JP2006318093A - Vehicular moving object detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect a moving object such as a pedestrian present in an area obstructed by an obstacle or a blind crossing. <P>SOLUTION: Information obtained by a rear monitoring means of a forward vehicle 302 positioned in front of one's own vehicle 301 is received by inter-vehicle communication 330, and presence of the moving object 303 such as the pedestrian present within a monitoring area 320 of the forward vehicle 302, not detected from the own vehicle in the area 321 obstructed by the obstacle 304 such as a building or a vehicle parked at a road shoulder, the blind crossing or the like, present in front of the own vehicle 301 is detected on the basis of the information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving object detection device for a vehicle, and in particular, detects a moving object using information received from a forward vehicle located in front of the own vehicle in addition to information obtained by a sensor included in the own vehicle. Regarding technology.

  Conventionally, pedestrian detection for vehicles that detects the presence of moving objects such as pedestrians and alerts the driver based on information obtained from various sensors such as a CCD camera provided in the host vehicle. The device is known.

  For example, Patent Document 1 includes a visible light camera and an infrared camera in the front part of a vehicle, calculates signals obtained from both cameras, and obtains a correlation with a predetermined pattern to obtain a pedestrian. There is described a pedestrian detection alarm device that generates an alarm to the driver when the vehicle is detected.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, when a vehicle approaches the intersection, an image of the vicinity of the intersection is captured by a camera mounted on the front of the vehicle, and an image of the vicinity of the intersection captured when the vehicle enters the intersection is displayed. A crossing accident prevention device is described that informs the driver of a pedestrian or the like that was in a position where the driver becomes a blind spot.

  All of these are for detecting the presence or absence of a pedestrian or the like based on only information obtained from a camera or sensor provided in the host vehicle and notifying the driver.

  On the other hand, in recent years, with the development of communication technology, information communication between running vehicles has become possible, and technology to notify faults and support driving based on information obtained by inter-vehicle communication has been studied. Various proposals have been made.

  For example, Patent Document 3 discloses a driving control device that sets a target driving state for a driving fault when a driving fault ahead of the vehicle is detected, and transmits the corresponding target driving information to a subsequent vehicle by inter-vehicle communication. Is described.

For such inter-vehicle communication (also referred to as inter-vehicle communication), wireless communication is adopted, but there are various types and methods of information to be communicated as described in Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 5, for example. Things have been proposed.
JP 11-215487 A JP 2004-51006 A JP 2000-348289 A JP 2002-74577 A JP 2004-221636 A

  Conventional pedestrian detection devices detect pedestrians based on information obtained by cameras and sensors provided at the front of the vehicle. Cannot detect pedestrians at bad intersections.

  Even when using inter-vehicle communication as described in Patent Document 3, if a camera or sensor used for detecting a pedestrian or an obstacle is provided at the front of the vehicle, similarly, It is impossible to detect a moving object such as a pedestrian or the like in an area obstructed by an obstacle or an unsightly intersection, and information corresponding to a subsequent vehicle cannot be transmitted.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to detect a moving object such as a pedestrian or the like in an area obstructed by an obstacle or an intersection with poor visibility.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle moving object detection device according to the present invention comprises:
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication means for communicating information with a preceding vehicle located in front of the host vehicle;
Detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a moving object ahead of the host vehicle based on information received by the inter-vehicle communication means;
The received information includes information obtained by rear monitoring means for monitoring a rear side area of the vehicle provided in the preceding vehicle.

  According to this configuration, the information obtained by the rear monitoring means of the front vehicle positioned ahead of the host vehicle is received by the inter-vehicle communication means, and based on this information, the presence / absence of a moving object ahead of the host vehicle is determined. Is detected by the detecting means.

  Therefore, a moving object such as a pedestrian in the monitoring area of the rear monitoring means of the vehicle ahead, which cannot be detected from the own vehicle in an area obstructed by an obstacle such as a parked vehicle on a roadside, a building, or an intersection with poor visibility, etc. Can be detected.

  The own vehicle is provided with forward monitoring means for monitoring a front side area of the vehicle, and the detection means is based on at least one of the received information and the information obtained from the forward monitoring means. May be detected.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of a moving object based on more reliable information by appropriately selecting information from the rear monitoring unit of the front vehicle and information from the front monitoring unit of the host vehicle. .

  The front monitoring unit and the rear monitoring unit of the vehicle ahead may be sensors having different detection performance.

  According to this configuration, the accuracy of moving object detection can be improved by combining information from two sensors having different detection performances.

  Specific examples of the front monitoring means and the rear monitoring means of the vehicle ahead include a distance sensor that can measure the distance to the object, an image sensor that can identify the object, an infrared sensor that can identify the hot body, and the like. Conceivable.

  The detection means may detect the state of the moving object and determine the degree of risk based on information obtained continuously in time from at least one of the front monitoring means and the rear monitoring means of the vehicle ahead.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to know a dangerous moving object that has a high possibility of actually affecting driving.

  Information obtained by the rear monitoring means of the preceding vehicle may be received by the inter-vehicle communication means when a moving object is detected from the information in the preceding vehicle.

  According to this configuration, when the moving object is detected from the information obtained by the rear monitoring unit in the preceding vehicle, the information is received by the inter-vehicle communication unit, and therefore, the information is always transmitted from the preceding vehicle. In comparison, it is possible to reduce the load of the mobile object detection process and inter-vehicle communication in the host vehicle.

  You may provide the vehicle specific means which specifies a front vehicle from a relative position with the own vehicle.

  According to this configuration, since the vehicle ahead is specified, it is possible to improve the reliability of information regarding the detected moving object.

  There may be provided a danger avoiding means for operating at least one of the alarm device and the pedestrian protection device according to detection of the moving object by the detecting means.

  According to this configuration, the driver is notified that the moving object has been detected by the alarm device, or the moving object is activated by operating the pedestrian protection device when there is a high possibility that a collision cannot be avoided. Can reduce the shock received.

  According to the present invention, the information obtained by the rear monitoring means of the front vehicle positioned ahead of the host vehicle is received by the inter-vehicle communication means, and based on this information, the presence / absence of a moving object ahead of the host vehicle is determined. Is detected by the detecting means.

  Therefore, a moving object such as a pedestrian in the monitoring area of the rear monitoring means of the vehicle ahead, which cannot be detected from the own vehicle in an area obstructed by an obstacle such as a parked vehicle on a roadside, a building, or an intersection with poor visibility, etc. Can be detected.

  Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the constituent elements described in this embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to them.

  As used herein, the expression “moving object” is a generic term for objects other than automobiles that have a risk of hindering the traveling of the host vehicle on roads including light vehicles such as pedestrians, animals and bicycles, motorcycles, etc. To do.

<Overview of vehicle according to the present invention>
FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view schematically showing a vehicle equipped with a vehicle moving object detection device according to the present invention.

  In the figure, a first front monitoring sensor 21a as a first front monitoring means is provided in the vicinity of the upper portion of the front window in front of the vehicle indicated by 10, for example, the rear surface of the rearview mirror. A second forward monitoring sensor 21b is provided as forward monitoring means. A rear monitoring sensor 22 as a rear monitoring means is provided in the rear part of the vehicle, for example, in the vicinity of the rear bumper.

  The forward monitoring sensor 21a is provided to monitor a region on the front side of the host vehicle in order to maintain the lane during driving (lane keeping) such as a visible light camera having an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS. It is a sensor. On the other hand, the front monitoring sensor 21b is, for example, a front side of the host vehicle to measure a distance from a large object such as a vehicle (front vehicle) traveling ahead such as a distance sensor having a radar using a laser or a millimeter wave. It is a sensor provided for monitoring a living area such as a pedestrian or an animal at night or the like, such as an infrared camera, for monitoring the area of the person. Further, the rear monitoring sensor 22 is used when the host vehicle moves backward, such as a back monitor camera that captures a rear image when the vehicle moves backward, or a back sonar that can measure a distance from an object behind by a sound wave. It is a sensor provided for monitoring the information of the side area.

  The vehicle 10 is provided with a navigation system using GPS capable of measuring the absolute position of the host vehicle based on a signal from a satellite, and the GPS antenna 24 is provided, for example, at the rear of the passenger compartment. ing. Moreover, the antenna 26 for performing communication (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) with another vehicle according to a predetermined communication method is provided, for example, on the back surface of the roof. The antenna 26 and the CPU 20 (and a communication interface (not shown), etc.) constitute the vehicle-to-vehicle communication means of the present invention.

  Further, the vehicle 10 includes, as a pedestrian protection means 27 for protecting a pedestrian at the time of a collision with a pedestrian, a first pedestrian protection means 27a such as a bumper airbag, For example, second pedestrian protection means 27b such as a window airbag is provided in the vicinity of the boundary of the hood with the front window. In addition, the part shown by the chain line on the vehicle front side of 27a and 27b in the figure shows the region that expands when these protective means (airbags) are activated.

  In the vicinity of the driver's seat, when a collision with a moving object is predicted, an alarm device that issues an alarm to the driver by voice, display, vibration through a seat belt, or the like is provided. This alarm device and the pedestrian protection means 27 constitute the danger avoidance means of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control configuration related to the vehicle moving object detection device for the vehicle of FIG. Parts similar to those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  The entire moving object detection device for a vehicle of this embodiment is controlled by the CPU 20. Signals output from the front monitoring sensor 21 and the rear monitoring sensor 22 including the first front monitoring sensor 21a and the second front monitoring sensor 21b in FIG. A signal output from the gyro sensor 25 that detects the traveling direction and inclination of the vehicle is input. The output from the CPU 20 includes a signal to the actuator of the pedestrian protection means 27 and a signal to the alarm device 28 that are output when a collision with a moving object is predicted (predicted) by a moving object detection process described later. . In addition, information is communicated with other vehicles via an inter-vehicle communication antenna 26. In the present embodiment, the procedure of the moving object detection process executed by the CPU 20 will be described later.

  Here, the signals from the GPS antenna 24 and the gyro sensor 25 are shown to be directly input to the CPU 20, but a dedicated arithmetic device (CPU or MPU) or interface for processing each signal is provided. The processing result may be input to the CPU 20. Similarly, a dedicated interface means or a communication unit may be provided between the vehicle-to-vehicle communication antenna 26 and the CPU 20.

<Description of detection area of moving object by two vehicles>
3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating an example of a detection area of a moving object by two vehicles. Here, description will be made assuming that both the rear vehicle (host vehicle) 301 positioned relatively rearward and the front vehicle 302 positioned forward of the rear vehicle have the configurations described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In these drawings, as a detection area by the front monitoring sensor 21 of the rear vehicle, one area obtained by integrating the detection area of the first front monitoring sensor 21a and the detection area of the second front monitoring sensor 21b is shown. Yes.

  Further, in these drawings, the rear vehicle 301 is based on, for example, the CPU 20 based on information such as the absolute position of the own vehicle by GPS and the posture of the own vehicle by a gyro sensor and the absolute position of the preceding vehicle received by inter-vehicle communication. The forward vehicle 302 is specified by the calculation process. Similarly, the rear vehicle 301 is specified for the front vehicle 302. That is, the vehicle specifying means of the present invention is realized by the CPU 20 of each vehicle executing such arithmetic processing. In this way, since the vehicle ahead is identified relative to the vehicle behind, it is possible to improve the reliability of the information regarding the detected moving object.

  FIG. 3A shows a case where a pedestrian 303 as a moving object is in the detection region between both the rear monitoring sensor of the rear vehicle 301 and the rear monitoring sensor of the front vehicle 302 between the rear vehicle 301 and the front vehicle 302. It is a side view which shows an example. In this case, since the pedestrian 303 exists in the area where both the detection area 310 of the front monitoring sensor of the rear vehicle 301 and the detection area 320 of the rear monitoring sensor of the front vehicle 302 overlap, A pedestrian 303 is detected in both of the vehicles ahead. Also in this case, the image of the detection area 320 or the detection information of the pedestrian 303 is transmitted from the front vehicle 302 by the inter-vehicle communication 330, and the rear vehicle 301 receives this information to more accurately determine the position of the pedestrian 303. Can be detected.

  In FIG. 3B, the pedestrian 303 as a moving object is between the rear vehicle 301 and the front vehicle 302, but is in a region 321 where the detection region of the front monitoring sensor of the rear vehicle 301 is blocked by the obstacle 304. It is a top view which shows the example of a case. In this case, the relative positional relationship between the two vehicles and the pedestrian is substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 3A. However, the detection area of the front monitoring sensor of the rear vehicle 301 is blocked by the obstacle 304, and moving objects (pedestrians) behind and on the left side of the obstacle 304 cannot be detected. In this embodiment, even in such a case, if there is a pedestrian 303 in the detection area 320 of the rear monitoring sensor of the front vehicle 302, the image and information of the detection area 320 are communicated from the front vehicle 302 to the rear vehicle 301. 330 for transmission. As a result, the rear vehicle 301 can detect that the pedestrian 303 is blocked from the detection area of the front monitoring sensor by the obstacle 304 and is within the area 321 detected by the rear monitoring sensor of the front vehicle 302.

  FIG. 3C shows that the pedestrian 303 as a moving object is between the rear vehicle 301 and the front vehicle 302 but is outside the detection area of the front monitor sensor of the rear vehicle 301 and detected by the rear monitor sensor of the front vehicle 302. It is a top view which shows the example when it exists in an area | region. In this case, since the distance between the pedestrian 303 and the rear vehicle 301 is long, it is outside the detection area 310 of the front monitoring sensor of the rear vehicle 301, and the pedestrian 303 is not detected by the front monitoring sensor of the rear vehicle 301. . On the other hand, when viewed from the front vehicle 302, the pedestrian 303 is in the detection area 320 of the rear monitoring sensor. Therefore, in such a case, the front vehicle 302 transmits the image and information detected by the rear monitoring sensor to the rear vehicle 301 by the inter-vehicle communication 330. As a result, the rear vehicle 301 can detect that the pedestrian 303 is out of the detection area of the front monitoring sensor of the own vehicle and is in the detection area 320 of the rear monitoring sensor of the front vehicle 302.

<Procedure for moving object detection>
Next, the procedure of the moving object detection process in the front vehicle and the rear vehicle in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts in FIGS. Here, it is assumed that both the rear vehicle and the front vehicle have the configuration described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Moving object detection is performed by the CPU of each of the front vehicle and the rear vehicle executing a program corresponding to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5. Therefore, the detection apparatus of the present invention is composed of the CPU 20 and a program corresponding to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the moving object detection process in the preceding vehicle. As shown in the figure, the vehicle ahead starts vehicle-to-vehicle communication via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication antenna 26 (step S401), and includes a first front monitoring sensor 21a and a second front monitoring sensor 21b. A forward monitoring is performed by the sensor 21 (step S402). More specifically, for example, when the first forward monitoring sensor 21a is a camera and the second forward monitoring sensor 21b is a radar, the image data captured by the first forward monitoring means 21a is acquired, The information by the reflected wave obtained by the second front monitoring sensor 21b is converted into image data, the two image data are superimposed, and the information obtained by the two front monitoring sensors is integrated into one image data. This image superposition or information integration processing is performed by appropriately combining known image processing methods and data processing methods.

  Next, whether or not there is a rear vehicle, the position of the counterpart vehicle (absolute position obtained by the GPS 24) that can communicate by inter-vehicle communication, and the absolute position and traveling direction obtained by the GPS 24 and the gyro sensor 25 of the own vehicle The determination is made based on the relative position obtained by (step S403).

  If it is determined in step S403 that there is no rear vehicle, the process returns to step S402 and is repeated. Here, the interval at which the process in step S402 is repeated may be determined in advance, or the process in step S402 may be executed again in response to some interruption.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a rear vehicle, the rear monitoring sensor 22 performs rear monitoring (step S404). More specifically, when the rear monitoring sensor 22 is a camera, captured image data is captured, and when the rear monitoring sensor 22 is a sonar, information by reflected waves is converted into image data. Then, the information (image) obtained by the rear monitoring sensor 22 is transmitted to the rear vehicle by inter-vehicle communication (step S405).

  Here, when there is a rear vehicle, the information obtained by the rear monitoring sensor 22 is transmitted to the rear vehicle by inter-vehicle communication. However, the processing in the rear vehicle and the load of inter-vehicle communication are reduced. Therefore, only when a moving object is detected from information (image) obtained by the rear monitoring sensor 22 in the front vehicle, the information may be transmitted to the rear vehicle by inter-vehicle communication. If it does in this way, compared with the case where information is always transmitted from a front vehicle, the load of the mobile body detection processing and the communication between vehicles in the back vehicle mentioned below can be reduced.

  Thereafter, the process returns to step S402 and the process is repeated. Here, however, the process in step S402 may be executed again in accordance with a predetermined interval or some interruption, as described above.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the moving object detection process in the rear vehicle. As shown in the figure, in the rear vehicle, vehicle-to-vehicle communication is first started via the vehicle-to-vehicle communication antenna 26 (step S501), and the front including the first front monitoring sensor 21a and the second front monitoring sensor 21b. Front monitoring is performed by the monitoring sensor 21 (step S502). The processes in steps S501 and S502 are the same as the processes in steps S401 and 402 in the preceding vehicle described with reference to FIG.

  Next, it is determined whether or not information (image) has been received from the vehicle ahead by inter-vehicle communication (step S503). That is, this process is a process corresponding to the transmission of the information of the rear monitoring sensor from the preceding vehicle, which is performed in step S405 of FIG.

  If it is determined in step S503 that information has been received from the preceding vehicle, the information (image) received from the preceding vehicle and the information (image) obtained by the forward monitoring sensor 21 of the host vehicle are used, for example, The image data obtained by reversing the distance data of the image data received from the image data is integrated by superimposing the image data obtained by the front monitoring sensor of the host vehicle on the scale (step S504). The image superimposition processing or information integration processing here is also performed by appropriately combining known image processing methods and data processing methods, as described above with reference to step S402.

  Then, based on the image or information integrated in this way, for example, the presence or absence of a moving object ahead of the host vehicle is detected by image recognition processing such as pattern matching, and it is determined whether or not the moving object is detected. (Step S505). In step S405 of FIG. 4, when the front vehicle transmits the information to the rear vehicle by inter-vehicle communication only when a moving object is detected from the information obtained by the rear monitoring sensor 22, The process of step S505 can be omitted.

  When a moving object is detected, the moving direction of the moving object is determined based on information obtained continuously in time, such as comparing the integrated information obtained in step S504 with the previous integrated information. The degree of risk is calculated and determined (step S507). This risk level may simply be binary information indicating whether or not it is dangerous, or may be multi-value information in which the degree of risk is classified into a plurality of levels. Description will be made assuming that the binary information indicates one of the low values. As a specific example of the determination of the risk level, if the moving object is moving in a direction crossing the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling, it is determined that the risk level is high and the vehicle moves in the other direction. If it is, the risk is determined to be low.

  It is determined whether or not a collision with a moving object is predicted according to the degree of risk determined in step S506 (step S507). Here, if it is determined that the degree of risk is high, it is determined that there is a high possibility of a collision with a moving object, that is, a collision is predicted, and if it is determined that the degree of risk is low, the moving object It is determined that there is a low possibility of collision, that is, no collision is predicted.

  If a collision is predicted, the warning device 28 issues a warning to the driver by voice, display, vibration via a seat belt, or the like (step S508). In order to reduce the impact when the moving object collides with the host vehicle, the corresponding actuator is operated to operate the pedestrian protection means 27 including the first pedestrian protection means 27a and the second pedestrian protection means 27b. Is output (step S509), and the process is terminated.

  In the case of negative determination (No) in steps S503, S505, and S507, all return to step S502 and the subsequent processing is repeated. However, in the same manner as described with respect to step S402 in FIG. The processing after step S502 may be executed again according to the given interval or some interruption.

  As described above, the CPU 20 of the preceding vehicle executes the program corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and the CPU 20 of the rear vehicle executes the program corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. Is realized.

<Specific examples of system>
Hereinafter, a specific configuration example of the moving object detection device of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a combination of a forward detection unit of a rear vehicle (own vehicle) and a rear monitoring unit of the forward vehicle according to the moving body detection device of the present invention.

  In this example, the rear vehicle serves as a front monitoring means for a lane keeping camera having an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS as a first forward monitoring sensor, and for an ACC (auto cruise control) as a second forward monitoring sensor. It has a millimeter wave radar. The lane keeping camera, which is the first forward monitoring sensor, is capable of recognizing a narrow-angle object by capturing an image of a region of a narrow angle of about 30 to 50 degrees and a front side of about 50 to 100 m. The millimeter wave radar, which is the second forward monitoring sensor, can measure the distance to a large obstacle such as a vehicle in an area up to about 120 m ahead. This millimeter wave radar cannot measure the distance to small moving objects such as pedestrians.

  On the other hand, the front vehicle includes a back monitor camera having an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS as a rear monitoring means. This back monitor camera captures an image of a region from a wide angle of about 60 to 130 degrees and a rear side of about 20 to 30 m, thereby measuring a distance to an object in the region and wide-angle object recognition. Yes (including narrow-angle object recognition).

  Thus, in this example, the forward monitoring means of the rear vehicle and the backward monitoring means of the forward vehicle are sensors having different detection performances, and the accuracy of moving object detection is obtained by combining information from sensors having different detection performances. Can be improved.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a front view monitor image displayed on the front window of the rear vehicle based on the specific configuration example shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  (A) has shown the detection range (photographable range) 320 of the camera for back monitors which is a back monitoring means of the front vehicle 302, and it is detected that the pedestrian 303 exists on the left side behind it. In this case, since the detection range of the back monitor camera is known, the distance d1 between the forward vehicle 302 and the pedestrian 303 is obtained by measuring the distance d0 from the edge of the detection range to the pedestrian 303. It is done.

  (B) shows the detection range 310 of the forward monitoring means of the rear vehicle 301, and image data corresponding to the detection range is displayed on the front view monitor of the rear vehicle 301. There is a pedestrian 303 on the left side of the front side of the rear vehicle 301. However, since the front detection means can only recognize a narrow-angle object, the driver may recognize the presence of the pedestrian 303 from the front view monitor. Can not. In this case, the distance d2 between the preceding vehicle 302 and the host vehicle 302 is measured by the millimeter wave radar.

  (C) has shown the range shown as a front view monitor image displayed on the front window of a back vehicle. As described above, the rear vehicle 301 receives the image data corresponding to (a) from the front vehicle 302 by inter-vehicle communication. In the rear vehicle 301, the image displayed on the front view monitor of the host vehicle shown in (b) is displayed by superimposing the image data of (a) with the scale of the image data reversed and reversed in front and back, An image in a range that can be detected by the front vehicle 302 but is not detected by the rear vehicle 301 indicated by 302 ′ is also displayed. For this reason, the driver can recognize the presence of the pedestrian 303 from the image displayed on the front view monitor. In this case, the distance d1 from the front vehicle 301 to the pedestrian is obtained, and the distance d2 from the rear vehicle 301 to the front vehicle 302 can also be measured, so the distance d3 from the rear vehicle 301 to the pedestrian 303 is also obtained.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image obtained by the rear monitoring means of the front vehicle located in front of the host vehicle is received by inter-vehicle communication, and based on this image, the image is ahead of the host vehicle. The presence or absence of a certain moving object is detected by the detecting means.

  Therefore, a moving object such as a pedestrian in the monitoring area of the rear monitoring means of the vehicle ahead, which cannot be detected from the own vehicle in an area obstructed by an obstacle such as a parked vehicle on a roadside, a building, or an intersection with poor visibility, etc. Can be detected.

(Other embodiments)
In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, Other various embodiment and a modification are included. That is, the configuration related to the moving object detection device shown in the above embodiment is an example, and the present invention is not limited to this as long as it can detect a moving object as intended by the present invention.

  For example, the combination of the front monitoring unit and the rear monitoring unit is specifically illustrated with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, but other various sensor combinations may be used.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which two sensors, the first front monitoring sensor and the second front monitoring sensor, are described as the front monitoring unit. However, the front monitoring unit is, for example, one lane keeping camera or the like. Of course, it may be a sensor.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the image data image | photographed with the back monitoring means of the front vehicle shall be transmitted to a back vehicle by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the information transmitted to a back vehicle from a front vehicle is not restricted to image data. It may be information obtained by the rear monitoring means, or a part thereof (for example, difference data from the previously transmitted information). Further, in such image and information communication, various encoding methods may be used to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted.

  In addition, there is no particular restriction on the method of inter-vehicle communication (inter-vehicle communication) between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle, and various communication methods proposed in various documents (for example, 2.5 to 5 GHz band) Wireless communication to be used, DSRC (narrow band wireless communication, etc.) can be employed.

  Furthermore, in addition to the inter-vehicle communication, the communication between the front vehicle and the rear vehicle may be used in combination with other communication methods (for example, road sideband communication, road-vehicle communication, car navigation communication, etc.). Good.

1 is a partial perspective view showing an outline of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle moving object detection device according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the control structure regarding the moving object detection apparatus for vehicles of the vehicle of FIG. , , It is a figure explaining the example of the detection area of the moving object by two vehicles. It is a flowchart which shows the moving object detection process in a front vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the moving object detection process in a back vehicle. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the combination of the front detection means of a back vehicle, and the back monitoring means of a front vehicle. It is a figure explaining the example of the front view monitor image displayed on the front window of a back vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

10 vehicle 20 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Front monitoring means 22 Back monitoring means 24 GPS antenna 25 Gyro sensor 26 Inter-vehicle communication antenna 27 Pedestrian protection means 28 Alarm device 301 Rear vehicle 302 Front vehicle 303 Pedestrian 304 Obstacle 310 Front vehicle forward detection range 320 Front vehicle Rear detection range 330 Inter-vehicle communication

Claims (8)

A moving object detection device for a vehicle,
Vehicle-to-vehicle communication means for communicating information with a preceding vehicle located in front of the host vehicle;
Detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of a moving object ahead of the host vehicle based on information received by the inter-vehicle communication means;
The moving object detection device for a vehicle, wherein the received information includes information obtained by a rear monitoring unit that monitors a rear side region of the vehicle provided in the preceding vehicle. The own vehicle is provided with a forward monitoring means for monitoring a front side area of the vehicle,
2. The vehicle moving object according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects the presence or absence of the moving object based on at least one of the received information and information obtained from the front monitoring unit. Detection device.   The vehicle moving object detection device according to claim 2, wherein the front monitoring unit and the rear monitoring unit of the front vehicle are sensors having different detection performances.   Each of the front monitoring unit and the rear monitoring unit of the front vehicle is any one of a distance sensor capable of measuring a distance from an object, an image sensor capable of identifying an object, and an infrared sensor capable of identifying a warm body. The vehicle moving object detection device according to claim 2, wherein the moving object detection device is a vehicle moving object detection device.   The detection means detects the state of the moving object and determines the degree of risk based on information obtained continuously in time from at least one of the front monitoring means and the rear monitoring means of the preceding vehicle. The vehicle moving object detection device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein:   6. The information obtained by the rear monitoring means of the preceding vehicle is received by the inter-vehicle communication means when a moving object is detected from the information in the preceding vehicle. The moving object detection device for a vehicle according to claim 1.   The vehicle moving object detection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising vehicle specifying means for specifying the preceding vehicle from a relative position with respect to the host vehicle. The vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising danger avoiding means for operating at least one of an alarm device and a pedestrian protection device in response to detection of a moving object by the detecting means. Moving object detection device.

Images