JP4534789B2 - Vehicle alarm device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a vehicular alarm device that alerts a driver to the possibility of a collision between the host vehicle and an alarm target with an alarm sound, and more particularly, a sudden brake or alarm caused by the driver's side-by-side driving. The present invention relates to an alarm device for a vehicle that appropriately prevents excessive approach to an object.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a vehicle alarm device that alerts a driver with a warning sound about the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an alarm target (for example, a preceding vehicle) (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

The device disclosed in Patent Document 1 monitors the driver's side-by-side driving and dozing operation, and when any of them is detected, the timing for outputting an alarm sound is made earlier than usual.
JP-A-3-260900

  However, in the conventional device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the degree of looking aside is not taken into consideration, and the looking aside in all directions and angles is treated uniformly. In addition, individual differences in the time required to correct the side-by-side condition are not considered.

  The reaction time from when the driver looks aside with a warning alert from the side-by-side state, recognizes and judges the object to be alarmed, and starts braking control, that is, how much he was looking aside, that is, the angle of the side-by-side Depends on the size of In addition, there is naturally an individual difference in the agility and quickness of the movement of the head from looking aside to facing the front, and there are drivers who can turn to the front quickly even from a relatively large looking side, Some drivers are relatively slow to face the front even from a relatively small angle.

  Therefore, according to the conventional device disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 that uniformly handles all looking-aside states, depending on the looking-ahead angle at that time and / or depending on the driver, the warning sound is too slow and the preceding vehicle is In some cases, excessive approaching may occur, and in some cases, the warning sound is too early and gives the driver an annoyance (or troublesomeness).

  The difference depending on the looking angle will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 schematically shows a case where the driver of the vehicle who was looking aside stepped on a brake triggered by an alarm sound caused by the possibility of a collision with the preceding vehicle. When the degree (angle) is small, the lower pattern B illustrates a case where the degree (angle) of looking aside is relatively large.

  Here, in order to explain the difference in the look-aside angle, it is assumed that the individual difference of the driver is not considered.

  In both patterns of FIG. 1, an alarm sound is output at a predetermined alarm position (for example, when a time to collision (TTC) reaches a predetermined value (for example, T1)).

In the pattern A, when the alarm sound is output, the driver (and looking aside) and are viewed viewing direction S _a, eye movement of the angle theta _a to face the front (and the head movement for the )Is required. On the other hand, in the pattern B, when the warning sound is output, the driver is looking at the line-of-sight direction S _b (> S _a ) (looking aside), and the angle θ _b (> θ _a ) Eye movement (and head movement for that) are required.

Therefore, in pattern B, the reaction time T from when the warning sound is output until the driver steps on the brake pedal is longer than in pattern A because the look-ahead angle θ is larger than pattern A (θ _b > θ _a ). (T _b > T _a ).

Thus, although the braking distance L _a in the pattern A from the braking start to the stop target position is ensured, minute delayed pattern B at the start of braking, the braking distance is the distance L _{b (<L a)} is no longer ensured, the pattern A It is necessary to decelerate at a large deceleration compared to.

  As described above, the greater the look-aside angle, the higher the possibility of sudden braking and / or excessive approach to the alarm target.

  The present invention is for solving such problems, and provides a vehicle warning device that appropriately prevents sudden braking or excessive approach to an alarm target object caused by a driver's side-by-side driving. Main purpose.

  One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a vehicle alarm device that alerts the driver with a warning sound of the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an alarm object, A vehicle having a side-viewing degree judging means for judging the degree, and an alarm timing control means for controlling the timing of outputting the warning sound based on the degree of the driver's side-looking judged by the side-looking degree judging means It is an alarm device.

  In this aspect, the degree of looking aside is an angle index that indicates how far the direction is viewed from a state where the side facing the front is not looking aside.

  Moreover, in this one aspect, the above-mentioned side look degree judging means includes, for example, 1) a gaze direction angle measuring means for measuring an angle from the front in the gaze direction of the own vehicle driver (for example, using a camera or the like). The degree of the side look may be determined based on the magnitude of the gaze direction angle measured by the gaze direction angle measuring means, or 2) the angle from the front of the driver's face direction Having a face angle measuring means for measuring (for example, using a camera or the like), and judging the degree of the side look based on the size of the face angle measured by the face angle measuring means. Also good.

  According to this aspect, it is possible to control the timing at which the warning sound is output in consideration of the degree (angle) of the driver's side look, so that the warning sound is output earlier as the side angle increases. By doing so, it is possible to emit an alarm sound at a timing suitable for the degree of looking aside at that time. Thereby, the excessive approach to the preceding vehicle resulting from the driver's side aside is appropriately prevented.

  In this aspect, even if the degree (angle) of looking aside is substantially the same, there is an individual difference in the reaction time from looking aside to stepping on the brake pedal. In order to further advance the alarm timing when it is determined that a sudden brake has occurred from the speed, the vehicle alarm device reacts until the braking control is started by the own vehicle driver after the alarm sound is output. Reaction time measuring means for measuring the depression time measuring means for measuring the depression speed of the brake pedal by the host vehicle driver, the alarm timing control means, the brake pedal depression speed exceeds a predetermined value Learn the reaction time when, and advance the timing to output the alarm sound according to the learned reaction time Preferred.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicular alarm device that appropriately prevents sudden braking or excessive approach to an alarm object due to a driver's side-by-side driving.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle alarm device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the vehicle alarm device 200 according to the present embodiment. The vehicle alarm device 200 detects an alarm object such as a preceding vehicle that may collide with the host vehicle, and calculates a distance, a relative speed ΔV, and the like between the detected alarm object and the host vehicle. And various sensors such as a radar sensor 201, an image sensor 202, and a vehicle speed sensor 203. Furthermore, you may have sensors (not shown) which detect the own vehicle state, such as a steering angle sensor and a yaw rate sensor. The sensor may be shared with other in-vehicle systems.

  Further, the vehicle alarm device 200 captures the driver's line of sight, for example, by capturing the driver's eyes (for example, particularly the iris) with an image camera installed in the passenger compartment and analyzing the captured image. A line-of-sight direction detection unit 204 that detects the direction is included. Various configurations and methods for detecting the line-of-sight direction have been proposed and are known to those skilled in the art, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. In this embodiment, any method can be adopted. For example, the direction of the driver's face may be detected using a camera, and the detected face direction may be set as the line-of-sight direction.

  The vehicle alarm device 200 further includes a brake pedal operation amount detection unit 205 that detects an operation amount of the brake pedal. In the present embodiment, the brake pedal operation amount detection unit 205 is, for example, a pedal stroke sensor.

  The vehicle alarm device 200 further includes a collision determination unit 206 that analyzes the output signals of the sensors to detect an alarm target and determine the possibility of collision between the detected alarm target and the host vehicle. . In the present embodiment, the collision determination unit 206 is, for example, an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

  The vehicle alarm device 200 further includes an alarm processing unit 207 that generates an alarm sound for alerting the driver of the possibility of collision. In the present embodiment, the alarm processing unit 207 is, for example, an ECU.

  The vehicle alarm device 200 further includes an output unit 208 that provides the driver with an alarm sound generated by the alarm processing unit 207. In the present embodiment, the output unit 207 includes one or more speakers.

  In the vehicular alarm device 200 having such a schematic configuration, the alarm processing unit 207 changes the timing at which an alarm sound is output in accordance with the degree of looking aside (a look-ahead angle) of the driver of the vehicle. Specifically, the timing for outputting the alarm sound is advanced as the look-aside angle is larger.

  Regarding the alarm sound output timing control according to this embodiment, the flow of processing of the alarm processing unit 207 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of alarm sound output timing control by the alarm processing unit 207 of the vehicle alarm device 200 according to the present embodiment.

  First, the warning processing unit 207 detects the gaze direction angle of the driver at that time from the output of the gaze direction detection unit 204 (S301). The reference direction of the line-of-sight direction angle may be arbitrary. In any case, the side-view angle θ is obtained from the detected line-of-sight direction angle. The look-ahead angle represents the amount of angle deviation from the front view when the front-facing angle is regarded as a reference state without looking aside.

Here, for the sake of convenience, in FIG. 1 described above, the look-ahead angle θ is illustrated as if it was a horizontal angle, but in this embodiment, the look-ahead angle θ is a horizontal component ± θ _i as shown in FIG. It shall be composed of a vertical directional component ± theta _j as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 illustrates the horizontal component θ _i of the look-ahead angle θ at the time of gaze at a representative look-ahead object on the horizontal axis and the vertical component θ _j on the vertical axis. The ellipse in FIG. 6 shows the angular amount distribution of the horizontal component θ _{i on} the horizontal axis. The side look angle θ is approximated to the distance to the front (0, 0) on this graph.

When the driver's line-of-sight angle is measured in this way, an alarm condition is then set based on the measured line-of-sight angle θ (θ _i , θ _j ) (S302). This process will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 shows a default alarm condition in a normal state, that is, without looking aside and the driver is facing the front. The alarm condition is TTC according to the relative speed ΔV between the host vehicle and the alarm object. Is defined in the form of how many times the alarm sound is output. In the example shown in FIG. 7, an alarm sound is output at TTC = T1 in most of the relative speed regions.

  In this embodiment, when a sideward driving is detected, such a default alarm condition is shifted according to the detected line-of-sight angle θ. In the example of FIG. 8, the graph line representing the alarm condition is shifted upward by (T2-T1) in the TTC time. Here, T2> T1, and increasing the value of TTC when outputting the alarm sound means that the alarm sound is output at a point further away from the alarm object, that is, at an earlier timing. To do.

  When the alarm condition is set in accordance with the driver's look-ahead angle θ in this way, the alarm condition is then satisfied from the relative speed ΔV and TTC between the host vehicle and the alarm object detected from the sensors. It is determined whether or not (S303).

  Note that this embodiment relates to the control of the alarm sound output timing, and various methods have been proposed for determining the degree of possibility of collision in what situation. Any type.

  When it is determined that the alarm condition is not satisfied (“NO” in S303), the alarm processing unit 207 does not generate / output an alarm sound, and the process returns to S301. Then, the line-of-sight angle is measured again.

  When it is determined that the alarm condition is satisfied (“YES” in S303), the alarm processing unit 207 generates an alarm sound and sends it to the output unit 208. The output unit 208 amplifies it and outputs it from the speaker (S304). ). The driver is alerted by the output alarm sound and starts operating the brake pedal.

  Next, the alarm processing unit 207 measures the reaction time T from the time when the alarm sound is output until the time when the output of the brake pedal operation amount detection unit 205 exceeds 0 (S305).

  Next, the alarm processing unit 207 measures the brake pedal depression speed Δθ by the driver from the change speed of the output value of the brake pedal operation amount detection unit 205 (S306).

  Next, the alarm processing unit 207 determines whether or not the measured brake pedal depression speed Δθ is a sudden brake operation. Specifically, it is determined whether Δθ is larger than a predetermined threshold (S307).

  If Δθ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined threshold value (“NO” in S307), it is determined that no sudden braking operation has occurred in the current braking, and one routine of this flow is terminated without performing any special processing.

  If Δθ exceeds a predetermined threshold (“YES” in S307), it is determined that a sudden braking operation has occurred during the current braking, and the alarm condition is corrected (S308). That is, the fact that the brake is suddenly applied in spite of the alarm sound being output according to the alarm condition set based on the line-of-sight angle (side angle) θ measured in S301 means that the driver's Judging that the reaction time T has become longer due to personal characteristics (for example, movement characteristics), the default timing (TTC) of the alarm condition is advanced (TTC is increased), or according to the look angle θ The alarm condition is corrected such that the rate of increase in the alarm condition shift amount is increased (the alarm condition shift amount that increases with respect to the same amount of increase in the look angle θ) is increased.

  In this way, when sudden braking occurs, it is determined that the alarm timing needs to be further advanced in accordance with the personal characteristics of the driver, and the characteristics of the driver are learned by correcting the alarm conditions. The alarm conditions are optimized for the driver.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the timing at which an alarm sound is output is set / corrected according to the driver's looking angle and personal characteristics. It is possible to appropriately prevent an excessive approach to an object from occurring.

  In the above embodiment, the situation where the driver is facing the front is considered as “no looking aside”, and the time from the looking aside to the front view depends on the looking angle and personal characteristics. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the term “front view” as used herein does not mean exactly one point, but the front is within a state in which the driver is substantially facing the front or within the driver's effective field of view. It indicates an area within a certain range including the included states.

In the above-described embodiment, the look-ahead angle θ is composed of the horizontal component θ _i and the vertical component θ _j . However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rotational direction component ( That is, the driver may have an angle component in a direction in which the head is tilted to the left or right with the driver substantially facing the front.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where one fixed user uses one vehicle has been described as an implicit assumption. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where a plurality of users use one vehicle. Naturally applicable.

  In this case, the alarm conditions customized as described above for each driver are stored in advance in association with the user information, and the alarm conditions stored in association with the driver by performing personal authentication of the driver when boarding are stored. It is preferable to call and use. The driver's personal authentication in this case may be performed using, for example, smart key (registered trademark) or biometric authentication, or in conjunction with the driving position memory function, the seat position (front and rear, Up / down, reclining angle, etc.), steering wheel position (by tilt mechanism / telescopic mechanism), mirror angle (door mirror, room mirror, etc.), etc. may be set.

  Such customization to an individual can be similarly performed for the frequency of the alarm sound. That is, considering the auditory characteristics of each driver, such as when it becomes older, it becomes difficult to hear high tones, the frequency of the alarm sound used is based on the driver's individual auditory measurement results, as in the above alarm conditions. It is also possible to customize.

  The present invention can be used for a vehicle alarm device. The appearance, weight, size, running performance, etc. of the vehicle to be mounted are not limited.

It is a figure for demonstrating the difference in the reaction time by the difference in a look angle. It is a schematic block diagram of the alarm device for vehicles which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the alarm process by the vehicle alarm device which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the horizontal direction component (theta) _i of the looking angle (theta). It is a figure which shows the vertical direction component (theta) _j of the looking angle (theta). It is a figure showing the look-ahead angle (theta) at the time of typical look-ahead object gaze. It is a graph which shows an example of a default alarm condition in the state where there is no side look. It is a graph which shows an example of the alarm conditions shifted according to a look-ahead angle in a look-aside state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 200 Alarm apparatus for vehicles 201 Radar sensor 202 Image sensor 203 Vehicle speed sensor 204 Gaze direction detection part 205 Brake pedal operation amount detection part 206 Collision determination part 207 Alarm processing part 208 Output part

Claims (4)

A vehicle alarm device that alerts the driver with a warning sound of the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an alarm object,
A means of judging the degree of looking aside for the driver of the vehicle,
Alarm timing control means for controlling the timing of outputting the alarm sound based on the degree of the driver's side look determined by the side look degree determination means;
A stepping speed measuring means for measuring the depression speed of the brake pedal by the driver of the vehicle;
With
The alarm timing control means is
An alarm condition is shifted in the increasing direction as the degree of inattention that is determined is output quickly the alarm sound to increase by the inattentive about determining means, and,
When the brake pedal depression speed measured by the depression speed measuring means exceeds a predetermined value after the warning sound is output, the shift amount of the alarm condition that increases with respect to the increase amount of the degree of looking aside is large. It is characterized by amending so that
Alarm device for vehicles. A vehicle alarm device that alerts the driver with a warning sound of the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an alarm object,
A means of judging the degree of looking aside for the driver of the vehicle,
Alarm timing control means for controlling the timing of outputting the alarm sound based on the degree of the driver's side look determined by the side look degree determination means;
A stepping speed measuring means for measuring the depression speed of the brake pedal by the driver of the vehicle;
With
The alarm timing control means is
Shifting the alarm condition for outputting the alarm sound according to the degree of the side look determined by the side look degree determining means, and
When the brake pedal depression speed measured by the depression speed measuring means exceeds a predetermined value after the warning sound is output, the default value of the alarm condition is corrected so that the warning is output early. Characterized by the
Alarm device for vehicles. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 1 or 2,
The armpit level judging means is
It has gaze direction angle measuring means for measuring the angle from the front in the gaze direction of the own vehicle driver,
An alarm device for a vehicle, characterized in that the degree of the side look is determined based on the magnitude of the gaze direction angle measured by the gaze direction angle measuring means. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 1 or 2,
The armpit level judging means is
Having a face angle measuring means for measuring an angle from the front of the face direction of the driver of the vehicle,
An alarm device for a vehicle, characterized in that the degree of the side look is determined based on the size of the face orientation angle measured by the face orientation angle measuring means.

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