JP7614820B2 - Operation control method and operation control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an operation control method and an operation control device.

The autonomous driving system described in Patent Document 1 calculates the degree of impact that a lane change by the vehicle itself will have on the surrounding traffic flow, and if the degree of impact exceeds the allowable upper limit, cancels the execution of the lane change by the vehicle itself to avoid excessive impact on other vehicles.

JP 2018-092484 A

However, the automated driving system of Patent Document 1 may cancel the execution of a lane change even if another vehicle traveling in the lane ahead of the lane change exhibits a behavior that allows the vehicle to change lanes.

The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to provide a driving control method and a driving control device that can determine whether or not to cancel the execution of a lane change of the vehicle itself based on the behavior of other vehicles traveling in the other lane where the lane change is to be made.

The present invention solves the above problem by calculating a yielding degree indicating the degree to which other vehicles will tolerate the lane change of the vehicle based on the behavior of other vehicles traveling in other lanes to which the vehicle is to change lanes when the degree of influence of the vehicle on other vehicles is higher than a first influence degree upper limit value, and canceling the execution of the lane change when the yielding degree is less than a preset yielding degree threshold value.

According to the present invention, if the yielding degree of the other vehicle is less than a preset yielding degree threshold, the execution of the lane change of the vehicle is canceled, so that it is possible to determine whether or not to cancel the execution of the lane change of the vehicle based on the behavior of the other vehicle traveling in the other lane to which the lane change is to be made.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an operation control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2(a) is a graph showing the change in target vehicle speed when the vehicle, controlled by the driving control device shown in Figure 1, performs a lane change, and Figure 2(b) is a graph showing the change in impact degree associated with the change in target vehicle speed of the vehicle shown in Figure 2(a). FIG. 3(a) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the vehicle and another vehicle controlled by the driving control device shown in FIG. 1 at the start of lane change execution, and FIG. 3(b) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the vehicle and another vehicle after lane change execution is completed. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the change in the degree of influence on other vehicles due to execution of lane change control of the host vehicle controlled by the driving control device shown in FIG. 1 and the first influence upper limit value and the second influence upper limit value. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of an operation control method using the operation control device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an operation control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of an operation control method using the operation control device shown in FIG. 6 . 7 is a graph showing a relationship between a change in influence degree and a predicted rate of change accompanying execution of lane change control of the host vehicle controlled by the driving control device shown in FIG. 6 .

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First Embodiment
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a driving control device 1 of a host vehicle 30 according to this embodiment. The driving control device 1 controls the driving of the host vehicle 30. As shown in Fig. 1, the driving control device 1 includes a detection unit 11, a map database 12, a host vehicle position detection unit 13, a drive control unit 14, and a processor 20.

The detection unit 11 is, for example, an external camera or a radar, and detects other vehicles. The external camera is an image sensor such as a CCD wide-angle camera, and is provided in front of, behind, and on both sides of the vehicle 30 as necessary, and captures images of the surroundings of the vehicle 30 to obtain image information. The external camera may be a stereo camera or an omnidirectional camera, and may include multiple image sensors. The radar is provided in front of, behind, and on both sides of the vehicle 30 as necessary, and irradiates millimeter waves or ultrasonic waves around the vehicle 30 to scan a predetermined range around the vehicle 30, and detects other vehicles and obstacles around the vehicle 30.

The map database 12 is a memory configured to store three-dimensional high-precision map information including the position information of various facilities and specific points, and to be accessible from the processor 20. The map database 12 stores high-precision digital map information (high-precision maps, dynamic maps). The high-precision map information includes identification information of lanes on roads. In addition, the destination of the vehicle 30 and the driving route from the current position of the vehicle 30 to the destination are set on the map in the map database 12.

The vehicle position detection unit 13 is composed of a GPS unit, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, etc. The vehicle position detection unit 13 detects radio waves transmitted from multiple satellite communications by the GPS unit, periodically acquires position information of the vehicle 30, and detects the current position of the vehicle 30 based on the acquired position information of the vehicle 30, angle change information acquired from the gyro sensor, and vehicle speed acquired from the vehicle speed sensor.

The drive control unit 14 uses an autonomous speed control function to control the acceleration or deceleration, the operation of the drive mechanism for adjusting the vehicle speed (including the operation of the internal combustion engine in an engine vehicle, the operation of the traction motor in an electric vehicle, and the torque distribution between the internal combustion engine and the traction motor in a hybrid vehicle), and the brake operation. In addition, the drive control unit 14 uses an autonomous steering control function to control the operation of the steering actuator, thereby performing steering control of the host vehicle 30.

The processor 20 is composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a program for controlling the operation of the vehicle 30, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes the program stored in the ROM, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that functions as an accessible storage device. As the operating circuit, a MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. can be used instead of or in addition to the CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 20 has a lane change planning unit 21, an influence degree calculation unit 22, an influence degree determination unit 23, a yield degree calculation unit 24, a yield degree determination unit 25, and a lane change feasibility determination unit 26. The lane change planning unit 21, the influence calculation unit 22, the influence determination unit 23, the yielding degree calculation unit 24, the yielding degree determination unit 25, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 execute programs to realize each function of the processor 20.

The lane change planning unit 21 plans the execution of a lane change for the host vehicle 30 based on information on other vehicles and obstacles around the host vehicle 30 detected by the detection unit 11, information on the driving route developed on the map in the map database 12, and information on the current position of the host vehicle 30 detected by the host vehicle position detection unit 13. Specifically, the lane change planning unit 21 determines which lane the host vehicle 30 should travel in at predetermined intervals along the driving route, and sets a target trajectory for the host vehicle 30, including the lane change. The lane change planning unit 21 also sets a target vehicle speed for the host vehicle 30 from the start to the completion of the execution of the lane change by the host vehicle 30.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the lane change planning unit 21 sets the target vehicle speed V so that the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 30 decelerates from the first vehicle speed V1 to the second vehicle speed V2, starting from the first time point T1 when the lane change control is started. Furthermore, the lane change planning unit 21 sets the target vehicle speed V so that the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 30 accelerates from the second time point T2 when the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 30 becomes the second vehicle speed V2, starting from the second time point T2 when the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 30 becomes the second vehicle speed V2, and becomes the first vehicle speed V1 again at the third time point T3 when the lane change control is completed. Note that, unless the processor 20 cancels the execution of the lane change of the host vehicle 30, the host vehicle 30 moves from the first lane 41 to the second lane 42 between the first time point T1 and the third time point T3, as shown in FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 3. The first vehicle speed V1 is a speed limit determined according to the traffic section, a speed set according to road conditions and weather, or a speed set by the driver of the vehicle 30. The second vehicle speed V2 is set based on the relative speed and relative position of either or both of the other vehicle 31 and the preceding vehicle 32 traveling in the second lane 42 with respect to the vehicle 30. "Performing a lane change" means that the vehicle 30 moves from the first lane 41 to the second lane 42 by the steering control and vehicle speed control executed by the driving control device 1 between the first time point T1 and the third time point T3.

When the vehicle 30 executes a lane change from the first lane 41 to the second lane 42, the influence calculation unit 22 shown in FIG. 1 calculates an influence F, which is an evaluation value of the magnitude of the influence that the lane change of the vehicle 30 is predicted to have on traffic flow, as shown in FIG. 2(b). Specifically, the influence calculation unit 22 sets a virtual other vehicle 33 traveling behind the vehicle 30 as shown in FIG. 3(a), and calculates the deceleration of the virtual other vehicle 33 as the influence F when it is assumed that the virtual other vehicle 33 travels following the target vehicle speed V of the vehicle 30.

The impact level F shown in FIG. 2(b) is 0 at the first time point T1 when the vehicle 30 executes a lane change. The impact level F first increases from the first time point T1 and then becomes a constant value. The impact level F then decreases until it reaches the second time point T2, at which point it becomes 0.

The influence degree determination unit 23 shown in FIG. 1 determines whether the influence degree F may become higher than the first influence degree upper limit value L1 set in advance between the first time point T1 and the second time point T2, as shown in FIG. 4. Specifically, the influence degree determination unit 23 determines that the influence degree F may become higher than the first influence degree upper limit value L1 if the influence degree F exceeds the first influence degree upper limit value L1 even once between the first time point T1 and the third time point T3. The first influence degree upper limit value L1 is a threshold value used by the lane change possibility determination unit 26 described later to determine whether the host vehicle 30 can change lanes, and is set to become higher as time progresses. In other words, the first influence degree upper limit value L1 is set to gradually relax the condition of the influence degree F for the lane change possibility determination unit 26 to permit the host vehicle 30 to change lanes as time progresses after the lane change control is started.

In addition, when the influence degree determination unit 23 determines that the influence degree F may be higher than the first influence degree upper limit value L1, the yield degree calculation unit 24 shown in FIG. 1 calculates the yield degree of the other vehicle 31 based on the behavior of the other vehicle 31. The yield degree is an evaluation value indicating the degree to which the other vehicle 31 allows the host vehicle 30 to change lanes. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, when it is detected that the other vehicle 31 is decelerating, the yield degree is calculated according to a predicted inter-vehicle distance D between the other vehicle 31 and the preceding vehicle 32 ahead of the other vehicle 31 at a third time point T3, which is the scheduled lane change completion time of the host vehicle 30. When the other vehicle 31 is decelerating, the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is calculated based on the behavior of the other vehicle 31 detected by the detection unit 11 (the position, the vehicle speed, or the deceleration of the other vehicle 31). The yielding degree calculation unit 24 calculates the yielding degree based on the behavior of the other vehicle 31 after the host vehicle 30 traveling in the first lane 41 starts decelerating for a lane change. The yielding degree calculation unit 24 also calculates the predicted inter-vehicle distance D under the assumption that the other vehicle 31 decelerates at a constant deceleration. The yielding degree calculation unit 24 also calculates the predicted inter-vehicle distance D under the assumption that the preceding vehicle 32 travels at a constant vehicle speed.
The yielding degree calculation unit 24 may calculate the yielding degree of the other vehicle 31 based only on the deceleration of the other vehicle 31. Furthermore, when the other vehicle 31 is accelerating, the yielding degree calculation unit 24 may calculate the yielding degree as 0. That is, the yielding degree calculation unit 24 calculates the yielding degree of the other vehicle 31 based on any one or more of the position, the vehicle speed, the acceleration, and the deceleration of the other vehicle 31.

The yielding degree determination unit 25 shown in FIG. 1 determines whether the yielding degree of the other vehicle 31 is equal to or greater than a preset yielding degree threshold. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the yielding degree determination unit 25 determines whether the predicted inter-vehicle distance D between the other vehicle 31 and the preceding vehicle 32 predicted at the third time point T3, which is the scheduled lane change completion time of the vehicle 30, is predicted to be equal to or greater than a preset reference distance D0. That is, if the yielding degree is 1 when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is equal to or greater than the reference distance D0, the yielding degree is 0 when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is less than the reference distance D0, and the yielding degree threshold is 1, when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is equal to or greater than the reference distance D0, the yielding degree (1) is determined to be equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold (1). On the other hand, when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is less than the reference distance D0, the yielding degree is determined to be less than the yielding degree threshold.

The reference distance D0 shown in FIG. 3(b) is the lower limit of the distance that the host vehicle 30 can be between the other vehicle 31 and the preceding other vehicle 32. The reference distance D0 is set to a distance that the host vehicle 30, having completed a lane change to the second lane 42, can travel while maintaining the necessary distance between the other vehicle 31 behind and the preceding other vehicle 32 ahead. The reference distance D0 is, for example, 10 m, but is not limited to this, and is set appropriately depending on the overall length of the host vehicle 30 and the first vehicle speed V1.

The yielding degree may be a value other than 0 or 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the processor 20 may set a necessary distance range Da downstream of the range indicated by the reference distance D0, and calculate the ratio of the difference Db between the reference distance D0 and the predicted inter-vehicle distance D to the necessary distance range Da as the yielding degree. For example, when the ratio of the difference Db between the reference distance D0 and the predicted inter-vehicle distance D to the necessary distance range Da is 0.2, the yielding degree is calculated as 0.2. That is, the yielding degree is calculated to be larger as the predicted inter-vehicle distance D becomes wider. In this case, the yielding degree threshold is set to 0, and when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is less than the reference distance D0, the yielding degree is determined to be less than the yielding degree threshold (0).
Moreover, the processor 20 may calculate the predicted inter-vehicle distance D as the yielding degree, and calculate the reference distance D0 as the yielding degree threshold value.

Furthermore, when the yielding degree determination unit 25 determines that the yielding degree is equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold, the impact determination unit 23 sets the second impact upper limit value L2, which is a value higher than the first impact upper limit value L1, as shown in FIG. 4. Then, the impact determination unit 23 determines whether the impact degree F is higher than the second impact upper limit value L2. If the impact degree F exceeds the second impact upper limit value L2 even once between the first time point T1 and the second time point T2, the impact determination unit 23 determines that the impact degree F may be higher than the second impact upper limit value L2. The second impact upper limit value L2 is set to increase as time progresses, similar to the first impact upper limit value L1. Note that the second impact upper limit value L2 is not limited to a predetermined value and may be calculated according to the yielding degree. That is, the higher the yielding degree, the higher the second impact upper limit value L2 may be set. For example, if the greater the predicted inter-vehicle distance D, the greater the calculated yielding degree, the greater the predicted inter-vehicle distance D, the higher the second influence upper limit value L2 may be set.

Furthermore, the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 shown in FIG. 1 determines whether to permit or cancel the execution of the lane change of the vehicle 30 planned by the lane change planning unit 21 based on the results of the determinations by the influence degree determination unit 23 and the yield degree determination unit 25. The specific procedure by which the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 determines whether or not to execute a lane change will be described later. The lane change feasibility determination unit 26 outputs a control command based on whether or not to execute a lane change of the vehicle 30 to the drive control unit 14.

In addition, when the lane change is permitted by the lane change feasibility determination unit 26, the drive control unit 14 executes steering control and vehicle speed control of the host vehicle 30 based on the target trajectory and target speed generated by the lane change planning unit 21. That is, the processor 20 executes lane change control of the host vehicle 30 via the drive control unit 14. On the other hand, when the lane change is canceled by the lane change feasibility determination unit 26, the drive control unit 14 does not execute lane change control.

Next, referring to FIG. 5, a procedure for the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 to determine whether to permit or cancel the execution of a lane change by the vehicle 30 will be described. Note that "permitting the execution of a lane change by the vehicle 30" includes permitting the continued execution of a lane change by the vehicle 30 after the driving control device 1 has started lane change control of the vehicle 30.

First, in step S1, the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 starts executing lane change control. That is, in step S1, the host vehicle 30 starts decelerating to change lanes at a first time point T1. The processor 20 executes lane change control based on the driver's input of a lane change instruction, or on information such as lane branching points and merging points on the driving route set on the map database 12.

Next, in step S2, the impact calculation unit 22 calculates the impact F shown in FIG. 2(b). Furthermore, in step S3, the impact determination unit 23 determines whether or not the impact F may become higher than the first impact upper limit value L1, as shown in FIG. 4. If it is determined in step S3 that the impact F will not become higher than the first impact upper limit value L1, control proceeds to step S8, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 permits the host vehicle 30 to continue executing the lane change.

If it is determined in step S3 that the impact degree F may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value L1, control proceeds to step S4, where the yield degree calculation unit 24 calculates the yield degree based on the behavior of the other vehicle 31. Next, in step S5, the yield degree determination unit 25 determines whether the yield degree is equal to or higher than the yield degree threshold. If it is determined in step S5 that the yield degree is less than the yield degree threshold, control proceeds to step S9, where the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 cancels the execution of the lane change of the vehicle 30. In other words, if it is determined that the impact degree F may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value L1, and if it is determined that the yield degree of the other vehicle 31 is less than the yield degree threshold, the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 cancels the execution of the lane change of the vehicle 30.

If it is determined in step S5 that the yielding degree is equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold, control proceeds to step S6, where the impact determination unit 23 sets the second impact upper limit value L2. Then, in step S7, the impact determination unit 23 determines whether the impact degree F can be higher than the second impact upper limit value L2.

If it is determined in step S7 that the impact level F may be higher than the second impact level upper limit value L2, control proceeds to step S9, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 cancels the execution of the lane change of the vehicle 30. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S7 that the impact level F will not be higher than the second impact level upper limit value L2, control proceeds to step S8, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 allows the vehicle 30 to continue executing the lane change.

In this embodiment, the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 determines whether to permit the host vehicle 30 to continue or cancel the lane change after the host vehicle 30 starts the lane change, but this is not limited thereto, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 may determine whether to execute the lane change before the host vehicle 30 starts the lane change. For example, if the impact determination unit 23 determines that the impact F will not become higher than the first impact upper limit value L1 before the first time point T1, the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 permits the host vehicle 30 to execute the lane change before the driving control device 1 starts lane change control.

As described above, the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 according to this embodiment calculates the impact degree F when the vehicle 30 executes a lane change, and determines whether the impact degree F may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value L1. If the processor 20 determines that the impact degree F may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value L1, it calculates the yield degree based on the behavior of the other vehicle 31, determines whether the yield degree is equal to or higher than the yield degree threshold, and cancels the execution of the lane change if the yield degree is less than the yield degree threshold. This allows the driving control device 1 to determine whether to cancel the execution of the lane change based not only on the impact degree F but also on the yield degree based on the behavior of the other vehicle 31 actually detected by the detection unit 11.

In addition, when the degree of yielding is determined to be equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold, the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 determines whether the impact degree F may be higher than the second impact degree upper limit value L2, and cancels the execution of the lane change when it is determined that the impact degree F may be higher than the second impact degree upper limit value L2. In other words, when the degree of yielding is equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold, the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 changes the threshold used to determine whether to cancel the execution of the lane change from the first impact degree upper limit value L1 to the second impact degree upper limit value L2, which is higher than the first impact degree upper limit value L1. As a result, when the other vehicle 31 behaves in a manner that allows the lane change of the host vehicle 30, the processor 20 can permit the execution of the lane change according to the driving conditions of the host vehicle 30, even if the impact degree F may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value L1.

The processor 20 of the driving control device 1 also calculates the degree of yielding based on one or more of the position, vehicle speed, acceleration, and deceleration of the other vehicle 31. This allows the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 to predict whether the other vehicle 31 will behave in a manner that allows the host vehicle 30, which is changing lanes, to move in front of the other vehicle 31, based on one or more of the position, vehicle speed, acceleration, and deceleration of the other vehicle 31, and calculate the degree of yielding.

In addition, when the other vehicle 31 is decelerating, the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 determines whether or not the predicted inter-vehicle distance D between the other vehicle 31 and the preceding vehicle 32 is predicted to be equal to or greater than the reference distance D0 at the scheduled lane change completion time (third time point T3) of the host vehicle 30 based on the position, vehicle speed, or deceleration of the other vehicle 31. Then, when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D is predicted to be less than the reference distance D0, the processor 20 determines that the yielding degree is less than the yielding degree threshold. This allows the processor 20 of the driving control device 1 to determine whether or not the other vehicle 31 is decelerating so that the predicted inter-vehicle distance D between the other vehicle 31 and the preceding vehicle 32 is equal to or greater than the reference distance D0, that is, whether or not the other vehicle 31 allows the host vehicle 30 to enter in front of the other vehicle 31. In addition, when the predicted inter-vehicle distance D at the third time point T3 is predicted to be less than the reference distance D0, the processor 20 cancels the execution of the lane change, thereby preventing the host vehicle 30 from forcibly changing lanes.

The processor 20 also calculates the deceleration of the virtual other vehicle 33 behind the host vehicle 30 as the impact degree F when it is assumed that the virtual other vehicle 33 travels at a speed following the host vehicle 30. This allows the impact degree calculation unit 22 of the processor 20 to calculate the impact degree F that is predicted to be caused by a change in the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 30 on the traffic flow around the host vehicle 30, in particular on the vehicle behind the host vehicle 30, as a specific numerical value.

In addition, when the processor 20 determines that the yielding degree is equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold, the processor 20 may set the second influence upper limit value L2 higher as the yielding degree increases. As a result, when the other vehicle 31 behaves in a manner that more actively allows the host vehicle 30 to change lanes, the processor 20 can allow a larger influence degree F. Thus, the host vehicle 30 can execute a lane change with less awkward behavior according to the behavior of the other vehicle 31.

Second Embodiment
An operation control device 201 according to the second embodiment and an operation control method using the operation control device 201 will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the following description, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 1 to 5 denote the same or similar configurations, processes, and times, and therefore detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the processor 220 of the driving control device 201 includes a lane change planning unit 21, an influence calculation unit 22, an influence determination unit 23, a yielding degree calculation unit 24, a yielding degree determination unit 25, and a lane change feasibility determination unit 26, as well as a predicted change rate calculation unit 27 and a predicted change rate determination unit 28. The lane change planning unit 21, the influence calculation unit 22, the influence determination unit 23, the yielding degree calculation unit 24, the yielding degree determination unit 25, the lane change feasibility determination unit 26, the predicted change rate calculation unit 27, and the predicted change rate determination unit 28 execute programs for implementing the respective functions of the processor 220.

The predicted change rate calculation unit 27 shown in FIG. 6 calculates the predicted change rate of the impact F calculated by the impact calculation unit 22. The predicted change rate of the impact F is represented in FIG. 8 as the slope of the tangent line G of the graph of the impact F. Specifically, the predicted change rate of the impact F is the rate of change of the deceleration of the virtual other vehicle 33 shown in FIG. 3(a).

The predicted change rate determination unit 28 shown in FIG. 6 determines whether the predicted change rate of the impact degree F may be higher than a preset upper change rate limit value. Specifically, the upper change rate limit value is the upper limit value of the rate of change of the deceleration within a range in which the deceleration of the virtual other vehicle 33 shown in FIG. 3(a) does not become an excessively rapid deceleration. Note that the upper change rate limit value may be a fixed value, or may be set appropriately depending on the traffic conditions, road conditions, weather, etc.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a determination procedure for the processor 220 of the driving control device 201 to determine whether to permit or cancel the execution of a lane change by the host vehicle 30 will be described.
In this embodiment, when the influence determination unit 23 determines in step S7 that the influence F will not be higher than the second influence upper limit value L2, the control proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the predicted change rate calculation unit 27 calculates the predicted change rate of the influence F.

Next, control proceeds to step S12, where the predicted change rate determination unit 28 determines whether the predicted change rate of the impact degree F can be higher than the upper change rate limit value.

If it is determined in step S12 that the predicted rate of change of the impact degree F may be higher than the upper rate of change, control proceeds to step S9, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 cancels the execution of the lane change of the vehicle 30. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that the predicted rate of change of the impact degree F will not be higher than the upper rate of change, control proceeds to step S8, and the lane change feasibility determination unit 26 allows the vehicle 30 to continue executing the lane change.

In view of the above, the processor 220 of the driving control device 201 according to this embodiment cancels the execution of the lane change of the host vehicle 30 when it is determined that the predicted rate of change of the impact degree F may be higher than the upper change rate value. As a result, even if it is determined that the yielding degree of the other vehicle 31 is equal to or higher than the yielding degree threshold, the processor 220 can prevent the predicted impact of the lane change of the host vehicle 30 on the traffic flow from becoming excessively large. In addition, the processor 220 can prevent the host vehicle 30, which is traveling while decelerating in the first lane 41, from getting too close to the other vehicle behind the host vehicle 30 due to excessive sudden deceleration between the first time point T1 and the second time point T2.

1, 201... Driving control device 20, 220... Processor 22... Influence calculation unit 23... Influence determination unit 24... Yield calculation unit 25... Yield determination unit 26... Lane change feasibility determination unit 30... Vehicle 31... Other vehicle 32... Leading other vehicle 33... Virtual other vehicle 41... First lane 42... Second lane D... Vehicle distance D0... Reference distance F... Influence L1... First influence upper limit value L2... Second influence upper limit value

Claims (8)

A driving control method using a processor of a driving control device that executes lane change control to autonomously change a host vehicle traveling in a first lane to a second lane different from the first lane, comprising:
The processor,
Calculating an impact degree, which is an evaluation value of a magnitude of an impact that a lane change of the host vehicle is predicted to have on a traffic flow when the host vehicle executes a lane change from the first lane to the second lane;
determining whether the degree of influence is higher than a first upper limit value of the degree of influence that is set in advance;
When it is determined that the impact degree may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value,
Calculating a yielding degree, which is an evaluation value indicating a degree to which the other vehicle allows the host vehicle to change lanes, based on a behavior of the other vehicle traveling in the second lane;
determining whether the yield level is equal to or greater than a preset yield level threshold;
When it is determined that the yielding degree is less than the yielding degree threshold value, the execution of the lane change of the host vehicle is canceled;
When it is determined that the yielding degree is equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold value, a second influence degree upper limit value higher than the first influence degree upper limit value is set;
determining whether the degree of influence can be higher than the second upper limit value of the degree of influence;
A driving control method , comprising: canceling execution of a lane change of the host vehicle when it is determined that the impact degree may become higher than the second impact degree upper limit value. The operation control method according to claim 1 , wherein the processor sets the second influence upper limit value higher as the degree of yielding increases. A driving control method using a processor of a driving control device that executes lane change control to autonomously change a host vehicle traveling in a first lane to a second lane different from the first lane, comprising:
The processor,
Calculating an impact degree, which is an evaluation value of a magnitude of an impact that a lane change of the host vehicle is predicted to have on a traffic flow when the host vehicle executes a lane change from the first lane to the second lane;
determining whether the degree of influence is higher than a first upper limit value of the degree of influence that is set in advance;
When it is determined that the impact degree may be higher than the first impact degree upper limit value,
Calculating a yielding degree, which is an evaluation value indicating a degree to which the other vehicle allows the host vehicle to change lanes, based on a behavior of the other vehicle traveling in the second lane;
determining whether the yield level is equal to or greater than a preset yield level threshold;
When it is determined that the yielding degree is less than the yielding degree threshold value, the execution of the lane change of the host vehicle is canceled;
When it is determined that the yielding degree is equal to or greater than the yielding degree threshold, a predicted rate of change in the influence degree is calculated;
determining whether the predicted rate of change is likely to be higher than a preset upper limit value of the rate of change;
A driving control method comprising: canceling execution of a lane change of the host vehicle when it is determined that the predicted change rate may become higher than the change rate upper limit value. The processor,
4. The driving control method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of calculating the yielding degree based on at least one of a position, a vehicle speed, an acceleration, and a deceleration of the other vehicle. The processor,
When the other vehicle is decelerating, based on a position, a vehicle speed, or a deceleration of the other vehicle, it is determined whether or not a predicted inter-vehicle distance between the other vehicle in the second lane and a preceding vehicle ahead of the other vehicle is predicted to be equal to or greater than a predetermined reference distance at a scheduled lane change completion time of the host vehicle;
5. The driving control method according to claim 1 , further comprising determining that the yielding degree is less than the yielding degree threshold value when the predicted inter-vehicle distance is predicted to be less than the reference distance. The processor,
A virtual other vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle is set,
6. The driving control method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of calculating, as the degree of influence, a deceleration of the imaginary other vehicle when it is assumed that the imaginary other vehicle travels following a vehicle speed of the host vehicle. A driving control device having a processor that executes lane change control to autonomously change a host vehicle traveling in a first lane to a second lane different from the first lane,
The processor,
an influence degree calculation unit that calculates an influence degree, which is an evaluation value of a magnitude of an influence that a lane change of the host vehicle is predicted to have on a traffic flow when the host vehicle executes a lane change from the first lane to the second lane;
an influence determining unit that determines whether the influence level is higher than a first influence level upper limit value that is set in advance;
a yielding degree calculation unit that calculates a yielding degree, which is an evaluation value indicating a degree to which the other vehicle traveling in the second lane will allow the host vehicle to change lanes, based on a behavior of the other vehicle traveling in the second lane when it is determined that the influence degree may be higher than the first influence degree upper limit value;
a yield degree determination unit that determines whether the yield degree is equal to or greater than a preset yield degree threshold;
a lane change possibility determination unit that cancels execution of a lane change of the host vehicle when it is determined that the yielding degree is less than the yielding degree threshold value ;
the impact degree determination unit, when it is determined that the yield degree is equal to or greater than the yield degree threshold value, sets a second impact degree upper limit value higher than the first impact degree upper limit value, and determines whether or not the impact degree can become higher than the second impact degree upper limit value;
the lane change feasibility determination unit cancels execution of the lane change of the host vehicle when it is determined that the impact degree may be higher than the second impact degree upper limit value.
Operation control device. A driving control device having a processor that executes lane change control to autonomously change a host vehicle traveling in a first lane to a second lane different from the first lane,
The processor,
an influence degree calculation unit that calculates an influence degree, which is an evaluation value of a magnitude of an influence that a lane change of the host vehicle is predicted to have on a traffic flow when the host vehicle executes a lane change from the first lane to the second lane;
an influence determining unit that determines whether the influence level is higher than a first influence level upper limit value that is set in advance;
a yielding degree calculation unit that calculates a yielding degree, which is an evaluation value indicating a degree to which the other vehicle traveling in the second lane will allow the host vehicle to change lanes, based on a behavior of the other vehicle traveling in the second lane when it is determined that the influence degree may be higher than the first influence degree upper limit value;
a yield degree determination unit that determines whether the yield degree is equal to or greater than a preset yield degree threshold;
a lane change possibility determination unit that cancels execution of a lane change of the host vehicle when it is determined that the yielding degree is less than the yielding degree threshold value ;
a predicted change rate calculation unit that calculates a predicted change rate of the influence degree when it is determined that the yield degree is equal to or greater than the yield degree threshold;
a predicted change rate determination unit that determines whether the predicted change rate is likely to be higher than a preset change rate upper limit value,
The lane change feasibility determination unit cancels execution of a lane change of the host vehicle when it is determined that the predicted change rate may be higher than the change rate upper limit value.

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