JP2006015803A - Display device for vehicle and vehicle on which display device for vehicle is mounted - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display attention rousing information of an object existing on a periphery of a vehicle on a driver. <P>SOLUTION: The object existing on a periphery of an own vehicle is detected (step S100) and determination of classification of the object and determination of a direction that the object exists are performed. Operation of the distance from the own vehicle to the object is performed (step S102) and it is determined whether or not the object is an object requiring attention-rousing relative to the driver (step S103). In the case of the object requiring the attention-rousing, after character string or a symbol indicating at least any one of the classification of the object or the distance from the own vehicle to the object is displayed on HUD in the range of consciousness under threshold, a symbol indicating the direction that the object exists is displayed on HUD in the range of consciousness under threshold (step S105). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device for a vehicle that displays alerting information of an object existing around the vehicle, and a vehicle equipped with the display device for a vehicle.

  A display device that detects surrounding objects to which the operator should pay attention with a sensor and draws the operator's attention in the direction of the object without causing the operator to feel annoyance, thereby raising the operator's attention This is known from US Pat.

JP 2002-137653 A

  However, in such a conventional display device, an image or a symbol is displayed at a place where an object in the operator's field of view exists, and thus a display device that covers the entire field of view where the object can exist is necessary. There was a problem of high cost.

  The vehicle display device according to claim 1 includes an object detection unit that detects an object existing around the host vehicle, a type determination of the object detected by the object detection unit, a calculation of a distance from the host vehicle to the object, and By means of computing means for determining the direction in which an object exists, attention determination means for determining whether the object detected by the object detection means is an object that needs to be alerted to the driver, and attention determination means A character string indicating at least one of the type of the object determined by the calculation means or the distance from the own vehicle calculated by the calculation means when the object is determined to require attention, or After displaying the symbol within the range of the subthreshold perception, the attention information generating means for generating the attention information that displays the symbol indicating the direction in which the object exists determined by the calculation means within the range of the subthreshold perception When, characterized in that it comprises a display means for displaying to the driver alert information generated by the caution information generating means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle display device comprising: an object detection unit that detects an object that can be viewed with an indirect vision device installed in the vehicle; a type determination of the object detected by the object detection unit; Attention calculation means, a warning determination means for determining whether or not the object detected by the object detection means is an object that needs to be alerted to the driver, and a warning determination means When it is determined that the object is a necessary object, a character string or a symbol indicating at least one of the type of the object determined by the calculation unit or the direction visually recognizable by the indirect visual field device, or the range of the subthreshold perception Attention information generating means for generating attention information for displaying a symbol indicating the direction in which the indirect vision device is installed in the range of subthreshold perception, and attention information generation means Characterized in that it comprises a display means for displaying the generated alert information to the driver.

  According to the present invention, the driver displays a character string or a symbol indicating the type of the object determined by the calculation means, the distance from the host vehicle to the object, or the direction visible by the indirect visual device. Later, a symbol indicating the direction in which the object is present or the direction in which the indirect vision device is installed is displayed. This eliminates the need for a display device that covers the entire visual field range in which an object can exist, and it is sufficient to provide a display device having a relatively narrow display area within the driver's visual field. Can do.

-First embodiment-

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a vehicle display device according to the first embodiment. The vehicle display device 100 includes a front camera 101 that images the front of the host vehicle, a template memory 102 that stores a template used when performing template matching processing on an object existing ahead of the host vehicle captured by the front camera 101, The control apparatus 103 which produces | generates the alerting information with respect to a driver | operator, and HUD (HEAD UP DISPLAY) 104 which presents the produced | generated alerting information to a driver | operator are provided.

  Since the front camera 101 needs to image the front of the vehicle regardless of day or night, a camera that employs a CMOS image sensor with a wide dynamic range is used. The control device 103 detects the presence of an object in front of the host vehicle by extracting the contour (shape) of the object from image data captured by the front camera 101. Then, by a process described later with reference to FIG. 3, the detected object shape is matched with the shape pattern template stored in the template memory 102 to identify the object type. Further, the direction of the object relative to the host vehicle is determined, and the distance to the object is calculated (calculated). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the object is a cautionary object. If the object is a cautionary object, alert information is presented to the driver. As shown in FIG. 2, the HUD 104 is realized by providing an image projection surface on a part of the windshield in front of the driver's seat, and displays the alert information in the driver's field of view while the driver is viewing the front. It can be displayed inside.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the vehicle display device according to the first embodiment. In step S100, the control apparatus 103 performs image processing, that is, vertical edge detection and horizontal edge detection, on the image data captured by the front camera 101, and extracts pixels where the detected vertical edge and horizontal edge intersect. In step S101, the template stored in the template memory 102 and the shape of the extracted intersection pixel are subjected to matching processing, and it is determined whether or not there is a matching result.

  If no template matches the detected object shape pattern, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if there is a template that matches the detected object shape pattern, the process proceeds to step S102. In step S102, the distance from the host vehicle to the object is calculated.

  The template memory 102 stores a standard size data of an object for each template type, along with a template of an object shape pattern. The template type is obtained by classifying each shape pattern of an object stored as a template for each shape type, for example, “person”, “two-wheeled vehicle”, or “car”. The standard size represents a size when each object is viewed from a predetermined distance, for example, 5 m away. For example, when the object template type is “human”, the height is 1.5 m, and the object template type is In the case of a “two-wheeled vehicle”, the height is set to 1 m.

Therefore, the actual distance to the object can be estimated by calculating the ratio between the actual image size of the captured object and the image size in the standard size of the matching template type. For example, when the standard size of the template type “human” viewed from a point 5 m away is 1.5 m, the image size (height) is a (pixel), and the detected object (human) image size is b ( In the case of pixel), the distance from the vehicle to the person can be calculated by the following equation (1).
Distance from own vehicle to object (human) = 5 × b / a (m) (1)

  Note that if the actual size of the detected object is different from the standard size of the template type, a distance error occurs. However, the distance information necessary for the processing in the present embodiment is sufficient by the calculation method described above. Accuracy is obtained.

  After calculating the distance from the host vehicle to the detected object, the process proceeds to step S103. In step S103, it is determined whether or not the detected object exists in a range that needs to be alerted to the driver, that is, in a region requiring attention. The attention required area is a predetermined range in front of the host vehicle that is set in advance. For example, it is set to a range within 50 m ahead of the host vehicle and 3 m to the left and right around the center point of the host vehicle width, that is, a range within 6 m in width. . In the present embodiment, the direction of the detected object and the distance to the detected object are coordinate-transformed, that is, the polar coordinates are converted to values in the XY coordinate system, and the detected object enters the predetermined attention area. Judge whether or not. If the detected object is not within the predetermined area requiring attention, the driver is not required to be alerted, and the process is terminated as it is. On the other hand, if the detected object is within the predetermined attention area, the process proceeds to step S104.

  When a plurality of objects are determined as objects requiring attention, the object to be alerted to the driver is determined as one object to be most watched. For this reason, priority determination is performed in step S104. In this embodiment, the priority is set in advance according to the template type of the object. For example, the template type such as “person” or “two-wheeled vehicle” is “group 1”, and the others are “group 2”. Then, among the objects belonging to “Group 1”, the object positioned at the shortest distance from the host vehicle is given the highest priority, and only when there is no object belonging to “Group 1”, The object located at the shortest distance from the vehicle is given the highest priority. After determining the highest priority object, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S105, the alert information generation / display process shown in the flow of processing in FIG. 4 is executed to generate alert information relating to the highest priority object and display it on the HUD 104. In step S201 in FIG. 4, a notice display is continuously displayed on the HUD 104 for a predetermined duration A, for example, 300 msec. The notice display is a display having a shape imitating the lighting of the pilot lamp, and is displayed below the HUD 104 so as not to disturb the driver's front view as shown in FIG. 5A, for example. As a result, the driver is guided to the notice display and pays attention to the front. If it is determined in step S202 that the predetermined duration A has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S203.

  In step S203, a character string indicating the type and distance of the highest priority object is displayed on the HUD 104 for a predetermined duration B. The predetermined duration B is set to, for example, 150 msec in order to display within the range of subthreshold perception that does not make the driver aware of the display content. In this way, by setting the predetermined duration B as the display time in the subthreshold perception range, the meaning of the display can be achieved without making the driver aware of the display content itself due to the effect of the known subliminal semantic priming. The contents of the target can be recognized. That is, the driver can recognize the semantic content of the display without feeling bothered by the display.

  Note that the type of object displayed on the HUD 104 is a type that more specifically represents the template type described above. For example, in the case of a “two-wheeled vehicle”, there are a plurality of specific objects such as “bicycle”, “motorcycle”, and “motorcycle bicycle” as applicable objects. Use to display. On the other hand, when the template type is “human”, only “human” exists as the corresponding object, so the type of object is also “human”. The character string expressing the distance is expressed in a simple and short expression, for example, “immediately” within 5 m, “where”, 5 to 30 m “over there”, and over 30 m “over there”.

  Therefore, when “human” existing several meters ahead is the highest priority object, the character string “immediately” is displayed on the HUD 104 as shown in FIG. In addition, when the template type existing several meters ahead is “two-wheeled vehicle” and is the highest priority object, the above-described object type “bicycle” is used and displayed on the HUD 104 as “immediately bicycle”. . In this way, when the template type and the object type are different, the object type is displayed as “bicycle” even when the actually existing object is “motorcycle” or “motorbike”. There is a possibility of misrecognizing the shape and size of an object that should be noted by the driver.

  However, in this case as well, due to the effect of the above-described subliminal semantic priming, a series of related knowledge and images can be activated by presenting one type of character string to the driver. For this reason, even if the actual object is a “motorcycle” or “motorbike”, the driver is likely to react to the shape and size of the “motorcycle” and “motorbike” related to the “two-wheeled vehicle”. become. If it is determined in step S204 that the predetermined duration B has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S205, an arrow indicating the direction in which the detected object exists is displayed on the HUD 104 for a predetermined duration C as shown in FIG. The predetermined duration C is also set to the display time of the above-mentioned subthreshold perception range, for example, 150 msec in order to make the driver recognize the semantic content of the display without being aware of the display content itself. The arrow direction is displayed in the direction in which the object is detected by the front camera 101.

  The direction of the arrow may be calculated by performing parallax correction based on the direction and distance of the object, taking into account the installation position of the front camera 101 and the head position and eyeball position of the driver. However, by displaying the character string indicating the type and distance of the top-priority object in step S203 in the subthreshold perception range, the driver can easily react to the shape and size of the object due to the effect of subliminal semantic priming. Since it is in a state, accuracy in the direction of the arrow is not so necessary. Therefore, even when the arrow direction is determined based only on the direction of the detected object without parallax correction, the driver can surely see the object. If it is determined in step S206 that the predetermined duration C has elapsed, the process returns to the process shown in FIG.

According to the first embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The character string indicating the type and distance of the highest priority object is displayed in the range of subthreshold perception. Thereby, the semantic content of the display can be recognized without making the driver aware of the display content itself due to the effect of subliminal semantic priming. Furthermore, a series of knowledge and images related to the type or distance of the displayed object can be activated, and the driver can be easily reacted to the shape and size of the displayed object.
(2) After displaying a character string indicating the type and distance of the highest priority object in the range of subthreshold perception, an arrow indicating the direction in which the detected object exists is displayed in the range of subthreshold perception. This makes it possible for a driver who is easily responsive to the shape and size of the object to quickly recognize the object that exists in the direction in which the arrow is directed. Furthermore, it is possible to construct a simple and inexpensive device by reducing the accuracy of the direction indication of the object and eliminating the need for a device that measures the driver's head position and eyeball position for parallax correction.

(3) The alert information is displayed as a character string indicating the type and distance of the highest priority object, and an arrow indicating the direction in which the object exists. As a result, a relatively small HUD for displaying the alert information to the driver is sufficient, and a simple and inexpensive apparatus can be constructed.
(4) The generated alert information is displayed on the HUD and presented to the driver. Thus, the driver can visually recognize the alert information while maintaining the normal driving posture.
(5) The distance of the object is calculated based on the ratio between the actual image size of the imaged object and the image size in the standard size of the matching template type. This eliminates the need for a device for measuring the distance, so that the distance of the object can be calculated with an inexpensive and simple configuration.

-Second embodiment-
In 2nd Embodiment, the alert information with respect to the vehicle (back vehicle) which exists behind is produced | generated and displayed. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of a vehicle on which the vehicle display device according to the second embodiment is mounted. In FIG. 6, the same components as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  A vehicle equipped with a vehicle display device includes a room mirror 201 as an indirect field device that reflects the rear of the host vehicle and indirectly secures the field of view behind the vehicle. The vehicle display device 100 includes a rear camera 105 that captures an image of the rear of the host vehicle and a history memory 106. The rear camera 105 uses a camera that employs a CMOS image sensor with a wide dynamic range, like the front camera 101 in the first embodiment. The history memory 106 stores a history of the calculated distance to the rear vehicle. Further, in the second embodiment, only templates with the template type “car” are stored in the template memory 102 in order to detect only the rear vehicle.

  The flowchart showing the operation of the vehicular display device according to the second embodiment is the same as the steps in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 in the first embodiment, and the processing content is slightly different. Now, the difference will be mainly described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. In step S102 in FIG. 3, the standard size of the template type “car” when calculating the distance from the host vehicle to the detected rear vehicle is set to, for example, a vehicle width of 1,7 m viewed from a point 5 m away. Yes. Then, as in the first embodiment, the distance from the host vehicle to the rear vehicle is calculated based on the ratio between the image size at the standard size of the template type and the image size of the rear vehicle actually captured. .

In step S103, the caution area is determined based on the difference between the previous calculated value L1 of the distance from the vehicle to the rear vehicle stored in the history memory 106 and the current distance L2 calculated in step S102. Relative speed V is calculated and set based on the contact margin time calculated by the following equation (2).
Contact margin time (sec) = L2 / V (2)

  A rear range in which the contact allowance time calculated by Expression (2) is within a predetermined time, for example, within 1 sec, is set as a region requiring attention. If the predetermined distance range behind the host vehicle is set as a caution area as in the first embodiment, it is necessary to alert each time the vehicle stops behind due to traffic jams, etc. However, it is possible to avoid troublesome alerting for the driver by setting the area requiring attention based on the marginal contact time.

  Next, the alert information generation / display process in step S105 will be described with reference to FIG. In step S201, as shown in FIG. 7A, a notice display is continuously displayed on the HUD 104 for a predetermined duration A, for example, 300 msec, as in the first embodiment. At this time, the rear vehicle is reflected in the room mirror 201.

  In step S203, a character string indicating the type of object and the direction in which the object actually exists is displayed on the HUD 104 for a predetermined duration B for displaying within a subthreshold range, for example, 150 msec. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7B, the object type is “car”, and the direction in which the object actually exists is the direction that can be visually recognized by the room mirror 201, that is, “back”. Therefore, a character string such as “back car” is displayed. Thereby, the driver can easily react to the vehicle behind the vehicle by the effect of the subliminal semantic priming described above.

  In step S205, as in the first embodiment, an arrow indicating the direction in which the vehicle behind is present is displayed on the HUD 104 for a predetermined duration C for displaying within a subthreshold perception range, for example, 150 msec. In the second embodiment, the rear vehicle actually exists behind the vehicle, but since the driver can visually recognize the rear vehicle with the rearview mirror 201, the HUD 104 has the configuration shown in FIG. As shown, an arrow indicating the direction of the room mirror 201 is displayed.

  Thereby, the driver's attention is directed toward the rearview mirror 201. Further, by displaying the character string indicating the type of the object and the direction in which the object actually exists in the subthreshold range in step S203, the subliminal semantic priming effect makes it easy to react to the car behind. Therefore, it is possible to quickly view the rear vehicle reflected on the rearview mirror 201.

  According to the second embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained in addition to the effects of the first embodiment. An arrow indicating the direction in which the rear vehicle is present is displayed toward the room mirror 201. Thus, the driver's attention can be directed to the vehicle behind the rear mirror 201.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, an example in which a camera employing a CMOS image sensor is used as the front camera 101 and the rear camera 105 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an infrared camera is used. May be used. Other image sensors may be used.

  Although the example which displays alerting information on HUD104 was shown in 1st and 2nd embodiment, it is not limited to this, For example, you may display alerting information on a vehicle-mounted monitor or a display in a meter. When displaying a character string or a symbol on a vehicle-mounted monitor or a display in a meter, it is necessary to increase the display size to a visible size in consideration of a decrease in visual acuity (resolution) in the driver's peripheral visual field.

  In the first embodiment, an example in which the attention area is a predetermined range set in advance, that is, a fixed area has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the attention area is changed in conjunction with the vehicle speed. Or the area requiring attention may be changed dynamically depending on the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling. In this case, the area requiring attention is calculated based on output information from a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle speed and a navigation device that determines the type of road on which the vehicle is traveling.

  In the second embodiment, the example in which the caution area is set based on the contact allowance time has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a predetermined distance range behind the host vehicle is set as the caution area. May be.

  In the second embodiment, an example in which a rear vehicle is a target for alerting is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the first embodiment is not limited to a vehicle. Other objects such as people may also be targeted.

  In the first embodiment, an example in which a character string indicating the type and distance of the highest priority object is displayed in the range of subthreshold perception is not limited to this, but the type and distance of the highest priority object is displayed. Only one of them may be displayed.

  In the first embodiment, an example in which a character string indicating the type and distance of the highest priority object is displayed on the HUD 104 is not limited to this. For example, an icon (symbol) display indicating the object type is used. Further, the distance of the object may be expressed by changing the size of the icon display. Similarly, in the second embodiment, the type of object may be displayed using an icon (symbol).

  In the first and second embodiments, the example in which the direction of the object is displayed using the arrow on the HUD 104 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the direction of the object is displayed by a symbol indicating another direction. Also good.

  In 1st and 2nd embodiment, although the example which alerts a driver | operator with respect to the object which exists ahead of the own vehicle, and a back vehicle was shown, it is not limited to this, Various sensors for detecting an object existing around the vehicle may be provided to alert the driver to any object existing around the vehicle.

  The correspondence between the constituent elements of the claims and the embodiment will be described. The front camera 101 corresponds to object detection means, and the template memory 102 corresponds to template storage means. The control device 103 corresponds to a calculation means, an attention determination means and an attention information generation means, and the HUD 104 corresponds to a display means. Note that the present invention is not limited to the configurations in the above-described embodiments as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the display apparatus for vehicles in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the specific example about the installation place of HUD. It is a flowchart figure which shows operation | movement of the display apparatus for vehicles. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the production | generation / display process of alerting information. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the alerting information display in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of one Embodiment of the vehicle carrying the vehicle display apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the alerting information display in 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Display apparatus 101 for vehicles Front camera 102 Template memory 103 Control apparatus 104 HUD (HEAD UP DISPLAY)
105 Rear camera 106 History memory 201 Room mirror

Claims (9)

Object detection means for detecting an object present around the host vehicle;
A calculation means for performing a type determination of the object detected by the object detection means, a distance calculation from the own vehicle to the object, and a direction determination in which the object exists;
Attention determination means for determining whether or not the object detected by the object detection means is an object that requires attention to the driver;
At least one of the type of the object determined by the calculation means and the distance from the own vehicle calculated by the calculation means when the attention determination means determines that the object needs attention After displaying a character string or symbol indicating either one in the range of subthreshold perception, alert information for displaying a symbol indicating the direction in which the object exists determined by the calculation means in the subthreshold perception range is generated. Alert information generation means,
A vehicle display device comprising: display means for displaying the alert information generated by the alert information generating means to the driver. An object detection means for detecting an object that can be viewed with an indirect vision device installed in the vehicle;
Calculation means for performing type determination of the object detected by the object detection means, and distance calculation from the own vehicle to the object,
Attention determination means for determining whether or not the object detected by the object detection means is an object that requires attention to the driver;
A character indicating at least one of the type of the object determined by the calculation means or the direction visually recognizable by the indirect viewing device when the attention determination means determines that the object needs attention Attention display information generating means for generating attention information for displaying a symbol indicating a direction in which the indirect vision device is installed in a range of subthreshold perception after displaying a column or a symbol in a range of subthreshold perception;
A vehicle display device comprising: display means for displaying the alert information generated by the alert information generating means to the driver. The vehicle display device according to claim 1 or 2,
Template storage means for storing a template of an object shape pattern;
The calculation means performs a matching process on the shape of the object detected by the object detection means and the shape pattern of the template stored in the template storage means, and determines the type of the object detected by the object detection means. A display device for a vehicle. The vehicle display device according to claim 3,
The template is classified by the template type that classifies the shape pattern of each object based on its shape,
The calculation means sets the type that specifically represents the template type of the shape pattern matched in the matching process as the type of the object,
When the template type is specifically expressed, if it can be expressed by a plurality of types, any one of the types is set as the type of the object. The vehicle display device according to claim 4,
The calculation means is set in advance for each template type, based on a ratio between a standard size of the object when each object is viewed from a point separated by a predetermined distance and a size of the object detected by the object detection means. A vehicle display device that calculates the distance from the host vehicle to the object detected by the detecting means. In the vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The vehicle alert device is characterized in that the alert information generating means displays a warning display for the driver on the display means before displaying the alert information on the display means. In the vehicular display device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The vehicle display device, wherein the display means is a head-up display. In the vehicular display device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The vehicle display device, wherein the direction symbol has an arrow shape.   A vehicle equipped with a vehicle display device on which at least one of the vehicle display device according to claim 1 and the vehicle display device according to claim 2 is mounted.

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