Safety driving assistant system, server, vehicle and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10832571-B2
Application number	US-201716096727-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2017
Priority date	Apr 28, 2016
Publication date	Nov 10, 2020
Grant date	Nov 10, 2020

Abstract

A driving safety support system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a server, and a safety driving assistant device. The server performs operations including: acquiring, from probe vehicles, probe information including information of a time within a predetermined time period and a position of the corresponding probe vehicle at the time; calculating, based on the probe information, a traffic congestion tail position located upstream of a branch point at which a road branches into a plurality of lanes; and calculating a lane-change recommendation section in which a lane change is recommended based on the traffic congestion tail position. The safety driving assistant device performs operations including executing a driving safety support process for a target vehicle based on the lane-change recommendation section.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A safety driving assistant system comprising a server, and a safety driving assistant device mounted on a target vehicle receiving safety driving assistance, the server including:
a first non-transitory computer readable memory; and
a first hardware processor coupled to the first non-transitory computer readable memory and configured to read instructions from the first non-transitory computer readable memory to cause the server to perform first operations comprising:
acquiring, from probe vehicles, probe information including information of a time within a predetermined time period and a position of the corresponding probe vehicle at the time;
discriminating a lane on which each probe vehicle travels among a plurality of lanes based on the probe information;
calculating, for each lane, a traffic congestion tail position located upstream of a branch point at which a road branches into a plurality of lanes based on the probe information of the probe vehicle traveling on the lane; and
calculating, for each lane, a lane-change recommendation section in which a lane change is recommended based on the traffic congestion tail position regarding the lane,

the safety driving assistant device including:
a second non-transitory computer readable memory; and
a second hardware processor coupled to the second non-transitory computer readable memory and configured to read instructions from the second non-transitory computer readable memory to cause the safety driving assistant device to perform second operations comprising:
executing a safety driving assistant process for the target vehicle based on the lane-change recommendation section for each lane,

wherein in a case where at least one of the plurality of lanes is congested while at least one of the rest of the lanes of the plurality of lanes is not congested, the safety driving assistant process differs depending on an advancing direction of the target vehicle.

2. The safety driving assistant system according to claim 1 , wherein when the target vehicle traveling on a congested lane of the plurality of lanes advances ahead on the congested lane, the operation of executing the safety driving assistant process includes executing an assistant process for causing the target vehicle to decelerate and follow a tail of congestion.

3. The safety driving assistant system according to claim 1 , wherein when the target vehicle traveling on a congested lane of the plurality of lanes enters a non-congested lane of the plurality of lanes, the operation of executing the safety driving assistant process includes executing an assistant process for causing the target vehicle to make a lane change in the lane-change recommendation section.

4. The safety driving assistant system according to claim 1 , wherein the operation of calculating the traffic congestion tail position includes calculating the traffic congestion tail position by preferentially using probe information acquired from a lane identifiable vehicle capable of identifying a traveling lane thereof, among pieces of the probe information, and
wherein the operation of calculating the lane-change recommendation section includes calculating the lane-change recommendation section based on the traffic congestion tail position calculated by preferentially using the probe information acquired from the lane identifiable vehicle.

5. The safety driving assistant system according to claim 1 , wherein the operation of calculating the lane-change recommendation section further includes searching for a non-congested section where traffic is not congested, on an upstream side of the traffic congestion tail position, and calculating the lane-change recommendation section based on the searched non-congested section.

6. A server comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable memory; and
a hardware processor coupled to the non-transitory computer readable memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory computer readable memory to cause the server to perform operations comprising:
acquiring, from probe vehicles, probe information including information of a time within a predetermined time period and a position of the corresponding probe vehicle at the time;
discriminating a lane on which each probe vehicle travels among the plurality of lanes based on the probe information;
calculating, for each lane, a traffic congestion tail position located upstream of a branch point at which a road branches into a plurality of lanes based on the probe information of the probe vehicle traveling on the lane;
calculating, for each lane, a lane-change recommendation section in which a lane change is recommended based on the traffic congestion tail position regarding the lane; and
providing information of the lane-change recommendation section for each lane to a target vehicle to execute a safety driving assistant process for the target vehicle,
wherein in a case where at least one of the plurality of lanes is congested while at least one of the rest of the lanes of the plurality of lanes is not congested, the safety driving assistant process differs depending on an advancing direction of the target vehicle.

7. A safety driving assistant device mounted on a vehicle comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable memory; and
a hardware processor coupled to the non-transitory computer readable memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory computer readable memory to cause the safety driving assistant device to perform operations comprising:
acquiring, for each lane, information of a traffic congestion tail position located upstream of a branch point at which a road branches into a plurality of lanes, the traffic congestion tail position being calculated based on probe information, including information of a time within a predetermined time period and a position of the corresponding probe vehicle at the time;
calculating, for each lane a lane-change recommendation section in which a lane change is recommended, based on the information of the traffic congestion tail position regarding the lane; and
executing a safety driving assistant process for the vehicle, based on the lane-change recommendation section for each lane,
wherein in a case where at least one of the plurality of lanes is congested while at least one of the rest of the lanes of the plurality of lanes is not congested, the safety driving assistant process differs depending on an advancing direction of the target vehicle.

8. A safety driving assistant device mounted on a vehicle comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable memory; and
a hardware processor coupled to the non-transitory computer readable memory and configured to read instructions from the non-transitory computer readable memory to cause the safety driving assistant device to perform operations comprising:
acquiring, for each lane, information of a lane-change recommendation section in which a lane change is recommended, the lane-change recommendation section being calculated based on information of a traffic congestion tail position located upstream of a branch point at which a road branches into a plurality of lanes, the traffic congestion tail position being calculated based on probe information, including information of a time within a predetermined time period and a position of the corresponding probe vehicle at the time; and
executing a safety driving assistant process for the vehicle based on the information of the lane-change recommendation section for each lane,
wherein in a case where at least one of the plurality of lanes is congested while at least one of the rest of the lanes of the plurality of lanes is not congested, the safety driving assistant process differs depending on an a

Assignees

• Sumitomo Electric Industries
• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamada Hiroyuki
• Tanada Shoichi
• Nishimura Shigeki
• Tokunaga Masataka
• Konishi Hitoshi

Classifications

• G08G1/096811

  where the route is computed offboard · CPC title

• G08G1/096725

  where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control · CPC title

• G08G1/096888

  where input information is obtained using learning systems, e.g. history databases · CPC title

• G08G1/0112

  from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD] · CPC title

• G08G1/0129

  for creating historical data or processing based on historical data · CPC title