JP7626255B2 - Map update system, in-vehicle device and management server - Google Patents

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on Patent Application No. 2022-010350 filed in Japan on January 26, 2022, and the contents of the original application are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

The disclosure in this specification relates to a map update system, an in-vehicle device, and a management server that update map information.

The device described in Patent Document 1 compares the position and shape of features detected by an external sensor mounted on the vehicle with feature information stored in a memory unit as map data. If it determines that there has been a change in the feature detected by the external sensor, it transmits difference information to a server. The server updates the advanced map database based on the difference information.

International Publication No. 2017/212639

In Patent Document 1, the advanced map database is updated when feature information included in the advanced map database differs from the map position and shape detected by a sensor mounted on a vehicle that actually traveled through the area. However, even if the map information does not correctly represent actual roads, features, etc., it is not necessarily necessary to update the map information. When using map information to control vehicle behavior, if there is no effect on vehicle control, it is not necessarily necessary to update the map information.

The device described in the aforementioned Patent Document 1 only uploads a flag indicating the presence or absence of difference information, so there is a problem in that it is not possible to grasp the degree of change in a feature. For example, when the change specification flag described in Patent Document 1 indicates a change in the position of a feature, there is a problem in that it is unclear whether the amount of position change was just at the limit that could be considered a change specification flag, or whether the position has changed significantly. If detailed difference information such as the amount of position change is unknown, it is not possible to determine whether or not the map needs to be updated. Therefore, even if the difference is minor and updating of the map information is not necessary, there is a problem in that constantly updating the map information just because there is a difference increases the effort required to update the map information.

Therefore, the disclosed objective has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a map update system, an in-vehicle device, and a management server that can suppress updates of non-essential map information.

This disclosure employs the following technical means to achieve the aforementioned objectives:

The map updating system disclosed herein is a map updating system that updates map information stored in a memory unit located in a vehicle, and includes an information generation unit that generates change information indicating a difference between the surrounding information and the map information when the surrounding information detected by a surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle differs from the map information, an update judgment unit that uses the change information to judge whether or not the map information needs to be updated, and a threshold determination unit that determines a threshold for determining whether or not to update the map information, wherein the information generation unit generates change information including an amount of change in the position of a target feature when the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of a target feature, the update judgment unit statistically processes the multiple pieces of change information when it has acquired change information from a plurality of vehicles, the threshold determination unit changes the threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information, and the update judgment unit uses the threshold determined by the threshold determination unit to judge whether or not the map information needs to be updated .

According to such a map update system, when the surrounding information detected by the surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle differs from the map information, the information generation unit generates change information indicating the difference between the surrounding information and the map information. When the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature, the change information is information including the amount of change in the position of the feature. This makes it possible to know the amount of change in the position of the feature, and therefore to grasp whether the change in position is minor. This allows the update determination unit to determine not to update the map if the change in position is minor, and makes it possible to suppress updates of non-essential map information.

The disclosed in-vehicle device is an in-vehicle device that is mounted on a vehicle and used, and includes: a memory unit that stores map information; an information generation unit that generates change information indicating a difference between the surrounding information detected by a surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle and the map information when the surrounding information differs from the map information ; a threshold determination unit that determines a threshold for determining whether to update the map information; a vehicle communication unit that communicates with a management server and transmits the change information and the threshold to the management server and receives new map information from the management server; and a map update unit that updates the map information in the memory unit when the new map information is received from the management server, wherein the information generation unit generates change information including an amount of change in the position of the feature if the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of a target feature , and the threshold determination unit changes the threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information .

According to such an in-vehicle device, when the surrounding information detected by the surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle differs from the map information, change information indicating the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is generated by the information generation unit. When the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature, the change information is information including the amount of change in the position of the feature. This makes it possible to know the amount of change in the position of the feature, and therefore to grasp whether the change in position is minor. Since such change information is transmitted to the management server, the management server can determine not to update the map if the change in position is minor, and can suppress updates of non-essential map information.

Further, the disclosed management server is a management server that communicates with on-board devices mounted on a plurality of vehicles and manages map information stored in a memory unit of the on-board devices, and includes a server communication unit that communicates with the on-board devices, an update judgment unit that, when receiving change information from the plurality of on-board devices, statistically processes the plurality of change information and determines whether or not to update the map information, a threshold determination unit that determines a threshold for determining whether or not to update the map information, and a control unit that controls the server communication unit to transmit the updated map information to the on-board device when the map information is to be updated, the change information is information generated when surrounding information detected by a surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle differs from the map information stored in the memory unit, and when the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of a target feature, the change information includes an amount of change in the position of the feature, the update judgment unit statistically processes the plurality of change information when the change information is acquired from the plurality of vehicles, the threshold determination unit changes the threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information, and the update judgment unit uses the threshold determined by the threshold determination unit to determine whether or not to update the map information .

According to such a management server, when the surrounding information detected by the surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle differs from the map information, change information indicating the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is received. When the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature, the change information is information including the amount of change in the position of the feature. This makes it possible to know the amount of change in the position of the feature, and therefore to grasp whether the change in position is minor. This allows the update determination unit to determine not to update the map when the change in position is minor, and makes it possible to suppress updates of non-essential map information.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a map updating system according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an in-vehicle system 10. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of the in-vehicle device 60. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a management server 80. 10 is a flowchart showing the process of a server control unit 83. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of an in-vehicle device 60 according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of a server control unit 83 according to the second embodiment.

First Embodiment
A first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a map updating system 100 of the present embodiment. The map updating system 100 updates map information stored in a vehicle storage unit 30 located in a vehicle 200. The map updating system 100 includes an in-vehicle system 10 mounted on the vehicle 200, and a management server 80 installed at an arbitrary position outside the vehicle 200. The in-vehicle system 10 and the management server 80 can communicate with each other via a communication line network 300.

First, the configuration of the in-vehicle system 10 will be described with reference to Figure 2. The in-vehicle system 10 comprises an in-vehicle sensor 20, a vehicle memory unit 30, a vehicle communication unit 40, a vehicle control unit 50, and an in-vehicle device 60. These are connected to an in-vehicle LAN 11 and communicate with each other via the in-vehicle LAN 11. The vehicle communication unit 40 is a communication unit that performs wireless communication, and communicates with other devices, such as a management server 80, via a communication line network 300.

The on-board sensor 20 is a sensor mounted on the vehicle 200 to detect various information used for vehicle control. The on-board sensor 20 includes a surrounding detection sensor 21, a GNSS receiver 24, an inertial sensor 25, and a driver operation detection sensor 26. In addition to these, the on-board sensor 20 may include other sensors, such as a sensor that detects the driver's state.

The periphery detection sensor 21 is mounted on the vehicle 200 and detects various objects present around the vehicle 200. The objects include planar objects such as road markings and lane markings. FIG. 2 shows a camera 22 and a Lidar 23 as the periphery detection sensor 21. The camera 22 captures an image in front of the vehicle 200. The camera 22 may also capture an image of the side and rear of the vehicle 200. The Lidar 23 detects the position of objects present around the vehicle 200 by projecting and receiving light. The periphery detection sensor 21 may also include other sensors, such as a millimeter wave radar, that detect objects present around the vehicle 200 in addition to or instead of these.

The GNSS receiver 24 receives navigation signals transmitted by navigation satellites included in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), a satellite navigation system, and sequentially calculates the current position based on the received navigation signals. The inertial sensor 25 is a sensor that detects inertia occurring in the vehicle 200, and includes one or both of an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor. The GNSS receiver 24 and the inertial sensor 25 are sensors for sequentially detecting the current position of the vehicle 200. Since changes in the current position indicate the behavior of the vehicle 200, the GNSS receiver 24 and the inertial sensor 25 are sensors that detect information indicating the behavior of the vehicle 200.

The driver operation detection sensor 26 is a sensor that detects input operations made by the driver to change or maintain the behavior of the vehicle 200. The driver operation detection sensor 26 is an accelerator sensor, a brake sensor, a steering sensor, a shift position sensor, etc.

The vehicle memory unit 30 is writable and stores various information. The vehicle memory unit 30 does not need to be installed in the vehicle 200 at all times, and may be detachable from the vehicle 200. For example, after the user stops the vehicle 200, the vehicle memory unit 30 may be detached and connected to another information terminal in another location, such as a company, for use.

A flash memory can be used for the vehicle storage unit 30. A map database (hereinafter referred to as map DB) is stored in the vehicle storage unit 30. The map DB includes map information. The map information includes specific information for identifying road signs, road markings, and dividing lines. Road signs, road markings, and dividing lines are stipulated by law and are provided to ensure safe and smooth traffic movement on roads. Road signs are, for example, guide signs, warning signs, regulatory signs, and directional signs. The specific information is information for identifying the type and content of these. The map information is realized, for example, by map information called a high-precision map.

A high-precision map is a three-dimensional map that includes information about features that exist around the road. Features include traffic lights and road signs. Information about traffic lights is traffic light information that identifies the traffic light, such as the coordinates of the traffic light, the shape of the traffic light, and its size. A high-precision map includes not only three-dimensional information, but also planar information that exists on the surface of the road. Planar information is, for example, the type of road markings, the position of the road markings, the position of the lane markings, and the type of lane markings.

The vehicle control unit 50 acquires behavior information indicating the behavior of the vehicle 200 and surrounding information indicating objects present around the vehicle 200 from the on-board sensors 20. The vehicle control unit 50 also acquires map information from a map DB stored in the vehicle memory unit 30. The vehicle control unit 50 uses this acquired information to execute vehicle control that controls the behavior of the vehicle 200. The vehicle control unit 50 can be realized by a configuration including at least one processor.

One example of vehicle control is traffic light stop control. Traffic light stop control is control that stops the vehicle at the stop line when the light at the target traffic light is red and the vehicle is not traveling in a driving lane in the direction indicated by the arrow light. When multiple traffic lights are detected by the periphery detection sensor 21, which one is the target traffic light is determined from the position and orientation of the traffic light relative to the vehicle 200. Traffic light stop control uses traffic light information stored in the map information to identify the target traffic light from the traffic lights detected by the periphery detection sensor 21. Then, it is determined which light is on at the identified target traffic light.

Another example of vehicle control is lane keeping control. Lane keeping control is a control in which the vehicle automatically travels in the same lane while sequentially detecting the positions of the marking lines and the vehicle 200 in the vehicle width direction. Lane keeping control is performed using the positions and shapes of the marking lines recognized using the perimeter detection sensor 21 and the positions and shapes of the marking lines included in the map information.

The in-vehicle device 60 is mounted on the vehicle 200 for use. The in-vehicle device 60 can be realized by a configuration including at least one processor. For example, the in-vehicle device 60 can be realized by a computer including a processor, a non-volatile memory, a RAM, an I/O, and a bus line connecting these components. The non-volatile memory stores a program for operating a general-purpose computer as the in-vehicle device 60. The processor executes the program stored in the non-volatile memory while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM. As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle device 60 has, as functional blocks, an information generation unit 61, an accuracy calculation unit 62, and a map update unit 63. Execution by these functional blocks means that a method corresponding to the program is executed.

When the surrounding information detected by the surrounding detection sensor 21 differs from the map information in the map DB, the information generation unit 61 generates change information indicating the difference between the surrounding information and the map information. Differences between the surrounding information and the map information include, for example, differences in the positions of features, differences in the positions of road markings, differences in the line types of lane markings, etc. When determining whether there is a difference between the surrounding information and the map information, the information generation unit 61 does not need to generate change information if the difference can be considered a detection error of the surrounding detection sensor 21.

When the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature, the information generating unit 61 generates change information including the amount of change in the position of the feature. When the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is, for example, 100 mm in the position of the feature, the change information includes information including the amount of change of 100 mm.

When there is a difference between the specific information of the surrounding information and the specific information of the map information, the information generation unit 61 generates change information that includes both the specific information of the surrounding information and the specific information of the map information. For example, when the dividing line is a dashed line in the surrounding information and a solid line in the map information, the change information includes information that the dividing line is a dashed line in the surrounding information and information that the dividing line is a solid line in the map information. In other words, the change information includes information on both the surrounding information and the map information.

The accuracy calculation unit 62 calculates the detection accuracy of the surrounding information of the surrounding detection sensor 21 using at least one of the position of the vehicle 200, the weather at the position of the vehicle 200, the road surface conditions around the vehicle 200, and the detection time of the surrounding information. The detection accuracy of the surrounding detection sensor 21 changes due to various external factors. For example, when the vehicle 200 is running through a group of high-rise buildings, there are many shadows of the high-rise buildings on the road surface, and the detection accuracy decreases due to the contrast between the shadows and the sunlight. Also, when the vehicle 200 is located in a downtown area, there is a lot of on-street parking in the downtown area, so the detection accuracy of the lane markings decreases due to on-street parking. Also, when the vehicle 200 is running through a tunnel, the brightness changes rapidly between inside and outside the tunnel near the entrance and exit of the tunnel, so the detection accuracy decreases. Therefore, the detection accuracy differs depending on the position of the vehicle 200.

Furthermore, when road conditions deteriorate due to rain or snow, the detection accuracy of road markings decreases. Therefore, detection accuracy differs depending on the weather at the location of the vehicle 200. For example, whether it is raining may be determined based on the operation status of the wipers, or weather information may be obtained from another device via the vehicle communication unit 40. Furthermore, at the detection times of the setting sun and the rising sun, the sun may be low in position, making it difficult for the camera 22 to take an image. Therefore, detection accuracy decreases depending on the detection time.

The accuracy calculation unit 62 calculates the detection accuracy of the surrounding information taking into account factors that affect the detection accuracy as described above. As described above, for example, if the position of the vehicle 200 is in a busy area, the detection accuracy of the lane markings may be low, so the detection accuracy of the lane markings is set low. If there is a risk of a decrease in detection accuracy based on the position of the vehicle 200, the weather at the position of the vehicle 200, the road surface conditions around the vehicle 200, and the detection time of the surrounding information, the detection accuracy is set low.

Such detection accuracy is calculated using a preset control map and a calculation formula set based on the correlation. The accuracy calculation unit 62 calculates the detection accuracy periodically, for example every few seconds. The accuracy calculation unit 62 stores the calculated accuracy together with the calculation time and calculation position as accuracy information in the vehicle memory unit 30.

When new map information is provided, the map update unit 63 updates the map information in the map DB. When the vehicle communication unit 40 receives new map information from the management server 80, the map update unit 63 updates the map information in the map DB.

Next, the control of the information generating unit 61 will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 3. The flowchart shown in Figure 3 is repeatedly executed by the in-vehicle device 60 in a short period of time.

In step S1, the surrounding area information is compared with the map information, and the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, it is determined whether there is a difference between the surrounding area information and the map information. If there is a difference, the process proceeds to step S3. If there is no difference, the process ends.

In step S3, since there is a difference, change information is generated and the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, control is performed so that accuracy information is sent from the vehicle communication unit 40 to the management server 80 together with the change information, and this flow is terminated.

As a result, if there is a difference between the surrounding information and the map information, the change information and accuracy information are sent to the management server 80.

Next, the configuration of the management server 80 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The management server 80 communicates with the in-vehicle devices 60 mounted on multiple vehicles 200, and manages the map information stored in the vehicle memory unit 30 of the in-vehicle devices 60. As shown in FIG. 4, the management server 80 includes a server communication unit 81, a server memory unit 82, and a server control unit 83. The server communication unit 81 is a communication unit that communicates with the vehicle communication unit 40 via the communication line network 300. The server communication unit 81 may be connected to the communication line network 300 by wire or wirelessly.

The server memory unit 82 stores a delivery map DB. The delivery map DB is a database that stores map information to be delivered to the vehicle 200 in order to update part or all of the map DB stored in the vehicle memory unit 30. The delivery map DB therefore stores the latest map information.

The server control unit 83 can be realized by a configuration including at least one processor. For example, the server control unit 83 can be realized by a computer including a processor, non-volatile memory, RAM, I/O, and a bus line connecting these components. The non-volatile memory stores a program for operating a general-purpose computer as the server control unit 83. The processor executes the program stored in the non-volatile memory while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM.

When the server communication unit 81 receives the change information and accuracy information, the server control unit 83 controls the server communication unit 81 to store the received information together with the time of reception in the server storage unit 82. In addition, when the server control unit 83 updates the map information in the delivery map DB, it controls the server communication unit 81 to transmit the updated map information to the vehicle 200.

By accumulating change information and accuracy information, the server control unit 83 can grasp changes in the change information over time. For example, if the positional deviation in the change information of a certain feature is initially a few mm, but after a few days it has become several tens of mm, it can predict that the position of the feature has changed due to construction or other factors. Therefore, the cause of the change information can be grasped at an earlier stage.

As shown in Fig. 4, the server control unit 83 has, as functional blocks, a threshold determination unit 84, a detection accuracy determination unit 85, and an update judgment unit 86. Execution by these functional blocks means that a method corresponding to the program is executed.

The detection accuracy determination unit 85 determines the detection accuracy of the surrounding information of the surrounding detection sensor 21 using at least one of the position of the vehicle 200, the weather at the position of the vehicle 200, the road surface conditions around the vehicle 200, and the detection time of the surrounding information. The detection accuracy determination unit 85 also takes into account the accuracy information transmitted from the in-vehicle device 60 to determine the detection accuracy. For example, if the accuracy information of the in-vehicle device 60 does not include information regarding the weather, the detection accuracy determination unit 85 acquires information regarding the weather from another device and uses it to determine the detection accuracy. In other words, the final detection accuracy is determined using information that is not included in the accuracy information of the in-vehicle device 60 but is acquireable by the detection accuracy determination unit 85.

Furthermore, when the detection accuracy determination unit 85 receives accuracy information from multiple vehicle-mounted devices 60, it performs statistical processing on the multiple accuracy information to determine the detection accuracy. For example, when there is variation in detection accuracy during the same time period or in the same weather, the detection accuracy is determined using the variance, standard deviation, median, and average value of the detection accuracy. In other words, when accuracy information is received indicating that a certain vehicle-mounted device 60 has extremely low detection accuracy, but that the other multiple vehicle-mounted devices 60 have high detection accuracy, there is a risk that the information indicating that the detection accuracy is low is incorrect. Therefore, the detection accuracy is determined by statistical processing, with low detection accuracy information being treated lightly and detection information from the other multiple vehicle-mounted devices 60 being treated heavily.

The threshold determination unit 84 determines a threshold for determining whether or not to update the map information. The threshold has an initial value at the time of manufacture, and is then modified as appropriate. In this embodiment, the threshold is updated using change information and detection accuracy. In this embodiment, the threshold is a value that requires updating of the map information when the change information exceeds the threshold, and does not require updating when the change information is equal to or less than the threshold.

If the change information is the amount of change in the position of a feature, the threshold is also a value that corresponds to the amount of change. For example, if the threshold is 1 m and the amount of change in the position of the feature in the change information is 1.1 m, the threshold is exceeded.

When the change information is specific information, it is a value corresponding to the degree of change in the sign. For example, when the signs are completely different, specifically when the speed limit signs are 40 km/h and 60 km/h, the difference level is level 10, and when the signs are different in color, the difference level is level 1, and the change information can be expressed on a 10-level scale. The threshold is set to level 5, for example.

In addition, for example, if a lane marking has become difficult to see due to deterioration over time, there is a difference between the lane marking in the map information and the lane marking in the surrounding information, so change information is generated by the information generation unit 61 of the in-vehicle device 60. The change information includes information on the lane marking in the map information and the lane marking in the surrounding information. By performing image analysis of the change information or the like, the threshold determination unit 84 can determine that the lane marking in the surrounding information is a section line where the lane marking in the map information has deteriorated over time and there is no difference, i.e., the difference level is low. In this case, there is no need to update the map information. Therefore, the threshold determination unit 84 sets the threshold for the lane marking at the point where this change information is detected to a larger threshold difference level, so that updating is not required.

Similarly, for example, if a sign is difficult to see due to the shadow of a roadside tree, there is a difference between the sign in the map information and the sign in the surrounding information, so change information is generated by the information generation unit 61 of the in-vehicle device 60. The change information includes information about the sign in the map information and the sign in the surrounding information. By performing image analysis of the change information, the threshold determination unit 84 can determine that the sign in the surrounding information is a sign that is covered by another object and there is no difference. In this case, there is no need to update the map information. Therefore, the threshold determination unit 84 sets the threshold for the sign at the point where this change information is detected to the side where updating is not necessary, that is, to the larger side.

The threshold determination unit 84 also determines the threshold using the detection accuracy determined by the detection accuracy determination unit 85. Specifically, the threshold is determined using change information with high detection accuracy, without using change information with low detection accuracy, i.e., poor detection accuracy.

The threshold determination unit 84 also updates the threshold as appropriate. When the threshold determination unit 84 receives change information and accuracy information from multiple vehicle-mounted devices 60, it performs statistical processing on the multiple change information and accuracy information to determine the threshold. For example, even if the change information has high detection accuracy, if there is variation in the change information, the threshold is determined using the variance, standard deviation, median, and average value of the change information with high detection accuracy. In other words, if a certain vehicle-mounted device 60 receives change information indicating an extremely small position shift in the change information, but the other multiple vehicle-mounted devices 60 receive change information indicating a large position shift, there is a risk that the information with a small position shift is incorrect. Therefore, the change information is weighted by statistical processing to determine the threshold.

For example, if the threshold for the positional deviation of a feature is initially 500 mm, and the average positional deviation in the statistically processed change information increases day by day to 450 mm, the threshold is lowered to 480 mm. In this way, by changing the threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information, map information can be updated at the appropriate time.

The update determination unit 86 determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated using the change information and the detection accuracy. In this embodiment, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated using the threshold determined by the threshold determination unit 84. Therefore, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not to update the map information using the threshold determined by statistically processing multiple pieces of change information. If the map information is to be updated, the update determination unit 86 controls the server communication unit 81 to transmit the updated map information to the in-vehicle device 60.

When the update determination unit 86 determines that the map information needs to be updated, it creates update map data from the delivery map DB. Then, it transmits the created update map data to the in-vehicle system 10. When the update map data is received by the vehicle communication unit 40, the map update unit 63 updates the map DB. The update map data may be transmitted by specifying a recipient, or may be transmitted by broadcasting without specifying a recipient. When the update map data is transmitted by broadcasting, the receiving side determines whether to update the update map data based on the version of the update map data, etc.

Next, the control of the server control unit 83 will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 5. The flowchart shown in Figure 5 is repeatedly executed by the management server 80 in a short period of time.

In step S11, the change information and accuracy information are acquired via the server communication unit 81, and the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the detection accuracy determination unit 85 determines the detection accuracy using the accuracy information, and the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated. If an update is necessary, the flow proceeds to step S14. If an update is not necessary, the flow ends. In step S13, the update determination unit 86 uses a threshold value and the statistically processed change information to determine whether or not an update is necessary.

In step S14, since an update is required, the map information in the delivery map DB is updated using the change information, and the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the server communication unit 81 is controlled to transmit the updated map information to the in-vehicle device 60, and the process ends.

As described above, in the map update system 100 of this embodiment, when the surrounding information detected by the surrounding detection sensor 21 mounted on the vehicle 200 differs from the map information, the information generation unit 61 generates change information indicating the difference between the surrounding information and the map information. When the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature, the change information is information including the amount of change in the position of the feature. This makes it possible to know the amount of change in the position of the feature, and therefore to grasp whether the change in position is minor. This allows the update determination unit 86 to determine not to update the map when the change in position is minor, and makes it possible to suppress updates of non-essential map information.

In addition, in this embodiment, when there is a difference between the specific information of the surrounding information and the specific information of the map information, the information generation unit 61 generates change information that includes both the specific information of the surrounding information and the specific information of the map information. This makes it possible to clarify the basis for the difference between the surrounding information and the map information using the change information. Therefore, the change information can provide information necessary for determining whether or not the map information needs to be updated.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated using the change information and the detection accuracy. The detection accuracy is determined by the position of the vehicle 200, etc. The detection accuracy of the surrounding information varies depending on the detection conditions due to the advantages and disadvantages of the sensor used. Since such detection accuracy and change information are used to determine whether or not an update is necessary, it is possible to make a determination using change information with high detection accuracy, without using change information with low detection accuracy, in other words, change information with detection errors or large noise. Therefore, updates of non-essential map information can be further suppressed.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the update determination unit 86 acquires change information from multiple vehicles 200, it performs statistical processing on the multiple pieces of change information to determine whether or not the map information needs to be updated. It is difficult to determine from a single piece of change information whether the information is correct or incorrect, but by performing statistical processing on multiple pieces of change information, it is possible to determine the likelihood, or reliability, of the change information. In this way, it is possible to use the statistically processed change information with a high reliability to determine whether or not the map information needs to be updated.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. This embodiment is characterized in that it determines whether or not there is a malfunction in the autonomous driving application and in that a lane ID is used. The lane ID is also called lane information. The lane ID is information that specifies the lane in which the vehicle 200 is traveling. For example, in the case of a road with three lanes in each direction, different lane IDs are assigned to the six lanes. The lane ID is included in the surrounding information detected by the surrounding detection sensor 21.

The perimeter detection sensor 21 performs map matching between the map information and the current position, and acquires the lane ID stored in the map DB. The perimeter detection sensor 21 also identifies the driving lane using, for example, the number of detected dividing lines and the number of lanes included in the map information, and acquires the lane ID. If the perimeter detection sensor 21 cannot identify the driving lane, it outputs information indicating that it cannot be identified. Examples of cases in which the driving lane cannot be identified include rain, nighttime, and when the dividing lines cannot be detected due to damage to the dividing lines.

An autonomous driving app is a vehicle control that controls the behavior of the vehicle, such as traffic light stop control and lane keeping control. The autonomous driving app controls the behavior of the vehicle 200 using surrounding information and map information, and may not operate normally depending on the change information.

Next, the control of the information generating unit 61 will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 6. The flowchart shown in Figure 6 is repeatedly executed by the in-vehicle device 60 in a short period of time.

In step S21, the surrounding area information is compared with the map information, and the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, it is determined whether there is a difference between the surrounding area information and the map information, and if there is a difference, the process proceeds to step S23, and if there is no difference, the process ends.

In step S23, since there is a difference, it is determined whether or not there is a malfunction in the autonomous driving app due to the difference. If there is a malfunction, the process proceeds to step S24. If there is no malfunction, the process ends. A malfunction in the autonomous driving app occurs when the autonomous driving app does not operate normally due to a difference.

In step S24, since there is a difference and the application is malfunctioning, change information is generated and the process proceeds to step S25. In step S25, it is determined whether the lane ID can be acquired, and if it can be acquired, the process proceeds to step S26, and if it cannot be acquired, the process proceeds to step S27. This is because the lane ID may not be acquired as described above.

In step S26, since the lane ID can be acquired, control is exercised so that the lane ID and accuracy information are transmitted from the vehicle communication unit 40 to the management server 80 together with the change information, and this flow ends. In step S27, since the lane ID cannot be acquired, control is exercised so that the accuracy information is transmitted from the vehicle communication unit 40 to the management server 80 together with the change information, and this flow ends.

As a result, if there is a difference between the surrounding information and the map information and there is an application malfunction, the change information and accuracy information are transmitted to the management server 80. Also, if there is an application malfunction, information on the application side regarding the cause of the application malfunction, such as the type of malfunctioning application, may also be transmitted together. Furthermore, if the lane ID can be identified, the lane ID is also transmitted together with the change information.

Next, the control of the server control unit 83 will be explained using the flowchart in Figure 7. The flowchart shown in Figure 7 is repeatedly executed by the management server 80 in a short period of time.

In step S31, the change information, accuracy information, and lane ID are acquired via the server communication unit 81, and the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, the detection accuracy determination unit 85 determines the detection accuracy using the accuracy information and lane ID, and the process proceeds to step S33.

In step S33, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated. If an update is necessary, the flow proceeds to step S34. If an update is not necessary, the flow ends. In step S33, the update determination unit 86 uses a threshold value and the statistically processed change information to determine whether or not an update is necessary.

In step S34, since an update is required, the map information in the delivery map DB is updated using the change information, and the process proceeds to step S35. In step S35, the server communication unit 81 is controlled to transmit the updated map information to the in-vehicle device 60, and the process ends.

In this embodiment, the detection accuracy determination unit 85 also uses the lane ID to determine the detection accuracy. Specifically, the detection accuracy determination unit 85 uses the lane ID to set the detection accuracy higher when the vehicle is traveling in a lane with a short distance to an object with a difference than when the vehicle is traveling in a lane with a long distance. In other words, when the lane ID can be identified, the detection accuracy of the difference information when traveling in the nearest link of the feature is increased, and the detection accuracy is decreased as the lane becomes more distant, so that when there is only difference information from a distant lane, updates with low reliability can be suppressed.

In general, detection accuracy is higher when driving in a lane closer to a feature, so for example, detection accuracy for signs and road edges is higher when driving in the right or leftmost lane. In this embodiment, a lane ID is used, so for features whose detection accuracy varies depending on the driving lane, for example, on roads with three or more lanes, detection accuracy can be set low for lanes other than those at the edge. Also, in this embodiment, it is possible to identify which lane the difference information is for, and if the difference is due to a specific lane, statistical processing can be performed by linking it to the lane ID.

In this embodiment, if there is a difference but the autonomous driving app operates normally, it is determined that there is no problem with the map, and the difference information is not sent to the management server 80. Conversely, in the case of an app malfunction that causes the autonomous driving app to not operate normally, information such as the type of malfunctioning app is sent to the management server 80 along with the change information. This makes it possible to send difference information that requires an update to the map information.

Other Embodiments
Although preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The structures of the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope of these descriptions. The scope of the present disclosure is indicated by the description of the claims, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the description of the claims.

In the first embodiment described above, the management server 80 is configured to be outside the vehicle 200, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The management server 80 may be mounted on the vehicle 200. Thus, the in-vehicle device 60 may have the functions of the server control unit 83, such as the update determination unit 86. The specific information may also be information that identifies the type of at least one of road signs, road markings, and lane markings.

In the first embodiment described above, the map update unit 63 of the in-vehicle device 60 updates the map DB online based on the update map data distributed from the management server 80, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The map DB may be updated offline.

In the first embodiment described above, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not to update the map information using the change information and the detection accuracy, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The update determination unit 86 may determine whether or not to update using only the change information without using the detection accuracy.

In the first embodiment described above, the update determination unit 86 determines whether or not an update is required by using a threshold value that is changed by the threshold value determination unit 84, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The threshold value may be a fixed value.

In the first embodiment described above, the functions realized by the in-vehicle device 60 and the server control unit 83 may be realized by hardware and software different from those described above, or a combination of these. The in-vehicle device 60 and the server control unit 83 may, for example, communicate with another control device, and the other control device may execute some or all of the processing. When the in-vehicle device 60 and the server control unit 83 are realized by electronic circuits, they can be realized by digital circuits including a large number of logic circuits, or analog circuits.

In the first embodiment described above, the in-vehicle device 60 is used in the vehicle 200, but it is not limited to being mounted on the vehicle 200, and at least a part of it may not be mounted on the vehicle 200.

Claims (7)

A map update system for updating map information stored in a storage unit (30) located in a vehicle (200), comprising:
an information generating unit (61) that generates change information indicating a difference between the surrounding information detected by a surrounding detection sensor (21) mounted on the vehicle and the map information when the surrounding information differs from the map information;
an update determination unit (86) that determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated using the change information;
a threshold determination unit (84) that determines a threshold for determining whether or not to update the map information ,
the information generating unit generates the change information including an amount of change in the position of a target feature when the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature ;
When the update determination unit acquires the change information from a plurality of the vehicles, the update determination unit statistically processes the plurality of pieces of change information;
The threshold determination unit changes a threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information;
The update determination unit determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated by using the threshold determined by the threshold determination unit . The map information includes specific information for identifying the type of at least one of road signs, road markings, and dividing lines,
The peripheral information includes the specific information,
2. The map update system according to claim 1, wherein, when there is a difference between the specific information of the surrounding information and the specific information of the map information, the information generation unit generates the change information including information of both the specific information of the surrounding information and the specific information of the map information. a detection accuracy determination unit (85) that determines the detection accuracy of the surrounding information of the surrounding detection sensor using at least one of the position of the vehicle, the weather at the position of the vehicle, the road surface condition around the vehicle, and the detection time of the surrounding information;
3. The map updating system according to claim 1, wherein the update determining unit determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated by using the change information and the detection accuracy. The surrounding information includes lane information that identifies a lane in which the vehicle is traveling,
4. The map updating system according to claim 3, wherein the detection accuracy determination unit uses the lane information to set the detection accuracy higher when the vehicle is traveling in a lane in which the distance to the object having the difference is short than when the vehicle is traveling in a lane in which the distance is large. An in-vehicle device for use in a vehicle (200),
A storage unit (30) in which map information is stored;
an information generating unit (61) that generates change information indicating a difference between the surrounding information detected by a surrounding detection sensor (21) mounted on the vehicle and the map information when the surrounding information differs from the map information;
a threshold value determination unit (84) for determining a threshold value for determining whether or not to update the map information;
a vehicle communication unit (40) that communicates with a management server, the vehicle communication unit transmitting the change information and the threshold value to the management server and receiving new map information from the management server;
a map update unit (63) that updates the map information in the storage unit when new map information is received from the management server,
the information generating unit generates the change information including an amount of change in the position of a target feature when the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of the target feature ;
The threshold determination unit changes a threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information . The in-vehicle device according to claim 5, wherein the change information is transmitted to the management server if the change information is information that may cause a malfunction in vehicle control that controls the behavior of the vehicle, and is not transmitted if there is no risk of a malfunction. A management server that communicates with an in-vehicle device (60) mounted on a plurality of vehicles (200) and manages map information stored in a storage unit (30) of the in-vehicle device,
A server communication unit (81) that communicates with the in-vehicle device;
an update determination unit (86) that, when receiving change information from a plurality of the in-vehicle devices, performs statistical processing on the plurality of change information and determines whether or not to update the map information;
a threshold value determination unit (84) for determining a threshold value for determining whether or not to update the map information;
a control unit (83) that controls the server communication unit so as to transmit the updated map information to the in-vehicle device when the map information is updated;
The change information is information generated when surrounding information detected by a surrounding detection sensor mounted on the vehicle differs from the map information stored in the storage unit, and when the difference between the surrounding information and the map information is a difference in the position of a target feature, the change information includes an amount of change in the position of the feature,
When the update determination unit acquires the change information from a plurality of the vehicles, the update determination unit statistically processes the plurality of pieces of change information;
The threshold determination unit changes a threshold based on the time-series change information and the statistically processed change information;
The update determination unit is a management server that determines whether or not the map information needs to be updated, using the threshold determined by the threshold determination unit .

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