JP2014044458A - On-vehicle device and danger notification method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle device or the like capable of dealing with dangers approaching to the own vehicle from all directions, and intuitively notifying a user of the approaching direction.SOLUTION: A control part 50 detects a danger (a dangerous event) approaching to the own vehicle on the basis of information received at a beacon reception part 60 or image data which a camera 70 has captured outside the vehicle. The control part 50 specifies the detected danger approaching direction according to map information or the like stored in a storing part 80. Then, a display part 90 is controlled by the control part 50 to display a notification screen for notifying a user of the danger by sliding it in along the specified approaching direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device and a danger notification method.

In-vehicle devices typified by navigation devices are used by many users. The development of such in-vehicle device technology is remarkable, and various functions are added and provided to users.
For example, in-vehicle devices having a danger notification function have been developed in order to assist users in driving. In this in-vehicle device, it is possible to prompt the user to perform an avoidance operation (avoidance driving) by detecting a danger (dangerous event) that occurs during driving and notifying by voice or the like.

  As an example of an in-vehicle device (alarm device) having such a danger notification function, Patent Document 1 is arranged on the left and right when a possibility of lane departure is predicted from image data captured by a front monitoring camera. An invention that emits an alarm sound from a speaker in a direction where lane departure is predicted is disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 3390289

In the invention of Patent Document 1 described above, it is possible to notify the user of the direction in which the lane departure may occur in the left or right direction based on the position (whether the left or right speaker) that emits the alarm sound.
However, in actual driving, there is a risk of danger coming from all directions. For example, cars, people, bicycles, obstacles, etc. can be at any angle (front, left, right, rear, left rear, right rear, etc.) with respect to the vehicle (vehicle driven by the user). There is a possibility of approaching and contacting.
Therefore, as in the invention of Patent Document 1, just informing the left or right direction with an alarm sound, when the danger approaches (approaches) from the other direction (for example, the front or rear of the host vehicle), The approach direction cannot be notified to the user.

  For this reason, there has been a demand for a technique that can notify the user of the approaching direction regardless of the direction in which the danger approaching the host vehicle is.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and responds to danger from any direction approaching the own vehicle, and can be informed intuitively of the approaching direction, and An object is to provide a danger notification method.

In order to achieve the above object, an in-vehicle device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes:
A detection unit for detecting the danger of approaching the vehicle;
A specifying unit for specifying the approach direction of the danger detected by the detecting unit;
A display unit that slides in and displays a notification screen for notifying danger along the approach direction specified by the specifying unit;
It is characterized by providing.

  The display unit may include a head-up display.

  The detection unit may detect a risk of approaching the host vehicle based on an image taken from at least one camera that takes an image outside the vehicle.

  The detection unit may detect a risk of approaching the vehicle based on information obtained by receiving any one of the predetermined types of beacons.

The in-vehicle device further includes a storage unit that stores map information,
The specifying unit may specify the approaching direction of danger based on the map information stored in the storage unit.

  The display unit may slide in and display a notification screen including an image illustrating the contents of danger.

  The display unit may slide in and display a notification screen including a character string indicating the danger content.

  The display unit may change the speed of the notification screen to be slid in and display the speed according to the urgency level of danger.

  The display unit may display a notification screen at the time of sliding in while sequentially expanding.

In order to achieve the above object, a danger notification method according to the second aspect of the present invention includes:
A detection step for detecting the danger of approaching the vehicle;
A specifying step for specifying the approach direction of the danger detected by the detecting step;
A display step of sliding in and displaying a notification screen for notifying danger along the approach direction specified by the specifying step;
It is characterized by providing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to cope with dangers from all directions approaching the own vehicle and intuitively notify the approaching direction.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the vehicle equipment which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(d) is a schematic diagram which shows an example of an alerting | reporting screen, (e) is a schematic diagram for demonstrating an information display area etc. FIG. (A)-(c) is a schematic diagram for demonstrating a mode that all the notification screens slide in from the left. (A)-(c) is a schematic diagram for demonstrating a mode that the alerting | reporting screen slides in from right front. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the relationship between each part in a control part, and another structure. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the danger alerting | reporting process which vehicle equipment performs. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the vehicle equipment which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(c) It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating a mode that it slides in from right front, expanding an alerting | reporting screen sequentially.

(First embodiment)
An in-vehicle device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the in-vehicle device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
As illustrated, the in-vehicle device 1 includes a GPS receiving unit 10, a vehicle speed sensor 20, a speaker 30, an input unit 40, a control unit 50, a beacon receiving unit 60, a camera 70, a storage unit 80, The display unit 90 is included.

  A GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit 10 receives signals transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites via a GPS antenna 11, and measures the current position of the own vehicle (such as an automobile equipped with the in-vehicle device 1). For example, the GPS receiving unit 10 measures position information including latitude, longitude, and height. Then, the positioning position information is supplied to the control unit 50.

  The vehicle speed sensor 20 outputs a vehicle speed signal indicating the speed of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle speed sensor 20 generates a pulse signal in proportion to the rotational speed of the axle of the vehicle, and supplies the signal to the control unit 50 as a vehicle speed signal.

  The speaker 30 is controlled by the control unit 50 and outputs a predetermined notification sound or voice (voice message or the like). For example, as described later, the speaker 30 reproduces a warning sound when the control unit 50 determines a danger.

  The input unit 40 includes switches (keys) and the like arranged on the in-vehicle device 1 and receives an instruction input from a user. The input unit 40 may be a touch panel or the like disposed on the front surface of the display unit 90.

The control part 50 consists of CPU (Central Processing Unit) etc., for example, controls the vehicle equipment 1 whole by running the program memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 80. FIG.
Specifically, the control unit 50 calculates the current position of the vehicle (vehicle position) based on the position information measured by the GPS receiving unit 10 and the speed signal supplied from the vehicle speed sensor 20, and the map read from the storage unit 80. The symbols and the like are combined and displayed on the display unit 90. When the input unit 40 is operated by the user and the destination is set, the control unit 50 searches the road information stored in the storage unit 80 to obtain a recommended route to the destination, It is also possible to guide the user along the recommended route.

  Moreover, the control part 50 also controls the danger alerting | reporting which is the characteristics of this invention. The danger notification will be described in detail with reference to another drawing (FIG. 5 to be described later) after the remaining configuration of the in-vehicle device 1 is described.

The beacon receiving unit 60 receives a beacon sent from a roadside device arranged along a roadside or the like via a beacon antenna 61.
For example, the beacon receiving unit 60 can receive an optical beacon, a 2.4 GHz charged wave beacon, a 5.8 GHz charged wave beacon (DSRC; Dedicated Short Range Communication), and the like, and receives traffic information transmitted by the beacon. .
In particular, from a 5.8 GHz charged wave beacon, it is possible to obtain real-time information such as the approach of a merging vehicle and a forward broken vehicle / falling object. By supplying such information to the control unit 50, the beacon receiving unit 60 is used for detection of danger performed by the control unit 50 described later.

The camera 70 is composed of, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera or the like, and captures images outside the vehicle. In addition, you may make it image | photograph the image around the own vehicle over a wide range using multiple this camera 70. FIG.
Specifically, when four cameras 70 are used, images of the front, left, right, and rear can be taken, and images of 360 degrees around the vehicle can be obtained.
When the camera 70 supplies the image captured in this way to the control unit 50, it is used for detection of a danger or the like performed by the control unit 50 described later.

The storage unit 80 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and stores various types of information necessary for the operation of the in-vehicle device 1.
For example, the storage unit 80 stores a program including a danger notification process described later so that the control unit 50 can execute the program. The storage unit 80 also stores various pieces of work information that the control unit 50 updates when executing a program.
The storage unit 80 also stores a notification screen for the control unit 50 to display on the display unit 90 during the danger notification process. This notification screen is a screen for notifying the user of the danger, and includes an image (caution image) illustrating the contents of the danger, a character string (character information) indicating the contents of the danger, and the like. The details of the notification screen will be described later together with the description of the display unit 90.
In addition to this, the storage unit 80 also stores information necessary for map display (such as recommended route guidance) such as map information and road information, and voice information such as notification sounds and voices.

The display unit 90 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display and displays a map, a predetermined guide image, and the like.
Specifically, the display unit 90 displays a navigation screen obtained by combining symbols indicating the vehicle position on the map generated by the control unit 50.
In addition, when the control unit 50 detects a danger, the display unit 90 slides in and displays a notification screen for notifying the user of the danger. As an example, the notification screen is a screen as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2D, and includes an image illustrating the contents of danger and a character string indicating the contents of danger.

More specifically, FIG. 2A is a notification screen G1 for notifying a danger caused by a broken vehicle, and FIG. 2B is a notification screen G2 for notifying a danger due to the approach of a pedestrian. Yes, FIG. 2 (c) is a notification screen G3 for notifying the danger due to merging, and FIG. 2 (d) is a notification screen G4 for notifying the danger due to the approach of the merging vehicle.
Note that the notification screens in FIGS. 2A to 2D are examples, and notification images for notifying other dangers can be used as appropriate. In addition, the notification screens of FIGS. 2A to 2D include both an image illustrating the contents of danger and a character string indicating the contents of danger, but are configured by only one of them. Also good.

When the control unit 50 detects a danger, the display unit 90 provides an information display area IA as shown in FIG. 2E on the navigation screen NV, and the information display area IA includes the information display area IA shown in FIGS. The notification screen as shown in (d) is displayed in a slide-in manner along the approaching direction of the danger.
Specifically, when the control unit 50 acquires the information “There is a merging vehicle from the left” by the 5.8 GHz charged wave beacon via the beacon receiving unit 60, the display unit 90 displays the information shown in FIG. As shown in (c), the notification screen G4 is slide-in displayed from the left into the information display area IA.
Similarly, when the control unit 50 detects that a pedestrian is approaching from the right front based on the image data captured by the camera 70, the display unit 90 displays the images shown in FIGS. As shown, the notification screen G2 is displayed in the information display area IA in a slide-in manner from the front right.
Note that the speed (movement speed) of the notification screen when sliding in is changed by the control unit 50 in accordance with the urgency level of danger, as will be described later. For example, when the degree of urgency is high, the display unit 90 slides in and displays the notification screen at a high speed. On the other hand, when the degree of urgency is low, the display unit 90 slides in and displays the notification screen at a low speed.
Further, the display unit 90 may slide-in the notification screen using the entire navigation screen NV without providing the information display area IA.

Next, the detail of the control part 50 which controls the danger alerting | reporting which is the characteristics of this invention is demonstrated with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a relationship between each unit in the control unit 50 and another configuration. FIG. 5 shows a case where four cameras 70 are used.
As illustrated, the control unit 50 specifically functions as an input image recognition processing unit 51, a beacon information analysis unit 52, and a determination unit 53.

The input image recognition processing unit 51 performs image recognition processing on the image data captured by each camera 70, and detects (detects) an object that may be a dangerous event.
Specifically, the input image recognition processing unit 51 performs detection of an object (person, automobile, motorcycle, etc.), detection of a distance to the object, detection of a moving direction of the object, detection of a lane, and the like. The detection and detection of the object is processed using, for example, HOG (Histograms of Oriented Gradients) feature values. By continuously performing this process on the acquired image, it is possible to calculate the moving direction, speed, distance, etc. of the object.
The input image recognition processing unit 51 detects the camera number (the number identifying the photographed camera 70) obtained in this way, the type of the object, the distance to the object, the moving direction of the object, and the lane detection. Such information is notified to the determination unit 53.

The beacon information analyzing unit 52 analyzes the information (beacon information) received by the beacon receiving unit 60.
Specifically, the beacon information analysis unit 52 analyzes failure information and failure direction. Then, the determination unit 53 is notified of the content and direction of the danger identified by the analysis.

The determination unit 53 uses the information notified from the input image recognition processing unit 51 and the beacon information analysis unit 52, the map information read from the storage unit 80, the position information measured by the GPS reception unit 10, and the vehicle speed sensor 20. Danger notification is determined based on the detected speed information (speed signal).
Specifically, the determination unit 53 calculates the speed from the moving direction of the object, and determines the risk of collision with the own vehicle. For example, when the input image recognition processing unit 51 notifies that the pedestrian is crossing the traveling lane of the own vehicle from right to left based on the image data of the camera 70 that captures the front, the determination unit 53 Based on the moving direction, speed and distance of the pedestrian and the current position, moving direction and speed of the own vehicle, the number of seconds after which there is a risk of collision is estimated and the risk is detected. In addition, by processing the image data of the other three cameras 70 in the same manner, it becomes possible to detect a crisis (such as a collision risk) from any direction approaching the own vehicle.
Moreover, the determination part 53 calculates | requires the emergency degree (emergency degree) of danger from the content of the notified danger. For example, when the determination unit 53 determines that there is a risk of collision with the target object after 3 seconds, the urgency level is increased, and when it is determined that there is a risk of collision with the target object after 10 seconds, the urgency level is increased. Lower. This urgency is reflected in the speed at which the notification screen is slid into the information display area. For example, when the urgency level is high, the notification screen is displayed in a slide-in manner at a high speed. On the other hand, when the degree of urgency is low, the notification screen is slide-in displayed at a low speed.
Further, it is determined from which direction the danger is with respect to the direction of the vehicle. Then, a display command is issued to the display unit 90 and a playback command is issued to the speaker 30.
The determination unit 53 may detect a risk based on the map information read by the storage unit 80. For example, when the vehicle approaches a railroad crossing point, a junction point, a traffic jam start point, or the like at a certain speed or more, it may be determined as dangerous and the notification screen may be displayed in a slide-in manner from the approaching direction of the target point.

  Thereby, the display unit 90 slide-in-displays the above-described notification screen (caution image, character information) along the approaching direction. The speaker 30 reproduces a warning sound.

A specific operation of the in-vehicle device 1 having such a configuration will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the danger notification process executed by the in-vehicle device 1.

First, the in-vehicle device 1 acquires and analyzes information from the GPS receiving unit 10, the storage unit 80 (map information), the vehicle speed sensor 20, the beacon receiving unit 60, and the camera 70 (step S101).
That is, the control unit 50 performs image recognition processing on image data captured by each camera 70 and analyzes information received by the beacon receiving unit 60 to detect an object that may be a dangerous event ( To detect. Then, based on the obtained information, the map information read from the storage unit 80, the position information measured by the GPS receiving unit 10, and the speed information detected by the vehicle speed sensor 20, the danger of approaching the own vehicle. Attempt detection.

The in-vehicle device 1 determines whether or not a danger has been detected (step S102). That is, it is determined from the analysis in step S101 whether or not a danger approaching the own vehicle has been detected.
If it determines with the vehicle equipment 1 not having detected the danger (step S102; No), a process will be advanced to step S105 mentioned later.

On the other hand, when it determines with having detected the danger (step S102; Yes), the vehicle equipment 1 specifies the direction of the dangerous event with respect to the own vehicle (step S103).
That is, the control unit 50 analyzes from which direction the danger approaches and specifies the approach direction.

The in-vehicle device 1 slides in the notification screen in the information display area (step S104).
That is, the display unit 90 provides the information display area IA as shown in FIG. 2E on the navigation screen NV, and the information display area IA has the information display area IA as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2D. A simple notification screen is displayed in a slide-in direction along the approaching direction of the danger.
Specifically, when the information “There is a merging vehicle from the left” is acquired, the display unit 90 displays the notification screen G4 in the information display area as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) to 3 (c). Slide-in display from left into IA.
Similarly, when it is detected that a pedestrian approaches from the right front, the display unit 90 displays the notification screen G2 in the information display area as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c). Slide-in display from right front into IA.
Note that the speed (movement speed) of the notification screen when sliding in is appropriately changed by the control unit 50 in accordance with the emergency level of danger. For example, when the degree of urgency is high, the display unit 90 slides in and displays the notification screen at a high speed. On the other hand, when the degree of urgency is low, the display unit 90 slides in and displays the notification screen at a low speed.

The in-vehicle device 1 determines whether or not to continue the process (step S105). For example, the in-vehicle device 1 determines that the process is continued while the operation for instructing the end of the danger notification process is not performed from the input unit 40.
When it is determined that the processing is continued (step S105; Yes), the in-vehicle device 1 returns the processing to step S101 and repeatedly executes the above-described processing of steps S101 to S105.
On the other hand, when it determines with not continuing a process (step S105; No), the vehicle equipment 1 complete | finishes a danger alerting | reporting process.

When a danger approaching the host vehicle is detected by such danger notification processing, a notification screen is displayed in a slide-in manner along the approach direction. By this slide-in display, it can be intuitively notified from which direction the danger is approaching. Therefore, the user can easily perform an effective avoidance operation, and further safe driving is possible.
In addition, since the speed (movement speed) of the notification screen varies depending on the urgency level, the user can grasp the urgency level of the danger from the speed of the notification screen displayed in a slide-in manner.
Further, since it is possible to notify from which direction the danger is approaching only with the visual effect, it is possible to effectively alert a user (for example, a hearing impaired person) who is difficult to hear the voice.

  As a result, it is possible to intuitively report the approaching direction in response to danger from any direction approaching the host vehicle.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment described above, the case where the navigation screen and the notification screen (the notification screen to be slid in) are displayed on one display unit 90 has been described. However, the navigation screen and the notification screen are separated into separate display units. You may make it display.
Hereinafter, an in-vehicle device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a navigation screen and a notification screen are displayed on separate display units, will be described.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the in-vehicle device 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle device 2 includes a GPS receiving unit 10, a vehicle speed sensor 20, a speaker 30, an input unit 40, a control unit 50, a beacon receiving unit 60, a camera 70, a storage unit 80, The first display unit 91 and the second display unit 92 are included.
The GPS receiving unit 10 to the storage unit 80 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, and are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The 1st display part 91 consists of a liquid crystal display etc., for example, and displays a navigation screen. That is, unlike the display unit 90 of the first embodiment described above, the notification screen is not displayed.

The 2nd display part 92 consists of a head-up display, for example, and displays an alerting | reporting screen. That is, when the control unit 50 detects a danger, the notification screen is displayed in a slide-in manner along the approaching direction of the danger.
Specifically, the second display unit 92 is a type of display unit that projects an image in which a screen (a screen made of a mirror, a translucent reflector, or the like) is provided on a part of the windshield of the vehicle.
The second display unit 92 slides in the notification screens of FIGS. 2A to 2D described above along the approaching direction of danger.
That is, when the information “There is a merging vehicle from the left” is acquired, the second display unit 92 slides the notification screen G4 from the left of the head-up display in the same manner as in FIGS. In-display.
Further, when detecting that a pedestrian approaches from the right front, the second display unit 92 displays the notification screen G2 on the right side of the head-up display in the same manner as in FIGS. 4 (a) to 4 (c) described above. Slide-in display from the front.

In the vehicle-mounted device 2 according to the second embodiment, the second display unit 92 (head-up display) is used, and the notification screen is displayed in a slide-in manner along the approaching direction of danger.
For this reason, the user can grasp the danger intuitively without moving the line of sight.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the case where the slide-in display is performed without changing the size or the like of the notification screen has been described. However, the notification screen at the time of sliding in may be displayed while being sequentially enlarged. .
Specifically, when it is detected that a pedestrian approaches from the right front, the display unit 90 of the first embodiment displays the notification screen G2 as shown in FIGS. Are sequentially enlarged and displayed in the information display area IA from the right front.
Similarly, the second display unit 92 of the second embodiment also performs slide-in display from the right front of the head-up display while sequentially enlarging the notification screen G2, as in FIGS.
In these cases, the notification screen can be made more conspicuous.
In addition, it is not restricted to such an enlarged display, You may make it perform a slide-in display, changing the display form of an alerting | reporting screen suitably.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to intuitively notify the approach direction in response to danger from any direction approaching the host vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Car equipment 10 GPS receiving part 20 Vehicle speed sensor 30 Speaker 40 Input part 50 Control part 60 Beacon receiving part 70 Camera 80 Memory | storage part 90 Display part 91 1st display part 92 2nd display part

Claims (10)

A detection unit for detecting the danger of approaching the vehicle;
A specifying unit for specifying the approach direction of the danger detected by the detecting unit;
A display unit that slides in and displays a notification screen for notifying danger along the approach direction specified by the specifying unit;
An in-vehicle device comprising: The display unit includes a head-up display.
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1. The detection unit detects a risk of approaching the own vehicle based on an image taken from at least one camera that photographs the outside of the vehicle.
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The detection unit detects a risk of approaching the host vehicle based on information obtained by receiving any one of the predetermined types of beacons.
The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein A storage unit for storing map information;
The specifying unit specifies the approaching direction of danger based on the map information stored in the storage unit.
The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The display unit slides and displays a notification screen including an image illustrating the contents of danger,
The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The display unit slides and displays a notification screen including a character string indicating the content of danger,
The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein The display unit displays the speed of the notification screen to be slid in, changing according to the urgency of the danger,
The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein The display unit displays a notification screen at the time of sliding in while sequentially expanding.
The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein A detection step for detecting the danger of approaching the vehicle;
A specifying step for specifying the approach direction of the danger detected by the detecting step;
A display step of sliding in and displaying a notification screen for notifying danger along the approach direction specified by the specifying step;
A danger notification method comprising:

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