Patent Description:
Conventionally, a technique has been proposed in which safety assistance, such as avoidance of collision with an obstacle, is provided to a vehicle with information acquired from sensors provided outside the vehicle in addition to sensors installed in the vehicle. For example, <CIT> discloses a vehicle assistance system that identifies, using communication circuitry, at least one external camera located remotely away from and within a predefined perimeter surrounding a first vehicle, acquires, using the communication circuitry, an image feed produced by the at least one external camera, determines at least one present or upcoming vehicle scenario for the first vehicle based on vehicle information extracted from an internal source of the first vehicle, and operates the first vehicle based on the image feed. Further relevant prior art is described in <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT>.

In the technique of <CIT>, safety assistance for a vehicle is implemented by notifying the driver of the vehicle of the presence of an obstacle in an area not visually recognizable by the driver, by using the image feed from the external camera located within the perimeter of the vehicle. However, the influence of an obstacle on a road on a vehicle is not necessarily the same among vehicles, and differs among vehicles due to a difference among the vehicles in width and the like. The technique disclosed in <CIT> cannot provide an appropriate assistance taking the presence or absence of such influence of an obstacle on each vehicle into consideration.

For solving the aforementioned problem it is provided a server having the features defined in claim <NUM>. Further it is provided a vehicle assistance system having the features defined in claim <NUM>.

According to this invention, when an obstacle exists on a road, appropriate assistance can be provided to a vehicle affected by the obstacle.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle assistance system according to a first arrangement. The vehicle assistance system <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> includes a server <NUM>, an infrastructure sensor <NUM>, and an in-vehicle device <NUM>, and assists a vehicle in which the in-vehicle device <NUM> is installed when the vehicle autonomously moves, by autonomous driving, on a traveling route to a designated location. Hereinafter, a vehicle to be controlled by the vehicle assistance system <NUM>, that is, a vehicle in which the in-vehicle device <NUM> is installed will be referred to as "host vehicle".

The server <NUM> is an information apparatus that manages and assists the host vehicle, and is installed in a predetermined facility such as an information center, for example. The server <NUM> includes functional blocks of a vehicle linkage unit <NUM>, a vehicle route storage unit <NUM>, an infrastructure linkage unit <NUM>, an affected route identification unit <NUM>, an infrastructure management unit <NUM>, an affected vehicle identification unit <NUM>, a vehicle information storage unit <NUM>, a passing ability determination unit <NUM>, a route designing unit <NUM>, map information <NUM>, and a display unit <NUM>. The server <NUM> has unillustrated hardware configurations including a central processing unit (CPU), memory, and storage (such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD)), and can implement the functional blocks described above by executing a predetermined program by using such hardware.

The infrastructure sensor <NUM> is installed in the vicinity of a road traveled by the host vehicle, and detects an obstacle existing in the periphery of the road, while being outside the host vehicle. Only a single infrastructure sensor <NUM> is illustrated in <FIG>, but a plurality of infrastructure sensors <NUM> may be installed in the vicinity of the road. The infrastructure sensor <NUM> includes functional blocks of a sensor unit <NUM> and an infrastructure-side server linkage unit <NUM>.

The in-vehicle device <NUM> is installed in the host vehicle, and performs control necessary for autonomously moving the host vehicle on a traveling route to a designated location. Only one in-vehicle device <NUM> is illustrated in <FIG>, but a plurality of vehicles each have the in-vehicle device <NUM>, and the in-vehicle devices <NUM> may form the vehicle assistance system <NUM> together with the server <NUM> and the infrastructure sensor <NUM>. The in-vehicle device <NUM> includes functional blocks of a vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM>, a route management unit <NUM>, a vehicle-side route designing unit <NUM>, a vehicle-side display control unit <NUM>, a vehicle-side display unit <NUM>, map information <NUM>, a vehicle position determination unit <NUM>, and a vehicle control unit <NUM>.

Next, each functional block of the server <NUM>, the infrastructure sensor <NUM>, and the in-vehicle device <NUM> will be described below.

In the server <NUM>, the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> has a function of communicating with the in-vehicle device <NUM>, receives position information and route information about the host vehicle transmitted from the in-vehicle device <NUM>, and transmits information about a detour route determined by the route designing unit <NUM> to the in-vehicle device <NUM>. The vehicle linkage unit <NUM> can communicate with the in-vehicle device <NUM> using, for example, a mobile communication network (such as <NUM> or <NUM>).

The vehicle route storage unit <NUM> stores and manages the route information received by the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> from the in-vehicle device <NUM> for each vehicle. Note that the route of the traveling route of each vehicle may be designed on the server <NUM> side using the route designing unit <NUM>, instead of being designed on the in-vehicle device <NUM> side. In such a case, the vehicle route storage unit <NUM> stores and manages the route information about the traveling route of each vehicle designed by the route designing unit <NUM> for each vehicle. The vehicle route storage unit <NUM> manages the traveling route of each vehicle, for example, by storing and holding the route information about each vehicle in combination with a unique vehicle ID set to each vehicle in advance. As will be described later, when a detour route is set by the route designing unit <NUM>, the contents of the route information stored in the vehicle route storage unit <NUM> are updated according to the detour route.

The infrastructure linkage unit <NUM> has a function of communicating with the infrastructure sensor <NUM>, and receives information transmitted from the infrastructure sensor <NUM> and transmits information to the infrastructure sensor <NUM>. The infrastructure linkage unit <NUM> can communicate with the infrastructure sensor <NUM> using, for example, a mobile communication network (such as <NUM> or <NUM>) or a fixed line.

When an obstacle is detected in sensing information received and acquired from any of the infrastructure sensors <NUM> by the infrastructure linkage unit <NUM>, the affected route identification unit <NUM> identifies an affected route as a traveling route on which the vehicle is affected by the obstacle, based on the position of each infrastructure sensor <NUM> stored and managed by the infrastructure management unit <NUM>. In this process, the affected route identification unit <NUM> acquires, from the infrastructure management unit <NUM>, the position of the infrastructure sensor <NUM> that has transmitted the sensing information including the obstacle information to the server <NUM>, for example. Then, the position of the obstacle is identified based on the position of the infrastructure sensor <NUM> and the sensing information, and the road on which the obstacle exists is identified. Once the road on which the obstacle exists is thus identified, a traveling route including the road on which the obstacle exists, among the traveling routes of the vehicles stored and managed by the vehicle route storage unit <NUM>, is identified as the affected route on which the vehicle is affected by the obstacle. The infrastructure management unit <NUM> may manage a link ID of a road corresponding to a sensing range of each infrastructure sensor <NUM>, instead of the position of each infrastructure sensor <NUM>. In this case, the road on which an obstacle exists can be identified with the affected route identification unit <NUM> acquiring, from the infrastructure management unit <NUM>, the link ID corresponding to the infrastructure sensor <NUM> that has transmitted the sensing information including the obstacle information to the server <NUM>.

Based on the affected route identified by the affected route identification unit <NUM>, the affected vehicle identification unit <NUM> identifies as an affected vehicle, a vehicle to be affected by an obstacle among a plurality of vehicles including the in-vehicle device <NUM>. In this process, the affected vehicle identification unit <NUM> selects as the affected vehicle, for example, a vehicle traveling toward the obstacle from among the vehicles corresponding to the affected route, based on the position information about each vehicle stored in the vehicle information storage unit <NUM>.

The vehicle information storage unit <NUM> stores and manages the position information received from the in-vehicle device <NUM> by the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> for each vehicle, and also stores vehicle information related to the characteristics of each vehicle. Each vehicle information includes, for example, information about the width and the height of the vehicle. As in the case of the vehicle route storage unit <NUM> described above, the vehicle information storage unit <NUM> preferably manages the information about each vehicle, for example, by storing and holding the position information and the vehicle information about each vehicle in combination with a unique vehicle ID set to each vehicle in advance. With this configuration, the traveling route of each vehicle can easily be associated with the position and characteristics of the vehicle, using the vehicle ID.

The passing ability determination unit <NUM> determines whether the affected vehicle, identified by the affected vehicle identification unit <NUM>, can pass by the obstacle. In this process, for example, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> determines whether the affected vehicle can pass by the obstacle, based on the information about the vehicle width of the affected vehicle stored in the vehicle information storage unit <NUM> as the vehicle information and about a passable width of the road through which the vehicle passes at an obstacle point where the obstacle exists. Details of this determination method will be described later.

The route designing unit <NUM> designs a detour route for the affected vehicle to travel while avoiding the obstacle point using the map information <NUM> when the passing ability determination unit <NUM> determines that the affected vehicle is unable to pass by the obstacle. For example, the detour route is designed by acquiring the current position of the affected vehicle by reading the latest position information about the affected vehicle from the vehicle information storage unit <NUM>, and searching for a route through which the vehicle reaches the destination from the acquired current position without passing through the obstacle point. When there is no available detour road between the current position of the affected vehicle and the obstacle point, a detour route involving returning to a point where a road on which the obstacle point can be avoided can be accessed may be searched. When a plurality of detour routes can be designed, a detour route is designed with a higher priority given to a road provided with more infrastructure sensors <NUM>. The information about the detour route designed by the route designing unit <NUM> is transmitted by the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> to the in-vehicle device <NUM> installed in the affected vehicle.

The map information <NUM> is information representing a map of an area where the host vehicle moves autonomously, and is stored in a storage such as an HDD or an SSD in the server <NUM>. The map information <NUM> includes, for example, road map information about various parts of the country, information about a map in a parking lot, and the like. It should be noted that the map information <NUM> used preferably features higher accuracy than general map information used in a conventional navigation device or the like, so that a route on which the host vehicle can move autonomously can be appropriately set based on the map information <NUM>.

The display unit <NUM> uses the route information about each vehicle stored in the vehicle route storage unit <NUM>, the position information about each vehicle stored in the vehicle information storage unit <NUM>, the map information <NUM>, and the like to display a screen to an administrator of the server <NUM>. Note that the display unit <NUM> may not necessarily be a component of the server <NUM>, and may be provided outside the server <NUM>. The display unit <NUM> includes, for example, a liquid crystal display, and can display and provide various screens necessary for the administrator of the server <NUM> to manage the operations of the vehicle assistance system <NUM>. For example, when an obstacle is detected by any of the infrastructure sensors <NUM> and a detour route for avoiding the obstacle is set, such information can be displayed on the screen to be checked by the administrator. An example of such a screen will be described later.

The sensor unit <NUM> of the infrastructure sensor <NUM> includes various sensors such as a camera, a radar, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). The sensor unit <NUM> generates sensing information within a predetermined sensing range corresponding to these sensors based on the position where the infrastructure sensor <NUM> is installed. When the sensor unit <NUM> detects an obstacle existing within the sensing range, the sensing information includes information about the obstacle.

The infrastructure-side server linkage unit <NUM> has a function of communicating with the server <NUM>, and transmits the sensing information generated by the sensor unit <NUM> to the server <NUM>. The infrastructure-side server linkage unit <NUM> can communicate with the infrastructure linkage unit <NUM> of the server <NUM>, by using, for example, a mobile communication network (such as <NUM> or <NUM>) or a fixed line.

In the in-vehicle device <NUM>, the vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM> has a function of communicating with the server <NUM>, and transmits the position information and the route information about the host vehicle to the server <NUM>, and receives information about the detour route transmitted from the server <NUM>. The vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM> can communicate with the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> of the server <NUM>, by using, for example, a mobile communication network (such as <NUM> or <NUM>).

The route management unit <NUM> manages the current traveling route of the host vehicle. As described above, when the route designing unit <NUM> designs a detour route in the server <NUM>, and information about the detour route is transmitted from the server <NUM> and received by the vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM>, the route management unit <NUM> discards the current traveling route, and sets the detour route to be the new traveling route of the host vehicle based on the received information.

The vehicle-side route designing unit <NUM> designs the traveling route on which the host vehicle autonomously travels from the current position to the set destination, based on the map information <NUM> and the current position of the host vehicle determined by the vehicle position determination unit <NUM>. The traveling route of the host vehicle designed by the vehicle-side route designing unit <NUM> is stored and managed in the route management unit <NUM>. When the traveling route of each vehicle is designed in the server <NUM> as described above, the in-vehicle device <NUM> may not include the vehicle-side route designing unit <NUM>.

The vehicle-side display control unit <NUM> generates a screen displayed by the vehicle-side display unit <NUM>, based on the map information <NUM> and the traveling route of the host vehicle managed by the route management unit <NUM>. The vehicle-side display unit <NUM> includes, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays a screen generated by the vehicle-side display control unit <NUM> to issue a notification to an occupant of the host vehicle. As a result, for example, the vehicle-side display unit <NUM> displays a screen showing the position and traveling route of the host vehicle on a map, or a screen for notifying an occupant of the host vehicle of a detour route when the detour route for avoiding an obstacle is set. Note that a notification to the occupant may be issued with sound output from a speaker (not illustrated) in addition to/instead of the screen of the vehicle-side display unit <NUM>.

As in the case of the map information <NUM> of the server <NUM>, the map information <NUM> is information representing a map of an area where the host vehicle autonomously moves, and is stored in an unillustrated storage such as an HDD or an SSD in the in-vehicle device <NUM>. The map information <NUM> is used, for example, by the vehicle-side route designing unit <NUM> for designing the traveling route of the host vehicle, by the vehicle-side display control unit <NUM> for generating a map screen, and the like. Note that the map information <NUM> used preferably features higher accuracy than conventional general map information, as in the case of the map information <NUM> of the server <NUM>.

The vehicle position determination unit <NUM> determines the position of the host vehicle based on a GPS signal received by a GPS sensor (not illustrated) and information (such as speed, acceleration, and steering amount) about a moving status of the host vehicle detected by the in-vehicle sensor <NUM>. Note that the map information <NUM> may be used to perform known map matching processing so that the position of the host vehicle is set to be on a road. The position information about the host vehicle determined by the vehicle position determination unit <NUM> is transmitted to the server <NUM> by the vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM> and used by the vehicle information storage unit <NUM> for managing the position of the host vehicle.

The vehicle control unit <NUM> performs control required for causing autonomous movement of the host vehicle along the current traveling route, based on that map information <NUM> the current position of the host vehicle determined by the vehicle position determination unit <NUM> and the traveling route of the host vehicle managed by the route management unit <NUM>. For example, the vehicle control unit <NUM> determines the speed, acceleration, and steering amount of the host vehicle based on the length and curvature of the traveling route, and controls a drive unit <NUM> to perform accelerator operation, brake operation, steering wheel operation, and the like of the host vehicle, so that the host vehicle can travel along the traveling route. In this process, for example, information about the periphery of the host vehicle acquired from the in-vehicle sensor <NUM> may further be used, to determine to perform emergency braking when an obstacle is detected in front of the host vehicle.

Next, a specific example of autonomous movement assistance performed by the vehicle assistance system <NUM> according to the present arrangement will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> is a sequence diagram illustrating autonomous movement assistance control performed by the vehicle assistance system <NUM>.

In step S101, the infrastructure sensor <NUM> determines whether there is an obstacle in the sensing range based on the sensing information generated by the sensor unit <NUM>. When there is no obstacle, that is, when no obstacle is detected by the sensor unit <NUM>, the processing stays at step S101. When there is an obstacle, that is, when an obstacle is detected by the sensor unit <NUM>, the processing proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, the infrastructure-side server linkage unit <NUM> of the infrastructure sensor <NUM> transmits the sensing information generated by the sensor unit <NUM> to the server <NUM>. The server <NUM> receives the sensing information transmitted from the infrastructure sensor <NUM> through the infrastructure linkage unit <NUM>.

In steps S101 and S102 described above, the infrastructure sensor <NUM> determines whether there is an obstacle and the infrastructure sensor <NUM> transmits the sensing information to the server <NUM> when it is determined that there is an obstacle. Alternatively, the server <NUM> may determine whether there is an obstacle. In such a case, the infrastructure sensor <NUM> may transmit sensing information to the server <NUM> at a predetermined interval, and the server <NUM> that has received the sensing information may determine whether there is an obstacle based on the sensing information. As a result, when it is determined that there is an obstacle, the server <NUM> executes processing from step S103 described below.

In step S103, the affected route identification unit <NUM> and the affected vehicle identification unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> identify the affected vehicle affected by the obstacle included in the sensing information received in step S102. In this process, as described above, first of all, the affected route identification unit <NUM> identifies the position of the obstacle and identifies the affected route on which the vehicle is affected by the obstacle. Then, the affected vehicle identification unit <NUM> identifies an affected vehicle that corresponds to the identified affected route and is traveling toward the obstacle.

In step S104, the server <NUM> determines whether an affected vehicle is identified in step S103. When at least one affected vehicle is identified for the obstacle, the processing proceeds to step S105. When no vehicle is identified, the sequence in <FIG> is terminated.

In step S105, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> acquires the vehicle width of each affected vehicle identified in step S103. In this process, for example, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> acquires feature information of each affected vehicle from the vehicle information storage unit <NUM>, and acquires the vehicle width of each affected vehicle based on the vehicle width information included in the feature information.

In step S106, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> of the server <NUM>, determines a vehicle control width of each affected vehicle identified in step S103. The vehicle control width is the minimum distance that needs to be secured between the left and right side surfaces of the vehicle and walls and obstacles for the autonomous driving control of the vehicle. This width varies depending on the control accuracy of the vehicle, the control interval, and the like. In this process, for example, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> acquires vehicle information of each affected vehicle from the vehicle information storage unit <NUM>, and determines the vehicle control width of each affected vehicle based on the vehicle width information included in the vehicle information. Alternatively, a preset value may be used as the vehicle control width of each affected vehicle. Other suitable methods may be used for determining the vehicle control width of each affected vehicle.

In step S107, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> determines whether each affected vehicle can pass by the obstacle based on the vehicle width acquired in step S105 and the vehicle control width determined in step S106. In this process, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> performs the determination in step S107 as follows, for example.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating passing ability determination processing executed by the passing ability determination unit <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a state where, for example, a passing vehicle <NUM> is about to pass by a parked vehicle <NUM> existing as an obstacle at obstacle coordinates <NUM> on the road. In this case, in the server <NUM>, the passing vehicle <NUM> is identified as an affected vehicle that is affected by the parked vehicle <NUM>, and the passing ability determination unit <NUM> executes the passing ability determination processing in step S107 of <FIG>. In this processing, first of all, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> calculates a value obtained by adding the vehicle control width to both left and right sides of the vehicle width of the passing vehicle <NUM> illustrated in the figure, as a passing width of the passing vehicle <NUM>, and compares the value with a passable width of the road. In this process, the server <NUM> can calculate the passable width by, for example, obtaining a distance from the obstacle coordinates <NUM> to the center of the road, subtracting a half of the vehicle width of the parked vehicle from the distance, adding a half of the road width to the resultant value to obtain a gap between the parked vehicle and a road edge, adding the vehicle width of the parked vehicle to the gap, and subtracting the resultant value from the road width. Alternatively, the infrastructure sensor <NUM> may store road width information in advance, so that the passable width of the road can be detected on the side of the infrastructure sensor <NUM> by using the value, the position of the obstacle detected, and the vehicle width. As a result, when the passable width of the passing vehicle <NUM> is equal to or less than the passing width, it is determined that the passing vehicle <NUM> can pass by the parked vehicle <NUM>. When the passing width is larger than the passable width, the passing vehicle <NUM> is determined to be incapable of passing by.

In step S107 in <FIG>, it is determined whether each affected vehicle can pass by the obstacle by the method described above. As a result, when it is determined that the vehicle can pass, the processing proceeds to step S108. When it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass, the processing proceeds to step S110. Note that the processing in and after step S108 is executed for each affected vehicle according to a result of the determination in step S107.

In step S108, the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> transmits the information about the obstacle point used in the passing ability determination processing in step S107, to the in-vehicle device <NUM> installed in the affected vehicle. For example, information about the coordinate value of the obstacle and the passable width is transmitted as the information about the obstacle point. The of the vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM> of the in-vehicle device <NUM> receives the information about the obstacle point transmitted from the server <NUM>.

In step S109, the in-vehicle device <NUM> performs control of causing the host vehicle to pass by the obstacle based on the information about the obstacle point received from the server <NUM> in step S108. In this process, the in-vehicle device <NUM> controls the movement status of the host vehicle based on the coordinate value of the obstacle and the information about the passable width included in the information about the obstacle point, so that the host vehicle that has reached the vicinity of the obstacle can appropriately pass by the obstacle. Furthermore, in this process, a screen for notifying the occupant of the host vehicle of the presence of an obstacle may be displayed on the vehicle-side display unit <NUM>. When the vehicle successfully passes through the obstacle point, the sequence in <FIG> is terminated.

In step S110, the route designing unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> designs the detour route for the affected vehicle. Here, as described above, the map information <NUM> is used to design a detour route on which the affected vehicle can travel while avoiding the obstacle point.

In step S111, the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> transmits the information about the detour route designed in step S110 to the in-vehicle device <NUM> installed in the affected vehicle. Furthermore, in this process, notification information for notifying the occupant of the affected vehicle of a reason why the traveling route of the affected vehicle is changed to the detour route is preferably transmitted together with the detour route information. However, if the affected vehicle obviously has not occupant, the transmission of the notification information may be omitted. The vehicle-side server linkage unit <NUM> of the in-vehicle device <NUM> receives the detour route information and the notification information transmitted from the server <NUM>.

In step S112, the in-vehicle device <NUM> updates the route information about the host vehicle stored in the route management unit <NUM> based on the detour route information received from the server <NUM> in step S111. As a result, the current traveling route of the host vehicle is overwritten by the detour route, and the vehicle control unit <NUM> performs control to cause the host vehicle that is an affected vehicle to travel along the detour route.

In step S113, the vehicle-side display unit <NUM> of the in-vehicle device <NUM> display a screen for notifying the occupant of the host vehicle of the reason why the traveling route is changed to the detour route based on the notification information received from the server <NUM> in step S111. For example, the position of the obstacle and the planned traveling route are displayed on the map, and the fact that the vehicle cannot pass by the obstacle is notified as the reason for changing to the detour route.

In step S114, a management screen of the display unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> displays the detour route designed for each affected vehicle in step S110. The management screen is a screen for the administrator of the server <NUM> to manage the operation of the vehicle assistance system <NUM> as described above. When a detour route is set due to an obstacle, the detour route is displayed on the management screen.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of the management screen displayed on the display unit <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a state where a traveling route <NUM> is set from a starting point <NUM> to a destination <NUM>, and an obstacle <NUM> on the traveling route <NUM> is detected ahead of a vehicle <NUM> traveling along the traveling route <NUM> by an infrastructure sensor <NUM> installed in the periphery. In this state, when the server <NUM> determines, in the processing in <FIG>, that the vehicle <NUM> cannot pass by the obstacle <NUM>, the server <NUM> designs a detour route <NUM> for the vehicle <NUM> to avoid the obstacle <NUM>. In the management screen illustrated in <FIG>, the traveling route <NUM> and the detour route <NUM> are displayed to be distinguishable from each other, so that the administrator can easily recognize that the detour route <NUM> has been designed.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating another example of the management screen displayed on the display unit <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a state where the traveling route <NUM> is set from the starting point <NUM> to the destination <NUM>, and the obstacle <NUM> on the traveling route <NUM> is detected ahead of three vehicles 53a, 53b, and 53c each traveling along the traveling route <NUM>, by the infrastructure sensor <NUM> installed in the periphery. In this state, when the server <NUM> determines, in the processing in <FIG>, that the vehicles 53a and 53b cannot pass by the obstacle <NUM>, the server <NUM> designs the detour route <NUM> for the vehicles 53a and 53b to avoid the obstacle <NUM>. On the other hand, when it is determined that the vehicle 53c can pass by the obstacle <NUM>, the detour route <NUM> is not designed for the vehicle 53c. In the management screen illustrated <FIG>, the traveling route <NUM> and the detour route <NUM> are displayed in an distinguishable manner, and the vehicles 53a and 53b corresponding to the detour route <NUM> and the vehicle 53c not corresponding to the route are displayed in different colors so as to be distinguishable with each other, so that the administrator can easily recognize the vehicle for which the detour route <NUM> has been designed.

According to the first arrangement described above, the following operations and effects are obtained.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle assistance system according to a second arrangement. A vehicle assistance system 1A illustrated in <FIG> includes the server <NUM>, the infrastructure sensor <NUM>, and an in-vehicle device 300A, and assists a host vehicle in which the in-vehicle device 300A is installed when the vehicle autonomously travels, by autonomous driving, on a traveling trajectory to a designated location, as in the case of the vehicle assistance system <NUM> described in the first arrangement. The vehicle assistance system 1A according to the present arrangement is different from the vehicle assistance system <NUM> according to the first arrangement in that the in-vehicle device 300A further includes an inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM>. Hereinafter, the vehicle assistance system 1A according to the present arrangement will be described while focusing on this difference.

The inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM> performs inter-vehicle communications, through wireless communications, with other vehicles in the periphery of the host vehicle (for example, other vehicles traveling behind the host vehicle). With the inter-vehicle communications performed by the inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM>, for example, information about an obstacle point or information about a detour route received by a certain vehicle from the server <NUM> can be transferred to another vehicle. With this configuration, the server <NUM> can distribute the information about the obstacle point and the information about the detour route to all the affected vehicle by communicating only with the in-vehicle device 300A installed in some of the affected vehicles.

When using the inter-vehicle communications to transmit the information about the obstacle point and the information about the detour route from one vehicle (first vehicle) to another vehicle (second vehicle), the vehicle linkage unit <NUM> of the server <NUM> transmits these pieces of information to the in-vehicle device 300A of the first vehicle together with a predetermined command. This command is a command for causing the inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM> to transmit the information about the obstacle point and the information about the detour route to other vehicles by using its inter-vehicle communication function. The in-vehicle device 300A of the first vehicle that has received the command causes the inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM> to transmit the information about the obstacle point and the information about the detour route received, to other vehicles through the inter-vehicle communications, in response to the command.

According to the second arrangement described above, the in-vehicle device 300A includes the inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM> that implements the inter-vehicle communication function for communicating with other vehicles. The vehicle linkage unit <NUM> further transmits, to the in-vehicle device 300A, the command for causing the inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM> to transmit the information about the detour route to another vehicle. The in-vehicle device 300A causes the inter-vehicle communication unit <NUM> to transmit the information about the detour route to the in-vehicle device 300A installed in another vehicle, in response to the command. With this configuration, even if an affected vehicle that cannot pass by an obstacle is in an area where the communications with the server <NUM> are disabled, or the computing capacity of the server <NUM> is insufficient, the information about the detour route can be transmitted from the server <NUM> to the affected vehicle.

In each of the arrangements described above, it is assumed that no particular processing is executed after each affected vehicle has passed by the obstacle or has avoided the obstacle by traveling on the detour route. However, a result of avoiding the obstacle may be fed back from the in-vehicle device <NUM>, 300A to the server <NUM>, for improving the passing ability determination processing by the server <NUM> thereafter. For example, the in-vehicle device <NUM>, 300A may feed back, to the server <NUM>, information such as: whether or not the affected vehicle actually succeeded in passing by the obstacle; if succeeded, a distance indicating how much extra space there was with respect to the obstacle or the edge of the road; an action taken when the vehicle was incapable of passing; and whether the detour route was appropriate when the vehicle traveled on the detour route. The information fed back is reflected on the vehicle information stored and managed in the vehicle information storage unit <NUM> in the server <NUM>, to be reflected on the passing ability determination processing executed by the passing ability determination unit <NUM>, whereby the accuracy of the passing ability determination processing is improved.

Furthermore, in each of the arrangements described above, an example is described in which the passing ability determination unit <NUM> determines whether each affected vehicle can pass based on comparison between the passing width of each affected vehicle and the passable width of the road as in the determination method described with reference to <FIG>. It should be noted that other conditions may be further added for the determination. For example, whether or not each affected vehicle can pass can be determined while taking a height restriction, a traffic congestion state, a road surface condition, and the like, in the vicinity of the obstacle point into consideration. With this configuration, for example, when there is snow piled up high on the side of the road, whether each affected vehicle can pass is determined under the condition that the vehicle cannot pass through the snow covered portion. In this manner, whether each affected vehicle can pass can be even more accurately determined, with the actual condition of the obstacle point reflected on the determination.

In each of the arrangements described above, an example is described in which each vehicle in which the in-vehicle device <NUM> or 300A is installed autonomously moves, by autonomous driving, along a traveling route to a designated location. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, the present invention is not limited to an autonomous driving vehicle, and can also be applied to a normal vehicle in which a driver performs a driving operation. When the present invention is applied to a normal vehicle, displaying of a map showing the traveling route and the detour route set on the vehicle-side display unit <NUM> and the like are preferably performed to notify the driver of the routes. Furthermore, when the present invention is applied to a normal vehicle, the passing ability determination unit <NUM> preferably determines whether the vehicle can pass by the obstacle by using a distance (clearance) between the vehicle and the obstacle generally required for the driver to perform the driving operation, instead of using the vehicle control width.

Claim 1:
A server (<NUM>) comprising:
an infrastructure linkage unit (<NUM>) that has a function of communicating with an infrastructure sensor (<NUM>) which is installed in the vicinity of a road that generates sensing information about an obstacle point at which an obstacle exists on a road, the infrastructure linkage unit (<NUM>) acquiring the sensing information from the infrastructure sensor (<NUM>);
an affected vehicle identification unit (<NUM>) that identifies a vehicle that is affected by the obstacle, among a plurality of vehicles, as an affected vehicle;
a passing ability determination unit (<NUM>) that determines whether the affected vehicle is capable of passing by the obstacle, based on a vehicle width of the affected vehicle and a passable width of the road at the obstacle point based on the sensing information;
a route designing unit (<NUM>) that designs a detour route on which the affected vehicle travels to avoid the obstacle point, when the passing ability determination unit (<NUM>) determines the affected vehicle is not capable of passing; and
a vehicle linkage unit (<NUM>) that has a function of communicating with an in-vehicle device installed in the affected vehicle, the vehicle linkage unit (<NUM>) transmitting information about the detour route to the in-vehicle device,
wherein the vehicle linkage unit (<NUM>) further transmits to the in-vehicle device, a command causing transmission of the information about the detour route to the other vehicle by using an inter-vehicle communication function which is adapted to communicate with another vehicle, which inter-vehicle communication function is provided in the in-vehicle device to communicate with another vehicle, wherein the passing ability determination unit (<NUM>) determines a vehicle control width required for controlling the affected vehicle, and determines whether the affected vehicle is capable of passing by the obstacle, by comparing the passable width with a value obtained by adding the vehicle control width to the vehicle width,
wherein the route designing unit (<NUM>) designs the detour route with a road provided with the infrastructure sensor prioritized.