IP Library Granted Patent US 12,280,795
Granted Patent B2
US 12,280,795 · App. 17/928,816 · Granted Apr 22, 2025

Vehicle control device

Inventor: Takeyuki Tominaga (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.
B60W60/001B60W30/18159B60W40/06B60W2552/10B60W2552/53B60W2556/40
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,280,795
App. No.
17/928,816
Granted
Apr 22, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device configured, regardless of the number of travel lanes of a road, to generate a travel route based on a road width of the road or the like, so as to improve a continuous automatic driving system. The present invention provides a vehicle control device configured to perform vehicle control of a self vehicle based on information of a position of the self vehicle, information of a map, and information of a route. The vehicle control device determines, at a specific spot of the route, whether or not a travel lane ( 311 ) of the self vehicle has a lane width (Wr 1 ) that allows a plurality of virtual vehicles ( 303 and 304 ) to travel parallel to each other, and on determination that the travel lane has the lane width, the vehicle control device generates, on the travel lane, a plurality of virtual lanes and virtual lane center lines ( 332 and 333 ) of the plurality of virtual lanes.

Claims (17)

1. A vehicle control device configured to perform vehicle control of a self vehicle based on information of a position of the self vehicle, information of a map, and information of a route, the vehicle control device comprising:

a lane width determination unit configured to determine whether or not a travel lane of the self vehicle has, at a specific spot of the route, a lane width that allows a plurality of vehicles to travel parallel to each other;

a virtual lane center line generation unit configured, when the lane width determination unit has determined that the travel lane of the self vehicle has, at the specific spot, the lane width that allows the plurality of vehicles to travel parallel to each other, to generate, on the travel lane of the self vehicle at the specific spot, a plurality of virtual lanes where the plurality of vehicles are allowed to travel parallel to each other, and a virtual lane center line in each of the plurality of virtual lanes,

a position detection unit configured to detect the position of the self vehicle;

a data holding unit configured to hold a high-accuracy map and the information of the route, wherein

the lane width determination unit reads the position of the self vehicle that the position detection unit has detected, and reads information of the lane width from the high-accuracy map, and

the virtual lane center line generation unit generates information of each of the plurality of virtual lanes where the self vehicle is allowed to travel;

an intersection determination unit configured to determine a first intersection in a direction where the self vehicle at the specific spot moves, wherein

the intersection determination unit determines whether or not a distance between the intersection and the self vehicle is equal to or smaller than a threshold value, and whether or not the self vehicle is allowed to turn left or right at the intersection, and

when the distance between the intersection and the self vehicle is equal to or smaller than the threshold value and when the self vehicle is allowed to turn left or right at the intersection, the virtual lane center line generation unit reads, from the high-accuracy map, the information of the lane width between a position of a stop line of the intersection and the position of the self vehicle, so as to generate the information of each of the plurality of the virtual lanes until the specific spot where the plurality of vehicles are allowed to travel parallel to each other, and hold the information of each of the plurality of virtual lanes in the data holding unit.

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

the virtual lane center line generation unit divides, at the specific spot, the travel lane by a vehicle width from one side of the travel lane as a datum position to an other side of the travel lane in a road width direction, so as to acquire information of a position of a central point in each of the vehicle widths,

the virtual lane center line generation unit acquires the information of the position of the central point in each of the vehicle widths at every predetermined distance from the specific spot toward the self vehicle along the travel lane, and

the virtual lane center line generation unit links the information of the position of the central point in each of the vehicle width in a direction of the travel lane, so as to generate the virtual lane center line.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the virtual lane center line generation unit reads information of a dividing line that defines the travel lane, so as to generate the information of each of the plurality of virtual lanes where the self vehicle is allowed to travel and that does not overlap the dividing line.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 further configured, in accordance with the information of each of the plurality of virtual lanes that the virtual lane center line generation unit has generated, to correct the information of the route.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 4 further configured, when correcting the information of the route, to select a spot where the virtual lane center line in each of the plurality of virtual lanes intersects a temporary target position as a sampling arrival spot of a path to be generated.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 30, 2022
From: TOMINAGA, TAKEYUKI
To: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
Reel/Frame 061926/0414 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2020-157827 · Sep 18, 2020 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230303115A1 · Sep 28, 2023
References Cited (6)
JP 2018105636A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
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JP 202035217A · 2020 [cited by applicant]
International Search Report (PCT/ISA/210) issued in PCT Application No. PCT/JP2021/007118 dated Apr. 20, 2021 with English translation (four (4) pages). [cited by applicant]
Japanese-language Written Opinion (PCT/ISA/237) issued in PCT Application No. PCT/JP2021/007118 dated Apr. 20, 2021 (four (4) pages). [cited by applicant]
Howard et al., “State Space Sampling of Feasible Motions for High-Performance Mobile Robot Navigation in Complete Environments”, Journal of Field Robotics, 2008, pp. 325-345, vol. 25, No. 6-7, (21 pages). [cited by applicant]