Vehicle control device and vehicle control program

Abstract

An automated driving ECU (10) that can be used in a vehicle that performs automated driving comprises a peripheral information acquiring unit (104) that acquires preceding vehicle-related information, which is information relating to a vehicle preceding the host vehicle, and an overtake planning unit (1611) that causes execution of overtake control, which is travel control for causing the host vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle by means of automated driving, wherein the overtake planning unit (1611) changes the overtake control in accordance with the preceding vehicle-related information acquired by the peripheral information acquiring unit (104).

Description

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

[0001] This application is based on Patent Application No. 2024-119642 filed in Japan on July 25, 2024, and Patent Application No. 2025-105976 filed in Japan on June 23, 2025, 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 program.

[0003] There are known technologies for autonomously driving a vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for performing autonomous driving control to make a vehicle follow the road on which it is traveling. Patent Document 1 also discloses a technology for controlling the vehicle to change lanes to another lane when it is detected that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is congested.

[0004] JP 2011-162132 A

[0005] In the technology of Patent Document 1, it is considered that the host vehicle will overtake a preceding vehicle located in a congested lane by changing lanes. However, Patent Document 1 does not consider how to overtake a preceding vehicle using autonomous driving. The situation of the preceding vehicle changes depending on various factors such as the driver and the driving environment. Therefore, when the host vehicle attempts to overtake a preceding vehicle, the situation of the preceding vehicle varies from time to time. Therefore, the technology of Patent Document 1 may not be able to perform overtaking control that is appropriate for the situation of the preceding vehicle.

[0006] One object of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control program that enable overtaking control that is suited to the situation of a preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is overtaken by automatic driving.

[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 disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving, and is equipped with a preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit that acquires preceding vehicle-related information, which is information about a vehicle preceding the vehicle, and an overtaking control unit that performs overtaking control, which is driving control that causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through automatic driving, and the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control depending on the preceding vehicle-related information acquired by the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit.

[0009] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the vehicle control program disclosed herein is a vehicle control program that can be used in an autonomously driving vehicle, and causes a computer to function as a preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit that acquires preceding vehicle-related information, which is information about a vehicle preceding the vehicle, and an overtaking control unit that performs overtaking control, which is driving control that causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through autonomous driving, and causes the overtaking control unit to function to change the overtaking control in accordance with the preceding vehicle-related information acquired by the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit.

[0010] According to the above configuration, it is possible to change the overtaking control that causes the host vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through autonomous driving in accordance with information about the preceding vehicle. Therefore, by using the information about the preceding vehicle, it is possible to change the overtaking control to suit the situation of the preceding vehicle. As a result, when overtaking the preceding vehicle through autonomous driving, it is possible to perform overtaking control that suits the situation of the preceding vehicle.

[0011] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an application example of the vehicle system; FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a case where overtaking a preceding vehicle involves a lane change; FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a case where overtaking a preceding vehicle does not involve a lane change; FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of switching of overtaking determination criteria according to the type of overtaking; FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of switching of overtaking determination criteria according to the offset degree of the preceding vehicle; FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of overtaking determination and vehicle speed limit during overtaking according to a passing area and an obstacle situation during overtaking; FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of overtaking determination and vehicle speed limit during overtaking according to a passing area and an obstacle situation during overtaking; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of switching of the timing of starting an overtaking preparation process according to the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle; FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of switching of the timing of starting an overtaking preparation process according to the relative speed of the preceding vehicle; FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of correction of a preparation process start inter-vehicle distance determined according to a speed-related value for each type of information for estimating the behavior of the preceding vehicle. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of an offset amount in the vehicle width direction of the host vehicle when overtaking, depending on whether a preceding vehicle is traveling or not. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a timing for returning from the offset when overtaking, depending on whether the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of overtaking-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of post-overtaking processing in the overtaking planning unit. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another example of the flow of post-overtaking processing in the overtaking planning unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU according to a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of overtaking a preceding vehicle from a subsequent lane after two consecutive lane changes. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of post-overtaking processing in the autonomous driving ECU. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of a vehicle system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU according to the third embodiment.

[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 periphery monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, a presentation device 18, an interior camera 19, a biometric sensor 20, and an HCU (Human Machine Interface Control Unit) 21. For example, the autonomous driving ECU 10, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the periphery monitoring sensor 15, the vehicle control ECU 16, the body ECU 17, and the HCU 21 may be configured to 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 a 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. The driving task may be, for example, steering, acceleration / deceleration, and periphery monitoring. LV0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. LV1 is a level at which the system assists with either steering or acceleration / deceleration. LV1 corresponds to so-called driving assistance. LV2 is a level at which the system assists with both steering and acceleration / deceleration. LV2 corresponds to so-called partial driving automation. LV1 to LV2 are also considered to be part of autonomous driving. Note that in this embodiment, driving with an automation level of LV2 or higher may be considered autonomous driving. In other words, the explanation will continue using an example where the vehicle system 1 is used in a vehicle that performs autonomous driving with assistance in both steering and acceleration / deceleration.

[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). In other words, these levels correspond to automated driving with a monitoring responsibility. The monitoring responsibility includes visually monitoring 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 for which high-precision map data is available. High-precision map data will be described later. For example, autonomous driving at levels 3 or higher is defined as autonomous driving in which the driver has no monitoring obligation. In other words, it corresponds to autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation. In this embodiment, it is assumed that an autonomous vehicle is capable of implementing autonomous driving at least at level 2 or higher.

[0017] In this embodiment, the vehicle system 1 will be described as being used in each of a plurality of vehicles, as shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of application of the vehicle system 1. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the vehicle system 1 is used in an autonomously driven vehicle, which is a host vehicle HV, and a preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle HV. Note that the preceding vehicle LV does not necessarily have to be an autonomously driven vehicle. Furthermore, when the vehicle system 1 is used in a vehicle that is not an autonomously driven vehicle, the vehicle system 1 does not need to include a configuration related to autonomous driving.

[0018] 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 may receive traffic congestion information, etc. from the center via wide-area communication. The communication module 11 may also 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 also 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. The communication module 11 may also receive traffic light information indicating the lighting pattern of a traffic light from the roadside device or the center.

[0019] The locator 12 includes a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) 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 gyro sensor detects the angular velocity of the host vehicle. The acceleration sensor detects longitudinal acceleration acting in the longitudinal direction of the host vehicle and lateral acceleration acting in the lateral direction of the host vehicle. Hereinafter, longitudinal acceleration will be simply referred to as acceleration. The longitudinal acceleration also includes deceleration, which is a negative acceleration. The locator 12 sequentially determines the vehicle position of the host vehicle (hereinafter, the host vehicle position) by combining the positioning signal received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results of the inertial sensor. The host vehicle position may be expressed, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Note that the host vehicle position may also be determined using a travel distance calculated from a signal sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

[0020] 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).

[0021] 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.

[0022] The vehicle state sensor 14 is a group of sensors for detecting various states related to the behavior or operation of the vehicle. Examples of the vehicle state sensor 14 include a vehicle speed sensor and a steering sensor. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the vehicle. The steering sensor detects the steering angle of the vehicle. The vehicle state sensor 14 outputs the detected sensing information to an in-vehicle LAN. Note that the sensing information detected by the vehicle state sensor 14 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via an ECU installed in the vehicle.

[0023] The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 monitors the environment surrounding the vehicle. As an example, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects obstacles around the vehicle. Examples of obstacles include moving objects such as pedestrians and other vehicles. Examples of obstacles include stationary objects such as fallen objects on the road. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 also detects road markings such as lane markings around the vehicle. 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 include at least a partial range including the front, rear, left, and right sides of the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring camera sequentially captures images and outputs them as sensing information to the autonomous driving ECU 10. The search wave sensor sequentially outputs scanning results based on received signals obtained when receiving waves reflected by obstacles to the autonomous driving ECU 10 as sensing information.

[0024] The vehicle control ECU 16 is an electronic control device that controls the driving of the vehicle. Examples of driving control include acceleration / deceleration control and / or steering control. The vehicle control ECU 16 includes a steering ECU that controls steering, a power unit control ECU that controls acceleration / deceleration, and a brake ECU. The vehicle control ECU 16 controls driving by outputting control signals to each driving control device mounted on the vehicle. Examples of driving control devices include an electronically controlled throttle, a brake actuator, and an EPS (Electric Power Steering) motor.

[0025] The body ECU 17 is an electronic control unit that controls the electrical components of the vehicle. The body ECU 17 controls the direction indicators of the vehicle. The direction indicators are also called turn signal lamps, turn lamps, or blinker lamps.

[0026] The presentation device 18 presents information to the interior of the vehicle. The presentation device 18 has, for example, a display device and an audio output device. The display device presents information by displaying the information. The display device displays the information in accordance with instructions from the HCU 21. As the display device, for example, a meter MID (Multi Information Display), a CID (Center Information Display), a HUD (Head-Up Display), etc. can be used.

[0027] The meter MID is a display device provided in front of the driver's seat inside the vehicle cabin. 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 cabin, 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 as a projection member. The light of the image reflected by the front windshield toward the interior of the vehicle is perceived by the driver sitting in the driver's seat. This allows the driver to view a virtual image of the display image formed in front of the front windshield superimposed on a portion of the foreground. The HUD may also be configured to project a display image onto a combiner provided in front of the driver's seat instead of the front windshield.

[0028] The audio output device presents information by outputting audio. The audio output device outputs audio in accordance with instructions from the HCU 21. Examples of the audio output device include speakers provided in the vehicle interior.

[0029] The interior camera 19 captures an image of a predetermined range within the interior of the vehicle. It is preferable that the interior camera 19 captures an image of an area including at least the driver's seat of the vehicle. The interior camera 19 is composed of, for example, a near-infrared light source, a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls them. The interior camera 19 captures an image of the driver of the vehicle irradiated with near-infrared light by the near-infrared light source using the near-infrared camera. The image captured by the near-infrared camera is analyzed by the control unit. The control unit analyzes the captured image to detect facial features of the driver. The control unit may detect the driver's facial orientation, line of sight, etc. based on the detected facial features of the driver.

[0030] The biosensor 20 measures biometric information of the driver of the vehicle. The biosensor 20 sequentially outputs the measured biometric information to the HCU 21. The biosensor 20 may be configured to be installed in the vehicle. The biosensor 20 may also be configured to be installed in a wearable device worn by the occupant. When the biosensor 20 is installed in the vehicle, it may be installed on, for example, the steering wheel or a seat. When the biosensor 20 is installed in a wearable device, the HCU 21 may acquire the measurement results of the biosensor 20 via, for example, a short-range communication module. Examples of biometric information measured by the biosensor 20 include respiration, pulse, and heart rate. Note that the biosensor 20 may also be configured to measure biometric information other than respiration, pulse, and heart rate. For example, the biosensor 20 may measure brain waves, heart rate fluctuations, sweating, body temperature, blood pressure, skin conductance, and the like.

[0031] The HCU 21 is primarily composed of a computer equipped with a processor, volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, I / O, and a bus connecting these. The HCU 21 executes various processes related to the interaction between the occupant and the vehicle's systems by executing control programs stored in the nonvolatile memory. The HCU 21 controls the presentation of information by the presentation device 18. The HCU 21 identifies the driver's facial orientation, line of sight, etc. based on the detection results of the interior camera 19. The HCU 21 may also identify whether the driver is monitoring the surroundings based on the driver's facial orientation and line of sight. The HCU 21 may also perform part of the function of the control unit of the interior camera 19. The HCU 21 estimates the driver's emotions based on biometric information measured by a biometric sensor and the driver's facial features detected by the interior camera 19. The HCU 21 may estimate emotions from the biometric information and / or facial features by using, for example, a learning device that has performed machine learning to determine the correspondence between biometric information and / or facial features and emotions. The types of emotions to be estimated may be the seven types classified by Plutchik's wheel of emotions. Specifically, the seven types may be "neutral," "anger," "fear," "surprise," "joy," "sadness," and "discomfort." Note that the HCU 21 may use a circuit to perform at least some of the functions performed by a processor. The circuit referred to here is a hardware circuit.

[0032] 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 control programs stored in the non-volatile memory to perform processing related to autonomous driving. Note that the autonomous driving ECU 10 may have a circuit that performs at least some of the functions performed by the processor. The circuit referred to here is a hardware circuit. 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.

[0033] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described using FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the autonomous driving ECU 10 includes functional blocks, such as an HCU communication unit 101, a driver information acquisition unit 102, a tendency learning unit 103, a surrounding information acquisition unit 104, a driving environment recognition unit 105, a behavior determination unit 106, and a control execution unit 107. The execution of processing by a computer of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10 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 circuits. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware circuits. The autonomous driving ECU 10 causes a computer to function as each of the above-mentioned functional blocks using a control program. This control program corresponds to a vehicle control program.

[0034] The HCU communication unit 101 performs processing for outputting information to the HCU 21 and processing for acquiring information from the HCU 21. The HCU communication unit 101 acquires information such as the driver's facial orientation, line of sight, presence or absence of surrounding monitoring, and emotion identified by the HCU 21. The HCU communication unit 101 includes a presentation processing unit 111 as a sub-functional block. The presentation processing unit 111 indirectly controls the presentation of information on the presentation device 18.

[0035] The driver information acquisition unit 102 acquires information about the host vehicle driver, who is the driver of the host vehicle HV (hereinafter referred to as host vehicle driver-related information). The driver information acquisition unit 102 corresponds to the host vehicle driver information acquisition unit. The driver information acquisition unit 102 may acquire host vehicle driver-related information during manual driving at automation level 0. Examples of host vehicle driver-related information include the driving operation of the host vehicle driver, the state of the host vehicle HV as a result of the driving operation, and the state of the host vehicle driver. The driver information acquisition unit 102 may acquire the detection results of the vehicle state sensor 14 as the host vehicle driver-related information. As an example, the vehicle speed, etc. of the host vehicle may be acquired. The driver information acquisition unit 102 may also acquire the measurement results of the inertial sensor of the locator 12 as the host vehicle driver-related information. As an example, the acceleration, lateral speed, lateral acceleration, etc. of the host vehicle may be acquired. The driver information acquisition unit 102 may acquire, as the host vehicle driver-related information, the facial orientation, line of sight, presence or absence of surrounding monitoring, emotions, etc. of the host vehicle driver identified by the HCU 21. The driver information acquisition unit 102 may acquire, as the host vehicle driver-related information, the driving lane of the host vehicle HV, etc., recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105 described below. Types of driving lane information include overtaking lanes and non-overtaking lanes, which are driving lanes other than overtaking lanes. The driver information acquisition unit 102 acquires, as the host vehicle driver-related information, the tendencies of the host vehicle driver recognized by the tendency learning unit 103 described below.

[0036] The driver information acquisition unit 102 may cause the communication module 11 to transmit the driver-related information it acquires sequentially, for example, by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In this case, the driver-related information may be transmitted by linking the host vehicle position measured by the locator 12 and identification information identifying the host vehicle HV, for example. The driver information acquisition unit 102 may cause the communication module 11 to transmit the driver-related information it acquires sequentially, for example, by road-to-vehicle communication, to a roadside device. In this case, the driver-related information may be transmitted by linking the host vehicle position measured by the locator 12 and identification information identifying the host vehicle HV, for example. The roadside device that receives the driver-related information may relay the received driver-related information to nearby vehicles. Alternatively, the driver information acquisition unit 102 may cause the communication module 11 to transmit the driver-related information it acquires sequentially, for example, by wide-area communication, to a center. In this case, the host vehicle driver-related information may be transmitted in association with, for example, a vehicle number that identifies the host vehicle HV. The center that receives the host vehicle driver-related information may store the host vehicle driver-related information for each vehicle based on the vehicle number. The center may then distribute the stored host vehicle driver-related information as needed.

[0037] The tendency learning unit 103 learns the tendencies of the driver of the host vehicle. The tendencies learned by the tendency learning unit 103 include the tendency of the driving operation of the host vehicle driver, the tendency of the state of the host vehicle HV as a result of the driving operation, and the tendency of the state of the host vehicle driver. The tendency learning unit 103 may learn these tendencies by section and by situation. By section, for example, by link in map data. Note that the section may be by section that is more detailed than a link. Examples of situations for tendencies by situation include a situation in which a vehicle is overtaken by a following vehicle and a situation in which a vehicle overtakes a leading vehicle. A situation in which a vehicle is overtaken by a following vehicle will be referred to as an overtaken situation hereinafter. A situation in which a vehicle overtakes a leading vehicle LV will be referred to as an overtaking situation hereinafter. Whether or not a situation is one in which a vehicle is overtaken by a following vehicle may be determined by the tendency learning unit 103 from the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105.

[0038] The tendency learning unit 103 may learn the tendency of the driver of the vehicle from the driver-related information other than the tendency of the driver of the vehicle acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 102. The tendency learning unit 103 may accumulate the driver-related information of the vehicle for each section and situation regarding the tendency for each section and situation. The location where the driver-related information of the vehicle may be accumulated may be a center that can be connected via wide-area communication via the communication module 11. Then, the tendency may be learned by taking statistics of the driver-related information for each section and situation from the accumulated results. For example, in the case of driver-related information such as vehicle speed, lateral speed, acceleration, and lateral acceleration, the tendency learning unit 103 may do the following. The tendency learning unit 103 may learn the average value of the driver-related information for each section and situation as the tendency for each section and situation. For example, in the case of driver-related information such as whether or not perimeter monitoring is performed, emotions, and driving lanes, the tendency learning unit 103 may do the following. The trend learning unit 103 may learn the information on the frequency of occurrence of driver-related information for each section and situation as a trend for each section. For example, if "no periphery monitoring" is more common in the information on whether or not periphery monitoring is performed for a certain section, then "no periphery monitoring" may be learned as the trend for that section. For example, if "passing lane" is the most common in the information on driving lanes for a certain section, then "passing lane" may be learned as the trend for that section. For example, if "anger" is the most common emotional information for overtaken situations, then "anger" may be learned as the trend for overtaken situations. For example, if "anger" is the most common emotional information for overtaking situations, then "anger" may be learned as the trend for overtaking situations. Note that the functions of the trend learning unit 103 may be performed by a center that can be connected via wide-area communication via the communication module 11.

[0039] The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 acquires information about the surroundings of the host vehicle HV. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may acquire the sensing results of the surroundings monitoring sensor 15 as information about the surroundings of the host vehicle HV. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 also acquires preceding vehicle-related information, which is information about the vehicle LV preceding the host vehicle HV. The preceding vehicle-related information is information about the driver of the preceding vehicle LV. Examples of preceding vehicle-related information include the driving operation of the driver of the preceding vehicle LV, the state of the preceding vehicle LV, and the state of the driver of the preceding vehicle. The preceding vehicle-related information corresponds to host vehicle driver-related information from the perspective of the driver of the preceding vehicle. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 corresponds to the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit. Furthermore, the process of acquiring preceding vehicle-related information in the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 corresponds to the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition process.

[0040] The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may acquire the sensing results of the preceding vehicle LV sensed by the periphery monitoring sensor 15 as preceding vehicle-related information. Examples of preceding vehicle-related information that can be acquired by sensing with the periphery monitoring sensor 15 include the state of the preceding vehicle LV, such as the vehicle speed, lateral speed, acceleration, lateral acceleration, and lane of travel of the preceding vehicle LV. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 acquires information about the driver of the preceding vehicle transmitted via wireless communication. Hereinafter, the information about the driver of the preceding vehicle transmitted via wireless communication will be referred to as preceding vehicle driver-related information.

[0041] The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may acquire the preceding vehicle driver-related information via the communication module 11. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may also acquire information about surrounding vehicles other than the preceding vehicle LV via the communication module 11. The preceding vehicle driver-related information may be host vehicle driver-related information from the driver of the preceding vehicle, acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 102 of the preceding vehicle LV. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may acquire, for example, the preceding vehicle driver-related information transmitted from the preceding vehicle LV via vehicle-to-vehicle communication via the communication module 11. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may also acquire, for example, the preceding vehicle driver-related information transmitted from a roadside device via road-to-vehicle communication via the communication module 11. In this case, the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 acquires the preceding vehicle driver-related information transmitted indirectly from the preceding vehicle LV via the roadside device. Road-to-vehicle communication is performed when the host vehicle HV is located within the communication range of the roadside device. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may determine whether or not the information transmitted via vehicle-to-vehicle communication or road-to-vehicle communication is preceding vehicle driver-related information for the preceding vehicle LV as follows: The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may determine whether or not the information is preceding vehicle driver-related information for the preceding vehicle LV from the degree of coincidence between the position of the preceding vehicle LV recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105 and the position of the preceding vehicle LV assigned to the preceding vehicle driver-related information.

[0042] The surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may acquire, for example, preceding vehicle driver-related information transmitted from a center by wide area communication via the communication module 11. In this case, the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 may acquire preceding vehicle driver-related information of the preceding vehicle LV from the center based on the vehicle number of the preceding vehicle LV recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105. In this case, the center manages preceding vehicle driver-related information for each vehicle, linked to the vehicle number.

[0043] The preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 preferably includes the tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver. The tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver can be rephrased as learned information about the driving conditions of the preceding vehicle driver in the past. This makes it possible to accurately make an overtaking decision, which will be described later, that is suited to the tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver.

[0044] The preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 preferably includes the tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver by section. The tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver by section can be rephrased as information learned from the driving status of the preceding vehicle driver when the preceding vehicle LV previously traveled the same section as the section in which the preceding vehicle LV is currently traveling. The driving status of the preceding vehicle driver is more likely to show similar tendencies when traveling in the same section. Therefore, the tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver by section are likely to be more accurate. Therefore, with the above configuration, it is possible to make a more accurate judgment that matches the tendencies of the preceding vehicle driver when determining whether or not to overtake, as will be described later.

[0045] The driving environment recognition unit 105 recognizes the driving environment of the host vehicle HV from the host vehicle position, map data, and information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104. The driving environment recognition unit 105 corresponds to a driving environment identification unit. The host vehicle position may be acquired from the locator 12. The map data may be acquired from the map DB 13. Examples of information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 and used to recognize the driving environment include sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. If the positions, speeds, etc. of surrounding vehicles can be acquired via the communication module 11, the driving environment recognition unit 105 may also use this information. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit 105 uses this information to recognize the positions, shapes, and movement states of objects around the host vehicle and generate a virtual space that reproduces the actual driving environment. The driving environment recognition unit 105 may also recognize the positions and shapes of lane markings around the host vehicle to generate the virtual space. The driving environment recognition unit 105 may recognize the host vehicle position on the map from the host vehicle position and map data.

[0046] The driving environment recognition unit 105 may recognize the presence, position, direction, vehicle speed, lateral speed, acceleration, lateral acceleration, etc. of vehicles surrounding the host vehicle as the driving environment from the sensing information. The surrounding vehicles may include a leading vehicle that is a vehicle in front of the host vehicle HV. The leading vehicle may be a vehicle ahead of the host vehicle HV. The surrounding vehicles may include a leading vehicle LV that is a vehicle immediately ahead of the host vehicle HV and located in the same driving lane as the host vehicle HV. The surrounding vehicles may include a rear vehicle that is a vehicle behind the host vehicle HV. The rear vehicle may be a vehicle behind the host vehicle HV. The rear vehicle may also include vehicles on either sides behind the host vehicle. The surrounding vehicles may also include a lateral vehicle that is a vehicle on either side of the host vehicle HV. It is preferable that the driving environment recognition unit 105 identify the acceleration of the leading vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken, even after the host vehicle HV has overtaken the leading vehicle LV.

[0047] The driving environment recognition unit 105 preferably determines whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle relative to the preceding vehicle LV. The driving environment recognition unit 105 may determine whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle based on whether or not there is a vehicle within a predetermined range ahead of the preceding vehicle LV in the lane opposite the lane in which the preceding vehicle LV is traveling. The predetermined range referred to here may be set arbitrarily.

[0048] It is preferable that the driving environment recognition unit 105 also identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle LV, the degree of offset of the preceding vehicle LV from the center of the driving lane that the preceding vehicle LV is traveling in. The driving environment recognition unit 105 may identify this degree of offset from the positions of the preceding vehicle LV and the lane markings in the recognized driving environment.

[0049] The driving environment recognition unit 105 preferably determines not only whether there is an obstacle inside the roadway, but also whether there is an obstacle outside the roadway. Here, "outside the roadway" refers to, for example, a sidewalk or a road shoulder. The driving environment recognition unit 105 preferably also determines whether there is a moving object such as a pedestrian or a light vehicle as an obstacle outside the roadway. An example of a light vehicle is a bicycle. Pedestrians may include moving objects classified as pedestrians under the Road Traffic Act. For example, pedestrians may include electric carts, wheelchairs, walking aids, etc.

[0050] The driving environment recognition unit 105 may also identify the light color state of a traffic light by performing image recognition on an image captured by a surrounding monitoring camera. The driving environment recognition unit 105 may also identify the light color state of a traffic light from traffic light information received by the communication module 11.

[0051] The driving environment recognition unit 105 preferably also determines whether the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left. The driving environment recognition unit 105 may determine whether the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left based on the position, vehicle speed, direction, etc. of the preceding vehicle LV. For example, if the preceding vehicle LV is stopped before an intersection or an exit road to an off-road area, the preceding vehicle LV may be determined to be waiting to turn right or left. The preceding vehicle LV may also be determined to be waiting to turn right or left based on the condition that the inclination of the preceding vehicle LV with respect to the driving lane is equal to or greater than a specified value. The specified value here is a value that orients the vehicle body in the direction of lane change when waiting to turn right or left, and may be any value that can be set.

[0052] The driving environment recognition unit 105 preferably also determines whether there is another vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as a cutting-in vehicle) that may cut into the driving path between the host vehicle HV and the preceding vehicle LV. The presence or absence of a cutting-in vehicle can be determined by predicting the movement trajectory of the surrounding vehicle from the position, speed, and direction of the surrounding vehicle.

[0053] When the system has control over the driving operation, the behavior determination unit 106 determines a driving plan for driving the vehicle based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit 105. The behavior determination unit 106 includes a driving plan unit 161, an overtaking determination unit 162, and a preparation processing unit 163 as sub-functional blocks.

[0054] The driving planner 161 determines a driving plan for driving the vehicle in autonomous driving mode. The driving planner 161 determines a long-term / mid-term driving plan and a short-term driving plan as driving plans. In the long-term / mid-term driving plan, a planned route for driving the vehicle to a set destination is determined. This planned route is a route consisting of multiple links. The driving planner 161 may determine the planned route in a manner similar to route search by a navigation function. The driving planner 161 may determine the planned route by, for example, cost calculation using the Dijkstra algorithm. The destination may be set by, for example, input from an occupant of the vehicle. Note that the driving planner 161 may identify the planned route determined by a navigation device as the planned route. In the short-term driving plan, a short-term driving plan is determined based on the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105, for realizing driving according to the planned route determined in the long-term / mid-term driving plan. Specifically, short-term driving plans include steering for lane changes, acceleration / deceleration for speed adjustment, steering and braking for obstacle avoidance, and the like.

[0055] Further, an example of a short-term driving plan is driving control for overtaking the preceding vehicle LV. The driving planner 161 includes an overtaking planner 1611 as a sub-functional block. The overtaking planner 1611 plans driving control for overtaking the preceding vehicle LV described above. The overtaking planner 1611 causes the control execution unit 107, which will be described later, to execute control, thereby causing the preceding vehicle LV to overtake by automatic driving. This control for overtaking the preceding vehicle LV by automatic driving will be referred to as overtaking control hereinafter. The overtaking planner 1611 corresponds to an overtaking control unit. Furthermore, the processing in the overtaking planner 1611 corresponds to an overtaking control step. Details of the processing in the overtaking planner 1611 will be described later.

[0056] The overtaking determination unit 162 determines whether or not to allow the host vehicle HV to overtake the preceding vehicle LV through autonomous driving. For example, the overtaking determination unit 162 may determine whether or not to allow the host vehicle HV to overtake the preceding vehicle LV based on whether or not a condition of a determination criterion for determining whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake (hereinafter, the overtaking determination criterion) is satisfied.

[0057] The overtaking determination unit 162 may set the overtaking determination criteria as follows. For example, the conditions for determining whether to allow overtaking may include information on the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV that can be identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105 from the sensing results of the perimeter monitoring sensor 15. As an example, the conditions for determining whether to allow overtaking may include that the vehicle speed, acceleration, lateral speed, and lateral acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV are less than thresholds set for each of them. The threshold for the vehicle speed may be a value that distinguishes between a vehicle speed appropriate for overtaking and a vehicle speed that is inappropriate for overtaking. The thresholds for the acceleration, lateral speed, and lateral acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV may be values ​​that distinguish between stable behavior that is appropriate for overtaking and unstable behavior that is inappropriate for overtaking. The conditions for determining whether to allow overtaking may be part of the vehicle speed, acceleration, lateral speed, or lateral acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV, or may be other behavior information.

[0058] For example, the overtaking determination unit 162 may include the state of the rear vehicle in addition to the information on the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV as a condition for determining whether to allow overtaking. Examples of the state of the rear vehicle include the position of the rear vehicle and the behavior of the rear vehicle. As an example, the condition for determining whether to allow overtaking may include whether the position of the preceding vehicle LV is greater than a threshold distance from the host vehicle HV. The threshold distance may be a value that distinguishes between an appropriate distance for overtaking and an inappropriate distance for overtaking. The threshold distance may be configured to change depending on the speed and acceleration of the rear vehicle. Alternatively, the condition for determining whether to allow overtaking may include whether the speed and acceleration of the rear vehicle are less than respective thresholds. The thresholds for the speed and acceleration of the rear vehicle may be values ​​that distinguish between an appropriate speed and acceleration for overtaking and an inappropriate speed and acceleration for overtaking. The thresholds for the speed and acceleration of the rear vehicle may be configured to change depending on the distance between the host vehicle HV and the rear vehicle. The conditions for determining whether the vehicle is allowed to overtake may be part of the position, speed, and acceleration of the vehicle behind, or other behavior information.

[0059] It is preferable that the overtaking determination unit 162 determines whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, using the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the periphery information acquisition unit 104. In other words, it is preferable that the overtaking determination unit 162 determines whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, using the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired via wireless communication. This makes it possible to determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, using detailed information about the preceding vehicle driver that cannot be obtained by sensing using the periphery monitoring sensor 15. As a result, it becomes possible to more accurately determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake.

[0060] The overtaking determination unit 162 may use the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the periphery information acquisition unit 104 to determine whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake, as follows. The overtaking determination unit 162 may use the preceding vehicle driver-related information as an overtaking determination criterion. For example, the conditions for determining whether or not to allow overtaking may include the type of preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired via wireless communication. As one example, the conditions for determining whether or not to allow overtaking may include the fact that the information on whether or not to allow periphery monitoring is "periphery monitoring enabled." This makes it possible to prevent overtaking when the driver of the preceding vehicle is not monitoring the periphery and there is a risk of the driver of the preceding vehicle making careless driving maneuvers. As another example, the conditions for determining whether or not to allow overtaking may include the fact that the emotional tendency of the driver of the preceding vehicle in the overtaking situation is not "anger." This makes it possible to prevent overtaking for a preceding vehicle LV that is likely to cause trouble with the driver of the preceding vehicle in overtaking. As another example, the conditions for determining whether to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake may include that the lateral speed, acceleration, and lateral acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV in the overtaking situation are less than the threshold values ​​set for each of them. In this way, it becomes possible to prevent the preceding vehicle LV from overtaking if it is estimated that the preceding vehicle LV may be tailgating in an attempt to overtake.

[0061] The overtaking determination unit 162 preferably determines whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake based on the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the periphery information acquisition unit 104 and the host vehicle driver-related information acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 102. This makes it possible to more accurately determine whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake by using not only detailed information about the preceding vehicle driver that cannot be obtained by sensing using the periphery monitoring sensor 15, but also detailed information about the host vehicle driver. Furthermore, by using detailed information about the host vehicle driver, overtaking by automated driving in accordance with the host vehicle driver's preferences becomes possible.

[0062] The overtaking determination unit 162 may also use the driver-related information of the host vehicle acquired by the driver information acquisition unit 102 to determine whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake, as follows. The overtaking determination unit 162 may use the driver-related information of the host vehicle as an overtaking determination criterion. For example, the driver-related information of the host vehicle may be included in the conditions for determining whether to allow overtaking. As an example, the emotional tendency of the driver of the host vehicle in the overtaking situation to be "anger" or "discomfort" may be included in the conditions for determining whether to allow overtaking. In this way, it is possible to ease the emotions of the driver of the host vehicle by allowing overtaking.

[0063] The overtaking determination unit 162 may change the overtaking determination criteria, which are used to make a determination based on the state of the rear vehicle, depending on whether or not overtaking the leading vehicle LV involves a lane change. Here, using FIGS. 4 and 5 , examples of cases where overtaking the leading vehicle LV involves a lane change and cases where overtaking the leading vehicle LV does not involve a lane change will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a case where overtaking the leading vehicle LV involves a lane change. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a case where overtaking the leading vehicle LV does not involve a lane change. The vehicle shown by the dashed line in the diagram indicates the future position of the host vehicle HV. The dashed arrow in the diagram indicates the planned trajectory of the host vehicle HV. As shown in FIG. 4 , on a road with multiple lanes in each direction where an overtaking lane exists, the host vehicle HV may overtake by changing lanes into the overtaking lane and then returning to the original driving lane. As shown in FIG. 5 , if the leading vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left and can overtake the leading vehicle LV without changing lanes, the overtaking may be performed without changing lanes. In this case, the host vehicle HV can overtake without changing lanes by offsetting in the vehicle width direction within the host vehicle's lane, as shown in Figure 5, and then return from this offset. Hereinafter, the host vehicle HV overtaking the preceding vehicle LV without changing lanes will be referred to as overtaking without changing lanes. Overtaking without changing lanes can also be rephrased as overtaking from the driving lane side. Hereinafter, the host vehicle HV overtaking the preceding vehicle LV while changing lanes will be referred to as overtaking with a lane change. Overtaking with a lane change can also be rephrased as overtaking from the overtaking lane side.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 6 , the overtaking determination unit 162 preferably sets stricter overtaking determination criteria using the state of the rear vehicle in the case of overtaking with a lane change than in the case of overtaking without a lane change. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of switching overtaking determination criteria according to the type of overtaking. As shown in FIG. 6 , the overtaking determination criteria using the state of the rear vehicle in the case of overtaking without a lane change may be set as the default. Then, in the case of overtaking with a lane change, the overtaking determination criteria using the state of the rear vehicle may be set stricter than the default conditions. Here, "stricter" refers to changing the conditions so that it is less likely to be determined that the vehicle is to be allowed to overtake. As an example, the aforementioned threshold distance for the position of the rear vehicle may be set longer than the default. The aforementioned thresholds for the speed and acceleration of the rear vehicle may be set smaller than the default. In the case of overtaking with a lane change, the speed of the rear vehicle in the overtaking lane is often higher. Therefore, in the case of overtaking with a lane change, the rear vehicle cannot be allowed to overtake unless it is less likely to approach the host vehicle than in the case of overtaking without a lane change. In contrast to this, with the above configuration, it is possible to more appropriately determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, depending on whether or not the overtaking involves a lane change.

[0065] The overtaking determination unit 162 may change the overtaking determination criteria, which are used to make a determination using the state of a rear vehicle, depending on the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105. As described above, the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV refers to the degree of offset of the leading vehicle LV from the center of the driving lane in which the leading vehicle LV is traveling. As shown in FIG. 7 , the overtaking determination unit 162 may set stricter overtaking determination criteria using the state of a rear vehicle when the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105 is less than a specified value than when the offset degree is equal to or greater than a specified value. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of switching the overtaking determination criteria depending on the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV. The specified value may be a value that is estimated to ensure a width that allows the host vehicle to avoid straying from the driving lane when overtaking the leading vehicle LV, and may be any value that can be set. As shown in FIG. 7 , the overtaking determination criteria using the state of a rear vehicle when the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV is equal to or greater than a specified value may be set as the default. This default condition may be the same as the overtaking determination criterion using the state of the rear vehicle in the case of overtaking without changing lanes, as described above. Then, when the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV is less than a specified value, the overtaking determination criterion using the state of the rear vehicle may be stricter than this default condition. The overtaking determination criterion when the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV is less than a specified value may be the same as the overtaking determination criterion in the case of overtaking with a lane change, as described above. When overtaking a leading vehicle LV with a small offset degree, the host vehicle HV is more likely to stray into an adjacent lane, such as an overtaking lane. As described above, the speed of a rear vehicle in the overtaking lane is often high. Therefore, when the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV is less than a specified value, it is more likely that the host vehicle will not be allowed to overtake unless the situation makes it difficult for the rear vehicle to approach the host vehicle, as compared to when the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV is equal to or greater than the specified value. In contrast, the above configuration makes it possible to more appropriately determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, depending on the offset degree of the leading vehicle LV.

[0066] The overtaking determination unit 162 preferably changes the determination criteria for whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, depending on whether or not the host vehicle HV needs to stray from the roadway when overtaking the leading vehicle LV. The overtaking determination unit 162 may determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake based on the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105. The overtaking determination unit 162 may determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, depending on whether or not there is space for the host vehicle HV to pass on the roadway to the side of the leading vehicle LV. This makes it possible to more appropriately determine whether or not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, even if the appropriate overtaking determination criteria differ depending on whether or not it is necessary to stray from the roadway when overtaking. A specific example will be described below.

[0067] If the host vehicle HV does not need to leave the roadway when overtaking the leading vehicle LV, the overtaking determination unit 162 may do the following. The overtaking determination unit 162 may determine whether to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake based on whether the driving environment recognition unit 105 has identified the presence of a vehicle nearby the host vehicle HV. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 , if there is a nearby vehicle, the overtaking determination unit 162 may determine not to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake. On the other hand, if there is no nearby vehicle, the overtaking determination unit 162 may determine to allow the leading vehicle LV to overtake, provided that other overtaking determination criteria are also satisfied. FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams illustrating an example of overtaking determination and vehicle speed limit during overtaking, depending on the passing area and obstacle situation during overtaking. The nearby vehicle here may be, for example, another vehicle located in a position estimated to obstruct the overtaking of the leading vehicle LV. This makes it possible to prevent the leading vehicle LV from overtaking by remaining within the roadway when a nearby vehicle within the roadway is obstructing the leading vehicle LV.

[0068] When the host vehicle HV needs to stray from the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle LV, the overtaking determination unit 162 may do the following. The overtaking determination unit 162 may determine whether to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake based on whether the driving environment recognition unit 105 has identified the presence of a pedestrian or a light vehicle outside the roadway. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8 , if a pedestrian or a light vehicle is present, the overtaking determination unit 162 may determine not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake. On the other hand, if there is no pedestrian or light vehicle, the overtaking determination unit 162 may determine to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake, provided that other overtaking determination criteria are also satisfied. This makes it possible to prevent the overtaking from taking place even when it is necessary to overtake by straying from the roadway if there is a pedestrian or a light vehicle that may obstruct the progression. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 9 , the overtaking determination unit 162 may determine to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake, provided that other overtaking determination criteria are also satisfied, regardless of whether there is a pedestrian or a light vehicle or not.

[0069] When overtaking control is performed, the preparation processing unit 163 performs processing in a preparation stage for the overtaking control (hereinafter referred to as overtaking preparation processing) before the overtaking control is started. The overtaking preparation processing may, for example, turn on the turn indicators or cause the presentation device 18 to present a notification that overtaking will begin (hereinafter referred to as overtaking notification). The preparation processing unit 163 may realize turning on the turn indicators by sending an instruction to the body ECU 17. The preparation processing unit 163 may realize the overtaking notification by sending an instruction to the HCU 21 via the presentation processing unit 111.

[0070] It is preferable that the preparation processing unit 163 change the timing to start the overtaking preparation processing according to a speed-related value. The speed-related value is at least one of the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV and the relative speed of the preceding vehicle LV with respect to the host vehicle HV, which are identified by the traveling environment recognition unit 105. This makes it possible to start the overtaking preparation processing at an appropriate timing, even if the appropriate timing to start the overtaking preparation processing differs depending on the speed-related value.

[0071] The preparation processing unit 163 may start the overtaking preparation process from a position where the distance between the host vehicle HV and the preceding vehicle LV increases as the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV decreases. The distance between the host vehicle HV and the preceding vehicle LV at which the overtaking preparation process is started is hereinafter referred to as the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance. The slower the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV, the more likely the host vehicle HV will approach the preceding vehicle LV, and the shorter the time until overtaking tends to be. Therefore, by starting the overtaking preparation process from a timing when the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance is large, the occupants of the host vehicle HV can easily approach the preceding vehicle LV.

[0072] Here, an example of switching the timing of starting the overtaking preparation process according to the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV will be described with reference to FIG. 10 . For convenience of explanation, FIG. 10 will describe an example in which the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV is divided into three categories: "high", "medium", and "low". Also, for convenience of explanation, FIG. 10 shows the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance divided into three categories: "high", "medium", and "small". As shown in FIG. 10 , when the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV is "high", the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance may be set to "small". When the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV is "medium", the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance may be set to "medium". When the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV is "slow", the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance may be set to "large".

[0073] The preparation processing unit 163 may start the overtaking preparation process from a position where the distance between the host vehicle HV and the preceding vehicle LV increases as the relative speed of the preceding vehicle LV with respect to the host vehicle HV increases. The higher the relative speed of the preceding vehicle LV that is the target of overtaking with respect to the host vehicle HV, the easier it is for the host vehicle HV to approach the preceding vehicle LV, and the shorter the time until overtaking tends to be. Therefore, by starting the overtaking preparation process from a timing when the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance is large, the occupants of the host vehicle HV can easily approach the overtaking. The relative speed of the preceding vehicle LV with respect to the host vehicle HV will be referred to as the preceding vehicle relative speed hereinafter.

[0074] Here, an example of switching the timing of starting the overtaking preparation process according to the relative speed of the preceding vehicle will be described with reference to FIG. 11 . For convenience of explanation, FIG. 11 will describe an example in which the relative speed of the preceding vehicle is divided into three categories: "large", "medium", and "small". Also, for convenience of explanation, FIG. 11 shows the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance divided into three categories: "large", "medium", and "small". As shown in FIG. 11 , when the relative speed of the preceding vehicle is "large", the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance may be set to "large". When the relative speed of the preceding vehicle is "medium", the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance may be set to "medium". When the relative speed of the preceding vehicle is "low", the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance may be set to "small".

[0075] The preparation processing unit 163 may change the timing to start the overtaking preparation process in accordance with information other than the speed-related value in addition to the speed-related value identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105. This information is information that enables estimation of behavior changes of the preceding vehicle LV (hereinafter, referred to as preceding vehicle behavior estimation information). By using the preceding vehicle behavior estimation information as well, it becomes possible to start the overtaking preparation process at an appropriate timing with greater accuracy. When the timing to start the overtaking preparation process is changed in accordance with information other than the speed-related value in addition to the speed-related value, for example, the following may be done. The preparation process start inter-vehicle distance determined in accordance with the speed-related value may be corrected in accordance with the preceding vehicle behavior estimation information.

[0076] The preceding vehicle behavior estimation information may include, for example, information on whether the brake lights of the preceding vehicle LV are on or off. The preparation processing unit 163 may determine whether the brake lights of the preceding vehicle LV are on or off, for example, from the recognition results of the driving environment recognition unit 105. The preceding vehicle behavior estimation information may include, for example, the remaining time until the traffic light ahead of the preceding vehicle LV switches to red (hereinafter, "remaining switching time"). The preparation processing unit 163 may determine, for example, this remaining switching time from traffic light information acquired via the communication module 11. The traffic light information may include, for example, the traffic light color status, the order in which the light colors are displayed, the cycle length of one traffic light cycle, the ratio of time allocated to each light color in one cycle, and the expected number of remaining seconds. The preceding vehicle behavior estimation information may include, for example, information on the presence or absence of an intersection within a predetermined distance ahead of the preceding vehicle LV (hereinafter, "intersection ahead of the preceding vehicle"). The preparation processing unit 163 may determine whether or not there is an intersection ahead of the preceding vehicle, for example, from map data acquired from the map DB 13 and the recognition result from the driving environment recognition unit 105 .

[0077] Here, an example of switching the timing of starting the overtaking preparation process using the preceding vehicle behavior estimation information will be described with reference to FIG. 12 . FIG. 12 shows an example of correcting the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance determined according to the speed-related value for each type of preceding vehicle behavior estimation information. As shown in FIG. 12 , when the brake lights of the preceding vehicle LV are on, the preparation processing unit 163 may perform a correction to increase the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance determined according to the speed-related value. The correction amount may be, for example, a fixed value that can be set arbitrarily. On the other hand, when the brake lights of the preceding vehicle LV are off, the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance determined according to the speed-related value may not be corrected. When the brake lights of the preceding vehicle LV are on, the host vehicle HV tends to approach the preceding vehicle LV more easily, and the time until overtaking tends to be shorter. Therefore, increasing the preparation process start inter-vehicle distance makes it easier for the occupants of the host vehicle HV to attempt overtaking with more time to spare.

[0078] As shown in FIG. 12 , when the remaining time to switch is equal to or greater than a set value, the preparation processing unit 163 does not correct the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance, which is determined based on the speed-related value. On the other hand, when the remaining time to switch is less than the set value, the preparation processing unit 163 performs an increasing correction. The correction amount may be, for example, a fixed value that can be set arbitrarily. When the leading vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left at an intersection, if the remaining time to switch is short, the leading vehicle LV is more likely to overtake without waiting for the leading vehicle LV to turn right or left. In other words, the time until overtaking tends to be shorter compared to when the remaining time to switch is long. Therefore, increasing the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance makes it easier for the occupants of the host vehicle HV to overtake with ample time to maneuver. Note that FIG. 12 illustrates a configuration in which correction of the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance is switched depending on whether the remaining time to switch is less than a set value, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the shorter the remaining time to switch, the more the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance is increased.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 12 , when there is an intersection ahead of the preceding vehicle, the preparation processing unit 163 may perform a correction to increase the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance determined in accordance with the speed-related value. The correction amount may be, for example, a fixed value that can be set arbitrarily. On the other hand, when there is no intersection ahead of the preceding vehicle, the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance determined in accordance with the speed-related value need not be corrected. When there is an intersection ahead of the preceding vehicle, the preceding vehicle LV may wait to turn right or left at the intersection. When the preceding vehicle LV waits to turn right or left at the intersection, the host vehicle HV is more likely to approach the preceding vehicle LV than when the preceding vehicle LV travels straight. Therefore, the time until overtaking may be shorter. In response to this, increasing the preparation processing start inter-vehicle distance makes it easier for the occupants of the host vehicle HV to overtake with ample time to spare.

[0080] As described above, the overtaking planner 1611 performs overtaking control. The overtaking planner 1611 changes the overtaking control in accordance with the preceding vehicle-related information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104. This makes it possible to change the overtaking control in accordance with information about the preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle. Therefore, by using the information about the preceding vehicle LV, it is possible to change the overtaking control to suit the situation of the preceding vehicle LV. As a result, when overtaking the preceding vehicle LV in autonomous driving, it is possible to perform overtaking control that suits the situation of the preceding vehicle LV. The situation of the preceding vehicle LV includes not only the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV but also the state of the driver of the preceding vehicle, the situation in which the preceding vehicle LV is placed, and the like. Examples of changes in overtaking control in accordance with the preceding vehicle-related information include the following. For example, there is a change in overtaking control due to a change in the overtaking judgment criteria described above. There is also a change in overtaking control due to a change in the judgment as to whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle LV to overtake. Other examples will be described later.

[0081] The overtaking planner 1611 preferably starts overtaking control when the overtaking determination unit 162 determines, using the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired via wireless communication, that the preceding vehicle LV is to be overtaken. On the other hand, it is preferable not to start overtaking control when the overtaking determination unit 162 determines, using the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired via wireless communication, that the preceding vehicle LV is not to be overtaken. As described above, the determination result by the overtaking determination unit 162 using the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired via wireless communication is more accurate. Therefore, with the above configuration, it is possible to start overtaking control more appropriately depending on the situation of the preceding vehicle LV.

[0082] The overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably changes the overtaking control depending on whether or not a lane change is required when the host vehicle HV overtakes the leading vehicle LV. This enables more appropriate overtaking control when the appropriate overtaking control differs depending on whether or not a lane change is required when the host vehicle HV overtakes the leading vehicle LV. As an example, as described above, the overtaking determination unit 162 may change the overtaking determination criteria using the state of the rear vehicle depending on whether or not a lane change is required when overtaking. As a specific example, the overtaking determination criteria using the state of the rear vehicle may be set stricter in the case of overtaking with a lane change than in the case of overtaking without a lane change. As another example, the upper limit of the vehicle speed or acceleration during overtaking may be changed depending on whether or not a lane change is required when the host vehicle HV overtakes the leading vehicle LV. For example, the upper limit of the vehicle speed or acceleration during overtaking may be set higher in the case of overtaking without a lane change than in the case of overtaking without a lane change. This is because there is a high need to increase the vehicle speed when traveling in the overtaking lane.

[0083] The overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably changes the overtaking control depending on the offset degree of the preceding vehicle LV identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105. As described above, the offset degree of the preceding vehicle LV is the offset degree of the preceding vehicle LV from the center of the driving lane in which the preceding vehicle LV is traveling. This enables more appropriate overtaking control when the appropriate overtaking control differs depending on the offset degree of the preceding vehicle LV. As an example, as described above, the overtaking determination criterion using the state of the following vehicle in the overtaking determination unit 162 may be changed depending on whether the offset degree is equal to or greater than a specified value. As a specific example, the overtaking determination criterion using the state of the following vehicle may be made stricter when the offset degree is less than a specified value than when the offset degree is equal to or greater than the specified value. As another example, the upper limit of the vehicle speed or acceleration during overtaking may be changed depending on whether the offset degree of the preceding vehicle LV is equal to or greater than the specified value. For example, the upper limit of the vehicle speed or acceleration during overtaking may be set higher when the offset degree is less than a specified value than when the offset degree is equal to or greater than a specified value. This is because, when overtaking a preceding vehicle LV with a small offset degree, there is a high possibility that the host vehicle HV will drift into an adjacent lane, such as an overtaking lane, where it is highly necessary to increase the vehicle speed.

[0084] The overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably causes the host vehicle HV to overtake the preceding vehicle LV at a slower speed when the host vehicle HV needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle LV than when the host vehicle HV does not need to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle LV. Here, an example will be described with reference to FIG. 8 . As shown in FIG. 8 , when the passing area during overtaking is within the roadway, the upper limit of the vehicle speed during overtaking (hereinafter referred to as the overtaking speed) is set to Vd. On the other hand, when the passing area during overtaking is outside the roadway, the overtaking speed is set to V1, which is smaller than Vd. When traveling outside the roadway, it is necessary to travel at a slower speed than inside the roadway to more easily avoid approaching pedestrians or light vehicles. In contrast, the above configuration makes it possible to comply with a request to travel outside the roadway at a slower speed than inside the roadway.

[0085] When the host vehicle HV needs to leave the roadway when overtaking the preceding vehicle LV, the overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably further performs the following operations. When the traveling environment recognition unit 105 has identified the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway, the overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably causes the preceding vehicle LV to overtake at a slower speed than when the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway has not been identified. Here, an example will be described using FIG. 9 . As shown in FIG. 9 , when the passing area during overtaking is within the roadway and there is a vehicle nearby the host vehicle HV, the overtaking vehicle speed is set to Vd. On the other hand, when the passing area during overtaking is outside the roadway and there is no pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway, the overtaking vehicle speed is set to V1, which is smaller than Vd. Furthermore, when the passing area during overtaking is outside the roadway and there is a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway, the overtaking vehicle speed is set to V2, which is smaller than V1. This makes it possible to further reduce the vehicle speed when a pedestrian or light vehicle is present outside the roadway. Therefore, the more the need to avoid approaching pedestrians and light vehicles increases, the lower the vehicle speed can be reduced, making it possible to more reliably avoid approaching pedestrians and light vehicles.

[0086] When the overtaking planner 1611 determines that the preceding vehicle LV is moving, it is preferable that the overtaking planner 1611 perform the following. When the overtaking planner 1611 determines that the preceding vehicle LV is stopped, it is preferable that the overtaking planner 1611 increase the offset amount of the host vehicle HV in the vehicle width direction when the host vehicle HV is made to overtake the preceding vehicle LV, compared to when the overtaking planner 1611 determines that the preceding vehicle LV is stopped. Whether the preceding vehicle LV is moving or stopped can be determined by the traveling environment recognition unit 105 from the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV recognized by the traveling environment recognition unit 105. When the preceding vehicle LV is moving, a sudden change in the vehicle width direction is more likely to occur than when the preceding vehicle LV is stopped. In contrast, with the above configuration, increasing the offset amount of the host vehicle HV in the vehicle width direction makes it easier to avoid approaching the preceding vehicle LV. Whether the preceding vehicle LV is moving or stopped can be determined from the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle LV recognized by the traveling environment recognition unit 105.

[0087] Here, an example of the offset amount in the vehicle width direction of the host vehicle HV when overtaking, depending on whether the preceding vehicle LV is traveling, will be described with reference to FIG. 13 . In FIG. 13 , the offset amount is divided into two categories, "large" and "small." Each offset amount can be set to any value as long as "large" is larger than "small." As shown in FIG. 13 , when the preceding vehicle LV is traveling, the offset amount can be set to "large." On the other hand, when the preceding vehicle LV is stopped, the offset amount can be set to "small."

[0088] When the overtaking planning unit 1611 determines that the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left, it is preferable to do the following. The overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably restores from the offset during overtaking more quickly than when it determines that the preceding vehicle LV is not waiting to turn right or left. Whether the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left is determined by the driving environment recognition unit 105. Restoring from the offset during overtaking refers to restoring the position of the host vehicle HV in the vehicle width direction from the offset after offsetting the host vehicle HV in the vehicle width direction to overtake the preceding vehicle LV. In the case of overtaking with a lane change, this corresponds to returning to the driving lane before the lane change after changing lanes for overtaking. When overtaking a preceding vehicle LV waiting to turn right or left, it is unlikely that the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken will approach the host vehicle HV. Therefore, when there are few factors that hinder restoration from the offset during overtaking, it is possible to quickly restore from the offset during overtaking.

[0089] Here, an example of the timing for returning from the offset when overtaking, depending on whether the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left, will be described with reference to FIG. 14 . In FIG. 13 , the return timing is divided into two categories, "early" and "late." Each return timing can be arbitrarily set, as long as "late" is later than "early." As shown in FIG. 14 , when the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left, the return timing can be set to "early." On the other hand, when the preceding vehicle LV is not waiting to turn right or left, the return timing can be set to "late."

[0090] When the overtaking planning unit 1611 determines that the preceding vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left and determines that a cutting-in vehicle is present, it is preferable to wait for the start of overtaking control. The presence or absence of a cutting-in vehicle is determined by the driving environment recognition unit 105. Then, it is preferable for the overtaking planning unit 1611 to start overtaking control after determining that the cutting-in vehicle has disappeared. This makes it possible to avoid coming close to the cutting-in vehicle and then overtake the preceding vehicle LV waiting to turn right or left.

[0091] The overtaking planning unit 1611 may start overtaking control based on the fact that the leading vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left and that there is an oncoming vehicle for the leading vehicle LV. The overtaking planning unit 1611 may start overtaking control when these two conditions are met. The overtaking planning unit 1611 may start overtaking control when, in addition to these two conditions, the other overtaking determination criteria described above are also met. The driving environment recognition unit 105 determines whether the leading vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left and whether there is an oncoming vehicle for the leading vehicle LV. On the other hand, the overtaking planning unit 1611 may wait to start overtaking control when the leading vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left and there is no oncoming vehicle for the leading vehicle LV. Even if the leading vehicle LV is waiting to turn right or left, if there is no oncoming vehicle for the leading vehicle LV, there is a high possibility that the leading vehicle LV will quickly complete the turn and will no longer be in front of the host vehicle. In this way, when there is a high possibility that the preceding vehicle LV will quickly disappear from the front of the host vehicle HV, the start of the overtaking control is put on hold, thereby making it possible to prevent unnecessary overtaking control.

[0092] After causing the host vehicle HV to change lanes and overtake the preceding vehicle LV, the overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably performs the following operations. If the acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken is less than a first threshold, the overtaking planning unit 1611 may cause the host vehicle HV to return to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change. The acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken may be identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105. The first threshold may be a value that indicates a low possibility of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken coming close to the host vehicle HV. The first threshold may be a value that can be set arbitrarily. On the other hand, if the acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the overtaking planning unit 1611 may not cause the host vehicle HV to return to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change. This makes it possible to return the host vehicle HV to the driving lane it was in before changing lanes in a situation where it is estimated that there is a low possibility that the host vehicle HV will come close to the preceding vehicle LV that it has overtaken.As a result, it becomes possible to return the host vehicle HV to the driving lane it was in before changing lanes while avoiding coming close to the preceding vehicle LV that it has overtaken.

[0093] After causing the host vehicle HV to change lanes and overtake the preceding vehicle LV, the overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably performs the following: If the range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle that the host vehicle HV has overtaken is equal to or greater than a second threshold, the overtaking planning unit 1611 may not cause the host vehicle HV to return to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change. The range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken may be determined from the acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that is sequentially determined by the driving environment recognition unit 105. The second threshold may be a value that is estimated to indicate stable vehicle driving. This makes it possible to prevent the host vehicle HV from returning to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change if the driving of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken is unstable. As a result, it is possible to reduce the likelihood of the occupants of the host vehicle HV feeling uneasy.

[0094] Furthermore, after the host vehicle HV changes lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle LV, the overtaking planning unit 1611 preferably performs the following: The overtaking planning unit 1611 may return the host vehicle HV to the driving lane before the lane change when a state in which the range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken remains less than the second threshold value for a predetermined period of time. The predetermined period may be a period during which the driving of the preceding vehicle LV is estimated to be stable. The predetermined period may be a value that can be set arbitrarily. This makes it possible to return the host vehicle HV to the driving lane before the lane change after it is confirmed that the driving of the preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV has overtaken is stable. As a result, it is possible to return the host vehicle HV to the driving lane before the lane change while reducing the anxiety felt by the occupants of the host vehicle HV.

[0095] When the control right of driving operation is in the system of the host vehicle, the control execution unit 107 executes driving control in cooperation with the vehicle control ECU 16. The control execution unit 107 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 106. In other words, the control execution unit 107 causes the host vehicle to perform automatic driving.

[0096] <Overtaking-related processing in autonomous driving ECU 10> Here, an example of the flow of processing related to overtaking control in the autonomous driving ECU 10 (hereinafter referred to as overtaking-related processing) will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 15. The flowchart of FIG. 15 may be configured to be started when it is determined that overtaking is necessary while the host vehicle HV is traveling in autonomous driving mode. The determination of the necessity of overtaking may be made, for example, by the behavior determination unit 106. The behavior determination unit 106 may determine that overtaking is necessary, for example, when the preceding vehicle LV continues to travel at a low speed equal to or less than a predetermined speed for a certain period of time or more. A low speed equal to or less than the predetermined speed may include 0 km / h. The certain period of time may be any time that can be set.

[0097] First, in step S1, the overtaking determination unit 162 determines whether or not to allow the host vehicle HV to overtake the preceding vehicle LV by autonomous driving. In step S2, if the overtaking determination unit 162 determines that the host vehicle HV should be allowed to overtake (YES in S2), the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the overtaking determination unit 162 determines that the host vehicle HV should not be allowed to overtake (NO in S2), the process proceeds to step S3.

[0098] In step S3, if it is time to end the overtaking-related processing (YES in S3), the overtaking-related processing is ended. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the overtaking-related processing (NO in S3), the process returns to S1 and is repeated. Examples of timings to end the overtaking-related processing include switching to automatic driving or manual driving at level 1 or below, and turning off the power switch. The power switch is a switch for starting the internal combustion engine or motor generator of the vehicle.

[0099] In step S4, if the preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle is waiting to turn right or left (YES in S4), the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if the preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle is not waiting to turn right or left (NO in S4), the process proceeds to step S7. As described above, whether the preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle is waiting to turn right or left can be determined by the driving environment recognition unit 105.

[0100] In step S5, if there is an oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle LV (YES in S5), the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, if there is no oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle LV (NP in S5), the process proceeds to step S7. As described above, the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle LV can be identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105. In step S6, if the preceding vehicle LV has completed turning right or left (YES in S6), there is no target for overtaking control, so the overtaking-related processing is terminated. On the other hand, if the preceding vehicle LV has not completed turning right or left (NO in S6), the process returns to S5 and the processing is repeated. In other words, the overtaking planner 1611 does not start overtaking control, and waits until the preceding vehicle LV has completed turning right or left.

[0101] In step S7, the preparation processing unit 163 starts the overtaking preparation processing. The timing for starting the overtaking preparation processing may be as described above. In step S8, the overtaking planning unit 1611 starts overtaking control. In step S9, if the preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle is waiting to turn right or left (YES in S9), the process proceeds to step S10. On the other hand, if the preceding vehicle LV of the host vehicle is not waiting to turn right or left (NO in S9), the process proceeds to step S13.

[0102] In step S10, if there is a vehicle cutting in (YES in S10), the process proceeds to step S11. On the other hand, if there is no vehicle cutting in (NO in S10), the process proceeds to step S12. As described above, the presence or absence of a vehicle cutting in can be determined by the driving environment recognition unit 105. In step S11, the overtaking control is put on hold until the cutting in vehicle has overtaken the preceding vehicle LV that is waiting to turn right or left, and the process returns to S9 and is repeated.

[0103] In step S12, if the host vehicle HV has overtaken the preceding vehicle LV (YES in S12), the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if the host vehicle HV has not overtaken the preceding vehicle LV (NO in S12), the process returns to S9 and repeats. In step S13, the overtaking planning unit 1611 performs post-overtaking processing and ends the overtaking-related processing. Here, an example of the flow of post-overtaking processing will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 16.

[0104] First, in step S131, if the host vehicle HV has overtaken the preceding vehicle LV in a lane change overtaking manner (YES in S131), the process proceeds to step S133. On the other hand, if the host vehicle HV has overtaken the preceding vehicle LV in a lane change overtaking manner (NO in S131), the process proceeds to step S132. In step S132, the offset at the time of overtaking is restored, and the overtaking-related processing is terminated.

[0105] In step S133, if the acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV (hereinafter referred to as the determination target) that the host vehicle has overtaken is less than a first threshold value (hereinafter referred to as Th1) (YES in S133), the process proceeds to step S134. On the other hand, if the acceleration of the determination target is equal to or greater than Th1 (NO in S133), the process proceeds to step S135.

[0106] In step S134, the overtaking planning unit 1611 returns the host vehicle HV to the driving lane before the lane change and ends the overtaking-related processing. On the other hand, in step S135, the overtaking planning unit 1611 does not return the host vehicle HV to the driving lane before the lane change, and returns to step S133 to repeat the processing.

[0107] The post-overtaking processing in the overtaking planning unit 1611 is not limited to the example shown in Fig. 16. Another example of the flow of the post-overtaking processing will now be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 17. First, in steps S231 and S232, the same processing as in steps S131 and S132 is performed.

[0108] In step S233, if the change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV (i.e., the subject of judgment) that the host vehicle has overtaken is less than a second threshold value (hereinafter, Th2) (YES in S233), the process proceeds to step S234. On the other hand, if the change in acceleration of the subject of judgment is equal to or greater than Th2 (NO in S233), the process proceeds to step S236.

[0109] In step S234, if the state in which the change range of the acceleration to be determined is less than Th2 continues for the aforementioned predetermined time (YES in S234), the process proceeds to step S235. On the other hand, if the state in which the change range of the acceleration to be determined is less than Th2 does not continue for the aforementioned predetermined time (NO in S234), the process proceeds to step S236. In step S235, the overtaking planner 1611 causes the host vehicle HV to return to the driving lane before the lane change, and ends the overtaking-related processing. On the other hand, in step S236, the overtaking planner 1611 does not cause the host vehicle HV to return to the driving lane before the lane change, and returns to S233 to repeat the processing.

[0110] (Embodiment 2) The configuration of the embodiment described above is not limited to the above, and the following configuration of embodiment 2 may also be adopted. An example of the configuration of embodiment 2 will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 according to embodiment 2 is similar to the vehicle system 1 according to embodiment 1, except that it includes an autonomous driving ECU 10a instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

[0111] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10a> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10a will be described using FIG. 18 . The autonomous driving ECU 10a includes, as functional blocks, an HCU communication unit 101, a driver information acquisition unit 102, a tendency learning unit 103, a surrounding information acquisition unit 104a, a driving environment recognition unit 105a, an action determination unit 106a, and a control execution unit 107. The autonomous driving ECU 10a includes the surrounding information acquisition unit 104a instead of the surrounding information acquisition unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10a includes the driving environment recognition unit 105a instead of the driving environment recognition unit 105. The autonomous driving ECU 10a includes the action determination unit 106a instead of the action determination unit 106. Except for these points, the autonomous driving ECU 10a is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of embodiment 1. This autonomous driving ECU 10a also corresponds to a vehicle control device. The execution of the processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10a by a computer also corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method. Furthermore, the control program of the autonomous driving ECU 10a that causes a computer to function as each part of the above-mentioned functional blocks also corresponds to a vehicle control program.

[0112] The surrounding information acquisition unit 104a is similar to the surrounding information acquisition unit 104 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104a acquires information related to the behavior of the leading vehicle LV (hereinafter referred to as leading vehicle behavior-related information) as leading vehicle-related information. Examples of the leading vehicle behavior-related information include the acceleration of the leading vehicle LV, its driving position relative to the lane, and the status of its hazard lights. The leading vehicle behavior-related information may be acquired by sensing using the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104a may also acquire the recognition result of the state of the leading vehicle LV by the driving environment recognition unit 105a from the leading vehicle behavior-related information. The status of the hazard lights may be identified by image recognition of images captured by a surrounding monitoring camera. The surrounding information acquisition unit 104a also corresponds to a leading vehicle-related information acquisition unit. Furthermore, the process of acquiring leading vehicle-related information by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104a also corresponds to a leading vehicle-related information acquisition process.

[0113] The driving environment recognition unit 105a is the same as the driving environment recognition unit 105 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences will be described below. The driving environment recognition unit 105a identifies a speed change of the preceding vehicle LV. This speed change may be a change in the value of the speed over time, or may be an acceleration. The following description will continue using an example in which the speed change is a change in the value of the speed over time. The driving environment recognition unit 105a also corresponds to a driving environment identification unit.

[0114] The behavior determination unit 106a includes, as sub-functional blocks, a driving plan unit 161a, an overtaking determination unit 162, a preparation processing unit 163, and a behavior determination unit 164. The behavior determination unit 106a includes the driving plan unit 161a instead of the driving plan unit 161. The behavior determination unit 106a includes the behavior determination unit 164. Except for these points, the behavior determination unit 106a is similar to the behavior determination unit 106 of the first embodiment.

[0115] The behavior determination unit 164 determines whether the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable based on the preceding vehicle behavior-related information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition unit 104a. The behavior determination unit 164 may determine that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable if the leading vehicle LV repeatedly accelerates and decelerates in the longitudinal direction by a magnitude equal to or greater than a threshold. Alternatively, the behavior determination unit 164 may determine that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable if the number of times or frequency per unit time of this repetition is equal to or greater than a threshold. The behavior determination unit 164 may determine that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable if the number of times or frequency per unit time of the leading vehicle LV deviating from the driving lane is equal to or greater than a threshold. The behavior determination unit 164 may determine that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable if the hazard lights of the leading vehicle LV are illuminated. The behavior determination unit 164 may determine that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is not unstable if the conditions for determining that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable are not met. The behavior determination unit 164 may determine whether the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is unstable based on preceding vehicle behavior related information that has been collected from a certain period of time ago. The certain period of time may be set to any value.

[0116] The driving planner 161a includes an overtaking planner 1611a as a sub-functional block. The driving planner 161a is similar to the driving planner 161 of the first embodiment except that the driving planner 161a includes the overtaking planner 1611a instead of the overtaking planner 1611. The overtaking planner 1611a is similar to the overtaking planner 1611 of the first embodiment except for some differences in processing. This difference will be described below. The overtaking planner 1611a also corresponds to an overtaking control unit. Furthermore, the processing in the overtaking planner 1611a also corresponds to an overtaking control step.

[0117] The overtaking planner 1611a suppresses overtaking control for the leading vehicle LV when the behavior determination unit 164 determines that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable. As described in the first embodiment, overtaking control is control for overtaking the leading vehicle LV through autonomous driving. If the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable, performing overtaking control may result in the vehicle getting too close to the leading vehicle LV, which may cause the occupants to feel uneasy. In contrast, the above configuration makes it possible to suppress overtaking control when the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is unstable. Therefore, overtaking can be suppressed from getting too close to an unstable leading vehicle LV, making it less likely that the occupants will feel uneasy. For example, the suppression of overtaking control may be performed by halting (hereinafter, "canceling") the overtaking control. The suppression of overtaking control may also be performed by putting the overtaking control on hold. When putting the overtaking control on hold, the overtaking control may be performed after waiting until it is determined that the behavior of the leading vehicle LV is not unstable. In the case where the overtaking control is put on hold, the overtaking control may be performed after it is determined that the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is not unstable. The overtaking control may be suppressed by changing the mode of the overtaking control.

[0118] When the behavior determination unit 164 determines that the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is unstable and the host vehicle HV is traveling on a lane with two or more lanes side by side of a road with three or more lanes in each direction, the overtaking planner 1611a preferably performs the following. The overtaking planner 1611a may prevent overtaking control from being performed to cause the preceding vehicle LV to overtake from a lane adjacent to the host vehicle lane. This prevention of overtaking control corresponds to suppressing overtaking control. On the other hand, the overtaking planner 1611a may perform overtaking control to cause the preceding vehicle LV to overtake from a lane following two consecutive lane changes from the host vehicle lane, as shown in FIG. 19 . This execution of overtaking control to cause the preceding vehicle LV to overtake from a lane following two consecutive lane changes corresponds to suppressing overtaking control by changing the mode of overtaking control. FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining an example of causing the preceding vehicle LV to overtake from a lane following two consecutive lane changes. Since the preceding vehicle LV is located in the lane in which the host vehicle HV starts to change lanes, by having the host vehicle HV overtake the preceding vehicle LV from the lane into which the preceding vehicle LV has changed lanes in succession, the host vehicle HV can overtake the preceding vehicle LV with one lane between them. Therefore, with the above configuration, even if the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is unstable, the host vehicle HV can overtake the preceding vehicle LV without getting too close to it. As a result, it is possible to make the occupants feel less uneasy.

[0119] When the overtaking planning unit 1611a starts overtaking control involving a lane change and the host vehicle HV has completed the lane change from the driving lane in which the host vehicle HV was traveling to the overtaking lane in which the host vehicle HV will overtake, and the driving environment recognition unit 105a identifies an acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that is equal to or greater than a threshold, it is preferable to perform the following. This preceding vehicle LV is a preceding vehicle LV that the host vehicle HV is attempting to overtake. The overtaking planning unit 1611a causes the host vehicle HV to travel in the overtaking lane until a specified timing, and then causes the host vehicle HV to return to the original driving lane before the lane change without overtaking. The traveling until the specified timing is a traveling for a specified time or a specified distance. The specified time and the specified distance may be set to any value. The specified time and the specified distance may be values ​​that estimate that the accelerated preceding vehicle LV is sufficiently far away when the host vehicle HV is to return to the original driving lane before the lane change. The acceleration equal to or greater than the threshold value may be an increase in speed equal to or greater than the threshold value, or an acceleration equal to or greater than the threshold value. According to this, when the preceding vehicle LV behaves in a manner that does not allow the preceding vehicle LV to be overtaken while the preceding vehicle LV is being overtaken, it is possible to return the preceding vehicle LV to the original driving lane before the lane change without approaching the preceding vehicle LV.

[0120] <Processing after start of overtaking by autonomous driving ECU 10a> Here, an example of the flow of processing according to the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV after the start of overtaking control by the autonomous driving ECU 10a (hereinafter, "processing after start of overtaking") will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 20. The flowchart of FIG. 20 may be configured to be started, for example, when overtaking control of the host vehicle HV is started and the preceding vehicle LV is not waiting to turn right or left. The case where the preceding vehicle LV is not waiting to turn right or left may be rephrased as the case where the preceding vehicle LV is traveling. The processing described in the flowchart of FIG. 20 may be a modified example of the processing performed when S9 in the flowchart of FIG. 15 is NO. FIG. 20 illustrates an example of performing overtaking control involving a lane change.

[0121] First, in step S41, the behavior determination unit 164 determines whether the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is unstable. In step S42, if it is determined in S41 that the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is unstable (YES in S42), the process proceeds to step S43. On the other hand, if it is determined in S41 that the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is not unstable (NO in S42), the process proceeds to step S47.

[0122] In step S43, if the host vehicle HV is in a specific target situation (YES in S43), the process proceeds to step S45. A specific target situation is a situation in which the host vehicle HV is traveling in a lane with two or more lanes on one side of a road with three or more lanes in each direction. Whether or not the situation is a specific target situation can be determined by the behavior determination unit 106a from the traveling environment recognized by the traveling environment recognition unit 105a. On the other hand, if the host vehicle HV is not in the above-mentioned specific target situation (NO in S43), the process proceeds to step S44. In step S44, the overtaking planning unit 1611a puts the overtaking control on hold, and returns to S141 to repeat the process. In other words, the overtaking control is put on hold until the behavior of the leading vehicle LV stabilizes. The stabilization of the behavior of the leading vehicle LV can also be achieved by replacing the vehicle that is the leading vehicle LV. When the overtaking control is on hold, the host vehicle may continue traveling in the host lane without starting overtaking. In S44, the overtaking control may be put on hold until the host vehicle HV is in the above-mentioned specific target situation.

[0123] In step S45, the overtaking planning unit 1611a performs overtaking control to overtake the preceding vehicle LV from the lane into which the preceding vehicle LV has changed lanes in two consecutive lanes from the own lane, and then ends the post-overtaking process. In the overtaking control of S45, it is preferable to set the position to which the host vehicle HV returns to the driving lane before the lane change after overtaking the preceding vehicle LV as follows: In the overtaking control of S45, the host vehicle HV can be returned to a position further ahead of the preceding vehicle LV than in the overtaking control when it is determined that the behavior of the preceding vehicle LV is not unstable. This makes it possible to complete the overtaking while more easily avoiding approaching a preceding vehicle LV with unstable behavior. Here, completion of overtaking refers to returning the host vehicle HV to the driving lane before the lane change after overtaking the preceding vehicle LV.

[0124] In step S46, the overtaking planning unit 1611a starts overtaking control to overtake the preceding vehicle LV from the overtaking lane that is an adjacent lane to the own vehicle lane. In step S47, if the own vehicle HV has already overtaken the preceding vehicle HV in the adjacent lane (YES in S47), the process proceeds to step S51. On the other hand, if the own vehicle HV has not already overtaken the preceding vehicle HV in the adjacent lane (NO in S47), the process proceeds to step S48. Here, "overtaking" may be rephrased as "having been overtaken." Whether the own vehicle HV has already overtaken the preceding vehicle HV can be determined by the behavior determination unit 106a from the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 105a.

[0125] In step S48, if the traveling environment recognition unit 105a determines that the preceding vehicle LV is accelerating at or above the threshold (YES in S48), the process proceeds to step S49. On the other hand, if the traveling environment recognition unit 105a determines that the preceding vehicle LV is accelerating at or above the threshold (NO in S48), the process returns to step S47 and repeats the process.

[0126] In step S49, if the aforementioned specified timing has been reached after identifying the acceleration of the preceding vehicle LV that is equal to or greater than the threshold in S48 (YES in S49), the process proceeds to step S50. On the other hand, if the aforementioned specified timing has not been reached (NO in S49), the process of S49 is repeated. In step S50, the overtaking planning unit 1611a causes the preceding vehicle LV to return to the original driving lane before the lane change without overtaking. In other words, the preceding vehicle LV is returned to the original driving lane before the lane change, behind the preceding vehicle LV. Then, the post-overtaking start processing is terminated. In step S51, post-overtaking processing is performed in the same manner as the processing of S13 in the first embodiment, and the post-overtaking start processing is terminated.

[0127] (Embodiment 3) The configuration is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be that of the following embodiment 3. An example of the configuration of embodiment 3 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0128] <Overall Configuration of Vehicle System 1b> The vehicle system 1b of embodiment 3 will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 21 , the vehicle system 1b includes an autonomous driving ECU 10b, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a perimeter monitoring sensor 15b, a vehicle control ECU 16, a body ECU 17, a presentation device 18, an interior camera 19, a biometric sensor 20, and an HCU 21. The vehicle system 1b includes the autonomous driving ECU 10b instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10. The vehicle system 1b includes the perimeter monitoring sensor 15b instead of the perimeter monitoring sensor 15. Except for these points, the vehicle system 1b is similar to the vehicle system 1 of embodiment 1.

[0129] The perimeter monitoring sensor 15b is similar to the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 of the first embodiment, except for some differences. The following describes these differences. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15b includes an acoustic sensor. The acoustic sensor is installed in the host vehicle HV and collects external sound reaching the host vehicle HV. External sound refers to sound from outside the host vehicle HV. The acoustic sensor may be, for example, a condenser microphone that outputs, as an electrical signal, a change in capacitance caused by a thin diaphragm that vibrates in response to sound pressure. The acoustic sensor is equipped with, for example, a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or the like as a microphone element that converts air vibrations into an electrical signal. The acoustic sensor may employ a piezoelectric element as a microphone element instead of a MEMS. The acoustic sensor is installed with the sound collecting surface of the microphone element facing the outside of the host vehicle. The acoustic sensor may be configured to be installed, for example, on the front, rear, left and right side surfaces, and top of the host vehicle. The acoustic sensor may be installed at multiple locations among these installation positions, or at only one location. It is preferable that the acoustic sensor be installed at multiple locations on the host vehicle HV so that the direction from which the external sound is coming can be identified. When an emergency vehicle is approaching the host vehicle HV, the acoustic sensor collects external sounds including sounds specific to emergency vehicles (hereinafter referred to as emergency vehicle sounds), such as a specific siren sound sounded by the emergency vehicle. Examples of emergency vehicles include police vehicles, fire engines, and ambulances.

[0130] <General Configuration of Autonomous Driving ECU 10b> Next, the general configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10b will be described using FIG. 22 . The autonomous driving ECU 10b includes, as functional blocks, an HCU communication unit 101, a driver information acquisition unit 102, a tendency learning unit 103, a surrounding information acquisition unit 104a, a driving environment recognition unit 105b, a behavior determination unit 106b, and a control execution unit 107. The autonomous driving ECU 10b is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10a of the second embodiment, except that the autonomous driving ECU 10b includes a driving environment recognition unit 105b and a behavior determination unit 106b instead of the driving environment recognition unit 105a and the behavior determination unit 106a. This autonomous driving ECU 10b also corresponds to a vehicle control device. Furthermore, the execution of processing by a computer of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10b also corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method. Furthermore, the control program of the autonomous driving ECU 10b that causes a computer to function as each of the above-mentioned functional blocks also corresponds to a vehicle control program.

[0131] The driving environment recognition unit 105b is similar to the driving environment recognition unit 105a of the second embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences will be described below. The driving environment recognition unit 105b identifies the presence of an emergency vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit 105b may identify the presence of an emergency vehicle from external vehicle sounds collected by an acoustic sensor in the periphery monitoring sensor 15b. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit 105b may identify the presence of an emergency vehicle when the external vehicle sounds collected by the acoustic sensor include an emergency vehicle sound. The driving environment recognition unit 105b may determine whether or not an emergency vehicle sound is included by analyzing data on the external vehicle sounds. It is also preferable that the driving environment recognition unit 105b also identify the location of the emergency vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit 105b may identify the location of the emergency vehicle, for example, as follows. When using multiple acoustic sensors that can identify the direction from which external sounds are coming, the driving environment recognition unit 105b can identify the position of the emergency vehicle relative to the vehicle HV based on the direction from which the emergency vehicle sound is coming and the volume of the emergency vehicle sound. Alternatively, when an emergency vehicle can be recognized from an image captured by a surrounding monitoring camera, the position of the emergency vehicle relative to the vehicle HV can be identified based on the direction from which the image was captured and the size and position of the emergency vehicle in the image. Recognition of an emergency vehicle from an image may be performed by, for example, pattern matching. The driving environment recognition unit 105b also corresponds to a driving environment identification unit.

[0132] The behavior determination unit 106b includes, as sub-functional blocks, a driving planner 161b, an overtaking determination unit 162, a preparation processing unit 163, and a behavior determination unit 164. The behavior determination unit 106b is similar to the behavior determination unit 106b of the second embodiment, except that the behavior determination unit 106b includes the driving planner 161b instead of the driving planner 161a. Note that the behavior determination unit 106b may not include the behavior determination unit 164 and may not perform processing related to the processing in the behavior determination unit 164.

[0133] The driving planner 161b includes an overtaking planner 1611b as a sub-functional block. The driving planner 161b is similar to the driving planner 161a of the second embodiment except that the driving planner 161b includes the overtaking planner 1611b instead of the overtaking planner 1611. The overtaking planner 1611b is similar to the overtaking planner 1611a of the second embodiment except that some of the processing is different. This difference will be explained below. The overtaking planner 1611b also corresponds to an overtaking control unit. The processing in the overtaking planner 1611b also corresponds to an overtaking control step.

[0134] When the driving environment recognition unit 105b identifies the presence of an emergency vehicle during overtaking control that involves a lane change and has been initiated but not yet completed, the overtaking planner 1611b performs the following: The overtaking planner 1611b halts the overtaking control. The overtaking planner 1611b changes the manner in which the overtaking control is halted depending on the lane in which the host vehicle HV is currently traveling. This makes it possible to halt the overtaking control in a manner that is preferable depending on the lane in which the host vehicle HV is currently traveling. As a result, it becomes possible to make it less likely to hinder the emergency vehicle from traveling. An example of changing the manner in which the overtaking control is halted is changing the position at which the overtaking control is halted. For example, if the direction in which the road should be cleared for the emergency vehicle to travel varies depending on the lane, the overtaking planner 1611b may halt the overtaking control at a position within the lane that is opposite the direction in which the road should be cleared. Alternatively, in a lane that is not an overtaking lane, the overtaking control may be stopped at a position closer to the center of the lane, while in an overtaking lane, the overtaking control may be stopped at a position closer to the boundary of the lane. Another example of changing the manner in which the overtaking control is stopped is to change the timing at which the overtaking control is stopped.

[0135] When the overtaking planner 1611b identifies the presence of an emergency vehicle during overtaking control in a situation where the host vehicle HV has not yet completed a lane change to an overtaking lane, which is a lane in which the host vehicle HV will overtake, it is preferable that the overtaking planner 1611b immediately cancels the overtaking control. The presence of an emergency vehicle is identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105b. On the other hand, when the overtaking planner 1611b identifies the presence of an emergency vehicle during overtaking control in a situation where the host vehicle HV has completed a lane change to the overtaking lane, it is preferable that the overtaking planner 1611b cancels the overtaking control after identifying the position of the emergency vehicle. The position of the emergency vehicle is identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105b. Here, it is assumed that the position of the emergency vehicle can be identified by the driving environment recognition unit 105b at least from images captured by a perimeter monitoring camera when the emergency vehicle approaches the host vehicle HV. An overtaking lane is closer to the emergency vehicle's travel route than a lane that is not an overtaking lane. Therefore, when traveling in the passing lane, it is more likely that the vehicle will need to move closer to allow an emergency vehicle to pass than when traveling in a lane other than the passing lane. Therefore, if overtaking control is stopped in the passing lane and lateral travel control of the host vehicle HV is initiated before the location of the emergency vehicle can be identified, the vehicle is more likely to obstruct the emergency vehicle's passage. In contrast, with the above configuration, it is possible to wait until the location of the emergency vehicle is identified before suspending overtaking control in the passing lane. As a result, lateral travel control can be suppressed in the passing lane when the location of the emergency vehicle cannot be identified, making it less likely that the vehicle will obstruct the emergency vehicle's passage.

[0136] The overtaking planning unit 1611b identifies the presence of an emergency vehicle, halts overtaking control, and then performs emergency vehicle avoidance control. Emergency vehicle avoidance control is control that clears the way for the emergency vehicle. In emergency vehicle avoidance control, the host vehicle HV may continue to travel or may be stopped. In emergency vehicle avoidance control, the host vehicle HV may be pulled over to the shoulder of the road or may be pulled over to the center of the road. The emergency vehicle avoidance control may be control that complies with the laws and regulations of the country in which the host vehicle HV is used.

[0137] When the driving environment recognition unit 105b identifies the location of the emergency vehicle, the presentation processing unit 111 may cause the presentation device 18 to present information indicating the location of the emergency vehicle relative to the host vehicle HV (hereinafter, "emergency vehicle location information presentation"). The emergency vehicle location information may be presented by display or audio output. When the overtaking planner 111b identifies the presence of an emergency vehicle during overtaking control and the vehicle has already changed lanes to the overtaking lane, it is more preferable that the overtaking planner 1611b perform the following procedure. It is preferable that the overtaking planner 1611b identify the location of the emergency vehicle, cause the presentation device 18 to present the emergency vehicle location information, and then cancel the overtaking control. This makes it possible to cancel the overtaking control after letting the occupants of the host vehicle HV understand that an emergency vehicle is approaching in the overtaking lane during overtaking control. This reduces the likelihood of confusing the occupants of the host vehicle HV.

[0138] When the driving environment recognition unit 105b cannot identify the position of the emergency vehicle and the overtaking planner 1611b cancels the overtaking control during the overtaking control, the overtaking planner 1611b may do the following. The overtaking planner 1611b may offset the position of the emergency vehicle toward the boundary line from the center of the lane in which the host vehicle HV is currently traveling. On the other hand, when the overtaking control is canceled during the overtaking control and the driving environment recognition unit 105b has identified the position of the emergency vehicle, the overtaking planner 1611b may do the following. The overtaking planner 1611b may not perform the offset described above. When the position of the emergency vehicle has been identified, emergency vehicle avoidance control according to the position of the emergency vehicle is possible. Therefore, with the above configuration, when emergency vehicle avoidance control according to the position of the emergency vehicle is possible, it is possible to quickly switch to emergency vehicle avoidance control without performing offset. More specifically, it is possible to quickly switch to emergency vehicle avoidance control from a default position without performing offset. Furthermore, with the above configuration, even when the position of the emergency vehicle cannot be identified and emergency vehicle avoidance control according to the position of the emergency vehicle is not possible, performing offset makes it less likely to obstruct the travel of the emergency vehicle. The offset process may be configured to be performed only when the vehicle has already changed lanes to the overtaking lane. When the offset process is performed when the vehicle has already changed lanes to the overtaking lane, the offset may be performed toward the boundary line of the lane on which the vehicle was traveling before changing lanes to the overtaking lane.

[0139] <Emergency vehicle response processing in autonomous driving ECU 10b> Here, an example of the flow of processing related to response to an emergency vehicle in the autonomous driving ECU 10b (hereinafter referred to as emergency vehicle response processing) will be described using the flowchart in Figure 23. The flowchart in Figure 23 may be configured to be started, for example, when overtaking control of the host vehicle HV is started. Figure 23 shows an example of a case where overtaking control involving a lane change is performed.

[0140] First, in step S61, if the driving environment recognition unit 105b has identified the presence of an emergency vehicle (YES in S61), the process proceeds to step S63. On the other hand, if the driving environment recognition unit 105b has not identified the presence of an emergency vehicle (NO in S61), the process proceeds to step S62. In step S62, if it is time to end the emergency vehicle response process (YES in S62), the emergency vehicle response process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is time to end the emergency vehicle response process (YES in S62), the emergency vehicle response process is terminated. An example of the timing to end the emergency vehicle response process is when overtaking control is completed.

[0141] In step S63, if the host vehicle HV is located in the passing lane, which is a lane where overtaking is allowed (YES in S63), the process proceeds to step S65. On the other hand, if the host vehicle HV is not located in the passing lane (NO in S63), the process proceeds to step S64. In step S64, the overtaking planning unit 1611b stops overtaking control and ends the emergency vehicle response process.

[0142] In step S65, if the driving environment recognition unit 105b has identified the location of the emergency vehicle (YES in S65), the process proceeds to step S66. On the other hand, if the driving environment recognition unit 105b has not identified the location of the emergency vehicle (NO in S65), the process proceeds to step S67. In step S66, the overtaking planner 1611b stops the overtaking control and ends the emergency vehicle response process.

[0143] In step S67, if the time since the traveling environment recognition unit 105b identified the presence of an emergency vehicle reaches a predetermined time and times out (YES in S67), the process proceeds to step S68. The predetermined time may be set to any value. On the other hand, if the time has not yet expired (NO in S67), the process returns to S65 and repeats the process.

[0144] In step S68, the overtaking planning unit 1611b stops the overtaking control. In step S69, the overtaking planning unit 1611b offsets the driving position of the host vehicle HV in the overtaking lane from the center toward the boundary line on the side of the lane in which the host vehicle HV was traveling before changing lanes to the overtaking lane, and ends the emergency vehicle response process.

[0145] Note that, if the host vehicle HV is not located in the passing lane in S63, the presence or absence of the above-mentioned offset may be switched depending on whether the driving environment recognition unit 105b has identified the position of the emergency vehicle. For example, if the position of the emergency vehicle cannot be identified until a timeout has occurred, the driving position of the host vehicle HV within the lane may be offset from the center toward the boundary line. On the other hand, if the position of the emergency vehicle can be identified before the timeout has occurred, the above-mentioned offset may not be performed. For example, the offset may be performed toward the outer boundary line on the opposite side of the lane in which the host vehicle HV is traveling from the side in which the passing lane is located. Note that the offset may also be performed toward the boundary line on the side in which the passing lane is located in the lane in which the host vehicle HV is traveling.

[0146] (Fourth Embodiment) In the above-described embodiments, the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, and 10b 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, and 10b may correspond to the vehicle control device. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, and 10b are provided with the driving environment recognition units 105, 105a, and 105b, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, an ECU other than the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, and 10b may perform the functions of the driving environment recognition units 105, 105a, and 105b. In this case, the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, and 10b may acquire information recognized by an ECU performing the functions of the driving environment recognition units 105, 105a, and 105b, and identify the driving environment.

[0147] (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.

[0148] (Technical Idea 1) A vehicle control device that can be used in an autonomously driving vehicle, comprising: a preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit (104, 104a) that acquires preceding vehicle related information, which is information about a vehicle preceding the vehicle; and an overtaking control unit (1611, 1611a, 1611b) that performs overtaking control, which is driving control that causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the autonomous driving, wherein the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control in accordance with the preceding vehicle related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit.

[0149] (Technical Idea 2) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 1, wherein the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit acquires, as the preceding vehicle related information, preceding vehicle driver related information, which is information about the preceding vehicle driver who is the driver of the preceding vehicle, transmitted via wireless communication; and comprises an overtaking judgment unit (162) that judges whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the automatic driving; the overtaking judgment unit uses the preceding vehicle driver related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit to judge whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake; and the overtaking control unit starts the overtaking control when the overtaking judgment unit judges that the preceding vehicle will be overtaken, but does not start the overtaking control when the overtaking judgment unit judges that the preceding vehicle will not be overtaken.

[0150] (Technical Idea 3) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 2, wherein the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit is information learned from past driving conditions of the preceding vehicle driver.

[0151] (Technical Idea 4) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 3, wherein the preceding vehicle driver-related information acquired by the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit is information learned about the driving conditions of the preceding vehicle driver when the preceding vehicle previously traveled the same section as the section on which the preceding vehicle is currently traveling.

[0152] (Technical Idea 5) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 2, comprising a host vehicle driver information acquisition unit (102) that acquires host vehicle driver related information, which is information about the host vehicle driver who is the driver of the vehicle, and the overtaking determination unit determines whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on the preceding vehicle driver related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit and the host vehicle driver related information acquired by the host vehicle driver information acquisition unit.

[0153] (Technical Idea 6) A vehicle control device according to at least one of Technical Ideas 1 to 5, wherein the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control depending on whether or not a lane change is involved when the vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle.

[0154] (Technical Idea 7) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 6, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle; and an overtaking judgment unit (162) that judges whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle by the automatic driving, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of a rear vehicle that is a vehicle behind the vehicle, and the overtaking judgment unit judges whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake using the state of the rear vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit, and the vehicle control device makes the judgment criteria for whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake stricter when the vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle by changing lanes than when the vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle without changing lanes, using the state of the rear vehicle.

[0155] (Technical Idea 8) A vehicle control device described in any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 7, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle; and an overtaking determination unit (162) that determines whether to cause the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the automatic driving, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, the degree of offset of the preceding vehicle from the center of the driving lane in which the preceding vehicle is traveling, and the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control in accordance with the degree of offset of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit.

[0156] (Technical Idea 9) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 8, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of a rear vehicle that is a vehicle behind the vehicle, and the overtaking determination unit determines whether or not to allow the leading vehicle to overtake, also using the state of the rear vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit, and the vehicle control device makes the criteria for determining whether or not to allow the leading vehicle to overtake stricter when the offset degree of the leading vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is less than a specified value than when the offset degree of the leading vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is equal to or greater than a specified value, using the state of the rear vehicle.

[0157] (Technical Idea 10) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 9, comprising an overtaking determination unit (162) that determines whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the automatic driving, and the overtaking determination unit changes the determination criteria for whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle depending on whether or not the vehicle needs to leave the roadway when overtaking the preceding vehicle.

[0158] (Technical Idea 11) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 10, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the environment surrounding the vehicle; the driving environment identification unit at least identifies the presence of obstacles around the vehicle; when the vehicle does not need to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, the overtaking determination unit determines whether to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on whether the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of vehicles around the vehicle; and when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, the overtaking control unit causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle at a slower speed when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle than when the vehicle does not need to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle.

[0159] (Technical Idea 12) The vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 10 includes a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies a surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the presence of an obstacle around the vehicle, and the overtaking determination unit, when the vehicle does not need to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, determines whether to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on whether the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of a vehicle around the vehicle, The overtaking control unit causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle at a slower speed when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle than when the vehicle does not need to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, and when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle and the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway, causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle at a slower speed than when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle and the driving environment identification unit has not identified the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway.

[0160] (Technical Idea 13) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 12, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle; the driving environment identification unit at least identifies the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, a speed-related value that is at least one of the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle and the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the vehicle; and a preparation processing unit (163) that, when the overtaking control is to be performed, performs an overtaking preparation process that is a preparatory stage process for the overtaking control before the overtaking control is started; and the preparation processing unit changes the timing of starting the overtaking preparation process depending on the speed-related value identified by the driving environment identification unit.

[0161] (Technical Idea 14) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 13, wherein the preparation processing unit starts the overtaking preparation processing from a position where the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle becomes greater as the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle decreases.

[0162] (Technical Idea 15) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 13, wherein the preparation processing unit starts the overtaking preparation processing from a position where the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle becomes greater as the relative speed of the preceding vehicle to the vehicle increases.

[0163] (Technical Idea 16) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 13 to 15, wherein the preparation processing unit changes the timing of starting the overtaking preparation processing in accordance with, in addition to the speed-related value identified by the driving environment identification unit, information other than the speed-related value that can be used to estimate a change in behavior of the preceding vehicle.

[0164] (Technical Idea 17) A vehicle control device described in any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 16, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle, and wherein the overtaking control unit, when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is moving, increases the amount of offset of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction when causing the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle compared to when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is stopped.

[0165] (Technical Idea 18) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 17, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit at least identifies the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, whether the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left, and the overtaking control unit, when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left, causes the vehicle to offset in the vehicle width direction to overtake the preceding vehicle and then recover from the offset more quickly than when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is not waiting to turn right or left.

[0166] (Technical Idea 19) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 18, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the presence or absence of an intervening vehicle, which is another vehicle that may cut in on the driving path between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and the overtaking control unit waits for the start of the overtaking control when the driving environment identification unit identifies the presence of the intervening vehicle, and starts the overtaking control after the driving environment identification unit identifies that the intervening vehicle has disappeared.

[0167] (Technical Idea 20) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 19, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle and whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, whether or not the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left, and the overtaking control unit starts overtaking control based on the driving environment identification unit identifying that the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left and that there is an oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle, while waiting to start the overtaking control when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left and that there is no oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle.

[0168] (Technical Idea 21) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 20, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies the acceleration of the preceding vehicle that the vehicle has overtaken even after the vehicle has overtaken the preceding vehicle, and the overtaking control unit, after the vehicle has changed lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle, causes the vehicle to return to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change if the acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is less than a first threshold value, but does not cause the vehicle to return to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change if the acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

[0169] (Technical Idea 22) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 21, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies the acceleration of the preceding vehicle that the vehicle has overtaken even after the vehicle has overtaken the preceding vehicle, and the overtaking control unit, after causing the vehicle to change lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle, does not cause the vehicle to return to the driving lane that was in place before the lane change if the range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is equal to or greater than a second threshold.

[0170] (Technical Idea 23) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 22, wherein the overtaking control unit returns the vehicle to the lane it was in before the lane change if, after the vehicle has changed lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle, the range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit remains less than a second threshold for a predetermined period of time.

[0171] (Technical Idea 24) A vehicle control device described in any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 23, wherein the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit (104a) acquires at least preceding vehicle behavior related information, which is information related to the behavior of the preceding vehicle, as the preceding vehicle related information, and the vehicle control device is equipped with a behavior judgment unit (164) that judges whether the behavior of the preceding vehicle is unstable from the preceding vehicle behavior related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit, and the overtaking control unit (1611a) is a vehicle control device that suppresses the overtaking control for the preceding vehicle when the behavior judgment unit judges that the behavior of the preceding vehicle is unstable.

[0172] (Technical Idea 25) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 24, wherein the overtaking control unit does not perform the overtaking control to cause the preceding vehicle to overtake from a lane adjacent to the own lane when the behavior judgment unit judges that the behavior of the preceding vehicle is unstable and when the vehicle is traveling on a lane with two or more lanes lined up on the side of a road with three or more lanes on each side, but performs the overtaking control to cause the preceding vehicle to overtake from a lane two lanes in a row away from the own lane.

[0173] (Technical Idea 26) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 24, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105a) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least a change in speed of the preceding vehicle, and wherein the overtaking control unit starts the overtaking control involving a lane change, and when the vehicle has completed changing lanes from the driving lane in which it was traveling to an overtaking lane in which it will overtake, if the driving environment identification unit identifies an acceleration of the preceding vehicle that is greater than or equal to a threshold, the vehicle is caused to travel in the overtaking lane for a specified time or distance, and then returns to the original driving lane before the lane change without overtaking.

[0174] (Technical Idea 27) A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 24 to 26, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105b) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the presence of an emergency vehicle, and wherein the overtaking control unit (1611b) cancels the overtaking control if the driving environment identification unit identifies the presence of the emergency vehicle during the overtaking control that involves a lane change, when the overtaking control has been started but not completed, and wherein the manner in which the overtaking control is canceled is changed depending on the lane in which the vehicle is traveling at that time.

[0175] (Technical Idea 28) A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 27, wherein the driving environment identification unit also identifies the position of the emergency vehicle, and the overtaking control unit immediately halts the overtaking control when it identifies the presence of the emergency vehicle during the overtaking control in a situation where the vehicle has not yet completed changing lanes to an overtaking lane in which the vehicle will overtake, whereas the overtaking control unit halts the overtaking control after identifying the position of the emergency vehicle when it identifies the presence of the emergency vehicle during the overtaking control in a situation where the vehicle has completed changing lanes to the overtaking lane.

[0176] (Technical Idea 29) A vehicle control device as described in Technical Idea 27 or 28, wherein the driving environment identification unit also identifies the position of the emergency vehicle, and when the overtaking control is stopped during the overtaking control, if the driving environment identification unit cannot identify the position of the emergency vehicle, the overtaking control unit offsets the vehicle from the center toward the boundary line within the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling, but does not perform the offset if the driving environment identification unit has identified the position of the emergency vehicle.

[0177] (Technical Idea 30) A vehicle control method that can be used in an autonomously driven vehicle, comprising: a preceding vehicle-related information acquisition process executed by at least one of a processor and a circuit, for acquiring preceding vehicle-related information, which is information about a vehicle preceding the vehicle; and an overtaking control process that performs overtaking control, which is driving control that causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the autonomous driving, wherein in the overtaking control process, the overtaking control is changed depending on the preceding vehicle-related information acquired in the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition process.

[0178] In this disclosure and claims, the term "processor" refers to one or more hardware processors configured to execute the processing defined by computer program code (i.e., one or more instructions of a computer program) included in a computer program by loading the code each time. In other words, a "processor" is a hardware device that executes one or more programmed processes. Therefore, computer program code can also be considered software that can define the processing of the processor depending on its content. For example, a "processor" may be a general-purpose or specific-purpose processor, such as a CPU, microprocessor, GPU, or DFP (Data Flow Processor), but is not limited to these.

[0179] In this disclosure and in the claims, the term "memory" refers to one or more hardware memories that are non-transitory tangible recording media configured to store computer program code and / or data accessible to a processor. The "memory" may be implemented using memory technologies such as SRAM, SDRAM, non-volatile / flash-type memory, or other types of memory. Computer program code constituting a program may be stored in the memory and executed by a processor to cause the processor to perform the various functions described above.

[0180] In this disclosure or in the claims, the term "circuit" refers to one or more hardware logic circuits configured to perform specific processing based on a pre-designed circuit configuration. In other words (and in contrast to "processor"), a "circuit" in this disclosure or in the claims refers to a hardware device that performs specific processing based on a circuit configuration, rather than processing defined by software such as computer program code. For example, a "circuit" may include custom ICs such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) designed using a Hardware Description Language (HDL). In other words, a "circuit" in this disclosure or in the claims includes all hardware circuits except for a processor that executes processing by reading computer program code.

[0181] In the present disclosure or claims, the expression "at least one of a processor and a circuit" should be interpreted as a disjunction (logical OR), and not as at least one processor and at least one circuit. Therefore, in the present disclosure or claims, "at least one of a processor and a circuit" includes cases where only a circuit performs all functions. Also, in the present disclosure or claims, "at least one of a processor and a circuit" includes cases where only a processor performs all functions. In the present disclosure or claims, "at least one of a processor and a circuit" includes cases where a circuit performs some functions and a processor performs the remaining functions.

Claims

1. A vehicle control device that can be used in an autonomously driven vehicle, comprising: a preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit (104, 104a) that acquires preceding vehicle related information, which is information about a vehicle preceding the vehicle; and an overtaking control unit (1611, 1611a, 1611b) that performs overtaking control, which is driving control that causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the autonomous driving, wherein the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control in accordance with the preceding vehicle related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit.

2. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit acquires, as the preceding vehicle related information, preceding vehicle driver related information, which is information about the preceding vehicle driver who is the driver of the preceding vehicle, transmitted via wireless communication; and comprises an overtaking judgment unit (162) that judges whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the automatic driving; the overtaking judgment unit uses the preceding vehicle driver related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit to judge whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake; and the overtaking control unit starts the overtaking control when the overtaking judgment unit judges that the preceding vehicle will be overtaken, but does not start the overtaking control when the overtaking judgment unit judges that the preceding vehicle will not be overtaken.

3. A vehicle control device as described in claim 2, wherein the preceding vehicle driver related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit is information learned from the past driving conditions of the preceding vehicle driver.

4. A vehicle control device as described in claim 3, wherein the preceding vehicle driver related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit is information learned about the driving conditions of the preceding vehicle driver when the preceding vehicle previously traveled the same section as the section on which the preceding vehicle is currently traveling.

5. A vehicle control device as described in claim 2, comprising a host vehicle driver information acquisition unit (102) that acquires host vehicle driver related information, which is information about the host vehicle driver who is the driver of the vehicle, and the overtaking decision unit determines whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on the preceding vehicle driver related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit and the host vehicle driver related information acquired by the host vehicle driver information acquisition unit.

6. A vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control depending on whether or not the vehicle is changing lanes when overtaking the preceding vehicle.

7. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 6, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle; and an overtaking judgment unit (162) that judges whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle by the automatic driving, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of a rear vehicle that is a vehicle behind the vehicle, and the overtaking judgment unit judges whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake using the state of the rear vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit, and the vehicle control device makes the criteria for judgment on whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake stricter when the vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle by changing lanes than when the vehicle overtakes the preceding vehicle without changing lanes, using the state of the rear vehicle.

8. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle; and an overtaking determination unit (162) that determines whether or not to cause the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the automatic driving, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, the degree of offset of the preceding vehicle from the center of the driving lane in which the preceding vehicle is traveling, and the overtaking control unit changes the overtaking control in accordance with the degree of offset of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit.

9. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 8, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of a rear vehicle that is a vehicle behind the vehicle, and the overtaking determination unit determines whether or not to allow the leading vehicle to overtake using the state of the rear vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit, and the vehicle control device makes the criteria for determining whether or not to allow the leading vehicle to overtake stricter when the offset degree of the leading vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is less than a specified value than when the offset degree of the leading vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is equal to or greater than a specified value, using the state of the rear vehicle.

10. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising an overtaking judgment unit (162) that judges whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the automatic driving, and the overtaking judgment unit changes the judgment criteria for whether or not to allow the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle depending on whether or not the vehicle needs to leave the roadway when overtaking the preceding vehicle.

11. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 10, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the environment surrounding the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit at least identifies the presence of obstacles around the vehicle, wherein the overtaking determination unit, when it is not necessary for the vehicle to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, determines whether to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on whether the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of vehicles around the vehicle, and when it is necessary for the vehicle to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, determines whether to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on whether the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway, and the overtaking control unit causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle at a slower speed when it is necessary for the vehicle to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle than when it is not necessary for the vehicle to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle.

12. A vehicle control device according to claim 10, further comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the presence of an obstacle around the vehicle, and the overtaking determination unit, when the vehicle does not need to leave the roadway when overtaking the preceding vehicle, determines whether or not to allow the preceding vehicle to overtake based on whether or not the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of a vehicle around the vehicle, The overtaking control unit causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle at a slower speed when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle than when the vehicle does not need to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle, and when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle and the driving environment identification unit has identified the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway, causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle at a slower speed than when the vehicle needs to leave the roadway to overtake the preceding vehicle and the driving environment identification unit has not identified the presence of a pedestrian or light vehicle outside the roadway.

13. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising: a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle; the driving environment identification unit at least identifies the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, a speed-related value that is at least one of the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle and the relative speed of the preceding vehicle with respect to the vehicle; and a preparation processing unit (163) that, when the overtaking control is to be performed, performs an overtaking preparation process that is a preparatory stage process for the overtaking control before the overtaking control is started; and the preparation processing unit changes the timing of starting the overtaking preparation process depending on the speed-related value identified by the driving environment identification unit.

14. A vehicle control device as described in claim 13, wherein the preparation processing unit starts the overtaking preparation processing from a position where the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle becomes greater as the vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle decreases.

15. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 13, wherein the preparation processing unit starts the overtaking preparation processing at a position where the distance between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle becomes greater as the relative speed of the preceding vehicle to the vehicle increases.

16. A vehicle control device as described in claim 13, wherein the preparation processing unit changes the timing of starting the overtaking preparation processing in accordance with not only the speed-related value identified by the driving environment identification unit, but also information other than the speed-related value that can be used to estimate changes in the behavior of the preceding vehicle.

17. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle, and wherein the overtaking control unit, when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is moving, increases the amount of offset of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction when causing the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle, compared to when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is stopped.

18. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit at least identifies the state of the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, whether the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left, and the overtaking control unit, when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left, causes the vehicle to offset its position in the vehicle width direction to overtake the preceding vehicle and then return to its original position in the vehicle width direction more quickly from the offset than when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is not waiting to turn right or left.

19. A vehicle control device as described in claim 18, wherein the driving environment identification unit also identifies at least the presence or absence of an intervening vehicle, which is another vehicle that may cut in on the driving path between the vehicle and the preceding vehicle, and the overtaking control unit waits for the start of the overtaking control when the driving environment identification unit identifies the presence of the intervening vehicle, and starts the overtaking control after the driving environment identification unit identifies that the intervening vehicle has disappeared.

20. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle and whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle, and identifies, as the state of the preceding vehicle, whether or not the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left, and the overtaking control unit starts overtaking control when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left and that there is an oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle, and waits to start the overtaking control when the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle is waiting to turn right or left and that there is no oncoming vehicle for the preceding vehicle.

21. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle and, even after the vehicle has overtaken the preceding vehicle, identifies the acceleration of the preceding vehicle that the vehicle has overtaken, and the overtaking control unit, after the vehicle has changed lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle, causes the vehicle to return to the driving lane that it was in before the lane change if the acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is less than a first threshold value, but does not cause the vehicle to return to the driving lane that it was in before the lane change if the acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.

22. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the state of the preceding vehicle and, even after the vehicle has overtaken the preceding vehicle, identifies the acceleration of the preceding vehicle that the vehicle has overtaken, and the overtaking control unit, after the vehicle has changed lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle, does not allow the vehicle to return to the driving lane that it was in before the lane change if the range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit is equal to or greater than a second threshold value.

23. A vehicle control device as described in claim 22, wherein the overtaking control unit returns the vehicle to the lane it was traveling in before the lane change if, after the vehicle has changed lanes to overtake the preceding vehicle, the range of change in acceleration of the preceding vehicle identified by the driving environment identification unit remains below a second threshold for a predetermined period of time.

24. A vehicle control device as described in claim 1, wherein the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit (104a) acquires at least preceding vehicle behavior related information, which is information related to the behavior of the preceding vehicle, as the preceding vehicle related information, and is equipped with a behavior judgment unit (164) that judges whether the behavior of the preceding vehicle is unstable from the preceding vehicle behavior related information acquired by the preceding vehicle related information acquisition unit, and the overtaking control unit (1611a) suppresses the overtaking control for the preceding vehicle when the behavior judgment unit judges that the behavior of the preceding vehicle is unstable.

25. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 24, wherein the overtaking control unit does not perform the overtaking control to cause the preceding vehicle to overtake from a lane adjacent to the own lane when the behavior judgment unit judges that the behavior of the preceding vehicle is unstable and the vehicle is traveling on a lane with two or more lanes lined up to the side of a road with three or more lanes on each side, but performs the overtaking control to cause the preceding vehicle to overtake from a lane two lanes in succession away from the own lane.

26. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 24, further comprising a driving environment identification unit (105a) that identifies the environment surrounding the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least a change in speed of the preceding vehicle, and wherein the overtaking control unit initiates the overtaking control involving a lane change, and when the vehicle has completed changing lanes from the driving lane in which it was traveling to an overtaking lane in which it will overtake, if the driving environment identification unit identifies that the preceding vehicle has accelerated at a threshold value or greater, the vehicle is caused to travel in the overtaking lane for a specified time or distance, and then returns to the original driving lane before the lane change without overtaking.

27. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 24, comprising a driving environment identification unit (105b) that identifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle, wherein the driving environment identification unit identifies at least the presence of an emergency vehicle, and wherein the overtaking control unit (1611b) cancels the overtaking control if the driving environment identification unit identifies the presence of the emergency vehicle during overtaking control that involves a lane change and has been started but not completed, and wherein the manner in which the overtaking control is canceled is changed depending on the lane in which the vehicle is traveling at that time.

28. A vehicle control device as set forth in claim 27, wherein the driving environment identification unit also identifies the position of the emergency vehicle, and the overtaking control unit immediately halts the overtaking control if it identifies the presence of the emergency vehicle during the overtaking control in a situation where the vehicle has not yet completed changing lanes to an overtaking lane in which the vehicle will overtake, whereas if it identifies the presence of the emergency vehicle during the overtaking control in a situation where the vehicle has completed changing lanes to the overtaking lane, it halts the overtaking control after identifying the position of the emergency vehicle.

29. A vehicle control device as described in claim 27, wherein the driving environment identification unit also identifies the position of the emergency vehicle, and the overtaking control unit, when terminating the overtaking control during the overtaking control, if the driving environment identification unit is unable to identify the position of the emergency vehicle, offsets the vehicle from the center toward the boundary line within the lane in which the vehicle is currently traveling, but does not perform the offset if the driving environment identification unit has identified the position of the emergency vehicle.

30. A vehicle control program usable in an autonomously driven vehicle, which causes a computer to function as a preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit (104, 104a) that acquires preceding vehicle-related information, which is information about a vehicle preceding the vehicle, and an overtaking control unit (1611, 1611a, 1611b) that performs overtaking control, which is driving control that causes the vehicle to overtake the preceding vehicle through the autonomous driving, and which causes the overtaking control unit to function to change the overtaking control in accordance with the preceding vehicle-related information acquired by the preceding vehicle-related information acquisition unit.

Images