Driving assistance device, driving assistance method, and recording medium
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/JP2025/005710
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-02-19
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-27
Smart Images
Figure JP2025005710_27082026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Driving Support Device, Driving Support Method, and Recording Medium
[0006] ,
[0005] ,
[0001] The present invention relates to a driving support device, a driving support method, and a recording medium.
[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a remote support system that can appropriately perform remote support for an autonomous vehicle according to the communication state and environmental state of the autonomous vehicle. According to this document, this remote support system acquires management information for managing at least one of the communication state between an autonomous driving support center and an autonomous vehicle at a plurality of points where the autonomous vehicle can travel and the environmental state around the autonomous vehicle at a plurality of points where the autonomous vehicle can travel within the management target area. Then, based on at least one of the communication state and environmental state obtained from the management information, the remote support system executes operations necessary for restricting the remote support that can be implemented by an operator for performing remote support for the autonomous vehicle.
[0003] International Publication No. 2021 / 079776
[0004] In an autonomous vehicle, there is known one equipped with a remote control mode for receiving an operation from an operator at a remote location. This remote control mode is assumed to be used when moving the autonomous vehicle to a safe place when the autonomous vehicle gets into a situation where it is difficult to drive by autonomous driving. However, depending on the road conditions, there is a possibility that the number of autonomous vehicles subject to remote driving may increase, and there is concern that there may be a shortage of operators.
[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a driving support device, a driving support method, and a recording medium that can contribute to accelerating the support for an autonomous vehicle that has entered a situation where it is difficult to drive by autonomous driving.
[0006] From the first perspective, a driving assistance device is provided that includes: acquisition means for acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; determination means for determining whether or not an event is occurring that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; access means for accessing personnel information in which personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle are registered; and request means for selecting a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle and requesting remote control of the autonomous vehicle when it is determined that an event hindering the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle is occurring, by referring to the personnel information.
[0007] From a second perspective, a driving assistance method is provided which involves acquiring information on the road conditions along the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with remote control capabilities, determining whether an event is occurring that would hinder the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions, and if it is determined that an event is occurring that would hinder the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle, referring to personnel information in which personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle are registered, selecting a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle, and requesting remote control of the autonomous vehicle.
[0008] From a third perspective, a recording medium is provided which contains a program that causes a computer to execute the following: a process of acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; a process of determining whether or not an event is occurring that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; and, if it is determined that an event hindering the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle is occurring, a process of referring to personnel information in which personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle are registered, selecting a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle, and requesting the autonomous vehicle to be remotely controlled.
[0009] This disclosure makes it possible to provide a driver assistance device, a driver assistance method, and a recording medium that can contribute to accelerating the provision of assistance to autonomous vehicles that have encountered situations where autonomous driving is difficult.
[0010] This is a diagram showing one configuration of this disclosure. This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of this disclosure. This is a diagram for explaining the operation of this disclosure. This is a diagram showing another configuration of this disclosure. This is a diagram showing one configuration of this disclosure. This is a diagram for explaining the decision operation of this disclosure. This is another diagram for explaining the decision operation of this disclosure. This is another diagram for explaining the decision operation of this disclosure. This is a diagram showing an example of personnel information held by the driver assistance device of this disclosure. This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of this disclosure. This is a diagram showing another configuration of this disclosure. This is a diagram showing another configuration of this disclosure. This is a flowchart illustrating another operation of this disclosure. This is another diagram for explaining the operation of this disclosure. This is a diagram showing the configuration of the computer constituting the driver assistance device of this disclosure.
[0011] First, an overview of one embodiment of this disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In this disclosure, the drawings are associated with one or more embodiments. The reference numerals in the drawings appended to this overview are provided for convenience as examples to aid understanding and are not intended to limit this disclosure to the illustrated embodiments. In addition, the connecting lines between blocks in the drawings and other references referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional lines. Unidirectional arrows schematically indicate the flow of the main signal (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. The program is executed via a computer device, which includes, for example, a processor, a storage device, an input device, a communication interface, and a display device as needed. This computer device is also configured to communicate with devices (including computers) inside or outside the device via the communication interface, whether wired or wireless. In addition, there are ports or interfaces at the input / output connection points of each block in the figures, but these are omitted from the illustration.
[0012] In one embodiment, this disclosure can be realized by a driving assistance device 10 comprising an acquisition means 11, a determination means 12, an access means 13, and a request means 14. More specifically, the acquisition means 11 acquires information regarding the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with remote control functionality. As information regarding the road conditions in the vehicle's path, for example, road traffic information published by organizations such as the Japan Road Traffic Information Center, or information obtained from cameras and sensors installed on the roadside can be used.
[0013] The determination means 12 determines, based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information regarding the road conditions, whether or not an event has occurred that could impede the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle. Here, "events that impede the driving of the vehicle" can include road closures due to traffic accidents or construction, road damage due to natural disasters, traffic congestion that takes a predetermined amount of time to pass through, as well as road obstructions that could cause the vehicle's autonomous driving function or driver assistance function to malfunction. The location information of the autonomous vehicle may be obtained from the autonomous vehicle in question, or from an operation management device or the like that manages the operation of the autonomous vehicle.
[0014] The access means 13 provides a function to access personnel information, which contains registered personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle. This personnel information includes multiple registered personnel who are capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle and, preferably, can respond immediately to requests from the driver assistance device 10.
[0015] If the request means 14 determines that an event is occurring that is hindering the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle, it refers to the personnel information, selects a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle, and requests remote operation of the autonomous vehicle.
[0016] The driver assistance device 10 configured as described above operates as follows. First, the driver assistance device 10 acquires information about the road conditions in the path of the autonomous vehicle equipped with remote control functionality (step S01 in Figure 2).
[0017] Next, the driver assistance device 10 determines whether or not an event has occurred that would hinder the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle, based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information regarding the road conditions (step S02 in Figure 2). If it is determined that no event has occurred that would hinder the driving of the autonomous vehicle, the subsequent processing is omitted (No. in step S02 in Figure 2).
[0018] On the other hand, if the driver assistance device 10 determines, as a result of the above determination, that an event has occurred that is hindering the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle (Yes in step S02 of Figure 2), the driver assistance device 10 requests remote control from an appropriate person. More specifically, the driver assistance device 10 refers to the personnel information, selects a person who can operate the autonomous vehicle, and requests remote control of the autonomous vehicle (step S03 of Figure 2).
[0019] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3, when an event occurs in the path of the autonomous vehicle V that hinders the autonomous vehicle V's movement (the "autonomous driving difficult section" in Figure 3), the driver assistance device 10 of the present disclosure selects a person HR capable of operating the autonomous vehicle V and requests remote control of the autonomous vehicle V. It should be noted that the driver assistance device 10 determines that an event hindering the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred at point A, which is before point B, the starting point of the autonomous driving difficult section. By making this determination before entering the autonomous driving difficult section, rather than after entering it, it becomes easier to secure an appropriate person HR. Specifically, by making the determination early, there is more time to request the assistance of an appropriate person HR. The person HR who receives the request then remotely controls the autonomous vehicle V, such as moving it to the destination G, turning back, or moving it to a safe refuge.
[0020] In the example shown in Figure 1, the driving support device 10 accesses external personnel information. However, as shown in Figure 4, the driving support device 10 may also be equipped with personnel information storage means 15 that stores personnel information in its auxiliary storage device or the like. In this case, the request means 14 functions as the access means 13.
[0021] [First Embodiment] Next, a first embodiment that allows for the request for remote control of an autonomous vehicle when it becomes difficult to continue autonomous driving will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 5 is a diagram showing one configuration of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 5, a configuration is shown in which a driver assistance device 100 that provides driving assistance to the autonomous vehicle V, a road information server 200, and a terminal 300 for a remote control operator are connected via a network 400. Furthermore, in the following description, the autonomous vehicle V will be described as an autonomous vehicle equipped with an autonomous driving function that can accept remote control via the network 400 as needed.
[0022] The road information server 200 provides road traffic information, including congestion information on expressways and general roads, construction information, accident information, broken-down vehicle information, and fallen object information, in response to requests from the driver assistance device 100. The road information server 200 also manages the passable lanes on roads in the service area and the history of vehicle lane changes on said roads over a certain period of time, and makes this information available to the driver assistance device 100.
[0023] The remote control operator's terminal 300 is equipped with a camera and input devices, and can remotely control a designated autonomous vehicle V in response to a request from the driver assistance system 100.
[0024] The autonomous vehicle V has a function to transmit location information to the driver assistance device 100 and a function to accept remote control from the terminal 300 of any remote control operator.
[0025] The driver assistance device 100 comprises an acquisition unit 101, a determination unit 102, a personnel information database (personnel information DB) 103, and a request unit 104. The acquisition unit 101 acquires road traffic information from the road information server 200 as information on the road conditions along the route, including congested sections of expressways and general roads, construction information, accident information, broken-down vehicle information, fallen object information, etc., and provides it to the determination unit 102. The acquisition unit 101 also acquires traffic flow information from the road information server 200 as information on the road conditions along the route, and provides it to the determination unit 102. This traffic flow information includes the lane change history (vehicle movement) of vehicles in each lane. The route of the autonomous vehicle V may be determined by acquiring location information from the autonomous vehicle V, or it may be acquired from another device that manages the operation of the vehicle (operation management server), etc. The acquisition unit 101 corresponds to the acquisition means 11 described above.
[0026] The determination unit 102 determines whether or not an event is occurring that hinders the driving of the autonomous vehicle V, based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle V received from the autonomous vehicle V and the information provided by the acquisition unit 101. Whether or not an event is occurring that hinders the driving of the autonomous vehicle V can be determined by the following method.
[0027] (1) Method of determination from road traffic information - Traffic congestion information - Lane restriction information (construction, accidents, fallen objects, etc.) - Broken-down vehicle information (road shoulder, traffic lane) - Infrastructure failure (communication interruption with vehicles, information server down, power outage, etc.) If any of these target sections are within a predetermined distance in the direction of travel from the current location of the autonomous vehicle V, the determination unit 102 determines that an event that would hinder the driving of the autonomous vehicle V has occurred. For example, if the autonomous vehicle V is driving on an expressway, the determination unit 102 can determine whether or not an event that would hinder the driving of the autonomous vehicle V has occurred based on the traffic congestion information for each section of the expressway provided as road traffic information.
[0028] In addition, regarding lane closures and broken-down vehicles, not all lanes are impassable, so the determination unit 102 determines that no event is occurring that would hinder the autonomous vehicle V's movement if it is possible to address the issue by changing lanes.
[0029] (2) Method of determination from traffic history analysis Based on the traffic history of each lane on the road on which the autonomous vehicle V is traveling over a certain period in the past, the passable lane (passable lane) can be identified. If the autonomous vehicle V needs to travel in a lane other than this passable lane, the determination unit 102 can determine that an event has occurred that is hindering the autonomous vehicle V's movement. For example, as shown in Figure 6, there may be cases where obstacles OB are scattered on the left side of the road and passing vehicles are avoiding them. In addition, there may be cases where the autonomous vehicle V is using the white line on the left side for autonomous driving. In such cases, the determination unit 102 determines that an event has occurred that is hindering the autonomous vehicle V's movement. Similarly, as shown in Figure 7, there may be cases where oil has leaked on the left side of the road and the white line is difficult to recognize due to dirt ST. In this case as well, the determination unit 102 can determine that an event has occurred that is hindering the autonomous vehicle V's movement. In this way, the determination unit 102 can determine whether or not an event has occurred that is hindering the autonomous vehicle V's movement based on the movement of vehicles located on the road in the direction of travel of the autonomous vehicle V.
[0030] Furthermore, if the determination unit 102 finds from the lane's traffic history that a certain lane has been avoided despite it being a passable lane, it determines that an abnormality has occurred in that lane. For example, suppose both lanes (A) and (B) in Figure 8 are passable lanes. On the other hand, if there are no vehicles traveling in lane (A) due to the presence of a broken-down vehicle V4, the determination unit 102 determines that an abnormality has occurred in lane (A). In this case as well, if the autonomous vehicle V needs to travel in lane (A), the determination unit 102 determines that an event has occurred that would hinder the autonomous vehicle V's movement. In this way, the determination unit 102 can determine that an event has occurred in a passable lane that would hinder the autonomous vehicle's movement if there is no traffic history of the preceding vehicle in that lane. The determination unit 102 corresponds to the determination means 12 described above.
[0031] Furthermore, the determination unit 102 described above may be composed of a large-scale language model capable of performing image analysis or a VLM (Vision-Language Model). In this case, the determination unit 102 may use images of the road taken by a camera installed on the roadside as input, in addition to the information obtained from the road information server 200, to determine whether or not an event that hinders the driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred. As an example of the VLM, for example, LLaVA (Large Language and Vision Assistant) can be used.
[0032] The personnel information DB103 is a database that stores contact information and other details of personnel capable of operating autonomous vehicles (remote control personnel). Figure 9 shows an example of personnel information registered in the personnel information DB103. In the example in Figure 9, the qualifications held, driving history, snow driving experience, contact information, and available driving times of a person capable of operating an autonomous vehicle (remote control personnel) are registered. Qualifications held refer to the type of driver's license the person holds for the vehicle. Driving history is one of the career information items and indicates the number of years since the person started driving remotely. Snow driving experience is another of the career information items and indicates whether or not the person has experience driving on snowy roads using remote control. Contact information is the contact information to use when requesting remote control from that person. In the example in Figure 9, a phone number for using SMS (Short Message Service) is registered, but an SNS (Social Networking Service) ID or similar may be used instead of a phone number. The operating hours are set according to the days and times when the person is available to respond to requests for remote control.
[0033] The personnel (remote control personnel) registered in the personnel information DB103 are not particularly limited, but companies with a large number of drivers may provide remote control personnel as part of their business. For example, taxi and construction companies have staff with extensive driving experience. Such companies can enrich the number of personnel (remote control personnel) registered in the personnel information DB103 by registering their own personnel on a company-by-company basis. Alternatively, the operating company of the autonomous vehicle V may recruit personnel (remote control personnel) on the condition that they pay the above companies or individuals for remote control. This compensation may be a fixed price per operation, or it may be a variable price based on the distance or time required for remote control.
[0034] If the determination unit 102 determines that an event hindering the operation of the autonomous vehicle V has occurred for a certain period of time or longer, the request unit 104 refers to the personnel information DB 103 to select a suitable person (remote control personnel) for remote control of the autonomous vehicle V and requests remote control. More specifically, the request unit 104 selects a person who can respond as soon as possible from the current time. Furthermore, from the selected personnel, the request unit 104 selects a person (remote control personnel) that is suitable for the situation in which the autonomous vehicle V is located and the type of autonomous vehicle V. For example, if the autonomous vehicle V is a large vehicle and is about to get stuck on a road that is not covered in snow, the request unit 104 selects person B in Figure 9 who can immediately remotely control the vehicle and has a large vehicle license. Similarly, for example, if the autonomous vehicle V is about to get stuck on a snowy road, the request unit 104 selects person A in Figure 9 who has experience driving on snowy roads. The request unit 104 described above corresponds to the access means 13 and request means 14 described above. Furthermore, as a method for selecting personnel (remote control personnel) in the request unit 104, if there are multiple personnel (remote control personnel) who meet the conditions, priority may be given to selecting personnel who can respond as soon as possible from the current time onward. By doing so, it becomes possible to provide support to vehicles experiencing events that hinder the operation of the autonomous vehicle V at an earlier stage.
[0035] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the operation performed by the driver assistance device 100 of this embodiment at regular intervals. First, the driver assistance device 100 acquires road traffic information and traffic flow information from the road information server 200 (step S001).
[0036] Next, the driver assistance device 100 determines whether or not an event is occurring in the path of the autonomous vehicle V that would hinder the autonomous vehicle V's movement (step S002). If it is determined that no event is occurring that would hinder the autonomous vehicle V's movement (No. in step S002), the driver assistance device 100 omits the subsequent processing.
[0037] On the other hand, if the above determination determines that an event is occurring that is hindering the driving of the autonomous vehicle V, the driver assistance device 100 searches the personnel information DB 103 for a suitable person (remote control operator) that meets the conditions (step S003). Specifically, the driver assistance device 100 searches the personnel information DB 103 for a person (remote control operator) that is suitable for the situation in which the autonomous vehicle V is located and the type of autonomous vehicle V (step S003).
[0038] Finally, the driver assistance device 100 requests the person obtained as a result of the search to remotely control the autonomous vehicle V (step S004). The person who receives the request (remote control person) starts remote control using the terminal 300.
[0039] As explained above, according to this embodiment, an autonomous vehicle V equipped with an autonomous driving function can detect road abnormalities that may interfere with its autonomous driving at an early stage and request remote control from an appropriate person (remote control operator).
[0040] It should be noted that, as a result of the request in step S004 above, it is conceivable that the personnel (remote control personnel) may refuse the request or that remote control may not be initiated. In such cases, the driver assistance device 100 may select another personnel (remote control personnel) from the personnel information DB 103 and request remote control of the autonomous vehicle V. Alternatively, the driver assistance device 100 may pre-select multiple personnel (remote control personnel) from the personnel information DB 103 and request remote control. In this case, the system should be controlled so that the personnel (remote control personnel) who first started remote control or the personnel (remote control personnel) who responded to the driver assistance device 100 can perform remote control.
[0041] In the first embodiment described above, the driver assistance device 100 was described as having a personnel information DB 300, but an external information source may be used instead of the personnel information DB 300. Figure 11 shows a modified embodiment of the first embodiment. In the example of Figure 11, the driver assistance device 100a can access a personnel information server 500 in addition to the road information server 200. The personnel information server 500 holds information equivalent to the personnel information shown in Figure 9. The request unit 104a then searches the personnel information server 500 for personnel (remote control personnel) that are suitable for the situation where the autonomous vehicle V is located and the type of autonomous vehicle V, and requests remote control. The configuration of Figure 11 has the advantage that the personnel information server 500 can be shared by multiple locations or businesses.
[0042] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described in which the driver assistance device 100 has been modified to include a function that prioritizes an autonomous vehicle requiring immediate attention from among multiple autonomous vehicles and requests remote control. Figure 12 shows another configuration of the present disclosure. The differences from the driver assistance device 100 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5 are that the driver assistance device 100b has a priority setting unit 105 added to it and that the operation of the acquisition unit 101b and the determination unit 102b are different. The other configurations are almost the same as in the first embodiment, so the differences in operation will be explained below.
[0043] The acquisition unit 101b acquires road traffic information and traffic flow information for a plurality of autonomous vehicles V1 and V2, and sends it to the determination unit 102b. As the plurality of autonomous vehicles, the operating company of the autonomous vehicle V may select a plurality of autonomous vehicles that are in operation.
[0044] The determination unit 102b determines, for each of the plurality of autonomous vehicles, whether an event that hinders its travel has occurred, based on the position information of the autonomous vehicles V1 and V2 and the information provided from the acquisition unit 101b. Since the determination of whether an event that hinders the travel of each autonomous vehicle has occurred is the same as in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
[0045] The priority setting unit 105 sets a priority for requesting remote control for an autonomous vehicle determined by the determination unit 102b to have an event that hinders its travel. This priority is set so that an autonomous vehicle that is difficult to continue autonomous driving or an autonomous vehicle in a situation where prompt action is desired is prioritized. For example, when a fire has occurred on the route of a certain autonomous vehicle, it is dangerous to proceed as it is, so prompt action is desired. In this case, the priority setting unit 105 sets the priority of the autonomous vehicle to "high". On the other hand, although a situation where it is difficult to continue autonomous driving has occurred on the route of another autonomous vehicle, if it is a scattering of obstacles or an oil leak as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is possible to stop at that position. In this case, the priority setting unit 105 sets the priority of the autonomous vehicle to "low".
[0046] The request unit 104 preferentially selects a suitable person (remote control personnel) for remote control of an autonomous vehicle with a high priority set by the priority setting unit 105, and requests remote control.
[0047] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining another operation of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 13, first, the driving support device 100b acquires road traffic information and traffic flow information from the road information server 200 for a plurality of autonomous vehicles (step S101).
[0048] Next, the driving support device 100b selects an autonomous vehicle in which an event that obstructs travel has occurred on the route from the autonomous vehicles (step S102).
[0049] Next, the driving support device 100b sets a priority for the selected autonomous vehicle (step S103). If there is only one autonomous vehicle selected in step S102, the setting of the priority may be omitted.
[0050] Next, the driving support device 100b selects an unhandled autonomous vehicle with a high priority, and searches for a human resource (remote operator) suitable for the situation where the autonomous vehicle V is placed, the vehicle type of the autonomous vehicle, etc. from the human resource information DB103 (step S104).
[0051] Next, the driving support device 100b requests the remote operation of the autonomous vehicle for the human resource obtained as a result of the search (step S105). The human resource (remote operator) who has received the request starts remote operation using the terminal 300.
[0052] The driving support device 100b repeats the above processing until the handling (request for remote operation) is completed for the autonomous vehicle selected in step S102 (No in step S106). When the handling (request for remote operation) is completed for all autonomous vehicles, the driving support device 100b ends the series of processes (Yes in step S106).
[0053] Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating the operation of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 14, when a disaster occurs, many of the nearby autonomous vehicles become unable to continue autonomous driving. In Figure 14, autonomous vehicles V1 to V3 are in a state where they are unable to continue autonomous driving. According to this embodiment, among these autonomous vehicles V1 to V3, it is possible to select the autonomous vehicle that is in a situation where immediate action is desired and request remote control. This priority is also the order of personnel selection, so it is possible to preferentially assign highly capable personnel to autonomous vehicles in situations where immediate action is desired. In addition, the content of remote control by each personnel can vary depending on the experience and skills of each personnel. For example, autonomous vehicles V1 and V2 may be remotely controlled to head towards their destination, but autonomous vehicle V3 may be allowed to move to its starting point or the nearest evacuation location.
[0054] As explained above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prioritize requesting remote control of an autonomous vehicle that requires immediate attention from among multiple autonomous vehicles.
[0055] While the embodiments of this disclosure have been described above, this disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments can be made without departing from the basic technical concept of this disclosure. For example, the network configurations, element configurations, and data representations shown in the drawings are examples to aid in understanding this disclosure and are not limited to the configurations shown in these drawings.
[0056] For example, in the embodiment described above, the number of years since the person started driving remotely was registered as driving history in the personnel information DB300, but instead of driving history by remote control, general driving history of automobiles may be registered. Of course, instead of years of driving, units such as cumulative driving hours may be used.
[0057] Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, the driver assistance device 100b determined whether an event hindering driving occurred on the path of multiple autonomous vehicles V at once. However, the determination may also be made for each autonomous vehicle V being monitored individually. In this case, the driver assistance device 100b sets priorities for the series of autonomous vehicles V and then requests remote control in order of priority.
[0058] Furthermore, the scope of application of this disclosure is not limited to autonomous vehicles that travel on roads in the narrow sense. For example, autonomous vehicles may be vehicles of new transportation systems such as AGVs (Automated Guideway Vehicles) and AGTs (Automated Guideway Transit).
[0059] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the presence or absence of experience driving on snowy roads is registered in the personnel information DB 300, and the driving support device 100 was explained as an example in which personnel suitable for the environmental conditions (in this case, snowy roads) in which the autonomous vehicle V is located is selected. However, the personnel's career information may be made more comprehensive. For example, not only the presence or absence of experience driving on snowy roads may be registered, but also experience driving in bad weather or on icy roads. Alternatively, instead of these experiences, information on the regions or areas in which remote driving has been performed may be registered. For example, if there is experience driving in areas where snowfall and icy roads are common in winter, it can be inferred that there is experience driving on snowy roads or icy roads.
[0060] (Regarding Hardware Configuration) In each embodiment of this disclosure, each component of each device represents a functional unit block. Some or all of each component of each device is realized by any combination of an information processing device 900 and a program, for example, as shown in Figure 15. Figure 15 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 900 that realizes each component of each device. The information processing device 900 includes, as an example, the following configuration: ・CPU (Central Processing Unit) 901 ・ROM (Read Only Memory) 902 ・RAM (Random Access Memory) 903 ・Program 904 loaded into RAM 903 ・Storage device 905 that stores the program 904 ・Drive device 907 that reads and writes to the recording medium 906 ・Communication interface 908 that connects to a communication network 909 ・Input / output interface 910 that performs data input and output ・Bus 911 that connects each component
[0061] Each component of each device in each embodiment is realized by the CPU 901 acquiring and executing a program 904 that realizes these functions. That is, the CPU 901 in Figure 15 executes a data acquisition program and a determination program, and performs update processing of each calculation parameter held in the RAM 903, storage device 905, etc. The program 904 that realizes the functions of each component of each device is, for example, stored in advance in the storage device 905 or ROM 902, and read by the CPU 901 as needed. The program 904 may be supplied to the CPU 901 via a communication network 909, or it may be stored in advance in a recording medium 906, and the drive device 907 may read the program and supply it to the CPU 901.
[0062] There are various variations in how each device is implemented. For example, each device may be implemented by any combination of a separate information processing device 900 and a program for each component. Alternatively, multiple components of each device may be implemented by any combination of a single information processing device 900 and a program. In other words, each part (processing means, function) of the above-described driving support device can be implemented by a computer program that causes a processor mounted on the device to execute the above-described processes using its hardware.
[0063] Furthermore, some or all of the components of each device are realized by other general-purpose or dedicated circuits, processors, etc., or combinations thereof. These may consist of a single chip or multiple chips connected via a bus.
[0064] Some or all of the components of each device may be realized by a combination of the circuits and programs described above.
[0065] When some or all of the components of each device are implemented by multiple information processing devices or circuits, these multiple information processing devices or circuits may be centrally located or distributed. For example, the information processing devices or circuits may be implemented in a form in which each is connected via a communication network, such as a client-and-server system or a cloud computing system.
[0066] The embodiments described above are preferred embodiments of this disclosure and do not limit the scope of this disclosure to these embodiments alone. That is, a person skilled in the art can modify or substitute the embodiments described above to construct various modified forms without departing from the gist of this disclosure.
[0067] Some or all of the above embodiments may also be described as follows, but are not limited to the following.
[0068] [Note 1] A driving support device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; a determination means for determining whether or not an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; an access means for accessing personnel information that registers personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle; and a request means for selecting a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle and requesting remote operation of the autonomous vehicle when it is determined that an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred, by referring to the personnel information. [Note 2] In the above-described driving support device, the personnel information includes the time period during which each person is capable of remote operation, and the request means can be configured to select a person capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle from the current time onward by referring to the personnel information. [Note 3] In the above-described driving support device, the personnel information includes the type of vehicle that each person is capable of remotely controlling, and the request means can be configured to select a person capable of remotely controlling a vehicle that matches the type of autonomous vehicle by referring to the personnel information. [Note 4] In the above-described driving support device, career information indicating the remote operation experience of each person under predetermined environmental conditions is registered as personnel information, and the request means can be configured to select a person suitable for the environmental conditions in which the autonomous vehicle is located by referring to the career information. [Note 5] The acquisition means of the above-described driving support device can acquire information on multiple autonomous vehicles, and the request means can be configured to prioritize autonomous vehicles in situations requiring immediate attention from among the multiple autonomous vehicles and request the person to remotely operate the autonomous vehicle. [Note 6] The determination means of the above-described driving support device can be configured to determine whether or not an event is occurring that would hinder the driving of the autonomous vehicle, based on the movement of vehicles located on the road in the direction of travel of the autonomous vehicle.[Note 7] The acquisition means of the above-described driving assistance device acquires information on passable lanes on the road and the traffic history of a preceding vehicle on the road, and the determination means can be configured to determine that an event that hinders the driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred in the lane if there is no traffic history of a preceding vehicle in the passable lane. [Note 8] In the above-described driving assistance device, the road is an expressway, the acquisition means acquires traffic congestion information for each section of the expressway as the road conditions, and the determination means can be configured to use the traffic congestion information for each section of the expressway. [Note 9] A driving assistance method that acquires information on the road conditions on the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function, determines whether an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions, and if it is determined that an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred, refers to personnel information in which personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle have been registered, selects a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle, and requests remote control of the autonomous vehicle. [Note 9] A recording medium that records a program causing a computer to execute: a process for acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; a process for determining whether or not an event is occurring that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; and, if it is determined that an event is occurring that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle, a process for selecting a person who can operate the autonomous vehicle by referring to personnel information that has been registered for personnel who can remotely operate the autonomous vehicle, and requesting the autonomous vehicle to be remotely operated. The forms described in each of the above notes can be combined with each other after making the necessary modifications. For example, a configuration that combines the contents of Note 2 and the contents of Note 3 is also included in the scope of disclosure of this specification. In this case, the driving assistance device will select a person to request the autonomous vehicle to be remotely operated based on the time period during which the person can remotely operate and the type of vehicle that the person can remotely operate. The forms described in Notes 9 and 10 can be expanded into the forms of Notes 2 to 8, similar to Note 1.
[0069] Furthermore, each disclosure in the above-mentioned patent documents is incorporated into this document by reference and may be used as the basis or part of this disclosure as necessary. Within the framework of this disclosure (including the claims), further modifications and adjustments to the embodiments or examples are possible based on their fundamental technical concept. Also, within the framework of this disclosure, various combinations or selections (including partial deletions) of various disclosure elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible. In other words, this disclosure naturally includes the entire disclosure, including the claims, and various modifications and alterations that a person skilled in the art could make in accordance with the technical concept. In particular, with respect to the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or sub-range included within that range should be interpreted as being specifically described, even if not otherwise stated. Furthermore, each disclosure item of the above-mentioned cited documents may, as necessary, be used in part or in whole as part of this disclosure, in accordance with the spirit of this disclosure, and this is also considered to be included in the disclosure items of this application.
[0070] 10, 100, 100a, 100b Driving support device 11 Acquisition means 12 Judgment means 13 Access means 14 Request means 101, 101b Acquisition unit 102, 102b Judgment unit 103 Human resources information DB 104, 104a, 104b Request unit 105 Priority setting unit 200 Road information server 300 Terminal 400 Network 900 Information processing device 901 CPU (Central Processing Unit) 902 ROM (Read Only Memory) 903 RAM (Random Access Memory) 904 Program 905 Storage device 906 Recording medium 907 Drive device 908 Communication interface 909 Communication network 910 Input / Output Interface 911 Bus G Destination HR Personnel OB Obstacle ST Dirt V, V1-V3 Autonomous Vehicle V4 Broken-down Vehicle
Claims
1. A driving assistance device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; a determination means for determining whether or not an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred, based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; an access means for accessing personnel information in which personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle have been registered; and, if it is determined that an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred, a request means for selecting a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle by referring to the personnel information and requesting remote control of the autonomous vehicle.
2. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the personnel information includes the time periods during which each personnel is available for remote operation, and the request means refers to the personnel information to select a personnel who is available for remote operation of the autonomous vehicle from the current time onward.
3. The driver assistance device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the personnel information includes the types of vehicles that each personnel can remotely control, and the request means refers to the personnel information to select a personnel who can remotely control a vehicle that matches the type of autonomous vehicle.
4. The driver assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the personnel information includes career information indicating the remote operation experience of each person under predetermined environmental conditions, and the request means selects a person suitable for the environmental conditions in which the autonomous vehicle is located by referring to the career information.
5. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the acquisition means acquires information on a plurality of autonomous vehicles, and the request means prioritizes autonomous vehicles from among the plurality of autonomous vehicles that are in a situation requiring immediate attention and requests the personnel to remotely control the autonomous vehicles.
6. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the determination means determines whether or not an event that hinders the driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred, based on the movement of a vehicle located on the road in the direction of travel of the autonomous vehicle.
7. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the acquisition means acquires information on passable lanes on the road and the travel history of a preceding vehicle on the road, and the determination means determines that if there is no travel history of a preceding vehicle in the passable lane, an event that hinders the driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred in that lane.
8. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the road is an expressway, the acquisition means acquires congestion information for each section of the expressway as the condition of the road, and the determination means uses the congestion information for each section of the expressway.
9. A driving assistance method comprising: acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; determining whether an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; and, if it is determined that an event that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle has occurred, referring to personnel information of personnel who are capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle, selecting a person who is capable of operating the autonomous vehicle, and requesting remote control of the autonomous vehicle.
10. A recording medium that records a program that causes a computer to execute: a process for acquiring information on the road conditions in the path of an autonomous vehicle equipped with a remote control function; a process for determining whether or not an event is occurring that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle based on the location information of the autonomous vehicle and the information on the road conditions; and, if it is determined that an event is occurring that hinders the autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle, a process for selecting a person capable of operating the autonomous vehicle by referring to personnel information in which personnel capable of remotely controlling the autonomous vehicle have been registered, and requesting the autonomous vehicle to be remotely controlled.