JP2021022030A - Lane change determination device - Google Patents

Abstract

To achieve both of improvement of safety of an own vehicle and suppression of unnecessary control.SOLUTION: A lane change determination device (100) includes: acquisition means (11) for acquiring other vehicle information related to other vehicles (2, 3, 4) traveling in the circumference of an own vehicle (1); and determination means (17) for determining whether the other vehicle is to change a lane based on the other vehicle information. The determination means more easily determines performance of a first lane change that the other vehicle is to approach a front side of the own vehicle on a travel lane on which the own vehicle is traveling from an adjacent lane adjacent to the travel lane compared with determining performance of a second lane change that the other vehicle exits from a front side of the own vehicle on the travel lane to the adjacent lane.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to the technical field of a lane change determination device.

As a device of this type, for example, the possibility that another vehicle changes lanes to the first lane is calculated based on the position of the other vehicle with respect to the first lane in which the own vehicle travels, and the amount of change in the possibility is a threshold value. There has been proposed a device for determining that another vehicle changes lanes to the first traveling lane when the vehicle exceeds the above (see Patent Document 1). Other related techniques include the techniques described in Patent Document 2.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-181036 JP-A-2009-026321

The technique described in Patent Document 1 mainly assumes a lane change in which another vehicle enters the front of the own vehicle. In the technique described in Patent Document 1, for example, a case where another vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle changes lanes to an adjacent lane is not considered, and there is room for improvement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a lane change determination device capable of both improving the safety of the own vehicle and suppressing unnecessary control.

In the lane change determination device according to one aspect of the present invention, the other vehicle changes lanes based on the acquisition means for acquiring the other vehicle information related to the other vehicle traveling around the own vehicle and the other vehicle information. The determination means includes a determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle is traveling, and the determination means allows the other vehicle to enter in front of the own vehicle in the traveling lane from an adjacent lane adjacent to the traveling lane in which the own vehicle is traveling. The determination to change the first lane is easier than the determination to change the second lane in which the other vehicle leaves the adjacent lane from the front of the own vehicle in the traveling lane.

Compared to the second lane change, the first lane change is more likely to be determined by the determination means when another vehicle changes lanes. Therefore, the lane change determination device can determine that the other vehicle makes a lane change relatively early even when the lane change is performed in which another vehicle suddenly enters in front of the own vehicle. it can. On the other hand, the second lane change is less likely to be determined when another vehicle changes lanes by the determination means than the first lane change. Therefore, in a situation where the lane in which the other vehicle leaves from the front of the own vehicle may be changed, it is possible to suppress an erroneous determination due to the wobbling of the other vehicle. Therefore, according to the lane change determination device, it is possible to improve the safety of the own vehicle and suppress unnecessary control at the same time.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the lane change determination apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the traveling state of a vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of the lane change determination apparatus which concerns on embodiment.

An embodiment of the lane change determination device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

(Constitution)
The configuration of the lane change determination device according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a lane change determination device according to an embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the lane change determination device 100 includes an outside world information recognition unit 11, a vehicle information acquisition unit 12, a vehicle direction estimation unit 14, a relative traveling lane determination unit 15, an approach / exit tendency determination unit 15, a threshold setting unit 16, and an action prediction. It is configured to include a portion 17. The lane change determination device 100 is mounted on a vehicle (here, own vehicle 1 (see FIG. 2)).

The lane change determination device 100 may be realized by, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The external world information recognition unit 11, the vehicle information acquisition unit 12, the vehicle direction estimation unit 14, the relative traveling lane determination unit 15, the approach / exit tendency determination unit 15, the threshold value setting unit 16, and the behavior prediction unit 17 are each logically inside the ECU. It may be configured as a processing block that is physically realized or as a processing circuit that is physically realized.

The external world information recognition unit 11 recognizes the surrounding situation of the own vehicle 1 based on the output of a means capable of detecting the external situation of the own vehicle 1 such as a millimeter wave radar, a camera, and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranking). .. The outside world information recognition unit 11 may further recognize the surrounding situation of the own vehicle 1 based on, for example, map information, information acquired by road-to-vehicle communication or vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and the like. In particular, the external world information recognition unit 11 is configured to be able to recognize another vehicle traveling around the own vehicle 1 as a peripheral situation. Since various existing modes can be applied to the method of recognizing the surrounding situation, detailed description thereof will be omitted. When another vehicle is recognized, the outside world information recognition unit 11 may acquire other vehicle information including, for example, the position, speed, etc. of the other vehicle as the information related to the recognized other vehicle.

The vehicle information acquisition unit 12 acquires vehicle information indicating the state of the own vehicle 1 from the output of means capable of detecting the state of the own vehicle 1, such as a wheel speed sensor, an accelerator pedal sensor, a brake pedal sensor, and a steering angle sensor. To do. Since various existing modes can be applied to the method of acquiring vehicle information, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The relative traveling lane determination unit 13 includes a lane in which another vehicle traveling around the own vehicle 1 recognized by the outside world information recognition unit 11 is traveling (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a “other vehicle traveling lane”) and the own vehicle 1. The relative positional relationship with the driving lane (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as "own vehicle driving lane") is determined. Specifically, the relative traveling lane determination unit 13 determines, for example, whether the traveling lane of the other vehicle is the same as the traveling lane of the own vehicle, or whether the traveling lane of the other vehicle and the traveling lane of the own vehicle are different. When the other vehicle driving lane and the own vehicle traveling lane are different, the relative traveling lane determination unit 13 further determines whether the other vehicle traveling lane is an adjacent lane adjacent to the own vehicle traveling lane or not an adjacent lane. You can do it.

The vehicle orientation estimation unit 14 determines the direction of another vehicle traveling around the own vehicle 1 recognized by the outside world information recognition unit 11 (for example, a line along the direction in which the lane extends and a line along the front-rear direction of the other vehicle). Estimate the angle between the two.

The approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 is based on the determination result by the relative traveling lane determination unit 13 and the estimation result by the vehicle direction estimation unit 14 (1) when the other vehicle traveling lane is different from the own vehicle traveling lane. , Assuming that the orientation of the other vehicle is maintained, the approach tendency is that the other vehicle may enter the own lane in the future, or (2) the other vehicle's lane is the same as the own lane. In this case, assuming that the orientation of the other vehicle is maintained, it is determined whether the other vehicle has an exit tendency that may exit the own lane in the future.

The threshold value setting unit 16 determines whether or not to change the lane in which the other vehicle enters the own lane, and determines whether or not to change the lane in which the other vehicle exits the own lane. Set the threshold value for. This threshold value may be set as a threshold value related to parameters such as the lateral position of the other vehicle, the lateral speed of the other vehicle, and the orientation of the other vehicle. Further, the threshold value setting unit 16 is not limited to setting a single threshold value corresponding to one parameter, and may set a plurality of threshold values corresponding to a plurality of parameters, respectively, or is derived from a plurality of parameters. A threshold value corresponding to one index value may be set.

Then, the threshold value setting unit 16 outputs a threshold value according to the determination result by the entry / exit tendency determination unit 15 to the action prediction unit 17. That is, when the approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 determines that another vehicle has an approach tendency, the threshold value setting unit 16 determines whether or not to change the lane in which the other vehicle enters the own vehicle lane. The threshold value is output to the behavior prediction unit 17. On the other hand, when the approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 determines that the other vehicle has an exit tendency, the threshold value setting unit 16 determines whether or not to change the lane in which the other vehicle exits from the own vehicle's lane. The threshold value is output to the behavior prediction unit 17.

The "horizontal position of the other vehicle" may be expressed as, for example, the position of the other vehicle in the road width direction, or as a component of the distance between the own vehicle 1 and the other vehicle along the road width direction. May be done. The "lateral speed of another vehicle" may be expressed as, for example, a component of the speed of the other vehicle along the road width direction, or as a component of the relative speed of the other vehicle with respect to the own vehicle 1 along the road width direction. May be done.

In this embodiment, in particular, the threshold setting unit 16 sets the first threshold value for determining whether or not to change the lane in which another vehicle enters in front of the own vehicle 1 in the own vehicle traveling lane. It is set to be smaller than the second threshold value for determining whether or not to change the lane in which another vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle 1.

The behavior prediction unit 17 predicts whether or not the other vehicle changes lanes as the behavior of the other vehicle based on the threshold value output from the threshold value setting unit 16. Here, the behavior prediction unit 17 predicts whether or not the other vehicle changes lanes based on the orientation of the other vehicle estimated by the vehicle orientation estimation unit 14 and the threshold value set by the threshold value setting unit 16. Taking a case as an example, the following will be described. The behavior prediction unit 17 is not limited to the orientation of the other vehicle, but for example, the lateral position of the other vehicle, the lateral speed of the other vehicle, the combination of the lateral position, the lateral speed and the orientation of the other vehicle, and the threshold value. Based on this, it may be determined whether or not another vehicle changes lanes.

Here, the relative traveling lane determination unit 13 and the approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a traveling situation of the vehicle. Here, it is assumed that the other vehicles 2, 3 and 4 are recognized by the outside world information recognition unit 11.

The relative traveling lane determination unit 13 determines that the other vehicle traveling lane related to the other vehicle 2 is different from the own vehicle traveling lane. The relative traveling lane determination unit 13 determines that the other vehicle traveling lane and the own vehicle traveling lane related to the other vehicle 3 are the same. The relative traveling lane determination unit 13 determines that the other vehicle traveling lane related to the other vehicle 4 is different from the own vehicle traveling lane. At this time, the relative traveling lane determination unit 13 may determine that the other vehicle traveling lane related to the other vehicle 4 is an oncoming lane. In this case, the lane change determination device 100 may exclude the other vehicle 4 from the target of the lane change determination.

The approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 may determine only whether or not the other vehicle 2 has an approach tendency, or determines whether or not the other vehicle 2 has an approach tendency and whether or not it has an exit tendency. May be good. Similarly, the approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 may determine only whether or not the other vehicle 3 has an exit tendency, and determines whether or not the other vehicle 3 has an approach tendency and whether or not it has an exit tendency. You may judge. The approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 does not have to determine whether or not the other vehicle 4 has an approach tendency and whether or not it has an exit tendency.

(motion)
The operation of the lane change determination device 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 3, the outside world information recognition unit 11 detects (recognizes) another vehicle traveling on the road around the own vehicle 1 (step S101). Next, the relative traveling lane determination unit 13 obtains (determines) the relative relationship between the other vehicle traveling lane related to the other vehicle detected in the process of step S101 and the own vehicle traveling lane (step S102). In parallel with the process of step S102, the vehicle orientation estimation unit 14 obtains (estimates) the orientation of the other vehicle detected in the process of step S101 (step S103).

The approach / exit tendency determination unit 15 is based on the relative relationship between the other vehicle traveling lane and the own vehicle traveling lane determined in the process of step S102 and the orientation of the other vehicle determined in the process of step S103. It is determined whether the approach tendency is such that another vehicle may enter the own vehicle traveling lane or the other vehicle may exit from the own vehicle traveling lane (step S104).

Next, the threshold value setting unit 16 determines whether or not another vehicle changes lanes according to the determination result in the process of step S104 (that is, the determination result of whether the vehicle has an approach tendency or an exit tendency). The threshold value for performing the above is changed (step S105). At this time, the threshold value setting unit 16 outputs a threshold value (for example, the above-mentioned first threshold value, second threshold value, etc.) according to the determination result in the process of step S104 to the action prediction unit 17.

Next, the behavior prediction unit 17 determines whether or not the orientation of the other vehicle obtained in the process of step S103 is larger than the threshold value output from the threshold value setting unit 16 (step S106). In the process of step S106, when it is determined that the direction of the other vehicle is larger than the threshold value (step S106: Yes), the behavior prediction unit 17 determines that the other vehicle changes lanes (step S107). On the other hand, in the process of step S106, when it is determined that the direction of the other vehicle is smaller than the threshold value (step S106: No), the behavior prediction unit 17 determines that the other vehicle does not change lanes (step S108).

In the process of step S106, the process is not limited to the orientation of the other vehicle, and as described above, for example, the lateral position of the other vehicle, the lateral speed of the other vehicle, or the combination of the lateral position, the lateral speed, and the orientation of the other vehicle, etc. And the threshold may be compared.

The determination (prediction) result by the behavior prediction unit 17 may be output to, for example, a driving support system (not shown), an automatic driving system (not shown), or the like. The driving support system may output a collision avoidance warning or the like based on the determination result by the behavior prediction unit 17. Similarly, the automatic driving system may update or change the trajectory of the own vehicle 1 based on the determination result by the behavior prediction unit 17.

(Technical effect)
The lane change determination device 100 determines whether or not to change the lane in which another vehicle enters the own lane and whether or not to change the lane in which the other vehicle exits the own lane. It can be carried out.

By the way, the vehicle may wobble due to, for example, crosswinds, road surface conditions (for example, unevenness, friction coefficient, etc.), steering by the driver, and the like. Due to the wobbling of other vehicles, there is a possibility that an erroneous judgment will occur in the lane change judgment. For example, if it is erroneously determined that the other vehicle changes lanes to leave the own lane due to the wobbling of the other vehicle, the own vehicle 1 accelerates in anticipation of the other vehicle's lane change. After that, there is a possibility that unnecessary control such as deceleration for increasing the distance from other vehicles is performed. On the other hand, if the threshold value related to the lane change determination is set to a value that suppresses the above-mentioned erroneous determination, for example, a response to a lane change in which another vehicle suddenly enters in front of the own vehicle 1 May be delayed.

Here, when a lane change is performed in which another vehicle enters in front of the own vehicle 1 in the own vehicle traveling lane, the traveling of the own vehicle 1 is affected depending on the timing of the other vehicle changing lanes and the like (for example, (Own vehicle 1 is forced to decelerate, etc.). That is, when the lane is changed in which another vehicle enters in front of the own vehicle 1, the other vehicle may interfere with the running of the own vehicle 1. On the other hand, when the lane is changed so that the other vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle 1 in the own vehicle traveling lane, the other vehicle disappears from the course of the own vehicle 1. That is, when the lane is changed so that the other vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle 1, the possibility that the other vehicle interferes with the running of the own vehicle 1 is extremely small.

From these facts, it is desirable to determine whether or not the lane change in which the other vehicle enters in front of the own vehicle 1 is performed relatively early, but the lane in which the other vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle 1 It is advisable to carefully determine whether or not changes will be made.

In view of these points, in the lane change determination device 100, the threshold setting unit 16 is used to determine whether or not to change the lane in which another vehicle enters in front of the own vehicle 1 in the own vehicle traveling lane. The first threshold value is set smaller than the second threshold value for determining whether or not to change the lane in which another vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle 1 in the own vehicle traveling lane. Therefore, in the lane change determination device 100, when another vehicle can enter in front of the own vehicle 1, the other vehicle changes lanes as compared with the case where the other vehicle can leave from the front of the own vehicle 1. It is easy to judge if it is done.

Therefore, according to the lane change determination device 100, even when a lane change is performed in which another vehicle suddenly enters in front of the own vehicle 1, it is determined relatively early that the other vehicle changes lanes. can do. Therefore, it can be expected that the safety of the own vehicle 1 will be improved. In addition, when the lane is changed so that another vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle 1, erroneous determination can be suppressed. Therefore, it can be expected that unnecessary control in the own vehicle 1 is suppressed.

Various aspects of the invention derived from the embodiments described above will be described below.

The lane change determination device according to one aspect of the invention includes an acquisition means for acquiring other vehicle information relating to another vehicle traveling around the own vehicle, and whether the other vehicle changes lanes based on the other vehicle information. The determination means includes a determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle is traveling, and the determination means is such that the other vehicle enters the front of the own vehicle in the traveling lane from an adjacent lane adjacent to the traveling lane in which the own vehicle is traveling. The determination to change one lane is easier than the determination to change the second lane in which the other vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle in the traveling lane to the adjacent lane. In the above-described embodiment, the "outside world information recognition unit 11" corresponds to an example of the "acquisition means", and the "behavior prediction unit 17" corresponds to an example of the "determination means".

According to the lane change determination device, the first lane change is more likely to be determined by the determination means that the other vehicle changes lanes than the second lane change, so that another vehicle suddenly enters in front of the own vehicle. Even when the lane change is performed, it can be determined relatively early that the other vehicle changes lanes.

On the other hand, according to the lane change determination device, the second lane change is less likely to be determined by the determination means that the other vehicle changes lanes than the first lane change, so that the other vehicle can change lanes from the front of the own vehicle. In a situation where there is a possibility that the exit lane will be changed, it is possible to suppress erroneous determination due to the wobbling of other vehicles.

Therefore, according to the lane change determination device, it is possible to improve the safety of the own vehicle and suppress unnecessary control at the same time.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed within the scope of claims and within the range not contrary to the gist or idea of the invention that can be read from the entire specification, and the lane change determination accompanied by such a change. The device is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 ... own vehicle, 11 ... outside world information recognition unit, 12 ... vehicle information acquisition unit, 13 ... relative driving lane determination unit, 14 ... vehicle direction estimation unit, 15 ... approach / exit tendency determination unit, 16 ... threshold setting unit, 17 ... Behavior prediction unit, 100 ... Lane change judgment device

Claims (1)

Acquisition means for acquiring information on other vehicles related to other vehicles traveling around the own vehicle, and
A determination means for determining whether or not the other vehicle changes lanes based on the other vehicle information.
With
The determination means determines that the first lane in which the other vehicle enters in front of the own vehicle in the traveling lane is changed from the adjacent lane adjacent to the traveling lane in which the own vehicle is traveling. A lane change determination device, which is easier to perform than a determination to change a second lane in which the other vehicle exits from the front of the own vehicle to the adjacent lane.

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