JP7164941B2 - Object information providing device for vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for providing information of objects in a vehicle, such as an automobile.

A vehicle such as an automobile is occupied by passengers including a driver, and can be moved by the operation of the driver. In this case, the driver may operate and move according to the guidance route displayed on the vehicle.
Also, in recent years, various types of information have been provided to drivers in order to improve the driving safety of automobiles. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-100003, a head-up display displays a warning about a collision target that is difficult to visually recognize.
Moreover, in recent years, the development of automatic driving has begun in vehicles.

JP 2010-173619 A

By the way, in the movement of these vehicles, passengers including the driver who got into the vehicle sometimes try to confirm whether the vehicle is moving correctly.
For example, when driving autonomously, when sufficient visibility cannot be secured due to weather conditions such as snowfall or heavy rain, or when the road environment is changing due to snow accumulation or landslides, the occupants should ensure that the vehicle is moving correctly. They are likely to want to check for themselves.

However, it is not always easy for the occupant to check the running of the vehicle by himself/herself. For example, if you are visiting a road in an unfamiliar land for the first time, if the scenery along the road has changed while you have not visited for a while, or if a new road has been built and the road conditions have changed, It is difficult to confirm In this case, the occupants can only barely confirm by looking at the destination sign at the intersection or the number sign on the national road.
Moreover, there may be situations where it is difficult to check the surrounding scenery itself due to snowfall, heavy rain, or the like.
In these cases, the occupants spend a long time observing the outside of the vehicle in order to confirm whether the vehicle is moving correctly. Alternatively, there may be a case where the confirmation cannot be completed even after observing the outside of the vehicle for a long time.

Thus, vehicles are required to be able to easily confirm whether the vehicle is moving correctly.

An object information providing apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention acquires information about objects existing on a road on which a vehicle travels or in the surroundings and within a field of view that is visible to an occupant of the vehicle. an object information acquisition unit; and an output device that outputs information about the object when the object within the visual field that is visible from the vehicle without being blocked by an obstacle is not actually visible in the visual field. , have

Preferably, the output device is a display device that displays in the field of view of an occupant of the vehicle, and the object in the field of view is displayed at a position along the direction or position in which the object in the field of view is visually recognized in the field of view of the occupant. It is preferable to display the information of the object so that it can be visually recognized.

Preferably, the output device starts outputting information on the object within the field of view based on the timing at which the object within the field of view becomes visible in the visual field.

Preferably, the output device ends outputting the information of the object within the field of view when the object within the field of view that has been output becomes visible in the visual field.

Preferably, when the visual field of the occupant of the vehicle is obstructed by other moving objects or snow cover, the output device outputs the information of the object within the visual field that is actually visible and not visually recognized. should be output.

Preferably, the vehicle has a position acquisition device that acquires the position and traveling direction of the vehicle, and the object information acquisition unit acquires information on a road on which the vehicle travels or in the surroundings based on the position and traveling direction of the vehicle. It is good to identify existing objects.

Preferably, a visual recognition device for recognizing or estimating a field of view of an occupant of the vehicle is provided, and the object information acquisition unit obtains information from a road along which the vehicle travels or an object existing in the surroundings of the visual recognition device. The object within the field of view may be identified by selecting an object that can be visually recognized from the vehicle without being obstructed by an obstacle in the field of view recognized or estimated by the method.

Preferably, the vehicle has an image capturing device that captures an image of the exterior of the vehicle using visible light, and the object information acquisition unit is within a field of view of a road on which the vehicle travels or an object existing in the surroundings. It is preferable that an object that is not visibly captured in the captured image of visible light by the imaging device is actually identified as the object within the visual field that is not visually recognized in the visible field.

Preferably, when there are a plurality of objects within the field of view, the object information acquisition unit preferentially identifies objects near the vehicle.

Preferably, the object information acquisition unit identifies, as the object within the field of view, a sign or signal provided on the road on which the vehicle travels, or a landmark near the road on which the vehicle travels. Good.

In the present invention, information about an object within the visual field that is visible from the vehicle without being obstructed by an obstacle is output when the object is not actually visible in the visual field.
For example, based on the timing at which the object within the field of view becomes visible in the visual field, the output of information on the object within the field of view is started.
This allows the occupant to recognize an object within the visual field that is visible from the vehicle without being blocked by a shield.
Further, when the object in the visual field can be visually recognized in the visual field after that, the information can be easily confirmed in the state obtained in advance.
It is possible to easily confirm that the vehicle is moving correctly by confirming that the information of the object in the field of view matches the actually visually recognized object.
In particular, by making the object to be visually recognized by outputting information to the occupant visible from the vehicle without being obstructed by a shield, the object that can be easily confirmed by the occupant without greatly shifting the line of sight can be selected as the confirmation object. can do.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an example of a vehicle and a road on which it travels according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the object information providing device mounted on the automobile of FIG. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of processing by the object information acquiring unit in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing by the output control unit in FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a state in which information on an object within the field of view is provided when the field of view is good. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of processing of an object information acquisition unit in the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a state in which information on an object within the field of view is provided when visibility is poor. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by an output control unit according to the third embodiment; FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an example of providing information on an object within the field of view according to the quality of the field of view.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an example of a vehicle 1 and a road on which it travels according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
Along the road in FIG. 1, a plurality of road signs indicating speed limits, roadway numbers, etc. are arranged discretely. In addition, before an intersection where other roads branch off, road signs indicating the destination of each route are provided. Also, road signs such as a zebra crosswalk mark, a speed limit mark, and a stop line mark may be drawn on the road surface. FIG. 1 shows a plurality of speed signs 41 and destination signs 42 . Among them, the speed sign 41 away from the vehicle 1 is obstructed by the snow 61 protruding onto the roadway and cannot be directly visually recognized from inside the vehicle.
The automobile 1 travels on the road with the passenger in the passenger compartment. The automobile 1 is accelerated, decelerated, and steered left and right by automatic driving control or operation by a passenger. Thus, the automobile 1 can travel on the road at the speed limit, stop at the stop line, proceed in the desired direction at the intersection, and move toward the destination of the occupant.

By the way, in such movement of the automobile 1, there are cases where passengers including the driver who got into the automobile 1 want to check whether the automobile 1 is moving correctly.
For example, during automatic driving, when a sufficient field of view cannot be secured due to weather conditions such as snowfall or heavy rain, or when the road environment is changing due to snow accumulation 61 or landslides, the occupant must ensure that the vehicle 1 moves correctly. It is highly likely that you will want to check for yourself whether

However, it is not always easy for the occupant to check the traveling of the automobile 1 by himself/herself. For example, if you are visiting a road in an unfamiliar land for the first time, if the scenery along the road has changed while you have not visited for a while, or if a new road has been built and the road conditions have changed, It is difficult to confirm In this case, the occupants can barely confirm the destination signs 42 at intersections discretely provided on the road, number signs on national roads, and the like.
Moreover, there may be situations where it is difficult to check the surrounding scenery itself due to snowfall, heavy rain, or the like.
Therefore, when trying to confirm whether the automobile 1 is moving correctly, the occupant needs to spend a long time observing the outside of the vehicle. Moreover, even if the outside of the vehicle is observed over a long period of time, it may not be possible to sufficiently confirm it.

Thus, the automobile 1 is required to be able to easily confirm whether the automobile 1 is moving correctly.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the object information providing device 10 mounted on the automobile 1 of FIG.
2 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 11, a wireless communication device 12, an exterior camera 13, an interior camera 14, a storage unit 15, a timer 16, a display device 17, and these are connected. a microcomputer 18 that
The microcomputer 18 may be provided in the automobile 1 as an ECU (Electric Control Unit), for example. The microcomputer 18 reads and executes programs stored in the storage unit 15, for example. As a result, the object information acquisition section 21 and the output control section 22 are implemented in the microcomputer 18 .

A GPS receiver 11 receives radio waves from a plurality of GPS satellites and obtains position information of the automobile 1 from this. The GPS receiver 11 can also obtain the moving direction and moving speed of the automobile 1 based on a plurality of positions measured at different times.

The wireless communication device 12 transmits/receives data to/from a server (not shown) or the like by transmitting/receiving radio waves for commercial portable use or small-scale wireless communication waves, for example.

The vehicle exterior camera 13 is a camera that captures an image of the surroundings such as the front of the vehicle 1 . Visible objects such as the road surface on which the automobile 1 travels and signs along the road can be captured in the captured image of the outside of the vehicle using visible light.
The object that can be visually recognized means an object that can be visually recognized by an occupant in the vehicle without being blocked by other objects. An object that is temporarily difficult to see due to a changing driving environment such as bad weather or snow is included in the visible object.

The in-vehicle camera 14 is a camera that captures an image of the vehicle interior. The captured image of the interior of the vehicle may capture, for example, a face that can be used to recognize or estimate the field of view of the occupant.

The storage unit 15 stores programs executed by the microcomputer 18 and data used when executing the programs. In this embodiment, data such as the position of an object within the field of view and the display content may be stored. The objects within the field of view include, for example, signs drawn on the road surface on which the automobile 1 travels, signs and signals provided along the road, landmarks existing near the road on which the automobile 1 travels, and the like. . The storage unit 15 stores images of these signs, signals, and landmarks themselves, and corresponding images.

A timer 16 measures time. The timer 16 can measure control timing and the like.

The display device 17 displays images to the passengers. In this embodiment, an image is displayed with respect to the visual field of the occupant. Such a display device 17 includes, for example, a head-mounted display device worn by a passenger and a projector device for projecting an image onto a windshield.

The object information acquisition unit 21 identifies objects within the field of view that are already visible to the occupants of the vehicle 1, such as objects existing on the road or surroundings on which the vehicle 1 is traveling during automatic driving. , causes the output control unit 22 to display image information corresponding to the specified object.

The output control unit 22 controls display by the display device 17 .
Basically, when an object in the field of view that should already be visible is not in a state that is visible in the visual field, based on the timing when the object in the field of vision becomes visible in the visual field, An image corresponding to the object within the field of view is visibly displayed on the display device 17 . The image corresponding to the object within the field of view is displayed, for example, at a position along the direction or position in which the object within the field of view is visible in the occupant's field of view.
In addition, when the object within the displayed field of view becomes visible in the visual field, the display of the image of the object within the field of view is terminated immediately thereafter.

Next, a process of providing information on an object within the field of view by the object information providing device 10 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of processing by the object information acquisition unit 21 of FIG.
The target object information acquisition unit 21 repeatedly executes the processing of FIG. 3 .

In the object information acquisition process of FIG. 3, the object information acquisition unit 21 first acquires the position and traveling direction of the vehicle 1 (step ST1), and detects an object existing in the traveling direction on the road on which the vehicle 1 travels. and objects existing around the road (step ST2).
For example, the object information acquisition unit 21 acquires the position and traveling direction of the automobile 1 from the GPS receiver 11 .
Based on the acquired position and traveling direction of the vehicle 1, the target object information acquisition unit 21 determines a predetermined extraction range (for example, one minute moving range) is specified, and information on the target existing within the extraction range is acquired from the storage unit 15 .
As a result, the target object information acquisition unit 21 can detect one or more target objects existing on the road on which the automobile 1 travels or one or more objects existing around the road without being blocked from the automobile 1 by obstacles. You can identify what you can see.
Here, the shield refers to a structure such as a house fixedly installed on the road or its surroundings. As a result, side road signs that are hidden behind houses and cannot be visually recognized from the road, for example, can be excluded from the objects to be extracted.

Next, the object information acquiring unit 21 identifies the field of view of the passenger riding in the automobile 1 (step ST3), and identifies the object within the field of view (step ST4).
For example, the object information acquiring unit 21 recognizes the line of sight and the visual field range of the passenger based on the image of the interior of the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera 14 . Note that the object information acquisition unit 21 may acquire preset information on the visual field of the occupant.
Then, the target object information acquisition unit 21 identifies one or more target objects within the range of the visual field among the already extracted one or more target objects, based on the recognized line of sight and visual field range of the passenger. The object within the recognized or estimated field of view is identified from one or more objects existing on the road on which the automobile 1 travels or in the surroundings.

Next, the target object information acquisition unit 21 determines whether or not there are a plurality of target objects within the field of view (step ST5).
When a plurality of objects within the field of view have been identified, the object information acquiring section 21 selects the object closest to the car 1 (step ST6). Select the one closest to the current car 1 position.

After specifying or selecting an object within one field of view, the object information acquisition unit 21 instructs the output control unit 22 to display the object within the one field of view (step ST7).

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing by the output control unit 22 of FIG.
The output control unit 22 repeatedly executes the output processing in FIG. The output control unit 22 may execute the output process of FIG. 4 when an output instruction is received from the object information acquisition unit 21 .

In the object information output process of FIG. 4, the output control unit 22 first confirms whether or not there is an output instruction from the object information acquisition unit 21 (step ST11). If there is no output instruction, the output control unit 22 terminates the processing of FIG.

When there is an output instruction, the output control unit 22 repeatedly determines whether or not the object within the field of view according to the output instruction is likely to be at a distance that can be visually recognized in a normal clear visual field (step ST12).
Here, the distance that can be visually recognized with normal clear visual field may be, for example, a distance of about 100 meters.
Then, when the distance is likely to become visible in the normal clear visual field, the output control unit 22 outputs the information of the object in the visual field related to the output instruction to the display device before it is visually recognized in the visual field. 17 (step ST13). The output control unit 22 reads, for example, from the storage unit 15 the display mark corresponding to the object within the field of view related to the output instruction, and places it in the direction in which the object within the field of view is visible in the visual field of the occupant. display.
As a result, the display device 17 displays the display mark corresponding to the object within the field of view related to the output instruction at the position in the direction in which the object within the field of view is visible in the field of view of the occupant. Display of the indication mark is started.

After starting the display, the output control unit 22 repeatedly determines whether or not the object within the field of view related to the output instruction has actually become visible in the visible field (step ST14).
Then, when it becomes actually visible in the visual field, the display of the information of the object within the visual field related to the output instruction is terminated (step ST15). The display device 17 ends the display of the display mark corresponding to the object within the field of view that was being displayed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a state in which information on an object within the field of view is provided when the field of view is good.

FIG. 5(A) is a view from the car window when looking ahead from the car 1 at the position shown in FIG. Since the visibility is good, a plurality of speed signs 41 are discretely arranged along the road and should be visible on the left side of the road. However, in reality, the distant speed sign 41 is obstructed by the accumulated snow 61 protruding onto the roadway and cannot be directly visually recognized from inside the vehicle.
Then, when the automobile 1 moves forward along the road, as shown in FIG. 5B, the image of the speed sign 41 in the field of view indicated by the dashed line in the drawing is displayed at the position where the speed sign 41 is visually recognized. 51 is displayed.
After that, when the vehicle 1 advances to a distance where the image 51 of the speed sign can be visually recognized, the actual speed sign 41 becomes visible from inside the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 5(C). The speed sign image 51 is then erased.
In this case, the passenger can visually recognize the image 51 of the speed sign displayed within the field of view in FIG. 5B before the speed sign 41 becomes visible. After that, when the actual speed sign 41 becomes visible as shown in FIG. 5(C), the passenger can visually recognize the actual speed sign 41 .
The occupant continuously visually recognizes the speed sign 41 displayed as an image and the speed sign 41 actually visually recognized immediately after the speed sign 41 so that their positions are overlapped, thereby confirming that the automobile 1 is traveling correctly. can be easily verified.

As described above, in the present embodiment, information about an object within the visual field that is visible from the vehicle 1 without being blocked by a shield is output when the object is not actually visible in the visual field. For example, based on the timing at which the object within the field of view becomes visible in the visual field, the output of information on the object within the field of view is started. Accordingly, the occupant can recognize an object within the visual field that is visible from the vehicle without being blocked by a shield and that should already be visible. Further, when the object in the visual field can be visually recognized in the visual field after that, the information can be easily confirmed in the state obtained in advance. By confirming that the information of the object within the field of view matches the actually visually recognized object, it is possible to easily confirm that the automobile 1 is moving correctly.
In particular, by making the object to be visually recognized by outputting information to the occupant visible from the vehicle 1 without being blocked by a shield, the object to be confirmed is an object that the occupant can easily confirm without greatly shifting the line of sight. can be

In this embodiment, for example, the output device is the display device 17 that displays in the field of view of the occupant of the automobile 1, and the object in the field of view is displayed in the direction or position along which the object in the field of view is visually recognized in the field of view of the occupant. Visible display of object information ensures that the occupant is shown information about objects within the field of view that should already be visible. Also, for example, when an object within the field of view is actually visually recognized after output, the object within the field of view and the information can be easily associated and understood. On the other hand, if the information is displayed outside the field of view of the occupant of the automobile 1 or in the peripheral field of view, there is a possibility that the information may not immediately understand the relationship between the object in the field of view and the information actually visually recognized. .

In this embodiment, when an object within the field of view that has been output becomes visible in the visual field, the output of information on the object within the field of view is terminated at a predetermined timing. This makes it possible to prevent an object within a specific field of view from being output indefinitely.
In addition, it becomes possible to continuously output objects within a plurality of fields of view. As a result, the occupant can visually confirm each object based on a plurality of sequentially output objects within the field of view. Multiple sequential checks allow the occupant to have confidence that the vehicle 1 is moving correctly.

In this embodiment, based on the position and direction of travel of the vehicle 1, the road along which the vehicle 1 is traveling or objects existing in the surroundings are specified. Then, objects within the field of view recognized or estimated by the visual recognition device are selected from objects existing on the road on which the automobile 1 travels or in the surroundings, and the objects within the field of view are specified. Therefore, it is possible to actually identify the object within the field of view and output the information.

In this embodiment, when there are multiple objects within the field of view, objects near the automobile 1 are preferentially identified. Therefore, an object that can be visually recognized can be identified as an object within the field of view even under an actual environment such as weather conditions.

[Second embodiment]
Next, the object information providing device 10 for the automobile 1 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the following description, the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment are used, and differences from the first embodiment are mainly described.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of processing of the object information acquisition unit 21 in the second embodiment.
After acquiring the visual field of the occupant based on the captured image of the interior of the vehicle by the in-vehicle camera 14 in step ST3 of FIG. and (step ST22).
For example, the object information acquisition unit 21 acquires an image of the exterior of the vehicle using visible light from the exterior camera 13 . The captured image of the exterior of the vehicle using visible light can preferably correspond to the captured image of the exterior of the vehicle that can actually be visually recognized by the occupant.
Then, the object information acquisition unit 21 identifies the object within the visual field based on the identified visual field of the occupant.
Further, the target object information acquiring unit 21 specifies the target object actually captured in the captured image based on the acquired captured image of the outside of the vehicle using visible light.
Thereafter, objects within the field of view that are not in a visible state are identified by excluding the objects being imaged from the objects within the field of view that have been specified in advance.

Next, the target object information acquisition unit 21 determines whether or not there are a plurality of target objects within the field of view (step ST5).
When a plurality of objects within the field of view have been identified, the object information acquiring section 21 selects the object closest to the car 1 (step ST6). Select the one closest to the current car 1 position.
After specifying or selecting an object within one field of view, the object information acquisition unit 21 instructs the output control unit 22 to display the object within the one field of view (step ST7).

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a state in which information on an object within the field of view is provided when visibility is poor.

FIG. 7(A) is a view of the vehicle window when looking ahead from the automobile 1 positioned in FIG. 1 . For example, due to snow 61, the inner speed sign 41 among the plurality of speed signs 41 discretely arranged along the road cannot be visually recognized. Also, due to poor visibility due to snowfall, the destination sign 42 is not visible.
From this state, when the automobile 1 moves forward along the road, as shown in FIG. Is displayed. Behind the snow cover 61, there is a speed indicator 41 on the far side within the field of view.
Further, when the automobile 1 moves forward along the road, as shown in FIG. 7(C), the speed sign 41 on the far side of the field of view hidden behind the snow cover 61 becomes visible in the visual field. The image 51 of the speed sign on the far side is erased, and the image 52 of the destination sign within the field of view is newly displayed at the position in the direction in which the destination sign 42 is visually recognized.
After that, when the automobile 1 further advances along the road, the destination sign 42 becomes visible as shown in FIG. 7(D). The destination sign image 52 is then erased.
In this case, the occupant recognizes the speed sign 41 in the far side of the field of view and the destination sign 42 in the field of view as images displayed at positions in the visible direction in the field of view, despite the poor visibility. can. Then, after recognizing each image, it is possible to actually visually recognize the sign within each field of view.
The occupant can easily confirm that the automobile 1 is proceeding correctly by the sign displayed as an image and the sign actually visually recognized immediately after that. In particular, it is possible to obtain confirmation that the motor vehicle 1 is proceeding correctly, since several signs can be continuously checked.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the road on which the automobile 1 travels or an object present in the surroundings is specified based on the position and traveling direction of the automobile 1 . Then, from the road on which the automobile 1 travels or the objects existing in the surroundings, objects within the field of view, which are not visibly captured in the captured image of visible light by the imaging device, are defined as objects within the field of view. Identify. Therefore, it is possible to actually identify the object within the field of view and output the information.
In addition, since it is designed to identify visible light images captured by the imaging device, if a sufficient field of view cannot be secured due to weather conditions such as snowfall or heavy rain, the actual field of view may be changed. Based on this, the object within the field of view can be identified. As a result, even if a sufficient field of view cannot be obtained under actual environments such as weather conditions, it is possible to specify objects within the field of view that are visible and visible under the environment.

[Third embodiment]
Next, the object information providing device 10 for the vehicle 1 according to the third embodiment will be described. In the following description, the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment are used, and differences from the first embodiment are mainly described.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of processing by the output control unit 22 of the third embodiment.
The output control unit 22 repeatedly executes the output processing of FIG. The output control unit 22 may execute the output process of FIG. 8 when an output instruction is received from the object information acquisition unit 21 .

In the object information output process of FIG. 8, the output control unit 22 determines whether there is an output instruction in step ST11, and then determines whether the field of view is good or bad (step ST31).
The output control unit 22 uses the captured image of the outside of the vehicle by the outside camera 13 to determine the quality of the field of view.
For example, if the entire image is whitish, it is determined that visibility is poor due to snowfall or the like. Otherwise, the visibility is considered good. If the visibility is good, the output control unit 22 terminates the processing of FIG.

When the field of view is poor, the output control unit 22 repeatedly determines whether or not the object within the field of view related to the output instruction is likely to be at a distance at which the object can be visually recognized in a normal clear field of view (step ST12). display processing.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an example of providing information on an object within the field of view according to the quality of the field of view.
When the visibility is poor, a speed sign image 51 is displayed on the snow cover 61 as shown in FIG. 9(A).
On the other hand, when the visibility is good, the speed sign image 51 is not displayed as shown in FIG. 9B.

As described above, in the present embodiment, only when the visual field of the occupant of the automobile 1 is obstructed by another moving object or snow cover 61, the information of the object within the visual field is output by superimposing them. . Therefore, when the visual field of the occupant is obstructed by another moving object or snow cover 61, the object within the visual field can be recognized with the help of the information. In addition, since objects within the field of view are not output when the visibility is not poor, the objects within the field of view are not excessively output when, for example, the occupant does not check, and the occupant is not bothered or accustomed to it. can be done.
In addition, when the visual field of the occupant is blocked by another moving object or something other than the snow cover 61, such as a building along the road, the information of the object is not output. can be done.

In this embodiment, it is determined that visibility is poor only in the case of snow cover 61 .
In addition, for example, even if there is a moving body such as another automobile 1 in the field of view and the rear side of the other moving body cannot be directly visually recognized, it is determined that the visibility is poor. you can In this case, the image corresponding to the road sign existing behind the other vehicle 1 can be superimposed on the other vehicle 1 and displayed.

The above embodiments are examples of preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and changes are possible without departing from the gist of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Automobile (vehicle), 10... Object information provision apparatus, 11... GPS receiver, 12... Wireless communication apparatus, 13... Exterior camera, 14... In-vehicle camera, 15... Storage unit, 16... Timer, 17... Display device (Output device) 18 Microcomputer 21 Object information acquisition unit 22 Output control unit 41 Speed indicator (object within field of view) 42 Destination indicator (object within field of view) 51 Image of speed sign (information of object within field of view), 52... Image of destination sign (information of object within field of view), 61... Snow cover

Claims (7)

an object information acquisition unit that acquires information about an object existing on a road on which the vehicle travels or in the surroundings and within a field of view that is visible to an occupant of the vehicle;
When the object within the visual field of the occupant that is visible from the vehicle without being blocked by a shield cannot be visually recognized due to poor visibility based on weather conditions, or when it is not visible due to changes in the road environment caused by weather conditions. , an output device for outputting information of the object;
has
The target object information acquisition unit
When there are a plurality of objects that cannot be visually recognized within the field of view, the object closest to the vehicle is preferentially selected, and the information of the object is displayed based on the timing at which the selected object becomes visible in the visual field. In addition to starting the output, when the object actually becomes visible in the visual field as the vehicle advances, the output of the information of the object is terminated, and the information of the plurality of objects is continuously displayed. to output to
A target object information providing device for a vehicle. The output device is
A display device for displaying in the field of view of an occupant of the vehicle,
Visibly displaying information on the object in the field of view at a position along the direction or position in which the object in the field of view is visible in the field of view of the occupant,
2. The object information providing device for a vehicle according to claim 1. Poor visibility due to weather conditions, including snowfall or heavy rain;
Changes in the road environment due to weather conditions include snow accumulation or landslides;
3. The object information providing device for a vehicle according to claim 1 or 2 . a position acquisition device that acquires the position and traveling direction of the vehicle;
The object information acquisition unit identifies objects existing on a road on which the vehicle travels or in the surroundings, based on the position and direction of travel of the vehicle.
4. The object information providing device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . a visual perception device for recognizing or estimating the field of view of an occupant of the vehicle;
The object information acquisition unit detects objects that can be visually recognized from the vehicle without being obstructed by obstacles from the visual field recognized or estimated by the visual recognition device, from the road on which the vehicle travels or objects existing in the surroundings. selecting to identify the object in the field of view;
5. The object information providing device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . an imaging device for imaging the exterior of the vehicle with visible light,
The object information acquisition unit actually acquires objects that are within the field of view from the road on which the vehicle travels or objects that exist in the surroundings and that are not captured in the visible light captured image by the imaging device. identifies as the object within the visual field of view and not visible,
The object information providing device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . The target object information acquisition unit
identifying, as the object within the field of view, a sign or signal provided on the road on which the vehicle travels, or a landmark near the road on which the vehicle travels;
The object information providing device for a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .

Images