JP2001124852A - Device for monitoring periphery of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for monitoring the periphery of a vehicle surely monitoring the periphery of driver's own vehicle without any influence of the surrounding environment around the vehicle or interference with a periphery monitoring device of another vehicle. SOLUTION: This periphery monitoring device is provided with a first optical monitoring means 4 monitoring the forward area of a vehicle 1, a first radar monitoring means 2 having a monitoring area overlapping that of the first optical monitoring means 4, a second optical monitoring means 8 monitoring a backward area of the vehicle 1, a second radar monitoring means 6 having a monitoring area overlapping that of the second optical monitoring means 8, third and fourth optical monitoring means 10, 13 monitoring both sides of the vehicle respectively, third and fourth radar monitoring means 16, 18 having monitoring areas overlapping those of the third and fourth optical monitoring means 10, 13 individually, and a controlling means 20 controlling the respective monitoring means. The first, second, third and fourth radar monitoring means 2, 6, 16, 18 are constituted of distance detecting means of varied detection system different from each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle in the vicinity of a running vehicle, that is, in front of or behind a traveling lane, or
The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device that monitors a vehicle running in an adjacent lane or an obstacle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Obstacles in front of, behind, or on the side of a running vehicle, such as a distance measuring device using an ultrasonic wave or a distance measuring device using an electromagnetic wave, or a distance measuring device using an image sensor and image processing mounted on a vehicle. Many techniques have been disclosed for devices for monitoring objects and traveling vehicles. These techniques are disclosed, for example, in JP-B-55-1533.
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-12211, etc., ultrasonic waves and electromagnetic waves are emitted forward, backward, or sideways to detect reflected waves from obstacles, and to detect obstacles and In addition to detecting the traveling vehicle, the distance to the obstacle or the traveling vehicle is measured.

The technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-27187, Japanese Patent No. 2887039, etc. uses a stereoscopic camera using an image sensor and image processing to control the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. It detects a traveling vehicle or an obstacle in front of or behind the vehicle, measures its distance, detects the position of the obstacle, and determines whether or not the obstacle may hinder the traveling of the own vehicle. Numerous techniques other than those described above, such as Japanese Patent Publication No. 38085/1988, are disclosed as optical distance measuring devices using such image sensors.

[0004]

A preceding vehicle or a rear vehicle approaching the host vehicle using a vehicle periphery monitoring device such as an obstacle detection device or a distance measuring device as disclosed in the prior art, or When a vehicle existing on the side is detected, reliable detection may not be possible depending on the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and it may not be possible to predict a danger. For example, in a state where sunlight shines from the front of the vehicle, the function of confirming the obstacle in front of the vehicle by the optical vehicle periphery monitoring device cannot be sufficiently exerted, and wind noise during high-speed traveling and raindrops in rainy weather are not This impairs the measurement accuracy of the ultrasonic distance measuring device. Furthermore, in an ultrasonic or electromagnetic wave type vehicle periphery monitoring device, interference with ultrasonic waves or electromagnetic waves emitted from a vehicle periphery monitoring device mounted on another vehicle traveling around may occur. However, there is a problem that the obstacle detection function is hindered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is possible to avoid the influence of the surrounding environment of a vehicle and interference with a peripheral monitoring device of another vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a vehicle periphery monitoring device capable of reliably monitoring the vehicle.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus comprising: first optical monitoring means having a monitoring area in front of the vehicle; and monitoring overlapping with the monitoring area of the first optical monitoring means. First radar type monitoring means having an area, second optical type monitoring means having a monitoring area behind the vehicle, and second radar type having a monitoring area overlapping the monitoring area of the second optical type monitoring means. Monitoring means, third and fourth optical monitoring means having monitoring areas on both sides of the vehicle, respectively, third and fourth optical monitoring means overlapping the monitoring areas of the third and fourth optical monitoring means; Radar-type monitoring means, and control means for controlling each of these monitoring means, wherein the first radar-type monitoring means, the second radar-type monitoring means, and the third and fourth radar-type monitoring means each have a detection method. Of different distance detection means It is.

Further, the control means detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and selects either the optical monitoring means or the radar monitoring means having overlapping monitoring areas based on the detection result, and performs the other operation. It is configured to stop. Further, the control means is configured to select a monitoring area according to an operating condition or an environmental condition, and to stop the operation of the monitoring means having a monitoring area that is not selected. Still further, the selection by the control means is performed by a manual operation of the driver or voice input.

Further, the first radar type monitoring means, the second radar type monitoring means, and the third and fourth radar type monitoring means are each composed of an electromagnetic wave radar, a laser radar, and an ultrasonic radar. This is to be selected separately. further,
The first radar-type monitoring means, the second radar-type monitoring means, and the third and fourth radar-type monitoring means are respectively electromagnetic waves having different frequency bands, or radar-type monitoring means using ultrasonic waves. It is configured as follows.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 1 to 5 are explanatory diagrams of a vehicle periphery monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control device, and FIGS. Is an explanatory diagram explaining the operation,
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the control device. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle on which a vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the present invention is mounted, 2 denotes a first radar-type monitoring device mounted on a front portion of the vehicle 1 and monitoring a front monitoring area 3 using, for example, an electromagnetic wave, 4 is mounted on the front part of the cabin of the vehicle 1,
This is a first optical monitoring device using a stereoscopic camera or the like that monitors the front monitoring area 5, and the monitoring area 5 is the monitoring area 3
It is configured to overlap with. Reference numeral 6 denotes a second radar-type monitoring device that is mounted at the rear of the vehicle 1 and monitors a rear monitoring area 7 using, for example, a laser. Reference numeral 8 is mounted at the rear of the cabin of the vehicle 1 and monitors the rear monitoring area 9. This is a second optical monitoring device using a stereoscopic camera or the like, and the monitoring area 9 is configured to overlap the monitoring area 7.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a third optical monitoring device which is attached to a left side mirror 11 of the vehicle 1 and uses a stereoscopic camera or the like for monitoring a monitoring area 12 on the left side.
A fourth optical monitoring device 16 and 17 mounted on the right side mirror 14 of the vehicle and using a stereoscopic camera or the like for monitoring the right monitoring area 15 are arranged in the front-rear direction of the left side surface of the vehicle 1, for example. The third radar-type monitoring devices 18 and 19 using ultrasonic waves are arranged in the front-rear direction on the right side of the vehicle 1, and use the same detection method as that of the third radar-type monitoring devices 16 and 17, for example, ultrasonic waves. In the fourth radar type monitoring apparatus, the third radar type monitoring apparatuses 16 and 17 have a monitoring area overlapping the monitoring area 12 of the third optical monitoring apparatus 10 and the fourth radar type monitoring apparatus 18 , 19 have a monitoring area overlapping the monitoring area 15 of the fourth optical monitoring device 13.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a control device which controls each of the radar type monitoring devices and the optical type monitoring devices and switches the monitoring devices according to conditions. As shown in FIG. It comprises a condition input means 22, a monitoring area designating means 23, and a selection switching means 24 for switching each monitoring device based on an input from each of these means. The environment detecting unit 21 detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1, for example, the traveling lane, the illuminance of the road surface, the traveling speed, the state of rainfall, and the like by using a monitoring device, sensors (not shown), and the like, and outputs the same to the selection switching unit 24. The environmental condition input means 22 inputs the environmental conditions which cannot be detected by the environment detecting means 21, such as traffic congestion, snowfall and snowfall, and direct sunlight, by a driver's switch operation or voice, and selects and switches the selection.
4 to output the operation content. The monitoring area designating means 23 is for the driver to input a monitoring area which the driver wants to pay attention to by a switch operation or a voice. Switches and selects the operation of the type monitoring device.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which vehicles 1 and 25 equipped with such a vehicle periphery monitoring device are traveling back and forth, for example, on a highway. In this state, the environment detecting means 21 detects that the vehicle is traveling on a highway based on the vehicle speed and the like, and the selection switching means 24 having received the input indicates that
The operation of the third radar-type monitoring devices 16 and 17 and the fourth radar-type monitoring devices 18 and 19 using ultrasonic waves whose detection accuracy decreases due to exhaust sound and wind noise is stopped, and monitoring of both side surfaces of the vehicle is performed. Third optical monitoring device 10 and fourth optical monitoring device 1
3 and so on. The following vehicle 25 is confirmed by the preceding vehicle 1 by both the second radar type monitoring device 6 and the second optical monitoring device 8 using a laser, and the following vehicle 25 is confirmed by the electromagnetic wave First radar type monitoring device 2 and first optical type monitoring device 4 using
, And the detection accuracy and reliability are enhanced by the redundant monitoring. At this time, since a laser is used for confirming the rear of the preceding vehicle 1 and an electromagnetic wave is used for confirming the front of the following vehicle 25, mutual interference does not occur, and each can be reliably monitored.

When direct sunlight enters from the front or the rear while the vehicle is running and the detection accuracy of the optical monitoring device is reduced, the driver operates the switch of the environmental condition input means 22 or operates by voice. The selection switching means 24
Stops the operation of the optical monitoring device, and the stopped monitoring region is monitored by the radar monitoring device having the overlapping monitoring region to prevent erroneous detection. This switching may be configured such that the amount of light incident on each optical monitoring device is detected in addition to the driver's operation using a switch or voice, and the environment detecting unit 21 detects this and operates the selection switching unit 24. .

If the driver wants to shift the traveling lane of the vehicle 1 to the right lane, the driver operates the monitoring area designating means 23 so as to focus on monitoring on the right side. The operation of the third optical monitoring device 10 and the third radar monitoring devices 16 and 17 on the left is stopped or the display is reduced, and the fourth optical monitoring device 13 on the right is stopped.
And the outputs of the fourth radar-type monitoring devices 18 and 19 can be easily checked, and the visibility in the direction of interest can be improved. further,
As shown in FIG. 4, when the vehicle 1 is traveling on the rightmost lane of the highway, the environment detection unit 21 outputs the signal from the intermittent line 26 of the lane dividing line based on the output of the first optical monitoring device 4. From the continuous line 27, it is detected that the vehicle 1 is traveling on the rightmost lane, and the selection switching means 24 provides the fourth optical monitoring device 13 and the fourth radar monitoring device 18 for monitoring the right side,
The output to the terminal 19 is stopped, and the report of unnecessary information such as a median strip and a guardrail is eliminated.

The control device 20 starts operation when the engine key is turned on, and when the operation is started, as shown in FIG.
In step 1, information such as an image and a vehicle speed is input to the environment detection unit 21 from each monitoring device and various sensors (not shown), and the information is processed and input to the selection switching unit 24. In step 2, the driver's operation status and the like are detected and input from the environmental condition input means 22, and in step 3, the driver's instruction status is detected and input from the monitoring area specifying means 23. In step 4, the selection switching means 24
Determines the priority order of the driver's instructions, etc., and controls the operation of each monitoring device in step 5 according to this priority order and a pre-programmed procedure, and these operations are repeated every predetermined time. In step 6, information is transmitted from the results of steps 4 and 5 to support the driving operation, and the monitoring operation is stopped by turning off the engine key.

The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention has the above configuration and operation.
For example, an electromagnetic wave is used for the first radar type monitoring device 2, a laser is used for the second radar type monitoring device 6, and the third radar type monitoring devices 16 and 17 and the fourth radar type monitoring device 1 are used.
Ultrasounds are used for 8 and 19, but these are for avoiding interference of each radar type monitoring device, especially for interference with a preceding vehicle or a following vehicle. It is not limited which detection method is used for the radar-type monitoring device. For example, all radar-type monitoring devices use electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves, and have different frequency bands so as not to interfere with each other. You can also. Further, the environment detecting means 21 can obtain not only information from sensors mounted on the vehicle but also information from road-vehicle communication from an information transmitter provided on the road.

[0017]

As described above, according to the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention, different detection methods are used for each of the radar-type monitoring apparatuses for forward monitoring, backward monitoring, and side monitoring. Since the means is used, interference between the monitoring devices of the own vehicle and with the monitoring devices such as the preceding vehicle and the following vehicle can be avoided, and highly reliable peripheral monitoring can be performed.
Since the monitoring in the same direction is multiplexed by the optical monitoring device and the radar monitoring device, high reliability and high detection accuracy can be obtained. Further, since the selection can be switched to any one of the multiple monitoring devices according to the environment around the vehicle, it is possible to reliably monitor even if there is a change in the surrounding environment. In addition, the area to be monitored can be monitored intensively, and conditions that cannot be detected by sensors or monitoring devices can be operated at the driver's discretion, so that reliable peripheral monitoring is possible. Thus, an excellent vehicle periphery monitoring device can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle periphery monitoring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control device used for the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 vehicle, 2nd radar type monitoring device, 3, 5, 7,
9 monitoring area, 4 first optical monitoring device, 6 second radar monitoring device, 8 second optical monitoring device, 10
Third optical monitoring device, 11, 14 Side mirror, 1
2, 15 monitoring area, 13 fourth optical monitoring device, 1
6, 17 Third radar type monitoring device, 18, 19 Fourth radar type monitoring device, 20 control device, 21 environment detection means, 22 environment condition input means, 23 monitoring area designation means, 24 sensor selection switching means, 25 Subsequent vehicle.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F065 AA03 AA22 BB05 CC11 DD04 FF04 JJ03 JJ16 JJ26 SS02 SS13 TT03 5J070 AC01 AC02 AD05 AE01 AF03 AK06 AK21 BD04 BD08 BF08 BF09 BF10 5J083 AB12 AB13 AC13 AC17 AG01 AF04 CA01 5J084 AA01 AA04 AA05 AB01 AB07 AB20 AC02 AD01 BA03 EA01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A first optical monitoring means having a monitoring area in front of a vehicle, a first radar type monitoring means having a monitoring area overlapping the monitoring area of the first optical monitoring means, and a rear area of the vehicle. A second optical monitoring means having a monitoring area, a second radar monitoring means having a monitoring area overlapping the monitoring area of the second optical monitoring means, and a second monitoring means having both sides of the vehicle as monitoring areas. Third and fourth optical monitoring means, third and fourth radar-type monitoring means having a monitoring area overlapping the monitoring area of the third and fourth optical monitoring means, and controlling each of these monitoring means Control means, wherein the first radar-type monitoring means, the second radar-type monitoring means, and the third and fourth radar-type monitoring means are each configured by a distance detection means having a different detection method. Vehicle periphery monitoring device. 2. The control means detects the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and selects either the optical monitoring means or the radar monitoring means having overlapping monitoring areas based on the detection result, and controls the other operation. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to stop. 3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to select a monitoring area according to an operating condition or an environmental condition, and to stop operation of the monitoring unit having a monitoring area that is not selected. Item 4. A vehicle periphery monitoring device according to item 1. 4. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 2, wherein the selection by the control means is performed by a manual operation of a driver or a voice input. 5. The first radar-type monitoring means, the second radar-type monitoring means, and the third and fourth radar-type monitoring means.
The vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is individually selected from an electromagnetic wave radar, a laser radar, and an ultrasonic radar. 6. The first radar-type monitoring means, the second radar-type monitoring means, and the third and fourth radar-type monitoring means,
2. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device is a radar-type monitoring unit using electromagnetic waves or ultrasonic waves having different frequency bands.