JP2004136787A - Vehicular control device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular control device capable of effectively preventing erroneous detection of obstacles and conducting operation control for the obstacles. <P>SOLUTION: When it is judged that a driver unintendedly deviates from a traveling lane, this vehicular control device makes it easier to operate danger relieving control for the obstacles by setting the threshold value t<SB>th</SB>of collision estimated time when the danger relieving control for the obstacles is conducted at t<SB>C</SB>that is longer than t<SB>B</SB>of usual time and over collision unavoidable time in the case that the driver is careless. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that detects an obstacle on a route and controls the operation of the vehicle based on a relationship between the obstacle and the vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In order to prevent a collision or a rear-end collision accident, there has been proposed a technology of detecting an obstacle in front of a vehicle and automatically issuing an alarm to a driver or braking according to a situation. (For example, see Patent Document 1). In the technology described in this document, when a collision (back-end collision) with a detected obstacle is expected, the collision is prevented by automatically performing braking. Further, in this technique, a history of obstacle information is created, and for example, if there is a relatively long distance to the obstacle before the start condition of full braking performed when the distance to the obstacle approaches is satisfied. If gentle braking is not performed, the obstacle is not considered to have approached properly, so if an obstacle is suddenly detected at such a close position, it is processed as noise. This suppresses erroneous braking.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-129438 (pages 2 to 5, FIGS. 1 to 13)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the range of obstacles where collisions and collisions are actually expected is limited to the relatively limited range of the path of the vehicle, while obstacles where collisions and collisions are expected are only stationary. Not limited thereto, an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle, or a vehicle entering on the course due to merging or changing lanes may be considered. With the above-described technology, it is difficult to accurately determine such a collision with the vehicle. On the other hand, there is a problem that the possibility of erroneous detection of an obstacle outside the lane increases if it is attempted to accurately determine such a collision with the vehicle.
[0005]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control device capable of effectively preventing erroneous detection and effectively performing operation control on an obstacle.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle control device according to the present invention includes: an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle; and an operation control unit that controls an operation of a vehicle based on information of the detected obstacle. The vehicle control apparatus further includes: a lane determining unit that determines a lane area in which the host vehicle is traveling; and an estimating unit that estimates a driver's intention to change lanes. When the vehicle deviates from the lane contrary to the estimation result of the lane change intention, the operation control based on the obstacle is made easier to operate as compared with other cases.
[0007]
If the driver deviates from the lane without intending to change lanes, it is highly likely that the driver has not noticed the lane departure, so by making the vehicle control means easier to operate compared to other cases In addition, the vehicle control for obstacles is operated early and reliably.
[0008]
This estimating means preferably estimates the lane change intention based on the driver's operation of the turn signal. If the driver changes the lane by operating the turn signal, it may be estimated that the lane change intention is realized.
[0009]
Alternatively, a vehicle control device according to the present invention includes: an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle; and an operation control unit that controls operation of the vehicle based on information of the detected obstacle. In the above, further comprising a lane determination means for determining the lane area where the vehicle is traveling, the operation control means, when traveling in the same lane area continues, the operation control based on the obstacle This makes it easier to operate as compared to other cases.
[0010]
When it is expected that the vehicle will continue traveling in the same lane area, the accuracy of obstacle detection will be higher and the possibility of malfunction will be lower than in other cases. In addition, the vehicle is quickly and reliably controlled for obstacles.
[0011]
The lane determining means preferably includes an image acquiring means for acquiring an image in front of the vehicle, and an image recognizing means for acquiring lane area information by image recognition from the acquired image. By acquiring lane area information by image recognition, no special infrastructure development is required on the road side, and it is possible to flexibly cope with lane changes due to regulations on construction and the like.
[0012]
It is preferable that the operation control means controls the operation of at least one of brake assist means, automatic braking means, seat belt control means, and airbag control means. In addition to avoiding collisions by braking and speed control, even in the event of a collision, proper control of the seat belt and airbag can reduce occupant danger.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible in each drawing, and duplicate description is omitted.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a vehicle control device according to the present invention together with a vehicle mounted with the vehicle control device, and FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram thereof. A collision mitigation device 2 that is a vehicle control device mounted on the vehicle 1 includes a millimeter wave radar 21 that is an obstacle detection unit that scans the front of the vehicle by radio waves to detect an obstacle, and a lane for recognizing a lane. The vehicle includes a recognition unit 22, and a seat belt device 23, an airbag device 24, and a brake device 25 as risk reduction means for reducing the danger to the occupant in the event of a collision. Here, FIG. 1 shows an example of a right-hand drive vehicle, in which only the driver's seat belt device 23b and the passenger seat belt device 23a are shown as the seat belt device 23, and the passenger's seat belt device 23 is used as the airbag device 24. Only the airbag device for the seat is shown.
[0015]
The lane recognition unit 22 includes a camera 221 that is an image acquisition unit that acquires an image (video) in front of the vehicle and a lane ECU 222 that is an image recognition unit that acquires lane area (running lane) information from the acquired image by image recognition. . The seat belt devices 23a and 23b include a seat belt main body 231a and 231b and a seat belt winding device 230a and 230b, respectively. Hereinafter, reference numerals a and b are omitted unless it is necessary to distinguish them. The airbag device 24 includes an airbag control device 240 including an airbag body 241 and a seating sensor (not shown). The brake device 25 includes a disc brake or a drum brake (not shown) attached to each wheel, a hydraulic wheel cylinder 251 for operating each brake, and a brake actuator 250 for controlling the hydraulic pressure applied to each wheel cylinder 251. .
[0016]
The outputs of the millimeter-wave radar 21 and the lane ECU 222 are input to a pre-crash ECU 20, which is a control unit. The pre-crash ECU 20 controls the operations of an airbag control device 240, a seat belt retractor 230, and a brake actuator 250. . Further, various state quantities of the vehicle are input from a yaw rate sensor 51, a G sensor 52, a vehicle speed sensor 53, a brake switch 54, a turn signal switch 55, and the like.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 3, the collision mitigation device 2 scans the target area 31 in the traveling area 3 with the millimeter-wave radar 21 so that the obstacle 4 (an oncoming vehicle 40, a preceding vehicle 41, a guardrail, or the like) is scanned. Object 42) is detected, the possibility of collision is determined from the relative speed with the vehicle 1, and if a collision is expected, each danger reduction means is controlled to perform a predetermined danger reduction operation. is there.
[0018]
Hereinafter, specific collision mitigation control will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of this control, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the control timing of the collision mitigation control at the time of lane departure in the related art, and FIG. 6 is a diagram of the collision mitigation control at the time of lane departure according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the control timing of the collision mitigation control when traveling in the same lane according to the present embodiment.
[0019]
This control process is performed by the pre-crash ECU 20 in cooperation with the lane ECU 222, and is repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing from when the ignition switch is turned on until it is turned off.
[0020]
In step S1, the lane ECU 222 detects a white line, which is the boundary of the lane on which the vehicle 1 is traveling, by performing image recognition processing based on the image acquired by the camera 221. The white line here is not limited to a continuous line painted white, but may be a line painted in another color such as yellow, an intermittent painting line, or a driver using a guardrail, concrete block, tile, etc. Is a concept including all visually identifiable boundary lines when the outer boundary of the lane can be visually recognized.
[0021]
In step S2, the lane position where the host vehicle 1 is traveling is detected based on the detected white line (boundary line) position. In addition to the image recognition result, the accuracy of the curve can be estimated based on the outputs of the yaw rate sensor 51 and the G sensor 52, and the previous recognition result can be utilized based on the output of the vehicle speed sensor 53, thereby achieving higher accuracy. High lane position can be detected.
[0022]
In the next step S3, the presence or absence of an obstacle in the scan area 31 and the position of the obstacle, if any, are detected from the detection result of the millimeter wave radar 21. If an obstacle exists, the distance and direction (angle) to the obstacle can be obtained from the output of the millimeter wave radar 21. In step S4, an estimated collision time t _crash for each obstacle is calculated. This can be obtained by dividing the distance to the obstacle by the relative speed between the obstacle and the host vehicle 1.
[0023]
In step S5, it is determined whether there is any lane departure that is unintended. This determination is made by comparing the operation result of the blinker switch by the driver with the behavior of the vehicle. Specifically, when the driver operates the turn signal switch 55 and moves in the direction indicated by the turn signal, it is presumed that intentional lane departure has occurred. Alternatively, when the vehicle moves in the direction opposite to the designated direction, the departure is performed by estimating lane departure unintended.
[0024]
When it is determined that there is no lane departure unintended, the process proceeds to step S6, and it is determined whether or not the same lane traveling is continued. It is only necessary to determine that the vehicle is traveling in the same lane if the vehicle has been traveling for a predetermined time or longer without lane departure or lane change, and neither the blinker switch nor the steering wheel operation has been performed. If it is determined that the same lane running continuously, the process proceeds to step S7, it sets the threshold value t _th of the estimated collision time to a predetermined value t _A. The t _A is, the driver is relatively longer in the limit can avoid collision time (normal collision unavoidable time) when you are careful enough. On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle is not traveling in the same lane, the process proceeds to step S8, and the threshold value t _{th of the} expected collision time is set to the predetermined value t _B. The t _B is shorter than t _A, for example, the driver is set equal to extreme caution if that limit can avoid collision time (normal collision unavoidable time).
[0025]
On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a lane departure unintended In step S5, the operation proceeds to step S9, sets the threshold value t _th of the estimated collision time to a predetermined value t _C. The t _C is, t is set longer than the _B, for example, it is set to limit the driver can avoid a collision even if it is inadvertently time (collision unavoidable time during inadvertent). Although t _C may be equal to t _A , t _C is set to be longer than t _A because the case of unintentionally departure from the lane is a case where the risk of collision is relatively high as described later. Preferably, it is set.
[0026]
After setting the threshold value _{t th} at step S7~S9 also shifted to step S10 in any case, it is compared with a threshold value _{t th} set of _{t with crash} obtained. If t _crash exceeds the threshold value t _th , it means that there is enough time for the driver to take a collision avoidance action before colliding with an obstacle, and in this case, subsequent collision mitigation control is performed. Instead, the process ends.
[0027]
On the other hand, if t _crash is less than the threshold value t _th , the collision avoidance action of the driver is not in time, and there is a high possibility that the vehicle will collide without change. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S11 to perform the collision mitigation control.
[0028]
As the collision mitigation control performed here, first, as a control of the brake device 25, an automatic braking control in which a brake hydraulic pressure is applied to each wheel cylinder 251 by applying a brake hydraulic pressure to each wheel cylinder 251 to perform braking automatically, and decelerate. is there. Alternatively, when the brake switch 54 is turned on, the pre-crash brake assist which improves the response characteristic to the driver depressing the brake pedal and enables more rapid deceleration by setting the assist hydraulic pressure higher than in the normal case. Control may be performed.
[0029]
In the seat belt device 23, the seat belt 231 is wound up by the seat belt winding device 230, thereby restraining the occupant in the seat before the collision, suppressing the movement of the occupant during the collision, and reducing the damage at the time of the collision. I do. In addition, since the occupant can be warned that the danger of a collision is imminent due to restraint, the occupant can be prepared for a collision even in the event of a collision, which is effective in reducing the risk.
[0030]
In the airbag device 24, the airbag control device 24 controls the airbag 241 to operate at the most appropriate time and state based on the occupant's posture, physique, collision direction, and collision time. By performing the airbag control together with the seatbelt control, the occupant is securely restrained to the seat, the shock to the occupant due to the operation of the airbag is reduced, and the damage in the event of a collision is effectively reduced.
[0031]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the threshold value tth of the estimated collision time is adjusted based on the relationship between the driver's intention to change lanes and the vehicle behavior. If the threshold value tth is fixed as in the related art, the erroneous determination of determining the roadside object 42 on the curved road as an obstacle at the entrance of the curve or the like increases, so the threshold value tth needs to be set relatively short. If the driver inadvertently leaves the lane, the collision mitigation / avoidance operation may not be in time (see FIG. 5).
[0032]
On the other hand, in the present embodiment, when the lane is inadvertently deviated from the lane (see FIG. 6), the threshold value tth is set to be longer than the long inadvertent collision inevitable time (t _C ). Since the risk reduction control is started at the same time as or immediately after the lane departure, the possibility of collision avoidance is increased, and even if a collision occurs, the shock of the occupant due to the collision can be reduced, and the danger can be reduced sufficiently .
[0033]
Further, when the vehicle is traveling on the same lane with few steering operations, the driver's attention is likely to be distracted, and the driver may be inattentive. On the other hand, in this case, since the accuracy of the obstacle detection by the millimeter wave radar 21 is improved, by setting the threshold value t _th to a relatively long time (t _A ), the risk mitigation control is changed from t _th to t _B. By starting earlier than the case set, the possibility of collision avoidance is improved, and even in the event of a collision, the shock of the occupant due to the collision is reduced, thereby sufficiently reducing the danger (see FIG. 7).
[0034]
On the other hand, in the case where the lane is changed relatively frequently during a curve running or before or after a lane change, it is presumed that the driver is running while paying careful attention to the course direction. Therefore, the collision unavoidable time is shortened. Therefore, by setting the threshold value t _th to be short (t _B ), the reliability of the system can be improved by performing reliable risk reduction control while suppressing erroneous detection.
[0035]
In the above description, the case of switching to three types according to the state of the lane and the vehicle has been described as an example. However, only the control for switching between an unintended lane departure and other cases may be performed. Further, the control may be switched between during the continuation of the single lane traveling and in other cases.
[0036]
Here, the example in which the obstacle on the course is detected using the millimeter wave radar has been described, but the obstacle may be detected by infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, radio waves, or the like. In addition, it is also possible to recognize an obstacle by image recognition. In addition, the determination of the lane may be performed by receiving the image from outside the vehicle by a communication unit or by installing a marker at the lane boundary or the center of the lane and detecting the detected lane. Alternatively, the map information may be stored in advance, and the lane information may be called from the position information of the own vehicle determined by the navigation system.
[0037]
In addition to the blinker switch, the lane change intention can be estimated based on the driver's vehicle operation status, changes in the driver's line of sight and attitude when changing lanes, and the like.
[0038]
The operation control means according to the present invention notifies a driver of a device for reducing danger to an occupant in the event that contact with an obstacle cannot be avoided, a device for avoiding contact with an obstacle, or the presence of an obstacle. It controls the operation of the device. In the above description, an example in which all of the brake, the seatbelt, and the airbag are controlled has been described. However, by controlling at least one of them, the danger to the occupant at the time of a collision can be reduced. Further, an alarm function for notifying the occupant of the danger of collision using voice or the like may be used in combination.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the operation state of the vehicle control for the obstacle is changed according to the correspondence between the driver's lane change intention and the driving lane, so that the malfunction during normal driving can be suppressed. In the case of careless lane departure or running on the same lane where distractions are likely to be distracted, it is possible to make the operation control of the vehicle against obstacles function effectively by making it easier to operate the operation control of the vehicle against collision objects. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a vehicle control device according to the present invention together with a vehicle equipped with the control device.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the operation of the device in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, that is, a control process.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a control timing of a collision mitigation control at the time of lane departure according to the related art.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the control timing of the collision mitigation control when the vehicle departs from the lane in the present embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the control timing of the collision mitigation control when traveling in the same lane according to the present embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... vehicle, 2 ... collision mitigation device, 3 ... lane area, 4 ... obstacle, 20 ... pre-crash ECU, 21 ... millimeter wave radar, 22 ... lane recognition means, 23 (a, b) ... seat belt device, 24 ... airbag device, 25 ... brake device, 31 ... scan target area, 32 ... obstacle area, 40 ... oncoming vehicle, 41 ... preceding vehicle, 42 ... roadside object, 51 ... yaw rate sensor, 52 ... G sensor, 53 ... vehicle speed Sensor, 54: Brake switch, 55: Turn signal switch, 221: Camera, 222: Lane ECU, 230: Seat belt retractor, 231: Seat belt body, 240: Airbag control device, 241: Airbag body, 250: Brake actuator, 251, wheel cylinder.

Claims (5)

In a vehicle control device including: an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle; and an operation control unit that controls an operation of the vehicle based on information of the detected obstacle.
The vehicle further includes lane determining means for determining a lane area in which the host vehicle is traveling, and estimating means for estimating a driver's lane change intention.The operation control means includes a driver's lane change intention by the estimating means. When the vehicle deviates from the lane contrary to the estimation result, the vehicle control device makes the operation control based on the obstacle easier to operate than other cases. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the estimation unit performs the estimation based on a driver's operation of a turn signal. In a vehicle control device including: an obstacle detection unit that detects an obstacle; and an operation control unit that controls an operation of the vehicle based on information of the detected obstacle.
The vehicle further includes lane determining means for determining a lane area in which the host vehicle is traveling, and the operation control means performs operation control based on the obstacle when traveling in the same lane area is continued. A control device for vehicles that makes it easier to operate compared to other cases. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lane determination unit includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image in front of the vehicle, and an image recognition unit that acquires lane area information from the acquired image by image recognition. Control device. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, wherein the operation control unit controls operation of at least one of a brake assist unit, an automatic braking unit, a seat belt control unit, and an airbag control unit.

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