Vehicle control apparatus

A vehicle control apparatus configured to cause a vehicle to autonomously travel, comprising:

• a longitudinal position collation unit configured to recognize a longitudinal position which is a position of the vehicle in an extending direction of a travelling road in which the vehicle travels, based on image information from a camera and position information of a landmark on a map;
• a longitudinal position estimation unit configured to estimate the longitudinal position based on a result of detection by an internal sensor that detects a state of the vehicle and a result of recognition by the longitudinal position collation unit;
• an error estimation unit configured to estimate an error in longitudinal position estimated by the longitudinal position estimation unit, based on accuracy of detection by the internal sensor;
• a radius acquisition unit configured to acquire a curve radius of a curved road in front of the vehicle using the estimated longitudinal position and the map information;
• a curve travel speed calculation unit configured to calculate a curve travel speed for the vehicle to autonomously travel in a travelling lane on the curved road having the acquired curve radius based on the acquired curve radius and the estimated error in longitudinal position;
• a speed control unit configured to decelerate the vehicle such that vehicle speed becomes the curve travel speed at the time of entering the curved road in front of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the curve travel speed and the curve travel speed is equal to or higher than a preset reference speed, and configured to decelerate the vehicle such that the current speed is maintained or the vehicle speed becomes the reference speed at the time of entering the curved road in front of the vehicle in a case where the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the curve travel speed and the curve travel speed is lower than the reference speed;
• and
• a request unit configured to perform a hands-on request to switch a control of the vehicle to a manual driving by a driver in a case where the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the curve travel speed and the curve travel speed is lower than the reference speed,
• wherein, the curve travel speed calculation unit is configured to make the curve travel speed be low in a case where the curve radius is short compared to a case where the curve radius is long, and configured to make the curve travel speed be low in a case where the error in longitudinal position is large compared to a case where the error in longitudinal position is small.