JP2000182198A - Device and method for outputting approaching vehicle information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately switch the output contents of other vehicle information to output them in accordance with the situations of other vehicles changing from moment to moment by deciding the output contents of other vehicle information in accordance with the detection situation of the other vehicles and outputting the decided output contents. SOLUTION: A vehicle existence deciding part 10 compares each absolute quantity in specific frequency bands of sound pressure level signals converted by each signal processing part 8 and 9 with decision levels with left and right sides independent of each other and respectively decides whether or not other approaching vehicles exist respectively with the left and right sides. A vehicle approach deciding part 11 respectively decides whether other vehicles approach or travel away respectively with the left and right independently from temporal change in the specific frequency band of the sound pressure level signals converted by the parts 8 and 9. A vehicle approach direction deciding part 12 decides a direction where the other vehicles approach. An information controlling part 13 decides the output contents about the other vehicle information to be outputted form each monitor 6 and 7 in accordance with the detected situation of the other vehicles by the part 10, 11 and 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an approaching vehicle information output device and method for outputting information of another vehicle approaching the own vehicle to a driver at an intersection or the like with poor visibility.
The present invention relates to an approaching vehicle information output device and a method for switching and outputting the output content according to the situation of another vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 9, at an intersection 30 where there are blind spots due to buildings 32 and 33 and there is no traffic light,
The driver of the own vehicle 34 temporarily stops the own vehicle 34 just before the intersection 30. However, at the intersection 3
From just before zero, it is not possible to confirm whether the buildings 32, 33, etc. are obstacles and whether another approaching vehicle 35, etc., will enter the intersection 30. Therefore, the driver moves the host vehicle 34 slowly forward to a position where both the left and right directions of the road 31 can be viewed. As a result, the nose of the own vehicle 34 enters the intersection 30 and hinders the traveling of the approaching other vehicle 35 and the like, and sometimes causes an accident, which is always accompanied by danger.

[0003] Therefore, various developments have been promoted in order to ensure safety at intersections with poor visibility as described above. For example, the vehicle approach indicator disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 6-11099 collects ambient sounds of the own vehicle with a microphone, identifies another vehicle from the ambient sounds with a vehicle sound identification device, and determines the identification result. Is output from the display lamp.

[0004]

However, the vehicle approach indicator outputs or outputs low-accuracy information in order to directly output the identification result of the presence or absence of another vehicle identified by the vehicle sound identification device. The contents may change every moment.
Therefore, the output information may not be accurate information for the driver, or may be information different from the driver's visual information.

[0005] As shown in FIG. 9, a plurality of other vehicles 35, 36, 37 and the like are located at an intersection 30 within a short time.
When approaching or passing by, the other vehicles 37 approaching from the second vehicle onward due to the influence of the passing other vehicles 37 etc. are large.
May be reduced, and the output time of information about the approaching other vehicle 35 or the like may be shortened. Also,
Also when other vehicles 35, 36, 37, etc. are traveling from both left and right directions of the road 31, the detection capability of one of the left direction and the right direction is reduced, and the information on the other vehicle approaching from the direction in which the detection capability is reduced. The output time may be shortened.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an approaching vehicle information output device and a method thereof, which switch and output the output content of other vehicle information as appropriate according to the situation of the other vehicle that changes with time. is there.

[0007]

An approaching vehicle information output apparatus according to the present invention which has solved the above-mentioned problems detects an approaching vehicle existing around the host vehicle and outputs information on the approaching vehicle. In the device, an information control unit that determines the output content of the other vehicle information according to the detection status of the other vehicle, and an output unit that outputs the output content determined by the information control unit, And

Further, in the approaching vehicle information output device, the information control unit includes a display determination continuation determination unit that determines whether or not the detection of the other vehicle has just started, and whether the other vehicle exists with high accuracy. A vehicle determination unit that determines whether the other vehicle is approaching from a different direction; a vehicle passage determination unit that determines an approach position of the other vehicle; A display mode determining unit that determines the output content of the other vehicle information based on the determination result of the unit.

An approaching vehicle information output method according to the present invention which has solved the above-mentioned problems is a method for outputting an approaching vehicle information which outputs information of the other vehicle by detecting another vehicle existing around the own vehicle. An information control step of determining the output content of the other vehicle information in accordance with the detection status of, and an output step of outputting the output content determined in the information control step,
It is characterized by including.

Further, in the approaching vehicle information output method, the information control step includes a display determination continuation determination step of determining whether or not the detection of the other vehicle has just started, and a determination as to whether the other vehicle exists with high accuracy. A vehicle determination step of determining whether or not the other vehicle is approaching from a different direction; a vehicle passing determination step of determining an approach position of the other vehicle; A display mode determining step of determining output contents of the other vehicle information based on a determination result of the step.

According to the approaching vehicle information output apparatus and the method therefor, the output content of the information on the other vehicle is switched and output in accordance with the detection state of the approaching other vehicle which changes with time. I do. As a result, it is possible to provide the driver with information that matches the situation of the approaching other vehicle that changes moment by moment.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an approaching vehicle information output apparatus and method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram of the approaching vehicle information output device 1, FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an approaching vehicle information output method, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a display determination continuation determination step, FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a vehicle determination step, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a vehicle passage determination step, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a display mode determination step, FIG.
Is a display screen of each of the four display modes, and FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of an intersection having poor visibility.

First, an approaching vehicle information output device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The approaching vehicle information output device 1 includes:
This device detects other vehicles existing around the own vehicle, particularly other vehicles approaching an intersection 30 as shown in FIG. 9, and outputs information of the detected other vehicles to a driver. Note that the approaching vehicle information output device 1 of the present embodiment
Detects the approaching other vehicle from the surrounding sound information of the own vehicle. However, the approaching vehicle information output device according to the present invention is not limited to the means for detecting another approaching vehicle to the means based on the sound information, and may be, for example, a means based on information other than sound information from a laser or a camera. .

The approaching vehicle information output device 1 includes a left microphone 2 and a right microphone 3, a left signal processing unit 8 and a right signal processing unit 9, a vehicle presence determining unit 10, a vehicle approach determining unit 11, a vehicle approach direction determining unit 12, It comprises an information control unit 13 and a left monitor 5 and a right monitor 6 as output units. The information control unit 13 includes a display determination unit 14, a display determination continuation determination unit 15, and a vehicle determination unit 1.
6, a direction signal determination unit 17, a vehicle passage determination unit 18, and a display mode determination unit 19. The ECU (Elect
The control unit 4 corresponding to a ronic control unit includes a left signal processing unit 8 and a right signal processing unit 9, a vehicle presence determination unit 10, a vehicle approach determination unit 11, a vehicle approach direction determination unit 12, and an information control unit 13. . In addition, the host vehicle information 7 is information relating to a running state or a stopped state of the host vehicle such as a vehicle speed and a parking brake, and is input to the display determination unit 14.

The left microphone 2 and the right microphone 3 collect ambient sounds, respectively, and convert each acoustic signal corresponding to the ambient sounds into an electric acoustic signal. In the present embodiment, the left microphone 2 is attached to the left side of the front bumper, and the right microphone 3 is attached to the right side of the front bumper. The mounting position is not limited to the front bumper, and may be any position as long as the microphones 2 and 3 are separated into left and right positions of the vehicle.

The left signal processing unit 8 and the right signal processing unit 9 convert each of the electric acoustic signals converted by the left microphone 2 and the right microphone 3 into a sound pressure level signal. First, each signal processing unit 8,
A bandpass filter 9 removes the frequency components of the low frequency band and the high frequency band from each of the electric acoustic signals, and converts them into corrected acoustic signals. Further, each corrected sound signal is subjected to a fast Fourier transform (FFT) unit every predetermined time (for example, every 0.1 second).
To the left and right sound pressure level signals at each time.

The vehicle presence judging section 10 includes the signal processing sections 8 and
Each absolute value of the left sound pressure level signal and the right sound pressure level signal in the specific frequency band at each time converted in step 9 is compared with the left and right independent determination levels to determine whether there is another approaching vehicle. Left and right are determined independently. Note that the judgment level is a reference of a sound pressure level estimated as a traveling sound emitted by another vehicle existing around the own vehicle. Further, the specific frequency band is a frequency band in which the characteristics of the traveling sound of the vehicle appear, and for example, a frequency band around 1 kHz is suitable. The reason why the frequency of about 1 kHz is suitable is that noise generated by the structural vibration of the vehicle has a sound field of about 1 kHz standing near the tire contact due to the resonance of the sound field.
This is because the frequency is peculiar to the tire and does not vary depending on the vehicle speed or the like.

The vehicle approach judging section 11 includes the signal processing sections 8 and
From the temporal changes in the specific frequency band of the left sound pressure level signal and the right sound pressure level signal at each time converted in step 9, it is determined whether the other vehicle is approaching or moving away independently from each other.

The vehicle approach direction judging section 12 judges a direction in which another vehicle is approaching. In this determination method, each absolute value of each of the left and right sound pressure level signals and at least one of each time change are compared along the time axis, and each of the left sound pressure level signal and the right sound pressure level signal is compared. The approach direction of the other vehicle is determined from the time difference of the other vehicle detection based on the absolute amount (or each temporal change).

The information control unit 13 includes a vehicle presence determination unit 10,
The output contents regarding the other vehicle information output from the monitors 5 and 6 are determined according to the detection state of the other vehicle by the vehicle approach determination unit 11 and the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12. In the information control unit 13, the display determination unit 14 determines whether or not to display on each of the monitors 5 and 6, and the display determination continuation determination unit 15, the vehicle determination unit 16, the direction signal determination unit 17, and the vehicle passage determination unit 1
At 8, the status of the other vehicle is determined, and the display mode determination unit 19 determines the output content from the determination results of the determination units 15, 16, 17, 18.

The display judging section 14 judges, based on the own vehicle information 7, whether or not the own vehicle is approaching an intersection or the like with poor visibility. When making the approach determination, the display determination on the monitors 5 and 6 is performed, and the display determination continuation determination unit 15, the vehicle determination unit 16, the direction signal determination unit 17, the vehicle passage determination unit 18, and the display mode determination are performed. The processing in the unit 19 is performed. The host vehicle information 7 includes a vehicle speed, a gear position of a transmission, a parking brake, a throttle opening of an engine, a posture of a driver, and the like. A reference value or the like is set for each information of the own vehicle, and display determination is comprehensively performed from a plurality of pieces of information.

The display judgment continuation judging unit 15 includes the display judging unit 1
It is determined whether or not it is immediately after the start of detection of another vehicle based on the duration of the display determination in step 4.

The vehicle determining unit 16 determines whether or not the approaching other vehicle is present, based on the duration of the determination of the approaching other vehicle by the vehicle presence determining unit 10.

The direction signal determination unit 17 determines whether the approaching vehicle is approaching from one direction or from both left and right directions based on the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12 determining the approach direction of the other vehicle to the left or right. Is determined.

The vehicle passing determination unit 18 determines the position of another vehicle based on the duration of the left or right approach direction determination of the other vehicle by the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12. The position of the other vehicle is a long distance, a short distance from the own vehicle, or immediately after passing the front.

The display mode deciding section 19, based on the four judgment sections 15, 16, 17, 18, monitors each monitor 5, 5.
The output contents of the other vehicle information to be displayed in 6 are determined. The output contents include no approaching other vehicle, approaching other vehicle and no approach direction specified, approaching other vehicle and approach direction specific presence, or other vehicle immediately after passing. Note that this output content changes as the status of other vehicles changes over time,
It changes from moment to moment. Then, the display data is switched to the display data corresponding to the changed output content and transmitted to the monitors 5 and 6.

Each of the monitors 5 and 6 is provided with a display mode determining unit 19.
The output contents of the information of the approaching other vehicle determined by the above are displayed. Each monitor 5, 6 is a liquid crystal screen, LED display screen, etc.
There is no particular limitation. In addition, the mounting positions of the monitors 5 and 6 in the present embodiment are the front portions inside the left and right doors.

Next, an approaching vehicle information output method by the approaching vehicle information output device 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In this description, FIG.
8 and FIG. This approaching vehicle information output method,
The present invention is characterized by a method of outputting information of another vehicle approaching the own vehicle. Therefore, a method of detecting another approaching vehicle will be briefly described, and a method of outputting other vehicle information will be described.
This will be described in detail.

In the approaching vehicle information output method according to this embodiment, an approaching other vehicle is detected from sound information around the own vehicle. However, the approaching vehicle information output method according to the present invention is not particularly limited to a method of detecting another approaching vehicle, and may be, for example, a detection method other than sound information using a laser or a camera.

The method of detecting another vehicle includes a sound collecting step, a signal processing step, a vehicle presence determining step, a vehicle approach determining step, and a vehicle approach direction determining step. The other vehicle information output method includes a display determination step, a display determination continuation determination step, a vehicle determination step, a direction signal determination step, a vehicle passage determination step, a display mode determination step, and an output step. The information control step includes a display determination step, a display determination continuation determination step, a vehicle determination step, a direction signal determination step, a vehicle passage determination step, and a display mode determination step.

First, a method of detecting another vehicle will be briefly described. This method of detecting another vehicle is a method of detecting presence or absence of another vehicle approaching the own vehicle, whether the other vehicle is approaching or distant from the own vehicle, and the approach direction of the other vehicle from the surrounding sound of the own vehicle. It is.

The sound collecting process includes the left microphone 2 and the right microphone 3
Collects ambient sounds, and converts acoustic signals corresponding to the ambient sounds into electric acoustic signals. Incidentally, this acoustic signal is a signal including information of all frequency bands in the ambient sound of the own vehicle. Further, as the ambient sound increases, the voltage value of each electroacoustic signal increases.

In the signal processing step, the left signal processing unit 8 and the right signal processing unit 9 convert each electroacoustic signal into a sound pressure level signal. First, each electroacoustic signal is converted into each signal processing unit 8,
Nine band-pass filters remove frequency components in a low-frequency band and a high-frequency band, and convert them into corrected sound signals. By this conversion, low-frequency and high-frequency noise components unrelated to the running sound of the vehicle are removed. Further, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) unit of each of the signal processing units 8 and 9 Fourier-transforms each corrected sound signal at predetermined time intervals (for example, at every 0.1 second), and outputs a left sound pressure level signal and a left sound pressure level signal at each time. Convert to a right sound pressure level signal. Note that the left and right sound pressure level signals are present for each time along the time axis at predetermined time intervals.

The vehicle presence determining step includes the vehicle presence determining unit 10
From the absolute value of the left-side sound pressure level signal and the absolute value of the right-side sound pressure level signal, it is determined independently whether or not there is another vehicle approaching. First, a specific frequency band around 1 kHz of each of the left and right sound pressure level signals is extracted, and the average (absolute amount) of the sound pressure level of the specific frequency band at each time is calculated. Then, the absolute amount and the determination level are independently compared left and right. If the absolute amount exceeds the determination level, it is determined that another vehicle exists, and if not, it is determined that there is no other vehicle. This determination is made at predetermined time intervals along the time axis. Furthermore, the continuation time for determining that another vehicle is present is measured.

The vehicle approach determining step includes a vehicle approach determining section 11
Then, from the temporal change of the left sound pressure level signal and the temporal change of the right sound pressure level signal, it is determined whether the other vehicle is approaching or moving away independently from each other.
First, the absolute amount of each of the left and right sound pressure level signals is differentiated along the time axis, and the increase / decrease (temporal change) of each of the left and right sound pressure level signals along the time axis is obtained. The differential value is a positive value (the sound pressure level increases along the time axis)
In this case, it is determined that the other vehicle is approaching, and if the differential value is a negative value (the sound pressure level decreases along the time axis), it is determined that the other vehicle is moving away.

In the vehicle approaching direction determining step, the vehicle approaching direction determining unit 12 compares the left sound pressure level signal and the right sound pressure level signal along a time axis to determine the direction in which another vehicle is approaching. . For example, based on the other vehicle presence determination based on the absolute value of each of the left and right sound pressure level signals, it is determined which signal of the left sound pressure level signal or the right sound pressure level signal has previously determined the presence of the other vehicle. I do. If it is determined that the other vehicle is present based on the left sound pressure level signal, it is determined that another vehicle is approaching from the left direction. It is determined that another vehicle is approaching. Further, a duration of time when it is determined that the vehicle is approaching from the left or right is measured. Also, the approach direction may be determined based on the other vehicle approach determination based on the temporal change of each of the left and right sound pressure level signals.

Next, a method of outputting other vehicle information will be described in detail. This output method determines the status of the other vehicle based on the determination results of the vehicle presence determination step, the vehicle approach determination step, and the vehicle approach direction determination step, and determines the output content related to the other vehicle information according to the determination. Is a method of outputting the output contents.

An outline of the flow of the output method will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in the display determination step, it is determined whether or not other vehicle information is to be displayed to the driver based on the own vehicle information 7 (S100, S80).
0). Next, when it is determined that the vehicle is to be displayed in S100, it is determined in a display determination continuation determining step whether or not another vehicle has just been detected (S200). Then, in the vehicle determination step, it is determined whether or not there is another approaching vehicle reliably (S300). Subsequently, in the direction signal determination step,
It is determined whether another approaching vehicle is approaching from both left and right directions (S400). Further, in the vehicle passage determination step, the distance that another vehicle is approaching the own vehicle is determined (S500). Then, in the display mode determining step, the output contents related to other vehicle information to be output to the driver are determined based on the determination result of each step (S60).
0). Finally, in the output step, information on the other vehicle is displayed based on the determination in S600 (S700). Note that S
The processing in each step of 200 to S700 is performed in S100
Is repeatedly performed when the display is determined in step S800.
If it is determined that the display is not to be performed, the process ends.

In the display determining step, the display determining unit 14 determines whether the own vehicle is approaching an intersection or the like with poor visibility based on the own vehicle information 7, and when this determination is made, the monitor 5, 6 is used. Judge display. The host vehicle information 7 includes a vehicle speed, a gear position of a transmission, a parking brake, a throttle opening of an engine, a posture of a driver, and the like. As a determination method, a predetermined reference value is set for the vehicle speed and the slot opening of the engine. If the reference value is equal to or less than the reference value, it is determined that the own vehicle is moving slowly. Further, it is determined from the gear position of the transmission and the parking brake whether the vehicle is stopped or running. Furthermore, it is determined whether or not a forward intersection is being checked based on the driver's posture. Then, from these determinations, a plurality of determinations are combined to make a comprehensive display determination.

The display determination continuation determination step will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the display determination continuation determination step, the display determination continuation determination unit 15 turns ON / OFF the duration flag based on the determination in the display determination unit 14. First, in the display determination step, the continuation time for determining to display on each of the monitors 5 and 6 is measured (S201). It is determined whether the continuation time is a1 seconds or less (S202). If it is less than a1 second, it is considered that another vehicle has just been detected, and the duration flag is turned on (S203). If the time exceeds a1 second, it is determined that another vehicle is not immediately detected, and the duration flag is turned off (S204).

The continuation time flag is a flag indicating whether or not detection of another vehicle has just started, indicating that the ON state is immediately after the start, and that the OFF state is not immediately after the start.

The vehicle determination step will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the vehicle determination step, the vehicle determination unit 16
Based on other vehicle presence data in the vehicle presence determination unit 10,
Turn ON / OFF the vehicle determination flag. First, the presence data of another approaching vehicle is obtained from the vehicle presence determination unit 10 (S301). The other vehicle presence data is data on whether or not there is another approaching vehicle, and data on the continuation time for which it is determined that another vehicle is present. Next, it is determined whether there is another approaching vehicle based on the obtained presence data (S302). If another vehicle exists, it is determined whether or not the continuation time for determining that another vehicle exists is a2 seconds or more (S303). On the other hand, if there is no other vehicle, the vehicle determination flag is turned off (S305). Then, if the duration is a2 seconds or more in S303, it is determined that there is another approaching vehicle with certainty, and the vehicle determination flag is turned ON (S304). On the other hand, in S303, the duration is a
If it is less than 2 seconds, it is determined that it is not known whether there is another approaching vehicle reliably, and the vehicle determination flag is turned off (S30).
5).

The vehicle judging flag is a flag indicating whether or not another vehicle approaching is surely present. The vehicle judging flag indicates that the vehicle is ON when the vehicle is ON, and that the OFF is not reliable. Indicates that it does not exist.

The direction signal determining step will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The direction signal determination step is performed by the direction signal determination unit 17 based on the approach direction data of another vehicle in the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12, the inversion flag set in the previous step, and the approach direction data stored in the previous step. Turn on / off the inversion flag. First, the vehicle approach direction determining unit 1
2 to obtain the approach direction data of the other vehicle (S40).
1). This approach direction data is data indicating whether another approaching vehicle is approaching from the left or approaching from the right. Next, it is confirmed whether or not the inversion flag is ON (S402).
If the inversion flag is not ON in S402, the approach direction data stored in the previous direction signal determination step is compared with the approach direction data obtained this time in S401 (S403). This comparison determines whether the approach direction has changed from left to right or from right to left in the previous and current approach direction data (S404). If it is determined in S404 that the direction has not changed, the approach direction data obtained in the current direction signal determination step is stored (S405), and it is determined that the other vehicle is approaching from only one direction, and the inversion flag is determined. Is turned off (S406). On the other hand,
If it is determined in S404 that the direction is changing, it is determined that the other vehicle is approaching or passing from both left and right directions, and the reversal flag is turned on (S407).

On the other hand, if the inversion flag is ON in S402, the time during which the inversion flag is ON is measured (S408). Then, it is determined whether or not the duration is a3 seconds or less (S409). If the duration exceeds a3 seconds, it is determined that the other vehicle is approaching from only one direction, and the reversal flag is turned off (S410). On the other hand, if the duration is a3 seconds or less, it is determined that the other vehicle is approaching or passing from both left and right directions, and the reversal flag is turned on (S41).
1).

The reversal flag is a flag indicating whether another vehicle is approaching (or passing) from both left and right directions or is approaching from one direction. When ON, the other vehicle is approaching from both left and right directions. OFF indicates that another vehicle is approaching from one direction.

The vehicle passage determining step will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The vehicle passage determination step includes a vehicle passage determination unit 18, an approach direction data of another vehicle in the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12, a vehicle determination flag, a passage flag set in the previous process, and an approach direction data stored in the previous process. , A pass flag is set. First, the approach direction data of another vehicle is obtained from the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12 (S
501). The approach direction data is data indicating whether another approaching vehicle is approaching from the left direction or approaching from the right direction, and data of the duration during which it is determined that the approaching vehicle is approaching from each direction. Next, it is confirmed whether or not the passage flag is 0 (S50).
2).

If it is determined in S502 that the passage flag is 0, it is determined whether or not the vehicle determination flag in the vehicle determination process is ON (S503). When the vehicle judgment flag is ON,
From the obtained approach direction data, the longer approach duration of the left and right approach times is multiplied by the previous approach duration of the longer direction in the previously stored approach direction data. (S504). Then, it is determined whether or not the multiplied value is 0 (S505). If the multiplied value is not 0, or the vehicle determination flag is ON in S503
If not, the approach direction data obtained in this process is stored (S506), and the passing flag is set to 0 (S50).
7). If the multiplication value is 0 in S505, the process proceeds to S509.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S502 that the pass flag is not 0, it is checked whether the pass flag is 1 (S5).
08). If the passage flag is 1, or if the multiplied value is 0 in S505, from the obtained approach direction data,
The shorter approach duration of the left and right approach durations is multiplied by the previous approach duration of the shorter direction in the previously stored approach direction data (S50).
9). Then, it is determined whether or not the multiplied value is 0 (S
510). If the multiplication value is not 0, the approach direction data obtained in the current process is stored (S511), and the passing flag is set to 1 (S512). If the multiplication value is 0 in S510, the pass flag is set to 2 (S515).

If the pass flag is not 0 (the pass flag is 2) in S508, the time during which the pass flag continues to be 2 is measured (S513). Then, it is determined whether or not the continuation time is a4 seconds or less (S514). If the duration is a4 seconds or less, the passage flag is set to 2 (S51).
5). On the other hand, if the duration exceeds a4 seconds, the passage flag is set to 0 (S516).

The pass flag is a flag indicating the position (distance) at which another vehicle is approaching the host vehicle. A value of 0 indicates that the vehicle is approaching a long distance, and a value of 1 indicates that the vehicle is approaching a short distance. The case of 2 indicates that it is immediately after passing through the front of the own vehicle.

The display mode determining step will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the display mode determining step, the display mode determining unit 19 sets a display mode flag based on the presence data of the other vehicle, the passing flag, the duration flag, and the reversal flag of the vehicle presence determining unit 10. First, it is determined whether or not the pass flag is 2 (S601). If the pass flag is 2, the display mode flag is set to 4 (S60).
9).

On the other hand, if the passing flag is not 2, the presence data of the approaching other vehicle is obtained by the vehicle presence determination unit 10 (S602). The other vehicle presence data is data indicating whether there is another vehicle approaching. And
It is determined whether or not another vehicle exists based on the existence data of the other vehicle (S603). If there is no other vehicle, the display mode is set to 1 (S604).

If another vehicle exists in S603,
The display mode flag is set to 2 (S605). Then, it is determined whether or not the duration flag is ON (S60).
6). When the duration flag is ON, the display mode flag is maintained at 2, and when the duration flag is not ON, it is determined whether the inversion flag is ON (S607). When the inversion flag is ON, the display mode flag is maintained at 2, and when the inversion flag is not ON, the display mode flag is set to 3 (S608).

The display mode flag is set for each monitor 5,
A flag for determining the output content of the other vehicle information displayed in 6; 1 is no display; 2 is an approaching other vehicle and the approach direction is not specified; 3 is an approaching other vehicle existing and approaching When the direction is specified, the case of 4 indicates that the other vehicle needs attention.
That is, the display mode flag 1 indicates that there is no other vehicle approaching. The display mode flag 2 indicates that there is another vehicle approaching, but the direction of approach is unknown. The display mode flag 3 indicates that there is another vehicle approaching,
It also indicates that the approaching direction is known. The display mode flag 4 indicates that it is necessary to pay attention to the other vehicle since the other vehicle has just passed.

Finally, corresponding display data is transmitted to the left monitor 5 and the right monitor 6 based on the determined set value of the display mode flag.

The output process includes a left monitor 5 and a right monitor 6
Then, based on the display data transmitted from the information control unit 13, information on the approaching other vehicle is displayed (S70 in FIG. 2).
0). Incidentally, an example of a display screen displayed on each of the monitors 5 and 6 is shown. When the display mode flag is 1, FIG.
As shown in (a), the display screen 20 displays nothing. When the display mode flag is 2, as shown in FIG. 8B, the display screen 21 indicates that another vehicle is approaching from both left and right directions. When the display mode flag is 3, the display screen 22 indicates that another vehicle is approaching from the right (or left) as shown in FIG. 8C.
When the display mode flag is 4, as shown in FIG. 8D, the display screen 23 indicates that there is no approaching other vehicle, but the other vehicle needs attention.

The display determination continuation determination step, the vehicle determination step, the direction signal determination step, the vehicle passage determination step, the display mode determination step, and the output step are repeatedly performed while the display determination is being made in the display determination step. Is done. for that reason,
The setting value of the display mode flag changes in accordance with a change in the detection status of another vehicle in the vehicle presence determination unit 10 and the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12 and the like, and the display screen displayed on the left monitor 5 and the right monitor 6 Switch.

In the approaching vehicle information output device 1 and the method thereof having the above-described configuration, the output content of the other vehicle information to be provided to the driver is switched and output in accordance with the detection situation of the approaching other vehicle that changes every moment. I do. Since the output information corresponds to a changing situation of another vehicle, it is accurate information for the driver and is information that matches the driver's vision. Further, information on the approach direction of the other vehicle approaching left and right is also included. In addition, in each of the four determinations, the output result of the other vehicle information is highly accurate because the detection result of the other vehicle and the duration of each flag are used. Therefore, the burden on the driver at an intersection or the like with poor visibility can be reduced.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be embodied in various forms. For example, although the display mode is set to four patterns, the display mode may be set in more detail, or the display mode may be set easily. In addition, although the passage flag is set to three patterns, the approach distance is further finely limited, and four patterns and five patterns are set.
It may be set to a pattern or the like. Further, the information control unit or the information control step is configured by the six units or the six steps, but the information control unit or the information control step outputs the output content of the other vehicle information according to the detection state of the approaching other vehicle. Any configuration that can be determined is acceptable. Further, the detection of the other vehicle is detected by the surrounding sound information of the own vehicle, but may be detected by other information such as a video. Further, in order to perform detection by sound information, each of the microphones 2 and 3, each of the signal processing units 8 and 9, the vehicle presence determination unit 10, the vehicle approach determination unit 11 and the vehicle approach direction determination unit 12, a sound collection process, Although the process, the vehicle presence determination step, the vehicle approach determination step, and the vehicle approach direction determination step are configured, other vehicles may be detected by a device having another configuration or a method having another configuration. Further, although the output unit and the output method are displayed on the screen by the monitor, the output may be performed by a sound from a speaker or the like.

[0061]

As described above, the approaching vehicle information output device and the method thereof according to the present invention switch and output the output contents of the other vehicle information as appropriate according to the situation of the other vehicle that changes with time. be able to. The switching process is a simple process of determining the output content of the other vehicle information according to the detection status of the other vehicle and outputting the information in accordance with the determined output content.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an approaching vehicle information output device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an approaching vehicle information output method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a display determination continuation determination step according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a vehicle determination process according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a direction signal determination step according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a vehicle passage determination process according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a display mode determining step according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows each display screen in four display modes according to the present invention. (A) It is a display screen of the display mode 1. (B) The display screen in the display mode 2. (C) The display screen in the display mode 3. (D) A display screen in display mode 4.

FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of an intersection with poor visibility.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Approaching vehicle information output device 2 ... Left microphone 3 ... Right microphone 4 ... Control part 5 ... Left monitor 6 ... Right monitor 7 ... Own vehicle information 8 ... Left signal processing unit 9 Right signal processing unit 10 Vehicle presence determining unit 11 Vehicle approach determining unit 12 Vehicle approach direction determining unit 13 Information control unit 14 Display determination Unit 15: Display determination continuation determining unit 16: Vehicle determining unit 17: Direction signal determining unit 18: Vehicle passing determining unit 19: Display mode determining unit 20, 21, 22, 23,.・ Display screen

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Takayuki Tsuji 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama F-term in Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (Reference) 5C086 AA54 BA22 CB26 DA08 FA18 5H180 AA01 CC03 CC04 CC27 LL01 LL04 LL08 LL15

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An approaching vehicle information output device for detecting another vehicle existing around a host vehicle and outputting information on the other vehicle, wherein the output content of the other vehicle information according to a detection state of the other vehicle. An information control unit that determines the following, and an output unit that outputs the output content determined by the information control unit. 2. The information control unit includes: a display determination continuation determination unit that determines whether or not the detection of the other vehicle has just started; and a vehicle determination unit that determines whether the other vehicle exists with high accuracy. A direction signal determination unit that determines whether the other vehicle is approaching from a different direction; a vehicle passage determination unit that determines an approach position of the other vehicle; and a determination result of each determination unit, The approaching vehicle information output device according to claim 1, further comprising: a display mode determination unit that determines output contents of the vehicle information. 3. An approaching vehicle information output method for detecting another vehicle existing around the own vehicle and outputting information on the other vehicle, wherein the output content of the other vehicle information is determined according to a detection state of the other vehicle. An information control step of determining the following, and an output step of outputting the output content determined in the information control step. 4. The information control step includes: a display determination continuation determination step of determining whether or not the detection of the other vehicle has just started; and a vehicle determination step of determining whether or not the other vehicle exists with high accuracy. A direction signal determining step of determining whether or not the other vehicle is approaching from a different direction; a vehicle passing determining step of determining an approaching position of the other vehicle; The approaching vehicle information output method according to claim 3, further comprising: a display mode determining step of determining output contents of the vehicle information.