JP3881048B2 - Narrow path guide device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
In the present invention, in vehicles such as automobiles equipped with an ADA system (active drive assist system), it is possible to make a vehicle safe by determining in advance the possibility of narrow roads in front of the vehicle, passage of the narrow roads, and contact with obstacles. The present invention relates to a narrow path guide device that guides to a vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Comprehensive driving assistance that actively assists driving operations in recent years to dramatically improve car safety against the increasing trend of traffic accidents, that is, preventive safety from falling into a dangerous state from the beginning Systems, so-called ADA systems, have been developed. This ADA system recognizes road conditions, obstacles, traffic environments, and the like from the scenery in front of the vehicle based on an image signal captured by a front monitoring camera mounted on the vehicle, and uses this image data to deviate from the lane of the vehicle, a rear-end collision, and an obstacle. Predict the possibility of contact with Based on the idea that the vehicle is maneuvered by humans as a way of driving assistance when predicted, first, an alarm is issued to prompt the driver to perform an avoidance operation. If the driver does not properly avoid the operation even if an alarm is issued, it is suggested to automatically control the driving operation system of the brake, throttle or steering to the safe side, or assist the driver to temporarily substitute the driving operation Has been.
[0003]
As the ADA system, there is already a method of calculating a distance by processing image signals captured by two cameras by a triangulation method using a stereo method, and creating a three-dimensional image in which a distance distribution is obtained over the entire captured region. Proposed by the applicant. According to this method, it is necessary to make a huge amount of calculation processing by creating distance data such as road shapes and obstacles that change every moment over the entire imaging area in front, but the road shape, white line, The position and speed of the obstacle on the road, what the obstacle is, and the like can be recognized with high accuracy. For this reason, the accuracy of predictions such as lane departure and rear-end collision is improved, but other useful uses are expected.
[0004]
Usually, when driving on a narrow road (narrow road), the driver may be at a loss as to whether or not the vehicle can pass. The driver can properly grasp the gap on the driver's seat side, but it is difficult to grasp the gap on the opposite passenger's side, so hesitates to pass obstacles on the passenger's side or forcibly passes to touch the obstacles There is a lot to do. Therefore, it is desired to guide the vehicle safely and appropriately with the ADA system when traveling on this narrow road.
[0005]
Conventionally, there is a first prior art disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-66352 regarding a vehicle guide device for the obstacle and the like, and a distance sensor is provided on a side surface of the vehicle body. In the case of a right or left turn at an intersection or the like, it is shown that the possibility of contact between the obstacle and the vehicle body is determined based on the distance and the steering angle between the vehicle body and the obstacle on its side by the distance sensor. In the second prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-6349, a laser beam is emitted in the vehicle traveling direction, the reflected light is received, and the azimuth and distance of the target with respect to the laser emission point are calculated. The calculation result shows that the possibility of collision with the target, the possibility of passing through in the left-right direction, and the possibility of passing through in the up-down direction are performed based on the vehicle speed.
[0006]
In the third prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-293236, four laser radars are arranged to divide the landscape in front of the vehicle into four regions. Further, an image sensor such as one CCD camera is provided in order to obtain image signals of four regions. Then, an area where an obstacle is present is specified in the direction detected by the laser radar, and a two-dimensional image corresponding to this area is obtained by an image sensor. Further, it is shown that an obstacle is extracted from a two-dimensional image and an index of the obstacle size is calculated.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the said 1st prior art, since it copes with the contact possibility of the vehicle body side at the time of the right and left turn of a vehicle, it cannot respond to the obstruction ahead of a vehicle. In the second prior art, it is possible to calculate the target and the distance to it by using a laser, but it is impossible to identify what the target is and to detect the shape of the road and the white line. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately determine the possibility of contact with obstacles on the road in the own lane. In the third prior art, an obstacle in the area specified by the two-dimensional image of the image sensor is detected. Therefore, the possibility of passage through a narrow path, the possibility of contact with the obstacle in this case, etc. There is a problem that it cannot be determined accurately.
[0008]
In view of such a point, an object of the present invention is to appropriately determine the possibility of passage through a narrow path or contact with an obstacle and guide the vehicle safely.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve this object, a narrow road guide device according to claim 1 of the present invention is a distance distribution of a landscape imaged in front of a vehicle using an image signal imaged by a front monitoring camera 11, as shown in FIG. Image recognition means 21 obtained as three-dimensional image data, a road for detecting obstacles on the road, obstacle detection means 22, road shape and obstacles, while recognizing the road shape ahead by the image data of the three-dimensional image Narrow road determination means 31 for determining in advance whether or not the road is a narrow road according to the relationship between the substantial road width of the road and the width of the host vehicle based on the object dataBy narrow path judging means 31Passage determination means 32 for determining whether or not the passage is possible when the narrow path is determined;By the traffic judging means 32When it is determined that a narrow road is not permitted, a first warning command is issued.By the traffic judging means 32When it is determined that the narrow road is accessible, a second warning command is issued,Image recognition means so as to obtain three-dimensional image data of only a partial area on the passenger seat side in front of the host vehicle when it is determined that the passage determination means 32 allows passage of a narrow road and the driver's deceleration operation is determined. 21 is switched,Vehicle guidance means 33 for recognizing only the obstacle on the passenger seat side of the own vehicle from the captured three-dimensional image data of the scenery in front and monitoring only the possibility of contact with the obstacle is provided.GetIt is characterized by that.
[0010]
  The narrow path guide device according to claim 2 is:In addition to the configuration of the invention described in claim 1, the vehicle guide means 33 compares the position of the obstacle on the passenger seat side with the current position and a few seconds later, and the obstacle on the passenger seat side and the passenger seat side of the own vehicle Predict the possibility of contact with thingsIt is characterized by that.
[0012]
  The narrow road guide device according to claim 3 is a narrow road guide device that safely guides the vehicle by determining in advance the narrow road ahead of the vehicle, passage of the narrow road, and the possibility of contact with an obstacle. Detection means for detecting a road width in front of the vehicle, narrow road determination means for determining whether or not the road is capable of passing according to a relationship between the road width detected by the detection means and the width of the host vehicle, and the narrow road Judged as a narrow path that can be passed by the judging meansWhen the driver's deceleration operation is determined,Vehicle guidance means for monitoring only the possibility of contact with obstacles on the passenger seat side of the vehicle ahead of the vehicleGetIt is characterized by that.
[0013]
  Claim4The narrow path guide device according to claim3In addition to the configuration of the invention described in,The narrow road determining means determines the narrow road based on a road shape, a substantial road width of the road based on obstacle data, and a width of the host vehicle.
[0014]
[Action]
Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the vehicle is driven by the driver, various three-dimensional objects ahead are imaged by the front monitoring camera 11, and the image recognition means 21 is used for the image captured in front of the vehicle by this image signal. Three-dimensional image data of the distance distribution is obtained, and the position, size, speed, etc. of the obstacle on the road are detected by recognizing the road shape ahead by the road / obstacle detection means 22 from this image data. Further, the narrow road judging means 31 obtains the substantial road width of the road from the road shape and the obstacle data, and the road width and the vehicle width are compared. For this reason, the road is substantially narrowed by the left and right obstacles. If it is, it is appropriately determined that the road is narrow.
[0015]
  When the passage determination unit 32 determines that the passage of the narrow road is impossible, the alarm devices 13 and 14 issue an alarm according to the first warning command of the vehicle guide unit 33, and thus the driver is informed that the passage is impossible and is useless. You will be guided not to enter. Further, when it is determined that the passage through the narrow road is possible, the alarm devices 13 and 14 issue an alarm in response to the second warning command of the vehicle guide means 33, so that the driver can pass but requires caution. Informed that the narrow streets are ahead,Since the possibility of contact with only the obstacle on the passenger seat side of the vehicle is predicted in a concentrated manner from the three-dimensional image data of the scenery taken in front of the vehicle, the calculation processing is reduced because the image data to be processed is halved. At the same time, since the density of the image data to be processed is doubled, the monitoring accuracy on the passenger seat side is improved, so that the possibility of contact with the obstacle on the passenger seat side is predicted more quickly and accurately.
[0016]
Also,By comparing the current position of the obstacle on the passenger seat side and the position after a few seconds, the possibility of contact between the obstacle on the passenger seat side and the passenger seat side of the host vehicle is predicted. As a result, the passenger's side of the vehicle, which is difficult to grasp, is guided to safely pass through the narrow road in a state where it is monitored so as not to touch an obstacle, so that the burden on the driver is reduced.
[0017]
Also,When it is determined that the narrow road can be passed and the driver's deceleration operation is determined, three-dimensional image data of only a partial area in front of the vehicle is obtained. As a result, if the driver is in a situation where he / she is confused about the passage of the narrow road, the passenger seat side is monitored with high accuracy, so that the passage of the narrow road is appropriately performed.
[0018]
Also,The narrow road determination means 31 determines whether or not the road is a narrow road that can be passed by the relationship between the road width in front of the host vehicle detected by the detection means and the width of the host vehicle. Further, if the narrow road determining means 31 determines that the road is passable, the vehicle guide means 33 monitors only the possibility of contact with the obstacle on the passenger seat side of the own vehicle. Thereby, since the accuracy of monitoring on the passenger seat side is improved, the possibility of contact with the obstacle on the passenger seat side is predicted more quickly and accurately.
[0019]
Also,When the driver's deceleration operation is determined, the vehicle guide means 33 monitors the possibility of contact with an obstacle on the passenger seat side of the host vehicle. As a result, if the driver is in a situation where he / she is confused about the passage of the narrow road, the passenger seat side is monitored with high accuracy, so that the passage of the narrow road is appropriately performed.Also,The narrow road determination means 31 determines a narrow road based on the road shape, the substantial road width of the road based on the obstacle data, and the width of the host vehicle. Accordingly, it is accurately and accurately determined whether or not the narrow road is passable, and further prevention of entry into the inaccessible narrow road and contact with an obstacle due to the entry is further improved.
[0020]
【Example】
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings associated with an ADA system. In FIG. 2, the outline of the entire vehicle and the ADA system will be described. In the vehicle 1, a driver's seat 2 is provided on the right side in front of the passenger compartment, and a dashboard 3, a front window 4, a handle 5, an instrument panel 6, and the like are disposed in front of the driver's seat 2. Therefore, the driver M sits in the driver's seat and drives the vehicle by driving the vehicle while looking at the scenery, roads, obstacles, and the like ahead through the front window 4.
[0021]
In the ADA system 10, two CCD cameras 11 are mounted as a front monitoring camera on a ceiling 7 in a vehicle interior. The two CCD cameras 11 are arranged so as to be separated from each other on the left and right, and take a stereo image of the scenery in front of the vehicle. The image signals of the cameras 11 are input to the control unit 12 and processed. As alarm means, for example, two alarm devices 13 and 14 are provided in the passenger compartment. In the alarm devices 13 and 14, for example, an alarm lamp 15 and a speaker 16 are integrally formed as a combination of alarm light and sound. The alarms 13 and 14 are arranged at locations where the visual field in the field of view is not obstructed on the left and right sides of the driver M of the driver's seat 2, for example, near the boundary between the front window 4 and the dashboard 3. Yes.
[0022]
The warning lamp 15 irradiates and blinks light H of a predetermined color on the eyes of the driver M, that is, so-called eyepoints, so that it can be clearly seen even during the day when the amount of light is small. Yes. As a result, light leakage can be suppressed and the influence on passengers and other vehicles can be reduced. The speaker 16 generates, for example, an intermittent sound O having a predetermined volume. An alarm signal from the control unit 12 is output to one or both of the left and right alarm devices 13 and 14, and the driver M is configured to issue an alarm from one or both of the left and right.
[0023]
In FIG. 3, a functional block diagram of the control unit will be described. The control unit 12 predicts various possibilities such as lane departure, rear-end collision, obstacle contact, and the like based on the image signals of the two CCD cameras 11, but the obstacle contact alarm system 20 and the narrow path are related to the present invention. A guide system 30 is provided. The obstacle contact alarm system 20 has a full-screen image recognition means 21 to which image signals from two CCD cameras 11 are input. The image recognizing means 21 recognizes an object using the captured landscape in front of the vehicle as the three-dimensional image data of the distance distribution, divides the captured landscape into small regions, and performs stereo image processing on the object for each of them. The three-dimensional position is calculated to obtain image data of the distance distribution of the three-dimensional coordinates of each object. This image data is input to the road / obstacle detection means 22 to recognize the front road shape and simultaneously detect the obstacle on the road.
[0024]
In other words, the three-dimensional distance data of individual objects can be easily separated even when the objects are overlapped to recognize what they are, thereby extracting white lines, guardrails, curbs, and the like. For example, the white line is approximated by a broken line, the range enclosed by the left and right broken lines is determined as the own lane, the road curve is detected with the horizontal component of this lane data, and the up and down of the road is detected with the vertical component. Then, the road shape is detected three-dimensionally from the front to the far side. In addition, the image data is compared with the road shape to select only three-dimensional obstacles on the road, determine whether the selected object is an obstacle in the own lane, and the distance and size to the obstacle. The left and right end positions are detected, and the road shape and obstacle data are input to the contact determination means 23.
[0025]
The contact determination means 23 estimates the position after a few seconds from the position of the left and right ends of the obstacle and its change over time, estimates the position after a few seconds of the host vehicle obtained from the road shape, and compares the two to compare the obstacle Predict the possibility of contact with either the left or right side of the vehicle body. When the left / right contact possibility is predicted, the signal is input to the alarm control means 24. When the left contact is detected, an alarm signal is output to the left alarm device 13 to issue an alarm. If there is a possibility of right-side contact, an alarm signal is output to the right alarm device 14 to issue an alarm.
[0026]
Therefore, if the driver M has a possibility that the awakening level is reduced due to, for example, a snooze or the like, or if the driver M is driving with other attention, the obstacle in front may come into contact with one of the left and right sides of the own vehicle. As a result, the alarm device 13 or 14 on the side with the possibility of contact issues an alarm. Therefore, the driver M can simultaneously recognize the possibility of contact and the side with the possibility of contact by the alarm, so that the driver M can decelerate without hesitation or operate the handle opposite to the side with the possibility of contact. Thus, it is possible to avoid contact.
[0027]
Here, the obstacle contact warning system 20 warns when there is a possibility that the vehicle body may come close to the obstacle and come into contact several seconds later. Therefore, the vehicle guide function is not provided in a narrow road where the road width is substantially narrow due to an obstacle or the like. For this reason, it is desirable to provide a separate vehicle guide system in road conditions such as narrow roads.
[0028]
Therefore, in the present invention, a narrow path guide system 30 to be described later is provided so as to be useful for narrow path guidance. The narrow road guide system 30 is composed of three elements, and the narrow road determination means 31 for inputting road shape and obstacle data, which is the first constituent element, is a vehicle or road that is extremely slow or stationary in its own lane. By measuring the distance between obstacles such as guardrails at the end, curbs, and fences of houses, the substantial road width D of the road is detected. A narrow road is determined when the road width D is smaller than a value obtained by adding a margin of 40 cm to the maximum width W of the vehicle body because of the relationship between the road width D and the maximum width W of the vehicle body and the margin. The narrow road signal is input to the traffic determination means 32 as the second component, and the road width D is a value obtained by adding, for example, 10 cm (minimum value) and 40 cm (maximum value) as a margin to the maximum width W of the vehicle body. Compare with Here, when the road width D is smaller than a value obtained by adding a margin (minimum value) to the maximum width W of the vehicle body, it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass, and when W + 10 <D <W + 40, it is determined that the vehicle can pass only.
[0029]
This traffic determination result signal is input to the vehicle guide means 33 which is the second component. The vehicle guide means 33 determines the timing for outputting the determination result of the traffic determination means 32 and generates a signal, and the distance determination means 34 generates a signal, and synchronizes with the timing determined by the distance determination means 34 in the entire area in front of the vehicle. And switching means 36 for switching the image processing calculation so as to obtain the three-dimensional distance distribution image data of the three-dimensional distance distribution image of only a partial area in front of the vehicle.
[0030]
  The distance determination unit 34 outputs a first signal to the alarm control unit 24 when the passage determination unit 32 determines that the passage is impossible.13, 14Is operated in the first mode (for example, intermittent sound). Then, the vehicle travels in the idle travel distance (V · V) by the preset operation delay time T to the braking distance (V2 / 2α) obtained by calculation from the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle and a preset deceleration α (for example, 0.5 G). When the distance LS obtained by adding T) is reached, the third signal is output to the alarm control means 24, and the alarm control means 2413, 14Is operated in a third manner (for example, continuous sound).
[0031]
  On the other hand, the distance determination means 34 outputs a second signal to the alarm control means 24 when the passage determination means 32 determines that the passage is possible.13, 14Is operated in the second mode (for example, long and short sounds). And driverMWhen the decelerating operation is detected, a switching command signal is output to the calculation processing switching means 36, and the image recognition means 21 is switched by the switching signal of the calculation processing switching means 36 so as to obtain a partial three-dimensional image. At the same time, the alarm control means 24 opens an energization circuit to the driver's seat side alarm device.
[0032]
  DriverMThe deceleration operation is detected by signals from the accelerator switch 26, the brake switch 27, and the acceleration sensor 28.
[0033]
Next, alarm control in narrow road traveling will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the vehicle travels, the imaged landscape in front of the vehicle is recognized by the image signal from the CCD camera 11 (step S1), and the road shape and obstacles on the road are detected (step S2). Then, the road width D is compared with a value obtained by adding 40 cm to the maximum width W of the vehicle body as a margin (maximum value) (step S3). If D ≧ W + 40, a normal road with a large margin is determined and the process returns to step 1. . On the other hand, when D <W + 40, a narrow path that can be passed is determined (step S4), and the narrow path guide system 30 is activated.
[0034]
  Therefore, for example, the situation where the right side of the road B ahead of the host vehicle A is curb E and the vehicle C is parked on the left side as shown in FIG. 5A, or the front side of the host vehicle A as shown in FIG. In a situation where the vehicles C and C are parked on the left and right of the road B, separated from each otherCAnd curbEOr vehicleC, CA substantial road width D of the road B is measured based on an interval between the roads, and when the road B has a small margin, it is determined in advance that the road is a narrow road. Further, the road width D is compared with a value obtained by adding, for example, 10 cm as a margin (minimum value) to the maximum width W of the vehicle body (step S5). If D <W + 10, it is determined that the vehicle cannot pass (step S6). An alarm is given (for example, intermittent sound) (step 7). For this reason, when there is almost no margin in the road width D, it is appropriately determined that the narrow road is not allowed to pass before entering. And the driver by the alarmMIs informed that the narrow road ahead cannot pass through before entering the narrow road, and is guided so as not to get stuck and get stuck.
[0035]
  After being alerted, the vehicleABraking distance (V) obtained by calculation from a vehicle speed V of the vehicle and a preset deceleration α (for example, 0.5 G)²When the distance LS is calculated by adding the idling distance (V · T) based on the preset operation delay time T to (V · T) (step S8), and further when approaching the narrow road determined to be impassable , Own vehicleAIt is determined whether or not the distance L to the narrow road determined to be impassable and the LS are equal (step S9), and a third mode alarm is issued at that time (step S10). The driver by this alarmMIs informed of the necessity of the braking operation, and can immediately prevent the vehicle from entering the inaccessible narrow road or contact with the obstacle due to the approach by stopping the vehicle by braking.
[0036]
  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), when there is a margin in the road width and W + 10 <D <W + 40, it is determined that the vehicle can pass through. In this case, a warning of the second mode (for example, long and short sounds) is issued (step S11), thereby the driverMThe attention of is urged. And, Going to the next step,A driver based on a signal from an accelerator switch 26, a brake switch 27, or an acceleration sensor 28MIt is checked whether or not there has been a deceleration operation by (step S12), and if there is no deceleration operation, the driverMJudges that there is no hesitation in the passage of narrow streets and goes out as it is. Therefore, useless calculation processing is omitted. In this case, the possibility of contact on the left and right of the vehicle body is predicted by the normal obstacle contact alarm system 20.On the other hand, when there is a deceleration operation, the calculation processing switching means 36 is switched so as to perform calculation processing only in a partial area (passenger seat side) (step 13).
[0037]
  That is,If there is a deceleration operation, the driverMFor traffic on narrow streetsConfusedSwitching to perform calculation processing only on a partial area (passenger side) (step S13). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5D, only the obstacle C ′ side of the passenger seat side half is recognized in the entire imaged area F in the front, and the own vehicle A against the obstacle C as shown in FIG. The current position of the passenger seat side part A ′ is compared with the position after a few seconds to predict the possibility of contact. At this time, the image data to be processed is halved, but the image data density is doubled accordingly,accuracyTo improve. Alternatively, since the calculation process can be performed earlier as much as the image data is reduced, faster prediction is possible. Therefore, the driverMHowever, the passenger seat side of the host vehicle A is monitored with high accuracy or faster prediction by the narrow road guide system 30 and is guided appropriately.
[0038]
  Driver thereMWhen the vehicle carefully passes through the narrow road, the possibility of contact with the obstacle C on the left side of the own vehicle A is judged (step S14), and when the own vehicle A approaches the left and the contact possibility with the obstacle C occurs. Immediately, the left alarm device 13 issues an alarm (step S15). Therefore, the driverMThe possibility of contact on the left side of the car body with this alarmBeforehandFor this reason, contact is prevented by operating the steering wheel on the right side and performing an avoidance action.
[0039]
  Thus, the driver's seat side of the vehicle A is monitored with high accuracy or faster prediction, so that the driverMThe driver should be able to pass by monitoring the driver side, which is easy to graspMTo reduce the burden. The own vehicle A itself also has a narrow road guide system 30 and a driver on the left and right.MIt is possible to safely pass through narrow paths. When the narrow road is taken off, the normal road is judged and the normal system is restored.
[0040]
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is a matter of course that the possibility of contact with an obstacle on the right side of the passenger seat is predicted when the left steering wheel can pass through a narrow road. The determination method of a narrow road and the prediction of the possibility of contact when the vehicle can pass through a narrow road are not limited to the embodiment. The image recognized on a part of the screen can be applied other than the possibility of contact on the left side of the vehicle.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
  As explained above,According to the present inventionIn the narrow road guide device, an image recognition unit that obtains a scene captured in front of the vehicle as three-dimensional image data of a distance distribution from an image signal captured by a front monitoring camera, and a road shape ahead by the image data of the three-dimensional image The road, obstacle detection means for detecting obstacles on the road, and the relationship between the actual road width of the road and the width of the vehicle based on the road shape and obstacle data. A narrow road judging means for judging whether or not, a traffic judging means for judging whether or not it is possible to pass when the narrow road is judged, and a first warning instruction is issued when it is judged that the narrow road is impossible to pass, When it is determined that the road is passable, a second warning command is issued to monitor the vehicle so that it does not come in contact with an obstacle, and the obstacle on the passenger seat side of the vehicle is detected based on the three-dimensional image data of the scenery taken in front. Recognize only the objects and A structure and a vehicle guide means for monitoring only potential catalyst. As a result, narrow roads with narrow roads can be accurately determined in advance, so if the narrow roads are inaccessible, an alarm will be given prior to entry, and if they can pass, only the obstacles on the passenger side of the vehicle will be contacted. Since the possibility is concentrated and predicted and monitored, the calculation processing is reduced by half because the image data to be processed is reduced, and the density of the image data to be processed is doubled. Therefore, the possibility of contact with the obstacle on the passenger seat side can be predicted more quickly and accurately.
[0042]
  Also,By comparing the current position of the obstacle on the passenger seat side and the position after a few seconds, the possibility of contact between the obstacle on the passenger seat side and the passenger seat side of the host vehicle is predicted. As a result, the passenger's side, which is difficult to grasp the own vehicle, is guided so as to safely pass through the narrow road while being monitored so as not to come in contact with the obstacle, so that the burden on the driver can be reduced.
[0043]
  Also,When it is determined that the narrow road can be passed and the driver's deceleration operation is determined, three-dimensional image data of only a partial area in front of the vehicle is obtained. As a result, if the driver is in a situation where he / she is confused about the passage of the narrow road, the passenger seat side is monitored with high accuracy, so that the passage of the narrow road can be performed more appropriately.
[0044]
  Also,The narrow road determination means determines whether or not the road is a narrow road that can pass through the relationship between the road width in front of the host vehicle detected by the detection means and the width of the host vehicle. Further, when it is determined that the narrow road can be passed by the narrow road determination means, only the possibility of contact with the obstacle on the passenger seat side of the own vehicle is monitored by the vehicle guidance means. Thereby, since the accuracy of monitoring on the passenger seat side is improved, the possibility of contact with the obstacle on the passenger seat side can be predicted more quickly and accurately.
[0045]
  Also,When the driver's deceleration operation is determined, the vehicle guide means monitors the possibility of contact with an obstacle on the passenger seat side of the host vehicle. As a result, when the driver is in a situation where he / she is confused with narrow roads, the passenger seat side is monitored with high accuracy, so that the narrow roads can be properly passed.
  Also,A narrow road is determined by the narrow road determination means based on the road shape, the substantial road width of the road based on the obstacle data, and the width of the host vehicle. This makes it possible to accurately and accurately determine whether or not the narrow road is passable, and further improve the prevention of entry into the impassable narrow road and contact with obstacles due to the entry.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a view corresponding to a claim showing a configuration of a narrow path guide device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an ADA system.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of narrow road alarm control.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an operating state of narrow road traffic.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 CCD camera (front monitoring camera)
13,14 Alarm
21 Image recognition means
22 Road, obstacle detection means
31 Narrow path judging means
32 Traffic determination means
33 Vehicle guidance means

Claims (4)

An image recognition means for obtaining, as an image signal captured by a front monitoring camera, a three-dimensional image data of a distance distribution of a scene captured in front of the vehicle;
While recognizing the shape of the road ahead by the image data of this three-dimensional image, the road for detecting obstacles on the road, obstacle detection means,
Narrow road determination means for determining in advance whether or not the road is narrow according to the relationship between the substantial road width of the road and the width of the host vehicle based on the road shape and obstacle data;
Passage determination means for determining whether or not passage is possible when the narrow road is determined by the narrow road determination means;
The traffic determination unit emits the narrow road impassable for is determined first alarm command by, along with the narrow road of passable is determined emit second warning command by the passing determining means, the passage determination The image recognition means is switched so as to obtain three-dimensional image data of only a partial area on the passenger seat side in front of the host vehicle when it is determined that the narrow road can be passed by the means and the driver's deceleration operation is determined. Te, that recognizes only obstacle the passenger side of the vehicle by the three-dimensional image data of the scene that is in front of the imaging, obtain Preparations and vehicle guidance means for monitoring only possibility of contact between the obstacle A narrow path guide device.   The vehicle guide means compares the current position of the obstacle on the passenger seat side with a few seconds later, and predicts the possibility of contact between the obstacle on the passenger seat side and the passenger seat side of the host vehicle. The narrow path guide device according to claim 1, wherein In a narrow road guide device that guides the vehicle safely by determining in advance the narrow road in front of the vehicle, the possibility of passage through the narrow road and contact with obstacles,
Detecting means for detecting a road width in front of the host vehicle;
Narrow road determination means for determining whether or not the road can be passed by the relationship between the road width detected by the detection means and the width of the host vehicle;
Vehicle guidance for monitoring only the possibility of contact with an obstacle on the passenger's seat side of the front of the vehicle when it is determined that the narrow road determination means is a narrow road and the driver's deceleration operation is determined narrow road guide apparatus characterized by obtaining Bei and means.   4. The narrow road guide device according to claim 3, wherein the narrow road determination means determines a narrow road based on a road shape, a substantial road width of the road based on obstacle data, and a width of the host vehicle.

Images