JP5166975B2 - Vehicle periphery monitoring device and vehicle periphery monitoring method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus and a vehicle periphery monitoring method for detecting the presence of an object around a vehicle using an input image captured by a camera and a reflected wave of a radar.

  Conventionally, a technique for detecting an object using an image captured by a camera or a reflected wave of a radar has been used. In particular, in recent years, it has been considered that a camera or radar is mounted on a vehicle to detect nearby vehicles or pedestrians to support driving operations and prevent accidents.

  In such in-vehicle object recognition, it is important to provide information about an object that exists at a position that becomes a blind spot of the driver when entering an intersection. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting an obstacle by image recognition and outputting information on a blind spot caused by the obstacle. Moreover, patent document 2 is disclosing the technique which obtains the information of the place which is a blind spot from the own vehicle by delivering the periphery monitoring result by communication between vehicles.

  Furthermore, conventionally, as a support technology at the time of approach at an intersection or the like, there is a technology for monitoring the deceleration state of the vehicle when approaching a point where a temporary stop is required, and performing an alarm to the driver or an intervention in the vehicle behavior ( For example, see Patent Document 3.)

JP 2007-233430 A JP 2006-318093 A JP 11-339197 A

  By the way, when passing through an intersection in the situation where there is a stationary object, for example, a stopped vehicle, on the roadway near the intersection, after entering the position considering the influence of the stationary object instead of the normal stop line position It is necessary to stop and check the surrounding situation.

  However, in the conventional technique, even if the occurrence of a blind spot due to a stationary object is detected, the influence on the behavior of the host vehicle is not taken into consideration. For this reason, there is a problem that the accuracy of warning and support operation for driving the vehicle is low when passing through an intersection, such as performing deceleration support using a normal stop line as a target position in spite of the presence of a stationary object.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems related to the prior art and to solve the problems. The present invention detects a stationary object on a roadway and provides driving support in consideration of the influence of the stationary object on the vehicle behavior. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle periphery monitoring device and a vehicle periphery monitoring method that are realized.

In order to solve the above-described problem and achieve the object, the vehicle periphery monitoring device and the vehicle periphery monitoring method according to the present invention recognize an object that exists in front of the host vehicle, and whether or not the recognized object is moving. When the stationary object existing on the road is recognized , the distance information to the intersection entrance ahead of the host vehicle is virtually extended using the information on the stationary object to correct the intersection information.

  According to the present invention, a vehicle periphery monitoring device and a vehicle periphery monitoring method that realize driving support in consideration of the influence of a stationary object on vehicle behavior by detecting a stationary object on a road and correcting intersection information are obtained. There is an effect that can be.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle periphery monitoring device and a vehicle periphery monitoring method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle periphery monitoring device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the periphery monitoring device 20 mounted on the vehicle is connected to a camera 31, a radar 32, a navigation device 33, a yaw rate sensor 34, a vehicle speed sensor 35, and a control ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 40.

  The camera 31 is provided, for example, on the right front and left front of the front grille, and is a photographing means for photographing the front side (right front and left front) of the host vehicle. input.

  Further, the radar 32 is provided, for example, on the right front and left front of the front grill, scans and radiates millimeter waves to the front side (right front and left front) of the host vehicle, acquires the reflected waves, and acquires the periphery monitoring device 20. To enter.

  Here, the search range of the radar 32 and the imaging range of the camera 31 are arranged so that at least a part (preferably the entire range) overlaps. The object search by the radar 32 and the imaging by the camera 31 are repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing (more preferably, the timing at which the radar 32 and the camera 31 are synchronized).

  The navigation device 33 is an in-vehicle device that sets and guides a travel route using the position of the host vehicle specified by communicating with a GPS (Global Positioning System) artificial satellite and map data 33a stored in advance. In addition, the navigation device 33 provides the location monitoring device 20 with position information of the host vehicle, surrounding map information, information about roads, and the like.

  The yaw rate sensor 34 and the vehicle speed sensor 35 acquire the yaw rate and travel speed of the host vehicle, respectively, and input them to the periphery monitoring device 20.

  The control ECU 40 protects the occupant by notifying the passenger through the display 43 and the speaker 44, controlling the behavior of the vehicle by the brake 41 and the engine control device (EFI) 42, operating support based on the monitoring result of the periphery monitoring unit 20. Operation control of the airbag 45, which is a device that reduces collision damage, is performed.

  Further, the control ECU 40 acquires information on the behavior of the vehicle from the brake 41, the EFI 42, a steering control ECU (not shown), a transmission (shift) control ECU, and the like, and provides the information to the periphery monitoring device 20.

  The periphery monitoring device 20 includes an object detection unit 10, a collision determination unit 21, and an intersection correction processing unit 22 therein. The object detection unit 10 is a processing unit that detects an object around the host vehicle by using an input image captured by the camera 31 and a reflected wave of the radar 32.

  The object detection unit 10 includes an image recognition unit 11, a reflected wave detection unit 12, an object recognition processing unit 13, and a movement determination unit 14 therein.

  The image recognition unit 11 is a processing unit that acquires an image captured by the camera 31 as an input image and performs image recognition such as pattern matching. Similarly, the reflected wave detection unit 12 is a search unit that acquires a reflected wave from the radar 32 and detects the presence of an object from the reflection intensity.

  The object recognizing unit 13 performs a process of recognizing an object existing on the front side of the host vehicle using the recognition result of the image recognizing unit 11 and the detection result of the reflected wave detecting unit 12. Here, the presence of the object itself can be recognized by both image recognition and radar detection. Furthermore, in image recognition, it is possible to obtain information on an object whose type, position (distance from the host vehicle), and size of the object are recognized. In radar detection, the position of the object (distance from the host vehicle) can be obtained with high accuracy.

  The movement determination unit 14 is a processing unit that determines whether the object recognized by the object recognition unit 13 is a moving object that is moving or a stationary object that is stationary. Specifically, the presence or absence of movement can be determined from the comparison of images taken continuously and the intensity change of the radar reflected wave. If the object is a moving object, the moving speed and moving direction are further set as information on the moving object. Can be sought.

  When a moving object is detected, the object detection unit 10 outputs a detection result to the collision determination unit 21. On the other hand, when a stationary object is detected, the object detection unit 10 outputs the detection result to the collision determination unit 21 and also outputs it to the intersection correction processing unit 22.

  The intersection correction processing unit 22 corrects the information on the intersection in front of the host vehicle using information on the stationary object when the object detection unit 10 detects the stationary object and the stationary object exists on the road (roadway). Perform processing. Specifically, the intersection correction processing unit 22 acquires the current position and surrounding map information from the navigation device 33, and determines whether or not a stationary object exists on the roadway based on the position and distance of the stationary object. To do. When a stationary object exists on the roadway, intersection correction information for virtually extending the distance to the entrance of the intersection is created based on the positional relationship between the stationary object and the intersection, and the collision determination unit 21 and Output to the control unit 40.

  The collision determination unit 21 is a unit that determines the possibility that the moving object or the stationary object detected by the object detection unit 10 will collide with the host vehicle. In this determination, in addition to the detection result by the object detection unit 10, the intersection correction information created by the intersection correction processing unit 22, the map information acquired from the navigation device 33, the information related to the planned travel route, the yaw rate sensor 34 and the vehicle speed sensor 35 Is used to output information on the yaw rate and travel speed of the host vehicle, and the vehicle behavior acquired from the control ECU 40.

  That is, the collision determination unit 21 acquires the type, position, and movement state of an object existing around the host vehicle from the object detection unit 10, and the host vehicle collides with the object from the traveling lane, planned route, map information, etc. of the host vehicle. Whether or not there is a possibility of the determination is comprehensively determined, and the determination result is output to the control ECU 40.

  The control ECU 40 receives this determination result, and notifies the driver using the display 43 or the speaker 44 when there is a possibility of a collision, and reduces the play of the brake 41 if necessary. Execute support control of the operation, control of the vehicle behavior such as applying the brake 41 and lowering the engine speed, and when the possibility of occurrence of a collision is very high, preparation for deployment of the airbag 45 and hoisting of the seat belt Control the operation of the collision damage mitigation device. Here, when assisting the stop of the vehicle, the control ECU 40 corrects the stop position using the intersection correction information. Although the present embodiment will be described using a highly accurate configuration example using both a camera and a radar, the present invention can be realized by using only one of them.

  Next, a specific example of object detection and intersection correction by the periphery monitoring device 20 will be described. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the host vehicle C0 is in a state immediately before entering the intersection, and is photographing the right side (imaging range CR) and the left side (imaging range CL). Further, the other vehicle C2 is approaching from the right side of the intersection, and the other vehicle C1 is stopped to the left side of the intersection. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the shooting results of the shooting ranges CR and CL include the other vehicle C2 in the shooting range CR and the other vehicle C1 in the shooting range CL.

  Here, since the other vehicle C1 is a stationary object existing on the roadway, the intersection correction processing unit 22 corrects the information on the intersection based on the position and size of the other vehicle C1. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the intersection correction processing unit 22 sets a virtual intersection entrance on the basis of the right end of the other vehicle C1. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a position that is in the distance d <b> 1 from the actual entrance of the intersection is the virtual intersection entrance.

  Accordingly, when the host vehicle C0 goes straight ahead, the surroundings monitoring device 20 prompts the driver to stop before the virtual intersection entrance and check the surroundings. When the other vehicle C3 is detected and the possibility of a collision is predicted, a warning to the driver, assistance of brake operation, and automatic execution of deceleration control are performed so that the vehicle stops before the virtual intersection entrance.

  Next, the processing operation of the periphery monitoring device 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The flowchart shown in the figure is a diagram for explaining the main flow of the periphery monitoring device 20 and is a process repeatedly executed during the operation of the periphery monitoring device 20.

  As shown in the figure, first, the image recognition unit 11 acquires a camera image (step S1010) and executes image recognition (step S102). If no object is recognized by this image recognition (No at Step S103), the process returns to Step S101 again.

  When an object is recognized by image recognition (step S103, Yes), the reflected wave detection unit 12 acquires a reflected wave from the radar 32 (step S104), and calculates a distance to the object (step S105).

  Next, the movement determination unit 14 determines the movement of the object (step S106). In this movement determination, for example, the image recognition may be re-executed to determine the change in the position of the object from the optical flow, or the distance calculation from the radar reflected wave may be re-executed to detect the change in the distance. .

  As a result, when the recognized object is a moving object (step S107, Yes), information on the moving object (type, position, size, speed, moving direction) is output (step S108). On the other hand, if the recognized object is a stationary object (No in step S107), information (type, position, size) of the stationary object is output (step S109), and the intersection correction processing unit 22 determines the position and size of the stationary object. Now, intersection correction information is created and output using the current position of the host vehicle and map information (step S110).

  Then, the collision determination unit 21 determines the possibility that the object (moving object, stationary object) detected by the object detection unit 10 will collide with the host vehicle (step S111), and the process ends.

  As described above, the object detection wave unit 10 according to the present embodiment recognizes an object in front of the host vehicle through image recognition and radar detection, and determines whether the recognized object is a moving object or a stationary object. If the object is a stationary object, intersection correction information is created in consideration of the influence of the stationary object.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide high-precision driving support so that the host vehicle is brought to a position in consideration of the influence of a stationary object and then stopped and the surrounding situation is confirmed.

  The configuration and operation shown in this embodiment are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the periphery monitoring device 20 includes the object detection unit 10 has been described as an example. However, the detection result of the object detection device is determined by another device as an object detection device that performs object detection. It is good also as a structure to use.

  Needless to say, the information used for collision determination and the method of using the collision determination result can be modified as appropriate. For example, information acquired by VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) may be used for collision determination, and the state of the transmission can be further controlled.

  Further, in this embodiment, whether the object is a moving object or a stationary object is determined based on whether the object is actually moving or not, but other information is used for the determination. be able to. For example, even if the vehicle is stopped, it is desirable to handle it as a moving object when the start of movement is predicted from the lighting state of the direction indicator lamp (blinker lamp). Note that the lighting state of the turn signal lamp (blinker lamp) can be recognized by image recognition.

  As described above, the vehicle periphery monitoring device and the vehicle periphery monitoring method according to the present invention are useful for driving support based on object detection around the vehicle, and are particularly suitable for driving support when entering an intersection.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows schematic structure of the periphery monitoring apparatus concerning the Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the specific example of object recognition. It is explanatory drawing explaining the imaging | photography result of the front side of the own vehicle. It is explanatory drawing explaining correction | amendment of an intersection. It is a flowchart explaining the processing operation of a periphery monitoring apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Object detection part 11 Image recognition part 12 Reflected wave detection part 13 Object recognition part 14 Movement determination part 20 Perimeter monitoring apparatus 21 Collision determination part 22 Intersection correction process part 31 Camera 32 Radar 33 Navigation apparatus 33a Map data 34 Yaw rate sensor 35 Vehicle speed sensor 40 Control ECU
41 Brake 42 EFI
43 Display 44 Speaker 45 Airbag C0 to C3 Vehicle CL, CR Shooting range

Claims (6)

Object recognition means for recognizing an object present on the front side of the vehicle;
Movement determination means for determining whether or not the object recognized by the object recognition means is moving;
An intersection correction processing means for virtually extending the distance to the entrance of the intersection in front of the host vehicle and correcting the information of the intersection when the movement determination means determines that there is a stationary object on the road;
A vehicle periphery monitoring device comprising:   2. The vehicle periphery monitoring according to claim 1, wherein the object recognizing unit recognizes at least one of a type, a position, a size, a speed, and a moving direction of an object existing on a front side of the host vehicle. apparatus. The intersection correction processing means, based on the position and size of the stationary object existing on the road, the vehicle periphery according to claim 2, characterized in that to extend the distance to the entrance of the intersection virtually Monitoring device. When the movement determination means recognizes a moving object present on the road, the movement determination means comprises a collision determination means for determining the possibility of a collision between the moving object and the host vehicle,
The collision determination unit performs a collision determination using the intersection correction information when the intersection correction information is being output from the intersection correction processing unit. Vehicle periphery monitoring device as described in one.   The movement determining means determines whether or not the object recognized by the object recognizing means is a stationary object based on the operation state when the vehicle direction indicator lamp is operating. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein An object recognition process for recognizing an object existing in front of the host vehicle;
A movement determination step of determining whether or not the object recognized by the object recognition step is moving;
An intersection correction processing step of correcting the information of the intersection by virtually extending the distance to the entrance of the intersection ahead of the host vehicle when the movement determination step determines that there is a stationary object on the road;
The vehicle periphery monitoring method characterized by including.

Images