JP2005182307A - Vehicle driving support device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly determine the degree of a driver's recognition to road facilities such as a signal, stop sign, etc., necessary for driving. <P>SOLUTION: The driver's degree of recognition to the road facilities is determined according to whether the road facilities such as the signal (sg) and the stop sign (mk1) which are located within distances recognizable from the driver of an own vehicle and are included in a central vision area (ca) based on a vision point when the driver views a distant place of the road are included in the present central vision area (ca) of the driver or not. When the driver's degree of recognition is determined to be low as a result of determination, an alarm is given, and the driver is alerted to to pay attention to the road facilities existing in front of the own vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle driving support device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle display device that transmits the presence of a traffic signal ahead, a stop sign, etc. to a driver has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to the vehicle display device disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, information on the use of a mobile phone can be obtained, and further, driving support information such as traffic lights and stop signs can be obtained within a predetermined distance ahead of the course. When obtained, this driving support information is transmitted to the driver.
JP 2000-33289 A

  The above-described conventional display device for a vehicle is a traffic light, a stop sign, etc. when the driver's attention to the front of the track is reduced when using a mobile phone or when attention is paid to driving operation, etc. For example, although attention is directed to the front of the course, the object that is directed to the attention does not include objects such as traffic lights and stop signs necessary for driving In this case, an object necessary for the operation is overlooked.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle driving support device that can accurately determine the degree of recognition of a driver with respect to an object necessary for driving.

  The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, a traffic signal installed on a road ahead of the host vehicle, storage means for storing an installation position of at least one road facility of a road sign including a stop sign, the host vehicle, Fixed by distance determination means for determining whether the distance relationship with the road equipment stored in the storage means satisfies a certain condition, imaging means for capturing an image including a road ahead of the host vehicle, and distance determination means Extracting means for extracting a position in an image taken by the imaging means of the road equipment that is determined to satisfy the above condition, gazing point detection means for detecting the driver's gazing point, and gazing point detection means A central vision area setting means for setting on the image a central vision area based on the gazing point detected by the image, and a path for extraction by the extraction means within the central vision area on the image set by the central vision area setting means Depending on whether the equipment is located, characterized in that it comprises a determining recognition degree determining means for recognizing the degree of the driver for the road facilities.

  Since moving objects such as preceding vehicles and pedestrians may or may not appear in front of the host vehicle depending on traffic conditions, the driver of the vehicle can detect moving objects by looking around the front of the host vehicle. Visualize early. On the other hand, road equipment as a fixed object such as a traffic signal or a road sign including a stop sign installed on the course of the own vehicle always appears in front of the own vehicle when the own vehicle travels on the course. The driver of the vehicle can visually recognize the road equipment at an early stage by watching the road ahead of the host vehicle.

  The present invention pays attention to this point, that is, the road equipment is located in the central vision area of the driver when the distance relationship with the road equipment such as a traffic light or a stop sign as a fixed object satisfies a certain condition. The degree of recognition of the driver for the road equipment is determined depending on whether or not to do so. As a result, it is possible to accurately determine the degree of recognition of the driver with respect to the presence of road signs such as traffic lights and temporary stop signs that always appear in front of the host vehicle and are necessary for driving. As a result, it is possible to communicate to the driver the existence of road equipment that the driver could not recognize early (overlooked).

  According to the vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 2, the distance determination means includes a distance calculation means for calculating a distance from the own vehicle to the road equipment stored in the storage means, up to the road equipment calculated by the distance calculation means. Is the distance that is included in the central vision area based on the point of gaze when the driver of the host vehicle is paying attention to the far side of the road. And the extraction means extracts the position in the image of the road equipment that is determined to be a distance that is visible to the driver by the distance determination means and that is included in the central vision area. It is characterized by.

  A person's visual field is divided into an area (ie, a central vision area) based on a gazing point that is noticed when viewed with the eyes, and a surrounding area (peripheral vision area). Can recognize what the object is looking at, but in the peripheral vision area it becomes difficult to recognize what the object is looking at, and the tendency becomes stronger the further away from the central vision area . Therefore, by determining whether the distance is visible to the driver and whether the distance is within the central vision area, the road equipment that the driver of the vehicle should visually recognize early is identified. can do.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 3 includes speed detection means for detecting the speed of the host vehicle, and the distance determination means includes a distance included in the central vision area according to the level of speed detected by the speed detection means. It is characterized by comprising distance changing means for changing the length.

  That is, it is generally known that the driver watches the distance of the host vehicle as the speed of the host vehicle increases, and watches the vicinity of the host vehicle as the speed of the host vehicle decreases. Therefore, by changing the length of the distance included in the central viewing area according to the speed of the host vehicle, it is possible to correspond to the driver's gaze point that is changed according to the speed.

  According to the vehicle driving support device of the fourth aspect, when the road equipment extracted by the extraction means is not located in the central view area on the image, the recognition degree determination means has a low recognition degree of the driver for the road equipment. It is characterized by determining. Thereby, it is possible to identify road facilities such as traffic lights and temporary stop signs that are not recognized (overlooked) when the driver is gazing in front of the host vehicle.

  The vehicle driving support device according to claim 5 is provided with an alerting means for alerting the driver when the recognition degree determining means determines that the degree of recognition of the driver with respect to the road equipment is low. And As a result, the driver can be made aware of the presence of road equipment such as traffic lights and temporary stop signs necessary for driving ahead of the host vehicle.

  According to the vehicle driving support device of the sixth aspect, the alerting means alerts according to the length from the boundary of the central vision area in the image of the road equipment not located in the central vision area on the image. It is provided with the alerting timing change means to change the timing to start.

  For example, if you are watching the situation in front of your vehicle to some extent, the installation height of traffic lights outside the central viewing area and road signs such as stop signs are different in size from the driver of your vehicle. However, the length from the boundary of the central vision area is not much different.

  However, the closer the vehicle is to the traffic lights and road signs, the clearer the difference in installation height, and the greater the difference in length from the boundary of the central vision area. If the length from this central vision area is short, even if it is not located in the central vision area, the driver's gaze point is likely to be located in the central vision area by moving a little later. As a result, it is assumed that the driver recognizes.

  On the other hand, when the length from the central viewing area is long, the possibility of being located in the central viewing area is low after that, and as a result, the possibility that the driver does not recognize is high. Therefore, by changing the timing to start alerting according to the length from the boundary of the central vision area, road equipment such as traffic lights and stop signs necessary for driving that are judged to be low in driver recognition It is possible to start alerting from.

  The vehicle driving support device according to claim 7 includes a travel restriction unit that restricts the travel of the host vehicle when the recognition degree determination unit determines that the driver's recognition degree of the road equipment is low. Features. Thereby, the potential danger ahead of the own vehicle can be reduced.

  According to the vehicle driving support device of the eighth aspect, the travel restriction unit restricts the travel according to the length from the boundary of the central viewing area in the image of the road equipment that is not located in the central viewing area on the image. A travel restriction timing changing means for changing the start timing is provided. Thereby, it becomes possible to start travel restriction from road equipment such as a traffic light and a stop sign necessary for driving that are determined to have a low recognition degree of the driver.

  According to the vehicle driving support apparatus of the ninth aspect, the travel restriction means restricts the operation of the host vehicle toward the opening side of the accelerator. Thereby, for example, it is possible to mitigate the impact when the vehicle collides with a preceding vehicle that is stopped near the stop sign.

  According to the vehicle driving support apparatus of the tenth aspect, the host vehicle includes automatic braking means that automatically drives the braking device, and the travel restriction means drives the braking device by the automatic braking means. To do. Thereby, it can stop automatically in front of road signs, such as a traffic signal required for driving, and a stop sign.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle driving support device of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In FIG. 1, the whole structure of the vehicle driving assistance device in this embodiment is shown. As shown in the figure, the vehicle driving support device 200 includes an accelerator sensor 10, a steering sensor 20, a laser radar sensor 30, a yaw rate sensor 40, a vehicle speed sensor 50, a visible camera 62, an infrared camera 64, an infrared projection lamp 66, A brake sensor 70 and a navigation device 72 are provided, and each of these components is connected to a computer 80.

  The vehicle driving support device 200 further includes a throttle driver 90, a brake driver 100, a steering driver 110, an automatic transmission controller 120, a display device 130, an input device 140, and an alarm device 150, each of which is a computer 80. Connected to.

  The computer 80 includes an input / output interface (I / O) (not shown) and various drive circuits. Since these hardware configurations are general, a detailed description of the configuration will be omitted.

  The computer 80 is located at a distance that can be visually recognized by the driver, and is a traffic light located at a distance included in the central vision area based on the gazing point when the driver of the host vehicle is gazing at a distance on the road. The degree of recognition of the driver for the road equipment is determined based on whether or not road equipment such as a stop sign is included in the current driver's central view area. And if it is determined by this determination that the degree of recognition of the driver is low, an alarm is generated to alert the driver to the road equipment existing in front of the host vehicle. Execute.

  Further, the computer 80 drives the throttle driver 90, the brake driver 100, the steering driver 110, the automatic transmission controller 120, and the like based on information from each sensor, and maintains the traveling lane of the host vehicle. Lane maintenance traveling control for traveling the vehicle and traveling control processing such as inter-vehicle distance control for traveling while maintaining the inter-vehicle time with the preceding vehicle to be an appropriate inter-vehicle time.

  The accelerator sensor 10 detects the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal by the driver. The detected accelerator pedal operation amount signal is sent to the computer 80. The steering sensor 20 detects a change amount of the steering angle of the steering wheel, and a relative steering angle is detected from the value.

  The laser radar sensor 30 irradiates a predetermined range in front of the vehicle with the laser beam, thereby detecting the distance from the reflecting object such as the preceding vehicle that reflects the laser beam, the relative speed, and the direction of the reflecting object with respect to the host vehicle. To do. The object information composed of the detection result is converted into an electrical signal and then output to the computer 80. The laser radar sensor 30 detects an object using laser light, but may detect an object around the vehicle using radio waves such as millimeter waves and microwaves, ultrasonic waves, and the like. Good.

  The yaw rate sensor 40 detects an angular velocity around the vertical direction of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 50 is a sensor that detects a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheel.

  The visible camera 62 is an optical camera and is provided at a position where the front of the host vehicle can be photographed. With this visible camera 60, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, road facilities such as a road ahead of the host vehicle and a traffic light (sg), a stop sign (mk1), a speed limit sign (mk2), etc. installed on the road. The containing image is taken.

  The visible camera 62 is configured to be able to adjust a shutter speed, a frame rate, an output gain of a digital signal output to the computer 80, and the like according to an instruction from the computer 80. The visible camera 62 also outputs a digital signal having a pixel value indicating the degree of brightness for each pixel of the captured image to the computer 80 together with the horizontal / vertical synchronization signal of the captured image.

  The infrared camera 64 is a camera that captures a driver's face projected with infrared light by the infrared projector lamp 64, and the captured face image indicates the driver's viewpoint position and the driver. This is used to detect a point of gazing at the front of the vehicle. The brake sensor 70 detects the amount of operation of the brake pedal by the driver. The detected brake pedal operation amount signal is sent to the computer 80.

  As is well known, the navigation device 72 detects the current position of the host vehicle and displays a map display function for displaying a map around the host vehicle, a peripheral facility search function for searching for peripheral facilities, and guides a route to the destination. It is a device that executes various functions such as a route guidance function.

  The navigation device 72 includes a position detector, a map data input device, and the like (not shown). Among these, the position detectors all have a well-known geomagnetic sensor, gyroscope, distance sensor, and GPS receiver for GPS (Global Positioning System) that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from the satellite. ing. Since these have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detector may be configured as a part of the above.

  The map data input device is a device for inputting map data. As a storage medium for storing the map data, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or the like is used based on the amount of data, but a writable storage medium such as a memory card or a hard disk may be used. Here, the detail of map data is demonstrated.

  Map data is mainly composed of link data, node data, and landmark data. The link of this link data is to divide each road on the map at multiple nodes such as intersections, branches and merge points, and to define each link as a link, and to connect each link The road is composed of The link data is composed of data such as a unique number (link ID) for identifying the link, a link length indicating the length of the link, start and end node coordinates (latitude / longitude) of the link, road name, road width, and the like. .

  Further, the node data describes a node ID, a node coordinate, a node name, and a link ID of all the links connected to the node for each node where each road on the map intersects, merges and branches. It consists of various data such as connection link ID, intersection type, and traffic signal installation position. The landmark data is composed of data such as the location and type of road signs.

  In response to a request from the computer 80, the navigation device 72 uses the map data to determine the distance from the current position of the host vehicle to the installation position of the traffic signal ahead of the host vehicle, and the distance to the installation of the stop sign. calculate. Then, distance information indicating the calculated distance to the installation position of road equipment such as a traffic light or a stop sign is transmitted to the computer 80.

  The throttle driver 90, the brake driver 100, the steering driver 110, and the automatic transmission controller 120 are all driven according to instructions from the computer 80. The throttle driver 90 controls the output of the internal combustion engine by adjusting the opening of the throttle valve. The brake driver 100 adjusts the brake pressure, and the steering driver 110 drives the steering by generating rotational torque in the steering. The automatic transmission controller 120 selects the gear position of the automatic transmission necessary for controlling the speed of the vehicle.

  The display device 130 is configured by a liquid crystal display, for example, and is installed near the center console in the vehicle interior. This display device 130 is a warning that alerts the image data of the map display output from the navigation device 72 and the traffic lights and stop signs that are output from the computer 80 in front of the host vehicle to the driver. Display image data or the like is input, and an image corresponding to each image data is displayed.

  As the input device 140, for example, a touch switch or a mechanical switch integrated with the display device 130 is used, and is used for various inputs such as character input. The alarm device 150 is a device that generates an alarm sound for alerting the driver, and outputs an alarm according to an instruction from the computer 80.

  For example, in the lane keeping traveling control, an alarm is output when the own vehicle departs from the traveling lane. In the inter-vehicle distance control, the own vehicle suddenly approaches the preceding vehicle, and the inter-vehicle distance control is controlled. An alarm is output when the limit is exceeded.

  Next, a control block diagram of the computer 80 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the control processing of the computer 80 includes an input unit 81, a distance determination unit 82, an edge detection unit 83, a pixel position extraction unit 84, a gaze point detection unit 85, a central vision area setting unit 86, and a recognition degree determination. It is divided into each block of a part 87 and an alarm generation part 88. The input unit 81 inputs signals output from various sensors.

  The distance determination unit 82 acquires distance information indicating a distance from the navigation device 72 to a road facility installation position such as a traffic light or a stop sign, and the distance to the road facility is a distance that the driver can visually recognize. Further, it is further determined whether or not the distance is from the host vehicle included in the central viewing area based on the gazing point when the driver of the host vehicle is gazing at a distance on the road. Then, the determination result is sent to the edge detection unit 83.

  In general, it is known that the driver watches the distance of the host vehicle as the speed of the host vehicle increases, and watches the vicinity of the host vehicle as the speed of the host vehicle decreases. Therefore, by changing the length of the distance included in the central viewing area according to the speed of the host vehicle, it is possible to correspond to the driver's gaze point that is changed according to the speed. Further, since the distance that the driver can visually recognize varies depending on the driver's visual acuity, the distance that can be visually recognized may be changed according to the driver's visual acuity.

  The edge detection unit 83 is a distance that can be visually recognized by the driver by the distance determination unit 82, and further, the central vision based on the gazing point when the driver of the host vehicle is gazing near the road. When there is a road facility that is determined to be a distance from the host vehicle included in the area, edge detection is performed to detect the road facility from an image captured by the visible camera 62.

  The edge detection unit 83 first acquires only the pixel value for each pixel in the horizontal line corresponding to the distance determined by the distance determination unit 82 among the pixel values for each pixel of the captured image from the visible camera 62. That is, since the shooting direction of the captured image from the visible camera 62 is fixed, the distance from the host vehicle can be grasped in advance for each horizontal line of the image captured in front of the host vehicle. Therefore, only the pixel value of the horizontal line corresponding to the distance determined by the distance determination unit 82 can be acquired. In addition, the numerical value which the pixel value in this embodiment can take is the range (256 gradations) from 0 to 255, for example.

  Next, the edge detection unit 83 compares the acquired pixel value of each pixel of the horizontal line with a preset edge threshold value, and performs edge detection that extracts a pixel position that indicates a pixel value equal to or higher than the edge threshold value. The edge threshold is set based on pixel values corresponding to each object such as a traffic light normally captured by the visible camera 62, a stop sign, and the like. Only the pixels corresponding to the signs are extracted.

  The pixel position extraction unit 84 extracts a pixel position corresponding to the traffic light or the stop sign extracted by the edge detection unit 83.

  The gazing point detection unit 85 detects the position of the driver's viewpoint from the face image captured by the infrared camera 64 and also detects the positions of a plurality of feature points (for example, the eyes and the corners of the eyes) from the face image. Identify the direction of the person's face. Further, the position of the driver's pupil is detected from the face image, and the gaze point in the driver's windshield is estimated based on the direction of the face and the position of the pupil. Then, the computer 80 determines the position of the gazing point in the image captured by the visible camera 62 corresponding to the gazing point in the windshield from the estimated relationship between the gazing point in the windshield and the driver's viewpoint position. Calculate by coordinate transformation.

  The central vision area setting unit 86 sets a central vision area on the image based on the position of the gazing point in the driver image finally calculated by the gazing point detection unit 85. Specifically, the pixel position indicating the boundary of the central viewing area is specified based on the pixel position of the gazing point. The central viewing area generally has a circular (elliptical) shape having a predetermined angle range in the vertical and horizontal directions of the gaze direction. Thereby, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the positional relationship between the central viewing area (ca) set on the image photographed by the visible camera 62 and the road equipment can be grasped. In the figure, an example in which the peripheral vision area (oa) is set on the image is shown for reference.

  The recognition degree determination unit 87 determines whether or not a pixel position corresponding to a traffic light or a stop sign extracted by the pixel position extraction unit 84 is located in the central viewing area set by the central viewing area setting unit 86. The determination result is sent to the alarm generation unit 88.

  When the determination result from the recognition degree determination unit 87 is a determination result that the pixel position corresponding to the traffic light or the stop sign is not located in the central viewing area, the alarm generation unit 88 determines that the driver of the host vehicle is ahead of the host vehicle. Assuming that the presence of a traffic light or stop sign is not recognized, an alarm is generated that alerts the driver to the traffic light or stop sign existing in front of the vehicle.

  That is, moving objects such as preceding vehicles and pedestrians may or may not appear in front of the host vehicle depending on traffic conditions, etc., so the driver of the vehicle can move by looking around the front of the host vehicle. Visually recognize the object early. On the other hand, road equipment as a fixed object such as a traffic signal or a road sign including a stop sign installed on the course of the own vehicle always appears in front of the own vehicle when the own vehicle travels on the course. The driver of the vehicle can visually recognize the road equipment at an early stage by watching the road ahead of the host vehicle.

  The vehicle driving support device 200 of the present embodiment pays attention to this point, and the distance relationship with a road equipment such as a traffic light as a fixed object or a stop sign is constant (that is, a distance that can be visually recognized by the driver). If the road equipment is located in the current driver's central vision area, the degree of recognition of the driver with respect to the road equipment is determined.

  As a result, it is possible to accurately determine the degree of recognition of the driver with respect to the presence of road signs such as traffic lights and temporary stop signs that always appear in front of the host vehicle and are necessary for driving. As a result, it is possible to communicate to the driver the presence of road equipment that is determined to have been unrecognizable (overlooked) by the driver at an early stage.

  A person's field of view is divided into a region (ie, a central vision area) based on a gazing point that is noticed when viewed with the eyes and its surroundings (peripheral vision area). Although it is possible to recognize what the object being viewed in the viewing area is, it is difficult to recognize what the object is being viewed in the peripheral viewing area, and the tendency is farther away from the central viewing area. Become stronger. Therefore, by determining whether the distance is visible to the driver and included in the central vision area, the road equipment that the driver of the vehicle should visually recognize at an early stage can be specified.

  Next, alarm generation processing by the vehicle driving support apparatus 200 related to the characteristic part of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step (hereinafter referred to as S) 10 shown in FIG. 5, the navigation device 72 calculates a distance to road equipment such as a traffic light and a stop sign existing in front of the host vehicle.

  In S20, the calculated distance to the road equipment is a distance that can be visually recognized by the driver, and further, the central vision based on the gazing point when the driver of the own vehicle is gazing at the far side of the road. It is determined whether the distance is included in the area. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S30. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to S10 and the above-described process is repeated.

  In S <b> 30, edge detection is performed to detect pixels of road equipment included from the distance based on the central viewing area to the distance that the driver can visually recognize from the image ahead of the host vehicle taken by the visible camera 62. In S40, the pixel position detected in S30 is extracted.

  In S50, the driver's gazing point is detected, and the position in the image captured by the visible camera 62 corresponding to the detected gazing point is calculated. In S60, the driver's central vision area is set based on the position of the gazing point in the image calculated in S50. In S70, it is determined whether or not road facilities such as traffic lights and stop signs extracted in S40 are located in the set central vision area.

  If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S10 and the above-described process is repeated. On the other hand, if the determination is negative, the road equipment is not located in the central vision area, so the driver determines that the degree of recognition of the road equipment is low, and in S80, the driver moves forward. Generate an alert to call attention.

  As described above, the vehicle driving support device 200 according to the present embodiment is located at a distance that can be visually recognized by the driver, and is based on a gazing point when the driver of the own vehicle is gazing at a distance on the road. The degree of recognition of the driver for the road equipment is determined based on whether or not road equipment such as a traffic light or a stop sign located at a distance included in the central vision area is included in the current driver's central vision area. If no traffic light or stop sign is located in the current driver's central vision area, it is determined that the degree of recognition of the driver is low, and the traffic light or stop sign present in front of the vehicle with respect to the driver. Generate an alert that calls attention to

  This makes it possible to accurately determine the degree of recognition of the driver with respect to the presence of road signs such as traffic lights and temporary stop signs that always appear in front of the host vehicle and are necessary for driving. It is possible to inform the driver of the existence of road equipment that the driver could not recognize early (overlooked).

(Modification 1)
In this embodiment, a warning is generated if road equipment such as a traffic light or a stop sign is not located in the central viewing area, but the warning is started according to the length from the boundary of the central viewing area. The timing may be changed.

  For example, if you are watching the situation in front of your vehicle to some extent, the installation height of traffic lights outside the central viewing area and road signs such as stop signs are different in size from the driver of your vehicle. However, the length from the boundary of the central vision area is not much different.

  However, the closer the vehicle is to the traffic lights and road signs, the clearer the difference in installation height, and the greater the difference in length from the boundary of the central vision area. If the length from this central vision area is short, even if it is not located in the central vision area, the driver's gaze point is likely to be located in the central vision area by moving a little later. As a result, it is assumed that the driver recognizes. On the other hand, when the length from the central viewing area is long, the possibility of being located in the central viewing area thereafter is low, and as a result, it is assumed that the driver does not recognize.

  Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, by making a change such that the start timing is earlier as the alert is given to a road facility having a longer length (L) from the boundary of the central viewing area (ca). It is possible to start alerting from road facilities such as traffic lights and stop signs necessary for driving that are determined to have a lower recognition level.

(Modification 2)
The present modification is different in that the alarm generation unit 88 generates a warning and limits the traveling of the host vehicle to reduce the potential danger ahead of the host vehicle. FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of the computer 80 in this modification. As shown in the figure, the host vehicle travel control unit 89 restricts the throttle opening operation (accelerator on) operation to the throttle driver 90 in response to the alarm generated from the alarm generation unit 88. Give instructions to disable. Thereby, for example, it is possible to mitigate the impact when the vehicle collides with a preceding vehicle that is stopped near the stop sign.

  Note that the host vehicle travel control unit 89 of the present modification may drive the brake driver 100 to stop the host vehicle. Thereby, it can stop automatically in front of road signs, such as a traffic signal required for driving, and a stop sign.

(Modification 3)
In the second modified example, the travel restriction of the host vehicle is started when an alarm is generated. As in the case described in the first modified example, from the boundary of the central view area of a road facility such as a traffic light or a stop sign. The timing for starting the travel restriction may be changed according to the length of the vehicle. As a result, it becomes possible to start travel restriction for road facilities such as traffic lights and temporary stop signs that are determined to be low in recognition of the driver.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the vehicle driving assistance apparatus 200 concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a control block diagram of the computer 80 concerning the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the image containing road facilities, such as the traffic signal (sg) installed on the road ahead of the own vehicle, a temporary stop sign (mk1), and a speed limit sign (mk2). It is a figure which shows the example which set the central vision area (ca) on the image image | photographed with the visible camera 62. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the alarm generation process by the vehicle driving assistance apparatus 200 concerning embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the length (L) to the traffic light located outside the center view area (ca) concerning the modification 1 of embodiment of this invention. It is a control block diagram of the computer 80 concerning the modification 2 of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 81 Input part 82 Distance determination part 83 Edge detection part 84 Pixel position extraction part 85 Gaze point detection part 86 Central vision area setting part 87 Recognition degree determination part 88 Alarm generation part

Claims (10)

A storage means for storing a traffic signal installed on a road ahead of the host vehicle and an installation position of at least one road equipment of a road sign including a temporary stop sign;
Distance determining means for determining whether the relationship between the distance between the host vehicle and the road equipment stored in the storage means satisfies a certain condition;
Imaging means for capturing an image including a road ahead of the host vehicle;
Extracting means for extracting a position in an image captured by the imaging means of the road equipment determined to satisfy a certain condition by the distance determining means;
Gazing point detection means for detecting the gazing point of the driver of the host vehicle;
A central viewing area setting unit that sets a central viewing area on the image based on the gazing point detected by the gazing point detection unit;
A degree of recognition for determining the degree of recognition of the driver for the road equipment by whether or not the road equipment extracted by the extraction means is located in the central vision area on the image set by the central vision area setting means A vehicle driving support apparatus comprising: a determination unit. The distance determination means includes distance calculation means for calculating a distance from the host vehicle to the road equipment stored in the storage means, and the distance to the road equipment calculated by the distance calculation means is visible to the driver. It is determined whether or not the distance, and further whether or not it is a distance included in the central vision area based on the gazing point when the driver of the host vehicle is gazing far away on the road,
The extraction means extracts a position in the image of road equipment that is determined by the distance determination means to be a distance that can be visually recognized by the driver and that is included in the central vision area. The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1. Comprising speed detecting means for detecting the speed of the host vehicle;
3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the distance determining unit includes a distance changing unit that changes a length of a distance included in the central viewing area according to a level of a speed detected by the speed detecting unit. Driving assistance device.   The recognition level determination unit determines that the degree of recognition of the driver with respect to the road facility is low when the road facility extracted by the extraction unit is not located in the central view area on the image. Item 4. The vehicle driving support device according to any one of Items 1 to 3.   5. The vehicle according to claim 4, further comprising an alerting unit that alerts the driver when the recognition degree determination unit determines that the driver's recognition degree with respect to the road equipment is low. Driving assistance device.   The alerting means changes alerting timing changing means for changing the timing of starting alerting according to the length from the boundary of the central viewing area in the image of the road equipment not located in the central viewing area on the image The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:   The travel restriction means for restricting the travel of the host vehicle when the recognition degree determination means determines that the driver's recognition degree with respect to the road equipment is low. Vehicle driving support device.   The travel restriction means changes travel restriction timing changing means for changing the timing for starting travel restriction according to the length from the boundary of the central viewing area in the image of the road equipment not located in the central viewing area on the image. The vehicle driving support device according to claim 7, further comprising:   The vehicle driving support device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the travel restriction unit restricts an operation of the host vehicle toward an opening side of an accelerator. The host vehicle includes automatic braking means for automatically driving a braking device,
The vehicle driving support device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the travel restriction unit drives a braking device by the automatic braking unit.

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