Vehicle control device, map information management system, vehicle control method, and storage medium

A vehicle control method comprising:

• recognizing, by a computer comprising a processor, a surrounding status of a vehicle;
• controlling, by the computer, one or both of a speed and steering of the vehicle;
• performing, by the computer, switching to a second driving state in which a driver has a higher degree of a monitoring obligation than in a first driving state in a case in which the vehicle is caused to travel in the first driving state in which the driver has a lower degree of the monitoring obligation among driving states of a plurality of types, and a recognition result satisfies a predetermined condition relating to the driving state;
• updating, by the computer, intrinsic map information on the basis of the recognition result in a case in which switching from the first driving state to the second driving state is performed;
• communicating, by the computer, with a map updating server updating a shared map on the basis of information acquired from the vehicle;
• transmitting, by the computer, the recognition result at the time of switching from the first driving state to the second driving state to the map updating server;
• storing, by the computer, a traveling locus of the vehicle in the second driving state in a memory, and in a case in which a state satisfying the predetermined condition relating to the driving state is resolved, setting a point of interest on the basis of the traveling locus of the vehicle stored in the memory and updating the intrinsic map information corresponding to the point of interest,
• wherein first layer information and second layer information having a higher degree of change according to elapse of time than the first layer information are included in the intrinsic map information;
• wherein the recognition result relating to the point of interest is accumulated in the memory as the first layer information or the second layer information, and
• wherein the method further comprises:
• updating, by the computer, the intrinsic map information corresponding to the point of interest on the basis of the first layer information relating to the point of interest in a case in which a value representing a degree of accumulation of the first layer information relating to the point of interest becomes equal to or larger than a first reference value;
• and
• updating, by the computer, the intrinsic map information corresponding to the point of interest on the basis of the second layer information relating to the point of interest in a case in which a value representing a degree of accumulation of the second layer information relating to the point of interest becomes equal to or larger than a second reference value that is smaller than the first reference value.

A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing a vehicle control program causing a computer comprising a processor to execute:

• recognizing a surrounding status of a vehicle;
• controlling one or both of a speed and steering of the vehicle;
• performing switching to a second driving state in which a driver has a higher degree of a monitoring obligation than in a first driving state in a case in which the vehicle is caused to travel in the first driving state in which the driver has a lower degree of the monitoring obligation among driving states of a plurality of types, and a recognition result satisfies a predetermined condition relating to the driving state;
• updating intrinsic map information on the basis of the recognition result in a case in which switching from the first driving state to the second driving state is performed;
• communicating with a map updating server updating a shared map on the basis of information acquired from the vehicle;
• transmitting the recognition result at the time of switching from the first driving state to the second driving state to the map updating server;
• storing a traveling locus of the vehicle in the second driving state in a memory, and in a case in which a state satisfying the predetermined condition relating to the driving state is resolved, setting a point of interest on the basis of the traveling locus of the vehicle stored in the memory and updating the intrinsic map information corresponding to the point of interest,
• wherein first layer information and second layer information having a higher degree of change according to elapse of time than the first layer information are included in the intrinsic map information;
• wherein the recognition result relating to the point of interest is accumulated in the memory as the first layer information or the second layer information, and
• wherein the computer comprising the processor further executes:
• updating the intrinsic map information corresponding to the point of interest on the basis of the first layer information relating to the point of interest in a case in which a value representing a degree of accumulation of the first layer information relating to the point of interest becomes equal to or larger than a first reference value;
• and
• updating the intrinsic map information corresponding to the point of interest on the basis of the second layer information relating to the point of interest in a case in which a value representing a degree of accumulation of the second layer information relating to the point of interest becomes equal to or larger than a second reference value that is smaller than the first reference value.