JP2023006970A - Driving support control device and driving support control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To appropriately support driving according to emotion of a driver.SOLUTION: A driving support control device comprises: a biological information acquiring unit that acquires biological information of a driver of a vehicle in current and past predetermined periods; an emotion determination unit that determines an emotional level indicating a degree of emotion of the driver in the current and past predetermined periods based on the biological information acquired by the biological information acquisition unit; a driving condition prediction unit that predicts a driving condition of the vehicle based on the emotional levels of the driver in the current and past predetermined periods when the current emotional level of the driver is determined to be equal to or higher than a first threshold; a driving support determination unit that determines whether or not a driving support of the vehicle is required based on the result of prediction of the driving condition of the vehicle by the driving condition prediction unit, and determines the content of the driving support of the vehicle when the driving support of the vehicle is required; and a driving support execution unit that executes the driving support determined by the driving support determination unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a driving assistance control device and a driving assistance control method.

Techniques for estimating a user's emotion are known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique of reflecting past estimation results of a user's emotional state when estimating the user's emotional state based on transmission information transmitted by the user.

JP 2017-29386 A

If the driver becomes irritated or changes his/her emotions, there is a risk that the driver may engage in so-called dangerous driving, such as driving in a rush or intentionally interrupting the vehicle. Dangerous driving may induce an accident of own vehicle or other vehicle. Therefore, it is desired to appropriately determine the change in the driver's emotion and to assist the driving according to the determined emotion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a driving assistance control device and a driving assistance control method that can appropriately assist driving in accordance with the emotions of the driver.

A driving support control device according to the present invention includes a biological information acquisition unit that acquires current and past biological information of a vehicle driver for a predetermined period of time; an emotion determination unit that determines an emotion level indicating the degree of emotion of the driver during the predetermined period of time in the past; a driving situation prediction unit that predicts the driving situation of the vehicle based on the emotion level in the predetermined period in the past; a driving assistance determination unit that determines whether or not driving assistance is necessary, and determines the content of the driving assistance for the vehicle when the driving assistance for the vehicle is required; and execution of the driving assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit. and a driving assistance execution unit.

A driving support control method according to the present invention includes the steps of acquiring current and past predetermined periods of biological information of a driver of a vehicle; a step of determining an emotion level indicating the degree of emotion of the driver, and if the current emotion level of the driver is determined to be equal to or greater than a first threshold value, based on the current and past emotion levels of the driver during the predetermined period of time a step of predicting a driving situation of the vehicle; determining whether or not driving assistance of the vehicle is required based on the predicted result of the driving situation of the vehicle; determining content of driving assistance for the vehicle; and executing the determined driving assistance.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a driving|operation can be assisted appropriately according to a driver|operator's emotion.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of driving support control processing according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining an emotion level according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining past emotion levels according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a pattern of contents of driving assistance according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a first pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a second pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a third pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a fourth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a fifth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a sixth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a seventh pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an eighth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving support system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of driving support control processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving support system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of driving support control processing according to the third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the present invention is not limited by this embodiment, and in the following embodiments, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, thereby omitting redundant explanations.

[First embodiment]
(Driver support system)
A configuration example of the driving support system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving support system according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the driving assistance system 1 includes an imaging device 10 , a biosensor 12 , and a driving assistance device 14 . The imaging device 10 and the driving assistance device 14, and the biosensor 12 and the driving assistance device 14 are connected so that various data can be communicated.

The imaging device 10 includes a first camera 10a and a second camera 10b.

The first camera 10a is a camera that photographs the surroundings of the vehicle. The first camera 10a is composed of, for example, a group of cameras that capture front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle. The first camera 10a may be composed of, for example, a single camera capable of capturing an entire sky. The first camera 10a may be, for example, a single camera that captures only one direction in front of the vehicle. The first camera 10a may have, for example, a microphone that picks up sounds around the vehicle.

The second camera 10b is a camera that is arranged to face the interior of the vehicle and captures the interior of the vehicle. The second camera 10b captures, for example, at least the face (expression, eye movement) of the driver of the vehicle. The second camera 10b is, for example, a wide-angle camera capable of photographing a range of approximately 180 degrees. The second camera 10b may be composed of, for example, a group of cameras. The second camera 10b may have, for example, a microphone that picks up sound inside the vehicle.

The biosensor 12 is a sensor that detects the biometric information of the driver of the vehicle. The biosensor 12 is, for example, a wearable device worn on the body of the driver of the vehicle. The biosensor 12 is attached to, for example, the arm, finger, body, etc. of the driver of the vehicle, but may be attached to other parts of the body. The biosensor 12 detects the biometric information of the driver of the vehicle at predetermined intervals, for example, and stores the detection result. The biosensor 12 is composed of, for example, an electroencephalogram sensor, a pulse sensor, a blood pressure sensor, a body temperature sensor, a perspiration sensor, etc., but may be composed of a sensor that detects other biometric information. Specifically, the biosensor 12 is, for example, a sensor that detects biometric information that can predict the emotions of the driver of the vehicle.

The driving support device 14 is mounted on the vehicle. The driving support device 14 may be a device mounted on the vehicle, or may be a portable device that can be used in the vehicle. The driving support device 14 is a device that executes driving support according to the present and past emotional levels of the driver who drives the vehicle.

The driving support device 14 includes an input unit 20 , a display unit 22 , an audio output unit 24 , a storage unit 26 , a communication unit 28 and a control unit (driving support control device) 30 .

The input unit 20 receives various operations for the driving assistance device 14 . The input unit 20 is composed of various input devices such as buttons, switches, and a touch panel.

The display unit 22 displays various images. The display unit 22 can function as a notification unit that notifies the driver of the content of the driving assistance, for example, by displaying the content of the driving assistance as an image. The display unit 22 is a display including, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence), a head-up display, or the like.

The audio output unit 24 outputs various sounds. The audio output unit 24 can function as a notification unit that notifies the driver of the content of the driving assistance by, for example, outputting the content of the driving assistance by voice. The audio output unit 24 is composed of, for example, a speaker mounted on the vehicle.

The storage unit 26 is a memory that stores various information. The storage unit 26 stores, for example, information such as calculation contents of the control unit 30 and programs. The storage unit 26 includes, for example, at least one of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a main storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an external storage device such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

The communication unit 28 transmits and receives data to and from an external device. The communication unit 28 transmits and receives data to and from the imaging device 10 and the biosensor 12, for example. The communication unit 28 is configured to perform communication by methods such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) and Bluetooth (registered trademark).

The control unit 30 controls operations of each unit of the driving support device 14 . The control unit 30 is implemented by, for example, executing a program stored in the storage unit 26 or the like by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or the like, using a RAM or the like as a work area. The control unit 30 may be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The control unit 30 may be realized by a combination of hardware and software.

The control unit 30 includes a video data acquisition unit 40 , a biological information acquisition unit 42 , an emotion determination unit 44 , a driving situation prediction unit 46 , a driving assistance determination unit 48 and a driving assistance execution unit 50 .

The video data acquisition unit 40 acquires video data from the imaging device 10 . The image data acquisition unit 40 acquires, for example, image data obtained by imaging the surroundings of the vehicle from the first camera 10a. The image data acquisition unit 40 acquires, for example, image data of the interior of the vehicle from the second camera 10b.

The biometric information acquisition unit 42 acquires the biometric information of the vehicle driver from the biosensor 12 . The biometric information acquisition unit 42 acquires, for example, the current biometric information of the driver of the vehicle and the biometric information of the user for a predetermined period in the past. The past predetermined period includes a period during which the user did not get on the vehicle.

The emotion determination unit 44 determines the emotion level of the driver of the vehicle. The emotion determination unit 44 determines, for example, the emotion level of the driver of the vehicle at present and during a predetermined period in the past. The emotion determination unit 44 determines the emotion level of the vehicle driver, for example, based on the vehicle driver's biological information acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 42 . The emotion determination unit 44 determines whether the emotion of the vehicle driver is joy, anger, sorrow, or comfort, for example, based on the biometric information of the vehicle driver. The emotion determination unit 44 determines, for example, an emotion level that indicates the degree to which the driver feels "happiness" or "happiness" as the emotion of joy. The emotion determination unit 44 determines, for example, an emotion level indicating the degree to which the driver feels "anger", "worry", or "uncomfortable" as an emotion of anger. The emotion determination unit 44 determines, for example, an emotion level indicating the degree of feeling of "sadness" or "depression" of the driver as the emotion of sorrow. The emotion determination unit 44 determines, for example, an emotion level that indicates the degree to which the driver feels "joy", "satisfaction", or "relieved" as the feeling of ease. In the present embodiment, the emotion determination unit 44 preferably determines, for example, emotions such as anger and sorrow, which are assumed to have a high possibility of inducing dangerous driving. For example, the emotion determination unit 44 determines the emotion of joy or comfort because it is assumed that there is a high possibility that attention will be distracted and dangerous driving will be induced even when excited, happy, or having fun. may

The driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts the driving situation of the vehicle after a predetermined period of time has passed. The driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts the driving situation of the vehicle after the lapse of a predetermined period of time, based on the determination result of the emotion level of the vehicle driver by the emotion determination unit 44, for example. In this embodiment, the driving situation includes information indicating the possibility of dangerous driving and a dangerous driving state.

The driving assistance determination unit 48 determines whether or not to perform driving assistance. When it is determined that the driving assistance is to be provided, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines the content of the driving assistance to the driver of the vehicle. The driving assistance determination unit 48 determines the content of the driving assistance based on the prediction result of the driving situation of the vehicle by the driving situation prediction unit 46, for example.

The driving support execution unit 50 executes driving support for the driver of the vehicle. The driving assistance execution unit 50 executes driving assistance based on the determination result of the driving assistance content determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48 . The driving support execution unit 50 includes a vehicle control unit 50a and a notification control unit 50b.

The vehicle control unit 50 a controls the vehicle based on the determination result of the driving assistance content determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48 . The vehicle control unit 50a, for example, controls the engine to limit acceleration, and controls the brake mechanism to assist deceleration.

The notification control unit 50b performs notification based on the determination result of the content of the driving assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48. FIG. For example, the notification control unit 50b controls the display unit 22 to display the notification content, and controls the audio output unit 24 to output the notification content by voice.

(Driving support control processing)
A processing flow of the driving support control according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of driving support control processing according to the first embodiment.

The biometric information acquisition unit 42 acquires the biometric information of the driver of the vehicle (step S10). Specifically, the biometric information acquisition unit 42 acquires current and past biometric information of the vehicle driver from the biosensor 12 worn by the vehicle driver. Then, the process proceeds to step S12.

The emotion determination unit 44 determines the current emotion level of the driver of the vehicle (step S12). Specifically, the emotion determination unit 44 determines the emotional level of the driver, for example, based on the current biological information of the driver acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 42 . For example, the emotion determination unit 44 determines whether the driver's Determine your current emotional level. The reference value of biometric information may be biometric information when there is no feeling of emotion. The biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit 42 in this case may be a weak detection result. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining an emotion level according to the first embodiment. For example, when the current emotion level of the driver slightly changes from the reference value, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the driver's emotion level is "low." The emotion level "low" is also called the first threshold of the emotion level. For example, when the driver's emotional level changes from normal to moderate, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the driver's emotional level is "medium." The "middle" emotional level is also called the second emotional level threshold. The "medium" emotional level is an emotional level that may impair safe driving. For example, when the driver's emotional level changes significantly from normal, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the driver's emotional level is "high". In the first embodiment, the emotion determination unit 44 determines whether the driver's emotion level is "normal", "low", "medium" or "high". Not limited. The emotion determination unit 44 may, for example, quantitatively calculate the driver's emotion level as a numerical value. The emotion determination unit 44 may calculate the driver's emotion level based on, for example, the driver's electroencephalogram, pulse value, blood pressure, body temperature, sweating amount, etc. acquired by the biological information acquisition unit 42 . The emotion determination unit 44 may determine the emotion level of the driver, for example, based on video data obtained by imaging the expression of the driver. Then, the process proceeds to step S14.

Note that the emotion determination unit 44 may determine the emotion level of the driver, for example, based on image data of the driver captured by the second camera 10b while driving. The emotion determination unit 44 may, for example, extract the facial expression of the driver from the video data of the driver and determine the current emotional level of the driver. The emotion determination unit 44 may determine the emotion level of the driver by, for example, analyzing the gesture of the driver from the video data of the driver. The emotion determination unit 44 may determine the emotion level of the driver, for example, based on dictionary data that determines the emotion from the driver's gestures. The emotion determination unit 44 may determine the user's emotion level using, for example, a machine learning model that predicts the user's emotion level based on the user's biological information. The machine learning model can be a model that inputs the user's biometric information and outputs prediction results of the user's emotion type and emotion level.

Return to FIG. The emotion determination unit 44 determines whether or not the current emotion level of the driver of the vehicle is equal to or greater than the first threshold (step S14). If it is determined that the current emotion level of the driver is equal to or higher than the first threshold (step S14; Yes), the process proceeds to step S16. If it is not determined that the current emotion level of the driver is equal to or higher than the first threshold (step S14; No), the process proceeds to step S30.

When it is determined as Yes in step S14, the emotion determination unit 44 determines the emotion level of the driver of the vehicle in the past predetermined period (step S16). Specifically, the emotion determining unit 44 determines the emotional level of the driver, for example, based on the driver's past predetermined period of time biological information acquired by the biological information acquiring unit 42 . FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining past emotion levels according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 shows the detection result of the driver's biometric information by the biosensor 12. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows changes in detection results of the vehicle driver's biological information over a predetermined period of time in the past. In FIG. 4, it is assumed that time t8 is now, and the period from time t1 to time t8 is a predetermined past period. The predetermined period of time in the past is, for example, from the present to about 12 hours ago, but is not limited to this. The past predetermined period may be arbitrarily set according to, for example, the character of the driver of the vehicle. For example, if the driver has a worrisome character, the past predetermined period may be up to about 12 hours ago. For example, if the driver has an optimistic personality, the past predetermined period may be up to about 30 minutes ago.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "low" during the period from time t1 to time t2, for example. For example, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "normal" during the period from time t2 to time t3. The emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "low" during the period from time t3 to time t4, for example. For example, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "medium" during the period from time t4 to time t5. The emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "high" during the period from time t5 to time t6, for example. For example, the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "medium" during the period from time t6 to time t7. The emotion determination unit 44 determines that the emotion level of the vehicle driver is "low" during the period from time t7 to time t8, for example. The emotion determination unit 44 determines the number of times the emotion level is determined to be "low", the number of times the emotion level is determined to be "medium", and the emotion level "high" from time t1 to time t8. Calculate the number of times determined to be As will be described later, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines the content of driving assistance based on the number of times each emotion level has been determined. For example, the emotion determination unit 44 equally divides the period from time t1 to time t8 at predetermined time intervals, and counts the number of times the emotion level is determined to be “low” and The number of times the emotion level is determined to be "medium" and the number of times the emotion level is determined to be "high" may be calculated. There is no particular limitation on the predetermined time interval. For example, by equally dividing the period from time t1 to time t8 by 100, the emotional level may be finely determined.

The emotion determination unit 44, for example, calculates the area of the portion exceeding the threshold line indicating "low", "medium", and "high" for each emotion level of "low", "medium", and "high", An emotional level may be determined. Specifically, the emotion determination unit 44 determines, for example, between time t1 and time t2, between time t3 and time t4, between time t4 and time t5, between time t5 and time t6, and between time t6 and time t7. Between time t7 and time t8, the area of the hatched portion may be calculated for each emotion level of "low", "medium", and "high" to determine the emotion level of the driver. The method by which the emotion determination unit 44 determines the emotion level of the driver during the predetermined period in the past is the same as the method in step S12, so the description is omitted. Then, the process proceeds to step S18.

Return to FIG. The emotion determination unit 44 determines whether or not the driver of the vehicle had an emotion level equal to or higher than the second threshold during a predetermined past period (step S18). Specifically, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines, for example, whether or not the driver's emotion level was "medium" or higher during a predetermined period in the past. If it is determined that the emotion level of the driver was equal to or higher than the second threshold during the past predetermined period (step S18; Yes), the process proceeds to step S20. If it is not determined that the emotion level of the driver was equal to or higher than the second threshold during the past predetermined period (step S18; No), the process proceeds to step S22.

If it is determined as Yes in step S18, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts the driving situation of the vehicle based on the emotional level of the driver of the vehicle at present and in the past for a predetermined period (step S20). Specifically, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts a driving risk indicating the possibility of impairing safety, for example, based on the emotional level of the vehicle driver at present and in the past for a predetermined period. More specifically, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts, for example, three levels of driving risk: "low", "middle", and "high". A "low" driving risk indicates that the driver is less likely to compromise safety. A "moderate" driving risk indicates that the driver is moderately likely to compromise safety. A "high" driving risk indicates that the driver is likely to compromise safety. Then, the process proceeds to step S26.

When determined as No in step S18, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines whether or not driving assistance is required (step S22). Specifically, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that driving assistance is necessary when, for example, the current emotional level of the driver is "medium" or higher. That is, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that driving assistance is not necessary when an emotional level of "medium" or higher has not been detected within a predetermined period of time in the past and the current emotional level is "low" or lower. judge. If it is determined that driving assistance is required (step S22; Yes), the process proceeds to step S24. If it is not determined that driving assistance is required (step S22; No), the process proceeds to step S30.

If it is determined as Yes in step S22, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts the driving situation based on the current emotional level of the driver of the vehicle (step S24). Specifically, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts the driving risk based on, for example, the current emotional level of the driver of the vehicle. Then, the process proceeds to step S26.

After step S20 or step S24, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines the content of driving assistance (step S26). Specifically, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines the content of the driving assistance based on the prediction result of the driving situation prediction unit 46 . The driving assistance determination unit 48 determines, for example, the content of information to be notified to the driver and the content of vehicle control as the content of driving assistance. The driving assistance determination unit 48 determines, for example, the content of notification and the content of vehicle control in two stages of "middle" and "high". When the content of the notification is "medium", an example is calling attention to the driver, but it is not limited to this. When the content of the notification is "high", a rest warning to the driver is exemplified, but not limited to this. Examples of vehicle control contents include, but are not limited to, engine control, brake control, and warning processing control for the driver when an object is detected outside the vehicle. When the content of vehicle control is "medium" or "high", the degree of strength of control changes. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a pattern of contents of driving assistance according to the first embodiment. As shown in the pattern information 60, in the first embodiment, there are eight possible patterns of driving assistance contents, from the first pattern to the eighth pattern. Eight patterns of the content of driving assistance will be described below, but the content of driving assistance is not limited to these. In FIGS. 6 to 13, the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is emotion level, and the number of times the emotion level is detected as "low", "medium", or "high" and the time are shown in bar graphs. ing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a first pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. In the first pattern, the determination result of the current emotion level of the driver is "low", and the emotion level is determined to be "high" once in the past within the past predetermined period T. Indicates the content of driving support. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "medium". The driving assistance determination unit 48 determines the content of driving assistance based on the determined current emotional level, the determined number of past emotional levels, and the predicted driving risk. In the first pattern, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines that the degree of notification content is "medium" and the degree of vehicle control content is "medium" in the driving support.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a second pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. In the second pattern, the determination result of the current emotion level of the driver is "low", and the emotion level is determined to be "medium" once in the past within the predetermined period T in the past. Indicates the content of driving support. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "low". In the second pattern, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines that the degree of notification content is “no” and the degree of vehicle control content is “no” among the driving assistance. That is, in the case of the second pattern, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines not to perform vehicle control because the driver is unlikely to impair safety.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a third pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. In the third pattern, the determination result of the driver's current emotion level is "low", and the emotion level is determined to be "medium" twice in the past within the past predetermined period T. Indicates the content of driving support. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "medium". In the fourth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the degree of notification content is "medium" and the degree of vehicle control content is "medium" in the driving support. That is, in the case of the third pattern, when the emotion level is "medium" multiple times within the predetermined period T, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines and determines that driving assistance is required. It should be noted that the number of times the emotion level is in the state of "medium" within the predetermined time period T at which it is determined that driving assistance is required may be settable according to the driver.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a fourth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. The fourth pattern is that the determination result of the current emotional level of the driver is "low", and the state of the emotional level "medium" has continued for a predetermined time or more in the past within the predetermined period T. The content of the driving support when it is determined is shown. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "medium". In the fourth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the degree of notification content is "medium" and the degree of vehicle control content is "medium" in the driving support. That is, in the fourth pattern, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines that driving assistance is necessary when the emotion level has been in the "medium" state for a predetermined period of time T or longer. It should be noted that the duration of the state in which the emotional level is "medium" within the predetermined period T, for which it is determined that driving assistance is required, may be set according to the driver.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a fifth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. A fifth pattern indicates that the determination result of the current emotional level of the driver is "low" and that the emotional level has been "high" for a predetermined period of time or more in the past within a predetermined period T. The content of the driving support when it is determined is shown. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "high". In the fifth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the level of notification content is "high" and the level of vehicle control content is "high" among the driving assistance. That is, in the fifth pattern, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines that driving assistance is particularly necessary when the emotional level has been in a "high" state for a predetermined period of time T or longer. In the fifth pattern, the strength of driving assistance is increased. It should be noted that the duration of the state in which the emotional level is "high" within the predetermined period T, for which it is determined that driving assistance is particularly necessary, may be set according to the driver. Also, the duration of the state in which the emotional level is "high" may be the same as or different from the duration of the state in which the emotional level is "medium" in the fourth pattern. For example, safety may be improved by shortening the duration of the state in which the emotional level is "high" than the duration of the state in which the emotional level is "medium" in the fourth pattern. good.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a sixth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. In the sixth pattern, the driver's current emotion level determination result is "low", and the emotion level is determined to be "high" twice in the past within the past predetermined period T. Indicates the content of driving support. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "high". In the sixth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the level of notification content is "high" and the level of vehicle control content is "high" among the driving assistance. That is, in the sixth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that driving assistance is particularly necessary when the emotional level is "high" multiple times within the predetermined time period T.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a seventh pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. In the seventh pattern, the determination result of the driver's current emotional level is "medium", and the emotional level is determined to be "high" once in the past within the predetermined period T in the past. Indicates the content of driving support. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 determines that the driving risk is "high". In the seventh pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the degree of notification content is "high" and the degree of vehicle control content is "high" among the driving assistance.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an eighth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. The eighth pattern indicates that the determination result of the current emotional level of the driver is "medium", and the emotional level was any of "high", "medium", and "low" in the past within the past predetermined period T. The content of the driving support is shown when the state is not determined either. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "medium". In the eighth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the level of notification content is "high" and the level of vehicle control content is "high" among the driving assistance. That is, when the current emotional level of the driver is determined to be "medium", the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that driving assistance is necessary regardless of the emotional level during the past predetermined period.

Return to FIG. After step S26, the driving assistance execution unit 50 executes driving assistance (step S28). Specifically, the driving assistance execution unit 50 executes driving assistance according to the details of the driving assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48 in step S26. More specifically, the vehicle control unit 50a controls the vehicle according to the details of the driving assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48 in step S26. The notification control unit 50b controls at least one of the display unit 22 and the audio output unit 24 according to the content of the driving assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48 in step S26, and outputs the content of notification. Then, the process proceeds to step S30.

After step S28, if No is determined in step S14 or if No is determined in step S22, the control unit 30 determines whether or not to end the process (step S30). Specifically, the control unit 30 determines to end the processing when receiving an operation to end the processing or when receiving an operation to turn off the power. It is also determined that the process is finished when the driver's current and past emotions have become normal after the execution of the driving assistance. If it is determined to end the process (step S30; Yes), the process of FIG. 2 ends. If it is not determined to end the process (step S30; No), the process proceeds to step S10.

As described above, the first embodiment determines the content of driving assistance based on the current emotional level of the driver of the vehicle and the emotional level of the driver during a predetermined period in the past. As a result, the first embodiment can appropriately assist driving in accordance with the driver's emotions, so that the safety of the vehicle can be improved.

[Modification of First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment described above, the driving assistance system 1 is described as performing driving assistance to the driver when the vehicle is traveling. The driving assistance system 1 may perform parking assistance when the driver parks the vehicle.

When the emotion level of the driver when parking the vehicle is equal to or higher than the first threshold and the emotion level has been determined to be equal to or higher than the second threshold during a predetermined period in the past, the driving assistance device 14 performs parking assistance. may be executed.

Specifically, the emotion determination unit 44 determines the current emotion level of the driver and the emotion level of the past predetermined period when the driver parks the car. If the emotion determination unit 44 determines that the current emotion level of the driver is greater than or equal to the first threshold and that the emotion level is greater than or equal to the second threshold during a predetermined period in the past, the driving assistance determination unit 48 performs parking assistance. determine the content of The driving assistance execution unit 50 executes the parking assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48 . As a result, the modified example of the first embodiment can appropriately assist parking according to the driver's emotions, so that the safety of the vehicle during parking can be improved.

[Second embodiment]
A configuration example of the driving support system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 14 . FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving support system according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 14, the driving assistance system 1A differs from the driving assistance system 1 shown in FIG.

The cause determining unit 52 determines the cause of the change in the emotion level of the driver of the vehicle to the first threshold or more. The cause determination unit 52 determines the cause of the change in the driver's emotional level based on the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 40 from the first camera 10a or the second camera 10b, for example. For example, when the first camera 10a or the second camera 10b detects sound, the cause determination unit 52 may identify the cause of the change in the emotion level to the first threshold value or more based on the detected sound. . When the cause determination unit 52 determines the emotional level based on the voice, it is preferable that the vehicle has been in the vehicle from a predetermined time ago to the present. For example, the cause determining unit 52 associates the driver's emotional level equal to or greater than the first threshold determined by the emotion determining unit 44 with the cause of the change in the emotional level, and determines that the driver's emotional level has become equal to or greater than the first threshold. The information is stored in the storage unit 26 as cause information indicating the cause of the event.

(Driving support control processing)
A processing flow of the driving support control according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 15 . FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of driving support control processing according to the second embodiment.

The video data acquisition unit 40 acquires video data from the imaging device 10 (step S40). The image data acquisition unit 40 acquires, for example, image data of the interior of the vehicle from the first camera 10a. The image data acquisition unit 40 acquires, for example, image data obtained by imaging the surroundings of the vehicle from the second camera 10b. Then, the process proceeds to step S42.

The processing from step S42 to step S46 is the same as the processing from step S10 to step S14 shown in FIG. 2, respectively, so description thereof will be omitted.

After determining Yes in step S46, the cause determining unit 52 determines the cause of the driver's emotion level becoming equal to or higher than the first threshold (step S48). Specifically, the cause determining unit 52 determines the cause of the driver's emotional level becoming equal to or higher than the first threshold value, for example, based on the image data around the vehicle. More specifically, for example, when it is determined that the driver's emotion level is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the cause determination unit 52 obtains image data of an interruption by another vehicle. However, it is determined that this is the cause of the emotion level becoming equal to or higher than the first threshold. In other words, when the driver's emotion level becomes equal to or higher than the first threshold and image data including an event that may affect the driver's emotion is acquired, the cause determination unit 52 determines that the event is the driver's emotion. It is determined that this is the cause of the emotion level becoming equal to or higher than the first threshold. Then, the process proceeds to step S50.

The processing from step S50 to step S54 is the same as the processing from step S16 to step S20 shown in FIG. 2, respectively, so description thereof will be omitted.

If the determination in step S52 is No, the cause determination unit 52 determines whether the emotion level has become equal to or higher than the first threshold for the same reason as the cause identified in step S48 in the past for a predetermined period of time. is determined (step S56). Specifically, for example, based on the cause information stored in the storage unit 26, the cause determination unit 52 determines that the emotion level has become equal to or greater than the first threshold due to the same cause as the cause specified in step S48. Determine whether or not there is The predetermined period in step S56 may be arbitrarily set to 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, etc., depending on the driver's personality. If it is determined that the emotion level has exceeded the first threshold for the same reason as the cause specified in step S48 (step S56; Yes), the process proceeds to step S58. If it is not determined that the emotion level has become equal to or higher than the first threshold due to the same cause as that specified in step S48 (step S56; No), the process proceeds to step S62.

When determined as Yes in step S56, the driving assistance determination unit 48A determines the content of driving assistance according to the cause identified in step S48 (step S58). Specifically, the driving assistance determination unit 48 determines, for example, the content of driving assistance for calming emotions according to the cause. Then, the process proceeds to step S60.

The driving assistance execution unit 50A executes driving assistance according to the cause determined in step S58 (step S60). Specifically, the driving assistance execution unit 50A executes driving assistance for calming the driver's emotions. More specifically, the notification control unit 50Ab causes the audio output unit 24 to output a voice saying, for example, "There is a situation where emotions are likely to change. Please be careful." Then, the process proceeds to step S70.

The processing from step S62 to step S70 is the same as the processing from step S22 to step S30 shown in FIG. 2, respectively, so description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the second embodiment identifies the cause of changes in the current and past emotional levels of the driver of the vehicle, and executes driving assistance based on the identified cause. As a result, the second embodiment can appropriately execute driving assistance in accordance with the cause of the change in the driver's emotion, thereby improving safety.

[Modification of Second Embodiment]
In the above-described second embodiment, the driving assistance system 1A is described as performing driving assistance to the driver when the vehicle travels. The driving assistance system 1A may perform parking assistance when the driver parks the vehicle.

The driving assistance device 14A detects that the emotion level of the driver when parking the vehicle is equal to or higher than the first threshold, and that the emotion level became equal to or higher than the first threshold for the same reason when parking the vehicle during a predetermined period in the past. In some cases, parking assistance may be implemented.

Specifically, the emotion determination unit 44 determines the current emotion level of the driver when the driver parks. Based on the cause information stored in the storage unit 26, the cause determining unit 52 determines whether or not the emotion level has become equal to or higher than the first threshold for the same cause in the past for a predetermined period of time. The driving support determination unit 48A determines that the current emotion level of the driver is equal to or greater than the first threshold by the emotion determination unit 44, and determines that the emotion level of the driver is equal to or greater than the first threshold within the past predetermined period due to the same cause by the cause determination unit 52. If it is determined that the parking assistance has occurred, the content of the parking assistance is determined. The driving assistance execution unit 50A executes the parking assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48A. As a result, the second embodiment can appropriately execute parking assistance according to the cause of the change in the driver's emotion, thereby improving safety.

[Third embodiment]
A configuration example of the driving support system according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 16 . FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a driving support system according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 16, the driving assistance system 1B includes a driving assistance device 14B including a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 32, a control unit 30B including a position information acquisition unit 54 and a position information determination unit 56. is different from the driving support system 1 shown in FIG.

The GNSS receiver 32 receives GNSS signals including information for specifying position information from GNSS satellites (not shown). The GNSS receiver 32 can be realized by, for example, a GNSS receiver circuit or a GNSS receiver.

The position information acquisition unit 54 acquires GNSS signals from the GNSS reception unit 32 . The position information acquisition unit 54 calculates the current position information of the driver (driving assistance device 14B) based on the GNSS signal. The position information acquisition unit 54, for example, calculates the current position of the driver (driving assistance device 14B) in earth coordinates. For example, the position information acquiring unit 54 associates the emotional level of the driver that is equal to or greater than the first threshold determined by the emotion determining unit 44 with the position information at which the emotional level has changed, and determines if the emotional level of the driver is equal to or greater than the first threshold. The storage unit 26 is stored as emotion change position information indicating the position at which the position is changed. In addition, the position information acquisition unit 54 may acquire the position information from the wearable device worn by the driver when the predetermined period in the past is before boarding.

The position information determination unit 56 determines whether or not the current position is a position where the driver's emotions have changed. For example, the position information determination unit 56 determines whether the current position has changed the driver's emotion based on the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 54 and the emotion change position information stored in the storage unit 26. It is determined whether or not it is the position.

(Driving support control processing)
A processing flow of the driving support control according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 17 . FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of driving support control processing according to the third embodiment.

The position information acquisition unit 54 acquires position information of the driver (driving support device 14B) (step S80). Specifically, the position information acquisition unit 54 calculates the position information of the driver (driving assistance device 14B) based on the GNSS signal acquired from the GNSS reception unit 32 . Then, the process proceeds to step S82.

The processing from step S82 to step S86 is the same as the processing from step S10 to step S14 shown in FIG. 2, respectively, so description thereof will be omitted.

If determined as Yes in step S86, the position information acquisition unit 54 identifies the current position (step S88). Specifically, the positional information acquiring unit 54 identifies, for example, the positional information of the point where the driver's emotional level is equal to or higher than the first threshold. Then, the process proceeds to step S90.

The processing from step S90 to step S94 is the same as the processing from step S16 to step S20 shown in FIG. 2, respectively, so description thereof will be omitted.

Specifically, the position information determining unit 56 determines whether or not the driver's emotional level has reached or exceeded the first threshold at the current position within a predetermined period of time in the past (step S96). Specifically, based on the current location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 54 and the emotion change location information stored in the storage unit 26, the location information determination unit 56 determines whether the current location was within a predetermined period of time at the current location. It is determined whether or not the driver's emotion level has ever reached or exceeded the first threshold. If it is determined that the emotion level of the driver has reached or exceeded the first threshold at the current position within the past predetermined period (step S96; Yes), the process proceeds to step S98. If it is not determined that the driver's emotion level has reached or exceeded the first threshold at the current position within the past predetermined period (step S96; No), the process proceeds to step S102.

When determined as Yes in step S96, the driving assistance determination unit 48B determines the content of driving assistance according to the current position identified in step S88 (step S98). Specifically, the driving assistance determination unit 48B, for example, determines the content of driving assistance for calming emotions according to the current position. Then, the process proceeds to step S100.

The driving assistance execution unit 50B executes driving assistance according to the cause determined in step S98 (step S100). Specifically, the driving assistance execution unit 50B executes driving assistance for calming the driver's emotions. More specifically, the notification control unit 50Bb causes the audio output unit 24 to output a sound such as, for example, "You are driving in a position where your emotions are likely to change. Please be careful." Then, the process proceeds to step S110.

The processing from step S102 to step S110 is the same as the processing from step S22 to step S30 shown in FIG. 2, respectively, so description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the third embodiment identifies location information of places where the current and past emotional levels of the driver of the vehicle have changed, and executes driving assistance based on the identified location information. As a result, in the third embodiment, when driving in a position where the driver's emotions are likely to change, driving assistance can be appropriately executed according to the position, thereby improving safety. can.

[Modified example of the third embodiment]
In the above-described third embodiment, the driving assistance system 1B is described as performing driving assistance to the driver when the vehicle travels. The driving assistance system 1B may perform parking assistance when the driver parks the vehicle.

In the driving support device 14B, the emotion level of the driver when parking the vehicle is equal to or higher than the first threshold, and has been equal to or higher than the first threshold when parking at the current parking location during a predetermined period in the past. In some cases, parking assistance may be performed.

Specifically, the emotion determination unit 44 determines the current emotion level of the driver when the driver parks. Based on the emotion change position information stored in the storage unit 26, the position information determination unit 56 determines whether the driver's emotion level has become equal to or higher than the first threshold within a predetermined period of time when parking at the current position. Determine whether or not there is The driving assistance determination unit 48B determines that the current emotion level of the driver is equal to or higher than the first threshold value by the emotion determination unit 44, and determines that the driver's current emotion level is equal to or greater than the first threshold at the current position within a past predetermined period by the position information determination unit 56. When it is determined that the threshold value has been exceeded, the content of parking assistance is determined. The driving assistance execution unit 50B executes the parking assistance determined by the driving assistance determination unit 48B. As a result, the third embodiment can appropriately execute parking assistance according to the place where the driver's emotion has changed, so that safety can be improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited by the contents of these embodiments. In addition, the components described above include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art, those that are substantially the same, and those within the so-called equivalent range. Furthermore, the components described above can be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, various omissions, replacements, or modifications of components can be made without departing from the gist of the above-described embodiments.

Reference Signs List 1, 1A, 1B driving support system 10 imaging device 10a first camera 10b second camera 12 biological sensor 14, 14A, 14B driving support device 20 input unit 22 display unit 24 voice output unit 26 storage unit 28 communication unit 30, 30A, 30B control unit (driving support control device)
32 GNSS receiver 40 video data acquisition unit 42 biological information acquisition unit 44 emotion determination unit 46 driving situation prediction unit 48, 48A, 48B driving assistance determination unit 50, 50A, 50B driving assistance execution unit 50a vehicle control unit 50b notification control unit 52 Cause determination unit 54 Location information acquisition unit 56 Location information determination unit

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an eighth pattern of driving assistance content according to the first embodiment. The eighth pattern indicates that the determination result of the current emotional level of the driver is "medium", and the emotional level was any of "high", "medium", and "low" in the past within the past predetermined period T. The content of the driving support is shown when the state is not determined either. In this case, the driving situation prediction unit 46 predicts that the driving risk is "medium". In the eighth pattern, the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that the degree of notification content is " medium " and the degree of vehicle control content is " medium " in the driving support. That is, when the current emotional level of the driver is determined to be "medium", the driving assistance determining unit 48 determines that driving assistance is necessary regardless of the emotional level during the past predetermined period.

Claims (5)

a biometric information acquisition unit that acquires current and past biometric information of a vehicle driver;
an emotion determination unit that determines, based on the biometric information acquired by the biometric information acquisition unit, an emotion level indicating the degree of emotion of the driver in the current and past predetermined periods;
a driving situation prediction unit that predicts the driving situation of the vehicle based on the current and past emotional levels of the driver in the predetermined period when the current emotional level of the driver is determined to be equal to or greater than a first threshold; ,
determining whether driving assistance of the vehicle is required based on the result of prediction of the driving situation of the vehicle by the driving situation prediction unit; A driving support determination unit that determines the content of
a driving support execution unit that executes the driving support determined by the driving support determination unit;
A driving support control device. The driving assistance determination unit changes the content of the driving assistance of the vehicle according to the number of times the emotional level is determined to be equal to or higher than a second threshold higher than the first threshold within the predetermined period of time in the past.
The driving support control device according to claim 1. The driving assistance determination unit changes the content of the driving assistance of the vehicle according to the time during which the emotion level equal to or greater than a second threshold has continued within the predetermined period of time in the past.
The driving support control device according to claim 1 or 2. A video data acquisition unit for acquiring video data of the driver,
The emotion determination unit determines an emotion level indicating the degree of emotion of the driver during the predetermined period in the past based on the video data.
The driving support control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. obtaining current and past predetermined time period biometric information of the driver of the vehicle;
a step of determining an emotion level indicating the degree of emotion of the driver in the current and past predetermined periods based on the acquired biological information;
predicting the driving situation of the vehicle based on the current and past emotional levels of the driver in the predetermined period when the current emotional level of the driver is determined to be equal to or greater than a first threshold;
determining whether or not driving assistance of the vehicle is required based on the predicted result of the driving situation of the vehicle, and determining the content of the driving assistance of the vehicle when the driving assistance of the vehicle is required; When,
a step of executing the determined driving assistance;
A driving assistance control method, comprising:

Images