JP2003151098A - Running support device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To minimize obstruct in communicating with an ETC system when running in a running lane of the system and to maintain an appropriate spacing distance to a front obstruction when running out of the running lane. SOLUTION: At a step S1, when an own vehicle is running in an ETC exit lane 12, a predetermined second distance as a threshold of spacing distance to the front obstruction is calculated or acquired from a road side antenna at a step S3. The threshold of spacing distance to the front obstruction is corrected from a predetermined first distance to the second distance at a step S5 and a normal collision prevention/follow-up control is performed at a step S9 with a parameter set at the step S5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle drive assist device for executing drive assist control of an own vehicle based on an obstacle existing in front of the vehicle, and more particularly to an automatic toll collection system installed on a toll road. The present invention relates to a vehicle travel support device that changes travel support control when traveling in a travel lane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, automatic toll collection (Electronic Toll Collect) has been implemented for the purpose of non-stop at toll roads, to alleviate traffic congestion, to make cashless, and to reduce personnel costs.
(ion, ETC) system has been developed and put into practical use at some toll gates.

In this ETC system, an IC card in which contract information and the like are recorded is inserted into an on-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, and wireless communication is performed between a roadside antenna installed at a toll gate at a toll gate on a toll road and the on-vehicle device. By this, information such as tolls can be recorded on both the computer system and the IC card on the toll road connected to the roadside antenna, and the tollgate can be used for payment without stopping.

On the other hand, an obstacle existing in front of the host vehicle is detected, and collision avoidance control (braking, warning, etc.) is automatically executed when the distance from the detected obstacle is within a predetermined distance. Alternatively, a collision avoidance / following system has been developed that automatically executes the follow-up control so that the distance from the obstacle is maintained at a predetermined distance.

[0005]

By the way, when there is a vehicle preceding the own vehicle, the ETC system becomes smaller as the preceding vehicle is a large vehicle and the predetermined separation distance set by the collision avoidance / following system is shorter. May cause a failure in communication between the roadside antenna and the vehicle.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to minimize the obstacle during communication with the ETC system when traveling in the traveling lane and to drive the vehicle outside the traveling lane. In this case, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle travel support device capable of optimally maintaining the distance from the front obstacle.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and to achieve the object, a vehicle travel support device of the present invention comprises:
A travel assistance device for a vehicle, which detects an obstacle existing in front of the own vehicle, and executes a travel assistance control of the own vehicle when a distance from the detected obstacle is within a predetermined first distance, Judgment means for judging whether or not the own vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane of the automatic toll collection system that transmits and receives to and from the roadside device installed on the toll road, and the own vehicle travels in the traveling lane. And a control means for changing the predetermined first distance to a predetermined second distance so as not to hinder communication with the roadside device.

Further, the vehicle travel assistance device of the present invention detects an obstacle existing in front of the own vehicle, and keeps the distance between the obstacle and the detected obstacle at a predetermined first distance. A vehicle travel support device that executes travel support control, and whether the vehicle is traveling in a travel lane of an automatic toll collection system that collects charges by transmitting to and receiving from roadside devices installed on toll roads When the determination means and the own vehicle are traveling in the traveling lane, the predetermined first number is set so as not to hinder communication with the roadside device.
Control means for changing the distance to a predetermined second distance.

Preferably, the predetermined second distance is set to a value larger than the predetermined first distance.

Preferably, the predetermined second distance is set to a value smaller than the predetermined first distance.

[0011] Preferably, the control means further comprises a communication means capable of communicating with an automatic fee collection system for transmitting and receiving to and from a roadside device installed on a toll road, wherein the control means is the roadside device. The predetermined second distance that does not hinder communication with the communication device is acquired from the communication means.

Further, preferably, the control means corrects the predetermined second distance according to a vehicle type of a preceding vehicle.

Further, preferably, the control means distributes the subject vehicle and the preceding vehicle to different traveling lanes so that the detected distance from the obstacle is maintained at a predetermined first distance.

[0014] Further, preferably, the determination means further comprises a communication means capable of communicating with an automatic fee collection system for transmitting and receiving to and from a roadside device installed on a toll road, and the determination means is the communication means. It is determined from the information obtained from the vehicle whether the vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane.

[0015]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the obstacle existing in front of the host vehicle is detected, and the distance from the detected obstacle is within the predetermined first distance. When the vehicle's driving support control is performed, it is determined whether the vehicle is traveling in the driving lane of the automatic toll collection system that receives and collects charges by transmitting and receiving with roadside devices installed on the toll road. However, when the host vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane, the predetermined first distance is changed to the predetermined second distance so as not to hinder the communication with the roadside device.
When traveling in the traveling lane of the TC system, obstacles during communication with the system are minimized, and when traveling outside the traveling lane, the distance between the obstacle and the front obstacle can be optimally maintained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, an obstacle existing in front of the host vehicle is detected, and the travel support control of the host vehicle is performed so that the distance from the detected obstacle is maintained at a predetermined first distance. When executing, the automatic toll collection system that receives and collects charges by transmitting and receiving to and from the roadside device installed on the toll road is determined to determine whether the own vehicle is traveling, When the vehicle is traveling, by changing the predetermined first distance to the predetermined second distance so as not to hinder communication with the roadside device, if the system is traveling in the traveling lane of the ETC system, The obstacles at the time of communication with and can be minimized, and when traveling outside the traveling lane, the distance from the obstacle ahead can be optimally maintained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the predetermined second distance is set to a value larger than the predetermined first distance, whereby E
When traveling in the traveling lane of the TC system, it is possible to minimize obstacles during communication with the system.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the predetermined second distance is set to a value smaller than the predetermined second distance.
It is possible to suppress traffic congestion in the traveling lane of the TC system.

According to the invention of claim 5, further comprising a communication means capable of communicating with an automatic toll collection system for transmitting and receiving to and from a roadside device installed on a toll road to communicate with the roadside device. By obtaining from the communication means a predetermined second distance that does not hinder communication between the devices, it is possible to obtain a value that matches the specifications of the roadside device, and save the trouble of calculation and the like.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, by correcting the predetermined second distance according to the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle, the second distance that does not hinder the communication with the roadside device regardless of the vehicle type. Can be set.

According to the invention of claim 7, the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are distributed to different traveling lanes so that the detected distance from the obstacle is maintained at the predetermined first distance, whereby the traveling lane of the ETC system. It is possible to suppress traffic congestion inside.

According to the invention of claim 8, further comprising a communication means capable of communicating with an automatic toll collection system for transmitting and receiving to and from a roadside device installed on a toll road, and obtained from the communication means. By determining whether the host vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane from the information obtained, it is possible to easily determine using the existing equipment.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiments described below are examples as means for realizing the present invention, and the present invention can be applied to modifications or variations of the following embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. . [ETC System] First, the ETC system will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 shows an ET as an embodiment according to the present invention.
It is the figure which looked at the toll gate including C system two-dimensionally.

As shown in FIG. 1, at the entrance 2 of the toll road 1, a general gate 3 for issuing a toll ticket and an entrance antenna 4 by an ETC system are installed, and a general lane 5 corresponding to the general gate 3 is installed. And an ETC entrance lane 6 corresponding to the entrance antenna 4.

An entrance warning antenna 7 for transmitting an entrance warning signal is provided in front of the toll road entrance 2, and an exit warning antenna 13 for transmitting an exit warning signal is provided in front of the toll road exit 8.

At the exit 8 of the toll road 1, a conventional general gate 9 for collecting cash as a toll and an exit antenna 10 by the ETC system are installed, and a general lane 11 corresponding to the general gate 9 is provided. An ETC exit lane 12 is provided corresponding to the exit antenna 10.

The number of lanes at the entrance and exit is 6 as shown in the figure.
It is not limited to lanes, but is arbitrarily determined according to the size of the toll gate.

In the above ETC system, the vehicle is a toll road 1
When passing through the entrance 2 of the vehicle, the vehicle information is communicated between the vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle and the entrance antenna 4, and the vehicle passes through the exit 8 of the toll road 1 through the ETC exit lane 12. At times, by calculating the toll of the vehicle and collecting the toll with a credit card or prepaid card that can be attached to and detached from the card reader of the vehicle-mounted device, and other similar IC cards, non-stop, congestion reduction, It aims to be cashless and reduce personnel costs. [Various Devices Installed in ETC Lane] FIG. 2 shows an example of installation of various devices in a tollgate of an ETC system as an embodiment according to the present invention.

At the entrances 2 and 8 of the toll road 1 of FIG. 1, as shown in FIG.
At present, only vehicles equipped with the in-vehicle device 21 can pass through the exit lane 12, and the in-vehicle device 21 has the entrance antenna 4 (exit antenna 10) and the entrance notice antenna 7 (exit notice antenna 13) as roadside antennas. An IC card 22 having a function of wireless communication between terminals and having a payment settlement function can be attached and detached. In addition, the in-vehicle device 21
Is the result of communication with the roadside antennas 4, 7, 10, 13.
In the ETC exit lane 12, payment of tolls, charge display that also serves as a payment completion notice, vehicle-mounted device 21 and IC card 2
Notify the user whether or not 2 is operating normally.

The IC card 22 identifies the payer of the toll and is issued at the time of the contract for use. When the IC card 22 is inserted into the in-vehicle device 21, the toll is settled by wireless communication with the roadside antenna. Also, in the lanes where roadside antennas are not deployed, the IC card 22
It is also possible to settle the charges directly by processing.

The entrance antenna 4 (exit antenna 10) is
It is installed in the ETC entrance lane 6 and the ETC exit lane 12, and information such as tolls is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 21 by wireless communication.
Send to.

Entrance notice antenna 7 (exit notice antenna 1
3) is ETC entrance lane 6 and ETC exit lane 12
Installed on the upstream side of the entrance antenna 4 (exit antenna 10) in the vehicle, whether the IC card 22 is normally inserted by wireless communication, whether the ETC entrance lane 6 and the ETC exit lane 12 can be used, and the like. Equipment 21
Notify the driver through the Human Machine Interface (HMI) function of the.

The vehicle detectors 23 are installed on both sides of the ETC entrance lane 6 and the ETC exit lane 12 near the upstream and downstream of the entrance antenna 4 (exit antenna 10), and detect the traffic of the vehicle.

The roadside indicator 24 is installed in front of the entrance antenna 4 (exit antenna 10), and displays a message such as whether or not the vehicle can pass through properly.

The passage permission gate (toll gate) 25 is
When the toll collection is normally performed by wireless communication, the gate is opened to allow passage of the vehicle, and when the toll collection is not possible for some reason, the gate is closed to prohibit passage of the vehicle. [Driving Support System] Next, a driving support system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the vehicle according to the present embodiment, as a driving support system, an obstacle existing in front of the own vehicle is used as a radar or CCD camera mounted on the own vehicle, or image information of an infrared camera or a roadside where infrastructure is maintained. Detects from the information from the antenna, and executes collision avoidance control (information provision, warning, automatic braking, etc.) when the distance between the vehicle and the obstacle is within a predetermined distance from the detected obstacle information. Alternatively, a collision avoidance / following system for carrying out follow-up control for keeping the separation distance at a predetermined distance is installed. Further, the system is configured so that the driver can arbitrarily select the operation / non-operation of the system by an operation switch or the like.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the driving support system according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the assist control controller 31 which controls the driving support system as a whole is charged as input information from the in-vehicle device 21 of the ETC system toll collection end information and from the map information of the car navigation system 41. Lane shape information (gate position, etc.) of the entrances and exits 2 and 8 of the road 1, current position information of the own vehicle from the GPS antenna 42, vehicle speed detection information of the own vehicle from the vehicle speed sensor 32, obstacles existing ahead of the own vehicle from the laser radar 33. Object information (distance between other vehicles in front, etc.) and operation information from the operation switch 34 are respectively input, and image information is displayed on the display 35 as output information, voice information is displayed on the speaker 36, the brake controller 51 and the steering controller 75.
The braking control information is output to each.

Support control CP for controlling the travel support system
U31 receives the above-mentioned input information, executes the arithmetic processing necessary for the driving support control, and outputs the above-mentioned output information to the controlled object as the arithmetic result.

The brake controller 51 is a support control C
The brake actuator 53 is driven from the braking control information from the PU 31 and the acceleration / deceleration signal detected by the acceleration / deceleration sensor (G sensor) 52 to apply a desired braking force.

The steering controller 75 drives the steering actuator 74 by the control torque from the assist control CPU 31 to apply a desired steering force.

The vehicle-mounted device 21 includes the vehicle-mounted antenna 26 and the roadside antennas 4, 7, 10, 13 mounted on the vehicle-mounted device 21.
The toll collection process is performed with the ETC system computer 27 via the.

Instead of the on-vehicle laser radar 33, an obstacle existing around the vehicle is mounted on the CC.
It is also possible to input shooting information from a D camera or an infrared camera or information from a roadside antenna provided with infrastructure. [Outline of Driving Support Control] Next, an outline of the above-mentioned driving support control will be described. <Collision avoidance control> In the collision avoidance control as the driving support control, the shorter the distance between the host vehicle and the obstacle (pedestrian, other vehicle, etc.) in front of the host vehicle, the more urgent the collision avoidance operation by the driver is. Therefore, the control content is gradually changed to information provision, warning, and automatic braking.

The information is provided by displaying the character information 35a, the symbol information 35b, and the image information 35c as shown in FIG. 4 on the display 35, and notifying the driver of the own vehicle of the existence of the obstacle β, and calling an attention degree. Is the lowest control of.

The alarm is displayed on the display 35 by the character information 35a, the symbol information 35b and the image information 35 as shown in FIG.
While displaying c, the degree of urgency of alerting the driver of the vehicle of the presence of an obstacle by a voice message from the speaker 36 or the like is higher than that of providing information.

In the automatic braking, while displaying the character information 35a as shown in FIG. 6 on the display 35, the driver of the own vehicle is warned of the existence of the obstacle by the voice message of the speaker 36 or the like, and further separated from the obstacle. This is the most urgent control in which the brake is automatically operated in order to prevent the distance from becoming a predetermined distance or less and avoiding any further approach. <Following control> Following control, which is driving assistance control, involves automatic braking, automatic steering, etc. so that the distance between the host vehicle and obstacles (pedestrians, other vehicles, etc.) in front of it can be maintained at a predetermined distance. It is executed, and it is possible to travel with the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle much shorter than the driver's operation. [Details of Driving Assistance Control] Next, the contents of control when the ETC exit lane 12 is passing when the collision avoidance control is executed as the above-mentioned driving assistance control will be described.

As described above, when there is a vehicle preceding the own vehicle, the preceding vehicle is a large vehicle or the like and the shorter the predetermined separation distance set by the collision avoidance / following system, the roadside of the ETC system. There is a possibility of causing a trouble in the communication between the antenna and the vehicle.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the own vehicle is the ET.
When traveling in the C exit lane 12, obstacles at the time of communication with the ETC system are minimized, and when traveling outside the lane 8, the distance between the obstacle and the front obstacle can be optimally maintained. In addition, when the host vehicle is traveling in the ETC exit lane 12, the threshold value of the distance from the obstacle ahead is changed.

Specifically, the control is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In the following, especially ETC
Although the control when passing through the exit lane 12 has been described, the same can be considered in the case of the ETC entrance lane 6,
Instead of determining the end of the toll collection process, the same control may be executed by determining the end of the communication process such as vehicle information and toll gate entrance information. <Collision Avoidance / Following Control of this Embodiment> In the control of this embodiment, when the host vehicle is traveling in the ETC exit lane 12, the threshold value of the distance to the front obstacle is set from the predetermined first distance. The distance is corrected to a second distance that does not hinder communication with the roadside antenna. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, if the host vehicle is traveling in the ETC exit lane 12 in step S1 (YES in step S1), a predetermined second distance as a threshold value of the distance from the front obstacle in step S3. Is calculated or obtained from the roadside antenna, the threshold value of the distance to the front obstacle is corrected from the predetermined first distance to the second distance in step S5, and then the normal collision avoidance / following control is executed in step S9. Is the parameter set in step S5. However, the first distance <the second distance.

On the other hand, if the host vehicle is not traveling in the ETC exit lane 12 in step S1 (N in step S1)
O), in step S7, the threshold value of the distance from the front obstacle is set to the predetermined first distance, and then the normal collision avoidance control is executed in step S9.

In the above control, whether the own vehicle is traveling in the ETC lane or not is determined by the reception information from the roadside antenna, the inter-vehicle communication information obtained by communication with another vehicle,
It may be calculated from the lane shape information acquired from the map information of the car navigation system 41 and the current position information of the own vehicle acquired from the GPS signal.

The second distance may be corrected according to the vehicle type (vehicle height, etc.) of the preceding vehicle. In this case, the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle may be calculated from the inter-vehicle communication information and the infrastructure information obtained by communicating with the preceding vehicle. <Second Distance Calculation Method> Second Distance D in Step S3
Is calculated by the following equation 1.

D = (H _v −H _a ) / tan θ (1) However, as shown in FIG. 8, D: inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle,
H _v : Height of preceding vehicle, H _a : Mounting height of roadside antenna,
θ: The optimum elevation angle of the roadside antenna obtained from the design value of the ETC system.

According to the control of the above-described embodiment, the obstacle during communication with the ETC system is minimized when traveling in the ETC exit lane 12, and the forward obstacle when traveling outside the lane 8. The distance from the object can be optimally maintained.

In addition, the second that meets the specifications of the roadside antenna
The distance can be obtained, and the trouble of calculation can be saved. <Control of Other Embodiments> In the above-described embodiment, when the first distance is corrected to the second distance, all vehicles in the vicinity of the ETC exit lane 12 expand the inter-vehicle distance, which may cause congestion. . Therefore, step S5 in FIG.
When there is a tendency toward congestion, the first distance> the second distance is corrected to reduce the inter-vehicle distance, or as shown in FIG. 9, the odd-numbered vehicles are arranged so that the vehicles are alternately allocated to the ETC exit lanes 12 adjacent to each other. Is an odd numbered preceding vehicle,
Further, the even-numbered vehicles may be controlled so as to follow the even-numbered preceding vehicles, respectively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tollgate including an ETC system as an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an installation example of various devices in a tollgate of an ETC system as an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the driving support system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a display showing control content of information provision as collision avoidance control.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a display showing control contents of an alarm as collision avoidance control.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a display showing control contents of automatic braking as collision avoidance control.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing collision avoidance / following control of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method of calculating a second distance.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating tracking control according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 toll road 2 entrance 4 Entrance antenna (roadside antenna) 7 Entrance notice antenna (roadside antenna) 10 Exit antenna (roadside antenna) 13 Exit notice antenna (roadside antenna) 6 ETC entrance lane 8 exit 12 ETC exit lane 20 In-vehicle equipment 21 IC card 25 tall gate α Own vehicle β Obstacle (other vehicle)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme code (reference) B60R 21/00 626 B60R 21/00 626C 626D 626F 627 627 628 628B 628C (72) Inventor Chiba Masaki Hiroshima Prefecture Aki 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Gunma Mazda Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5H180 AA01 BB04 BB12 CC02 CC04 CC24 EE10 FF04 FF05 FF27 LL01 LL02 LL04 LL07 LL09 LL11

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An obstacle existing in front of the host vehicle is detected,
A vehicle travel support device that executes travel support control of a host vehicle when a distance between the detected obstacle and the vehicle is within a predetermined first distance, and is used to communicate with a roadside device installed on a toll road. Between the judgment means for judging whether the own vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane of the automatic toll collection system which transmits and receives the fee, and between the roadside device when the own vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane. And a control means for changing the predetermined first distance to a predetermined second distance so as not to hinder communication. 2. An obstacle existing in front of the host vehicle is detected,
A vehicle travel assistance device that executes travel assistance control of a host vehicle such that a distance between the detected obstacle and a predetermined distance is maintained at a predetermined first distance, and the vehicle travel assistance device is connected to a roadside device installed on a toll road. Between the judgment means for judging whether the own vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane of the automatic toll collection system which transmits and receives the fee, and between the roadside device when the own vehicle is traveling in the traveling lane. And a control means for changing the predetermined first distance to a predetermined second distance so as not to hinder communication. 3. The vehicle travel support device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined second distance is set to a value larger than the predetermined first distance. 4. The vehicle travel support device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined second distance is set to a value smaller than the predetermined first distance. 5. The communication device further comprises a communication means capable of communicating with an automatic toll collection system for transmitting and receiving to and from a roadside device installed on a toll road, wherein the control means communicates with the roadside device. The vehicle travel support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the predetermined second distance that does not hinder the communication of the vehicle is obtained from the communication means. 6. The vehicle travel assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit corrects the predetermined second distance according to a vehicle type of a preceding vehicle. 7. The control means distributes the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle to different traveling lanes so that the detected distance from the obstacle is maintained at a predetermined first distance. The vehicle travel support device described. 8. The communication means further comprises a communication means capable of communicating with an automatic fee collection system for transmitting and receiving to and from a roadside device installed on a toll road, and the determination means is obtained from the communication means. 8. The vehicle travel assistance device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined from the information whether the host vehicle is traveling in a travel lane.