JP4235090B2 - Vehicle travel support device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle travel support device, and in particular, recognizes an object existing in front of the host vehicle, and if the recognized target has a possibility of collision with the host vehicle within a predetermined road range, The present invention relates to a vehicle travel support apparatus that performs driving support for a driver by automatic control of the vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a system that recognizes an object existing ahead of the host vehicle and performs control such as inter-vehicle distance control and warning generation based on the recognition result is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this system, first, it is determined whether or not the recognized object actually exists on the own lane on which the own vehicle travels. When it is determined that the target exists on the own lane, the control operation for the target is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the target does not exist on the own lane, the control operation for the target is not performed. Therefore, according to the above-described system, it is possible to prevent malfunction caused by the presence of an obstacle that does not greatly affect the traveling of the host vehicle, and thus it is possible to realize appropriate driving assistance. .
JP 2002-207077 A

  However, in the above-described conventional system, for example, from the opposite lane side adjacent to the own lane on which the host vehicle runs on a one-lane road, or on the traveling lane or the overtaking lane side adjacent to the own lane on a two-lane or more road Even when a pedestrian or a person riding a bicycle is going to cross from the vehicle toward the own lane, the control operation is not performed until the object enters the own lane. For this reason, in the above-described situation, the control operation is started when the recognition target approaches the host vehicle considerably in the traveling direction of the host vehicle. Situations where contact cannot be avoided tend to occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and adjusts driving assistance to a driver by controlling an alarm or the like for avoiding contact with an object with high possibility of contact with the host vehicle in accordance with road conditions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle travel support device that can be started in a timely manner.

The above objects, as set forth in claim 1, pedestrian or recognizing the target recognition unit motorcycles, the pedestrian or motorcycle is in a predetermined road range is recognized by the object recognition unit exists ahead of the host vehicle A vehicle driving support device comprising a control means for performing an alarm for a driver of the own vehicle or an automatic control of the own vehicle when there is a possibility of a collision with the own vehicle in the vehicle,
This is achieved by a vehicle travel support device comprising control range variable means for changing the predetermined road range in the lateral direction of the road according to road conditions.

  In the present invention, when a target existing in front of the host vehicle has a possibility of collision with the host vehicle within a predetermined road range, an alarm for the driver of the host vehicle or automatic control of the host vehicle is executed. This predetermined road range is changed in the lateral direction of the road according to the road condition. According to such a configuration, even when an object enters the own lane on which the host vehicle is traveling from an adjacent lane, an alarm or automatic control can be executed by detecting an object located in the adjacent lane. Driving assistance to the driver for avoiding contact with the subject with high possibility of contact with the host vehicle can be started with good timing according to the road condition.

  In this case, as described in claim 2, in the vehicle travel support device according to claim 1, when the number of road lanes is one lane, the control range varying means sets the inside of the lane as the predetermined road range. In addition, when the number of road lanes is two or more, the inside of the own lane on which the host vehicle runs and the adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane may be set as the predetermined road range.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle travel support device according to the second aspect, the control range variable means is the walking recognized by the object recognition means when the number of road lanes is two or more. person or motorcycle is set as the predetermined road range inside of the own vehicle lane and the adjacent lane when not moving road laterally away the adjacent lane from the host vehicle lane, while recognized by the object recognition unit if setting the inside of only the own lane as the predetermined road range when the the pedestrian or motorcycle moves to the road laterally away the adjacent lane from the host vehicle lane is the contact with the vehicle Since the object with the extremely low possibility of being excluded from the control object, it is possible to prevent the driving assistance to the driver by the control such as the alarm from being performed wastefully.

Further, the above object is achieved as set forth in claim 4, recognizing object recognition means pedestrians or motorcycles present ahead of the vehicle, the pedestrian or motorcycle is given is recognized by the object recognition unit A vehicle driving support device comprising a control means for performing an alarm for a driver of the host vehicle or an automatic control of the host vehicle when there is a possibility of a collision with the host vehicle within a road range,
In the case where the number of road lanes is two or more, the control means is spaced apart from the own lane in an adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane in which the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle recognized by the object recognition means travels. When the vehicle does not move in the lateral direction of the road, the warning or the automatic control associated with the presence of the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle is performed. On the other hand, the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle recognized by the object recognition means moves in the adjacent lane. When moving in the lateral direction of the road away from the lane, this is achieved by a vehicle travel support device that does not perform the warning or the automatic control associated with the presence of the pedestrian or motorcycle .

  In the present invention, when the number of road lanes is two or more lanes, the object existing in front of the host vehicle has a possibility of collision with the host vehicle inside the host lane on which the host vehicle travels and the adjacent lane. A warning for the driver of the own vehicle or automatic control of the own vehicle is executed. That is, such control can be performed when the target is located not only in the own lane but also in the adjacent lane. Therefore, according to such a configuration, even when an object enters the own lane from an adjacent lane, an alarm or automatic control is executed by detecting an object located in the adjacent lane. Driving assistance to the driver for avoiding contact with a highly likely object can be started in a timely manner in accordance with road conditions.

Further, in the present invention, since an object with a very low possibility of contact with the host vehicle is excluded from the control object, it is possible to prevent wasteful driving assistance to the driver by control such as an alarm. .

In the vehicle travel support apparatus described above, the information on the number of road lanes may be obtained from map information stored in a map database or an image captured by a camera.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the driving assistance to a driver | operator by control, such as a warning for avoiding the contact with the object with high possibility of a contact with the own vehicle, can be started with a timing according to a road condition.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the invention, driving assistance to the driver through control such as an alarm is uselessly performed by excluding an object having a very low possibility of contact with the host vehicle from the control object. Can be prevented.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The system of the present embodiment includes a vehicle travel support apparatus 10 that is mounted on a vehicle and supports vehicle travel. The vehicle travel support device 10 includes an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as a main ECU) 12 constituted by a microcomputer or the like, and is controlled by the main ECU 12.

  The vehicle travel support device 10 includes a camera 14 and a vehicle state sensor 16. The camera 14 is disposed, for example, in a vehicle front bumper or a vehicle interior room mirror stay, and captures a predetermined area extending in front of the vehicle from the disposed portion. The vehicle state sensor 16 outputs a signal corresponding to the vehicle state such as the speed and acceleration of the vehicle. Both the image captured by the camera 14 and the output signal of the vehicle state sensor 16 are supplied to the image processing ECU 18. The image processing ECU 18 processes the image supplied from the camera 14, thereby causing objects (obstacles) such as pedestrians and cars displayed in the image and white lines or guardrails that demarcate the traveling lane in which the vehicle travels. Recognize And the position with respect to vehicles, such as the recognized obstruction and a white line, and the width | variety of a driving | running lane or a road are detected.

  The image processing ECU 18 is connected to the main ECU 12 described above. Information detected by the image processing ECU 18 is supplied to the main ECU 12. Based on the information supplied from the image processing ECU 18, the main ECU 12 detects the position of an object, a white line, or the like existing in front of the vehicle, and also detects the travel lane and the width of the road.

  The main ECU 12 is connected to the vehicle state sensor 16 described above, and is also connected to a radar 20 disposed on a bumper or the like at the front of the vehicle body. The radar 20 has a function of receiving a reflected wave reflected on a front obstacle such as a pedestrian, a car, or a motorcycle by radiating a radio wave having, for example, a millimeter wave toward a predetermined range in front of the vehicle. A signal corresponding to the presence / absence of the front obstacle, the distance Lf to the front obstacle and the relative velocity is generated from the reflected wave. The main ECU 12 detects the vehicle state such as speed and acceleration based on the output signal of the vehicle state sensor 16. Further, the main ECU 12 detects a distance Lf and a relative speed with respect to a front obstacle existing in front of the vehicle based on a signal supplied from the radar 20.

  A navigation device 22 is also connected to the main ECU 12. The navigation device 22 has a map database 24 composed of DVD, CD, hard disk or the like. The map database 24 stores map information of the position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of each point on the road on which the vehicle travels, and further stores information indicating the number of lanes on the road on which the vehicle travels. ing. The information indicating the number of lanes may further include information indicating the number of lanes on one side. The map database 24 need not be mounted on the vehicle, but may be mounted on a center capable of wireless communication with the vehicle and provide the vehicle with map information stored therein at a predetermined timing.

  The navigation device 22 includes a GPS receiver that receives a signal (GPS data) from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, and a signal (INS (Inertial Navigation Sensor) data corresponding to the traveling direction of the yaw, roll, pitch, etc.) of the vehicle. ) To output a gyro sensor. The navigation device 22 measures the current position (specifically, latitude, longitude, altitude) of the host vehicle based on the GPS data received by the GPS receiver, and based on the INS data output from the gyro sensor. The traveling direction is detected, and the detected current position data and the traveling direction data are merged to detect an accurate current position of the host vehicle. Then, the detected current position of the vehicle is displayed in accordance with a designated scale, if necessary, in the surrounding road map read from the map database 24 in the navigation mode of the display monitor provided in the passenger compartment. When displaying on the monitor, it is displayed superimposed on the road map on the image.

  Further, the lane number information stored in the map database 24 is read by a command from the navigation device 22. As will be described later in detail, the main ECU 12 requests the navigation device 22 to read out the lane number information from the map database 24 and output the information in a predetermined case. The main ECU 12 receives the information read and output from the map database 24, and executes a process for supporting the running of the vehicle as described later according to the received information.

  Further, a braking force control device 30 and an alarm device 32 are connected to the main ECU 12. The braking force control device 30 has a brake actuator that brakes the vehicle. The alarm device 32 is provided in the vehicle interior and has a speaker and a display that provide predetermined information audibly or visually to the vehicle driver or call out predetermined attention. The main ECU 12 supplies a command for braking the vehicle to the braking force control device 30 according to a method described later, and supplies a command for prompting the vehicle driver to perform a braking operation or a steering operation to the vehicle driver. . The braking force control device 30 generates a braking force for automatically braking the vehicle using a brake actuator in accordance with a command supplied from the main ECU 12. Further, the warning device 32 issues a warning that prompts the vehicle driver to perform a braking operation or a steering operation using a speaker or a display in accordance with a command supplied from the main ECU 12.

  Next, operation | movement of the vehicle travel assistance apparatus 10 of a present Example is demonstrated.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the timing for starting driving support to the driver by automatic braking or warning in the vehicle travel support device 10 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the host vehicle travels on the road as seen from above, with the host vehicle fixed. 2A shows a case where driving assistance according to the method of this embodiment is not performed, and FIGS. 2B and 2C show a case where driving assistance according to the method of this embodiment is performed. , Respectively.

  In this embodiment, first, based on the image captured by the camera 14 and the output of the radar 20, it is determined whether or not there is a front obstacle such as a pedestrian, a bicycle, a car, or a motorcycle in front of the host vehicle.

  Here, when the front obstacle is located in the traveling lane (own lane) on which the host vehicle travels, the front obstacle greatly affects the traveling of the host vehicle. When there is a possibility of contact / collision with the vehicle, it is appropriate to perform an alarm for the driver, automatic braking of the host vehicle, or the like in order to avoid the contact / collision or reduce the impact caused by the collision.

  However, in the configuration in which the driving support control operation by an alarm or the like is performed only when the front obstacle is located in the own lane, for example, as shown in FIG. In the situation where the road is one or more lanes, when there are pedestrians or motorcycles trying to cross from the opposite lane or overtaking lane adjacent to the lane to the lane, the obstacle ahead The control action is not performed until the vehicle enters the own lane. In this case, the control operation is started only when the host vehicle and the front obstacle approach the forward distance X2 that is considerably shorter than the forward distance X1 when the forward obstacle is located in the adjacent lane. Thus, due to the delay in starting the control operation, a situation in which contact between the host vehicle and the target cannot be avoided easily occurs.

  Therefore, the vehicle travel support apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has a front obstacle depending on the state of the road on which the vehicle actually travels (specifically, the number of lanes on the road and the position of the own lane on the road). In this case, the above-described inconvenience is avoided by changing the control range on the road where the driving assistance control operation by the alarm or the automatic brake should be performed in the vehicle width direction, that is, the road lateral direction. Hereinafter, the characteristic part of a present Example is demonstrated.

  Specifically, in the vehicle travel support device 10 of the present embodiment, the presence / absence of the front obstacle described above is determined, and the current position of the host vehicle detected by the navigation device 22 is determined for a predetermined distance from the vehicle traveling direction side. The number of lanes on the road on which the vehicle is traveling is detected based on the lane number information stored in the map database 24, and the position of the own lane on which the vehicle is traveling on the road is processed by the camera 14 It is detected based on the result or the like. And when the number of lanes of the detected road is one lane, the inside of the white line of the lane is set as the control range described above, and whether or not the front obstacle is located in one lane as the control range is determined. This is determined based on the processing result of the captured image of the camera 14.

  On the other hand, when the number of road lanes is a total of two lanes of two alternating lanes or one lane on one side, the inner side of the white lane for the two lanes including the own lane on which the own vehicle travels as shown in FIG. It is set as a control range, and it is determined based on the camera image whether the front obstacle is located in the two lanes as the control range. If the number of road lanes is more than three lanes, the white line inside the own lane and the adjacent lane such as the opposite lane and the overtaking lane adjacent to the own lane is set as the above control range, and the front obstacle Is determined based on the camera image. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2C, when the host vehicle is traveling on the leftmost lane of a road having three or more lanes, the lane and the adjacent lane adjacent to the right side of the lane Only the inside is set as the control range, and it is determined whether or not the front obstacle is located in the two lanes. In addition, when the vehicle is traveling in the second lane from the left end of a road with three or more lanes, only the inside of the lane and the adjacent lanes adjacent to the left and right sides of the lane are controlled. It is set as a range, and it is determined whether or not the front obstacle is located in the three lanes.

  As a result, when it is determined that the front obstacle is not located within the control range, no driving assistance by an alarm or the like is performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the front obstacle is located within the control range, then the host vehicle is set to the predetermined distance after the predetermined idle travel distance based on the relative distance and relative speed between the front obstacle and the host vehicle. If braking with deceleration or steering with a predetermined lateral acceleration is not performed, it is determined whether or not there is a possibility of contact / collision with the front obstacle. As a result, when there is no such possibility, no driving assistance is performed by an alarm or the like. On the other hand, when there is such a possibility, an automatic brake by the braking force control device 30 and an alarm by the alarm device 32 are executed.

  As described above, in the configuration of the present embodiment, an alarm or automatic braking is performed when a front obstacle exists depending on the number of lanes on the road on which the host vehicle actually travels and the position of the host lane on which the host vehicle actually travels. The control range on the road where the driving support control operation is to be performed is varied in the lateral direction of the road. According to such a configuration, in the situation where the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is a road with two or more lanes, a front obstacle such as a person or a two-wheeled vehicle is not located in the own lane, but only in the adjacent lane. Because automatic braking and warnings can be executed, for example, even when there is a pedestrian entering the own lane from the adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane, when the pedestrian is located in the adjacent lane early In addition, it is possible to start driving support for avoiding contact with a front obstacle that is highly likely to come into contact with the host vehicle. For this reason, it becomes possible to start the prevention of contact between the host vehicle and the front obstacle by driving support in a timely manner according to the road condition according to the number of lanes and the position of the host lane.

  Further, in this embodiment, the control range on the road where the driving assistance control operation by the alarm or automatic brake is performed when the above-described front obstacle is present is limited to the inside of the road on which the vehicle travels, Does not include pedestrian walkways. Furthermore, the control range on the road is limited to the inside of the own lane on which the host vehicle runs and the adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane even if the number of road lanes is three or more. Does not include lanes beyond the first lane. Obstacles, including pedestrians on the sidewalk and people in lanes that are separated from the lane, are objects that have a very low possibility of contact with the vehicle compared to obstacles that are located in the lane or adjacent lanes. is there. Therefore, according to the configuration of this embodiment, driving assistance by automatic braking or warning of the vehicle is not performed due to the presence of a pedestrian or the like located on the sidewalk, and obstacles located away from the own lane Such driving support is not performed at an early timing due to the presence of an object, and an object with a low possibility of contact with the host vehicle is excluded from the target of the driving support control, and thus the driving support is executed wastefully. Can be prevented.

  In this embodiment, as described above, not only the own lane but also the adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane is controlled on the road in a situation where the road on which the own vehicle is traveling is a road of two or more lanes. Included in the range. However, if the adjacent lanes are uniformly included in the control range on the road, inconvenience arises. That is, when the front obstacle located in the adjacent lane is moving toward the lane or sidewalk opposite to the own lane without entering the own lane, that is, toward the direction away from the own lane, Since the front obstacle is an object with a very low possibility of contact with the host vehicle, it is meaningless and useless to provide driving assistance to avoid contact between the host vehicle and the front obstacle under such circumstances It becomes.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when setting the control range on the road where the driving support control operation by the alarm or automatic brake should be performed when the above-described front obstacle exists, the front obstacle located in the adjacent lane It is also possible to consider the moving direction. That is, when the front obstacle moves in the adjacent lane in the lateral direction of the road away from the own lane, the control range on the road described above is set only inside the own lane, and the front obstacle automatically moves in the adjacent lane. When the vehicle does not move in a direction away from the lane, the control range on the road described above may be set inside the own lane and the adjacent lane. In such a configuration, a front obstacle that has a very low possibility of contact with the host vehicle moving away from the own lane in the adjacent lane is excluded from the target of the driving support control, and thus the driving support is executed wastefully. Can be prevented.

The moving direction of the front obstacle located in the adjacent lane can be detected by a camera image or the like. At this time, instead of considering the moving direction of the front obstacle located in the adjacent lane when setting the control range on the road as described above, that is, when setting the control range on the road, It may be considered in determining whether to perform the driving support control by automatic braking or warning without performing. That is, when the front obstacle moves in the lateral direction of the road away from the own lane in the adjacent lane, the execution of the driving support control is prohibited , and the forward obstacle moves in the lateral direction of the road away from the own lane in the adjacent lane. When the vehicle does not move, execution of driving support control may be permitted . Even in this configuration, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by the main ECU 12 in the vehicle travel support apparatus 10 of the present embodiment in order to realize the above function. The routine shown in FIG. 3 is a routine that is repeatedly activated every predetermined time. When the routine shown in FIG. 3 is started, first, the process of step 100 is executed.

  In step 100, a process of reading the current position of the host vehicle and road lane number information from the navigation device 22 and reading the image processing result of the image captured by the camera 14 from the image processing ECU 18 is executed. In step 102, a process of measuring a front obstacle including a person existing in front of the host vehicle based on an image captured by the camera 14 and an output signal from the radar 20, specifically, from the host vehicle to the front obstacle. A process of detecting the distance in the front-rear direction, the relative position in the vehicle width direction, and the relative speed between the host vehicle and the front obstacle is executed. In step 104, the vehicle state such as the speed and acceleration of the host vehicle is detected based on the output signal of the vehicle state sensor 16.

  In step 106, first, the number of road lanes and the position of the own lane on the road are detected based on the current position of the own vehicle read in step 100, the information on the number of lanes on the road, and the image captured by the camera 14. In addition, using the method described above based on the detection result, a control range on the road on which a driving assistance control operation is to be performed is set if a forward obstacle exists. This control range is variable according to the number of road lanes and the position of the own lane on the road. And it is discriminate | determined based on a camera image whether the front obstruction detected by the said step 102 is located in the set control range. As a result, if it is determined that the front obstacle is not located within the set control range, the process of step 108 is executed next. On the other hand, if it is determined that the front obstacle is located within the set control range, the process of step 110 is executed next.

  In step 108, a process for canceling the alarm and canceling the execution of the automatic brake or a process not performing the alarm and the automatic brake is executed. When the processing of step 108 is executed, the current routine is terminated.

  In step 110, the host vehicle contacts and collides with the forward obstacle detected in step 102 based on the own vehicle speed or acceleration detected in steps 102 and 104 and the relative distance and relative speed with the forward obstacle. It is determined whether there is a possibility. As a result, if it is determined that there is no possibility that the host vehicle is in contact with or collides with a front obstacle, then in step 108, processing that does not issue an alarm or automatic braking is executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a possibility that the host vehicle may come into contact with or collide with a front obstacle, the process of step 112 is executed next.

  In step 112, the warning device 32 is driven to issue a warning to notify the driver that there is a front obstacle with high possibility of contact with the own vehicle, and to prompt the driver to perform a collision avoidance operation. In order to avoid the contact between the vehicle and the front obstacle or to reduce the impact caused by the collision, the braking force control device 30 is driven to perform automatic braking of the vehicle. When the processing of step 112 is finished, the current routine is finished.

  According to the routine shown in FIG. 3, when there is a possibility that a front obstacle located in a predetermined control range on the road and the own vehicle may contact / collision, an alarm for avoiding the contact / collision Driving assistance by automatic braking can be executed. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid contact / collision between the host vehicle and the front obstacle, or to effectively reduce the impact caused by the collision.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the control range on the road where the front obstacle is located is a condition for executing the above-described driving support control, as described above, is the number of lanes on the road on which the host vehicle is traveling. It is variable according to the position on the road of the own lane on which the host vehicle is traveling. Specifically, if the road is a one-lane road, it is set within that lane, and if the road is a road with two or more lanes, the own lane and the adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane Set inside. Therefore, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, in a situation where the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is a road having two or more lanes, the adjacent lanes even if a front obstacle such as a person or a motorcycle is not located in the own lane. It is possible to perform driving support by automatic braking or warning only by being located at the position.

  For this reason, according to the vehicle travel support device 10 of the present embodiment, even when there are pedestrians, two-wheeled vehicles, automobiles, and the like who are entering the own lane from adjacent lanes adjacent to the own lane on two or more lanes. When the front obstacle is located in the adjacent lane, driving assistance for avoiding contact with the front obstacle that is likely to come into contact with the host vehicle can be started. Prevention of contact between the vehicle and the front obstacle can be started in a timely manner according to the road conditions between the number of lanes and the position of the own lane.

  In the above-described embodiment, the control range on the road where the driving assistance control operation by the alarm or the automatic brake should be performed when the front obstacle exists is the “predetermined road range” described in the claims. In addition, the main ECU 12 executes the process of step 102 in the routine shown in FIG. 3 so that the “object recognition unit” described in the claims executes the process of step 112. The “control means” described in the claims is based on the number of lanes on the road on which the vehicle currently stored as information in the map database 24 and the position of the own lane on which the host vehicle actually travels. By changing the control range for execution in the lateral direction of the road, the “control range variable means” described in the claims is realized.

  In the above embodiment, the lane number information of the road on which the vehicle actually travels is read out from the map database 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the camera 14 that captures the front of the vehicle. It is also possible to recognize a travel line such as a white line or a yellow line from the captured image and obtain lane number information based on the recognition result. Similarly, for example, a beacon or a magnetic marker that transmits a signal corresponding to the number of lanes may be embedded in the road, and the lane number information may be obtained from the beacon by detecting the beacon when the vehicle passes.

  In the above embodiment, both the alarm by the alarm device 32 and the automatic brake by the braking force control device 30 are performed as driving assistance to the driver, but either one may be performed, The timing may be determined in accordance with the possibility of contact / collision between the host vehicle and the front obstacle.

  In the above embodiment, when there is a possibility of contact / collision between the host vehicle and a front obstacle, automatic braking is performed as automatic control of the vehicle, but the present invention is limited to this. Instead, automatic steering may be performed. However, when it is determined that steering to the left side or the right side of the road is impossible according to the road boundary due to guardrails, cliffs, other vehicles, etc., it is appropriate not to perform automatic steering in that direction.

It is a block diagram of the system which is one Example of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the timing which starts the driving assistance to a driver | operator in the vehicle travel assistance apparatus of a present Example. It is a flowchart of the control routine performed in a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

10 Vehicle Driving Support Device 12 Electronic Control Unit (Main ECU)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Camera 16 Vehicle state sensor 22 Navigation apparatus 24 Map database 30 Braking force control apparatus 32 Alarm apparatus

Claims (5)

Recognizing object recognition means pedestrians or motorcycles present ahead of the host vehicle, when the pedestrian or motorcycle is recognized by the object recognition unit has the possibility of the host vehicle and the collision in the predetermined road range A vehicle driving support device comprising: a warning means for a driver of the own vehicle or a control means for automatically controlling the own vehicle;
A vehicle travel support device comprising a control range variable means for changing the predetermined road range in the lateral direction of the road according to a road condition.   When the number of road lanes is one lane, the control range variable means sets the inside of the lane as the predetermined road range, and when the number of road lanes is two or more lanes, 2. The vehicle travel support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an inside of an adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane is set as the predetermined road range. The control range varying means, when the road lane number is two or more lanes, the pedestrian or motorcycle is recognized by the object recognition unit does not move the adjacent lane the road transverse direction away from the own lane Sometimes, the inside of the own lane and the adjacent lane is set as the predetermined road range, while the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle recognized by the object recognition means is separated from the own lane in the adjacent lane. 3. The vehicle travel support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when moving in a direction, the inside of only the own lane is set as the predetermined road range. Recognizing object recognition means pedestrians or motorcycles present ahead of the host vehicle, when the pedestrian or motorcycle is recognized by the object recognition unit has the possibility of the host vehicle and the collision in the predetermined road range A vehicle driving support device comprising: a warning means for a driver of the own vehicle or a control means for automatically controlling the own vehicle;
In the case where the number of road lanes is two or more, the control means is spaced apart from the own lane in an adjacent lane adjacent to the own lane in which the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle recognized by the object recognition means travels. When the vehicle does not move in the lateral direction of the road, the warning or the automatic control associated with the presence of the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle is performed. On the other hand, the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle recognized by the object recognition means moves in the adjacent lane. The vehicle driving support device is characterized in that the warning or the automatic control associated with the presence of the pedestrian or two-wheeled vehicle is not performed when the vehicle moves in the lateral direction of the road away from the lane . The vehicle travel support apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4 , wherein the information on the number of road lanes is obtained from map information stored in a map database or a captured image by a camera.