JP7103733B2 - Driving support device and driving support system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a driving support device using vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and more particularly to a method of notifying another vehicle of a dangerous situation.

In order to prevent collisions between vehicles, it is being considered to share information such as the position, traveling speed, and traveling direction of own vehicles between vehicles by using inter-vehicle communication. Using such vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the surrounding target information detected by another vehicle is compared with the peripheral target information detected by the own vehicle, and the target information of the blind spot of the own vehicle is extracted. A driving support device for notifying the driver of the above is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for notifying another vehicle of the danger when an object around the own vehicle may pose a danger to another vehicle.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-293099 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-157438

When driving on narrow roads or roads where there is little traffic and it is easy to be alert, accidents due to small children or bicycles jumping out are likely to occur. It is being considered to install a camera on a busy road and provide the vehicle with information captured by the camera through communication between the vehicle and the camera to prevent accidents, but all areas are covered. Monitoring with a camera is practically difficult and very costly. In particular, there are many accidents that pop out in narrow alleys such as living roads, but it is not expected that equipment such as cameras will be installed.

On the other hand, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is a driving support system that uses vehicle-to-vehicle communication to notify and share danger information between vehicles. In this system, when a vehicle detects a dangerous situation such as popping out by an in-vehicle camera or an in-vehicle sensor, the vehicle that may cause an accident is identified and a warning is notified to the target vehicle.

FIG. 1 shows an operation flow of a warning notification using conventional vehicle-to-vehicle communication. When the own vehicle detects a dangerous situation such as jumping out in front of the own vehicle (S100), the position coordinates at which the dangerous situation may occur are confirmed (S102), and then the dangerous vehicle is selected. Search (S104). In the search for a dangerous vehicle, for example, an image pickup camera, an obstacle sensor, or the like is used to search for a vehicle traveling in the oncoming lane, a vehicle behind the own vehicle, a vehicle overtaking the own vehicle by turning on a turn signal, and the like. Danger When the target vehicle is found as a result of the search for the applicable vehicle (S106), a warning indicating that the target vehicle is in a dangerous situation is issued (S108), and the target vehicle receives the warning. (S110), the driver is notified of the warning (S112). On the other hand, if the target vehicle cannot be found or is overlooked in the dangerous vehicle search, the warning is not notified (S114).

However, the above-mentioned warning notification method has the following problems. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, when the own vehicle M detects a child or the like jumping out P in front of the own vehicle, the target vehicle Q to be warned is specified. "Time loss until the target vehicle is specified" occurs, and the timing of notifying the warning is delayed. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, when the own vehicle M is traveling in the left lane with two lanes on one side, if there is an obstacle such as another vehicle S traveling in the adjacent lane, a warning target is applied. It becomes difficult to identify the target vehicle Q traveling in a certain oncoming lane, and the target vehicle Q cannot be found or overlooked, and the warning cannot be notified.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a driving support device and a driving support system capable of promptly and surely notifying another vehicle of a warning for a dangerous situation such as jumping out.

In the driving support device according to the present invention, a dangerous situation is detected by a detection means for detecting a dangerous situation around the own vehicle, a communication means for enabling communication with another vehicle by inter-vehicle communication, and the detection means. At that time, it has a warning means for notifying a warning regarding the dangerous situation via the communication means, and the warning means notifies an unspecified vehicle around the own vehicle of the first warning and the first warning. After the warning notification, the vehicle subject to the dangerous situation is identified, and the identified vehicle is notified of the second warning.

In one embodiment, the warning means executes a process of identifying a vehicle subject to the second warning while notifying the first warning. In certain embodiments, the second warning includes control data for controlling the vehicle.

In the driving support system using vehicle-to-vehicle communication according to the present invention, the first vehicle has a detection means for detecting a dangerous situation in the vicinity, a communication means for enabling communication with another vehicle by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and a communication means. When a dangerous situation is detected by the detection means, it has a warning means for notifying an unspecified vehicle in the vicinity of a warning including coordinate information that may cause a dangerous situation via the communication means. When the second vehicle that has received the warning from the warning means is determined to be a warning target and a determination means for determining whether or not the second vehicle is a warning target based on the coordinate information included in the warning. The vehicle has a notification means for notifying the driver of a warning received from the first vehicle.

In one embodiment, the determination means is such that when the second vehicle is stopped, when the second vehicle moves away from a position where a dangerous situation may occur, the second vehicle is in a dangerous situation. If the distance from the position where the occurrence may occur is a certain distance or more, it is determined that the second vehicle is not subject to the warning.

According to the present invention, when a dangerous situation is detected around the own vehicle, a first warning is notified to an unspecified vehicle around the own vehicle, and the vehicle subject to the dangerous situation after the notification of the first warning. Since the second warning is notified to the specified vehicle, the loss time required to identify the target vehicle can be eliminated, the time for notifying the warning is minimized, and the warning is given. It is possible to avoid accidents due to delay in notification. Further, even if the vehicle subject to the second warning is overlooked, the first warning is notified to the unspecified vehicle, so that the relief can be achieved. Further, even if the vehicle subject to the dangerous situation is not specified, the false alarm can be avoided by determining whether or not the vehicle on the receiving side is the target of the warning.

This is a flow showing a method of warning notification in conventional vehicle-to-vehicle communication. It is a figure explaining the problem of the warning notification in the conventional vehicle-to-vehicle communication. It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the vehicle-mounted device which has the driving support function which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the warning notification program which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation flow of the warning notification which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the warning notice by 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the warning notification program which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation flow of the warning notification which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The driving support device of the present invention can be an electronic device having a driving support function, and is, for example, fixedly mounted on a moving body such as an automobile or carried into the moving body. The electronic device can preferably be an in-vehicle device equipped with an inter-vehicle communication function for communicating with another vehicle, a function for detecting a dangerous situation around the own vehicle, a navigation function, and the like. In addition, such an in-vehicle device shall be provided with a function of reproducing audio / video data, a function of receiving TV / radio broadcasts, a function of communicating with a server or the like via the Internet or the like, a function of executing application software, and the like. You can also.

Next, examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle device having a driving support function according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle device 100 of this embodiment includes an image pickup camera 110, a radar 120, a navigation unit 130, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140, a road-to-vehicle communication unit 150, a display unit 160, an audio output unit 170, and a storage unit. It includes 180 and a control unit 190. However, this configuration is an example, and the in-vehicle device 100 may include other functions.

The image pickup camera 110 is attached to, for example, the front, side, or rear of the own vehicle to take an image of the periphery of the own vehicle. The image pickup camera 110 can include an infrared camera capable of taking an image even at night and a stereo camera capable of measuring the distance of an object. The image data captured by the image pickup camera 110 is provided to the control unit 190, and the image data is used for detecting a dangerous situation occurring in the vicinity of the own vehicle.

The radar 120 is attached to, for example, the front, side, or rear of the own vehicle, and detects an object (for example, another vehicle, a person, an obstacle, etc.) existing around the own vehicle. The information detected by the radar 120 includes the distance to the object, the amount of movement of the object, the direction of movement, and the like. The detection result of the radar 120 is provided to the control unit 190, and the detection result is used for detecting a dangerous situation occurring in the vicinity of the own vehicle.

The navigation unit 130 calculates the position of the own vehicle from GPS signals, angular speed sensors, acceleration sensors, etc. transmitted from GPS satellites, and guides the road map around the position of the own vehicle. In addition, the route search to the destination is performed using the map data. In addition, the own vehicle position calculated by the navigation unit 130 is used for notifying other vehicles in vehicle-to-vehicle communication and for identifying the absolute position of a dangerous situation that occurs in the vicinity of the own vehicle.

The vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 communicates with each other the traveling position, traveling speed, traveling direction, etc. of the own vehicle with other vehicles existing within a certain range from the own vehicle. In one embodiment, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 transmits vehicle-to-vehicle data in a predetermined format. The vehicle-to-vehicle data includes, for example, a header part and a content part, the header part includes a destination address, a source address, a position information of the own vehicle, and the like, and the content part is dangerous to occur around the own vehicle. Includes information about the situation. When transmitting vehicle-to-vehicle data to a specific vehicle, the destination address is the address of the specific vehicle (for example, identification information of the specific vehicle or identification information of the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 mounted on the specific vehicle). be. The source address is the address of the own vehicle (for example, the identification information of the own vehicle or the identification information of the inter-vehicle communication unit 140 mounted on the own vehicle). Further, as the position information of the own vehicle included in the header unit, for example, the one calculated by the navigation unit 130 can be used.

The vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 has a function of transmitting vehicle-to-vehicle data to an unspecified vehicle in addition to a function of transmitting vehicle-to-vehicle data to a specific vehicle. When transmitting vehicle-to-vehicle data to an unspecified vehicle, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 sets the transmission destination address of the header unit to a predetermined special address.

When the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 receives the vehicle-to-vehicle data transmitted from another vehicle, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 analyzes the header unit of the vehicle-to-vehicle data and determines whether or not the transmission destination address of the header unit matches the address of the own vehicle. If they match, it is determined that the inter-vehicle data is addressed to the own vehicle, and the data in the content section is processed. On the other hand, when the destination address does not match the address of the own vehicle, the inter-vehicle data is not addressed to the own vehicle, so the data of the content unit is not processed and is not taken into the inside. However, when the destination address is a special address for an unspecified vehicle, the vehicle-to-vehicle data communication unit 140 processes the data of the content unit and takes in the information internally.

Further, the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 has, for example, a function of transmitting vehicle-to-vehicle data at regular intervals to notify other vehicles that there is a vehicle capable of vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In this case, the destination address is unset or default. A vehicle that receives vehicle-to-vehicle distance data for which a destination address has not been set simply decodes the source address (address of the vehicle that transmitted the vehicle-to-vehicle distance data) in the header and its position information, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication is performed around the vehicle. Know that there are other possible vehicles.

The road-to-vehicle communication unit 150 transmits / receives data to / from a roadside unit for data distribution set on the road or an imaging device installed on the road. For example, the road-to-vehicle communication unit 150 receives information on a dangerous situation transmitted from the roadside unit or the like when passing through the roadside unit, and provides the information to the control unit 190.

The display unit 160 displays a road map around the position of the own vehicle when the navigation unit 130 is executed, or displays a warning screen when a dangerous situation is detected as described later. The voice output unit 170 outputs a voice of route guidance by the navigation unit 130, and outputs a warning voice when a dangerous situation is detected.

The storage unit 180 can store software executed by the control unit 190, data required for the in-vehicle device 100, map data required for the navigation unit 130, and the like. The control unit 190 controls each unit of the vehicle-mounted device 100. In a preferred embodiment, the control unit 190 is composed of a microcontroller including a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and the ROM or the RAM stores a program for controlling each unit. In this embodiment, the control unit 190 executes an alarm notification program when a dangerous situation is detected as a part of the driving support function.

FIG. 4 shows a functional configuration of the alarm notification program according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The alarm notification program 200 of this embodiment includes a danger situation detection unit 210, a first warning notification unit 220, and a second warning notification unit 230.

The danger situation detection unit 210 includes image data captured by the image pickup camera 110, detection results of the radar 120, position information and map information obtained from the navigation unit 130, information obtained from the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140, and road-to-vehicle communication unit 150. Detects dangerous situations that occur around the vehicle based on the information obtained from. Whether or not a situation or event is dangerous is defined in advance, and the danger situation detection unit 210 determines that a situation corresponding to this definition is a dangerous situation.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when a child jumps out in front of the own vehicle M, the child moving toward the road is detected by analyzing the image data captured by the image pickup camera 110, and the radar. The 120 detects the distance from the vehicle M to the child, the moving direction of the child, the moving speed of the child, and the like. From this information, the danger situation detection unit 210 determines that there is a possibility that the child may jump out in front of the own vehicle M, and that it is a dangerous situation. In addition, in order to determine whether or not the information is dangerous, even when a child's pop-out is imaged by a camera installed on the road, or when a child's pop-out is detected by a vehicle in front of the own vehicle. Can be referred to.

In addition to the above, if a falling object such as a tire or luggage is detected on the road ahead, the vehicle in front of the vehicle will turn on the hazard lamp and stop while driving on the highway. In this case, if a two-wheeled vehicle or the like is traveling on the side of the own vehicle, or if the vehicle behind the own vehicle is trying to move to the overtaking lane by turning on the blinker, a dangerous situation may occur. In particular, an event that occurs in an area that is a blind spot for another vehicle is likely to be a dangerous situation for another vehicle. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, when a child jumps out P, another vehicle Q traveling in the oncoming lane has a child jumping out P when there is a vehicle in front of the own vehicle M. This jump-out P is a very dangerous situation for the other vehicle Q because it becomes a blind spot. Also in the case of FIG. 2B, the other vehicle Q traveling in the oncoming lane is in a very dangerous situation because the child's jump-out P becomes a blind spot due to the presence of the vehicle S.

The first warning notification unit 220 simultaneously warns unspecified other vehicles existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle M via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140 in which a dangerous situation is detected by the danger situation detection unit 210. Notify. That is, the first warning notification unit 220 sets the destination address of the header unit to a special address for an unspecified vehicle, and provides the content unit with, for example, position information in which a dangerous situation occurs and the degree of warning of the first stage. Warning information to be shown, and if possible, code information indicating a dangerous situation is set, and such vehicle-to-vehicle data is broadcasted all at once via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140. When another vehicle existing in the vicinity of the own vehicle receives the inter-vehicle distance data transmitted by the broadcast, the transmission address is a special address, so the inter-vehicle distance data is processed and taken into the inside.

The second warning notification unit 230 identifies the other vehicle to be warned and transmits the inter-vehicle distance data to the other vehicle as in the conventional case. That is, the destination address of the header part is set to the address of the specified other vehicle, and the content part is provided with, for example, position information in which a dangerous situation occurs, warning information indicating the degree of warning of the second stage, if possible. Code information representing a dangerous situation is set, and such vehicle-to-vehicle data is transmitted via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140. In a preferred embodiment, the second warning notification unit 230 performs a process for identifying another vehicle to which the second warning should be notified in parallel while the first warning is notified by the first warning notification unit 220.

Next, the warning notification operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow of FIG. The steps S100 to S112 are substantially the same as the conventional steps shown in FIG. First, when a dangerous situation is detected by the danger situation detection unit 210 (S100), the first warning notification unit 220 issues a first-stage warning to all unspecified vehicles around the own vehicle (S100). S120). Specifically, the first warning communication unit 220 sets the transmission address to a special address as described above, and provides location information in which a dangerous situation occurs, code information indicating a dangerous situation, and a warning in the first stage. Send vehicle-to-vehicle data including.

FIG. 6A shows an example of notification by the first warning notification unit 220. When the own vehicle M detects a dangerous situation for the child's jumping out P in front, the vehicle-to-vehicle distance data including the position information where the jumping out P has occurred and the warning of the first stage are transmitted to all the vehicles Q1, Q2, and Q3 around the own vehicle. send. The inter-vehicle communication unit 140 of each of the other vehicles Q1, Q2, and Q3 identifies that the header unit of the inter-vehicle data is a special address, and processes the inter-vehicle data. In the first stage warning, the degree of warning is relatively low, and other vehicles Q1, Q2, and Q3 are warned by the display unit 160 and / or the voice output unit 170 such as "Please drive carefully". Is output to alert the driver. In addition, if the inter-vehicle data contains code information that indicates a dangerous situation, the code information is deciphered and a warning such as "There may be popping out. Please drive carefully." May be output.

While the first-stage warning is notified by the first warning notification unit 220, the second warning notification unit 230 confirms the coordinates at which the dangerous situation is detected (S102), and searches for the vehicle corresponding to the danger. (S104). When a dangerous situation occurs in front of the own vehicle as shown in FIG. 6, another vehicle Q3 of the oncoming vehicle approaching the occurrence of the dangerous situation is searched for. The search method includes, for example, image data captured by the imaging camera 110, detection results of the radar 120, map data of the navigation unit 130, other vehicles existing in an area that can communicate with the own vehicle by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 140, and the like. It is done using information.

When the second warning notification unit 220 identifies the target vehicle (S106), the address of the target vehicle is set in the destination address of the header unit, and the position information in which the dangerous situation occurs in the content unit and the code indicating the dangerous situation are displayed. Vehicle-to-vehicle inter-vehicle data including information and a second-stage warning is created and transmitted to the target vehicle (S108). When the target vehicle receives the inter-vehicle distance data addressed to its own vehicle (S110), it decodes the data in the content unit and outputs a second-stage warning from the display unit 160 and / or the audio output unit 170 (S112). In the second stage warning, the degree of warning is relatively high, and the target vehicle gives a more specific warning than the first stage warning, and further controls the operation of the target vehicle in the content part of the inter-vehicle data. Such control data (for example, decelerating the speed of the target vehicle, controlling the brake of the target vehicle, etc.) may be included so that the target vehicle can control the vehicle according to the control data.

FIG. 6B shows an example of notification by the first warning notification unit 230. As shown in the figure, the own vehicle M searches for another vehicle Q3 traveling in the oncoming lane as the target vehicle, and transmits the inter-vehicle distance data including the warning of the second stage to the other vehicle Q3. The other vehicle Q3 receives the inter-vehicle distance data and gives a notification according to the warning content of the second stage included therein, or controls the running of the other vehicle Q3.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the warning of the first stage is notified before the target vehicle is specified, the loss time required for specifying the target vehicle can be eliminated and the warning is notified. Time is minimized and other vehicles can be quickly alerted. As a result, other vehicles can take action with a margin in response to a dangerous situation. Furthermore, since the first-stage warning notification is given to all vehicles, even if the vehicle subject to the second-stage warning cannot be found or is overlooked, relief should be provided. Can be done.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 shows a functional configuration of the warning notification program 200A according to the second embodiment. The warning notification program 200A includes the danger situation detection unit 210 and the first warning notification unit 220, but unlike the case of the first embodiment, the warning notification program 200A does not include the second warning notification unit, and instead includes the warning target determination unit 240. include. Since the danger situation detection unit 210 and the first warning notification unit are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted here.

The warning target determination unit 240 operates when the vehicle-to-vehicle distance data is received. That is, when a dangerous situation is detected, the first warning notification unit 220 creates vehicle-to-vehicle distance data including position coordinates at which the dangerous situation may occur, and transmits this to vehicles around the own vehicle. .. On the other hand, in another vehicle that has received the inter-vehicle distance data, the warning target determination unit 240 confirms the position coordinates included in the inter-vehicle distance data where a dangerous situation may occur, and whether or not it is a warning target based on its own driving condition. Judge by yourself. For example, if you are stopped, if you are gradually moving away from a position where a dangerous situation can occur, or if you are more than a certain distance away from a position where a dangerous situation can occur. If so, it determines that it is not the target of the warning and does not notify the driver of the warning.

FIG. 8 is a flow for explaining the warning notification operation according to the second embodiment. Here, for convenience, the vehicle on the side that detects a dangerous situation is referred to as a "danger detection vehicle", and the vehicle on the side that receives the inter-vehicle data is referred to as a "reception side vehicle".

First, in the danger detection vehicle, a dangerous situation is detected by the danger situation detection unit 210 (200), and the first warning notification unit 220 confirms the position coordinates at which the detected dangerous situation may occur (). S202). For example, the position coordinates at which a dangerous situation may occur are specified based on the absolute position of the own vehicle of the danger detection vehicle and the relative position to the object detected by the radar 120 of the danger detection vehicle. The position coordinates do not have to be points, but may be coordinates indicating a two-dimensional space. As in the case of the first embodiment, the first warning communication unit 220 sets a special address for an unspecified vehicle as the destination address of the header unit, and there is a possibility that a dangerous situation may occur in the content unit. Vehicle-to-vehicle distance data in which certain position coordinates, code information representing a dangerous situation, and the content of the warning of the first stage are set is created, and the created vehicle-to-vehicle distance data is transmitted to vehicles around the own vehicle (S204).

The receiving vehicle receives the inter-vehicle distance data (S206), analyzes the header unit, recognizes that the inter-vehicle distance data is transmitted to the unspecified vehicle, and analyzes the data in the content unit. The warning target determination unit 240 confirms the coordinates at which a dangerous situation may occur (S208), and determines whether or not it is the warning target (S210). If it is determined to be a warning target, a warning is output from the display unit 160 and / or the voice output unit 170 to alert the driver. On the other hand, when it is determined that the warning is not applied, the warning is not notified from the display unit 160 and the voice output unit 170 (S214).

According to this embodiment, since it is not necessary to specify the vehicle to be warned as the danger detection vehicle, it is possible to prevent the target vehicle from being overlooked. Further, since the receiving vehicle itself determines whether or not it is a warning target, it is possible to avoid an erroneous warning notification.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various aspects are within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It can be transformed and changed.

100: In-vehicle device 110: Imaging camera 120: Radar 130: Navigation unit 140: Vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 150: Road-to-vehicle communication unit 160: Display unit 170: Voice output unit 180: Storage unit 190: Control unit

Claims (5)

Detection means to detect dangerous situations around the vehicle and
Communication means that enable communication with other vehicles through vehicle-to-vehicle communication,
When a dangerous situation is detected by the detection means, it has a warning means for notifying a warning about the dangerous situation via the communication means.
The warning means notifies an unspecified vehicle around the own vehicle of a first warning before identifying a vehicle subject to the dangerous situation, and is subject to the dangerous situation while notifying the first warning. A driving support device that identifies a vehicle to be a vehicle, and after the notification of the first warning, notifies the vehicle subject to the dangerous situation of the second warning. The communication means performs vehicle-to-vehicle communication in a format including a header unit and a content unit.
When the first warning is given, the warning means includes a special address representing an unspecified vehicle as a destination address and a source address in the header portion, and a warning indicating the warning degree of the first stage in the content portion. When the information is included and the second warning is given, the header part includes the destination address and the source address of the specified vehicle, and the content part has a higher warning degree than the first stage. The driving support device according to claim 1, which includes the warning information of 2. The driving support device according to claim 2, wherein the second warning includes control data for controlling the operation of the vehicle in the content unit. A driving support system including the driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The unspecified vehicle around the own vehicle that has received the first warning from the warning means identifies the special address of the header portion included in the format of vehicle-to-vehicle communication by the communication means, and is included in the content portion of the format. Output the first warning information,
A driving support system in which a specific vehicle that has received the second warning from the warning means identifies the destination address of the header section and outputs the second warning information included in the content section. The driving support system according to claim 4, wherein the specific vehicle controls the operation of the vehicle based on the control data included in the content unit.

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