JP4880401B2 - In-vehicle device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle or the like.

  Patent Document 1 includes a camera that captures the front of the vehicle and a camera that captures the side of the vehicle, and outputs an image that is output according to the direction of the vehicle. A technique for switching to an image by a camera that shoots the image is described.

JP 2003-146133 A

  For example, a bus or a large truck may travel in front of the host vehicle. In such a case, the field of view may be blocked by the bus, the large truck, etc., and the traffic signal ahead may not be visible.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique that can facilitate confirmation of a traffic signal ahead even when the field of view is blocked by a bus, a large truck, or the like. .

The present invention has been made in order to achieve the above object, and is characterized in that a traffic light is photographed by imaging means installed on the left and right sides of a vehicle , and the image is output to an output device.

The present invention is an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, wherein the position of each traffic light and each traffic light is a right-attached traffic light with a signal lamp on the right of the column, or the signal lamp is on the left of the column. From the current position of the vehicle based on the traffic signal information, a storage device that stores traffic signal information including a left-handed traffic signal, a storage device that stores traffic signal information, a plurality of imaging units installed on the left and right of the vehicle When the traffic light is located within a predetermined range, a means for determining whether the traffic light is a right-attached traffic light or a left-attached traffic light, and activates any one of the plurality of imaging means according to the determination. And an output means for outputting an image photographed by the activated imaging means to an output device.

  According to the technology of the present invention, it is possible to easily check the traffic signal ahead even when the field of view is obstructed by a bus or a large truck traveling immediately before.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Here, an example in which an image taken by a camera installed on a side mirror is output to a display of a navigation system will be described.

  First, a configuration example of the navigation system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The navigation system 1 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown). In FIG. 1, the navigation system 1 includes an angular velocity sensor 101, a vehicle speed sensor 102, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 103, a calculation unit 104, a storage device 105, an input device 106, a display 107, an audio output device 108, a camera 109, and the like. Have

  The angular velocity sensor 101 detects a change in the azimuth of the vehicle by detecting the yaw rate of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 102 calculates the vehicle speed by counting pulses output at time intervals proportional to the rotation of the output shaft of the vehicle transmission.

  The GPS receiver 103 receives a signal from a GPS satellite (not shown) and measures the distance between the vehicle and the GPS satellite and the rate of change of the distance, thereby measuring the position, traveling direction, traveling speed, etc. of the vehicle. To do.

  The storage device 105 is, for example, a storage medium such as a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) or a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disk-Random Access Memory), a drive device for the storage medium, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or the like. Store map data, traffic signal information, etc. The traffic signal information is information relating to traffic signals installed on the road. Details of the map data and the traffic signal information will be described later.

  The input device 106 is, for example, a remote control and a remote control receiving unit, a touch panel, a switch, or the like.

  The display 107 displays a map and synthesizes and displays the current position of the vehicle on the displayed map. In addition, an image captured by the camera 109 is displayed. The voice output device 108 is, for example, a speaker and outputs a voice for guidance and the like.

  The camera 109 is installed in each of the left and right side mirrors of the vehicle on which the navigation system 1 is mounted. In the following description, the camera 109 installed on each of the left and right side mirrors will be described with particular reference to the camera 109 installed on the right side mirror as “camera 109a”, and the camera installed on the left side mirror. 109 is referred to as “camera 109b”.

  The camera 109 may be for this embodiment described below, or may be provided for other functions such as for a side blind monitor.

  The arithmetic unit 104 is for controlling the operation of each peripheral device described above, and includes an AD converter 121, a counter 122, a RAM 123, a ROM 124, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 125, and the like.

  The AD converter 121 converts the signal (analog) of the angular velocity sensor 101 into a digital signal. The counter 122 counts the number of pulses output from the vehicle speed sensor 102, for example, every 0.1 second. The RAM 123 stores calculation data by the CPU 125, data read from the storage device 105, and the like. The ROM 124 stores programs, data, and the like.

  The CPU 125 implements a current position calculation unit 151, a determination unit 152, a camera control unit 153, an adjustment unit 154, an output processing unit 155, and the like by executing a program read from the ROM 124.

  The current position calculation unit 151 calculates the current position of the vehicle on which the navigation system 1 is mounted. The current position calculation process by the current position calculation unit 151 is the same as that of the conventional navigation system. The determination unit 152 determines whether to shoot with the left or right camera 109. The camera control unit 153 controls the camera 109. The adjustment unit 154 adjusts the shooting range of the camera 109. The output processing unit 155 outputs an image photographed by the camera 109 to the display 107.

  Although not shown, the navigation system 1 executes a program read from the ROM 124 by the CPU 125 to search for a route search function by the Dijkstra method, a recommended route guidance function, an address, a telephone number, a place name, a landmark, and the like. It is assumed that the functions of the conventional navigation system such as functions are included. Here, the search function indicates, for example, the address data indicating the address and the location of the address, the phone book data indicating the location of the phone number and the phone number, and the location name and the location of the location name in advance in the storage device 105. Stores place name data, names of major buildings and places, and detailed information and landmark data that indicates the location, etc., and the search function applies from the input address, telephone number, place name, landmark, etc. The position and detailed information to be searched are displayed and displayed.

  Next, information stored in the storage device 105 will be described.

  First, map data will be described. In the present embodiment, the map data includes a plurality of meshes uniquely determined by latitude and longitude, and XY coordinates indicating positions in each mesh. Each mesh is indicated by a mesh ID. The map data includes a mesh ID, image data of a plurality of maps including XY coordinates in the mesh ID, road data, address data, place name data, and the like. The position on the map data is uniquely indicated by the mesh ID and XY coordinates.

  The road data is approximated by one or more line segments connecting two points, and these line segments are indicated by XY coordinates of the start point and the end point. Hereinafter, this line segment is called a link, and points at both ends of the link are called nodes.

  Next, the traffic signal information will be described.

  The traffic signal information includes, for example, an installation location (XY coordinates), an installation form, and the like for each traffic signal. This installation form is information for determining which of the camera 109a and the camera 109b is used for shooting. Here, an example in which there are a right-attached traffic light and a left-attached traffic light will be described as installation forms. Here, the right-attached traffic light indicates a traffic light whose signal lamp is on the right side of the column. Here, the left-attached traffic light indicates a traffic light whose signal lamp is on the left side of the column.

  Next, an operation example will be described.

  First, an example of the operation for calculating the current position will be described with reference to FIGS. This current position calculation process is the same as that of the conventional navigation system.

  The operation illustrated in FIG. 2 is an operation performed by the current position calculation unit 151 at a constant cycle, for example, every 100 mS.

  First, the current position calculation unit 151 reads the output value of the angular velocity sensor 101 from the AD converter 121 (S201). Next, the current position calculation unit 151 calculates the traveling direction (S202). The calculation of the traveling azimuth may be arbitrary. For example, it may be calculated from the current position calculated last time and the output value of the angular velocity sensor 101.

  The current position calculation unit 151 counts the number of pulses output from the vehicle speed sensor 102 by the counter 122 every predetermined time such as every 0.1 second, and reads the counted value (S203). The current position calculation unit 151 calculates a distance traveled during a predetermined time of 0.1 seconds by multiplying the read value by a distance coefficient (S204).

  The current position calculation unit 151 sequentially stores the traveling direction and distance for each predetermined time acquired in this manner in the RAM 123.

  Next, the current position calculation unit 151 adds the distance value traveled by the vehicle within the predetermined time calculated in S204 to the distance value up to the previous time, and the added distance becomes a predetermined distance (for example, 20 m) or more. Whether or not (S205).

  As a result of the determination in S205, if the distance is less than the predetermined distance, the current position calculation unit 151 ends the current process and performs the above process again after a certain period.

  If the result of determination in S205 is that the distance is equal to or greater than the predetermined distance, the current position calculation unit 151 stores the traveling direction and distance at that time in the RAM 123, and executes map matching processing described later (S206). Note that the distance stored in the RAM 123 by the current position calculation unit 151 is the predetermined distance used for the determination in the process of S206, for example, 20 m.

  Next, an example of map match operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the current position calculation unit 151 reads the traveling direction, distance, and the like from the RAM 123 (S301). Next, the current position calculation unit 151 calculates the moving amount of the vehicle separately for the latitude direction and the longitude direction based on the read traveling direction, distance, and the like. Furthermore, the current position calculation unit 151 adds the calculated movement amount in each direction to the position of the candidate point obtained in the previous map match process, and is a virtual current position that is currently estimated to be present. The position is calculated (S302).

  Next, the current position calculation unit 151 calculates one or more candidate points from the calculated virtual current position and the road data included in the map data (S303), and further calculates the reliability of each candidate point. (S304).

  Here, candidate points and reliability will be described. The current position calculation unit 151 reads a map around the virtual current position from the storage device 105, selects road data (line segment) within a preset distance D centered on the virtual current position, and selects these Take out. In the present embodiment, a map included in an area corresponding to a square having a length L1 centered on the virtual current position is read from the storage device 105.

  Next, the current position calculation unit 151 selects and selects only the line segment in which the direction of the line segment is within the predetermined value from the extracted direction from the extracted line segment. With respect to all the n line segments, a perpendicular line is dropped from the virtual current position, and the length of the perpendicular line L (n) is obtained. Next, based on the lengths of these perpendicular lines, an error cost value ec (n) defined by the following equation is calculated for each selected line segment.

ec (n) = α × | θcar−θ (n) | + β | L (n) |
Here, θcar is the vehicle direction at the virtual current position, θ (n) is the direction of the line segment, L (n) is the distance from the virtual current position to the line segment, that is, the length of the perpendicular, α and β are , A weighting factor. The values of these weighting factors may be changed depending on whether the shift in the traveling direction or the direction of the road or the shift in the current position or the road is important in selecting a road on which the current position is located.

  Next, the current position calculation unit 151 is defined by the following equation according to the calculated error cost ec (n) and the accumulated error cost es related to the candidate point calculated in the previous process. The accumulated error cost es (n) in the current process is calculated.

es (n) = (1-k) × es + k × ec (n)
Here, k is a weight coefficient larger than 0 and smaller than 1. Next, the current position calculation unit 151 calculates a reliability trst (n) defined by the following equation based on the calculated accumulated error cost es (n).

trst (n) = 100 / (1 + es (n))
Next, based on the calculated reliability trst (n), the current position calculation unit 151 determines a point advanced from a certain candidate point by a length corresponding to the distance R traveled by the vehicle along the corresponding line segment. And a new candidate point C (n). Therefore, when the number of line segments that are within a predetermined range D from the current position A with respect to a candidate point and the difference between the direction and the vehicle direction is equal to or less than a predetermined value is n, n pieces A new candidate point C (n) will be generated.

  When the candidate point and the reliability of each candidate point are calculated, the current position calculation unit 151 selects a candidate point having the highest reliability value among the candidate points, and sets the candidate point as a display candidate point ( S305). This display candidate point becomes information indicating the current position displayed on the display 107. The current position calculation unit 151 stores information indicating the position of the display candidate point in the RAM 123.

  Next, the current position calculation unit 151 positions the display candidate points read from the predetermined area of the RAM 123 on the map and displays them on the display 107 (S306).

  The current position may be calculated from the traveling direction, distance, map data, etc. acquired by the sensor, as described above, or from the position, traveling direction, traveling direction, etc. received by the GPS receiver 103. May be. In addition, the current position calculated from the traveling direction, distance, map data, and the like acquired by the above-described sensor may be corrected based on the position received by the GPS receiver 103.

  Next, an example of the operation of checking the traffic light from the captured image according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, before explaining the operation example of the navigation system 1, an example in which the field of view is blocked by the bus and the signal cannot be confirmed will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4A shows an example in which the vehicle 401 makes a left turn at an intersection of a traffic light with a signal lamp on the right side of the column (herein, a right-attached traffic light). In FIG. 4A, the bus 402 is traveling immediately before the vehicle 401. The vehicle 401 is traveling toward the left side of the lane for a left turn. In this case, it is difficult for the traffic light 403 to be confirmed from the vehicle 401. In such a case, the navigation system 1 according to the present embodiment takes a picture with a camera installed in the left side mirror of the vehicle 401. The viewing angle of the camera mounted on the left side mirror is, for example, a viewing angle 404. Thereby, it is possible to cover a wider range than the visual observation of the driver, and it is easy to check the traffic light. In the case of FIG. 4A, this is particularly effective for a right-hand drive vehicle.

  FIG. 4B shows an example in which the vehicle 411 turns right at the intersection of a traffic light with a signal lamp on the left side of the column (herein, a left-lit traffic signal). In FIG. 4B, the bus 412 is running immediately before the vehicle 411. The vehicle 411 is traveling toward the right side of the lane for a right turn. In this case, it is difficult to confirm the traffic light 413 from the vehicle 411. In such a case, the navigation system 1 of the present embodiment takes a picture with a camera installed in the right side mirror of the vehicle 411. The viewing angle of the camera mounted on the right side mirror is, for example, a viewing angle 414. Thereby, it is possible to cover a wider range than the visual observation of the driver, and it is easy to check the traffic light. In the case of FIG. 4B, this is particularly effective for a left-hand drive vehicle.

  Next, an operation example of the navigation system 1 that controls the above-described photographing operation will be described with reference to FIG.

  In addition, although the timing which the operation example demonstrated below starts is arbitrary, it shall start here every predetermined time or every predetermined distance driving | running | working here.

  In FIG. 5, the determination unit 152 determines whether or not the current position is within a predetermined range from the traffic light (S501). This current position is the current position calculated by the above-described processing. The determination unit 152 reads the traffic signal information from the storage device 105 and determines whether the calculated current position is within a predetermined range from each traffic signal. This predetermined range may be determined in advance or may vary depending on the speed of the vehicle.

  Next, the determination unit 152 determines whether it is either a right turn or a straight and right-attached traffic light (S502). Any technique may be used for the determination unit 152 to determine whether to turn right or go straight. For example, the determination unit 152 may determine from the output value from the winker sensor, the steering angle sensor (all not shown), and the angular velocity sensor 101. In addition, a technique for determining whether or not the determination unit 152 is a right-attached traffic signal may be arbitrary, but here it is determined from traffic signal information. As described above, the traffic signal information includes an installation position, an installation form, and the like for each traffic signal. Here, this installation form is a right-attached traffic light, a left-attached traffic light, or the like. The determination unit 152 selects a traffic signal that is present on the road where the vehicle is determined to be present by the above-described processing and is closest to the current position from the installation positions of the traffic signals in the traffic signal information. . Next, the determination unit 152 determines whether the installation form of the traffic signal is a right traffic signal or a left traffic signal from the traffic signal information.

  If the result of determination in S502 is either right turn or straight ahead and right-attached traffic light, the determination unit 152 instructs the camera control unit 153 to start the camera 109a. The camera control unit 153 outputs a command for starting the camera 109a in accordance with the instruction.

  The camera 109a is activated according to the command or the like and starts photographing (S503). Images taken by the camera 109a are sequentially input to the navigation system 1.

  The adjustment unit 154 determines whether or not a traffic light is included in the input image (S504). A specific operation example of this determination is arbitrary. For example, the adjustment unit 154 may determine whether or not a traffic light is included by performing image processing on the input image. For example, this image processing may be realized by pattern matching using an image of a signal lamp as a reference. Specifically, for example, when the image captured by the camera 109a includes an image area that matches the image of the signal lamp as a reference at a predetermined threshold or more, the adjustment unit 154 includes a traffic light in the input image. It is determined that it is included.

  As a result of the determination in S504, if a traffic light is included in the input image, the process proceeds to S509 described later.

  As a result of the determination in S504, when the input image does not include a traffic light, the adjustment unit 154 instructs the camera control unit 153 to change the shooting range of the camera 109a. In accordance with the instruction, the camera control unit 153 outputs a command or the like for instructing to change the shooting range of the camera 109a. The camera 109a changes the shooting range in accordance with the input command or the like (S505). Here, the technique for changing the imaging range may be arbitrary. For example, the camera 109a may be movable in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and the adjustment unit 154 may instruct the operation angle of the camera 109a in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

  Here, the operating angle in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction instructed by the adjustment unit 154 may be calculated based on the position of the signal lamp of the traffic light in the image, for example. Specifically, for example, when the signal lamp detected by pattern matching is on the right side on the image, the adjustment unit 154 may operate the camera 109a in the right direction. Similarly, for example, the adjustment unit 154 may operate the camera 109a upward when the signal lamp detected by pattern matching is on the upper side of the image.

  After moving the camera 109a in this manner, the adjustment unit 154 may perform the above-described processing of S504 again on the image captured by the camera 109a. As a result of the determination, when the traffic signal is not included in the image, the adjustment unit 154 may repeat the process of S505 described above. Even after the processes of S504 and S505 are repeated a predetermined number of times or more, if the captured image does not include a traffic light, the adjustment unit 154 may end the process. At this time, the adjustment unit 154 may display an image that does not include the traffic signal, and outputs information that notifies that the image including the traffic signal cannot be captured to the display 107 and the audio output device 108. May be.

  On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S502 is that the vehicle is not either a right turn or a straight and right traffic light, the vehicle is either a left turn or a straight and left traffic signal. The determination unit 152 instructs the camera control unit 153 to start the camera 109b. In accordance with the instruction, the camera control unit 153 outputs a command for starting the camera 109b.

  The camera 109b is activated in accordance with the command or the like and starts photographing (S506). Images taken by the camera 109b are sequentially input to the navigation system 1.

  The adjustment unit 154 determines whether or not a traffic light is included in the input image (S507). Since a specific operation example of this determination is the same as that in S504 described above, a description thereof will be omitted.

  As a result of the determination in S507, if a traffic light is included in the input image, the process proceeds to S509 described later.

  As a result of the determination in S507, if no signal is included in the input image, the adjustment unit 154 instructs the camera control unit 153 to change the shooting range of the camera 109b. In accordance with the instruction, the camera control unit 153 outputs a command or the like for instructing to change the shooting range of the camera 109b. The camera 109a changes the shooting range in accordance with the input command or the like (S508). Since this specific operation example is the same as S505 described above, a description thereof will be omitted.

  The output processing unit 155 outputs the input image to the display 107 (S509).

  An example of the screen output here will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 6A, the field of view 601 is an example of the field of view through the windshield of the driver. As shown in an example in FIG. 6A, the field of view is blocked because the vehicle is running behind the bus.

  In FIG. 6B, a screen 611 is an example of an image photographed by the camera 109 in the case of FIG. Note that the image 611 is an example of a case where it is determined in the above-described determination of S502 that the vehicle is a left turn or a straight ahead and left traffic signal. As described above, the image 611 including the traffic signal 612 can be output to the display 107.

  As shown in FIG. 6, an image including a traffic signal can be displayed on the display 107 of the navigation system 1. Therefore, even when the field of view is blocked by a bus or a large truck, the traffic signal can be confirmed. It becomes easy.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and design changes and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are included. .

  For example, in the above-described example, the example of the case where the traffic light has a right signal and a left signal of a horizontal signal lamp in which blue, yellow, and red lenses are arranged in a horizontal row has been described. However, the signal signal is not limited to this. Absent. For example, an arrow signal lamp indicating the direction in which the vehicle can travel, a vertical signal lamp with blue, yellow, and red lenses arranged in a single line, installed in the center of the intersection, blinking yellow or red for traffic in all directions of the intersection A four-way one-lamp blinking signal lamp that is a signal lamp that displays blinking, and a combination thereof may be used.

  Moreover, the timing at which shooting by the camera is started is arbitrary, and is not limited to the above example. Specifically, for example, the activation may be performed when the user instructs activation by pressing a button of the navigation system. In addition, for example, when an image is taken by a camera or the like every predetermined time or every predetermined distance, and it can be determined from the image that the driver's field of view is blocked by a predetermined range or more, the operations after S502 may be performed. good. A combination of these may also be used.

In the embodiment, it is a figure which shows the structural example of a navigation system. In the same embodiment, it is an operation example which shows the outline | summary in which a navigation system calculates a present position. In the embodiment, it is an operation example for calculating a current position. In the same embodiment, it is a figure for demonstrating the range image | photographed with a camera. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of shooting with a camera in the embodiment. In the same embodiment, it is a figure which shows the example of the image | photographed image.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Navigation system, 101: Angular velocity sensor, 102: Vehicle speed sensor, 103: GPS receiver, 104: Arithmetic unit, 105: Storage device 105: Input device, 107: Display, 108: Audio output device, 109: Camera, 121 : AD converter, 122: counter, 123: RAM, 124: ROM, 125: CPU, 151: current position calculation unit, 152: determination unit, 153: camera control unit, 154: adjustment unit, 155: output processing unit

Claims (3)

An in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle,
The position of each traffic light and the installation form that indicates whether each traffic light is a right-mounted traffic light that is on the right of the column or whether the traffic light is a left-mounted traffic signal that is on the left of the column. A storage device for storing traffic signal information;
A plurality of imaging means installed on the left and right of the vehicle;
Based on the traffic signal information, when the traffic signal is located within a predetermined range from the current position of the vehicle, means for determining whether the traffic signal is a right-handed traffic signal or a left-handed traffic signal;
Means for activating any one of the plurality of imaging means in response to the determination;
Output means for outputting an image photographed by the activated imaging means to an output device;
A vehicle-mounted device comprising: The in-vehicle device according to claim 1,
Vehicle apparatus, characterized by further comprising the image captured by the imaging means, adjusting means for adjusting the imaging range of the imaging means such traffic is included, the. The in-vehicle device according to claim 2,
It said adjustment means,
If the vehicle turns right, or when traffic light the vehicle is positioned on a straight advance or One within the predetermined range is right with traffic, to adjust the imaging range of the imaging means is apparatus to the right of the vehicle,
If the vehicle turns left, or, if traffic which the vehicle is positioned on a straight advance or One within the predetermined range is left with traffic, regulating the imaging range of the imaging means are devices on the left of the vehicle In-vehicle device characterized by

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