JP7563196B2 - Control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control device.

Vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The vehicle in Patent Document 1 is configured so that the orientation of the driver's seat and passenger seat can be changed to the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, when autonomous driving is performed, the driver's seat and passenger seat can be turned to the rear of the vehicle, making it possible for the driver's seat and passenger seat to face the rear seat. The vehicle is also provided with a seat sensor that detects the orientation of the driver's seat, and is configured to control in-vehicle equipment according to the orientation of the driver's seat.

JP 2019-155991 A

However, the vehicle described above is equipped with a seat sensor to detect the orientation of the driver's seat, and there is room for improvement in this regard.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a control device that can determine the orientation of the front seats without relying on a seat sensor.

The control device according to the present invention is applied to a vehicle having an automatic driving function and configured to change the orientation of the front seat toward the rear of the vehicle. The control device includes a front camera that captures an image of the rear from the front end of the vehicle in the passenger compartment and is arranged so that the backrest of the driver's seat, the backrest of the passenger seat, and the rear seat are each located within an imaging area, a rear camera that captures an image of the front from the rear end of the vehicle in the passenger compartment, and a monitoring ECU that determines the orientation of the driver's seat and the passenger seat based on the captured image acquired by the front camera and determines the camera to be used for monitoring the passenger compartment based on the determination result. The image captured by the front camera is designed to capture an occupant sitting in a seat facing the front of the vehicle when at least one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat is facing the front of the vehicle, and an occupant sitting in a rear seat when at least one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat is facing the rear of the vehicle, and the image captured by the rear camera is designed to capture an occupant sitting in a seat facing the rear of the vehicle when at least one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat is facing the rear of the vehicle. The monitoring ECU is configured to monitor the status of an occupant sitting in the driver's seat, an occupant sitting in the passenger seat, and an occupant sitting in the rear seat, using images captured only from the front camera, when both the driver's seat and the passenger seat are facing the front of the vehicle, and to operate the rear camera under that condition and monitor the status of an occupant sitting in the driver's seat or the passenger seat that faces the rear of the vehicle, using images captured from the rear camera, and to monitor the status of an occupant sitting in the seat that faces the front of the vehicle of either the driver's seat or the passenger seat, using images captured from the rear camera, and to monitor the status of an occupant sitting in the seat that faces the front of the vehicle and an occupant sitting in the rear seat, using images captured from the front camera, when one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat is facing the front of the vehicle .

By configuring it in this way, the orientation of the front seats can be determined based on images captured by a specified camera, without relying on seat sensors.

The control device of the present invention can determine the orientation of the front seats without using seat sensors.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle to which a monitoring ECU according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the orientation of the front seats of the vehicle in FIG. 1 has been changed; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring ECU according to the present embodiment. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the monitoring ECU of FIG. 3 .

One embodiment of the present invention is described below.

First, the configuration of a vehicle 100 to which a monitoring ECU 2 according to one embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 100 is provided with a number of wheels 60 and is configured to run by the rotation of the wheels 60. The vehicle 100 has an automatic driving function and is also configured to be manually driven. Therefore, the vehicle 100 runs automatically without the driver's operation during automatic driving, and runs by the driver's operation during manual driving.

The vehicle 100 is provided with a passenger compartment 50, and seats for occupants are provided within the passenger compartment 50. The seats include a driver's seat 51 and a passenger seat 52, which are front seats, and a rear seat 53. The driver's seat 51, the passenger seat 52, and the rear seat 53 are provided to face the front side of the vehicle (X1 direction). That is, the backrest 51a of the driver's seat 51 is disposed on the rear side of the vehicle (X2 direction), the backrest 52a of the passenger seat 52 is disposed on the rear side of the vehicle, and the backrest 53a of the rear seat 53 is disposed on the rear side of the vehicle. In addition, a steering wheel 54 operated by the driver during manual driving and the like are provided in front of the driver's seat 51.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 100 is configured so that the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and passenger seat 52 can be changed to the rear of the vehicle. Therefore, when autonomous driving is performed, the driver's seat 51 and passenger seat 52 can be turned to the rear of the vehicle, so that the driver's seat 51 and passenger seat 52 face the rear seat 53. At this time, the backrest 51a of the driver's seat 51 is located at the front of the vehicle, and the backrest 52a of the passenger seat 52 is located at the front of the vehicle.

The vehicle 100 is configured to monitor the interior of the vehicle cabin 50 and to be controlled according to the state of the interior of the vehicle cabin 50. For example, when the driver's seat 51 faces the rear of the vehicle, switching from automatic driving to manual driving is prohibited. As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle 100 includes an automatic driving system 61, an alarm device 62, and an interior monitoring device. The automatic driving system 61 is configured to control automatic driving according to information about the vehicle's surroundings and the monitoring results of the interior monitoring device. The alarm device 62 is configured to notify the driver and other occupants of the monitoring results of the interior monitoring device. For example, the alarm device 62 may be configured to warn of the driver's drowsiness or fatigue, may be configured to warn of non-fastening of a seat belt, or may be configured to warn of poor physical condition of an occupant.

The vehicle interior monitoring device includes a front camera 1a, a rear camera 1b, and a monitoring ECU 2, and is configured to monitor the interior of the vehicle interior 50. The front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b are arranged to capture images of the interior of the vehicle interior 50. The front camera 1a is attached, for example, to the end of the roof (not shown) on the front side of the vehicle, and is arranged to capture images of the rear (X2 direction). Therefore, the backrest 51a of the driver's seat 51 and the backrest 52a of the passenger seat 52 are located within the imaging area of the front camera 1a. The rear camera 1b is attached, for example, to the end of the roof on the rear side of the vehicle, and is arranged to capture images of the front (X1 direction). The front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b are examples of the "camera" of the present invention.

The monitoring ECU 2 is configured to monitor the interior of the vehicle cabin 50 using the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b, and to output the monitoring results to the automatic driving system 61 and the alarm device 62, etc. This monitoring ECU 2 includes a control unit 21, a memory unit 22, an input/output unit 23, and a communication unit 24, and is configured to control the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b. The monitoring ECU 2 is an example of the "control device" of the present invention.

The control unit 21 is configured to execute calculations based on a control program to control the monitoring ECU 2. The storage unit 22 stores the control program executed by the control unit 21 and other data. The front camera 1a and rear camera 1b are connected to the input/output unit 23. The communication unit 24 is provided to communicate with the automatic driving system 61, the warning device 62, and other devices.

The monitoring ECU 2 is configured to determine the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 based on the image captured by the front camera 1a, and to determine the camera to be used for monitoring the interior of the vehicle compartment 50 based on the result of the determination. That is, the monitoring ECU 2 is configured to switch the camera to be used for monitoring the interior of the vehicle compartment 50 depending on the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52. Specifically, when both the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 are facing the front of the vehicle, the interior of the vehicle compartment 50 is monitored using the front camera 1a, and when at least one of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 is facing the rear of the vehicle, the interior of the vehicle compartment 50 is monitored using the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b. The front camera 1a is an example of the "predetermined camera" of the present invention.

-- Operation --
Next, the operation of the monitoring ECU 2 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Note that the following steps are executed by the control unit 21.

First, in step S1 of FIG. 4, the front camera 1a is operated to acquire an image. That is, the front camera 1a captures an image of the interior of the vehicle compartment 50, and the image captured by the front camera 1a is input to the input/output unit 23.

Next, in step S2, the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 is recognized based on the image captured by the front camera 1a. Since the backrests 51a and 52a are included in the area captured by the front camera 1a, it is possible to recognize the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 based on the positions of the backrests 51a and 52a in the image captured by the front camera 1a. That is, the image captured by the front camera 1a is processed to detect the backrests 51a and 52a, and the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 is determined based on the detected positions of the backrests 51a and 52a.

Next, in step S3, it is determined whether the driver's seat 51 faces the front of the vehicle. If it is determined that the driver's seat 51 faces the front of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if it is determined that the driver's seat 51 does not face the front of the vehicle (if the driver's seat 51 faces the rear of the vehicle), the process proceeds to step S6.

Next, in step S4, it is determined whether the passenger seat 52 faces the front of the vehicle. If it is determined that the passenger seat 52 faces the front of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if it is determined that the passenger seat 52 does not face the front of the vehicle (if the passenger seat 52 faces the rear of the vehicle), the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S5, the interior of the vehicle cabin 50 is monitored using the image captured by the front camera 1a. The image captured by the front camera 1a captures the occupants in the driver's seat 51, the passenger seat 52, and the rear seat 53. Therefore, it is possible to monitor the state of the occupants in the vehicle cabin 50 from the image captured by the front camera 1a. That is, the interior of the vehicle cabin 50 is monitored using only the front camera 1a. The monitoring results are then transmitted from the communication unit 24 to the automatic driving system 61 and the warning device 62. The automatic driving system 61 and the warning device 62 are controlled according to the received monitoring results. Examples of the monitoring results include whether the driver is drowsy or tired, whether the seat belt is fastened, and changes in the physical condition of the occupants.

In addition, in step S6, the rear camera 1b is operated to acquire an image. That is, the rear camera 1b captures an image of the interior of the vehicle compartment 50, and the image captured by the rear camera 1b is input to the input/output unit 23.

Next, in step S7, the interior of the vehicle cabin 50 is monitored using images captured by the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b. Any occupants seated in at least one of the driver's seat 51 and passenger seat 52 facing the rear of the vehicle are captured in the image captured by the rear camera 1b, while other occupants are captured in the image captured by the front camera 1a. Therefore, it is possible to monitor the status of the occupants in the vehicle cabin 50 from the images captured by the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b. In other words, the interior of the vehicle cabin 50 is monitored using both the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b. The monitoring results are then transmitted from the communication unit 24 to the autonomous driving system 61 and the warning device 62.

-effect-
In this embodiment, as described above, the orientations of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 are determined based on the image captured by the front camera 1a, so that the orientations of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 can be determined without using a seat sensor. When both the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 face the front of the vehicle, the front camera 1a is used to monitor the interior of the vehicle compartment 50, and when at least one of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 faces the rear of the vehicle, the front camera 1a and the rear camera 1b are used to monitor the interior of the vehicle compartment 50. This makes it possible to appropriately monitor the interior of the vehicle compartment 50 while suppressing an increase in costs.

-Other embodiments-
It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be limiting. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not interpreted solely by the above-described embodiments, but is defined by the claims. The technical scope of the present invention includes all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the claims.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the forward camera 1a was attached to the roof, but this is not limited thereto, and the forward camera may be attached to the rearview mirror or the instrument panel.

In the above embodiment, an example in which two cameras (front camera 1a and rear camera 1b) are provided is shown, but the number of cameras provided may be any number as long as it is more than one. For example, an omnidirectional camera may be provided in addition to the front camera and rear camera. The omnidirectional camera is disposed, for example, in the center of the roof in the front-rear direction of the vehicle .

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the orientation of the driver's seat 51 and the passenger seat 52 was determined based on the positions of the backrest portions 51a and 52a, but this is not limiting, and the orientation of the driver's seat and the passenger seat may be determined based on the positions of other parts such as the headrests.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle 100 that has a front seat (driver's seat 51 and passenger seat 52) and a rear seat 53, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may also be applied to vehicles or buses that have three rows of seats that can accommodate multiple passengers.

The present invention can be used in a control device applied to a vehicle that has an automatic driving function and is configured to be able to change the orientation of the front seats toward the rear of the vehicle.

1a Front camera (camera, predetermined camera)
1b Rear camera (camera)
2. Monitoring ECU (control device)
50 Vehicle interior 51 Driver's seat (front seat)
52 Passenger seat (front seat)
100 vehicles

Claims (1)

A control device applied to a vehicle having an automatic driving function and configured to be able to change the orientation of a front seat to the rear side of the vehicle,
a front camera arranged to capture an image of the rear from a front end of the vehicle interior and to include within its imaging area a backrest of the driver's seat, a backrest of the passenger seat, and a rear seat;
A rear camera arranged in the vehicle interior to capture an image of the front from a rear end of the vehicle;
a monitoring ECU that determines the orientation of the driver's seat and the passenger seat based on an image captured by the front camera, and determines a camera to be used for monitoring the interior of the vehicle based on a result of the determination,
When at least one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat faces the front of the vehicle, the captured image of the front camera reflects an occupant in a seat facing the front of the vehicle, and an occupant in a rear seat,
When at least one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat faces the rear of the vehicle, an occupant sitting in the seat facing the rear of the vehicle is reflected in the captured image of the rear camera,
The monitoring ECU is
When both the driver's seat and the passenger seat are facing the front of the vehicle, the state of each of an occupant sitting in the driver's seat, an occupant sitting in the passenger seat, and an occupant sitting in the rear seat is monitored using an image captured only by the front camera;
a control device configured to, when at least one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat is facing toward the rear of the vehicle, activate the rear camera on that condition and monitor the status of an occupant sitting in the driver's seat or the passenger seat whichever is facing toward the rear of the vehicle using images captured by the rear camera, and, when one of the driver's seat and the passenger seat is facing the front of the vehicle, monitor the status of the occupant sitting in the seat facing the front of the vehicle and the status of the occupant sitting in the rear seat using images captured by the front camera .

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