Travel control plan generation system and computer program

• US 9,076,338 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2007
• Issued: 07/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Taguchi, Koji, Aso, Makoto
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, KYUNG J
• Application Number:
  US12/515,391
• Publication Number:
  US 20100042282A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,786 Days
• Field of Search: 701/25
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/184 with wheel brakes
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2510/202 Steering torque
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4041 Position
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4042 Longitudinal speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/4049 Relationship among other objects, e.g. converging dynamic objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/80 Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/12 Lane keeping
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/143 Speed control B60W30/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/16 Control of distance between vehicles, e.g. keeping a distance to preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/02 related to ambient conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/072 Curvature of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/076 Slope angle of the road
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication

Abstract

A travel control plan generating system 1 includes: upper level plan generating means 22a for generating an upper level plan corresponding to a travel policy of a vehicle A; lower level plan generating means 22b for generating a lower level plan, which is a plan for achieving the upper level plan and includes at least a travel course; lower level plan obtaining means 16, 30 for obtaining a lower level plan including at least a travel course of a peripheral vehicle B, C; evaluating means 24 for evaluating the lower level plan of the vehicle A in accordance with a predetermined index, taking into account the lower level plan of the peripheral vehicle B, C; and lower level plan selecting means 26 for selecting a lower level plan to be executed by the vehicle A on the basis of an evaluation performed by the evaluating means 24.

Claims

1. A travel control plan generating system for an automatically driven vehicle, comprising:

an upper level plan generating unit configured to generate an upper level plan corresponding to a travel policy of the vehicle, said upper level plan being generated for each divided section to the destination in units of a first distance and a first time scale;

a lower level plan generating unit configured to generate a lower level plan including at least a travel course, said lower level plan being generated in units of a second distance and a second time scale and configured to achieve said upper level plan of said each divided section, the second distance and the second time scale being smaller than the first distance and the first time scale, respectively;

a lower level plan obtaining unit configured to obtain a lower level plan including at least a travel course of a peripheral vehicle of said vehicle;

an evaluating unit configured to evaluate said lower level plan of said vehicle in accordance with a predetermined index, taking into account said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle; and

a lower level plan selecting unit configured to select a lower level plan to be executed by said vehicle on the basis of an evaluation performed by said evaluating unit,

wherein said lower level plan obtaining unit includes an inferring unit configured to infer said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle on the basis of a behavior of said peripheral vehicle, said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle is obtained from an inference by said inferring unit,

said lower level plan obtaining unit further includes a communicating unit configured to communicate with said peripheral vehicle, said lower level plan including at least a travel course of said peripheral vehicle generated at said peripheral vehicle is obtained through communication performed by said communicating unit,

said evaluating unit is configured to evaluate said lower level plan of said vehicle taking into account a reliability of said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle, and

a reliability of a lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle obtained from said inferring unit is set to be lower than a reliability of a lower level plan of an automatically driven peripheral vehicle obtained from said communicating unit.

2. The travel control plan generating system according to claim 1, wherein said lower level plan generating unit is configured to generate a plurality of lower level plans for said vehicle, and

said lower level plan selecting unit is configured to select said lower level plan to be executed from said plurality of lower level plans on the basis of said evaluation performed by said evaluating unit.

3. The travel control plan generating system according to claim 1, wherein said upper level plan generating unit is configured to regenerate said upper level plan when said lower level plan cannot be generated.

4. The travel control plan generating system according to claim 1, wherein said upper level plan generating unit is configured to regenerate said upper level plan in accordance with said evaluation performed by said evaluating unit.

5. The travel control plan generating system according to claim 1, wherein said lower level plan includes a speed pattern of said vehicle.

6. The travel control plan generating system according to claim 1, wherein:

the units of a first distance and a first time scale are several hundred meters and several tens of seconds, respectively; and

the units of a second distance and a second time scale are several centimeters and several tens of milliseconds, respectively.

7. The travel control plan generating system according to claim 1, wherein:

the reliability of the lower level plan obtained from said inferring unit and the reliability of the lower level plan from said communicating unit are respectively set based on a quality of the lower level plan obtained from said inferring unit and a quality of the lower level plan obtained from said communicating unit.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process, the process comprising:

generating an upper level plan corresponding to a travel policy of an automatically driven vehicle, said upper level plan being generated for each divided section to the destination in units of a first distance and a first time scale;

generating a lower level plan including at least a travel course, said lower level plan being generated in units of a second distance and a second time scale and configured to achieve said upper level plan of said each divided section, the second distance and the second time scale being smaller than the first distance and the first time scale, respectively;

obtaining a lower level plan including at least a travel course of a peripheral vehicle of said vehicle;

evaluating said lower level plan of said vehicle in accordance with a predetermined index, taking into account said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle; and

selecting a lower level plan to be executed by said vehicle on the basis of an evaluation performed in said evaluating step,

wherein said obtaining a lower level plan includes inferring said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle on the basis of a behavior of said peripheral vehicle, said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle is obtained from an inference by said inferring,

said obtaining a lower level plan further includes communicating with said peripheral vehicle, said lower level plan including at least a travel course of said peripheral vehicle generated at said peripheral vehicle is obtained through communication performed by said communicating,

said evaluating evaluates said lower level plan of said vehicle taking into account a reliability of said lower level plan of said peripheral vehicle, and

a reliability of a lower level plan obtained from said inferring is set to be lower than a reliability of a lower level plan of an automatically driven vehicle obtained from said communicating.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 8, wherein:

the reliability of the lower level plan obtained from said inferring unit and the reliability of the lower level plan from said communicating unit are respectively set based on a quality of the lower level plan obtained from said inferring unit and a quality of the lower level plan obtained from said communicating unit.

10. A travel control plan generating system for an automatically driven vehicle, comprising:

a travel plan generating unit configured to generate a travel plan including at least a travel course;

a travel plan obtaining unit configured to obtain a travel plan including at least a travel course of a peripheral vehicle of said vehicle;

an evaluating unit configured to evaluate said travel plan of said vehicle in accordance with a predetermined index, taking into account said travel plan of said peripheral vehicle; and

a travel plan selecting unit configured to select a travel plan to be executed by said vehicle on the basis of an evaluation performed by said evaluating unit,

wherein said travel plan obtaining unit includes an inferring unit configured to infer said travel plan of said peripheral vehicle on the basis of a behavior of said peripheral vehicle, said travel plan of said peripheral vehicle is obtained from an inference by said inferring unit,

said travel plan obtaining unit further includes a communicating unit configured to communicate with said peripheral vehicle, said travel plan including at least a travel course of said peripheral vehicle generated at said peripheral vehicle is obtained through communication performed by said communicating unit,

said evaluating unit is configured to evaluate said travel plan of said vehicle taking into account a reliability of said travel plan of said peripheral vehicle, and

a reliability of a travel plan of said peripheral vehicle obtained from said inferring is set to be lower than a reliability of a travel plan of a peripheral vehicle obtained from said communicating unit.