JP7611282B2 - Rear object confirmation device and rear object confirmation system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rear object confirmation device or system that can confirm objects behind a vehicle when the vehicle is backing up and output an alarm if necessary, and in particular to a rear object confirmation device or system that can arbitrarily set the detection range for objects behind the vehicle.

On June 9, 2021, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced that, in light of the fact that the "Agreement Regulations on Vehicle Rear-End Check Devices When Reversing (No. 158)" was newly adopted at the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Japan will also introduce these regulations and revise safety standards to reflect other revised regulations in the safety standards. On June 10, 2021, the "Standards on Vehicle Rear-End Check Devices When Reversing" came into effect. As a result, it has become mandatory for new vehicles such as trucks to be equipped with a vehicle rear-end check device such as a backup camera when reversing. According to the above standards, a backup camera is required to be able to check an area from 0.3 to 3.5 m behind the vehicle body, and to be able to check objects up to 0.8 m in height, assuming poles and children.

Back monitors, which are equipped with a camera at the rear of a vehicle and display an image of the rear of the vehicle on a monitor in the driver's seat to allow drivers to visually check people, objects, etc. behind the vehicle and confirm safety when backing up the vehicle, such as when parking in a garage, are already in widespread use. However, in recent legal changes, the installation of a vehicle rearward check device when reversing has been made mandatory, and specific distances are required to be specified behind the vehicle, so in reality it has not always been easy for the driver to accurately check the safety of a specified area behind the vehicle body simply by visually estimating the area on the back monitor with the driver's naked eye.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described conventional technology and its problems, and aims to provide a rear object confirmation device or system for confirming an object present behind a vehicle when the vehicle is reversing, which can arbitrarily adjust a warning line indicating the distance from the rear end of the vehicle and display it on a rear monitor, and can objectively determine the danger level of an object according to the positional relationship between the object displayed on the monitor and the adjusted warning line when the vehicle is reversing.

The rear object confirmation device according to claim 1 comprises:
A rear object confirmation device that confirms an object behind a vehicle and judges a degree of danger,
In a display device mounted on a vehicle,
warning lines including a vehicle width warning line defining the vehicle width and a distance warning line perpendicular to the vehicle width warning line and indicating a distance from the rear end of the vehicle in a direction in which the vehicle is moving backward,
The vehicle width marking line is set on the road behind the vehicle, and the marking line includes a vehicle width marking line that defines the vehicle width, and a distance marking line that is perpendicular to the vehicle width marking line and indicates the distance from the rear end of the vehicle in the direction in which the vehicle is reversing.
The distance warning line is translated in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle width direction to match the distance marker line, and both ends of the distance warning line are translated in the vehicle width direction to match both ends of the distance marker line,
a warning line display and adjustment unit for adjusting and displaying the warning line so that the warning line indicates the same range as the marker line in the display device;
an obstacle determination unit that detects an object presence area displayed on the display device when the vehicle is backing up, and determines a degree of danger of the object according to a positional relationship between the adjusted warning line displayed on the display device and the object presence area;
Equipped with
The existence area is a display that surrounds the periphery of the object, and if the warning area surrounded by the warning line and the existence area overlap even partially, the display color of the existence area is changed depending on the position .

The rear object confirmation system according to claim 2 comprises:
An image capturing device provided at a rear end of the vehicle for capturing an image of the rear of the vehicle;
a display device mounted on the vehicle and displaying an image of the rear of the vehicle captured by the imaging device;
a rear object confirmation device that arbitrarily adjusts a warning line indicating a distance from a rear end of a vehicle and a vehicle width and displays the line on the display device, and determines a degree of danger of an object according to a positional relationship between the object displayed on the display device and the adjusted warning line;
A rear object confirmation system for confirming an object behind a vehicle, comprising:
The rear object confirmation device is
In the display device,
warning lines including a vehicle width warning line defining the vehicle width and a distance warning line perpendicular to the vehicle width warning line and indicating a distance from the rear end of the vehicle in a direction in which the vehicle is moving backward,
The vehicle width marking line is set on the road behind the vehicle, and the marking line includes a vehicle width marking line that defines the vehicle width, and a distance marking line that is perpendicular to the vehicle width marking line and indicates the distance from the rear end of the vehicle in the direction in which the vehicle is reversing.
The distance warning line is translated in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle width direction to match the distance marker line, and both ends of the distance warning line are translated in the vehicle width direction to match both ends of the distance marker line,
a warning line display and adjustment unit that adjusts and displays the warning line so that the warning line indicates the same range as the marker line;
an obstacle determination unit that detects an object presence area displayed on the display device when the vehicle is backing up, and determines a degree of danger of the object according to a positional relationship between the adjusted warning line displayed on the display device and the object presence area;
having
The existence area is a display that surrounds the periphery of the object, and if the warning area surrounded by the warning line and the existence area overlap even partially, the display color of the existence area is changed depending on the position .

The rear object confirmation system according to claim 3 is the rear object confirmation system according to claim 2, further comprising:
The vehicle is characterized by comprising a warning output device for outputting a necessary warning based on the result of the determination made by the rear object confirmation device.

According to the rear object confirmation device and rear object confirmation system of the first and second claims, an image of the rear of the vehicle and a warning line indicating the distance from the rear end of the vehicle and the vehicle width are superimposed on the display device. Also, depending on the positional relationship between an object that has entered the display screen of the display device and the warning line, the risk of the object colliding with the vehicle is judged. When backing up the vehicle, the driver can use the warning line as a guide to check the risk of an object behind the vehicle on the display screen of the display device, and therefore can drive safely.
In addition, in the adjustment work before use, a warning line indicating the distance from the rear end of the vehicle is displayed on the display device by using the warning line display/adjustment unit of the rear object confirmation device, and further, the position of the warning line on the display device can be adjusted so that a marking line provided in advance on the road behind the vehicle matches the warning line on the display device. Then, after the adjustment work, when the vehicle is reversed, the obstacle determination unit of the rear object confirmation device detects the presence area of the object displayed on the display screen of the display device and can determine the danger level of the object according to the positional relationship between the warning line and the presence area on the display screen of the display device, so that the driver can drive safely without contacting the object with the vehicle based on the determination.
In addition, during adjustment work before use, the vehicle width warning line and distance warning line displayed on the display screen of the display device can be matched with the vehicle width sign line and distance sign line on the road displayed on the display screen of the display device, respectively, so that the range indicated by the warning lines on the display screen of the display device can be set to the desired vehicle width and distance from the vehicle.
Furthermore, when reversing the vehicle, if the object presence area displayed on the display screen of the display device overlaps even partially with a warning area surrounded by a warning line displayed on the display screen of the display device, the display color of the object presence area is changed depending on the position, so that the driver can intuitively know the degree of danger of the object from the displayed color.

According to the rear object confirmation system described in claim 3 , the alarm output device can output the necessary alarm based on the results of the judgment by the rear photographing device, which has the effect of improving safety compared to a case where the degree of danger of objects behind the vehicle is confirmed only by visually checking the display screen of the display device.

1 is a schematic structural diagram showing an overall configuration of a rear object checking device according to an embodiment; 1 is a control block diagram showing an overall configuration of a rear object checking device according to an embodiment; 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen on a monitor of the rear object checking device according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle equipped with a rear object confirmation device according to an embodiment, in which FIG. 1A is a side view showing the mounting position of the camera, and FIG. 1B is a plan view showing an example of a marker line set on the road behind the vehicle as a landmark during adjustment. 1 is a perspective view showing an operation of setting a marker line, which serves as a mark for adjusting a warning line, on a road behind a vehicle in the rear object confirmation device according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen on a monitor of a rear object confirmation device according to an embodiment, in which an image of a sign line set on a road behind a vehicle is displayed superimposed on an unadjusted warning line. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing warning lines displayed on a monitor of the rear object confirmation device of the embodiment, and is a work instruction diagram showing the order of adjustment by moving the vehicle width warning line and the distance warning line. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an adjustment display screen for warning lines on the monitor of the rear object confirmation device according to the embodiment, illustrating a state in which four distance warning lines are aligned with four corresponding distance marker lines. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an adjustment display screen for warning lines on the monitor of the rear object confirmation device of the embodiment, illustrating a state in which one vehicle width warning line (left side) is aligned with a corresponding one vehicle width sign line (left side). FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an adjustment display screen of the warning line on the monitor of the rear object confirmation device of the embodiment, showing a state in which the remaining vehicle width warning line (right side) is aligned with the corresponding remaining vehicle width sign line (right side). 4 is a diagram of a display screen that shows a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between an object presence area and a warning line on the monitor of the rear object checking device according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a monitor of the rear object checking device according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a second example shape of a marker line to be set on the road behind a vehicle, and FIG. 4B is a diagram of a display screen showing a warning line adjusted using the marker line shown in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a third example shape of a marker line to be set on the road behind a vehicle, and FIG. 4B is a diagram of a display screen showing a warning line adjusted using the marker line shown in FIG. 4A.

The configuration of a rear object confirmation system 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG.
The rear object confirmation system 1 of the embodiment described below conforms to the above-mentioned "Standards for Devices for Confirming Immediately Behind a Vehicle When Backing Up" and has the ability to confirm on a monitor a predetermined warning range defined by a distance of, for example, 0.3 m to 3.5 m behind the vehicle and the vehicle width of the vehicle. However, when photographing with a camera, the warning range displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor varies depending on the vehicle width of the vehicle on which the camera is mounted, the position (particularly the height) at which the camera is attached, and the like.

Therefore, in this embodiment, a specified warning range is actually created by applying tape on the road behind the vehicle, and the position of the warning line as a control display on the monitor display screen 30 can be adjusted to match the warning range of the tape. This makes it possible to arbitrarily adjust the position and size of the warning line displayed on the monitor to match the required warning range, regardless of the type of vehicle with different conditions such as vehicle width, camera specifications, and installation height, and regardless of the dimensions of the target specified warning range.

The rear object confirmation system 1 of this embodiment shown in the schematic configuration diagram of Figure 1 is a system that is mounted on a vehicle and used by the driver to check the rear of the vehicle, and is equipped with a camera 2 as an image capture device that captures images of the rear of the vehicle, a monitor 3 as a display device that displays the images captured by the camera 2, a buzzer 4 as an alarm output device, a GPS (global positioning system) antenna 5 as an information acquisition means, a manual recording switch 6 that also serves as a microphone, and a rear object confirmation device 7 to which these components are connected.

The camera 2 and monitor 3 in the configuration example shown in FIG. 1 are used in a conventional single-function rear confirmation device that captures and displays the rear of the vehicle, and are connected to the rear object confirmation device 7 of this embodiment for reuse. Therefore, the camera 2 and monitor 3 are connected to an on-board power supply by a power cable (not shown), but power may also be supplied from the rear object confirmation device 7 connected to the on-board power supply. The GPS antenna 5 acquires position information and provides it to the rear object confirmation device 7. Also, by operating the manual recording switch 6, the image displayed on the monitor 3 can be recorded and saved in the memory unit 12 (see FIG. 2) described later together with position information and time information.

As shown in the control block diagram of FIG. 2, the rear object confirmation device 7 is equipped with a control unit 8, which is the core of the functions of overall control for rear object confirmation. That is, the control unit 8 transmits and receives video signals and control signals between the camera 2 and the monitor 3, and as shown in FIG. 3, has the functions of overall control in cooperation with other functional parts, such as causing the monitor 3 to display an image of the rear of the vehicle and various control images superimposed thereon, detecting objects displayed on the display screen 30, determining the type of object, and controlling the buzzer 4 to generate an alarm if necessary.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen 30 on the monitor 3 of the rear object confirmation device 7. As shown in this figure, the images displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3 include the actual image behind the vehicle (in Figure 3, the white lines W dividing the parking lot, other cars C, pylons P, etc. are displayed), as well as the warning lines WL (vehicle width warning line WL1 and distance warning line WL2 (WL21, WL22, WL23, WL24) which are control images indicating the predetermined warning range, the frame-shaped presence area A indicating that an object has been detected, the vehicle position coordinates 20, the timestamp 21, the vehicle movement direction 22, the recording status 23, the microphone status 24, the GPS reception status 25, and the status 26 of the memory card which is an external storage medium.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear object confirmation device 7 has a warning line display and adjustment unit 9. The warning line display and adjustment unit 9 is connected to the control unit 8, and by working together with the control unit 8, has the function of displaying a warning line WL, which is a control image indicating the distance from the rear end of the vehicle and the vehicle width, on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, and also of moving the warning line on the display screen 30 to adjust its position.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear object confirmation device 7 has an obstacle determination unit 10. The obstacle determination unit 10 is connected to the control unit 8, and by working together with the control unit 8, has the functions of detecting an object presence area A (see FIG. 3) displayed on the camera 2 when the vehicle is backing up, comparing this object presence area A with the adjusted warning line WL displayed on the monitor 3, and determining the danger level of the object according to their positional relationship.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear object confirmation device 7 has an input unit 11. The input unit 11 is connected to the control unit 8, and can be used to turn the rear object confirmation device 7 on and off, as well as to input instructions and data required to operate the rear object confirmation device 7. Specifically, the driver can operate the input unit 11 to cause the warning line display/adjustment unit 9 to function, display the warning line WL on the monitor 3, input instructions to move the displayed warning line WL for adjustment, and input instructions required to operate the obstacle determination unit 10. The input unit 11 includes push-button type function switches, a numeric keypad, directional buttons such as an up button, a down button, a right button, and a left button for moving the display elements on the monitor 3 in each direction, and a confirmation button for confirming the switch or button operation, and these switches or buttons may be displayed on the monitor 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the rear object confirmation device 7 has a memory unit 12. The memory unit 12 is connected to the control unit 8, and stores data necessary for the operation of the rear object confirmation device 7 and software for causing each part of the rear object confirmation device 7 to function. The data includes, for example, original line data of the warning line WL displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, line adjustment data which is data of the warning line WL after adjustment, and recorded data of the image displayed by the monitor 3, and the software includes, for example, various software for causing each part of the rear object confirmation device 7 to function as described above.

In addition to the internal memory, the rear object confirmation device 7 also has a memory card, which is an external storage medium, as the storage unit 12. The memory card is removable and can be attached to and used in other rear object confirmation devices 7, or the data can be copied to multiple memory cards and attached to and used in object confirmation devices installed in multiple other automobiles with the same conditions.

A method for adjusting the rear object confirmation system 1 before use according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
4 and 5, a predetermined warning range is actually formed using adhesive tape or the like on the road behind a vehicle 50 equipped with the rear object confirmation system 1. As shown in Figures 4(a) and (b), the camera 2 attached to the rear end of the vehicle 50 is 3.5 m high and is attached at a position corresponding to the center of the vehicle width of 2.5 m.

As shown in FIG. 4, the specified warning range is composed of marker lines SL formed by sticking tape on the road. The marker lines SL are in a roughly ladder-like shape composed of vehicle width marker lines SL1 and distance marker lines SL2. The vehicle width marker lines SL1 are a pair of lines parallel to the direction in which the vehicle 50 travels straight backwards, spaced apart by the vehicle width, and define the vehicle width of the vehicle 50. The distance marker lines SL2 are lines parallel to the vehicle width direction and perpendicular to the vehicle width marker lines SL1, and indicate the distance from the rear end of the vehicle 50 in the direction in which the vehicle 50 travels straight backwards.

As shown in FIG. 4, the two vehicle width marking lines SL1 are 3.5 m or longer and correspond to the vehicle width warning line WL1 (blue) (see FIG. 11) that is displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3 and will be described later.

As shown in Figure 4, there are four distance marker lines SL2. The first distance marker line SL21 is located at a distance of 3.5 m from the vehicle 50, and corresponds to the first distance warning line WL21 (green) (see Figure 11) displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, which will be described later. The second distance marker line SL22 is located at a distance of 2.0 m from the vehicle 50, and corresponds to the second distance warning line WL22 (yellow) (see Figure 11) displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, which will be described later. The third distance marker line SL23 is located at a distance of 1.0 m from the vehicle 50, and corresponds to the third distance warning line WL23 (red) (see Figure 11) displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, which will be described later. In addition, the line in the vehicle width direction provided on the road corresponding to the rear end of the vehicle 50 is the sign end line SL24, which corresponds to the warning end line WL24 (blue) (see FIG. 11) displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3.

Figure 6 shows an example of a display on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3 of the rear object confirmation system 1, showing an image of the marker line SL set on the road behind the vehicle 50 and the warning line WL before adjustment, misaligned and overlapping. Below, we will explain the adjustment work of aligning the warning line WL with the marker line SL on the monitor 3.

By operating the input unit 11 of the rear object confirmation device 7, the power supply of the rear object confirmation device 7 is turned on and the gear of the vehicle 50 is set to reverse, and as shown in FIG. 6, the camera 2 captures the sign line SL on the road and displays it on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3 through the function of the control unit 8. Note that the rear object confirmation device 7 may be automatically turned on by a signal from the vehicle 50 when the engine of the vehicle 50 is started and the gear is set to reverse.

Furthermore, by operating the input unit 11, the warning line display/adjustment unit 9 and the control unit 8 are put into operation, and the display/adjustment mode for the warning line WL is started. The original line data for the warning line WL stored in the memory unit 12 is read out, and the default warning line WL is displayed superimposed on the marker line SL on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3. In this state, the warning line WL does not coincide with the marker line SL.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the warning lines WL displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3. The numbers in half brackets shown in the white squares in the diagram indicate the targets of the adjustment work to move the vehicle width warning line WL1 and the distance warning line WL2, and the order in which the work is to be performed.
On the display screen 30 of the monitor 3 in the display/adjustment mode, first, the third to first distance warning lines WL23, WL22, WL21 and the warning end line WL24 are translated in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle width direction (up-down direction) in the order of 1) to 4) in Fig. 7. The operation order may be automatically selected by the control unit 8 and instructed to the operator by displaying on the monitor 3 (actively displaying the operation target, etc.), or may be selected by the operator. The third to first warning lines WL23, WL22, WL21 and the warning end line WL24 can be moved downward on the display screen 30 (in a direction approaching the vehicle 50 below, not shown) by using the up button provided on the input unit 11, and can be moved upward on the display screen 30 (in a direction moving away from the vehicle 50 below, not shown) by using the down button, so that by this operation, the third to first warning lines WL23, WL22, WL21 and the warning end line WL24 are aligned with the third to first distance marker lines SL23, SL22, SL21 and the marker end line SL24 as shown in Fig. 8, and then the confirmation button is pressed and held to confirm. This results in the state shown in Fig. 8.

Next, each end of the vehicle width warning line WL1 is moved in the vehicle width direction (left and right direction) in the order of 5) to 8) in FIG. 7. The operation order may be selected automatically by the control unit 8 and instructed to the operator by displaying it on the monitor 3 (such as by actively displaying the operation target), or it may be selected by the operator. Each end of the vehicle width warning line WL1 can be moved to the right of the display screen 30 by pressing the right button provided on the input unit 11, and moved to the left of the display screen 30 by pressing the left button. By this operation, each end of the vehicle width warning line WL1 is aligned with each end of the vehicle width sign line SL1, as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, and then the OK button is pressed and held to confirm. This results in the state shown in FIG. 10.

By making the above adjustments, as shown in Figure 10, the vehicle width warning line WL1 and distance warning line WL2 displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3 will show the same range as the specified warning range actually formed with tape on the road behind the vehicle 50.

The following describes how to use the rear object confirmation system 1 according to the embodiment after adjustment, with reference to Figures 11 and 12.

Figure 11 is a diagram of the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, which shows a schematic diagram of the positional relationship between an object presence area A and a warning line WL, which will be described later, and Figure 12 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of an example of the display screen 30 on the monitor 3. However, both diagrams do not show the same situation in terms of the positions, number, types, etc. of objects behind the vehicle 50.

When the adjusted rear object confirmation system 1 is manually activated and then the vehicle 50 is put into reverse, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, a warning line WL is displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, and the driver can use this warning line WL as a guide to drive so as not to come into contact with surrounding objects. Alternatively, when the engine of the vehicle 50 is started and the vehicle 50 is put into reverse, the rear object confirmation system 1 may be automatically activated by a signal from the vehicle 50, and the warning line WL may be displayed on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3. In either case, when reversing the vehicle 50, the driver can use this warning line WL on the monitor 3 as a guide to drive so as not to come into contact with surrounding objects.

11 and 12, when an object appears behind the vehicle 50 and enters the shooting range of the camera 2, the camera 2 captures it, and the monitor 3 displays the object on the display screen 30. The control unit 8 and obstacle determination unit 10 of the rear object confirmation device 7 recognize the object on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3. According to the control unit 8 and obstacle determination unit 10 of the embodiment, as an example, if the object is a moving object, it can be recognized if it is 80 cm or more in height and 30 cm or more in diameter, and if the object is a fixed object, it can be recognized if it is 50 cm or more in height and 30 cm or more in diameter. In either case, the control unit 8 and the obstacle determination unit 10 can estimate the type of the object with a high degree of accuracy by referring to the AI data stored in the memory unit 12 from the shape, size, surface condition, color, movement mode, movement speed, etc. of the object. The control unit 8 and the obstacle determination unit 10 display on the display screen 30 an existence area A surrounding the object with lines of a color according to the type of the recognized object. That is, the existence area A is a control graphic display showing the outline of the shape and size, type, and position of the object recognized by the control unit 8 and the obstacle determination unit 10, and is shown with dashed lines in FIG. 11 but with solid lines in FIG. 12. Note that the display color of the lines of the existence area A may be differentiated from the viewpoint of drawing the driver's attention, for example, by using a warning color of red for moving objects including people and bicycles, and blue for fixed objects. Furthermore, the type of object determined may be displayed in text near the displayed existence area A.

As shown in FIG. 11, on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, the area other than the warning area surrounded by the warning line WL is the preliminary detection area of the preliminary object. In FIG. 11, as shown by (1), when an object is present in the preliminary detection area and the presence area A is displayed, the control unit 8 and the obstacle determination unit 10 display the presence area A (1) in blue as an image color that indicates safety.

As shown by (2) to (5) in FIG. 11, if the warning area surrounded by the warning line WL overlaps even partially with the object presence area A on the display screen 30 of the monitor 3, the control unit 8 and the obstacle determination unit 10 will display the presence area A in a color that changes in stages according to its position.

As shown by (2) in FIG. 11, when the presence area A intersects with the first distance warning line WL21 (green), the distance between the vehicle 50 and the object is approximately 3.5 m, so the control unit 8 and obstacle determination unit 10 determine that the risk is low and display the presence area A in the same green color as the first distance warning line WL21 to attract the driver's attention. The buzzer 4 does not sound.

As shown by (3) in FIG. 11, when the presence area A intersects with the second distance warning line WL22 (yellow), the distance between the vehicle 50 and the object is approximately 2.0 m, so the control unit 8 and obstacle determination unit 10 determine that the level of danger is medium, display the presence area A in the same yellow color as the second distance warning line WL22, and sound the buzzer 4 intermittently to alert the driver.

As shown by (4) in Figure 11, when the presence area A intersects with the third distance warning line WL23 (red), the distance between the vehicle 50 and the object is only approximately 1.0 m, so the control unit 8 and obstacle determination unit 10 determine that the danger level is high, display the presence area A in the same red color as the third distance warning line WL23, and sound the buzzer 4 continuously to maximize the driver's attention.

As shown by (5) in FIG. 11, when the presence area A does not intersect with the third distance warning line WL23 (red) but intersects with one of the vehicle width warning lines WL1 and part of the presence area A enters the area between the third distance warning line WL23 and the warning end line WL24, it is determined that the situation is the same as the case of (4) in which the distance between the vehicle 50 and the object is approximately 1.0 m. In other words, the control unit 8 and the obstacle determination unit 10 determine that this is also a high-risk state, display the presence area A in the same red color as the third distance warning line WL23, and sound the buzzer 4 continuously to maximize the driver's attention.

Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen 30 displayed on the monitor 3 when the vehicle 50 is reversed or when the vehicle 50 is ready to reverse in the rear object confirmation device 7 with the warning line WL adjusted as described above. When the rear object confirmation device 7 is manually turned on and then the gear of the vehicle 50 is set to reverse, or when the engine of the vehicle 50 is started and the rear object confirmation device 7 is automatically turned on and then the gear of the vehicle 50 is set to reverse, as shown in Figure 12, the rear object confirmation device 7 goes into a warning mode indicating that the vehicle 50 is reversing, and the scenery behind the vehicle 50 is displayed on the monitor 3, the line adjustment data is called from the memory unit 12, and the warning range partitioned by the warning line WL is displayed superimposed on the background behind. By looking at this monitor, the driver can grasp the situation behind using the warning line, which is an accurate measure of distance, as a guide. Here, when an object appears on the display screen 30, the type of the object is determined and the presence area A is displayed. When the object's presence area A enters the warning range, as described above, the degree of danger of the object is determined according to its distance from the vehicle 50, and the necessary display and warning is issued by the buzzer 4. This alerts the driver, making it possible to prevent accidents when the vehicle 50 is backing up.

The rear object confirmation device 7 has a removable memory card as the storage unit 12, and if the line adjustment data is stored in the memory card, it can be copied to another memory card and inserted into a rear object confirmation device 7 mounted on another vehicle with the same vehicle width, camera 2 specifications, installation conditions, etc., and used. In other words, once the warning line WL (warning range) is adjusted once, it is only necessary to insert the memory card containing the line adjustment data into the rear object confirmation device 7 of another vehicle with the same vehicle model, camera specifications, and installation position, and there is no need to repeat the work on the road to adjust the warning line. Therefore, for transportation companies and the like that operate by owning many trucks of the same model, it is convenient because the warning line (warning range) adjustment work only needs to be done once.

In the embodiment described above, the marker lines SL formed on the road are arranged in a rectangular (ladder-shaped) pattern, as shown in FIG. 4(a), with a pair of vehicle width marker lines SL1 that are parallel to the direction in which the vehicle 50 moves forward and backward and are spaced apart the same as the vehicle width, and four distance warning lines SL21-23 and a marker end line SL24 that are parallel to the vehicle width direction and have the same length. When this is photographed by the camera 2, it is displayed on the monitor 3 as a pattern that becomes narrower the further back the screen is (the further away from the vehicle) as shown in FIG. 10 (the above is referred to as the first pattern). However, in the rear object confirmation device 7 of the embodiment, the pattern of the marker lines and warning lines does not necessarily have to be the first pattern.

As shown in FIG. 13(a), the marker lines SL on the road may be arranged in an isosceles trapezoidal pattern with the longer base in the distance, consisting of a pair of vehicle width marker lines SL1 that spread outward (i.e., incline toward both sides) in the direction in which the vehicle 50 moves forward and backward, a marker end line SL24, and three distance marker lines SL21-23 that are parallel to the vehicle width direction and get longer the further away from the vehicle. When this is photographed by the camera 2, it is displayed on the monitor 3 as a rectangular pattern with four right-angled corners, as shown in FIG. 13(b) (the above is referred to as the second pattern). In the second pattern, the monitoring area behind the vehicle 50 spreads out on both the left and right sides as it goes rearward, and the monitoring range is wider than that of the first pattern.

As shown in FIG. 14(a), the marker lines SL on the road may be arranged in a right-angled trapezoid pattern with the longer base in the distance, with a right-side vehicle width marker line SL1 parallel to the direction in which the vehicle 50 moves forward and backward, a left-side vehicle width marker line SL1 that spreads outward to the left (i.e., tilts to the left) toward the direction in which the vehicle 50 moves forward and backward, a marker end line SL24, and three distance marker lines SL21-23 that are parallel to the vehicle width direction and get longer the further away from the vehicle. When this is photographed by the camera 2, it is displayed on the monitor 3 as a pattern that is roughly the right-angled trapezoid of FIG. 14(a) rotated 180 degrees, as shown in FIG. 14(b) (the above is referred to as the third pattern). In the third pattern, the monitoring area behind the vehicle 50 widens toward the rear on the left side, and the left side of the monitoring range is wider than in the first pattern.

The pattern of the monitoring range set behind the vehicle should be suitable for the situation and environment when driving the vehicle equipped with the rear object confirmation device, and should also comply with laws and regulations. It is not necessarily limited to patterns 1 to 3, and other patterns may also be used.

1...Rear object confirmation system 2...Camera as an image capture device 3...Monitor as a display device 4...Buzzer as an alarm output device 7...Rear object confirmation device 9...Warning line display/adjustment section 10...Obstacle determination section 30...Display screen 50...Vehicle A...Object presence area WL...Warning line WL1...Vehicle width warning line WL2...Distance warning line WL21...First distance warning line WL22...Second distance warning line WL23...Third distance warning line WL24...Warning end line SL...Marker line SL1...Vehicle width mark line SL2...Distance mark line SL21...First distance mark line SL22...Second distance mark line SL23...Third distance mark line SL24...Marker end line

Claims (3)

A rear object confirmation device that confirms an object behind a vehicle and judges a degree of danger,
In a display device mounted on a vehicle,
warning lines including a vehicle width warning line defining the vehicle width and a distance warning line perpendicular to the vehicle width warning line and indicating a distance from the rear end of the vehicle in a direction in which the vehicle is moving backward,
The vehicle width marking line is set on the road behind the vehicle, and the marking line includes a vehicle width marking line that defines the vehicle width, and a distance marking line that is perpendicular to the vehicle width marking line and indicates the distance from the rear end of the vehicle in the direction in which the vehicle is reversing.
The distance warning line is translated in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle width direction to match the distance marker line, and both ends of the distance warning line are translated in the vehicle width direction to match both ends of the distance marker line,
a warning line display and adjustment unit for adjusting and displaying the warning line so that the warning line indicates the same range as the marker line in the display device;
an obstacle determination unit that detects an object presence area displayed on the display device when the vehicle is backing up, and determines a degree of danger of the object according to a positional relationship between the adjusted warning line displayed on the display device and the object presence area;
Equipped with
The presence area is a display that surrounds the periphery of the object, and when the warning area surrounded by the warning line and the presence area overlap even partially, the display color of the presence area is changed depending on the position . An image capturing device provided at a rear end of the vehicle for capturing an image of the rear of the vehicle;
a display device mounted on the vehicle and displaying an image of the rear of the vehicle captured by the imaging device;
a rear object confirmation device that arbitrarily adjusts a warning line indicating a distance from a rear end of a vehicle and a vehicle width and displays the line on the display device, and determines a degree of danger of an object according to a positional relationship between the object displayed on the display device and the adjusted warning line;
A rear object confirmation system for confirming an object behind a vehicle, comprising:
The rear object confirmation device is
In the display device,
warning lines including a vehicle width warning line defining the vehicle width and a distance warning line perpendicular to the vehicle width warning line and indicating a distance from the rear end of the vehicle in a direction in which the vehicle is moving backward,
The vehicle width marking line is set on the road behind the vehicle, and the marking line includes a vehicle width marking line that defines the vehicle width, and a distance marking line that is perpendicular to the vehicle width marking line and indicates the distance from the rear end of the vehicle in the direction in which the vehicle is reversing.
The distance warning line is translated in a direction perpendicular to the vehicle width direction to match the distance marker line, and both ends of the distance warning line are translated in the vehicle width direction to match both ends of the distance marker line,
a warning line display and adjustment unit that adjusts and displays the warning line so that the warning line indicates the same range as the marker line;
an obstacle determination unit that detects an object presence area displayed on the display device when the vehicle is backing up, and determines a degree of danger of the object according to a positional relationship between the adjusted warning line displayed on the display device and the object presence area;
having
The rear object confirmation system is characterized in that the presence area is a display that surrounds the periphery of the object, and when the warning area surrounded by the warning line and the presence area overlap even partially, the display color of the presence area is changed depending on the position . 3. The rear object confirmation system according to claim 2, further comprising an alarm output device that outputs a necessary alarm based on the result of the determination made by said rear object confirmation device.

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