JP2007065704A - Alarm device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alarm device for a vehicle capable of preventing embarrassment to a driver caused by an alarm output and to eliminate troubles by an unnecessary alarm output. <P>SOLUTION: This alarm device for a vehicle is provided with a radar processing module 10 detecting an object around the vehicle, a camera 20, position calculation parts 12 and 22, an alarm determination part 40 determining whether an alarm output is necessary or not for the detected object, a priority order determination part 60 determining priority order of a plurality of alarm outputs, an alarm output processing part 70 performing an alarm output based on the determination result by the priority order determination part 60, a display device 72, and a speaker 74. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an alarm device for a vehicle that detects an object around the vehicle and issues an alarm.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a vehicle alarm device that detects an obstacle around a vehicle and outputs an alarm, and eliminates or weakens the alarm output when the driver recognizes the obstacle ( For example, see Patent Document 1.) This device detects the direction of the driver's line of sight, determines that the driver recognizes the obstacle when the direction in which the obstacle is present matches the direction of the line of sight, and outputs an alarm signal. Stop or change the color of the warning lamp from red to yellow or blue.
JP 2004-295472 A (page 4-8, FIG. 1-13)

  By the way, when detecting an object present in the vicinity of the vehicle and issuing an alarm, if a plurality of obstacles are detected and an alarm is issued at the same time, the driver of the vehicle needs to confirm the content of the alarm. There was a problem of being confused by being unable to judge immediately. In the vehicle alarm device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the driver's line-of-sight direction matches the direction in which an object (obstacle) is present, the alarm output regarding this object can be stopped. In some cases, a plurality of warnings corresponding to a plurality of objects existing in a direction that the driver is not looking at may be issued. In such a case, the driver is confused. In addition, the driver recognizes the presence of the object before the alarm is issued and may be sufficiently careful. However, in the device disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to stop the alarm output, Since it is necessary for the driver to actually see the object when the alarm is output, there is a problem that the alarm may be output even when the object is recognized, which is troublesome.

  The present invention has been created in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to prevent a driver from being confused at the time of warning output and to eliminate the troublesomeness associated with unnecessary warning output. It is to provide an alarm device.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a vehicle alarm device according to the present invention includes an object detection unit that detects an object around the vehicle, and an alarm determination unit that determines whether an alarm output is necessary for the object detected by the object detection unit. And priority order determination means for determining the priority order of the plurality of alarm outputs when it is determined that a plurality of alarm outputs corresponding to each of the plurality of objects detected by the object detection means is necessary, and priority Alarm output means for outputting an alarm based on the determination result of the rank determination means. By performing the alarm output based on the result of the priority determination, it is possible to prevent a large number of alarms from being output at the same time, thereby preventing the driver from being confused during the alarm output.

  Moreover, it is desirable that the alarm output means described above outputs an alarm output that has been determined to have the highest priority by the priority order determination means. As a result, the driver only needs to pay attention to one alarm output that is output, so that the driver can be reliably prevented from being confused during the alarm output.

  The apparatus further comprises alarm history storage means for storing an alarm output history for each object detected by the object detection means described above, and the priority order determination means corresponds to an object whose alarm history is stored in the alarm history storage means. It is desirable to lower the priority of alarm output. This makes it possible to lower the priority of alarm output for objects that have previously been subject to alarm output, and suppress alarm output for objects that are likely to be recognized by past alarm outputs. The troublesomeness associated with unnecessary alarm output can be further reduced.

  Further, the apparatus further includes a line-of-sight detection means for detecting the direction of the driver's line of sight, and the priority order determination means is detected by the position of the object determined by the alarm determination means to require alarm output and the line-of-sight detection means. When the direction of the driver's line of sight matches, it is desirable to lower the priority of the alarm output corresponding to this object. As a result, in addition to objects with alarm history, the alarm output is also suppressed for objects in the line-of-sight direction that the driver is likely to recognize, thereby further reducing the annoyance associated with unnecessary alarm output. can do.

  The history stored in the above-described alarm history storage means includes the number of times that the driver's line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight detection means matches the position of each object detected by the object detection means. In addition, it is preferable that the priority order determination unit lowers the priority order of the alarm output corresponding to an object having a large number of matches included in the history. Alternatively, the history stored in the alarm history storage means described above includes the time when the driver's line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight detection means coincides with the position of each object detected by the object detection means. Therefore, it is desirable that the priority order determination unit lowers the priority order of the alarm output corresponding to an object having a small difference between the matched time and the current time included in the history. In this way, by including the number of times of visual recognition and the time of visual recognition in the alarm history, an alarm is output for an object that is less likely to be recognized by the driver (an object with a low number of visual recognition or an object with an old visual time). Can be performed.

  Hereinafter, an alarm device for a vehicle according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle alarm device according to an embodiment. 1 includes a radar processing module 10, position calculation units 12 and 22, cameras 20 and 30, a line-of-sight detection unit 32, an alarm determination unit 40, a history DB (database) 50, a history update processing unit 52, A priority order determination unit 60, an alarm output processing unit 70, a display device 72, and a speaker 74 are included.

  The radar processing module 10 is installed at a plurality of locations on the front, rear, left, and right sides of the host vehicle, and detects other objects (mainly other vehicles) included in a predetermined detection range. Based on the output signal of the radar processing module 10, the position calculation unit 12 calculates the direction in which the other object exists and the distance to the other object as the position of the other object. For example, the radar processing module 10 transmits millimeter wave FM signals whose frequency changes with time from a plurality of transmission / reception antennas, receives reflected waves from other objects in the detection range, and transmits these transmission signals and A signal obtained by combining the received signal is output. The position calculation unit 12 calculates the distance to another object by analyzing the frequency of the beat component included in the output signal of the radar processing module 10. By calculating the distance and comparing the levels of the combined signal for each of a plurality of transmitting and receiving antennas having different directions, the direction of another object can be known. Note that the operating principles of the radar processing module 10 and the position calculation unit 12 vary depending on the wavelength of the detection signal used, the structure of the antenna, and the like, but in this embodiment, if the direction and distance to other objects are known, Therefore, any type of radar processing module that can achieve this object may be used. Further, the position calculation unit 12 may be provided in the radar processing module 10.

  The cameras 20 are installed at a plurality of locations on the front, rear, left, and right sides of the host vehicle, and shoot a predetermined range. The position calculation unit 22 determines the presence / absence of another object existing in the imaging range based on the image captured by the camera 20, and if there is another object, the direction and distance to the other object are determined. Is calculated as the position of this other object. Since both the radar processing module 10 and the camera 20 are used to detect the direction and distance of another object, when this detection operation can be performed using either one, the other is omitted. May be.

  In the position calculation units 12 and 22 described above, a unique ID (identification information) is assigned to each of the detected other objects, and a direction and a distance are calculated for each ID. For example, the position calculation unit 12 corresponding to the radar processing module 10 detects next based on the position (direction and distance) and speed (calculated based on the position) of other objects detected so far. The identity with the other object thus determined is determined, and when it is determined that it is the same, the same ID is continuously used. Further, the position calculation unit 22 corresponding to the camera 20 is identical to another object detected next based on the characteristics (vehicle height, vehicle width, color) of the other object detected so far. Is determined, and if it is determined that they are the same, the same ID is continuously used.

  The alarm determination unit 40 determines the necessity of alarm output for each other object based on the position of the other object calculated by the position calculation units 12 and 22. For example, when another object approaches less than a predetermined distance to the host vehicle, it is determined that an alarm output is necessary for this object. When there are a plurality of other objects and each of them approaches less than a predetermined distance, it is determined that an alarm output is necessary for the plurality of other objects at the same time. The type of alarm need not be one, and the necessity of alarm output may be determined for each of a plurality of types (alarms A, B, C...).

  The history DB 50 stores alarm output history information for each detected other object. When it is determined by the alarm determination unit 40 that an alarm output is necessary and the alarm output is actually performed, the alarm is stored as an alarm history. The history update processing unit 52 updates the history information stored in the history DB 50.

  The priority determination unit 60 determines the priority of the plurality of alarm outputs when the alarm determination unit 40 determines that the alarm output is necessary for a plurality of other objects, and actually performs the alarm output. Determine one of the objects. The alarm output processing unit 70 performs an alarm output process by displaying a predetermined alarm image on the display device 72 or outputting an alarm sound from the speaker 74. For example, a warning image is displayed on the display device 72 indicating in which direction there is another object to be output as a warning when viewed from the host vehicle. In addition, the speaker 74 outputs a warning sound that indicates in which direction there is another object that is a target of warning output with respect to the host vehicle by the position of the sound image.

  The radar processing module 10, the camera 20, and the position calculation units 12 and 22 described above are the object detection unit, the alarm determination unit 40 is the alarm determination unit, the priority determination unit 60 is the priority determination unit, the alarm output processing unit 70, The display device 72 and the speaker 74 correspond to the alarm output unit, the history DB 50 corresponds to the alarm history storage unit, and the camera 30 and the line-of-sight detection unit 32 correspond to the line-of-sight detection unit, respectively.

  The vehicle alarm device of the present embodiment has such a configuration, and the operation thereof will be described next.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the vehicular alarm device that determines priority and outputs an alarm. When detection of other objects around the host vehicle is performed at regular time intervals using the radar processing module 10 and the camera 20, and the positions of the other objects are calculated (step 100), the warning determination unit 40 It is determined whether or not an alarm output is necessary for other detected objects (step 101). If no other object is detected, or if another object is detected but the alarm output is more than the required distance, the alarm output is not required and a negative determination is made. This process ends.

  If it is determined that alarm output is necessary for another detected object, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 101, and then the priority determination unit 60 determines that alarm output is necessary. It is determined whether there are a plurality of other objects (step 102). If there are a plurality of objects, an affirmative determination is made, and the priority order determination unit 60 performs a priority order determination and selects one of a plurality of other objects that are the targets of the alarm output (step 103). . The history update processing unit 52 updates the alarm history corresponding to the one object selected by the priority determination (step 104).

  Further, the alarm output processing unit 70 outputs an alarm for the one object selected by the priority determination (step 105). In this way, when it is determined that alarm output is necessary for a plurality of other objects, the object having the highest priority is determined, and alarm output is performed only for this object.

  As described above, even when it is determined that a plurality of alarm outputs are necessary, the priority order of the plurality of alarm outputs is determined, and the alarm output is performed based on the result. It is possible to limit a part of the vehicle, and it is possible to prevent the driver from being confused when the alarm is output. In particular, it is possible to eliminate the alarm output at the same time by performing the alarm output determined as the highest priority by the priority determining unit 60, so that the driver can be reliably prevented from being confused.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation procedure of the priority determination performed by the priority determination unit 60. As the priority order determination operation in step 103 of FIG. 2, first, the priority order determination unit 60 refers to the alarm history of each object stored in the history DB 50 (step 200). Next, the priority determination unit 60 selects whether or not there is an object for which no alarm history exists among the plurality of objects that are the targets of the alarm output (step 201). If it exists, an affirmative determination is made, and then the priority determination unit 60 determines whether there are a plurality of objects for which no alarm history exists (step 202). If the number is not plural, that is, if there is one object that does not have an alarm history, a negative determination is made, and the priority order determination unit 60 determines this one object as an object to be output as an alarm (step 203). ). In addition, when there are a plurality of objects that do not have an alarm history, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 202, or when there is no object that has no alarm history, a negative determination is made in the determination of step 201, and priority is given. The rank determination unit 60 determines one object that is a target of alarm output from a plurality of objects according to a predetermined priority order (step 204).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of history information stored in the history DB 50. As shown in FIG. 4, there is an alarm history indicating that an alarm output corresponding to the alarm B has already been performed for an object (vehicle) with a vehicle ID “1” at a certain point in time, and the vehicle ID is “2”. It is assumed that there is an alarm history indicating that alarm output corresponding to alarms A and C has already been performed on an object. When the alarm determination unit 40 newly determines that an alarm output (alarm C) is necessary for the objects with the vehicle IDs “1” and “3”, the priority order determination unit 60 displays the alarm history at that time. The object of the vehicle ID “3” having no alarm history is determined as the target of the alarm output, rather than the object of the vehicle ID “1” in which there is. In parallel with this alarm output operation, the history update processing unit 52 updates the alarm history to add the alarm history corresponding to the vehicle ID “3” and the alarm C.

  In this way, when there are a plurality of objects to be subjected to alarm output, an object without alarm history is preferentially selected, and when one object cannot be determined depending on the presence or absence of alarm history, it is further determined in advance. One object is selected according to priority. As a result, since there is a high possibility that the driver is paying attention to an object with an alarm history, that is, an object for which an alarm output has been issued before that, by suppressing the alarm output for such an object, The troublesomeness associated with unnecessary alarm output can be reduced.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another operation procedure of the vehicle alarm device that determines the priority order and outputs an alarm. The operation procedure shown in FIG. 5 is different from the operation procedure shown in FIG. 2 in that operations of steps 300, 301, and 302 are added between step 102 and step 103. Below, operation | movement of each of these added steps is demonstrated.

  When there are a plurality of objects that are the targets of the alarm output (when an affirmative determination is made in step 102), the line-of-sight detection unit 32 detects the direction of the driver's line of sight (step 300). The direction of the line of sight may be detected regardless of whether or not there are a plurality of objects for which an alarm is output, or may be performed in parallel with or before or after the object detection operation in step 100. May be.

  Next, the history update processing unit 52 determines whether or not there is an object for which an alarm is output that has the same line of sight (step 301). If there is, an affirmative determination is made, and the history update processing unit 52 then adds an alarm history for an object whose line of sight matches (step 302).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the existence range of objects with the same line-of-sight direction. 6, “G” indicates the position of the host vehicle, and the arrow indicates the traveling direction of the host vehicle, and driving according to the direction of the driver's visual field detected by the line-of-sight detection unit 32. It is estimated whether the person is looking at any region of A to F. A is forward, B is front left, C is front right, D is left side, E is right side, and F is rear side. Note that, when the driver looks at the left door mirror in addition to the case where the entire head is largely rotated leftward, it is determined that the driver is looking at the region D (left side). Similarly, when the driver looks at the right door mirror in addition to the case where the entire head is greatly rotated rightward, it is determined that the driver is looking at the region E (right side). When the driver looks at the room mirror, it is determined that the driver is looking at the region F (rear).

  When it is determined that alarm output is necessary for a plurality of objects, the alarm determination unit 40 outputs the position of each object together with the ID and alarm type corresponding to each of the plurality of objects. Based on the position of each object, the history update processing unit 52 determines in step 301 whether or not an object including the position exists in any of the regions A to F that the driver is viewing. If the alarm exists, the alarm history is added in the same manner as when the alarm is output for this object regardless of the actual alarm output.

  As a result, in addition to objects with alarm history, the alarm output is also suppressed for objects in the line-of-sight direction that the driver is likely to recognize, thereby further reducing the annoyance associated with unnecessary alarm output. can do.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing another example of the detailed operation procedure of the priority determination performed by the priority determination unit 60, and shows a modification corresponding to the case where the direction of the line of sight is detected and the alarm history is added. ing. In the operation procedure shown in FIG. 7, operations in steps 400 and 401 are added after a negative determination is made in step 201 with respect to the operation procedure shown in FIG. 3. Below, operation | movement of each of these added steps is demonstrated.

  The history update processing unit 52 performs a process of increasing the number of “viewing times” provided for each object when adding an alarm history according to the detected direction of the line of sight. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of history information stored in the history DB 50. In the history information shown in FIG. 8, “viewing count” is added to the history information shown in FIG. The number of times of visual recognition is set to an initial value “1” when an update history is added for an object that matches the direction of the visual field of the driver and no history information exists so far. Further, when update information is added to an object for which an alarm history already exists, an update process for adding 1 to this value is performed.

  When there are a plurality of objects to be alarm output and alarm history exists for all of them (when a negative determination is made in the determination of step 201), the priority determination unit 60 is an object of alarm output. The “viewing frequency” included in the alarm history of each of the plurality of objects is read out, and the object with the smallest number of viewing times is determined as an alarm output target (step 400). Next, the priority order determination unit 60 determines whether or not there are a plurality of objects with the smallest number of times of viewing (step 401). If there are not a plurality of objects, that is, if there is only one object, a negative determination is made. The object is the target of alarm output. For example, in the case of two objects with IDs “1” and “2” indicating the alarm history in FIG. 8, the object with the smallest number of visual recognitions and the ID with the smallest visual recognition number “2” is the target of alarm output. As determined.

  On the other hand, if there are a plurality of objects with the smallest number of visual recognitions, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 401. In this case, the process proceeds to the operation of step 204, and the priority order determination unit 60 determines one object that is a target of alarm output from a plurality of objects according to a predetermined priority order.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the detailed operation procedure of the priority determination performed by the priority determination unit 60. Another modification corresponding to the case of detecting the direction of the line of sight and adding the alarm history is shown in FIG. It is shown. In the operation procedure shown in FIG. 9, operations in steps 500, 501, and 502 are added after a negative determination is made in step 201 with respect to the operation procedure shown in FIG. 3. Below, operation | movement of each of these added steps is demonstrated.

  The history update processing unit 52 performs a process of updating the content of “viewing time” provided for each object when adding an alarm history according to the detected direction of the line of sight. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of history information stored in the history DB 50. In the history information shown in FIG. 10, “viewing time” is added to the history information shown in FIG. When the update history is added to the object that matches the direction of the visual field of the driver, the visual recognition time is updated using the time at that time.

  When there are a plurality of objects to be alarm output and alarm history exists for all of them (when a negative determination is made in the determination of step 201), the priority determination unit 60 is an object of alarm output. It is determined whether or not there is an object that does not include the “viewing time” record in the alarm history (step 500). If there is an object for which no viewing time is recorded, an affirmative determination is made, and then the priority order determination unit 60 determines whether there are a plurality of objects (step 501). If there is only one, a negative determination is made, and the priority order determination unit 60 determines this object as an alarm output target. If there are a plurality of objects, an affirmative determination is made in step 501. In this case, the process proceeds to the operation of step 204, and the priority order determination unit 60 determines one object that is a target for alarm output from a plurality of objects according to a predetermined priority order. In addition, when “visual time” is included in all the alarm histories of a plurality of objects that are the targets of alarm output, the object with the earliest visual time (the difference between the visual time and the current time is the largest) (Object) is determined as an alarm output target (step 502).

  In this way, by including the number of times of visual recognition and the time of visual recognition in the alarm history, an alarm is output for an object that is less likely to be recognized by the driver (an object with a low number of visual recognition or an object with an old visual time). Can be performed.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible within the range of the summary of this invention. In the embodiment described above, alarm output is performed for one object with the highest priority. However, alarm output that is simultaneously performed for a plurality of (for example, two objects) may be allowed in order of highest priority. .

It is a figure which shows the structure of the alarm device for vehicles of one Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the alarm device for vehicles which determines a priority and performs alarm output. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation | movement procedure of the priority determination performed by the priority determination part. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the log | history information stored in log | history DB. It is a flowchart which shows the other operation | movement procedure of the alarm device for vehicles which determines a priority and performs alarm output. It is a figure which shows the presence range of the object in which the direction of eyes | visual_axis corresponds. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of the detailed operation | movement procedure of the priority determination performed by the priority determination part. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the log | history information stored in log | history DB50. It is a flowchart which shows the other example of the detailed operation | movement procedure of the priority determination performed by the priority determination part. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the log | history information stored in log | history DB50.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Radar processing module 12, 22 Position calculation part 20, 30 Camera 32 Eye-gaze detection part 40 Alarm determination part 50 History DB (database)
52 history update processing unit 60 priority determination unit 70 alarm output processing unit 72 display device 74 speaker

Claims (6)

Object detection means for detecting objects around the vehicle;
Alarm determination means for determining the necessity of alarm output for the object detected by the object detection means;
Priority order determination means for determining the priority order of the plurality of alarm outputs when it is determined that a plurality of alarm outputs corresponding to each of the plurality of objects detected by the object detection means are necessary;
Alarm output means for outputting an alarm based on the determination result of the priority order determination means;
A vehicle alarm device comprising: In claim 1,
The vehicle warning device, wherein the warning output means outputs a warning output determined to have the highest priority by the priority determination means. In claim 1 or 2,
Alarm history storage means for storing a history of alarm output for each object detected by the object detection means;
The vehicle alarm device, wherein the priority order determination means lowers the priority order of alarm output corresponding to an object whose alarm history is stored in the alarm history storage means. In claim 3,
It further comprises line-of-sight detection means for detecting the direction of the driver's line of sight,
The priority order determination unit is configured such that the position of the object determined to require alarm output by the alarm determination unit matches the direction of the driver's line of sight detected by the line of sight detection unit. A vehicle alarm device characterized by lowering the priority of alarm output corresponding to this object. In claim 4,
The history stored in the alarm history storage means includes the number of times that the driver's line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight detection means coincides with the position of each object detected by the object detection means. ,
The vehicle priority alarming device according to claim 1, wherein the priority level determination unit lowers the priority level of the alarm output corresponding to the object having a large number of coincidences included in the history. In claim 4,
The history stored in the alarm history storage means includes the time when the driver's line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight detection means coincides with the position of each object detected by the object detection means. ,
The vehicular alarm device, wherein the priority determination means lowers the priority of alarm output corresponding to an object having a small difference between the matched time and the current time included in the history.

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