JPH11245745A - Vehicular rearward monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the judgment of access to another vehicle when traveling on an expressway or the like where one's own vehicle is able to accurately detect any other vehicle, and to suspend such judgment when traveling on other roads such as general roads, thereby avoiding any wrong alarm. SOLUTION: When one's own vehicle travels on a nearly rectilinearly constituted road such as an expressway or the like by a nagivation device 4, it is detected, and thereby a video camera 2, two arithmetic processing units 3, 5 and an alarm 6 are all operated, whereby the degree of risk by the access of a successive traveling vehicle and another vehicle traveling on an adjacent lane is automatically and speedily judged, and according to this judgment, when it comes to a critical status, an alarm is emitted, arousing a driver's attention.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rear side monitoring device for a vehicle, which is provided in a vehicle such as an automobile, and monitors a state behind and a side of the vehicle. The present invention relates to a rear side monitoring device for a vehicle in which a false alarm is not issued.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vehicle rear side monitoring method which is provided in a vehicle such as an automobile and monitors a state behind and a side of the vehicle, a method disclosed in JP-A-7-50769 has been proposed. Monitoring method "is known.

In this method of monitoring the rear side of a vehicle, as shown in FIG. 3, a video camera 101 mounted on the vehicle and capturing a rear image or a side image, and a video camera 101
Image processing is performed on the rear image and the side image captured by the above to obtain an infinite point (FOE), and an optical flow vector indicating the moving direction, the moving speed, and the like of another vehicle around the infinite point. Based on the arithmetic processing device 102 for obtaining the following and the optical flow vector of the other vehicle obtained by the arithmetic processing device 102, another vehicle running behind the own vehicle, or running on the side of the own vehicle. An arithmetic processing unit 103 which determines whether or not another vehicle is approaching the own vehicle, and determines that there is a danger when the other vehicle is approaching at a speed higher than a preset speed; and When it is determined that the vehicle is in danger by the warning signal 103, a warning sound is issued to warn the driver by using a warning device 104. Carry out the monitoring.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, every time a preset time t elapses and every time t + Δt elapses, the video camera 101 is operated to capture a rear image or a side image. (Steps ST101 and ST101)
102), the rear image and the side image are image-processed by the arithmetic processing device 102 which performs image processing, and an infinite point (FOE) is obtained (step ST10).
3) An optical flow vector indicating a moving direction, a moving speed, and the like of another vehicle is obtained around the infinity point (step ST104).

[0005] Then, the arithmetic processing unit 1 for performing the judgment process
03, based on the optical flow vector of the other vehicle obtained by the arithmetic processing unit 102, the other vehicle running behind the own vehicle or the other vehicle running on the side of the own vehicle is controlled by the own vehicle. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is approaching, and when another vehicle is approaching at a speed higher than a preset speed, it is determined that there is a danger, and an alarm sound is emitted from the alarm device 104 to pay attention to the driver. Prompt (step ST1)
05).

As described above, in the vehicle rear side monitoring method, the rear side view image of one video camera 101 is used without using a distance sensor for measuring an inter-vehicle distance to a following vehicle or the like. Automatically and quickly determine the degree of danger due to the approach of a running vehicle or a vehicle running in an adjacent lane, and emit a warning sound when it is in a dangerous situation,
It warns the driver.

[0007]

However, in the above-described conventional method for monitoring the rear side of the vehicle, the infinity point (FO) is determined based on two images obtained at an interval of the time difference Δt.
E), and the position of the other vehicle in each image is obtained. Then, the difference between the positions of the other vehicles in each image is detected around the point at infinity, and based on the detection result, Since the optical flow vector indicating the moving direction and the moving speed of the other vehicle is obtained, when the own vehicle is traveling on a straight road such as a highway, the other vehicle Can accurately detect the approach of the vehicle, but when the vehicle is traveling on a tight road such as a mountain road, or when the vehicle turns at an intersection of a general road, etc. When the scenery and the side scenery change greatly, it is difficult to accurately detect the approach of another vehicle, and there is a possibility that an erroneous alarm may be issued.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when an own vehicle is traveling on a highway or the like, the approach of another vehicle is determined, and the own vehicle travels on a curved road such as a general road. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular rear-side monitoring device that can prevent an erroneous alarm from being issued by stopping determination of approach of another vehicle when the vehicle is approaching.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle which is mounted on a vehicle and travels rearward based on a rear image or a side image. When a vehicle or another vehicle running sideways approaches the own vehicle, a rear side monitoring unit for a vehicle that detects this and issues an alarm, and is mounted on the vehicle, the vehicle The rear side monitoring unit determines whether or not the own vehicle is traveling on a road where accurate determination can be made, and the own vehicle travels on a road where the vehicle rear side monitoring unit can perform accurate determination. And a traveling position determining unit that validates the determination result of the rear side monitoring unit for a vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle position has been detected.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle rear side monitoring device according to the first aspect, the traveling position determination unit receives a GPS radio wave from a GPS satellite in an orbit around the earth, and The current position of the vehicle is compared with the map data registered in advance to determine whether the vehicle is traveling on a road on which the vehicle rear side monitoring unit can make an accurate determination. Is determined.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the own vehicle is traveling on a substantially straight road, the traveling position determination unit detects this and detects the rear side of the vehicle mounted on the vehicle. Operate the direction monitoring unit, based on the image of the rear, or the image of the side, when another vehicle traveling behind, or another vehicle traveling on the side approaches the own vehicle, When this is detected, an alarm is issued. As a result, when the own vehicle is traveling on a highway or the like, the approach judgment of another vehicle is performed, and when the own vehicle is traveling on a curved road such as a general road, the other vehicle is detected. Stop approach judgment and avoid false alarms.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the traveling position determination unit receives a GPS radio wave from a GPS satellite in orbit around the earth, determines the current position of the vehicle, and registers the determination result in advance with the determination result. By comparing with the map data that is, by determining whether the vehicle is running on a road on which the vehicle rear side monitoring unit can make an accurate determination,
On a road that receives GPS radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites and allows the vehicle to accurately detect abnormal approach of another vehicle using images behind and sideways, such as an expressway. Accurately determine whether or not you are driving to avoid false alarms.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a vehicle rear side monitoring apparatus according to the present invention.

The rear side monitoring device 1 for a vehicle shown in FIG.
A video camera 2 mounted on a vehicle and capturing a rear image and a side image, and a rear image and a side image captured by the video camera 2 are image-processed to obtain an infinity point (F
OE), and around this point at infinity,
An arithmetic processing unit 3 for obtaining an optical flow vector indicating a moving direction, a moving speed, and the like of another vehicle; and a GPS radio wave from a GPS satellite in an orbit around the earth.
Determines the current position of the vehicle and compares this determination result with pre-registered map data to determine whether the vehicle is traveling on a substantially straight road such as an expressway. A navigation device 4 for issuing a judgment permission instruction when the vehicle is traveling on a substantially straight road;
When a judgment permission instruction is issued from the navigation device 4, based on the optical flow vector of the other vehicle obtained by the arithmetic processing device 3, the other vehicle running behind the own vehicle or the own vehicle An arithmetic processing unit 5 that determines whether another vehicle traveling sideways is approaching the own vehicle, and determines that it is dangerous when the other vehicle is approaching at a speed higher than a preset speed. And an alarm device 6 that emits an alarm sound to alert the driver when the arithmetic processing device 5 determines that it is dangerous.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, the navigation device 4 receives a GPS radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite, determines the current position of the vehicle, and registers the determination result and the result in advance. By comparing with the map data, it is determined whether or not the own vehicle is running on a substantially straight road such as an expressway, and when the own vehicle is running on a substantially straight road, A determination permission instruction is issued (step ST1).

Thus, the video camera 2 is operated every time the preset time t elapses and every time the time t + Δt elapses, to capture the rear image and the side image (step ST2). , ST3), the rear image and the side image are image-processed by the arithmetic processing unit 3 that performs image processing to obtain an infinity point (FOE) (step ST4). An optical flow vector indicating a moving direction, a moving speed, and the like of another vehicle is obtained (step ST5).

Thereafter, the arithmetic processing unit 5 for performing the judgment processing
Thus, based on the optical flow vector of the other vehicle obtained by the arithmetic processing unit 3, the other vehicle running behind the own vehicle or the other vehicle running on the side of the own vehicle becomes the own vehicle. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is approaching, and when another vehicle is approaching a speed higher than a preset speed or within a preset distance,
When it is determined that it is dangerous, the alarm device 6 emits an alarm sound to call attention to the driver (step ST6).

As described above, in this embodiment, when the own vehicle is traveling on a substantially linear road such as a highway, the navigation device 4 detects this, and the video camera 2 By operating the arithmetic processing devices 3, 5 and the alarm device 6, the degree of danger due to the approach of a following vehicle or a vehicle running in an adjacent lane is automatically and quickly determined, and a dangerous situation is established. When the vehicle is running on a highway that can accurately detect the approach of another vehicle, it emits an alarm sound to alert the driver. When approaching a vehicle, the user can stop approaching another vehicle when traveling on another road such as a general road, thereby preventing a false alarm from being issued. .

Further, in this embodiment, a GPS radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite is received, and the own vehicle detects an abnormality of another vehicle using a rear image or a side image such as an expressway. Because we are trying to determine whether you are driving on a road that can accurately detect approach,
When the own vehicle is traveling on a winding road such as a mountain road or a general road, or a road having a branch point such as an intersection, an erroneous warning can be prevented from being issued.

In the above-described embodiment, the position of the host vehicle is determined by receiving the GPS radio wave. However, the vehicle is provided with an acceleration sensor or the like, and an acceleration signal obtained by the acceleration sensor is output. Using a method of integrating and detecting the position of the own vehicle, a method of receiving the VICS signal and detecting the position of the own vehicle, or a detection method using these detection methods in combination, the speed of the own vehicle is increased. It may be determined whether or not the vehicle is running on a road such as a road, on which an abnormal approach of another vehicle using the image on the rear and the image on the side can be accurately detected.

In this case, similarly to the above-described embodiment, the vehicle travels on a winding road such as a mountain road or a general road, or a road having a branch point such as an intersection. Erroneous alerts can be prevented when the

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the vehicle rear side monitoring device according to the first aspect, when the own vehicle is traveling on a highway or the like, the approach judgment of another vehicle is performed. When the own vehicle is traveling on a curved road such as a general road, an erroneous alarm can be prevented from being issued by stopping the approach determination of another vehicle.

Further, the vehicle rear side monitoring device according to the second aspect receives a GPS radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite,
It is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a road, such as a highway, that can accurately detect the abnormal approach of another vehicle using the rear and side images. This can prevent false alarms from being issued.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a vehicle rear side monitoring device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the vehicle rear side monitoring device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of a device used in a “vehicle rear side monitoring method” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-50769.

4 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle rear side monitoring device 2 video camera (vehicle rear side monitoring unit) 3 arithmetic processing unit (vehicle rear side monitoring unit) 4 navigation device (running position determination unit) 5 arithmetic processing unit (vehicle rear side) 6) Warning device (rear side monitoring unit for vehicles)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle mounted on a vehicle and based on a rear image or a side image, another vehicle running rearward or another vehicle running sideways approaches the own vehicle. When coming, the vehicle rear side monitoring unit that detects this and issues an alarm, mounted on the vehicle, and the own vehicle travels on a road on which the vehicle rear side monitoring unit can make an accurate determination. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is running on a road on which the vehicle rear side monitoring unit can make an accurate determination, and the determination result of the vehicle rear side monitoring unit is determined. A rear position monitoring device for a vehicle, comprising: a traveling position determination unit to be enabled; 2. The rear side monitoring device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the traveling position determination unit is in a GPS orbit around the earth.
A GPS radio wave from a satellite is received, the current position of the vehicle is determined, the result of the determination is compared with map data registered in advance, and the rear side monitoring unit for the vehicle makes an accurate determination. A rear side monitoring device for a vehicle, which determines whether or not the own vehicle is traveling on a road to be obtained.