JP7642789B2 - On-board device, vehicle, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device, a vehicle, an information processing method, and a program.

Conventionally, devices have been disclosed that use radar devices, cameras, etc. to detect obstacles around the vehicle, and control the vehicle to avoid contact with the obstacle if there is a risk of contact (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-138764 A

Depending on the road that the vehicle is about to enter, the width of the road (drivable width) may be narrower than the vehicle's width, and the vehicle may not be able to pass through the road. Therefore, it is desirable to know whether the vehicle can pass through the road before entering the road.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide technology that makes it possible to determine whether or not a vehicle can pass through the road ahead of the vehicle.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an on-board device as one aspect of the present invention is an on-board device mounted on a vehicle, and comprises: a detection means for detecting the drivable width of the road around the vehicle and the road surface conditions of the road; a judgment means for judging whether the vehicle can pass through the road based on vehicle information indicating the width and model of the vehicle and the drivable width of the road and the road surface conditions of the road detected by the detection means; and a communication means for performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication with a following vehicle of the vehicle, wherein the judgment means judges that the vehicle can pass through the road if the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means is wider than the vehicle width of the vehicle and the vehicle is drivable in the road surface conditions of the road detected by the detection means, and the communication means, when the detection means detects that the width of the road ahead in the vehicle's direction of travel is narrowing, acquires information of the following vehicle through the vehicle-to-vehicle communication and transmits information to the following vehicle that the width of the road ahead is narrowing .

The present invention provides technology that makes it possible to determine whether or not a vehicle can pass through the road ahead of the vehicle.

The accompanying drawings are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment; A diagram for explaining the width of a vehicle and the width of the road ahead Flowchart showing the determination process FIG. 1 is a diagram showing another example of a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle device according to an embodiment;

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the invention. Two or more of the features described in the embodiments may be combined in any desired manner. In addition, the same reference numbers are used for identical or similar configurations, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

First Embodiment
An on-board device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The on-board device 100 according to the present invention is a device that detects the travelable width of a road around a vehicle 1 (own vehicle) and judges whether the vehicle 1 can pass through the road. In the following, a saddle-type vehicle (motorcycle) will be described as an example of the vehicle 1 on which the on-board device 100 according to the present invention is mounted. However, the on-board device according to the present invention can also be mounted on other types of saddle-type vehicles such as three-wheeled vehicles and four-wheeled vehicles (normal cars, light cars, trucks, etc.). Here, the "travelable width of the road" refers to the width of a portion of the road on which a vehicle can actually travel (pass), and may include, for example, the width of the roadway portion (for example, the portion inside the outer roadway line) excluding prohibited portions on the road where the vehicle is prohibited from traveling, such as side strips, sidewalks, and shoulders, and the width of portions other than the portions where obstacles are located. Hereinafter, the "travelable width of the road" may be simply referred to as the "road width".

1 is a diagram showing an example of a vehicle 1 (saddle-type vehicle) on which the in-vehicle device 100 of the present embodiment is mounted. In FIG. 1, an arrow FR indicates the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1, FT indicates the front, and RR indicates the rear. The vehicle 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a motorcycle having a front wheel FW and a rear wheel RW, and may include, for example, a driver's seat ST (seat) on which a driver (rider) sits, a meter panel MP on which various meters are mounted, a handle HD that the driver holds to steer the vehicle 1, and a screen SC arranged in front of the driver to protect against running wind. In addition, the vehicle 1 is provided with a camera CMR that captures the surroundings (for example, the front) of the vehicle 1, and a notification unit NTC that notifies the driver of information. The notification unit NTC may include, for example, an audio output device (for example, a speaker) and/or a display device (for example, a display). The camera CMR and/or the notification unit NTC may be understood as components of the in-vehicle device 100.

[Configuration of the in-vehicle device]
Next, a configuration example of the in-vehicle device 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the in-vehicle device 100 of this embodiment. As described above, the in-vehicle device 100 is a device that determines whether or not the vehicle 1 (own vehicle) can pass through the road around the vehicle 1, and may include an image capturing unit 110, a notification unit 120, a communication unit 130, and a processing unit 140 that are communicably connected to each other via a system bus 150. In the following, an example will be described in which the image capturing unit 110 is arranged to capture an image of the front of the vehicle 1, and whether or not the vehicle 1 can pass through the road in front of the vehicle 1 is determined based on an image of the front of the vehicle 1 obtained using the image capturing unit 110.

The image capturing unit 110 corresponds to, for example, the camera CMR in FIG. 1, and captures the surroundings (for example, the front) of the vehicle 1 and generates an image of the surroundings (front) of the vehicle 1. The image capturing unit 110 may be understood as an external sensor that acquires external information (front information) regarding targets including objects and signs present around (front) the vehicle 1. In this embodiment, the image capturing unit 110 captures an image of the road ahead of the vehicle 1 and can generate an image including the road. In the following, the image capturing unit 110 may be referred to as the camera 110.

The notification unit 120 corresponds to, for example, the notification unit NTC (audio output device and/or display device) in Fig. 1. The notification unit 120 notifies an occupant (e.g., the driver) of the vehicle 1 of the judgment result made by the judgment unit 143 (described later) by voice using the audio output device (speaker) and/or by display on the display device (display).

The communication unit 130 may transmit information regarding the state of the road ahead (drivable width) detected by the detection unit 142 described below to a server outside the vehicle, or to surrounding vehicles (e.g., following vehicles) around the vehicle 1 (vehicle-to-vehicle communication). The server outside the vehicle that receives information regarding the state of the road ahead may transmit the information to the surrounding vehicles, or may use the information as map information. Furthermore, the surrounding vehicles that receive information regarding the state of the road ahead may display the information on a display provided on the surrounding vehicles to notify the drivers of the surrounding vehicles.

The processing unit 140 may be configured by a computer including a processor such as a CPU, a storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an interface with an external device, and the like. The processing unit 140 may be configured as a part of an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) that controls each part of the vehicle V. In the case of this embodiment, the storage device stores a program (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a judgment program) for determining whether the vehicle 1 can pass through the road in front of the vehicle 1, and the processor executes instructions included in the judgment program, whereby the processing unit 140 can execute a judgment process for determining whether the vehicle 1 can pass through the road in front of the vehicle 1. In addition, the processing unit 140 of this embodiment may include an acquisition unit 141, a detection unit 142, a judgment unit 143, and an output unit 144.

The acquisition unit 141 acquires various information and data. In this embodiment, the acquisition unit 141 acquires an image obtained by the camera 110. The acquisition unit 141 may also acquire information about the vehicle 1 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as vehicle information). When the vehicle information is stored in a storage device of the vehicle 1 (processing unit 140), the acquisition unit 141 may acquire the vehicle information from the storage device. On the other hand, when the vehicle information is stored in a server (a database on a network) outside the vehicle, the acquisition unit 141 may acquire the vehicle information from the server via the communication unit 130. Here, the vehicle information may include information about the vehicle width and/or vehicle class of the vehicle 1. In this embodiment, the vehicle information may include, for example, vehicle class information such as the displacement of a two-wheeled vehicle, a scooter, a motorcycle, a regular car, a light car, a truck, and a three-wheeled vehicle, vehicle width information of the vehicle 1, and/or information such as the overall length, form, and drive method (four-wheel drive, two-wheel drive) of the vehicle 1.

The detection unit 142 detects the state of the road ahead of the vehicle 1 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the road ahead) based on the image obtained from the camera 110 by the acquisition unit 141. In this embodiment, the detection unit 142 extracts the road ahead and detects the state of the road ahead by performing known image processing on the image obtained from the camera 110 by the acquisition unit 141. The state of the road ahead may include, for example, the width (width) of the road ahead and/or the road surface condition of the road ahead. As an example, the detection unit 142 can detect the width of the road ahead (the drivable width of the road) by extracting feature points of the road ahead (for example, dividing lines (white lines), steps on the shoulder, side walls, etc.) included in the image obtained by the acquisition unit 141 using known image processing. In addition, the detection unit 142 can detect the road surface conditions of the road ahead, such as whether the road ahead is wet or frozen, by calculating the reflectance and/or specularity of the road surface of the road ahead contained in the image obtained by the acquisition unit 141 using known image processing.

The determination unit 143 determines whether the vehicle 1 can pass the road ahead based on the vehicle information acquired by the acquisition unit 141 and the state of the road ahead (road width, road surface condition) detected by the detection unit 142. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the determination unit 143 compares the width _W1 of the vehicle 1 included in the vehicle information with the width _W2 of the road ahead R detected by the detection unit 142, and determines that the vehicle 1 can pass the road ahead R if the width _W2 of the road ahead R is wider than the width _W1 of the vehicle 1. On the other hand, if the width _W2 of the road ahead R is narrower than the width _W1 of the vehicle 1, it determines that the vehicle 1 cannot pass the road ahead R. The determination unit 143 can also compare the vehicle information with the road surface condition of the road ahead R detected by the detection unit 142 to determine whether the vehicle 1 can travel on the road ahead R. As an example, when the road surface condition is wet or icy and the vehicle 1 is a saddle-ride type vehicle (motorcycle), the determination unit 143 determines that the vehicle 1 cannot travel on the road ahead R. Note that Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining the width _W1 of the vehicle 1 and the width _W2 of the road ahead R, and the arrow TD in the diagram indicates the traveling direction of the vehicle 1.

When the determination unit 143 determines whether the vehicle 1 can pass the road ahead, the output unit 144 outputs the determination result to the notification unit 120. For example, the output unit 144 can notify (announce) the determination result to an occupant (e.g., the driver) of the vehicle 1 by outputting (transmitting) information indicating the determination result by the determination unit 143 to a display device (display) as the notification unit 120. In addition, when the detection unit 142 detects the state of the road ahead, the output unit 144 outputs information regarding the state of the road ahead to the communication unit 130. As a result, the output unit 144 can transmit information regarding the state of the road ahead to a server of the vehicle body via the communication unit 130, or transmit the information to surrounding vehicles (e.g., following vehicles).

[Decision-making process flow]
Next, a flow of the determination process (information processing method) executed by the processing unit 140 will be described. As described above, the determination process is a process for determining whether or not the vehicle 1 can pass the road ahead. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the determination process executed by the processing unit 140. The flowchart shown in Fig. 4 can be executed repeatedly, and can be started anew from step S11 even after step S19 is completed (or can be started anew from step S12).

In step S11, the processing unit 140 (acquisition unit 141) acquires vehicle information. As described above, the vehicle information may include information related to the vehicle width and/or vehicle class of the vehicle 1. If the vehicle information is stored in a storage device of the vehicle 1, the processing unit 140 may acquire the vehicle information from the storage device, and if the vehicle information is stored in a server outside the vehicle, the processing unit 140 may acquire the vehicle information from the server via the communication unit 130.

In step S12, the processing unit 140 (acquisition unit 141) causes the camera 110 to capture the surroundings (forward) of the vehicle 1, thereby acquiring an image obtained by the camera 110. Next, in step S13, the processing unit 140 (detection unit 142) detects the width of the road ahead based on the image acquired in step S12. For example, as described above, the processing unit 140 can extract the road ahead contained in the image by performing known image processing on the image acquired in step S12, and detect the width of the road ahead. Here, in this step S13, the processing unit 140 (output unit 144) may output information regarding the width of the road ahead to the notification unit 120, thereby notifying the occupant of the vehicle 1 of the information. In addition, the processing unit 140 (output unit 144) may transmit information regarding the width of the road ahead to at least one of a server outside the vehicle and a surrounding vehicle (e.g., a following vehicle) by outputting the information regarding the width of the road ahead to the communication unit 130. When transmitting information regarding the width of the road ahead to a following vehicle, the processing unit 140 may transmit the information only to the following vehicles of the vehicle 1 (host vehicle) whose vehicle width or vehicle class is equal to or smaller than that of vehicle 1. As an example, the processing unit 140 can acquire following vehicle information regarding the vehicle width or vehicle class of the following vehicle via the communication unit 130 (e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle communication) and identify the following vehicle whose vehicle width or vehicle class is equal to or smaller than that of vehicle 1 based on the following vehicle information. This allows the processing unit 140 to transmit information regarding the width of the road ahead only to the identified following vehicle, which can be advantageous in terms of reducing the amount of communication.

In step S14, the processing unit 140 (judgment unit 143) compares the width of the vehicle 1 included in the vehicle information acquired in step S11 with the width of the road ahead detected in step S13, and judges whether the width of the road ahead is wider than the width of the vehicle 1. If the width of the road ahead is wider than the width of the vehicle 1, the process proceeds to step S15. On the other hand, if the width of the road ahead is narrower than the width of the vehicle 1, the process proceeds to step S18, and the processing unit 140 (judgment unit 143) judges that the vehicle 1 cannot pass through the road ahead.

In step S15, the processing unit 140 (detection unit 142) detects the road surface conditions of the road ahead based on the image acquired in step S12. For example, as described above, the processing unit 140 can detect the road surface conditions of the road ahead by performing known image processing on the image acquired in step S12 and calculating the reflectance and/or specularity of the road ahead. Here, in this step S15, the processing unit 140 (output unit 144) may output information regarding the road surface conditions of the road ahead to the notification unit 120, thereby notifying the occupant of the vehicle 1 of the information. In addition, the processing unit 140 (output unit 144) may transmit information regarding the road surface conditions of the road ahead to at least one of a server outside the vehicle and a surrounding vehicle (e.g., a following vehicle) by outputting the information regarding the road surface conditions of the road ahead to the communication unit 130.

In step S16, the processing unit 140 (judgment unit 143) judges whether or not the vehicle 1 can travel on the road ahead. For example, as described above, the processing unit 140 judges whether or not the vehicle 1 can travel on the road ahead based on the vehicle information acquired in step S11 and the road surface conditions of the road ahead detected in step S15. If it is determined that the vehicle 1 can travel on the road ahead, the process proceeds to step S17, and the processing unit 140 (judgment unit 143) judges that the vehicle 1 can pass through the road ahead. On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle 1 cannot travel on the road ahead, the process proceeds to step S18, and the processing unit 140 (judgment unit 143) judges that the vehicle 1 cannot pass through the road ahead.

In step S19, the processing unit 140 (output unit 144) notifies an occupant of the vehicle 1 of the judgment result in step S17 or S18. For example, as described above, the processing unit 140 can notify an occupant of the vehicle 1 (e.g., the driver) of the judgment result by outputting (transmitting) information indicating the judgment result in step S17 or S18 to an audio output device (speaker) and/or a display device (display) as the notification unit 120.

As described above, the in-vehicle device 100 of this embodiment determines whether or not the vehicle 1 can pass through the roads (roads ahead) around the vehicle 1 based on images obtained by the imaging unit 110 (camera) that captures the surroundings of the vehicle 1. Through this processing, the occupant (driver) of the vehicle 1 can know whether or not the vehicle 1 can pass through the road ahead before the vehicle 1 enters the road ahead.

Here, in the above embodiment, when the processing unit 140 detects that the road ahead is narrowing in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 by repeating the flowchart of FIG. 4, the processing unit 140 may transmit information indicating that the road ahead is narrowing to at least one of a server outside the vehicle and surrounding vehicles (e.g., following vehicles) via the communication unit 130. As an example, when the width (width) of the road itself narrows in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1, thereby narrowing the drivable width of the road, or when the width of the road itself does not change but there is an obstacle in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 and the drivable width of the road is narrowed by the obstacle, information indicating that may be transmitted to at least one of a server outside the vehicle and surrounding vehicles via the communication unit 130. This makes it possible to make a vehicle that is scheduled to pass the road ahead later understand that the road ahead is gradually narrowing.

4, an example has been described in which the processing unit 140 performs both a process of determining whether the vehicle 1 can pass through the road ahead based on the width of the road ahead (steps S13 to S14) and a process of determining whether the vehicle 1 can pass through the road ahead based on the road surface conditions of the road ahead (steps S15 to S16). However, this is not limited thereto, and the processing unit 140 may perform only one of the process of determining based on the width of the road ahead (steps S13 to S14) and the process of determining based on the road surface conditions of the road ahead (steps S15 to S16).

Second Embodiment
In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the determination result by the determination unit 143 is notified to an occupant of the vehicle 1 or transmitted to a server outside the vehicle or to surrounding vehicles, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the determination result by the determination unit 143 may be used for automatic driving of the vehicle 1. By using the determination result by the determination unit 143 for automatic driving of the vehicle 1, it is possible to realize more advanced automatic driving. The configuration of the vehicle 1 capable of automatic driving will be described below. In this embodiment, a four-wheeled vehicle will be described as an example of the vehicle 1.

Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device 2 of the vehicle 1. In Figure 5, the vehicle 1 is illustrated in a schematic plan view and a side view, and the vehicle 1 is exemplified as a sedan-type four-wheeled passenger car.

The control device 2 corresponds to the processing unit 140 of the in-vehicle device 100 shown in FIG. 2, and controls each part of the vehicle 1. The control device 2 includes a plurality of ECUs 20 to 29 that are communicatively connected via an in-vehicle network. Each ECU (Electronic Control Unit) includes a processor such as a CPU, a storage device such as a semiconductor memory, an interface with an external device, and the like. The storage device stores programs executed by the processor and data used by the processor for processing. Each ECU may include a plurality of processors, storage devices, interfaces, and the like. For example, the ECU 20 includes a processor 20a and a memory 20b. The processor 20a executes instructions included in the program stored in the memory 20b, thereby executing processing by the ECU 20. Alternatively, the ECU 20 may include a dedicated integrated circuit such as an ASIC for executing processing by the ECU 20. The same applies to the other ECUs.

The functions etc. that each ECU 20 to 29 is responsible for are described below. Note that the number of ECUs and the functions they are responsible for can be designed as appropriate, and they can be subdivided or integrated more than in this embodiment.

The ECU 20 performs overall control of the vehicle 1 (host vehicle) according to this embodiment. The ECU 20 can be configured to execute control related to the automatic driving of the vehicle 1. In this case, the ECU 20 can automatically control at least one of the steering and the vehicle speed (acceleration/deceleration) of the vehicle 1.

The ECU 21 controls the electric power steering device 3. The electric power steering device 3 includes a mechanism for steering the front wheels in response to the driver's driving operation (steering operation) on the steering wheel 31. The electric power steering device 3 also includes a motor 3a that exerts a driving force for assisting the steering operation and automatically steering the front wheels, and a steering angle sensor 3b that detects the steering angle. When the driving state of the vehicle 1 is autonomous, the ECU 21 automatically controls the electric power steering device 3 in response to instructions from the ECU 20, and controls the traveling direction of the vehicle 1.

ECUs 22 and 23 control detection units 41-43 that detect the surrounding conditions of the vehicle and process information on the detection results. Detection unit 41 corresponds to the image capture unit 110 (camera) of the in-vehicle device 100 shown in FIG. 2, and periodically captures the outside world of vehicle 1 by capturing images (hereinafter, may be referred to as camera 41). In this embodiment, camera 41 is attached to the inside of the passenger compartment of the front windshield at the front of the roof of vehicle 1 so as to capture images of the area in front of vehicle 1. By analyzing (processing) images captured by camera 41, it is possible to analyze (extract) the width (width) and condition of the road in front of vehicle 1, traffic light displays, lane markings (white lines, etc.) on the road, in addition to analyzing targets in front of vehicle 1.

The detection unit 42 is a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) that uses light to detect targets around the vehicle 1 and measure the distance to the targets. Below, the detection unit 42 may be referred to as "lidar 42". The detection unit 43 is a millimeter wave radar that uses radio waves to detect targets around the vehicle 1 and measure the distance to the targets. Below, the detection unit 43 may be referred to as "radar 43".

The ECU 22 controls the one camera 41 and each lidar 42 and processes information on the detection results. The ECU 23 controls the other camera 41 and each radar 43 and processes information on the detection results. By providing two sets of devices that detect the surrounding conditions of the vehicle, the reliability of the detection results can be improved. In addition, by providing different types of detection units such as a camera, lidar, and radar, the analysis of the surrounding environment of the vehicle can be performed from multiple perspectives.

The ECU 24 controls the gyro sensor 5, the GPS sensor 24b, and the communication device 24c, and processes the information of the detection results or communication results. The gyro sensor 5 detects the rotational motion of the vehicle 1. The path of the vehicle 1 can be determined based on the detection results of the gyro sensor 5, the wheel speed, etc. The GPS sensor 24b detects the current position of the vehicle 1. The communication device 24c also performs wireless communication with a server via a network. Using this communication device 24c, the ECU 24 can receive information from the server via the network and transmit information to the server via the network. For example, the ECU 24 can access a database 24a of map information constructed in a storage device, and the ECU 24 performs route searches from the current location to the destination, etc. The database 24a can be placed on a network, and the communication device 24c can access the database 24a on the network to obtain information.

The ECU 25 includes a communication device 25a capable of communicating with an information processing device such as a vehicle-to-vehicle communication, a road-to-vehicle communication, or a smartphone. For example, the communication device 25a can wirelessly communicate with other vehicles in the vicinity to exchange information between vehicles, or wirelessly exchange information with an external information processing device. Here, the communication device 24c and the communication device 25a correspond to the communication unit 130 of the in-vehicle device 100 shown in FIG. 2.

The ECU 26 controls the power plant 6. The power plant 6 is a mechanism that outputs a driving force to rotate the drive wheels of the vehicle 1, and includes, for example, an engine and a transmission. The configuration of the power plant 6 is not limited to this example, and includes an electric vehicle powered by an electric motor, a hybrid vehicle equipped with both an engine and an electric motor, and the like. The ECU 26 controls the output of the engine in response to the driver's driving operation (accelerator operation or acceleration operation) detected by the operation detection sensor 7a provided on the accelerator pedal 7A, for example, and switches the gear stage of the transmission based on information such as the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 7c. When the driving state of the vehicle 1 is automatic driving, the ECU 26 automatically controls the power plant 6 in response to an instruction from the ECU 20, and controls the vehicle speed (the speed and acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle 1).

The ECU 27 controls the direction indicators 8a (blinkers) and the lights 8b (headlights, taillights, etc.). The ECU 28 also controls the input/output device 9. The input/output device 9 outputs information to occupants including the driver and receives information input from the occupants. The audio output device 91 (e.g., a speaker) notifies the occupants of information by voice. The display device 92 (e.g., a display) notifies the driver of information by displaying an image. The audio output device 91 and/or the display device 92 correspond to the notification unit 120 of the in-vehicle device 100 shown in Figure 2. The input device 93 is arranged in a position operable by the driver, and includes a group of switches for inputting instructions to the vehicle 1 and an audio input device for inputting the voice of the occupants.

The ECU 29 controls the brake device 10 and the parking brake (not shown). The brake device 10 is, for example, a disk brake device provided on each wheel of the vehicle 1, and applies resistance to the rotation of the wheel to slow down or stop the vehicle 1. The ECU 29 controls the operation of the brake device 10 in response to the driver's driving operation (brake operation) detected by, for example, an operation detection sensor 7b provided on the brake pedal 7B. When the driving state of the vehicle 1 is automatic driving, the ECU 29 automatically controls the brake device 10 in response to an instruction from the ECU 20, and controls the deceleration and stopping of the vehicle 1. The brake device 10 and the parking brake can also be operated to maintain the stopped state of the vehicle 1. In addition, if the transmission of the power plant 6 is equipped with a parking lock mechanism, this can also be operated to maintain the stopped state of the vehicle 1.

In the autonomous driving of the vehicle 1 configured as described above, by using the judgment result of the judgment unit 143 described in the first embodiment, the ECU 20 that controls the autonomous driving can determine whether the vehicle 1 can pass through the road ahead before the vehicle 1 enters the road ahead, thereby making it possible to realize autonomous driving with higher accuracy.

<Other embodiments>
A program for realizing one or more functions described in the above embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device can read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized in such an embodiment.

Summary of the embodiment
1. The in-vehicle device of the above embodiment is
An in-vehicle device (e.g., 100) mounted on a vehicle (e.g., 1),
A detection means (e.g., 142) for detecting a drivable width (e.g., _W2 ) of a road (e.g., R) around the vehicle;
and a determination means (e.g., 143) for determining whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road based on vehicle information regarding the vehicle and the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means.
According to this embodiment, a vehicle occupant (driver) can know whether the vehicle can pass through a road around the vehicle before the vehicle enters the road. In addition, when the vehicle is in an autonomous driving state, it is possible to know whether the vehicle can pass through a road around the vehicle before the vehicle enters the road, so that autonomous driving with higher accuracy can be realized.

2. In the above embodiment,
The vehicle information includes information indicating a vehicle width (e.g., _W1 ) or a vehicle class of the vehicle,
The determining means determines whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road based on the width or size of the vehicle and the drivable width of the road detected by the detecting means.
According to this embodiment, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not a vehicle can pass through the roads around the vehicle, depending on the width and size of the vehicle.

3. In the above embodiment,
The detection means further detects a road surface condition of the road,
The determining means determines whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road based on the vehicle information and the road surface conditions detected by the detecting means.
According to this embodiment, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the vehicle can travel on the road, i.e., whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road, depending on the road surface conditions around the vehicle.

4. In the above embodiment,
The vehicle further includes a notification means (e.g., 120, 144) for notifying an occupant of the vehicle of the result of the determination by the determination means.
According to this embodiment, a vehicle occupant (eg, a driver) can know whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road before the vehicle enters the road.

5. In the above embodiment,
The vehicle further includes a communication means (e.g., 130, 144) for transmitting information regarding the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means to at least one of surrounding vehicles present around the vehicle and a server.
According to this embodiment, it is possible to allow a vehicle that is scheduled to pass over the road later to know in advance the drivable width of the road.

6. In the above embodiment,
When the detection means detects that the drivable width of the road is narrowing in the traveling direction of the vehicle, the communication means transmits information indicating that to the at least one of the two.
According to this embodiment, if the drivable width of the road becomes narrower in the direction in which the vehicle is traveling because the width of the road itself narrows, or if the drivable width of the road becomes narrower due to an obstacle on the road, vehicles that are scheduled to pass over the road later can be made aware that the drivable width of the road will narrow.

7. In the above embodiment,
The communication means transmits information regarding the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means only to following vehicles of the vehicle whose width or size is equal to or smaller than that of the following vehicle.
According to this embodiment, the drivable width of the road around (ahead of) the vehicle can be known by vehicle-to-vehicle communication or the like to the following vehicle 1. In addition, since information regarding the drivable width of the road is transmitted only to the following vehicle whose width or size is equal to or smaller than that of the vehicle (host vehicle), this can be advantageous in terms of reducing the amount of communication.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, in order to publicize the scope of the present invention, the following claims are appended.

100: In-vehicle device, 110: Image capture unit (camera), 120: Notification unit, 130: Communication unit, 140: Processing unit, 141: Acquisition unit, 142: Detection unit, 143: Determination unit, 144: Output unit

Claims (9)

An in-vehicle device mounted in a vehicle,
a detection means for detecting a drivable width of a road around the vehicle and a road surface condition of the road;
a determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road based on vehicle information indicating the width and model of the vehicle, and the drivable width of the road and the road surface condition of the road detected by the detection means;
A communication means for performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication with a following vehicle of the vehicle;
Equipped with
the determination means determines that the vehicle is capable of passing through the road when the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means is wider than the vehicle width of the vehicle and the vehicle is capable of passing through the road surface conditions detected by the detection means ;
The in-vehicle device is characterized in that when the detection means detects that the width of the road ahead in the direction of travel of the vehicle is narrowing, the communication means acquires information about the following vehicle via vehicle-to-vehicle communication and transmits information to the following vehicle that the width of the road ahead is narrowing . The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, further comprising a notification means for notifying an occupant of the vehicle of the result of the determination by the determination means. 3. The on-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the communication means transmits information about the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means to at least one of the following vehicle and a server. 3. The on-board device according to claim 1, wherein the communication means transmits to the following vehicle information indicating at least one of the drivable width of the road detected by the detection means and the road surface condition of the road. The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the communication means transmits information that the width of the road ahead is narrowing only to following vehicles of the vehicle whose width is equal to or less than that of the vehicle. The vehicle further includes an acquisition unit for acquiring following vehicle information indicating a vehicle width of a following vehicle of the vehicle,
The in-vehicle device according to claim 5, characterized in that the communication means, based on the following vehicle information acquired by the acquisition means , identifies a following vehicle among the following vehicles of the vehicle whose width is equal to or less than the width of the vehicle as a following vehicle that will transmit information that the width of the road ahead will narrow . A vehicle comprising the on-board device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . An information processing method in a vehicle, comprising:
a detection step of detecting a drivable width of a road around the vehicle and a road surface condition of the road;
a determination step of determining whether or not the vehicle can pass through the road based on vehicle information indicating the width and model of the vehicle, and the drivable width of the road and the road surface condition of the road detected in the detection step;
A communication step of performing vehicle-to-vehicle communication with a following vehicle of the vehicle;
Including,
In the determination step, when the drivable width of the road detected in the detection step is wider than the vehicle width of the vehicle and the vehicle is drivable under the road surface conditions detected in the detection step, it is determined that the vehicle is capable of passing through the road ;
This information processing method is characterized in that, in the communication process, when the detection process detects that the width of the road ahead in the direction of travel of the vehicle is narrowing, information about the following vehicle is obtained via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and information that the width of the road ahead is narrowing is transmitted to the following vehicle . A program for causing a computer to execute each step of the information processing method according to claim 8 .

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