JP6464978B2 - Position estimation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for estimating an absolute position of a host vehicle.

  Based on the result of repeated detection of the absolute position of the host vehicle and the relative position to the surrounding target as a landmark based on the absolute position of the host vehicle, the error variance of the absolute position of the peripheral target is gradually reduced. The absolute position of the target vehicle is accurately estimated from the estimated absolute position of the peripheral target and the relative position of the target relative to the host vehicle. There is known a technique for estimation (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-303841 A

However, the conventional technique has a problem that a highly accurate estimation result cannot be obtained unless the surrounding target exists in a relatively short interval of about 30 m.
The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for accurately estimating the absolute position of the host vehicle regardless of the presence or absence of a peripheral target serving as a landmark.

  The position estimation apparatus (1) of the present invention includes a host vehicle position information generation unit (3), an object position information generation unit (4), a communication unit (2), and a relative position setting unit (5: S250 to S270). And a vehicle position correction unit (5: S280 to S290).

  The own vehicle position information generation unit (3) acquires the own vehicle absolute position, which is a result of measuring the absolute position of the own vehicle equipped with the position estimation device, and the error of the own vehicle absolute position and the own vehicle absolute position. The vehicle position information including the error variance indicating the range is generated. The object position information generation unit (4) acquires an object relative position, which is a result of measuring a relative position with a peripheral object existing around the host vehicle, and generates object position information including the object relative position. A communication part (2) transmits / receives own vehicle position information between other vehicles which are vehicles other than the own vehicle. The relative position setting unit (5: S250 to S270) sets the own vehicle position information received from the other vehicle by the communication unit as the other vehicle position information, sets the transmission source of the other vehicle position information as the transmission source vehicle, and sets each of the transmission source vehicles. The target vehicle relative position, which is the relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the host vehicle, is set for each target vehicle. The own vehicle position correction unit (5: S280 to S290) has an error range indicated by an error variance of the own vehicle absolute position of each of the target vehicles for which the target vehicle relative position is set by the relative position setting unit. By shifting the error range indicated by the error variance of the target vehicle's own vehicle absolute position by the target vehicle relative position set by the relative position setting unit from the target vehicle's own vehicle absolute position, the overlapping range is corrected. Estimated vehicle position information obtained by correcting the vehicle position information so as to be within an error range is obtained, and when the error range of the estimated vehicle position information is smaller than the error range of the vehicle position information of the own vehicle, the estimated vehicle The own vehicle position information is updated with the position information.

  According to such a configuration, even when the accuracy of the absolute position of the host vehicle acquired by the host vehicle position information generation unit is low, the absolute position of the host vehicle is acquired based on the host vehicle position information acquired from the other vehicle via the communication unit. Can be reduced, that is, the absolute position detection accuracy can be increased. In addition, since it is only necessary that the vehicle that transmits the vehicle position information exists, this process can be performed even in the situation where there are no peripheral targets that are landmarks around the vehicle. Furthermore, the accuracy of the positional information of each vehicle in the vehicle network formed through the communication unit is transmitted by transmitting the high-accuracy own vehicle positional information obtained in this way to other vehicles through the communication unit. Can be further improved.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the parenthesis described in this column and a claim shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later as one aspect, Comprising: The technical scope of this invention is shown. It is not limited.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted position estimation apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of the own vehicle information stored in memory. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of the other vehicle information stored in memory. It is a flowchart of the process at the time of information acquisition which a position information processing part performs. It is a flowchart of the periodic process which a position information processing part performs. It is explanatory drawing which shows the various information used for correction | amendment of the own vehicle position information. It is explanatory drawing which shows the method of correction | amendment of the own vehicle position information. It is explanatory drawing which shows the result of having corrected the own vehicle position information. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other situation of the correction | amendment method of the own vehicle position information, and one situation in which the correction of the own vehicle position information is possible. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the apparatus position setting process performed in a period process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 1st candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 2nd candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 3rd candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the method of correction | amendment of a relative position. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 4th candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 5th candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 6th candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the condition where the 7th candidate of a relative position is set. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a direct relative position and an indirect relative position. It is explanatory drawing which shows the error contained when calculating an indirect relative position.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. Constitution]
The on-vehicle position estimation device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a communication unit 2, a vehicle position information generation unit 3, an object position information generation unit 4, and a position information processing unit 5.

  The own vehicle position information generation unit 3 receives radio waves from the navigation satellites that make up the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), obtains the absolute position of the own vehicle, and calculates the absolute position of the own vehicle. The vehicle position information including error variance indicating the vehicle absolute position and the error range of the vehicle absolute position is output.

  The object position information generation unit 4 detects a peripheral object by using an image sensor such as a camera mounted on the vehicle and various radar sensors such as millimeter wave radar, LIDAR, and sonar, and is a relative position of the peripheral object with respect to the own vehicle. In addition to obtaining the object relative position, it generates identification information that identifies the types of surrounding objects (vehicles, pedestrians, obstacles, etc.), including object relative position, error variance indicating the error range of the object relative position, and identification information Output object position information.

  The communication unit 2 performs inter-vehicle communication with other vehicles, and transmits / receives own vehicle position information generated by the own vehicle position information generation unit 3 and object position information generated by the object position information generation unit 4. . However, the other vehicle that is a communication partner of communication via the communication unit 2 may be configured to transmit only the own vehicle position information.

  The position information processing unit 5 is mainly configured by a known microcomputer having a CPU 51 and a semiconductor memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory) 52 such as a RAM, a ROM, and a flash memory. In addition, the position information processing unit 5 executes at least information acquisition processing and periodic processing, which will be described later, and determines the absolute position of the host vehicle and the relative position (or absolute position) of the surrounding objects obtained as a result of the processing, such as driving support control. Provide to other in-vehicle devices to be executed. Various functions realized by the position information processing unit 5 are realized by the CPU 51 executing a program stored in a non-transitional tangible recording medium. In this example, the memory 52 corresponds to a non-transitional tangible recording medium that stores a program. Further, by executing this program, a method corresponding to the program is executed. Note that the number of microcomputers constituting the position information processing unit 5 may be one or more. In addition, the method for realizing the function of the position information processing unit 5 is not limited to software, and part or all of the method may be realized by using hardware that combines a logic circuit, an analog circuit, and the like.

  The vehicle 52 that stores the vehicle position information generated by the vehicle position information generation unit 3 and the object position information generated by the object position information generation unit 4 is stored in the memory 52 constituting the position information processing unit 5. The information storage area and the other person information storage area for storing the own vehicle position information and the object position information of the other person amount acquired from the other vehicle via the communication unit 2 are secured.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the own vehicle information storage area is based on own vehicle position information (own vehicle absolute position, error variance) and detected object position information (object relative position, error variance, identification information) for each peripheral object. In addition to the acquired information, an area for storing additional information consisting of recognition information and prediction information obtained by information acquisition processing and periodic processing is prepared. In the other vehicle information storage area, as shown in FIG. 3, an area for storing information similar to that in the own vehicle information storage area is prepared for each transmission source vehicle that is a communication partner of the communication unit 2.

[2. processing]
[2-1. Information acquisition processing]
Information acquisition processing executed by the position information processing unit 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

This process is repeatedly executed while the ignition switch of the vehicle is on.
When this process is started, the CPU 51 first determines whether or not the object position information has been acquired from the object position information generation unit 4 in S110. If the object position information has been acquired, the process proceeds to S120.

  In S120, the own vehicle information storage area of the memory 52 is updated with the acquired object position information, and the process proceeds to S150. At this time, compared with the information on the peripheral objects already stored, those that are estimated to be the same object update the acquired information and take over the additional information. In addition, information on surrounding objects that have not been updated a plurality of times is deleted.

  If it is determined in step S110 that the object position information has not been acquired, the process proceeds to step S130, and it is determined whether other vehicle information is received via the communication unit 2. If other vehicle information has not been received, this process is terminated as is, and if other vehicle information has been received, the process proceeds to S140.

In S140, the other vehicle information storage area of the memory 52 is updated with the received other vehicle information, and the process proceeds to S150. Here, the same processing as the processing in S120 is performed.
In S150, the same target recognition process is executed, and the process is temporarily terminated.

  In this same target recognition process, the position of the surrounding object indicated in the object position information of the own vehicle information may match the position of the transmission source vehicle and the surrounding object of the transmission source vehicle indicated in the other vehicle information. For example, the fact is recorded in the recognition information of the own vehicle information and the other vehicle information shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, and the speed vector representing the moving direction and moving speed of the surrounding object is obtained from the difference from the position information. Record in prediction information. Specifically, the absolute position of the surrounding object obtained from the absolute position of the host vehicle and the relative position of the surrounding object is obtained from the absolute position of the transmission source vehicle or the absolute position of the transmission source vehicle and the relative position of the surrounding object. If it matches the absolute position of the surrounding object of the transmission source vehicle, it is recognized as the same target. Also, a velocity vector is obtained from the difference between the previous absolute value and the current value obtained. And the same process is implemented also between the other vehicle information obtained from different transmission origin vehicles.

  Thus, for example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the peripheral object 1 included in the own vehicle information (that is, recognized by the own vehicle) is the same target as the other vehicle 1 that is one of the transmission source vehicles. The surrounding object 3 recognized by the own vehicle is the same target as the surrounding object 2 included in the other person information received from the other vehicle 1 (that is, recognized by the other vehicle 1). The peripheral object 3 recognized by is obtained as information such as the host vehicle.

[2-2. Periodic processing]
Next, periodic processing executed by the position information processing unit 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

This process is repeatedly executed while the ignition switch of the vehicle is on, as in the information acquisition process.
When this process is activated, the CPU 51 first determines in S210 whether or not it is a position acquisition timing that is a predetermined cycle timing. If it is not the position acquisition timing, this process is terminated once, and if it is the position acquisition timing, the process proceeds to S220.

  In S220, it is determined whether or not acquisition of the vehicle position information from the vehicle position information generation unit 3 is successful. If the acquisition is successful, the process proceeds to S230, and the position information related to the own vehicle in the own vehicle information shown in FIG. 2 is updated with the acquired own vehicle position information, and the process proceeds to S250. At this time, the error variance basically uses the positioning accuracy of the vehicle position information generation unit 3, but when the lateral position of the vehicle on the road can be accurately grasped by white line detection or the like performed separately. Thus, a correction is made so that the error variance in the vehicle width direction is reduced. That is, in this case, the error range indicated by the error variance of the host vehicle is an ellipse that is narrow in the vehicle width direction and long in the front-rear direction of the vehicle.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S220 that the vehicle position information has not been successfully acquired, the process proceeds to S240, and the predicted absolute position calculated in S310, which will be described later, and stored as the prediction information is used as the current processing cycle. Set to the absolute position of the host vehicle to be used in step S250 and proceed to S250.

  In S250, one of the transmission source vehicles that is the transmission source of the other vehicle information is selected as the target vehicle. That is, the own vehicle knows at least the own vehicle position information of the target vehicle, that is, the absolute position of the target vehicle and its error variance.

In subsequent S260, a relative position setting process for setting a target vehicle relative position that is a relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the host vehicle is executed. Details of the relative position setting process will be described later.
In subsequent S270, it is determined whether or not the above-described processing of S250 to S260 has been executed for all the transmission source vehicles. If there is an unprocessed transmission source vehicle, the process returns to S250 and the same processing is repeated. If all the transmission source vehicles have been processed, the process proceeds to S280.

  In S280, it is determined whether or not there is a transmission source vehicle in which the target vehicle relative position is set in S260. If such a transmission source vehicle exists, the process proceeds to S290, and if not, the process proceeds to S300.

  In S290, estimated vehicle position information is generated based on the absolute position of the own vehicle, the absolute position of the source vehicle, and the set target vehicle relative position for all the transmission source vehicles for which the relative position to the own vehicle is set. If the error range indicated by the estimated vehicle position information is smaller than the error range indicated by the own vehicle position information of the own vehicle information, the own vehicle information stored in the own vehicle information is represented by the estimated own vehicle position information. Update and go to S300.

  For example, it is assumed that the vehicle A and the vehicle B are in a positional relationship as shown in FIG. 6, and the error range indicated by the error variance of the absolute position detected in each is an ellipse as shown. If the vehicle A is the other vehicle and the vehicle B is the transmission source vehicle, as shown in FIG. 7, the error range of the other vehicle B is shifted to the own vehicle A side by the relative position of the target vehicle. The absolute position and error variance of the host vehicle A are corrected so that the overlapping area of both error ranges becomes a new error range when superimposed on the error range of the car A. Further, when the same process is executed assuming that the vehicle B is the own vehicle and the vehicle A is the other vehicle from a different position, both the vehicle A and the vehicle B have an absolute position with a narrow error range, as shown in FIG. That is, the vehicle position information with improved accuracy can be obtained. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the error range of the vehicles A and C located on each of the two intersecting roads is elliptical, and the error range of the absolute position of the vehicle S of the vehicle B in the intersection is Let us consider a case where a circle is not corrected by white line detection. In this case, assuming that the vehicle B is the own vehicle and the vehicles A and C are the transmission source vehicles, all the other vehicles A and C in which the target vehicle relative position to the own vehicle B is set in the error range of the own vehicle B. By overlapping the error ranges, the error ranges can be sufficiently narrowed, and a precise absolute position of the vehicle can be obtained. However, if the overlapped error range is not narrower than the original error range, the process proceeds to S300 without correction. Note that, when the vehicles A and C are viewed as the own vehicles, the accuracy of the own vehicle position information of the vehicle B is initially low, so that the vehicles A and C use the information acquired from the vehicle B. Cannot be improved sufficiently. However, in the processing cycle after the accuracy of the vehicle position information of the vehicle B is improved as described above, the vehicles A and C use the information acquired from the vehicle B to improve the accuracy of the vehicle position information. Can do.

  In S300, the vehicle information including the vehicle position information corrected in S290 is transmitted to other vehicles existing around the vehicle via the communication unit 2, and the absolute position of the vehicle and the absolute position of the vehicle are The absolute position of the peripheral object obtained from the relative position of the peripheral object included in the own vehicle information is transmitted to another in-vehicle device.

  In subsequent S310, the predicted absolute position, which is the predicted value of the absolute position of the host vehicle in the next processing cycle, is calculated using the speed vector stored in the predicted information area of the host vehicle information, and the host vehicle information is similarly calculated. The predicted absolute position of the surrounding object shown in Fig. 4, the predicted absolute position of the other vehicle shown in the other vehicle information and the surrounding object are calculated, and the calculation result is stored in the prediction information area together with the velocity vector. finish.

  In other words, even in situations where it is impossible to receive radio waves from navigation satellites and the absolute position of the vehicle cannot be obtained, by using the results predicted from the absolute position and velocity vector obtained in the past, The above-described processing is prevented from being immediately impossible to execute.

[2-3. Relative position setting process]
Next, the details of the relative position setting process executed in S260 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  When this process is activated, the CPU 51 first determines in S410 whether or not the own vehicle recognizes the target vehicle. Specifically, if there is a peripheral object that is indicated as the target vehicle in the recognition information of the own vehicle information, it is determined that the target vehicle is recognized. If the own vehicle does not recognize the target vehicle, the process proceeds to S420.

  In S420, it is determined whether or not the target vehicle recognizes the own vehicle. Specifically, if there is a peripheral object that is indicated as the subject vehicle in the recognition information of the other vehicle information received from the target vehicle, it is determined that the subject vehicle is recognized. If the target vehicle recognizes the host vehicle, the process proceeds to S430, and if not, the process proceeds to S470.

  In S430, the relative position of the peripheral object recognized as the target vehicle is set as the first candidate, and the process proceeds to S470. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 11, the relative position R1s with the host vehicle acquired from the target vehicle is the first candidate. In the figure, Rij (i, j = s, 1, 2,...) Represents the relative position of the vehicle j measured by the vehicle i, Ai represents the absolute position of the vehicle i, and a symbol on the arrow. Represents information acquired by the vehicle S through communication.

  If it is determined in S410 that the host vehicle recognizes the target vehicle, it is determined in S440 whether the target vehicle recognizes the host vehicle. If not recognized, the process proceeds to S450, and if recognized, the process proceeds to S460.

  In S450, the relative position of the peripheral object recognized as the subject vehicle is set as the second candidate, and the process proceeds to S470. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 12, the relative position Rs1 with respect to the target vehicle measured by the host vehicle is the second candidate.

  In S460, the relative position corrected using the relative position Rs1 of the peripheral object recognized as the subject vehicle and the relative position R1s of the peripheral object recognized as the subject vehicle is set as the third candidate. Set and proceed to S470. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 13, as shown in FIG. 14, the error range of the relative position R1s acquired from the target vehicle is set to the error range of the relative position Rs1 measured by the host vehicle by the relative position R1s. The relative position Rs1 when the target vehicle is viewed from the host vehicle and the error variance that defines the error range are corrected so that the overlapping area of both error ranges becomes the corrected error range The result is the third candidate.

  In S470, it is determined whether or not both the own vehicle and the target vehicle recognize the same surrounding object (hereinafter referred to as the same object). Specifically, if there is a peripheral object existing at the same position in the recognition information of both the own vehicle information and the other vehicle information of the target vehicle, it is determined that the same object is recognized. If the own vehicle and the target vehicle recognize the same object, the process proceeds to S480, and if not, the process proceeds to S490.

  In S480, the relative position from the host vehicle to the target vehicle calculated based on the relative position of the same object indicated in the host vehicle information and the other vehicle information of the target vehicle is set as the fourth candidate, and the process proceeds to S490. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 15, the relative position as the fourth candidate is indirectly obtained from the relative position Rs2 with respect to the peripheral object measured by the own vehicle and the relative position R12 of the peripheral object acquired from the target vehicle.

  In subsequent S490, it is determined whether the transmission source vehicle other than the target vehicle is a non-target vehicle, the target vehicle recognizes the non-target vehicle, and the non-target vehicle recognizes the own vehicle. Specifically, there is a peripheral object that is indicated as a non-target vehicle in the recognition information of the other vehicle information received from the target vehicle, and the own vehicle is included in the recognition information of the other vehicle information received from the non-target vehicle. If there is a peripheral object that is indicated as affirmative, an affirmative determination is made. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to S500, and if a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to S510.

  In S500, the relative position from the own vehicle to the target vehicle calculated based on the relative position with the non-target vehicle recognized by the target vehicle and the relative position with the own vehicle recognized by the non-target vehicle is set as the fifth candidate. Then, the process proceeds to S510. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 16, the relative position as the fifth candidate is indirectly determined from the relative position R12 with respect to the non-target vehicle acquired from the target vehicle and the relative position R2s with respect to the own vehicle acquired from the non-target vehicle. Desired.

  In S510, it is determined whether there is a non-target vehicle that recognizes the target vehicle. Specifically, if there is a peripheral object that is indicated as the target vehicle in the recognition information of the other vehicle information of the non-target vehicle, an affirmative determination is made. If an affirmative determination is made, the process proceeds to S520, and if a negative determination is made, the process proceeds to S560.

  In S520, it is determined whether the non-target vehicle recognizes its own vehicle. Specifically, it is determined that the recognition is performed if there is a peripheral object that is indicated as the own vehicle in the recognition information of the other vehicle information of the non-target vehicle. If the non-target vehicle recognizes the own vehicle, the process proceeds to S530, and if not, the process proceeds to S540.

  In S530, the relative position from the own vehicle to the target vehicle obtained from the relative position of the peripheral object recognized as the non-target vehicle is the own vehicle and the relative position of the peripheral object recognized as the non-target vehicle is the target vehicle. Is set as the sixth candidate, and the process proceeds to S540. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 17, the relative position as the sixth candidate is indirectly determined from the relative position R2s with the own vehicle acquired from the non-target vehicle and the relative position R21 with the target vehicle acquired from the non-target vehicle. Is required.

  In S540, it is determined whether or not the own vehicle recognizes the non-target vehicle. Specifically, if there is a peripheral object that is indicated as a non-target vehicle in the recognition information of the own vehicle information, it is determined that the vehicle is recognized. If the own vehicle recognizes the non-target vehicle, the process proceeds to S550, and if not recognized, the process proceeds to S560.

  In S550, the relative position from the own vehicle to the target vehicle obtained from the relative position of the surrounding object recognized as the non-target vehicle and the relative position of the peripheral object recognized as the non-target vehicle. Is set as the seventh candidate, and the process proceeds to S560. That is, in the situation shown in FIG. 18, the relative position as the seventh candidate is indirectly determined from the relative position R21 with respect to the target vehicle acquired from the non-target vehicle and the relative position Rs2 with respect to the non-target vehicle measured by the own vehicle. Desired.

  In S560, among the first to seventh candidates obtained in the above-described processing, the one having the smallest error variance (error range) is selected as the target vehicle relative position and included in the vehicle information according to the selection result. The relative position and error variance of the surrounding object recognized as the target vehicle to be updated are updated, and this process is terminated. However, the error variance used for the comparison is corrected by superimposing the error ranges of the two relative positions in the same manner as the processing in S460 described above with reference to FIG.

  The first to third candidates correspond to direct relative positions, and the fourth to seventh candidates correspond to indirect relative positions. As shown in FIG. 19, the error range of the direct relative position is not necessarily smaller than the error range of the indirect relative position depending on the surrounding situation. Therefore, in this process, the direct relative position and the indirect relative position are Both are obtained, and the one with the smallest error range is selected as the target vehicle relative position.

[3. effect]
As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, even when the accuracy of the absolute position of the host vehicle generated by the host vehicle position information generating unit 3 is low, the host vehicle position of the other vehicle acquired through the communication unit 2. By using the information, the error range indicated by the error variance of the absolute position of the own vehicle can be narrowed, that is, the absolute position detection accuracy can be increased. In addition, this process requires that there is a transmission source vehicle that is a vehicle that transmits the vehicle position information, and it is only necessary to know the relative position between the vehicle and the transmission source vehicle. This can be implemented even in the situation where there is no surrounding object.

  In the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the own vehicle (vehicle A) and the target vehicle (vehicle C) can communicate with each other, but do not recognize each other, that is, relative to each other. Even in situations where the position cannot be measured, the target vehicle relative position can be set using information obtained via other vehicles (non-target vehicles), so it can be used in various situations, Robustness can be improved.

  Furthermore, high-accuracy own-vehicle position information obtained by the own vehicle is transmitted to the other vehicle via the communication unit 2, and is formed via the communication unit 2 when the own vehicle becomes a transmission source vehicle for the other vehicle. It is possible to improve the accuracy of the position information of all the vehicles in the vehicle network that is used.

[4. Other Embodiments]
As mentioned above, although the form for implementing this invention was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, It can implement in various deformation | transformation.

  (1) In the above embodiment, there is no particular limitation on the object or non-object to be used when obtaining the indirect relative position (fourth to seventh candidates). You may make it use only a thing. That is, when the indirect relative position between the vehicle A and the vehicle B is calculated based on the relative position between the vehicle A and the vehicle C measured by the vehicle A, as the vehicle C is larger, the indirect relative position is larger. This is because there is a high possibility that a large error is included in the relative position, which may deteriorate the accuracy.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the difference between the measurement timing of own vehicle information and other vehicle information and the timing at which these information are used in actual processing is not taken into consideration, but the displacement caused by these differences is suppressed. As described above, various position information may be corrected using a velocity vector or the like, that is, a predicted value of position information may be obtained and used for processing. In addition, when the predicted value of position information that takes time into consideration is obtained, if there is an actual measurement value obtained at the same timing as the predicted value, the error range of the predicted value overlaps with the error range of the actual measurement value. The position information may be corrected so that the corrected range becomes the corrected error range to improve the accuracy of the position information.

  (3) The functions of one component in the above embodiment may be distributed as a plurality of components, or the functions of a plurality of components may be integrated into one component. Moreover, you may abbreviate | omit a part of structure of the said embodiment. In addition, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added to or replaced with the configuration of the other embodiment. In addition, all the aspects included in the technical idea specified only by the wording described in the claim are embodiment of this invention.

  (4) In addition to the position estimation device described above, a system including the position estimation device as a constituent element, a program for causing a computer to function as the position estimation device, and a non-transitional actual recording such as a semiconductor memory in which the program is recorded The present invention can also be realized in various forms such as a medium and a position estimation method.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-vehicle position estimation apparatus, 2 ... Communication part, 3 ... Own vehicle position information generation part, 4 ... Object position information generation part, 5 ... Position information processing part, 51 ... CPU, 52 ... Memory

Claims (10)

A position estimation device (1) mounted on a vehicle,
The own vehicle position including the error variance indicating the absolute position of the own vehicle and the error range of the absolute position of the own vehicle, which is obtained as a result of measuring the absolute position of the own vehicle equipped with the position estimation device A vehicle position information generation unit (3) for generating information;
An object position information generation unit (4) that acquires an object relative position, which is a result of measuring a relative position with a surrounding object existing around the host vehicle, and generates object position information including the object relative position;
A communication unit (2) that transmits and receives the vehicle position information to and from another vehicle that is a vehicle other than the vehicle;
The own vehicle position information received from the other vehicle by the communication unit is set as other vehicle position information, a transmission source vehicle of the other vehicle position information is set as a transmission source vehicle, and each of the transmission source vehicles is set as a target vehicle. A relative position setting unit (5: S250 to S270) that sets a target vehicle relative position, which is a relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the host vehicle,
For each of the target vehicles for which the target vehicle relative position is set by the relative position setting unit, the error variance of the subject vehicle absolute position of the subject vehicle is within the error range indicated by the error variance of the subject vehicle absolute position of the subject vehicle. The error range indicated by is shifted by the target vehicle relative position set by the relative position setting unit from the own vehicle absolute position of the target vehicle so that the overlapping range becomes the corrected error range. The estimated vehicle position information obtained by correcting the vehicle position information is obtained, and when the error range of the estimated vehicle position information is smaller than the error range of the vehicle position information of the vehicle, the estimated vehicle position information A vehicle position correction unit (5: S280 to S290) for updating the vehicle position information;
A position estimation apparatus comprising: The position estimation apparatus according to claim 1,
According to the vehicle position information obtained from the transmission source vehicle by the communication unit, the vehicle position information generated by the vehicle position information generation unit, the object position information generated by the object position information generation unit, A match determination unit (5: S150) for determining whether or not the transmission source vehicle and the surrounding object indicated by the object position information are the same;
The relative position setting unit uses, as the target vehicle relative position, an object relative position of a surrounding object determined by the match determination unit to match the transmission source vehicle. The position estimation apparatus according to claim 1,
The object position information generated by the object position information generation unit includes an error variance indicating an error range of the object relative position,
The communication unit transmits and receives the object position information generated by the object position information generation unit in addition to the vehicle position information,
The relative position setting unit
One for each target vehicle based on own vehicle information which is object position information acquired by the object position information generation unit and other vehicle information which is object position information of the transmission source vehicle acquired via the communication unit. A candidate generation unit (5: S410 to S550) for obtaining the above relative position candidates;
A selection unit (5: S560) that selects, as the target vehicle relative position, the one having the smallest error range among the relative position candidates generated by the candidate generation unit for each target vehicle;
A position estimation apparatus comprising: The position estimation apparatus according to claim 3,
The candidate generation unit
A direct candidate generation unit (5: S410 to S460) that generates a direct relative position, which is a result of directly measuring a relative position between the host vehicle and the target vehicle, as the relative position candidate;
An indirect candidate generation unit (5: S470 to S550) that generates an indirect relative position indirectly obtained through the peripheral object other than the target vehicle as the relative position candidate;
A position estimation apparatus comprising: The position estimation apparatus according to claim 4,
The direct candidate generator is included in the other vehicle information obtained from the target vehicle and a first relative position that is an object relative position of the peripheral object that is included in the host vehicle information and coincides with the target vehicle. A position estimation device that uses, as one of the direct relative positions, a second relative position that is an object relative position of a peripheral object that coincides with a vehicle. The position estimation device according to claim 5,
When the first relative position and the second relative position are both obtained, the direct candidate generation unit includes a range indicated by the error variance of the second relative position within a range indicated by the error variance of the first relative position. Is obtained by correcting the first relative position so that the overlapped range is the corrected error range by shifting the vehicle relative to the absolute position of the host vehicle by the second relative position. Position estimation device used as one of the positions. The position estimation device according to any one of claims 4 to 6,
When the indirect candidate generation unit includes information on a common object that is a common peripheral object in both the host vehicle information and the other vehicle information obtained from the target vehicle, the relative position in the target Kurumama from the vehicle obtained from the object the relative position and the object relative position to the target pinion et the common object up, the position estimation device to be used as one of the indirect relative position. The position estimation device according to any one of claims 4 to 7,
The indirect candidate generation unit, when the other vehicle information obtained from a non-target vehicle that is the transmission source vehicle other than the target vehicle includes both information on the host vehicle and the target vehicle, One of the indirect relative positions is a relative position from the host vehicle to the target vehicle obtained from an object relative position from the target vehicle to the host vehicle and an object relative position from the non-target vehicle to the target vehicle. Position estimation device. The position estimation device according to any one of claims 4 to 8,
The indirect candidate generation unit includes information on a non-target vehicle that is the transmission source vehicle other than the target vehicle in the other vehicle information obtained from the target vehicle, and the obtained from the non-target vehicle When other vehicle information includes the information on the own vehicle, from the own vehicle obtained from the object relative position from the non-target vehicle to the host vehicle and the object relative position from the target vehicle to the non-target vehicle. A position estimation device that uses a relative position to the target vehicle as one of the indirect relative positions. The position estimation device according to any one of claims 4 to 9,
The indirect candidate generation unit includes information on the target vehicle in the other vehicle information obtained from a non-target vehicle that is the transmission source vehicle other than the target vehicle, and the host vehicle information includes the non-target vehicle. Is included, the relative position from the host vehicle to the target vehicle is obtained from the relative position of the object from the host vehicle to the non-target vehicle and the relative position of the object from the non-target vehicle to the target vehicle. A position estimation device used as one of the indirect relative positions.

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