Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program

A vehicle control method for controlling a host vehicle by a computer based on an image captured by a camera directed forward as viewed from the host vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

• acquiring, as an input image, an image captured by the camera;
• generating a travel potential field indicating a distribution of travel potential with respect to a future travel position of the host vehicle, based on the input image;
• generating a target trajectory of the host vehicle, based on a gradient of the travel potential in the travel potential field;
• and
• operating a steering mechanism, based on the target trajectory,
• wherein the step of generating the travel potential field includes the processing of:
• extracting, from the input image, reference object information regarding a position of a reference object or a boundary of the reference object;
• setting a low-potential point at a position within a central region of the input image, the position being determined based on the reference object information;
• identifying, in the input image, a position of an obstacle that obstructs safe travel of the host vehicle;
• setting a first high-potential point in a region of the input image where the obstacle appears;
• setting a value of the travel potential at the low-potential point to a first set value;
• setting a value of the travel potential at the first high-potential point to a second set value greater than the first set value;
• and
• generating the travel potential field by interpolating a value of the travel potential, in a region between the low-potential point and the first high-potential point in the input image, using a value between the first set value and the second set value.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for controlling a host vehicle by a computer, based on an image captured by a camera directed forward as viewed from the host vehicle,

• wherein the program causes the computer to execute the steps of:
• acquiring, as an input image, an image captured by the camera;
• generating a travel potential field indicating a distribution of travel potential with respect to a future travel position of the host vehicle, based on the input image;
• generating a target trajectory of the host vehicle, based on a gradient of the travel potential in the travel potential field;
• and
• operating a steering mechanism, based on the target trajectory;
• wherein the step of generating the travel potential field includes causing the computer to execute the processing of:
• extracting, from the input image, reference object information regarding a position of a reference object or a boundary of the reference object;
• setting a low-potential point at a position within a central region of the input image, the position being determined based on the reference object information;
• identifying, in the input image, a position of an obstacle that obstructs safe travel of the host vehicle;
• setting a first high-potential point in a region of the input image where the obstacle appears;
• setting a value of the travel potential at the low-potential point to a first set value;
• setting a value of the travel potential at the first high-potential point to a second set value greater than the first set value;
• and
• generating the travel potential field by interpolating a value of the travel potential, in a region between the low-potential point and the first high-potential point in the input image, using a value between the first set value and the second set value.