JP2018120352A - Dependency estimation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dependency estimation device capable of appropriately determining dependency.SOLUTION: A behavior monitoring section F4 determines whether a driver performs a driving operation (hereinafter referred to as an adaptive operation) corresponding to attention-called information on the basis of a detection result of a driver state sensor 4. Besides, the behavior monitoring section determines whether a preparation action for performing an adaptive operation such as interruption of an operation of an on-vehicle unit is performed till the performance of an adaptive operation from issuing of attention calling. A dependency evaluation section F5 determines dependency on a system on the basis of whether a driver has performed an adaptive operation and whether a driver has performed a preparation action.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a dependency estimation device that estimates a dependency indicating a degree of dependence of a driver on a driving support system.

  Conventionally, a predetermined dangerous state related to the traveling of the vehicle is detected, and a voice or an image indicating the dangerous state is output as warning information to an occupant (hereinafter referred to as a driver) seated in the driver's seat, There is a driving support system that performs vehicle control for avoiding a state. In addition, the dangerous state here is a state where there is a possibility of colliding with other vehicles, pedestrians, structures, or the like. The alert information may be notified by an alarm sound or a voice message.

  Since such a driving assistance system should be used as an auxiliary to assist the driving operation by the driver, a state in which the driver excessively trusts the driving assistance system (in other words, a state in which it depends) is a preferable state. is not.

  Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration for estimating the driver's dependency on the driving support system and controlling the driving support method based on the estimated dependency so that the driver does not overtrust the driving support system. Yes. Specifically, when the distance between the target object in front of the vehicle and the host vehicle is less than a predetermined threshold, warning information about the target object is output, and the driving operation according to the warning information The dependence is determined based on whether or not the driver implements the above. If it is determined that the degree of dependence is high, the frequency of performing false notifications is increased to reduce the degree of dependence.

JP 2008-117140 A

  In the configuration of Patent Document 1, the driver does not shift to a state suitable for driving operation (in other words, maintains an unsafe state), and even when driving operation for avoiding danger is performed, It can be determined that it does not depend on the system. For example, in a situation where a driver occupant is operating a navigation device, when the driving support system warns of the possibility of contact with a preceding vehicle as alert information, the driver presses the brake pedal while operating the navigation device. Even so, it is determined that the degree of dependence is low.

  The present invention has been made based on this situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a dependency estimation device that can more appropriately determine the dependency.

  In order to achieve the object, the present invention provides a risk detection method for detecting a risk object, which is an object that may collide with a vehicle, based on output data of a surrounding monitoring sensor that acquires information about the external environment of the vehicle. Part (F2), a notification processing part (F31) for notifying the driver of information indicating the presence of the risk object detected by the risk detection part as support information, and the content of the driving operation performed by the driver A driver state specifying unit (F4) that sequentially specifies a driver state based on a signal input from an operation amount sensor that outputs information and a device that outputs information indicating the driver state; and a driver state specifying unit An adaptive operation determination unit (F41) that determines whether the driver has performed an adaptive operation, which is a driving operation according to the content of the support information, based on the specific result; Based on the identification result of the Iber state identification unit, a preparation behavior determination unit (F42) for determining whether or not the driver has performed a preparation behavior for performing the adaptive operation, and the determination result and the preparation behavior of the adaptive operation determination unit And a dependency evaluation unit (F5) that calculates the dependency on the driving support system that supports the driving operation of the driver based on the determination result of the determination unit.

  In the above configuration, the dependence is calculated based on whether or not the driver has performed an adaptive operation, and whether or not a preparatory action such as a peripheral check has been performed. According to such a configuration, it is possible to distinguish between a case where the adaptive operation is performed while maintaining an unsafe state and a case where the adaptive operation is performed after performing the preparatory action such as the peripheral confirmation. Therefore, it is possible to determine the degree of dependence more appropriately than in the conventional configuration such as Patent Document 1.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the parenthesis described in the claim shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later as one aspect, Comprising: The technical scope of this invention is limited is not.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100 according to an embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows the schematic structure of driving assistance ECU1. It is a functional block diagram which shows the schematic structure of the preparation action determination part F42. It is the figure which showed an example of the alerting | reporting aspect according to the dependence degree. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the dependence degree estimation related process which driving assistance ECU1 implements. It is a figure showing an example of the determination method of the dependence according to the presence or absence of preparatory action. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100 in a first modification. It is a figure showing an example of the rule at the time of adjusting a alerting | reporting aspect according to whether the driver did near-miss. It is a figure showing the modification of the determination method of the dependence according to the presence or absence of preparation action. It is a figure showing the modification of the determination method of the dependence according to the presence or absence of preparation action. It is a figure showing an example of the determination method of the dependence according to the presence or absence of visual observation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100 having a function as a dependence degree estimating apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving support system 100 is mounted on a vehicle. As shown in FIG. 1, the driving support ECU 1, the periphery monitoring sensor 2, the vehicle state sensor 3, the driver state sensor 4, the speaker 5, the display 6, the input device 7, the short distance A communication unit 8 and a travel control ECU 9 are provided. Note that ECU in the member name is an abbreviation for Electronic Control Unit, and means an electronic control unit.

  Each of the surrounding monitoring sensor 2, the vehicle state sensor 3, the driver state sensor 4, the speaker 5, the display 6, the input device 7, the short-range communication unit 8, and the travel control ECU 9 is a communication network (hereinafter, It is connected to the driving support ECU 1 through a local area network (LAN) so as to be able to communicate with each other. Note that a navigation device (not shown), an audio device, an air conditioner, and the like are also connected to the LAN. Hereinafter, for convenience, a vehicle on which the driving support system 100 is mounted is also referred to as a host vehicle.

  The driving support ECU 1 is an ECU that executes a process for supporting a driving operation of an occupant (hereinafter referred to as a driver) seated in the driver's seat. The driving assistance ECU 1 is configured as a computer. That is, the driving support ECU 1 includes a CPU 11 that performs arithmetic processing, a ROM 12 that is a nonvolatile memory, a RAM 13 that is a volatile memory, an I / O 14, and a bus line that connects these configurations. The CPU 11 may be realized using, for example, a microprocessor. The ROM 12 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory as a more preferable aspect. The I / O 14 is an interface for the driving support ECU 1 to input / output data with an external device (for example, the periphery monitoring sensor 2). The I / O 14 may be realized using an IC, a digital circuit element, an analog circuit element, or the like.

  The ROM 12 provided in the driving assistance ECU 1 stores a program (hereinafter referred to as a driving assistance program) for causing a normal computer to function as the driving assistance ECU 1. Note that the above-described driving support program may be stored in a non-transitory tangible storage medium including the ROM 12. Executing the driving support program by the CPU 11 corresponds to executing a method corresponding to the driving support program. The driving assistance ECU 1 provides various functions to be described later when the CPU 11 executes the driving assistance program.

  The surroundings monitoring sensor 2 is a device that collects information about objects existing around the host vehicle. As the surrounding monitoring sensor 2, for example, a surrounding monitoring camera that images a predetermined range outside the vehicle, a millimeter wave radar that transmits an exploration wave to a predetermined range outside the vehicle, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging / Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), Sonar etc. can be employed. Here, as an example, the periphery monitoring sensor 2 is a periphery monitoring camera mounted so as to image the front of the vehicle. The periphery monitoring camera as the periphery monitoring sensor 2 sequentially outputs captured images to the driving support ECU 1. Of course, the peripheral monitoring sensor 2 may be a known sensor other than the sensors described above. In addition, the driving support ECU 1 may include a plurality of sensors.

  The vehicle state sensor 3 is a sensor that detects a state quantity related to traveling control of the host vehicle. The driving support system 100 according to the present embodiment includes a brake sensor, an accelerator sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a shift position sensor, and a steering angle sensor as the vehicle state sensor 3. The brake sensor is a sensor that detects the position of the brake pedal, in other words, the amount by which the brake pedal is depressed by the driver (hereinafter referred to as brake depression amount). The accelerator sensor is a sensor that detects the position of the accelerator pedal, in other words, the amount by which the accelerator pedal is depressed by the driver (hereinafter referred to as accelerator depression amount). The vehicle speed sensor is a sensor that detects the traveling speed of the host vehicle. The shift position sensor is a sensor that detects the set position of the shift lever. The steering angle sensor is a sensor that detects a rotation angle of a steering wheel (so-called steering angle).

  Each sensor sequentially provides the driving support ECU 1 with data indicating the current value (that is, the detection result) of the physical state quantity to be detected. The detection results of various sensors may be provided to the driving support ECU 1 via an arbitrary electronic control unit (ECU: Electronic Control Unit) or the like.

  The type of sensor to which the driving support ECU 1 should be connected as the vehicle state sensor 3 may be designed as appropriate, and need not be connected to all the sensors described above. Moreover, you may connect with sensors other than the above-mentioned, for example, a yaw rate sensor. The yaw rate sensor is a sensor that detects a rotational angular velocity (that is, a yaw rate) around the vertical axis of the host vehicle.

  In addition to the detection result of the operation amount sensor described above, the driving assistance ECU 1 includes, as information indicating the content of the driving operation of the driver, a signal indicating the operating state of a horn (so-called horn or horn), a direction indicator It is configured to be able to acquire a signal indicating the operation state. Note that the brake sensor, the accelerator sensor, the steering angle sensor, the shift position sensor, and the like also function as sensors that detect the content of the driving operation of the driver. Hereinafter, the sensor that detects the content of the driving operation of the driver is also referred to as an operation amount sensor for convenience.

  The driver state sensor 4 is a sensor that detects the state of the driver, such as the driver's face direction, line-of-sight direction, eyelid opening, body direction, and handle gripping state. As the driver state sensor 4, for example, an upper body camera, a face camera, a microphone, a handle grip sensor, a back pressure sensor, a seat pressure sensor, or the like can be employed. The upper body camera is a camera installed to take an image of the upper body of the driver. The upper body camera may be installed in the vicinity of the room mirror so as to image the upper body of the driver, for example. Of course, the upper body camera may be installed on a steering column cover or a portion of the instrument panel facing the driver's seat. The upper body camera sequentially outputs captured images to the driving support ECU 1.

  The face camera is a device that captures the face of the driver. The face camera is realized by using, for example, a near-infrared light source, a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls them. The face camera performs well-known image recognition processing on the image captured by the near-infrared camera, so that the occupant's head posture in the driver's seat, the driver's face orientation, gaze direction, eyelid opening degree, etc. To detect. Note that the face camera is arranged at an appropriately designed position such as a steering column cover or a part of the instrument panel facing the driver's seat so as to capture the face area of the occupant seated in the driver's seat. It only has to be. The face camera sequentially outputs to the driving support ECU 1 information indicating the driver's head posture, face direction, line-of-sight direction, eyelid opening degree, and the like identified from the captured image.

  The microphone is a sound collecting device provided in the passenger compartment of the host vehicle. The microphone collects the voice spoken by the driver or the like, converts it into an electrical voice signal, and outputs it to the driving support ECU 1. The microphone is preferably provided near the driver's seat so that the driver's voice can be easily collected.

  The handle grip sensor is a pressure sensor provided on the handle, and detects the pressure with which the driver grips the handle. The output signal of the handle grip sensor also functions as a signal indicating whether or not the driver is gripping the handle with both hands. The back pressure sensor is a pressure sensor sheet disposed on the backrest portion of the driver seat, and detects the distribution of pressure acting on the backrest portion of the driver seat. The seat pressure sensor is a pressure sensor seat disposed on the seating surface of the driver seat, and detects the distribution of pressure acting on the seating surface of the driver seat.

  The speaker 5 outputs a sound and an alarm sound based on the signal input from the driving support ECU 1. Note that the speaker 5 outputs sound not only based on the driving assistance ECU 1 but also based on signals input from a navigation device, an audio device, or the like.

  The display 6 is a device that displays an image input from the driving support ECU 1. In the present embodiment, as an example, the display 6 is a display (so-called center display) provided at the uppermost portion of the instrument panel in the vehicle width direction center (hereinafter referred to as the center region). The display 6 is capable of full color display and can be realized using a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a plasma display, or the like.

  As another aspect, the display 6 may be a head-up display that projects a virtual image on a part of the windshield in front of the driver's seat. Further, the display 6 may be a display (so-called meter display) arranged in a region located in front of the driver's seat on the instrument panel.

  The input device 7 is a device for accepting a driver's instruction operation for various electronic devices (hereinafter referred to as in-vehicle devices) mounted on the host vehicle, such as a navigation device, an audio device, and an air conditioner. In this embodiment, as an example, the input device 7 is a touch panel laminated on the display 6. The touch panel as the input device 7 sequentially outputs a touch position signal indicating a position touched by the user to the predetermined in-vehicle device and the driving support ECU 1 as an operation signal. That is, the input device 7 outputs a control signal corresponding to an operation performed by the driver to the input device 7 to the in-vehicle device and the driving support ECU 1 corresponding to the operation content of the driver.

  In the present embodiment, the input device 7 is configured to employ a touch panel, but is not limited thereto. The input device 7 may be a mechanical switch (that is, a steering switch) provided on a handle or the like, or may be a voice input device realized by using a known voice recognition technique. Moreover, the haptic device arrange | positioned at the center console may be sufficient. In addition, a mouse, a keyboard, or the like may be used. The driving support system 100 may include a plurality of types of devices described above as the input device 7.

  The short-range communication unit 8 is a communication module for carrying out wireless communication (hereinafter, short-range communication) compliant with a predetermined short-range wireless communication standard with a portable terminal that is an information processing terminal carried by the driver. The short-range wireless communication standard adopted here is a wireless communication standard in which the maximum communicable range is about several tens of meters. As a short-range communication standard, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or the like can be adopted.

  The portable terminal may be an information processing terminal provided with a function for performing the above-described short-range communication (hereinafter, short-range communication function). For example, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, a wearable device, a portable music player, a portable game machine, or the like can be employed as the portable terminal.

  When the short-range communication function is on, the portable terminal periodically transmits an advertisement signal including a unique terminal number assigned to itself (hereinafter referred to as a terminal ID). As another aspect, the mobile terminal may be configured to transmit an advertisement signal based on a request from the driving support system 100.

  The short-range communication unit 8 receives the advertisement signal transmitted from the mobile terminal, recognizes that the mobile terminal exists in the vehicle interior, and establishes a communication connection with the mobile terminal. It is assumed that information (for example, a terminal ID) of a portable terminal to which the near field communication unit 8 is to be connected for communication is registered in the near field communication unit 8 in advance by a user as a driver.

  When the communication connection with the short-range communication unit 8 is established, the mobile terminal functions as a device (that is, the input device 7) for operating the in-vehicle device. The mobile terminal can also function as an image signal source for providing an image to be displayed on the display when a communication connection with the short-range communication unit 8 is established.

  The travel control ECU 9 is an ECU that performs vehicle control such as steering, acceleration, and braking by driving a predetermined on-vehicle actuator based on an instruction from the driving support ECU 1. The travel control ECU 9 may be integrated into the driving support ECU 1.

<About functions provided in the driving support ECU 1>
The driving assistance ECU 1 provides functions corresponding to the various functional blocks shown in FIG. 2 when the CPU 11 executes the driving assistance program described above. That is, the driving support ECU 1 includes a peripheral object information acquisition unit F1, a risk detection unit F2, a support processing unit F3, a behavior monitoring unit F4, a dependency degree evaluation unit F5, and a support mode adjustment unit F6 as functional blocks.

  Part or all of the functional blocks provided in the driving support ECU 1 may be realized by using one or a plurality of ICs (in other words, as hardware). Further, part or all of the functional blocks provided in the driving support ECU 1 may be realized by a combination of software execution by the CPU 11 and hardware members.

  The driving support ECU 1 includes a driver state storage unit M1 and a support parameter storage unit M2. The driver state storage unit M1 is a storage area for storing data indicating the state of the driver sequentially specified by the behavior monitoring unit F4 described later. The support parameter storage unit M2 is a storage area that holds control parameters (hereinafter referred to as support parameters) when the support processing unit F3 performs driving support processing. The support parameter includes a notification mode parameter that defines a timing of presenting information. The driver state storage unit M1 and the support parameter storage unit M2 may be realized using a rewritable storage medium such as the RAM 13.

  The surrounding object information acquisition unit F1 is configured to acquire information about a predetermined object existing around the host vehicle based on the output data of the surrounding monitoring sensor 2. The peripheral object information acquisition unit F1 of the present embodiment performs image recognition processing on the captured image of the peripheral monitoring sensor 2, detects a predetermined target object, and the relative position of the detected target object with respect to the host vehicle, Specify relative movement direction, movement speed, etc.

  The object here is, for example, a pedestrian, an animal other than a human, another vehicle, a structure installed along a road, or the like. Other vehicles include bicycles, motorbikes and motorcycles. The structures installed along the road are, for example, guardrails, curbs, trees, utility poles, road signs, traffic lights, and the like. Further, in this embodiment, as a more preferable aspect, road markings such as travel lane markings and falling objects on the road are registered as objects.

  The surrounding object information acquisition unit F1 acquires information such as a relative position for each object existing around the host vehicle. Hereinafter, for convenience, information indicating the type, relative position, moving direction, and moving speed for each target existing around the host vehicle is referred to as peripheral object information. Note that the function of extracting information about the object from the captured image of the peripheral monitoring camera may be provided in the peripheral monitoring camera itself. In that case, the data provided from the periphery monitoring camera can be used as it is as the peripheral object information.

  Moreover, the peripheral object information acquisition part F1 recognizes the speed limit of the road where the own vehicle is drive | working one by one by recognizing the regulation content of a road sign and a road marking by image recognition technology. In the present embodiment, information such as the structure around the host vehicle and the speed limit is acquired based on the detection result of the periphery monitoring sensor 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. Information such as the structure around the host vehicle and the speed limit may be acquired from detailed map data containing information on detailed map elements.

  The risk detection unit F2 detects that the traveling state of the host vehicle is in a predetermined risk state based on the peripheral object information acquired by the peripheral object information acquisition unit F1 and the detection result of the vehicle state sensor 3. The risk state is a state in which, for example, a collision with another object is predicted.

  Specifically, the risk detection unit F2 determines whether or not there is an object (hereinafter referred to as a risk object) that may collide with the host vehicle based on the peripheral object information acquired by the peripheral object information acquisition unit F1. Determine whether. For example, the risk detection unit F2 sequentially calculates a remaining collision time (hereinafter referred to as TTC: Time-To-Collision), which is a remaining time until the vehicle collides, for each target, and TTC is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. Is determined to be a risk object. The TTC for a certain object may be calculated based on the relative position, relative speed, and relative movement direction of the object. A well-known algorithm can be used as the TTC calculation algorithm.

  It should be noted that an object that does not interfere with the traveling of the host vehicle, such as a road marking such as a lane marking or a stop line, may be handled as an object that does not collide with the host vehicle. In the present embodiment, the risk object is detected by using the concept of TTC as an example, but the method of detecting the risk object is not limited to this. For example, you may determine based on the distance with a target object.

  Determining a certain target object as a risk target corresponds to detecting a risk target existing around the host vehicle. The presence of a risk object means that the traveling state of the host vehicle is in a predetermined risk state.

  The support processing unit F3 is configured to implement driving support according to the risk state detected by the risk detection unit F2. The support processing unit F3 includes a notification processing unit F31 and a vehicle control unit F32 as finer constituent elements (in other words, sub-functions).

  The notification processing unit F31 is configured to execute a process of notifying the driver of the risk state detected by the risk detection unit F2 using an alarm sound or the like (hereinafter referred to as an alerting process). When the presence of the risk object is detected by the risk detection unit F2, the notification processing unit F31 notifies the driver that the risk object exists. In the present embodiment, as an example, the notification processing unit F31 outputs an alarm sound that informs the driver of the presence of the risk object from the speaker 5 when the presence of the risk object is detected.

  Note that the driver may be notified of the presence of the risk object by outputting a predetermined voice message instead of the warning sound. Moreover, the alerting | reporting process part F31 may display the image which notifies a driver of presence of a risk target object on the display 6 as an alerting process. In addition, the user may be informed that there is a risk object by vibrating the vibrator with a predetermined vibration pattern. Furthermore, the information may be notified to the driver by causing an indicator realized by using at least one light emitting element (for example, a light emitting diode) to emit light in a predetermined light emission pattern. Note that the light emission pattern is configured by a combination of light color, blinking cycle, and the like.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, as a more preferable aspect, the notification processing unit F31 notifies the driver not only that the risk object exists but also the direction in which the risk object exists (hereinafter, the risk presence direction). For example, when an alert sound is used to call attention, a virtual sound image is localized at a position corresponding to the risk existence direction using a well-known stereophonic technology. According to such a configuration, the driver can intuitively recognize that the risk object exists in the direction in which the virtual sound image is localized. Further, when calling attention using a voice message or an image, information that refers to the direction of risk may be output.

  An object that can be a risk object is not limited to an object that exists in front of the vehicle. When the host vehicle is moving backward, an object existing behind the host vehicle can also be a risk target. That is, an object existing in the traveling direction of the host vehicle can be a risk object. Furthermore, when the driver intends to change the lane, another vehicle traveling behind the own vehicle in the lane to be changed can be a risk object. In the vicinity of the intersection, other vehicles and pedestrians traveling on a road intersecting with the road on which the host vehicle is traveling can also be a risk object. In this way, the diagonally forward direction, the backward direction, and the diagonally backward direction can be the risk existence direction.

  The information indicating that the risk object exists includes information indicating a driving operation that the driver should perform in order to avoid a collision with the risk object. The information notified by the notification processing unit F31 may be information that calls attention to a risk state occurring in the host vehicle (hereinafter, alert information). The alerting information is notified by the notification processing unit F31, so that the driver can recognize the risk that the driver is imminent. The alert information corresponds to the support information described in the claims.

  Based on the TTC calculated by the risk detection unit F2, the vehicle control unit F32 avoids a collision with the risk object or executes a vehicle control for reducing the impact at the time of the collision (hereinafter referred to as control). It is sequentially determined whether or not the intervention condition) is satisfied. When the control intervention condition is satisfied, the vehicle control unit F32 executes vehicle control for avoiding the collision with the risk object or reducing the impact at the time of the collision in cooperation with the travel control ECU 9.

  For example, the vehicle control unit F32 stops the host vehicle with respect to the travel control ECU 9 when the TTC with an object existing in front of the vehicle (for example, a preceding vehicle) becomes a predetermined operation threshold value (for example, 1.5 seconds) or less. Alternatively, an instruction is issued to decelerate at a predetermined deceleration. The travel control ECU 9 operates the brake actuator based on an instruction from the driving support ECU 1 to decelerate the host vehicle. In the above example, the state where the TTC is equal to or lower than the predetermined operation threshold corresponds to the state where the control intervention condition is satisfied.

  The behavior monitoring unit F4 sequentially identifies the driver state (for example, every 200 milliseconds) based on signals from the driver state sensor 4, the input device 7, and the like. For example, when an operation signal is output from the input device 7, the behavior monitoring unit F4 determines that the driver is operating a vehicle-mounted device such as a navigation device. The behavior monitoring unit F4 corresponds to the driver state specifying unit described in the claims.

  As another aspect, the behavior monitoring unit F4 determines that the in-vehicle device is operated when it is detected by the face camera that the driver's face and eyes are directed in the direction in which the display 6 is installed. May be. Moreover, you may determine from the picked-up image of an upper body camera whether the driver is operating the vehicle equipment. Furthermore, when the short-range communication unit 8 receives the control signal for the in-vehicle device transmitted from the mobile terminal, the behavior monitoring unit F4 operates the in-vehicle device such as a navigation device via the mobile terminal. You may determine with a state.

  Further, the behavior monitoring unit F4 determines that the driver is not looking at the front of the vehicle when the driver's face is facing a direction other than the front of the vehicle such as a step or a passenger seat. The line-of-sight direction of the driver may be specified by a face camera. Further, the orientation of the driver's face may be specified from a captured image of the upper body camera. The state where the driver is not looking forward is equivalent to a state of looking aside (hereinafter, a state of looking aside). In the present embodiment, as a more preferable aspect, when the driver's line of sight is directed to the room mirror or the side mirror, it is not determined to be in the looking-aside state. Also, the driver is not determined to look aside when the driver's face is directed diagonally backward. When the driver's face is directed toward the front of the vehicle, it may be determined that the driver is looking at the front of the vehicle.

  Further, the behavior monitoring unit F4 determines that the driver is talking to the fellow passenger / singing a song when the microphone acquires the voice of the driver. If the microphone has not acquired the driver's speech, it may be determined that the driver is not speaking or singing with the passenger. It is preferable that data for identifying the voice of the driver and the voice of the other person (for example, voice data of the driver) is registered in advance. According to such an aspect, confusion between the voice of the driver and the voice of another occupant can be avoided.

  Further, the behavior monitoring unit F4 determines whether or not the driver is operating one hand based on the captured image of the upper body camera. The state of one-handed operation is a state where the handle is held with one hand. Whether or not one-handed operation is performed may be determined based on the detection result of the handle grip sensor.

  The behavior monitoring unit F4 may determine whether the posture of the driver is a predetermined inappropriate posture based on the captured image of the upper body camera. The inappropriate posture is a posture inappropriate for driving operation, for example, a posture leaning on an armrest or a backrest. The posture suitable for driving operation (hereinafter referred to as “appropriate posture”) is a posture in which the back is stretched. The state where the one-handed operation described above is performed also corresponds to an inappropriate driving posture.

  Whether the posture of the driver is an inappropriate posture or an appropriate posture may be determined based on detection results of the back pressure sensor and the seat pressure sensor. For example, when the pressure applied to the backrest by the back pressure sensor is below a predetermined threshold value and the center of the pressure distribution detected by the seat pressure sensor is located near the center of the seating surface in the vehicle width direction. Is determined to be a proper posture. When the pressure applied to the backrest by the back pressure sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or the center of the pressure distribution detected by the seat pressure sensor is biased to the right or left side of the seating surface What is necessary is just to determine with an inappropriate posture.

  In addition, the behavior monitoring unit F4 performs a process of specifying the content of the driving operation performed by the driver based on the detection value of the operation amount sensor such as a brake sensor. For example, the behavior monitoring unit F4 specifies the steering direction, the steering amount, the steering angular velocity, and the like of the driver from the detection value of the steering angle sensor. In addition, the behavior monitoring unit F4 specifies whether the deceleration operation is performed based on the detection value of the brake sensor or the detection value of the accelerator sensor. When the driver performs an operation for sounding the alarm device (hereinafter referred to as an alarm operation), the driver also detects that the alarm operation has been performed based on a signal indicating the operating state of the alarm device.

  As described above, the behavior monitoring unit F4 sequentially identifies the state of the driver, such as whether or not the vehicle is in an appropriate driving posture, whether or not an on-vehicle device is being operated, and the line-of-sight direction, and indicates the identification result. Data is sequentially stored in the driver state storage unit M1. In the driver state storage unit M1, data indicating the state of the driver within the latest fixed time is stored in chronological order.

  In addition, the behavior monitoring unit F4 includes an adaptive operation determination unit F41 and a preparation behavior determination unit F42 as sub-functions. The adaptive operation determination unit F41 determines whether or not the driver has performed a driving operation (hereinafter referred to as an adaptive operation) according to the information notified by the notification processing unit F31 when the notification processing unit F31 executes the alert processing. It is the structure to do. The driving operation according to the information notified by the notification processing unit F31 is a driving operation for avoiding a collision with a risk object or alleviating an impact at the time of the collision. For example, the adaptive operation when the possibility of a collision with the preceding vehicle is notified is a deceleration operation represented by depression of a brake pedal or the like. Note that the action of releasing the foot from the accelerator pedal may be set as an adaptive operation. Further, placing the foot on the brake pedal may be set as the adaptive operation.

  Furthermore, steering in a direction in which no risk object exists may be included in the adaptive operation. In that case, what is necessary is just to determine with adaptive operation having been performed when the risk detection part F2 determines that the possibility of the collision with a risk target object was lost as a result of steering.

  The preparation behavior determination unit F42 determines whether or not the driver has performed the preparation behavior for performing the adaptive operation after the notification processing unit F31 performs the alert processing until the driver performs the adaptive operation. It is the structure which determines.

  The preparatory actions for performing the adaptive operation include, for example, visual recognition of the direction of risk, interruption of the operation of the in-vehicle device, interruption of the operation of the mobile terminal, interruption of the conversation with the passenger, correction of the driving posture, and the like. For example, in a state where the driver before executing the alert processing is looking aside, if the adaptive operation is performed without directing the line of sight / face in the risk presence direction, it is determined that the preparatory action has not been performed. Whether or not the risk existence direction has been visually recognized may be specified from the detection result of the face camera or the captured image of the upper body camera as described above. The visual recognition determination unit F421 illustrated in FIG. 3 represents a functional block for determining whether or not the driver has visually recognized the risk existence direction.

  In addition, when the risk presence direction is a vehicle rear including an oblique rear, it is preferable that the behavior of looking at the rearview mirror or the side mirror is also included in the behavior of viewing the risk presence direction. Furthermore, in the configuration in which the captured image of the peripheral monitoring camera is displayed on the display 6, it is preferable that the behavior of viewing the display screen of the display 6 is also included in the visual recognition behavior.

  In addition, in the state where the driver is operating the in-vehicle device before executing the alert processing, if the adaptive operation is performed while continuing the operation of the in-vehicle device, it may be determined that the preparatory action has not been performed. Furthermore, in a state where the driver is operating the mobile terminal before executing the alert processing, if the adaptive operation is performed while the operation of the mobile terminal is continued, it is determined that the preparatory action has not been performed.

  In addition, even if it is determined that the preparatory action was not performed if the adaptive operation was performed while continuing the conversation with the passenger in the situation where the driver was speaking with the passenger before the warning process was executed Good. In addition, it is determined that the preparatory action was not performed when the adaptive operation was carried out while maintaining an inappropriate posture in the state of taking an inappropriate posture such as one-handed driving before the execution of the alert process. Also good.

  Operating the in-vehicle device via the input device 7 or a portable terminal, looking aside, being crazy about conversations with passengers, taking an inappropriate posture, etc. This is a relatively unsafe behavior compared to seeing. In the present embodiment, as an example, the preparatory action determination unit F42 determines that the preparatory action has been performed when all of the unsafe behavior that the driver has taken before the execution of the alert processing is resolved, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Absent. It may be determined that the preparatory action has been performed when a part of the unsafe behavior that the driver has taken before the execution of the alert process is resolved. Moreover, what is necessary is just to determine with the preparatory action having been implemented when the unsafe behavior mentioned above was not performed in the first place before alerting processing execution.

  For convenience, preparatory actions other than visual recognition of the direction of risk existence, such as interruption of the operation of the in-vehicle device, interruption of the operation of the portable terminal, interruption of the conversation with the passenger, and the like are referred to as sub-preparation actions. The sub-preparation action determination unit F422 illustrated in FIG. 3 is a functional block that determines whether or not the driver has performed the sub-preparation action. The sub preparation action determination unit F422 corresponds to the sub preparation action detection unit described in the claims. Note that the preparation action determination unit F42 does not necessarily have to determine all the types of preparation actions described above. For example, the preparation behavior determination unit F42 may include only one of the visual recognition determination unit F421 and the sub preparation behavior determination unit F422. The kind of preparation action which the preparation action determination part F42 determines should just be designed suitably. In other words, the behavior of the driver as the preparation behavior may be appropriately defined by the designer.

  The dependency degree evaluation unit F5 depends on the driver's driving support system 100 based on the determination result of the adaptive operation determination unit F41 and the determination result of the preparation action determination unit F42 (that is, the behavior of the driver) with respect to the output of the notification processing unit F31. Set the degree. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the degree of dependence is expressed in four stages from level 1 to level 4. Level 1 represents the state with the lowest dependency, and level 4 represents the state with the highest dependency. An example of the dependency calculation algorithm will be described later.

  The support mode adjustment unit F6 adjusts the value of the notification mode parameter based on the dependency level calculated by the dependency level evaluation unit F5. The notification mode parameters are various parameters that constitute a mode when the notification processing unit F31 notifies a risk object. The notification mode parameter includes, for example, a timing for outputting the alert information (hereinafter referred to as notification timing) and a strength of a stimulus given to the driver (hereinafter referred to as stimulus intensity).

  In addition, there exist a sound volume, a frequency, a blowing interval etc. as an element which comprises irritation | stimulation intensity | strength when alerting is implement | achieved by an alarm sound like this embodiment. The greater the volume, the higher the frequency, and the shorter the blowing interval, the higher the stimulation intensity. In addition, as another aspect, elements constituting the stimulus intensity when the notification medium is an image include an image display color, a blinking interval, and the like. The closer the display image color is to red and the shorter the blinking interval of the display image, the higher the stimulation intensity. When the notification medium is light, the stimulus intensity increases as the emission color is closer to red or the light blinking interval is shorter.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the support mode adjustment unit F <b> 6 of the present embodiment delays the notification timing and increases the stimulation intensity as the degree of dependence increases. Specifically, when the dependency is level 1, an alarm sound is output at a predetermined frequency. And the higher the dependency, the higher the frequency.

  When the dependency level is level 1, alert information is output at a predetermined timing (hereinafter, default timing) assuming that the driver dependency level is small. The default timing may be a timing at which TTC is 3 seconds, for example. And the alerting | reporting timing of alerting information is delayed, so that dependence is high. For example, when level 2 is TTC = 2.5 seconds, when level 3 is TTC = 2.0 seconds, when level 4 is TTC = 1.8 seconds .

  As the degree of dependence is higher, the notification timing is delayed, so that the driver can have more opportunities to feel a sense of crisis while driving the vehicle. As a result, it is possible to prevent the driver from overconfidencing the driving support system 100. The support mode adjustment unit F6 corresponds to the notification mode adjustment unit described in the claims.

<Dependency estimation related processing>
Next, the dependence estimation related processing performed by the driving support ECU 1 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. The dependency degree estimation related process is a process in which the driving support ECU 1 estimates the driver's dependence degree on the driving support system 100 and adjusts the notification mode parameter based on the estimation result. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 (in other words, the dependency degree estimation related process) may be started when a risk state is detected by the risk detection unit F2.

  First, in step S1, the dependency degree evaluation unit F5 sets a preparation action flag and an adaptive operation flag, which are flags used in the subsequent processes, to initialization (here, an off state), and proceeds to step S2. The preparation action flag is a flag indicating whether or not the driver has performed the preparation action. The preparation action determination unit F42 sets the preparation action flag to ON when it is determined that the driver has executed the preparation action. In other cases, the preparation action flag is set to OFF. The adaptive operation flag is a flag indicating whether or not the driver has performed an adaptive operation. The adaptive operation determination unit F41 sets the adaptive operation flag to ON when it is determined that the driver has performed the adaptive operation. In other cases, the adaptive operation flag is set to OFF.

  In step S2, the alerting | reporting process part F31 implements the alerting process according to the risk state detected by the risk detection part F2, and moves to step S3. For example, when the host vehicle is likely to collide with a preceding vehicle, warning information for making the driver aware of the presence of the preceding vehicle is output. The alerting process itself is executed based on the notification mode parameter corresponding to the currently set dependency. Specifically, an alarm sound having a predetermined frequency is output at the timing when the TTC with the preceding vehicle is set as the notification timing.

  In step S3, the preparation action determination unit F42 determines whether or not the driver has performed the preparation action. The algorithm for determining whether or not the preparatory action has been performed is as described above. If the preparation action flag has already been turned on at the time of transition to step S3 due to the subsequent execution of step S4, step S3 may be skipped and the process may proceed to step S5. That is, when the preparation action flag is set to ON, step S3 can be omitted.

  If it is determined that the preparatory action has been performed, an affirmative determination is made in step S3 and the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, if the execution of the preparatory action has not been detected yet, a negative determination is made in step S3 and the process proceeds to step S5. In step S4, the preparation action determination unit F42 sets the preparation action flag to ON and proceeds to step S5.

  In step S5, the adaptive operation determination unit F41 determines whether an adaptive operation has been performed. The algorithm for determining whether or not the adaptive operation has been performed is as described above. If it is determined that the adaptive operation has been performed, an affirmative determination is made in step S5 and the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if the execution of the adaptive operation has not been detected yet, a negative determination is made in step S5 and the process proceeds to step S3. In step S6, the adaptive operation determination unit F41 sets the adaptive operation flag to ON, and proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, the vehicle control unit F32 determines whether or not the control intervention condition is satisfied based on the detection result of the risk detection unit F2. If the control intervention condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S8, and an instruction signal is output to the travel control ECU 9 so as to execute vehicle control according to the current situation. For example, when the TTC with the preceding vehicle is within 1.5 seconds, the host vehicle is decelerated at a predetermined deceleration. In parallel with the deceleration control described above, vehicle control for steering the vehicle so as to move in a direction avoiding the risk target object (hereinafter referred to as steering control) may be performed. If the control intervention condition is not yet satisfied at the time of step S7, a negative determination is made in step S7, and the process proceeds to step S3. The case where the vehicle control condition is satisfied corresponds to the case where the driver does not execute an appropriate driving operation (that is, an adaptive operation) according to the information notified in the alerting process.

  In step S <b> 9, the dependency degree evaluation unit F <b> 5 sets the dependency degree based on the result of the series of processes described above, that is, the behavior of the driver with respect to the alerting process. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6 as an example, the dependence is determined based on the combination of the setting state of the preparation action flag (that is, on / off) and the on / off of the adaptive operation flag.

  Specifically, when the adaptive operation flag is set on and the preparation action flag is set on, the dependence is set to level 1. When the adaptive operation flag is set to ON and the preparation action flag is set to OFF, the dependence is set to level 2. When the adaptive operation flag is set to off and the preparation action flag is set to on, the dependence is set to level 3. When the adaptive operation flag is set to OFF and the preparation action flag is set to OFF, the dependency is set to level 4. When the process in step S9 is completed, the process proceeds to S10.

  In step S10, the support mode adjustment unit F6 adjusts the value of the notification mode parameter based on the dependency newly calculated by the dependency level evaluation unit F5 in step S9, and stores it in the support parameter storage unit M2. Thereby, the next alerting process is executed based on the notification mode determined by the current flow.

<Summary of Embodiment>
In the above configuration, the dependence is determined not only based on whether or not the adaptive operation has been performed, but also based on whether or not the preparatory action has been performed. The preparatory action here includes interruption of subtasks, correction of posture, visual observation of risk direction, and the like. A subtask refers to work other than driving operation such as operation of an in-vehicle device or operation of a mobile terminal.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to distinguish between the case where the avoidance action is performed while maintaining an unsafe state and the case where the avoidance action is performed after performing the preparatory operation such as the peripheral confirmation. Therefore, the driver's dependence on the driving support system 100 can be determined more appropriately.

  In addition, although the aspect which sets a dependence based on the behavior of the driver with respect to the alert information as support information was disclosed above, the support information is not limited to the alert information. When the host vehicle has an automatic driving function, the support information may be automatic driving enabled information indicating that the driver's seat authority can be transferred to the vehicle from the driver's seat passenger. Further, it may be replacement request information for requesting the driver's seat occupant to receive authority for driving operation.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, The various modifications described below are also contained in the technical scope of this invention, and also in addition to the following However, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  In addition, about the member which has the same function as the member described in the above-mentioned embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted. In addition, when only a part of the configuration is mentioned, the configuration of the above-described embodiment can be applied to the other portions.

[Modification 1]
In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the notification mode parameter is adjusted based only on the dependency degree is disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this. In addition to the degree of dependence, biometric information such as the driver's heart rate and breathing interval may be used to adjust the notification mode parameter. Since the biological information includes information that is not reflected as the driver's action, according to the above configuration, the dependence can be optimized more effectively by adjusting the notification mode. Hereinafter, the structure which adjusts an alerting | reporting aspect using the driver | operator's biometric information is described as the modification 1 below.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the driving support system 100 according to the first modification includes a biological information sensor 41 that detects biological information of a driver as the driver state sensor 4. Here, as an example, the biological information sensor 41 is a heart rate sensor that measures a heart rate. The detection result of the biological information sensor 41 is provided to the driving support ECU 1 sequentially (for example, every 100 milliseconds).

  In addition, what is necessary is just to design the kind of the biometric information sensor 41 suitably. For example, the biological information sensor 41 may be a sensor that detects blood pressure, cardiac potential, pulse wave, amount of sweat, body temperature, respiratory rhythm, respiratory depth, and the like.

  The behavior monitoring unit F4 in the first modification example sequentially acquires data indicating the heart rate of the driver from the biological information sensor 41 and sequentially stores the data in the driver state storage unit M1. In the driver state storage unit M1, data indicating the heart rate of the driver within the latest fixed time is stored in chronological order.

  The driving assistance ECU 1 in the first modification includes a near-miss determining unit F7 as a functional block. The near-miss determination unit F7 is configured to determine whether or not the driver has near-missed the risk state alerted by the notification processing unit F31, based on the temporal change of the driver's biological information (here, heart rate). The near-miss determining unit F7 may be realized by execution of software by the CPU 11, or may be realized as hardware using an IC or the like. Further, it may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

  The determination as to whether or not the driver has near-missed may be performed by a known method. For example, comparing the heart rate before executing the alert process with the heart rate after executing the alert process, and if the transient heart rate rises after executing the alert process, judge. A transient increase in heart rate refers to a change in which the heart rate temporarily rises above a predetermined threshold. Further, if the above-mentioned transient heart rate increase does not occur within a certain time (for example, 5 seconds) after executing the alerting process, it is determined that the near-miss has not occurred.

  In addition, when using the breathing interval (in other words, the speed of breathing) as biometric information, if the breathing interval after the alerting process is shorter than the breathing interval before executing the alerting process, What is necessary is just to determine that it was. Also, when using the breathing interval (in other words, the breathing rate) as biometric information, if the breathing interval after the alerting process is shorter than the breathing interval before executing the alerting process, What is necessary is just to determine that it was. When the depth of breathing (in other words, the amplitude of breathing) is used as biometric information, when the depth of breathing after the alerting process is shallower than the depth of breathing before the alerting process is executed What is necessary is just to determine with near-miss.

  The support mode adjustment unit F6 has a dependency level set by the dependency level evaluation unit F5 that is different from the level before the dependency level estimation related process is performed (that is, when the evaluation level of the dependency level has changed). ), And the notification mode parameter is set to a value corresponding to the new dependence degree. When there is no change in the dependency evaluation level, the notification mode is adjusted according to the presence or absence of a near-miss.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the adjustment amount of the notification mode according to the presence or absence of a near-miss. When the dependency is level 1 or level 2, when the driver is accidentally hated after the alert process, the driver is surprised by the risk situation itself, rather than the alarm sound output as the alert process. May be surprised. For this reason, when a near-miss is detected when the dependency level is level 1 or level 2, adjustment is performed to weaken the stimulation intensity by a predetermined amount from the original stimulation intensity. The original stimulus intensity here corresponds to the original (in other words, unadjusted) stimulus intensity corresponding to the degree of dependence.

  On the other hand, when the dependency level is level 1 and the driver does not close, there is a high possibility that the level 2 original notification mode is an appropriate mode for the driver. Therefore, the adjustment of the notification mode is not performed. However, if the driver is not close when the dependency level is level 2, the driver may have become accustomed to the level 2 original notification mode. Therefore, an adjustment is made so that the stimulus intensity is stronger than the original stimulus intensity of level 2.

  When the dependency level is level 3 or level 4, when the driver is accidentally shut down after the alert process, the risk state itself is not astonished by the alarm sound output as the alert process. More likely to be surprised. In the case where the dependency level is set to level 3 and the driver near-misses, although the driver dependency level is high, it can be expected that the dependency level is lowered by the near-miss. Therefore, the notification mode is the same as the level 3 notification mode (that is, not adjusted).

  In the case where the dependency level is set to level 4 and the driver near-misses, although the driver dependency level is high, it can be expected that the dependency level is lowered by the near-miss. Therefore, the stimulation intensity remains at the original stimulation intensity of level 4. However, the notification timing is adjusted to be advanced by a predetermined amount from the original notification timing of level 4. In such a setting, it takes a long time for the driver to recognize and judge the surrounding situation, and the opportunity to try to avoid collision with the risk object with his / her own hand increases. As a result, it can be expected that the driver's consciousness to avoid the risk state with his / her own hand without relying on the driving support system 100 is strengthened. That is, according to the above setting, an effect of further reducing the dependency can be expected.

  In the case where the dependency is set to level 3, if the driver does not near-miss, the driver may have become accustomed to the level 3 original notification mode. Therefore, the adjustment is made so that the stimulation intensity is higher than the original level 3 stimulation intensity. Also, adjustment is made so that the notification timing is also later than the original notification timing of level 3.

  In the case where the dependency is set to level 4, if the driver does not close, the driver may be used to the alerting process. Therefore, the execution of the alerting process itself is stopped, and the driver is encouraged to acquire the habit of checking the surroundings by himself / herself.

  The above-described configuration disclosed as the modified example 1 also has the same effect as the above-described embodiment. Also, according to the configuration of the first modification, the driver dependency can be more effectively shifted to an appropriate level as compared with the embodiment.

[Modification 2]
In the above-described embodiment and the first modification, the mode in which the notification mode parameter is adjusted according to the dependency is disclosed, but the vehicle that defines the mode when the vehicle control unit F32 performs the vehicle control according to the dependency. Control parameters may be adjusted. The vehicle control parameter is a part of the support parameter and is stored in the support parameter storage unit M2.

  The vehicle control parameter is set for each content of vehicle control. For example, vehicle control parameters for deceleration control include a value of TTC for starting deceleration (in other words, a control intervention condition), deceleration, and the like. The higher the dependency, the slower the timing for starting deceleration and the larger the deceleration. Further, the vehicle control parameters for the steering control include a TTC value for starting the steering control, a steering angular velocity, and the like. The higher the dependency, the slower the timing for starting the steering control and the larger the rotational angular velocity.

[Modification 3]
The risk detection unit F2 may detect a state where the driver is performing an unsafe driving operation such as overspeed as a risk state. Specifically, the risk detection unit F2 determines that the traveling state of the host vehicle is in a risk state when the traveling speed of the host vehicle exceeds a speed limit by a predetermined speed (for example, 20 km / h). . This is because when the traveling speed of the host vehicle exceeds the speed limit, the probability of occurrence of an accident is higher than when the vehicle travels in compliance with the speed limit. In addition, what is necessary is just to acquire the traveling speed of the own vehicle from the vehicle speed sensor as the vehicle state sensor 3.

  In the case where a state in which the speed limit is exceeded is detected, the notification processing unit F31 in this modification notifies the user by outputting an alarm sound or a voice message indicating that fact from the speaker 5 as alert information.

  The adaptive operation with respect to the information output indicating that the speed limit is exceeded is an operation for reducing the traveling speed. For example, an operation of releasing a foot from an accelerator pedal, an operation of operating an engine brake, an operation of placing a foot on a brake pedal, or an operation of depressing a brake pedal. Each operation may be detected by a known vehicle-mounted sensor. When the traveling speed is reduced to the speed limit, it may be determined that the adaptive operation for the overspeed state is performed.

  The preparatory actions for performing the adaptive operation include confirmation of a traveling speed indicated by a meter, confirmation of a speed limit of a road that is currently traveling, confirmation of surrounding traffic conditions, and the like. Whether or not the traveling speed indicated by the meter or the like has been confirmed may be specified by the driver's line-of-sight direction. The driver's line-of-sight direction may be specified by a face camera or an upper body camera.

[Modification 4]
In the above-described embodiment, the aspect in which the dependency is evaluated in four stages of levels 1 to 4 is disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the dependence degree may be evaluated in three stages of levels 1 to 3. In addition, when the adaptive operation flag is set on and the preparation action flag is set off, and when the adaptive operation flag is set off and the preparation action flag is set on. The same dependency (specifically, level 2) may be set. The fact that the adaptive operation is performed without performing the preparatory action is to suggest a state where the information presentation by the driving support ECU 1 is excessively reliable. FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the above-described determination rule.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the dependency when the adaptive operation flag is set to off and the preparation action flag is set to on depends on whether the driver visually views the risk target direction as the preparation action. It may be determined. Specifically, when the driver does not look at the risk target direction as the preparation action, the dependence is set to the highest level (for example, level 3).

  On the other hand, when the driver visually observes the risk target direction as the preparation action, the dependence is set to the lowest level (that is, level 1). This is because the risk detection by the risk detection unit F2 may be erroneous if the driver does not perform the adaptive operation even though the driver is viewing the risk target direction. However, when the vehicle control by the vehicle control unit F32 is finally executed, it means that the detection result of the risk detection unit F2 is correct. Therefore, the dependency is preferably set to level 3. According to the above configuration, the dependency can be determined more appropriately.

  In addition, even when the driver performs the adaptation operation after performing the preparatory action, even if the driver changes the dependency between the case where the driver visually recognizes the risk existence direction and the case where the driver performs only the sub-preparation action. good. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, when the adaptive operation is performed after visually recognizing the risk existence direction, the dependence when the adaptive operation is performed after performing only the sub-preparation action without visually recognizing the risk existence direction is performed. Set to a higher level than. Of course, the degree of dependence when performing adaptive operations without taking any preparatory actions is set to a higher level than when performing adaptive operations after performing only the sub-preparatory actions without visually recognizing the direction of risk. do it.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Driving assistance system, 1 Driving assistance ECU, 2 Perimeter monitoring sensor, 3 Vehicle state sensor, 4 Driver state sensor, 5 Speaker, 6 Display, 7 Input device, 8 Near field communication part, 9 Travel control ECU, F1 Surrounding object information Acquisition unit, F2 risk detection unit, F3 support processing unit, F4 behavior monitoring unit (driver state specifying unit), F5 dependency evaluation unit, F6 support mode adjustment unit (notification mode adjustment unit), F7 near miss determination unit, M1 driver status Storage unit, M2 support parameter storage unit, F31 notification processing unit, F32 vehicle control unit, F41 adaptive operation determination unit, F42 preparation behavior determination unit, F421 visual recognition determination unit, F422 sub-preparation behavior determination unit (sub-preparation behavior detection unit)

Claims (7)

A risk detection unit (F2) that detects a risk object that is an object that may collide with the vehicle, based on output data of a surrounding monitoring sensor that acquires information about an external environment of the vehicle;
A notification processing unit (F31) that notifies the driver of information indicating the presence of the risk object detected by the risk detection unit as support information;
The driver state is sequentially identified based on an operation amount sensor that outputs information indicating the content of the driving operation performed by the driver and a signal input from a device that outputs information indicating the driver state. A driver state identification unit (F4) to perform,
An adaptive operation determination unit (F41) that determines whether or not the driver has performed an adaptive operation that is a driving operation according to the content of the support information, based on the identification result of the driver state identification unit;
A preparation action determination unit (F42) for determining whether or not the driver has performed a preparation action for performing the adaptive operation based on the identification result of the driver state identification unit;
A dependence evaluation unit (F5) that calculates a dependence on the driving support system that supports the driving operation of the driver based on the determination result of the adaptive operation determination unit and the determination result of the preparation action determination unit. The dependence estimation apparatus characterized by the above. In claim 1,
When the driver performs the adaptive operation without performing the preparation action, the dependency degree evaluation unit is more dependent than the case where the driver performs the adaptive operation after the driver performs the preparation action. A dependency estimation device characterized in that the degree is set to a high level. In claim 1 or 2,
As the preparatory action, interruption of the operation of the electronic device mounted on the vehicle, interruption of conversation with the passenger, transition to a posture suitable for driving operation, and risk in which the risk object exists A dependence degree estimating device in which at least one of visual recognition of a presence direction is set. In any one of Claims 1-3,
The risk detection unit specifies a risk existence direction that is a direction in which the risk object exists based on output data of the surrounding monitoring sensor,
The preparatory action determination unit
A visual recognition determination unit (F421) that determines whether or not the risk existence direction has been visually recognized based on a captured image of a camera that captures an area including the face portion of the driver;
Sub-preparation action detection for detecting at least one of interruption of operation of an electronic device mounted on the vehicle, interruption of conversation with a passenger, and transition to a posture suitable for driving operation as sub-preparation action Part (F422),
The dependence evaluation unit
The dependence when the adaptive operation is performed after performing the sub-preparation action without performing the visual recognition of the risk existence direction is performed, and the adaptive operation is performed after the driver visually recognizes the risk existence direction. Set to a level higher than the dependence on
The dependence when the driver performs the adaptive operation without performing both the sub-preparation action and the risk existence direction visual recognition is determined as follows. A dependency level estimation apparatus that is set to a level higher than that when the adaptive operation is performed after being implemented. In any one of Claims 1-4,
The risk detection unit sequentially calculates a remaining collision time, which is a remaining time until the risk object collides with the vehicle, based on a relative speed of the risk object with respect to the vehicle,
Vehicle control for implementing vehicle control for avoiding collision of the risk object or mitigating impact at the time of collision when the remaining collision time calculated by the risk detection unit is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value Part (F32),
The dependence degree estimation device, wherein the dependence degree is set to the highest level when the vehicle control by the vehicle control unit is activated. In any one of Claim 1 to 5,
A dependency degree estimation apparatus comprising: a notification mode adjustment unit (F6) that adjusts a mode for reporting the support information based on the dependency level set by the dependency level evaluation unit. In claim 6,
The said notification aspect adjustment part delays the timing which alert | reports the said assistance information, so that the said dependence degree is high, The dependence degree estimation apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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