VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD

An apparatus of a vehicle may include one or more processors and a memory. The memory may store at least one instruction that is configured, when executed by the one or more processors communicating with the memory, to cause the apparatus to: generate, via a navigation system of the vehicle and based on surrounding object information obtained from a sensor of the vehicle, a plurality of candidate routes to merge with a target route from a location of the vehicle; determine an amount of deviation, from the target route, of a route on which the vehicle is traveling; determine an optimal route, among the plurality of candidate routes, that minimizes the amount of deviation from the target route; generate a vehicle control signal to follow the optimal route; and control, based on the vehicle control signal, a driving operation of the vehicle.