JP6212409B2 - Automated driving system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic driving system that informs surroundings of a traveling state of a vehicle during automatic driving.

  Conventionally, a specific object such as a vehicle positioned in front of the host vehicle is detected, and a collision with a preceding vehicle is avoided (collision avoidance control), or the distance between the preceding vehicle and the preceding vehicle is controlled to be a safe distance ( An ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) technique is known (for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, so-called automatic driving technology, in which such a collision avoidance control and ACC are further evolved and the vehicle is automatically driven without requiring a driver's active operation intervention, is in the spotlight.

  In automatic driving, comfortable driving can be realized by a plurality of sensors that can detect the state inside and outside the vehicle and a comprehensive driving process using the detection results. On the other hand, if an unexpected traffic environment is encountered during automatic driving, the response may be delayed or excessively reacted. Therefore, it is desirable that other vehicles and pedestrians can recognize that the vehicle is traveling by automatic driving regardless of whether the vehicle is traveling safely by automatic driving.

  However, it is difficult to recognize at a glance from the outside of the vehicle whether the vehicle is traveling by automatic driving or by driving by the driver. In view of this, there has been disclosed a technique for notifying the outside of the vehicle through a display device or the like that the driving mode of the vehicle has been switched from the driver driving mode in which the driver himself drives to the automatic driving mode (for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3349060 JP 2001-219760 A

  With the technique described in Patent Document 2, it becomes possible for other vehicles and pedestrians to recognize that the driving mode of the vehicle has been switched. However, even with such technology, it is difficult to confirm from outside the vehicle whether the vehicle is in a safe driving state or a dangerous driving state by automatic driving.In addition, the degree of risk for abnormal driving conditions during automatic driving is reduced. There was no way to recognize quantitatively.

  In view of such a problem, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic driving system capable of appropriately informing the driving state of a vehicle to the surroundings and realizing a safe and smooth traffic environment.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an automatic driving system according to the present invention includes a plurality of automatic driving execution units that redundantly operate in parallel and realize automatic driving of a vehicle by at least one, and a plurality of automatic driving execution units. A risk level deriving unit for diagnosing an abnormality and deriving one control risk level from predetermined control risk levels; a notification mode determining unit for determining a report mode corresponding to the derived control risk level; And a notification unit that notifies the outside of the vehicle in the determined notification mode.

  The risk degree deriving unit diagnoses the driver's arousal state and derives one arousal risk degree from a plurality of predetermined arousal risk degrees, and the notification mode determining unit determines the derived arousal risk level and control risk level You may determine the alerting | reporting aspect corresponding to the combination with a degree.

  The notification unit is a display device, and the notification mode determination unit may determine the notification mode by changing any one or more of the emission color, emission intensity, emission content, and emission cycle of the display device.

  The notification unit is a speaker, and the notification mode determination unit may determine the notification mode by changing any one or more of the tone color, volume, audio content, and utterance interval of the speaker.

  The notification unit may be a wireless communication device that broadcasts electronic information corresponding to the determined notification mode.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to alert | report suitably the driving | running | working state of a vehicle to the circumference | surroundings, and it becomes possible to implement | achieve a safe and smooth traffic environment.

It is the block diagram which showed the connection relation of the automatic driving | operation system. It is the functional block diagram which showed the schematic function of the automatic operation control unit. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the process of a risk derivation | leading-out part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the other process of a risk derivation | leading-out part. It is explanatory drawing which showed an example of the alerting | reporting part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the alerting | reporting aspect determined by the alerting | reporting aspect determination part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the other alerting | reporting aspect determined by the alerting | reporting aspect determination part. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the other alerting | reporting aspect determined by the alerting | reporting mode determination part. It is a flowchart which shows an in-vehicle notification process.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiment are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  It is desirable that other vehicles and pedestrians can recognize that the vehicle is traveling by automatic driving regardless of whether the vehicle is traveling safely by automatic driving. However, it is difficult to confirm from outside the vehicle whether the vehicle is in a safe driving state or a dangerous driving state by automatic driving, and moreover, a technique for quantitatively recognizing the degree of danger for abnormal driving conditions during automatic driving. Did not exist. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the driving state of the vehicle is appropriately notified to the surroundings, and a safe and smooth traffic environment is realized. Hereinafter, an automatic driving system for achieving such an object will be described.

(Automated driving system 100)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship of the automatic driving system 100. The automatic driving system 100 includes an outside environment recognition unit 110 and an automatic driving control unit 120 provided in the host vehicle 1.

  The vehicle environment recognition unit 110 recognizes the environment outside the host vehicle 1 through an external imaging device (not shown). Here, the external imaging device is configured by two optical systems that are spaced apart in the substantially horizontal direction so that their optical axes are substantially parallel toward the traveling direction side of the host vehicle 1. The outside environment recognition unit 110 uses a so-called pattern matching from the two color images generated by the external imaging device, and displays a parallax and a position on the screen of an arbitrary block (an aggregate of a plurality of pixels). The disparity information including the position is derived. Then, the parallax information for each block is converted into three-dimensional position information using a so-called stereo method.

  The vehicle exterior environment recognition unit 110 uses color values based on color images and three-dimensional position information, groups blocks having the same color value and close three-dimensional position information as objects, and forwards the vehicle 1 It is specified which specific object the object in the detection region corresponds to. Here, specific objects are not only three-dimensional objects that exist independently such as vehicles, pedestrians, traffic lights, roads (travel paths), lanes, guardrails, buildings, but also brake lights, high-mount stop lamps, tail lamps, blinkers, traffic lights. The thing which can be specified as a part of solid objects, such as each lighting part, is also included.

  For example, if the vehicle environment recognition unit 110 specifies a lane, a guard rail, a building, or the like as a specific object, the vehicle exterior environment recognition unit 110 derives the traveling path of the host vehicle 1 based on the specified lane. Further, when the preceding vehicle is specified as a specific object, the vehicle exterior environment recognition unit 110 tracks the preceding vehicle and derives a relative distance from the preceding vehicle, a relative speed of the preceding vehicle, a relative acceleration, and the like. Furthermore, when the vehicle exterior environment recognition unit 110 identifies the lighting portion of the traffic light as the specific object, the vehicle exterior environment recognition unit 110 determines whether or not the vehicle can travel on the travel path based on the emission color. The vehicle exterior environment recognition unit 110 transmits the information derived in this way to the automatic driving control unit 120.

  The automatic driving control unit 120 controls the steering mechanism 122, the driving mechanism 124, and the braking mechanism 126 based on the information transmitted from the outside environment recognition unit 110 to perform automatic driving. For example, the automatic driving control unit 120 steers through the steering mechanism 122 so that the central portion of the host vehicle 1 passes through the traveling path derived by the outside environment recognition unit 110. Further, the automatic operation control unit 120 maintains traveling within the speed limit through the drive mechanism 124, and the relative distance to the preceding vehicle is maintained while the outside environment recognition unit 110 recognizes the preceding vehicle. Speed and acceleration are controlled so as to be equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Furthermore, the automatic driving control unit 120 brakes the host vehicle 1 through the braking mechanism 126 based on the deceleration or stop state of the preceding vehicle and the light emission color (red signal) of the traffic light.

  By the way, in the automatic operation control unit 120 in this embodiment, even if it becomes difficult to travel due to an abnormality in the automatic operation control unit 120, the automatic operation control unit 120 performs automatic operation on the assumption that the driver appropriately responds. ing. Therefore, in the automatic driving control unit 120, the driver is present in the driver's seat and the driver is awake through the internal imaging device or the like (the arousal risk level indicating the degree of the driver's arousal is less than a predetermined threshold value). To start automatic driving.

  Further, the automatic driving control unit 120 diagnoses whether the automatic driving control unit 120 itself can travel, but whether or not an abnormality has occurred partially and whether the driver is awake. Then, the automatic driving control unit 120 notifies the surrounding traffic (other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.) through the notification unit 128 of the running state of the own vehicle 1 based on the diagnosis result.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the automatic operation control unit 120 will be described in detail. Here, the automatic driving and the notification process of the running state characteristic of the present embodiment will be described in detail, and the description of the configuration unrelated to the characteristics of the present embodiment will be omitted.

(Automatic operation control unit 120)
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic function of the automatic operation control unit 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic operation control unit 120 includes an I / F unit 150, a data holding unit 152, and a central control unit 154.

  The I / F unit 150 is an interface for performing bidirectional information exchange with the vehicle environment recognition unit 110. The data holding unit 152 includes a RAM, a flash memory, an HDD, and the like. The data holding unit 152 holds various information necessary for processing of each function unit described below, and temporarily transmits information transmitted from the outside environment recognition unit 110. Hold on.

  The central control unit 154 is configured by a semiconductor integrated circuit including a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM storing a program, a RAM as a work area, and the like, and through the system bus 156, an I / F unit 150, a data holding unit 152 and the like are controlled. In the present embodiment, the central control unit 154 also functions as a plurality (three in this case) of the automatic driving execution unit 160, the comparison determination unit 162, the risk degree derivation unit 164, and the notification mode determination unit 166.

  Each of the automatic driving execution units 160 can realize automatic driving of the host vehicle 1 alone. Here, a plurality of automatic operation execution units 160 (shown by 160a, 160b, and 160c in FIG. 2) having such substantially the same functions are provided in parallel. Therefore, in the automatic operation control unit 120, even if an abnormality occurs in any one of the plurality of automatic operation execution units 160a, 160b, and 160c, automatic operation is performed by at least one other automatic operation execution unit 160. Can be maintained, and has redundancy in terms of safety.

  As the specific operation of the automatic driving, as described above, various existing techniques such as steering through the steering mechanism 122, speed and acceleration control through the driving mechanism 124, and braking through the braking mechanism 126 can be applied. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The comparison determination unit 162 monitors and compares the plurality of automatic driving execution units 160a, 160b, and 160c, and sets appropriate parameters for realizing comfortable and safe driving from the plurality of automatic driving execution units 160a, 160b, and 160c. select. For example, when an error occurs in each of the plurality of automatic driving execution units 160a, 160b, and 160c, the average value or the median value is used, and when the determinations are different, a larger number of determinations (majority decisions) are used.

  In addition, when an abnormality occurs in part or all of the automatic driving execution unit 160 of any one of the plurality of automatic driving execution units 160a, 160b, and 160c, the comparison determination unit 162 notifies the driver and immediately The traveling is not stopped and the remaining automatic driving execution unit 160 maintains the traveling. However, when all of the plurality of automatic driving execution units 160 indicate an abnormality, the comparison determination unit 162 may stop traveling.

  The risk level deriving unit 164 diagnoses individual abnormalities of the plurality of automatic driving execution units 160, and derives one control risk level from predetermined multiple levels of control risk levels.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the processing of the risk level deriving unit 164. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the risk level deriving unit 164 determines the abnormality of the automatic driving execution unit 160 in four stages, and if all the automatic driving execution units 160a, 160b, and 160c are normal, the control risk level is determined. Is set to 0. Further, when any one of the automatic driving execution units 160 shows a slight abnormality, the control risk is set to 1. Here, the minor abnormality is a position where any one sensor such as an external imaging device, a GPS (Global Positioning System), a radar device, or the like constituting the automatic driving execution unit 160 indicates abnormality or is derived through the external imaging device. And the position indicated by GPS, or the position derived through the external imaging device and the position indicated by the radar device are different.

  In addition, when any one of the automatic driving execution units 160 shows a serious abnormality, the control risk is set to 2. Here, a severe abnormality means that a state in which the determination in one automatic driving execution unit 160 is different from the determination in the other two automatic driving execution units 160 appears continuously or periodically, or in a traveling direction or a lateral direction. This refers to the case where the acceleration, yaw rate, steering angular velocity, etc. exceed the abnormal thresholds provided respectively, and a sudden vehicle behavior occurs. In addition, when two or more automatic driving execution units 160 show minor or severe abnormality, the control risk is set to 3.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the control risk based on the abnormality of the automatic driving execution unit 160, the arousal risk based on the driver's arousal state is also derived. The reason for deriving such arousal risk is shown below. In other words, when automatic driving is being performed, it is very important for the driver to monitor the operation of automatic driving in order to safely drive the car. It is not enough just to inform. For example, even if automatic driving itself is normal, if the driver's awakening state decreases and the automatic driving operation cannot be properly monitored, it is considered dangerous for surrounding vehicles and pedestrians. Because it is. In spite of such a state, if the outside of the vehicle is informed that automatic driving is normal, there is a risk of misunderstanding that the automatic driving is absolutely safe for surrounding vehicles and pedestrians.

  Therefore, the risk level deriving unit 164 diagnoses the driver's arousal state by obtaining the driver's eye closing time, eye closing frequency, heart rate variability coefficient, and the like through an internal imaging device, a heart rate sensor, and the like. One arousal risk is derived from a plurality of levels of arousal risk.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining another process of the risk degree deriving unit 164. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the risk level deriving unit 164 determines the driver's arousal state in four stages based on the driver's eye closing time, eye closing frequency, and heart rate variability coefficient. For example, if the closed eye time is less than a predetermined time, the closed eye frequency is less than a predetermined number of times, and the heart rate variability coefficient is less than a predetermined value, the driver is awake and the arousal risk is set to zero. When the heart rate variability coefficient is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the arousal risk is set to 1 because there is a sign of sleepiness. When the eye-closing frequency is equal to or higher than the predetermined number of times, it is assumed that there is drowsiness, and the arousal risk level is set to 2. Further, when the eye-closing time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, it is assumed that the user is sleeping and the arousal risk is set to 3.

  Further, in addition to the driver's eye-closing time, eye-closing frequency, and heart rate variability coefficient, the driver's line-of-sight direction and line-of-sight departure time are obtained, and for example, an electronic device (for example, a smartphone) that is not related to driving is viewed. A high arousal risk may be derived as possible. In addition, a threshold for deriving the arousal risk level, for example, a predetermined time for the eye closing time may be changed according to the operation mode described later. This is because the driver needs to be monitored even in automatic driving, but it is less necessary to keep monitoring as compared with driving by the driver. As specific means for deriving such arousal risk, in addition to the internal imaging device and the heart rate sensor, various existing technologies such as using biological parameters, determining mental status (irritability, anxiety), poor physical condition, etc. The detailed description is omitted here.

  The notification mode determination unit 166 determines a notification mode corresponding to the derived control risk level and arousal risk level. And the alerting | reporting part 128 alert | reports outside a vehicle by the alerting | reporting aspect determined by the alerting | reporting aspect determination part 166. FIG. Here, first, the notification unit 128 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the notification unit 128. For example, when the display device 140 made up of an LED or a lamp is employed as the notification unit 128, the information is determined according to the notification mode determined by the notification mode determination unit 166 at the positions shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b). The display device 140 shown in FIG. 5C or FIG. 5D can emit light. For example, in the display device 140 of FIG. 5C, five LEDs are arranged in an array so as to form an array of five in the horizontal direction and three in the vertical direction. In the display device 140 of FIG. The light emission color, light emission intensity, and light emission cycle can be determined independently by arranging them at equal intervals. The combination of the number and arrangement of LEDs is not limited to this, and can be arbitrarily set. And the light emission color, light emission intensity, and light emission period of each LED of the display apparatus 140 can be controlled, and the whole light emission content can be varied according to the positional relationship of light-emitting LED.

  Further, as the notification unit 128, a speaker or a wireless communication device facing outside the vehicle can also be adopted. For example, when a speaker is adopted as the notification unit 128, the sound is generated by changing any one or more of the timbre, the volume, the voice content, and the utterance interval according to the notification mode determined by the notification mode determination unit 166. Further, when a wireless communication device is employed as the notification unit 128, electronic information corresponding to the notification mode determined by the notification mode determination unit 166 is broadcast, and the information of the host vehicle 1 is transmitted to surrounding vehicles. In the present embodiment, an example in which the display device 140 illustrated in FIG. 5C is employed as the notification unit 128 will be described, and the processing of the notification mode determination unit 166 will be described.

  First, the notification mode determination unit 166 determines whether the current operation mode is an automatic operation mode in which the automatic operation execution unit 160 performs automatic operation or a driver operation mode in which the driver operates by himself / herself, and the current operation mode. The notification mode is determined according to the above. For example, in the automatic operation mode, notification to the outside of the vehicle by the display device 140 is executed, and in the driver operation mode, the display device 140 is not always operated.

  The notification mode determination unit 166 determines a notification mode corresponding to the control risk level derived by the risk level calculation unit 164 in the automatic operation mode. For example, the notification mode determination unit 166 sets the emission color of the display device 140 to “green”, “yellow”, “orange”, “red” corresponding to the control risk degrees 0 to 3 described with reference to FIG. And change. In general, in a traffic environment, “green” and “blue” indicate safety and permission, “yellow” and “orange” indicate caution, and “red” indicates danger and prohibition. Here, the magnitude of the danger level is visually recognized by other vehicles and pedestrians by the emission color.

  The notification mode determination unit 166 further determines a notification mode corresponding to the arousal risk level derived by the risk level deriving unit 164 in the automatic driving mode.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for describing a notification mode determined by the notification mode determination unit 166. For example, the notification mode determination unit 166 sets the light emission content of the display device 140 to “◯”, “●”, “Δ”, “×” corresponding to 0 to 3 of the arousal risk described with reference to FIG. And change. At this time, the light emission color of the display device 140 is a light emission color according to the control risk. Here, the magnitude of the danger is visually recognized by other vehicles and pedestrians depending on the light emission content.

  In the above description, the example of individually indicating the arousal risk level and the control risk level has been described. However, the notification mode determination unit 166 combines the awakening risk level and the control risk level to determine the awakening risk level and the control risk level. The notification mode corresponding to the combination may be determined.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining another notification mode determined by the notification mode determination unit 166. For example, the notification mode determination unit 166 determines that the automatic operation execution unit 160 is “normal” if the control risk described with reference to FIG. If the arousal risk described with reference to 0 is 0, the driver's arousal state is determined to be “normal”, and if it is 1 to 3, “abnormal” is determined. As shown in FIG. The emission color of the display device 140 is changed to “green”, “yellow”, “orange”, and “red”. Here, the magnitude of the danger level is visually recognized by other vehicles and pedestrians by the emission color.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining still another notification mode determined by the notification mode determination unit 166. For example, the notification mode determination unit 166 corresponds to the combination of the control risk levels 0 to 3 described with reference to FIG. 3 and the arousal risk levels 0 to 3 described with reference to FIG. Further, the light emission content of the display device 140 (the more LEDs that emit red light as the danger level is higher) is changed. Here, other vehicles and pedestrians are made to visually recognize the magnitude of the degree of danger (danger level) according to the light emission content (number of light emitting LEDs).

  The setting of the danger level in FIG. 8 follows the following policy. That is, if both the control risk level and the arousal risk level are 0, the risk level is the lowest 0, and if both the control risk level and the awakening risk level are 3, the risk level is the maximum 15. is there. In addition, when the arousal risk is 0 or 1, the driver can make a correct judgment except when the control risk is 3, so that the automatic driving is normal but the driver is not monitoring normally. Set the danger level lower than the state (danger levels 1 to 5). Further, when the awakening risk level is 2 or 3, the danger level of the normal automatic driving is set low (danger levels 11 and 12). In this way, it is possible to appropriately notify the traveling state of the vehicle to other vehicles and pedestrians according to an appropriate danger level based on the combination of the control risk level and the awakening risk level.

  In addition, here, an example in which the emission color and the emission content are different has been described, but the emission intensity and the emission cycle may be different. Such a light emission period may be the light emission period of each LED, or may be a movement period when the lighting position is moved vertically and horizontally between a plurality of LEDs. Further, the lighting position may be moved vertically and horizontally between a plurality of LEDs in accordance with the driver's line-of-sight direction (face orientation) derived by the internal imaging device.

  Also, the notification mode determination unit 166 can notify some information outside the vehicle in accordance with the driver's intention and the signal from the vehicle environment recognition unit 110. For example, when the driver makes an intention to blink an emergency blinking indicator lamp (hazard lamp), all the LEDs of the display device 140 blink at once, and this is notified to the surroundings. Further, when the driver intervenes in braking during the automatic driving mode and suddenly applies the brake, all the LEDs of the display device 140 are lit in red, and this is notified to the surroundings. Such processing is given the highest priority in the present embodiment, and notification based on the driver's intention is prioritized even when it overlaps with the notification of the traveling state.

  Further, when the collision prevention function works in the outside environment recognition unit 110 and sudden braking is required, the notification mode determination unit 166 lights all the LEDs of the display device 140 in red and notifies the surroundings to that effect. Such processing is prioritized next to the notification based on the driver's intention in the present embodiment, and the notification based on the signal from the outside environment recognition unit 110 is prioritized even when it overlaps with the traveling state notification.

  As described above, a single display device 140 realizes a plurality of notifications such as a notification based on the control risk level and the arousal risk level, a notification based on the driver's intention, and a notification based on a signal from the outside environment recognition unit 110. Thus, not only can the cost be reduced, but also other vehicles and pedestrians can easily grasp which part of the vehicle should be watched, and can quickly recognize the degree of danger.

  When a speaker or a wireless communication device is employed in addition to or instead of the display device 140 described above, the notification mode determination unit 166 may select one or more of the timbre, volume, audio content, and utterance interval of the speaker. It is possible to determine the notification mode by differentiating and broadcast the electronic information corresponding to the notification mode through the wireless communication device. Hereinafter, the outside notification process using the above-described automatic driving system 100 will be described in detail.

(Outside vehicle notification processing)
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the vehicle outside notification process. Such an outside notification process is repeatedly executed by an interruption process at a predetermined interval.

  First, the notification mode determination unit 166 determines whether or not the switch for the emergency blinking indicator lamp has been operated according to the driver's intention (S200). As a result, if the switch is operated (YES in S200), the LEDs of the display device 140 are all blinked at once as an emergency blinking indicator (S202).

  If the switch for the emergency blinking indicator lamp is not operated (NO in S200), the notification mode determination unit 166 determines whether a signal is received from the outside environment recognition unit 110 (S204). As a result, if a signal is received, the LED of the display device 140 is turned on according to the content of the signal (S206).

  If the signal is not received from the outside environment recognition unit 110 (NO in S204), the notification mode determination unit 166 determines whether or not the current operation mode is the automatic operation mode (S208). As a result, if it is determined that the operation mode is the automatic operation mode (YES in S208), the risk level deriving unit 164 diagnoses individual abnormalities of the plurality of automatic operation execution units 160, and controls risk in a plurality of stages determined in advance. A control risk degree of 1 is derived from the degree (S210). Subsequently, the risk level deriving unit 164 diagnoses the driver's arousal state by obtaining the driver's eye closing time, eye closing frequency, and heart rate variability coefficient through an internal imaging device, a heart rate sensor, and the like. One arousal risk is derived from the multiple levels of arousal risk (S212). Next, the notification mode determination unit 166 determines a notification mode corresponding to the derived control risk level and arousal risk level (S214). And the alerting | reporting part 128 alert | reports outside a vehicle by the alerting | reporting aspect determined by the alerting | reporting aspect determination part 166 (S216).

  If it is determined that the driving mode is not the automatic driving mode, that is, the driver driving mode (NO in S208), the risk deriving unit 164 closes the driver's eyes through an internal imaging device, a heart rate sensor, or the like. The driver's arousal state is diagnosed by obtaining the time, the eye-closing frequency, and the heart rate variability coefficient, and one arousal risk is derived from a plurality of predetermined levels of arousal risk (S218). Next, the notification mode determination unit 166 determines a notification mode corresponding to the derived arousal risk (S220). And the alerting | reporting part 128 alert | reports outside a vehicle by the alerting | reporting mode determined by the alerting | reporting mode determination part 166, only when the arousal risk level is 1-3 (S222).

  In this way, the running state of the vehicle is appropriately notified to the surroundings, and other vehicles and pedestrians can quantitatively grasp the danger level, and a safe and smooth traffic environment can be realized.

  Also provided are a program that causes the computer to function as the automatic operation system 100 and a computer-readable storage medium that stores the program, such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD, a DVD, and a BD. Here, the program refers to data processing means described in an arbitrary language or description method.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Is done.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the notification mode determination unit 166 has determined the notification mode corresponding to the control risk level and the arousal risk level. However, the notification mode determination unit 166 determines the notification mode corresponding to the travel mode by ACC. Also good. For example, a case where a mode that emphasizes fuel consumption and a mode that emphasizes traveling are prepared as driving modes will be described as an example. When the mode for emphasizing fuel consumption is selected in which the inter-vehicle distance is set to be long and the slow motion is low, the vehicle is easily overtaken by notifying that. In addition, when a mode for emphasizing driving performance is selected that allows the distance between the vehicles to be shortened and acceleration / deceleration is frequently performed, other vehicles try to overtake the vehicle by informing it. Can be suppressed.

  It should be noted that each step of the outside notification process of the present specification does not necessarily have to be processed in time series in the order described in the flowchart, and may include processing in parallel or by a subroutine.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in an automatic driving system that notifies the surroundings of the traveling state of a vehicle during automatic driving.

100 Automatic Driving System 128 Notification Unit 160 Automatic Driving Execution Unit 164 Risk Derivation Unit 166 Notification Mode Determination Unit

Claims (5)

A plurality of automatic driving execution units that redundantly operate in parallel and realize automatic driving of the vehicle by at least one;
A risk level deriving unit that diagnoses individual abnormalities of the plurality of automatic driving execution units and derives one control risk level from a plurality of predetermined control risk levels;
A notification mode determination unit that determines a notification mode corresponding to the derived control risk;
An informing unit for informing outside the vehicle in the determined manner of notification;
An automatic driving system comprising: The risk deriving unit diagnoses a driver's arousal state, derives one arousal risk from a plurality of predetermined levels of arousal risk,
The automatic operation system according to claim 1, wherein the notification mode determination unit determines a notification mode corresponding to the combination of the derived arousal risk and the control risk. The notification unit is a display device,
The said notification aspect determination part determines the notification aspect by varying any one or more of the light emission color of the said display apparatus, light emission intensity, light emission content, and the light emission period, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Automated driving system. The notification unit is a speaker,
4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the notification mode determination unit determines the notification mode by changing any one or more of a tone color, a volume, a voice content, and an utterance interval of the speaker. The automatic driving system described.   The automatic operation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the notification unit is a wireless communication device that broadcasts electronic information corresponding to the determined notification mode.

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