JP7708085B2 - Vehicle control device and vehicle control method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for automatically driving a vehicle by automatically operating driving operation elements such as a throttle actuator, brake actuator, shift position, steering, and blinkers. Patent Document 1 also discloses a technology for controlling a lane change to a lane that leads to a road other than the road when it is determined that there is no lane in which the vehicle is traveling during automatic driving.

In addition, the automation levels of automated driving are known to be classified into levels 0 to 5, as defined by the SAE. Level 0 is a level where the driver performs all driving tasks without intervention from the system. Level 0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. Level 1 is a level where the system assists with either steering or acceleration/deceleration. Level 2 is a level where the system assists with both steering and acceleration/deceleration. Autonomous driving at levels 1 and 2 is automated driving where the driver has the responsibility to monitor safe driving (hereinafter simply referred to as the "supervisory responsibility"). Level 3 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in specific locations such as highways, and the driver performs driving operations in emergencies. Level 4 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks except under specific circumstances such as unsupported roads and extreme environments. Level 5 is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in all environments. Autonomous driving at levels 3 and above is automated driving where the driver does not have the responsibility to monitor.

JP 2011-162132 A

When attempting to change lanes during automated driving where the driver has no monitoring obligation (hereinafter referred to as automated driving without monitoring obligation), as disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is believed that the vehicle's system will determine whether the lane change is possible and will initiate the lane change. In this case, after initiating the lane change, it is possible that the lane change cannot be completed due to the sudden approach of another vehicle, resulting in the vehicle entering a standby state where it remains in the middle of the lane change. During automated driving without monitoring obligation, it is highly likely that the driver is not aware of the situation around the vehicle. Therefore, if a standby state for lane change occurs after a lane change has been initiated, the driver may not be able to understand the situation, which may cause the driver to feel uncomfortable.

One objective of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method that make it possible to reduce the sense of discomfort felt by the driver even when waiting to change lanes during an automatic lane change during automated driving without a monitoring obligation.

The above object is achieved by a combination of features recited in the independent claims, and the subclaims define further advantageous embodiments of the disclosure. The reference characters in parentheses in the claims indicate a correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described below as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

In order to achieve the above object, a first vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a monitoring obligation for the surroundings, and includes a situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) that identifies a situation of the vehicle, and a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to the interior of the vehicle, and the situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, a first waiting situation in which it is necessary to interrupt a lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change , and the notification control unit identifies the first waiting situation with the situation identification unit, and when the vehicle enters a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting , When the situation identification unit identifies a first waiting situation, the notification control unit (141b) causes a standby state display to be displayed in a display area of the display device that is displaying a display related to a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle, as a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a standby state, and if the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to end the standby state, and when a timeout is performed, the notification control unit ends the standby state display before the timeout and causes a notification to be made that the standby state has timed out, shifted from the timing of ending the standby state display .
In order to achieve the above object, a second vehicle control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, and includes a situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) that identifies a situation of the vehicle, and a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to the interior of the vehicle, and the situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway after starting the lane change and to wait, and the notification control unit identifies the first waiting situation by the situation identification unit , and notifies the vehicle when the vehicle is in a lane When the vehicle enters a standby state where the lane change has been interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting , an alert is issued to indicate that the vehicle is in a standby state where the lane change has been interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, and an alert is issued to convey the cause of the standby state. The vehicle is provided with a standby driving control unit (132, 132d, 132e) which drives the vehicle in a standby state when a first standby state is identified by the situation identification unit, and when the situation identification unit (121d) identifies that there is a traffic jam as the driving position in the standby state, the standby driving control unit (132d) drives the vehicle closer to the end of the lane in which the vehicle is trying to change lanes than when there is no traffic jam.
In order to achieve the above object, a third vehicle control device of the present disclosure is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, and includes a situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) that identifies the situation of the vehicle, and a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to the interior of the vehicle, and the situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, a first waiting situation in which it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and wait, and the notification control unit identifies the first waiting situation with the situation identification unit and issues a notification to the vehicle when the vehicle stops the lane change. When the vehicle enters a waiting state in which the lane change has been interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, an alert is issued to indicate that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which the lane change has been interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, and an alert is issued to convey the cause of the waiting state. The vehicle is provided with a waiting driving control unit (132, 132d, 132e) which drives the vehicle in the waiting state when the situation identification unit identifies a first waiting situation, and the automatic lane change is performed after the vehicle's driving position in the vehicle's driving lane is moved closer to the end of the side where the vehicle is to change lanes, and the waiting driving control unit (132) drives the vehicle by moving the vehicle's driving position closer to the end of the driving lane based on the situation identification unit (121a) identifying the first waiting situation.
In order to achieve the above object, a fourth vehicle control device disclosed herein is a vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, and includes a situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) that identifies a situation of the vehicle, and a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to the interior of the vehicle, and the situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation in which, during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway and wait after starting the lane change, The notification control unit identifies a first waiting situation using the situation identification unit , and when the vehicle enters a waiting state in which it has aborted a lane change midway and is waiting , issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which it has aborted a lane change midway and is waiting, and a notification informing the driver of the cause of the waiting state.The notification control unit is capable of issuing the notification by displaying on a display device, and when the vehicle re-attempts to change lane again after failing to complete the lane change, causes a display device that did not display information regarding the lane change before the re-attempt to display information regarding the lane change.

In order to achieve the above object, a first vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, and includes a situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle and an alarm control step of issuing an alarm to an interior of the vehicle, both executed by at least one processor. In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt a lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change, and in the alarm control step, the situation identification step identifies the first waiting situation, and when the vehicle enters a waiting state in which it interrupts a lane change midway and waits , the vehicle interrupts a lane change midway and waits. The notification control process causes a notification to be issued indicating that the vehicle is in a standby state and a notification to communicate the cause of the standby state, and when a first standby state is identified in the situation identification process, a standby state display indicating that the vehicle is in a standby state is displayed in the display area of the display device which is displaying a display related to a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle, as a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a standby state , and if the standby state continues for more than a specified time, a timeout is performed to end the standby state, and when a timeout is performed, the notification control process causes the standby state display to end before the timeout and causes a notification to be issued at a timing that is shifted from the timing of ending the standby state display to indicate that the standby state has timed out .
In order to achieve the above object, a second vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a monitoring obligation for the surroundings, and includes a situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle and a notification control step of issuing a notification to an interior of the vehicle, both executed by at least one processor. In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway and wait after starting the lane change, and in the notification control step, When the vehicle enters a standby state in which it has stopped changing lanes midway and is waiting, an alert is issued to indicate that the vehicle is in a standby state in which it has stopped changing lanes midway and is waiting, and an alert is issued to convey the cause of the standby state.The system includes a standby driving control step for driving the vehicle in a standby state when a first standby state is identified in the situation identification step, and in the standby driving control step, when the situation identification step identifies a traffic jam as the driving in the standby state, the vehicle's driving position is driven closer to the end of the lane in which the vehicle is intended to change lanes than when a traffic jam is not identified.
In order to achieve the above object, a third vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method usable in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a monitoring obligation for surroundings, and includes a situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle and a notification control step of issuing a notification to an interior of the vehicle, both executed by at least one processor. In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway and wait after starting the lane change, and in the notification control step, the situation identification step identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is stopped when the vehicle reaches the waiting state. When the vehicle enters a waiting state where it has stopped changing lanes midway and is waiting , an alert is issued to indicate that the vehicle is in a waiting state where it has stopped changing lanes midway and is waiting, and an alert is issued to convey the cause of the waiting state.When a first waiting state is identified in the situation identification process, the system includes a waiting drive control process which causes the vehicle to run in a waiting state, and the automatic lane change is performed by moving the vehicle's driving position in the vehicle's driving lane closer to the edge of the side where the vehicle is changing lanes, and the waiting drive control process causes the vehicle to move closer to the edge of the driving lane based on the identification of the first waiting state in the situation identification process.
In order to achieve the above object, a fourth vehicle control method disclosed herein is a vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings, and includes a situation identification step executed by at least one processor, for identifying a situation of the vehicle, and a notification control step for making an alert toward the interior of the vehicle. In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change. In the notification control step, when the situation identification step identifies the first waiting situation, an alert is issued indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, and an alert is issued to inform the driver of the cause of the waiting state. In the notification control step, the alert can be issued by displaying on a display device, and at the time of a re-challenge in which the vehicle is caused to change lane again after failing to complete the lane change, a display related to the lane change is also made on a display device that did not display information related to the lane change before the re-challenge.

According to the above configuration, when the vehicle enters a first waiting state during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, in which the lane change needs to be stopped midway and the vehicle needs to wait after starting an automatic lane change, a notification is sent to the vehicle interior indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state where the lane change has been stopped midway and the vehicle is waiting, and a notification is sent to inform the driver of the cause of the waiting state. Therefore, even when the driver is not aware of the situation around the vehicle during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, the driver can more easily understand the situation in the waiting state. As a result, the driver can be less likely to feel uncomfortable even when the vehicle needs to wait to change lanes during an automatic lane change during automated driving without a monitoring obligation.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a surrounding situation image. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a surrounding situation image. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of a surrounding situation image. 13 is a diagram for explaining the end timing of standby cause notification. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of LC standby-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10a. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of LC standby-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10a. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1b. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10b. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a timeout-related notification process in an autonomous driving ECU 10b. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1c. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10c. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of a second task-related process in the autonomous driving ECU 10c. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1d. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10d. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of setting change-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10d. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1e. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an autonomous driving ECU 10e. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of an overtaking wait-related process in the autonomous driving ECU 10e.

Several embodiments for disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For ease of explanation, parts in several embodiments that have the same functions as parts shown in the drawings used in the previous explanations may be given the same reference numerals and their explanations may be omitted. For parts given the same reference numerals, the explanations in other embodiments may be referred to.

(Embodiment 1)
<General configuration of vehicle system 1>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 shown in FIG. 1 can be used in a vehicle capable of automatic driving (hereinafter, an automatic driving vehicle). As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle system 1 includes an automatic driving ECU 10, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map database (hereinafter, a map DB) 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surroundings monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an alarm device 17, a user input device 18, and an HCU (Human Machine Interface Control Unit) 19. For example, the automatic driving ECU 10, the communication module 11, the locator 12, the map DB 13, the vehicle state sensor 14, the surroundings monitoring sensor 15, the vehicle control ECU 16, and the HCU 19 may be configured to be connected to an in-vehicle LAN (see the LAN in FIG. 1). The vehicle using the vehicle system 1 is not necessarily limited to an automobile, but the following description will be given taking the case of using the vehicle system 1 as an example.

There can be multiple levels of autonomous driving for autonomous vehicles (hereafter referred to as "automation levels"), as defined by the SAE, for example. Automation levels are classified into LV0 to 5, for example, as follows:

LV0 is the level at which the driver performs all driving tasks without the system intervening. The driving task may be referred to as a dynamic driving task. Driving tasks include, for example, steering, acceleration/deceleration, and surrounding monitoring. LV0 corresponds to so-called manual driving. LV1 is the level at which the system assists with either steering or acceleration/deceleration. LV1 corresponds to so-called driving assistance. LV2 is the level at which the system assists with both steering and acceleration/deceleration. LV2 corresponds to so-called partial driving automation. Note that LV1-2 are also considered to be part of automated driving.

For example, automated driving at LV1-2 is automated driving where the driver has a duty to monitor safe driving (hereinafter, simply referred to as the duty to monitor). In other words, it corresponds to automated driving with a duty to monitor. Driving at LV0-LV2 corresponds to driving with a duty to monitor. The duty to monitor includes visual monitoring of the surroundings. Automated driving at LV1-2 can be said to be automated driving where a second task is not permitted. A second task is an action other than driving that is permitted for the driver, and is a specific action that is specified in advance. A second task can also be said to be a secondary activity, other activity, etc. It is considered that a second task must not prevent the driver from responding to a request from the automated driving system to take over driving operations. As an example, actions such as watching content such as videos, operating a smartphone, reading, and eating are assumed to be second tasks.

LV3 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks under certain conditions, and the driver performs driving operations in an emergency. In LV3 autonomous driving, the driver is required to be able to respond quickly when the system requests a handover of driving. This handover of driving can also be said to be a transfer of the responsibility of monitoring the surroundings from the vehicle's system to the driver. LV3 corresponds to so-called conditional driving automation. LV3 includes area-limited LV3 that is limited to a specific area. The specific area referred to here may be a highway. The specific area may be, for example, a specific lane. LV3 also includes traffic jam-limited LV3 that is limited to times of traffic congestion. The traffic jam-limited LV3 may be configured to be limited to times of traffic congestion on a highway, for example. The highway may include a motorway.

LV4 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks, except in specific situations such as on unmanageable roads or in extreme environments. LV4 corresponds to so-called highly automated driving. LV5 autonomous driving is a level where the system can perform all driving tasks in any environment. LV5 corresponds to so-called fully automated driving. LV4 and LV5 autonomous driving can be performed, for example, on driving sections where high-precision map data has been developed. High-precision map data will be described later.

For example, autonomous driving at levels 3 to 5 is autonomous driving where the driver has no obligation to monitor. In other words, it corresponds to autonomous driving without an obligation to monitor. Autonomous driving at levels 3 to 5 can be rephrased as autonomous driving where a second task is permitted. The autonomous vehicle of this embodiment is assumed to be capable of switching the automation level. The automation level may be configured to be switchable only between some of the levels LV0 to 5. The autonomous vehicle of this embodiment is assumed to be capable of at least autonomous driving with an obligation to monitor the surroundings.

The communication module 11 transmits and receives information via wireless communication with a center outside the vehicle. In other words, it performs wide-area communication. The communication module 11 receives congestion information, etc. from the center via wide-area communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information with other vehicles via wireless communication. In other words, it may perform vehicle-to-vehicle communication. The communication module 11 may transmit and receive information via wireless communication with a roadside device installed on the roadside. In other words, it may perform road-to-vehicle communication. When performing road-to-vehicle communication, the communication module 11 may receive information about surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the roadside device. The communication module 11 may also receive information about surrounding vehicles transmitted from surrounding vehicles of the vehicle via the center via wide-area communication.

The locator 12 includes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and an inertial sensor. The GNSS receiver receives positioning signals from multiple positioning satellites. The inertial sensor includes, for example, a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. The locator 12 sequentially measures the position of the vehicle (hereinafter, the vehicle position) on which the locator 12 is mounted, by combining the positioning signals received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results of the inertial sensor. The vehicle position may be expressed, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Note that the vehicle position may also be measured using a travel distance calculated from a signal sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

The map DB 13 is a non-volatile memory that stores high-precision map data. The high-precision map data is map data with higher precision than the map data used for route guidance in the navigation function. The map DB 13 may also store map data used for route guidance. The high-precision map data includes information that can be used for automated driving, such as three-dimensional shape information of the road, information on the number of lanes, and information indicating the permitted traveling direction for each lane. In addition, the high-precision map data may include node point information indicating the positions of both ends of road markings such as dividing lines. The locator 12 may be configured not to use a GNSS receiver by using three-dimensional shape information of the road. For example, the locator 12 may be configured to identify the vehicle position using three-dimensional shape information of the road and the detection results of a surrounding monitoring sensor 15 such as a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging/Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) that detects a point cloud of characteristic points of the road shape and structures or a surrounding monitoring camera. The three-dimensional shape information of the road may be generated based on captured images using Road Experience Management (REM).

Map data distributed from an external server may be received by wide area communication via the communication module 11 and stored in the map DB 13. In this case, the map DB 13 may be a volatile memory, and the communication module 11 may be configured to sequentially acquire map data for an area corresponding to the vehicle position.

The vehicle state sensor 14 is a group of sensors for detecting various states of the vehicle. Examples of the vehicle state sensor 14 include a vehicle speed sensor, a steering torque sensor, an accelerator sensor, and a brake sensor. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the vehicle. The steering torque sensor detects the steering torque applied to the steering wheel. The accelerator sensor detects whether the accelerator pedal is depressed. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator depression force sensor that detects the depression force applied to the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator stroke sensor that detects the depression amount of the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sensor may be an accelerator switch that outputs a signal according to whether the accelerator pedal is depressed. The brake sensor detects whether the brake pedal is depressed. The brake sensor may be a brake depression force sensor that detects the depression force applied to the brake pedal. The brake sensor may be a brake stroke sensor that detects the depression amount of the brake pedal. The brake sensor may be a brake switch that outputs a signal according to whether the brake pedal is depressed. The vehicle condition sensor 14 outputs the detected sensing information to the in-vehicle LAN. Note that the sensing information detected by the vehicle condition sensor 14 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via an ECU installed in the vehicle.

The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 monitors the environment around the vehicle. As an example, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects obstacles around the vehicle, such as moving objects such as pedestrians and other vehicles, and stationary objects such as objects that have fallen on the road. In addition, the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 detects road markings such as lane lines around the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring sensor 15 is, for example, a perimeter monitoring camera that captures a predetermined range around the vehicle, a millimeter wave radar that transmits a search wave to a predetermined range around the vehicle, a sonar, a LIDAR, or other sensor. The predetermined range may be a range that at least partially includes the front, rear, left, and right of the vehicle. The perimeter monitoring camera sequentially outputs the captured images as sensing information to the automatic driving ECU 10. The sonar, millimeter wave radar, LIDAR, or other sensor that transmits a search wave sequentially outputs the scanning result based on the received signal obtained when receiving a reflected wave reflected by an obstacle to the automatic driving ECU 10 as sensing information. The sensing information detected by the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 may be configured to be output to the automatic driving ECU 10 without going through the in-vehicle LAN.

The vehicle control ECU 16 is an electronic control device that controls the driving of the vehicle. Driving control includes acceleration/deceleration control and/or steering control. The vehicle control ECU 16 includes a steering ECU that controls steering, a power unit control ECU that controls acceleration/deceleration, and a brake ECU. The vehicle control ECU 16 controls driving by outputting control signals to each driving control device installed in the vehicle, such as an electronically controlled throttle, a brake actuator, and an EPS (Electric Power Steering) motor.

The notification device 17 is provided in the vehicle and issues a notification to the interior of the vehicle. The notification device 17 issues a notification according to instructions from the HCU 19. The notification device 17 may be configured to issue a notification to at least the driver. The notification device 17 may also issue a notification to passengers other than the driver. The notification device 17 includes a display device 171 and an audio output device 172.

The display device 171 notifies the driver by displaying information. For example, a meter MID (Multi Information Display), a CID (Center Information Display), a HUD (Head-Up Display), etc. can be used as the display device 171. The meter MID is a display device provided in front of the driver's seat inside the vehicle. As an example, the meter MID may be configured to be provided on a meter panel. The CID is a display device provided in the center of the instrument panel of the vehicle. The HUD is provided, for example, on the instrument panel inside the vehicle. The HUD projects a display image formed by a projector onto a projection area that is set on the front windshield as a projection member. The light of the image reflected by the front windshield into the vehicle interior is perceived by the driver sitting in the driver's seat. This allows the driver to view a virtual image of the display image formed in front of the front windshield, superimposed on a part of the foreground. The HUD may be configured to project a display image onto a combiner provided in front of the driver's seat instead of onto the front windshield. The audio output device 172 issues a notification by outputting audio. Examples of the audio output device 172 include a speaker.

The user input device 18 accepts input from the user. The user input device 18 may be an operation device that accepts operation input from the user. The operation device may be a mechanical switch or a touch switch integrated with the display device 171. Note that the user input device 18 is not limited to an operation device that accepts operation input, so long as it is a device that accepts input from the user. For example, the user input device 18 may be a voice input device that accepts voice input of commands from the user.

The HCU 19 is mainly composed of a computer equipped with a processor, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, I/O, and a bus connecting these. The HCU 19 executes various processes related to the interaction between the occupant and the vehicle's system by executing control programs stored in the non-volatile memory. The HCU 19 acquires information input from the user received by the user input device 18. The HCU 19 causes the alarm device 17 to issue an alarm.

The autonomous driving ECU 10 is mainly composed of a computer equipped with, for example, a processor, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, I/O, and a bus connecting these. The autonomous driving ECU 10 executes processes related to autonomous driving by executing a control program stored in the non-volatile memory. This autonomous driving ECU 10 corresponds to a vehicle control device. In the following, the autonomous driving ECU 10 is used in a vehicle that can at least switch between autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation and autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation. The configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described in detail below.

<General configuration of autonomous driving ECU 10>
Next, the schematic configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the autonomous driving ECU 10 includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, and an HCU communication unit 104 as functional blocks. The execution of the processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10 by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be configured as hardware using one or more ICs or the like. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the autonomous driving ECU 10 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware components.

The driving environment recognition unit 101 recognizes the driving environment of the vehicle from the vehicle position acquired from the locator 12, the map data acquired from the map DB 13, and the sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. As an example, the driving environment recognition unit 101 uses these pieces of information to recognize the positions, shapes, and movement states of objects around the vehicle, and generates a virtual space that reproduces the actual driving environment. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also recognize the presence, relative positions, and relative speeds of vehicles around the vehicle as the driving environment from the sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may recognize the vehicle position on the map from the vehicle position and map data. If the driving environment recognition unit 101 can acquire position information, speed information, and the like of surrounding vehicles via the communication module 11, it may also use this information to recognize the driving environment.

The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also determine whether there is a manual driving area (hereinafter, MD area) in the driving area of the vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also determine whether there is an automatic driving area (hereinafter, AD area) in the driving area of the vehicle. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may also determine whether there is an ST section and a non-ST section in the AD area, as described below.

MD areas are areas where automated driving is prohibited. In other words, MD areas are areas where the driver is required to perform all of the vehicle's longitudinal control, lateral control, and surrounding monitoring. The longitudinal direction is the direction that corresponds to the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle. The lateral direction is the direction that corresponds to the width direction of the vehicle. Longitudinal control corresponds to the acceleration/deceleration control of the vehicle. Lateral control corresponds to the steering control of the vehicle. For example, an MD area may be a general road. An MD area may also be a driving section of a general road where high-precision map data is not available.

The AD area is an area where autonomous driving is permitted. In other words, the AD area is an area where the vehicle is allowed to take over one or more of longitudinal control, lateral control, and periphery monitoring. For example, the AD area may be a highway. The AD area may be a driving section for which high-precision map data is available. For example, autonomous driving of the area-limited LV3 (hereinafter, area-limited autonomous driving) may be permitted only on highways. Autonomous driving of the traffic jam-limited LV3 (hereinafter, traffic jam-limited autonomous driving) is permitted only when there is congestion in the AD area. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may determine whether there is congestion from congestion information obtained from the center via the communication module 11. The driving environment recognition unit 101 may determine whether there is congestion from the number of recognized surrounding vehicles, the distance between vehicles, the speed, etc.

AD areas are divided into ST sections and non-ST sections. ST sections are sections where area-limited automated driving is permitted. Non-ST sections are sections where automated driving of LV2 or lower and traffic jam-limited automated driving are possible. In this embodiment, there is no distinction between non-ST sections where automated driving of LV1 is permitted and non-ST sections where automated driving of LV2 is permitted. Non-ST sections may be sections of the AD area that do not fall under the ST section.

The behavior determination unit 102 switches the control subject of the driving operation between the driver and the system of the vehicle. When the control right of the driving operation is on the system side, the behavior determination unit 102 determines a driving plan for driving the vehicle based on the recognition result of the driving environment by the driving environment recognition unit 101. As the driving plan, a long-term and medium-term driving plan and a short-term driving plan are generated. In the long-term and medium-term driving plan, a planned route for directing the vehicle to the set destination is generated. The behavior determination unit 102 may generate this planned route in the same manner as the route search of the navigation function. For example, when the behavior determination unit 102 has received an input of a destination from the occupant through the user input device 18, the behavior determination unit 102 may set the input destination as the destination of the planned route. The behavior determination unit 102 may acquire the input of the destination received through the user input device 18 via the HCU 10 and the HCU communication unit 104. When the behavior determination unit 102 has received an input of a destination from the occupant through a terminal outside the vehicle, the behavior determination unit 102 may set the input destination as the destination of the planned route. The behavior determination unit 102 may acquire the destination input received at a terminal external to the vehicle via the communication module 11. If the behavior determination unit does not receive the destination input from the occupant, it may estimate a tentative destination (hereinafter, tentative destination) based on the vehicle's driving history, etc., and set the tentative destination as the destination. In this case, a destination that has been frequently traveled in the driving history may be estimated as the tentative destination based on the vehicle's position measured by the locator 12, the current time, the current day of the week, etc.

In the short-term driving plan, the behavior determination unit 102 uses the generated virtual space around the vehicle to generate a planned driving trajectory for driving in accordance with the long- to mid-term driving plan (i.e., the planned route). Specifically, it determines the execution of steering for lane changes, acceleration/deceleration for speed adjustment, and steering and braking for obstacle avoidance.

The behavior determination unit 102 also switches the automation level of the vehicle's autonomous driving as necessary. The behavior determination unit 102 determines whether or not the automation level can be increased. For example, when the vehicle moves from an MD area to an AD area, it may determine that autonomous driving can be switched from LV4 or lower to LV4 or higher. If the behavior determination unit 102 determines that the automation level can be increased and the increase in the automation level is approved by the driver, it may increase the automation level.

The behavior determination unit 102 may lower the automation level when it determines that a lowering of the automation level is necessary. Examples of cases where it is determined that a lowering of the automation level is necessary include when an override is detected, when a planned driving changeover occurs, and when an unplanned driving changeover occurs. An override is an operation by which the driver of the vehicle spontaneously acquires control of the vehicle. In other words, an override is an operational intervention by the driver of the vehicle. The behavior determination unit 102 may detect an override from sensing information obtained from the vehicle state sensor 14. For example, the behavior determination unit 102 may detect an override when the steering torque detected by the steering torque sensor exceeds a threshold value. The behavior determination unit 102 may detect an override when the accelerator sensor detects depression of the accelerator pedal. Alternatively, the behavior determination unit 102 may detect an override when the brake sensor detects depression of the brake pedal. When an override is detected, the behavior determination unit 102 lowers the automation level from automated driving of LV1 or higher to manual driving of LV0.

Planned driving changeover is a planned driving changeover determined by the system. For example, a planned driving changeover is performed when the vehicle moves from an ST section to a non-ST section in an AD area. In this case, the behavior determination unit 102 may switch from area-limited LV3 autonomous driving to LV2 or lower autonomous driving. In other words, the vehicle switches from autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation to autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation. Planned driving changeover may be performed when the vehicle moves from a non-ST section in an AD area to an MD area. In this case, the automation level is switched from area-limited LV3 autonomous driving to LV0 manual driving. If the start and end of the congestion section can be predicted from the congestion information, a planned driving changeover may be performed when moving from a congestion section in a non-ST section to outside the congestion section. In this case, for example, the vehicle may switch from congestion-limited LV3 autonomous driving to LV2 or lower autonomous driving. An unplanned driving changeover is an unexpected driving changeover determined by the system.

The behavior determination unit 102 may be configured to switch to a lower automation level when the driver responds to a request from the vehicle system, for example. For example, when switching from automated driving at level 3 or higher to automated driving at level 2 or lower or manual driving, the behavior determination unit 102 may be configured to generate a driving change request and provide it to the HCU 19 via the HCU communication unit 104 described below. Then, when it is determined that the driver has responded to this driving change request, the driving change can be performed.

The behavior determination unit 102 includes a situation identification unit 121 as a sub-functional block. The situation identification unit 121 identifies the situation of the vehicle. The situation identification unit 121 identifies the situation of the vehicle from the driving environment of the vehicle recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101, the planned route described above, and the like. The processing in this situation identification unit 121 corresponds to the situation identification process.

The situation identification unit 121 identifies a situation in which it is necessary for the vehicle to change lanes (hereinafter, a lane change necessary situation). An example of a lane change necessary situation is a situation in which it is necessary to change lanes from the vehicle's own lane to another lane because the number of lanes ahead of the vehicle's road is decreasing. Other examples of lane change necessary situations are situations in which it is necessary to change lanes from the vehicle's own lane to another lane in order to turn right or left along a planned route or enter a branching road.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a situation where a lane change is necessary, it identifies whether or not a lane change is possible. As an example, the situation may be identified as a lane change possible when there are no surrounding vehicles within a specified range (hereinafter, target range) from the side to the rear of the vehicle before the lane change is initiated in the lane to which the vehicle will move due to the lane change (hereinafter, LC ahead lane). The situation may be identified as a lane change not possible when there are surrounding vehicles within the target range of the LC ahead lane. The target range may be arbitrarily settable.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a situation in which a lane change is necessary and also identifies a situation in which a lane change is possible, the behavior determination unit 102 decides to perform an automatic lane change (hereinafter, "auto lane change"). When the behavior determination unit 102 decides to perform an auto lane change, the LCA control unit 131 of the control execution unit 103 starts the auto lane change.

When the control authority of the driving operation is on the side of the vehicle's system, the control execution unit 103 executes driving control such as acceleration/deceleration control and steering control of the vehicle in accordance with the driving plan determined by the action determination unit 102 in cooperation with the vehicle control ECU 16. The control execution unit 103 has an LCA control unit 131, a standby driving control unit 132, a cancellation unit 133, and a cancellation driving control unit 134 as sub-functional blocks.

The LCA control unit 131 automatically changes lanes. The LCA control unit 131 performs LCA control to change the vehicle's lane from the vehicle's lane (hereinafter, the vehicle's lane) to an adjacent lane. In the LCA control, a planned driving trajectory is generated that smoothly connects the target position of the vehicle's lane and the center of the adjacent lane based on the driving environment recognition result by the driving environment recognition unit 101. Then, the vehicle changes lane from the vehicle's lane to the adjacent lane by automatically controlling the steering angle of the vehicle's steering wheel according to the planned driving trajectory. For example, the automatic lane change is performed by moving the driving position in the vehicle's lane closer to the end of the vehicle's lane on the side where the vehicle is to change lanes (hereinafter, the LC side end). The processing in the standby driving control unit 132, the cancellation unit 133, and the cancellation driving control unit 134 will be described later.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a situation in which a lane change is not possible before the lane change is completed after the start of an automated lane change, it identifies a waiting situation in which the lane change must be interrupted midway and the vehicle must wait. A waiting situation identified by the situation identification unit 121 when the vehicle is in automated driving without a monitoring obligation is hereinafter referred to as a first waiting situation. A waiting situation identified by the situation identification unit 121 when the vehicle is in automated driving with a monitoring obligation is hereinafter referred to as a second waiting situation. The situation identification unit 121 may determine that an automated lane change has been started, for example, by monitoring the control execution unit 103.

When identifying a waiting situation, the situation identification unit 121 also identifies a factor that interrupts a lane change. The situation identification unit 121 may identify a factor that interrupts a lane change (hereinafter, interruption factor) from, for example, the driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101. As one example, when there is a surrounding vehicle entering the aforementioned target range from the rear side of the vehicle, the rear vehicle may be identified as the interruption factor. As another example, when there is a surrounding vehicle entering the aforementioned target range from the front side of the vehicle, a traffic jam or a front vehicle may be identified as the interruption factor.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a waiting situation, the behavior determination unit 102 decides to interrupt the lane change and enter a waiting state in which the vehicle waits. When the behavior determination unit 102 decides to enter a waiting state, the situation identification unit 121 may identify the progress of the lane change of the vehicle. The progress of the lane change may be determined by identifying whether or not the vehicle has crossed the dividing line of the lane on the side where the lane change is to be made (hereinafter, the LC side dividing line). The dividing line of the lane may be referred to as a lane boundary line.

The standby driving control unit 132 of the control execution unit 103 performs driving control in a standby state for lane change. The standby driving control unit 132 may be included in the LCA control unit 131. When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first standby situation, the standby driving control unit 132 drives the host vehicle in a standby state. An example of the host vehicle driving in a standby state will be described below. Based on the situation identification unit 121 identifying the first standby situation, the standby driving control unit 132 preferably drives the host vehicle in the host vehicle lane by moving the host vehicle toward the LC end side. During automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, since the driver may be performing a second task, it is preferable to make the change in the behavior of the host vehicle smaller so as not to interfere with the second task. In contrast, according to the above configuration, during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, even if the lane change is in a standby state, it is possible to continue driving the host vehicle in a state where it is moved toward the LC end for lane change. Therefore, it is possible to make the change in the behavior of the host vehicle smaller and not to interfere with the driver's second task.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is straddling the LC side dividing line, it is more preferable for the waiting driving control unit 132 to return the vehicle's driving position to within the vehicle's lane and drive it closer to the LC side end. On the other hand, when the situation identification unit 121 identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is not straddling the LC side dividing line, it is more preferable for the vehicle's driving position to be returned to the center of the vehicle's lane and drive it. This is because, when the vehicle is not straddling the LC side dividing line, returning the vehicle's driving position to the center of the lane does not significantly change the vehicle's behavior.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a second waiting situation, the waiting driving control unit 132 preferably returns the vehicle's driving position to the center of the vehicle's lane, regardless of whether the vehicle is straddling the LC side lane marking. This is because, during autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation, the second task is not performed, so returning the vehicle's driving position to the center of the vehicle's lane does not interfere with the second task.

It is preferable that the situation identification unit 121 also identifies a standby changeover situation in which a changeover from autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation to driving with a surrounding monitoring obligation is required while the vehicle is in a standby state. Examples of situations in which a changeover from autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation to driving with a surrounding monitoring obligation is required include a transition from an ST section to a non-ST section, and the elimination of congestion in a non-ST section. A standby changeover situation may also include a changeover from autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation to manual driving.

The behavior determination unit 102 decides to cancel the lane change when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a waiting change situation. The cancellation unit 133 of the control execution unit 103 implements driving control to cancel the lane change. The cancellation unit 133 cancels the lane change when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a waiting change situation. The cancellation time driving control unit 134 returns the driving position of the vehicle to the center of the lane when the cancellation unit 133 cancels the lane change. The cancellation unit 133 may also cancel the lane change when the elapsed time since the vehicle entered a waiting state reaches a specified time and a timeout occurs.

If the situation identification unit 121 identifies a situation in which lane changing is possible while the vehicle is in a standby state, the behavior determination unit 102 may determine a re-attempt to resume the automated lane change. If the behavior determination unit 102 determines a re-attempt, the LCA control unit 131 resumes the automated lane change. Note that the standby driving control unit 132 may implement a timeout to end the standby state if the standby state of the vehicle continues for a specified time or longer. The specified time may be any time that can be set. When the standby state is ended, for example, the control may transition to LTA control, which will be described later.

In this embodiment, for convenience, the description is omitted, but in addition to the LCA control, the control execution unit 103 may perform other driving controls such as ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) control and LTA (Lane Tracing Assist) control. ACC control is a control that realizes constant speed driving of the host vehicle at a set vehicle speed or driving following a preceding vehicle. LTA control is a control that maintains the host vehicle driving within the lane. In LTA control, steering control is performed to maintain the host vehicle driving within the lane. As an example, in LTA control, steering control may be performed to maintain the host vehicle's driving position in the center of the lane. When starting a lane change under LCA control, the LTA control may be temporarily interrupted to allow the host vehicle to leave the lane. Then, after the lane change is completed, the LTA control may be resumed.

The HCU communication unit 104 performs processing for outputting information to the HCU 19 and processing for acquiring information from the HCU 19. The HCU communication unit 104 acquires information such as input received by the user input device 18. The HCU communication unit 104 includes an alarm processing unit 141 as a sub-functional block. The alarm processing unit 141 indirectly controls the alarm in the alarm device 17 by sending instructions to the HCU 19. This alarm processing unit 141 corresponds to an alarm control unit. Furthermore, the processing in this alarm processing unit 141 corresponds to an alarm control process.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first waiting situation, the notification processing unit 141 may issue a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which a lane change cannot be completed (hereinafter, a waiting notification), and a notification conveying the cause of the waiting state (hereinafter, a waiting cause notification). The waiting notification and waiting cause notification may be issued from the display device 171, or from the audio output device 172. For example, the waiting notification and waiting cause notification may be issued by display on the display device 171. An example of the display of the waiting notification and waiting cause notification may be as follows.

Here, an example of a standby notification and standby factor notification will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 5. Fig. 3 is a display example of an image (hereinafter, a surrounding situation image) for showing the surrounding situation of the vehicle when the vehicle is not in a standby state. Figs. 4 to 5 are display examples of the surrounding situation image when the vehicle is in a standby state. The surrounding situation image is assumed to be displayed, for example, on the meter MID. The surrounding situation image may be an overhead image of the vehicle and its surroundings seen from a virtual viewpoint above the vehicle. This virtual viewpoint may be directly above the vehicle, or may be a position shifted from directly above the vehicle. For example, it may be an overhead view seen from a virtual viewpoint above and behind the vehicle. The surrounding situation image may be a virtual image for showing the surrounding situation of the vehicle, or may be a processed image captured by a surrounding monitoring camera of the surrounding monitoring sensor 15.

Sc in Figures 3 to 5 shows the display screen of the display device 171. PLI in Figures 3 to 5 shows an image showing lane markings (hereinafter, marking line image). HVI in Figures 3 to 5 shows an image showing the host vehicle (hereinafter, host vehicle image). OVI in Figures 3 to 5 shows an image showing vehicles surrounding the host vehicle (hereinafter, surrounding vehicle image). LCI in Figures 3 to 5 shows an image showing the host vehicle's automated lane change (hereinafter, LC image). In Figures 3 to 5, an arrow icon showing the direction in which the host vehicle will make an automated lane change is shown as an example of an LC image. Note that the surrounding situation image may also display an image showing the host vehicle's speed, etc.

As shown in FIG. 3, the fact that the vehicle is not in a waiting state may be expressed by not displaying a surrounding vehicle image at the lane change destination indicated by the LC image. As shown in FIG. 4, the fact that the vehicle is in a waiting state may be expressed by displaying a surrounding vehicle image at the lane change destination indicated by the LC image. Displaying the surrounding vehicle image at the lane change destination indicated by the LC image corresponds to a waiting notification. The waiting notification may be made by superimposing a mark indicating an interruption on the LC image, displaying a text indicating the waiting state, or by other expressions. The waiting cause notification may be expressed by the manner in which the surrounding vehicle image is arranged relative to the vehicle image. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the fact that the rear vehicle is the cause of the waiting state may be expressed by displaying a surrounding vehicle image located to the rear side of the vehicle image at the lane change destination indicated by the LC image. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the fact that congestion is the cause of the waiting state may be expressed by displaying multiple surrounding vehicle images located to the front side of the vehicle image at the lane change destination indicated by the LC image. The waiting cause notification may be made by displaying an icon or text indicating the cause of the waiting state.

According to the above configuration, when the vehicle enters a standby state after starting a lane change during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, a standby notification and a standby cause notification are issued. Therefore, even when the driver is not aware of the situation around the vehicle during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, the driver can more easily understand the situation in the standby state. As a result, even when the driver needs to wait for a lane change during an automatic lane change during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, the driver is less likely to feel uncomfortable.

On the other hand, when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a second waiting situation, the notification processing unit 141 preferably issues a waiting notification but does not issue a notification of the cause of the waiting situation. This is because during autonomous driving with a periphery monitoring obligation, the driver should be aware of the situation around the vehicle, and therefore there is little need to notify the cause of the waiting state.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a waiting change situation, the notification processing unit 141 preferably issues a notification indicating that the lane change has been cancelled (hereinafter, a cancellation notification) and a notification informing the driver change that follows the notification (hereinafter, a driver change notification). When the notification processing unit 141 issues a cancellation notification, the cancellation of the lane change is also carried out by the cancellation unit 133. An example of the cancellation notification may be to erase the LC image in the above-mentioned surrounding situation image. Alternatively, an icon indicating the cancellation, text display, or audio output may be used. An example of the driver change notification may be to display an icon indicating the driver change in the above-mentioned surrounding situation image. Alternatively, text display and audio output may be used to indicate the driver change.

According to the above configuration, when it becomes necessary to switch driving from autonomous driving without monitoring obligation to driving with surrounding monitoring obligation while the vehicle is in standby, a cancellation notification and a driving change notification following the cancellation notification are issued. Therefore, even if the driver is in autonomous driving without monitoring obligation and is not aware of the situation around the vehicle, it becomes easier to know that the lane change has been canceled and a driving change is necessary.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first waiting situation, it is preferable that the notification processing unit 141 issues a notification (hereinafter, a monitoring promotion notification) to the driver to encourage monitoring of the surroundings, even during autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation, when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first waiting situation. An example of the monitoring promotion notification is to display an icon encouraging monitoring of the surroundings. In addition, text display or audio output encouraging monitoring of the surroundings may be performed. In this way, even if the driver is not aware of the situation around the vehicle, it is possible to encourage the driver to understand the situation around the vehicle and reduce anxiety. Note that the notification processing unit 141 may also be configured to issue a monitoring promotion notification when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a second waiting situation.

At the time of re-challenge in which the vehicle performs lane change again after the vehicle is in a standby state, the notification processing unit 141 preferably causes the display device 171, which does not display information related to lane change before the re-challenge (hereinafter, LC-related display), to display LC-related information. After the vehicle is in a standby state can also be said to be after the vehicle lane change cannot be completed. As an example, before the re-challenge, only the meter MID may display LC-related information, while at the time of the re-challenge, the meter MID and the CID may display LC-related information. In other words, before the re-challenge, the display device 171 used for the second task does not display LC-related information, while at the time of the re-challenge, the display device 171 used for the second task also displays LC-related information. According to the above configuration, at the time of the re-challenge, by increasing the number of displayed display devices 171, it is possible to make the display related to lane change more noticeable. The above processing may be configured to be limited to the case where the vehicle is in a standby state during automatic driving without the obligation to monitor the surroundings. This makes it easier for a driver who is not aware of the situation around the vehicle to notice the lane change display. The lane change display may be the LC image display described above. Alternatively, the lane change display may be a wait notification or a wait cause notification by display.

It is preferable that the notification processing unit 141 does not terminate the waiting cause notification even when the cause of the waiting state is resolved, but continues the waiting cause notification until the duration of the waiting cause notification reaches a predetermined time or until the automated lane change is completed. The predetermined time can be set to any time. In this way, even if the first waiting situation occurs consecutively, the waiting cause notification will continue to be performed. Therefore, even if the first waiting situation occurs consecutively, it is possible to reduce the annoyance caused by the waiting cause notification starting and ending frequently.

Here, the timing of ending the waiting cause notification will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In the example of FIG. 6, the completion of the lane change is set as the timing of ending the waiting cause notification. StS in FIG. 6 indicates the occurrence of the first waiting situation, and StE indicates the end of the first waiting situation. LCE indicates the completion of the lane change. The arrows in FIG. 6 indicate the period of notification of the waiting cause notification and the waiting cause notification. As shown in FIG. 6, the waiting notification may be started in response to the occurrence of the first waiting situation, and may be ended in response to the end of the first waiting situation. On the other hand, the waiting cause notification may be continued regardless of the occurrence and end of the first waiting situation, and may be ended when the lane change is completed. In addition, when the cause of the first waiting situation is traffic congestion, the waiting cause notification may be started and ended in response to the occurrence and end of the first waiting situation. This is because the first waiting situation caused by traffic congestion is less likely to occur and end frequently, and therefore the waiting cause notification is less likely to be bothersome even if the notification is started and ended in response to the occurrence and end of the first waiting situation.

It is preferable that the notification processing unit 141 causes the notification device 17 to notify the driver of the start of a lane change when the vehicle starts to change lanes. As an example, the above-mentioned LC image may be displayed on the display device 171. In a configuration in which a notification of the start of a lane change is given when a lane change is started during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, if a standby state occurs, the driver is particularly likely to feel uncomfortable. This is because, during automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which the driver is likely not aware of the situation around the vehicle, the driver is in a standby state despite being notified of the start of a lane change, making it more difficult for the driver to understand the situation. In response to this, by having the notification processing unit 141 give a standby notification and a standby cause notification, it is possible to make it less likely for the driver to feel uncomfortable even in a situation in which the driver is more likely to feel uncomfortable.

<LC standby related processing in the automatic driving ECU 10>
Here, an example of the flow of processing related to waiting for an automatic lane change in the automatic driving ECU 10 (hereinafter, LC waiting-related processing) will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 7. The flowchart in Fig. 7 may be configured to start when the host vehicle starts an automatic lane change. In other words, when the flowchart in Fig. 7 starts, the host vehicle is in automatic driving.

First, in step S1, the situation identification unit 121 identifies whether or not a lane change (hereinafter, LC) is possible. If LC is possible (YES in S1), the process proceeds to step S2. On the other hand, if LC is not possible (NO in S1), the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S2, if the vehicle has completed LC (YES in S2), the LC wait-related processing is terminated. On the other hand, if the vehicle has not completed LC (NO in S2), the processing returns to S1 and is repeated. Whether the vehicle has completed LC can be determined by the situation determination unit 121.

In step S3, if the automation level of the host vehicle is LV3 or higher (YES in S3), the process proceeds to step S7. In other words, if the host vehicle is in autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation, the process proceeds to step S7. The status of the host vehicle when proceeding to S7 is the first standby status. On the other hand, if the automation level of the host vehicle is below LV3 (NO in S3), the process proceeds to step S4. In other words, if the host vehicle is in autonomous driving with a monitoring obligation, the process proceeds to step S4. The status of the host vehicle when proceeding to S4 is the second standby status. The automation level of the host vehicle may be determined by the action determination unit 102.

In step S4, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the notification device 17 to issue a standby notification. In step S5, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the notification device 17 to issue a monitoring promotion notification. In step S6, the standby driving control unit 132 returns the vehicle's driving position to the center of the vehicle's lane and causes the vehicle to drive, and the process proceeds to step S11.

On the other hand, in step S7, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the notification device 17 to issue a standby notification and a standby cause notification. In step S8, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the notification device 17 to issue a monitoring promotion notification. In step S9, if the situation identification unit 121 determines that the vehicle has crossed the LC side dividing line (YES in S9), the process proceeds to step S10. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121 determines that the vehicle has not crossed the LC side dividing line (NO in S9), the process proceeds to S6. In step S10, the standby driving control unit 132 returns the vehicle's driving position to within the vehicle's lane and drives it close to the LC side end, and then the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S11, if the situation identification unit 121 identifies a standby changeover situation (YES in S11), the process proceeds to step S12. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121 does not identify a standby changeover situation (NO in S11), the process proceeds to step S14. In S11, the process may be configured to proceed to step S12 not only when driving is changed from automatic driving without a monitoring obligation to automatic driving with a monitoring obligation, but also when driving is changed from automatic driving with a monitoring obligation to manual driving.

In step S12, the cancellation unit 133 cancels the LC. Also in S12, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the notification device 17 to issue a cancellation notification. In step S13, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the notification device 17 to issue a driving change notification, and the LC standby-related processing ends. Note that in the case of a driving change from automatic driving with monitoring obligation to manual driving, the same processing as S12 to S13 may be performed, or different processing may be performed. For example, the number of types of notifications may be changed, such as omitting the cancellation notification.

In step S14, the situation determination unit 121 determines whether or not LC is possible. If LC is possible (YES in S14), the process proceeds to step S15. On the other hand, if LC is not possible (NO in S14), the process proceeds to step S17.

In step S15, the LCA control unit 131 restarts the LC. That is, a re-challenge is performed. In step S16, the notification processing unit 141 instructs the display device 171, which did not display LC-related information before the re-challenge, to display LCA-related information. In step S17, if the vehicle has completed LC (YES in S17), the LC standby-related processing ends. On the other hand, if the vehicle has not completed LC (NO in S17), the process returns to S1 and is repeated.

On the other hand, in step S18, if the time that has elapsed since the vehicle entered standby reaches a specified time and a timeout occurs (YES in S18), the process proceeds to step S19. On the other hand, if a timeout has not occurred (NO in S18), the process returns to S11 and is repeated. The time that has elapsed since the vehicle entered standby may be determined, for example, by the cancellation unit 133 using a timer circuit or the like. In step S19, the cancellation unit 133 cancels the LC and ends the LC standby-related process. Note that in S19, the notification processing unit 141 may instruct the notification device 17 to issue a cancellation notification.

(Embodiment 2)
The configuration of the vehicle system 1 of the second embodiment may be adopted instead of the configuration of the first embodiment. An example of the configuration of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of the second embodiment is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1 of the second embodiment includes an autonomous driving ECU 10a instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

<General configuration of the autonomous driving ECU 10a>
As shown in Fig. 8, the autonomous driving ECU 10a includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, a behavior determination unit 102a, a control execution unit 103a, and an HCU communication unit 104a as functional blocks. The autonomous driving ECU 10a is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment, except that the autonomous driving ECU 10a includes the behavior determination unit 102a, the control execution unit 103a, and the HCU communication unit 104a instead of the behavior determination unit 102, the control execution unit 103, and the HCU communication unit 104. This autonomous driving ECU 10a also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10a by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

The behavior determination unit 102a includes a situation identification unit 121a as a sub-functional block. The situation identification unit 121a is similar to the situation identification unit 121 of the first embodiment, except that it does not identify a waiting change situation. The processing in this situation identification unit 121a also corresponds to a situation identification process. The behavior determination unit 102a is similar to the behavior determination unit 102 of the first embodiment, except that when a waiting situation is identified, it does not determine that the lane change is interrupted midway and a waiting state is established, but rather determines that the lane change is canceled. In the second embodiment, a state in which the lane change is canceled and the lane change cannot be performed is also considered to be a waiting state.

The control execution unit 103a includes an LCA control unit 131, a cancellation unit 133a, and a cancellation-time driving control unit 134 as sub-functional blocks. The control execution unit 103a is similar to the control execution unit 103 of the first embodiment, except that it does not include a standby driving control unit 132 and includes a cancellation unit 133a instead of the cancellation unit 133.

The cancellation unit 133a cancels the automated lane change when the time elapsed since the vehicle entered a waiting state reaches a specified time and a timeout occurs. In the second embodiment, the situation identification unit 121a does not identify a waiting change situation, and therefore, unlike the first embodiment, no processing is performed that is based on the identification of a waiting change situation.

The HCU communication unit 104a includes a notification processing unit 141a as a sub-functional block. The HCU communication unit 104a is similar to the HCU communication unit 104 of the first embodiment, except that the notification processing unit 141a is included instead of the notification processing unit 141. When the situation identification unit 121a identifies the first waiting situation, the notification processing unit 141a causes the cancellation driving control unit 134 to return the vehicle's driving position to the center of the vehicle's lane, and then causes a waiting notification and a waiting cause notification to be made. The waiting notification and waiting cause notification may be the same as those described in the first embodiment. This notification processing unit 141a also corresponds to the notification control unit. In addition, the processing in this notification processing unit 141a also corresponds to the notification control process. In the second embodiment, the cancellation notification in the first embodiment may be used as a waiting notification. When the cancellation notification in the first embodiment is not used as a waiting notification, a cancellation notification may be made in addition to the waiting notification similar to that in the first embodiment.

According to the above configuration, similar to the first embodiment, during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, if the vehicle enters a standby state due to cancellation of an automated lane change after the start of the automated lane change, a standby notification and a standby cause notification are issued. Therefore, during automated driving without a monitoring obligation, even if it becomes necessary to wait for a lane change during an automatic lane change, it is possible to make it difficult for the driver to feel uncomfortable.

Similar to the notification processing unit 141, when the situation identification unit 121a identifies a second waiting situation, the notification processing unit 141a preferably issues a waiting notification, but does not issue a notification of the cause of the waiting situation. When re-challenging to make an automated lane change again after canceling the automated lane change of the vehicle, the notification processing unit 141a preferably also causes the display device 171, which does not display LC-related information before the re-challenge, to display LC-related information. "After canceling the automated lane change of the vehicle" can also be said as "after the automated lane change cannot be completed."

Similar to the notification processing unit 141, it is preferable that the notification processing unit 141a does not terminate the waiting cause notification even when the cause of the waiting state is resolved, but continues the waiting cause notification until the duration of the waiting cause notification reaches a predetermined time or until the automated lane change is completed.

<LC standby related processing in the automatic driving ECU 10a>
Here, an example of the flow of the LC standby-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10a will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 9. The flowchart in Fig. 9 may also be configured to be started when the host vehicle starts an automated lane change.

First, in step S21, the situation identification unit 121a identifies whether or not a lane change (hereinafter, LC) is possible. If LC is possible (YES in S21), the process proceeds to step S22. On the other hand, if LC is not possible (NO in S21), the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S22, if the vehicle has completed LC (YES in S22), the LC wait-related processing is terminated. On the other hand, if the vehicle has not completed LC (NO in S22), the process returns to S21 and is repeated. Whether or not the vehicle has completed LC can be determined by the situation determination unit 121a. In step S23, the cancellation unit 133a cancels the LC.

In step S24, if the automation level of the host vehicle is LV3 or higher (YES in S24), the process proceeds to step S27. The status of the host vehicle when proceeding to S27 is the first standby status. On the other hand, if the automation level of the host vehicle is lower than LV3 (NO in S24), the process proceeds to step S25. The status of the host vehicle when proceeding to S25 is the second standby status. The automation level of the host vehicle may be determined by the action determination unit 102a.

In step S25, the notification processing unit 141a instructs the notification device 17 to issue a standby notification. The cancellation notification in embodiment 1 may be used as the standby notification here. If the cancellation notification in embodiment 1 is not used as the standby notification here, the cancellation notification in embodiment 1 may be issued in S23. In step S26, the notification processing unit 141a instructs the notification device 17 to issue a monitoring promotion notification, and the process proceeds to step S29.

On the other hand, in step S27, the notification processing unit 141a instructs the notification device 17 to issue a standby notification and a standby cause notification. The standby notification here is the same as the standby notification in S25. In step S28, the notification processing unit 141a instructs the notification device 17 to issue a monitoring promotion notification. In step S29, the cancellation time driving control unit 134 returns the vehicle's driving position to the center of the vehicle's lane and causes it to drive, thereby completing the LC standby related processing.

(Embodiment 3)
The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 3. An example of the configuration of embodiment 3 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overall configuration of vehicle system 1b>
The vehicle system 1b shown in Fig. 10 can be used in an autonomous vehicle. As shown in Fig. 10, the vehicle system 1b includes an autonomous driving ECU 10b, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an alarm device 17, a user input device 18, and an HCU 19b. The vehicle system 1b includes the autonomous driving ECU 10b instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10. The vehicle system 1b includes an HCU 19b instead of the HCU 19. Except for these points, the vehicle system 1b is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment.

HCU19b is similar to HCU19 in embodiment 1, except for some differences in processing. The differences will be described below. HCU19b displays information related to the second task in the display area of the display device 171. The display related to the second task is information provided to the driver in the second task. One example is the display of content such as video.

<General configuration of autonomous driving ECU 10b>
As shown in Fig. 11, the autonomous driving ECU 10b includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, an action determination unit 102, a control execution unit 103, and an HCU communication unit 104b as functional blocks. The autonomous driving ECU 10b is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment, except that the autonomous driving ECU 10b includes the HCU communication unit 104b instead of the HCU communication unit 104. This autonomous driving ECU 10b also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10b by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

The HCU communication unit 104b has an alarm processing unit 141b as a sub-functional block. This alarm processing unit 141b also corresponds to an alarm control unit. The HCU communication unit 104b is similar to the HCU communication unit 104 of embodiment 1, except that it has an alarm processing unit 141b instead of the alarm processing unit 141. The alarm processing unit 141b is similar to the alarm processing unit 141 of embodiment 1, except that some processing is different. The following describes these differences.

When the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first waiting situation, the notification processing unit 141b causes a waiting state display to be displayed in the display area of the display device 171 where the display related to the second task is being displayed. The waiting state display is a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state. The waiting state display may be text or an icon. This makes it easier for a driver who is concentrating on the second task to recognize that the vehicle is in a waiting state. It is preferable that the waiting state display is displayed in the display area of the display device 171 together with the display related to the second task. This is to inform the driver that the vehicle is in a waiting state while making it difficult to interfere with the second task. The waiting state display may be displayed in the display area of the display device 171 instead of the display related to the second task.

When the waiting state of the vehicle times out, it is preferable that the notification processing unit 141b ends the standby state display before the timeout. Before the timeout may be just before the timeout. Just before the timeout may be, for example, a time remaining until the timeout of less than a few seconds. This makes it easier for the driver to prepare for a change in the behavior of the vehicle caused by the timeout of the standby state. It is also preferable that the notification processing unit 141b issues a notification indicating that the standby state has timed out at a timing that is different from the timing at which the standby state display is ended. The notification indicating that the standby state has timed out is hereinafter referred to as a timeout notification. This makes it less likely that the driver will be confused or misled, compared to a case in which the end of the standby state display and the timeout notification are issued simultaneously. It is also preferable that the notification processing unit 141b issues the timeout notification by display or by audio output.

<Timeout-related notification process in the autonomous driving ECU 10b>
Here, an example of the flow of a notification process related to a timeout of a standby state in the autonomous driving ECU 10b will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 12. This process is called a timeout-related notification process. The flowchart in Fig. 12 may be configured to start when the first standby state is identified by the state identification unit 121. Note that the flowchart in Fig. 12 may be configured to add, as a start condition, that a display related to the second task is being displayed in the display area of the display device 171.

First, in step S41, the notification processing unit 141b causes the display area of the display device 171 where the display related to the second task is being displayed to display a standby state. In step S42, if the standby driving control unit 132 determines that the standby state has timed out (YES in S42), the process proceeds to step S43. The standby driving control unit 132 may determine that the standby state has timed out when the duration of the standby state is close to the specified time. As an example, the standby driving control unit 132 may determine that the standby state has timed out when the duration of the standby state is close to the specified time. On the other hand, if the standby driving control unit 132 has not determined that the standby state has timed out (NO in S42), the process of S42 is repeated.

In step S43, the notification processing unit 141b ends the standby state display. In step S44, if the standby driving control unit 132 determines that the standby state has timed out (YES in S44), the process proceeds to step S45. On the other hand, if the standby driving control unit 132 does not determine that the standby state has timed out (NO in S44), the process of S44 is repeated. In step S45, the notification processing unit 141b causes the notification device 17 to issue a timeout notification, and ends the timeout-related notification process.

(Embodiment 4)
The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 4. An example of the configuration of embodiment 4 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<General Configuration of Vehicle System 1c>
The vehicle system 1c shown in FIG. 13 can be used in an autonomous vehicle. As shown in FIG. 13, the vehicle system 1c includes an autonomous driving ECU 10c, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an alarm device 17c, a user input device 18, an HCU 19c, and an interior camera 20. The vehicle system 1c includes the autonomous driving ECU 10c instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10. The vehicle system 1c includes the alarm device 17c instead of the alarm device 17. The vehicle system 1c includes the HCU 19c instead of the HCU 19. The vehicle system 1c includes the interior camera 20. Except for these points, the vehicle system 1c is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment.

The notification device 17c is similar to the notification device 17 of the first embodiment, except that it notifies about the operation of the direction indicator. The direction indicator is also called a turn signal lamp, a turn lamp, or a blinker lamp. The notification device 17c includes a display device 171c and an audio output device 172c. The display device 171c is similar to the display device 171 of the first embodiment, except that it displays about the operation of the direction indicator. The display about the operation of the direction indicator may be a display showing the direction of the direction indicator that is operating. This display may be a display by an indicator. This display may be an icon display in the meter MID. The display about the operation of the direction indicator is hereinafter referred to as a direction indication operation display. The audio output device 172c is similar to the audio output device 172 of the first embodiment, except that it outputs a sound about the operation of the direction indicator. This sound may be an electronically synthesized sound or the like that matches the flashing of the direction indicator. The output of the sound about the operation of the direction indicator is hereinafter referred to as a direction indication operation sound output. Notifications regarding turn signal operation include a turn signal operation display and a turn signal operation sound output.

The interior camera 20 captures an image of a predetermined range within the vehicle cabin. The interior camera 20 captures an image of at least an area including the driver's seat of the vehicle. The interior camera 20 may capture an image of an area including the passenger seat and rear seats in addition to the driver's seat of the vehicle. The interior camera 20 is composed of, for example, a near-infrared light source and a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls these. The interior camera 20 captures an image of an occupant of the vehicle irradiated with near-infrared light by the near-infrared light source using the near-infrared camera. The image captured by the near-infrared camera is subjected to image analysis by the control unit. The control unit performs image analysis on the captured image to detect the facial features of the occupant. The control unit may detect the facial direction, gaze direction, gaze, etc. of the occupant based on the detected features of the upper body including the face of the occupant.

The HCU 19c is similar to the HCU 19 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences are described below. The HCU 19c controls the notification of the operation of the turn indicator by the notification device 17c. It is preferable that the HCU 19c estimates whether the driver is performing the second task. The HCU 19c may estimate whether the driver is performing the second task from the driver's facial direction, line of sight direction, posture, etc. detected by the indoor camera 20. The HCU 19c may estimate whether the driver is performing the second task from the input received by the user input device 18. For example, the HCU 19c may estimate that the driver is performing the second task because the input is received by a touch switch integrated with the CID. The estimation result by the HCU 19c of whether the driver is performing the second task is referred to as the state estimation result below.

<General configuration of autonomous driving ECU 10c>
As shown in FIG. 14, the autonomous driving ECU 10c includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, an action determination unit 102c, a control execution unit 103, an HCU communication unit 104c, and an implementation specification unit 105 as functional blocks. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes the action determination unit 102c instead of the action determination unit 102. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes an HCU communication unit 104b instead of the HCU communication unit 104. The autonomous driving ECU 10c includes the implementation specification unit 105. Except for these points, the autonomous driving ECU 10c is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This autonomous driving ECU 10c also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10c by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

The implementation identification unit 105 identifies whether or not the driver is performing the second task. The implementation identification unit 105 may identify whether or not the driver is performing the second task by acquiring the state estimation result from the HCU 19c. The implementation identification unit 105 may acquire the state estimation result from the HCU 19c via the HCU communication unit 104.

The behavior determination unit 102c includes a situation identification unit 121 and a time setting unit 122 as sub-functional blocks. The behavior determination unit 102c is similar to the behavior determination unit 102 of the first embodiment, except that it includes the time setting unit 122. The time setting unit 122 changes the specified time for timeout in the standby state. When the implementation identification unit 105 identifies that the driver is performing a second task, the time setting unit 122 changes the specified time for timeout to a longer time. By "changing it to a longer time," it is meant changing it to a longer time than when it is identified that the second task is not being performed.

When the driver is engaged in a second task, he or she is less conscious of the vehicle's behavior. Therefore, even if the standby state continues for a long time, the driver is unlikely to notice this. With the above configuration, it is possible to extend the standby state depending on the situation while making it less likely for the driver to feel uncomfortable.

The HCU communication unit 104c has an alarm processing unit 141c as a sub-functional block. This alarm processing unit 141c also corresponds to an alarm control unit. The HCU communication unit 104c is similar to the HCU communication unit 104 of embodiment 1, except that it has an alarm processing unit 141c instead of the alarm processing unit 141. The alarm processing unit 141c is similar to the alarm processing unit 141 of embodiment 1, except that some processing is different. The following describes these differences.

The notification processing unit 141c also controls notifications of the operation of the direction indicator of the vehicle, directed to the interior of the vehicle. The notification processing unit 141c indirectly controls notifications of the operation of the direction indicator by sending instructions to the HCU 19c. When the implementation identification unit 105 identifies that the driver is performing a second task, the notification processing unit 141c suppresses notifications of the operation of the direction indicator of the vehicle from the notification device 17. This makes it possible to make it difficult for notifications of the operation of the direction indicator to interfere with the second task. As an example of suppression, a direction indication operation display may be performed but a direction indication operation sound output may not be performed. This makes it possible to suppress sounds that tend to interfere with the second task while still allowing notifications of the operation of the direction indicator by display. Note that the suppression may be performed by lowering the intensity of both the direction indication operation display and the direction indication operation sound output.

<Second task related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10c>
Here, an example of the flow of processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10c according to the presence or absence of a second task (hereinafter, second task-related processing) will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 15. This processing is called the second task-related processing. The flowchart in FIG. 15 may be configured to start when the host vehicle starts autonomous driving at LV3 or higher. In other words, the flowchart may be configured to start when the host vehicle starts autonomous driving without a monitoring obligation.

First, in step S61, if the implementation identification unit 105 determines that the driver is performing the second task (YES in S61), the process proceeds to step S62. On the other hand, if the implementation identification unit 105 determines that the driver is not performing the second task (NO in S61), the process proceeds to step S64.

In step S62, the time setting unit 122 sets the timeout period to be longer than the period when it is determined that the driver is not performing the second task. In step S63, the notification processing unit 141c displays the direction indication operation but suppresses the output of the direction indication operation sound. Then, the process proceeds to step S66.

In step S64, the time setting unit 122 sets the specified time for the timeout to be shorter than the time when it is determined that the driver is performing the second task. In step S65, the notification processing unit 141c does not suppress either the direction indication operation display or the direction indication operation sound output, and proceeds to step S66. In step S66, if it is the timing to end the second task-related processing (YES in S66), the second task-related processing is terminated. On the other hand, if it is not the timing to end the second task-related processing, the process returns to S61 and is repeated. An example of the timing to end the processing is when the vehicle ends autonomous driving without monitoring obligation.

(Embodiment 5)
The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 5. An example of the configuration of embodiment 5 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<General Configuration of Vehicle System 1d>
The vehicle system 1d shown in Fig. 16 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 16, the vehicle system 1d includes an autonomous driving ECU 10d, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, an alarm device 17, a user input device 18, and an HCU 19. The vehicle system 1d is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1d includes the autonomous driving ECU 10d instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

<General configuration of autonomous driving ECU 10d>
As shown in FIG. 17, the autonomous driving ECU 10d includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, an action determination unit 102d, a control execution unit 103d, and an HCU communication unit 104 as functional blocks. The autonomous driving ECU 10d includes an action determination unit 102d instead of the action determination unit 102. The autonomous driving ECU 10d includes a control execution unit 103d instead of the control execution unit 103. Except for these points, the autonomous driving ECU 10d is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This autonomous driving ECU 10d also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10d by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

The behavior determination unit 102d includes a situation identification unit 121d, a time setting unit 122d, and a distance setting unit 123 as sub-functional blocks. The situation identification unit 121d is similar to the situation identification unit 121 of the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences. The situation identification unit 121d identifies whether or not the vehicle is in a traffic jam. In other words, the situation identification unit 121d identifies whether or not the situation in which the vehicle is placed is in a traffic jam. The situation identification unit 121d may identify whether or not the section in which the vehicle is traveling is in a traffic jam from the traffic jam information around the vehicle received from the center by the communication module 11. In addition, the situation identification unit 121d may combine the information on the position and speed of other vehicles and the information on the speed of the vehicle to identify whether or not the section in which the vehicle is traveling is in a traffic jam. The information on the position and speed of other vehicles may be identified based on sensing information acquired from the surrounding monitoring sensor 15. Information on the speed of the host vehicle may be acquired from a vehicle speed sensor in the vehicle state sensor 14. For example, the section on which the host vehicle is traveling may be identified as being congested because there are many other vehicles around the host vehicle and the speeds of the host vehicle and the vehicles in front and behind the host vehicle are low. Note that the situation identification unit 121d may identify whether the section on which the host vehicle is traveling is congested or not by means other than those described above.

The situation identification unit 121d preferably identifies whether the own lane and the adjacent lane are congested. Whether the own lane is congested may be identified by combining information on the positions and speeds of other vehicles and information on the speed of the own vehicle. For example, the own lane may be identified as congested because the speeds of the vehicles in front and behind the own vehicle are low. Whether the adjacent lane of the own vehicle is congested may also be identified by combining information on the positions and speeds of other vehicles and information on the speed of the own vehicle. For example, the adjacent lane of the own vehicle may be identified as congested because there are many other vehicles in the adjacent lane and the speeds of these other vehicles are low. Note that the situation identification unit 121d may identify whether the own lane and the adjacent lane are congested by a means other than the above. In the following, a situation in which the own lane and the adjacent lane are congested is referred to as a two-way congestion situation. In the following, a situation in which the own lane is congested but the adjacent lane is not congested is referred to as a situation in which only the own lane is congested.

It is preferable that the situation identification unit 121d identifies whether or not the surroundings monitoring sensor 15 of the vehicle detects vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane. The situation identification unit 121d may identify whether or not the surroundings monitoring sensor 15 of the vehicle detects vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane from the vehicle's driving environment recognized by the driving environment recognition unit 101. The time setting unit 122d and the distance setting unit 123 will be described in detail later.

The control execution unit 103d has an LCA control unit 131, a standby driving control unit 132d, a cancellation unit 133, a cancellation driving control unit 134, and an ACC control unit 135 as sub-functional blocks. The control execution unit 103d has a standby driving control unit 132d instead of the standby driving control unit 132. The control execution unit 103d has an ACC control unit 135 as an essential component. Except for these points, the control execution unit 103d is similar to the control execution unit 103 of embodiment 1.

The ACC control unit 135 performs the ACC control described in the first embodiment. The standby driving control unit 132d is the same as the standby driving control unit 132 in the first embodiment, except for some different processing. The following describes the differences. When the situation identification unit 121d identifies a traffic jam, the standby driving control unit 132d drives the vehicle as follows in a standby state. The standby driving control unit 132d drives the vehicle closer to the edge of the lane on the side where the vehicle is intended to change lanes than when a traffic jam is not identified. In a traffic jam, it is considered that the vehicle behind the lane change destination is more likely to leave space for the lane change if the vehicle is closer to the edge of the lane on the side where the vehicle is intended to change lanes. Therefore, according to the above configuration, lane changes are made easier even in a traffic jam.

The time setting unit 122d is similar to the time setting unit 122 of the fourth embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The differences are described below. When the situation identification unit 121d identifies a traffic jam, it is preferable for the time setting unit 122d to change the specified time to be longer than when a traffic jam is not identified. Because a vehicle in a traffic jam travels at a low speed, it is easy to avoid coming into contact with surrounding vehicles even if the vehicle is driven close to the edge of its lane while in a waiting state. Therefore, when it is easy to avoid coming into contact with surrounding vehicles even in a waiting state, it is possible to continue the waiting state for a long time and make it easier to change lanes.

It is preferable that the time setting unit 122d change the specified timeout time to a longer time when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a situation in which the periphery monitoring sensor 15 of the vehicle detects vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane. By change it to a longer time, it is sufficient to change it to a longer time than when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a situation in which the periphery monitoring sensor 15 is unable to detect at least one of the vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane. When the periphery monitoring sensor 15 is able to detect vehicles in front and behind, it is easier to avoid approaching the vehicles in front and behind than when it is unable to detect at least one of the vehicles in front and behind. Therefore, when it is easy to avoid approaching the vehicles in front and behind even in a standby state, it is possible to continue the standby state for a longer time and make it easier to change lanes.

The distance setting unit 123 changes the target inter-vehicle distance in the following cruise control that maintains the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the vehicle preceding the host vehicle at the target inter-vehicle distance. In other words, the distance setting unit 123 changes the target inter-vehicle distance in the ACC control described above. It is preferable that the distance setting unit 123 changes the target inter-vehicle distance when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a two-way traffic jam situation and when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a traffic jam situation only in the host lane. This makes it possible to change the target inter-vehicle distance according to the situation when the allowable or preferred target inter-vehicle distance differs between a two-way traffic jam situation and a traffic jam situation only in the host lane.

When the situation identification unit 121d identifies a congestion situation in the own lane only, the distance setting unit 123 preferably sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a congestion situation in both lanes. This makes it easier to accelerate the own vehicle, and makes it easier to change lanes to the adjacent lane even when the own lane is congested. Note that when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a congestion situation in the own lane only, the target inter-vehicle distance may be set to be longer than when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a congestion situation in both lanes. This makes it easier for the own vehicle to change lanes by increasing the target inter-vehicle distance and encouraging vehicles to switch between the own lane and the adjacent lane.

<Processing Related to Setting Changes in the Autonomous Driving ECU 10d>
Here, an example of a process flow related to a setting change during a standby state in the autonomous driving ECU 10d will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 18. This process is called a setting change related process. The flowchart of Fig. 18 may be configured to start when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first standby situation.

First, in step S81, if the situation identification unit 121d identifies that there is a traffic jam (YES in S81), the process proceeds to step S82. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121d identifies that there is no traffic jam (NO in S81), the process proceeds to step S84.

In step S82, the standby driving control unit 132d moves the vehicle's driving position to the edge of the lane to which the vehicle is to be changed. In step S83, the time setting unit 122d sets the timeout period to be longer than the time when the vehicle is not identified as being in a traffic jam. Then, the process proceeds to step S86.

In step S84, the standby driving control unit 132d drives the vehicle so that the vehicle is positioned in the center of the vehicle's lane. In step S85, the time setting unit 122d sets the timeout period to be shorter than when the vehicle is not identified as being in a traffic jam. Then, the process proceeds to step S86.

In step S86, if the situation identification unit 121d identifies that the own lane is congested (YES in S86), the process proceeds to step S87. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121d identifies that the own lane is not congested (NO in S86), the process proceeds to step S90. In step S87, if the adjacent lane ahead of the lane change is identified as congested (YES in S87), the process proceeds to step S88. In FIG. 18, the adjacent lane ahead of the lane change is represented as LC ahead. On the other hand, if the adjacent lane ahead of the lane change is identified as not congested (NO in S87), the process proceeds to step S89.

In step S88, the distance setting unit 123 sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be shorter than when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a congestion situation in the own lane alone. Then, the process proceeds to step S90. In step S89, the distance setting unit 123 sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than when the situation identification unit 121d identifies a congestion situation in both lanes.

In step S90, if the situation identification unit 121d identifies a situation in which the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 is able to detect the front and rear vehicles (YES in S90), the process proceeds to step S91. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121d identifies a situation in which the perimeter monitoring sensor 15 is unable to detect at least one of the front and rear vehicles (NO in S90), the process proceeds to step S92.

In step S91, the time setting unit 122d sets the specified timeout time to be longer than when at least one of the preceding and following vehicles cannot be detected. Then, the process proceeds to step S93. In step S92, the time setting unit 122d sets the specified timeout time to be shorter than when the preceding and following vehicles can be detected. Then, the process proceeds to step S93.

In step S93, if it is time to end the setting change related processing (YES in S93), the setting change related processing is ended. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the setting change related processing, the process returns to S81 and is repeated. Examples of end timings include the vehicle ending autonomous driving without monitoring obligation, ending a standby state, etc.

(Embodiment 6)
The configuration is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and may be that of the following embodiment 6. An example of the configuration of embodiment 6 will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overall Configuration of Vehicle System 1e>
The vehicle system 1e shown in Fig. 19 can be used in an autonomous driving vehicle. As shown in Fig. 19, the vehicle system 1e includes an autonomous driving ECU 10e, a communication module 11, a locator 12, a map DB 13, a vehicle state sensor 14, a surrounding monitoring sensor 15, a vehicle control ECU 16, a notification device 17, a user input device 18, and an HCU 19. The vehicle system 1e is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1e includes an autonomous driving ECU 10e instead of the autonomous driving ECU 10.

<Overall configuration of autonomous driving ECU 10e>
As shown in FIG. 20 , the autonomous driving ECU 10e includes a driving environment recognition unit 101, an action determination unit 102e, a control execution unit 103e, and an HCU communication unit 104 as functional blocks. The autonomous driving ECU 10e includes an action determination unit 102e instead of the action determination unit 102. The autonomous driving ECU 10e includes a control execution unit 103e instead of the control execution unit 103. Except for these points, the autonomous driving ECU 10e is similar to the autonomous driving ECU 10 of the first embodiment. This autonomous driving ECU 10e also corresponds to a vehicle control device. In addition, the execution of processing of each functional block of the autonomous driving ECU 10e by a computer corresponds to the execution of a vehicle control method.

The control execution unit 103e has an LCA control unit 131e, a standby driving control unit 132e, a cancellation unit 133, and a cancellation time driving control unit 134 as sub-functional blocks. The control execution unit 103e has an LCA control unit 131e instead of the LCA control unit 131. The control execution unit 103e has a standby driving control unit 132e instead of the standby driving control unit 132. Except for these points, the control execution unit 103e is similar to the control execution unit 103 of embodiment 1.

The LCA control unit 131e is similar to the LCA control unit 131 of the first embodiment, except for some differences in processing. The following describes these differences. The LCA control unit 131e performs overtaking control to change lanes in order to overtake a vehicle ahead in the own lane. Hereinafter, the vehicle ahead that is the target of this overtaking is referred to as a target vehicle ahead. In the overtaking control, a two-stage lane change is performed. The first stage is a lane change from the own lane to an adjacent lane. The second stage is a lane change to return to the original own lane after overtaking the target vehicle ahead in the adjacent lane.

The standby driving control unit 132e is similar to the standby driving control unit 132 of embodiment 1, except for some differences in processing. These differences will be described in detail later. The behavior determination unit 102e has a situation identification unit 121e and a restart determination unit 124 as sub-functional blocks. The situation identification unit 121e is similar to the situation identification unit 121 of embodiment 1, except for some differences in processing. These differences will be described below.

When performing overtaking control, the situation identification unit 121e identifies whether to perform vehicle control for the host vehicle to overtake another vehicle or to have the host vehicle overtake another vehicle. This vehicle control for the host vehicle to overtake another vehicle is called leading overtaking control. This vehicle control for the host vehicle to overtake another vehicle is called trailing overtaking control. Leading overtaking control is overtaking control that is performed without waiting for the other vehicle to overtake the host vehicle. Trailing overtaking control is overtaking control that is performed after waiting for the other vehicle to overtake the host vehicle. The situation identification unit 121e may identify whether to perform leading overtaking control or trailing overtaking control based on the situation of the rear vehicle at the lane change destination in the first stage described above. For example, when the distance to the rear vehicle is sufficiently far and the rear vehicle is not approaching the host vehicle, it may identify that leading overtaking control is to be performed. Also, when the distance to the rear vehicle is not sufficiently far and the rear vehicle is approaching the host vehicle, it may identify that trailing overtaking control is to be performed.

The situation identification unit 121e identifies a situation in which the following overtaking control is performed to allow another vehicle to overtake the host vehicle, but the other vehicle does not overtake the host vehicle. This situation is hereinafter referred to as a no-response situation. The no-response situation may be a situation in which a predetermined time has elapsed since the following overtaking control was started, but the other vehicle does not overtake the host vehicle. The predetermined time may be any time that can be set. The start of the following overtaking control referred to here may be, for example, the timing when a notification indicating the start of overtaking control is started by the notification device 17.

The standby driving control unit 132e drives the vehicle in a standby state when the situation identification unit 121e identifies a first standby situation during the above-mentioned overtaking control. The standby driving control unit 132e changes the driving position of the vehicle in the standby state when a situation in which leading overtaking control is performed is identified and when a situation in which following overtaking control is performed is identified. This makes it possible to change the driving position of the vehicle in a standby state according to the situation when the preferred driving position of the vehicle in a standby state differs between leading overtaking control and following overtaking control. As a result, it becomes possible to wait for a lane change in overtaking control at a driving position according to the situation.

When the situation identification unit 121e identifies a situation in which leading overtaking control is to be performed, the standby driving control unit 132e preferably causes the vehicle to travel in the following manner as a standby state. The standby driving control unit 132e may cause the vehicle to travel in the center of the adjacent lane after changing lanes to the adjacent lane in order to overtake. On the other hand, when the situation identification unit 121e identifies a situation in which following overtaking control is to be performed, the standby driving control unit 132e preferably causes the vehicle to travel in the following manner as a standby state. The standby driving control unit 132e may cause the vehicle to travel close to the edge of the lane on the side where the vehicle was intended to change lanes. Even if the vehicle was straddling the adjacent lane, the vehicle may be returned to the original lane and driven close to the edge of the lane on the side where the vehicle was intended to change lanes.

According to the above configuration, in a situation where there is no need to wait for another vehicle to overtake the vehicle, it is possible to perform the first stage lane change described above, and then wait for the second stage lane change in the lane to which the lane change was made. On the other hand, in a situation where it is necessary to wait for another vehicle to overtake the vehicle, it is possible to wait for the first stage lane change in the vehicle's lane. In this case, the vehicle is driven close to the edge of the side where the lane change was intended, so that the lane change can be performed quickly after the other vehicle has overtaken the vehicle. Note that the driving position in the waiting state may be another driving position, not limited to the example described here, as long as the driving position corresponds to the situation of the preceding overtaking control and the following overtaking control.

When the situation identification unit 121e identifies the above-mentioned unresponsive situation, it is preferable for the standby driving control unit 132e to continue the standby state for a predetermined time. This makes it easier to avoid a sudden approach from a vehicle behind the lane change destination, compared to when the situation identification unit 121e identifies an unresponsive situation and immediately resumes lane changing. The predetermined time may be any time that can be set.

When the situation identification unit 121e identifies the above-mentioned no-response situation, the resumption determination unit 124 may determine whether or not to resume the lane change to the adjacent lane to which the vehicle was to be changed. In other words, the resumption determination unit 124 may determine whether or not to resume the lane change using the route guidance information of the vehicle and the congestion of each lane. The driving plan determined by the action determination unit 102 may be used as the route guidance information of the vehicle. The congestion of each lane may be that identified by the situation identification unit 121e. The situation identification unit 121e may identify the congestion of each lane based on the sensing information acquired from the perimeter monitoring sensor 15. For example, the resumption determination unit 124 may determine to resume the lane change when it is difficult to postpone the lane change in the driving plan and the congestion of the lane change destination is not high.

When the resumption determination unit 124 determines that the lane change should be resumed, the LCA control unit 131e preferably changes the vehicle speed of the host vehicle to a speed slower than that of the target vehicle. The target vehicle is a vehicle that is targeted for overtaking the host vehicle in the following overtaking control. Hereinafter, this vehicle will be referred to as the target vehicle. In addition, the LCA control unit 131e preferably changes the vehicle speed of the host vehicle to a speed slower than that of the target vehicle, and causes the host vehicle to change lanes behind the target vehicle. This lane change corresponds to the first stage of lane change in the overtaking control. With the above configuration, it becomes possible to change lanes behind the target vehicle when the host vehicle is in the unresponsive state described above but needs to change lanes.

<Overtaking wait-related processing in the autonomous driving ECU 10e>
Here, an example of a flow of processing related to a standby state during overtaking control in the autonomous driving ECU 10e will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 21. This processing is called overtaking standby-related processing. The flowchart of Fig. 21 may be configured to start when the situation identification unit 121 identifies a first standby situation during overtaking control.

First, in step S101, if the situation identification unit 121e identifies the overtaking control as leading overtaking control (YES in S101), the process proceeds to step S102. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121e identifies the overtaking control as following overtaking control (NO in S101), the process proceeds to step S104.

In step S102, the waiting driving control unit 132e changes lanes to an adjacent lane where the vehicle will be changed to in order to overtake, and then drives the vehicle so that it is positioned in the center of the adjacent lane. In FIG. 21, lane change is represented as LC. In step S103, if it is the end timing of the overtaking waiting-related processing (YES in S103), the overtaking waiting-related processing is ended. On the other hand, if it is not the end timing of the overtaking waiting-related processing (NO in S103), the processing of S103 is repeated. Examples of the end timing include the waiting state timing out and the waiting state being resolved. The waiting state is resolved when it becomes possible to continue overtaking control.

In step S104, the waiting driving control unit 132e drives the host vehicle close to the edge of the host lane on the side where the host vehicle is to change lanes. In step S105, if the situation identification unit 121e identifies an unresponsive situation (YES in S105), the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if the situation identification unit 121e identifies that the situation is not an unresponsive situation (NO in S105), the overtaking waiting-related process ends. If the situation is not an unresponsive situation, the target vehicle overtakes the host vehicle, so the waiting state is resolved and the overtaking waiting-related process ends.

In step S106, the standby driving control unit 132e continues the standby state for a predetermined time. In step S107, if the resumption determination unit 124 determines that the lane change to the adjacent lane that the host vehicle was attempting to change to should be resumed (YES in S107), the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, if the resumption determination unit 124 determines that the lane change to the adjacent lane that the host vehicle was attempting to change to should not be resumed (NO in S107), the process proceeds to step S109.

In step S108, the LCA control unit 131e changes the vehicle speed to a speed slower than that of the target vehicle, changes lanes behind the target vehicle, and ends the overtaking wait-related processing. In step S109, if it is time to end the overtaking wait-related processing (YES in S109), the overtaking wait-related processing ends. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the overtaking wait-related processing (NO in S109), the process returns to S107 and is repeated.

(Embodiment 7)
In the above embodiment, the automatic driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e are shown as being equivalent to the vehicle control device, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, an ECU other than the automatic driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e may be configured to be equivalent to the vehicle control device. For example, the HCUs 19, 19a, and 19b may be configured to perform the functions of the situation identification units 121, 121a, 121d, and 121e and the notification processing units 141, 141a, 141b, and 141c. In this case, the HCUs 19, 19a, and 19b are equivalent to the vehicle control device. In this case, the HCUs 19, 19a, and 19b may perform the functions of the situation identification units 121, 121a, 121d, and 121e by acquiring the results identified by the situation identification units 121 and 121a of the action determination unit 102. Furthermore, the functions of the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e described in the above embodiment may be shared between the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e and the HCUs 19, 19a, and 19b. In this case, a unit including the autonomous driving ECUs 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e and the HCUs 19, 19a, and 19b corresponds to a vehicle control device.

Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The technical scope of the present disclosure also includes embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments. The control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer that constitutes a processor programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated hardware logic circuit. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by one or more dedicated computers that are configured by combining a processor that executes a computer program with one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transient tangible recording medium as instructions executed by the computer.

(Disclosed technical idea)
This specification discloses multiple technical ideas described in the following multiple dependent claims. Some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, in which the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. Furthermore, some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, in which the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. The claims described in these multiple dependent forms define multiple technical ideas.

(Technical thought 1)
A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
A situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) for identifying a situation of the vehicle;
a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to an interior of the vehicle;
The situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation in which it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation,
The notification control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation, issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which the lane change has been interrupted midway and is waiting, and a notification conveying the cause of the waiting state.

(Technical thought 2)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 1,
The notification control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation, issues a notification to the driver of the vehicle to encourage monitoring of the surroundings, even when the vehicle is in autonomous driving without monitoring obligation.

(Technical thought 3)
The vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 1 or 2,
The situation identification unit (121) also identifies a standby change situation in which driving change is required from the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation to the driving with the surrounding monitoring obligation during the standby state,
A cancellation unit (133) that cancels the automatic lane change,
The cancellation unit cancels an automatic lane change when the situation identification unit identifies the waiting change situation,
The notification control unit (141) is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the waiting changeover situation, issues a notification indicating that an automatic lane change has been canceled, followed by a notification informing the driver of the changeover.

(Technical thought 4)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 3,
The notification control unit (141b) is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation, displays a waiting state display indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in a display area of a display device that is displaying a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle, as a notification indicating that the vehicle is in the waiting state.

(Technical Thought 5)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 4,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
The notification control unit of the vehicle control device ends the standby state display before the timeout occurs, and issues a notification indicating that the standby state has timed out, at a timing that is offset from the timing at which the standby state display ends.

(Technical Thought 6)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 5,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
A time setting unit (122) for changing the specified time of the timeout;
an execution identification unit (105) that identifies whether or not the driver of the vehicle is executing a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle;
A vehicle control device in which the time setting unit changes the specified time to be longer when the implementation identification unit determines that the driver is performing a second task than when the implementation identification unit determines that the driver is not performing a second task.

(Technical Thought 7)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 6,
The notification control unit (141c) also controls notifications regarding the operation of a turn signal of the vehicle, directed toward the interior of the vehicle;
an execution identification unit (105) that identifies whether or not the driver of the vehicle is executing a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle;
The notification control unit of the vehicle control device suppresses notification directed toward the interior of the vehicle regarding the operation of the vehicle's turn indicators when the implementation identification unit determines that the driver is performing a second task.

(Technical Thought 8)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 7,
A vehicle control device comprising: a standby driving control unit (132, 132d, 132e) that drives the vehicle in the standby state when the first standby situation is identified by the situation identification unit.

(Technical Thought 9)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 8,
The waiting driving control unit (132d) is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit (121d) identifies a traffic jam as the driving position of the vehicle in the waiting state, drives the vehicle closer to the end of the vehicle's driving lane on the side where the vehicle is attempting to change lanes than when the situation identification unit (121d) does not identify a traffic jam.

(Technical Thought 10)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 9,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
A time setting unit (122d) for changing the specified time of the timeout,
The vehicle control device, wherein the time setting unit changes the specified time to be longer when the situation identification unit identifies a traffic jam than when the situation identification unit does not identify a traffic jam.

(Technical Thought 11)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Idea 9 or 10,
a distance setting unit (123) for changing a target inter-vehicle distance in a following cruise control for maintaining a distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle at a target inter-vehicle distance;
The distance setting unit is a vehicle control device that changes the target inter-vehicle distance depending on whether the situation identification unit identifies that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and the adjacent lane beyond the lane change are congested, or whether the situation identification unit identifies that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is congested but identifies that the adjacent lane beyond the lane change is not congested.

(Technical Thought 12)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 11,
A vehicle control device in which, when the situation identification unit identifies that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is congested but the adjacent lane beyond the lane change is not congested, the distance setting unit sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than when the situation identification unit identifies that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and the adjacent lane beyond the lane change are congested.

(Technical Thought 13)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 9 to 12,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
A time setting unit (122d) for changing the specified time of the timeout,
A vehicle control device in which, when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which the vehicle's perimeter monitoring sensor detects vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane of travel, the time setting unit changes the specified time to be longer than when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which the perimeter monitoring sensor is unable to detect at least any of the vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane of travel.

(Technical Thought 14)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 8 to 13,
The standby driving control unit (132e) is a vehicle control device that changes the driving position in the standby state when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which vehicle control is performed to cause the vehicle to overtake another vehicle, and when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which vehicle control is performed to cause the vehicle to overtake another vehicle.

(Technical Thought 15)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 14,
The standby driving control unit, when the situation identification unit (121e) identifies a situation in which vehicle control is performed to cause the vehicle to overtake another vehicle, causes the vehicle to change lanes to an adjacent lane where the lane change is to be made in order to overtake, and then positions the vehicle in the center of that lane, as driving in the standby state, while, when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which vehicle control is performed to cause the vehicle to overtake another vehicle, causes the vehicle to drive close to the end of the vehicle's lane on the side into which the vehicle is intended to change lanes, as driving in the standby state.

(Technical Thought 16)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 14 or 15,
The standby driving control unit executes vehicle control to allow another vehicle to overtake the vehicle, but if the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which the other vehicle does not overtake the vehicle, the vehicle control device continues the standby state for a predetermined period of time.

(Technical Thought 17)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 16,
a restart determination unit (124) that determines whether or not to restart the lane change into the adjacent lane that was being attempted by the vehicle when the vehicle control is performed to cause another vehicle to overtake the vehicle but the other vehicle does not overtake the vehicle, when the situation determination unit determines a situation in which the other vehicle does not overtake the vehicle;
A lane change control unit (131e) that, when the resumption determination unit determines that the vehicle should resume the lane change to the adjacent lane that the vehicle was trying to change lanes into, changes the vehicle's speed to a speed slower than that of the other vehicle and causes the vehicle to change lanes behind the other vehicle.

(Technical Thought 18)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 8,
The automatic lane change is performed by moving the traveling position of the vehicle in the traveling lane of the vehicle to an end of the lane on which the vehicle is to change lanes,
The waiting driving control unit (132) is a vehicle control device that moves the vehicle's driving position closer to the end of the driving lane based on the first waiting situation identified by the situation identification unit (121a).

(Technical Thought 19)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 18,
It can be used in a vehicle that switches between the autonomous driving without the monitoring obligation and the autonomous driving with the monitoring obligation, which is the autonomous driving with the surrounding monitoring obligation,
The situation identification unit also identifies a second waiting situation in which, during the monitoring obligation automatic driving, it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change,
The waiting driving control unit is a vehicle control device that, based on the situation identification unit identifying the first waiting situation, causes the vehicle's driving position to move closer to the end of the driving lane, and, when the situation identification unit identifies the second waiting situation, causes the vehicle's driving position to return to the center of the driving lane.

(Technical Thought 20)
A vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 18 or 19,
The waiting driving control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is straddling a dividing line of the driving lane on the side where the vehicle will change lanes, returns the vehicle's driving position to within the driving lane and drives the vehicle closer to the edge, and, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is not straddling a dividing line of the driving lane on the side where the vehicle will change lanes, returns the vehicle's driving position to the center of the driving lane.

(Technical Thought 21)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 19 to 20,
It can be used in a vehicle that switches between the autonomous driving without the monitoring obligation and the autonomous driving with the monitoring obligation, which is the autonomous driving with the surrounding monitoring obligation,
The situation identification unit also identifies a second waiting situation in which, during the monitoring obligation automatic driving, it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change,
The notification control unit, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation, issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state and a notification informing the driver of the cause of the waiting state, while when the situation identification unit identifies the second waiting situation, issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state but does not issue a notification informing the driver of the cause of the waiting state.

(Technical Thought 22)
The vehicle control device according to Technical Concept 1 or 2,
A cancellation unit (133a) for canceling an automatic lane change is provided,
The cancellation unit cancels the automatic lane change when the situation identification unit (121a) identifies the first waiting situation,
A cancellation-time driving control unit (134) that returns the driving position of the vehicle to the center of the driving lane of the vehicle when the automatic lane change is canceled by the cancellation unit,
The notification control unit (141a) is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation, causes the cancellation driving control unit to return the vehicle's driving position to the center of the driving lane, and then issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in the waiting state and a notification conveying the cause of the waiting state.

(Technical Thought 23)
A vehicle control device according to any one of Technical Ideas 1 to 22,
The notification control unit is capable of causing a notification to be made by displaying a notification on a display device, and when the vehicle re-attempts to make the lane change again after failing to complete the lane change, the vehicle control device also causes the display device, which did not display information regarding the lane change before the re-attempt, to display information regarding the lane change.

(Technical Thought 24)
A vehicle control device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 23,
The notification control unit does not terminate the notification that informs the driver of the cause of the standby state even if the cause of the standby state is resolved, but continues the notification until the duration of the notification reaches a predetermined time or until the lane change is completed.

1, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e Vehicle system, 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e Autonomous driving ECU (vehicle control device), 19, 19a, 19b HCU, 105 Implementation identification unit, 121, 121a, 121d, 121e Situation identification unit, 122, 122d Time setting unit, 123 Distance setting unit, 124 Restart determination unit, 131e LCA control unit (lane change control unit), 132, 132d, 132e Standby driving control unit, 133, 133a Cancellation unit, 134 Cancellation driving control unit, 141, 141a, 141b, 141c Notification processing unit (notification control unit)

Claims (18)

A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
A situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) for identifying a situation of the vehicle;
a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to an interior of the vehicle;
The situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation in which it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation,
The notification control unit is configured to cause the situation identification unit to identify the first waiting situation , and when the vehicle stops the lane change midway and enters a waiting state , to issue a notification indicating that the vehicle is in the waiting state and a notification conveying a cause of the waiting state,
the notification control unit (141b) displays a standby state display indicating that the vehicle is in the standby state in a display area of a display device that displays a second task, which is an act other than driving permitted to the driver of the vehicle, when the first standby state is identified by the state identification unit, as a notification indicating that the vehicle is in the standby state ;
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
The notification control unit of the vehicle control device ends the standby state display before the timeout when the timeout occurs, and issues a notification indicating that the standby state has timed out, shifted from the timing of ending the standby state display . A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
A situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) for identifying a situation of the vehicle;
a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to an interior of the vehicle;
The situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation in which, during the automatic driving without monitoring obligation, it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and to wait,
The notification control unit is configured to, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle enters a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting , issue a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, and issue a notification conveying a cause of the vehicle entering the waiting state,
a standby driving control unit (132, 132d, 132e) that drives the vehicle in the standby state when the first standby state is identified by the state identification unit;
The waiting driving control unit (132d) is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit (121d) identifies a traffic jam as the driving position of the vehicle in the waiting state, drives the vehicle closer to the end of the vehicle's driving lane on the side where the vehicle is attempting to change lanes than when the situation identification unit (121d) does not identify a traffic jam. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 ,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
A time setting unit (122d) for changing the specified time of the timeout,
The vehicle control device, wherein the time setting unit changes the specified time to be longer when the situation identification unit identifies a traffic jam than when the situation identification unit does not identify a traffic jam. 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 ,
a distance setting unit (123) for changing a target inter-vehicle distance in a following cruise control for maintaining a distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle at a target inter-vehicle distance;
A vehicle control device in which, when the situation identification unit identifies that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling is congested but the adjacent lane beyond the lane change is not congested, the distance setting unit sets the target inter-vehicle distance to be longer than when the situation identification unit identifies that the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and the adjacent lane beyond the lane change are congested . 3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2 ,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
A time setting unit (122d) for changing the specified time of the timeout,
A vehicle control device in which, when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which the vehicle's perimeter monitoring sensor detects vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane of travel, the time setting unit changes the specified time to be longer than when the situation identification unit identifies a situation in which the perimeter monitoring sensor is unable to detect at least any of the vehicles in front and behind the vehicle in the vehicle's lane of travel. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
A situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) for identifying a situation of the vehicle;
a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to an interior of the vehicle;
The situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation in which it is necessary to interrupt an automatic lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation,
The notification control unit is configured to, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle enters a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting , issue a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, and issue a notification conveying a cause of the vehicle entering the waiting state,
a standby driving control unit (132, 132d, 132e) that drives the vehicle in the standby state when the first standby state is identified by the state identification unit;
The automatic lane change is performed by moving the traveling position of the vehicle in the traveling lane of the vehicle to an end of the lane on which the vehicle is to change lanes,
The waiting driving control unit (132) is a vehicle control device that moves the vehicle's driving position closer to the end of the driving lane based on the first waiting situation identified by the situation identification unit (121a). 7. The vehicle control device according to claim 6 ,
It can be used in a vehicle that switches between the autonomous driving without the monitoring obligation and the autonomous driving with the monitoring obligation, which is the autonomous driving with the surrounding monitoring obligation,
The situation identification unit also identifies a second waiting situation in which, during the monitoring obligation automatic driving, it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change,
The waiting driving control unit is a vehicle control device that, based on the situation identification unit identifying the first waiting situation, causes the vehicle's driving position to move closer to the end of the driving lane, and, when the situation identification unit identifies the second waiting situation, causes the vehicle's driving position to return to the center of the driving lane. 7. The vehicle control device according to claim 6 ,
The waiting driving control unit is a vehicle control device that, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is straddling a dividing line of the driving lane on the side where the vehicle will change lanes, returns the vehicle's driving position to within the driving lane and drives the vehicle closer to the edge, and, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle is not straddling a dividing line of the driving lane on the side where the vehicle will change lanes, returns the vehicle's driving position to the center of the driving lane. The vehicle control device according to claim 8 ,
It can be used in a vehicle that switches between the autonomous driving without the monitoring obligation and the autonomous driving with the monitoring obligation, which is the autonomous driving with the surrounding monitoring obligation,
The situation identification unit also identifies a second waiting situation in which, during the monitoring obligation automatic driving, it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway and wait after starting the automatic lane change,
The notification control unit, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation, issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state and a notification informing the driver of the cause of the waiting state, while when the situation identification unit identifies the second waiting situation, issues a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state but does not issue a notification informing the driver of the cause of the waiting state. A vehicle control device that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
A situation identification unit (121, 121a, 121d, 121e) for identifying a situation of the vehicle;
a notification control unit (141, 141a, 141b, 141c) that issues a notification to an interior of the vehicle;
The situation identification unit identifies, as the situation of the vehicle, a first waiting situation in which, during the automatic driving without monitoring obligation, it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and to wait,
The notification control unit is configured to, when the situation identification unit identifies the first waiting situation and the vehicle enters a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting , issue a notification indicating that the vehicle is in a waiting state in which the lane change is interrupted midway and the vehicle is waiting, and issue a notification conveying a cause of the vehicle entering the waiting state,
The notification control unit is capable of causing a notification to be made by displaying a notification on a display device, and when the vehicle re-attempts to make the lane change again after failing to complete the lane change, the vehicle control device also causes the display device, which did not display information regarding the lane change before the re-attempt, to display information regarding the lane change. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
A time setting unit (122) for changing the specified time of the timeout;
an execution identification unit (105) that identifies whether or not the driver of the vehicle is executing a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle;
A vehicle control device in which the time setting unit changes the specified time to be longer when the implementation identification unit determines that the driver is performing a second task than when the implementation identification unit determines that the driver is not performing a second task. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,
The notification control unit (141c) also controls notifications regarding the operation of a turn signal of the vehicle, directed toward the interior of the vehicle;
an execution identification unit (105) that identifies whether or not the driver of the vehicle is executing a second task, which is an act other than driving that is permitted to the driver of the vehicle;
The notification control unit of the vehicle control device suppresses notification directed toward the interior of the vehicle regarding the operation of the vehicle's turn indicators when the implementation identification unit determines that the driver is performing a second task. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,
A vehicle control device comprising: a standby driving control unit (132, 132d, 132e) that drives the vehicle in the standby state when the first standby situation is identified by the situation identification unit. 2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,
The notification control unit does not terminate the notification that informs the driver of the cause of the standby state even if the cause of the standby state is resolved, but continues the notification until the duration of the notification reaches a predetermined time or until the lane change is completed. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
Executed by at least one processor,
A situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle;
and a notification control step of causing a notification to be given to an interior of the vehicle,
In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and to wait,
In the notification control step, when the first waiting state is identified in the state identification step , and the vehicle stops the lane change midway and enters a waiting state , a notification is issued indicating that the vehicle stops the lane change midway and is waiting, and a notification is issued conveying a cause of the waiting state,
In the notification control step, when the first standby state is identified in the state identification step, a standby state display indicating the standby state is displayed in a display area of a display device which is displaying a second task, which is an act other than driving permitted to a driver of the vehicle, as a notification indicating the standby state ,
If the standby state continues for a specified time or longer, a timeout is performed to terminate the standby state,
In the notification control process, when the timeout occurs, the standby state display is terminated before the timeout, and a notification indicating that the standby state has timed out is made at a timing that is offset from the timing at which the standby state display is terminated . A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
Executed by at least one processor,
A situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle;
and a notification control step of causing a notification to be given to an interior of the vehicle,
In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and to wait,
In the notification control step, when the first waiting state is identified in the state identification step , and the vehicle stops the lane change midway and enters a waiting state , a notification is issued indicating that the vehicle stops the lane change midway and is waiting, and a notification is issued conveying a cause of the waiting state,
a standby running control step of running the vehicle in the standby state when the first standby situation is identified in the situation identification step,
In the standby driving control process, when the situation identification process identifies a traffic jam as the driving position of the vehicle in the standby state, the vehicle is caused to drive closer to the end of the lane in which the vehicle is traveling on the side where the vehicle is intended to change lanes than when the situation identification process does not identify a traffic jam. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
Executed by at least one processor,
A situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle;
and a notification control step of causing a notification to be given to an interior of the vehicle,
In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and to wait,
In the notification control step, when the first waiting state is identified in the state identification step , and the vehicle stops the lane change midway and enters a waiting state , a notification is issued indicating that the vehicle stops the lane change midway and is waiting, and a notification is issued conveying a cause of the waiting state,
a standby running control step of running the vehicle in the standby state when the first standby situation is identified in the situation identification step,
The automatic lane change is performed by moving the traveling position of the vehicle in the traveling lane of the vehicle to an end of the lane on which the vehicle is to change lanes,
In the waiting driving control process, the vehicle control method causes the vehicle to move closer to the edge of the driving lane based on the first waiting situation identified in the situation identification process. A vehicle control method that can be used in a vehicle that performs automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, which is automatic driving without a surrounding monitoring obligation,
Executed by at least one processor,
A situation identification step of identifying a situation of the vehicle;
and a notification control step of causing a notification to be given to an interior of the vehicle,
In the situation identification step, a first waiting situation is identified as the situation of the vehicle during the automatic driving without a monitoring obligation, in which it is necessary to interrupt the lane change midway after starting the automatic lane change and to wait,
In the notification control step, when the first waiting state is identified in the state identification step , and the vehicle stops the lane change midway and enters a waiting state , a notification is issued indicating that the vehicle stops the lane change midway and is waiting, and a notification is issued conveying a cause of the waiting state,
In the notification control process, the notification can be made by displaying it on a display device, and when the vehicle re-attempts to make the lane change again after failing to complete the lane change, the vehicle control method also causes the display device, which did not display anything related to the lane change before the re-attempt, to display anything related to the lane change.