Vehicle determination device
The processor of ECU includes: a traffic light determination unit that determines whether or not a traffic light in front of the vehicle indicates that the vehicle can pass; an other-vehicle behavior determination unit that determines the behavior of the other vehicle existing in the vicinity of the vehicle; and a passableness determination unit that, when it is determined that the traffic light indicates that the vehicle can pass, determines whether or not the traffic light can pass by the vehicle based on the behavior of the other vehicle existing in the vicinity of the vehicle.
1 . A vehicle determination device mounted on a first vehicle, the vehicle determination device comprising
an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to be communicably connected to an in-vehicle camera, a surroundings monitoring sensor, and a vehicle control device that are included in the first vehicle, the vehicle control device including an electric motor and a brake, wherein
the ECU includes a processor configured to:
determine whether the first vehicle is stopped due to a red signal of a traffic light ahead of the first vehicle;
determine whether the traffic light indicates that the first vehicle is passable through the traffic light based on information on the traffic light acquired from the in-vehicle camera, in response to determining that the first vehicle is stopped due to the red signal;
acquire information on a second vehicle present around the first vehicle from at least one of the in-vehicle camera or the surroundings monitoring sensor in response to determining that the traffic light indicates that the first vehicle is passable through the traffic light;
determine whether the second vehicle that travels in a same direction as or in an opposite direction to the first vehicle has started based on the acquired information on the second vehicle; and
control the vehicle control device to start the first vehicle in response to determining that the second vehicle has started.
2 . The vehicle determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
determine whether the second vehicle present in an opposite lane relative to a lane where the first vehicle is stopped has started in the opposite direction to the first vehicle based on the acquired information on the second vehicle; and
control the vehicle control device to start the first vehicle in response to determining that the second vehicle present in the opposite lane has started.
3 . The vehicle determination device according to claim 1 , wherein
the second vehicle is a vehicle other than a preceding vehicle located in front of the first vehicle,
the processor is configured to determine whether the second vehicle that travels in the same direction as the first vehicle has started based on the acquired information on the second vehicle, and
the processor is further configured to:
determine whether the preceding vehicle has started in response to determining that the second vehicle that travels in the same direction as the first vehicle has started; and
control the vehicle control device to maintain the first vehicle in a stopped state in response to determining that the preceding vehicle has not started.
4 . The vehicle determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
acquire a distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on an image generated by the in-vehicle camera or information detected by the surroundings monitoring sensor; and
determine whether the second vehicle has started based on the acquired distance.
5 . A vehicle traveling assistance system mounted on a first vehicle, comprising:
an in-vehicle camera configured to capture an image of surroundings of the first vehicle;
a surroundings monitoring sensor configured to monitor the surroundings of the first vehicle;
a vehicle control device including an electric motor and a brake; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) including a processor configured to:
determine whether the first vehicle is stopped due to a red signal of a traffic light ahead of the first vehicle;
determine whether the traffic light indicates that the first vehicle is passable through the traffic light based on information on the traffic light acquired from the in-vehicle camera, in response to determining that the first vehicle is stopped due to the red signal;
acquire information on a second vehicle present around the first vehicle from at least one of the in-vehicle camera or the surroundings monitoring sensor in response to determining that the traffic light indicates that the first vehicle is passable through the traffic light;
determine whether the second vehicle that travels in a same direction as or in an opposite direction to the first vehicle has started based on the acquired information on the second vehicle; and
control the vehicle control device to start the first vehicle in response to determining that the second vehicle has started.