Vehicle control system, vehicle control method, and vehicle control program

1. A vehicle control system comprising:

an automated driving controller configured to

automatically control at least one out of acceleration, deceleration, and steering of a vehicle,

perform automated driving control in one mode of a plurality of predetermined different modes which require different levels of automated driving, which comprise a first mode and a second mode, the first mode requiring a lower degree of a responsibility for a driver to monitor surroundings of the vehicle and allowing a higher permission level of a non-driving operation as compared with the second mode, and

transition the first mode to the second mode among the plurality of predetermined different modes in accordance with a travel environment of the vehicle; and

an informing section configured to predict a timing at which the mode of the automated driving will transition from the first mode to the second mode and to inform a driver in the vehicle of a predicted period of continuation time of the second mode when the second mode is started, based on the predicted timing of transitioning from the first mode to the second mode,

wherein the informing section comprises a predicted period of continuation time calculation section that calculates the predicted period of continuation time based on a current position of the vehicle and traffic information related to a route to a destination the vehicle is travelling to,

wherein the informing section informs the driver of the predicted period of continuation time calculated by the predicted continuation time calculation section, and

wherein the predicted continuation time calculation section

calculates a distance on a route of travel by the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle and a position at which the congestion is predicted to end obtained from the traffic information, and calculates a first period of time based on the calculated distance and the vehicle speed of the vehicle,

calculates a second period of time for the vehicle to reach a predetermined speed by acceleration of the vehicle at a predetermined acceleration from the position at which the congestion is predicted to end, and

calculates the predicted period of continuation time based on the calculated first period of time and the calculated second period of time.

2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein the informing section detects that the first mode is a congestion travel mode of the automated driving for the vehicle to follow another vehicle in front at a predetermined speed or less and informs the driver of a predicted period of time during which the automated driving in the first mode continues.

3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein the predicted continuation time calculation section calculates the predicted period of continuation time at specific time intervals.

4. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a sight-direction detector that detects a line of sight direction of a driver in the vehicle, wherein

the informing section informs the driver of a timing of the transitioning of the mode with an interface device present in the line of sight direction of the driver detected by the sight-direction detector.

5. A vehicle control system comprising:

an automated driving controller configured to

automatically control at least one out of acceleration, deceleration, and steering of a vehicle,

perform automated driving control in one mode of a plurality of predetermined different modes which requires different levels of automated driving, and

transition a first mode to a second mode among the plurality of predetermined different modes in accordance with a travel environment of the vehicle; and

an informing section configured to predict a timing at which the mode of the automated driving will transition from the first mode to the second mode and to inform a driver in the vehicle of the predicted timing,

wherein the informing section detects that the level of the automated driving in the second mode is higher than the level of the automated driving in the first mode, and alerts the driver to a predicted period of continuation time from a current time in the first mode to the timing of the transitioning to the second mode with the higher level,

wherein the informing section comprises a predicted period of continuation time calculation section that calculates the predicted period of continuation time based on a current position of the vehicle and traffic information related to a route to a destination the vehicle is travelling to,

wherein the informing section informs the driver of the predicted period of continuation time calculated by the predicted continuation time calculation section, and

wherein the predicted continuation time calculation section

calculates a distance on a route of travel by the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle and a position at which the congestion is predicted to end obtained from the traffic information, and calculates a first period of time based on the calculated distance and the vehicle speed of the vehicle,

calculates a second period of time for the vehicle to reach a predetermined speed by acceleration of the vehicle at a predetermined acceleration from the position at which the congestion is predicted to end, and

calculates the predicted period of continuation time based on the calculated first period of time and the calculated second period of time.

6. A vehicle control method performed by an onboard computer, the vehicle control method comprising:

automatically controlling at least one out of acceleration, deceleration, and steering of a vehicle;

performing automated driving control in one of a plurality of predetermined different modes which require different levels of automated driving, which comprise a first mode and a second mode, the first mode requiring a lower degree of a responsibility for a driver to monitor surroundings of the vehicle and allowing a higher permission level of a non-driving operation as compared with the second mode;

transitioning a first mode to a second mode among the plurality of predetermined different modes in accordance with a travel environment of the vehicle;

predicting a timing at which the mode of the automated driving will transition from the first mode to the second mode; and

informing a driver in the vehicle of a predicted period of continuation time of the second mode when the second mode is started, based on the predicted timing of transitioning from the first mode to the second mode,

wherein the predicting step comprises calculating the predicted period of continuation time based on a current position of the vehicle and traffic information related to a route to a destination the vehicle is travelling to,

wherein the informing step comprises informing the driver of the predicted period of continuation time, and

wherein, in the predicting step, the predicted period of continuation time is obtained by

calculating a distance on a route of travel by the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle and a position at which the congestion is predicted to end obtained from the traffic information, and calculates a first period of time based on the calculated distance and the vehicle speed of the vehicle,

calculating a second period of time for the vehicle to reach a predetermined speed by acceleration of the vehicle at a predetermined acceleration from the position at which the congestion is predicted to end, and

calculating the predicted period of continuation time based on the calculated first period of time and the calculated second period of time.

7. A vehicle control program that causes an onboard computer to execute the following steps:

automatically controlling at least one out of acceleration, deceleration, and steering of a vehicle;

performing automated driving control in one of a plurality of predetermined different modes which require different levels of automated driving which comprise a first mode and a second mode, the first mode requiring a lower degree of a responsibility for a driver to monitor surroundings of the vehicle and allowing a higher permission level of a non-driving operation as compared with the second mode;

transitioning a first mode to a second mode among the plurality of predetermined different modes in accordance with a travel environment of the vehicle;

predicting a timing at which the mode of the automated driving will transition from the first mode to the second mode; and

informing a driver in the vehicle of a predicted period of continuation time of the second mode when the second mode is started, based on the predicted timing of transitioning from the first mode to the second mode,

wherein the predicting step comprises calculating the predicted period of continuation time based on a current position of the vehicle and traffic information related to a route to a destination the vehicle is travelling to,

wherein the informing step comprises informing the driver of the predicted period of continuation time, and

wherein, in the predicting step, the predicted period of continuation time is obtained by

calculating a distance on a route of travel by the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle and a position at which the congestion is predicted to end obtained from the traffic information, and calculates a first period of time based on the calculated distance and the vehicle speed of the vehicle,

calculating a second period of time for the vehicle to reach a predetermined speed by acceleration of the vehicle at a predetermined acceleration from the position at which the congestion is predicted to end, and

calculating the predicted period of continuation time based on the calculated first period of time and the calculated second period of time.