JP7841463B2 - Notification device, notification method, and computer program for notification device - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a notification device, a notification method, and a computer program for a notification device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a parking assistance device for automatically parking a vehicle in a parking space.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-62718

When a vehicle is autonomously parking in or out of a parking space, it may be necessary to perform multiple maneuvers. This is especially true when parallel parking, where multiple maneuvers may be required in narrow spaces. Therefore, if the vehicle occupants cannot determine when parking will be complete or when the vehicle will depart from the parking space, they may become increasingly impatient.

This invention addresses these problems and aims to reduce the anxiety experienced by vehicle occupants when automatically parking a vehicle in a parking space or when automatically departing a vehicle from a parking space.

To solve the above problems, a notification device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises an output device for notifying the vehicle occupant and a control device for controlling the output device. The control device is configured to notify, via the output device, the estimated number of maneuvers required during automatic parking when performing automatic parking, which automatically operates the vehicle according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space.

Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a notification method using a notification device that notifies a vehicle occupant via an output device involves, when performing automatic parking, which automatically operates the vehicle according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space, notifying the occupant via the output device of the estimated number of maneuvers required during automatic parking.

Furthermore, a computer program for a notification device that notifies a vehicle occupant via an output device, according to one aspect of the present invention, causes the notification device to notify the occupant of the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking, when the device performs automatic parking operations that automatically control the vehicle according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space, via the output device.

According to these embodiments of the present invention, when automatic parking is performed, the estimated number of maneuvers required during automatic parking is notified to the vehicle occupant, thereby reducing the occupant's anxiety during automatic parking.

This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle system according to one embodiment of the present invention. This flowchart illustrates the details of the notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking according to one embodiment of the present invention. This diagram shows examples of multiple driving plans created when performing parallel parking using automated parking.

The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, similar components will be given the same reference numerals.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Vehicle 100 comprises a surrounding information acquisition device 1, a vehicle information acquisition device 2, a Human Machine Interface (HMI) 3, and a control device 4. The surrounding information acquisition device 1, the vehicle information acquisition device 2, the HMI 3, and the control device 4 are each connected via an in-vehicle network 5 compliant with standards such as a controller area network.

The surrounding information acquisition device 1 is a device for acquiring data on objects surrounding the vehicle 100 as vehicle surrounding information. The surrounding information acquisition device 1 can consist of one or more devices. The surrounding information acquisition device 1 according to this embodiment includes one or more external cameras for photographing objects around the vehicle 100, and a distance measuring sensor for measuring the distance to objects around the vehicle 100. Examples of distance measuring sensors include LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), millimeter-wave radar sensors, and ultrasonic sensors. The vehicle surrounding information acquired by the surrounding information acquisition device 1 (image data from the external cameras and distance measurement data from the distance measuring sensor) is transmitted to the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5.

The vehicle information acquisition device 2 is a device for acquiring information about the state of the vehicle 100, such as its speed, acceleration, attitude, and current position (hereinafter referred to as "vehicle information"). The vehicle information acquisition device 2 according to this embodiment includes a speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle 100, an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the vehicle 100, a yaw rate sensor for detecting the rate of change in the yaw angle during a turn, i.e., the rotational angular velocity (yaw rate) of the vehicle 100 around its vertical axis, to detect the attitude of the vehicle 100, and a GNSS receiver for detecting the current position of the vehicle 100. The vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition device 2 is transmitted to the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5.

The HMI 3 is a user interface for exchanging information between the control device 4 of the vehicle 100 and the occupants of the vehicle 100. It comprises an output device 31 for notifying the occupants through their bodily senses (e.g., sight, hearing, and touch) and an input device 32 for the occupants to perform input and response operations. Examples of the output device 31 include displays (e.g., meter displays, center displays, head-up displays), speakers, and vibration units. Examples of the input device 32 include touch panels, operation buttons, operation switches, and microphones.

In this embodiment, the HMI 3 displays information (e.g., text information and image information) corresponding to the display signal received from the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5 on the displays, and outputs audio corresponding to the audio signal from the speaker. The HMI 3 also transmits occupant input information received via the input device 32 to the control device 4 via the in-vehicle network 5.

Furthermore, the HMI3 can be pre-installed in the vehicle 100, or a terminal owned by a vehicle occupant (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer) can be connected to the control device 4 via wired or wireless connection, thereby enabling the terminal to function as the HMI3.

The control device 4 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) comprising a communication unit 41, a storage unit 42, and a processing unit 43.

The communication unit 41 includes an interface circuit for connecting the control device 4 to the in-vehicle network 5. The communication unit 41 supplies data received from external sources (such as vehicle surroundings information, vehicle information, and occupant input information) to the processing unit 43. The communication unit 41 also outputs display signals and audio signals output from the processing unit 43 to the output device 31.

The memory unit 42 has a storage medium such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid Disk Drive), or semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs and data used for processing in the processing unit 43.

The processing unit 43 comprises one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units) and their peripheral circuits. The processing unit 43 executes various computer programs stored in the memory unit 42; for example, it is a processor.

An example of the processing performed by the processing unit 43 is that, based on information about the vehicle's surroundings, the processing unit 43 creates a driving plan for parking the vehicle 100 in a parking space or for departing the vehicle 100 from a parking space, and then performs automatic parking (autonomous driving) by automatically executing driving operations related to acceleration, steering, and braking according to the driving plan.

Furthermore, the processing unit 43 transmits display signals and audio signals to the output device 31 as needed, and provides various notifications to the vehicle occupants via the output device 31. Thus, in this embodiment, the notification device is formed by the output device 31 and the control device 4.

In some cases, automatic parking requires maneuvers to be performed. Especially when parallel parking or in narrow parking spaces, multiple maneuvers may be necessary. Therefore, if the vehicle occupants cannot determine how many maneuvers are needed to complete parking or to exit the parking space, they will be unable to judge when the automatic parking process is finished. As a result, the occupants may become increasingly impatient during automatic parking.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of reversal operations during automatic parking is estimated, and the estimated number of reversal operations is notified to the vehicle occupant via the output device 31. In this embodiment, a reversal operation refers to the switching of the vehicle 100's shift range from a range other than the forward driving range to the forward driving range during parking. Therefore, in this embodiment, the number of times the shift range is changed from the R range (reverse driving range) to the D range (forward driving range) during automatic parking is defined as the number of reversal operations. The notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating the details of the notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking according to this embodiment.

In step S1, the control device 4 determines whether the conditions for automatic parking are met. These conditions may include, for example, that the vehicle occupants have authorized automatic parking, or that there are no abnormalities in the surrounding information acquisition device 1. However, the conditions are not limited to these and can be set as appropriate. If the conditions for automatic parking are met, the control device 4 proceeds to step S2. Conversely, if the conditions for automatic parking are not met, the control device 4 terminates the current process.

In step S2, the control device 4 creates a parking plan based on the vehicle's surrounding information and estimates the number of reversal operations required during automatic parking based on the parking plan. Figure 3 shows examples of multiple driving plans created when performing parallel parking using automatic parking.

Figure 3(A) shows an example of a driving plan in which, at the start of automatic parking, vehicle 100 is moved forward along driving route TR1 from its current location (i.e., the starting point of automatic parking), and then reversed along driving route TR2 to complete parking. In this case, the number of times the shift range is changed to the D range from the start to the completion of automatic parking is 0, so the number of reversing operations estimated based on the driving plan is 0.

Figure 3(B) shows an example of a driving plan in which, at the start of automatic parking, vehicle 100 is moved forward along driving route TR1 from its current position, then reversed along driving route TR2, then moved forward again along driving route TR3, and finally reversed again along driving route TR4 to complete parking. In this case, the shift range is changed to D range only once from the start to the completion of automatic parking, so the number of reversing operations estimated based on the driving plan is one.

Figure 3(C) shows an example of a driving plan created in which, at the start of automatic parking, vehicle 100 is moved forward from its current position along driving route TR1, then reversed along driving route TR2, then forward and reversed along driving routes TR3 and TR4, and finally forward and reversed along driving routes TR5 and TR6. In this case, the shift range is changed to the D range twice between the start and completion of automatic parking, so the number of reversing operations estimated based on the driving plan is two.

In step S3, the control device 4 determines whether the estimated number of reversing operations is one or more. If the control device 4 determines that the estimated number of reversing operations is one or more, it proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the control device 4 determines that the estimated number of reversing operations is zero, it terminates the process without notifying the vehicle occupants of the estimated number of reversing operations.

In step S4, the control device 4 notifies the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversal operations via the output device 31. In this embodiment, the control device 4 notifies the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversal operations visually by displaying it on a display device. However, the method of notifying the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversal operations is not limited to this method; it may also be notified through the vehicle occupant's hearing or touch.

The notification device according to this embodiment, as described above, comprises an output device 31 that notifies the occupants of the vehicle 100, and a control device 4 that controls the output device 31. The control device 4 is configured to notify the output device 31 of the estimated number of reversal operations required during automatic parking when performing automatic parking, which involves automatically operating the vehicle 100 according to a driving plan for parking the vehicle 100 in a parking space or a driving plan for departing the vehicle 100 from a parking space.

Specifically, the control device 4 is configured to calculate the estimated number of reversal operations based on the driving plan. More specifically, the control device 4 is configured to calculate the number of times the vehicle 100's shift range must be switched from a range other than the forward driving range to the forward driving range between the start and completion of automatic parking, based on the driving plan, and to calculate this number of switching operations as the estimated number of reversal operations.

This allows the system to notify the vehicle occupant of the estimated number of reversals required during automatic parking, enabling them to determine when automatic parking will be completed. Therefore, it can reduce the occupant's anxiety during automatic parking.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments represent only a portion of the applications of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

For example, in the above embodiment, the computer program executed in the control device 4 (the notification process for the estimated number of reversal operations during automatic parking) may be provided in the form of a computer-readable portable recording medium, such as a semiconductor memory, magnetic recording medium, or optical recording medium.

4 Control device 31 Output device 100 Vehicle

Claims (5)

An output device that notifies the occupants of the vehicle,
A control device for controlling the output device,
A notification device comprising,
The control device is
When performing an automatic departure , which automatically operates the vehicle according to a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space, the system is configured to notify the estimated number of reversal operations required during the automatic departure via the output device.
Notification device. The control device is
Based on the aforementioned operation plan, the system is configured to calculate the estimated number of times.
The notification device according to claim 1. The control device is
Based on the aforementioned driving plan, the number of times the vehicle's shift range must be switched from a range other than the forward driving range to the forward driving range between the start and completion of automatic departure is calculated.
The number of switching cycles is configured to be calculated as the estimated number of cycles.
The notification device according to claim 1 or claim 2. A notification method using a notification device that notifies the occupants of a vehicle via an output device,
When performing an automatic start , which automatically operates the vehicle according to a driving plan for moving the vehicle out of a parking space, the estimated number of reversal operations required during the automatic start is notified via the output device.
Notification method. A computer program for a notification device that provides notifications to the occupants of a vehicle via an output device,
A computer program that causes a notification device to notify, via the output device, of the estimated number of reversal operations required during automatic departure , when performing automatic departure , which involves automatically operating the vehicle according to a driving plan for departing the vehicle from a parking space.