Vehicle control system, vehicle control method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021001888-A1
Application number	US-202016913402-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 26, 2020
Priority date	Jul 5, 2019
Publication date	Jan 7, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A control system of a vehicle that can travel in a first state in which travel control is performed based on a position of a white line on a travel lane and in a second state in which travel control is performed based on a travel position of another vehicle, includes: an obtainment unit configured to obtain periphery information of the vehicle; a determination unit configured to determine, based on the periphery information obtained by the obtainment unit, that an emergency vehicle is approaching; and a control unit configured to perform control so that the travel control by the first state is prioritized when the determination unit determines that the emergency vehicle is not approaching, and so that the travel control by the second state is prioritized when the determination unit determines that the emergency vehicle is approaching.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A control system of a vehicle that can travel in a first state in which travel control is performed based on a position of a white line on a travel lane and in a second state in which travel control is performed based on a travel position of another vehicle, comprising:
an obtainment unit configured to obtain periphery information of the vehicle; a determination unit configured to determine, based on the periphery information obtained by the obtainment unit, that an emergency vehicle is approaching; and a control unit configured to perform control so that the travel control by the first state is prioritized when the determination unit determines that the emergency vehicle is not approaching, and so that the travel control by the second state is prioritized when the determination unit determines that the emergency vehicle is approaching.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein, when the emergency vehicle is approaching, the control unit performs the travel control by the second state based on a position in a lateral direction of the vehicle in at least one of the front side and the rear side of the vehicle.

3 . The system according to claim 1 , the control unit performs control to prioritize the travel control by the second state in a case in which the emergency vehicle is determined to have approached within a predetermined range from the vehicle, and performs control to prioritize the travel control by the first state in a case in which the emergency vehicle is determined to have fallen outside the predetermined range.

4 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein in a case in which state switching is to be performed, the control unit switches the state step by step based on the position of the white line on the travel lane and the travel position of the other vehicle.

5 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein in a case in which the vehicle is traveling a predetermined area when the second state is to be switched to the first state, the control unit performs the switching after the vehicle has passed the predetermined area.

6 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a unit configured to determine, based on the periphery information, a degree of urgency of the approach of the emergency vehicle,
wherein the control unit controls whether to switch to the travel control by the second state in accordance with the degree of urgency.

7 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the obtainment unit obtains the periphery information by one of sound detection by a sound detection unit and communication with an external device by a communication unit.

8 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit controls whether to switch to the travel control by the second state based on a width of a road.

9 . The system according to claim 8 , wherein in a case in which the width of the road is smaller than a predetermined width in the travel control by the second state, an offset operation with respect to the emergency vehicle is not performed.

10 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit eases a limit value of the travel control by the second state which is performed when the emergency vehicle is determined to be approaching compared to a limit value of the travel control by the second state when the emergency vehicle is determined not to be approaching.

11 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein the limit value is one of a limit value of a range permitting travel on a road and a limit value on an amount of movement during travel.

12 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein when switching to the second state, the control unit sets a limit on an amount of movement during travel for a predetermined period from the start of the switching.

13 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a communication unit configured to notify, when the determination unit has determined that the emergency vehicle is approaching, an occupant of the vehicle that control is being performed to prioritize the travel control by the second state.

14 . A control method of a vehicle that can travel in a first state in which travel control is performed based on a position of a white line on a travel lane and in a second state in which travel control is performed based on a travel position of another vehicle, the method comprising:
obtaining periphery information of the vehicle; determining, based on the periphery information obtained in the obtaining, that an emergency vehicle is approaching; and performing control so that the travel control by the first state is prioritized when the emergency vehicle is determined not to be approaching in the determining, and so that the travel control by the second state is prioritized when the emergency vehicle is determined to be approaching in the determining.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer, for controlling a vehicle that can travel in a first state in which travel control is performed based on a position of a white line on a travel lane and in a second state in which travel control is performed based on a travel position of another vehicle, to function as
an obtainment unit configured to obtain periphery information of the vehicle; a determination unit configured to determine, based on the periphery information obtained by the obtainment unit, that an emergency vehicle is approaching; and a control unit configured to perform control so that the travel control by the first state is prioritized when the determination unit determines that the emergency vehicle is not approaching, and so that the travel control by the second state is prioritized if the determination unit determines that the emergency vehicle is approaching.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Oguro Chihiro
• Yashiro Katsuya
• Horiba Ayumu
• Kanoh Tadahiko

Classifications

• B60W2554/4023

  large-size vehicles, e.g. trucks · CPC title

• B60W30/18009 Primary

  related to particular drive situations · CPC title

• B60W2554/4045

  Intention, e.g. lane change or imminent movement · CPC title

• B60W2554/402

  Type · CPC title

• B60W30/165

  Automatically following the path of a preceding lead vehicle, e.g. "electronic tow-bar" · CPC title