Vehicle control device, storage medium storing computer program, and method for automatic vehicle control with automatic control prohibited region and control transfer region

1 . A vehicle control device comprising:

a processor configured to:

determine whether an automatic control prohibited region where driving of a vehicle by automatic control is not permitted is included on a traveling route of the vehicle, in a predetermined zone from a current location,

upon determining that the automatic control prohibited region is included on the traveling route, set a control transfer region for transferring driving of the vehicle from automatic control to manual control on the traveling route before the automatic control prohibited region,

determine whether a vehicle passage region for moving between lanes on the traveling route overlaps with at least part of the control transfer region,

upon determining that the vehicle passage region overlaps with the at least part of the control transfer region, set a new automatic control prohibited region in addition to the automatic control prohibited region already included in the traveling route, so that the new automatic control prohibited region includes the vehicle passage region,

after setting the new automatic control prohibited region, upon determining that the vehicle passage region overlaps with the at least part of the control transfer region and the control transfer region satisfies a predetermined condition, shorten a length of the control transfer region toward a traveling direction of the vehicle so that the control transfer region no longer overlaps with the vehicle passage region and remove the new automatic control prohibited region, and

control the vehicle to automatically travel on the traveling route and, when the vehicle reaches the control transfer region, output a notification for a driver of the vehicle to prompt switching from the automatic control to the manual control.

2 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the control transfer region has a variable section in which change in length is allowed and a non-variable section in which change in length is not allowed, and

the predetermined condition is that the length of the variable section can be shortened so that the control transfer region is not included in the vehicle passage region.

3 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the control transfer region has a control transfer notification region in which the notification is output for the driver is notifying that driving of the vehicle is to be transferred from the automatic control to the manual control, and a control transfer execution region in which execution is carried out for transfer of driving of the vehicle from the automatic control to the manual control, and

the predetermined condition is that the length of the control transfer notification region can be shortened so that the control transfer region is not included in the vehicle passage region.

4 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein

the processor is further configured to decide the length of the control transfer region based on a speed of the vehicle, and

the predetermined condition is that the speed of the vehicle can be changed to a target speed for the vehicle which is decided based on the length of the control transfer region calculated so that the control transfer region is not included in the vehicle passage region, before the vehicle reaches the control transfer region.

5 . A computer-readable, non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program for controlling a vehicle, which causes a processor to execute a process, the process comprising:

determining whether an automatic control prohibited region where driving of a vehicle by automatic control is not permitted is included on a traveling route of the vehicle, in a predetermined zone from a current location of the vehicle;

upon determining that the automatic control prohibited region is included on the traveling route, setting a control transfer region for transferring driving of the vehicle from automatic control to manual control on the traveling route before the automatic control prohibited region;

determining whether a vehicle passage region for moving between lanes on the traveling route overlaps with at least part of the control transfer region;

upon determining that the vehicle passage region overlaps with the at least part of the control transfer region setting a new automatic control prohibited region in addition to the automatic control prohibited region already included in the traveling route, so that the new automatic control prohibited region includes the vehicle passage region;

after setting the new automatic control prohibited region, upon determining that the vehicle passage region overlaps with the at least part of the control transfer region and the control transfer region satisfies a predetermined condition, shortening a length of the control transfer region toward a traveling direction of the vehicle so that the control transfer region no longer overlaps with the vehicle passage region and removing the new automatic control prohibited region, and

controlling the vehicle to automatically travel on the traveling route and, when the vehicle reaches the control transfer region, output a notification for a driver of the vehicle to prompt switching from the automatic control to the manual control.

6 . A method for controlling a vehicle carried out by a vehicle control device and the method comprising:

determining whether t-an automatic control prohibited region where driving of a vehicle by automatic control is not permitted is included on a traveling route of the vehicle, in a predetermined zone from a current location of the vehicle;

upon determining that the automatic control prohibited region is included on the traveling route, setting a control transfer region for transferring driving of the vehicle from automatic control to manual control on the traveling route before the automatic control prohibited region;

determining whether a vehicle passage region for moving between lanes on the traveling route overlaps with at least part of the control transfer region;

upon determining that the vehicle passage region overlaps with the at least part of the control transfer region, setting a new automatic control prohibited region in addition to the automatic control prohibited region already included in the traveling route, so that the new automatic control prohibited region includes the vehicle passage region;

after setting the new automatic control prohibited region, upon determining that the vehicle passage region overlaps with the at least part of the control transfer region and the control transfer region satisfies a predetermined condition, shortening a length of the control transfer region toward a traveling direction of the vehicle so that the control transfer region no longer overlaps with the vehicle passage region and removing the new automatic control prohibited region; and

controlling the vehicle to automatically travel on the traveling route and, when the vehicle reaches the control transfer region, output a notification for a driver of the vehicle to prompt switching from the automatic control to the manual control.