Patent Publication Number: US-2021163013-A1

Title: Peripheral-information determining apparatus

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a peripheral-information determining apparatus and a method for determining peripheral information that are used to control autonomous vehicle driving. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     An autonomous driving technique has been recently developed in which a vehicle is made to autonomously drive (i.e., autonomously travel) in accordance with peripheral circumstances. Further, Patent Document 1 proposes an in-vehicle apparatus that estimates a driver&#39;s intention from a driver&#39;s driving operation upon detecting a pedestrian, so that the pedestrian is notified of the estimated driver&#39;s intention. 
     PRIOR ART DOCUMENT 
     Patent Document 
     Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-332297 
     SUMMARY 
     Problem to be Solved by the Invention 
     Communication between a vehicle under autonomous traveling and a pedestrian is important to practically apply autonomous vehicle driving on a road where pedestrians walk around. For instance, although a vehicle under autonomous driving detects a pedestrian standing near a crosswalk and then stops before the crosswalk, the pedestrian does not intend to cross the crosswalk in some cases. In these cases, the vehicle would automatically restart traveling if the vehicle recognized the intention of the pedestrian. However, a conventional vehicle, which does not have a means for recognizing such a pedestrian&#39;s intention, keeps stopping before the crosswalk, thus possibly causing traffic congestion. 
     In the technique of Patent Document 1, the vehicle can convey a driver&#39;s intention to the pedestrian, but cannot recognize a pedestrian&#39;s intention. 
     To solve this problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a peripheral-information determining apparatus and a method for determining peripheral information that are used for vehicle control reflecting an intention of a person around a vehicle. 
     Means to Solve the Problem 
     A peripheral-information determining apparatus according to the present invention includes the following: a peripheral-information acquiring unit that acquires peripheral information indicating a circumstance around a subject vehicle, from a peripheral-information detector that detects the circumstance around the subject vehicle; an intention estimating unit that estimates an intention of a person who is around the subject vehicle, or an instruction of an indicator that is around the subject vehicle, from person movement information that is included in the peripheral information and is a piece of information indicating a movement of the person, or a movement of the indicator that imitates a person&#39;s movement; and a controller that controls a traveling controller or an outward-notification apparatus on the basis of the peripheral information and an estimated result that is obtained from the intention estimating unit. The traveling controller controls the traveling of the subject vehicle. The outward-notification apparatus notifies information to the outside of the subject vehicle. 
     Effects of the Invention 
     In the present invention, the intention estimating unit estimates the intention of the person around the subject vehicle. In addition, the controller controls the traveling controller or outward-notification apparatus of the subject vehicle on the basis of the estimated result. Such a configuration enables the subject vehicle to travel or to make a notification with the intention of the person reflected. 
     These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a first embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a table showing examples of an intention-estimation performing place, and examples of a target person. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a peripheral-information determining apparatus. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the peripheral-information determining apparatus. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing the operation of the peripheral-information determining apparatus according to the first embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram for describing how the peripheral-information determining apparatus operates when a subject vehicle has approached a site before a crosswalk. 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram for describing how the peripheral-information determining apparatus operates when the subject vehicle has approached the site before the crosswalk. 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram for describing how the peripheral-information determining apparatus operates when the subject vehicle has approached the site before the crosswalk. 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram for describing how the peripheral-information determining apparatus operates when the subject vehicle has approached the site before the crosswalk. 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating an example of how to make a notification to a pedestrian. 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating an example of how to make a notification to the pedestrian. 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart showing the operation of a peripheral-information determining apparatus according to a second embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a third embodiment. 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a fourth embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) 
     First Embodiment 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a first embodiment. This vehicle control system includes the following: a peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  that performs autonomous vehicle driving; and a peripheral-information detector  20 , a traveling controller  30 , and an outward-notification apparatus  40  that are connected to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 . A vehicle that is equipped with the peripheral-information determination system is hereinafter referred to as a “subject vehicle”. A vehicle other than the subject vehicle is hereinafter referred to as a “non-subject vehicle”. 
     The peripheral-information detector  20  detects “peripheral information” that is a piece of information indicating circumstances around the subject vehicle, from signals that are output from sensing apparatuses included in the subject vehicle, such as a camera  21 , a sensor  22 , a microphone  23 , a communication apparatus  24 , and a navigation apparatus  25 . The peripheral information, detected by the peripheral-information detector  20 , is transmitted to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  and the traveling controller  30 . 
     The traveling controller  30  controls the traveling of the subject vehicle by controlling a braking-and-driving mechanism  31  and a steering mechanism  32  that are included in the subject vehicle, on the basis of the peripheral information, received from the peripheral-information detector  20 , and of a control signal that is output from the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 . The braking-and-driving mechanism  31  is a mechanism for controlling the travel speed of the subject vehicle and switching between forward and backward movements of the subject vehicle. The braking-and-driving mechanism  31  includes an accelerator, a brake, a shift lever, and other things. The steering mechanism  32  is a mechanism for turning the direction of travel of the subject vehicle to right or left. The steering mechanism  32  includes a steering wheel and other things. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  includes a peripheral-information acquiring unit  11 , an intention estimating unit  12 , and a controller  13 . The peripheral-information acquiring unit  11  acquires the peripheral information from the peripheral-information detector  20 . The peripheral information includes information pieces, such as a picture around the subject vehicle that is captured by the camera  21 , an obstacle (including a non-subject vehicle and a pedestrian, and other things) around the subject vehicle that is detected by the sensor  22 , a sound around the subject vehicle that is obtained by the microphone  23  (preferably, by a directional microphone), an information piece obtained by the communication apparatus  24  through communication, and a subject vehicle position on a map, a map information piece around the subject vehicle and a route where the subject vehicle is to travel that are identified by the navigation apparatus  25 . 
     Examples of the information piece obtained by the communication apparatus  24  include the following: a piece of positional information about a non-subject vehicle around the subject vehicle, the positional information being obtained through vehicle-to-vehicle communication; a piece of positional information about a pedestrian that is obtained through communication with a portable terminal carried by the pedestrian (e.g., a watch-like communication terminal); and a piece of traffic information (e.g., a piece of information about a construction section, or a piece of information about a travel restriction) obtained through vehicle-to-roadside-infrastructure communication. Further, a pedestrian may operate his/her portable terminal to positively transmit information about whether the pedestrian is going to cross a crosswalk to the communication apparatus  24  included in a nearby vehicle. 
     A “pedestrian” in the Description is not limited to a walking person. A “pedestrian” herein is used in a broad sense ranging, for instance, from a person who is pushing a baby buggy to a person who is riding a wheelchair or a bicycle. 
     The intention estimating unit  12  estimates an intention of a person around the subject vehicle when the subject vehicle has approached a specific place satisfying a predetermined condition (“an intention-estimation performing place”). The intention-estimation performing place is a place where communication is required between the subject vehicle and a person outside the subject vehicle (e.g., a pedestrian, or a traffic controller who directs traffic). A site before a crosswalk, a site before a lane restriction section, an entrance to a parking lot of a destination (or of a stopping point on the way to the destination), the inside of the parking lot, an exit of the parking lot, a site before an intersection without traffic lights, and other sites are previously defined as intention-estimation performing places. 
     The intention estimating unit  12  can determine whether the subject vehicle has approached the intention-estimation performing place from information pieces, such as a picture around the subject vehicle that is captured by the camera  21 , the distance to an obstacle around the subject vehicle that is obtained by the sensor  22 , the position of the subject vehicle on a map that is obtained from the navigation apparatus  25 . Whether the subject vehicle has approached the intention-estimation performing place needs to be determined based on whether the distance between the subject vehicle and the intention-estimation performing place has reached a predetermined threshold or less. 
     Upon approach of the subject vehicle to the intention-estimation performing place, the intention estimating unit  12  checks whether a person whose intention is to be estimated (i.e., “a target person”) is near the subject vehicle, on the basis of the peripheral information obtained by the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11 . Upon detection of the target person, the intention estimating unit  12  extracts, from the peripheral information, “person movement information” indicating a movement of the target person, and estimates an intention of the target person on the basis of the extracted person movement information. Information extracted as the person movement information is any information piece from which an intention of the target person can be estimated. Examples of such an information piece include a picture captured by the camera  21  and from which the posture, gesture, sight line direction, facial expression, and other things of the target person can be recognized, and an audio data piece obtained through the microphone  23  and from which the voice of the target person can be recognized. Further, when the target person operates his/her portable terminal to input information on whether the target person is going to cross a crosswalk, and then transmit the information to the communication apparatus  24  included in a nearby vehicle, the intention estimating unit  12  obtains the operation content of his/her portable terminal as the person movement information. 
     Here, there are two kinds of intention of the target person. One is an intention indicating an action of the target person, such as “crossing a street” or “standing still without crossing a street”. The other is an intention indicating a request from the target person to the subject vehicle, such as a “request for a vehicle to stop”, or a “request for a vehicle to go”. The intention estimating unit  12  preferably estimates both kinds. Nevertheless, the intention “crossing a street” is also an intention indicating that the target person “wants a vehicle to stop”, and that the intention “standing still without crossing a street” is also an intention indicating that the target person “wants a vehicle to go”. Hence, the intention estimating unit  12  may estimate one of the two kinds. 
     The controller  13  controls the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  overall, and controls autonomous driving of the subject vehicle by transmitting and receiving a piece of control information and a control command to and from the traveling controller  30 . Moreover, the controller  13  can control the outward-notification apparatus  40  to notify information (including a warning and an alarm) to the outside of the subject vehicle. 
     In the present embodiment in particular, the controller  13  reflects the intention of the target person estimated by the intention estimating unit  12  to its control, when the traveling controller  30  controls the subject vehicle to autonomously drive for passing through the intention-estimation performing place. 
     Here, the target person to be subjected to intention estimation changes depending on kinds of intention-estimation performing place.  FIG. 2  is a table showing examples of the relationship between the kinds of intention-estimation performing place and the target person. As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the subject vehicle has approached a site before a crosswalk, the intention estimating unit  12  regards a pedestrian around the crosswalk as the target person to be subjected to intention estimation. Further, the intention estimating unit  12  regards a traffic controller who is directing traffic as the target person to be subjected to intention estimation, when the subject vehicle has approached a site before a lane restriction section, when the subject vehicle has approached an entrance to a parking lot of a destination, when the subject vehicle is traveling in the parking lot, and when the subject vehicle has approached an exit of the parking lot. A pedestrian in the parking lot may be regarded as another target person to be subjected to intention estimation. Still further, when the subject vehicle has approached a site before an intersection without traffic lights, the intention estimating unit  12  regards the driver of a non-subject vehicle who is about to enter the intersection or a traffic controller who is directing traffic as the target person to be subjected to intention estimation. 
     In some cases, instead of a traffic controller, an indicator that imitates a person&#39;s movement (e.g., a person-like signboard automatically blinking a lamp in a construction site) is placed in a lane restriction section, a parking lot, an intersection without traffic lights, and other locations. In these cases, the indicator may be regarded as the target person. The intention estimating unit  12 , in this case, regards the shape, movement, and output sound of the indicator as the posture, gesture, and voice of a person, and estimates an indicator&#39;s instruction. That is, the intention estimating unit  12  extracts, as the person movement information, information indicating the shape and movement of the indicator, and estimates the indicator&#39;s instruction from the person movement information. 
     Upon estimation of the target-person&#39;s intention in the intention estimating unit  12 , the controller  13  controls the outward-notification apparatus  40  to provide the target person with a notification in accordance with an estimated intention result. The outward-notification apparatus  40  makes a notification to the outside of the subject vehicle. The outward-notification apparatus  40  is, for instance, the horn or headlights of the subject vehicle. Alternatively, the outward-notification apparatus  40  may be, for instance, a speaker that outputs a sound to the outside of the subject vehicle, a projector that projects an image onto a road, or a communication apparatus that transmits information to a portable terminal (e.g., a watch-like communication terminal) carried by the target person. 
     It is noted that the components (i.e., the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11 , the intention estimating unit  12 , and the controller  13 ) of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 , in part or in whole, may be included in the peripheral-information detector  20 . It is also noted that the navigation apparatus  25  and the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11  may directly communicate with each other without the peripheral-information detector  20  interposed therebetween. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  are each a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 . The individual components (i.e., the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11 , the intention estimating unit  12 , and the controller  13 ) of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1  are implemented by, for instance, a processing circuit  50  illustrated in  FIG. 3 . That is, the processing circuit  50  includes the following: the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11  that acquires peripheral information from the peripheral-information detector  20 ; the intention estimating unit  12  that estimates an intention of a person who is around a subject vehicle or an instruction of an indicator that is around the subject vehicle, from person movement information that is included in the peripheral information and is a piece of information indicating a movement of the person, or a movement of the indicator that imitates a person&#39;s movement; and the controller that controls the traveling controller  30  or the outward-notification apparatus  40  on the basis of the peripheral information and an estimated result obtained from the intention estimating unit. The processing circuit  50  may be dedicated hardware. Alternatively, the processing circuit  50  may be a processor (e.g., a central processing unit, a central processing device, a processing device, a calculator, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, or a digital signal processor) that executes a program stored in a memory. The intention estimating unit  12  does not necessarily need to be on board the subject vehicle. The intention estimating unit  12  may be implemented as a cloud service connected to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  via a communication apparatus. 
     For dedicated hardware being the processing circuit  50 , examples of the processing circuit  50  include a single circuit, a complex circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel-programmed processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, and a combination thereof. The functions of the individual components of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  may be implemented by a plurality of processing circuits, or may be, all together, implemented by a single processing circuit. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  when the processing circuit  50  is configured using a processor. In this case, the functions of the individual components of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  are implemented in combination with software and other things (software, firmware, or software and firmware). The software and other things are written as a program and stored in a memory  52 . A processor  51 , which is the processing circuit  50 , implements the function of each component by reading and then executing the program stored in the memory. That is, the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  includes the memory  52  to store a program which, when executed by the processing circuit  50 , performs the following processes: acquiring person movement information that is a piece of information indicating a movement of a person who is around a subject vehicle, or a movement of an indicator that is around the subject vehicle and imitates a person&#39;s movement; estimating an intention of the person or an instruction of the indicator from the person movement information; and controlling the traveling controller  30  or the outward-notification apparatus  40  on the basis of the estimated intention of the person or the estimated instruction of the indicator. The travel controller  30  controls the travelling of the subject vehicle. The outward-notification apparatus  40  notifies information to the outside of the subject vehicle. In other words, this program is for a computer to execute the procedure or method of the operation of each component included in the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 . 
     Here, examples of the memory  52  includes a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory (e.g., a random access memory or RAM for short, a read only memory or ROM for short, a flash memory, an erasable programmable read only memory or EPROM for short, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory or EEPROM for short), a hard disk drive (HDD), a magnetic disc, a flexible disc, an optical disc, a compact disc, a mini disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), and drivers thereof. Alternatively, the memory  52  may be any kind of storing medium that will be used in the future. 
     The foregoing has described that the function of each component of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  is implemented by one of hardware, software, and other things. Part of the components of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  may be implemented by dedicated hardware; and different part of the components, by software and other things. For instance, the functions of part of the components can be implemented by the processing circuit  50 , which is dedicated hardware; moreover, the functions of different part of the components can be implemented by the processing circuit  50  (i.e., the processor  51 ) reading and then executing the program stored in the memory  52 . 
     As described above, the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  can implement the aforementioned individual functions using hardware, software, and other things, or using a combination thereof. 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing the operation of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 .  FIGS. 6 to 11  are diagrams each illustrating a specific example of how the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  operates when the subject vehicle has approached a site before a crosswalk. The following describes the operation of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  with reference to  FIGS. 5 to 11 . The process flow in  FIG. 5  is executed while the traveling controller  30  is controlling the subject vehicle to autonomously drive. 
     Upon start of the autonomous driving of the subject vehicle, the intention estimating unit  12  of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  checks whether the subject vehicle has approached an intention-estimation performing place, on the basis of peripheral information acquired by the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11  (step S 101 ). The intention estimating unit  12  repeatedly executes step S 101  as long as the intention estimating unit  12  determines that the subject vehicle has not yet approached the intention-estimation performing place (i.e., if NO in step S 101 ). 
     Upon determining that the subject vehicle has approached the intention-estimation performing place (i.e., if YES in step S 101 ), the intention estimating unit  12  checks whether a target person to be subjected to intention estimation is around the subject vehicle, on the basis of the peripheral information acquired by the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11  (step S 102 ). As illustrated in  FIG. 6  for instance, when a subject vehicle  1  has approached a site before a crosswalk, which is the intention-estimation performing place, the intention estimating unit  12  regards a pedestrian  2  near the crosswalk as the target person to be subjected to intention estimation. 
     If no target person is around the subject vehicle (i.e., if NO in step S 102 ), the process flow returns to step S 101 . When a state where no target person appears is kept, the subject vehicle passes through the intention-estimation performing place during the repetition of steps S 101  and S 102 . 
     If the target person is around the subject vehicle (i.e., if YES in step S 102 ), the controller  13  controls the traveling controller  30  to stop the subject vehicle (step S 103 ). In the example in  FIG. 6 , the subject vehicle  1  stops at a stop line before the crosswalk. 
     Subsequently, the intention estimating unit  12  estimates an intention of the target person on the basis of person movement information extracted from the peripheral information (step S 104 ). At this time, if the target person indicates no intention (i.e., if NO in step S 105 ), the controller  13  controls the outward-notification apparatus  40  to convey an intention that the subject vehicle is going to stop to the target person, and to also make a notification for asking the target person to indicate his/her intention (step S 106 ). The process flow then returns to step S 104 . Examples of how to make the notification in step S 106  include sounding a horn and lighting up headlights. 
     In the example in  FIG. 6 , let a picture as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , which is the peripheral information, be obtained from the camera  21  of the subject vehicle  1 . Then, the intention estimating unit  12  extracts, as the person movement information, the picture of the pedestrian  2  as illustrated in  FIG. 8  from the obtained picture in  FIG. 7 . As illustrated in  FIG. 9 , the intention estimating unit  12  then performs image analysis on the picture of the pedestrian  2 , thus estimating an intention of the pedestrian  2  from the posture of the pedestrian  2 , the gesture of the pedestrian  2  that is identified from his/her hand movement, the sight line direction and facial expression of the pedestrian  2 , and other things. As illustrated in  FIG. 8  for instance, when the pedestrian  2  are stretching out his/her hand while looking at the subject vehicle with a smile, the intention estimating unit  12  determines that the pedestrian  2  is making a gesture indicating “after you”, thus determining that the pedestrian  2  is attempting to allow the subject vehicle to go without stop. 
     Further, when the pedestrian  2  is showing a posture of raising his/her hand, or when the pedestrian  2  has actually started crossing the crosswalk, for instance, the intention estimating unit  12  estimates that the pedestrian  2  has an intention of stopping the subject vehicle and crossing the crosswalk. 
     In some cases, different countries have different correspondences between a kind of person&#39;s posture or gesture and an intention indicated by the posture or gesture. As such, the correspondences between the kind of person&#39;s posture or gesture and the intention, with regard to a plurality of countries are stored in the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 , so that a user can change country settings. Alternatively, the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  may determine the country of a current location on the basis of positional information of the subject vehicle, and may automatically change the correspondences between the kind of person&#39;s posture or gesture and the intention in accordance with the countries. 
     If the intention estimating unit  12  determines that the target person has an intention indicating that the target person wants to stop the subject vehicle (i.e., if YES in step S 107 ), the controller  13  controls the traveling controller  30  to keep the subject vehicle stop (step S 108 ). Conversely, if the intention estimating unit  12  estimates that the target person has an intention indicating that the target person wants the subject vehicle to go (i.e., if NO in step S 107 ), the controller  13  controls the outward-notification apparatus  40  to provide the target person with a notification of the travelling of the subject vehicle (step S 109 ), and then starts the traveling of the subject vehicle (step S 110 ). 
     The notification in step S 109  is made using a horn or headlights, which is similar to the notification in step S 106 . Nevertheless, examples of an effective way to make the notification in step S 109  include projecting an image that indicates the direction of travel onto a road or indicating the direction of travel using a lighting pattern of a headlight, as illustrated in  FIG. 10 , and transmitting, for display, an image that indicates the subject vehicle is going to move on to a portable terminal (e.g., a watch-like portable terminal) carried by the pedestrian  2 , as illustrated in  FIG. 11 . 
     After step S 108  or step S 110 , the intention estimating unit  12  again checks whether the target person is around the subject vehicle (step S 111 ). If the target person is still around the subject vehicle (i.e., if YES in step S 111 ), the process flow returns to step S 104 . Through a process loop of steps S 104  to S 111 , the intention estimating unit  12  continuously estimates an intention of the target person, while the traveling controller  30  is controlling the subject vehicle to travel on the basis of the estimated intention of the target person. Such continuous intention estimation, which is performed on the target person by the intention estimating unit  12 , can suitably deal with a sudden change in the intention of the target person or an incorrect result of previously performed intention estimation, if any. Reference is made to the example in  FIG. 8 . Let the pedestrian  2  start crossing the crosswalk after the subject vehicle  1  starts moving on, without indicating an intention of stopping the subject vehicle  1  (an intention of crossing the crosswalk). Then, a determination of YES is made in step S 107  in the next process loop; accordingly the subject vehicle  1  stops in step S 108 . 
     Subsequently, a determination of NO is made in step S 111  when the subject vehicle  1  has passed through the intention-estimation performing place, or when the target person has gone (e.g., when the pedestrian  2  has crossed the crosswalk in the example in  FIG. 8 ). In this case, the subject vehicle is made to travel (step S 112 ); then the process flow returns to step S 101 . 
     As described above, the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  in the present embodiment includes the intention estimating unit  12  that estimates the intention of the person around the subject vehicle, and the controller  13  that controls the traveling of the subject vehicle on the basis of the result of the estimation. Such a configuration enables the subject vehicle to autonomously drive with the intention of the person reflected. 
     The foregoing has described a specific example where the intention-estimation performing place is a site before the crosswalk. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the present invention is applied also to an instance where the intention-estimation performing place is, for instance, a site before a lane restrict section, an entrance to a parking lot of a destination, the inside of the parking lot, an exit of the parking lot, or a site before an intersection without traffic lights. 
     For instance, let a traffic controller be around the subject vehicle when the subject vehicle has approached a site before a lane restriction section. Then, the stopping and moving on of the subject vehicle are switched in accordance with gestures (e.g., hand flag signals) of the traffic controller who is directing traffic. 
     Further, when the subject vehicle has approached an entrance to a parking lot of a destination, the inside of the parking lot, or an exit of the parking lot, the subject vehicle autonomously travels in accordance with gestures of a traffic controller in the parking lot. In the above example, the intention estimating unit  12  estimates only an intention indicating whether the target person wants to stop the subject vehicle. When a traffic controller, who is the target person, is making a gesture indicating a direction in which the traffic controller wants to move the subject vehicle, the intention estimating unit  12  may estimate this direction, thus controlling the direction of travel of the subject vehicle. 
     Furthermore, when the subject vehicle has approached a site before an intersection without traffic lights, the stopping and traveling of the subject vehicle are switched in accordance with a gesture of the driver of a non-subject vehicle who is about to enter the intersection, or a gesture of a traffic controller. This switching avoids an instance where the subject vehicle and the non-subject vehicle yield the right-of-way to each other, thus getting stuck. 
     Second Embodiment 
     The first embodiment has described that upon approach of the subject vehicle to the intention-estimation performing places shown in  FIG. 2 , the intention estimating unit  12  estimates the intention of the target person; moreover, the controller  13  controls the traveling controller  30  or the outward-notification apparatus  40  in accordance with the result of the estimation. The intention estimating unit  12  may perform intention estimation on the target person in any place other than the intention-estimation performing places shown in  FIG. 2 . The second embodiment describes that the intention estimating unit  12  performs intention estimation on the target person, not only when the subject vehicle has approached these intention-estimation performing places, but also, for instance, while the subject vehicle is traveling on an ordinary road. 
       FIG. 12  is a flowchart showing the operation of a peripheral-information determining apparatus according to the second embodiment. The process flow in  FIG. 12  has steps S 101   a  and S 102   a  instead of steps S 101  and S 102  of the process flow in  FIG. 5 . 
     During autonomous driving of the subject vehicle, the intention estimating unit  12  of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  checks whether a target person is around the subject vehicle on the basis of peripheral information, which is obtained by the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11  (step S 101   a ). Although every pedestrian may be regarded as the target person in the second embodiment, the intention estimating unit  12  less needs to estimate an intention of a pedestrian who is away from a roadway. Hence, only a pedestrian on a roadway ahead of the subject vehicle or a pedestrian facing this roadway, for instance, may be regarded as the target person. 
     If no target person is around the subject vehicle (i.e., if NO in step S 101   a ), the process flow repeatedly executes step S 101   a.    
     Upon appearance of a target person around the subject vehicle (i.e., if YES in step S 101   a ), the intention estimating unit  12  checks, on the basis of the peripheral information from the peripheral-information acquiring unit  11 , whether the intention estimating unit  12  is under a condition where the subject vehicle should be stopped (step S 102   a ). The condition where the subject vehicle should be stopped is considered to be a condition where the subject vehicle, if continuing to travel, might come into contact with a pedestrian. Examples of such a condition include an instance where a pedestrian, who is the target person, is on the course of the subject vehicle, and an instance where the pedestrian is approaching the course of the subject vehicle. 
     If the intention estimating unit  12  is under the condition where the subject vehicle should be stopped (i.e., if YES in step S 102   a ), the process flow proceeds to step S 103 . The process flow after step S 103 , which is the same as that in  FIG. 5 , will not be elaborated upon here. 
     If the intention estimating unit  12  is not under the condition where the subject vehicle should be stopped (i.e., if NO in step S 102   a ), the process flow returns to S 101   a.  As such, unless the intention estimating unit  12 , even though having identified the appearance of the target person, is under the condition where the subject vehicle should be stopped, steps S 101   a  and S 102   a  are merely repeated, and the subject vehicle continues to travel. 
     The peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  in the second embodiment performs intention estimation on the target person everywhere, which is performed by the intention estimating unit  12 , and controls the traveling controller  30  and the outward-notification apparatus  40  everywhere on the basis of the result of the estimation. Such a configuration enables the traveling controller  30  and the outward-notification apparatus  40  to be controlled with a pedestrian&#39;s intention reflected even when, for instance, the pedestrian is about to cross a road having no crosswalk. 
     Third Embodiment 
       FIG. 13  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a third embodiment. The peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  in this vehicle control system includes an intention-estimation-history storage  14  in addition to the configuration in  FIG. 1 . The intention-estimation-history storage  14  is a storage medium that stores a history of person movement information, which is input to the intention estimating unit  12 , and a history of the result of person-intention estimation performed by the intention estimating unit  12  (intention estimation history). It is noted that the intention-estimation-history storage  14  may be separate hardware that is external to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 . Further, the intention-estimation-history storage  14  does not necessarily need to be on board the subject vehicle. The intention-estimation-history storage  14  may be implemented as a cloud service connected to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  via a communication apparatus. 
     The storing of the intention estimation history in the intention-estimation-history storage  14  enables, for instance, whether the intention estimation of a target person, performed by the intention estimating unit  12 , is correct to be verified at a later time. 
     The intention estimating unit  12  may have a learning function of learning, on the basis of information stored in the intention-estimation-history storage  14 , the correspondence between a person&#39;s movement and an intention indicated by the person&#39;s movement. For instance, in a process loop of steps S 104  to S 111  in  FIG. 5 , when a determination result in step S 107  has changed at some point, the intention estimating unit  12  estimates that the target person has made a movement that is different from the result of the intention estimation performed by the intention estimating unit  12 , thus concluding that the estimated result obtained from the intention estimating unit  12  is probably incorrect. The intention estimating unit  12  learning such information enhances the accuracy of an estimated result obtained from the intention estimating unit  12 . 
     Furthermore, a configuration where information stored in the intention-estimation-history storage  14  is uploaded to a server managed by the manufacturer of the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 , enables the manufacturer to analyze this information, thus contributing to an improvement in the algorithm for intention estimation performed by the intention estimating unit  12 . 
     Fourth Embodiment 
       FIG. 14  is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a fourth embodiment. The peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  in this vehicle control system includes an intention conveyance storage  15  in addition to the configuration in  FIG. 1 . The intention conveyance storage  15  is a storage medium that stores, as picture and audio information pieces, a human-machine-interface (HMI) sequence of a gesture movement of a target person, a content notified by a subject vehicle using the outward-notification apparatus  40 , and other things. The intention conveyance storage  15  may be also separate hardware that is external to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10 . Further, the intention conveyance storage  15  does not necessarily need to be on board the subject vehicle. The intention conveyance storage  15  may be implemented as a cloud service connected to the peripheral-information determining apparatus  10  via a communication apparatus. 
     The intention conveyance storage  15  can serve as a so-called driving recorder, and can store, for instance, evidence pieces in accident occurrence. 
     It is noted that in the present invention, the individual embodiments can be freely combined, or can be modified and omitted as appropriate, within the scope of the invention. 
     While the invention has been shown and described in detail, the foregoing description is in all aspects illustrative and not restrictive. It is therefore understood that numerous modifications and variations can be devised without departing from the scope of the invention. 
     EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE SIGNS 
       10  peripheral-information determining apparatus,  11  peripheral-information acquiring unit,  12  intention estimating unit,  13  controller,  14  intention-estimation-history storage,  15  intention conveyance storage,  20  peripheral-information detector,  21  camera,  22  sensor,  23  microphone,  24  communication apparatus,  25  navigation apparatus,  30  traveling controller,  31  braking-and-driving mechanism,  32  steering mechanism,  40  outward-notification apparatus,  1  subject vehicle,  2  pedestrian