JP2006251888A - Vehicular driving support system and vehicular navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vehicular driving support system and a vehicular navigation system that can increase the reliability of information to overtake the preceding vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The vehicular navigation system detects the type of the preceding vehicle and, for example, in the case where the preceding vehicle is a route bus, determines whether the overtaking is possible and, if overtaking is possible, creates an overtaking condition and presents the overtaking condition. When the route bus approaches a stop, voice guidance saying, "Overtaking point is coming. There is a stop 500 m ahead." is given to allow the driver to overtake the route bus when the route bus stops at the stop. It is thus possible to overtake the preceding route bus safely. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle driving support device and a vehicle navigation device that present to a user passing support information that can pass a preceding vehicle.

It has been proposed to present information to the user to assist in overtaking the preceding vehicle while the vehicle is running. In Patent Document 1, overtaking support information for assisting overtaking is presented to the driver based on road congestion, road laws or geographical conditions, and vehicle driving conditions.
JP 2003-58999 A

  However, the thing of patent document 1 has the problem that the reliability of the overtaking support information is low because the information on the type of the preceding vehicle is not used as overtaking assistance information. For example, if the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle is a road bus, it can provide information that it can be overtaken because the road bus may stop at the stop, but if the preceding vehicle cannot be identified as a road bus, There is a problem that it is impossible to indicate that there is a possibility that the road bus will stop at the stop as overtaking support information.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle driving support device and a vehicle navigation device that can improve the reliability of information that supports overtaking the preceding vehicle. is there.

According to the invention of claim 1, when the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle preceding the vehicle is specified, the overtaking support information serving as support when overtaking the preceding vehicle is created and presented to the user. The user can safely pass the preceding vehicle at an appropriate timing according to the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle.
According to the invention of claim 2, since the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle can be specified by the in-vehicle camera, the user can specify the vehicle type without performing a special operation, which is excellent in usability.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the user only has to make a sound for specifying the vehicle type, so that the vehicle type can be specified without causing any trouble in driving.
According to the invention of claim 4, the user can overtake the preceding person at the point given as the overtaking support information.
According to the invention of claim 5, the present invention can be applied to a vehicle navigation device.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1 schematically showing an electrical configuration of a vehicle navigation device, a vehicle navigation device (corresponding to a vehicle driving support device) 1 includes a control circuit (vehicle type specifying means, 2) position detector 3, map data input device 4, external memory 5, display device 6, operation switch group 7, voice output device 8, such as VICS (Vehicle Information & Communication System) A transmitter / receiver 10 that transmits / receives data to / from an infrastructure such as a station 9 and a remote controller sensor 12 that detects a signal from a remote controller 11 are connected.

  The control circuit 2 is configured as a microcomputer, and includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O interface, a bus for connecting them, and the like (none of which are shown). Among these, the ROM stores a car navigation program and the like, and the RAM temporarily stores processing data when the program is executed, road map data acquired from the map data input device 4, and the like.

  The position detector 3 includes a geomagnetic sensor 13 for detecting an absolute azimuth, a gyroscope 14 for detecting a yaw angular velocity (yaw rate), a distance sensor 15 for detecting the travel distance of the vehicle, and a GPS satellite. The GPS receiver 16 that receives the signal is a part that calculates the current position information of the vehicle. In this position detector 3, each component has a detection error having a different property. Therefore, the position detector 3 performs a highly accurate position detection while interpolating the detection errors with each other. However, the current position is detected with the required detection accuracy. It is not necessary to provide all the components as long as they can be calculated. Further, the position detector 3 may be configured by combining a steering wheel rotation sensor, a wheel sensor for detecting rotation of each tire, and the like.

  The map data input device 4 is for reading data from a large-capacity information recording medium (not shown) such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. In this case, the information recording medium includes, in addition to various types of map drawing data and map matching data, a facility name database in which facility names are arranged in, for example, the order of 50 notes, and specific information about each facility in the facility name database. A variety of databases are stored, such as a facility database that covers information (genre names indicating the classification of facility names, occupations, etc., facility location data (longitude and latitude data), etc.), and a telephone number database that indicates correspondence between telephone numbers and facilities ing. As the information recording medium, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a large-capacity memory card, or the like can be used.

Here, in the present embodiment, the positions of various road bus stops are stored, and are used as support information when overtaking the preceding vehicle, as will be described later.
The external memory 5 is composed of a flash memory card or the like, and is provided, for example, for storing program software for dealing with information recording media of other standards, or for storing or recalling specific data. ing.

  The display device 6 includes, for example, a color liquid crystal display for displaying a map screen, and is installed near the driver's seat of the vehicle. The operation switch group 7 includes mechanical switches arranged around the display device 6, touch switches formed on the color liquid crystal display of the display device 6, and the like. 2 is provided. The remote control sensor 12 is also provided as an operation input means, and receives an operation input from the remote control 11 and gives it to the control circuit 2.

The audio output device 8 includes an audio synthesis circuit, an amplifier, a speaker, and the like, and can generate an arbitrary audio output according to audio information from the control circuit 2.
The transceiver 10 includes a VICS sensor unit, an FM tuner (none of which is shown), and the like. For example, the information signal by the optical / radio wave beacon received by the VICS sensor unit from the VICS station 9 or the FM tuner receives it. The configuration is such that an information signal from FM multiplex broadcasting is provided to the control circuit 2, and if necessary, the vehicle information is transmitted to the outside.

  Here, in addition to the basic function of executing the map matching process for positioning the current position on the map, the control circuit 2 receives point data such as a destination and a waypoint through the operation switch group 7 and the remote controller 11. A route calculation function for performing a route search operation from the current position to the destination based on the point data using, for example, the Dijkstra method, and displaying a guide route according to the route search result on the map screen ( In addition, a well-known support function such as a route guide function for performing various guides by voice or display based on a guide route obtained by this function is also provided. In addition to this, the control circuit 2 has a well-known telephone number search function, postal code search function, and search using a unique code as support functions that require user input operations through the operation switch group 7 and the remote controller 11. Function, 50 sound search function, genre search function, nearest facility search function, destination registration function, boarding / exit interchange designation function, screen display state (2D display, 3D display, split screen display, etc.) by the display device 6 Various support functions such as a display map change switching function, an information display function for displaying a sightseeing area, a recommended drive course, and a point registration function are set.

  Further, in this embodiment, the vehicle-mounted camera 17 that images the preceding vehicle is mounted, and the control circuit 2 when the overtaking mode is instructed as described later, the preceding vehicle based on the captured image of the vehicle-mounted camera 17. The vehicle type is identified and points that can be overtaken are presented to the driver.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.
For example, when traveling following a large vehicle, if the traveling condition is such that the vehicle travels uphill in one lane, the speed of the large vehicle may become extremely slow and annoying. In such a case, even if an attempt is made to overtake the preceding vehicle, it is difficult to overtake if the preceding vehicle is a large vehicle.

Therefore, in such a case, the driver instructs the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 in the overtaking mode.
When the overtaking mode is instructed, the vehicle navigation device 1 executes the overtaking mode.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overtaking mode related to the gist of the present invention among the contents of control by the control circuit 2, and this will be described below together with related operations. Note that FIG. 2 is simplified to the extent that the gist of the present invention can be grasped, and is actually more complicated control content or control content different from the illustration.

  When executing the overtaking mode, the vehicle navigation device 1 first detects the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle (S1). That is, the license plate image is extracted from the rear image of the preceding vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera 17, and the vehicle type is determined based on the image. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, since the classification number of the license plate indicates the vehicle type classification, the vehicle type can be determined based on the vehicle type classification.

  Further, even if the vehicle types have the same classification number, when a large vehicle is included, the determination can be made based on the size of the number plate. In other words, in large vehicles, a license plate that is larger than a normal size license plate is used, so the distance from the preceding vehicle is detected, and the number plate is based on the detected distance. By obtaining the size, it is possible to determine the vehicle type and size of the preceding vehicle.

  Note that a database in which rear parts of various types of vehicles are captured may be prepared, an image that approximates the captured image may be extracted from the database, and the vehicle type may be identified based on the extracted database. It is also possible for the driver to generate a voice of the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle and recognize it. In this case, speech recognizable words include “medium truck”, “large truck”, “tour bus”, “road bus”, and the like. Further, the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle may be identified by operating a button for specifying the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle.

  Next, the vehicle navigation device 1 examines the overtaking environment (S2). This overtaking environment is a condition for determining a condition that allows the preceding vehicle of the identified vehicle type to be overtaken. That is, it is determined whether or not the vehicle can be overtaken based on whether the current vehicle speed is equal to or less than the speed limit, whether the vehicle is not overtaken, or whether it is a straight road with a distance that can be overtaken. As a result of such determination, when it is determined that overtaking is possible (S3: YES), an overtaking condition is created (S4). Specifically, when it is determined that the preceding vehicle is a road bus, for example, the position of the road bus stop is obtained from the road bus stop information, and the vehicle is located, for example, 500 meters before the stop. The overtaking point is approaching. There is a stop 500 meters away. "

  Next, the overtaking condition created as described above is presented (S5). Thereby, as shown in FIG. 4, the voice output device 8 issues a voice guidance saying “the overtaking point is approaching. There is a stop 500 meters away”. Accordingly, the driver recognizes that there is a stop 500 m ahead, so it is determined that there is a possibility that the road bus will stop, and preparation for overtaking is started.

  Since the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 sequentially provides voice guidance to the distance to the stop when the road bus stop further approaches, the driver can confirm that the stop has further approached. When the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 approaches the stop, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 provides a voice guidance saying “It is a stop. If the preceding vehicle stops, please pass.” Accordingly, when the road bus actually stops, the driver passes the road bus and then ends the overtaking mode.

When the overtaking mode is completed (S6: YES), the vehicle navigation device 1 ends the overtaking mode.
If the road bus does not stop at the bus stop and cannot be overtaken, the overtaking mode is not terminated (S6: NO), so the overtaking environment is examined again (S2). That is, when the next bus stop approaches, an overtaking condition is created as described above, and the overtaking condition is presented.

  On the other hand, when it is away to the next bus stop, the overtaking condition is created as follows. In other words, for example, 500m of the overtaking point that becomes a straight road with a sufficient distance to overtake the road bus in the section where the speed of the road bus that is the preceding vehicle is lower than the speed limit and can be overtaken, and calculated from the current speed. In the foreground, create an overtaking condition for voice guidance that “the overtaking point is approaching 500m away. Please pay attention to the oncoming vehicle.” And present the overtaking condition. When the overtaking point approaches, voice guidance indicating that the overtaking point has been approached is performed in the same manner as described above. Therefore, the driver overtakes the road bus while paying attention to the oncoming vehicle when the overtaking point is reached, and ends the overtaking mode when overtaking is completed.

  However, if the overtaking operation is not stopped regardless of the overtaking point at such a stop or a point that can be overtaken, the vehicular navigation device 1 will pass the overtaking condition every time it approaches the next stop or overtaking possible section. And voice guidance as described above is performed.

According to such an embodiment, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 identifies the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle that travels in front of the vehicle, determines the overtaking point where the preceding vehicle can be overtaken based on the vehicle type, and informs the driver. Unlike the configuration that presents information that can be overtaken to the driver based on road congestion, road laws or geographical conditions, and the driving conditions of the car, A suitable overtaking point can be presented to the driver, and the reliability of the overtaking support information can be improved.
In addition, since the vehicle type of the preceding vehicle is specified by the license plate of the preceding vehicle taken by the in-vehicle camera 17, the driver's driving is disturbed as compared with the case where the driver inputs the vehicle type by switch operation. There is nothing.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be modified or expanded as follows.
When vehicle type information of a preceding vehicle is obtained by inter-vehicle communication, an overtaking condition may be created based on the vehicle type information.
The overtaking condition may be created on the condition that one lane is changed to two lanes.
The overtaking prediction time may be calculated from the speed of the preceding vehicle and the speed difference of the vehicle, and the time may be notified to the driver.

The functional block diagram which shows the navigation apparatus for vehicles in one Example of this invention Flowchart showing operation in overtaking mode of vehicle navigation device Diagram showing the relationship between license plate number and classification Diagram for explaining presentation of overtaking support information

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is a vehicle navigation device (vehicle driving support device), and 2 is a control circuit (vehicle type specifying means, overtaking support information creating means, presentation means).

Claims (5)

Vehicle type specifying means for specifying the type of the preceding vehicle preceding the vehicle;
Overtaking support information creating means for creating overtaking support information that becomes support when overtaking the preceding vehicle based on the vehicle type specified by the vehicle type specifying means;
A vehicle driving support apparatus, comprising: presentation means for presenting the overtaking support information created by the overtaking support information creating means to a user. It has an imaging camera that images the preceding vehicle,
The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle type specifying unit specifies a vehicle type by imaging with the in-vehicle camera. A voice input means for inputting voice;
2. The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle type specifying unit specifies a vehicle type based on a voice input to the voice input unit.   The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the overtaking support information indicates a point where a preceding vehicle can be overtaken. A vehicle navigation device having the function of the vehicle driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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