JP2008302746A - Vehicle control device and vehicle control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adequately perform driving and braking control with respect to information inside and outside a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The present invention provides a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method, the device including a selection means 14 for selecting one of a plurality of acquisition means 20 for acquiring information on the outside of a vehicle different from information on the inside and outside of the vehicle based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle, and a driving and braking control means 16 for controlling a driving and braking means 30 for braking or driving the vehicle based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle acquired by the acquisition means 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method, and relates to a vehicle control device and a vehicle control method for controlling braking / driving means based on information relating to inside and outside of a vehicle.

  In a vehicle such as an automobile, an electronic control unit (ECU) controls braking means such as a brake and braking / driving means for braking or driving the vehicle such as an engine, a steering, and a driving device. Yes. As a result, vehicle safety, fuel saving, and the like are improved.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a general control device determines an operation guide based on information acquired from an individual control device via an in-vehicle LAN or the like, and transmits the operation guide to each individual control device. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique in which a driving support control device, a driving force control device, and a braking force control device mediate to control a vehicle. As described above, the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle is acquired, and the braking means and the driving means are comprehensively controlled, thereby further improving the safety and fuel efficiency of the vehicle.
JP 2004-136816 A JP 2006-188164 A

  When conventional control devices such as those disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 control braking / driving means, an acquisition means for acquiring information related to the outside of the vehicle, such as a camera that detects an obstacle or a radar that detects an inter-vehicle distance, Use pre-selected acquisition means. In addition, a driving method selected in advance is used as a driving method of the vehicle such as FF, FR, 4WD, or the like. As described above, since the acquisition unit selected in advance is used as the acquisition unit and the driving method, there are cases where appropriate braking / driving control cannot be performed on information relating to the inside and outside of the vehicle.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to perform appropriate braking / driving control on information relating to the inside and outside of a vehicle.

  The present invention provides a selection means for selecting one acquisition means from a plurality of acquisition means for acquiring information related to the outside of the vehicle different from the information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle based on the information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle, and the one acquisition means And a braking / driving control means for controlling braking / driving means for braking or driving the vehicle based on the acquired information relating to the outside of the vehicle. According to the present invention, an appropriate acquisition unit is selected based on information relating to the inside and outside of the vehicle, and the braking / driving control is performed based on the information relating to the outside of the vehicle acquired by the selected acquisition unit. Therefore, appropriate braking / driving control can be performed. .

  The said structure WHEREIN: The said selection means can be set as the structure which selects the drive system of the said vehicle based on the information regarding the said vehicle inside and outside. According to this configuration, since an appropriate driving method can be selected based on information relating to inside and outside of the vehicle, appropriate braking / driving control can be performed.

  In the above configuration, an external situation determination unit that determines an external situation of the vehicle based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle is provided, and the selection unit selects the one acquisition unit based on the external situation. Can do. According to this configuration, since the external situation determination unit determines the external situation, more appropriate braking / driving control can be performed.

  In the above configuration, the plurality of acquisition units may acquire obstacle information or inter-vehicle distance information as information related to the outside of the vehicle. According to this configuration, more appropriate obstacle information or inter-vehicle distance information can be acquired.

  The said structure WHEREIN: The information regarding the said inside and outside of a vehicle can be set as the structure which is at least 1 of the information output from a weather system, the information regarding a vehicle, and the navigation system.

  In the above configuration, the selection unit may be configured to shut off the power of the acquisition unit that is not selected from the plurality of acquisition units. According to this configuration, power consumption can be reduced.

  In the above configuration, the selection unit may select a driving method of the vehicle based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle and vehicle mode information that is information on braking or driving selected by a passenger. . According to this configuration, the intention and mood of the passenger can be reflected in the selection of the vehicle driving method.

  The said structure WHEREIN: The said selection means can be set as the structure which selects the said one acquisition means based on the information regarding the inside and outside of the said vehicle, and the operation information which shows operation | movement of the said acquisition means. According to this configuration, the acquisition unit can be appropriately selected according to the operating status of the acquisition unit.

  The present invention includes a step of selecting one acquisition means from among a plurality of acquisition means for acquiring information relating to the outside of the vehicle, which is different from the information relating to the inside / outside of the vehicle, based on information relating to the inside / outside of the vehicle; And a step of controlling braking / driving means for braking or driving the vehicle based on the information relating to the outside of the vehicle. According to the present invention, an appropriate acquisition unit is selected based on information relating to the inside and outside of the vehicle, and the braking / driving control is performed based on the information relating to the outside of the vehicle acquired by the selected acquisition unit. Therefore, appropriate braking / driving control can be performed. .

  The said structure WHEREIN: The step which selects the said one acquisition means can be set as the structure containing the step which selects the drive system of the said vehicle based on the information regarding the said vehicle inside and outside. According to this configuration, since an appropriate driving method can be selected based on information relating to inside and outside of the vehicle, appropriate braking / driving control can be performed.

  According to the present invention, an appropriate acquisition unit is selected based on information relating to the inside and outside of the vehicle, and the braking / driving control is performed based on the information relating to the outside of the vehicle acquired by the selected acquisition unit. Therefore, appropriate braking / driving control can be performed. .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system for controlling the vehicle 100. A general ECU 10, a hybrid ECU 31, an engine ECU 32, a body system ECU 33, a brake ECU 34, a steering ECU 35, and a navigation system 36 are connected to an in-vehicle LAN such as a CAN. The overall ECU 10 uses the visible light camera 21, the near infrared camera 22 or the far infrared camera 24 to provide information on obstacles that obstruct the vehicle operation (obstacle information), and the laser radar 26 or the millimeter wave radar 28 Information related to the outside of the vehicle such as the inter-vehicle distance (inter-vehicle distance information) from the vehicle is acquired. Further, an external situation outside the vehicle is determined based on information outside the vehicle such as obstacle information and inter-vehicle distance information. From the vehicle mode switch 50, vehicle mode information indicating a fuel efficiency-oriented mode, a feeling-oriented mode, a safety-oriented mode, a hybrid regeneration mode (when the vehicle 100 is a hybrid vehicle), and the like is acquired.

  The hybrid ECU 31 is an ECU that controls the hybrid system (when the vehicle 100 is a hybrid vehicle) and the drive system 41, and changes the drive system of the drive system 41 to FF, FR, 4WD, or the like according to an instruction from the overall ECU 10. Further, vehicle information such as wheel idling information is acquired from a vehicle information sensor 47 such as a vehicle idling sensor that detects wheel idling. The engine ECU 32 is an ECU that controls the engine 42. The body system ECU 33 is an ECU that controls each device and sensor provided in the body of the vehicle 100, and receives weather information (information related to the weather) and vehicle information (information related to the vehicle) from the weather information sensor 46 and the vehicle information sensor 48. It is acquired and transmitted to the overall ECU 10. The vehicle 100 is provided with an outside air temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a sunshine sensor, and a rainfall sensor as the weather information sensor 46. As the vehicle information sensor 48, a wiper sensor that detects driving of the wiper, a headlight sensor that detects lighting of the headlight, a fog lamp sensor that detects lighting of the fog lamp, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration, and a vehicle speed sensor that detects vehicle speed are provided. It has been.

  The brake ECU 34 is an ECU that controls the brake 44. The steering ECU 35 is an ECU that controls the steering 45. Further, vehicle information such as steering angle information is acquired from a vehicle information sensor 49 such as a steering angle sensor that detects the steering angle. The navigation system 36 is navigation information such as JMA information acquired from the Japan Meteorological Agency, date / time information, latitude / longitude information by GPS, climate information and terrain information based on the latitude / longitude information, and past accumulated information in which past information is accumulated. Information to be output), and these pieces of information are transmitted to the overall ECU 10. Each radar, each camera, each ECU, each sensor, and the like illustrated in FIG. 1 may be connected to the overall ECU 10 indirectly or directly by an in-vehicle LAN or the like, and is not limited to the configuration of FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram around the overall ECU 10, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the control performed by the overall ECU 10. As shown in FIG. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the overall ECU 10 includes an external state determination unit 12, a selection unit 14, and a braking / driving control unit 16. After the vehicle is started, the external situation determination means 12 receives information on the inside and outside of the vehicle such as weather information, vehicle information, and navigation information from the information acquisition means 40 on the inside and outside of the vehicle such as the weather information sensor 46, the vehicle information sensor 48, and the navigation system 36. Is acquired (step S10). The external situation determination means 12 determines the external situation such as illuminance, weather, road surface, road, etc. based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle (step S12). The selection unit 14 acquires external situation information from the external situation determination unit 12.

  Further, the selection unit 14 acquires operation information indicating the operation status of each acquisition unit 20 from the acquisition unit 20 such as the visible light camera 21, the near infrared camera 22, the far infrared camera 24, the laser radar 26, and the millimeter wave radar 28. (Step S14). The selection means 14 acquires vehicle mode information from the vehicle mode switch 50 (step S16). The vehicle mode information is information relating to braking or driving selected by the passenger. The selection unit 14 selects a drive system of a drive system (a part of the braking / driving unit 30) such as FF, FR, and 4WD based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle, external situation information, operation information, and vehicle mode information. The plurality of radar devices select one camera device from one radar device and a plurality of camera devices, that is, one acquisition unit is selected from a plurality of acquisition units (step S18). Note that at least one acquisition unit may be selected.

  The selection unit 14 cuts off the power of the acquisition unit that is not used (for example, when a millimeter wave radar is selected, the laser radar) (step S20). The braking / driving control means 16 acquires information related to the outside of the vehicle such as the obstacle information and the inter-vehicle distance information acquired by the acquisition means 20 (step S22). The braking / driving control means 16 controls the braking / driving means 30 such as the drive system, the brake, the engine, and the steering based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle, the external situation information, and the information on the outside of the vehicle (step S24). Then, the process ends. It returns to step S10 again.

  Next, details of each step will be described. First, the features of each presupposed laser, each camera, and each drive method will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram summarizing the features of each laser and each camera. The millimeter wave radar is a radar that emits a millimeter wave, receives a reflected millimeter wave, and detects an inter-vehicle distance or the like. A laser radar emits laser light, receives reflected laser light, and detects a distance between vehicles. Laser radar has a horizontal detection capability of about 110 degrees, while millimeter-wave radar has about 20 degrees. When it is raining or snowing, the laser beam of the laser radar is absorbed by rain or snow, and the detection capability deteriorates. On the other hand, the detection capability of millimeter wave radar does not deteriorate much. The detection distance is about 150 m for millimeter wave radar and about 50 m for laser radar both day and night. Both cannot recognize color and heat. Moreover, there is no interference in both. As described above, the advantages of the millimeter wave radar are that it can recognize a long distance and has weather resistance, and the disadvantage is that the horizontal detection capability can be narrow. On the other hand, the advantages of laser radar are wide angle, and the disadvantage is that weather resistance is poor.

  The visible light camera, the far infrared camera, and the near infrared camera are cameras using visible light, far infrared light, and near infrared light, respectively. These camera images are processed to detect obstacles. The horizontal detection capability of the visible light camera is about 130 degrees, and the near-infrared camera and the far-infrared camera have a vehicle width of +1.5 m. The detection capability of the near-infrared camera and the far-infrared camera deteriorates due to rainfall and snowfall. On the other hand, the capability of a visible light camera is not deteriorated as much as that of a near infrared camera and a far infrared camera. The detection distance in the daytime is about 20 m, 60 m, and 150 m for the visible light camera, the near infrared camera, and the far infrared camera, respectively. The detection distance at night hardly deteriorates in the far-infrared camera and the near-infrared camera, but cannot be used in the visible light camera. Visible light cameras can recognize colors, and far-infrared cameras can recognize heat. Visible light cameras have little interference, while near-infrared cameras and far-infrared cameras have outside light interference. As described above, the advantage of the visible light camera is that it has a wide angle and can recognize a high-resolution image of an object. The disadvantage is that it cannot detect a long distance and cannot be used at night. . The advantage of the near-infrared camera is that the white line can be detected even at night, and the disadvantage is that it has a narrow angle and the weather resistance is poor. The advantage of the far-infrared camera is that it can detect humans at night and can detect a long distance, and the disadvantage is that it is narrow-angled and has a large influence of heat and cannot be used at high temperatures.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram summarizing the characteristics of the vehicle drive system. The fuel consumption is good in the order of FF, FR, 4WD. The quietness is in the order of FR, 4WD, and FF, the handling is in the order of FR, FF, and 4WD. The running stability is the best in 4WD and FR, and the FF is good. Cornering is good in the order of FR, 4WD, and FF. For traction, FF and 4WD are the best, and FR is good. The regenerative power is good in the order of FF, 4WD, and FR. The climbing power is best for FR and 4WD, and FF is bad. The running performance in snowy and frozen areas is good in the order of 4WD, FF, FR.

  Next, an example of a method in which the external situation determination unit 12 determines the external situation in step S12 in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 6A shows an example of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle when the weather situation is judged, and FIG. 6B shows an example of the judged weather situation. As shown in FIG. 6A, information on the inside and outside of the vehicle includes external weather information, vehicle information, and navigation information. The external weather information is information on the weather outside the vehicle, and includes the outside air temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, sunshine, rainfall, and the like acquired using the weather information sensor 46. The vehicle information is wiper drive information, headlight lighting information, and fog lamp lighting information acquired using the vehicle information sensor 48. The navigation information is the Japan Meteorological Agency information, date / time, GPS longitude / latitude, climate, topography, and past accumulation information acquired from the navigation system 36. Here, the Japan Meteorological Agency information is past and present weather information, weather forecast information, and the like acquired by the navigation system 36 from the Meteorological Agency. The date and time is the current date and time, the GPS longitude and latitude information is the longitude and latitude of the current location of the vehicle calculated by GPS, the climate is the climate of the current location (Japan Sea side climate, subarctic climate, etc.), the topography is information on mountainous areas, flat land, rivers, etc. The past accumulated information is the number of steerings, the number of brakings, and the like. Referring to FIG. 6 (b), the climatic conditions are clear, cloudy, rain (less than ○ mm), rain (more than ○ mm), fog, snow (less than ○ mm), snow (more than ○ mm) and freezing. is there.

  FIG. 7A shows an example of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle when judging the road surface situation, and FIG. 7B shows an example of the road surface situation judged. Referring to FIG. 7A, the vehicle information includes wheel slip information in addition to FIG. 6A. Referring to FIG. 7B, the road surface conditions are dry, frozen, snow cover, gravel, sand beach, wet, and the like. FIG. 8A shows an example of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle when judging the road situation, and FIG. 8B shows an example of the judged road situation. Referring to FIG. 8A, information relating to the inside and outside of the vehicle includes terrain, date / time, GPS longitude / latitude, acceleration, steering angle, wheel idling, past accumulated information, and the like. Referring to FIG. 8B, road conditions are general roads, highways, mountain roads, unpaved roads, rivers, and the like.

  FIG. 9 is an example in which the external situation determination means 12 determines the weather situation, the road surface situation, and the road situation. Referring to the column of item number 1 in FIG. 9, the date is 6:30 on December 6th, the outside temperature is -5 ° C., the rainfall is 1 mm / h, the Japan Meteorological Agency information snow, the precipitation is 2 mm / h, and the GPS longitude and latitude are longitude 43 degrees 4 minutes, climate subarctic region. From these pieces of information, the external situation determination means 12 determines that the weather condition is snow. Also, the road surface condition is judged as snow. At this time, the road surface condition may be determined in more detail than FIG. 7B, such as snow (slightly frozen). Further, from the information that the terrain is a mountainous area and the number of times of steering is large from the past accumulation state, the external state determination means 12 determines the road state as a mountain road.

  Referring to the column of item number 2 in FIG. 9, the date and time is 22:00 on September 24, atmospheric pressure 980 hPa, rainfall 20 mm / h, wiper driving high speed, Japan Meteorological Agency information rain, typhoon, precipitation 15 mm / h . From these pieces of information, the external situation judgment means 12 judges that the weather situation is heavy rain. The road surface condition is judged as wet (river level). Further, since the GPS latitude / longitude information and the topography are flat, the external situation determination means 12 determines the road situation as a general road.

  FIG. 10 shows an example in which the external situation determination means 12 determines the illuminance situation. The external situation determination means 12 acquires date and time, GPS longitude / latitude, and illuminance (illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor). The external situation determination means 12 calculates an illuminance reference value from the date and time and GPS latitude / longitude information. In the examples of item numbers 1, 3, and 4 in FIG. 10, the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor from the calculated illuminance reference value is appropriate. Thereby, the external condition determination means 12 uses the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor as the illuminance condition. On the other hand, in the example of item number 2, the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor is not appropriate compared to the illuminance reference value. For example, the vehicle may be traveling in a tunnel. Therefore, the external situation determination unit 12 sets the illuminance situation as the illuminance situation that was previously determined to be appropriate. As described above, the external situation determination unit 12 can determine the external situation based on the information regarding the inside and outside of the vehicle.

  FIG. 11 shows an example in which the selection means 14 selects one acquisition means and a vehicle driving method from the plurality of acquisition means 20 based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle, the external situation information, and the vehicle mode information in step S18 of FIG. It is. In FIG. 11, the illuminance status, the weather status, and the road surface status are used as the external status determined by the external status determination means 12. Further, the number of times of steering of the past stored information and the vehicle speed are used as information on the inside and outside of the vehicle acquired by the weather information sensor, the vehicle information sensor, and the navigation system. The external situation information used by the selection unit 14 and the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle are not limited to the above.

  In item No. 1, the weather is fine, the illuminance is not less than a predetermined amount, the vehicle speed is not more than the predetermined speed, and the vehicle mode is the fuel efficiency priority mode. Thereby, the selection means 14 selects the FF with good fuel consumption, the laser radar having a large horizontal detection capability, and the visible light camera having a large horizontal detection capability and capable of color identification. In item number 2, the illuminance is a predetermined amount or more, the vehicle speed is a predetermined speed or more, the expressway, and the vehicle mode are the feeling emphasis mode. Thereby, the selection means 14 selects FR with good quietness, a millimeter-wave radar with a long detection distance, and a visible light camera with a large horizontal detection capability and capable of color discrimination.

  Item No. 3 is a mountain road where the illuminance is below a predetermined amount, the weather is rain, the road surface is wet, and there are many curves. As a result, the selection means 14 selects cornering, 4WD with a climbing force, a millimeter wave radar that can be used even when it is dark and rainy, and a near infrared camera that has a long detection distance even when it is dark. Item No. 4 is a mountain road where the illuminance is a predetermined amount or less, the weather is snow, the road surface is snowy, and there are many curves. As a result, the selection means 14 selects 4WD with good traveling performance during snowfall, a millimeter-wave radar that can be used in dark and snowfall, and a far-infrared camera that has a long detection distance even in the dark.

  In item No. 5, the illuminance is a predetermined amount or more, the weather is fine, the curve is many, the mountain road is going down, and the vehicle mode is the fuel consumption priority mode. Thereby, the selection means 14 selects the FF with good fuel consumption, the laser radar having a large horizontal detection capability, and the visible light camera having a large horizontal detection capability and capable of color identification. In item 6, the illuminance is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the weather is fog, the road surface is wet, and the vehicle mode is the fuel efficiency mode. Thereby, the selection means 14 selects the FF with good fuel consumption, the millimeter wave radar that can be used even in the dark, and the near infrared camera having a long detection distance even in the dark.

  In item No. 7, the illuminance is a predetermined amount or more, the weather is fine, the road surface is a sandy beach, and an unpaved road. As a result, the selection unit 14 selects a 4WD having good traveling performance on a sandy beach, a laser radar having a large horizontal detection capability, and a visible light camera having a large horizontal detection capability and capable of color identification. In item No. 8, the illuminance is a predetermined amount or less, the weather is fog, the road surface is wet, the river, and the vehicle mode are safety-oriented modes. As a result, the selection unit 14 selects a 4WD with good traveling performance, a millimeter wave radar that can be used even in the dark, and a near infrared camera that has a long detection distance even in the dark.

  Further, in FIG. 3, the operation information of each acquisition unit 20 is acquired from the acquisition unit 20 or the like (step S14), and the acquisition unit 20 and the drive method are selected using the operation information (step S16). For example, when the operation information indicates a failure of the millimeter wave radar, the selection unit 14 selects a laser radar. If the laser radar is out of order, a millimeter wave radar is selected.

  The selection means 14 can also select a camera based on camera system priority information for external situation information or the like as shown in FIG. As in item No. 1, when the weather is fine and the illuminance state is a predetermined amount or more, the selection means 14 selects visible light radar, near infrared camera, and far infrared camera in this order. This is because the visible light camera has high image recognition accuracy when bright, and the far-infrared camera is easily affected by heat when the temperature is high. On the other hand, as in item No. 2, when the weather is snowing and the illuminance is a predetermined amount or less, the selection means 14 selects the far infrared camera, the visible light camera, and the near infrared camera in this order. This is because, since the outside air temperature is low, the far-infrared camera can recognize a hot object by heat recognition, and the near-infrared camera is vulnerable to light reflection by snow. For example, in item No. 1, when the visible light camera is out of order, the selection unit 14 can select the near infrared camera having the next highest priority.

  According to the first embodiment, as in step S <b> 18 of FIG. 3, the selection unit 14 selects one acquisition unit from among a plurality of acquisition units based on information regarding the inside and outside of the vehicle. For example, one camera is selected from a visible light camera, a near infrared camera, and a far infrared camera, and one radar is selected from a millimeter wave radar and a laser radar. Thus, the selection means 14 selects the acquisition means 20 for acquiring information related to the outside of the vehicle (for example, obstacle information and inter-vehicle distance information) different from the information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle. This makes it possible to select the acquisition means 20 that takes advantage of the characteristics of the acquisition means 20. Therefore, it is possible to acquire information related to the outside of the vehicle that maximizes the characteristics of the acquisition means 20. Therefore, the braking / driving control means 16 can perform more appropriate braking / driving control. In the first embodiment, the camera and the radar are described as an example of the acquisition unit 20. However, the acquisition unit 20 may be any unit that acquires information about the outside of the vehicle that is different from the information about the inside and outside of the vehicle.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, the selection unit 14 can select a driving method of the vehicle based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle. As a result, the selection unit 14 can select a driving method utilizing the characteristics of the driving method. Therefore, it is possible to use a drive system that is more suitable for situations inside and outside the vehicle. In the first embodiment, the driving method such as FF, FR, 4WD, etc. is described as an example of the driving method. However, for example, a driving method of a hybrid vehicle may be used. In the first embodiment, the selection unit 14 selects the acquisition unit 20 and the drive method, but the drive method may not be selected.

  Further, as described with reference to step S12 of FIG. 3 and FIGS. 7A to 10, the external situation determination unit 12 determines the external situation of the vehicle based on the information regarding the inside and outside of the vehicle. The selection means 14 selects one acquisition means 20 from a plurality of acquisition means based on the external situation or the like, as in step S18 of FIG. 3 and FIG. Thereby, the selection means 14 can select the acquisition means 20 more precisely. In the first embodiment, the selection unit 14 selects the acquisition unit 20 based on the external situation of the vehicle. However, the selection unit 14 is not based on the external situation of the vehicle, but based on information about the inside and outside of the vehicle. The situation direct acquisition means 20 may be selected.

  The acquisition means 20 is preferably acquisition means 20 for acquiring obstacle information or inter-vehicle distance information. Since acquisition of obstacle information or inter-vehicle distance information affects weather information, weather conditions, road surface conditions, etc., by selecting the acquisition means 20 based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle and external situation information, more appropriate obstacle information or Inter-vehicle distance information can be acquired.

  Weather information (information related to the weather), vehicle information (information related to the vehicle), and navigation information (information output from the navigation system) greatly affect the characteristics of the acquisition means 20 and the drive system. Therefore, it is preferable that the information regarding the inside and outside of the vehicle is at least one of information regarding weather, information regarding the vehicle, and information output from the navigation system.

  As in step S <b> 20 of FIG. 3, the selection unit 14 preferably cuts off the power of the acquisition unit that is not selected from the plurality of acquisition units. Thereby, power consumption can be reduced.

  Further, as described in steps S16 and S18 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 11, the selection means 14 is based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle and the vehicle mode information that is information on braking / driving selected by the passenger. It is preferable to select a driving method. Thus, the intention and mood of the passenger can be reflected in the selection of the driving method.

  Further, as described in steps S14 and S18 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 12, the selection means 14 is one acquisition means for the vehicle based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle and the operation information indicating the operation of the plurality of acquisition means. Can be selected. Thereby, even when the acquisition unit 20 breaks down, the other acquisition unit 20 can be appropriately selected.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Is possible.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ECU according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram in the vicinity of the overall ECU. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing control of the overall ECU. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the characteristics of each radar system and writing camera system. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the characteristics of each driving method. FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing examples of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle for determining the weather situation and the weather situation. FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are diagrams showing examples of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle for judging the road surface situation and the road surface situation. FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams showing examples of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle for judging the road situation and the road situation. FIG. 9 is an example of determining the weather condition, the road surface condition, and the road condition. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information on the inside and outside of the vehicle and the illuminance status for determining the illuminance status. FIG. 11 shows an example of selecting a driving method, a radar, and a camera. FIG. 12 shows an example of camera system priority.

Explanation of symbols

10 General ECU
12 External condition judgment means 14 Selection means 16 Braking / driving control means 20 Acquisition means 30 Braking / driving means 40 Information obtaining means 41 Drive system 46 Weather information sensors 47, 48, 49 Vehicle information sensor 50 Vehicle mode switch

Claims (10)

Selection means for selecting one acquisition means among a plurality of acquisition means for acquiring information related to the outside of the vehicle different from the information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle based on the information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle;
Braking / driving control means for controlling braking / driving means for braking or driving the vehicle, based on information about the outside of the vehicle obtained by the one obtaining means;
A vehicle control device comprising:   2. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects a driving method of the vehicle based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle. Based on the information on the inside and outside of the vehicle, comprising an external situation judging means for judging the external situation of the vehicle,
The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit selects the one acquisition unit based on the external situation.   4. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of acquisition units acquire obstacle information or inter-vehicle distance information as information relating to the outside of the vehicle. 5.   5. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the information about the inside and outside of the vehicle is at least one of information about weather, information about the vehicle, and information output from a navigation system.   6. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the selection unit shuts off a power source of an acquisition unit that is not selected from the plurality of acquisition units.   The said selection means selects the drive system of the said vehicle based on the information regarding the inside and outside of the said vehicle, and the vehicle mode information which is the information regarding the braking or the drive which the passenger selected. Vehicle control device.   The said selection means selects said one acquisition means based on the information regarding the inside and outside of the said vehicle, and the operation information which shows operation | movement of these acquisition means, The one of Claim 1 to 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. The vehicle control device according to the item. Selecting one acquisition means from among a plurality of acquisition means for acquiring information related to the outside of the vehicle different from the information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle, based on information related to the inside and outside of the vehicle;
Controlling braking / driving means for braking / driving the vehicle based on information about the outside of the vehicle acquired by the one acquiring means;
A vehicle control method comprising:   10. The vehicle control device according to claim 9, wherein the step of selecting the one acquisition unit includes a step of selecting a driving method of the vehicle based on information on the inside and outside of the vehicle.

Images