JP7058910B2 - Automatic operation level confirmation device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic driving level confirmation device that confirms an automatic driving level when driving a vehicle that is the target of automatic driving.

In recent years, research on automatic driving technology for vehicles has been active, and some automatic driving levels have been put into practical use. However, with the widespread use of self-driving vehicles, vehicles with different self-driving levels will be available during the transitional period until all vehicles in the world are replaced by fully self-driving levels (eg, self-driving levels 4 and 5). It is expected to be mixed.

As a conventional technique assuming automatic driving of a vehicle, in order to clarify the responsibility of an accident during automatic driving, when starting automatic driving, the location of the responsibility for the accident is notified and the driver (occupant) agrees. A vehicle occupant non-operated driving system is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-108868

By the way, in the vehicle occupant non-operated driving system disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, consent is requested from the driver prior to the start of automatic driving, but if the vehicle is different, the consent is obtained from the driver each time. There is a need. For this reason, for example, even if the vehicles are of the same model and grade of the same manufacturer and have the same automatic driving function, it is necessary to obtain consent for each vehicle, which is a complicated task for the driver. There was a problem that it took. Further, in the vehicle occupant non-operated driving system disclosed in Patent Document 1, in consideration of a plurality of automatic driving levels, complicated labor for obtaining consent can be reduced as much as possible, and vehicles having different automatic driving levels are alternated. No consideration is given to avoiding erroneous recognition of the automatic driving level when driving in Japan, and it is considered necessary to take some measures against these.

The present invention has been created in view of these points, and an object thereof is automatic driving that can prevent erroneous recognition of the automatic driving level and reduce the trouble of a driver who consents to the automatic driving level. The purpose is to provide a level confirmation device.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the automatic driving level confirmation device of the present invention asks the driver for consent regarding the automatic driving level before starting the operation of the first vehicle capable of automatic driving according to the automatic driving level. In the automatic driving level confirmation device, the driver specifying means for specifying the driver and the driving history information corresponding to the driver specified by the driver specifying means, and this driver has agreed on the automatic driving level in the past. The driving history information acquisition means for acquiring the driving history information including at least the automatic driving level and the driving date of the second vehicle, and the automatic driving level of the second vehicle previously driven before the first vehicle starts driving. It is equipped with a consent confirmation means that asks the driver for consent regarding the automatic driving level of the first vehicle when it is different from the automatic driving level of the first vehicle to be driven this time, and omits the request for consent in the same case. There is.

If the automatic driving level of the vehicle that was driven last time and the vehicle that is driven this time are different, consent for the automatic driving level is required. Therefore, prevent misrecognition of the automatic driving level that occurs when driving a vehicle with a different automatic driving level. Can be done. Further, since this consent request is omitted when the automatic driving level is the same, it is possible to reduce the operation required for consent, that is, the time and effort for consent, as compared with the case where consent is always required.

Further, it is desirable that the above-mentioned consent confirmation means omits the request for consent when the second vehicle and the first vehicle are the same and the automatic driving level is the same. For the same vehicle, the operating environment is completely the same each time, so when driving continuously, even if the consent request regarding the automatic driving level is omitted, misrecognition of the automatic driving level is surely prevented. be able to.

Further, it is desirable that the above-mentioned consent confirmation means omits the request for consent when the second vehicle and the first vehicle have the same conditions and the automatic driving level is the same. For example, the case of the same condition is a case where the manufacturer, model, and grade are all the same. For vehicles with the same conditions (manufacturer, model, grade), the operating environment is almost the same, so when driving continuously, even if consent regarding the automatic driving level is omitted, the automatic driving level It is possible to effectively prevent misrecognition of.

In addition, the above-mentioned consent confirmation means is the first, regardless of the difference in the automatic driving level, when the period from the day when the second vehicle was last driven to the day when the first vehicle was driven this time exceeds the standard value. It is desirable to ask the driver for consent regarding the automatic driving level of one vehicle. Even when driving vehicles with the same automatic driving level continuously, if these driving intervals are open, it may not be possible to remember the previous driving situation, so in such cases the automatic driving level is related. By asking for consent, it is possible to prevent misrecognition of the automatic driving level and re-recognize the contents of the automatic driving level.

Further, the above-mentioned operation history information is stored in a portable storage medium, and it is desirable that the operation history information acquisition means read the operation history information from the storage medium. Alternatively, the above-mentioned operation history information is stored in association with the driver in an external device that can be connected via a predetermined network, and the operation history information acquisition means can specify the driver to perform this operation. It is desirable to acquire the operation history information corresponding to the person from an external device. By storing the driving history information in a portable storage medium or an external device via a network, the driving history information corresponding to the driver one-to-one even when the vehicle to be driven is changed. Can be obtained.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted system of one Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the automatic operation level confirmation apparatus. It is a flow chart which shows the operation procedure which determines the necessity of consent about this automatic driving before a specific driver starts automatic driving of a vehicle. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the operation history information and the necessity of consent.

Hereinafter, an in-vehicle system according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle system of one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle system of the present embodiment includes an automatic driving device 100, an automatic driving level confirmation device 200, a signal generation unit 300, an operation switching device 400, a handle 500, an accelerator pedal 502, a brake pedal 504, and an operation unit. It is equipped with 506.

The automatic driving device 100 performs automatic driving in which the own vehicle is driven along a traveling route to a destination set by a navigation device or the like (not shown). For example, in this embodiment, automatic operation of any of levels 1-5 is assumed. Further, since the specific method for realizing automatic driving is not directly related to the content of the present invention, the description thereof is omitted, but the present invention is applied to automatic driving using various techniques realized at present or in the future. be able to.

The automatic driving level confirmation device 200 agrees on the automatic driving level (for example, the content of automatic driving, the operation performed by the driver, the position of responsibility, etc.) before the start of operation of the own vehicle capable of automatic driving according to the automatic driving level. Is notified to the driver and consent to understand the contents) is requested from the driver. The details of the automatic operation level confirmation device 200 will be described later.

The signal generation unit 300 generates various operation signals corresponding to the operation contents such as steering wheel operation, accelerator pedal operation, and brake pedal operation during manual driving (automatic driving level 0) in which the vehicle is driven according to the driving operation of the driver. do. Further, the signal generation unit 300 generates an operation signal equivalent to the operation signal generated at the time of manual operation in correspondence with the automatic operation operation by the automatic operation device 100 at the time of automatic operation. These operation signals are input to an engine ECU (not shown) or the like, and steering angle control, engine control, brake control, etc. necessary for traveling of the vehicle are performed.

The operation switching device 400 switches between automatic driving by the automatic driving device 100 corresponding to the automatic driving level and manual driving in which the driver himself operates the steering wheel 500, the accelerator pedal 502, the brake pedal 504, and the like to drive the own vehicle. Control the time. The driver can operate the operation unit 506 to instruct the switching. For example, it is switched to automatic operation when the "automatic operation" button included in the operation unit 506 is pressed, and automatically when the pressed state of this "automatic operation" button is released or when a predetermined release condition is satisfied. The operation is canceled and switched to manual operation.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the automatic operation level confirmation device 200. As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic driving level confirmation device 200 includes a driver identification unit 210, a driving location history information acquisition unit 220, an IC card reading unit 230, a consent confirmation unit 240, a clock 242, a vehicle information storage unit 244, and driving. It is equipped with a history information creation / update unit 250.

The driver specifying unit 210 identifies the driver of the own vehicle (the vehicle that is the subject of determination of the necessity of consent and the user is about to drive is referred to as a "first vehicle"). There are several possible ways to identify the driver. For example, (1) when the driver himself / herself inputs information unique to the driver (user ID, etc.) by operating an operation unit (user ID, etc.), (2) a storage medium (for example,) in which the information unique to the driver is stored (for example). , The case where this unique information is read from the IC card described later), (3) the case where the face recognition is performed on the driver's face image obtained by the image pickup by the camera, and the case where the driver is recognized can be considered.

The operation history information acquisition unit 220 acquires the operation history information corresponding to the driver specified by the driver identification unit 210. In this driving history information, the vehicle that the specified driver has agreed to regarding the automatic driving level in the past (the vehicle that the user has driven in the past is referred to as a "second vehicle". Among the second vehicles. May include the same as the first vehicle)) at least the automatic driving level and driving date. For example, the driving history information for each vehicle includes the following items (a) to (h).

(A) Vehicle identification information (b) Manufacturer model (c) Grade (d) Owner (e) Automatic driving level (f) Consent date (g) Last driving day (h) Number of driving times Such driving history It is desirable that the information is stored in a storage medium portable by the driver himself / herself and read out from this storage medium before the start of driving of the vehicle. For example, assuming that an IC card 232 with a built-in storage medium that also serves as a driver's license is permitted, the operation history information is stored in the IC card 232.

The IC card reading unit 230 reads the operation history information stored in the storage medium in the IC card 232. The operation history information may be stored in a semiconductor memory such as a USB memory or another storage medium such as a mobile terminal device (smartphone). In this case, a device for reading operation history information suitable for these other storage media may be provided.

The consent confirmation unit 240 automatically drives the first vehicle when the automatic driving level of the second vehicle previously driven is different from the automatic driving level of the first vehicle to be driven this time before the first vehicle starts driving. The driver is requested to consent to the driving level, and if the automatic driving level of the second vehicle driven last time is the same as the automatic driving level of the first vehicle to be driven this time, the request for consent is omitted.

The clock 242 is used to specify (f) consent date and (g) last operation date included in the operation history information.

The vehicle information storage unit 244 stores the own vehicle information to be compared with the driving history information of the own vehicle included in the driving history information. For example, the information corresponding to (a) to (d) among the items included in the above-mentioned driving history information is stored as the own vehicle information.

The driving history information creation / updating unit 250 updates the content of the automatic driving history information in the IC card 232 at the end of automatic driving (or may be during automatic driving) (corresponding to the vehicle to be updated). If there is no automatic driving history, create it).

The driver identification unit 210 described above corresponds to the driver identification means, the operation history information acquisition unit 220 corresponds to the operation history information acquisition means, the consent confirmation unit 240 corresponds to the consent confirmation means, and the IC card 232 corresponds to a portable storage medium. do.

The automatic operation level confirmation device 200 of the present embodiment has such a configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an operation procedure for determining the necessity of consent regarding the automatic driving before a specific driver starts the automatic driving of the vehicle.

After the driver gets into the vehicle, the driver identification unit 210 identifies the driver who got in (step 100). Further, the operation history information acquisition unit 220 acquires the operation history information corresponding to the specified driver by reading it from the IC card 232 by the IC card reading unit 230 (step 102).

Next, the consent confirmation unit 240 determines whether or not the same vehicle has a record of consent in the past based on the acquired driving history information (step 104). For example, when the own vehicle is A, A is included in one or more vehicles included in the driving history information, and consent is obtained for the vehicle A in the driving history information regarding the automatic driving level of the vehicle A. It is determined whether or not the information to that effect is included. If the same vehicle has a track record of consenting in the past, a positive judgment will be made.

Next, the consent confirmation unit 240 determines whether or not the driving of a vehicle having a different automatic driving level (a vehicle other than the vehicle A) is sandwiched, that is, a vehicle other than the vehicle A from the previous driving of the vehicle A to the present time. Therefore, it is determined whether or not a vehicle having a different automatic driving level from the vehicle A has been driven (step 106). If it is sandwiched, a positive judgment is made. In this case, the consent confirmation unit 240 determines that it is necessary to obtain consent again regarding the automatic driving level of the vehicle A (step 108). On the other hand, if a vehicle other than the own vehicle having a different automatic driving level is not sandwiched between them, a negative determination is made in the determination in step 106. In this case, the consent confirmation unit 240 determines that it is not necessary to obtain consent again for this automatic operation level (step 110).

Further, if the same vehicle has no record of agreeing on the automatic driving level in the past, a negative judgment is made in the determination in step 104. Next, the consent confirmation unit 240 determines, based on the acquired driving history information, whether or not the vehicle under the same conditions has a record of consent in the past (step 112). Here, a vehicle under the same conditions means a vehicle having at least the same grade as the manufacturer / model. Under such the same conditions, it is considered that the operability at the time of automatic driving is the same even in the vehicle B different from the vehicle A. If there is a record of consenting to the vehicle under the same conditions in the past, an affirmative judgment is made, the process proceeds to step 106, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle has a different automatic driving level.

Further, if there is no record of consenting to the vehicle under the same conditions in the past, a negative judgment is made in the determination in step 112. In this case, the process proceeds to step 108, and it is determined that it is necessary to obtain consent again regarding the automatic driving level of the vehicle A.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing specific examples of operation history information and the necessity of consent. The driving history information shown in FIG. 4 includes driving history information of four vehicles S0, S1, S2, and S3 that the driver who is trying to drive the first vehicle has driven by using the automatic driving function. For each vehicle, (a) vehicle identification information, (b) manufacturer / model, (c) grade, (d) owner, (e) autonomous driving level, (f) consent date, (g) final driving The day, (h) the number of operations is stored.

When such driving history information exists, for example, when the vehicle S1 is driven on September 1, 2017 (case 1), the manufacturer, model, grade, and automatic driving level are the same as those of the vehicle S2. Let us consider the case of driving the vehicle S4 (case 2).

(Case 1) When driving the vehicle S1 If the vehicle S1 is to be driven on September 1, 2017, this driver will use the automatic transportation system for the vehicle S1 in the past (July 1, 2017). I have consented to Level 4. Therefore, in the determination in step 104 of FIG. 3, an affirmative determination is made. However, since the vehicle S2 having a different automatic driving level 5 is sandwiched between the previous driving day (August 1, 2017) and the present (September 1, 2017) of this vehicle S1, FIG. In the determination of step 106, an affirmative determination is made. Therefore, when driving the vehicle S1 on September 1, 2017, consent regarding the automatic driving level 4 of the vehicle S1 is required (step 108 in FIG. 3).

(Case 2) When driving the vehicle S4 When the vehicle S4 is to be driven on September 1, 2017, this driver has never driven the vehicle S4 in the past, and of course, the vehicle S4 No consent has been obtained for autonomous driving level 5. Therefore, in the determination in step 104 of FIG. 3, a negative determination is made. However, there is a record of consent in the past (May 1, 2017) for the vehicle S2 under the same conditions as this vehicle S4. Therefore, in the determination in step 112 of FIG. 3, an affirmative determination is made. In addition, since the driving of vehicles with different automatic driving levels is not sandwiched between the previous driving day (August 2, 2017) and the present (September 1, 2017) of this vehicle S2, FIG. 2 shows. In the determination of step 106, a negative determination is made. Therefore, when driving the vehicle S4 on September 1, 2017, consent for the automatic driving level 5 of the vehicle S4 is not required (step 110 in FIG. 3).

As described above, in the automatic driving level confirmation device 200 of the present embodiment, when the automatic driving level of the vehicle driven last time and the vehicle driven this time are different, consent for the automatic driving level is required, so that the vehicles having different automatic driving levels are required. It is possible to prevent erroneous recognition of the automatic driving level that occurs when driving. Further, since this consent request is omitted when the automatic driving level is the same, it is possible to reduce the operation required for consent, that is, the time and effort for consent, as compared with the case where consent is always required.

In particular, for the same vehicle, the operating environment is completely the same each time, so when driving the same vehicle continuously, even if the consent request regarding the automatic driving level is omitted, the automatic driving level is misrecognized. Can be reliably prevented.

In addition, for vehicles with the same conditions (manufacturer, model, grade are the same), the operating environment is almost the same, so when driving continuously, even if consent regarding the automatic driving level is omitted, it will be automatic. It is possible to effectively prevent misrecognition of the driving level.

Further, by storing the driving history information in the IC card 232 as a portable storage medium, the driving history information corresponding to the driver one-to-one even when the vehicle to be driven is changed. Can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle (first vehicle) having the same or the same conditions as the vehicle (second vehicle) for which consent has been obtained is driven, and the automatic driving level is different by the time of driving. If the vehicle is not driven, a negative judgment is made in the determination in step 106 of FIG. 3, and consent regarding the automatic driving level is not required for this driving, but the first from the driving date of the second vehicle. When the period until the driving date of the vehicle exceeds the reference value (for example, one month), even if a negative judgment is made in the determination in step 106 of FIG. 3, regardless of the difference in the automatic driving level. You may ask for consent regarding the level of automatic driving. Even when driving vehicles with the same automatic driving level continuously, if these driving intervals are open, it may not be possible to remember the previous driving situation, so in such cases the automatic driving level is related. By asking for consent, it is possible to prevent misrecognition of the automatic driving level and re-recognize the contents of the automatic driving level.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an item may be added as the content of the same condition. For example, if the owner is not an individual but, for example, a rental car company, the condition that "the rental car company is the same" may be added to the same condition.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the number of times the vehicle has been driven included in the driving history information may be taken into consideration. For example, a vehicle whose number of times of operation is less than the first value (for example, 5 times) may not be treated as a vehicle having the same or the same conditions in the determination of steps 104 and 112 in FIG. Alternatively, in the case of driving a vehicle (first vehicle) in which the number of driving times is greater than the second value (for example, 10 times) under the same or the same conditions as the vehicle for which consent has been obtained (second vehicle). If the number of driving times is less than the third value (for example, twice) and the driving of another vehicle having a different automatic driving level is sandwiched, the other vehicle should be excluded from the determination target in step 106 of FIG. You may do it.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle (first vehicle) having the same or the same conditions as the vehicle (second vehicle) for which consent has been obtained is driven (either of steps 104 and 112 in FIG. 3). (Affirmative judgment in You may. In this case, the operation of steps 104 and 112 in FIG. 3 may be omitted, and the operation of step 106 may be performed after step 102.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the operation history information is stored in the IC card 232 as a portable storage medium, but in a specific server as an external device that can be connected via a predetermined network (for example, the Internet). It may be stored in the storage device in association with each driver. In this case, the IC card reading unit 230 shown in FIG. 2 is replaced with a communication device, and the operation history information acquisition unit 220 sends the driver's identification information to the server to provide the operation history information corresponding to the driver. Will be sent back from the server. Further, the operation history information creation / update unit 250 sends an instruction to the server at the end of the automatic operation (or during the automatic operation) to update the contents of the automatic operation history information. By storing the driving history information in the server as an external device via the network, the driver can acquire the driving history information corresponding to one-to-one even when the vehicle to be driven is changed. It becomes possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the automatic driving level of the vehicle driven last time and the vehicle driven this time are different, consent for the automatic driving level is required. Therefore, when driving a vehicle having a different automatic driving level. It is possible to prevent erroneous recognition of the automatic operation level that occurs. Further, since this consent request is omitted when the automatic driving level is the same, it is possible to reduce the operation required for consent, that is, the time and effort for consent, as compared with the case where consent is always required.

100 Automatic driving device 200 Automatic driving level confirmation device 210 Driver identification unit 220 Driving location history information acquisition unit 230 IC card reading unit 240 Consent confirmation unit 242 Clock 244 Vehicle information storage unit 250 Driving history information creation / update unit

Claims (7)

In the automatic driving level confirmation device that asks the driver for consent regarding the automatic driving level before starting the operation of the first vehicle capable of automatic driving according to the automatic driving level.
Driver identification means to identify the driver and
The driving history information corresponding to the driver identified by the driver identifying means, including at least the automatic driving level and driving date of the second vehicle that the driver has previously agreed to regarding the automatic driving level. Driving history information acquisition means to acquire history information,
Before the start of driving of the first vehicle, if the automatic driving level of the second vehicle that was previously driven is different from the automatic driving level of the first vehicle that is being driven this time, the automatic driving level of the first vehicle. As a consent confirmation means that asks the driver for consent and omits the request for consent in the same case.
An automatic operation level confirmation device characterized by being equipped with. The automatic according to claim 1, wherein the consent confirmation means omits the request for consent when the second vehicle and the first vehicle are the same and the automatic driving level is the same. Operation level confirmation device. The consent confirmation means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the request for consent is omitted when the second vehicle and the first vehicle have the same conditions and the automatic driving level is the same. The described automatic operation level confirmation device. The automatic operation level confirmation device according to claim 3, wherein the case of the same condition is a case where all the manufacturers, models, and grades are the same. When the period from the day when the second vehicle was last driven to the day when the first vehicle is driven this time exceeds the reference value, the consent confirmation means is the first, regardless of the difference in the automatic driving level. The automatic driving level confirmation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the driver is requested to consent to the automatic driving level of the vehicle. The operation history information is stored in a portable storage medium, and is stored in a portable storage medium.
The automatic operation level confirmation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the operation history information acquisition means reads the operation history information from the storage medium. The operation history information is stored in association with the driver in an external device that can be connected via a predetermined network.
The invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the operation history information acquisition means acquires the operation history information corresponding to the driver from the external device by designating the driver. The described automatic operation level confirmation device.

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