Vehicle control device, method and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for automonously driving vehicle

1. A vehicle control device for autonomously driving a vehicle along a road segment using map data including coordinate information of a landmark disposed along a road, the vehicle control device comprising:

at least one processor, wherein:

the at least one processor is configured to:

acquire peripheral object data indicating information about an object disposed around the vehicle from a peripheral monitoring sensor;

analyze the peripheral object data to calculate a position of the landmark with respect to the road on which the vehicle travels;

determine position coordinates of the vehicle based on the position of the landmark calculated from the peripheral object data and the map data;

determine whether an obstacle obstructs detection of the landmark by the peripheral monitoring sensor; and

change a relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle when the obstacle is determined to obstruct detection of the landmark, wherein:

the at least one processor is further configured to detect a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle, as the obstacle; and

the at least one processor is further configured to detect the position of the landmark within a predetermined range of the detection range that is in front of the vehicle; and the at least one processor is configured to change the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is determined to obstruct detection of the landmark.

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

the at least one processor is configured to change the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle under at least one of the following conditions:

a distance between the vehicle and the obstacle is less than a predetermined distance;

a vehicle height of the preceding vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value; and

an angle between a road surface and a straight line from the peripheral monitoring sensor to an upper end of a back side of the preceding vehicle is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value.

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

changing the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle comprises decelerating the vehicle.

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

changing the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle comprises controlling the vehicle to change lanes from a lane in which the vehicle is traveling.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one processor is configured to:

detect another landmark disposed behind the vehicle based on peripheral object data that is detected behind the vehicle when the preceding vehicle is determined to obstruct detection of the landmark.

6. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one processor is configured to detect an other vehicle as the obstacle;

the at least one processor is configured to change the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the other vehicle when a distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is less than a predetermined distance.

7. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein:

the at least one processor is configured to:

determine the position coordinates of the vehicle based on position information of the landmark with respect to the vehicle specified by the detection result of the peripheral monitoring sensor and absolute coordinates of the landmark registered in the map data;

read out road shape information, disposed within a predetermined distance from calculated position coordinates of the vehicle, from the map data; and

control at least one of a steering amount and a traveling speed of the vehicle.

8. A method for autonomously driving a vehicle along a road segment using map data including coordinate information of a landmark disposed along a road, and executed by at least one processor, the method comprising:

acquire at least one piece of peripheral object data indicating information about an object disposed around the vehicle from a peripheral monitoring sensor;

analyze the peripheral object data to calculate a position of the landmark with respect to the road on which the vehicle travels;

determine position coordinates of the vehicle based on the position of the landmark calculated from the peripheral object data and the map data;

determine whether an obstacle obstructs detection of the landmark by the peripheral monitoring sensor; and

change a relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle in response to determining that the obstacle obstructs detection of the landmark, wherein:

a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle is detected as the obstacle;

the position of the landmark is detected within a predetermined range of the detection range that is in front of the vehicle; and

the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the preceding vehicle is changed for a state in which the preceding vehicle is determined to obstruct detection of the landmark.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program instructions for autonomously driving a vehicle along a road segment using map data including coordinate information of a landmark disposed along a road,

the program instructions configured to cause one or more processors at least to:

acquire at least one piece of peripheral object data indicating information about an object disposed around the vehicle from a peripheral monitoring sensor;

analyze the peripheral object data to calculate a position of the landmark with respect to the road on which the vehicle travels;

determine position coordinates of the vehicle based on the position of the landmark calculated from the peripheral object data and the map data; and

determine whether an obstacle obstructs detection of the landmark by the peripheral monitoring sensor; and

change a relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle in response to determining that the obstacle obstructs detection of the landmark, wherein:

the program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more processors at least to:

detect a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle, as the obstacle;

detect the position of the landmark within a predetermined range of the detection range that is in front of the vehicle; and

change the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle is determined to obstruct detection of the landmark.