JP2006293531A - Driving support device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving support device for a vehicle for enabling a driver to drive for avoiding a danger by supporting the driving based on the monitor information of the behavior of a following vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: This driving support device for a vehicle is provided with a rear sensor 1 for monitoring the rear part of its own vehicle, a performance decision processing ECU 4 for estimating the driving mode of the following vehicle from monitor information (the speed of a following vehicle, a relative distance between the following vehicle and its own vehicle, a relative speed between the following vehicle and its own vehicle and circumstances of the driver of the following vehicle) by the rear sensor 1, and for evaluating the estimated driving mode based on a predetermined driving evaluation criterion and a display/speaker 6 for executing a report operation corresponding to the evaluation result obtained by the ECU 4 to the driver of its own vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle driving support apparatus that supports driving by informing a driver of information behind the vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for improving the restraint of an occupant by a seat belt is known in order to prepare for an impact when a rear-end collision is predicted (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3506122

  By the way, if a vehicle with suspicious behavior or a driver with a low driving skill appears nearby while driving, many drivers try to move away from them to ensure safety. Try to pay more attention to other vehicles. Such danger avoidance behavior is relatively easy for a vehicle in front of the host vehicle, but is difficult to perform for a vehicle behind the host vehicle. Therefore, you may get close to those vehicles without knowing and you may encounter a high-risk scene.

  In this regard, the above-described conventional technology predicts a rear-end collision by detecting a rear vehicle. However, since it is a support technology at the stage where a rear-end collision occurs physically, there is a risk caused by the above-described vehicle. It is not possible to meet the desire to avoid.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle driving support device that enables a driver to perform avoidance driving by driving support based on monitoring information of behavior of a rear vehicle.

In order to solve the above problems, according to one aspect of the present invention,
Monitoring means for monitoring the back of the vehicle;
Driving mode estimating means for estimating the driving mode of the rear vehicle from the monitoring information by the monitoring means;
Driving mode evaluation means for evaluating the estimated driving mode based on a predetermined driving evaluation standard;
A vehicle driving support device is provided that includes notification means for executing a notification operation according to an evaluation result by the driving mode evaluation means for a driver of the host vehicle.

  According to this aspect, the driving mode of the vehicle behind the vehicle is evaluated, and notification support to the driver of the vehicle is performed, so that the driver of the vehicle does not recognize the rear or is too conscious of the rear. Therefore, an appropriate driving operation can be performed.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said alerting | reporting means alert | reports that when the said driving | operation aspect evaluation means evaluates less than the said driving | operation evaluation reference | standard about the said estimated driving | operation aspect.

  As a result, the driver of the own vehicle can recognize that a dangerous driving vehicle or a low-skilled driving vehicle is behind, and thus can appropriately perform driving that avoids danger.

  Here, it is preferable that the monitoring information is at least one of a vehicle speed of a rear vehicle, a relative distance to the own vehicle, and a relative speed to the own vehicle. Moreover, it is preferable that the monitoring means captures the situation of the driver of the rear vehicle as the monitoring information.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a driving | operation assistance is promoted based on the monitoring information of the behavior of a back vehicle, a danger avoidance driving | operation can be promoted with respect to a driver | operator, and the danger of a rear-end collision can be reduced.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a system configuration of a vehicle driving support apparatus according to the present invention.

  The rear inter-vehicle sensor 1 is a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar, an ultrasonic radar or the like, and monitors the rear of the own vehicle, and the inter-vehicle relationship values (relative distance, relative speed, inter-vehicle time, etc.) between the own vehicle and the rear vehicle. Is to measure. The relative distance and the inter-vehicle time can be easily calculated from the relationship between the wave transmission / reception timing and the wave speed transmitted / received by the radar. The relative speed is obtained from the time change of the calculated relative distance. It is also possible to obtain the relative acceleration from the change in relative speed over time. Also, the size of the vehicle can be measured by the size of the reflection range when the radar scans the rear. Thereby, for example, it is also possible to distinguish between a truck, a general vehicle, and a motorcycle.

  The rear inter-vehicle distance sensor 1 may be a camera. In the case of a camera, the relative distance can be calculated by obtaining the parallax between images captured by imaging elements (CCD: Charge Coupled Device) arranged on the left and right. When the image by one image sensor and the image by the other image sensor are overlapped, the vehicle to be imaged is shifted in the horizontal direction. Then, the most overlapping position is obtained while shifting one image pixel by pixel. The number of pixels shifted at this time is n. When the focal length of the lens is f, the distance between the optical axes is m, and the pixel pitch is d, the relative distance L from the own vehicle to the imaging target vehicle is L = (f · m) / (n · d). The formula holds. Note that (n · d) is called parallax. From the relative distance L calculated based on this relational expression, the relative velocity and the relative acceleration can be calculated in the same manner as described above.

  Also, by using the camera, distractions such as visual information of the rear vehicle (eg, shape, color, presence / absence of passing) and the situation of the driver of the rear vehicle (eg, drowsy driving, looking away driving, cell phone operation, etc.) Driving) can be acquired using an image processing technique, a line-of-sight detection technique, or the like.

  When monitoring the back of the vehicle, the above radar and camera may be used independently or in combination. If used together, the accuracy of monitoring the rear of the vehicle can be improved.

  The vehicle speed sensor 2 detects the rotation of a wheel or the like and measures the speed of the own vehicle. It is also possible to obtain the acceleration of the own vehicle from the time change of the measured speed of the own vehicle.

  The performance determination processing ECU 4 estimates the driving mode of the rear vehicle based on monitoring information from the rear inter-vehicle sensor 1 and the vehicle speed sensor 2 and evaluates the driving performance of the rear vehicle. For example, driving behaviors that are suspicious in behavior, driving behaviors that run dangerously, and driving behaviors that run inconspicuously are evaluated as having low driving performance.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the performance determination process ECU 4. The performance determination processing ECU 4 includes a rear vehicle vehicle speed calculation unit 10, a rear vehicle driving mode estimation unit 11 and a driving mode evaluation unit 12. Each component means is realized by a CPU, a RAM, a ROM for storing the program, an electronic circuit, and the like.

  The vehicle speed calculation means 10 obtains the speed of the rear vehicle based on the relationship between the relative speed obtained by the rear inter-vehicle sensor 1 and the speed of the host vehicle measured by the vehicle speed sensor 2. The speed of the vehicle behind is the difference between the relative speed and the speed of the host vehicle. It is also possible to obtain the acceleration of the rear vehicle based on the relationship between the relative acceleration described above and the acceleration of the own vehicle. The acceleration of the rear vehicle is the difference between the relative acceleration and the acceleration of the own vehicle.

  The driving mode estimation unit 11 estimates the driving mode of the rear vehicle from the monitoring information from the rear inter-vehicle sensor 1 and the vehicle speed sensor 2 and the vehicle speed information of the rear vehicle from the vehicle speed calculation unit 10.

  The driving mode evaluation unit 12 evaluates the driving mode of the rear vehicle estimated by the driving mode estimation unit 11 based on a predetermined driving evaluation standard.

  The driving mode estimation by the driving mode estimation unit 11 and the driving mode evaluation by the driving mode evaluation unit 12 will be described with specific examples. Now, the driving mode of the rear vehicle is expressed by three factors: the vehicle speed of the rear vehicle, the relative distance to the own vehicle, and the relative speed to the own vehicle. That is, the driving mode at a certain moment of the rear vehicle can be expressed as one point on the three-dimensional space shown in FIG. The driving mode estimation means 11 takes these three elements from the rear vehicle into the RAM at a certain period (for example, at intervals of 1 second). In other words, the driving mode of the rear vehicle for each moment of capturing is plotted as a point on the space in FIG. Then, these points within a predetermined time (for example, 30 seconds) are statistically processed to estimate the driving mode of the rear vehicle. If the vehicle speed, the relative distance, and the relative speed of the rear vehicle are substantially constant, the plotted point converges to a certain spatial range. Therefore, it can be estimated that the driving mode of the rear vehicle is traveling stably. On the other hand, if the plotted points vary, it can be estimated that the driving mode of the vehicle is unstable.

  The driving mode evaluation means 12 stores in the ROM a reference model that is a driving evaluation standard regarding three elements, namely, the vehicle speed of the rear vehicle, the relative distance to the own vehicle, and the relative speed to the own vehicle. The driving mode evaluation unit 12 evaluates the driving mode estimated by the driving mode estimation unit 11 based on the reference model. The reference model reflects the result obtained in advance by a vehicle running simulation or the like regarding the relationship between these three elements. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the reference model can be expressed as a driving evaluation reference plane in a three-dimensional space. The driving evaluation reference plane serves as an inter-vehicle relationship reference between the host vehicle and the rear vehicle in evaluating the driving mode of the rear vehicle.

  The evaluation results differ depending on the positional relationship between the driving mode estimated by the driving mode estimation unit 11 and the driving evaluation reference plane. The driving mode evaluation means 12 evaluates that the driving performance is low when the estimated driving mode of the rear vehicle is spatially below the driving evaluation reference plane, and is spatially lower than the driving evaluation reference plane. If it is in the upper position, it is evaluated that the driving performance is high.

  The driving mode evaluation means 12 evaluates that the driving performance is low when the estimated driving mode of the rear vehicle has a large variation with respect to the driving evaluation reference plane, and when the variation with respect to the driving evaluation reference plane is small. Assess that driving performance is high.

  Here, the driving mode evaluation means 12 evaluates the driving mode by setting the distance (distance in the normal direction) between the plotted point representing the driving mode of the rear vehicle and the driving evaluation reference plane as the “evaluation point (score)”. Use as an indicator. For example, in FIG. 3, the point of the driving mode on the upper side from the driving evaluation reference plane is a positive evaluation point, the point of the driving mode on the lower side of the driving evaluation reference plane is a negative evaluation point, The absolute value of the evaluation point increases as the distance from the evaluation reference plane increases. The driving mode evaluation means 12 evaluates that the driving performance is high if the evaluation points of N plot points within a predetermined time are integrated and become equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and that the driving performance is low if it is lower than the predetermined value. Alternatively, the driving mode evaluation means 12 evaluates that the driving performance is low if the “dispersion” or “standard deviation” indicating the degree of dispersion of the plot points with respect to the evaluation points is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and the driving performance is low. If the variation is small, the driving performance is evaluated as high. Note that the evaluation may be further subdivided by setting several thresholds instead of the two-step evaluation of “high” and “low”.

  Also, according to the acceleration of the rear vehicle, visual information of the rear vehicle, the situation of the driver of the rear vehicle, the situation of the driver of the own vehicle, the road situation, etc., the weight of the evaluation point given to the point of the driving mode is weighted It may be corrected. For example, the acceleration of the rear vehicle is a predetermined value or more, the rear vehicle is a large vehicle such as a truck or bus, the rear vehicle is passing, the driver of the rear vehicle is driving such as dozing or looking away, There is a high driving load, such as the driver's pulse is high, the driver is a beginner, the vehicle is turning or braking, the vehicle speed is high, the road width is narrow, etc. In this case, the evaluation points are weighted so as to be easily evaluated when the driving performance of the rear vehicle is low. In addition, the situation of the driver of the own vehicle can be acquired by a biological sensor such as a body temperature sensor, an electroencephalogram sensor, or a heart rate sensor. The road condition can be acquired by the navigation system.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the display speaker 6 receives information from the performance determination processing ECU 4 (driving mode evaluating means 12) that has evaluated the driving performance of the rear vehicle and receives information to be notified to the driver of the own vehicle. It is to inform. The level of driving performance of the vehicle behind the vehicle is notified by visual information by a display or audio information by a speaker. At this time, the speed, relative distance, color, appearance shape, etc. of the rear vehicle may also be notified. By notifying the color and shape together, it becomes easier for the driver who is difficult to confirm the rear to identify the rear vehicle. That is, the driver can easily identify the rear vehicle that is the subject of notification even if there are a plurality of rear vehicles.

  Of course, in the case of a rear vehicle having a high driving performance, there is no particular influence on the driver of the own vehicle, so there is no need to notify. When a vehicle with low driving performance is in the rear, for example, by voice, "A suspicious vehicle is approaching from behind. Please be careful." Or urge them to avoid danger. In addition, when a vehicle with low driving performance approaches from behind, a vibration mechanism is provided on the steering wheel or seat, and the vibration of the vibration mechanism is notified as a notification operation so that the driver of the vehicle is notified accordingly. It may be.

  In addition, similar to the weighting of the evaluation points described above, the notification operation is performed according to the acceleration of the rear vehicle, the visual information of the rear vehicle, the situation of the driver of the rear vehicle, the situation of the driver of the own vehicle, the road situation, etc. You may correct the timing to do. For example, the acceleration of the rear vehicle is a predetermined value or more, the rear vehicle is a large vehicle such as a truck or bus, the rear vehicle is passing, the driver of the rear vehicle is driving such as dozing or looking away, There is a high driving load, such as the driver's pulse is high, the driver is a beginner, the vehicle is turning or braking, the vehicle speed is high, the road width is narrow, etc. In this case, the notification operation timing is advanced from a predetermined value.

  Therefore, according to the vehicle driving support device of the present invention, the driving mode of the vehicle behind the vehicle is evaluated, and notification support to the driver of the host vehicle is performed. Sexuality can be reduced. In addition, the driver of the own vehicle can perform an appropriate driving operation without being aware of the rear or not being aware of the rear. Basically, the driver of the own vehicle cannot confirm whether the vehicle behind the vehicle is suspicious of behavior or driving with low skill. In addition, if the driver of the vehicle does not perform an appropriate driving operation, there is a possibility that the vehicle will be bumped into such a vehicle. Therefore, driving safety is enhanced, and the driver's discomfort due to the presence of a suspicious rear vehicle or the like is also reduced.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Can be added.

  For example, in the above-described content, the display speaker 6 that has received a command from the performance determination processing ECU 4 (driving mode evaluation unit 12) notifies the driver of the vehicle of the driving performance of the rear vehicle. The notification destination may be a predetermined notification destination outside the vehicle. The wireless communication device that has received a command from the performance determination processing ECU 4 automatically transmits to the police, the fire department, the road service provider, and the like that “there is a suspicious vehicle”, to these notification destinations. Further, the wireless communication device transmits information that can identify the current position such as latitude / longitude and address acquired from the navigation system. As a result, a traffic accident caused by a vehicle with low driving performance can be prevented in advance, or the police can quickly control the accident.

It is an example of the system configuration | structure of the driving assistance apparatus for vehicles of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of performance determination process ECU4. It is a three-dimensional space that defines the driving mode of the rear vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rear distance sensor 2 Vehicle speed sensor 4 Performance determination processing ECU
6 Display / Speaker 10 Vehicle Speed Calculation Unit 11 Driving Mode Estimation Unit 12 Driving Mode Evaluation Unit

Claims (4)

Monitoring means for monitoring the back of the vehicle;
Driving mode estimating means for estimating the driving mode of the rear vehicle from the monitoring information by the monitoring means;
Driving mode evaluation means for evaluating the estimated driving mode based on a predetermined driving evaluation standard;
A vehicle driving support apparatus comprising: notification means for executing a notification operation according to an evaluation result by the driving mode evaluation means to a driver of the host vehicle.   The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, wherein when the driving mode evaluation unit evaluates the estimated driving mode lower than the driving evaluation standard, the notification unit reports the fact.   The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring information is at least one of a vehicle speed of a rear vehicle, a relative distance to the own vehicle, and a relative speed to the own vehicle.   The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring unit images a situation of a driver of a rear vehicle as the monitoring information.

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