JP7210902B2 - In-vehicle information processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an in-vehicle information processing apparatus.

Various technologies have been proposed for vehicles to detect pedestrians in order to avoid collisions with pedestrians. For example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of detection objects positioned in front of the vehicle are detected, and from among the plurality of detection objects, a selection candidate object that has the shortest relative distance to the vehicle or the shortest collision prediction time is selected. On the other hand, there has been disclosed a technique for determining whether or not the object is a pedestrian using image information.

JP 2010-250501 A

The above technique is a technique for determining whether or not a detected object is a pedestrian. However, it is also possible that animals other than humans, such as deer and bears, may collide with vehicles. In addition, since the above technology is a technology for making judgments on objects that could be detected from the vehicle, it is of course possible to make judgments on objects that are blocked by structures and cannot be detected from the vehicle. can't.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of these points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for presenting the possibility that a moving object hidden behind an object will jump out.

A first aspect of the present invention is an in-vehicle information processing device. This device includes an imaging unit that acquires an image in front of a vehicle running on a road in a traveling direction, a detection unit that detects a moving object, a stationary object, and the road included in the image acquired by the imaging unit, and the moving object. , the positional relationship between the stationary object and the road satisfies the notification condition that the moving object exists on one side of the road and the stationary object exists on the other side of the road across the road. a positional relationship determination unit; and a notification unit that notifies a driver of the vehicle of a warning when the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition.

The notification unit may notify the driver of a message alerting the driver to a possibility that a moving object different from the moving object existing on the one side of the road may appear from the other side of the road.

The in-vehicle information processing device includes an illuminance measuring unit that measures illuminance outside the vehicle; and a headlight control unit that causes a headlight provided in the vehicle to illuminate in the direction of the stationary object when the illuminance outside the vehicle is below a predetermined threshold illuminance.

The in-vehicle information processing device includes: a position acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the position of the vehicle; When a moving object different from the moving object existing on one side of the road appears from the storage control unit and the position of the vehicle is included in a predetermined area, the storage control unit stores the position information in a storage unit provided in the vehicle. and may further comprise.

The in-vehicle information processing device includes: a moving object determination unit that determines whether or not the moving object detected by the detection unit is an animal; Further, the notification unit may be provided on the condition that the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road corresponds to the notification condition, and that the line-of-sight direction of the animal is the direction of the stationary object. , the driver of the vehicle may be alerted.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for presenting the possibility of a moving object hiding behind an object popping out.

1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an overview of an in-vehicle information processing device according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the view from the driver's seat of a vehicle. It is a figure which shows typically the functional structure of the vehicle-mounted information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing how a headlamp control unit according to the embodiment causes the headlamp to emit light toward a stationary object; 4 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of information processing executed by the in-vehicle information processing device according to the embodiment;

<Overview of Embodiment>
An outline of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining an overview of an in-vehicle information processing device 1 according to an embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle V is a large vehicle, and the in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1 is mounted in the vehicle V driven by the driver. The vehicle V also includes an imaging unit 2 , an illuminance measuring unit 3 , and a position acquisition unit 4 in addition to the in-vehicle information processing device 1 .

The imaging unit 2 is a sensor for acquiring an image in front of the vehicle V traveling on the road R, and is, for example, a visible light camera or an infrared camera. In FIG. 1, the direction of travel of the vehicle V is indicated by an arrow A. As shown in FIG. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the vehicle V is moving forward, but when the vehicle V is moving backward, the forward direction of the vehicle V is the backward direction of the vehicle V (downward direction in FIG. 1). becomes.

The illuminance measurement unit 3 is an illuminance sensor that measures the illuminance outside the vehicle V. As shown in FIG. The position acquisition unit 4 is a device that acquires position information indicating the position where the vehicle V is traveling, and is realized by a known GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver. The position acquisition unit 4 also has map information, and can specify the position of the vehicle V in the map information.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a vehicle V is moving forward on a road R, it is assumed that a first pedestrian M1 and a second pedestrian M2 are present ahead in the direction of travel. Here, both the first pedestrian M1 and the second pedestrian M2 are human children. Suppose you are on the opposite side of pedestrian M1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, on the side of the road R on which the second pedestrian M2 exists, there is a structure such as a wall, a bridge pier, a signboard, a parked vehicle, a postbox, or a stationary object S such as a tree. The second pedestrian M2 is blocked by the stationary object S and cannot be seen by the driver of the vehicle V.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V. As shown in FIG. Specifically, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a situation when looking forward in the traveling direction from the driver's seat of the vehicle V in the situation shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the driver of the vehicle V can see the first pedestrian M1 from the driver's seat of the vehicle V. As shown in FIG. However, the driver of the vehicle V cannot see the second pedestrian M2 from the driver's seat of the vehicle V because it is blocked by the stationary object S.

The driver of the vehicle V can foresee that the first pedestrian M1 who has been confirmed will run out onto the road R, and can pay attention to the movement. However, the driver cannot predict the movement of the second pedestrian M2 who is blocked by the stationary object S and cannot be confirmed. The same applies to the second pedestrian M2. The second pedestrian M2 cannot see the vehicle V because it is blocked by the stationary object S. You may not be aware of what you are doing.

In such a situation, although the driver pays attention to the first pedestrian M1, it is considered unlikely that the driver will pay attention to the opposite side of the road R to the first pedestrian M1. In such a case, if the second pedestrian M2 jumps out from behind the stationary object S, it may take longer than usual for the driver to start braking the vehicle V. Although FIGS. 1 and 2 show humans on both sides of the road R, the same applies to other moving bodies such as animals. Therefore, in the following specification, an object that may cause movement is referred to as a "moving object M".

The in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment detects a moving object M, a stationary object S, and a road R included in an image captured in front of the vehicle V in the traveling direction, and detects the moving object M, the road R, and the road R on one side of the road R. It is determined whether or not the notification condition that the stationary object S exists on the other side of the road R across the R is met. The in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1 notifies the driver of the vehicle V of a warning when the positional relationship among the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R satisfies the notification conditions. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a message is displayed on the screen of the car navigation system N installed in the vehicle V to call attention to the driver. This allows the driver to foresee the possibility that the moving object M will jump out from the left side of the road R.

<Functional configuration of in-vehicle information processing device 1 according to embodiment>
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the functional configuration of the in-vehicle information processing device 1 according to the embodiment. The in-vehicle information processing device 1 includes an imaging unit 2 , an illumination measurement unit 3 , a position acquisition unit 4 , a storage unit 5 and a control unit 6 .

The storage unit 5 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) for storing the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) of the computer that realizes the in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that serves as a work area for the in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1. ), an OS (Operating System), application programs, and large-capacity storage devices such as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives) and SSDs (Solid State Drives) that store various information referred to when the application programs are executed.

The control unit 6 is a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) of the in-vehicle information processing device 1, and executes a program stored in the storage unit 5 to control the detection unit 60, position It functions as a relationship determination unit 61 , a notification unit 62 , a headlight control unit 63 , a moving object determination unit 64 , a line-of-sight detection unit 65 and a memory control unit 66 .

The imaging unit 2 acquires an image of the vehicle V traveling on the road R in front of the vehicle V in the traveling direction. The detection unit 60 detects the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R included in the image acquired by the imaging unit 2 . The detection unit 60 can detect the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R by using an object recognition engine generated using known machine learning such as a neural network.

The positional relationship determination unit 61 determines that the positional relationship between the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R is a notification condition that the moving object M exists on one side of the road R, and the stationary object S exists on the other side of the road R across the road R. It is determined whether or not it corresponds to The notification unit 62 notifies the driver of the vehicle V of an alert when the positional relationship among the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R satisfies the notification conditions. As a result, the in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1 can present the driver of the vehicle V with the possibility that the moving object M hidden behind an object will jump out.

As shown in FIG. 2, the notification unit 62 displays a message that calls attention to the possibility that another moving object M different from the moving object M existing on one side of the road R may appear from the other side of the road R. may be displayed in In addition, the notification unit 62 may output a voice message for calling attention from a speaker (not shown) provided in the vehicle V. FIG. Alternatively, the notification unit 62 may notify the driver by vibrating the side of the steering wheel that may appear with a vibrator (not shown).

Even if the notification unit 62 notifies the driver of the vehicle V of a warning, it may be difficult for the driver to visually recognize the place where the moving object M may appear due to insufficient light, for example at night. . Therefore, the headlight control unit 63 determines that the vehicle V is moving forward, the positional relationship between the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R corresponds to the notification condition, and the outside of the vehicle V measured by the illuminance measurement unit 3 When the illuminance of is below a predetermined threshold illuminance, the headlights of the vehicle V are caused to illuminate toward the stationary object S.

Here, the "predetermined threshold illuminance" is referred to for comparison with external illuminance when the headlight control unit 63 determines whether or not to illuminate the stationary object S with the headlight. This is the reference illuminance for control determination. A specific value of the threshold illuminance may be determined by experiments in consideration of the brightness of the headlights of the vehicle V, and is, for example, about 10 lux, which is the brightness of a streetlight.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing how the headlight controller 63 according to the embodiment causes the headlight to illuminate the stationary object S. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the headlight control unit 63 illuminates the stationary object S with the headlight, so that the driver can turn his/her attention to the area where there is a possibility of jumping out, and the moving object M can actually move. can be checked immediately when it pops out. Further, when the moving object M exists behind the stationary object S, the moving object M can be made aware that the vehicle V is approaching.

Here, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the first pedestrian M1 and the second pedestrian M2 are acquaintances. In FIG. 1, the second pedestrian M2 is about to jump out from the shadow of the stationary object S onto the road R in response to the call of the first pedestrian M1 who is an acquaintance. Such situations can also occur in non-human animals such as deer and raccoon dogs. For example, if a parent deer is on one side of the road R and a fawn is on the other side of the road R, the fawn may jump out onto the road R to run towards the parent deer. It can happen.

Therefore, the moving object determination unit 64 determines whether or not the moving object M detected by the detection unit 60 is an animal (including humans and animals). The moving object determination unit 64 uses an animal recognition engine generated using known machine learning such as a neural network, so that it is possible to determine whether the moving object M detected by the detection unit 60 is an animal.

When the moving object M detected by the detection unit 60 is an animal, the line-of-sight detection unit 65 detects the line-of-sight direction of the animal. As with the moving object determination unit 64, the line-of-sight detection unit 65 also uses a line-of-sight recognition engine generated using known machine learning such as a neural network, thereby realizing detection of the animal's line-of-sight direction.

Here, when the moving object M on the opposite side of the stationary object S is not facing the stationary object S, compared to the case where the moving object M is facing the stationary object S, it is possible to see another moving object from the shadow of the stationary object S. The probability of M jumping out is low. Therefore, the notification unit 62, on the condition that the positional relationship of the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R corresponds to the notification condition, and that the line-of-sight direction of the animal is the direction of the stationary object S, the driver of the vehicle V You may notify the alert to. As a result, when the moving object M on the opposite side of the stationary object S across the road R does not face the stationary object S, the notification unit 62 does not notify the attention. Thereby, the notification unit 62 can suppress so-called erroneous notification in which the moving object M does not actually jump out from behind the stationary object S even if the alert is notified.

By the way, a situation where a wild animal such as a deer crosses the road R tends to occur frequently when the road R traverses the territory of the wild animal. In other words, situations in which wild animals cross the road R frequently occur in relatively limited areas such as mountainous areas.

Therefore, the memory control unit 66 determines that the positional relationship between the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R corresponds to the notification condition, and that the other moving object M different from the moving object M existing on one side of the road R is the other moving object M. When the vehicle V appears from the side and the position of the vehicle V is included in the predetermined area, the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 4 is stored in the storage unit 5 provided in the vehicle V. FIG.

Here, the "predetermined area" is an area in which a wild animal is presumed to be territorial, specifically an area where the road R is installed, excluding urban areas. The position information stored in the storage unit 5 is transmitted to the central management device connected to the plurality of vehicles V via a wireless communication device (not shown) provided in the vehicle V. FIG. As a result, the central management device can identify an area with a high risk of an animal jumping out and improve its accuracy.

<Processing Flow of Information Processing Method Executed by In-vehicle Information Processing Device 1>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of information processing executed by the in-vehicle information processing device 1 according to the embodiment. The processing in this flowchart starts, for example, when the in-vehicle information processing device 1 is activated.

The imaging unit 2 acquires an image in front of the vehicle V traveling on the road R (S2). The detection unit 60 detects the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R included in the image acquired by the imaging unit 2 (S4).

The positional relationship determination unit 61 determines that the positional relationship between the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R is a notification condition that the moving object M exists on one side of the road R, and the stationary object S exists on the other side of the road R across the road R. (S6). If the positional relationship among the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R satisfies the notification condition (Yes in S8), the notification unit 62 notifies the driver of the vehicle V of a warning (S10).

The illuminance measuring unit 3 measures the illuminance outside the vehicle V (S12). When the illuminance outside the vehicle V measured by the illuminance measurement unit 3 is lower than the predetermined threshold illuminance (Yes in S14), the headlight control unit 63 illuminates the headlights of the vehicle V in the direction of the stationary object S. (S16).

If the positional relationship between the moving object M, the stationary object S, and the road R does not meet the notification conditions (No in S8), and if the illuminance outside the vehicle V measured by the illuminance measurement unit 3 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold illuminance (S14 No), or when the headlight control unit 63 causes the headlight to illuminate the stationary object S, the processing in this flowchart ends.

<Effects of the in-vehicle information processing device 1 according to the embodiment>
As described above, according to the in-vehicle information processing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment, it is possible to provide a technique for presenting the possibility of a moving object hidden behind an object popping out.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist thereof. be. For example, specific embodiments of device distribution/integration are not limited to the above-described embodiments. can be done. In addition, new embodiments resulting from arbitrary combinations of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment caused by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... In-vehicle information processing apparatus 2... Imaging part 3... Illuminance measurement part 4... Position acquisition part 5... Storage part 6... Control part 60... Detection part 61... Positional relationship determination unit 62 Notification unit 63 Headlight control unit 64 Moving body determination unit 65 Line of sight detection unit 66 Memory control unit N Car navigation V ·vehicle

Claims (4)

an imaging unit that acquires an image in front of the vehicle running on the road in the direction of travel;
a detection unit that detects a moving object, a stationary object, and the road included in the image acquired by the imaging unit;
Whether or not the positional relationship between the moving object, the stationary object, and the road corresponds to the notification condition that the moving object exists on one side of the road and the stationary object exists on the other side of the road across the road. a positional relationship determination unit for determining;
a notification unit that notifies a driver of the vehicle of an alert when the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition;
an illuminance measuring unit that measures illuminance outside the vehicle;
When the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition, and the illuminance outside the vehicle measured by the illuminance measurement unit is lower than a predetermined threshold illuminance, a headlight provided to the vehicle a headlight control unit that irradiates a light in the direction of the stationary object;
with
The notification unit notifies the driver of a message that alerts the driver to the possibility that a moving object different from the moving object existing on one side of the road may appear from the other side of the road.
In-vehicle information processing equipment. an imaging unit that acquires an image in front of the vehicle running on the road in the direction of travel;
a detection unit that detects a moving object, a stationary object, and the road included in the image acquired by the imaging unit;
Whether or not the positional relationship between the moving object, the stationary object, and the road corresponds to the notification condition that the moving object exists on one side of the road and the stationary object exists on the other side of the road across the road. a positional relationship determination unit for determining;
a notification unit that notifies a driver of the vehicle of an alert when the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition;
a position acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the position of the vehicle;
The positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition, a moving object different from the moving object existing on the one side of the road appears from the other side of the road, and the vehicle a storage control unit that stores the location information in a storage unit included in the vehicle when the location is included in a predetermined area ;
The notification unit notifies the driver of a message that alerts the driver to the possibility that a moving object different from the moving object existing on one side of the road may appear from the other side of the road.
In-vehicle information processing equipment. an imaging unit that acquires an image in front of the vehicle running on the road in the direction of travel;
a detection unit that detects a moving object, a stationary object, and the road included in the image acquired by the imaging unit;
Whether or not the positional relationship between the moving object, the stationary object, and the road corresponds to the notification condition that the moving object exists on one side of the road and the stationary object exists on the other side of the road across the road. a positional relationship determination unit for determining;
a notification unit that notifies a driver of the vehicle of an alert when the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition;
an illuminance measuring unit that measures illuminance outside the vehicle;
When the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition, and the illuminance outside the vehicle measured by the illuminance measurement unit is lower than a predetermined threshold illuminance, a headlight provided to the vehicle a headlight control unit that irradiates a light in the direction of the stationary object;
a moving object determination unit that determines whether the moving object detected by the detection unit is an animal;
a line-of-sight detection unit that detects a line-of-sight direction of the animal when the moving body is an animal ,
The notification unit, on condition that the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition, and that the line-of-sight direction of the animal is the direction of the stationary object, to alert the
In-vehicle information processing equipment. an imaging unit that acquires an image in front of the vehicle running on the road in the direction of travel;
a detection unit that detects a moving object, a stationary object, and the road included in the image acquired by the imaging unit;
Whether or not the positional relationship between the moving object, the stationary object, and the road corresponds to the notification condition that the moving object exists on one side of the road and the stationary object exists on the other side of the road across the road. a positional relationship determination unit for determining;
a notification unit that notifies a driver of the vehicle of an alert when the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition;
a position acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the position of the vehicle;
The positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition, a moving object different from the moving object existing on the one side of the road appears from the other side of the road, and the vehicle a storage control unit that stores the location information in a storage unit included in the vehicle when the location is included in a predetermined area;
a moving object determination unit that determines whether the moving object detected by the detection unit is an animal;
a line-of-sight detection unit that detects a line-of-sight direction of the animal when the moving body is an animal ,
The notification unit, on condition that the positional relationship among the moving object, the stationary object, and the road satisfies the notification condition, and that the line-of-sight direction of the animal is the direction of the stationary object, to alert the
In-vehicle information processing equipment.

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