Vehicle position estimating device, vehicle position estimating system, and vehicle position estimating method

A vehicle position estimating system comprising:

• a first vehicle;
• a plurality of second vehicles around the first vehicle;
• a coordinates obtaining unit configured to obtain coordinates of the first vehicle;
• a map information obtaining unit configured to obtain map information that includes the coordinates of the first vehicle obtained by the coordinates obtaining unit;
• a surrounding information obtaining unit configured to obtain surrounding information indicating a reference around the first vehicle, the reference being detected by a surrounding sensor installed in the first vehicle;
• a vehicle position estimating unit configured to estimate a position of the first vehicle as a first vehicle position using the coordinates, the map information, and the surrounding information;
• a relative position estimating unit configured to estimate a relative position of each of the plurality of second vehicles with respect to the first vehicle using the surrounding information, and to determine, among the relative positions of the plurality of second vehicles, a second vehicle which is highest in a degree of accuracy among the relative positions of the plurality of second vehicles;
• a correcting unit configured to correct the first vehicle position using the relative position and a second vehicle position that is a position of the second vehicle;
• and
• a driving control unit configured to implement an autonomous driving for traveling along a predetermined route by controlling a driving force control unit, a braking force control unit, and a steering control unit, wherein
• the first vehicle position estimated by the vehicle position estimating unit is a provisional first vehicle position,
• the first vehicle position estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position is a new first vehicle position, and
• the correcting unit is further configured to:
• compare a first accuracy that is a degree of accuracy of the first vehicle position to a second accuracy that is the degree of accuracy of the second vehicle position;
• correct the first vehicle position by shifting the first vehicle position to a corrected position closer to the provisional first vehicle position than to the new first vehicle position responsive to the first accuracy being higher than the second accuracy;
• and
• correct the first vehicle position by shifting the first vehicle position to the corrected position closer to the new first vehicle position than to the provisional first vehicle position responsive to the second accuracy being higher than the first accuracy.

A method for estimating a vehicle position comprising:

• obtaining coordinates of a first vehicle;
• obtaining map information including the coordinates;
• obtaining surrounding information indicating a reference around the first vehicle;
• estimating a position of the first vehicle as a first vehicle position using the coordinates, the map information, and the surrounding information;
• estimating a relative position of each of a plurality of second vehicles around the first vehicle with respect to the first vehicle using the surrounding information, and to determine, among the relative positions of the plurality of second vehicles, a second vehicle which is highest in a degree of accuracy among the relative positions of the plurality of second vehicles;
• obtaining a second vehicle position that is a position of the second vehicle;
• correcting the first vehicle position using the second vehicle position and the relative position;
• and
• implementing an autonomous driving for traveling along a predetermined route by controlling a driving force control unit, a braking force control unit, and a steering control unit, wherein
• the first vehicle position being estimated using the coordinates, the map information, and the surrounding information is a provisional first vehicle position,
• the first vehicle position being estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position is a new first vehicle position, and
• the method further comprising:
• comparing a first accuracy that is a degree of accuracy of the first vehicle position to a second accuracy that is the degree of accuracy of the second vehicle position;
• correcting the first vehicle position by shifting the first vehicle position to a corrected position closer to the provisional first vehicle position than to the new first vehicle position responsive to the first accuracy being higher than the second accuracy;
• and
• correcting the first vehicle position by shifting the first vehicle position to the corrected position closer to the new first vehicle position than to the provisional first vehicle position responsive to the second accuracy being higher than the first accuracy.

A vehicle position estimating device comprising:

• at least one of (i) a circuit and (ii) a processor having a memory storing computer program code, wherein the at least one of the circuit and the processor having the memory is configured to cause the vehicle position estimating device to perform:
• obtaining coordinates of a first vehicle;
• obtaining map information including the coordinates;
• obtaining surrounding information indicating a reference around the first vehicle, the reference being detected by a surrounding sensor installed in the first vehicle;
• estimating a position of the first vehicle as a first vehicle position using the map information and the surrounding information;
• estimating a relative position of each of a plurality of second vehicles around the first vehicle with respect to the first vehicle using the surrounding information, and determining, among the relative positions of the plurality of second vehicles, a second vehicle which is highest in a degree of accuracy among the relative positions of the plurality of second vehicles;
• correcting the first vehicle position using the relative position and a second vehicle position that is a position of the second vehicle obtained from the second vehicle;
• and
• implementing an autonomous driving for traveling along a predetermined route by controlling a driving force control device, a braking force control device, and a steering control device, wherein
• the first vehicle position which is estimated is a provisional first vehicle position,
• the first vehicle position being estimated using the second vehicle position and the relative position is a new first vehicle position, and
• the at least one of the circuit and the processor is further configured to cause the vehicle position estimating device to perform:
• comparing a first accuracy that is a degree of accuracy of the first vehicle position to a second accuracy that is the degree of accuracy of the second vehicle position;
• correcting the first vehicle position by shifting the first vehicle position to a corrected position closer to the provisional first vehicle position than to the new first vehicle position responsive to the first accuracy being higher than the second accuracy;
• and
• correcting the first vehicle position by shifting the first vehicle position to the corrected position closer to the new first vehicle position than to the provisional first vehicle position responsive to the second accuracy being higher than the first accuracy.