Automated driving vehicle control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10082792-B2
Application number	US-201715431759-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2017
Priority date	Feb 17, 2016
Publication date	Sep 25, 2018
Grant date	Sep 25, 2018

Abstract

A control system includes a sensor configured to detect information associated with an area surrounding a vehicle and an electronic control unit configured to control an automated driving of the vehicle. The electronic control unit includes a driving plan generation unit, a driving control unit, a regeneration control unit configured to control a process for regenerating an engine exhaust gas treatment apparatus, and a lane selection unit configured to predict an engine load associated with traveling in each lane of a plurality of lanes. The lane selection unit is also configured to select a lane which would cause an increase in engine load when the control for regenerating the exhaust gas treatment apparatus is being performed by the regeneration control unit. The control system is configured to cause the vehicle to be driven in the lane selected by the lane selection unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system, comprising:
a sensor configured to detect information associated with an area surrounding a vehicle; and
an electronic control unit configured to control an automated driving of the vehicle based on the detected information and map information, said electronic control unit comprising:
a driving plan generation unit configured to generate a vehicle driving plan following a preset target route based on the detected information and the map information, and to generate a target running path based on the detected information and the map information;
a driving control unit configured to control an engine to cause the vehicle to run along the target running path;
a regeneration control unit configured to control a regeneration process for regenerating an engine exhaust gas treatment apparatus by removing particulate matter or sulfur oxide build-up from the exhaust gas treatment apparatus; and
a lane selection unit configured to predict an engine load associated with traveling in each lane of a plurality of lanes based on the detected information and the map information, and to select a lane of the plurality of lanes as being a lane which would cause an increase in engine load when the regeneration process is performed,

wherein, the control system is configured to cause the vehicle to be driven in the lane selected by the lane selection unit when the regeneration process is performed.

2. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein said exhaust gas treatment apparatus comprises a particulate filter configured to trap particulate matter contained in an exhaust gas, the regeneration control unit is configured to cause fuel to be fed to the particulate filter when the regeneration process is performed, and the regeneration process causes particulate matter build-up to be removed from the particulate filter.

3. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein said exhaust gas treatment apparatus comprises an NO x storage reduction catalyst configured to remove NO x contained in an exhaust gas, the regeneration control unit is configured to cause fuel to be fed to the NO x storage reduction catalyst when the regeneration process is performed, and the regeneration process causes sulfur oxides to be released from the NO x storage reduction catalyst.

4. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control system comprises a particulate matter sensor configured to detect an amount of particulate matter in an exhaust gas, and the regeneration control unit is configured to cause a temperature of the particulate matter sensor to be raised such that at least some of the particulate matter build-up is removed from the particulate matter sensor when the vehicle is driven in the lane selected by the lane selection unit.

5. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the lane selection unit is configured to determine that a road the vehicle is being run on is a road exclusively for motor vehicles based on the detected information and the map information, and the lane selection unit is configured to select a passing lane or a driving lane close to the passing lane among the plurality of driving lanes as the lane which would cause the increase hi engine load when the regeneration process is performed based on the determination that the road the vehicle is being run on is exclusively for motor vehicles.

6. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the lane selection unit is configured to select the lane which would cause the increase in engine load based on a determination that the selected lane would cause a maximum increase in engine load when the regeneration process is performed compared to the other lanes of the plurality of lanes.

7. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the lane selection unit is configured to detect a degree of congestion of vehicles for the plurality of lanes based on the detected information, and the lane selection unit is configured to select a lane with a low degree of congestion of vehicles among the plurality of lanes as the lane which would cause the increase in engine load when the regeneration process is performed.

8. The control system according to claim 7 , wherein the degree of congestion of vehicles is based on a quantity of vehicles running within a fixed distance in each lane of the plurality of lanes.

9. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the lane selection unit is configured to predict that there is an upward slope in the lanes of the plurality of lanes based on the detected information and the map information, and the lane selection unit is configured to select a lane with a sharpest upward slope among the plurality of lanes as the lane which would cause the increase in engine load when the regeneration process is performed.

10. The control system according to claim 9 , wherein when the upward slope is a curved road, the lane selection unit is configured to select an inside lane of the plurality of lanes as the lane which would cause the increase in engine load when the regeneration process is performed.

11. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the lane selection unit is configured to determine the vehicle is running following another vehicle based on the detected information, and the lane selection unit is configured to select a lane for running the vehicle without following the other vehicle as the lane which would cause the increase in engine load when the process is performed.

12. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein regeneration control unit is configured to cause the process for regenerating the exhaust gas treatment apparatus to occur based on a received regeneration command or to wait until a condition predicted to cause an increase in engine load occurs to cause the process for regenerating the exhaust gas treatment apparatus.

13. A method, comprising:
detecting information associated with an area surrounding a vehicle by a sensor; and
controlling an automated driving of the vehicle based on the detected information and map information by an electronic control unit;
generating a vehicle driving plan following a preset target route based on the detected information and the map information;
generating a target running path based on the detected information and the map information;
controlling an engine to cause the vehicle to run along the target running path;
causing an engine exhaust gas treatment apparatus to be regenerated by removing particulate matter or sulfur oxides built up at the exhaust gas treatment apparatus;
predicting an engine load associated with traveling in each lane of a plurality of lanes based on the detected information and the map information;
selecting a lane of the plurality of lanes as being a lane which would cause an increase in engine load when the exhaust gas treatment apparatus is being regenerated; and
causing the vehicle to be driven in the lane selected by the lane selection unit when the exhaust gas treatment apparatus is being regenerated.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:
determining that a road the vehicle is being run on is a road exclusively for motor vehicles based on the detected information and the map information; and
selecting a passing lane or a driving lane next to the passing lane among the plurality of driving lanes as the lane which would cause the increase in engine load when the exhaust gas treatment apparatus is being regenerated.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the selected lane based on a determination that the selected lane would cause a maximum increase in eng

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Miyake Teruhiko

Classifications

• B60W2552/15

  Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title

• B60W2554/80

  Spatial relation or speed relative to objects · CPC title

• B60W2552/30

  Road curve radius · CPC title

• F02D41/0285

  the exhaust gas treating apparatus being a SOx trap or adsorbent · CPC title