JP2003157496A - Running support device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving support device for a vehicle, capable of positively performing alarm output and driving support for avoiding danger to reduce the possibility of causing an emergency in the state where automatic report using an automatic report system is not performed or in the state of requiring much time until the rescue activity is provided after the automatic report. SOLUTION: An AHS control unit 11 controls alarm output and/or driving support operation for avoiding the danger in the state of making early the execution timing or increasing the control output by comparing with the case of automatic report in executing the alarm output and/or driving support operation when the automatic report using the automatic report system can't be performed. As the case where the automatic report is not available, it is assumed that the automatic report system gets out of order, his own car is located outside a communication enable area of a communication device used by the automatic report system, or the communication device is not yet connected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle running system which outputs a warning to a driver (occupant) and a driving support operation for avoiding danger when a detected running state of a vehicle or obstacles around the vehicle are present. Regarding the field of support systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of automobiles, which is a typical vehicle, in order to prevent the own vehicle from falling into a dangerous driving state, an alarm output and an avoidance operation for avoiding a danger are automatically performed. A driving support system for
This system detects the running state of the vehicle and the presence of obstacles ahead of it based on various information and captured images acquired from equipment installed on the road side in order to determine the alarm output and the control state of avoidance operation. is doing.

Further, in recent years, in the event of an accident or an emergency, a rescue signal including the current position information is transmitted from the own vehicle in accordance with the magnitude of the detected impact and the switch operation of the driver, whereby a predetermined external engine is transmitted. A vehicle automatic notification (Mayday) system for automatically making an emergency call has been proposed.

According to the above-mentioned conventional vehicle automatic notification system, the driver is automatically notified in an emergency without being forced to make a complicated judgment in an emergency, which is highly convenient.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned Mayday system, when the vehicle is located outside the service area of the system, such as a mountain road, an automatic transmission to a predetermined external engine is performed. Even if a situation that requires notification occurs, it may not be possible to make the notification.

In the Mayday system, when the communication network of a mobile phone is used as a communication device for reporting to an external organization, when the own vehicle is located outside the communication area, Similarly, even if a situation that requires automatic notification occurs, it may not be possible to make a notification.

Further, in the Mayday system which uses the communication network of the mobile phone as a communication device for reporting to an external organization, when the mobile phone is not carried by an occupant or when the mobile phone is used for the Mayday system. If you forget to connect to the in-vehicle control unit, you cannot make a notification even if a situation that requires automatic notification occurs.

As described above, even though the Mayday system is installed in the own vehicle, in any of the above cases, it is not possible to automatically request assistance from an external organization in the event of an emergency. As much as possible, preventive maintenance is important to prevent the occurrence of accidents and emergencies, but conventional driving support systems cannot effectively deal with such situations.

The Mayday installed in the vehicle
Even when the system is functioning, when an emergency situation occurs, for example, when driving on a mountain road, an ambulance or the like is actually requested after automatically requesting assistance from an external organization. It is a problem that it takes time for passengers to arrive and be rescued, and even under these circumstances, preventive maintenance to prevent accidents and emergencies is important as much as possible. However, the conventional driving support system cannot effectively cope with such a situation.

Therefore, the present invention aims to reduce the possibility of occurrence of an emergency in a situation where automatic notification cannot be performed by the automatic notification system, or in a situation where it takes time to provide rescue activities after the automatic notification. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle driving support device that more actively outputs a warning and a driving support for risk avoidance.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle travel assistance device according to the present invention is characterized by the following configuration.

[0012] That is, the vehicle travel support device is provided with a control means for controlling an alarm output and / or a driving support operation for avoiding danger, wherein the control means is an external engine in case of an emergency by an automatic notification system. When it is not possible to automatically report to the driver, when executing the warning output and / or the driving support operation, the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased as compared with the case where the automatic notification is possible. To do.

In a preferred embodiment, when the automatic notification cannot be performed, when the automatic notification system fails, when the vehicle is located outside the communicable area of the communication device used by the automatic notification system, or It is preferable that the communication device is not connected.

In order to achieve the same object, the vehicle travel support device according to the present invention is characterized by the following configuration.

That is, a vehicle driving support device having a control means for controlling an alarm output for avoiding a danger and / or a driving support operation, wherein an automatic notification system automatically notifies an external engine when an emergency occurs. After the above is done, it comprises an estimating means for estimating the required time until the relief activity is provided, the control means, when the required time estimated by the estimating means is longer than a predetermined time,
Compared with the case where the estimated required time is shorter than the predetermined time, the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased when the warning output and / or the driving support operation is executed.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the estimating means estimates the required time based on the current position of the vehicle and the location of the nearest medical facility acquired by searching the map database according to the current position. Good to do.

Further, for example, the estimating means may be based on the current position of the own vehicle and the location of the dispatch base of the nearest rescue vehicle, which is obtained by searching the map database according to the current position. Estimate the time.

In any of the above device configurations, it is preferable that the control means preferably further comprises an informing means for informing an occupant that the execution timing has been accelerated or the control output has been increased. In this case, the notifying unit may further notify the occupant of the reason why the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased by the control unit.

Further preferably, informing the occupant that the alarm output and / or the driving support operation will be executed in a state where the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased by the control means. It is good to have means.

[0020]

According to the present invention described above, in a situation where automatic notification cannot be performed by the automatic notification system, or in a situation where it takes time to provide rescue activities after the automatic notification,
In order to reduce the possibility of occurrence of an emergency, it is possible to provide a vehicle driving support device that more actively outputs a warning for avoiding a danger and performs driving support.

That is, according to the invention of claim 1, a situation in which the automatic notification by the automatic notification system cannot be performed (for example, when the automatic notification system is out of order, the automatic notification system is outside the communicable area of the communication device used by the automatic notification system). When the vehicle is located or when the communication device is not connected: In claim 3), when the alarm output and / or the driving support operation is executed, the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that an emergency situation may occur in such a situation and the rescue may not be requested to the external engine due to the more active driving support.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, in a situation where it is expected that the time required from the automatic notification by the automatic notification system to the provision of the rescue activity is expected to be long, the alarm output and / or the driving assistance are provided. When the operation is executed, the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased, so that more aggressive driving support is performed,
It is possible to reduce a possibility that an emergency situation occurs in such a situation and the user waits for a long time before being rescued.

According to the invention of claim 4, the time required to reach the location of the medical facility closest to the current position of the vehicle (for example, a hospital) is estimated. The time can be reasonably estimated.

According to the invention of claim 5, the time required to reach the location of the dispatch base of the rescue vehicle closest to the current position of the own vehicle (for example, the fire station) is estimated, so that the rescue operation is provided. The time required up to can be reasonably estimated.

According to the invention of claim 6, the occupant is
Since it is possible to recognize that the execution timing has been accelerated or the control output has been increased, it is possible to continue driving more carefully and stably without burdening the driver with a mental load, and an emergency situation occurs. It is possible to further reduce the possibility of doing.

According to the invention of claim 7, the occupant is
Since it is possible to recognize the reason why the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased, it is possible to assume the situation in the event of an emergency at the present time, and more carefully,
It is possible to continue stable driving and further reduce the possibility of an emergency situation.

Further, according to the invention of claim 8, when the alarm output and / or the driving support operation is executed, unlike the normal time, the execution timing is advanced, or Even when the control output is increased and intervention for more active driving support is made, it is possible to prevent the occupant from feeling uncomfortable due to the intervention.

[0028]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a vehicle travel support device according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a vehicle travel support device according to a first embodiment.

In the figure, the AHS control unit 11
Is the detected running state of the vehicle and road facilities (so-called,
In accordance with various information received from the infrastructure side, an AHS (Advanced Cruise-assist H) that outputs a warning to the driver (occupant) and controls the driving assistance operation for avoiding danger
ighway System) is a control unit.

In the present embodiment, the AHS control unit 11 includes the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 12,
The information received by the road-to-vehicle communication device 15 and the information from the navigation unit 22 are input via the AHS on-vehicle antenna 16. And the AHS control unit 11
Based on the input information, the display 13 and / or the speaker 19 are used to warn the driver, and an actuator (for example, an automatic transmission, Brake etc.) 20 operation is controlled.

Since the control processing itself performed by the AHS control unit 11 for avoiding danger is not the essence of the present application, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Here, the navigation unit 22 is
It is a general device that includes a map database (not shown) and that guides a route to a desired destination based on current position information detected by a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 21. In the present embodiment, the AHS control unit 11 is provided with information regarding the detected current position, information regarding the location of emergency facilities (fire department, hospital, police, etc.) existing in the vicinity thereof.

A signal to be received using the AHS on-vehicle antenna 16 is transmitted via the roadside antenna 104 to the A
It is transmitted by the HS base station 103.

Mayday control unit 1
Reference numeral 7 is integral with or detachable from the control unit when the magnitude of the shock detected by the acceleration (G) sensor 14 is larger than a predetermined threshold value or when an occupant operates an emergency operation switch. By controlling the operation of a separate communication device (for example, a mobile phone), a predetermined rescue signal is transmitted from the in-vehicle antenna 18 for automatic notification. In a preferred embodiment, the rescue signal includes GP
The current position information detected by the S (Global Positioning System) sensor is included.

The rescue signal transmitted from the on-vehicle antenna 18 for automatic notification is received by the automatic notification base station 101 via the roadside antenna 102.

The AHS control unit 11 performs a general warning output and / or a driving support operation for avoiding a danger while the vehicle is traveling, and a Mayday control as a characteristic operation of this embodiment. Unit 1
When it is impossible to automatically report an emergency using the method 7, the alarm output and / or the driving support operation enhancement processing is performed.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an alarm output and / or a driving support operation enhancing process performed by the AHS control unit 11 in the first embodiment, and a CPU (not shown) provided in the control unit 11 It represents the processing procedure to be executed.

In the figure, step S1: Is it possible to perform automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17 when an emergency itself (operation of an emergency operation switch when an accident occurs) occurs in the current control cycle? Judge,
If the automatic notification is possible, the process proceeds to step S2. If the automatic notification is impossible, the process proceeds to step S3.

In the present embodiment, the cases where automatic notification is not possible are as follows: The current position of the vehicle detected by the navigation unit 22 is within the communicable area of the communication device integrated with the Mayday control unit 17 or a separate device. If the service is out of service area (including a case where the Mayday system has a dedicated communication network and the vehicle is located outside the service area), the Mayday control unit 17 has a malfunction or is integrated with or separate from the control unit. When the AHS control unit 11 receives the notification failure flag FL indicating that a failure of the body communication device is detected: A communication device (eg, a mobile phone) separate from the Mayday control unit 17 controls the control. The AHS control unit 11 is provided with an unreportable flag FL indicating that it is not connected to the unit. When receiving, and the like.

Step S2: Since it is determined in step S1 that the automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17 is possible, in this case, if an emergency situation is detected in the current control cycle, the external procedure is performed according to a predetermined procedure. It is possible to automatically send a rescue signal to the organization. Therefore,
In this step, various parameters for the operation mode or the alarm output and / or the driving support operation of the AHS control unit 11 are set to normal default values.

Step S3: If automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17 is impossible, step S1
Therefore, in this case, even if the emergency itself is detected in the current control cycle, the rescue request cannot be made by the automatic notification. Therefore, in this step, A
Various parameters for the operation mode of the HS control unit 11 or the alarm output and / or the driving support operation are set to values different from the above default values.

Step S4: Based on the operation mode or various parameters set in Step S2 or Step S3, the operation of the actuator 20 for warning output and danger avoidance to the driver using the display 13 and the speaker 19 is controlled. , And returns to step S1. Here, when an operation mode or parameter different from the default value is set in step S3, the control output in step S4 is used to accelerate the operation timing, increase the control gain, or increase the alarm volume. .

<Modification of First Embodiment> In this modification, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment described above, when the enhancement is performed in step S3 (FIG. 2) as described above, Whether or not the warning output and / or the driving assistance is executed in step S4, the display 13 and / or the voice from the speaker 19 are used to
The occupant is informed that the warning output and the danger avoidance operation are enhanced. By adopting such a configuration, the occupant can recognize that the execution timing has been accelerated or the control output has been increased, so that the occupant can be more cautious and stable without being mentally burdened with the driving operation. Therefore, it is possible to continue traveling, and it is possible to further reduce the possibility of occurrence of an emergency.

Further, in a preferred embodiment, the cause of the enhancement in step S3, that is, step S3
The reason why the automatic notification is determined in 1 (for example, being out of the communication area of the communication device) may be notified to the occupant. If such a configuration is adopted, the occupant can recognize the reason why the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased, and therefore, it is possible to assume a situation in the event of an emergency at the present time, It is possible to continue driving more carefully and stably, and to reduce the possibility of emergencies.

When the alarm output and / or the driving assistance is to be actually executed in step S4 in the situation where the enhancement is performed, that effect is given.
Display by display 13 and / or speaker 19
Is used to notify the occupant. By adopting such a configuration, when the alarm output and / or the driving support operation is executed, unlike the normal time, even when the execution timing is advanced, or the control output is increased. Even if an intervention for more active driving assistance is made due to this, it is possible to prevent the occupant from feeling uncomfortable due to that.

As described above, according to the first embodiment and the respective modified examples thereof, in the situation where the automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17 cannot be performed, the operation timing is accelerated and the control output (actuator 20 is operated). By increasing the control amount) or increasing the alarm volume, warning output and driving assistance for danger avoidance are performed more aggressively than in normal times, so an emergency situation occurs in such a situation. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that an external organization will not be able to request rescue.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment based on the vehicle travel support device according to the first embodiment will be described. In the following description, a duplicate description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted,
The characteristic part of the present embodiment will be mainly described.

In this embodiment, in the vehicle having the system configuration shown in FIG. 1, the AHS control unit 1 is used.
1 is the time required from the automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17 to the actual execution of some rescue activity for the occupant (for example, after the automatic notification,
If the estimated time from the arrival of the ambulance at the current position to the time when the occupant is taken to the nearby hospital (medical facility) is estimated and the estimated required time T is longer than the predetermined time, the first implementation The alarm output and / or the driving support are enhanced by changing the operation mode or various parameters similar to the mode.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a warning output and / or a process for enhancing the driving support operation performed by the AHS control unit 11 in the second embodiment, and a CPU (not shown) provided in the control unit 11 It represents the processing procedure to be executed.

In the figure, step S11, step S12: until some kind of rescue action is actually carried out to the occupant when an automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17 is made in the current control cycle. Estimating the required time T (step S11), the estimated required time T
Is longer than a predetermined time (step S1)
2).

Here, a method of calculating the estimated required time T in step S11 will be described.

In order to calculate the estimated required time T, a map database (not shown) of the navigation unit 22 is searched to find the route (path) to the location of the hospital closest to the current location of the vehicle. Then, the time required for the ambulance (relief vehicle) to travel is estimated. still,
When searching for the location of the nearest hospital from the map database, instead of the hospital, the location of the nearest dispatch base of an ambulance (generally a fire station) may be searched, or both may be searched. In the present embodiment, when calculating the estimated required time T until the relief activities are provided, the target is a medical facility such as a hospital closest to the current position of the own vehicle or a dispatch base of the rescue vehicle such as a nearest fire station. It is reasonable because it is set.

At this time, the estimated time T required to move is T
= L / Vave. However, L is the path length from the current position of the vehicle to the nearest hospital, and Vav
e is an average cruising speed (for example, 30 km / h).

If the presence or absence of traffic jam and the length of the traffic jam can be detected on the route from the current position of the vehicle to the nearest hospital, the estimated time T required for movement is T = L1 / V1.
The calculation formula is + L2 / V2. However, L1 is the length of the route that is not congested among the routes from the current position of the vehicle to the nearest hospital, and L2 is the length of the congested route among the routes. V1 is the average cruising speed when there is no congestion (for example, 30 km / h)
And V2 is the average cruising speed (for example, 10 km / h) when there is congestion.

Step S13: Since it is determined in step S12 that the estimated required time T is shorter than the predetermined time,
In this step, various parameters for the operation mode or the alarm output and / or the driving support operation of the AHS control unit 11 are set to normal default values.

Step S14: It is determined in step S12 that the estimated required time T is longer than the predetermined time, which is not a preferable situation. So, in this step,
Various parameters for the operation mode or the alarm output and / or the driving support operation of the AHS control unit 11 are set to values different from the above default values.

Step S15: Based on the operation mode or various parameters set in step S13 or step S14, the display 13 and the speaker 19
The operation of the actuator 20 for controlling the warning output and the danger avoidance to the driver using the controller is controlled, and step S1
Return to 1.

If an operation mode or parameter different from the default value is set in step S14, the control output in step S15 is the same as in the first embodiment (step S2 in FIG. 2), and the operation timing is the same. Is performed, the control gain is increased and corrected, or the alarm volume is increased. In the present embodiment, for example,
According to the length of the estimated required time T calculated in step S11, the operation timing may be advanced, the magnitude of the control gain or the alarm volume may be increased and corrected.

<Modification of Second Embodiment> In this modification, as in the modification of the first embodiment, when the enhancement is performed in step S14 (FIG. 3) as described above, Whether or not the warning output and / or the driving assistance is executed in step S15, the warning output and the danger avoidance operation are enhanced for the occupant by using the display on the display 13 and / or the sound from the speaker 19. Notify that it has been done. By adopting such a configuration, the occupant can recognize that the execution timing has been accelerated or the control output has been increased, so that the occupant can be more cautious and stable without being mentally burdened with the driving operation. Therefore, it is possible to continue traveling, and it is possible to further reduce the possibility of occurrence of an emergency.

Further, in the preferred embodiment, the cause of the enhancement in step S14, that is, the estimated required time T calculated in step S11 is displayed on the display 13 and / or the voice from the speaker 19 is used, You should inform the crew. By adopting such a configuration, the occupant can recognize the reason why the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased.
It is possible to assume a situation in the event of an emergency at the present time, to continue driving more carefully and stably, and to further reduce the possibility of an emergency occurring.

When the warning output and / or the driving support is actually executed in step S15 in the situation where the enhancement is performed, the fact is displayed on the display 13 and / or The voice from the speaker 19 is used to notify the occupant. By adopting such a configuration, when the alarm output and / or the driving support operation is executed, unlike the normal time, even when the execution timing is advanced, or the control output is increased. Even if an intervention for more active driving assistance is made due to this, it is possible to prevent the occupant from feeling uncomfortable due to that.

As described above, according to the second embodiment and each of its modifications, when the rescue is requested by the automatic notification using the Mayday control unit 17, it takes time until the occupant is actually rescued. Under the circumstances, the operation timing is accelerated and the control output (actuator 20
By increasing the control amount) or the alarm volume, the warning output for avoiding danger and the driving assistance are performed more actively than in the normal time, so an emergency situation occurs in such a situation. , It is possible to reduce the possibility of falling into a state of waiting for a long time before receiving rescue.

In each of the above-described embodiments and the modifications thereof, various types of information are acquired by communication from the equipment provided on the road side as communication for driver assistance control A
The case where the HS is adopted has been described, but the system configuration is not limited to this, and the CCD (Charge
An ASV of an autonomous system that detects the presence or absence and position of an obstacle, lane departure of the own vehicle, its angle, etc. by capturing an image of the surroundings with an imaging device such as a Coupled Device) and performing image processing on the captured image. Advanced Safety Vehi
It can also be realized by adopting a system.

Although the AHS control unit 11 and the Mayday control unit 17 are configured separately in each of the above-described embodiments and the modified examples thereof, the configuration is not limited to this device and a single unit is used. The electronic control unit may be configured to execute a software module for AHS control processing and a software module for Mayday control processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a vehicle travel support device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows an AHS control unit 1 according to the first embodiment.
3 is a flowchart showing an alarm output and / or a driving support operation enhancing process performed by the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows an AHS control unit 1 according to a second embodiment.
3 is a flowchart showing an alarm output and / or a driving support operation enhancing process performed by the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: AHS control unit, 12: vehicle speed sensor, 13: display, 14: acceleration (G) sensor, 15: road-vehicle communication device, 16: AHS on-vehicle antenna, 17: automatic notification (Mayday) control unit, 18: automatic On-board antenna for reporting (Mayday), 19: speaker, 20: actuator, 101: base station for automatic reporting (Mayday) system, 102: roadside antenna for automatic reporting (Mayday) system, 103: AHS base station, 104: roadside for AHS antenna,

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G01C 21/00 G01C 21/00 C G08G 1/13 G08G 1/13 (72) Inventor Masaki Chiba Hiroshima Prefecture Aki 3-1, Shinchi, Fuchu-cho, Gunma Mazda Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2F029 AA01 AB07 AB12 AB13 AC02 AC09 AC12 AC14 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB04 BB05 CC04 EE08 FF05 FF13 FF22 FF25 FF27 LL01 LL02 LL04 LL07

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A travel assistance device for a vehicle, comprising a control means for controlling an alarm output and / or a driving assistance operation for avoiding a danger, wherein the control means is an external engine when an emergency occurs due to an automatic notification system. When it is not possible to automatically report to the driver, when executing the warning output and / or the driving support operation, the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased as compared with the case where the automatic notification is possible. Vehicle driving support device. 2. A vehicle travel assistance device comprising a control means for controlling an alarm output and / or a driving assistance operation for avoiding a danger, the automatic alerting system automatically alerting an external engine when an emergency occurs. The estimation means for estimating the time required until the rescue activity is provided after the operation is performed, and the control means estimates the required time when the estimated time by the estimation means is longer than a predetermined time. Compared with a case where the required time is shorter than the predetermined time, when executing the alarm output and / or the driving support operation, the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased. 3. When the automatic notification cannot be performed, when the automatic notification system fails, when the vehicle is located outside the communicable area of the communication device used by the automatic notification system, or when the communication device is The vehicle travel assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle travel assistance device is in a non-connected state. 4. The estimating means estimates the required time based on the current position of the vehicle and the location of the nearest medical facility acquired by searching a map database according to the current position. Claim 2
The vehicle travel support device described. 5. The required time is based on the current position of the own vehicle and the location of the nearest dispatch base of the rescue vehicle, which is obtained by searching a map database according to the current position. The vehicle travel support device according to claim 2 or 4, wherein 6. The control means further accelerates the execution timing or increases the control output,
3. The vehicle travel support device according to claim 1, further comprising an informing unit for informing an occupant. 7. The vehicle travel support according to claim 6, wherein the notification means further notifies an occupant of the reason why the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased by the control means. apparatus. 8. An informing means for informing an occupant that the alarm output and / or the driving support operation will be executed when the execution timing is accelerated or the control output is increased by the control means. The vehicle travel support device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: