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

1. A vehicle control system comprising:

a changeover switch configured to receive a selection operation for one or more driving modes by an occupant of a vehicle from out of a plurality of driving modes having different control characteristics related to acceleration-and-deceleration or cornering from each other; and

an automated driving controller configured to perform automated driving of the vehicle in which at least one of speed control and steering control of the vehicle is controlled automatically in accordance with the driving mode received as the selection operation by the changeover switch,

wherein the plurality of driving modes includes a first driving mode, a second driving mode having a higher energy efficiency than the first driving mode, and a third driving mode having looser restrictions related to acceleration-and-deceleration or cornering than the first driving mode,

wherein:

the automated driving controller is configured to, when a relative speed between the vehicle and another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle is a threshold value or greater, enable to perform control to overtake the another vehicle,

the first driving mode has a first threshold value as the threshold value to be applied when the vehicle is driving in the first driving mode,

third driving mode has a third threshold value as the threshold value to be applied when the vehicle is driving in the third driving mode, and

the third threshold value of the third driving mode is smaller than the first threshold value of the first driving mode.

2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein the automated driving controller is configured to, when overtaking another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle while the automated driving is executed, change one of a relative speed between the vehicle and the another vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance, or an acceleration rate of the vehicle, in accordance with the driving mode.

3. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein in addition to receiving the selection operation, the changeover switch is also configured to receive a selection operation to transition to the automated driving from manual driving in which driving control is based on an operation device configured to receive an operation of the occupant of the vehicle.

4. The vehicle control system according to claim 3 , wherein the changeover switch includes a push switch configured to receive the selection operation to transition from the manual driving to the automated driving, and a dial switch configured to receive the selection operation for selecting the driving mode from the plurality of driving modes.

5. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , wherein the automated driving controller is configured to:

switch from the automated driving to manual driving in which driving control is based on an operation device configured to receive an operation of the occupant of the vehicle, and

reflect, to the driving modes, the driving control performed by the operation device when the manual driving is being implemented.

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

a storage device configured to store a feature amount of an image captured of a person and the driving mode associated with the feature amount;

a camera configured to capture an image within the vehicle; and

an analysis and determination section configured to extract a feature amount from the image captured by the camera, and determine whether or not the extracted feature amount matches the feature amount stored in the storage device; wherein

the automated driving controller is configured to set the driving mode associated with the matched feature amount stored in the storage device when the analysis and determination section has determined that the feature amounts match.

7. The vehicle control system according to claim 5 , further comprising a processor configured to generate a parameter of the driving mode by using information about the driving control performed by the operation device while the manual driving is being implemented.

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

a processor configured to associate the driving mode with each predetermined segment of a road based on information about the driving mode set by the automated driving controller and information retained by the vehicle when setting the driving mode.

9. A vehicle control method executed by an on-board computer, the method comprising:

(i) receiving a selection operation for one or more driving modes by an occupant of a vehicle from out of a plurality of driving modes having different control characteristics related to acceleration-and-deceleration or cornering from each other; and

(ii) performing automated driving of the vehicle in which at least one of speed control and steering control of the vehicle is controlled automatically in accordance with the driving mode received as the selection operation,

wherein the plurality of driving modes includes a first driving mode, a second driving mode having a higher energy efficiency than the first driving mode, and a third driving mode having looser restrictions related to acceleration-and-deceleration or cornering than the first driving mode,

wherein:

the step (ii) comprising, when a relative speed between the vehicle and another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle is a threshold value or greater, enabling to perform control to overtake the another vehicle,

the first driving mode has a first threshold value as the threshold value to be applied when the vehicle is driving in the first driving mode,

third driving mode has a third threshold value as the threshold value to be applied when the vehicle is driving in the third driving mode, and

the third threshold value of the third driving mode is smaller than the first threshold value of the first driving mode.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a vehicle control program for causing an on-board computer to execute processing, the processing comprising:

(i) receiving a selection operation for one or more driving modes by an occupant of a vehicle from out of a plurality of driving modes having different control characteristics related to acceleration-and-deceleration or cornering from each other; and

(ii) performing automated driving of the vehicle in which at least one of speed control and steering control of the vehicle is controlled automatically in accordance with the driving mode received as the selection operation,

wherein the plurality of driving modes includes a first driving mode, a second driving mode having a higher energy efficiency than the first driving mode, and a third driving mode having looser restrictions related to acceleration-and-deceleration or cornering than the first driving mode,

wherein:

the step (ii) comprising, when a relative speed between the vehicle and another vehicle traveling ahead of the vehicle is a threshold value or greater, enabling to perform control to overtake the another vehicle,

the first driving mode has a first threshold value as the threshold value to be applied when the vehicle is driving in the first driving mode,

third driving mode has a third threshold value as the threshold value to be applied when the vehicle is driving in the third driving mode, and

the third threshold value of the third driving mode is smaller than the first threshold value of the first driving mode.

11. The vehicle control system according to claim 8 , wherein when a route to a destination of the vehicle is generated, the automated driving controller selects the driving mode for the each predetermined segment of the road included in the route, by referring to the associated driving mode with the each predetermined segment of the road.

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

a processor configured to associate the driving mode with surrounding environment in which the vehicle is traveling based on information about the driving mode set by the automated driving controller and information retained by the vehicle when setting the driving mode.