JP2017068641A - Obstacle notification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for expressing a more accurate position of an obstacle to own vehicle by sound while suppressing an increase in installation places of speakers in a passenger compartment.SOLUTION: An obstacle notification device 10 is provided with a speaker array 145 having a plurality of speakers installed in a passenger compartment of a vehicle. The obstacle notification device 10 acquires obstacle information for specifying physical relationship of the vehicle 100 and an obstacle (more specifically, direction of the obstacle and distance to the obstacle) and has a speaker array device 14 output acoustic beams of notification sound arranging sound sources in positions according to that physical relationship. For this purpose, the obstacle notification device 10 sets a parameter for having notification sound signals frequency shifted at a shifting amount according to the obstacle information to a signal processing unit 13 and parameters for specifying amplification factor for outputting sound beams of notification sound at a volume according to the obstacle information to each of power amplifiers 144A to 144P.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for notifying an occupant of information on obstacles to a host vehicle such as another vehicle or a person.

  In order to support the safe driving of car occupants (drivers), a technology has been proposed that detects the presence of obstacles such as other vehicles and people in the vicinity and informs the occupant of information related to the obstacles. Has been. In Patent Document 1, when a plurality of speakers are installed in a vehicle and the presence of a risk factor is detected using a photographed image or radar outside the vehicle, the speaker is installed in the direction in which the risk factor exists. A technique for notifying information about risk factors by sound is described.

JP 2005-134971 A

With the technique described in Patent Document 1, only the direction of the type corresponding to the installation location of the speaker installed in the vehicle can be expressed. For this reason, if the number of speakers is small, the types of directions that can be expressed are also reduced, and the actual direction of the risk factor and the arrival direction of the sound perceived by the occupant may be greatly shifted. Increasing the number of speakers and installing speakers over a wide range in the vehicle increases the types of directions that can be expressed. However, installing speakers at many locations in the vehicle is not desirable because it complicates the vehicle manufacturing operation and complicates the speaker installation operation in the vehicle.
The present invention has been made under the above-described background, and provides a technique for expressing a more accurate position of an obstacle with respect to the host vehicle by sound while suppressing an increase in the number of speaker installation locations in a passenger compartment. The purpose is to do.

In order to solve the above-described problem, an obstacle notification device according to the present invention includes a speaker array having a plurality of speakers installed in a vehicle compartment of a vehicle, and information that specifies at least the positional relationship between the vehicle and the obstacle. Obstacle information acquisition means for acquiring obstacle information, and an output for causing the speaker array to output an acoustic beam of a notification sound in which a sound source is arranged at a position corresponding to the positional relationship based on the acquired obstacle information Control means.
In the obstacle notification device according to the present invention, the output control means is predetermined in the passenger compartment while changing a position where the sound source is arranged according to a change in the direction of the obstacle with respect to the position of the vehicle. An acoustic beam of the notification sound that includes the boarded area in the route may be output to the speaker array.
In the obstacle notification device of the present invention, the obstacle notification device includes signal processing means for performing signal processing on an acoustic signal representing the notification sound according to a set parameter, and the output control means includes the parameter according to the positional relationship, It may be set in a signal processing means, and the speaker array may output an acoustic beam of the notification sound based on the acoustic signal subjected to the signal processing.
In the obstacle notification device according to the present invention, the obstacle information further includes information on the type of the obstacle, and the output control means transmits an acoustic beam of the notification sound corresponding to the type of the obstacle to the speaker. You may make it output to an array.
In the obstacle notification device of the present invention, the output control means may cause the speaker array to output an acoustic beam of the notification sound that changes according to the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the technique for expressing the more exact position of the obstruction with respect to the own vehicle with a sound can be provided, suppressing the increase in the installation location of the speaker in a vehicle interior.

1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the compartment of the vehicle which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the compartment of the vehicle which concerns on the embodiment. It is the figure which planarly viewed the compartment of the vehicle concerning the embodiment from right above. It is a front view of the speaker array apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the obstruction notification apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the notification sound selection table which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the parameter management table which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process which the obstruction notification apparatus which concerns on the embodiment performs. It is a figure which shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound output from the speaker array apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound output from the speaker array apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound output from the speaker array apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows the installation position of the speaker array apparatus in the vehicle interior which concerns on one modification of this invention.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The left and right expressions used in the following description mean left and right toward the front of the vehicle 100.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a vehicle 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The vehicle 100 is a four-door sedan type automobile. The vehicle 100 is, for example, an electric vehicle or a hybrid car equipped with an electric motor and an engine. The vehicle 100 includes a bonnet 101, four doors 102 serving as entrances and a trunk door 103, on the vehicle body.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a passenger compartment of the vehicle 100. FIG. 2 shows the vicinity of the driver's seat 131 and the passenger seat 132. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a passenger compartment of the vehicle 100. A door 102 is provided at a position indicated by a broken line in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the passenger compartment of the vehicle 100 from directly above. The broken line shown in FIG. 4 means the position of the rear glass 124.
In the vehicle 100, a vehicle interior 120 is formed inside the four doors 102 described in FIG. The passenger compartment 120 is a space in the vehicle where an occupant who is in the vehicle 100 is present. The passenger compartment 120 is provided with a driver seat 131, a passenger seat 132, and a rear seat 133 as seats on which passengers are seated. In the passenger compartment 120, a boarding area, which is an area where passengers exist, is determined in advance by the positions of the installed driver's seat 131, passenger seat 132, and rear seat 133. In particular, when the vehicle 100 is traveling, there is always a driver who is a driver in the driver's seat 131. In the following description, “occupant” refers to a driver seated on the driver's seat 131 unless otherwise specified.

The vehicle 100 includes a windshield 121, four side windows 122, 123, 125, and 126, and a rear glass 124 as glass members that form the passenger compartment 120.
The windshield 121 is provided in front of the driver seat 131 and the passenger seat 132 so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. The rear glass 124 is provided behind the rear seat 133 so as to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. Each of the front glass 121 and the rear glass 124 has a planar shape or a curved shape with a central portion protruding in a direction outside the vehicle. Each of the side windows 122, 123, 125, 126 is a flat glass member provided on the door 102. The side window 122 is adjacent to the driver seat 131, the side windows 123 and 125 are adjacent to the rear seat 133, and the side window 126 is adjacent to the passenger seat 132.

The vehicle interior 120 is provided with an in-vehicle camera 15 as a photographing means. The in-vehicle camera 15 is provided on the ceiling near the windshield 121 and images at least a space outside the vehicle in front of the vehicle 100. It is desirable that the shooting range of the in-vehicle camera 15 includes not only the occupant's viewing angle but also the range of the user's blind spot. It is desirable that the range that can be taken by the in-vehicle camera 15 is as wide as possible. The captured image of the in-vehicle camera 15 is used to specify the presence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle 100, the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle, and the type of the obstacle. In the present embodiment, an obstacle refers to an object that can be an obstacle to running or driving of the vehicle 100. The positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle includes the direction of the obstacle based on the position of the vehicle 100 and the distance between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle (hereinafter referred to as “vehicle-obstacle distance”). In this embodiment, other types of vehicles (automobiles or bicycles) and people are assumed as the types of obstacles, but objects such as buildings, signboards, and road cones may be included.
The in-vehicle camera 15 may be used as a camera used in the video recording type drive recorder, or may be provided separately. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted camera 15 should just be installed in the vehicle 100 so that the space outside a vehicle can be image | photographed, for example, may be provided in the outer part of the vehicle body of the vehicle 100. FIG. The in-vehicle camera 15 may capture a direction other than the front of the vehicle 100, such as the side or the rear of the vehicle 100.

  Radars 16 installed at the four front, rear, left and right corners of the vehicle 100 are provided on the outside of the vehicle body of the vehicle 100. The radar 16 is, for example, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar, or an infrared radar, and functions as a detector that detects the presence or absence of an obstacle around the vehicle 100, the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle, and the type of the obstacle. .

  A dashboard 134 is provided in front of the driver seat 131 and the passenger seat 132 over the entire vehicle width direction of the passenger compartment 120 (the width direction of the vehicle 100). The dashboard 134 is located below the windshield 121. In the present embodiment, the downward direction refers to a direction having a vertically downward component, and the upward direction refers to a direction having a vertically upward component. The dashboard 134 is provided with the obstacle notification device 10. The obstacle notification device 10 is a device that is integrated with or separate from the acoustic device mounted on the vehicle 100. The obstacle notification device 10 includes a speaker array device 14 for outputting sound to the passenger compartment 120. The speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam generated in a beam shape by providing directivity.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the speaker array device 14.
The speaker array device 14 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing and a speaker array 145 disposed in front of the housing. The speaker array 145 includes a plurality of speakers (speaker units) arranged in a matrix (row direction and column direction). In the speaker array 145, a plurality of speakers are arranged in the order of the speakers 145A, 145B, 145C, ..., 145P along the row direction from the left end. The three speakers arranged in the column direction are represented by any one of the speakers 145A, 145B, 145C,.
Note that the arrangement of the speakers in the speaker array 145 is not limited to a matrix. In the speaker array 145, speakers may be arranged according to a predetermined rule such as a honeycomb shape or a line shape. Further, the number of speakers included in the speaker array 145 is not limited to the number shown in FIG.

  The speaker array device 14 is provided on the upper surface of the dashboard 134 at a position near the center in the vehicle width direction. The speaker array device 14 is fixed to the dashboard 134 using, for example, a fixing tool such as a screw, a magnet, or an adhesive. In addition, the speaker array device 14 is provided with the speaker array 145 facing the rear of the vehicle 100, and the output direction of the acoustic beam can be changed within a range of 180 degrees on a horizontal plane, for example. The speaker array device 14 can also change the output direction of the acoustic beam within a certain range in the vertical direction.

  In the passenger compartment 120, spaces for the propagation of acoustic beams are formed between the driver seat 131 and the side window 122, between the driver seat 131 and the passenger seat 132, and between the passenger seat 132 and the side window 126. Has been. In addition, a space for propagating the acoustic beam is also formed above the driver seat 131 and the passenger seat 132.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the obstacle notification device 10.
The control unit 11 controls each unit of the obstacle notification device 10. The control unit 11 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as an arithmetic processing unit, and a processor including a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory).

  The notification sound signal generation unit 12 generates a digital notification sound signal that is an acoustic signal representing the notification sound. The notification sound is a sound that notifies information related to the obstacle to the vehicle 100. The notification sound signal generator 12 can generate notification sound signals of a plurality of types of notification sounds. A specific notification sound will be described later, but is a sound that allows an occupant to intuitively grasp the presence of an obstacle and the type of the obstacle.

  The signal processing unit 13 includes a digital signal processor (DSP), for example, and functions as a signal processing unit that performs signal processing on the notification sound signal in accordance with parameters set by the control unit 11. As a parameter set in the signal processing unit 13, there is a parameter for designating a shift amount in frequency shift. The signal processing unit 13 shifts the frequency band component of the notification sound to the high frequency side or the low frequency side with a shift amount according to the set parameter.

The speaker array device 14 includes an input receiving unit 141, an acoustic beam control unit 142, D / A converters 143A, 143B,..., 143P, power amplifiers 144A, 144B,. 145B,..., 145P.
The input reception unit 141 includes, for example, a DIR (Digital Audio Interface Receiver), and is an interface that receives an input of a notification sound signal supplied from the notification sound signal generation unit 12 via the signal processing unit 13.

  The acoustic beam control unit 142 includes a plurality of delay circuits, and generates an acoustic beam to be output to the speaker array 145 based on the notification sound signal input via the input reception unit 141. The acoustic beam control unit 142 controls the timing (that is, the delay time) of supplying an acoustic signal to each speaker of the speaker array 145 so as to generate a directivity and output direction acoustic beam according to the control of the control unit 11. To do. In this embodiment, an acoustic signal is supplied to all the speakers of the speaker array 145.

Each of the D / A converters 143A, 143B,..., 143P converts the notification sound signal supplied from the acoustic beam control unit 142 from a digital format to an analog format.
The power amplifiers 144A, 144B,..., 144P amplify the notification sound signals supplied from the D / A converters 143A, 143B,. The amplification factor follows a parameter set by the control unit 11.
The speakers 145A, 145B,..., 145P convert the notification sound signals supplied from the power amplifiers 144A, 144B,..., 144P into notification sounds and output (radiate) them to the passenger compartment 120.

  The memory | storage part 17 is provided with the non-volatile memory illustrated by EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable), for example, and memorize | stores the program run by the control part 11, the notification sound selection table T1, and the parameter management table T2.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the notification sound selection table T1. As shown in FIG. 7, the notification sound selection table T1 is a table that defines the correspondence between the types of obstacles and the notification sounds used to notify the presence of the obstacles.
As shown in FIG. 7, in the notification sound selection table T1, the notification sound “engine sound” is associated with the obstacle “automobile”, the notification sound “bell sound” is associated with the obstacle “bicycle”, and the obstacle is displayed. The notification sound “speaking voice” is associated with “person”. In the notification sound selection table T1, sounds simulating sounds emitted by obstacles are associated as notification sounds.
Note that the notification sound may include a message for guiding the presence of an obstacle instead of or in addition to the sound simulating the sound emitted by the obstacle. As this message, for example, there are warning messages including the presence of obstacles and types of obstacles such as “There is an obstacle” and “A car is approaching”, and warning sounds (beep sounds, etc.).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the parameter management table T2. The parameter management table T2 is a table that defines the correspondence between the vehicle-obstacle distance and the parameter.
As shown on the left side of FIG. 8, in the parameter management table T2, the smaller the vehicle-obstacle distance, the larger the amplification factor in the power amplifiers 144A, 144B,. A parameter for reducing the amplification factor in the power amplifiers 144A, 144B,. Further, as shown on the right side of FIG. 8, in the parameter management table T2, the smaller the vehicle-obstacle distance is, the larger the shift amount in the high frequency direction of the frequency shift performed by the signal processing unit 13 (or the lower frequency side). The shift amount in the high frequency direction of the frequency shift performed by the signal processing unit 13 is reduced (or the shift amount toward the low frequency side is increased) as the vehicle-obstacle distance increases. Parameters are defined.
In the graph of FIG. 8, the parameter linearly changes according to the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, but may change in a curve. In addition, the obstacle notification device 10 may be configured to change the notification sound and parameters described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 according to the operation of the user (for example, an occupant).
The in-vehicle camera 15 supplies the captured image to the control unit 11. The radar 16 supplies detection data indicating an obstacle detection result to the control unit 11.

Returning to FIG. 6, the functional configuration of the control unit 11 will be described.
The analysis unit 111 functions as an analysis unit that analyzes data for identifying an obstacle with respect to the vehicle 100. The analysis unit 111 analyzes the captured image of the in-vehicle camera 15 and the detection data of the obstacle by the radar 16, and generates obstacle information that is information regarding the obstacle. The obstacle information includes information on the presence / absence of an obstacle around the vehicle 100, the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle, and the type of the obstacle.
The analysis unit 111 may identify the type of obstacle, the direction of the obstacle, and the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle by analyzing data using a known image analysis method such as pattern matching or a radar analysis method.

  The obstacle information acquisition unit 112 functions as an acquisition unit that acquires the obstacle information generated by the analysis unit 111.

The output control unit 113 sets the acoustic beam in the acoustic beam control unit 142 based on the obstacle information acquired by the obstacle information acquisition unit 112, so that the position according to the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle is set. The sound beam of the notification sound in which the sound source is arranged is output to the speaker array 145. For example, the output control unit 113 stores in advance a beam pattern that defines the directivity and output direction of the acoustic beam, reads the beam pattern according to the obstacle information, and performs settings for the acoustic beam control unit 142. Also good. If the beam pattern is determined in advance based on the physical characteristics (for example, the shape and dimensions of the space, the material of the interior material) and the acoustic characteristics (for example, sound reflection characteristics and attenuation characteristics) of the passenger compartment 120. Good.
In this embodiment, the position of the sound source is specified by the position of the speaker array device 14 (or each speaker of the speaker array 145) and the position of the virtual sound source localized on the reflection surface by the speaker array device 14. May be.

  Further, the output control unit 113 selects the notification sound associated with the type of the obstacle specified from the obstacle information in the notification sound selection table T1, and generates the notification sound signal of the selected notification sound. The notification sound signal generator 12 is controlled. Further, the output control unit 113 displays the parameter associated with the vehicle-obstacle distance specified from the obstacle information in the parameter management table T2 as the signal processing unit 13 and the speaker array device 14 (more specifically, the power Amplifiers 144A, 144B,..., 144P).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing performed by the obstacle notification device 10. For example, the obstacle notification device 10 sequentially executes the processing illustrated in FIG. 9 while the vehicle 100 is traveling or during a period during which an occupant is on the vehicle 100.
The obstacle notification device 10 acquires a captured image of the in-vehicle camera 15 and obstacle detection data by the radar 16 (step S1). The obstacle notification device 10 analyzes the acquired captured image and detection data to generate obstacle information, and acquires this (step S2).

  Next, the obstacle notification device 10 selects a notification sound corresponding to the type of obstacle identified from the obstacle information based on the notification sound selection table T1 (step S3). In step S3, the obstacle notification device 10 controls the notification sound signal generation unit 12 so as to generate a notification sound signal representing the selected notification sound. When the obstacle is “automobile”, the obstacle notification device 10 selects “engine sound” as the notification sound.

  Next, the obstacle notification device 10 sets a parameter corresponding to the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle based on the parameter management table T2 (step S4). That is, the obstacle notification device 10 provides a parameter for designating a shift amount of the frequency shift corresponding to the vehicle-obstacle distance specified from the obstacle information to the signal processing unit 13 and corresponds to the vehicle-obstacle distance. A parameter for designating the amplification factor is set in each of the power amplifiers 144A, 144B,. Here, the obstacle notification device 10 has an engine sound with a smaller amplification factor and a relatively low frequency as the vehicle-obstacle distance is larger, and a larger amplification factor as the vehicle-obstacle distance is smaller. Parameters are set so that engine sound with a relatively high frequency is output.

  The obstacle notification device 10 outputs an acoustic beam of the notification sound from the speaker array device 14 based on the notification sound signal obtained by performing signal processing on the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound signal generation unit 12 according to the parameters. (Step S5). In step S5, the obstacle notification device 10 arranges a sound source at a position corresponding to the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle, and notifies the sound from the speaker array device 14 so that the position of the driver's seat 131 is included in the route. The sound beam is output. The obstacle notification device 10 sequentially executes the process shown in FIG. 9 to change the position where the sound source is arranged in accordance with the change in the direction of the obstacle, and the notification sound including the position of the driver's seat 131 in the route. Outputs an acoustic beam.

10, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are diagrams showing the acoustic beam of the notification sound output from the speaker array device 14. 10-12, the dashed-two dotted line arrow shows the path | route and direction which the acoustic beam of an alerting | reporting sound propagates. A symbol “P” illustrated in FIGS. 10 to 12 indicates an obstacle.
The upper part of FIG. 10 shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists in front of the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam of a notification sound that reaches the driver seat 131 directly. In this case, the occupant perceives that the position of the speaker array device 14 is the sound source position and the acoustic beam has arrived from the front of the occupant.
The lower part of FIG. 10 shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P is present on the right front side of the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam of notification sound that is reflected by the side window 122 and reaches the driver's seat 131. In this case, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from the right front of the passenger, with the position of the side window 122 being the sound source position.

In the upper part of FIG. 11, the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists on the right rear side of the vehicle 100 is shown. In this case, the speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam of notification sound that is reflected by the rear glass 124 and the side window 123 and reaches the driver's seat 131. In this case, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from the right rear side of the passenger with the position of the side window 123 being the sound source position.
The lower part of FIG. 11 shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists behind the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam of a notification sound that is reflected by the side window 125 and the rear glass 124 and reaches the driver's seat 131. In this case, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from the rear of the rear glass 124 at the sound source position.

The upper part of FIG. 12 shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists on the left rear side of the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam of a notification sound that reaches the driver's seat 131 after being reflected by the side window 125 (however, a position closer to the front than the case shown in the lower part of FIG. 11) and the rear glass 124. To do. In this case, the occupant perceives that the position of the rear glass 124 is the sound source position. Since the acoustic beam reaches the left ear of the occupant, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from the left rear of the occupant.
The lower part of FIG. 12 shows the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists in the left front of the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 outputs an acoustic beam of notification sound that is reflected by the side window 126 and reaches the driver's seat 131. In this case, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from his / her left front, with the position of the side window 126 being the sound source position.

  As described above, the obstacle notification device 10 performs the control of arranging the sound source of the notification sound on the front, rear, left, and right of the occupant according to the positions of the obstacles on the front, rear, left, and right of the vehicle 100, and thereby the direction in which the obstacle P is located. A notification sound is output so that the occupant perceives that the notification sound has arrived. As can be seen from FIGS. 10 to 12, for example, when the obstacle P moves around the vehicle 100 when viewed from the vehicle 100, the vehicle 100 circulates forward, right front, right rear, rear, left rear, left front, The occupant perceives a notification sound in which the sound source position moves following the movement of the obstacle P. Therefore, it is easy for an occupant to intuitively grasp the direction in which the obstacle P exists and the change in the direction.

  Also, the greater the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, the lower the volume of the notification sound. Conversely, the smaller the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, the greater the volume of the notification sound. As a result, the volume of the notification sound changes. Furthermore, the greater the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, the lower the frequency of the notification sound, and the smaller the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle, the higher the frequency of the notification sound, ie, following the change in the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle. The frequency of the sound changes. In this case, the occupant listens to the notification sound as if the Doppler effect was given. Therefore, it is easy to intuitively grasp the size of the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle and the change thereof.

  Further, the obstacle notification device 10 outputs an acoustic beam of notification sound to the vehicle compartment 120 using a single speaker array device 14. For this reason, according to the obstacle notification device 10, it is possible to represent a more accurate position of the obstacle with respect to the vehicle 100 by sound while suppressing an increase in the number of installation positions of the speaker device.

[Modification]
The present invention can be implemented in a form different from the above-described embodiment. The present invention can also be implemented in the following forms, for example. Further, the following modifications may be combined as appropriate.
(Modification 1)
The installation position of the speaker array device 14 is not limited to the dashboard 134. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a speaker array device (referred to as a speaker array device 14 </ b> A) may be installed behind the rear seat 133. In the example of FIG. 13, the speaker array device 14A is provided on the upper surface of the rear package tray 135 at a position near the center in the vehicle width direction. The speaker array device 14A is installed so that the speaker array 145 faces forward and the row direction in which the speakers of the speaker array 145 are arranged is along the vehicle width direction.

Next, the acoustic beam of the notification sound output from the speaker array device 14A will be described.
Arrow R <b> 1 indicates the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists on the right rear side of the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 </ b> A outputs an acoustic beam of a notification sound that is reflected by the side window 122 and includes the position of the driver's seat 131 in the route. As a result, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from the right rear side of his / her own when the position of the side window 122 is the sound source position.
An arrow R2 indicates an acoustic beam of a notification sound when the obstacle P exists behind (directly behind) the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 </ b> A outputs an acoustic beam of notification sound that directly reaches the driver's seat 131. Thus, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from behind the speaker array device 14A at the position of the sound source.
Arrow R <b> 3 indicates the acoustic beam of the notification sound when the obstacle P exists on the left rear side of the vehicle 100. In this case, the speaker array device 14 </ b> A outputs an acoustic beam that directly reaches the left ear of the occupant of the driver seat 131. Thus, the occupant perceives the arrival of the notification sound from the left rear of the speaker array device 14A at the position of the sound source.

  In this modification, the speaker array device 14 </ b> A outputs an acoustic beam of a notification sound when an obstacle exists on the rear side of the vehicle 100, and the speaker array device 14 has an obstacle on the front side of the vehicle 100. In some cases, an acoustic beam of notification sound is output. As described above, the obstacle notification device 10 cooperates with the plurality of speaker array devices to output the sound beam of the notification sound, thereby allowing the occupant to perceive the arrival direction of the more accurate notification sound.

  The speaker array device of the obstacle notification device 10 may be installed at another position. The installation position may be a ceiling, a pillar, a handle or the like. Further, the speaker array of the speaker array device may face a direction other than the horizontal direction. For example, a configuration in which the speaker array faces upward and the acoustic beam is reflected by the windshield 121 or the rear glass 124 may be employed. In addition, three or more speaker array devices of the obstacle notification device 10 may be installed in the passenger compartment 120.

(Modification 2)
The obstacle notification device 10 may control the position where the sound source of the notification sound is arranged in the vertical direction. For example, when there is a short obstacle (road cone or the like) located in the lower front part of the vehicle 100, the obstacle notifying device 10 controls the sound source of the alarm sound to be arranged in the lower front part of the occupant. I do. When there is an obstacle (a bridge girder or the like) located above the front of the vehicle 100, the obstacle notifying device 10 performs control to arrange the sound source of the notification sound above the occupant. Similarly, when an obstacle is located on the left or right or behind the vehicle 100, the obstacle notification device 10 controls the position in the vertical direction where the sound source of the notification sound is arranged according to the position of the obstacle in the vertical direction. This makes it easier for the occupant to intuitively grasp the position of the obstacle in the vertical direction.

(Modification 3)
The obstacle notification device 10 may output an acoustic beam of notification sound including the position of a seat other than the driver's seat 131 in the route. The obstacle notification device 10 may output an acoustic beam for allowing two or more passengers to listen to the notification sound.
The reflection surface that reflects the acoustic beam is not limited to the glass member provided in the vehicle 100. The obstacle notification device 10 outputs, from the speaker array device 14, an acoustic beam of notification sound that reflects, for example, members (walls, ceilings, walls, interior parts, etc.) that form the vehicle compartment 120 other than glass members. Also good.
The obstacle notification device 10 may output the acoustic beam using only some of the speakers, instead of outputting the acoustic beam using all the speakers included in the speaker array 145 of the speaker array device 14.

(Modification 4)
A part of the configuration described in the above-described embodiment may be omitted.
Instead of the configuration in which the notification sound signal generated by the notification sound signal generation unit 12 is subjected to signal processing, the notification sound signal generation unit 12 generates a notification sound signal representing the notification sound after the signal processing is performed. May be. In this case, the signal processing unit 13 is unnecessary. Further, the vehicle 100 is provided with a sound collection unit (for example, a microphone) that collects the sound of the outside space, and the obstacle notification device 10 uses an acoustic signal representing the sound collected by the sound collection unit as a notification sound signal. It may be used. In this case, the notification sound signal generator 12 is unnecessary.
In addition, the obstacle notification device 10 may set the volume and frequency of the notification sound constant regardless of the positional relationship between the vehicle 100 and the obstacle. On the other hand, the obstacle notification device 10 may perform signal processing for adding another acoustic effect to the notification sound signal.
Further, the obstacle notification device 10 does not have to perform localization of the sound source on the reflecting surface as long as the occupant can perceive the direction of the sound source position (provides a sense of localization).
The obstacle information only needs to include at least a part of information for specifying the positional relationship between the vehicle and the obstacle. May not be included. On the contrary, the information on the type of obstacle may include more detailed information such as the vehicle type of other vehicles and the attributes (physique and gender) of the person.

(Modification 5)
The method of detecting the obstacle is not limited to the method described in the above-described embodiment. The obstacle notification device 10 may detect an obstacle using various sensors such as a human sensor (for example, a pyroelectric sensor). In addition, a device having a function of generating obstacle information may be provided separately from the obstacle notification device 10. In this case, the obstacle notification device 10 acquires obstacle information from an external device.

(Modification 6)
The vehicle of the present invention is not particularly limited in form (body shape) and type of power source. The vehicle of the present invention may be, for example, a vehicle without a roof or a vehicle that can open a roof. The vehicles of the present invention include vehicles that travel for the purpose of transporting passengers such as trains and buses, and vehicles that are not intended for transport of passengers such as playground equipment. The vehicle of the present invention includes a vehicle in which a seat is not provided in a boarding area where an occupant is present.

  The function realized by the control unit 11 of the obstacle notification device 10 according to the above-described embodiment can be realized by a combination of a plurality of programs, or can be realized by linkage of a plurality of hardware resources. When the function of the control unit 11 is realized using a program, the program includes a magnetic recording medium (magnetic tape, magnetic disk (HDD (Hard Disk Drive), FD (Flexible Disk)), etc.), optical recording medium (optical disk). Etc.), may be provided in a state stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a magneto-optical recording medium or a semiconductor memory, or may be distributed via a network.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Obstacle notification apparatus, 11 ... Control part, 111 ... Analysis part, 112 ... Obstacle information acquisition part, 113 ... Output control part, 12 ... Notification sound signal generation part, 13 ... Signal processing part, 14, 14A ... Speaker Array device, 141... Input receiving unit, 142... Acoustic beam control unit, 143 A, 143 B,..., 143 P ... D / A converter, 144 A, 144 B,. , 145B,..., 145P ... speaker, 15 ... vehicle camera, 16 ... radar, 17 ... storage unit, 100 ... vehicle, 121 ... front glass, 122, 123, 125, 126 ... side window, 124 ... rear glass, 131 ... Driver's seat, 132 ... Passenger seat, 133 ... Rear seat, 134 ... Dashboard, 135 ... Rear package tray.

Claims (5)

A speaker array having a plurality of speakers installed in a vehicle compartment;
Obstacle information acquisition means for acquiring obstacle information including at least information specifying a positional relationship between the vehicle and the obstacle;
An obstacle notification device comprising: output control means for causing the speaker array to output an acoustic beam of a notification sound in which a sound source is arranged at a position corresponding to the positional relationship based on the acquired obstacle information. The output control means includes a predetermined boarding area in the cabin in a route while changing a position where the sound source is arranged according to a change in the direction of the obstacle with respect to the position of the vehicle. The obstacle notification device according to claim 1, wherein an acoustic beam of notification sound is output to the speaker array. According to a set parameter, comprising signal processing means for performing signal processing on an acoustic signal representing the notification sound,
The output control means sets the parameter according to the positional relationship in the signal processing means,
The obstacle notification device according to claim 1, wherein the speaker array outputs an acoustic beam of the notification sound based on the acoustic signal subjected to the signal processing. The obstacle information further includes information on the type of the obstacle,
The obstacle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the output control means causes the speaker array to output an acoustic beam of the notification sound corresponding to the type of the obstacle. Notification device. The output control unit causes the speaker array to output an acoustic beam of the notification sound that changes in accordance with a distance between the vehicle and the obstacle. 5. Obstacle notification device according to item.

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