Lane change planning device and storage medium storing computer program for the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11760356-B2
Application number	US-202117363697-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2021
Priority date	Jul 1, 2020
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

A lane change planning device has a processor configured to assess whether or not it has been planned to carry out multiple lane changes within a single road, based on a traveling lane plan that represents a lane on which a vehicle is scheduled to travel within a predetermined zone of a traveling route toward the destination location of the vehicle, and to create a lane change plan such that a first scheduled lane change zone that the vehicle has been assigned for a lane change to be carried out afterwards, is shorter than a second scheduled lane change zone that has been assigned for a lane change to be carried out beforehand, when it has been planned to carry out multiple lane changes within a single road.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A lane change planning device, comprising:
a memory storing instructions; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
assess whether to plan to carry out multiple lane changes within a single road, based on a traveling lane plan that represents a lane on which a vehicle is scheduled to travel within a predetermined zone of a traveling route toward a destination location of the vehicle; and
based on an assessment to plan to carry out the multiple lane changes within the single road, create a lane change plan indicating a first lane change in a first scheduled lane change zone and a second lane change in a second scheduled lane change zone, the first scheduled lane change zone corresponding to the first lane change to be carried out by the vehicle, the second scheduled lane change zone corresponding to the second lane change to be carried out by the vehicle, the first lane change being scheduled to be carried out after the second lane change, the first scheduled lane change zone being shorter than the second scheduled lane change zone.

2. The lane change planning device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute further instructions to:
decrease a distance between a first start location of the first scheduled lane change zone and a second start location of the second scheduled lane change zone as a number of lane changes that have been executed increases.

3. The lane change planning device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute further instructions to:
set, based on the traveling route and the traveling lane plan, a scheduled location of lane change completion indicating a destination target lane after the multiple lane changes have been carried out from a traveling lane; and
set, based on the scheduled location of the lane change completion, the first start location of the first scheduled lane change zone on a first traffic lane and the second start location of the second scheduled lane change zone on a second traffic lane.

4. The lane change planning device according to claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute further instructions to:
set, based on the scheduled location of the lane change completion, a first end location of the first scheduled lane change zone the first traffic lane and a second end location of the second scheduled lane change zone on the second traffic lane.

5. The lane change planning device according to claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute further instructions to:
switch operation of the vehicle from automatic control to manual control when the vehicle remains in a current lane after passing at least one of the first scheduled lane change zone and the second scheduled lane change zone.

6. The lane change planning device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute further instructions to:
determine an intersection between a first center line of a destination lane after the multiple lane changes have been carried out and a second center line of a target lane of the destination location of the vehicle;
determine the first scheduled lane change zone based on a first predetermined distance from the intersection; and
determine the second scheduled lane change zone based on a second predetermined distance from the intersection.

7. The lane change planning device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the lane change plan further indicates a third lane change in a third scheduled lane change zone,
the third scheduled lane change zone corresponds to the third lane change to be carried out by the vehicle,
the second lane change is scheduled to be carried out after the third lane change,
the second scheduled lane change zone is being shorter than the third scheduled lane change zone, and
a first time lag between the second lane change and the first lane change is shorter than a second time lag between the third lane change and the second lane change.

8. A lane change planning device, comprising:
a memory storing instructions; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions to:
assess whether to plan to carry out multiple lane changes within a single road, based on a traveling lane plan that represents a lane on which a vehicle is scheduled to travel within a predetermined zone of a traveling route toward a destination location of the vehicle; and
based on an assessment to plan to carry out the multiple lane changes within the single road, create a lane change plan indicating a scheduled lane change zone assigned to the vehicle corresponding to a lane change of the multiple lane changes, a length of the scheduled lane change zone decreasing as a number of executed lane changes increases.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for lane change planning that, when executed by a processor of a lane change planning device, causes the lane change planning device to:
assess whether to plan to carry out multiple lane changes within a single road, based on a traveling lane plan that represents a lane on which a vehicle is to travel within a predetermined zone of a traveling route toward a destination location of the vehicle; and
based on an assessment to plan to carry out the multiple lane changes within the single road, create a lane change plan indicating a first lane change in a first scheduled lane change zone and a second lane change in a second scheduled lane change zone, the first scheduled lane change zone corresponding to the first lane change to be carried out by the vehicle, the second scheduled lane change zone corresponding to the second lane change to be carried out by the vehicle, the first lane change being scheduled to be carried out after the second lane change, the first scheduled lane change zone being shorter than the second scheduled lane change zone.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hashimoto Ryuta

Classifications

• B60W30/18163 Primary

  Lane change; Overtaking manoeuvres · CPC title

• B60W30/18154

  Approaching an intersection · CPC title

• B60W60/001

  Planning or execution of driving tasks · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

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

• B60W2552/10

  Number of lanes · CPC title