JP6426937B2 - Behavior prediction device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a behavior prediction device that predicts the rotational behavior of a vehicle due to a collision.

  The vehicle is provided with an air bag device that inflates an air bag, an active headrest device that moves a headrest forward, and the like, from the viewpoint of protecting an occupant at the time of a collision. For example, the airbag apparatus has an inflator that generates gas at the time of a collision, and an airbag that is inflated by the gas from the inflator. Such an airbag apparatus is stored in a steering wheel, an instrument panel, a seat, a pillar, etc., and the operation state of each airbag apparatus is controlled according to the collision situation.

  For example, when the vehicle makes an offset collision, a yaw moment acts on the vehicle body to rotate, and therefore, there is a possibility that the occupant may be laterally detached from the front airbag. Therefore, an air bag apparatus has been proposed in which an acceleration sensor detects an offset collision, and in the case of an offset collision, not only the front airbag is deployed but also the side curtain airbag is deployed. (See Patent Document 1). The air bag device described in Patent Document 1 detects an acceleration in the front-rear direction and the vehicle width direction by an acceleration sensor, and is an offset collision when a large acceleration is detected not only in the front-rear direction but also in the vehicle width direction. It is judged.

JP, 2013-220743, A

  By the way, the airbag apparatus described in patent document 1 determines whether it is an offset collision based on the acceleration at the time of collision, and controls the deployment of the airbag based on the determination result. That is, since it is a device that determines the collision situation after the vehicle actually collides, it is necessary to determine the collision situation within a very limited time to deploy the airbag. Therefore, it is required to predict the rotational behavior of the vehicle before the collision, instead of determining the collision situation after the vehicle actually collides. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described airbag device, and it is required to predict the rotational behavior of the vehicle due to the collision also in various devices in which switching of the control method is effective when the vehicle rotates with the collision. ing.

  An object of the present invention is to predict the rotational behavior of a vehicle due to a collision.

The behavior prediction device of the present invention is a behavior prediction device that predicts the rotational behavior of a vehicle due to a collision, and includes a position calculation unit that calculates relative position information of the vehicle and the collision object, and transition of the position information And a contact portion prediction unit that predicts a contact portion of the vehicle with respect to the collision object based on a speed difference calculation unit that calculates a moving speed difference between the vehicle and the collision target based on the And a moment calculation unit that calculates a moment about a vertical axis acting on the vehicle at the time of a collision based on the movement speed difference and the contact portion, and predicts the rotational behavior of the vehicle based on the moment The vehicle control system further includes: a rotation prediction unit; and an air bag control unit that controls deployment timing of the plurality of air bag modules based on the rotation behavior of the vehicle. Executes a first deployment mode in which deployment timings of a plurality of air bag modules are mutually adjusted when the rotation behavior of the vehicle falls below a threshold, while deploying a plurality of airbag modules when the rotation behavior of the vehicle exceeds the threshold The second expansion mode is executed to shift the timings from each other.

  According to the present invention, the moment about the vertical axis acting on the vehicle at the time of a collision is calculated based on the transition of relative position information between the vehicle and the collision object. As described above, it is possible to predict the rotational behavior of the vehicle due to the collision by calculating the moment acting at the time of the collision before the collision.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle equipped with an airbag system. It is the schematic which shows an example of an airbag system. It is a block diagram showing a part of function which a control unit has. (A)-(c) is an image figure showing an example of the approach situation of vehicles and a collision subject. (A) And (b) is an image figure which shows the collision condition of a vehicle and a collision object. (A) And (b) is an image figure which shows the collision condition of a vehicle and a collision object. (A)-(c) is an image figure which shows the influence which an apparent moment of inertia gives to rotation behavior. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the execution procedure of air bag deployment control. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the expansion | deployment condition of the air bag module in a normal expansion | deployment mode. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the expansion | deployment condition of the air bag module in a normal expansion | deployment mode. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the expansion | deployment condition of the airbag module in spin deployment mode. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the expansion | deployment condition of the airbag module in spin deployment mode. (A)-(c) is an image figure which shows the influence which an apparent moment of inertia gives to rotation behavior.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a vehicle 11 equipped with an airbag system 10. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of the airbag system 10. The airbag system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 incorporates a behavior prediction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag system 10 has a plurality of airbag modules A1 to A14 installed in each part in the vehicle compartment. In front of the driver seat 12, an air bag module A1 is provided as a front air bag, which is stored in a steering wheel (not shown). In front of the driver seat 12, an airbag module A2 is provided as a knee airbag, which is stored in the lower part of an instrument panel (not shown). Furthermore, on the side of the driver seat 12, as a side airbag, an airbag module A3 stored at the side of the driver seat is provided. Similarly, in front of the passenger seat 13, an air bag module A4 is provided as a front air bag, which is stored at the upper portion of an instrument panel (not shown). In front of the passenger seat 13, an airbag module A5 is provided as a knee airbag, which is stored in the lower part of an instrument panel (not shown). Further, on the side of the passenger seat 13, an air bag module A6 is provided as a side airbag, which is stored on the side of the passenger seat. Furthermore, between the driver seat 12 and the passenger seat 13, an airbag module A7 is provided as a center airbag, which is stored on the driver seat side or passenger seat side.

  In front of the right rear seat 14, an airbag module A8 is provided as a front airbag, which is stored at the back of the driver seat. Further, on the side of the right rear seat 14, as a side airbag, an airbag module A9 which is stored at the side of the right rear seat is provided. Similarly, in front of the left rear seat 15, an airbag module A10 is provided as a front airbag, which is stored at the back of the passenger seat. Further, on the side of the left rear seat 15, an air bag module A11 stored in the left rear seat side portion is provided as a side airbag. Furthermore, between the right rear seat 14 and the left rear seat 15, an airbag module A12 is provided as a center airbag, which is stored on the right rear seat side or the left rear seat side. Furthermore, on the side of the vehicle body, as a curtain airbag, airbag modules A13 and A14 stored between a roof panel (not shown) and a ceiling lining are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the airbag system 10 has a control unit 20 configured of a CPU, a memory, and the like to control the airbag modules A1 to A14. The control unit 20 includes acceleration sensors Sa1 and Sa2 for detecting acceleration at the time of collision at the front of the vehicle body, acceleration sensors Sa3 to Sa6 for detecting acceleration at the time of collision at the vehicle body side, and detects acceleration at collision Acceleration sensors Sa7 and Sa8 are connected. Also, connected to the control unit 20 are a camera unit C1 for imaging the front of the vehicle, a camera unit C2 for imaging the right of the vehicle, a camera unit C3 for imaging the left of the vehicle, and a camera unit C4 for imaging the rear of the vehicle . Further, in the control unit 20, a seating sensor Sb1 for detecting the presence or absence and physical constitution of the driver in the driver seat 12, a seating sensor Sb2 for detecting presence or absence of the occupant in the passenger seat 13 and the presence or absence of the occupant in the right rear seat 14 A seating sensor Sb3 for detecting a physical size and the like, and a seating sensor Sb4 for detecting the presence and the physical size of a passenger in the left rear seat 15 are connected. Furthermore, in the control unit 20, a wheel speed sensor 21 for detecting the rotational speed of each wheel, a steering angle sensor 22 for detecting the steering angle of the steering wheel, and a yaw rate sensor for detecting the rotational angular velocity around the vertical axis of the vehicle 11, 23 mag is connected. The control unit 20 also incorporates an acceleration sensor 24 for detecting the acceleration at the time of a collision.

  Subsequently, the function of the control unit 20 will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a part of the function of the control unit 20. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 20 controls the deployment of the air bag modules A1 to A14 based on the vehicle behavior prediction unit 30 that predicts the rotation behavior of the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision and the predicted rotation behavior. And a control unit 31. The vehicle behavior prediction unit 30 includes an image processing unit 32, a collision prediction unit 33, a yaw moment calculation unit 34, an inertia moment calculation unit 35, and a rotation prediction unit 36. The control unit 20 including the vehicle behavior prediction unit 30 functions as a position calculation unit, a speed difference calculation unit, a contact part prediction unit, and a moment calculation unit as described later.

  The camera units C1 to C4 incorporate an image sensor such as a CCD or a CMOS, and transmit image data captured at a predetermined cycle to the image processing unit 32. The image processing unit 32 processes image data of the surroundings of the vehicle acquired from the camera units C1 to C4, and detects a collision object X existing around the vehicle 11, that is, another vehicle, an obstacle, or the like. In addition, the image processing unit 32 includes a functional unit 32a that functions as a position calculation unit and a functional unit 32b that functions as a speed difference calculation unit. The image processing unit 32 including the functional units 32a and 32b calculates position information such as relative coordinates of the vehicle 11 and the collision object X from the image data at predetermined intervals, and the vehicle 11 is calculated based on the transition of the position information. And the moving speed difference between the object X and the collision object X are calculated. Further, the image processing unit 32 calculates the relative moving direction of the vehicle 11 with respect to the collision object X based on the transition of relative position information between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X. Then, the collision prediction unit 33 determines whether or not the vehicle 11 collides with the collision object X within a predetermined time, based on the position information acquired from the image processing unit 32, the moving speed difference, the moving direction, and the like. . Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the steering angle is transmitted from the steering angle sensor 22 to the collision prediction unit 33, and the collision prediction unit 33 considers the turning situation of the vehicle 11, and then the collision target object with the vehicle 11. It is determined whether or not there is a collision with X.

  Here, FIGS. 4A to 4C are image diagrams showing an example of the approach situation of the vehicle 11 and the collision object X. As shown in FIG. In FIGS. 4A to 4C, the length of the arrow represents the magnitude of the moving speed difference between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X, and the direction of the arrow indicates the relativeness of the vehicle 11 to the collision object X. It represents the direction of movement. In addition, the vehicle 11 shown with the broken line in FIG. 4 (a)-(c) has shown the arrival position of the vehicle 11 in after predetermined time. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, in the case where the collision object X is present in the moving direction of the vehicle 11, but the movement speed difference is smaller than the distance between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X Since the vehicle 11 does not reach the collision object X after time, the collision prediction unit 33 determines that there is no possibility of collision. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, in the case where the collision object X is present in the moving direction of the vehicle 11 and the moving speed difference is larger than the distance between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X, Since the vehicle 11 reaches the collision object X after a predetermined time, the collision prediction unit 33 determines that there is a possibility of a collision. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, although the moving speed difference is larger than the distance between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X, the collision object X deviates from the moving direction of the vehicle 11 with the steering operation. The collision prediction unit 33 determines that there is no possibility of a collision.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when it is determined by the collision prediction unit 33 that there is a possibility of a collision, the judgment result is transmitted from the collision prediction unit 33 to the yaw moment calculation unit 34. The yaw moment calculation unit 34 calculates a yaw moment Ym acting on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision, that is, a moment about a vertical axis acting on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision. Subsequently, the rotation prediction unit 36 predicts the rotation behavior of the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision based on the yaw moment Ym transmitted from the yaw moment calculation unit 34. Here, in order to improve the prediction accuracy of the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11, the moment of inertia calculation unit 35 is provided in the vehicle behavior prediction unit 30, and the apparent moment of inertia Im of the vehicle 11 is calculated by the inertia moment calculation unit 35. Ru. The apparent moment of inertia Im of the vehicle 11 is an index indicating the ease of rotation of the vehicle 11, and is an index that changes according to the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface, the turning condition of the vehicle 11, and the like. The rotation prediction unit 36 predicts the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision, based on the inertia moment Im and the yaw moment Ym described above. The rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 means a rotational angle, a rotational angular velocity, a rotational angular acceleration, a rotational direction, etc. when the vehicle 11 rotates around the vertical axis of the vehicle center of gravity C.

  Hereinafter, the calculation procedure of the yaw moment Ym by the yaw moment calculation unit 34 will be described in detail, and the prediction situation of the rotation behavior by the rotation prediction unit 36 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the yaw moment calculation unit 34 has a functional unit 34 a functioning as a contact site prediction unit and a functional unit 34 b functioning as a moment calculation unit. As described later, the yaw moment calculation unit 34 including the function units 34a and 34b predicts the contact portion α of the vehicle 11 with respect to the collision object X, and calculates the yaw moment Ym acting on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision.

  Here, FIGS. 5 and 6 are image diagrams showing a collision situation between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X. As shown in FIG. 5A, when there is a collision object X in the traveling direction of the vehicle 11 and it is determined that there is a possibility of collision with the collision object X, the yaw moment is calculated. The contact position between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X, that is, the contact portion α of the vehicle 11 with the collision object X is predicted by the unit 34. As shown in FIG. 5A, when predicting the position of the contact portion α, the yaw moment calculator 34 analyzes the outer shape of the collision object X from the image data, and makes contact with the vehicle 11 first. The convex part Xa of the collision object X to be identified is specified. Then, the yaw moment calculation unit 34 predicts the outer edge position of the vehicle 11 facing the convex portion Xa of the collision object X as the contact portion α of the vehicle 11. Note that the direction in which the convex portion Xa and the vehicle 11 face each other is the relative moving direction of the vehicle 11 and the collision object X calculated based on the transition of the position information. As described above, the contact portion α of the vehicle 11 with respect to the collision object X is predicted based on the transition of relative position information between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X. If it is within the opposing range Xb of the collision object X with respect to the vehicle 11, another outer edge position of the vehicle 11 may be predicted as the contact portion α.

  When the contact portion α of the vehicle 11 is thus predicted, the offset amount β between the vehicle center of gravity C of the vehicle 11 and the contact portion α is subsequently calculated. That is, the reference line L1 extending in the relative moving direction of the collision object X is calculated, the reference line L2 passing through the vehicle center of gravity C and parallel to the reference line L1 is calculated, and these reference line L1 and the reference line L2 are calculated. And an offset amount β between Next, based on the moving speed difference between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X, the thrust F acting on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision is calculated. The magnitude of the thrust F acting at the time of the collision varies depending on the mass of the vehicle 11, the mass of the collision object X, and the collision object X is a fixed object or the collision object X is a movable object. Therefore, the thrust F may be corrected based on these pieces of information. Further, since the magnitude of the thrust F acting at the time of the collision is determined by the moving speed difference at the collision time, the moving speed difference at the collision time is predicted from the moving speed difference calculated before the collision, The thrust F may be calculated using the difference.

As described above, when the offset amount β and the thrust force F are calculated, the yaw moment Ym acting on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision is calculated based on the following equation (1). That is, as shown to Fig.5 (a), when collision of collision object X is predicted with respect to the left front part of the vehicle 11, as shown to FIG.5 (b), it acts on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision. As the yaw moment to be calculated, a yaw moment Ym for rotating the vehicle 11 in the left direction is calculated. On the other hand, as shown to Fig.6 (a), when collision of collision object X is predicted with respect to the right front part of the vehicle 11, as shown to FIG.6 (b), it acts on the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision. As the yaw moment to be generated, a yaw moment Ym for rotating the vehicle 11 in the right direction is calculated.
Ym = F × β (1)

  Thus, when the yaw moment Ym is calculated, the rotation prediction unit 36 predicts the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 from the magnitude of the yaw moment Ym. By the way, although the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 caused by the vehicle collision can be predicted by the magnitude of the yaw moment Ym, as described above, in order to improve the prediction accuracy of the rotational behavior, the apparent moment of inertia Im of the vehicle 11 It is desirable to correct the rotational behavior by Here, FIGS. 7A to 7C are image diagrams showing the influence of the apparent moment of inertia Im on the rotational behavior. FIG. 7 (a) shows a collision situation on a traveling road surface with a large frictional resistance, FIG. 7 (b) shows a collision situation on a traveling road surface with a moderate friction resistance, and FIG. 7 (c) The collision situation on a low friction road surface is shown. In FIGS. 7A to 7C, a yaw moment Ym having the same magnitude acts on the vehicle 11.

As shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, even when a yaw moment Ym of the same magnitude acts at the time of a collision, the rotation angle, the rotation angular velocity, etc. of the vehicle 11 are determined according to the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface. The rotational behavior of will change. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the frictional resistance on the traveling road surface is large, it is a situation where the vehicle 11 does not easily rotate at the time of a collision, that is, a situation where the inertia moment Im is large. Will appear smaller. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the frictional resistance on the traveling road surface is small, the vehicle 11 is easily rotated at the time of a collision, that is, the inertia moment Im is small. Will appear large. Therefore, the index M indicating the magnitude of the rotational behavior decreases as the moment of inertia Im increases, and is calculated based on the following equation (2) so as to increase as the moment of inertia Im decreases. That is, the index M representing the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 is corrected to a smaller value as the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface is larger, and the index M representing the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 is corrected to a larger value as the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface is smaller. Be done. The frictional resistance of the traveling road surface is estimated based on, for example, the relationship between the drive torque transmitted to each wheel and the slip state of each wheel.
M = Ym / Im (2)

  Subsequently, airbag deployment control for deploying the airbag modules A1 to A14 in the event of a vehicle collision will be described. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of an execution procedure of the air bag deployment control. As described above, the control unit 20 that executes the airbag deployment control has the airbag control unit 31 that performs deployment control of the airbag modules A1 to A14 based on the predicted rotational behavior. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the air bag control unit 31 sets the expansion mode of the airbag modules A1 to A14 based on the index M indicating the rotational behavior, and the air according to the expansion mode. And a deployment control unit 38 for deploying the bag modules A1 to A14. Each of the air bag modules A1 to A14 has an inflator 40 for generating a gas and a bag 41 inflated by the gas. When a collision occurs, an ignition signal is output from the deployment control unit 38 to the inflator 40, and the gas released from the inflator 40 can inflate the bag 41.

  Hereinafter, the execution procedure of air bag deployment control by control unit 20 is explained. As shown in FIG. 8, in step S1, the image data transmitted from the camera units C1 to C4 is processed, and in step S2, the collision object X existing around the vehicle 11, that is, another vehicle, an obstacle, etc. It is analyzed. Next, in step S3, the possibility of a collision between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X is determined based on the relative position information between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X, the moving speed difference, and the like. If it is determined in step S3 that there is a possibility of a collision, the process proceeds to step S4, the yaw moment Ym at the time of collision and the inertia moment Im of the vehicle 11 are calculated, and the rotation at the time of collision is calculated based on the moments Ym and Im. An index M indicating a behavior is calculated.

Subsequently, in step S5, it is determined whether the index M indicating the rotational behavior at the time of the collision is equal to or greater than the threshold Mo. If it is determined in step S5 that the index M is equal to or greater than the threshold Mo, that is, if it is determined that the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 at the time of a collision is large, the process proceeds to step S6 and predetermined airbag modules A1 to A14 are obtained. The spin expansion mode (second expansion mode) is set to expand in stages. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the index M indicating the rotational behavior at the time of the collision is less than the threshold Mo, that is, it is determined that the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 at the time of the collision is small, the process proceeds to step S7. A normal deployment mode (first deployment mode) is established in which predetermined airbag modules A1 to A14 are deployed almost simultaneously.

  As described above, when the spin deployment mode or the normal deployment mode is set according to the rotational behavior at the time of the collision, the process proceeds to step S8, and it is determined whether the collision state requires deployment of the air bag modules A1 to A14. Be done. In step S8, for example, when the acceleration sensor Sa1 to Sa8 detects an acceleration equal to or higher than a predetermined level, and the acceleration sensor 24 in the control unit 20 detects an acceleration equal to or higher than the predetermined level, the airbag module It is determined that the collision state requires the development of A1 to A14. If it is determined in step S8 that the collision state requires the air bag modules A1 to A14 to be expanded, the process proceeds to step S9, and an ignition signal is output from the control unit 20 to the air bag modules A1 to A14 to be expanded. . The airbag modules A1 to A14 to be deployed are determined according to the seating condition of the occupant in each of the seats 12 to 15, the position of the acceleration sensors Sa1 to Sa8 detecting acceleration above a predetermined level, and the setting status of the deployment mode. Ru.

  FIGS. 9 and 10 are views showing the deployment state of the air bag modules A1 to A14 in the normal deployment mode. FIGS. 11 and 12 are views showing the deployment of the air bag modules A1 to A14 in the spin deployment mode. 9 to 12 show the unfolded state when the occupant P is seated on the driver seat 12. FIG. Further, the collision situation shown in FIGS. 9 to 12 is a collision situation where the vehicle 11 going straight goes into collision with the collision object X. In FIGS. 9 to 12, (a) shows a development state immediately after the collision, and (b) shows a development state after (a).

  As shown in FIG. 9 (a), when the collision object X collides with the left front of the vehicle 11 and the vehicle 11 rotates slightly in the left direction, the occupant P travels in the nearest traveling direction (arrow .alpha.1 Direction) will move. As described above, in a collision situation in which the occupant P moves forward with respect to the vehicle body, the normal deployment mode is selected because the index M indicating the rotational behavior falls below the threshold Mo. Then, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the front airbag A1 and the knee airbag A2 in front of the driver seat 12 are deployed. Further, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the collision object X collides with the right front portion of the vehicle 11 and the vehicle 11 rotates slightly in the right direction, the occupant P travels the most by inertia force. It moves in the direction (arrow α1 direction). As described above, in a collision situation in which the occupant P moves forward with respect to the vehicle body, the normal deployment mode is selected because the index M indicating the rotational behavior falls below the threshold Mo. Then, as shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b), the front airbag A1 and the knee airbag A2 in front of the driver seat 12 are deployed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 11A, even when the collision object X collides with the left front portion of the vehicle 11 and the vehicle 11 largely rotates in the left direction, the occupant P travels in the most It moves in the arrow α1 direction). As described above, in the collision situation in which the occupant P moves obliquely with respect to the vehicle body, the spin deployment mode is selected because the index M indicating the rotational behavior exceeds the threshold Mo. Then, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), the side airbag A3 and the curtain airbag A13 on the side of the driver seat 12 are expanded, and then, as shown in FIG. 11 (b), the front of the driver seat 12 The front airbag A1 and the knee airbag A2 are deployed. Further, as shown in FIG. 12A, even when the collision object X collides with the right front portion of the vehicle 11 and the vehicle 11 largely rotates in the right direction, the occupant P travels in the most It moves in the arrow α1 direction). As described above, in the collision situation in which the occupant P moves obliquely with respect to the vehicle body, the spin deployment mode is selected because the index M indicating the rotational behavior exceeds the threshold Mo. Then, as shown in FIG. 12 (a), the center airbag A7 on the side of the driver seat 12 is expanded, and then, as shown in FIG. 12 (b), the front airbag A1 in front of the driver seat 12 and The knee airbag A2 is deployed.

  As described above, when the vehicle 11 rotates largely due to the collision, the air bag module to be expanded is not executed, but the normal expansion mode to expand the air bag modules A1 to A14 to be expanded substantially simultaneously. A spin deployment mode is implemented which deploys A1 to A14 with a time difference. As a result, even when the vehicle 11 is rotated due to a collision, the air bag modules A1 to A14 can be properly deployed in accordance with the occupant P moving by inertia force, and the occupant P is appropriately protected. It becomes possible. Furthermore, since the behavior prediction apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can predict the rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 before the collision, it is possible to secure a sufficient time until the deployment of the air bag modules A1 to A14. As a result, the airbag modules A1 to A14 can be properly deployed.

  In the above description, although it has been described that the rotational behavior at the time of collision changes due to the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface, the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be. Here, FIGS. 13A to 13C are image diagrams showing the influence of the apparent moment of inertia Im on the rotational behavior. FIG. 13 (a) shows a situation in which the vehicle collides during a right turn, FIG. 13 (b) shows a situation in which a collision occurs during straight ahead, and FIG. 13 (c) shows a situation in which a collision occurs during a left turn. ing. In FIGS. 13 (a) to 13 (c), the yaw moment Ym of the same magnitude acts on the vehicle 11, and the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface has the same value.

  As shown in FIGS. 13 (a) to 13 (c), even when a yaw moment Ym having the same magnitude acts at the time of a collision, the moment of inertia Im changes according to the turning situation of the vehicle 11, The rotational behavior will change. For example, as shown in FIG. 13A, when the collision object X collides with the left front portion of the vehicle 11, a yaw moment Ym for rotating the vehicle 11 in the left direction occurs at the time of the collision. At the time of such a collision, when the vehicle 11 is turning to the right, the yaw moment Ym generated at the time of the collision is canceled by the yaw moment Ym1 generated at the time of turning traveling. Appear small. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 13C, since the yaw moment Ym generated at the time of collision is promoted by the yaw moment Ym1 generated at the time of turning when the vehicle 11 turns leftward, The rotational behavior of the vehicle 11 appears largely. As described above, the moment of inertia Im used to calculate the index M indicating the rotational behavior not only changes with the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface, but also changes with the turning condition of the vehicle 11. Therefore, the turning condition of the vehicle 11 may be determined based on the steering angle, the yaw rate, or the like, and the index M indicating the rotational behavior may be corrected according to the turning condition.

  It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In the above description, although the example which applied the behavior prediction apparatus which is one embodiment of the present invention to air bag system 10 was explained, it is not restricted to this, and the control method according to the rotation behavior at the time of a collision The present invention can be effectively applied to various devices in which switching is effective. For example, the present invention can be effectively applied to an active headrest device that protects an occupant at the time of a collision by moving the headrest at the time of a collision.

  In the above description, the collision pattern in which the collision object X collides from the front of the vehicle 11 is illustrated, but it is not limited thereto. For example, even if the collision pattern in which the collision object X collides from the side of the vehicle 11 or the collision pattern in which the collision object X collides from the rear of the vehicle 11, the present invention can be effectively applied. .

  In the above description, the collision object X around the vehicle is detected by using the camera units C1 to C4 such as a monocular camera and a stereo camera, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the collision object X around the vehicle may be detected by using a millimeter wave radar or an infrared laser. In addition, the collision object X around the vehicle may be detected by using a camera unit, a millimeter wave radar, an infrared laser or the like in combination. Although the four camera units C1 to C4 are mounted on the vehicle 11 in order to detect the collision object X around the vehicle in the above description, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle 11 Alternatively, one camera unit may be mounted.

  In the above description, the airbag modules A1 to A14 are deployed based on the detection signals of the acceleration sensors Sa1 to Sa8, 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The airbag modules A1 to A14 may be deployed using (Time To Collision). TTC is a value obtained by dividing the distance between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X by the moving speed difference between the vehicle 11 and the collision object X.

  In the above description, the position calculation unit, the velocity difference calculation unit, the contact site prediction unit, and the moment calculation unit are incorporated into one control unit 20, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the position calculation unit, the speed difference calculation unit, the contact site prediction unit, and the moment calculation unit may be divided into a plurality of control units and incorporated.

11 Vehicle 20 control unit (position calculation unit, speed difference calculation unit, contact part prediction unit, moment calculation unit)
X collision object

Claims (3)

A behavior prediction device for predicting the rotational behavior of a vehicle due to a collision,
A position calculation unit that calculates relative position information of the vehicle and the collision object;
A speed difference calculating unit that calculates a moving speed difference between the vehicle and the collision object based on the transition of the position information;
A contact site prediction unit that predicts a contact site of the vehicle with respect to the collision object based on the transition of the position information;
A moment calculation unit that calculates a moment about a vertical axis acting on the vehicle at the time of a collision based on the movement speed difference and the contact portion;
A rotation prediction unit that predicts the rotation behavior of the vehicle based on the moment;
An airbag control unit that controls deployment timing of the plurality of airbag modules based on the rotational behavior of the vehicle;
Have
The air bag control unit
While executing the first deployment mode in which deployment timings of a plurality of air bag modules are mutually adjusted when the rotational behavior of the vehicle falls below a threshold,
Performing a second deployment mode in which deployment timings of a plurality of airbag modules are mutually offset when the rotational behavior of the vehicle exceeds the threshold value;
Behavior prediction device. A behavior predicting device according to claim 1,
The rotational behavior of the vehicle predicted based on the moment is corrected based on the frictional resistance of the traveling road surface.
Behavior prediction device. A behavior predicting device according to claim 2,
The larger the frictional resistance is, the smaller the rotational behavior of the vehicle is corrected, and the smaller the frictional resistance is, the larger the rotational behavior of the vehicle is corrected.
Behavior prediction device.

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