US-12619248-B2 - Remote assistance device and method for remotely assisting driving of autonomous driving vehicles

US12619248B2US 12619248 B2US12619248 B2US 12619248B2US-12619248-B2

Abstract

A remote assistance device for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle, includes a control unit configured to, when there is no available operator or when it is predicted that there will be no available operator that provides remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, control driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance.

Inventors

Toru Nagura
Yasuhiro Hirayama

Assignees

DENSO CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240110
Priority Date: 20210712

Claims (20)

1 . A remote assistance device for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle, comprising: a control unit configured to, when it is predicted that there will be a shortage of operators who are available to provide remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, control driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance.
2 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when there is no available operator that provides remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to stop travel, and when there becomes an available operator that provides remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to restart travel.
3 . The remote assistance device according to claim 2 , wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to stop travel when the assistance point is present on a route traveled by the autonomous driving vehicle.
4 . The remote assistance device according to claim 3 , wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to travel to a safety zone on the route to stop travel after reaching the safety zone.
5 . The remote assistance device according to claim 3 , wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to stop travel by instructing the autonomous driving vehicle to delete the route, and when there becomes an available operator, instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to restart travel by instructing the autonomous driving vehicle to restore the route.
6 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when there is another route for the autonomous driving vehicle to avoid the assistance point, instruct the autonomous driving vehicle to make a route change to the other route.
7 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when it is predicted that there will be no more available operators, control driving of at least one of a plurality of autonomous driving vehicles so as to reduce overlaps of time periods of remote assistance for the plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles.
8 . The remote assistance device according to claim 7 , wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the at least one of the plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles to stop travel.
9 . The remote assistance device according to claim 7 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when there is another route for the at least one of the plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles to avoid the assistance point, instruct the at least one of the plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles to make a route change to the other route.
10 . The remote assistance device according to claim 7 , wherein the control unit is configured to control driving of each of the plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles based on a probability of occurrence of assistance at the assistance point.
11 . The remote assistance device according to claim 10 , wherein the control unit is configured to withhold an instruction until it is known presence or absence of occurrence of assistance at the assistance point.
12 . The remote assistance device according to claim 7 , wherein the control unit is configured to instruct the at least one of the plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles to travel at a speed lower than a set speed.
13 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when a number of available operators is less than a number of occurrences of remote assistance scheduled to occur at a same time, select a specific number of autonomous driving vehicles with the specific number equal to a shortage number of operators to provide vehicle instructions to the specific number of the autonomous driving vehicles.
14 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to provide vehicle instructions to a specific number of autonomous driving vehicles with the specific number equal to a shortage number of operators, among a plurality of the autonomous driving vehicles for which remote assistance is predicted to occur, in order of the autonomous driving vehicles with a least impact on feasibility of services related to autonomous driving.
15 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when there is no available operator or when it is predicted that there will be no available operator, and also when there are a plurality of selectable vehicle instructions, select one of the plurality of selectable vehicle instructions according to a length of time period before remote assistance is initiated.
16 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to, when there is no available operator or when it is predicted that there will be no available operator, and also when there are a plurality of selectable vehicle instructions, select one of the plurality of selectable vehicle instructions according to an impact on feasibility of services related to autonomous driving.
17 . The remote assistance device according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to provide vehicle instructions that minimize an impact on an overall service that a plurality of autonomous driving vehicles are involved in.
18 . A computer-implemented method for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle, comprising: when it is predicted that there will be a shortage of operators who are able to provide remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, controlling driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance.
19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for performing a method for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle, the method comprising: when it is predicted that there will be a shortage of operators who are able to provide remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, controlling driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance.
20 . A remote assistance device for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing one or more computer programs; a processor executing the one or more computer programs to: when it is predicted that there will be a shortage of operators who are able to provide remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, control driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2022/023664 filed Jun. 13, 2022 which designated the U.S. and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-115164 filed with the Japan Patent Office on Jul. 12, 2021, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND Technical Field This disclosure relates to a remote assistance device and a remote assistance method. Related Art A remote assistance system for providing remote assistance to vehicles is known, including a route planner that identifies a route for each vehicle to a destination via an assistance point where remote assistance is provided to the vehicle, and a predictor that predicts, based on the estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the assistance point on the identified route, a timing for an operator to initiate providing remote assistance to the vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an autonomous driving system; FIG. 2 is a schematic of a hardware configuration of a remote assistance device; FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a remote assistance process; FIG. 4 is an illustration of a first example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the first example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 6 is an illustration of a second example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 7 is a timing chart of the second example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 8 is an illustration of a third example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 9 is a timing chart of the third example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 10 is a timing chart of a fourth example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 11 is an illustration of a fifth example of the remote assistance process; FIG. 12 is a timing chart of the fifth example of the remote assistance process; and FIG. 13 is a timing chart of a sixth example of the remote assistance process. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS The technology of the above known remote assistance system, as disclosed in JP 2019-160146 A, is capable of providing remote assistance based on a long-term (of the order of hours) staffing plan by predicting the number of operators needed based on the vehicle's route plan. However, there is an issue with the technology of the above known remote assistance system, that in cases where more persons are needed than expected due to an unexpected event or the like, the waiting time for assistance at the assistance points may increase. In view of the foregoing, it is desired to have a remote assistance device capable of reducing a waiting time for assistance at each assistance point when there are no available operators or when it is predicted that there will be no available operators that remotely assist autonomous driving of autonomous driving vehicles. A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a remote assistance device for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle. The remote assistance device includes a control unit configured to, when there is no available operator or when it is predicted that there will be no available operator that provides remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, control driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance. A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle. This method includes, when there is no available operator or when it is predicted that there will be no available operator that provides remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, controlling driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance. A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for performing a method for remotely assisting autonomous driving of an autonomous driving vehicle. This method includes, when there is no available operator or when it is predicted that there will be no available operator that provides remote assistance to the autonomous driving vehicle, controlling driving of the autonomous driving vehicle so as to prevent occurrence of a shortage of operators at an assistance point where the autonomous driving vehicle receives remote assistance. The remote assistance device according to the present disclosure can reduce a waiting time for assistance at each assistance point when there are no available operators or when it is predicted that there will be no available operators that remotely assist in autonomous driving of autonomous driving vehicles. Hereinafter, some embodiments of the disclosur