JP2006215728A - Driving information provision system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving information provision system that can complement information reduced with a driver's reducing attention to driving. <P>SOLUTION: The driving information provision system comprises a prediction part 25 for predicting a look direction from a driver's action, a surroundings monitoring part 30 for monitoring vehicle surroundings in directions of reduced attention depending on the predicted direction, and a warning part 32 for giving warnings. Without the driver's selection and operation for recognizing surroundings, information can be provided on surroundings in directions of the driver's reduced recognition, especially in the opposite of the look direction, to provide driving assistance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving information providing apparatus that complements information that is lacking due to a reduction in attention during driving of a driver.

  2. Description of the Related Art Information providing devices intended to provide various vehicle conditions to drivers in driving automobiles have been devised and commercialized.

  In addition, the driver must operate the vehicle while making an appropriate judgment from a great deal of information. This makes it necessary to concentrate on the selection of important information.

  Therefore, in order to suppress such a situation, as a device that provides the driver with information on the surroundings of the vehicle that is running, it is related to the surroundings such as the presence of other vehicles traveling behind and the inter-vehicle distance from other vehicles. There is one that detects information and warns the driver using information that can be recognized visually or auditorily.

  However, in these devices, when the target of warning is not related to the traveling of the vehicle, there is a problem that the driver does not need to confirm, and the warning itself may be meaningless. Therefore, by monitoring and alerting the situation around the vehicle according to the driver's instructions, the vehicle can be used as a driving information providing device that can obtain information when requested by the driver and suppresses discomfort given to the driver and the occupant. A warning information providing device has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-86523 A

  However, in such a conventional driving information providing device, in order to obtain necessary information as compared with that during normal driving, the information required by the driver is monitored by the driver's own instruction to monitor the situation around the vehicle. There was a problem that the burden of operation increased.

  In addition, there is a delay between the time when the driver recognizes and determines the situation and the time when the driver performs an operation, and the driver's attention to driving decreases.

  Furthermore, since the driver is driving while predicting the situation in the near future, for example, the driver pays attention to the surrounding situation in the direction of turning before taking out the blinker, so the system operates from the time when the blinker is operated. It can be slow.

  Among human functions, the visual function, in particular, has the function of selecting visual information, and it is expected that the accuracy and speed of visual information processing will be affected if specific information is prioritized by visual attention. Is done. Recognizing an object appearing in the peripheral visual field and knowing its position accurately and quickly is an important role of peripheral vision. It is known that when visual attention is directed to the central visual field for peripheral vision, a delay occurs in visual information processing in the peripheral visual field.

  Therefore, it is desirable to improve safety without selection and operation as much as possible so that the driver can concentrate on driving.

  The present invention was made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and provides driving information that can assist driving by supplementing information that is lacking due to a reduction in attention during driving of the driver. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  The driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes a sensor that detects a driver's operation, an operation determination unit that determines the operation of the driver from an output signal of the sensor, and the driver pays attention to the operation based on the operation determination result by the operation determination unit. A surrounding state for determining a direction in which the attentiveness decreases from a prediction unit that predicts a direction to perform, and a direction in which the driver predicted by the predicting unit gazes, and monitoring a vehicle peripheral state in the direction in which the attentiveness decreases A monitoring means, a situation determining means for determining whether or not the surrounding situation is monitored by the surrounding situation monitoring means, and a warning to the driver when the situation judging means determines that the situation is a warning target And a warning means for prompting.

  With this configuration, the gaze direction is predicted from the operation of the driver, the vehicle surroundings in the direction in which the attention level decreases from the predicted direction, and a warning is urged if necessary. Therefore, without having the driver perform selection and operation in order to obtain surrounding conditions, information can be provided even in situations where the driver's cognitive ability tends to decrease, and driving assistance can be performed.

  Further, the driving information providing apparatus of the present invention includes a prediction database in which a standard operation of a driver is patterned and converted into a database, and the prediction unit is based on the prediction database. It has a configuration characterized in that an action that approximates an action is obtained and a direction in which the driver gazes is predicted.

  With this configuration, since the gaze direction of the actual driver is predicted based on the standard operation pattern of the driver, the accuracy of the gaze direction prediction of the driver can be improved, and accurate information on the surrounding situation is provided. be able to.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus of the present invention evaluates the validity of the vehicle sensor that measures the behavior of the vehicle, the behavior of the vehicle measured by the vehicle sensor, and the direction in which the driver predicted by the prediction means is gazing. And an evaluation means for updating an operation pattern recorded in the prediction database when the prediction is valid.

  With this configuration, the operation pattern of the prediction database is updated based on the actual behavior of the vehicle, so it is possible to learn the actual movement of the vehicle, particularly the movement by the vehicle operation unique to the driver who is the owner of the vehicle, and the driver's gaze direction Prediction accuracy can be improved.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes an operation measuring unit that measures an operation state of the driver, an operation of the driver measured by the operation measuring unit, and a direction in which the driver predicted by the prediction unit gazes. And an evaluation unit that updates the operation pattern recorded in the prediction database when the prediction is valid.

  With this configuration, since the operation pattern of the prediction database is updated based on the actual driver operation, the operation unique to the driver who is the owner of the vehicle can be learned, and the accuracy of prediction of the driver's gaze direction can be improved.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes an operation measuring unit that measures an operation state of the driver, an operation of the driver measured by the operation measuring unit, and a direction in which the driver predicted by the prediction unit gazes. In accordance with the present invention, it comprises an erroneous operation determination means for determining whether or not the driver's operation is an erroneous operation, and the warning means warns the driver when the erroneous operation determination means determines that the driver is performing an erroneous operation. It has a configuration characterized by prompting.

  With this configuration, an erroneous operation of the driver is determined according to the operation of the driver and the predicted gaze direction, and a warning is issued in the case of an erroneous operation. it can.

  The driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention further includes a noise removing unit that removes a noise component from the input signal, and the noise removing unit inputs the signal output from the sensor and outputs the noise component of the signal. It has the structure characterized by removing.

  This configuration removes noise from the signal output from the sensor, so that the detection accuracy of the driver's operation can be improved, the accuracy of prediction of the gaze direction can be improved, and accurate information on the surrounding situation can be provided Can do.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus of the present invention further includes vehicle guidance information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle guidance information from a car navigation system, and the prediction means is further determined based on vehicle guidance information acquired by the vehicle guidance information acquisition means. The traveling direction is predicted, and the direction in which the driver is gazing is predicted.

  With this configuration, vehicle guidance information obtained by car navigation is acquired and the future direction of travel is predicted, so that the accuracy of predicting the driver's gaze direction can be improved, and accurate information on the surrounding situation can be provided. .

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the sensor includes sensors that detect pressures respectively installed on the left and right sides of the seating surface inside the seat.

  With this configuration, the pressure change applied to the left and right sides of the seat is detected, so that the driver's left and right weight shift can be detected, and the movement can be grasped and the gaze direction can be predicted.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the sensor includes sensors that detect pressures respectively installed on the front and rear sides of the seating surface inside the seat.

  With this configuration, the pressure change applied before and after the seat is detected, so that the movement of the driver's foot can be detected, the movement can be grasped, and the gaze direction can be predicted.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration characterized in that the sensor includes sensors for detecting pressures respectively installed on the seat seat inner side and the backrest inner side of the seat.

  With this configuration, the pressure change applied to the seat surface and the backrest of the seat is detected, so that the driver's back and forth movement can be detected, the operation can be grasped, and the gaze direction can be predicted.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the sensor includes sensors for detecting pressures respectively installed on the left and right sides of the seat back.

  With this configuration, a change in pressure applied to the seat back and right and left is detected, so that a large movement or an arm movement in rotation of the driver can be detected, and the gaze direction can be predicted by grasping the movement.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the sensor includes a sensor that detects a pressure installed on the headrest.

  With this configuration, since the pressure change applied to the headrest is detected, the movement of the driver's head can be detected, the operation can be grasped, and the gaze direction can be predicted.

Furthermore, in the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention, the sensor includes a first sensor and a second sensor that detect pressure, and a signal output from the first sensor and the second sensor. Pressure balance identification means for calculating a target position for making both pressures uniform according to
Sensor position changing means for changing the positions of the first sensor and the second sensor in accordance with the target position calculated by the pressure balance identification means is provided.

  With this configuration, the sensor position is changed so that the pressure applied to the two sensors is uniform, so that the balance of the pressure applied to the subsequent sensors can be accurately measured, and the change in the operation of the driver can be grasped more accurately. Can do.

  Further, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes a standard operation database formed by patterning a driver state according to a standard operation of the driver, and a driver movement determined by the operation determination unit according to the standard operation database. And occupant state estimating means for estimating the state of the driver.

  With this configuration, the state is predicted from the actual driver action based on the state pattern of the standard action of the driver, so the abnormality of the body that the driver is aware of, and even the minute body that the driver is not aware of Abnormalities can be detected dynamically, and appropriate driving assistance can be performed.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus of the present invention has a configuration characterized in that the warning means urges a warning or attention when the occupant state estimation means determines that the state of the driver is abnormal. .

  According to this configuration, when the driver is in an abnormal state, a warning or caution is urged, and thus driving that allows the driver to recognize that the state is different from the usual state can be urged.

  Furthermore, the driving information providing apparatus of the present invention further comprises a surrounding situation monitoring area changing means for dynamically changing the monitoring area of the surrounding situation monitoring means when the occupant state estimating means determines that the state of the driver is abnormal. It has the structure characterized by having provided.

  With this configuration, when the driver's condition is abnormal, the monitoring area is dynamically changed, so if the driver is driving while recognizing his / her own abnormality, or if the driver notices a minor abnormality Even when driving without driving, the mental and physical burden on the driver can be reduced by changing or expanding the area for monitoring the surrounding situation.

  The present invention provides a prediction means for predicting the gaze direction from the driver's operation, a surrounding situation monitoring means for monitoring the vehicle surrounding situation in a direction where the attention level decreases from the predicted direction, and a warning in the case of a situation to be warned. By providing a warning means that prompts the driver, he / she can provide information for situations in which the driver's cognitive ability tends to decrease without having the driver select and operate to obtain the surrounding conditions, and assist driving. It is possible to provide a driving information providing apparatus having an effect that it can be performed.

  Hereinafter, an operation information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Although the present embodiment targets a driver, the present invention can be similarly applied to passengers other than the driver.

(First embodiment)
First, a block configuration diagram of the driving information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the driving information providing apparatus 10 includes a first piezoelectric sensor 21 and a second piezoelectric sensor 22 that detect a driver's operation, a noise removing unit 23 that removes a noise component from an input signal, An operation determination unit 24 that determines the operation, a prediction unit 25 that predicts the direction in which the driver is gazing, a prediction database 26 that is a database of the standard operations of the driver, and a prediction database 26 that is based on the validity of the prediction. An evaluation unit 27 that evaluates and updates the recorded motion pattern, a vehicle sensor 28 that measures the behavior of the vehicle, an operation measurement unit 29 that measures the operation state of the driver, and a peripheral state monitor that monitors the vehicle peripheral state The unit 30, the situation determination unit 31 that determines whether or not the situation is a warning target by monitoring the surrounding situation, and the situation that is determined to be a warning target situation A configuration in which a warning portion 32 to warn the driver.

  The first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are installed on a sheet or the like in order to detect a change in pressure accompanying the operation of the driver. The change in pressure detected in accordance with the operation of the driver appears when operating a steering wheel, an accelerator, a brake, or the like, when changing a viewpoint to look at the mirror or the front, or when talking with an occupant. Furthermore, it is possible to detect even a slight change in pressure such as minute biological information of the driver such as breathing and heartbeat.

  Here, the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are preferably piezo cable sensors. When a piezo cable sensor is used, the driver's body movement can be sensed without restriction, and even a minute body movement can be detected. The sensor for detecting the operation of the driver is not limited to the piezoelectric sensor, and the same sensor as in the present embodiment can be used as long as the sensor can detect the operation, for example, a camera, an acceleration sensor, a radar, an ultrasonic wave, or the like. An effect is obtained. In the case of using a camera, in order to detect the body movement of the driver, an example in which the camera is installed on the rearview mirror can be given. Body movements such as turning the handle, looking at the right side, operating the accelerator or brake are detected from an image taken by a camera installed in the rearview mirror. Here, the body motion is detected not only by one image but also by extracting a difference from a plurality of consecutive images, and the motion can be measured. In addition, by extracting singular points, it is possible to know which part of the body is moving. If it is difficult to specify the accelerator and brake operations with the rearview mirror, install the operation parts such as the seat belt and the lower part of the seat in a place where it is easy to photograph. In addition, the accuracy can be further improved by using a plurality of sensors capable of detecting the operation of the driver.

  FIG. 2 shows a layout when the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are installed on a sheet.

  FIG. 2A shows an installation example in which the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are respectively installed on the seat seat surface portion 41 and the seat backrest portion 42, and thereby the operation of the driver 40. As described above, it is possible to detect a movement in the front-rear direction and a change in operation during driving, for example, an accelerator or brake operation.

  FIG. 2B shows an installation example in which the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are installed on the left and right sides of the seat seat surface portion 51, respectively. It is possible to detect a change in the movement of the vehicle, an operation during driving, for example, a steering wheel operation, or the like. In addition, as a status confirmation of the course change destination that is always performed when the driver changes the course, it is also possible to detect a change in the center of gravity of the body that accompanies changing the viewpoint.

  The first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 include not only a change in pressure caused by the operation of the driver, but also noise such as vibration of the vehicle and vibration caused by road surface conditions. Therefore, using the output signal of the vehicle sensor 28 such as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and GPS in order to remove the noise, the noise removal unit 23 changes the pressure accompanying the operation of the driver, the vibration of the vehicle, This is divided into noise such as vibration generated by road surface conditions. From the output signals of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 from which noise has been removed, the operation determination unit 24 detects whether the driver has performed an operation.

  A flowchart showing the operation determination process of the operation determination unit 24 is shown in FIG.

  First, an output signal of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 after removing noise is acquired. At the same time, the output signal of the second piezoelectric sensor 22 after removing the noise is acquired (S11). These acquired output signals should be acquired at a synchronized timing in order to detect a change in pressure. Then, a vector generated during the operation of the driver is calculated from the acquired output signal (S13). Subsequently, it is determined from the calculated vector whether the operation can be said (S14). The magnitude of the vector, the direction, etc. can be used to determine the motion.

  A specific example will be described below. When turning right, the driver A confirms the right side, confirms the left side, further confirms the right side, operates the blinker to the right, decelerates with the brake, operates the handle to the right, and depresses the accelerator. To do. At this time, a change in body movement is detected by a change in the direction of the vector to determine the movement.

  That is, the body movement changes to the right by the right side confirmation operation, the body movement changes to the left by the left side confirmation operation, the body motion changes to the right by the right side confirmation operation, and the body movement is changed by operating the blinker to the right. Changing to the right and decelerating with the brake changes the body movement to the right, operating the handle to the right changes the body movement to the right, and depressing the accelerator changes the body movement to the right. However, since it tries to return the body to the original state between each movement, the movement is also determined as a change in body movement.

  Further, as a material for determination, how much force, that is, the magnitude of the vector, is applied during which operation. That is, the operation of the winker and the operation of the handle are different in the degree of force applied even if the moving direction is the same, and the determination is made using the difference.

  After the operation determination (S14), if it is determined that the operation is not possible, the process ends without outputting anything. If it is determined that the movement can be said, a vector signal calculated as the driver's body movement is output (S15).

  Although FIG. 3 shows an example in which the output peak of the piezoelectric sensor is one, there may be a plurality. In that case, a series of vectors is calculated based on the time and the output peak value.

  Next, as a result of determining the operation of the driver by the operation determination unit 24, if a vector signal is output, the prediction unit 25 predicts the direction in which the driver is gazing. The prediction unit 25 approximates the direction in which the driver is gazing based on the output result of the operation determination unit 24 from the prediction database 26 in which standard operations are patterned and databased in order to predict the driver's behavior. Search for and predict.

  In the present embodiment, the driver's body motion is calculated using a vector, but any method can be used in the same manner as long as it is a method that can identify body motion characteristics such as a clustering method.

  A flowchart showing the prediction operation process of the prediction unit 25 is shown in FIG.

  First, in order to obtain an approximate value from the first data recorded in the prediction database 26, 0 is set to the counter value (i), and the gaze direction of the driver is set as undetermined (S21). Here, it is assumed that the approximate value takes an absolute value, and the closer to 0, the closer the approximation is.

  Next, counter value ahead data is acquired from the head in the prediction database 26 (S22). Subsequently, an approximate value between the acquired data and output data indicating the operation determined by the operation determination unit 24 is calculated (S23). Then, it is determined whether the calculated approximate value is the smallest data (S24). As a result of the determination, if the data calculated this time is not smaller than the approximate data, the counter value is incremented (S26). As a result of the determination, if the data calculated this time has the smallest approximate value among the existing data, that is, if it is the most approximate, the direction corresponding to the current data is set as the direction of gaze (S25). Thereafter, the counter value is incremented (S26).

  Further, it is determined whether or not there is data that is a counter value ahead from the head in the prediction database 26 (S27). If the data exists as a result, the data is acquired (S22). If no data exists, it is determined whether or not the gaze direction is set, assuming that approximate values have been obtained for all the data in the prediction database 26 (S28). If the gaze direction is set, the gaze direction is output as the driver's gaze direction (S29), and the process ends. If the gaze direction is not set, the process ends as an unpredictable action.

  Here, although approximate values are obtained for all data recorded in the prediction database 26, it is possible to reduce the number of times of obtaining approximate values by classifying the data and improve the processing speed. .

  When the gaze direction of the driver is predicted by the prediction unit 25, the driver's attention is reduced in the surroundings other than the gaze direction, particularly the situation on the opposite side. Monitor the surrounding situation especially on the opposite side.

  Here, the surroundings other than the gaze direction are literally the entire range excluding the gaze direction, but more specifically the opposite side to the traveling direction. For example, the opposite side when making a left turn is the right side. Furthermore, at the back, if the right rear is the direction in which the user is gazing, the opposite side is the left rear.

  In order to recognize this surrounding situation, a commonly used sensor such as a camera, radar, or ultrasonic wave and a recognition method are used. Here, the peripheral situation to be monitored is, in particular, on the side opposite to the driver's gaze direction, but it is obvious that the same effect can be obtained if it is outside the gaze direction.

  The situation determination unit 31 extracts obstacle information from the surrounding situation recognized by the surrounding situation monitoring unit 30, and determines whether the vehicle is approaching or not. Obstacle information refers to information that becomes an obstacle when the driver is driving. In other words, when trying to turn right at an intersection, it is a car or motorcycle that goes straight on the opposite lane, or when it is going to turn left, a pedestrian walking on a pedestrian crossing or a motorcycle traveling on the shoulder. Or Further, when turning left, if the vehicle suddenly approaches from the right side or the motorcycle tries to pass from the right side, it may be a dangerous case for the driver, so it is determined as the obstacle information.

  As a result of the determination, if an obstacle is approaching the vehicle and it is determined that the situation is a warning target, the warning unit 32 prompts the driver to give a warning. As the warning unit 32, for example, a configuration that visually urges a warning through a display or a configuration that audibly urges a warning through a speaker can be considered.

  Since the prediction database 26 is a database formed by patterning standard operations, it is not always the optimum pattern for the driver. Therefore, an erroneous determination may occur when predicting the driver's gaze direction. In order to improve this erroneous determination, it is necessary to compare and evaluate the predicted result and the operation result of the driver, and update the database if necessary.

  Therefore, the evaluation unit 27 is configured to evaluate the validity of the prediction result from the output result of the prediction unit 25 and the output signal of either or both of the vehicle sensor 28 and the operation measurement unit 29. The operation measuring unit 29 detects information related to the device operated by the driver, and specifically refers to operations such as a winker lever, steering, gear, accelerator, and brake.

  A flowchart showing the evaluation process of the evaluation unit 27 is shown in FIG. Here, the data of both the vehicle sensor 28 and the operation measuring unit 29 are acquired.

  First, the behavior of the vehicle is acquired from the vehicle sensor 28, and the operation of the driver is acquired from the operation measuring unit 29 (S32). Here, the behavior of the vehicle is what the vehicle is doing as a result of driving by a driver who has turned right, moved forward, or stopped.

  Next, the action taken by the driver is estimated from the acquired actions, and the gaze direction is estimated (S33). As a specific example, when the vehicle turns to the left, the driver sets the gaze direction to the left front direction, and when the winker lever is operated to the right, the driver gazes the front right direction. It is determined that the rear direction is the gaze direction.

  If the operation obtained from the detection result of the vehicle sensor 28 and the operation obtained from the detection result of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are different, the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 Priority is given to the operation obtained from the detection result. However, it is assumed here that the prediction database 26 has sufficiently learned the characteristics of the driver. If it is determined only by the operation obtained from the detection results of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22, an erroneous warning is issued. Therefore, it is desirable to perform the determination after sufficiently learning.

  Subsequently, the driver's behavior estimation result is compared with the gaze direction obtained by the prediction unit 25 (S34), and it is determined whether or not the prediction result is valid (S35). If the prediction result is valid, the process is terminated. If it is determined that the prediction result is not valid, the corresponding data in the prediction database 26 is updated so as to be identified in accordance with the driver characteristics (S36). By updating to match the characteristics of the driver, it is possible to improve the subsequent prediction accuracy.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the gaze direction is predicted from the driver's body movement by including the driver motion detection unit and the prediction unit that predicts the driver gaze direction. It becomes possible to do. In addition, by monitoring the surroundings other than the predicted gaze direction, especially the situation on the opposite side, and prompting a warning if there is an obstacle approaching, the obstacle approaching from the direction of reduced attention The situation can be detected immediately, and a warning can be urged to the driver at an early stage, thereby improving the information provision accuracy. Furthermore, a prediction database in which the operation of the driver is patterned is provided, and the driver's specific body movement is learned from the prediction result and the actual operation result, and the accuracy is improved by utilizing it for the prediction.

  In the above description, an example of a configuration in which one piezoelectric sensor is installed on the seat surface and the backrest of the seat, or one on each side of the seat surface of the seat has been described. The same can be applied to a configuration in which it is installed in different parts or in a plurality. Further, not only the seat, but also a configuration that is installed at a location where the operation of the driver or the occupant can be detected can be similarly implemented.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the block diagram of the driving information providing apparatus in the second embodiment is shown in FIG. 6 and described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the driving information providing apparatus 10 a according to the present embodiment is connected to a car navigation system 100. The car navigation system 100 is assumed to be equipped with a car navigation sensor 101 that detects vehicle position information and a traveling direction, and a map database 102 that stores map information. The car navigation sensor 101 is composed of sensors that can calculate the current position and direction as the vehicle running state, such as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS. Further, it is assumed that the map database 102 stores road data including nodes indicating intersections and links for connecting the nodes.

  In addition to the configuration of the driving information providing apparatus 10 in the first embodiment, the driving information providing apparatus 10a includes a traveling direction road condition detecting unit 61 that detects a road condition in a traveling direction in which the vehicle is assumed to travel. is there. In addition, the advancing direction road condition detection part 61 comprises the vehicle guidance information acquisition means of this invention.

  The traveling direction road condition detection unit 61 extracts necessary node information and link information from the map database 102 from the position information and the traveling direction that are output results of the car navigation sensor 101, extracts the road condition in the traveling direction, and the driver A direction that may change the course is calculated and output to the prediction unit 25. The traveling direction road condition detection unit 61 also acquires vehicle guidance information from the car navigation system 100. In the prediction unit 25, in addition to the prediction database 26, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of prediction by using a direction that may change the course.

  A flowchart showing the road condition detection processing operation of the advancing direction road condition detection unit 61 is shown in FIG.

  First, sensor information is acquired from the car navigation system 100 (S41). A current position and a course direction are obtained from the acquired sensor information (S42). When obtaining the current position and the direction of the course, the absolute position and direction that can be obtained by GPS may be obtained, or may be obtained by calculating the relative position from the previously calculated position and the acceleration sensor, gyro sensor, and vehicle speed sensor. Alternatively, a position calculation algorithm that is normally used in a car navigation system may be used. From the determined traveling direction, road information in the traveling direction is acquired from the map database 102 (S43). The road information acquired from the map database 102 may be, for example, information from a vehicle speed to a certain time ahead or may be determined by the number of intersections. A direction that may change the course is calculated from the road information acquired from the map database 102 (S44). In addition, since there is a possibility of parking in a parking lot near a home or near a frequently visited facility, not only road data but also facility data may be used as information for determination.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the direction in which the driver may change the course is detected from the road condition in the traveling direction by adopting a configuration that is interlocked with the car navigation system. , The gaze direction prediction system can be improved.

(Third embodiment)
Next, the block diagram of the driving information providing apparatus in the third embodiment is shown in FIG.

  In addition to the configuration of the driving information providing device 10 in the first embodiment, the driving information providing device 10b of the present embodiment is predicted by the driver's actual operation measured by the operation measuring unit 29 and the prediction unit 25. An erroneous operation determination unit 71 that detects a difference from the direction in which the driver is gazing and determines whether or not an erroneous operation has occurred is provided.

  When the erroneous operation determination unit 71 determines that the driver is performing an erroneous operation, the warning unit 32 prompts the driver to give a warning.

  A flowchart showing an erroneous operation detection process in the erroneous operation determination unit 71 is shown in FIG.

  In the erroneous operation detection process, it is determined from the prediction result of the prediction unit 25 and the detection result of the operation measurement unit 29 whether or not the prediction result and the operation of the driver match (S51). As a result of the determination, if they match, it is determined that the driver is performing a normal operation, and the process ends. However, if they do not match, it is determined that the driver is performing an erroneous operation (S52), and a warning is given to the driver to that effect (S53). As the warning to the driver, for example, a configuration that visually urges a warning through a display or a configuration that audibly urges a warning through a speaker can be considered.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the prediction unit that predicts the gaze direction of the driver, the operation measurement unit that measures the operation of the driver, and the erroneous operation determination unit that determines the erroneous operation of the driver. By providing, it is possible to point out an erroneous operation not noticed by the driver.

  In the above description, an example of a configuration in which erroneous operation is always determined has been described. However, it is also possible to determine whether to perform determination based on prediction accuracy. In that case, as a method for setting the prediction accuracy, for example, it is conceivable to set the prediction accuracy for the entire system or to set the prediction accuracy for each data stored in the prediction database.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a block configuration diagram of the driving information providing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is shown in FIG. 10 and described.

  In addition to the configuration of the driving information providing device 10 in the first embodiment, the driving information providing device 10c of the present embodiment has both pressures according to the signals output from the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22. A pressure balance identification unit 81 for calculating a target position for uniformizing, and a sensor position changing unit 82 for changing the positions of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 according to the target position calculated by the pressure balance identification unit 81; It has.

  The first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are installed so as to be positioned adjacent to each other. The pressure balance identification unit 81 acquires outputs from the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 and detects a difference in pressure in each sensor. A target position for making the pressure balance uniform, for example, a displacement in a plane, is calculated from the detected pressure difference amount. The sensor position changing unit 82 moves the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 to the target position obtained by the pressure balance identifying unit 81.

  Here, moving the positions of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 is not necessary if the driver sits exactly at the same position. Since the seat is shifted, the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are physically moved so that measurement can be performed at the same position, and measurement is performed under the same conditions.

  As for the mechanism of movement of the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22, it is only necessary to move the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 itself. Wires are connected to the front, rear, left and right, and are moved by operating the wires, or the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 are placed on a carriage and moved on rails arranged on a matrix.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the positions of the pressure balance identification unit 81 and the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 for making the pressure balance of the sensor uniform are changed. By providing the sensor position changing unit 82 for this, it is possible to grasp the change in the operation of the driver more accurately. Moreover, even if the driver does not sit at the exact same place, the same prediction can always be performed stably.

  The control of the sensor position may be performed only at the first time or may be performed at any time. In the above description, an example of a configuration in which two piezoelectric sensors are installed in one sensor position changing unit has been described. However, in another configuration, two piezoelectric sensors are installed in two sensor position changing units. It can be implemented similarly.

  In addition, the first piezoelectric sensor 21 and the second piezoelectric sensor 22 itself are not configured to move, and by arranging a plurality of sensors and changing the main sensor for measurement, the sensor does not need to be physically moved. Measurements can be performed under the same conditions. In this case, for example, it may be arranged at four on the front and rear sides and right and left of the seat surface, five at the center, or nine sensors on the matrix.

(Fifth embodiment)
Next, a block configuration diagram of the driving information providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In addition to the configuration of the driving information providing device 10 in the first embodiment, the driving information providing device 10d of the present embodiment patterns the driver status according to the standard operation of the driver and forms a database into the standard operation database 91. In accordance with the movement of the driver determined by the operation determination unit 24 and the standard operation database 91, an occupant state estimation unit 92 that estimates the driver state, and the occupant state estimation unit 92 determines that the driver state is abnormal. A surrounding situation monitoring area changing section 93 that dynamically changes the monitoring area of the surrounding situation monitoring section 30.

  With such a configuration, the driver state is estimated using the standard operation database 91, and if it is different from usual, a warning is given or the monitoring area is changed.

  The standard operation of the driver means an operation determined by a standard obtained by performing statistical processing from a sample. Therefore, it refers to general operations that apply to everyone.

  The occupant state estimation unit 92 estimates the current state of the target driver from the operation determination unit 24, the standard operation database 91, the vehicle sensor 28, and the operation measurement unit 29. Here, the state of the driver to be estimated is whether there is a large difference in the current operation compared to the operation recorded in the standard operation database 91. That is, if there is a difference from the normal operation, it can be estimated that some abnormality has occurred in the driver's body. Here, it is possible to limit the actions that the driver can take from the output result of the vehicle sensor 28 or the operation measuring unit 29, and the accuracy in estimation can be improved.

  Although the standard operation database 91 is used as the driver operation data here, the prediction database 26 may be used if the accuracy is sufficiently high. Thereby, it is not necessary to manage the database twice, and the prediction database 26 can improve the accuracy because the data learning the operation specific to the driver is recorded.

  For example, since the standard database 91 is based on statistical data, there is a possibility that an operation peculiar to a certain driver is erroneously estimated. In addition, in that case, erroneous estimation continues. Therefore, if the prediction database 26 that learns and stores the operation specific to the driver is used, it is not necessary to have double data, and the estimation suitable for the driver can be performed, and the accuracy of the operation estimation can be improved. it can.

  In the occupant state estimation unit 92, the difference in the behavior of the normal occupant is that "the center of gravity does not move to the right side when changing to the right" or "the right side than usual when changing to the right" I guess I'm twisting my body. " From the estimated state, if necessary, the warning unit 32 prompts the occupant to “warn the right side”. Also, he / she calls attention such as “Lack of attention to the right side.

  Furthermore, when it is estimated that the operation is different from the normal operation, it is determined whether the driver's gaze range is lowered. If necessary, the monitoring area of the surrounding situation monitoring unit 30 is changed to the surrounding situation monitoring area changing unit 93. Change dynamically. For example, if the driver is injured and cannot turn his / her neck to the right side, the gaze range for the right side is determined to be reduced, and the monitoring area is changed or enlarged.

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the occupant state estimating unit 92 that estimates the difference from the usual driver operation and the occupant state estimating unit 92 estimated that the driver's state is abnormal. In this case, by providing a surrounding state monitoring area changing unit 93 that dynamically changes the surrounding area monitoring area, even if there is a minute physical abnormality that the driver itself does not notice, the monitoring area is dynamically changed. And safer driving becomes possible.

  As described above, the driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention predicts the gaze direction from the operation of the driver, monitors the vehicle surroundings in the direction in which the attention is reduced from the predicted direction, and in the case of a dangerous situation. By prompting the warning, it is possible to provide information even in situations where the driver's cognitive ability tends to decrease without having the driver make selections and operations to obtain the surrounding conditions. It has the effect of being able to perform driving assistance, and is useful as a driving information providing device or the like that supplements information that is lacking due to a reduction in the driver's attention.

The block diagram of the driving | operation information provision apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention (A) Side view of the sensor installation sheet according to the first embodiment of the present invention (b) Top view of the sensor installation sheet according to the first embodiment of the present invention The flowchart which shows the operation | movement discrimination | determination process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the prediction operation | movement process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the evaluation process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The block diagram of the driving | operation information provision apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the road condition detection process in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention The block diagram of the driving | operation information provision apparatus in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the erroneous operation detection process in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram of the driving | operation information provision apparatus in the 4th Embodiment of this invention The block diagram of the driving | operation information provision apparatus in the 5th Embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

10, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d Driving information providing device 21 First piezoelectric sensor 22 Second piezoelectric sensor 23 Noise removal unit 24 Operation determination unit 25 Prediction unit 26 Prediction database 27 Evaluation unit 28 Vehicle sensor 29 Operation measurement unit 30 Surrounding situation Monitoring unit 31 Situation determination unit 32 Warning unit 40 Driver 41, 51 Seat seat surface unit 42, 52 Seat backrest unit 43, 53 Headrest 61 Traveling direction road condition detection unit (vehicle guidance information acquisition means)
71 erroneous operation determination unit 81 pressure balance identification unit 82 sensor position change unit 91 standard motion database 92 occupant state estimation unit 93 peripheral condition monitoring region change unit 100 car navigation system 101 car navigation sensor 102 map database

Claims (16)

A sensor that detects the operation of the driver;
Operation discriminating means for discriminating the operation of the driver from the output signal of the sensor;
Predicting means for predicting the direction in which the driver gazes based on the operation determination result by the operation determining means;
A surrounding state monitoring unit that determines a direction in which the attention is reduced from a direction in which the driver predicted by the prediction unit gazes, and monitors a vehicle surrounding state in the direction in which the attention is reduced;
Situation determination means for determining whether or not the surrounding situation monitoring by the surrounding situation monitoring means is a warning target;
A driving information providing apparatus comprising: warning means for urging the driver to warn when the situation judging means judges that the situation is a warning target. A standard database of drivers and a predictive database with a database
2. The prediction means obtains an action that approximates the driver action obtained by the action determination means based on the prediction database, and predicts a direction in which the driver is gazing. Driving information providing device. A vehicle sensor for measuring the behavior of the vehicle;
Evaluation that evaluates the behavior of the vehicle measured by the vehicle sensor and the direction in which the driver predicted by the predicting unit gazes, and updates the operation pattern recorded in the prediction database when the prediction is valid The driving information providing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: means. Operation measuring means for measuring the operation status of the driver;
The driver's operation measured by the operation measuring unit and the direction predicted by the driver predicted by the prediction unit are evaluated, and the operation pattern recorded in the prediction database is updated when the prediction is valid The driving information providing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an evaluation unit that performs the evaluation. Operation measuring means for measuring the operation status of the driver;
In accordance with the operation of the driver measured by the operation measurement unit and the direction predicted by the driver predicted by the prediction unit, the driver includes an erroneous operation determination unit that determines whether the operation of the driver is an erroneous operation,
2. The driving information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the warning unit urges the driver to give a warning when the erroneous operation determination unit determines that the driver is performing an erroneous operation. A noise removing means for removing noise components from the input signal is provided.
The driving information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the noise removing unit receives a signal output from the sensor and removes a noise component of the signal. Vehicle guidance information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle guidance information from the car navigation device;
2. The driving information according to claim 1, wherein the prediction unit predicts a future traveling direction from the vehicle guidance information acquired by the vehicle guidance information acquisition unit, and predicts a direction in which the driver is gazing. Providing device. The driving information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising the sensors that detect pressures respectively installed on the left and right sides of the seating surface inside the seat. The driving information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising the sensors that detect pressures respectively installed on the front and rear sides of the seating surface inside the seat. The driving information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising the sensor that detects pressures respectively installed on a seat seat inner side and a seat back inner side. The driving information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising the sensors that detect pressures respectively installed on the left and right sides of the seat back. The driving information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising the sensor that detects a pressure installed on a headrest. The sensor has a first sensor and a second sensor for detecting pressure,
Pressure balance identification means for calculating a target position for equalizing both pressures in accordance with signals output from the first sensor and the second sensor;
The driving information provision according to claim 1, further comprising sensor position changing means for changing positions of the first sensor and the second sensor according to a target position calculated by the pressure balance identification means. apparatus. A standard operation database in which the driver status according to the standard operation of the driver is patterned into a database, and
The driving information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an occupant state estimating unit that estimates the state of the driver from the movement of the driver determined by the operation determining unit according to the standard operation database. 15. The driving information providing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the warning unit urges a warning or a caution when the occupant state estimation unit determines that the state of the driver is abnormal. The surrounding area monitoring area changing means for dynamically changing the monitoring area of the surrounding area monitoring means when the driver state is determined to be abnormal by the occupant state estimating means. The driving information providing device described.

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