Route searching apparatus and route searching method

• US 10,184,801 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2016
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd. (Faurecia SA)
• Original Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd. (Faurecia SA)
• Inventors: Takeuchi, Ryosuke, Sumizawa, Akio
• Primary Examiner(s): Ismail, Mahmoud S
• Application Number:
  US15/555,727
• Publication Number:
  US 20180058865A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,016 Days
• Field of Search: 701 25
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/00 Arrangements or fittings on vehicles for protecting or preventing injuries to occupants or pedestrians in case of accidents or other traffic risks safety belts or body harnesses in vehicles B60R22/00; seats constructed to protect the occupant from the effect of abnormal g-forces, e.g. crash or safety seats, B60N2/42; energy-absorbing arrangements for hand wheels for steering vehicles B62D1/11; energy-absorbing arrangements for vehicle steering columns B62D1/19
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/403 Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/10 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2520/14 Yaw
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/12 Brake pedal position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/18 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/00 Input parameters relating to infrastructure
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2552/05 Type of road, e.g. motorways, local streets, paved or unpaved roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/406 Traffic density
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/802 Longitudinal distance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/804 Relative longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/65 Data transmitted between vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 60/001 Planning or execution of driving tasks
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3423 Multimodal routing, i.e. combining two or more modes of transportation, where the modes can be any of, e.g. driving, walking, cycling, public transport
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/137 the indicator being in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/00 Maps; Plans; Charts; Diagrams, e.g. route diagram star maps G09B27/04; devices for holding or supporting maps A47B97/02; for computing purposes G06G1/14, G09B1/16; display boards G09F

Abstract

A guide route matching with the characteristic of vehicle control is searched to reduce the frequency at which re-search of a guide route is executed. A navigation device includes an information input unit for acquiring a control condition for controlling the traveling of the vehicle as control characteristic information from an autonomous driving control device, and a route searching unit for searching a guide route for the vehicle satisfying the control condition based on the control characteristic information acquired by the information input unit. Accordingly, the guide route matching with the control characteristic of the vehicle can be searched.

Claims

1. A route searching apparatus comprising:

a memory storing information on a control condition for controlling traveling of a vehicle; and

a controller that includes a CPU and that searches a guide route for the vehicle satisfying the control condition based on the information on the control condition acquired from the memory,

wherein the controller acquires, as the information on the control condition, a permission threshold value that is set for each traveling situation of the vehicle and permits execution of vehicle control corresponding to the traveling situation, and

when a lane shift is required as the traveling situation in a searched route, the controller compares a distance as the permission threshold value with a road length of a road on which the lane shift is executed, thereby determining whether the searched route is selected as the guide route for the vehicle.

2. A route searching apparatus comprising:

a memory storing information on a control condition for controlling traveling of a vehicle;

an information input unit connected to and controlled by a CPU and acquiring the information on the control condition for controlling traveling of the vehicle from the memory; and

a route searching unit connected to controlled by the CPU and searching a guide route for the vehicle satisfying the control condition based on the information on the control condition acquired by the information input unit,

wherein the information input unit acquires, as the information on the control condition, a permission threshold value that is set for each traveling situation of the vehicle and permits execution of vehicle control corresponding to the traveling situation, and

the route searching unit searches a guide route on which the vehicle is permitted to execute the vehicle control based on the permission threshold value,

wherein when a lane shift is required as the traveling situation in a searched route, the route searching unit determines whether the lane shift is a shift within a steering angle range of the vehicle as the permission threshold value, thereby determining whether the searched route is selected as the guide route for the vehicle.

3. The route searching apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information input unit acquires a vehicle width of the vehicle as the information on the control condition, and

the route searching unit determines based on the information on the control condition whether a searched route is a route on which the vehicle travels, thereby determining whether the searched route is selected as the guide route for the vehicle.

4. The route searching apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information input unit acquires, as the information on the control condition, information representing whether the vehicle travels at a roundabout, and

the route searching unit determines based on the information on the control condition whether the vehicle travels at a roundabout, thereby determining whether the searched guide route is selected as a route for the vehicle.

5. The route searching apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle is incorporated with an autonomous driving system for performing driving, braking and steering of the vehicle to make the vehicle travel autonomously, and

the route searching apparatus searches a traveling route on which the vehicle autonomously travels.

6. A method for searching a route in a route searching apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

storing information on a control condition for controlling traveling of a vehicle in a memory;

acquiring the information on the control condition for controlling traveling of the vehicle in an information input unit which is connected to and controlled by a CPU; and

searching a guide route for the vehicle satisfying the control condition based on the information on the control condition acquired by the information input unit in a route searching unit which is connected to and controlled by the CPU,

wherein the step of acquiring information includes acquiring, as the information on the control condition, a permission threshold value that is set for each traveling situation of the vehicle and permitting execution of vehicle control corresponding to the traveling situation,

the step of searching includes searching a guide route on which the vehicle is permitted to execute the vehicle control based on the permission threshold value, and

wherein the step of searching includes determining whether the lane shift is a shift within a steering angle range of the vehicle as the permission threshold value when a lane shift is required as the traveling situation in a searched route, so as to determine whether the searched route is selected as the guide route for the vehicle.

7. The method for searching a route in a route searching apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the step of searching includes acquiring a vehicle width of the vehicle as the information on the control condition, and

the step of searching includes determining based on the information on the control condition whether a searched route is a route on which the vehicle travels, thereby determining whether the searched route is selected as the guide route for the vehicle.

8. The method for searching a route in a route searching apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the step of searching includes acquiring, as the information on the control condition, information representing whether the vehicle travels at a roundabout, and

the step of searching includes determining based on the information on the control condition whether the vehicle travels at a roundabout, thereby determining whether the searched guide route is selected as a route for the vehicle.

9. The method for searching a route in a route searching apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the step of searching includes searching a traveling route on which the vehicle autonomously travels by a route searching apparatus of the vehicle which is incorporated with an autonomous driving system for performing driving, braking and steering of the vehicle to make the vehicle travel autonomously.