JP7654471B2 - Driver Abnormality Judgment Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a driver abnormality determination device that provisionally determines whether a driver has an abnormality.

Patent document 1 describes a driving control device that initiates driving assistance control, including a function to prevent the vehicle from leaving its lane, from the time a driver abnormality is detected until it is determined that the driver is in a difficult driving state. Patent document 1 also describes that when it detects that the driver is not facing forward or that the driver's eyes are closed, it provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal, and if this state continues for a predetermined period of time, it officially determines that the driver is abnormal.

JP 2019-206339 A

However, driver abnormalities are not necessarily indicated only by the driver's direction or whether their eyes are open or closed, but can also be indicated by the vehicle's driving conditions.

The present invention aims to provide a driver abnormality determination device that can provisionally determine whether a driver has an abnormality based on the vehicle's driving conditions.

The driver abnormality determination device according to the present invention includes a lane marking detection device that detects the lane markings of the lane on which the vehicle is traveling, a lane departure determination unit that determines that the vehicle is keeping the lane if it has not crossed a virtual line for lane keeping determination that is located toward the center of the lane from the lane markings, determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane if the vehicle has crossed the virtual line for lane keeping determination, and determines that the lane markings have not been detected if the lane marking detection device cannot detect them, and a driver abnormality determination unit that provisionally determines that the driver of the vehicle is abnormal based on the determination result of the lane departure determination unit.

If the driver is abnormal, the driver will not be able to steer the vehicle properly, which may cause the vehicle to deviate from its lane. Therefore, this driver abnormality determination device provisionally determines whether the driver is abnormal based on the results of a lane departure determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is deviating from its lane, so that it can provisionally determine whether the driver is abnormal based on the driving conditions of the vehicle.

The driver abnormality determination unit may provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver has deviated from the lane, and may continue the provisional determination that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure has not been detected after the lane departure determination unit has provisionally determined that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure determination. In this driver abnormality determination device, the driver is provisionally determined to be abnormal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver has deviated from the lane, so that the driver's abnormality can be provisionally determined based on the vehicle's driving conditions. On the other hand, the lane departure determination unit can determine that the driver has deviated from the lane only when it can detect the lane departure. Therefore, if the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver has deviated from the lane based on the lane departure determination, and then determines that the lane departure has not been detected, the driver is provisionally determined to be abnormal, so that the driver's abnormality can be provisionally determined even when the vehicle crosses the lane departure and the lane departure determination unit no longer detects the lane departure.

The driver abnormality determination unit may provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the first threshold time, and may provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the first threshold time. In this driver abnormality determination device, by provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination exceeds the first threshold time, erroneous provisional determinations due to erroneous detection by the lane departure detection unit can be suppressed. In addition, by provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the first threshold time, erroneous provisional determinations due to erroneous detection by the lane departure detection unit can be suppressed.

When the driver abnormality determination unit provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure determination by the lane departure determination unit, the driver abnormality determination unit may continue to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal until the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane is maintained. In this driver abnormality determination device, when the driver is provisionally determined to be abnormal based on the lane departure determination by the lane departure determination unit, the driver abnormality determination unit continues to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal until the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane is maintained, thereby preventing the driver abnormality from being provisionally determined even if the lane departure determination unit subsequently determines that the lane departure is not detected.

The driver abnormality determination unit may determine that the driver is normal if the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver is maintaining the lane after provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure determination by the lane departure determination unit. In this driver abnormality determination device, by determining that the driver is normal if the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver is maintaining the lane after provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure determination by the lane departure determination unit, it is possible to prevent unnecessary continuation of the provisional determination that the driver is abnormal.

The vehicle may further include a turn signal operation detection device that detects the operation of a turn signal, and the driver abnormality determination unit may determine that the driver is normal if the turn signal operation detection device detects the operation of the turn signal even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or has not been detected. When the turn signal is operated, it is considered that the driver will change lanes at his/her will. Therefore, in this driver abnormality determination device, even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or has not been detected, if the turn signal operation detection device detects the operation of the turn signal, it is possible to suppress unnecessary provisional determinations of driver abnormality by determining that the driver is normal.

The vehicle may further include a driver state detection device that detects the state of the driver, and the driver abnormality determination unit may determine that the driver is normal if the driver state detected by the driver state detection device does not satisfy the abnormality condition, even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or has not been detected. If the driver state is normal, even if the vehicle departs from the lane, it is considered that the driver intentionally did so. Therefore, in this driver abnormality determination device, even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or has not been detected, if the driver state detected by the driver state detection device does not satisfy the abnormality condition, the driver is determined to be normal, thereby suppressing unnecessary provisional determinations of driver abnormality.

The vehicle may further include an automatic driving control unit that performs automatic driving control of the vehicle when the driver abnormality determination unit provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal. In this driver abnormality determination device, when the driver abnormality determination unit provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal, the automatic driving control unit performs automatic driving control of the vehicle, thereby allowing the vehicle to be driven appropriately when the driver is abnormal.

The present invention makes it possible to provisionally determine whether a driver is abnormal based on the vehicle's driving conditions.

1 is a block diagram showing a driver abnormality determination device according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between a vehicle and a lane marking. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vehicle running state; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vehicle running state; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a vehicle running state; 5 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of a lane departure determination unit. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of a driver abnormality determination unit.

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same or equivalent elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a driver abnormality determination device according to an embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the driver abnormality determination device 1 according to this embodiment is a device that is mounted on a vehicle 2 and provisionally determines whether a driver is abnormal prior to a formal determination of the driver's abnormality. The driver abnormality determination device 1 may formally determine whether a driver is abnormal after provisionally determining whether a driver is abnormal. The driver abnormality determination device 1 includes a lane marking detection device 3, a turn signal operation detection device 4, a driver state detection device 5, a lane departure determination unit 6, a driver abnormality processing unit 7, a braking device 8, and an alarm device 9.

Figure 2 is a diagram for explaining the positional relationship between the vehicle and the lane markings. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the lane marking detection device 3 detects the lane markings L that define the lane in which the vehicle 2 is traveling. The lane markings L detected by the lane marking detection device 3 include the lane markings L located to the right of the vehicle 2 and the lane markings L located to the left of the vehicle 2. The lane marking detection device 3 detects both the lane markings L located to the right of the vehicle 2 and the lane markings L located to the left of the vehicle 2, but may detect either the lane markings L located to the right of the vehicle 2 or the lane markings L located to the left of the vehicle 2. The lane marking detection device 3 can detect the lane markings L by, for example, analyzing the measurement results of a camera that captures an image in front of the vehicle 2.

The turn signal operation detection device 4 detects the operation of a turn signal (not shown) of the vehicle 2. The turn signal operation detection device 4 can detect the operation of a turn signal, for example, by analyzing the detection results of a sensor attached to a turn signal lever that detects the movement of the turn signal lever.

The driver state detection device 5 detects the state of the driver of the vehicle 2. The driver state detection device 5 detects the state of the driver to determine whether the driver is abnormal or not. Examples of such driver states include the position of the driver's head, the direction of the driver's face, the driver's posture, and whether the driver's eyes are open or closed. The driver state detection device 5 has, for example, a camera that captures an image of the driver. The driver state detection device analyzes the image captured by the camera to obtain the driver's state, such as the position of the driver's head, the direction of the driver's face, the driver's posture, and whether the driver's eyes are open or closed. The driver state detection device 5 then outputs the detected driver state to the driver abnormality processing unit 7.

The lane departure determination unit 6 is, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU) having a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The lane departure determination unit 6 loads a program stored in the ROM into the RAM and executes it with the CPU to perform various controls. The lane departure determination unit 6 may be composed of a single electronic control unit, or may be composed of multiple electronic control units.

The lane departure judgment unit 6 judges whether the vehicle 2 has departed from the lane based on the detection result of the lane marking L by the lane marking detection device 3. In other words, the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges whether the vehicle 2 has not departed from the lane (lane keeping), the vehicle 2 has departed from the lane (lane departure), or the lane marking detection device 3 has not detected the lane marking L (undetected). The lane departure judgment unit 6 then outputs these judgment results to the driver abnormality processing unit 7. Note that the lane departure judgment unit 6 may judge whether the vehicle has departed from the lane when the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined vehicle speed, but it is preferable to judge whether the vehicle has departed from the lane at all vehicle speeds.

First, the lane departure judgment unit 6 determines the positional relationship between the vehicle 2 and the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL based on the detection result of the lane marking L by the lane marking detection device 3. The lane keeping judgment virtual line VL is a virtual line for determining lane departure of the vehicle 2, and is a virtual line located closer to the center of the lane than the lane marking L. The distance between the lane marking L and the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL is appropriately set, and is, for example, a distance at which the vehicle 2 that has reached the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL is expected to reach the lane marking L in a short time if it continues to travel as it is. The lane departure judgment unit 6 determines the positional relationship between the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL located to the right of the vehicle 2 and the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL located to the left of the vehicle 2. As the positional relationship between the vehicle 2 and the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, for example, the positional relationship between the outer side of the front wheel closest to the lane marking L of the vehicle 2 and the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL is determined.

The lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle 2 is keeping its lane if it has not crossed the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL. In other words, the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle 2 is keeping its lane if it has not crossed both the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL located to the right of the vehicle 2 and the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL located to the left of the vehicle 2. A case in which the vehicle 2 is not crossing the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL refers to, for example, a case in which the outer side of the front wheel of the vehicle 2 closest to the dividing line L does not cross the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL.

On the other hand, the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle 2 has departed from the lane when it crosses the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL. In other words, the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle 2 has departed from the lane when it crosses the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL located to the right of the vehicle 2 or the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL located to the left of the vehicle 2. When the vehicle 2 has crossed the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, for example, the outer side of the front wheel closest to the dividing line L of the vehicle 2 has crossed the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL. Note that the lane departure judgment unit 6 may judge that the vehicle 2 has not crossed the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL if the turn signal operation detection device 4 detects the operation of the turn signal even if the vehicle 2 has crossed the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL.

If the lane marking detection device 3 cannot detect the lane marking, the lane departure determination unit 6 cannot determine whether the vehicle is maintaining the lane or deviating from the lane. Therefore, if the lane marking detection device 3 cannot detect the lane marking L, the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle has not detected the lane marking.

The driver abnormality processing unit 7 is, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU) having a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The driver abnormality processing unit 7 loads a program stored in the ROM into the RAM and executes it with the CPU to perform various controls. The driver abnormality processing unit 7 may be configured with a single electronic control unit, or may be configured with multiple electronic control units. The driver abnormality processing unit 7 includes a driver abnormality determination unit 11 and an automatic driving control unit 12. The driver abnormality determination unit 11 and the automatic driving control unit 12 may be configured with the same electronic control unit, or may be configured with different electronic control units.

The driver abnormality determination unit 11 provisionally determines whether there is an abnormality in the driver of the vehicle 2 based on the determination result of the lane departure determination unit 6, the detection result of the turn signal operation by the turn signal operation detection device 4, the determination result of the driver abnormality by the driver state detection device 5, etc. A driver abnormality refers to a driver abnormality that causes an impediment to driving the vehicle 2.

The driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges the driver to be abnormal based on the judgment of lane departure by the lane departure judgment unit 6. The driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges the driver to be normal when the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane is maintained. On the other hand, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges the driver to be abnormal when the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane is deviated. Then, if the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure is undetected after the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal based on the judgment of lane departure by the lane departure judgment unit 6, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 continues the provisional judgment that the driver is abnormal. Furthermore, if the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal based on the judgment of lane departure by the lane departure judgment unit 6, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 continues the provisional judgment that the driver is abnormal until the vehicle 2 returns to the lane, the vehicle 2 does not cross the virtual line VL for lane maintenance judgment, and the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane is maintained. Then, if the lane departure judgment unit 6 determines that the driver is maintaining the lane after provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure judgment unit 6's determination that the driver is deviating from the lane, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 determines that the driver is normal.

Whether vehicle 2 has returned to the lane and has stopped crossing the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL can be determined, for example, by whether the judgment by lane departure judgment unit 6 has transitioned in the order of lane keeping → lane departure → undetected → lane keeping. In other words, if the judgment by lane departure judgment unit 6 has transitioned in this order, it can be determined that vehicle 2 has returned to the lane and has stopped crossing the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL. In this case, even if a lane departure judgment is made during the transition from undetected to lane position, it may be determined that vehicle 2 has returned to the lane and has stopped crossing the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL.

More specifically, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure exceeds the first threshold time. The first threshold time is set as appropriate, for example, 2 seconds or more and 5 seconds or less. In addition, even if the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure exceeds the first threshold time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure exceeds the first threshold time, and the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure is not detected exceeds the second threshold time. In other words, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure exceeds the first threshold time, and the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure is not detected exceeds the second threshold time. The second threshold time is set as appropriate, for example, 1 second or more and 4 seconds or less. Then, when the driver abnormality determination unit 11 provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal, it continues to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal until the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the driver is maintaining the lane, and when the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the driver is maintaining the lane, it determines that the driver is normal.

Furthermore, when a predetermined formal judgment condition is satisfied after provisionally judging that the driver is abnormal, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 formally judges that the driver is abnormal. The formal judgment condition is a condition for formally judging that the driver is abnormal. For example, the provisional judgment of the driver's abnormality continues for a predetermined time or more, and the time during which the driver's state detected by the driver state detection device 5 satisfies the predetermined abnormality condition continues for a predetermined time or more. The abnormality condition is a condition for judging whether the driver is abnormal or not. For example, the abnormality condition is that the position of the driver's head is not within a predetermined range, the direction of the driver's face is not within a predetermined range, the driver's posture is not within a predetermined range, the driver's eyes are closed for a predetermined time or more, etc.

Now, with reference to Figures 3 to 5, an example of provisionally determining whether a driver is abnormal depending on the driving conditions of the vehicle will be described. Figures 3 to 5 are schematic diagrams showing an example of the driving conditions of the vehicle.

3, (a) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 is driving in the center of the lane, (b) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 crosses the lane keeping virtual line VL and straddles the dividing line L after (a), and (c) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 returns to a position where it does not cross the lane keeping virtual line VL after (b). In this example, in (a) and (c), the vehicle 2 does not cross the lane keeping virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle is keeping the lane, and the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges that the driver is normal. In (b), the vehicle 2 crosses the lane keeping virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle is deviating from the lane, and when the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 exceeds the first threshold time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal.

In the example of FIG. 4, (d) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 is driving in the center of the lane, (e) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 is driving at a position where it has crossed the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL after (d), (f) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 is straddling the lane marking L after (e), and (g) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 has completely crossed the lane marking L after (f) and the lane marking detection device 3 cannot detect the lane marking L. In this example, in (d), the vehicle 2 does not cross the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane is being maintained, and the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges that the driver is normal. In (e) and (f), the vehicle 2 crosses the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane has deviated, and when the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 exceeds the first threshold time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal. In (g), since the lane line detection device 3 cannot detect the lane line L, the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane line L has not been detected. At this time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 transitions from (e) and (f) to (g) before the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 exceeds the first threshold time, and if the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 of the non-detection exceeds the second threshold time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal. In addition, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 transitions from (e) and (f) to (g) after provisionally judging that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6, and if the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane line L has not been detected, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 continues to provisionally judge that the driver is abnormal.

In the example of FIG. 5, (h) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 is driving in the center of the lane, (i) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 crosses the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL and straddles the lane marking L after (h), (j) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 crosses the lane marking L after (i) and the lane marking detection device 3 cannot detect the lane marking L, and (k) shows a driving situation in which the vehicle 2 returns to the lane center after (j). In (h), the vehicle 2 does not cross the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle is keeping the lane, and the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges that the driver is normal. In (i), the vehicle 2 crosses the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle is deviating from the lane, and when the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 exceeds the first threshold time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal. In (j), the lane departure detection device 3 cannot detect the lane departure line L, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure line L has not been detected. At this time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 transitions from (i) to (j) before the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 exceeds the first threshold time, and if the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure line L has not been detected exceeds the second threshold time, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6, transitions from (i) to (j), and if the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure line L has not been detected, the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 continues to provisionally judge that the driver is abnormal. In (k), the vehicle 2 returns to the lane and does not cross the lane keeping judgment virtual line VL, so the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane is kept, and the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges that the driver is normal.

When the vehicle 2 departs from the lane, the driver may change lanes. In this case, the driver operates the turn signal to change lanes. Therefore, even if the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or that the lane has not been detected, if the turn signal operation detection device 4 detects that the turn signal has been operated, the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines that the driver is normal.

In addition, a case where the vehicle 2 deviates from a lane may occur when the driver crosses lanes to avoid an obstacle or the like. In this case, the driver is considered to be in a normal state, not in an abnormal state that would impede the driving of the vehicle 2. Therefore, even if the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane or that the vehicle has not been detected, the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines that the driver is normal if the driver's state detected by the driver state detection device 5 does not satisfy the abnormality condition.

The automatic driving control unit 12 performs automatic driving control of the vehicle 2 when the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal. The automatic driving control of the vehicle 2 by the automatic driving control unit 12 is, for example, emergency stop control that decelerates and stops the vehicle 2. The automatic driving control unit 12 also performs automatic driving control of the vehicle 2 when the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 formally judges that the driver is abnormal. Note that the automatic driving control unit 12 may not perform automatic driving control of the vehicle 2 even if the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal, and may perform automatic driving control of the vehicle 2 only after the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 formally judges that the driver is abnormal.

The braking device 8 activates the brakes of the vehicle 2 based on instructions from the automatic driving control unit 12. The braking device 8 is, for example, a brake actuator that activates the brakes.

The warning device 9 controls the vehicle 2's lights/displays/horn based on instructions from the automatic driving control unit 12. For example, it activates the brake lights, hazard lights, meter display, horn, etc.

Next, an example of the processing operation of the driver abnormality determination device 1 will be described with reference to Figures 6 and 7. Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the lane departure determination unit 6. Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the driver abnormality determination unit 11. The processing shown in Figures 6 and 7 is repeated from when the starter key of the vehicle 2 is turned ON until the starter key is turned OFF.

As shown in FIG. 6, the lane departure determination unit 6 determines whether the lane line detection device 3 has detected the lane line L (step S1). If it is determined that the lane line detection device 3 has not detected the lane line L (step S1: NO), the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the lane line has not been detected (step S2) and temporarily terminates the process.

If it is determined that the lane marking detection device 3 has detected a lane marking L (step S1: YES), the lane departure determination unit 6 determines whether or not the turn signal operation has been detected by the turn signal operation detection device 4 (step S3). If it is determined that the turn signal operation detection device 4 has detected a turn signal operation (step S3: YES), the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the turn signal has not been detected (step S2) and temporarily ends the process.

If it is determined that the turn signal operation detection device 4 has not detected the operation of the turn signal (step S3: NO), it is determined whether the vehicle 2 has crossed the virtual line VL for lane keeping judgment (step S4). If it is determined that the vehicle 2 has not crossed the virtual line VL for lane keeping judgment (step S4: NO), the lane departure judgment unit 6 determines that the vehicle is keeping its lane (step S5) and ends the process.

If it is determined that the vehicle 2 has crossed the virtual line VL for lane keeping judgment (step S4: YES), the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the vehicle has deviated from the lane (step S6) and temporarily ends the processing.

As shown in FIG. 7, the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines whether the driver's state detected by the driver state detection device 5 satisfies a predetermined abnormality condition (step S11). If it is determined that the driver's state does not satisfy the predetermined abnormality condition (step S11: NO), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines that the driver is normal (step S12) and temporarily ends the process.

If it is determined that the driver's condition satisfies a predetermined abnormality condition (step S11: YES), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines whether or not the turn signal operation has been detected by the turn signal operation detection device 4 (step S13). If it is determined that the turn signal operation has been detected by the turn signal operation detection device 4 (step S13: YES), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines that the driver is normal (step S12) and temporarily ends the process.

If it is determined that the turn signal operation detection device 4 has not detected the operation of the turn signal (step S13: NO), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines whether or not the lane departure determination unit 6 has determined that the vehicle is maintaining its lane (step S14). If it is determined that the lane departure determination unit 6 has determined that the vehicle is maintaining its lane (step S14: YES), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines that the driver is normal (step S12) and temporarily ends the process.

If the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane has not been maintained (step S14: NO), the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges whether the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 has exceeded the first threshold time (step S15). If the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure judgment has exceeded the first threshold time (step S15: YES), the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal (step S16).

If the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure has not exceeded the first threshold time (step S15: NO), the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges whether the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure has occurred and then judges that the lane departure has not been detected (step S17). If the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the lane departure has not been detected (step S17: NO), the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 judges that the driver is normal (step S12) and ends the process.

If the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the non-detection determination has exceeded the second threshold time (step S17: YES), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal (step S16).

The autonomous driving control unit 12 may execute autonomous driving control when it is provisionally determined that the driver is abnormal (step S16). The autonomous driving control unit 12 may not execute autonomous driving control when it is provisionally determined that the driver is abnormal (step S16), and may execute autonomous driving control when it is subsequently officially determined that the driver is abnormal.

When it is provisionally determined that the driver is abnormal (step S16), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines whether the lane departure determination unit 6 has determined that the vehicle is maintaining the lane (step S18). The driver abnormality determination unit 11 then maintains the provisional determination that the driver is abnormal until the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle is maintaining the lane (step S18: NO).

If the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle is maintaining its lane (step S18: YES), the driver abnormality determination unit 11 determines that the driver is normal (step S12) and ends the process.

As described above, the driver abnormality determination device 1 according to this embodiment provisionally determines whether the driver is abnormal based on the determination result of the lane departure determination unit 6, which determines whether the vehicle is deviating from the lane, and therefore can provisionally determine whether the driver is abnormal based on the driving conditions of the vehicle 2.

In addition, by provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal when the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane, it is possible to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal based on the driving conditions of the vehicle 2. On the other hand, the lane departure determination unit 6 can determine that the vehicle has departed from the lane only when it can detect the marking line. Therefore, if the lane departure determination unit 6 provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal based on the determination of lane departure by the lane departure determination unit 6 and then determines that the marking line L has not been detected, it is possible to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal even if the vehicle 2 crosses over the marking line L and is no longer able to detect the marking line L.

In addition, by provisionally determining that the driver is abnormal if the lane departure determination exceeds the first threshold time, it is possible to suppress erroneous provisional determinations due to erroneous detection by the lane line detection device 3. In addition, even if the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the lane departure is not detected, if the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the lane departure is not detected after the second threshold time, it is possible to suppress erroneous provisional determinations due to erroneous detection by the lane line detection device 3.

In addition, if the lane departure judgment unit 6 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure judgment, the lane departure judgment unit 6 continues to provisionally judge that the driver is abnormal until it judges that the lane is being maintained, so that even if the lane departure judgment unit 6 subsequently judges that the lane departure has not been detected, it is possible to prevent the driver from being provisionally judged as abnormal.

In addition, if the lane departure judgment unit 6 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure judgment by the lane departure judgment unit 6 and then judges that the driver is maintaining the lane, the lane departure judgment unit 6 judges that the driver is normal, thereby preventing the provisional judgment that the driver is abnormal from being unnecessarily continued.

In addition, even if the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or has not been detected, if the turn signal operation detection device 4 detects that the turn signal has been operated, the driver is determined to be normal, thereby preventing unnecessary provisional abnormality determinations of the driver.

In addition, even if the lane departure determination unit 6 determines that the vehicle has departed from the lane or that the vehicle has not been detected, if the driver's state detected by the driver state detection device 5 does not satisfy the abnormality conditions, the driver is determined to be normal, thereby preventing unnecessary provisional abnormality determinations of the driver.

In addition, if the driver abnormality judgment unit 11 provisionally judges that the driver is abnormal, the automatic driving control unit 12 performs automatic driving control of the vehicle 2, thereby allowing the vehicle 2 to be driven appropriately when the driver is abnormal.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may be modified or applied to other things without changing the gist of the claims.

1...Driver abnormality determination device, 2...Vehicle, 3...Division line detection device, 4...Blinker operation detection device, 5...Driver state detection device, 6...Lane departure determination unit, 7...Driver abnormality processing unit, 8...Braking device, 9...Warning device, 11...Driver abnormality determination unit, 12...Automatic driving control unit, L...Division line, VL...Virtual line for lane keeping determination.

Claims (7)

A lane marking detection device that detects lane markings on which a vehicle is traveling;
a lane departure determination unit that determines that the vehicle is keeping in the lane when the vehicle does not cross a virtual line for lane keeping determination that is located closer to the center of the lane than the lane line, that determines that the vehicle is deviating from the lane when the vehicle crosses the virtual line for lane keeping determination, and that the vehicle is not detected when the lane line detection device cannot detect the lane line;
a driver abnormality determination unit that provisionally determines an abnormality in the driver of the vehicle based on a determination result of the lane departure determination unit ,
The driver abnormality determination unit
When the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure has occurred for a period exceeding a first threshold time, the driver is provisionally determined to be abnormal;
Even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected before the first threshold time, if the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure is not detected after the second threshold time, the driver is provisionally determined to be abnormal.
Driver abnormality determination device. The driver abnormality determination unit
When the lane departure determination unit determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane, the driver is provisionally determined to be abnormal;
When the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure marking is undetected after the lane departure determination unit has provisionally determined that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure determination by the lane departure determination unit, the lane departure determination unit continues to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal.
The driver abnormality determination device according to claim 1 . When the driver abnormality determination unit provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal based on the determination of the lane departure by the lane departure determination unit, the driver abnormality determination unit continues to provisionally determine that the driver is abnormal until the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver is maintaining the lane.
The driver abnormality determination device according to claim 1 or 2 . the driver abnormality determination unit determines that the driver is normal when the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver is maintaining the lane after the lane departure determination unit determines that the driver is abnormal based on the lane departure determination by the lane departure determination unit;
The driver abnormality determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The vehicle further includes a turn signal operation detection device that detects an operation of a turn signal of the vehicle.
The driver abnormality determination unit determines that the driver is normal when the turn signal operation detection device detects the operation of the turn signal even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure or the undetected state has occurred.
The driver abnormality determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A driver state detection device for detecting a state of the driver is further provided,
The driver abnormality determination unit determines that the driver is normal when the state of the driver detected by the driver state detection device does not satisfy an abnormality condition even if the lane departure determination unit determines that the lane departure or the undetected state has occurred.
The driver abnormality determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . The vehicle driver may be further provided with an automatic driving control unit that performs automatic driving control of the vehicle when the driver abnormality determination unit provisionally determines that the driver is abnormal.
The driver abnormality determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .

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