VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE, VEHICLE, VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM

1 . A vehicle control device mountable on a vehicle, the vehicle control device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the vehicle control device to perform operations, the operations comprising:

acquiring detection information obtained by detecting an obstacle around the vehicle;

performing collision determination of evaluating a possibility of collision with the obstacle;

generating, based on the detection information, information on an approaching object that is an obstacle approaching the vehicle and information on a detection point indicating an obstacle that does not move;

estimating a position of a shielding object based on the information on the detection point;

evaluating, based on the position of the shielding object and the information on the approaching object, a ghost likelihood indicating a possibility that the approaching object is a ghost; and

excluding, based on the ghost likelihood, the approaching object from the collision determination.

2 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

specifying, based on the position of the shielding object, an estimated ghost position at which a ghost is likely to be generated; and

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be higher in a case in which any one of the following is smaller:

a distance between the estimated ghost position and the position of the approaching object;

a value of an azimuth difference degree obtained by evaluating an azimuth difference between an azimuth of the estimated ghost position and an azimuth of the approaching object or a value of a distance difference degree obtained by evaluating a distance difference between a distance of the estimated ghost position and a distance of the approaching object, whichever is larger;

a total value of the azimuth difference degree and the distance difference degree; and

a weighted average of the azimuth difference degree and the distance difference degree.

3 . The vehicle control device according to claim 2 ,

wherein the information on the approaching object is generated based on detection information detected by a radar, and

wherein the azimuth difference degree, the distance difference degree or a weight of the weighted average is based on a standard error of azimuth direction of the radar and an allowable error of distance direction of the radar.

4 . The vehicle control device according to claim 2 ,

wherein the estimated ghost position is a position symmetrical to a position of the vehicle with respect to a surface of the shielding object.

5 . The vehicle control device according to claim 2 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

generating an approximate straight line based on a plurality of detection points;

calculating an average distance from the approximate straight line to the plurality of detection points or a variance of the plurality of detection points with respect to the approximate straight line; and

correcting, based on the average distance and the variance, the ghost likelihood that has been evaluated based on the estimated ghost position.

6 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

repeatedly evaluating the ghost likelihood in a time-series manner; and

excluding the approaching object from the collision determination in a case in which a total value, an average value, or a weighted average of ghost likelihoods evaluated in the time-series manner is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

7 . The vehicle control device according to claim 6 ,

wherein a weight of the weighted average is based on a number of detection points involved in evaluation of the ghost likelihoods or is based on a sequence of evaluation performed in the time-series manner, and a ghost likelihood evaluated later is evaluated to be given more weight than a ghost likelihood evaluated earlier.

8 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be lower in a case in which there is no detection point in a direction toward the approaching object than in a case in which there is a detection point in the direction toward the approaching object.

9 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be lower in a case in which a number of detection points in a direction toward the approaching object is small than in a case in which the number of the detection points in the direction toward the approaching object is large.

10 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

generating an approximate straight line based on a plurality of detection points;

calculating an average distance from the approximate straight line to the plurality of detection points or a variance of the plurality of detection points with respect to the approximate straight line; and

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be high in a case in which the average distance or the variance is small.

11 . The vehicle control device according to claim 10 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be zero in a case in which the average distance or the variance is equal to or greater than a threshold.

12 . The vehicle control device according to claim 10 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be higher in a case in which the number of the plurality of detection points used to generate the approximate straight line is large than in a case in which the number of the plurality of detection points is small.

13 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating the ghost likelihood based on an interval between detection points; and

evaluating the ghost likelihood to be higher in a case in which the interval between the detection points is narrow than in a case in which the interval between the detection points is wide.

14 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating, in a case in which there is a target parking position at which the vehicle is to be parked, the ghost likelihood to be lower in a case in which there is the approaching object in a direction with the target parking position of the vehicle as a reference.

15 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating, in a case in which there is a target parking position at which the vehicle is to be parked, the ghost likelihood to be lower in a case in which the approaching object is located closer than a position with the target parking position of the vehicle as a reference than in a case in which the approaching object is located farther than the position with the target parking position as a reference.

16 . The vehicle control device according to claim 15 ,

wherein the position with the target parking position as a reference is a far end of the target parking position.

17 . The vehicle control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the operations further comprise:

evaluating the ghost likelihood based on a ratio of a deceleration rate of the vehicle and a deceleration rate of the approaching object.

18 . A vehicle comprising:

the vehicle control device according to claim 1 .

19 . A vehicle control method to be executed by one or more computers mountable on a vehicle, the vehicle control method comprising:

acquiring detection information obtained by detecting an obstacle around the vehicle;

performing collision determination of evaluating a possibility of collision with the obstacle;

generating, based on the detection information, information on an approaching object that is an obstacle approaching the vehicle and information on a detection point indicating an obstacle that does not move;

estimating a position of a shielding object based on the information on the detection point;

evaluating, based on the position of the shielding object and the information on the approaching object, a ghost likelihood indicating a possibility that the approaching object is a ghost; and

excluding, based on the ghost likelihood, the approaching object from the collision determination.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a vehicle control program, the vehicle control program, when executed by a processor, causing one or more computers mountable on a vehicle to perform a process, the process comprising:

acquiring detection information obtained by detecting an obstacle around the vehicle;

performing collision determination of evaluating a possibility of collision with the obstacle;

generating, based on the detection information, information on an approaching object that is an obstacle approaching the vehicle and information on a detection point indicating an obstacle that does not move;

estimating a position of a shielding object based on the information on the detection point;

evaluating, based on the position of the shielding object and the information on the approaching object, a ghost likelihood indicating a possibility that the approaching object is a ghost; and

excluding, based on the ghost likelihood, the approaching object from the collision determination.