JP6387744B2 - On-board device and driving support system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted device and a driving support system that support driving of a driver.

  In Patent Document 1, a front image captured by a camera of a preceding vehicle nearest to the host vehicle (hereinafter simply referred to as a front vehicle) is acquired by wireless communication, and is combined with a front image captured by the camera of the host vehicle and displayed. Technology is disclosed. This makes it possible for the driver of the own vehicle to visually recognize a scene such as a traffic light hidden behind the vehicle ahead, and attempts to improve the forward view.

  Further, Patent Document 1 synthesizes a front image captured by a camera of the host vehicle with a front image synthesized by a front vehicle between vehicles traveling in tandem in the front-rear direction, and further rearwards the synthesized front image. There is also disclosed a technique that enables the rearmost vehicle to acquire the front image of the foremost vehicle by sequentially repeating the process of transmitting to the vehicle from the head to the tail.

JP 2008-44612 A

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a front image captured by the camera of the front vehicle is acquired and combined with the front image of the host vehicle, and the front image captured by the camera of the front vehicle is not necessarily forward. It is not always an image that can improve the outlook. Details are as follows. For example, if there is a vehicle large enough to block the traffic light before the front vehicle, the traffic light will not appear in the front image captured by the camera of the front vehicle, and the driver will not be able to see the light of the hidden traffic light.

  On the other hand, as in another technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, between vehicles traveling in tandem in the front-rear direction, if the forward images from the head to the tail are sequentially synthesized and transmitted backward, This increases the probability that a forward image in which the traffic light is reflected will be synthesized, and that the prospect of improving the forward view will be improved.

  However, when transmitting forward images while sequentially synthesizing the front images from the head to the tail, there is a problem that the processing load is increased by compositing a plurality of front images. In addition, even if only a forward image for one forward vehicle is needed to achieve the purpose of improving the forward visibility, the forward images for a plurality of forward vehicles are synthesized, resulting in increased wasteful processing. There is also a point.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle-mounted device and an operation that can improve the forward view more reliably while suppressing wasteful processing and processing load. To provide a support system.

  The vehicle-mounted device of the present invention is used in a vehicle, and a communication unit (114a) that receives a front image of the other vehicle captured by the other vehicle from a communication device (1b) of the other vehicle by short-range wireless communication, and a communication unit If there are a plurality of communication devices that are targets of short-range wireless communication, the vehicle-mounted device includes a display processing unit (118a) that displays the front image received in step (15a) on the display device (15a). , A priority order determination unit (117a) for determining a priority order for receiving the front image, and the communication unit transmits height information indicating the height of the imaging position of the front image from the communication device by short-range wireless communication. In this case, the height information is received, and the priority order determination unit determines a higher priority for the communication device having a higher front image capturing position indicated by the height information received by the communication unit, and displays the information. The processing unit Is characterized in that is preferentially displayed forward image priority order determined in the priority determining unit is received by the communication unit from the highest communication device.

  The driving support system of the present invention is used in the first vehicle, and a front image acquisition unit (111b) that acquires a front image obtained by imaging the front of the first vehicle with the camera (12b) used in the first vehicle. And a first communication unit (114b) that transmits height information indicating the height of the imaging position of the front image by short-range wireless communication, and the first communication unit transmits the front image acquisition unit by short-range wireless communication. The communication device (1b) that transmits the front image acquired in step 2 and the second communication unit (114a) that is used in the second vehicle and receives the front image from the communication device by short-range wireless communication, and the second communication unit. A vehicle-mounted device (1a) including a display processing unit (118a) for displaying the received forward image on the display device (15a), and the vehicle-mounted device includes a plurality of communication devices that are targets of short-range wireless communication. More than one For these communication devices, the communication device further includes a priority order determination unit (117a) for determining a priority order for receiving the forward image, and the second communication unit receives height information transmitted from the communication device, and receives a priority order determination unit. The higher the priority of the communication device, the higher the imaging position of the front image indicated by the height information received by the second communication unit, and the display processing unit has the priority determined by the priority determination unit. It is characterized in that the front image received by the second communication unit from the highest communication device is preferentially displayed.

  According to these, a communication device having a higher front image capturing position determines a higher priority in the priority determination unit, and preferentially displays a front image received from a communication device having the highest determined priority. It will be. The higher the imaging position of the front image, the more difficult it is to block the scenery by the vehicle ahead, etc., and it becomes possible to improve the forward view more reliably, so the priority determined by the priority determination unit is By preferentially displaying the front image received from the highest communication device, it is possible to improve the forward view more reliably.

  In addition, since the front image received from the communication device with the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit is displayed with priority, even if there are a plurality of communication devices targeted for short-range wireless communication, There is a high possibility that a forward image that improves the forward view can be displayed without displaying all the forward images received from the communication device that is the target of the distance wireless communication. Therefore, it is possible to reduce useless processing as compared with the case where all the forward images received from the communication device that is the target of short-range wireless communication are displayed. As a result, it is possible to improve the forward view more reliably while suppressing unnecessary processing and processing load.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an in-vehicle device 1. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a control unit 11. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the process which specifies the height of the imaging position of the camera 12 with respect to a road surface. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the connection related process in the onboard equipment 1a. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the priority order determination process in the onboard equipment 1a. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the ranking process by the height of an imaging position. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the ranking process by the timing of the change of acceleration. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of a longitudinal direction acceleration change timing list. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the process of ranking by received radio wave intensity. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the front image display related process in the onboard equipment 1a.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
<Schematic configuration of driving support system 100>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a driving support system 100 to which the present invention is applied. A driving support system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes an on-vehicle device 1a used in a vehicle HV and an on-vehicle device 1b used in each of the vehicles OV1 to OV4. The vehicle-mounted devices 1a and 1b are, for example, drive recorders with an external communication function, and take a front image of a vehicle using the device and transmit the front image by wireless communication.

  The vehicle OV1 is the vehicle in front of the vehicle HV (that is, the nearest vehicle), the vehicle OV2 is the vehicle behind the vehicle HV, the vehicle OV3 is the vehicle in front of the vehicle HV1, and the vehicle OV4 is the vehicle HV. It is a rear vehicle behind two cars. Further, the vehicle HV and the vehicle OV4 are ordinary vehicles, the vehicle OV1 is a medium-sized vehicle, the vehicles OV2 and OV3 are large vehicles, and the height of the imaging position in each vehicle is “high”, “medium”, “low”. When classified into three stages, the vehicle HV and the vehicle OV4 are “low”, the vehicle OV1 is “medium”, and the vehicle OV2 and the vehicle OV3 are “high”.

  Here, for the sake of convenience, a forward image is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1b used in the vehicles OV1 to OV4, and the following description will be given by taking as an example a case where the transmitted forward image is received by the vehicle-mounted device 1a used in the vehicle HV. . The vehicle HV corresponds to the vehicle in the claims and the second vehicle, and the vehicle-mounted device 1a corresponds to the vehicle-mounted device in the claims. The vehicles OV1 to OV4 correspond to the first vehicle in the claims, and the vehicle-mounted device 1b corresponds to the communication device in the claims.

  In the present embodiment, in the vehicle-mounted device 1a of the vehicle HV, it is assumed that the light of the front traffic light Si is not reflected in the front image because it is blocked by the vehicle OV3. In addition, it is assumed that the on-vehicle device 1b of the vehicle OV1 is blocked by the vehicle OV3 and the light of the traffic signal Si ahead does not appear in the front image. On the other hand, in the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the vehicle OV2, it is assumed that the light of the front traffic light Si is reflected in the front image without being blocked by the vehicle OV3. In the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the vehicle OV4, it is assumed that the light of the traffic signal Si ahead is not reflected in the front image because it is blocked by the vehicle OV2.

<Onboard equipment 1>
Here, the vehicle-mounted device 1a used in the vehicle HV and the vehicle-mounted device 1b used in the vehicles OV1 to OV4 will be described with reference to FIG. The distinction between the in-vehicle device 1a and the in-vehicle device 1b is made for convenience, and when the contents common to each other are described, the distinction between the in-vehicle device 1a and the in-vehicle device 1b is not performed. It expresses in the following.

  The vehicle-mounted device 1 performs wireless communication with other vehicle-mounted devices 1 in the communication area. The vehicle-mounted device 1 is not limited to the configuration that is always installed in the vehicle, but may be a configuration in which a portable device is brought into the vehicle and used. As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle-mounted device 1 includes a control unit 11, a camera 12, a communication device 13, an acceleration sensor 14, a display 15, a switch 16, and a storage device 17. The vehicle-mounted device 1 is used so that the imaging direction of the camera 12 faces the front of the vehicle using the vehicle-mounted device 1 (that is, the host vehicle).

  The camera 12 (12a, 12b) is used so that the imaging direction faces the front of the host vehicle, and thereby images a region that extends in a predetermined angular range in front of the host vehicle. In the present embodiment, as an example, it is assumed that the optical axis of the camera 12 is used so as to be substantially horizontal. The camera 12b corresponds to the camera in the claims.

  The communication device 13 (13a, 13b) includes a transmission / reception antenna, and transmits / receives information to / from other vehicle-mounted devices 1 in the communication area by, for example, bidirectional communication near field communication without using a communication network. I do. The short-range wireless communication referred to here is wireless communication having a communication area with a radius of about several tens of meters to several hundreds of meters, and the following description will be made assuming that the communication area has a radius of about 100 m as an example. Note that as short-range wireless communication, wireless communication using a wireless LAN standard such as IEEE802.11 or a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or ZigBee (registered trademark) may be used.

  The acceleration sensor 14 (14a, 14b) is a three-axis acceleration sensor that detects acceleration in three directions of the XYZ axes. In the example of the present embodiment, when the imaging direction of the camera 12 is used to face the front of the host vehicle, the front / rear direction of the host vehicle is the X axis, the left / right direction of the host vehicle is the Y axis, and the upper / lower direction of the host vehicle is It shall be the Z axis. That is, the acceleration sensor 14 detects the acceleration in the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the up-down direction of the host vehicle.

  The display 15 (15a, 15b) displays an image in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 11. The display 15 is capable of full color display, and a liquid crystal display or the like may be used. The display 15a corresponds to the display device in the claims.

  The switch 16 (16a, 16b) is a switch that receives an operation input from the driver of the host vehicle. The switch 16 is not limited to the configuration integrated with the vehicle-mounted device 1, and may be a steering switch provided in a spoke portion or a hub portion of the steering wheel of the own vehicle, for example. The storage device 17 (17a, 17b) stores information received from the vehicle-mounted device 1 of another vehicle.

  The control unit 11 (11a, 11b) is configured as a normal computer, and has a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line (not shown) for connecting these configurations. Etc. are provided. The control unit 11 performs various processes by executing a program stored in advance in the ROM based on various information input from the camera 12, the communication device 13, the acceleration sensor 14, the switch 16, and the storage device 17. Run.

  Note that some or all of the functions executed by the control unit 11 may be configured by hardware using one or a plurality of ICs.

<Control unit 11>
Next, a detailed configuration of the control unit 11 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 11 includes a front image acquisition unit 111, an acceleration acquisition unit 112, an imaging height specification unit 113, a communication unit 114, a timing specification unit 115, a received radio wave intensity specification unit 116, and a priority order determination unit 117. , And a display processing unit 118.

  The forward image acquisition unit 111 (111a, 111b) sequentially acquires forward images of the host vehicle sequentially captured by the camera 12 and stores them in the storage device 17. For example, the front image may be stored in the storage device 17 by overwriting the old front image with the new front image so that only the most recent front image is stored.

  The acceleration acquisition unit 112 (112a, 112b) sequentially acquires accelerations in the front-rear direction, left-right direction, and up-down direction of the host vehicle sequentially detected by the acceleration sensor 14, and the accelerations in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction are detected. And stored in the storage device 17. The storage of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations in the storage device 17 is performed so that the accelerations are stored a plurality of times in time series. For example, when the predetermined number of times of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations are stored in the storage device 17, the oldest memory is erased and the newly acquired longitudinal and lateral accelerations are stored. The acceleration for a predetermined number of times may be stored. This predetermined number of times of acceleration is hereinafter referred to as acceleration time-series information.

  The imaging height specifying unit 113 (113a, 113b) reads the latest front image captured by the camera 12 from the storage device 17, and specifies the height of the imaging position of the camera 12 based on the front image. Then, the height of the specified imaging position is stored in the storage device 17. As an example, the height of the imaging position may be specified as follows.

  First, the beam of the guardrail (see Be in FIG. 4) in the front image is extracted by image recognition processing, and the vertical width of the beam (that is, the width in the vertical direction) is the specified width (see RW in FIG. 4). The relative value (see RP in FIG. 4) of the height (see Hi in FIG. 4) of the imaging position with respect to the center position of the vertical width of the beam (see Ce in FIG. 4) in the portion is calculated. For example, the prescribed width is a pixel corresponding to the vertical width (eg, 0.35 m) of a general guardrail beam that is a prescribed distance (eg, 10 m) from the camera 12 when it is reflected in the front image. It may be a number. In addition, the height of the imaging position in the front image is the center position in the vertical direction of the front image when the optical axis of the camera 12 is substantially horizontal as in the example of the present embodiment. To do.

  Next, based on the correspondence between the number of pixels of the specified width and the actual vertical width of the guardrail beam, the center of the vertical width of the guardrail beam is calculated from the number of pixels of the relative value of the height of the imaging position described above. The actual height difference from the position to the height of the imaging position is calculated. And the height of the imaging position with respect to the road surface is specified by adding the calculated height difference and the height of the center position of the vertical width of the beam of a general guard rail with respect to the road surface. Since the center position of the vertical width (for example, 0.35 m) of a general guardrail beam is 0.6 m from the road surface, for example, by adding 0.6 m to the calculated height difference, the imaging position with respect to the road surface What is necessary is just to specify the height of.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the optical axis of the camera 12 is used so as to be substantially horizontal has been described. However, the processing in consideration of the case where the optical axis of the camera 12 is not used so as to be substantially horizontal. It is good also as a structure which adds. As a specific example, the inclination of the optical axis of the camera 12 with respect to the horizontal is calculated from the acceleration in three directions of the XYZ axes acquired by the acceleration acquisition unit 112, and the offset amount of the height of the imaging position with respect to the road surface is set from the calculated inclination. Thus, a process for correcting the height of the imaging position with respect to the road surface is added. When the specified distance is 10 m and the inclination of the optical axis of the camera 12 with respect to the horizontal is θdeg, the offset amount is 10 × sin θ [m].

  The imaging height specifying unit 113 sequentially specifies the height of the imaging position of the camera 12, calculates the average value of the height of the imaging position specified in the past and specifies the average value each time the height of the imaging position is specified. Is preferably stored in the storage device 17 as the height of the imaging position. This is because the vertical width of the beam of a general guardrail and the center position of the vertical width (that is, the installation height of the beam) are as described above, but are not necessarily constant, so it is desirable to calculate an average value. It depends.

  When calculating the average value of the height of the imaging position, the imaging height specifying unit 113 stores the average value of the latest imaging position height and the accumulated specific number of the imaging position height in the RAM or the storage of the control unit 11. It is stored in a memory such as the device 17. When the height of the imaging position is newly specified, it is expressed by (average height of latest imaging position × cumulative specific number + height of newly specified imaging position) / (cumulative specific number + 1). What is necessary is just to calculate the average value of the height of an imaging position with the calculation formula of a weighted average.

  In addition, when the power supply from the vehicle-mounted battery to the vehicle-mounted device 1 is stopped, the cumulative specific number is not maintained, and thereafter, when the power supply is started and the power supply of the vehicle-mounted device 1 is turned on, the cumulative specific number is set. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which sets a number to one. This is because when the power supply from the vehicle-mounted battery to the vehicle-mounted device 1 is stopped, the height of the imaging position of the camera 12 of the vehicle-mounted device 1 may be changed including the installation in another vehicle. This is to reduce the adverse effect of the weighted average by setting the specific number to 1.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the communication unit 114 (114 a, 114 b) transmits information from the communication device 13 or receives information transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 of another vehicle via the communication device 13. Details of the communication unit 114 will be described later. Details of the timing specifying unit 115 (115a, 115b), the received radio wave intensity specifying unit 116 (116a, 116b), the priority order determining unit 117 (117a, 117b), and the display processing unit 118 (118a, 118b) will also be described later. To do.

<Flow of connection / disconnection between OBE 1>
Subsequently, connection related processing related to wireless connection with the vehicle-mounted device 1b in the vehicle-mounted device 1a will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a case where short-range wireless communication adopting a wireless LAN standard is performed between the vehicle-mounted device 1a and the vehicle-mounted device 1b will be described as an example. The flowchart of FIG. 5 starts when the power of the vehicle-mounted device 1a is turned on, for example.

  First, in step S1, the communication unit 114a sets a connection number counter indicating the number of on-vehicle devices 1b (hereinafter, the number of connections) to be short-range wireless communication targets (hereinafter, connection targets) to zero. In step S2, if there is a vehicle-mounted device 1b with a newly established link (YES in S2), the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, when there is no vehicle-mounted device 1b with which a link is newly established (NO in S2), the process proceeds to step S10. As an example, it is assumed that a link is established when an association is performed between the communication unit 114a and the communication unit 114b of the vehicle-mounted device 1b.

  In step S3, the communication unit 114a acquires the device address of the vehicle-mounted device 1b with which a new link has been established. In step S4, the communication unit 114 starts counting of the timer circuit (that is, timer start).

  In step S5, when the link with the onboard equipment 1b which acquired the apparatus address by S3 is continuing (it is YES at S5), it moves to step S6. On the other hand, if the link is not continued (NO in S5), the process proceeds to step S9. Whether or not the link is continued may be determined based on whether or not the communication unit 114a periodically receives beacon information periodically (for example, every 100 msec) from the target vehicle-mounted device 1b.

  In step S6, when the timer circuit count exceeds the specified value and timed out (YES in S6), the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, when the time-out has not occurred (NO in S6), the process returns to S5 and is repeated. The specified value here may be a value that allows the vehicle-mounted device 1b used in another vehicle traveling in the oncoming lane to be excluded from the connection target due to timeout.

  For example, when it is assumed that the vehicle HV and another vehicle pass each other at 40 km / h, the communication area of the vehicle-mounted device 1 in the example of this embodiment has a radius of about 100 m. Get out. Therefore, by using, for example, a count corresponding to 10 seconds as the specified value, it is possible to exclude the vehicle-mounted device 1b used in another vehicle passing the vehicle HV from the connection target as much as possible.

  In step S7, the communication unit 114a stores the device address of the vehicle-mounted device 1b that has acquired the device address in S3 in a memory such as the RAM of the control unit 11 or the storage device 17 as a device address to be connected. In step S8, the communication unit 114a increments the connection number counter.

  In step S9, if it is the end timing of the connection related process (YES in S9), the connection related process is ended. If it is not the end timing of the connection related process (NO in S9), the process returns to S2 and the process is repeated. As the end timing of the connection-related process, there is a time when the power of the vehicle-mounted device 1a is turned off.

  In step S10 when there is no vehicle-mounted device 1b in which a link is newly established in S2, if the link that has been continued is disconnected (YES in S10), the process proceeds to step S11. On the other hand, if the link that has been continued is not disconnected (NO in S10), the process proceeds to S9. The fact that the link has been disconnected may be determined by the fact that the communication unit 114a can no longer periodically receive the beacon information that is periodically transmitted from the target vehicle-mounted device 1b.

  In step S11, the device address of the vehicle-mounted device 1b whose link is disconnected is deleted from the storage of the device address to be connected. In step S12, the communication unit 114a decrements the connection number counter, and proceeds to S9.

  In addition, about the process of S3-S8, it is good also as a structure which processes in parallel for every onboard equipment 1b with which the link was newly established.

<Priority determination process>
Subsequently, the priority order determination process in the vehicle-mounted device 1a will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. The priority order determination process is a process of determining a priority order for receiving a front image for a vehicle-mounted device 1b when there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b to be connected. The flowchart of FIG. 6 starts when there is a change in the number of vehicle-mounted devices 1b to be connected in the connection-related process described above and the value of the connection number counter is 2 or more.

  In step S21, the priority order determination unit 117a performs ranking processing based on the height of the imaging position among the plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b to be connected. Here, an outline of the ranking processing based on the height of the imaging position will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S101, the in-vehicle device 1b to be connected is requested to transmit the height of the imaging position via the communication unit 114a and the communication device 13a, and the height of the imaging position is acquired from all the connection targets. The height of the imaging position corresponds to the height information in the claims. Upon receiving the request for transmission of the height of the imaging position, the vehicle-mounted device 1b reads the height of the imaging position stored in the storage device 17b, and the communication unit 114b receives the height of the imaging position via the communication device 13b. Is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 1a.

  In step S102, the height of the acquired imaging position is classified into three levels: “high”, “medium”, and “low”. As an example, less than 1.5 m may be classified as “low”, 1.5 m to 1.8 m as “medium”, and more than 1.8 m as “high”. The classification of the height of the imaging position may be classified into more stages than three stages, but about three stages are preferable in consideration of the specific error of the imaging position height and the processing load of ranking.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the structure which classify | categorizes the height of the imaging position acquired from the onboard equipment 1b of connection object into multiple steps, such as "high", "medium", and "low", was not necessarily restricted to this. . For example, in the imaging height specifying unit 113b of the vehicle-mounted device 1b, the height of the imaging position is classified into a plurality of stages such as “high”, “medium”, and “low” and stored in the storage device 17b, so A configuration may be adopted in which information indicating the height of the imaging position already classified into a plurality of stages such as “high”, “medium”, and “low” is transmitted from the device 1b to the vehicle-mounted device 1a. In this case, information indicating the heights of the imaging positions classified in a plurality of stages corresponds to the height information in the claims.

  In step S103, if there is a connection target whose imaging position is "high" (YES in S103), the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if there is no “high” connection target (NO in S103), the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S104, the vehicle-mounted device 1b whose imaging position is “high” is determined to be the group of the highest priority group, and a list of the groups (hereinafter, “high” group list) is created. When there is only one on-vehicle device 1b whose imaging position is “high”, the priority of the on-vehicle device 1b is determined to be the first. For example, the list of groups may be a list of device addresses of the vehicle-mounted device 1b.

  If it is determined in step S105 that there is a connection target whose imaging position is “medium” (YES in S105), the process proceeds to step S106. On the other hand, if there is no “medium” connection target (NO in S105), the process proceeds to step S107.

  In step S106, the vehicle-mounted device 1b whose imaging position height is “medium” is determined as a group having the middle priority group, and a list of the groups (hereinafter, “medium” group list) is created. When there is only one vehicle-mounted device 1b whose imaging position height is “medium”, the priority of the vehicle-mounted device 1b is 1 for the number of vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “high” group list. The ranking is determined as the sum.

  In step S107, if there is a connection target whose imaging position is "low" (YES in S107), the process proceeds to step S108. On the other hand, if there is no “low” connection target (NO in S107), the process proceeds to step S22.

  In step S108, the vehicle-mounted device 1b whose imaging position height is “low” is determined as the group of the lowest priority group, and a list of this group (hereinafter, “low” group list) is created. When there is only one on-vehicle device 1b whose imaging position is “low”, the priority of the on-vehicle device 1b is included in the “high” group list and the “medium” group list. The order is determined by adding 1 to the number of 1b.

  Returning to FIG. 6, in step S22, when there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “high” group list (YES in S22), the process proceeds to step S23. On the other hand, if it is not plural (NO in S22), the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S23, ranking processing is performed based on the acceleration change timing from among the vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “high” group list. Here, the outline of the ranking processing based on the change timing of the acceleration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S201, the timing specifying unit 115a transmits the time-series information of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations to all connection target vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the same group list via the communication unit 114a and the communication device 13a. To obtain the time-series information of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations from the connection target of the same group. Here, the acceleration in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction corresponds to the target acceleration in the claims.

  In the vehicle-mounted device 1b that has received a request for transmission of the time series information of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations, the time series information and the time stamp of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations stored in the storage device 17b are read out. The communication unit 114b transmits the time series information of the acceleration and the time stamp to the vehicle-mounted device 1a via the communication device 13b.

  In step S202, the timing specifying unit 115a reads out and acquires the time series information of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations of the host vehicle and the time stamp stored in the storage device 17a.

  In step S203, the timing specifying unit 115a determines whether or not there is a change more than specified in the longitudinal time series information acquired in step S201 and the longitudinal time series information acquired in step S202. judge. The change beyond the specification mentioned here can be set arbitrarily, and it may be a change amount enough to eliminate a change in acceleration of an error level. If it is determined that there has been a change beyond the standard (YES in S203), the process proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, if it is determined that there has been no change beyond the standard (NO in S203), the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S204, the timing specifying unit 115a uses the time-series information of the longitudinal acceleration acquired in S201, the time-series information of the longitudinal acceleration acquired in S202, and the time stamp thereof. And a longitudinal acceleration change timing list showing the timing of the longitudinal acceleration change between the vehicle and other vehicles.

  Here, an example of the longitudinal acceleration change timing list will be described with reference to FIG. In the longitudinal acceleration change timing list, for each time stamp, the acceleration change in the longitudinal direction between the own vehicle and another vehicle using the vehicle-mounted device 1b (see objects A to C in FIG. 9) of the same group is displayed. By associating, the timing of the change in the longitudinal acceleration between the host vehicle and the other vehicle is shown. For example, “No change” when there is no change beyond the specified acceleration in the front-rear direction, “Acceleration” when there is a change beyond the positive value, and a change beyond the negative value. If there is, associate “decelerate”. In the example of FIG. 9, the timing of acceleration change that occurs in the order of “acceleration”, “no change”, “no change”, “deceleration” is shifted in the order of target A, target C, own vehicle, and target B. .

  In step S205 when it is determined in S203 that there has been no change beyond the standard, the timing specifying unit 115a includes the time-series information of the lateral acceleration acquired in S201 and the time-series information of the lateral acceleration acquired in S202. It is determined whether there is any change beyond the standard. The change exceeding the specified value may be a change amount that excludes a change in acceleration that is about an error. If it is determined that there has been a change beyond the standard (YES in S205), the process proceeds to step S206. On the other hand, if it is determined that there has not been a change beyond the standard (NO in S205), the priority order determination unit 117a temporarily determines the order of all on-vehicle devices 1b included in the same group list as the same order. Move on to S24.

  In step S206, the timing specifying unit 115a uses the time-series information on the left-right acceleration acquired in step S201, the time-series information on the left-right acceleration acquired in step S202, and the time stamp thereof. A left-right acceleration change timing list showing the timing of the change in the left-right acceleration between the vehicle and another vehicle is created. The creation of the left-right direction acceleration change timing list may be made in the same manner as the front-rear direction acceleration change timing list described above.

  In step S207, the timing specification unit 115a determines whether there is an acceleration change timing earlier than the own vehicle in the timing list created in S204 or S206. If there is one whose acceleration change timing is earlier than that of the own vehicle (YES in S207), the process proceeds to step S208. On the other hand, if there is no acceleration change timing earlier than that of the own vehicle (NO in S207), the process proceeds to step S209.

  For example, in the example of FIG. 9, there are a target A and a target C whose acceleration changes “acceleration”, “no change”, “no change”, and “deceleration” earlier than the own vehicle. However, it is determined that there is an acceleration change timing that is early. That the acceleration change timing is earlier than that of the host vehicle can be paraphrased as the vehicle-mounted device 1b used for another vehicle ahead of the host vehicle traveling on the same lane as the host vehicle.

  In step S208, the priority determining unit 117a determines that the timing of the acceleration change specified by the timing specifying unit 115a out of the vehicle-mounted device 1b specified by the timing specifying unit 115a when the timing of the acceleration change is earlier than the own vehicle. The device with the least deviation from the vehicle is determined to have the highest priority in the on-vehicle devices 1b that are all connected targets included in the same group list.

  In the example of FIG. 9, the vehicle-mounted device 1b whose acceleration change timing is earlier than that of the own vehicle is the target A and the target C, and the timing difference between the target A and the own vehicle is 5 sec. The timing difference is 2.8 sec. Therefore, the priority of the target C among the targets A, B, and C included in the same group list is determined to be the highest.

  In step S209, the priority order determination unit 117a prioritizes the order of the vehicle-mounted device 1b with the smallest deviation from the own vehicle in the acceleration change timing specified by the timing specification unit 115a. Other vehicles traveling on the same lane as the own vehicle should be closer to the own vehicle with less deviation from the timing of the change in acceleration. Therefore, in S209, it can be paraphrased that priority is determined with priority on the vehicle-mounted device 1b used in another vehicle closer to the own vehicle traveling in the same lane as the own vehicle.

  When the process of S208 is performed, the vehicle of the timing of the change in acceleration of all the connection target vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the same group list other than those determined with the highest priority in S208. The ranking with the smallest deviation is determined higher.

  In the example of FIG. 9, since the priority of the target C is determined to be the highest in S208, the timing shift between the target A and the own vehicle is 5 sec, and the timing shift between the target B and the own vehicle is 1.5 sec. The ranks of the targets A, B, and C included in the same group list are determined as the targets C, B, and A from the top.

  On the other hand, when the process of S208 is not performed, the rank is determined to be higher for the vehicle-mounted device 1b included in the same group list that has the smallest deviation from the own vehicle in the acceleration change timing. . If there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b having the same deviation from the own vehicle in the acceleration change timing, it is determined that the rank is the same.

  Returning to FIG. 6, in step S24, when there is the vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same order in S23 (YES in S24), the process proceeds to step S25. On the other hand, when there is no vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same order in S23 (NO in S24), the process proceeds to step S26.

  In step S25, the ranking processing based on the received radio wave intensity is performed from among the vehicle-mounted devices 1b determined in the same order in S23. Here, an outline of the ranking process based on the received radio wave intensity will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S301, the received radio wave intensity specifying unit 116a specifies the received radio wave intensity of the vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same rank by the ranking process based on the change timing of acceleration. The received radio wave intensity for the vehicle-mounted device 1b is specified from the RSSI strength when information is received from the vehicle-mounted device 1b by the communication unit 114a.

  In step S302, the priority order determination unit 117a determines a higher rank as the received radio wave intensity specified in S301 is higher among the vehicle-mounted devices 1b determined in the same rank by the ranking process based on the acceleration change timing. . Generally, since the received radio wave strength tends to increase as the distance from the own vehicle becomes shorter, it can be paraphrased that in S302, the onboard unit 1b used in another vehicle closer to the own vehicle is determined to have a higher rank. .

  Returning to FIG. 6, in step S26, when there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “medium” group list (YES in S26), the process proceeds to step S27. On the other hand, if it is not plural (NO in S26), the process proceeds to step S30.

  In step S27, as in the process of S23, ranking processing is performed based on the timing of acceleration change from the vehicle-mounted device 1b included in the “medium” group list. The ranking of the vehicle-mounted device 1b included in the “medium” group list is performed with the rank next to the lowest one of the vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “high” group list as the highest rank.

  In step S28, when there is the vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same rank in S27 (YES in S28), the process proceeds to step S29. On the other hand, when there is no vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same rank in S27 (NO in S27), the process proceeds to step S30. In step S29, the ranking processing by RSSI is performed from among the vehicle-mounted devices 1b determined in the same ranking in S27 in the same manner as the processing in S25.

  In step S30, when there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “low” group list (YES in S30), the process proceeds to step S31. On the other hand, if the number is not plural (NO in S30), the priority order determination process ends.

  In step S31, as in the process of S23, a ranking process is performed based on the acceleration change timing from among the vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “low” group list. The ranking of the vehicle-mounted device 1b included in the “low” group list is performed with the rank next to the lowest one of the vehicle-mounted devices 1b included in the “medium” group list as the highest rank.

  In step S32, when there is the vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same order in S31 (YES in S32), the process proceeds to step S33. On the other hand, when there is no vehicle-mounted device 1b determined in the same order in S32 (NO in S32), the priority order determination process ends. In step S33, similarly to the process of S25, the ranking process by RSSI is performed from among the vehicle-mounted devices 1b determined in the same order in S32.

  When the priority order determination unit 117a finishes the priority order determination process and determines the priority order of all the on-vehicle devices 1b to be connected, for example, the correspondence relationship between the priority order and the device address for each on-vehicle device 1b. Information to be displayed may be output to the display processing unit 118a.

<Front image display related processing>
Then, the front image display related processing in the vehicle-mounted device 1a will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. The forward image display related process is a process related to the process of receiving the forward image from the on-vehicle device 1b to be connected and displaying it on the display 15a. The flowchart in FIG. 11 starts when the above-described priority order determination process is completed.

  In step S41, the display processing unit 118a sets the priority order counter indicating the priority order for receiving the front image to 1. In step S42, the display processing unit 118a requests the vehicle-mounted device 1b whose priority order determined in the priority order determination process is No. 1 through the communication unit 114a and the communication device 13a to transmit the front image. A front image is acquired from the container 1b. Upon receiving the request for transmission of the front image, the vehicle-mounted device 1b reads the latest front image stored in the storage device 17b, and the communication unit 114b transmits the front image to the vehicle-mounted device 1a via the communication device 13b. To do.

  In step S43, the display processing unit 118a displays the front image acquired in S42 on the display 15a. In step S44, the display processing unit 118a starts counting of the timer circuit (that is, timer start).

  If it is determined in step S45 that the switch 16a has been operated (YES in S45), the process proceeds to step S53. On the other hand, if the switch 16a is not operated (NO in S45), the process proceeds to step S46. Whether or not the switch 16a has been operated may be determined by whether or not a signal indicating that the switch 16a has been operated is input from the switch 16a to the display processing unit 118a. The switch 16a corresponds to an operation input unit in the claims.

  In step S46, if the count of the timer circuit exceeds the specified value and timed out (YES in S46), the process proceeds to step S47. On the other hand, if the time-out has not occurred (NO in S46), the process returns to S45 and the process is repeated. The specified value here is a value that can be arbitrarily set, and may be a count value corresponding to, for example, 3 seconds. In addition, it is preferable to display a real-time front image on the display 15a by acquiring sequentially a front image from the onboard equipment 1b used as the object of receiving a front image until it times out after starting a timer.

  In step S47, the display processing unit 118a increments the priority order counter. In step S48, when the counter value of the priority order counter is equal to or greater than the counter value (that is, the number of connections) of the connection number counter counted by the communication unit 114a in the connection-related process described above (YES in S48). The process proceeds to step S49. On the other hand, if the counter value of the priority order counter is less than the counter value of the connection number counter (that is, the number of connections) (NO in S48), the process proceeds to step S50.

  In step S49, the display processing unit 118a sets the priority order counter to 1. In step S50, the display processing unit 118a requests the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the priority corresponding to the counter value of the priority counter to transmit a front image via the communication unit 114a and the communication device 13a. Get the front image. For example, when the counter value of the priority order counter is 2, the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the second highest priority is requested to transmit the front image, and the front image is acquired from the vehicle-mounted device 1b. In step S51, the display processing unit 118a displays the front image acquired in S50 on the display 15a.

  In step S52, when it is the end timing of the front image display related process (YES in S52), the front image display related process is ended. If it is not the end timing of the front image display related process (NO in S52), the process returns to S44 and the process is repeated. The end timing of the front image display-related processing includes when the vehicle-mounted device 1a is turned off.

  Thereby, until there is a switch operation while the front image is displayed on the display 15a, the vehicle-mounted device 1b that receives the front image according to the priority order determined in the priority order determination process at predetermined time intervals such as every 3 seconds. Is switched, and the displayed forward image is also switched. In addition, after displaying the front image acquired from the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the lowest priority, the priority counter is set to 1, so that the front image acquired from the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the highest priority is displayed. Return and repeat the process.

  In step S53 when the switch 16a is operated in S45, the display processing unit 118a determines whether or not the switch 16a is operated again. If the switch 16a is operated again (YES in S53), the process proceeds to step S54. On the other hand, when the switch 16a is not operated again (NO in S53), the process of step S53 is repeated.

  The processing from step S54 to step S57 is performed in the same manner as the processing from S47 to S51. In step S58, when it is the end timing of the front image display related process (YES in S58), the front image display related process is ended. If it is not the end timing of the front image display related process (NO in S58), the process returns to S53 and the process is repeated.

  As a result, if there is a switch operation once while the front image is displayed on the display 15a, the front image from the vehicle-mounted device 1b that is the transmission source of the front image displayed on the display 15a is displayed continuously. Is fixed. When the switch operation is performed again, the front image from the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the next priority of the vehicle-mounted device 1b that is the transmission source of the front image displayed on the display 15a is displayed. Each time the switch operation is performed, the vehicle-mounted device 1b that receives the front image is switched according to the priority determined in the priority determination process, and the displayed front image is also switched.

<Summary of Embodiment 1>
According to the configuration of the first embodiment, the front image received from the vehicle-mounted device 1b corresponding to the height “high” of the imaging position of the front image is preferentially displayed on the display 15a. The higher the imaging position of the front image, the more difficult it is to block the scenery by the vehicle ahead, and the forward view can be more reliably improved. It is possible to improve the outlook of the company more reliably.

  A specific example will be described with reference to FIG. From the vehicle HV, the driver cannot visually recognize the lights of the traffic lights Si ahead by being blocked by the vehicles OV1 and OV3 which are the front vehicles. Here, even if the front image captured by the vehicle-mounted device 1b used in the vehicle OV1 that is the vehicle immediately ahead of the vehicle HV is acquired and displayed, the vehicle OV3 is also blocked by the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the vehicle OV1. Therefore, since the light of the traffic light Si in front does not appear in the front image, the driver cannot visually recognize the light of the traffic light Si in front of the vehicle HV.

  On the other hand, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, the front image received from the vehicle-mounted device 1b corresponding to the “high” height of the imaging position of the front image is preferentially displayed on the display 15a. The front image acquired from the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the vehicle OV2 corresponding to the height “high” is preferentially displayed. In the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the vehicle OV2, since the light of the front traffic light Si is reflected in the front image without being blocked by the vehicle OV3, the driver can visually recognize the light of the front traffic light Si in the vehicle HV. Thus, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, it is possible to improve the forward view more reliably.

  Furthermore, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, the front images are received in order from the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the higher priority determined by the priority determining unit 117a, and the front images are displayed on the display 15a in the order received. Even when there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b that are the targets of wireless communication, it is highly possible to display a front image that improves the forward view without displaying all the front images from these vehicle-mounted devices 1b. . Therefore, it is possible to reduce useless processing as compared with a case where all the front images received from the vehicle-mounted device 1b that is a target of short-range wireless communication are displayed. As a result, it is possible to improve the forward view more reliably while suppressing unnecessary processing and processing load.

  Also, if the other vehicle from which the front image is acquired is too far ahead of the host vehicle, the other vehicle has passed the target that the driver of the host vehicle wants to see, and the target to be viewed in the front image is not reflected. It tends to occur. On the other hand, if the other vehicle from which the front image is acquired is too far behind the subject vehicle, the subject that the driver of the subject vehicle wants to visually recognize is likely to appear too small in the forward image and difficult to see. On the other hand, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, the priority order of the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the other vehicle closer to the own vehicle is higher by the ranking process based on the acceleration change timing and the ranking process based on the received radio wave intensity. Since it is determined, it becomes possible to make the above-mentioned problem difficult to occur.

  In addition, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, the positioning position detected by the receiver of the satellite positioning system such as a GPS receiver is not used to determine the higher priority of the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the other vehicle closer to the own vehicle. It will end. When using the positioning position detected by the receiver of the satellite positioning system to identify the relative position between the vehicle and other vehicles, it is difficult to receive the radio waves from the positioning satellite in tunnels and buildings where The relative position cannot be specified with high accuracy. Therefore, there is a problem that the vehicle-mounted device 1b of the other vehicle closer to the own vehicle cannot be accurately identified in the tunnel or the building district. However, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, the own vehicle can be used even in the tunnel or the building district. It is possible to accurately identify the vehicle-mounted device 1b of another vehicle closer to the vehicle. Further, by not using the receiver of the satellite positioning system, it is possible to suppress the cost increase that occurs when the receiver of the satellite positioning system is used.

(Modification 1)
In the first embodiment, the configuration using the time-series information of the acceleration in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction is shown in the ranking processing based on the change timing of the acceleration. For example, it is good also as a structure which uses the time series information of the acceleration of only one of the front-back direction and the left-right direction.

(Modification 2)
In the first embodiment, in the priority order determination process, the configuration in which the ordering process is performed based on the change timing of the acceleration is shown, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, in the priority order determination process, it may be configured not to perform the ranking process based on the acceleration change timing. In this case, the vehicle-mounted devices 1b having the same imaging position height may be ranked by the ranking process based on the received radio wave intensity.

(Modification 3)
In the first embodiment, the configuration for performing the ranking processing based on the received radio wave intensity in the priority order determination processing has been described. However, the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, in the priority order determination process, it may be configured not to perform the ranking process based on the received radio wave intensity. In this case, for the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the same deviation in the acceleration change timing as the own vehicle, for example, the one with the earlier timing than the own vehicle is determined to have a higher priority than the one with the later timing than the own vehicle. That's fine.

(Modification 4)
In the first embodiment, the configuration in which all the vehicle-mounted devices 1b used in a plurality of other vehicles transmit time-series information on the height and acceleration of the imaging position is shown, but the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, a part of the plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b may transmit the front image, but may have a configuration that does not transmit the time-series information of the height of the imaging position and the acceleration (hereinafter, modified example 4).

  In the modified example 4, the vehicle-mounted device 1b that transmits the time-series information of the imaging position and the acceleration, the vehicle-mounted device 1b that transmits the height of the imaging position but does not transmit the time-series information of the acceleration, and the height of the imaging position is In the case where the vehicle-mounted device 1b that does not transmit but transmits the time-series information of acceleration and the vehicle-mounted device 1b that transmits neither the height of the imaging position nor the time-series information of the acceleration are mixed, priority is given as follows in the priority determination process: What is necessary is just to determine a ranking.

  First, if there is a vehicle-mounted device 1b that transmits the height of an imaging position that is equal to or higher than a predetermined height, the vehicle-mounted device 1b is determined to be a group having a higher priority. The predetermined height is a value that can be arbitrarily set. For example, the predetermined height may be a height corresponding to the height of the imaging position. When there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b corresponding to the upper group, ranking may be performed by the ranking processing based on the received radio wave intensity described above. Further, when all of the vehicle-mounted devices 1b corresponding to the upper group transmit the time series information of acceleration, the ranking may be performed by the above-described ranking processing based on the timing of change of acceleration. The priority determining unit 117a determines the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the highest priority in the upper group as the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the highest priority.

  On the other hand, if there is the vehicle-mounted device 1b that transmits the height of the imaging position less than the predetermined height, the vehicle-mounted device 1b is determined to be a group of the lower group priority. Further, the vehicle-mounted device 1b that does not transmit the height of the imaging position is also determined to be a group of the lower group. When there are a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 1b corresponding to the lower group, ranking may be performed by the ranking processing based on the received radio wave intensity described above. In addition, when all of the vehicle-mounted devices 1b corresponding to the group of the lower group transmit acceleration time-series information, the ranking may be performed by the above-described ranking processing based on the timing of change of acceleration. The priority determining unit 117a determines the priority of the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the highest priority in the lower group as the priority obtained by adding 1 to the number of the vehicle-mounted devices 1b corresponding to the upper group.

(Modification 5)
In the first embodiment, the configuration has been described in which the vehicle-mounted device 1b that receives the front image is sequentially switched and the front image to be displayed on the display 15a is switched according to the priority order determined in the priority order determination process. . For example, it is good also as a structure made to display on the display 15a only for the front image from the vehicle equipment 1b with the highest priority determined by the priority determination process among the vehicle equipment 1b used as connection object. In this case, in the priority determination process, after the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the highest priority can be determined, the subsequent determination of the vehicle-mounted device 1b having the highest priority may be omitted.

(Modification 6)
In the first embodiment, the configuration in which the height of the imaging position is specified by the imaging height specifying unit 113 based on the front image captured by the camera 12 and stored in the storage device 17 is shown, but the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, it is good also as a structure which memorize | stores the height of an imaging position in the memory | storage device 17 by user operation at the time of installation to the vehicle of the onboard equipment 1. FIG. As an example, by providing the vehicle-mounted device 1 with a switch that selects the height of the imaging position from three stages of “high”, “medium”, and “low”, the height of the imaging position corresponding to the operation of this switch is set. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which specifies with the imaging height specific | specification part 113, and memorize | stores in the memory | storage device 17. FIG.

(Modification 7)
In Embodiment 1, although the structure provided with the camera 12 in the onboard equipment 1 was shown, it does not necessarily restrict to this. For example, the camera 12 may be configured separately from the vehicle-mounted device 1.

(Modification 8)
In Embodiment 1, although the structure provided with the display 15 in the onboard equipment 1 was shown, it does not necessarily restrict to this. For example, the display 15 may be configured separately from the vehicle-mounted device 1. As an example, the display 15 may be a HUD (Head-Up Dispray), a center display arranged on an instrument panel, or a display of an in-vehicle navigation device.

(Modification 9)
In Embodiment 1, although the structure provided with the communication apparatus 13 in the onboard equipment 1 was shown, it does not necessarily restrict to this. For example, the communication device 13 may be configured separately from the vehicle-mounted device 1.

(Modification 10)
In the embodiment, the configuration in which the in-vehicle device 1 includes the acceleration sensor 14 is shown, but the configuration is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the acceleration sensor 14 may be configured separately from the vehicle-mounted device 1.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a Onboard equipment, 1b Onboard equipment (communication equipment), 12b Camera, 15a Display (display apparatus), 16a Switch (operation input part), 100 Driving assistance system, 111b Front image acquisition part, 112a Acceleration acquisition part, 114a Communication part ( Second communication unit), 114b communication unit (first communication unit), 115a timing specifying unit, 116a received radio wave intensity specifying unit, 117a priority order determining unit, 118a display processing unit

Claims (10)

Used in vehicles,
A communication unit (114a) that receives a front image of the other vehicle captured by the other vehicle from the communication device (1b) of the other vehicle by short-range wireless communication;
A vehicle-mounted device including a display processing unit (118a) for displaying the front image received by the communication unit on a display device (15a),
When there are a plurality of the communication devices that are the targets of the short-range wireless communication, the communication device includes a priority determination unit (117a) that determines a priority for receiving the front image for the communication devices,
The communication unit receives the height information when the height information indicating the height of the imaging position of the front image is transmitted from the communication device by the short-range wireless communication,
The priority determining unit determines the priority higher as the communication device has a higher height of the imaging position of the front image indicated by the height information received by the communication unit,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the display processing unit preferentially displays the front image received by the communication unit from the communication device having the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit. In claim 1,
The communication unit receives the front image in order from the communication device with the higher priority determined by the priority determination unit,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the display processing unit causes the display device to display the front image according to the order in which the communication unit receives the front image. In claim 2,
An operation input unit (16a) for receiving an operation input from a driver of the vehicle;
When the operation input unit receives the operation input when the display unit displays the front image on the display device according to the order in which the front image is received by the communication unit, the operation input unit A vehicle-mounted device that fixes a display so as to continue displaying the front image received from the communication device that is the transmission source of the front image displayed on the display device when the operation input is received. In claim 3,
When the operation input is received by the operation input unit after fixing the display of the front image, the display processing unit displays the front image by the communication unit every time the operation input is received by the operation input unit. A vehicle-mounted device that switches the front image to be displayed on the display device in the order of reception. In any one of Claims 1-4,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the communication unit excludes the communication device in which the state in which the short-range wireless communication is possible continues for less than a predetermined time from the target for receiving the front image. In any one of Claims 1-5,
In the communication unit, in addition to the height information, time series information of target acceleration, which is acceleration in at least one of the front-rear direction and the left-right direction , of the other vehicle using the communication device from the communication device is When transmitted by distance wireless communication, the time series information of this target acceleration is also received,
An acceleration acquisition unit (112a) for sequentially acquiring the target acceleration of the vehicle as the own vehicle ;
From the change in the target acceleration of the vehicle sequentially acquired by the acceleration acquisition unit and the change in the target acceleration of the other vehicle indicated by the time-series information of the target acceleration received by the communication unit, the vehicle and the other A timing specifying unit (115a) for specifying the timing of change of the target acceleration of the vehicle,
In the communication device having the same height of the imaging position of the front image indicated by the height information received by the communication unit, the priority determining unit determines that the timing specified by the timing specifying unit is higher than that of the vehicle. The timing difference between the vehicle and the vehicle other than the one having the highest priority and the highest priority determined for the other vehicle that is early and has the smallest timing deviation from the vehicle. The on-vehicle device is characterized in that the higher the priority, the higher the priority used for the other vehicle. In any one of Claims 1-5,
A reception radio wave intensity specifying unit (116a) for specifying a reception radio wave intensity when the communication unit receives information from the communication device by the short-range wireless communication;
The priority order determination unit specifies the communication devices whose priority cannot be determined from the height of the imaging position of the front image indicated by the height information received by the communication unit, by the received radio wave intensity specifying unit. The in-vehicle device characterized in that the higher the received radio wave intensity is, the higher the priority is determined. In claim 6,
A reception radio wave intensity specifying unit (116a) for specifying a reception radio wave intensity when the communication unit receives information from the communication device by the short-range wireless communication;
The priority order determination unit is configured to determine the priority order between the communication devices in which the priority order cannot be determined from the height of the imaging position of the front image indicated by the height information received by the communication unit and the timing specified by the timing specification unit. The higher the received radio wave intensity specified by the received radio wave intensity specifying unit, the higher the priority is determined for the communication device. In claim 7 or 8,
The priority determining unit
When the communication device that is the target of the short-range wireless communication is a mixture of a communication device that transmits information including the height information and a communication device that transmits information not including the height information,
If there is a communication device that transmits the height information indicating that the height of the imaging position of the front image is equal to or higher than a predetermined height, the communication that transmits the priority order of the communication device and information that does not include the height information While determining higher than the equipment,
For a communication device that transmits the height information indicating that the height of the imaging position of the front image is less than the predetermined height, and a communication device that transmits information that does not include the height information, the received radio wave intensity specification The in-vehicle device, wherein the communication device having a higher received radio wave intensity specified by the unit determines a higher priority. Used in the first vehicle,
A front image acquisition unit (111b) that acquires a front image obtained by imaging the front of the first vehicle with the camera (12b) used in the first vehicle;
A first communication unit (114b) that transmits height information indicating the height of the imaging position of the front image by short-range wireless communication;
The first communication unit includes a communication device (1b) that transmits the front image acquired by the front image acquisition unit through the short-range wireless communication;
Used in the second vehicle,
A second communication unit (114a) for receiving the front image from the communication device by the short-range wireless communication;
A vehicle-mounted device (1a) including a display processing unit (118a) for displaying the front image received by the second communication unit on a display device (15a),
The in-vehicle device is
When there are a plurality of the communication devices to be subjected to the short-range wireless communication, the communication device further includes a priority determination unit (117a) that determines a priority for receiving the front image for the plurality of communication devices.
The second communication unit receives the height information transmitted from the communication device,
The priority order determining unit determines the priority order higher as the communication device has a higher imaging position of the front image indicated by the height information received by the second communication unit,
The display processing unit preferentially displays the front image received by the second communication unit from the communication device having the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit.

Images