JPH09270097A - Right turn driving support device using road-vehicle communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lighten the burden of a right-turn judgement on a driver and improve the safety of traffic by picking up an image of an oncoming car at an intersection and judging and outputting whether a right turn can be made. SOLUTION: A video signal of the straight oncoming vehicle, approaching the intersection, from an image sensor 11 installed on a road and current data from a signal control machine 12 are inputted to an arithmetic unit 13 to calculate the position, speed, etc., of the straight oncoming vehicle, it is judged from the travel state whether or not a vehicle can safely turn right, and right-turn judgement information is outputted. Then the video signal of the straight oncoming vehicle from the image sensor 11 and the right-turn judgement information from the arithmetic unit 13 are sent by a transmitter 14 to the right turning vehicle. The right turning vehicle receives the signal and information by a receiver 21 and displays them on a display device 22. Consequently, the driver in the right-turning vehicle can securely and accurately know the traveling state of the straight oncoming vehicle and turn right safely.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a right-turn driving support device using road-to-vehicle communication for transmitting a running state of a straight ahead vehicle detected on a road to a right-turn vehicle to assist a driver in making a right-turn decision.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a means for supporting (controlling) a right turn of a vehicle at an intersection, for example, a traffic light provided at the intersection is used to show a green signal (indicating a passage permission) of a lane opposite to a right turn vehicle. To change the safety of a right-turn vehicle, switch the traffic light (blue light) to a red traffic light (representation of a yellow light indicating a traffic warning) earlier than the lane on the right-turn vehicle side to a red traffic light (representation of a red light indicating no traffic). There is a time difference type control that secures the vehicle, and a control using the right-turning arrow that ensures the safety of the right-turning vehicle by showing the right-turning arrow.

[0003] However, there are many intersections where traffic lights that do not control the above-mentioned right turn are installed and there are no traffic lights. At such an intersection, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a right-turn vehicle makes a right turn if it is determined that a right turn is possible by looking at the traveling intervals of straight ahead vehicles in the oncoming lane (hereinafter referred to as oncoming straight ahead vehicles). However, for example, if there is a right-turn vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an oncoming right-turn vehicle) in the oncoming lane, the oncoming straight vehicle may not be seen from the right-turn vehicle due to entering a blind spot of the oncoming right-turn vehicle.

As a conventional technique for supporting the right turn of a vehicle in such a situation, for example, in a device known in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-198000, the inter-vehicle time of front and rear oncoming vehicles is measured and the measured inter-vehicle distance is measured. In some cases, whether or not to make a right turn is calculated according to the time, and the result is displayed on the display device shown in FIG. 5 installed on the road to ensure the safety of the right turn vehicle. Further, for example, in the device known in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-2700, a right-turn vehicle and an oncoming vehicle can be operated only when the driver of the right-turn vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the right-turn driver) is confused about the right-turn execution decision. There is a system that determines the possibility of a collision and issues a warning or the like in the right-turn vehicle to assist the right-turn when there is a possibility of the collision.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, when a display device for informing a right-turn driver whether or not to make a right turn is installed on the road, for example, as shown in FIG. The vehicle may be located in a blind spot of a straight ahead vehicle, and the display device may not be visible to the driver who makes a right turn. In addition, there is a problem that the right-turn driver is not necessarily sure about the safety of the right turn only by being informed of the right turn possibility (possibility of collision) determined by the device. Originally, the information that assists the right-turn driver in assisting the right-turn is only used as a reference for the right-turn driver to determine whether to make a right turn,
It is desirable that the right-turn driver finally decides whether to make a right turn. For this reason, information about the traveling state of an oncoming straight vehicle sufficient to determine whether to make a right turn can be reliably transmitted to the right-turn driver even if the oncoming straight vehicle cannot be directly viewed. There must be.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and uses road-to-vehicle communication for reliably and accurately transmitting the traveling state of an oncoming straight vehicle to a right-turn driver to reduce the driver's right-turn judgment. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a right turn driving support device.

[0007]

Therefore, in the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up an image of a straight ahead vehicle approaching an intersection and outputting a video signal, and a traveling state of the straight ahead vehicle. And a right turn determination information indicating whether or not the right turn vehicle facing the straight ahead vehicle can make a right turn safely based on the running state detected by the running state detection means. A right turn determination support means and a transmission means for inputting the video signal and the right turn determination information and transmitting to the right turn vehicle are provided on the road, while the video signal and the right turn determination information transmitted from the transmission means are provided. The vehicle is provided with a receiving means for receiving the right turn judgment information, a straight vehicle image display means for displaying the video signal received by the receiving means, and a right turn judgment information output means for outputting the right turn judgment information received by the receiving means. hand Characterized in that made the.

According to this structure, the right turn determination support means generates the right turn determination support information based on the traveling state such as the speed and position of the straight ahead vehicle obtained by the traveling state detection means. The right turn determination support information and the video signal of the straight ahead vehicle obtained by the image pickup means are transmitted from the transmission means on the road to the reception means on the right turn vehicle. The received video signal is displayed on the straight ahead vehicle video display means, and the right turn determination support information is output to the right turn determination information output means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the right turn determination information output means outputs only right turn determination information indicating the risk of a right turn. According to such a configuration, only right turn determination information indicating the risk of right turn is output to the right turn determination information output means only when the right turn determination support means determines that the right turn vehicle cannot safely make a right turn. .

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the traveling state detecting means is:
The running state of the straight ahead vehicle is detected based on the video signal. According to this configuration, the traveling state detecting means detects the traveling state such as the position and speed of the straight ahead vehicle by processing the video signal captured by the image capturing means.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first to third aspects are provided.
In the invention described in any one of 1, the right turn determination support means generates the right turn determination information when the traffic light installed at the intersection for the right turn vehicle indicates passage permission or caution. Is characterized by. According to this configuration, at the intersection where the traffic light is installed, when the traffic light showing the right turn vehicle indicates passage permission or caution, that is, when the right turn determination is required, the right turn determination support means generates the right turn determination information. Will be done.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an arrangement in the vicinity of an intersection where the present apparatus is installed. However, in the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the right turn determination of the right turn vehicle 20 waiting in the lane heading to the left in FIG. 2 is supported. For this reason, FIG. 2 shows only the arrangement of components related to the support of the right-turn vehicle 20.
It should be noted that right-turn vehicles can also turn right-turn vehicles that are waiting in lanes in other directions.
Each device is arranged in the same manner as in the case of 20.

In the figure, the present apparatus is installed on the road, and an image sensor 11 as an image pickup means for picking up an image of an oncoming vehicle 30 approaching an intersection 10 and outputting a video signal.
And the display data from the signal controller 12 for controlling the display of the traffic signal 12a installed at the intersection 10 and the video signal from the image sensor 11 to input the traveling state (position, speed, etc.) of the oncoming straight vehicle 30. ) Is calculated and the vehicle turns right based on the driving condition
A transmission device that outputs the right turn determination information indicating whether or not 20 can safely turn right and outputs the image signal from the image sensor 11 and the right turn determination information from the operation device 13 to the right turn vehicle 20. And a transmitter 14 as a means. Further, as a configuration mounted on the right turn vehicle 20, a receiver 21 as a receiving means for receiving the video signal and the right turn determination information sent from the transmitter 14, and the video signal and the right turn determination information received by the receiver 21 are displayed. And a display device 22 for

The image sensor 11 is an oncoming straight vehicle approaching the intersection 10 by a vehicle traveling in the oncoming lane to the right in FIG.
It is installed at a position where 30 can be imaged (for example, before the intersection 10 and beside an oncoming lane). Also, the image sensor 11
A camera control unit having a camera 11a and a camera control unit 11b.
The operation of the camera 11a can be controlled by 11b. The signal controller 12 is installed, for example, in the vicinity of the intersection 10 and controls the indication state of the signal installed in each lane (however, only the signal 12a installed in the lane of the right-turn vehicle 20 is shown in FIG. 2). At the same time, the display data indicating the display state of each traffic signal is output to the arithmetic unit 13.

The arithmetic unit 13 is installed, for example, in the vicinity of the intersection 10, and its input terminals are the image sensor 11 and the signal controller 12.
Is connected to the output terminal of the device via a signal line or the like. Arithmetic device 13
Then, as will be described later, the video signal is processed according to the display data, the traveling state of the oncoming vehicle 30 is obtained, and right turn determination information is generated and output to the transmitter 14. Here, the arithmetic unit 13 corresponds to the traveling state detection means and the right turn determination support means.

The transmitter 14 has an input terminal connected to the output terminals of the image sensor 11 and the arithmetic unit 13 via a signal line or the like,
The input video signal and right turn determination information are transmitted to the transmission area 14a in which the right turn vehicle 20 stands by as a wireless signal, for example.
The receiver 21 is mounted on the right turn vehicle 20 and receives the video signal and the right turn determination information from the transmitter 14 when the right turn vehicle 20 is located within the transmission area 14a.

The display device 22 includes a display control section 22a and a display section.
22b, and the display unit 22b is mounted in a position where the driver in the right-turn vehicle 20 can see it. The display control unit 22a reproduces the video signal received by the receiver 21 to display the video of the oncoming vehicle 30 on the display unit 22b, and the right turn determination information received by the receiver 21 is displayed as, for example, "right turn". It is displayed on the display unit 22b as character information such as "danger". Here, the display device 22 corresponds to the straight-ahead vehicle image display means and the right turn determination information output means.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The right-turn vehicle 20 that came to the intersection 10 is a traffic light in front of you.
When 12a becomes a green light, proceed to the intersection 10 and wait to make a right turn. At this time, the oncoming right-turn vehicle 31 is also the intersection 10
Suppose you are waiting inside. The driver of the right turn vehicle 20 is in a situation where the oncoming straight ahead vehicle 30 located at the blind spot 31a of the oncoming right turn vehicle 31 cannot be directly observed. In such a situation, when the oncoming vehicle 30 approaching the intersection 10 in the oncoming lane enters the imaging area of the image sensor 11, the oncoming vehicle 30 is imaged by the camera 11a and a video signal is output to the arithmetic unit 13. Arithmetic device 13
Is a signal controller together with the video signal from the image sensor 11.
Enter the display data from 12 and turn on the traffic light in front of the car 20 turning right.
During the period from the time when the signal 12a is switched to the green signal to the time when it is switched to the red signal via the yellow signal, the calculation is executed and the right turn judgment information is output (information is provided). The relationship between the actual state of the traffic light 12a and the output of the arithmetic unit 13 is shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).

Here, the operation of the arithmetic unit 13 will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Arithmetic device 13
Then, in step 1 of FIG. 4 (indicated by S1 in the drawing, the same applies hereinafter), it is determined whether the traffic light 12a in front of the right turn vehicle 20 is a red traffic light based on the present data from the traffic light controller 12. It When the traffic light 12a is a red traffic light, the procedure does not proceed to step 2 and thereafter, and when it is not a red traffic light, the procedure proceeds to step 2.

In step 2, the video signal from the image sensor 11 is processed to calculate the speed V and the position L (position from the center of the intersection 10) of the oncoming vehicle 30. In step 3, the time T1 required when the oncoming straight vehicle 30 travels at the speed V to the center of the intersection 10 is obtained from the speed V and the position L of the oncoming straight vehicle 30 calculated in step 2.

In step 4, when it is assumed that the right turn vehicle 20 starts at the initial speed 0 and a predetermined acceleration a and turns right, the time T2 required for the oncoming straight vehicle 30 to cross the traveling lane is obtained. In step 5, it is determined based on the times T1 and T2 whether or not the right turn of the right turn vehicle 20 is safe. This determination is made, for example, by comparing time T2 ′ obtained by adding a preset margin to time T2 and time T1, and when the relationship of T1 <T2 ′ (= T2 + margin) is satisfied, the right turn vehicle 20 turns right. Is dangerous.

In step 6, the result determined in step 5 is output to the transmitter 14 as right turn determination information. The operations of steps 1 to 6 are repeated, and when the signal for the right turn vehicle 20 is other than the red signal, the right turn determination information is provided to the transmitter 14. The transmitter 14 transmits the video signal from the image sensor 11 and the right turn determination information from the arithmetic unit 13 to the transmission area 14a as a wireless signal. The transmitted signal is received by the receiver 21 of the right turn vehicle 20 waiting in the transmission area 14a. The received signal is a display control unit of the display device 22.
The video signal is input to 22a, and the video signal is reproduced on the display section 22b so that the video of the oncoming vehicle 30 is constantly displayed. Further, the right turn determination information is displayed as character information such as "Right turn risk" on the display unit 22b only when the right turn risk is indicated.

The right-turning vehicle waiting for a right-turn is the oncoming right-turning vehicle 31
The traveling state of the oncoming vehicle 30 including the vehicle hidden in the blind spot 31a is checked by the video and text information displayed on the display unit 22b in the vehicle. Then, the right-turn driver determines whether or not the vehicle can make a right turn safely from the information obtained from the display unit 22b and the situation around the intersection 10 that can be visually observed. 3 (c) to 3 (e) show an example of the relationship between the presence / absence of the right turn vehicle 20, the oncoming straight vehicle 30 and the display of the right turn determination information. FIG. 3 (c) shows the presence / absence of a right turn vehicle 20, and FIG. 3 (d) shows the presence / absence of an oncoming vehicle 30. However, there is a vehicle when the vehicle approaches the intersection 10 to a certain distance. FIG. 3 (e) shows the state of character display according to the right turn determination information. As shown in the figure, when the oncoming straight vehicle 30 approaches the intersection 10 (before the oncoming straight vehicle 30 is present in Fig. 3 (d)), "Right turn right danger" is displayed and the oncoming straight vehicle 30 is at the intersection 10. After passing through, the display of "Right turn right" disappears. The right turn is made after the right turn driver confirms that the oncoming straight vehicle 30 is gone and the "danger of right turn" display disappears.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the intersection 10
By making it possible for the right-turn driver to obtain the image of the oncoming straight-ahead vehicle 30 approaching the vehicle and information on whether right-turning is dangerous inside the vehicle, the right-turning driver can confirm the presence or absence of the oncoming straight-ahead vehicle 30 and the traveling state. Since the correct turn can be confirmed, the load for the right turn driver to determine the right turn is reduced, and the right turn can be performed safely. In addition, the image of the oncoming straight ahead vehicle 30 is always provided to the right-turn driver, and the right-turn judgment information is the right-turning vehicle 20 and the oncoming straight ahead vehicle 30.
Since it is displayed only when there is a risk of collision with the right turn, whether or not to perform a right turn is determined not only by the right turn determination information provided by this device, but the right turn driver is Since the determination is made by judging the information such as the image of the vehicle 30, the right turn judgment is appropriately made according to the surrounding situation, and the traffic safety is further improved. Further, by calculating the traveling state of the oncoming straight ahead vehicle 30 by the arithmetic unit 13 based on the video signal obtained by the image sensor 11, to detect the traveling state of the oncoming straight ahead vehicle 30, for example, a radar sensor or the like. Since it is not necessary to separately provide it, the configuration of the device can be simplified. In addition, since the arithmetic unit 13 generates the right turn determination information according to the display data from the signal controller 12, it is possible to omit the arithmetic operation at the time of a red traffic light which does not require the provision of the right turn determination information.

In the above embodiment, the intersection having a traffic light is explained, but the present invention can be applied to an intersection without a traffic light. In this case, the arithmetic unit is configured to constantly calculate the right turn determination information, for example. Although the image sensor, the signal controller, the arithmetic unit, and the transmitter are connected by signal lines, the information transmission means between the respective devices is not limited to this, and any information transmission means may be used. it can. Further, the right turn determination information is output as character information on the display unit, but the output of the right turn determination information of the present invention is not limited to this, and may be output by, for example, an alarm or voice.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the image of the oncoming straight vehicle approaching the intersection is displayed on the oncoming straight vehicle image display means in the right turn vehicle, and is generated by the right turn determination support means. By outputting the right turn determination information to the right turn determination information output means in the right turn vehicle, the right turn driver can confirm the presence or absence of the oncoming straight vehicle and the traveling state, etc., so that the load for the right turn driver on the right turn determination is increased. The traffic safety at intersections can be improved.

According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the right turn judgment information output means outputs only the right turn judgment information indicating the risk of right turn.
Whether or not a right turn can be executed is determined by the right turn driver judging information such as an image of an oncoming straight vehicle, so that an appropriate right turn judgment is made according to the surrounding situation, and traffic safety is further improved.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the invention, the running state detecting means is:
By detecting the traveling state of the oncoming straight ahead vehicle on the basis of the video signal obtained by the image pickup means, it is not necessary to separately provide a means for detecting the oncoming straight ahead vehicle, so that the structure of the device can be simplified. In the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 3, in a case where a traffic signal indicating a right-turn vehicle indicates impassability at an intersection where a traffic signal is installed. In addition, since the right turn determination support means does not generate the right turn determination information, the operation of the right turn determination support means when the right turn determination is unnecessary can be omitted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement in the vicinity of an intersection according to the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of each device of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the arithmetic unit according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a layout near a conventional intersection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Intersection 11 Image sensor 11a Camera 11b Camera control unit 12 Signal controller 12a Traffic signal 13 Arithmetic device 14 Transmitter 20 Right turn vehicle 21 Receiver 22 Display device 22a Display control unit 22b Display unit 30 Oncoming straight vehicle

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for picking up an image signal of a straight ahead vehicle approaching an intersection and outputting a video signal, a running state detecting means for detecting a running state of the straight ahead vehicle, and a running state detected by the running state detecting means. The right turn judgment support means for generating and outputting right turn judgment information indicating whether or not the right turn vehicle facing the straight ahead vehicle can make a right turn safely, and the right turn by inputting the video signal and the right turn judgment information. A transmitting means for transmitting to the vehicle is provided on the road, while a receiving means for receiving the video signal and the right turn judgment information transmitted from the transmitting means, and a straight line for displaying the video signal received by the receiving means. A right-turn driving support device using road-to-vehicle communication, comprising: a vehicle image display means; and a right-turn determination information output means for outputting the right-turn determination information received by the receiving means in a vehicle. 2. The right-turn driving support device using road-to-vehicle communication according to claim 1, wherein the right-turn determination information output means outputs only right-turn determination information indicating a right-turn risk. 3. The right-turn driving support device using road-to-vehicle communication according to claim 1, wherein the traveling state detecting means detects the traveling state of the straight ahead vehicle based on the video signal. 4. The right turn determination support means generates the right turn determination information when a traffic light installed at the intersection indicates to the right turn vehicle that the traffic is permitted or cautioned. A right turn driving support device using the road-vehicle communication according to any one of 1 to 3.