle condition sensor 14 of the first embodiment, except for some differences. The differences will be described below. The vehicle condition sensor 14 includes a sensor that can be used to determine whether a vehicle malfunction has occurred. One example of such a sensor is a tire pressure sensor. The tire pressure sensor detects the air pressure of the tires of the vehicle.

[0119] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10g> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10g will be described using FIG. 16 . The autonomous driving ECU 10g is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10g includes a vehicle control unit 109g instead of the vehicle control unit 109. The autonomous driving ECU 10g includes a cause determination unit 112. Except for these differences, the autonomous driving ECU 10g is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10g also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10g by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0120] When the sound detection unit 104 detects an anxiety sound, the cause determination unit 112 uses information from the vehicle condition sensor 14g to determine whether the anxiety sound is a sound originating from outside the vehicle or a sound originating from a malfunction of the vehicle. Hereinafter, sounds originating from outside the vehicle will be referred to as external sounds, and sounds originating from a malfunction of the vehicle will be referred to as malfunction sounds. This makes it possible to distinguish between anxiety sounds that are difficult to distinguish between external sounds and malfunction sounds. As an example, tire pressure detected by a tire pressure sensor can be used to determine whether the anxiety sound is an external sound or a malfunction sound. If the anxiety sound is determined to be an external sound, the cause determination unit 112 can determine that the anxiety sound is an incident-encounter sound accompanied by a gunshot. On the other hand, if the anxiety sound is determined to be a malfunction sound, the cause determination unit 112 can determine that the anxiety sound is a flat tire sound. This makes it possible to accurately distinguish between an incident-encounter sound accompanied by a gunshot and a flat tire sound, which are difficult to distinguish.

[0121] When the sound detection unit 104 detects an anxiety sound, the vehicle control unit 109g causes the alarm device 19 to issue a cause-determination-related notification, which is a notification based on the determination result by the cause determination unit 112. This makes it easier for the occupant to distinguish an anxiety sound that is difficult to distinguish between an external sound and a malfunction sound. As a result, it is possible to reduce anxiety caused by difficulty in distinguishing between an anxiety sound and an external sound. For example, the vehicle control unit 109g may issue a cause-determination-related notification indicating whether the anxiety sound is caused by a malfunction of the vehicle. As a specific example, when the cause determination unit 112 determines that the anxiety sound is a malfunction sound, the vehicle control unit 109g may issue a notification that the anxiety sound is caused by a malfunction of the vehicle. On the other hand, when the cause determination unit 112 determines that the anxiety sound is an external sound, the vehicle control unit 109g may issue a notification that the anxiety sound is not caused by a malfunction of the vehicle.

[0122] (Ninth Embodiment) The configuration of the vehicle system 1 of the ninth embodiment is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiments, and may be the configuration of the following ninth embodiment. An example of the configuration of the ninth embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of the ninth embodiment is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1 of the ninth embodiment includes an autonomous driving ECU 10h instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0123] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10h> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10h will be described using FIG. 17 . The autonomous driving ECU 10h is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1 except for some differences in processing. The autonomous driving ECU 10h includes a sound detection unit 104h instead of the sound detection unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10h includes a vehicle control unit 109h instead of the vehicle control unit 109. Except for these differences, the autonomous driving ECU 10h is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10h also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10h by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

[0124] The sound detection unit 104h is similar to the sound detection unit 104 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. The sound detection unit 104h also distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds from the speech content recognized from the voice of a person outside the vehicle. The voice of a person outside the vehicle may be collected by the acoustic sensor 16. The sound detection unit 104h may detect types of anxiety sounds from the speech content in situations that are expected to cause anxiety to the occupants of the vehicle and are unlikely to produce sound (hereinafter, silent situations). The "situation" may also be referred to as a "phenomenon." Recognition of the speech content from a person's voice may be achieved by performing speech recognition processing on sound data output from the acoustic sensor 16. As an example of detecting anxiety sounds from speech content, a gas leak may be detected from speech content such as "gas" and "leak." Here, the explanation will be continued using a gas leak as an example, but this is not necessarily limited to this. The sound detection unit 104h may also detect silent situations other than gas leaks by distinguishing the type of the situation from the content of speech that includes words that describe the situation.

[0125] The vehicle control unit 109h controls the vehicle in accordance with the type of anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit 104h. This makes it possible to control the vehicle so as to reduce the anxiety of the occupants even in silent situations. As an example, when a gas leak is detected, the vehicle may be controlled to travel in a direction away from the direction from which the sound detected from the speech about the gas leak is coming, or the vehicle windows may be closed. The vehicle control unit 109h may open and close the windows via the body ECU 18. Additionally, the vehicle control unit 109h may cause the alarm device 19 to issue an alarm to notify the occupants of the gas leak.

[0126] In the above-described embodiment, the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f, 10g, and 10h correspond to the vehicle control device, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, an ECU other than the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 10f, 10g, and 10h may correspond to the vehicle control device.

[0127] (Disclosed Technical Ideas) This specification discloses multiple technical ideas described in the following multiple clauses. Some clauses may be described in a multiple dependent form, with the subsequent clause alternatively referring to the preceding clause. Furthermore, some clauses may be described in a multiple dependent form, referring to another multiple dependent clause. These multiple dependent clauses define multiple technical ideas.

[0128] (Technical Idea 1) A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle, comprising: a sound detection unit (104, 104c, 104d, 104e, 104f, 104h) that distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds, which are sounds outside the vehicle that are presumed to be indicative of situations that are presumed to cause anxiety to occupants of the vehicle; and a vehicle control unit (109, 109a, 109b, 109c, 109d, 109e, 109f, 109g, 109h) that controls the vehicle in accordance with the types of anxiety sounds detected by the sound detection unit.

[0129] (Technical Idea 2) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 1, which can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving including at least constant speed traveling control for traveling the vehicle at a constant speed according to a set vehicle speed, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects, as the anxiety sound, at least a forward obstacle sound that is a sound that occurs when a collision or sudden braking occurs in front of the vehicle, and when the sound detection unit detects the forward obstacle sound during the constant speed traveling control, the vehicle control unit sets the set vehicle speed of the constant speed traveling control to a fixed value that is the same as the previous set vehicle speed or a value lower than the previous set vehicle speed until traveling for a predetermined period or a predetermined section ends.

[0130] (Technical Idea 3) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 1 or 2, which can be used in a vehicle that performs autonomous driving including at least lane change control that automatically changes lanes for the vehicle, wherein, when the sound detection unit identifies the anxiety sound during the lane change control, the vehicle control unit interrupts the lane change control midway and puts the vehicle on standby, and causes an alarm device (19) to issue a monitoring promotion alarm that prompts the vehicle occupants to monitor the surroundings, and when it is determined that there is no abnormality in the surroundings of the vehicle, the vehicle control device resumes the lane change control.

[0131] (Technical Idea 4) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 3, wherein the vehicle control unit performs door locking, i.e., locking the doors of the vehicle, when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound while the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed below a specified value.

[0132] (Technical Idea 5) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 4, comprising an occupant identification unit (108) that identifies the type of occupant of the vehicle and the seating position of the occupant in the vehicle, and when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound while the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed below a specified value, the vehicle control unit switches whether to lock the door corresponding to the seating position of the occupant depending on the type of occupant identified by the occupant identification unit.

[0133] (Technical Idea 6) A vehicle control device described in any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 3, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects, as the anxiety sound, at least an incident encounter sound, which is a sound that is presumed to indicate that the vehicle has encountered an incident, and comprises an approaching object identification unit (110) that identifies the presence or absence of an object approaching the vehicle based on the sensing results of a perimeter monitoring sensor (15) that monitors the perimeter of the vehicle, and the vehicle control unit stops the vehicle when the sound detection unit detects the incident encounter sound, and after the vehicle has stopped, locks the doors of the vehicle when the approaching object identification unit identifies the presence of an object approaching the vehicle.

[0134] (Technical Idea 7) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 6, wherein the vehicle control unit, when detecting the disturbing sound by the sound detection unit, causes the vehicle to slowly drive at a speed equal to or lower than a specified value, and causes an alarm device (19) to issue a monitoring promotion alarm to encourage the vehicle occupants to monitor the surroundings.

[0135] (Technical Idea 8) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 7, wherein the vehicle control unit, when the sound detection unit detects the disturbing sound, also uses the sensing results of a surrounding monitoring sensor (15) that monitors the surroundings of the vehicle to determine whether to control the vehicle.

[0136] (Technical Idea 9) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 8, wherein the sound detection unit is capable of detecting not only the anxiety sound but also the siren sound of an emergency vehicle, and the vehicle control device uses different threshold values ​​for determining that a sound has been detected for the anxiety sound and the siren sound.

[0137] (Technical Idea 10) The vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 9, wherein the sound detection unit sets the threshold value for determining that the anxiety sound has been detected lower than the threshold value for determining that the siren sound has been detected.

[0138] (Technical Idea 11) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 10, wherein the sound detection unit (104c) distinguishes and detects at least earthquake-related sounds, which are sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake, as the anxiety sounds, and comprises an earthquake state identification unit (111) that identifies the magnitude of the earthquake when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound, and the vehicle control unit (109c) controls the vehicle according to the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound.

[0139] (Technical Idea 12) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 11, wherein the sound detection unit detects earthquake-related sounds by using an alarm sound emitted from a portable device when an earthquake occurs, which is collected by an in-vehicle microphone (23) that collects sounds from inside the vehicle in addition to sounds outside the vehicle.

[0140] (Technical Idea 13) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 11 or 12, wherein the vehicle control unit brings the vehicle to an emergency stop on the shoulder of a road when the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit is equal to or greater than a specified value, and allows the vehicle to continue traveling when the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit is less than the specified value.

[0141] (Technical Idea 14) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 13, wherein the sound detection unit (104c) distinguishes and detects at least earthquake-related sounds, which are sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake, as the anxiety sounds, and comprises an earthquake state identification unit (111) that identifies the magnitude of the earthquake when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound, and the vehicle control unit (109c) causes an alarm device (19) to issue an earthquake response alert, which is an alert for the occupants of the vehicle regarding how to respond to an earthquake, when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound, and the vehicle control device changes the content of the earthquake response alert depending on the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit.

[0142] (Technical Idea 15) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 14, wherein the earthquake state identification unit also identifies the timing at which the earthquake shaking will subside when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound, and the vehicle control unit changes the content of the earthquake response alert depending on whether the shaking is continuing before the timing at which the earthquake shaking identified by the earthquake state identification unit subsides and after the shaking has ended after that timing.

[0143] (Technical Idea 16) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 15, wherein the vehicle control unit issues a protection instruction notification instructing occupants of the vehicle to protect themselves on the spot while the shaking continues, and issues an evacuation instruction notification instructing occupants to evacuate after the shaking has ended.

[0144] (Technical Idea 17) The vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 16, wherein the vehicle control unit issues a notification instructing evacuation according to a current position of the vehicle as the evacuation instruction notification.

[0145] (Technical Idea 18) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 15, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects warning sounds, which are sounds related to the precursors of secondary disasters caused by earthquakes, as the anxiety sounds, and the vehicle control unit issues an evacuation instruction alert to instruct evacuation after the shaking has ended and when the sound detection unit detects the warning sounds.

[0146] (Technical Idea 19) The vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 18, wherein the vehicle control unit, when issuing the evacuation instruction notification, issues the evacuation instruction notification in combination with map information.

[0147] (Technical Idea 20) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 19, wherein the sound detection unit (104d) distinguishes between and detects, as the anxiety sound, at least an earthquake-related sound, which is a sound related to the occurrence of an earthquake, an explosion sound, and a collision sound caused by a collision with another vehicle, and the vehicle control unit (109d) transmits information about the current position of the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound, which is any one of the earthquake-related sound, the explosion sound, and the collision sound.

[0148] (Technical Idea 21) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 20, wherein the sound detection unit (104e) distinguishes between and detects as the anxiety sound at least an explosion sound, a fire sound which is a sound related to the outbreak of a fire, and an incident encounter sound which is a sound which indicates that the vehicle has encountered an incident, and the vehicle control unit (109e) causes the vehicle control device, when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound which is any one of the explosion sound, the fire sound, and the incident encounter sound, to automatically report to a terminal of a public institution which deals with the problem corresponding to the anxiety sound.

[0149] (Technical Idea 22) A vehicle control device described in any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 21, wherein the sound detection unit (104f) distinguishes between and detects the anxiety sound as at least one of an explosion sound, a fire sound that is a sound related to the outbreak of a fire, and an incident encounter sound that is a sound that indicates that the vehicle has encountered an incident, and also detects the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming from relative to the vehicle, and the vehicle control unit (109f) controls the vehicle to travel away from the direction from which the anxiety sound is coming when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound as any of the explosion sound, the fire sound, and the incident encounter sound.

[0150] (Technical Idea 23) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 22, comprising a cause discrimination unit (112) that, when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound, uses information from a vehicle condition sensor (14g) that detects the condition of the vehicle to determine whether the anxiety sound is a sound caused by something outside the vehicle or a sound caused by a malfunction of the vehicle, and when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound, the vehicle control unit (109g) causes an alarm device (19) to issue a cause discrimination related notification, which is a notification based on the determination result of the cause discrimination unit.

[0151] (Technical Idea 24) A vehicle control device described in any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 23, wherein the sound detection unit (104h) distinguishes and detects the type of anxiety sound from the speech content recognized from the voice of a person outside the vehicle, and the vehicle control unit (109h) controls the vehicle according to the type of anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit.

[0152] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. Embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also within the technical scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the control unit and method described in the present disclosure may be implemented by a special-purpose computer comprising a processor programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the apparatus and method described in the present disclosure may be implemented by a special-purpose hardware logic circuit. Alternatively, the apparatus and method described in the present disclosure may be implemented by one or more special-purpose computers configured by combining a processor executing a computer program with one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored as instructions executed by a computer on a computer-readable non-transitory tangible recording medium.

Claims

1. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle, comprising: a sound detection unit (104, 104c, 104d, 104e, 104f, 104h) that distinguishes and detects types of anxiety sounds, which are sounds outside the vehicle that are presumed to be indicative of situations that are presumed to cause anxiety to occupants of the vehicle; and a vehicle control unit (109, 109a, 109b, 109c, 109d, 109e, 109f, 109g, 109h) that controls the vehicle in accordance with the types of anxiety sounds detected by the sound detection unit.

2. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, which can be used in an autonomous vehicle that includes at least a constant speed cruise control that causes the vehicle to travel at a constant speed in accordance with a set vehicle speed, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects, as the anxiety sound, at least a forward obstacle sound that is a sound that occurs when a collision or sudden braking occurs in front of the vehicle, and when the sound detection unit detects the forward obstacle sound during the constant speed cruise control, the vehicle control unit sets the set vehicle speed for the constant speed cruise control to a fixed value that is the same as the previous set vehicle speed or a value lower than the previous set vehicle speed until the end of a predetermined period or a predetermined section of travel.

3. A vehicle control device as claimed in claim 1, which can be used in a vehicle that performs autonomous driving including at least lane change control for automatically changing lanes, wherein when the sound detection unit identifies the anxiety sound during the lane change control, the vehicle control unit suspends the lane change control midway and puts the vehicle on standby, and causes an alarm device (19) to issue a monitoring promotion alarm that encourages the occupants of the vehicle to monitor the surroundings, and when it is determined that there are no abnormalities around the vehicle, the vehicle control device resumes the lane change control.

4. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit performs door locking, i.e., locking the doors of the vehicle, when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound while the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed below a specified value.

5. A vehicle control device as described in claim 4, comprising an occupant identification unit (108) that identifies the type of occupant of the vehicle and the seating position of the occupant in the vehicle, and when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound while the vehicle is stopped or traveling at a low speed below a specified value, the vehicle control unit switches whether to lock the door corresponding to the seating position of the occupant depending on the type of occupant identified by the occupant identification unit.

6. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects, as the anxiety sound, at least an incident encounter sound, which is a sound that is presumed to indicate that the vehicle has encountered an incident, and comprises an approaching object identification unit (110) that identifies the presence or absence of an object approaching the vehicle based on the sensing results of a perimeter monitoring sensor (15) that monitors the perimeter of the vehicle, and the vehicle control unit stops the vehicle when the sound detection unit detects the incident encounter sound, and after the vehicle has stopped, locks the doors of the vehicle when the approaching object identification unit identifies the presence of an object approaching the vehicle.

7. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit, when the sound detection unit detects the disturbing sound, causes the vehicle to slow down at a speed below a specified value and causes an alarm device (19) to issue a monitoring promotion alarm to encourage the vehicle occupants to monitor the surroundings.

8. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control unit, when the sound detection unit detects the disturbing sound, also uses the sensing results of a surrounding monitoring sensor (15) that monitors the surroundings of the vehicle to determine whether to control the vehicle.

9. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit is capable of detecting not only the anxiety sound but also the siren sound of an emergency vehicle, and the threshold value for determining that a sound has been detected is different for the anxiety sound and the siren sound.

10. A vehicle control device according to claim 9, wherein the sound detection unit sets the threshold value for determining that the anxiety sound has been detected lower than the threshold value for determining that the siren sound has been detected.

11. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit (104c) distinguishes and detects at least earthquake-related sounds, which are sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake, as the anxiety sounds, and comprises an earthquake state identification unit (111) that identifies the magnitude of the earthquake when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sounds, and the vehicle control unit (109c) controls the vehicle in accordance with the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake state identification unit when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sounds.

12. A vehicle control device as described in claim 11, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects earthquake-related sounds using an alarm sound emitted from a portable device when an earthquake occurs, which is collected by an in-vehicle microphone (23) that collects sounds from inside the vehicle in addition to sounds outside the vehicle.

13. A vehicle control device as described in claim 11, wherein the vehicle control unit brings the vehicle to an emergency stop on the shoulder of the road when the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake condition identification unit is equal to or greater than a specified value, and allows the vehicle to continue traveling when the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake condition identification unit is less than the specified value.

14. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit (104c) distinguishes and detects at least earthquake-related sounds, which are sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake, as the anxiety sounds, and comprises an earthquake condition identification unit (111) that identifies the magnitude of the earthquake when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound, and the vehicle control unit (109c) causes an alarm device (19) to issue an earthquake response alert, which is an alert to the vehicle occupants regarding how to respond to an earthquake, when the sound detection unit detects the earthquake-related sound, and changes the content of the earthquake response alert depending on the magnitude of the earthquake identified by the earthquake condition identification unit.

15. A vehicle control device as described in claim 14, wherein the earthquake condition identification unit also identifies the timing at which the earthquake shaking will subside when the earthquake-related sound is detected by the sound detection unit, and the vehicle control unit changes the content of the earthquake response alert depending on whether the shaking is continuing before the timing at which the earthquake shaking identified by the earthquake condition identification unit subsides, or after the shaking has ended after that timing.

16. A vehicle control device as described in claim 15, wherein the vehicle control unit issues a protection instruction alert to instruct occupants of the vehicle to protect themselves on the spot while the shaking continues, and issues an evacuation instruction alert to instruct them to evacuate after the shaking has ended.

17. A vehicle control device according to claim 16, wherein the vehicle control unit issues the evacuation instruction notification by issuing a notification instructing evacuation according to the current position of the vehicle.

18. A vehicle control device as described in claim 15, wherein the sound detection unit distinguishes and detects warning sounds that are precursors to secondary disasters caused by earthquakes as the anxiety sounds, and the vehicle control unit issues an evacuation instruction alert to instruct evacuation when the shaking has ended and the sound detection unit detects the warning sound.

19. A vehicle control device according to claim 18, wherein the vehicle control unit, when issuing the evacuation instruction notification, issues the evacuation instruction notification in combination with map information.

20. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit (104d) distinguishes between and detects as the anxiety sound at least earthquake-related sounds, which are sounds related to the occurrence of an earthquake, explosion sounds, and collision sounds caused by a collision with another vehicle, and the vehicle control unit (109d) transmits information about the current position of the vehicle to the outside of the vehicle when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound, which is any of the earthquake-related sounds, explosion sounds, and collision sounds.

21. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit (104e) distinguishes between and detects as the disturbing sound at least an explosion sound, a fire sound which is a sound related to the outbreak of a fire, and an incident encounter sound which is a sound which is presumed to indicate that the vehicle has encountered an incident, and the vehicle control unit (109e) automatically reports to a terminal of a public institution which deals with the problem corresponding to the disturbing sound when the sound detection unit detects the disturbing sound which is any of the explosion sound, the fire sound, and the incident encounter sound.

22. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit (104f) distinguishes between and detects the anxiety sounds, including at least an explosion sound, a fire sound related to the outbreak of a fire, and an incident encounter sound, which is a sound that indicates that the vehicle has encountered an incident, and also detects the direction from which the anxiety sounds are coming relative to the vehicle, and the vehicle control unit (109f) controls the vehicle to travel away from the direction from which the anxiety sounds are coming when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sounds, including the explosion sound, the fire sound, and the incident encounter sound.

23. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising a cause discrimination unit (112) that, when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound, uses information from a vehicle condition sensor (14g) that detects the condition of the vehicle to determine whether the anxiety sound is a sound caused by something outside the vehicle or a sound caused by a malfunction of the vehicle, and when the sound detection unit detects the anxiety sound, the vehicle control unit (109g) causes an alarm device (19) to issue a cause discrimination related alarm, which is an alarm based on the discrimination result of the cause discrimination unit.

24. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the sound detection unit (104h) distinguishes and detects the type of anxiety sound from the speech content recognized from the voice of a person outside the vehicle, and the vehicle control unit (109h) controls the vehicle according to the type of anxiety sound detected by the sound detection unit.

25. A vehicle control method usable in a vehicle, comprising: a sound detection process executed by at least one processor for distinguishing and detecting types of anxiety sounds from sounds outside the vehicle, which are sounds that are presumed to be indicative of situations that are presumed to cause anxiety to occupants of the vehicle; and a vehicle control process for controlling the vehicle in accordance with the types of anxiety sounds detected in the sound detection process.

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