JPH0545470B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic steering wheel position adjustment device that automatically adjusts the steering wheel position of a vehicle depending on the physique of a driver or riding condition.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, tilt steering is a system in which the steering wheel is swung around a joint provided in the steering shaft, and the position (height) and angle of the steering wheel can be adjusted to suit the physique and preferences of the driver. well known.

By the way, with this tilt steering, the driver adjusts the inclination angle (tilt amount) of the steering shaft according to his/her physique and adjusts the steering wheel position. In the case of a vehicle in which the steering wheel is rotated, the driver must adjust the steering wheel position each time to suit the driver, which is troublesome. Also, the steering wheel position does not necessarily need to be adjusted according to the driver's physique, but in such cases,
It may become difficult to see the instruments or the forward visibility may become poor.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention was made in view of the above points, and provides an automatic steering wheel position adjustment device that detects the physique and riding posture of the driver and automatically adjusts the steering wheel position accordingly. By providing such a system, the steering wheel position can be adjusted without bothering the driver, and the steering wheel position can be adjusted to suit the driver.

[Structure of the Invention] As shown in FIG. 1, the structure of the present invention to achieve the above object includes: a tilt steering wheel capable of adjusting the steering wheel position of a vehicle; and an actuator for adjusting the amount of tilt of the tilt steering wheel. , The upper body of the driver seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle was
an imaging means for taking an image in a dimension; and processing a two-dimensional image representing the upper body of the driver taken by the imaging means to determine at least the position of the driver's upper body in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the vehicle. body position detection means for detecting; a stop sensor for detecting a stop of the vehicle; and when the stop sensor detects a stop of the vehicle, the body position of the driver detected by the body position detection means; The gist of the present invention is an automatic steering wheel position adjustment device, comprising: an adjustment device that outputs a drive signal according to a body position to the actuator to adjust the steering wheel position.

[Function] In the automatic steering wheel position adjustment device of the present invention configured as described above, the imaging means two-dimensionally images the upper body of the driver seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle, and detects the upper body position. The means processes the captured two-dimensional image of the driver's upper body to detect the position of the driver's upper body in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the vehicle. Then, when the vehicle is stopped, the adjustment means outputs a drive signal to the actuator according to the driver's body position detected by the body position detection means, thereby adjusting the tilt amount of the tilt steering, and by extension, the steering wheel. Adjust the wheel position.

[Example] Hereinafter, the automatic steering wheel position adjustment device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings and examples.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the area around the driver's seat of a vehicle equipped with the automatic steering wheel position adjustment device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a driver's seat;
is the driver's seat, 3 is the headrest, 4 is the steering wheel equipped with a tilt steering wheel whose position can be adjusted, 5 is the air outlet of the air conditioner, 6 and 7
is a rearview mirror, 6 is an inside mirror attached to the interior of the vehicle, and 7 is a door mirror attached to a door. Reference numeral 10 represents an instrument panel, and in addition to the instruments normally provided, this instrument panel 10 has a light emitting section 11 and image detecting sections 12 and 13 for detecting the position of the occupant's body. It is equipped.

Next, the configuration of this automatic steering wheel position adjustment device is as shown in the block diagram of FIG. It consists of an actuator 15 installed in the steering wheel to detect the driver's body, a stop sensor 17 that detects the stopped state of the vehicle, and a control circuit 20. The body position of the driver 1 is detected from a two-dimensional image showing the image, and the steering wheel position is adjusted according to the body position.

Further, as shown in the figure, the control circuit 20 includes an input/output section 21 equipped with an A/D converter, an amplifier circuit, etc. for inputting and outputting signals to each of the above-mentioned devices,
A CPU that executes image processing to detect the position of driver 1's head from a dimensional image and steering wheel position adjustment processing to adjust the amount of tilt of the steering wheel.
22, a ROM 23 in which data necessary for execution of arithmetic processing by the CPU 22 is stored in advance, a RAM 24 in which data necessary for execution of arithmetic processing is temporarily stored, and a backup RAM 25 to which power is constantly supplied. As well as back up
A power supply circuit 27 is directly connected to the battery 26 in order to constantly supply power to the RAM 25, and a power supply circuit 27 is connected to the battery 26 via an ignition switch 28 or an accessory switch 29 to supply power to each part other than the backup RAM 25. The power supply circuit 30 is connected to the power supply circuit 30.

Next, the light emitting section 11 and the image detecting sections 12 and 13,
As mentioned above, these lights are provided on the instrument panel 10 in front of the driver's seat, and as shown in FIG. As shown in Figure 5,
The light emitting section 11 is installed in front of the driver's seat 2 and on a surface that divides the driver's seat 2 into left and right parts, and the image detecting sections 12 and 13 are installed symmetrically to the left and right sides of the light emitting section 11.
In this embodiment, an infrared strobe is used as the light emitting section 11, and two as the image detecting sections 12 and 13.
Dimensional solid-state image sensor (hereinafter referred to as 2-dimensional CCD)
The respective configurations are shown in Figures 6 and 7.
This will be explained using figures.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the light emitting unit 11 using an infrared strobe, where 40 is an infrared light emitter, 41 is a lens for broadly irradiating the driver 1 with infrared light, and 42 is an infrared light emitter. Infrared filter that transmits visible light but does not pass visible light.
43 is a case, 44 is a lens 41 and a filter 42
The light emitting section 11 of the present invention is attached to the instrument panel 10 by screwing together a bolt 45 and a nut 46. Here, the filter 42 is intended to prevent visible light from passing through, but this is because the emission spectrum from the infrared emitter 40 does not necessarily include only those in the infrared region, but also includes those in the visible light region. This filter 42 cuts out light with a wavelength of 800 mm or less, for example, so that the driver does not feel dazzled.

Figure 7 shows an image detection unit 12 using a two-dimensional CCD.
or 13, in which 50 is a two-dimensional CCD mounted on a printed circuit board 51; 52 to 56;
60 is a printed circuit board equipped with an image signal control circuit that controls image reading from the two-dimensional CCD 50, a lens 61 with a focal length f that focuses the image on the two-dimensional CCD 50, and a lens 61 that controls the amount of light focused on the two-dimensional CCD 50. Adjustable liquid crystal aperture element 62, two-dimensional
It represents a mount adapter incorporating a phototransistor 63 that detects the amount of light focused on the CCD 50. Further, 65 is a main image detection unit 12;
or 13, which is fixed to the instrument panel 10 via a flange 66 with bolts 67 and nuts 68.

As shown in FIG. 8, the structure of the liquid crystal aperture element 62 includes a liquid crystal layer 71, transparent electrode layers 72 and 73 sandwiching the liquid crystal layer 71, and polarizing plate layers 74 and 75 having polarization planes perpendicular to each other. The liquid crystal layer 71 and the transparent electrode layers 72 and 73 are composed of
The liquid crystal aperture element 62 is concentrically divided into a, b, c, d, and e sections so that the amount of light can be adjusted in five stages. And the combination of electrode layers 72 and 73, that is, 72a-73a, 72b-73b,
Power can be supplied to each of 72c-73c and 72d-73d, and depending on the amount of light detected by the phototransistor 63, that is, depending on the current flowing through the phototransistor 63, the electrode layer 72a is supplied from the outside of the electrode layer. -73a, 72b-73b,
The voltages can be applied in the order of... Therefore, when no power is applied to each electrode layer, since the liquid crystal layer 71 has the property of rotating the polarization plane of the transmitted light by 90 degrees, the light is transmitted through the polarizing plate layer 74 and becomes single polarized light, which is emitted to the outside. The plane of polarization of the light is rotated by 90 degrees by the liquid crystal 71, and the light passes through the other polarizing plate layer 75. However, when a voltage is applied to the electrode layer, the liquid crystal layer 71 changes the alignment direction of the liquid crystal. Because of this change, the polarization plane of the single polarized light after passing through the polarizing plate layer 74 is not rotated by 90 degrees by the liquid crystal layer 71, but is blocked by the other polarizing plate layer 75, and this liquid crystal aperture The amount of light transmitted through element 62 will be significantly reduced.

Therefore, in the image detection units 12 and 13, the amount of light transmitted to the lens 61 side is determined by the liquid crystal aperture element 6.
2, the average amount of light focused on the entire two-dimensional CCD 50 can be kept constant. The light whose light intensity has been adjusted in this way forms an external image on the two-dimensional CCD 50 by the lens 61, is quantized by each element in the two-dimensional CCD 50, and is quantized for each element according to the light intensity. After photoelectric conversion, it is stored as a charge. still,
In FIG. 8, A is a plan view of the liquid crystal aperture element 62;
B shows a sectional view taken along line A-A.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the actuator 15 is provided within a tilt steering wheel 80 so that the height (tilt amount) of the steering wheel 4 can be adjusted around a central axis 81. In the figure, 82 is a geared motor in which an electric motor and a gear for deceleration are integrated, and a steering cover 83
A stay 85 and a bolt 86 are used to press and fix the plate 84 onto a plate 84 fixed to a lower part 83a of the plate 84. Further, a worm gear 87 is attached to the rotating shaft of the geared motor 82, and this worm gear 87 is connected to the sector gear 8 fixed to the central shaft 81.
8 is engaged. Reference numeral 89 is a steering stay whose one end is attached to the central shaft 81, and is rotated in the vertical direction as shown by arrow D as the central shaft 81 rotates. Therefore, in the present actuator 15, the rotation of the geared motor 82 is controlled by the worm gear 87, the sector gear 88, and the central shaft 81.
The tilt amount of the tilt steering 80, that is, the position of the steering wheel 4 can be changed by outputting a drive signal to the geared motor 82. be able to adjust. In addition, 9 in the figure
Reference numeral 1 denotes a tilt amount sensor for detecting the tilt amount of the tilt steering 80, which is composed of a potentiometer provided on the central shaft 81 and outputting a signal according to the rotation angle of the steering stay 89.

The present automatic steering wheel position adjustment device configured as described above is operated according to the arithmetic processing in the control circuit 20, and the arithmetic processing is executed according to the control program shown in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in the figure, the control circuit 20 first performs initialization processing in step 100 to set registers, parameters, etc. used in image processing and steering wheel position adjustment processing, which will be described later. After the initialization process is executed in step 100, the process moves to step 200, where image processing for detecting the driver's body position is executed, and in the following step 300, image processing is performed to detect the driver's body position. A steering wheel position adjustment process for adjusting the amount of tilt of the tilt steering wheel 80 is executed. The above calculation process is performed by the ignition switch 28 by the driver 1's key switch operation.
Or the accessory switch 29 is turned on,
It is executed only when the stop sensor 17 detects that the vehicle is stopped.
Once the series of steps 100 to 300 have been executed, the steps 200 and 300 are executed thereafter.

The image processing and steering wheel position adjustment processing executed in step 200 and step 300 will be described in detail below.

First, image processing in step 200 is executed according to the control program shown in FIG. 11, and the position of the driver's 1 body is detected. In addition, in this example,
It is assumed that the position of the driver's 1 shoulder is detected as the body position.

In step 201, a light emission signal for causing the infrared light emitter 40 of the light emitting section 11 to emit light is output, and a synchronization signal for reading out the two-dimensional image data detected by the image detection sections 12 and 13 is output, and each image is Printed circuit board 5 of detection units 12 and 13
An image signal is read out for each pixel by an image signal control circuit mounted on pixels 2 to 56.

In the following step 202, the above read image signals are input into the main control circuit 20, and the image signals from each image detection section 12 and 13 are stored in predetermined areas provided in the RAM 24 as image boards Rf and Lf. The storing process is performed, and in the next step 203, the input of the image signal is input to each image detecting section 12 and 13.
It is determined whether the process has been performed for all pixels. In this step 203, the determination continues to be "NO" until the image signals are input for all pixels, and the processes of step 202 and step 203 are repeatedly executed.

Next, when image signals are input for all pixels, the process moves to the following step 204, and the RAM 24
Image boards Rf and Lf stored in a predetermined area of
A binarization process is performed on the image data to obtain binarized image data Rf', Lf'. Here, what is the binarization process?
The respective grayscale data of the image plates Rf and Lf are compared in size with a predetermined judgment level, and parts darker than the judgment level are clearly separated into black levels, while parts lighter than the judgment level are clearly separated into white levels. It refers to processing. That is, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, it is detected by the image detection section,
When the image data stored in the RAM 24 is an image as shown in A, when the image data is binarized, an image as shown in B is obtained. Although this binary image is changed depending on the determination level, each image detection unit 12 is
Since the amount of light transmitted through the images and 13 is adjusted, it is easy to set the determination level so that the driver's upper body is at a white level and the background is at a black level as shown in the figure.

Next, in step 205, a process is performed to detect the maximum open portion of the white level portion for each of the two binarized image data Rf' and Lf' obtained by the binarization process of step 204, that is, the driver 1 is detected, and the process moves to the next step 206.

In step 206, each binarized image data is
Processing is performed to calculate the midpoint between both shoulders of the driver 1 at Rf' and Lf'. Here, as shown in FIG. 13, this shoulder midpoint calculation process first calculates the length L of the maximum line segment in the horizontal direction (X direction) in the maximum opening part Q of the white level part, and then half of it in the horizontal direction. This is executed by finding the midpoint P of a line segment having length L/2 as coordinates (Xp, Yp) on the image.

In the following step 207, the image detection unit 12 uses the so-called triangulation principle based on the midpoint P of the shoulder of the driver 1 in each of the binarized image data Rf', Lf' obtained in the step 206. Then, a process of calculating the distance d from 13 to the midpoint P of the shoulder is executed. This process is performed based on the distance a between the two-dimensional CCD 50 and the lens ₆₁ in the image detection unit 12 or 13 shown in FIG.
The distance _l from _the image midpoint Xr ₀ in
It is executed using the following equation d=a·l/(Xl−Xr) with Xl and Xr as parameters. In this case, 1/f=1/
Since a+1/d and a≪d,
It may be calculated using the following formula d=f×l(Xl−Xr). f is the focal length of the lens 61 as described above.

Once the distance d from the image detection units 12 and 13 to the midpoint P between the driver's shoulders is calculated in this way, the process of calculating the three-dimensional position of this midpoint P is executed in the following step 208. Then, the main image processing is completed. Here, the three-dimensional position of this intermediate point P is determined by the horizontal deviation W of the intermediate point P from the center of the driver's seat, which is determined from Xl and Xr shown in FIG. 14, and the vertical direction (Y direction) in the image data. Using the height H of the intermediate point P obtained from the Y coordinate Yp indicating the position of the intermediate point P, and the distance d to the intermediate point P obtained in step 207 above, d, W, H
However, in the automatic steering wheel position adjustment device of this embodiment, since the steering wheel position is adjusted only in the vertical direction (height direction of the midpoint P), it is necessary to calculate the deviation W in the left and right direction. There is no such thing, and it is sufficient to simply process it as the reference position O.

Next, the steering wheel position adjustment process shown in step 300 is executed according to the control program shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15, step 301 is first executed, and the target tilt amount θm of the tilt steering 80 is determined in accordance with the positions d, O, and H of the intermediate points of the shoulders of the driver 1 obtained through the image processing. The calculation process is performed. This process calculates the target rotation angle of the steering stay 89 from two predetermined maps using the distance d indicating the position of the midpoint P of both shoulders and the height H as parameters. The target reference angle θmo is obtained from a map using the height H of point P as a parameter, and then the correction amount Δθ is obtained from the map using the distance d as a parameter.
The process can be performed by correcting the target reference angle θmo using .

In the following step 302, the current tilt amount θt of the tilt steering 80 (hereinafter referred to as the actual tilt amount) is detected based on the signal from the tilt amount sensor 91 provided in the actuator 15, and the process moves to the next step 303. .

In step 303, the difference Δθ between the target tilt amount θm obtained in steps 301 and 302 and the actual tilt amount θt is calculated, and in the following step 304, it is determined whether the absolute value |Δθ| is smaller than the set value θs. It is determined whether or not. If |Δθ|>θs, the determination in step 304 is "NO", and the process moves to the next step 305, in which the actuator 15 is driven to adjust the actual tilt amount θt to the target tilt amount θm. , the process returns to step 302. On the other hand, if |Δθ|<θs, a determination of ``YES'' is made in step 304, and the present steering wheel position adjustment process ends. The actuator 15 driving process executed in step 305 is as described above.
A drive signal corresponding to the difference Δθ between the target tilt amount θm and the actual tilt amount θt may be output to the geared motor 82 of No. 5.

As explained above, in this embodiment, when the ignition switch or accessory switch is in the ON state and the vehicle is stopped, the driver's body image obtained from the two two-dimensional CCDs is used to The midpoint position between both shoulders is determined, and the amount of tilt of the steering wheel is adjusted according to this midpoint position. Therefore, even if the driver changes hands or the riding position changes, the steering wheel position can be automatically adjusted to suit the driver's physique and seating condition, allowing the driver to adjust the tilt amount themselves. This eliminates the hassle and improves safety by eliminating problems such as difficulty in viewing instruments and poor visibility in front of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the light emitting section 11 and the image detecting sections 12 and 13 correspond to the above-mentioned imaging means, and the control circuit 20 executes the image sensing section shown in FIG.
The image processing at step 200 in FIG.
The steering wheel position adjustment processing in step 300 corresponds to the above-mentioned adjustment means.

Here, in the above embodiment, the light emitting unit 11 and the image detecting unit 12 for detecting the position of the driver's body,
13 on the instrument panel, it can be installed in any place where the driver's upper body can be seen even when the amount of tilt of the steering wheel is changed, such as the upper part of the steering cover 83 shown in FIG. It may also be provided.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the series of image processing and steering wheel position adjustment processing is executed repeatedly, but step 206 in FIG.
The allowable range of movement of the midpoint of both shoulders, which is determined by It is also possible to execute the processes from next step 207 only when the value exceeds 200, and otherwise simply perform the processes from step 201 to step 206.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the arithmetic processing executed by the control circuit is executed only when the ignition switch or the accessory switch is in the ON state and the vehicle is stopped.
This is because it is dangerous to adjust the steering wheel position while the vehicle is running. Therefore,
It is also possible to detect the position of the driver's body and adjust things other than the steering wheel at the same time, such as the headrest position or the air conditioner's air blowing angle. In that case, at least the steering wheel position adjustment process can be performed while the vehicle is stopped You need to make sure that you only do it.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the position of the midpoint between both shoulders is detected as the position of the driver's body.
This is because it is thought that the best way to adjust the steering wheel position is to correspond to the position of the driver's shoulders. The shoulder position may be estimated by detecting the nose, eyes, etc. and using average human data. In addition, by detecting the driver's face in this way, in addition to adjusting the headrest position and air conditioner blowing angle as described above, it is also possible to simultaneously prevent drowsy driving and adjust the rear view mirror angle.

In order to detect the driver's upper body position, two two-dimensional CCDs are used in the above embodiment. The position of the driver's body may be detected from the two-dimensional image shown and the distance determined by the transmission and reception time of the ultrasonic waves.
The body position may be detected by simply using an ultrasonic transceiver and scanning an ultrasonic beam from the ultrasonic transceiver to obtain a two-dimensional image.

Next, in the steering wheel position adjustment process, the amount of tilt of the steering wheel is detected each time, and so-called feedback control is performed in which the actuator is driven accordingly.
The target tilt amount (θm) signal calculated in step 22,
A comparator 350 for comparing the magnitude of the actual tilt amount (θt) signal from the tilt amount sensor 91 is provided in the input/output section 21 in the control circuit 20.
If the signal from 50 is output as the drive signal for the actuator 15, the processing in steps 302 to 304 shown in FIG. It becomes sufficient to simply execute the actuator drive process. Note that 352 to 354 in FIG. 16 are amplifier circuits that amplify each signal to a predetermined level.

The automatic steering wheel position adjustment device described above has a two-dimensional CCD and an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver attached to the front of the seat to detect the occupant's upper body position, and an actuator for adjusting the steering wheel position. uses a so-called servo motor that is a combination of a geared motor and a tilt amount sensor, but as a second embodiment of the present invention, a two-dimensional CCD is installed diagonally in front of the driver's seat. An automatic steering wheel position adjustment device that can detect the driver's body position with just one CCD and eliminates the need for a position sensor by using a stepping motor as the actuator motor will be described.
In this case, it can be assumed that the driver does not move in the left-right direction, so the position of the driver's body can be detected using only one two-dimensional CCD.

As mentioned above, in this example, two-dimensional
Since only one CCD is used, an image detector in which the image detecting section and the light emitting section of the previous embodiment are integrated is used, and as shown in FIG. 17, the upper body of the driver is viewed from the left side. An image detector 411 is installed diagonally above the passenger seat side for detection.

As shown in FIG. 18A, this image detector 411 has a plurality of light emitting sections 413 installed around an image detecting section 412 at its center. and the first
As is clear from the sectional view taken along line A-A shown in Figure 8B,
The image detection unit 412 consists of a lens 421 and a two-dimensional CCD 422 fixed in a holder 420 with adhesive or the like, and the detected image signal is sent to a printed circuit board 423 on which an image signal control circuit is mounted, as in the previous embodiment. Output. Further, the light emitting section 413 is composed of an infrared light emitter 425, a lens 426, and a filter 427, similarly to the above-described light emitting section 11, and is supplied with power via the printed circuit board 413.

In addition, in FIG. 17, 401 to 407 and 410 correspond to 1 to 7 and 1 shown in FIG.
0, and the steering wheel 40
4 in the tilt steering wheel is the same as in the previous embodiment except that a stepping motor is used for the geared motor 82 in FIG. 9 and the tilt amount sensor 91 is not provided. is omitted.

The overall configuration of the automatic steering wheel position adjustment device of this embodiment is as shown in the block diagram of FIG.
RAM432, backup RAM433, input/output
It is composed of a control circuit 440 having an output section 434 and the like, an image detector 411, an actuator 415, and a stop sensor 417. The operation of this device will be explained below along with the control program executed by the control circuit 640. In this embodiment as well, the driver operates the key switch and turns on the ignition. It is assumed that the control program shown in FIG. 10 is executed only when the key 441 or accessory switch 442 is turned on and the stop sensor 417 detects that the vehicle is stopped.

Image processing is executed according to a control program as shown in FIG. A synchronizing signal for reading out two-dimensional image data is output to a printed circuit board 423 equipped with an image signal control circuit.

Next, in step 502, the image signal read out by the image signal control circuit is transferred to the main control circuit 44.
0 is performed, and in the next step 503 it is determined whether the image signal input process has been performed for all pixels of the image detection section 412. Then, until image signals are input for all pixels, the determination in step 503 is "NO", and the processes in steps 502 and 503 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, when image signals have been input for all pixels, a determination of ``YES'' is made in step 503, and image data processing in subsequent steps 504 and subsequent steps is executed.

In step 504, the image data obtained through the image signal input processing in step 502 is corrected and
Emphasis processing is performed. This process is a so-called edge enhancement process, and for example, the process of determining the value of the center pixel of 5 pixels in total, 3 vertically and 3 horizontally, of the 2-dimensional CCD 422. This is performed by performing this on all pixels except the most extreme pixel. In other words, first, the value of the center pixel P ₀ in the total of 5 pixels, 3 pixels horizontally and vertically shown in FIG _.
Add the values of the four adjacent pixels P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ , P ₄ , then subtract 4 times the value of the center pixel P ₀ , and then divide that value by 4 to create the new center pixel. P ₀
The arithmetic processing for determining the value of is executed over the entire area of the two-dimensional CCD 422.

In the following step 505, the above step 504 is
In step 506, the corrected and emphasized image data is binarized at a predetermined level, and in the next step 506, the binarized image data is thinned. Here, the binarization process executed in step 505 is the same as in the previous embodiment, and the thinning process in step 506 that follows is performed by finding the center of the black line part of the binarized image data. It is easy to implement.

Therefore, for example, if the image data obtained in steps 502 and 503 is as shown in FIG. 22, the image data obtained in step 504 is an image with enhanced brightness and darkness as shown in FIG. After executing the binarization process in step 505, binarized image data with only the outline of the driver etc. left in black as shown in FIG. 24 is obtained.
Through the thinning process 506, thinned image data as shown in FIG. 25 is obtained.

When the thin line image data is obtained in step 506 in this way, the following step 507 is executed to detect the image coordinates (Xv, Yv) indicating the body position of the driver 401 in the thin line image data. Ru. Here, if the upper body position in this embodiment is the tip of the nose, which is the most protruding part of the face of the driver 401, the image will be imaged by scanning from the top of the image as shown in FIG. Coordinates (Xv, Yv) can now be easily determined.

Next, in step 508, the driver's 4 position with respect to the steering wheel is
Position coordinates (Xw,
Yw) is performed, and the main image processing is completed. Note that the position coordinates (Xw, Yw) may be calculated by using the center axis, which is the reference point for adjusting the tilt amount in the tilt steering, as the origin, and the midpoint position between both shoulders as a coordinate point in the horizontal and vertical directions.

Next, the steering wheel position adjustment process of this embodiment is executed according to the control program shown in FIG. First, in step 601, a process is performed to calculate the target tilt amount θm of the actuator 415 from the position coordinates (Xw, Yw) of the midpoint between both shoulders determined by the image processing. This process may be performed using a map using the position coordinates (Xw, Yw) as parameters, as in the previous embodiment.

Next, in step 602, a process is performed to read the actual tilt amount θt stored in the backup RAM 433 in the previous process, and then in step 603.
to move to.

In step 603, the process of calculating the difference Δθ between the target tilt amount θm obtained in step 601 and the target tilt amount θt obtained in step 602 is performed using the following equation Δθ=θm−θt. Executed for each direction.

In the following step 604, the actuator 415 is activated in response to the tilt amount difference Δθ obtained above.
The process that drives the is executed. And next step
In step 605, in order to set the target tilt amount θm to the actual tilt amount θt, the θt stored in the backup RAM 433 is used.
The value of is changed to θm, and this steering wheel position adjustment process is completed.

As explained above, in this embodiment, the position of the driver's upper body is detected from the side of the seat to detect the position of the midpoint between both shoulders relative to the steering wheel.
You only need to use one. Furthermore, since a stepping motor is used as the actuator, it is easy to store the actual tilt amount, and there is no need to set up the tilt amount.

In this embodiment, the actual tilt amount of the actuator is always memorized and only the difference between the actuator and the target tilt amount is driven. There are problems such as not being able to adjust the tilt amount or manual operation. Therefore, when both the ignition switch and the accessory switch are turned off, the amount of tilt of the steering wheel may be returned to the reference position.

Furthermore, in both of the above embodiments, it has been explained that the series of processes of image processing and steering wheel position adjustment process are always performed by closed loop control, but since the position of the driver's body does not change much, the ignition Image processing is performed several times when the steering switch or accessory switch is turned on or when the vehicle stops, and the steering wheel position is adjusted only once according to the average value of the detected body position. You may do so.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, in the automatic steering wheel position adjustment device of the present invention, at least the upper body of the driver seated in the driver's seat of the vehicle is determined from the two-dimensional image taken of the upper body of the driver. The vehicle's longitudinal and vertical positions are detected, and when the vehicle is stopped, the tilt amount of the tilt steering wheel and the steering wheel position are automatically adjusted according to the detected positions. Therefore, even if the driver changes hands or the riding position changes, the steering wheel position can be automatically adjusted to suit the driver's physique and seating condition, allowing the driver to adjust the amount of tilt. Adjustment can eliminate the annoyance.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the steering wheel position is adjusted when the vehicle is stopped, so even if the vehicle driver changes the seating position while the vehicle is running, the steering wheel position will not be changed. As a result, safety during vehicle travel can be ensured.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the position of the driver's upper body is detected by processing a two-dimensional image of the driver's upper body. , the position of the driver's body can be accurately detected without being affected by the driver's sitting posture. Therefore, according to the present invention, the steering wheel position can always be adjusted to the optimum position according to the driver's body position, and the steering wheel can be used to control the instruments installed on the instrument panel. Safety can also be improved by eliminating the possibility of accidents where it becomes difficult to see or the front view is obstructed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of the present invention, Figures 2 to 15
The figure shows a first embodiment of the invention, FIG. 16 shows another example of the control circuit 20 in the first embodiment, and FIGS. 17 to 26 show a second embodiment of the invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the area around the driver's seat.
Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the device, Figure 4
The figure and FIG.
6 is a partial sectional view showing the configuration of the light emitting section 11, FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view showing the configuration of the image detection section 12 or 13, and FIG. The figures show the structure of the liquid crystal aperture element 62, where A is a plan view, B is a sectional view taken along line A-A, and No.
The figure is a partially cutaway side view of the tilt steering 80 for explaining the structure of the actuator 15.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control program executed by the control circuit 20, FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing image processing, and FIG. 12 shows image data. Image data diagram, B is a diagram of binarized image data obtained by binarization processing, FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a method for calculating the intermediate point position in binarized image data, and FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the steering wheel position adjustment process, and FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram showing another example of the control circuit 20 as described above. 17 is a perspective view showing the area around the driver's seat, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the image detector 411, A is a plan view, B is an end view taken along line A-A, and FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the device. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing image processing, FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of image data modification/enhancement processing, FIG. 22 is a diagram of image data detected by the two-dimensional solid-state image sensor 622, and FIG. 23 is a diagram of correction/enhancement processing. Image data diagram after emphasis processing, 2nd
4 is a diagram of binary image data, FIG. 25 is a diagram of thinned image data, and FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing steering wheel position adjustment processing. 4,404...Steering wheel, 11,
413... Light emitting unit, 12, 13, 412... Image detection unit, 15, 415... Actuator, 1
7,417... Stop sensor, 20,440... Control circuit, 80... Tilt steering, 82...
Geared motor, 89...steering stay.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An actuator that is included in a tilt steering wheel that can adjust the position of the steering wheel of a vehicle and that adjusts the amount of tilt of the steering wheel; 2. An actuator that adjusts the amount of tilt of the steering wheel;
an imaging means for taking an image in a dimension; and processing a two-dimensional image representing the upper body of the driver taken by the imaging means to determine at least the position of the upper body of the driver in the longitudinal direction and the vertical direction of the vehicle. body position detection means for detecting; a stop sensor for detecting a stop of the vehicle; and when the stop sensor detects a stop of the vehicle, the body position of the driver detected by the body position detection means; An automatic steering wheel position adjustment device comprising: adjustment means for outputting a drive signal according to a body position to the actuator to adjust the steering wheel position. 2. Claim 1, wherein the imaging means includes two two-dimensional solid-state imaging devices provided in front of the driver's seat.
The automatic steering wheel position adjustment device described in Section 1. 3. The automatic steering wheel position adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging means includes one two-dimensional solid-state imaging device and an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver provided in front of the driver's seat. 4. The automatic steering wheel position adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging means is provided in front of the driver's seat and has an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver capable of scanning ultrasonic beams. 5. The automatic steering wheel position adjustment device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging means includes one two-dimensional solid-state imaging device provided on the side of the driver's seat or diagonally in front of the driver's seat.