JP5648493B2 - Vehicle periphery monitoring device, display method and program for vehicle periphery monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device, a display method for a vehicle periphery monitoring device, and a program that facilitate checking whether vehicle periphery monitoring is normally performed.

  In recent years, various sensors for monitoring the periphery of a vehicle have been provided in the vehicle for the purpose of reducing the burden of driving operation on the driver. Examples of various sensors include a radar, a clearance sonar, and a camera.

  Radar is a sensor used to measure the distance, relative speed, and direction between an object located at a relatively distant position and the vehicle, and clearance sonar is a distance and position between an object located at a relatively close position and the vehicle. For example, the sensor is used to support the driver when performing a parking operation. The camera captures an area of a blind spot that cannot be visually recognized by the driver. For example, the camera supports the driver when performing operations such as entering a garage, parking on the shoulder, width adjustment, and changing lanes.

  Information measured by the above-described various sensors is processed by an arithmetic unit such as an ECU (electronic control unit), for example, and the processed information is displayed on a meter unit such as a combination meter or MID (Multi Information Display) (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4010224

  As described above, when various sensors measure information to be measured, information related to the measured information is displayed on the meter unit and the information is transmitted to the driver. In this case, if the above-mentioned display is not performed on the meter unit or the like, the driver does not display on the meter unit because there is no object to be measured, or due to failure of various sensors or meter units. There was a problem that it was impossible to determine whether the display was not performed.

  Further, when displaying other information such as a warning to the driver based on information measured by various sensors, the information is displayed on an indicator (indicator) arranged in a meter unit such as a combination meter or MID. If this display is small, there is a problem that it is difficult for the driver who operates the vehicle to visually notice.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and provides a vehicle periphery monitoring device, a vehicle periphery monitoring device display method, and a program capable of easily confirming a monitoring state around the vehicle. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following means.
The vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention has a plurality of acquisition units that acquire information in the vicinity of the vehicle and a display area that displays information related to the state of the vehicle, and the display area is illuminated with light, or A vehicle information display unit that emits light from a portion that displays information related to the state of the vehicle in the display area, a virtual image display unit that displays a virtual image representing the operating state of the acquisition unit, information about the vehicle state, and The information acquired by the acquisition unit is input, and a control unit that controls the vehicle information display unit and the virtual image display unit is provided, and the virtual image display unit is provided in the vehicle information display unit as viewed from the driver of the vehicle. It is arranged at a position where a virtual image is displayed at a position that overlaps at least a part of the display area, and the control unit sequentially determines whether the plurality of acquisition units are operating normally when starting the vehicle, and with respect to the vehicle information display unit Virtual image Light illumination for the display area that overlaps, or the virtual image with stops the emission of light in a display area that overlaps with the virtual image, the plurality of acquisition unit by the virtual image display unit corresponding to a display indicating that it is operating normally Are sequentially displayed.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention, when the vehicle is started, a virtual image representing the operation state of the acquisition unit is displayed by the virtual image display unit, and illumination of a portion where the virtual image is displayed in the display region is stopped, Alternatively, the emission of light in the display area is stopped. Therefore, the display area does not get in the way when the driver visually recognizes the virtual image. Furthermore, since the periphery of the virtual image is darkened and the display of the virtual image is emphasized, the driver can easily recognize the virtual image.

  Here, examples of information in the vicinity of the vehicle include information indicating the presence or absence of an obstacle, information indicating a road surface state, information indicating the approach of another vehicle, and the like. Further, as information relating to the state of the vehicle, information indicating the traveling speed of the vehicle, information indicating the engine speed, information indicating the engine coolant temperature, information indicating the remaining amount of fuel, and the like are exemplified. be able to.

  The display area in the vehicle information display unit of the present invention is divided into a plurality of parts, at least one of the divided parts overlaps the virtual image displayed by the virtual image display unit, and the control unit displays the virtual image on the virtual image display unit. In this case, it is desirable to stop the illumination of light to the divided part of the display area overlapping with the virtual image or the emission of light in the display area overlapping with the virtual image.

  In this way, only the surrounding display area where the virtual image is displayed is darkened to ensure the visibility of the virtual image, and the display area away from the portion where the virtual image is displayed continues to illuminate or emit light. Thus, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the visibility of information relating to the state of the vehicle displayed in this portion.

  The vehicle information display unit of the present invention is provided with a plurality of light sources that emit light that illuminates each of the divided portions in the display region or light that is emitted from a portion that displays information related to the state of the vehicle. The control unit desirably controls the emission of light from the plurality of light sources individually.

  Thus, by providing a light source that illuminates each of the divided parts in the display area independently, and controlling the emission of light from the light source, the divided parts of the display area that overlap with the virtual image are controlled. Light illumination or light emission in a display area overlapping with a virtual image can be easily and reliably stopped.

An information acquisition step of sequentially determining whether or not a plurality of acquisition units that acquire information in the vicinity of the vehicle of the present invention are operating normally, and acquiring information related to the plurality of acquisition units; An information acquisition step for acquiring information related to an acquisition unit for acquiring information in the vicinity of the vehicle, light illumination for a display area for displaying information related to the state of the vehicle, or information relating to the state of the vehicle in the display area The light control step for stopping the emission of light from the part, the illumination of the light on the display area, or the information on the part where the emission of light from the part for displaying information on the state of the vehicle in the display area is stopped a virtual image display step of sequentially displaying the virtual image of the plurality of acquisition section showing the obtained information corresponds to a display indicating that it is operating normally in obtaining step, Those having.

The program of the present invention sequentially determines whether a computer has a start detection function for detecting start of the vehicle and a plurality of acquisition units for acquiring information in the vicinity of the vehicle after the start of the vehicle, Information acquisition function for acquiring information relating to a plurality of acquisition units, illumination of light for a display area for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle, or light from a part for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle in the display area The information acquisition function acquires the light control function for stopping the emission and the light illumination for the display area or the part where the light emission from the part for displaying the information on the state of the vehicle in the display area is stopped. And a virtual image display function for sequentially displaying virtual images corresponding to the display indicating that the plurality of acquisition units indicating the information are operating normally .

  According to the display method or the program of the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention, when the vehicle is started, the virtual image indicating the information acquired in the information acquisition step is displayed, and the display area for displaying the information related to the state of the vehicle is displayed. Illumination of the portion where the virtual image is displayed in the area is stopped, or light emission in the display area is stopped. Therefore, the display area does not get in the way when the driver visually recognizes the virtual image. Furthermore, since the periphery of the virtual image is darkened and the display of the virtual image is emphasized, the driver can easily recognize the virtual image.

  According to the vehicle periphery monitoring device and the vehicle periphery monitoring device display method and program of the present invention, when the vehicle is started, a virtual image representing the operating state of the acquisition unit is displayed by the virtual image display unit, and in the display region. Since the illumination of the portion where the virtual image is displayed is stopped or the emission of light in the display area is stopped, it is possible to easily check the monitoring state around the vehicle.

It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the display state by the real meter part of FIG. It is a schematic diagram explaining the display state by the real meter part of FIG. 1, and the display for virtual images. It is a flowchart explaining the display control by the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of FIG. 1 at the time of starting of a vehicle.

A vehicle periphery monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle periphery monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining a display state by the real meter unit 31 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a display state by the real meter unit 31 and the virtual image display 33 in FIG.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device 1 according to the present embodiment is used for monitoring the presence or absence of obstacles around the vehicle, other vehicles, and objects such as people. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus 1 is mainly provided with a periphery monitoring unit 10, a vehicle information unit 20, a display unit 30, and a control unit (control unit, computer) 40. Yes.

  The periphery monitoring unit 10 is used for monitoring the presence / absence of an object present around the vehicle, and is arranged at various locations of the vehicle in accordance with the object to be monitored. In the present embodiment, the peripheral monitoring unit 10 will be described by being applied to an example in which a camera (acquisition unit) 11, a clearance sonar (acquisition unit) 12, and a radar (acquisition unit) 13 are provided. It is not limited to those.

  The camera 11 performs monitoring by photographing a predetermined area around the vehicle. In the present embodiment, description will be made by applying to a camera in which a camera 11 is built in a door mirror of a vehicle and an image of a side area of the vehicle is taken. In addition, the camera 11 may be additionally provided with a camera that captures an image of the rear region of the vehicle or a camera that captures an image of the front side region of the vehicle, and is not particularly limited.

  The clearance sonar 12 transmits ultrasonic waves outward from the vehicle and receives ultrasonic waves reflected by objects around the vehicle, thereby detecting the object, measuring the distance to the object, and measuring the position of the object. Is what you do. In the present embodiment, description will be made by applying to an example in which the vehicle is disposed on the front and rear bumpers of the vehicle. More specifically, description will be made by applying to an example in which the clearance sonar 12 is disposed at the center, right end, and left end of the bumper.

  The radar 13 transmits, for example, millimeter wave radio waves and receives radio waves reflected by the object, thereby detecting an object around the vehicle, measuring a distance to the object, a position of the object, a relative speed with the object, and the like. Is to do. Generally, the range that can be detected or measured by the radar 13 is wider than that of the clearance sonar 12, and for example, the distance to other vehicles traveling in front of the vehicle, the relative speed, and the like can be measured.

  The vehicle information unit 20 relates to transmission / reception of information indicating the traveling speed of the vehicle, information indicating the rotational speed of the engine, information indicating the coolant temperature of the engine, information indicating the remaining amount of fuel, and the like. In the present embodiment, signals representing various types of information described above are transmitted and received by a vehicle CAN (Controller Area Network) 21 that is an in-vehicle network provided in the vehicle information unit 20.

  The display unit 30 displays various information on the vehicle to the driver, and is provided, for example, on an instrument panel of the vehicle. The display unit 30 is mainly provided with a real meter unit (vehicle information display unit) 31, a meter backlight (vehicle information display unit, light source) 32, and a virtual image display (virtual image display unit) 33. .

  The actual meter unit 31 includes information indicating the traveling speed of the vehicle to the driver of the vehicle, information indicating the engine speed, information indicating the engine coolant temperature, information indicating the remaining amount of fuel, and the like. The information is displayed and transmitted, and constitutes a so-called self-luminous meter together with the meter backlight 32. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the tachometer 31R is divided into three parts in the left-right direction and the engine speed is displayed at the left end, and the vehicle running speed is displayed in the center. Description will be made by applying to an example in which a certain speedometer 31S and a water temperature gauge 31T and a fuel gauge 31F, which are parts for displaying the engine coolant temperature and the remaining amount of fuel at the right end, are provided. Each part displays information (analog display) according to the direction indicated by the pointer 31M whose rotation phase is controlled by a driving unit such as a stepping motor.

  The meter backlight 32 uses light to improve the visibility of the actual meter unit 31, and in this embodiment, a power supply circuit that controls the lighting of an LED using an LED (Light Emitted Diode) as a light source. This is applied to an example in which is provided.

  The LED of the meter backlight 32 is disposed on the back side of the dial 31B in the actual meter unit 31, and the light emitted from the LED of the meter backlight 32 passes through the dial 31B from the back via an optical member such as a prism. Illuminated. Further, the other LEDs of the meter backlight 32 are arranged at the center of rotation of the pointer 31M and on the back side of the dial 31B, and the light emitted from the other LEDs of the meter backlight 32 has, for example, translucency. The guide 31M is guided to the inside of the pointer 31M formed of the resin having the pointer 31M.

  Further, in the actual meter section 31, the left end portion of the tachometer 31R, the center portion of the speedometer 31S, the right end portion of the water temperature gauge 31T and the fuel gauge 31F are provided with LEDs and pointers of the meter backlight 32 that illuminates the dial 31B. The LEDs of the meter backlight 32 that illuminate 31M are arranged separately.

  The virtual image display 33 displays a virtual image related to the information acquired by the periphery monitoring unit 10. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the virtual image display 33 is displayed on the central speedometer 31 </ b> S in the real meter unit 31. Description will be made by applying to an example of displaying a virtual image. The virtual image display 33 includes a translucent optical member such as a half mirror on which a virtual image is projected, a display that generates an image related to the projected virtual image, and a light source that emits light used to project the virtual image. And a configuration mainly including the above. In this case, the optical member onto which the virtual image is projected is disposed at a position that covers at least a part of the speedometer 31 </ b> S that is the central portion of the actual meter unit 31 as viewed from the driver.

  The control unit 40 receives various information from the periphery monitoring unit 10 and the vehicle information unit 20 and controls the display state of information on the display unit 30. The control unit 40 is mainly provided with a vehicle state processing unit 41, a peripheral state processing unit 42, and a display control unit 43.

  The vehicle state processing unit 41 receives a signal related to information indicating the traveling speed of the vehicle from the vehicle CAN 21, and determines whether or not the vehicle has started based on the input signal.

  The surrounding state processing unit 42 receives monitoring information such as the presence / absence of an object present in the vicinity of the vehicle from the surrounding monitoring unit 10, and based on the input signal, for example, the camera 11 and the surrounding monitoring unit 10 Whether the clearance sonar 12, the radar 13 or the like is operating normally is determined.

  The display control unit 43 controls the display on the real meter unit 31 and the meter backlight 32 of the display unit 30 and the display on the virtual image display 33 based on the determination results in the vehicle state processing unit 41 and the surrounding state processing unit 42. To do. The detailed contents of processing in the vehicle state processing unit 41, the surrounding state processing unit 42, and the display control unit 43 will be described later.

  Next, the display at the time of starting the vehicle in the vehicle periphery monitoring device 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining display control by the vehicle periphery monitoring device 1 of FIG. 1 when the vehicle is started.

  The vehicle state processing unit 41 of the control unit 40 determines whether or not the vehicle has started via the vehicle CAN21, more specifically, whether or not the vehicle engine has started (S11: start detection step). . In the present embodiment, description will be made by applying to an example in which it is determined whether or not an engine key (ignition key) inserted into a key cylinder has been turned to an ignition ON position for rotating a starter motor of the engine. The determination of whether or not the engine has started may be made by detecting the rotational position of the engine key as described above, or the operating status of a control unit such as an ECU that controls the engine, the vibration of the engine, The determination may be made based on the output of a sensor that measures temperature or the like, and is not particularly limited.

  If it is determined in S11 that the engine of the vehicle has not been started (in the case of NO), the determination of whether or not the engine has started (determination of whether or not ignition ON has been detected) is repeatedly performed. When it is determined that the engine has started (ignition ON is detected) (YES), the vehicle state processing unit 41 outputs an ignition ON detection signal.

  The ignition ON signal is input to the peripheral state processing unit 42, and the peripheral state processing unit 42 determines whether the peripheral monitoring information has been acquired from the peripheral monitoring unit 10 (S12: information acquisition step). In other words, in order to determine whether or not the periphery monitoring unit 10 is operating normally, an image signal obtained by capturing an image of the periphery of the vehicle is acquired from the camera 11, or ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received from the clearance sonar 12. It is determined whether a signal indicating that a radio wave has been acquired or a signal indicating that radio waves are being transmitted / received from the radar 13 has been acquired.

  If it is determined in S12 that the periphery monitoring information has not been acquired (NO), it is repeatedly determined whether or not the periphery monitoring information has been acquired. If it is determined that the peripheral monitoring information has been acquired (in the case of YES), the peripheral state processing unit 42 outputs a detection signal for the peripheral monitoring information.

  In addition, when the discrimination | determination of acquisition of periphery monitoring information is performed repeatedly, the period which performs repetition may be defined and does not need to be defined and it does not specifically limit. In the case where the period for repeating is determined, the peripheral state processing unit 42 may output information for specifying the camera 11 or the like for which the peripheral monitoring information could not be acquired after the period has elapsed.

  The detection signal of the peripheral monitoring information is input to the display control unit 43, and the display control unit 43 outputs a control signal for controlling turning on / off of the meter backlight 32 (S13: light control step). Specifically, a control signal that turns off the light is output to the LED of the meter backlight 32 that is used for illumination or the like in the central speedometer 31S in the actual meter unit 31. At this time, the LEDs of the meter backlight 32 used for illumination etc. in the tachometer 31R at the other left end part, the water temperature gauge 31T at the right end part and the fuel gauge 31F are turned on.

  The control signal output from the display control unit 43 is input to the power supply circuit of the meter backlight 32, and the power supply circuit is an LED of the meter backlight 32 used for illumination or the like in the speedometer 31S in the central portion of the actual meter unit 31. Is stopped (S14: light control step). Thereby, the emission of light from the LED is stopped, the illumination of the dial 31B in the speedometer 31S is stopped, and the pointer 31M of the speedometer 31S does not shine.

  The display control unit 43 further outputs a control signal for causing the virtual image display 33 to display information that informs the driver of the operation status of the periphery monitoring unit 10 (to draw a GUI that is an image such as a moving image) (S15: virtual image). Display step). As an image such as a video that conveys the operating status of the surroundings monitoring unit 10 to the driver, as shown in FIG. 3, a vehicle icon, a monitoring area of the camera 11, the clearance sonar 12, and the radar 13 are displayed. For example, an image can be exemplified in which a display indicating a situation in which the camera 11 or the like is operating normally is superimposed on the display. Here, you may make it display the thing which peripheral acquisition information was not able to be acquired, in other words, the thing (for example, camera 11) which is not operating normally. In FIG. 3, the operation | movement condition of the camera 11 installed in the side mirror of the vehicle is shown.

  The display of the virtual image display 33 to which a control signal for displaying information that informs the driver of the operation status of the periphery monitoring unit 10 is generated generates an image according to the control signal, and the generated image is applied to an optical member for virtual image display. The virtual image is projected and a virtual image as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed (S16: virtual image display step).

  According to the above vehicle periphery monitoring device, when the vehicle is started, a virtual image representing the operation state of the camera 11, the clearance sonar 12, and the radar 13 is displayed on the virtual image display 33, and the center in the real meter unit 31 is displayed. Illumination of the partial speedometer 31S is stopped. Therefore, when the driver visually recognizes the virtual image, the display on the real meter unit 31 does not get in the way. Furthermore, since the periphery of the virtual image is darkened and the display of the virtual image is emphasized, the driver can easily view the virtual image and can easily check the monitoring state around the vehicle.

  Only the speedometer 31S at the center of the real meter unit 31 is darkened to ensure the visibility of the virtual image. The tachometer 31R at the left end, the water temperature meter 31T at the right end, and the fuel meter 31F away from the portion where the virtual image is displayed. By continuing the illumination of light, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the visibility of information such as the number of revolutions of the engine, the temperature of engine cooling water, and the remaining amount of fuel displayed in this portion.

  In the actual meter section 31, the left end portion of the tachometer 31R, the center portion of the speedometer 31S, the right end portion of the water temperature gauge 31T and the fuel gauge 31F are provided with an LED of the meter backlight 32 and a pointer 31M for illuminating the dial 31B. Since the LEDs of the meter backlight 32 to be lit are arranged separately, by controlling the emission of light from the LEDs, the illumination of the speedometer 31S in the central portion of the actual meter unit 31 can be easily performed, and It can be stopped without fail.

  In the above-described embodiment, information indicating the traveling speed of the vehicle to the vehicle driver, information indicating the engine speed, information indicating the engine coolant temperature, and information indicating the remaining amount of fuel. In the above description, the self-luminous meter composed of the actual meter unit 31 and the meter backlight 32 is used as an example to display and transmit the above. There may be, and it does not specifically limit.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus, 11 ... Camera (acquisition part), 12 ... Clearance sonar (acquisition part), 13 ... Radar (acquisition part), 31 ... Actual meter part (vehicle information display part), 32 ... Meter backlight (Vehicle information display unit, light source), 33 ... virtual image display (virtual image display unit), 40 ... control unit (control unit, computer), S11 ... start detection step, S12 ... information acquisition step, S13 ... light control step, S14 ... light control step, S15 ... virtual image display step, S16 ... virtual image display step

Claims (5)

A plurality of acquisition units for acquiring information in the vicinity of the vehicle;
A vehicle having a display area for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle, the display area being illuminated with light, or light being emitted from a portion of the display area for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle An information display section;
A virtual image display unit for displaying a virtual image representing an operation state of the acquisition unit;
Information related to the state of the vehicle and information acquired by the acquisition unit are input, and a control unit that controls the vehicle information display unit and the virtual image display unit,
Is provided,
The virtual image display unit is disposed at a position where the virtual image is displayed at a position overlapping with at least a part of the display area in the vehicle information display unit as seen from the driver of the vehicle.
The control unit sequentially determines whether the plurality of acquisition units are operating normally when starting the vehicle, and illuminates light on the display area overlapping the virtual image with respect to the vehicle information display unit, or The emission of light in the display area overlapping the virtual image is stopped, and the virtual image corresponding to a display indicating that the plurality of acquisition units are operating normally is sequentially displayed by the virtual image display unit. Vehicle periphery monitoring device. The display area in the vehicle information display part is divided into a plurality of parts, at least one of the divided parts overlaps the virtual image displayed by the virtual image display part,
When the control unit displays the virtual image on the virtual image display unit, the control unit stops illumination of light on a divided portion of the display area that overlaps the virtual image or emission of light in the display area that overlaps the virtual image. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein: The vehicle information display unit is provided with a plurality of light sources that emit light that illuminates each of the divided portions in the display area or light that is emitted from a portion that displays information relating to the state of the vehicle. ,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit individually controls emission of light from the plurality of light sources. A start detection step for detecting the start of the vehicle;
An information acquisition step of sequentially determining whether or not a plurality of acquisition units that acquire information in the vicinity of the vehicle are operating normally after starting the vehicle, and acquiring information relating to the plurality of acquisition units;
A light control step of stopping light emission from a display area for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle, or light emission from a portion for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle in the display area;
The plurality of information indicating the information acquired in the information acquisition step in a portion where light emission from the portion displaying information related to the state of the vehicle in the display region or in the display region is stopped. A virtual image display step for sequentially displaying virtual images corresponding to a display indicating that the acquisition unit is operating normally ;
A display method for a vehicle periphery monitoring device, comprising: On the computer,
A start detection function for detecting the start of the vehicle;
An information acquisition function for sequentially determining whether or not a plurality of acquisition units that acquire information in the vicinity of the vehicle are operating normally after starting the vehicle, and acquiring information relating to the plurality of acquisition units;
A light control function for stopping illumination of light on a display area for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle, or light emission from a portion for displaying information relating to the state of the vehicle in the display area;
The plurality of information indicating the information acquired by the information acquisition function in a portion where light emission from the portion displaying information related to the state of the vehicle in the display region or light in the display region is stopped. A virtual image display function for sequentially displaying virtual images corresponding to a display indicating that the acquisition unit of
A program to realize