JP4135584B2 - In-vehicle collision response system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for dealing with a collision accident of a vehicle such as an automobile, and more specifically, a system provided on the vehicle side to cope with a vehicle collision. To Related.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in the following [Patent Document 1], regarding a collision between automobiles, a protection device provided on its own vehicle is received by receiving a traveling state, operation information, etc. of the vehicle from a partner vehicle having a high possibility of collision. An in-vehicle system that operates properly is described. It is considered that such a system related to the collision countermeasure using the communication will be installed in many vehicles in the future. However, the system described in [Patent Document 1] is not a technology that can be used effectively in order to cope with a collision accident that has occurred. Information regarding collision vehicles can also be useful information for the countermeasures against the accident response measures, and technology for effectively utilizing information from the vehicles is being considered when providing such assistance. With regard to a system for taking measures against a collision accident based on vehicle information transmitted from a collision vehicle, there have been technologies described in, for example, [Patent Document 2] and [Patent Document 3]. .
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-263190
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-348697
[Patent Document 3]
JP 2002-127857 A
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention, means for solving problems and effects]
The techniques described in [Patent Document 2] and [Patent Document 3] both detect a collision that has actually occurred and use the detected information as a trigger to trigger various types of collision-related systems. Information is transmitted to a system outside the vehicle, and processing for supporting countermeasures is performed based on the transmitted information. That is, it is a system that executes support processing based on transmission information after an actual collision, triggered by the actual occurrence of the collision. However, in a vehicle collision accident, accurate information cannot always be transmitted after a collision has occurred. For example, various sensors for acquiring information that is the basis of transmission information may not function normally due to the impact of a collision, and the transmission device or the system itself may be damaged and cannot transmit. Is also possible. That is, the system that transmits accident information after a collision is not necessarily an effective system when supporting measures for dealing with a collision accident.
[0005]
Therefore, the present invention has been made with an object of obtaining an in-vehicle system capable of effectively dealing with a collision accident and a system capable of effectively supporting a countermeasure for dealing with a collision. The in-vehicle collision response system, the collision accident response measure support system, and the collision accident response system configured to include them can be obtained. As with the claims, each aspect is divided into sections, each section is numbered, and is described in a form that cites the numbers of other sections as necessary. This is for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the technical features described in the present specification and the combinations thereof to those described in the following sections. . In addition, when a plurality of items are described in one section, it is not always necessary to employ the plurality of items together. It is also possible to select and employ only some items.
[0006]
In the following sections, Technical features related to “communication device”, “first information transmission processing unit”, and “second information transmission processing unit” are deleted from the combination of items (1), (2) and (4) But, Corresponds to claim 1, What added those technical characteristics to Claim 1 is what added the technical characteristics of (3) to Claim 2, and added the specific restrictions to Claim 2, and added Claim 3 to Claim 3. , Each corresponds.
[0007]
(1) A system mounted on a host vehicle for responding to a collision accident of the host vehicle,
A detection device capable of detecting an object with which the host vehicle may collide;
A communication device that communicates with the outside of the vehicle;
(A) a collision possibility estimation processing unit that estimates the possibility of a collision between the object and the host vehicle based on a detection result by the detection device; and (B) a collision estimated by the collision possibility estimation processing unit. A first information transmission processing unit for transmitting, through the communication device, first information, which is information relating to the collision, when the possibility of the occurrence is higher than a set first collision possibility, which is a possibility of being set; (C) If the collision possibility estimated by the collision possibility estimation unit is higher than the set second collision possibility, which is a possibility that the collision possibility is set to be higher than the set first collision possibility, the second is information to that effect. A collision response processing apparatus comprising: a second information transmission processing unit configured to transmit information through the communication apparatus;
An in-vehicle collision response system characterized by comprising the above.
[0008]
To put it simply, the in-vehicle collision response system described in this section has a function of transmitting information related to a collision that will be generated before that to the outside of the host vehicle when the probability of the collision is high. It is a system equipped. Since the information can be transmitted before the vehicle actually collides, even if the system fails due to the impact of the collision, it is possible to effectively take measures to deal with the collision accident. It becomes.
[0009]
The system described in this section is a system that responds to a collision, and widely refers to various objects such as moving objects such as preceding vehicles and oncoming vehicles, stationary vehicles such as stopped vehicles, and roadside objects. Thing ". The “detection device” capable of detecting an object is not particularly limited, but a radar device that recognizes the position of the object using a laser, millimeter wave, or the like, a camera such as a CCD camera, and the camera. Various devices such as a monitoring camera device that recognizes an object by performing image processing on the captured image data can be used alone or in combination. The “communication device” is not particularly limited, but it is desirable that it can communicate wirelessly. A dedicated device for the system may be used, or a communication device provided in the car navigation system, a vehicle-mounted telephone device, a mobile phone device that can be attached to the vehicle, or the like may be used.
[0010]
The “collision response device” may be a device mainly composed of a computer. “Possibility of collision with the object” refers to the object calculated from the distance to the object, the collision time calculated from the distance and the relative approach speed with the object, the distance and the traveling speed of the host vehicle. It is possible to estimate based on various parameters such as the arrival time. “Setting first collision possibility” and “setting second collision possibility” (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as “first collision possibility” and “second collision possibility”) are also set based on these parameters. Can be. Note that it is also possible to estimate the possibility with different parameters in the judgment on the first collision possibility and the judgment on the second collision possibility. The “first collision possibility” and the “second collision possibility” can be considered as set threshold values. Both values express the possibility of different heights, and the second collision possibility is set to a value indicating a higher state than the first collision possibility. For example, the first possibility of collision may be set to such a high level that there is a slight possibility of collision, and the second possibility of collision may be set to such a height that it is difficult to avoid the collision. Is possible.
[0011]
The “first information” transmitted outside the host vehicle may include, for example, information related to the relationship between the host vehicle and the object. Information on the relationship between the vehicle and the object includes, for example, the parameters described above, such as the distance to the object, relative approach speed, collision time, and arrival time, as well as the high possibility of collision. Also good. In addition, the information includes the direction of the object relative to the own vehicle, the amount of object displacement from the axis extending in the front-rear direction of the own vehicle, and the object on the own lane on which the own vehicle is scheduled to travel. Probability (own lane probability) and the like, and further, image data of an object viewed from the own vehicle imaged by the camera device are also included. The first information can also include information other than information related to the relationship with the object. For example, information on specifications of the host vehicle such as the type, model, length, width, weight of the host vehicle, traveling speed detected by various sensors provided on the host vehicle, yaw rate, engine speed, gear shift position , Steering angle, deceleration, brake pedal operation amount, operation speed, etc., information on the driving / operating state of the vehicle, information on the driver's condition, such as voice in the passenger compartment, heart rate, etc. Various information such as information related to the traveling position of the host vehicle acquired by the GPS (global position inng system) can be included in the first information. The various types of information listed above can be useful information for grasping the situation of the collision when a collision actually occurs. That is, the “first information” can be information capable of estimating the situation of the collision that occurs. Considering the purpose of use of the first information for estimating the collision situation, the first information is information every moment from the collision possibility exceeding the first collision possibility to the second collision possibility, That is, in an extreme sense, it is desirable that the information is continuous or intermittent information from a relatively low possibility of collision to the middle of the collision.
[0012]
Another information, “second information”, is information including information indicating that the estimated possibility of collision is higher than the possibility of second collision. This information may not be data but may be, for example, a simple signal or signal. Various types of information such as the first information can be included. The second information can be information indicating that the occurrence of a collision has been confirmed. In extreme terms, it can be information that pretends that a collision has occurred. In the case of handling such information, it is desirable to set the second possibility of collision to a height at which collision cannot be avoided or close to it.
[0013]
(2) Cancellation information transmission processing in which, when either the first information or the second information is transmitted, the collision handling processing device transmits cancellation information for canceling either of the first information and the second information through the communication device. The in-vehicle collision response system according to item (1), which includes a unit.
[0014]
It is assumed that the system transmits information when the possibility of a collision is high, and that some system (such as a collision accident countermeasure support system described later) that receives the information executes some kind of treatment or processing. Therefore, it is desirable to provide means for invalidating the transmitted information when the transmitted information is false. The mode described in this section is a mode having an advantage based on such a viewpoint, and is a mode in which the transmitted information can be canceled and the treatment and processing executed based on the information can be canceled. For example, since the second information can be, in an extreme case, information that simulates a collision before the collision, as described later, the received system uses the second information as a trigger for processing and processing. It is also possible to start execution. Even in such a case, when the actual collision did not occur, the damage was so small that the transmitted second information was canceled, in other words, the second information was executed as a trigger. It is desirable to invalidate the treatment and processing. From such a viewpoint, it is desirable to implement the mode described in this section in a mode in which the second information is canceled when the second information is transmitted.
[0015]
(3) The in-vehicle collision handling system according to (1) or (2), wherein the collision handling apparatus includes a first information recording unit that records the first information on a non-volatile recording medium included in the crash handling system.
[0016]
The first information can include various types of information as described above, and is useful information for estimating the magnitude of damage caused by a collision accident, analyzing the cause of a collision accident, and the like. Therefore, it is desirable to store and record the first information in the own vehicle. However, when it is assumed that the system will not function normally due to a collision accident, it is necessary to protect the information from the impact of the collision. For example, providing a recording device having a robust structure such as an airplane flight recorder is one means, but such a recorder is expensive and impractical. From such a viewpoint, the aspect described in this section is an aspect in which the first information can be stored by a practical means. The “nonvolatile recording medium” may be a recording medium that does not lose the recorded contents even when the power supply is cut off, such as a flexible disk, a CD-R (W), a DVD-R (W), a hard disk. , Various recording media such as EEPROM (electrically erasable and programable ROM) can be employed. Among these, it is desirable to employ an EEPROM in consideration of advantages such as small size, high recording speed, and erasability.
[0017]
(4) The collision handling processing apparatus includes a temporary storage medium that temporarily records the first information, and the first information recording unit has a possibility of a collision estimated by the collision possibility estimation unit. The first information recorded on the temporary storage medium is recorded on the non-volatile recording medium when the setting third possibility of collision is higher than the first setting possibility (3 The in-vehicle collision response system according to item).
[0018]
For example, as described above, when the first information is information every moment, the amount of information is large. In addition, when the second possibility of collision is considered to be a level where it is difficult to avoid the collision, even if the possibility of the collision exceeds the first possibility of collision in actual vehicle travel, Often there is no possibility of two collisions. Therefore, when all of the first information is recorded on the non-volatile recording medium, the loss is large in terms of the recording capacity of the non-volatile recording medium and the efficiency of the recording process. The aspect described in this section is a practical aspect with no loss because the first information so far is recorded on the nonvolatile recording medium when the possibility of a collision is increased. “Setting third collision possibility” (hereinafter, may be abbreviated as “third collision possibility”) in this section is similar to the second collision possibility in the role they have. It can be the same as the collision probability. That is, in the case of transmitting the second information, the first information is recorded on the nonvolatile recording medium. The “temporary storage medium” in this section is a recording medium that functions as a buffer. For example, a RAM or the like provided in a computer that forms the main body of the collision handling apparatus can be used.
[0019]
(11) A system installed outside the vehicle to support measures to deal with a vehicle collision accident,
A communication device for communicating with the vehicle;
(a) When the possibility of a collision in a certain vehicle is higher than the first possibility of being set, the first information that is information related to the collision transmitted from the vehicle is received through the communication device. A first information reception processing unit; and (b) transmitted from the vehicle when the possibility of a collision in the certain vehicle is higher than a second setting possibility, which is a possibility that the possibility of a collision is set higher than the first setting possibility. A second information reception processing unit that receives second information including the information to that effect through the communication device; and (c) the second information is used as a trigger to trigger a collision of the certain vehicle based on the first information. A collision situation estimation processing unit for estimating the situation; and (d) a support process execution unit for executing a support process for a countermeasure against the collision accident of the vehicle based on the estimation result of the collision situation estimation unit. Support processing device
Collision accident response measures support system configured to include.
[0020]
The collision accident countermeasure support system described in this section is a system that functions by linking with the vehicle-mounted collision response system. To put it plainly, the first information sent from the in-vehicle collision response system is received, the second information that the probability of the collision is increased, the situation of the expected collision accident is estimated, and the estimated result is Based on this, it is a system that performs support processing of countermeasures for accidents that occur. Since the situation of the collision is obtained before the collision, reliable information can be obtained. The “support processing” to be executed is not particularly limited, but in the mode described in this section, for example, notification of accident information to insurance agencies, such as police stations, fire stations, hospitals, etc., insurance Providing accident status information to organizations responsible for post-processing of accidents such as companies and vehicle dealers, providing accident information to organizations reporting road information such as various media and road traffic centers, It is possible to execute such measures by supporting processing to cause other systems to cooperate with each other. In other words, the system described in this section is a mode that executes processing such as instructions for implementing countermeasures to an organization that takes specific measures to deal with a collision accident, and transmission of accident information as support processing. Can be. The system described in this section is not limited to the place where it is installed. For example, the system may be installed in an organization that controls road traffic. It may be arranged in. The “communication device” included in the system may be at least capable of communicating with the in-vehicle collision response system. For example, it may be a communication device that directly communicates with the vehicle, or may be a communication device that is relayed by some relay means and indirectly communicates with the vehicle.
[0021]
(21) A collision accident handling system comprising the on-vehicle collision handling system according to any one of (1) to (4) and the collision accident handling measure support system according to (11).
[0022]
The collision accident handling system described in this section is a comprehensive system in which the in-vehicle collision handling system and the collision accident handling support system are combined. The description of the system described in this section is omitted because it overlaps with the above description.
[0023]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is by no means limited to the following embodiments, and includes, in addition to the following embodiments, the aspects described in the above section [Problems to be Solved by the Invention, Problem Solving Means and Effects]. The present invention can be implemented in various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.
[0024]
<Hardware configuration of collision incident handling system>
FIG. 1 schematically shows a hardware configuration of the collision accident handling system. The collision accident response system includes an in-vehicle collision response system 12 mounted on a vehicle 10 (sometimes referred to as “own vehicle 10”) and a collision accident response measure support system 16 installed in a traffic control center 14. It is configured.
[0025]
The in-vehicle collision handling system 12 includes a collision handling electronic control unit (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as “ECU”) 20 as a collision handling processing device that forms the core of the system, and various types of vehicles mounted on the vehicle 10. It is configured to include devices. The vehicle 10 is provided with two local area networks (LANs) 22 and 24, and the collision handling ECU 12 is connected to both the two LANs 22 and 24, and various devices are connected via the LANs 22 and 24. It is connected to the.
[0026]
One of the two LANs 22, 24 is a sensor system LAN 22, which includes a radar device 30, a camera device 32, various sensors 34, and an emergency switch 36 that is a kind of operation switch of the collision handling ECU 20. A cancel switch 38 and the like are connected as the various devices. The other LAN 24 is an AV LAN 24. The AV LAN 24 includes a communication device 40, an in-vehicle sound acquisition device 42, a car navigation device 44, an indicator 46 as a display for displaying the state of the collision handling ECU 12, and the like. Are connected as the various devices.
[0027]
The various devices will be described in order. The radar device 30 is a millimeter wave radar device that uses millimeter waves as detection waves. Specifically, a transmission signal in which frequency modulation (FM) is performed on a continuous wave (CW) is used. This is an FM-CW radar device. The radar device 30 monitors the objects existing around the own vehicle, and determines the distance between the existing object and the own vehicle, the direction of the existing object based on the own vehicle, and the relative speed between the existing object and the own vehicle. Output. The camera device 32 is a device configured to include a CCD camera and an image processing device. The camera device 32 can take an image of the surroundings of the host vehicle, and relates to an entity existing around the vehicle from the image data. Detailed information can be obtained. The radar device 30 and the camera device 32 are included to constitute the detection device of the in-vehicle collision system 12.
[0028]
Various types of sensors 34 are already commonly installed in vehicles (for example, wheel speed sensors (also functioning as vehicle speed sensors), yaw rate sensors, rudder angle sensors, acceleration (deceleration) sensors, etc.). It is for detecting the running state, the operation state, etc. of the own vehicle. The emergency switch 36 is a switch for causing the collision handling ECU 20 to execute an emergency process by manual operation, and the cancel switch 38 is a switch for manually canceling the process executed by the collision handling ECU 20. The functions of these switches 36 and 38 will be described in detail later.
[0029]
The communication device 40 is an in-vehicle telephone device that uses a radio telephone line. The in-vehicle collision response system 12 is connected to the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 of the traffic control center 14 via the communication device 40 by dial-up connection. Communication is possible. The vehicle interior sound acquisition device 42 has a microphone for picking up the sound in the vehicle interior, has a function of converting the sound of a passenger of a vehicle such as a driver into digital data, and transmitting the data to the collision handling ECU 20. ing. The car navigation device 44 has a GPS function, and can transmit the traveling position of the host vehicle acquired by the function to the collision handling ECU 20. The indicator 46 is a display device mainly composed of LEDs, and mainly shows various states relating to communication between the in-vehicle collision response system 12 and the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 to the driver according to the lighting and extinguishing modes of the LEDs. Has the function to show. Specifically, it changes according to the status, for example, it is turned off during communication standby, blinks during information transmission, and lights up when communication is abnormal. The indicator 46 is provided with a buzzer and can notify the driver of the operation of the system with a beep sound.
[0030]
The collision accident countermeasure support system 16 provided in the traffic control center 14 includes a support processing device 50 and a communication device 52. The support treatment apparatus 50 is an apparatus mainly composed of a large computer and forms the core of the system. The communication device 52 is a telephone device that uses a radio telephone line, and communicates with the communication device 40 provided in the vehicle 10. The traffic control center 14 can communicate various information with various media related to the police, fire fighting, hospitals, vehicle dealers, insurance companies, news reports, and the like.
[0031]
<Functional configuration of collision incident handling system>
As described above, the collision handling accident handling system includes two systems, the in-vehicle collision handling system 12 and the collision handling countermeasure support system 16. Each of the two systems includes a collision handling processing device (collision handling ECU) 20 and a support processing device 50 as the core devices. Both the collision handling processing device 20 and the assistance processing device 50 are devices mainly composed of a computer, and each processing is executed by internal processing of the computer. Each of the devices 20 and 50 can be conveniently divided into various functional parts according to the contents of the processing, and each of the devices 20 and 50 is configured by combining those functional parts. Can do. Hereinafter, the functional configuration of each of the systems 12 and 16 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram shown in FIG. 2, focusing on the functional configuration of each of the devices 20 and 50 described above.
[0032]
i) Vehicle collision response system
The collision response processing device 20 of the in-vehicle collision response system 12 includes, as functional parts, a first information storage processing unit having a collision possibility estimation processing unit 60, a first information creation processing unit 62, a temporary recording medium 64, and a nonvolatile recording medium 66. 68, a first information transmission processing unit 70, a second information transmission processing unit 72, and a cancellation information transmission processing unit 74. The collision possibility estimation processing unit 60 is based on the information on the object with the possibility of collision detected by the detection devices 30 and 32 and the information on the running state of the host vehicle 10 detected by the various sensors 34. The possibility of collision between the host vehicle 10 and the object is estimated. The first information creation processing unit 62 can transmit the first information (described later) based on the information from the detection devices 30 and 32 and the information from the various sensors 34 in accordance with the estimation result of the collision possibility estimation unit 60. Create a recordable form. The first information storage processing unit 68 stores the first information in the temporary recording medium 64 according to the estimation result of the collision possibility estimation processing unit 60, and stores the first information recorded in the temporary recording medium 64 in a nonvolatile manner. It is stored in the recording medium 66 (the temporary recording medium is a RAM provided in the device 20 and the non-volatile recording medium 66 is an EEPROM). The first information transmission processing unit 70 and the second information transmission processing unit 72 transmit first information and second information (described later) via the communication device 40 according to the estimation result of the collision possibility estimation processing unit 60, respectively. . When the cancel switch 38 is operated by the driver, the cancellation information transmission processing unit 74 transmits cancellation information (described later) for canceling the already transmitted second information via the communication device 40.
[0033]
ii) Collision accident response support system
The support processing device 50 of the collision accident response measure support system 16 includes a first information reception processing unit 80, a second information reception processing unit 82, a collision situation estimation processing unit 84, and a support processing execution unit 86 as functional parts. Are recorded as a temporary recording medium 88 and a collision accident database 90. The first information reception processing unit 80 receives the first information transmitted from the in-vehicle collision response system 12 via the communication device 52, and the information is stored in the temporary recording medium 88 (the RAM included in the device 50). Record. The second information reception processing unit 82 receives the second information transmitted from the in-vehicle collision response system 12 via the communication device 52, and the first information recorded in the temporary recording medium 88 using the information as a trigger. Are stored in the collision accident database 90 (a computer specialized in database function). The second information reception processing unit 82 also receives the cancellation information, and issues a cancellation instruction for the processing executed using the second information as a trigger to each functional unit. The collision situation estimation processing unit 84 uses the second information as a trigger to estimate the situation of a collision that will occur in the vehicle based on the information stored in the collision accident database 90. The assistance processing execution unit 86 executes assistance processing based on the estimation result from the collision situation estimation processing unit 84. Specifically, for example, information relating to the accident stored in the collision matter database 90, instructions for countermeasures, and the like are provided in the linkage system 100 (in this embodiment, the traffic management center 14). From these systems 100, notification to related organizations, information delivery, and the like are made.
[0034]
<Contents of the collision accident handling system>
Various processes by the in-vehicle collision response system 12 and the collision accident response measure support system 16 which are two systems constituting the collision response system are performed by the collision response processing device 20 and the support processing device 50 respectively. This is performed by executing the support processing program. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the collision handling process program, and FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the support process program. Hereinafter, the process by the in-vehicle collision response system 12 and the process by the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 will be described according to those flowcharts. Note that these programs are stored in a short time interval (for example, several tens of times) while the ignition switch of the vehicle 10 is turned on or while the main switch of the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 is turned on. It is repeatedly executed after 100 msec). As a result, both systems 12 and 16 are configured to perform continuous processing. Further, although the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 is configured to be able to execute support processing for a plurality of vehicles, in order to simplify the description, the flowchart of FIG. It is assumed that only the part for processing is extracted and expressed.
[0035]
i) Processing by in-vehicle collision response system
When the execution of the collision response processing program starts, first, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as “S1”, the same applies to other steps), the system 12 may communicate with the collision incident countermeasure support system 16. It is determined whether or not the standby state is possible, and if the standby state is not reached, an instruction is issued to the communication device 40 in S2, and the communication device 40 performs a predetermined communication setting process (for example, Dial-up, etc.) to enter a standby state, and one execution of the program ends. Once communication is set, in principle, the communicable state is maintained until the setting is canceled. Therefore, S2 is normally performed only when the program is executed for the first time. Subsequently, in S3, it is determined whether or not a cancel operation has been performed. When the cancel switch 38 is operated, it is determined that there has been a request for cancel processing, the cancel processing of S4 and S5 is executed, and one execution of this program ends. A series of processing of S4 and S5 will be described later. If the cancel switch 38 is not operated, the possibility of a collision with the object of the host vehicle 10 is estimated in S6.
[0036]
There are various methods for estimating the possibility of a collision. For example, so-called ACC control (Auto-Cruise-Control or Adaptive-Cruise-Control: control that adjusts the output of the engine device or the like so as to follow the preceding vehicle in a state where the inter-vehicle state with the preceding vehicle is set. ) And so-called PCS control (Pre-Clash-Safety: Control that predicts vehicle collisions and activates protective devices such as seat belts before collision) Is possible. When the vehicle 10 is equipped with a system that performs control such as ACC control and PCS control, it is possible to estimate the possibility of collision using a part of the system. In addition, the possibility of collision can be estimated based on the detection result of the radar device 30, or can be performed based on the result of image recognition by the camera device 32. In order to simplify the description, in this embodiment, the possibility of a collision with an object is determined by the vehicle lane in which the host vehicle 10 is scheduled to travel from the detection results of the wheel speed sensor, the yaw rate sensor, the rudder angle sensor, and the like. A lane is virtualized, an entity existing in the virtual lane is recognized as an object, and the collision time with the recognized object based on the detection result of the radar device 30 (the distance between the two is expressed as a relative speed). And the estimated collision time value is used for estimation.
[0037]
After the possibility of the collision is estimated, in S7, when the collision time with the object is shorter than the predetermined collision time, it is determined that the collision possibility of the object is higher than the first collision possibility. The first possibility of collision having a role as a threshold is considered to be a relatively low possibility. In the determination of S7, the determination of Yes is made to the extent that there is a slight possibility of collision with the object. Be defeated. If the possibility of collision with the object does not exceed the first possibility of collision, or in extreme cases, when it is recognized that there is almost no possibility of collision, the processes of S8 and S9 are executed, One execution is completed. The processing of S8 and S9 will be described later. In terms of the relationship with the above-described functional parts, the processes of S6 and S7 are performed by the collision possibility estimation processing unit 60.
[0038]
In S7, when the possibility of collision is higher than the first possibility of collision, first information is set in S10. The first information is created based on detection by the detection devices 30 and 32 and information detected by the various sensors 34. Specifically, various things such as the distance, relative speed, positional relationship, etc. between the object and the host vehicle 10 can be included. Since specific examples of the first information are enumerated above, description thereof is omitted here. This S10 is performed by the first information creation processing unit 62 described above, and the first information is set in a transmittable format and a recordable format. Subsequently, in S <b> 11, the created first information is transmitted to the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 via the communication device 40. The process of S11 is performed by the first information transmission processing unit 70.
[0039]
Next, in S12, the possibility of a collision is determined based on the buffer recording discrimination possibility which is another threshold value. This threshold value is a threshold value for determining whether or not the first information is recorded in the temporary recording medium 64 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “buffer 64”). When this threshold value is exceeded, in S13, First information is recorded in the buffer 64. This buffer recording discrimination possibility is set to a value higher than the first collision possibility and lower than the second collision possibility described later. In the present embodiment, the height is set to be substantially the same as the first collision possibility, and most of the first information transmitted to the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 is recorded in the buffer 64. Yes. Note that S11 is performed by the collision possibility estimation processing unit 60, and S13 is performed by the first information storage processing unit 68. In S12, when it is determined that there is no need to record in the buffer 64, one execution of this program ends.
[0040]
In S14, it is determined whether or not the possibility of collision is higher than the second possibility of collision. The second collision possibility is set to such a height that it is estimated that the collision cannot be avoided. That is, the collision time as the threshold is set as a relatively short time. When it is determined that the estimated collision possibility is less than or equal to the second collision possibility, one execution of the program ends. If it is determined that the possibility of collision is higher than the second possibility of collision, the process of S15 and subsequent steps is performed under the assumption of a collision. In S15, the second information, that is, a signal indicating that the possibility of collision is higher than the second possibility of collision is transmitted to the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 via the communication device 40, and is recorded in the buffer 64 in S16. The first information is written in a non-volatile recording medium 66 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “EEPROM 66”). That is, information is fixed. Note that the EEPROM 66 can be attached to and detached from the collision handling apparatus 20, and the EEPROM 66 can be removed from the collision handling apparatus 20 even if the system is damaged due to the impact of a collision or the like. If set in a predetermined reader, the recorded first information can be read. After the first information is written in the EEPROM 66 in S16, the first information recorded in the buffer 64 is cleared in S17. The process of S15 is performed by the second information transmission processing unit 72, and the processes of S16 and S17 are performed by the first information storage processing unit 68.
[0041]
According to the above description, the determination as to whether or not to fix to the nonvolatile recording medium 66 is performed using the third possibility of collision as a threshold value. In the present embodiment, actually, the second possibility of collision is performed as a threshold value. In the present embodiment, it can be considered that the second collision possibility and the third collision possibility are set as the same height possibility, and the process of S14 is determined based on the third collision possibility. The process is equivalent to the process of performing. In other words, regarding the determination of writing to the EEPROM 66, the process of S14 may be interpreted as a determination based on the third collision possibility. Note that unlike the present embodiment, the third collision possibility is set as a threshold of the possibility that the second collision possibility is different from the second collision possibility, the second information is transmitted, and the first information is written to the EEPROM 66. May be executed in such a manner as to be executed at a time when the possibility of collision is different.
[0042]
Assuming that this program is executed continuously, the process related to one object is roughly described. For example, in S7, an object having a higher possibility of collision than the first possibility of collision was recognized. In this case, in S7 of the subsequent execution of the program, the first information is transmitted every moment and is recorded in the buffer 64 every time the program is executed unless the possibility of collision falls below the first possibility of collision. Is done. Then, when the possibility of a collision with the object is increased, and it is determined in S14 that the possibility of a collision is higher than the second collision possibility, information indicating that the collision will occur in the near time is transmitted. At the same time, the first information about the object is fixed in the EEPROM 66. Even if it is recognized in S7 that the first possibility of collision has been exceeded, if the possibility of collision becomes equal to or less than the first possibility of collision after that, the processes of S8 and S9 are executed. The processes in S8 and S9 are processes in the case where it is assumed that there is no object that may collide. In S8, the first information recorded in the buffer 64 is cleared, and the subsequent S9 , Empty information, which is information indicating that there is no target object that is likely to collide, is transmitted to the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 via the communication device 40. Note that the process of S8 is performed by the first information storage processing unit 68, and the process of S9 is similar to the transmission of the first information, and thus is performed by the first information transmission processing unit 70.
[0043]
Even when the estimated collision possibility exceeds the second collision possibility, the collision may be avoided. At that time, it is expected that the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 will start processing, and the recorded contents of the EEPROM 66 become unnecessary. In the present embodiment, the indicator 46 emits a predetermined beep when the possibility of a collision exceeds the second possibility of collision before or after any one of the processes of S15 to S17. The driver can know the facts beyond that. Therefore, even when the second collision possibility is exceeded, when the collision does not actually occur, the driver operates the cancel switch 38, and when there is an operation, the determination in S3, The processes after S4 are executed. Specifically, first, in S4, cancellation information, which is information for canceling the transmitted second information, is transmitted to the collision incident countermeasure support system 16 via the communication device 40, and in the subsequent S5, the EEPROM 66 The first information written in is erased. The process of S4 is performed by the cancellation information transmission processing unit 74, and the process of S5 is performed by the first information storage processing unit 68.
[0044]
Although not shown in the flowchart, when the above-described emergency switch 36 is operated by the driver, information indicating an emergency is transmitted to the collision incident handling support system 16 via the communication device 40. After that, it is possible to make a call with the traffic control center 14 via the communication device 40 by any operation.
[0045]
ii) Processing by collision accident countermeasure support system
If execution of the support processing program starts, first, in S21, it is confirmed whether or not a reception request is made from the in-vehicle collision response system 12. That is, in a nutshell, it is determined whether or not the communication device 52 has received any information from the in-vehicle collision response system 12. If no reception request is made, one execution of this program is terminated. If a reception request has been made, it is determined in S22 whether the transmitted information is cancellation information. If the information is cancellation information, the cancellation of S23 (described later) is executed, and then the execution of this program is terminated. If it is determined in S22 that the information is not cancellation information, it is determined in next S24 whether the information is empty information. If it is empty information, it is presumed that there is no object with a possibility of collision, and in S25, a temporary recording medium 88 (hereinafter, referred to as later) for temporarily recording the first information, which will be described later. The “buffer 88” may be cleared, and one execution of this program ends. If the information transmitted in S24 is not empty information, it is determined in S26 whether the information is first information. If it is the first information, the support processing device 50 receives the first information via the communication device 52 in the subsequent S27, and the first information is recorded in the buffer 88.
[0046]
If it is determined in S26 that the information is not the first information, S27 is skipped, and it is determined in S28 whether or not the information is the second information. If it is determined that the information is not the second information, one execution of the program is terminated. In the present embodiment, since the information sent from the in-vehicle collision response system is any one of cancellation information, empty information, first information, and second information, it is actually determined in S28 that the information is not the second information. Never happen. When it is determined that the information received in S28 is the second information, the support processing device 50 receives the second information via the communication device 52, and as a process based on the received second information, In the next S29, the first information stored in the buffer 88 is stored in the collision accident database 90. In addition, after the first information is recorded, the buffer 88 is cleared in S30.
[0047]
In the functional part classification described above, the first information reception processing unit 80 is a part that receives first information, and the second information reception processing unit 82 is a part that receives second information. In practice, the processes of S24 to S27 are processes closely related to the reception of the first information or the processes thereof. Therefore, in the support processing device 50, the processes are executed by the first information reception processing unit 80. Has been. In addition, since the processes of S22 to 23 and S28 to S30 are processes closely related to the reception of the second information or a process similar thereto, in the support processing device 50, these processes are performed by the second information reception processing unit. 82 to execute.
[0048]
Assuming that this program is executed continuously, the processing up to this point will be described along the flow relating to one object. For example, when reception of the first information is permitted in S26, Unless the null information and the second information are received in the subsequent execution of the program, the first information is received and recorded in the buffer 88 every time the program is executed. Then, when the possibility of a collision with the object increases and the second information is received, it is determined in S28 that the collision will occur in the near future, and the object related to the object recorded in the buffer 88 is identified. The first information up to is fixedly recorded in the database 90. Even if the first information is received, if the empty information is recognized, it is considered that there is no possibility of collision with the object, and the information recorded in the buffer 88 in S25. The first information so far of the object is discarded.
[0049]
The processes of S31 and S32 following S30 in the flowchart are processes that are executed with the reception of the second information as a trigger. These processes are not actually processes on the same routine but processes by another program. However, in order to simplify the explanation, these processes are handled and described as processes on the same routine.
[0050]
In S31, the situation of the collision that will occur is estimated based on the first information stored in the collision accident database 90. As a specific example, for example, the relative speed immediately before the object and the vehicle 10, the size of the object analyzed from the image data, the collision angle, etc. The magnitude of impact received by crew members including the driver is estimated. The first information also includes the travel position of the vehicle 10, the presence / absence of a brake operation, the operation state of the steering angle, etc. In S31, the location of the accident, Analysis may be performed. This S31 is performed by the collision situation estimation processing unit 84.
[0051]
In S32, a support process is executed based on the estimated collision situation. This S32 is performed by the support process execution unit 86. If a specific example is given, various information, such as the instruction | indication of the countermeasure to the other system 100 which cooperates, and the estimated information based on 1st information and 1st information, will be performed. Collaborative system 100 includes an emergency call system for reporting to agencies that carry out relief activities, such as police stations, fire stations, and hospitals, and accident status information for institutions responsible for post-processing of accidents such as insurance companies and vehicle dealers. There are accident information provision systems for the purpose of providing information, road condition provision systems for the purpose of providing accident information to agencies that notify road conditions such as various media and road traffic centers. When this support system 16 delivers information to these cooperation systems 100, each cooperation system 100 instructs related organizations about appropriate measures to deal with the collision accident and various kinds of appropriate information regarding the collision accident. It becomes possible to carry out delivery and the like. The specific processes of S31 and S32 are not limited to the above examples, and various already-known estimation processes and various support processes can be widely executed.
[0052]
Even when the collision accident countermeasure support system 16 receives the second information, the vehicle 10 may avoid a collision as described above. In the case where the vehicle 10 avoids a collision, as described above, the cancellation information is transmitted from the in-vehicle collision response system 12. When cancel information is received, a cancel process is executed in S23. This canceling process is a process of invalidating the process executed with the second information as a trigger. Specifically, the cancellation of the related information stored in the collision accident database 90 and the information to that effect in the cooperation system 100 are performed. Delivery etc. are performed, and it is made possible to prevent inadvertent countermeasures from being implemented.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a hardware configuration of a collision accident handling system.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing a functional configuration of a collision accident handling system.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a collision handling processing program executed by the collision handling processing device in order for the in-vehicle collision handling system to perform processing.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a support processing program executed by a support processing device in order for the collision accident countermeasure support system to perform processing.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10: Vehicle 12: Vehicle collision response system 14: Traffic control center 16: Collision accident response measure support system 20: Collision response ECU (collision response processing device) 30: Radar device (detection device) 32: Camera device (detection device) 34 : Sensor 38: Cancel switch 40: Communication device 50: Support processing device 52: Communication device 60: Collision possibility estimation processing unit 62: First information creation processing unit 64: Temporary recording medium (buffer) 66: Non-volatile recording medium (EEPROM) 68: First information storage processing unit 70: First information transmission processing unit 72: Second information transmission processing unit 74: Cancellation information transmission processing unit 80: First information reception processing unit 82: Second information reception processing unit 84: Collision state estimation processing unit 86: support processing execution unit 88: temporary recording medium (buffer) 90: collision accident database 100: cooperation system

Claims (3)

A system mounted on the host vehicle for responding to a collision accident of the host vehicle,
A detection device capable of detecting an object with which the host vehicle may collide ;
(A) a collision possibility estimation processing unit that estimates the possibility of a collision between the object and the host vehicle based on a detection result by the detection device; and (B) a collision estimated by the collision possibility estimation processing unit. When the possibility of the collision is higher than the set first collision possibility, the first information that is information related to the collision is temporarily recorded on a temporary recording medium, and the collision possibility estimation unit The first information recorded in the temporary recording medium is stored in the non-volatile recording medium when the possibility of the collision estimated by the above is higher than another setting collision possibility set higher than the setting first collision possibility. An in-vehicle collision response system comprising: a collision response processing device including a first information recording unit for recording . The in-vehicle collision response system further includes a communication device that communicates with the outside of the host vehicle,
The collision handling apparatus further: (C) transmits the first information through the communication apparatus when the possibility of collision estimated by the collision possibility estimation processing unit is higher than the set first collision possibility. A first information transmission processing unit; and (D) a possibility of a collision estimated by the collision possibility estimation unit is higher than another setting possibility of collision, which is a possibility of being set higher than the setting first collision possibility 2. The in-vehicle collision response system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a second information transmission processing unit configured to transmit second information that is information to that effect through the communication device . The in-vehicle collision response system further includes a switch that is manually operated by the driver,
When either the first information or the second information is transmitted, the collision response processing device uses the switch operation by the driver as a trigger for canceling information for canceling the communication. The in-vehicle collision response system according to claim 2 , further comprising a cancellation information transmission processing unit that transmits through the device.

Images