Driving curve creation device, driving assistance device, driving control device, and driving curve creation method

An operation assistance device comprising:

• a storage that stores speed limit information, vehicle performance information of a vehicle, and route information;
• a processor which is configured to:
• receive current speed and position information of the vehicle;
• acquire, from the storage, at least one speed limit section of a running section being set based on a departure point and an arrival point of the running section, the speed limit section being a section delimited at positions at which a speed limit changes, the departure point being set at a current position obtained from the speed and position information receiver;
• determine a base point based on a terminal position and an upper limit speed of the speed limit section and generate a reverse coasting curve from the base point based on the vehicle performance information and the route information stored in the storage, the upper limit speed being set according to a speed limit for the speed limit section;
• determine a coasting start position based on the generated reverse coasting curve;
• generate a running profile by performing a running simulation with use of the set running section, the speed limit information on the running section, a received current speed, the generated reverse coasting curve, the set coasting start position, and the vehicle performance information and the route information stored in the storage;
• extract a target speed from the generated running profile and generate information on the target speed or target operation to achieve the target speed;
• and
• output the generated running profile to control running of the vehicle;
• and
• an operation assistance information display that presents to an operator the generated information on the target speed or target operation to achieve the target speed,
• wherein the processor sets a range below the upper limit speed as a coasting range and sets a range equal to or above the upper limit speed to the upper limit speed during coasting from the base point toward the departure point.

An operation control device comprising:

• a storage that stores speed limit information, vehicle performance information of a vehicle, and route information;
• a processor which is configured to:
• receive current speed and position information;
• acquire, from the storage, at least one speed limit section of a running section being set based on a departure point and an arrival point of the running section, the speed limit section being a section delimited at positions at which a speed limit changes, the departure point being set at a current position obtained from the speed and position information receiver;
• determine a base point based on a terminal position and an upper limit speed of the speed limit section and generate a reverse coasting curve from the base point based on the vehicle performance information and the route information stored in the storage, the upper limit speed being set according to a speed limit for the speed limit section;
• determine a coasting start position based on the generated reverse coasting curve;
• generate a running profile by performing a running simulation with use of the set running section, the speed limit information on the running section, a received current speed, the generated reverse coasting curve, the set coasting start position, and the vehicle performance information and the route information stored in the storage;
• extract a target speed from the running profile generated by the simulator and generate operation control information to achieve the target speed;
• and
• control a driving and braking device of the vehicle based on the generated operation control information to control running of the vehicle,
• wherein the processor sets a range below the upper limit speed as a coasting range and sets a range equal to or above the upper limit speed to the upper limit speed during coasting from the base point toward the departure point.

A running profile generation method comprising:

• acquiring from a storage at least one speed limit section of a running section being set based on a departure point and an arrival point, the speed limit section being a section delimited at positions at which a speed limit changes;
• determining a base point based on a terminal position and an upper limit speed of the speed limit section to generate a reverse coasting curve from the base point using vehicle performance information of a vehicle and route information stored in the storage, and setting a range below the upper limit speed as a coasting range and setting a range equal to or above the upper limit speed to the upper limit speed during coasting from the base point toward the departure point, the upper limit speed being set according to a speed limit for the speed limit section;
• determining a coasting start position based on the generated reverse coasting curve;
• generating a running profile by performing a running simulation based on the set running section, speed limit information on the running section, the generated reverse coasting curve, the set coasting start position, and the vehicle performance information and the route information stored in the storage;
• and
• outputting the generated running profile to control running of the vehicle.