JP6500577B2 - Driving support device and driving support method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support apparatus and a driving support method that includes a signal information acquisition unit that acquires signal information related to a signal lamp installed at each of a plurality of intersections of a road on which the vehicle travels. .

  BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, research and development of a system for providing safe driving and improving convenience based on information on traffic conditions received from the outside have been promoted, which are provided with a communication function in an in-vehicle apparatus. In particular, a situation in which useless acceleration operation is continued or deceleration operation is delayed at the time of signal switching is not preferable from the viewpoints of safety and prevention of deterioration of fuel consumption, so the driver's speed adjustment is supported. Many technologies have been proposed.

  Specifically, so-called green wave driving support using road-to-vehicle communication is being put to practical use, prevention of transmission delay at the turn from stop signal to progress signal, stop support when the vehicle must stop at an intersection, and Passage support is provided to pass through intersections without stopping.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a speed range for the own vehicle to travel at a signalized intersection without stopping is calculated, and information for deceleration assistance to the driver is displayed on the display unit, and a rear vehicle is present. In some cases, a vehicle system is disclosed that causes a display unit to display information prompting the driver to alert the user of the subject vehicle to the rear.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, there are other vehicles traveling ahead of the course of the own vehicle, and there are other vehicle traveling zones where there are no vehicles traveling ahead, apart from the vehicle traveling zones where these vehicles travel. Under the circumstances, if it is possible to adjust the stop signal at the intersection and the speed adjustment to pass the intersection without stop at the next progress signal, it supports the speed adjustment along the recommended speed. There is disclosed a driving support in-vehicle apparatus for notifying a driver of guidance on course change.

  In Patent Document 2, there are other vehicles traveling ahead along the route of the own vehicle, and there is another vehicle traveling zone where there is no vehicle traveling ahead, apart from the vehicle traveling zones where these vehicles travel. Under the circumstances, if it is possible to adjust the speed at which the host vehicle stops at the stop position of the intersection within the display period of the stop signal at the intersection, it supports speed adjustment by an appropriate deceleration method and changes the course A driving support in-vehicle apparatus is disclosed that notifies the driver of the guidance of the vehicle.

Patent No. 5471301 gazette Patent No. 5445371 gazette

  However, in order to use the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is premised that the cycle information indicating the time change of the lamp color of the signal lamp is included in the signal information, but the cycle information is In the situation where there is a signal light device not included in the signal information, when driving assistance is performed only for the signal light device whose cycle information is included in the signal information, the driver can not be matched with the actual signal train on the road. There was a risk of confusion.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to support driving by matching and displaying a signal train to be subjected to driving assistance and an actual signal train. An object of the present invention is to provide a support device and a driving support method.

The driving support apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a signal information acquisition unit that acquires signal information related to a signal lamp installed at each of a plurality of intersections of a road on which the vehicle travels, and supports the driving of the vehicle Information determination unit that determines whether or not the signal information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit includes cycle information indicating time change of the lamp color of each signal light, and the information determination And an image data generation unit for generating image data representing an image of each signal light according to the determination result of the unit , wherein the image data generation unit determines that the information determination unit includes cycle information in a signal lamp device and the determination signal lamp device does not include cycle information, Ru Citea so that at least one of the light color or size to generate image data representing different images.

In a driving support method according to an aspect of the present invention, driving is supported by a driving support device that supports driving of a vehicle by acquiring signal information related to signal lamps installed at each of a plurality of intersections of a road on which the vehicle travels. a method for representing and determining whether contains cycle information indicating a light color time change of each signal lamp device to obtain signal information collected, images of the respective signal lamp device according to the determination result Generating the image data , wherein the generating includes the signal lamp determined to contain the cycle information and the signal lamp determined to not include the cycle information in the determining step. Image data is generated that represents an image that differs in at least one of color or size .

  The present application can not only be realized as a driving support device and a driving support method provided with such characteristic components and steps, respectively, but also can be realized as a program for causing a computer to execute such steps. . In addition, a part or all of the driving support device can be realized as a semiconductor integrated circuit, or as another system including the driving support device.

  According to the above, it is possible to support driving by aligning and displaying the signal sequence to be subjected to the travel support and the actual signal sequence.

It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a driving support device concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the positional relationship of the own vehicle and an intersection. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the display screen which displays the image of a signal lamp device. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of the display screen which displays the image of a signal lamp device. It is a graph for demonstrating the calculation method of the range in which the green wave driving | running | working is possible by recommendation speed. A, B, and C are explanatory diagrams showing an example of a display screen displaying a range in which green wave travel is possible. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a display screen when alerting | reporting. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control part which acquires signal information. It is a flow chart which shows the processing procedure of the control part which acquires regulation information. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control part which produces | generates the image data showing the image of the signal lamp S. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control part which displays the range which can carry out a green wave driving | running | working. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control part which displays the range which can carry out a green wave driving | running | working.

Description of the embodiment of the present invention
First, the embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described. In addition, at least part of the embodiments described below may be arbitrarily combined.

(1) The driving support apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a signal information acquisition unit that acquires signal information related to a signal lamp installed at each of a plurality of intersections of a road on which the vehicle travels. An information determination unit that determines whether or not the signal information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit includes cycle information indicating time change of the lamp color of each signal light device; And an image data generation unit for generating image data representing an image of each signal light according to the determination result of the information determination unit, the image data generation unit including cycle information in the information determination unit and by the decision signal lamp device and the signal lamp device which is determined not to contain the cycle information, Ru Citea so that at least one of the light color or size to generate image data representing different images.

In the present application, the signal information related to the signal lamps installed at each of a plurality of intersections on the road where the host vehicle travels is acquired from the roadside machine, and the acquired signal information is a signal lamp installed at each intersection It is determined whether cycle information indicating the timing at which the light color changes or the like is included. If the presence or absence of cycle information is indicated in the signal information for each signal light device, it may be determined whether the cycle information is present or not according to the indicated contents, and it is possible to actually read the cycle information from the signal information. Whether or not there is cycle information may be determined according to whether or not there is. And according to the determination result of presence or absence of cycle information, the image data showing the image of each signal lamp is produced | generated. The order of arranging the images on the display screen may be, for example, the same as the order in which the presence or absence of the cycle information is indicated, or may be the ascending order or the descending order of the numbers given to the signal light.
By displaying an image based on the image data generated in this manner, it is easily grasped whether or not the change in lamp color of the signal lamp installed at each intersection can be estimated.

In the present application, for example, in a display unit for displaying an image based on image data (the same applies to the following), an image of a signal lamp including cycle information in signal information and an image of a signal lamp including no cycle information Are displayed so that one or both of the light color and the size are different.
As a result, it is clearly determined whether it is possible to estimate the change in lamp color for each of the signal lamps.

( 2 ) The image data generation unit is an image of a colorless lamp or at least one of the brightness, luminance, or saturation of the lamp with respect to the signal lamp that is determined by the information determination unit that cycle information is not included. It is preferable to generate image data representing the reduced image.

In the present application, the lamp color in the image of the signal lamp which does not include cycle information in the signal information is displayed in a colorless color or in a color reduced in at least one of brightness, luminance or saturation.
Thereby, the signal lamp apparatus which can not estimate change of a lamp color is grasped | ascertained clearly.

( 3 ) The image data generation unit indicates the current lamp color indicated by the cycle information included in the signal information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit for the signal lamp determined by the information determination unit to include the cycle information. It is preferable to generate image data according to

In the present application, when the cycle information is included in the signal information, the image of the signal lamp is displayed in a lamp color corresponding to the current lamp color indicated by the cycle information.
As a result, the current lamp color is displayed on the display unit as long as the cycle information is provided (that is, as long as the cycle information is included in the signal information), even for the signal lamp that is not visually recognized by the driver.

( 4 ) The signal information includes intersection position information indicating the position of each intersection, and a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle position information that indicates the position of the host vehicle, and vehicle position information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit And a separation distance calculation unit for calculating a separation distance from the position of the host vehicle indicated to the position of each intersection indicated by the intersection position information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit, the image data generation unit is configured to It is preferable to generate image data so that the image of the signal lamp installed at each intersection may be displayed at the display position according to the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit.

In the present application, intersection position information indicating the position of each intersection is included in the signal information, and a separation distance from the position of the host vehicle indicated by the acquired vehicle position information to the position of each intersection indicated by the intersection position information Are calculated, and the image of each signal lamp is displayed at the display position corresponding to the calculated separation distance for the intersection where each signal lamp is installed.
Thereby, the order in which each intersection appears in the traveling direction is grasped on the display screen. Furthermore, the magnitude of the separation distance from the host vehicle to each intersection is grasped on the display screen.

( 5 ) Preferably, the image data generation unit further generates image data representing at least one of a graphic representing the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit and a character string for each intersection.

In the present application, image data representing one or both of a graphic indicating a separation distance from the host vehicle to each intersection and one or both of the character strings is generated and displayed.
Thereby, when the image of the signal lamp and the figure (or the character string) are appropriately associated and displayed, the separation distance from the own vehicle to the intersection where each signal lamp is installed is more intuitive (Or directly) grasped.

( 6 ) The intersection identification unit that identifies the intersection with the shortest separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit, and the signal lamp installed at the intersection identified by the intersection identification unit or a plurality of intersections continuing from the intersection If the signal determining unit determines that the cycle information is included in the information determining unit, the vehicle includes a range calculating unit that calculates a continuous range of intersections that can be approached by a green light when the host vehicle travels at a constant speed. Preferably, the image data generation unit further generates image data representing a display area overlapping a part or all of the image of the signal lamp installed at each of the intersections within the range calculated by the range calculation unit.

In the present application, when the cycle information is included in the signal light device installed at the nearest intersection identified as the shortest separation distance in the traveling direction from the own vehicle or at a plurality of consecutive intersections from the intersection, When the vehicle travels at a constant speed, a range in which intersections where green light can enter can be calculated. Then, image data representing an appropriate display area overlapping with a part or all of the image of the signal lamp installed at each intersection within the calculated range is generated and displayed.
Thereby, the entire view of the intersection where the host vehicle can travel without stopping can be grasped on the screen.

( 7 ) The control information acquisition unit acquires restriction information indicating the speed limit on the road, and the predetermined speed is slower than the restriction speed indicated by the restriction information acquired by the restriction information acquisition unit and is higher than a predetermined speed. Fast speeds are preferred.

In the present application, when restriction information indicating a speed limit on a road is acquired from, for example, a roadside machine, and the host vehicle travels at a speed lower than the speed limit indicated by the acquired restriction information and faster than a predetermined speed. It is determined whether N consecutive intersections can be traveled without a stop and the determination result is displayed.
This makes it possible to determine whether so-called green wave travel is possible at a realistic speed.

( 8 ) The information determination unit includes cycle information in the intersection determination unit that specifies the intersection with the shortest separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit, and the signal light installed at the intersection that is specified in the intersection identification unit When it is a signal lamp determined to have not been done, it is preferable to include a notification unit that performs a predetermined notification.

In the present application, the predetermined notification is performed when the cycle information is not included in the signal lights installed at the intersection having the shortest distance from the host vehicle, that is, the nearest intersection in the traveling direction. .
As a result, when the host vehicle passes one intersection, it is informed that there is no cycle information for the signal light installed at the nearest intersection ahead.

( 9 ) The distance determination unit determines whether the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit for the intersection specified by the intersection specification unit is shorter than a predetermined distance, the notification unit including the distance determination unit It is preferable to notify when it is determined to be short.

In the present application, when the separation distance from the host vehicle to the nearest intersection in the traveling direction is shorter than a predetermined distance, the above-described notification is performed.
Thus, the above notification is performed when the host vehicle approaches the intersection targeted for notification to a predetermined distance.

(1 0) to a display unit that displays an image based on image data generated by the image data generation unit is preferred.

  In the present application, an image based on the generated image data is displayed on a display unit having a display.

(1 1) driving support method according to an embodiment of the present invention, the driving support apparatus obtains the signal information according to the signal lamp device installed s multiple intersections husband road on which the vehicle is traveling to assist the operation of the vehicle in a method of supporting operation, determining whether contains cycle information indicating a light color time change of each signal lamp device to obtain signal information collected, the signal lamp device according to the determination result And generating the image data representing the image of the light, wherein the generating includes the signal lamp determined in the determining step to include the cycle information and the signal lamp determined to not include the cycle information. And image data representing an image in which at least one of the light color and the size is different is generated .

  In the present application, whether or not the change in the lamp color of the signal lamp installed at each intersection in the traveling direction can be estimated, as in the mode (1), by operating the driving support device according to the driving support method. It is grasped.

Details of the Embodiment of the Present Invention
Specific examples of the driving support device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to these exemplifications, but is shown by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving assistance apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view schematically showing a positional relationship between the vehicle 200 and intersections C1, C2, C3. . The driving support apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on the host vehicle 200, and has a control unit 10 having a central processing unit (CPU) that controls the entire apparatus, a positioning unit 20 having a sensor, etc. And a storage unit 30 for storing various data of the result.

  The driving support apparatus 100 further includes an ITS wireless communication unit 40 performing wireless communication corresponding to an ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) wireless system, an optical beacon communication unit 50 performing optical communication corresponding to an optical beacon, voice and / or voice. A sound output unit 60 that outputs a warning sound and a display unit 70 that displays an image based on image data. The ITS wireless communication unit 40 and the optical beacon communication unit 50 correspond to a signal information acquisition unit and a restriction information acquisition unit. The above-described units are connected by communication such as a bus or an in-vehicle LAN around the control unit 10. The driving support device 100 may be configured to include a computer terminal such as a smartphone and a tablet terminal.

  Moving to FIG. 2, the vehicle 200 travels on the road R flowing into the intersection C1 toward the intersections C1, C2, C3,. The separation distances from the vehicle 200 to the stop lines T1, T2 and T3 at the intersections C1, C2 and C3 respectively are L1, L2 and L3. Above the road R at each of the intersections C1, C2 and C3, signal lamp devices S1, S2 and S3 are installed. In FIG. 2, for the sake of simplicity, the signal lamp of the opposite lane of the road R and the signal lamp of the road crossing the road R are not shown. The stop lines T1, T2 and T3 are illustrated only for the lane in which the host vehicle 200 travels. The broken line is the center line.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the positioning unit 20 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites and detects the traveling speed of the vehicle 200 and the GPS receiver 21 that measures the position of the vehicle 200. And a vehicle speed sensor 22.

  The GPS receiver 21 detects a position represented by latitude and longitude as the position of the vehicle 200. Since the detected position includes an error of about 3 to 10 m, the detected value of the GPS receiver 21 is corrected by, for example, the traveling speed of the host vehicle 200 and the detected values of an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor (not shown). Alternatively, another positioning device may be used instead of the GPS receiver 21.

  The vehicle speed sensor 22 detects the traveling speed based on the number of pulses per unit time generated as the wheels or propeller shaft of the host vehicle 200 rotate.

  The ITS wireless communication unit 40 performs, for example, road-to-vehicle communication with a roadside machine that provides a service of an intelligent road transportation system using radio waves in the 700 MHz band, thereby making a plurality of intersections of the road R on which the vehicle 200 travels. Route signal information (hereinafter, simply referred to as signal information) relating to the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,... Installed in C1, C2, C3,.

  The signal information includes intersection position information indicating the positions of the intersections C1, C2, C3,..., And lights of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,... Installed at the respective intersections C1, C2, C3,. It includes information indicating the presence or absence of cycle information indicating the timing of color change. The cycle information is included in the signal information for the signal light indicating that the cycle information is present.

  The intersection position information is information indicating the position of the target intersection with respect to the reference position or the position of the stop line at the intersection. The cycle information is information indicating the light color state of the signal lamp of the target intersection, the display order of the light color, and the remaining number of scheduled display seconds.

  The light beacon communication unit 50 receives an infrared signal including downlink information of the light beacon and transmits an infrared signal including uplink information by using the transmission and reception rear of the in-vehicle antenna disposed on the dashboard of the vehicle 200. Do.

  The downlink information includes provided information such as traffic jam information, traffic fault information, traffic regulation information and the like. Among these, in the present embodiment, the regulation information included in the traffic regulation information is used. The restriction information indicates the speed limit for speed restriction on the road R under travel.

  The sound output unit 60 outputs the alerting sound by the synthesized notification sound and / or the electronic sound from a speaker (not shown).

  The display unit 70 is disposed, for example, at the center console of the vehicle 200, and an image, a figure, and a character string are displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit realized by the control unit 10. Display

  In the above-described configuration, the driving support apparatus 100 causes the ITS wireless communication unit 40 to transmit signal information relating to each of the signal lights S1, S2, S3, ... from the roadside device of the ITS wireless system at a predetermined cycle or at appropriate timing. It acquires and stores the intersection position information, the information indicating the presence or absence of the cycle information, and the cycle information in the storage unit 30. In the case where the signal information is acquired irregularly, it is preferable that, for example, the remaining display seconds be counted down at fixed time intervals with respect to the cycle information included in the acquired signal information.

  The driving support apparatus 100 also acquires control information indicating the speed limit on the road R from the roadside device of the light beacon at an appropriate timing by the light beacon communication unit 50, and stores the speed limit indicated by the restriction information in the storage unit 30. Remember. A light emitting and receiving device included in the roadside device of the light beacon is installed, for example, right above the lane on the side of the host vehicle 200 from the stop line T1.

  In the state where each information is stored in the storage unit 30 by the pre-processing described above, the driving support apparatus 100 reads each information from the storage unit 30 and performs a predetermined process, whereby each signal light S1, S2, S3, and The image of is displayed on the display unit 70 in such a manner as to support the driver's driving. That is, the driving support apparatus 100 reads out the information indicating the presence or absence of the cycle information, determines whether or not the cycle information of each of the signal lights S1, S2, S3, ... is included in the signal information. The image of each of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,... Having at least one of the lamp color and the size is displayed.

  The driving support apparatus 100 also reads out intersection position information from the storage unit 30, and acquires vehicle position information indicating the position of the host vehicle 200 by the GPS receiver 21, and acquires the host vehicle 200 and each intersection C1, C2, C3. The separation distance is calculated, and at least one of a bar-like figure indicating the calculated separation distance by the length thereof and a character string indicating the calculated separation distance is displayed. In this case, it is preferable to display the image of each of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,... And the graphic and the character string at the display position according to the calculated separation distance. Note that an image or the like of a signal lamp installed at an intersection different from the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 200 is not displayed.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of a display screen for displaying the images of the signal lamps S1, S2 and S3. FIG. 4 is an explanation showing another example of the display screen for displaying the images of the signal lamps S1 and S2. FIG. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the near view is displayed at the lower part of the display screen of the display unit 70 and the distant view is displayed at the upper part, and the road R is displayed in perspective. The host vehicle 200 is displayed on the road R on the near view side so as to travel from the near view side to the far view side.

  The signal lights S1 and S2 (and S3) are displayed from the middle view to the distant view on the lane where the vehicle 200 travels. A signal lamp whose cycle information is included in the signal information is displayed as "red" or "blue" so as to indicate the currently lit light color. Signal lights that do not contain cycle information in the signal information are displayed as colorless lights (see Figure 3) or as small-sized images (or small-sized and colorless lights). (See Figure 4). The image of the signal lamp S2 shown in FIG. 3 and the image of the signal lamp S1 shown in FIG. 4 are images in which at least one of the lightness, luminance or saturation of the lamp color has been reduced compared to the images of other signal lamps. May be

  The separation distance on the screen from the own vehicle 200 to each of the signal lamps S1 and S2 (and S3) is the intersection position information of the intersections C1 and C2 (and C3) at which the respective signal lamps S1 and S2 (and S3) are installed. And proportional to the separation distance calculated based on the vehicle position information and the vehicle position information. For this reason, in FIG. 3, the separation distance on the screen between the signal lights S1 and S2 is longer than the separation distance on the screen between the signal lights S2 and S3. Since the signal light S2 in FIG. 3 has a colorless light, it is easily recognized that the cycle information is not included in the signal information.

  On the other hand, in FIG. 4, since the image of the signal lamp S1 is displayed in a smaller size than the image of the signal lamp S2, it is easily recognized that the cycle information of the signal lamp S1 is not included in the signal information. In FIG. 4, bar-like horizontal figures F1 and F2 showing the separation distances from the host vehicle 200 to the signal lamps S1 and S2 respectively and character strings of “200 m” and “400 m” showing separation distances. L1 and L2 are displayed on the opposite lane in parallel with the images of the signal lights S1 and S2, respectively.

  The driving support apparatus 100 further causes the display unit 70 to display a range in which the green wave traveling of the host vehicle 200 is possible. Green wave driving is a driving mode in which the speed of the vehicle is controlled so that the signal can always pass in blue, and smooth flow of traffic is realized. In the present embodiment, the display unit 70 displays a range in which the driver of the host vehicle 200 can present the recommended speed for green wave travel.

  FIG. 5 is a graph for explaining the method of calculating the range in which green wave travel is possible according to the recommended speed. The horizontal axis of FIG. 5 represents the distance from the current position of the vehicle 200, and the vertical axis represents time. The current time is t0. The five bar-shaped diagrams shown in the vertical axis direction represent the temporal change of the lamp colors of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,..., And the coordinate values according to the horizontal axis of the vertical line on the left side of each diagram are This corresponds to the distances L1, L2, L3, ... from the current position to the intersections C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, respectively. Also, the white portions in these diagrams correspond to the period of the green light, and the other hatched portions correspond to the period of the red light.

  The two straight lines indicated by the solid lines rising to the right are an example of a locus when the vehicle 200 travels at a constant traveling speed at which it can travel without intersection to the intersections C3 and C2, respectively. That is, when the vehicle 200 travels at, for example, 30 km / h, traveling can be performed without a stop to the intersection C3, and the vehicle stops at a red light at the intersection C3. In addition, when the vehicle 200 travels at, for example, 50 km / h, traveling can be performed without a stop to the intersection C2, and the vehicle stops at a red light at the intersection C2.

  On the other hand, two straight lines indicated by broken lines rising to the right are trajectories when the host vehicle 200 travels at the upper and lower limits of the recommended speed. When the vehicle 200 travels at 35 km / h, it passes the intersections C1 and C2 with a green light, reaches the stop line T3 at time t2 immediately before the end of the green light at the intersection C3, and stops with a red light at the intersection C4 It will be. When the vehicle 200 travels at 45 km / h, the intersection C1 passes green light, and the stop line T2 is reached at time t1 immediately after the red light at the intersection C2 ends and becomes green light, and then the intersection C3 Pass through at a green light and stop at a red light at intersection C4.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, there is no speed at which the vehicle can travel without stopping from the intersections C1 to C5. Therefore, the recommended speed is 35 km / k to 45 km / h, which is a range of speeds at which the vehicle can travel without a stop to the intersection C4 just before the intersection C5. The recommended speed may be displayed on the display unit 70 or may be displayed on another display unit such as a head-up display (not shown).

  The recommended speed is preferably calculated so as not to exceed the speed limit on the road R. In addition, if the recommended speed is too slow, there is a risk of being hit by a following vehicle by following the recommended speed. Therefore, it is preferable to calculate the recommended speed within a range faster than the predetermined speed (for example, 20 km / h) and slower than the speed limit. The speed limit is stored in the storage unit 30 by the light beacon communication unit 50 and can be read out in a timely manner.

  If the lower limit value of the recommended speed is higher than the current traveling speed of the host vehicle 200, the driver increases the traveling speed in order to follow the recommended speed, which is not preferable for safe driving. Therefore, it is preferable to calculate the recommended speed so that the current traveling speed of the vehicle 200 is included in the range. Information indicating the current traveling speed of the host vehicle 200 can be obtained by the vehicle speed sensor 22 in a timely manner. In this manner, when it is possible to calculate the recommended speed, the driving support apparatus 100 displays a predetermined display area from the current position of the host vehicle 200 to the intersection where the host vehicle 200 can travel without stopping. It is displayed on the display unit 70 in a manner.

  A, B, and C of FIG. 6 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of a display screen displaying a range in which green wave travel is possible. In FIG. 6, as in the case of FIG. 3, the near view is displayed at the lower part of the display screen of the display unit 70, and the distant view is displayed at the upper part. The host vehicle 200 is displayed on the road R on the near view side. Two of the signal lamps S1 to S5, including the signal lamps S4 and S5 installed at the intersections C4 and C5 respectively, are displayed in the middle and far view on the lane where the vehicle 200 travels. . The signal lamp whose image is displayed on the display screen is within a certain distance (for example, 1 km) in the traveling direction of the vehicle 200.

  The signal light which does not include cycle information in the signal information is displayed with the light color being colorless (see C in FIG. 6). A signal lamp whose cycle information is included in the signal information is "blue" when the vehicle 200 can pass by green light at the intersection where each is installed, and "red" when it is stopped at red light. Is displayed. However, as shown in FIG. 3, the display of “red” or “blue” may indicate a light color that is currently lit.

  In A of FIG. 6, in order to show that it is possible to travel without stopping from the current position of the vehicle 200 to the intersection further ahead than the intersection C2 where the signal lamp S2 is installed, the vehicle 200 and the signal lamps S1, S1. A display area A1 on the road R overlapping with a part (or all) of the image of S2 and the image of the road R ahead of the intersection C2 is displayed in green different from other display areas. The display color of the display area A1 is not limited to green, and the contrast of the display area A1 may be different from that of the other display areas (the same applies hereinafter).

  B of FIG. 6 shows a state in which the vehicle 200 has passed the intersections C1 and C2 where the signal light devices S1 and S2 shown in A of FIG. 6 are respectively set. Here, in order to show that it is possible to travel without stopping from the current position of the host vehicle 200 to the intersection C4 where the signal lamp S4 is installed, part of the image of the host vehicle 200 and the signal lamps S3 and S4 (or The display area A2 on the road R overlapping with the entire image is displayed in green different from the other display areas.

  C in FIG. 6 shows a state in which the host vehicle 200 has passed through the intersection C3 where the signal light S3 shown in B in FIG. 6 is set. Here, part (or all) of the image of the vehicle 200 and the signal light S4 to show that it is possible to travel without stopping from the current position of the vehicle 200 to the intersection C4 where the signal light S4 is installed. The display area A3 on the road R overlapping with the other is displayed in green different from the other display areas.

  As described above, the images of the signal lights S1, S2,... S5 scroll down according to the travel of the host vehicle 200. Scrolling may be finely performed in dot units of pixels. In A, B, and C in FIG. 6, the range of the intersection where the own vehicle 200 can travel without stopping is displayed in green, but the range where the intersection where the signal light device for which cycle information is provided is installed continues May be displayed in green or another color.

  When the own vehicle 200 passes the intersection C4 where the signal light S4 shown in C of FIG. 6 is set, when cycle information is not provided for the signal light S5 installed at the intersection C5 ahead of that, It is preferable to notify by voice. The notification is not limited to the voice, and may be, for example, a warning sound, or may be displayed on the display unit 70 in addition to the voice.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an example of a display screen when the notification is performed. In FIG. 7, as in the case of FIGS. 3 and 6, the near view is displayed at the lower part of the display screen of the display unit 70, and the distant view is displayed at the upper part. The host vehicle 200 is displayed on the road R on the near view side. A signal lamp S5 for which cycle information is not provided is displayed in the middle view, and a signal lamp S6 installed at an intersection (not shown) ahead of the intersection C5 is displayed in the distant view. That is, no cycle information is provided for the latest intersection S5 in the traveling direction of the vehicle 200. The light color of the signal light S6 is, for example, "blue" but may be "red".

  When the screen shown in FIG. 7 is first displayed on the display unit 70, the sound output unit 60 outputs, for example, a voice notifying that “There is an intersection where there is no signal information ahead”. The timing at which the notification is performed is not limited when the host vehicle 200 passes the intersection C4, and may be the timing when the signal light S5 for which cycle information is not provided is first displayed on the display unit 70 as shown in C of FIG. 6, for example. Alternatively, the separation distance between the vehicle 200 and the signal light S5 (the intersection C5 at which the signal light S5 is installed) may be shorter than L5 (corresponding to a predetermined distance).

Below, operation | movement of the driving assistance device 100 mentioned above is demonstrated using the flowchart which shows it.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the control unit 10 for acquiring signal information, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the control unit 10 for acquiring regulation information. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure of the control unit 10 for generating image data representing an image of the signal lights S1, S2, S3,... FIGS. 11 and 12 show the range where green wave travel is possible. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the control part 10 to make it be.

  The processes shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are activated as needed when the ITS wireless communication unit 40 and the optical beacon communication unit 50 become communicable, and are repeatedly activated each time the process is completed. Although the process shown in FIG. 10 and the processes shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 are activated, for example, in a cycle of 1 second, the process is not limited to this cycle, and the processes in FIGS. You may start it.

  When the process of FIG. 8 is activated, the control unit 10 determines whether the ITS wireless communication unit 40 has received the ITS wireless signal (S11), and when not receiving (S11: NO), waits until receiving Do. When the ITS wireless signal is received (S11: YES), the control unit 10 executes a communication procedure to acquire signal information (S12), and stores intersection position information included in the acquired signal information in the storage unit 30. (S13). The signal information may be acquired by the light beacon communication unit 50 or may be acquired by another on-vehicle communication device (not shown).

  Control unit 10 also stores information indicating the presence or absence of cycle information included in the signal information (in the figure, simply referred to as the presence or absence of cycle information, the same applies to the following) in storage unit 30 (S14). The cycle information actually contained is stored in the storage unit 30 (S15), and the process of FIG. 8 is ended. In the case where the ITS wireless signal is received irregularly, it is preferable that, for example, the remaining display seconds be counted down at fixed time intervals with respect to the cycle information stored in step S15.

  Next, when the process of FIG. 9 is started, the control unit 10 determines whether the light beacon communication unit 50 receives downlink information of the light beacon (S21), and when not received (S21: NO) ), Wait for reception. When the downlink information is received (S21: YES), the control unit 10 acquires the restriction information included in the downlink information (S22), stores the speed limit indicated by the acquired restriction information in the storage unit 30 ( S23), the process of FIG. 9 is ended. The regulation information may be acquired by the ITS wireless communication unit 40 or may be acquired by another on-vehicle communication device.

  Next, when the process of FIG. 10 is activated, the control unit 10 reads out intersection position information from the storage unit 30 (S31), and acquires vehicle position information by the GPS receiver 21 (S32: vehicle information acquisition unit ), And the separation distance between the own vehicle 200 and each of the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... on the basis of the read intersection position information and the acquired vehicle position information (S33: equivalent to separation distance calculation unit ). At this time, the intersection position information of the intersection in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 200 and the calculated value of the separation distance may be discarded. The calculated separation distance is stored in the storage unit 30.

  Thereafter, the control unit 10 reads out the information indicating the presence or absence of the cycle information from the signal information stored in the storage unit 30 (S34), determines the presence or absence of the cycle information (S35: equivalent to the information determination unit), The cycle information is read out from the signal information for the signal lamp determined to have information (S36). Then, the control unit 10 generates image data representing an image of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,... In which one or both of the lamp color and the size differ depending on the presence or absence of the cycle information. In this case, the control unit 10 generates image data so as to have the current lamp color indicated by the read cycle information for the signal lamp determined to have the cycle information (S37).

  Next, the control unit 10 generates image data representing one or both of a bar-like figure and a character string indicating the separation distance between the vehicle 200 and each of the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... (S38). The image data is adjusted so that the image based on the image data generated in S38 and S38 is displayed at the display position according to the separation distance calculated in S33 (S39), and the process of FIG. 10 is ended.

  At the time of generation of image data in steps S37 and S38, adjustment of the display position in step S39 may be performed. Steps S37 to S39 correspond to the image data generation unit. When the image data generated in this manner is given to the display unit 70, the display unit 70 displays an image based on the image data (the same applies to the following).

  Next, when the processing of FIGS. 11 and 12 is activated, the control unit 10 reads the separation distance between the vehicle 200 and each of the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... from the storage unit 30 (S41), and separates the distance Is the shortest intersection, that is, the nearest intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle 200 (S42: equivalent to the intersection identification unit). Thereafter, the control unit 10 reads out the presence or absence of the cycle information for the specified intersection from the storage unit 30 (S43), determines whether or not the cycle information exists (S44), and the cycle information exists (S44: YES) The processing moves to step S50 described later.

  On the other hand, if there is no cycle information (S44: NO), that is, if the situation shown in FIG. 7 is reached, the control unit 10 determines whether the identified intersection has already been notified (S45). If it is (S45: YES), the processing of FIG. 11 is ended. Note that whether or not the notification has been made is stored in the storage unit 30, and as an initial value, it is stored that the notification has not been made.

  When the identified intersection is not notified (S45: NO), the control unit 10 determines whether the separation distance from the identified intersection is shorter than the predetermined distance L5 (see FIG. 7) (S46: distance determination unit When it is not short (S46: NO), the process of FIG. 11 is ended. The process may be skipped without executing the process of step S46, and the process may be shifted to the next step S47.

  When the separation distance from the specified intersection is shorter than the predetermined distance L5 (S46: YES), the control unit 10 performs sound notification (see FIG. 7) by the sound output unit 60 (S47: equivalent to a notification unit), A notice that notification has been made for the intersection is stored in the storage unit 30 (S48), and the process of FIG. 11 is ended.

  Turning to FIG. 12, the control unit 10 stores information indicating the presence or absence of cycle information from the storage unit 30 for each of the intersections C1, C2, C3,... (S50), mainly storing the speed limit of the road R. It reads from the unit 30 (S51), and further acquires the traveling speed of the vehicle 200 by the vehicle speed sensor 22 (S52). After that, the control unit 10 specifies M successive M (M is a natural number) intersections where the signal lamps with the cycle information are installed (S53: equivalent to the range identification unit), and sets N as M as an initial value (S54). ).

  Next, the control unit 10 calculates a range of traveling speeds at which green light can be entered continuously from the nearest first intersection to the Nth intersection (S55), and it can be calculated or not Is determined (S56: equivalent to a travel possibility determination unit). When the calculation is impossible (S56: NO), that is, when the recommended speed can not be presented, the control unit 10 decrements N by 1 (S57), and determines whether N is 0 (S58).

  If N is not 0 (S58: NO), the control unit 10 shifts the processing to step S55. Thus, the range of consecutive intersections is narrowed until it is possible to calculate the recommended speed. On the other hand, when N becomes 0 (S58: YES), the control unit 10 ends the process of FIG. This will result in the submission of the recommended speed.

  If it is possible to calculate the range of the traveling speed in step S56 (S56: YES), that is, if the range calculation unit calculates the range in which the intersection where the green signal can enter is continuous, the control unit 10 calculates the traveling speed A range in which the above range and the range from the predetermined speed (for example, 20 km / h) to the speed limit read in step S51 overlap is calculated (S60), and it is determined whether there is an overlap (S61). When there is no overlap (S61: NO), the control unit 10 shifts the processing to step S57. This narrows the range of consecutive intersections until an overlap occurs.

  On the other hand, when there is an overlap (S61: YES), the control unit 10 compares the calculated overlap range with the traveling speed of the host vehicle 200 acquired in step S52 (S62), and the traveling speed is within the overlap range. (S63). If the traveling speed is within the range (S63: YES), that is, the traveling speed is included in the overlapping range of the recommended speed range and the predetermined speed and the speed limit range, and the recommended speed slower than the traveling speed can be presented. In the case, the control unit 10 shifts the processing to step S65 described later.

  If the traveling speed is not within the range in step S63 (S63: NO), the control unit 10 determines whether the traveling speed is faster than the overlapping range (S64), and the traveling speed is not faster In the case (S64: NO), that is, only the recommended speed higher than the traveling speed can be presented, the control unit 10 shifts the processing to step S57. This narrows the range of consecutive intersections until a recommended speed slower than the traveling speed can be presented.

  On the other hand, when the traveling speed is higher than the overlapping range (S64: YES), the control unit 10 displays a display area overlapping with a part or all of the images of the signal lamps installed at N + 1 consecutive intersections In FIG. 6, image data representing A1, A2 or A3) is generated (S65: equivalent to an image data generation unit), and the processing of FIG. 12 is ended. The display area based on the image data generated here is displayed in green. When image data representing the display area A1, A2 or A3 is to be generated regardless of the traveling speed of the vehicle 200, the process from step S62 to step S64 is not performed, and the process is performed in step S65. You should transfer it.

  In step S65, the number of overlapping signal lamp images is larger than that of the display area (a display area A2 or A3 shown in FIG. 6) overlapping with a part or all of the images of the signal lamps installed at N consecutive intersections. Image data representing one less display area) may be generated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the plurality of intersections C1, C2, C3, ... on the road R on which the host vehicle 200 travels are related to the signal lamps S1, S2, S3, ... installed respectively. Signal information is acquired from the roadside unit of the ITS radio system, and the acquired signal information changes the color of the signal lights S1, S2, S3,... Installed at each intersection C1, C2, C3,. It is determined whether cycle information indicating timing or the like is included. Then, according to the determination result of the presence or absence of the cycle information, image data representing an image of each of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,.
By displaying the image data generated in this manner on the display unit 70, changes in the lamp color of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,... Installed at the respective intersections C1, C2, C3,. It is easily grasped whether it is possible or not.
Therefore, it is possible to support the driving by aligning and displaying the signal sequence to be subjected to the driving support and the actual signal sequence.

Further, according to the embodiment, one or both of the lamp color and the size of the image of the signal lamp having cycle information included in the signal information and the image of the signal lamp not including cycle information are different from each other. On the display unit 70.
Therefore, it is possible to clearly determine whether it is possible to estimate the change in lamp color for each of the signal lamps S1, S2, S3,.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the display unit 70 may be configured such that the lamp color in the image of the signal lamp that does not include cycle information in the signal information is colorless or at least one of brightness, luminance or saturation reduced. Display.
Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp clearly the signal lamp device which can not estimate change of a lamp color.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, when the cycle information is included in the signal information, the image of the signal lamp is displayed on the display unit 70 in the lamp color corresponding to the current lamp color indicated by the cycle information.
Therefore, as for the signal light device which is not visually recognized by the driver, the current light color can be displayed on the display unit 70 as long as the cycle information is provided.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the distance from the position of the vehicle 200 indicated by the vehicle position information acquired from the GPS receiver 21 to the positions of the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... indicated by the intersection position information Were calculated, and the images of the signal lights S1, S2, S3,... Were calculated for the intersections C1, C2, C3,... Where the respective signal lights S1, S2, S3,. It is displayed at the display position according to the separation distance.
Therefore, the order in which the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... appear in the traveling direction can be grasped on the display screen. Furthermore, it becomes possible to grasp the size of the separation distance from the vehicle 200 to each of the intersections C1, C2, C3, ... on the display screen.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, image data representing a figure and a character string indicating the separation distance from the host vehicle 200 to the intersections C1, C2, C3,... Is generated and displayed on the display unit 70.
Therefore, the signal lights S1, S2, S3,... At the intersections C1, C2, etc. where each of the signal lights S1, S2, S3,. The separation distance to C3, ... can be grasped more intuitively and directly.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, when the cycle information of the signal light device installed at the nearest intersection in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 200 is included in the signal information, the intersection where the cycle information is included in the signal information is forward Specify M (M is a natural number) continuous range. Then, when it is possible to calculate the range of traveling speeds that can be approached by green light from the 1st to the Nth (N is a natural number less than M) intersections included in the specified intersection range, N + 1 (or N Image data representing a display area A1, A2 or A3 overlapping with a part or all of the image of the signal lamp installed at each of the intersections) is displayed on the display unit 70 in green. That is, when the cycle information is included in the signal information about the signal lamp installed at the nearest intersection or the intersection where the distance from the own vehicle 200 in the traveling direction is specified to be the shortest, the own vehicle 200 When traveling at a constant speed, a range in which intersections that can enter with green light continue is calculated, and a display area corresponding to the calculated range is displayed in an easy-to-see manner.
Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp on the screen the entire view of the intersection where the host vehicle 200 can travel without stopping.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the control information indicating the speed limit on the road R is acquired from the roadside device of the light beacon, and the speed range lower than the speed limit indicated by the acquired restriction information and higher than the predetermined speed The display area A1, A2 or A3 is displayed in green on the display unit 70 when there is an overlap in the range of traveling speeds where green light can enter from the first to the N-th intersection described above.
Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp whether so-called green wave travel is possible at a realistic speed.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, when the cycle information is not included in the signal information about the signal lamp installed at the nearest intersection in the traveling direction of the host vehicle 200, the predetermined notification by voice is performed.
Therefore, when one's own vehicle 200 passes an intersection, it is possible to notify that there is no cycle information about the signal lamp installed at the nearest intersection ahead.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment, when the separation distance from the host vehicle 200 to the nearest intersection in the traveling direction is shorter than the predetermined distance L5, the above-described notification is performed.
Therefore, when the host vehicle 200 approaches the intersection targeted for notification by the predetermined distance L5, the above notification can be performed.

  Furthermore, according to the embodiment, it is possible to display an image based on the generated image data on the display unit 70.

The following appendices will be further disclosed regarding the above embodiment.
(Supplementary note)
The information determination unit includes cycle information at an intersection identification unit that identifies an intersection with the shortest separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit, and a signal lamp installed at the intersection identified by the intersection identification unit. In the case of a signal lamp determined to be M, M intersections in which the signal lamp is determined to be included in the information determination section by the information determination section, including the intersection identified by the intersection identification section (M is Natural number) cycle identification information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit for a range specifying unit for specifying a continuous range and N consecutive (N is a natural number less than or equal to M) intersections within the range specified by the range specifying unit Based on the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit, when the own vehicle travels at a constant speed and reaches each intersection, the light color of the signal light installed at each intersection is blue And a traveling possibility determining unit that determines whether or not traveling is possible, and the image data generation unit is installed at each of the N intersections when the traveling possibility determination unit determines that traveling is possible. It is preferable to further generate image data representing a display area that overlaps with part or all of the image of the signal lamp.

100 driving support device 10 control unit 20 positioning unit 21 GPS receiver 22 vehicle speed sensor 30 storage unit 40 ITS radio communication unit 50 light beacon communication unit 60 sound output unit 70 display unit 200 own vehicle C1, C2, C3, C4, C5 intersection S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6 Traffic light T1, T2, T3 Stop line R Road A1, A2, A3 Display area F1, F2 Graphic L1, L2 String

Claims (11)

The driving support apparatus includes a signal information acquisition unit that acquires signal information related to a signal lamp installed at each of a plurality of intersections of a road on which the vehicle travels, and supports the driving of the vehicle,
An information determination unit that determines whether or not the signal information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit includes cycle information indicating a temporal change in lamp color of each signal light;
An image data generation unit that generates image data representing an image of each signal light according to the determination result of the information determination unit ;
The image data generation unit is an image in which at least one of the light color or the size is different between the signal light device determined to contain cycle information by the information determination unit and the signal light device determined to not contain cycle information. Citea Ru driving support device to generate image data representing the. The image data generation unit reduces at least one of a colorless image or a lightness, luminance or saturation of the light color of the signal light device determined that the cycle information is not included in the information determination unit. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein image data representing an image is generated. The image data generation unit is for the signal lamp determined to include cycle information by the information determination unit, according to the current lamp color indicated by the cycle information included in the signal information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein image data is generated. The signal information includes intersection position information indicating the position of each intersection,
A vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle position information indicating the position of the host vehicle;
A separation distance calculation unit for calculating a separation distance from the position of the vehicle indicated by the vehicle position information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit to the position of each intersection indicated by the intersection position information acquired by the signal information acquisition unit; ,
The image data generation unit is configured to generate image data so that an image of a signal lamp installed at each intersection is displayed at a display position corresponding to the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit for each intersection. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . 5. The driving support apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the image data generation unit further generates image data representing at least one of a graphic and a character string indicating the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit for each intersection. . An intersection identification unit that identifies an intersection at which the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit is the shortest;
If the signal light device installed at the intersection specified by the intersection specification unit or at a plurality of consecutive intersections from the intersection is the signal light equipment determined by the information determination unit to include cycle information, the own vehicle is fixed. And a range calculation unit that calculates a range in which intersections that can be approached by green light when traveling at a speed are continuous, and the image data generation unit includes signal lights installed at each intersection within the range calculated by the range calculation unit. The driving assistance device according to claim 4 or 5 , further comprising: generating image data representing a display area overlapping a part or all of the image of the vehicle. A regulation information acquisition unit that acquires regulation information indicating a speed limit on the road;
The driving support device according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined speed is a speed that is lower than a speed limit indicated by the restriction information acquired by the restriction information acquisition unit and higher than a predetermined speed. An intersection identification unit that identifies an intersection at which the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit is the shortest;
If the installed signal lamp device to the identified intersection the intersection specifying unit is a signal lamp device which is determined not to contain the cycle information by the information determination unit, according to claim 4 and a notification unit that performs a predetermined notification Or the driving assistance device of Claim 5 . The intersection determination unit includes a distance determination unit that determines whether the separation distance calculated by the separation distance calculation unit is shorter than a predetermined distance for the intersection specified by the intersection specification unit.
The driving support device according to claim 8 , wherein the notification unit performs notification when the distance determination unit determines that the distance is short. The driving support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9 , further comprising a display unit configured to display an image based on the image data generated by the image data generation unit. A method of supporting driving with a driving support device that acquires the signal information related to the signal lamp installed at each of a plurality of intersections of the road on which the vehicle travels, and supports the driving of the vehicle,
Determining whether contains cycle information indicating a time variation of the light color of the traffic light unit to obtain signal information collected,
Generating image data representing an image of each signal light according to the determination result .
In the generating step, an image in which at least one of the lamp color or the size is different between the signal lamp determined to contain the cycle information and the signal lamp determined to not contain the cycle information in the determining step Driving support method for generating image data to be represented .

Images