JP2006337160A - Obstacle detection device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an obstacle detection device for a vehicle mountable on a vehicle more easily than hitherto, and reducing cost. <P>SOLUTION: In this obstacle detection device for the vehicle wherein sensors 7-14 with a plurality of operation functions detecting an obstacle, are bus-connected to an ECU 4 through a communication line 6, the ECU 4 is integrated with an information part (a display part 2, an alarm sound output part 3) in the same casing. Hereby, since wiring between the ECU 4 and the information part is omitted, and the number of component items is reduced, the cost is reduced and the device is installed easily on the vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle obstacle detection device that detects obstacles around a vehicle.

  As a conventional vehicle obstacle detection device, there is a vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG. In the vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG. 1A, a plurality of sensors for detecting an obstacle are installed at appropriate obstacle detection positions such as bumpers on the front and rear of the vehicle, and are star-connected to the ECU. Further, an alarm is also connected to the ECU, and the alarm is installed at a position where the driver can visually recognize (see FIG. 5A).

  When detecting an obstacle, the microcomputer in the ECU first switches the analog SW for transmission and the analog SW for reception to one of the sensor sides. Next, the transmission driver instructs the sensor to transmit a transmission wave such as an ultrasonic wave to the outside. Thereafter, the sensor that has transmitted the transmission wave receives a signal coming from the outside, amplifies the received signal, and transmits the amplified signal to the microcomputer. The received signal transmitted from the sensor is subjected to threshold determination in the ECU, and only the received signal that satisfies the threshold is input to the microcomputer. Then, the microcomputer calculates the distance from the obstacle based on the input received signal, and instructs the alarm to notify if the distance is equal to or less than a predetermined reference value. Thereafter, the microcomputer switches the analog SW to the other sensor side, and performs the same process on the other sensors to detect obstacles.

  On the other hand, the vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG. 4B is a vehicle obstacle detection device equivalent to that described in Patent Document 1, and is performed by the microcomputer when detecting the obstacle. Each sensor performs part of the calculation. That is, when detecting an obstacle, the microcomputer instructs each sensor to transmit a transmission wave to the outside. Receiving the instruction, each sensor transmits a transmission wave to the outside, receives a signal coming from the outside, and amplifies and filters the reception signal to remove signals other than the reflected wave of the transmission wave. Thereafter, the distance to the obstacle is digitally calculated based on the received signal and transmitted to the microcomputer. And a microcomputer will instruct | indicate to alert | report an alarm device, if the distance of the obstruction transmitted from the sensor is below a predetermined reference value.

Furthermore, in the vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG. 4B, each sensor is connected to the ECU via a bus, and communication between the ECU and each sensor is performed via the bus line, and FIG. Shows an example in which this vehicle obstacle detection device is installed in a vehicle.
Japanese Patent No. 3521892

  By the way, it is preferable that the electronic device installed in the vehicle has as few parts as possible and the number of wirings when installed from the viewpoints of time and labor for installation, securing of installation location, cost, and the like. However, when the electronic device is a vehicle obstacle detection device, the number of components is large, such as an ECU, a notification device, and a plurality of sensors, and the number of wirings increases accordingly (see FIG. 5). In particular, when the vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG. 5 (a) is used, each sensor is star-connected to the ECU, so the number of wires increases, and accordingly, installation takes time, and Cost will also increase. Moreover, since the alarm device used especially for retrofit goods is independently arrange | positioned around vehicle instrument panel, an alarm device and a wire are exposed. Therefore, it is extremely important to reduce the size of the exposed part and to make the line thin (line saving).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an obstacle detection device for a vehicle that can be installed in a vehicle more easily than before and can reduce costs. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the obstacle detection device for a vehicle according to claim 1 is installed at each predetermined position of the vehicle, and transmits a transmission wave to the outside based on an obstacle detection instruction signal. A plurality of sensors with a calculation function for calculating a distance from an obstacle based on the communication line connected by the plurality of sensors with a calculation function and a notification based on notification information that there is an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle And a notification unit that is connected to one end of the communication line and transmits the obstacle detection instruction signal to the plurality of sensors with calculation function via the communication line, and the calculation is performed from the sensor with calculation function. A vehicle obstacle detection device comprising: a control unit that receives a distance to an obstacle and transmits the notification information to the notification unit when the distance from the obstacle satisfies a notification reference value Before Wherein the control unit and the notification unit is characterized in that together with the same casing.

  Thereby, since the wiring between a notification part and a control part can be omitted, cost reduction can be aimed at. In addition, since the number of parts (housing) is reduced by integrating the notification unit and the control unit, it is possible to reduce the cost and reduce the installation effort. Since the sensors with arithmetic functions are used and the sensors are connected by bus, the control unit is smaller than the control unit (see FIG. 4A) when the sensors are star-connected. . Therefore, even if the notification unit and the control unit are integrated, the housing is not so large.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle obstacle detection device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of an ECU built-in alarm device 1 and a sensor with an arithmetic function in FIG. 1, and FIG. It is the figure which showed an example which installed the obstacle detection apparatus for vehicles in the vehicle.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the obstacle detection device for a vehicle according to the present embodiment includes an ECU built-in alarm 1 and sensors 7 to 7 connected to a communication line, a power line, and a GND line drawn from the ECU built-in alarm 1. 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the ECU built-in alarm 1 includes an ECU 4, a display unit 2 connected to the ECU 4, and a warning sound output unit 3. The ECU 4 further includes a microcomputer 4a, a line driver 4b, and a line receiver 4c. ing. As shown in FIG. 1, the display unit 2 is provided on the surface of the ECU built-in alarm device 1, and includes a figure 2 b indicating a vehicle and a plurality of LEDs 2 a installed around the figure 2 b. Therefore, the driver can recognize where the obstacle is with respect to the vehicle by the lit LED 2a.

  On the other hand, the sensor 7 with an arithmetic function includes a line receiver 7a, a line driver 7b, a protocol control unit 7c, a transmission circuit 7d, a microphone 7e, an amplification circuit 7f, and a filter 7h. Other sensors 8 to 14 with a calculation function are configured similarly. These sensors 7 to 14 with calculation functions are installed at appropriate obstacle detection positions such as front and rear bumpers of the vehicle. In this embodiment, ultrasonic sensors are used as the sensors 7 to 14 with calculation functions. Further, IDs are set for the sensors 7 to 14 with calculation functions, and the microcomputer 4 a and the sensors 7 to 14 with calculation functions can communicate individually via the communication line 6.

  When detecting an obstacle around the vehicle, the microcomputer 4 a first transmits an ultrasonic transmission instruction signal to the sensors 7 to 14 with calculation functions via the line driver 4 b and the communication line 6. The sensor with arithmetic function 7 receives this ultrasonic transmission instruction signal by the line receiver 7a, decodes it by the protocol control unit 7c, and outputs a transmission command to the transmission circuit 7d. The transmission circuit 7d generates an ultrasonic pulse having a predetermined frequency (for example, 40 kHz) and outputs it to the microphone 7e. Then, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the outside from the microphone 7e. If this ultrasonic wave is reflected by an obstacle in the detection area, this reflected wave is received by the microphone 7e. This received signal is amplified by the amplifying circuit 7f, and frequency components other than the reflected wave are removed by the filter 7g. Thereafter, when the magnitude of the received signal is larger than a predetermined reference value, the distance calculation unit 7c converts the time from when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted until the reflected wave is received into the distance. Then, the protocol control unit 7 transmits this distance information to the microcomputer 4a via the line driver 7b and the communication line 6. The other sensors 8 to 14 with calculation functions similarly perform obstacle detection, and distance information of the obstacles detected by each of them is transmitted to the microcomputer 4a.

  If the distance information of the obstacles sent from the sensors 7 to 14 with the calculation functions is the distance to be notified, the microcomputer 4a transmits the notification information to the display unit 2 and the warning sound output unit 3, and the LED 2a Is turned on and a warning sound is output to inform the driver that there is an obstacle around the vehicle. In addition, since the microcomputer 4a can communicate with each sensor 7-14 with a calculation function separately, it has recognized from which sensor 7-14 with the calculation function the distance information of the received obstruction was sent. Therefore, the notification information transmitted to the display device 2 includes information instructing which LED 2a is to be lit.

  In this way, the sensors 7 to 14 with arithmetic functions are provided with an arithmetic function for detecting an obstacle, and the communication between the microcomputer 4a and the sensors 7 to 14 with arithmetic functions is performed on the same communication line 6. Therefore, the ECU 4 is smaller than the ECU of the conventional vehicle obstacle detection device shown in FIG. Accordingly, the ECU built-in alarm device 1 in which the ECU 4, the display unit 2, and the warning sound output unit 3 are integrated can be realized in the same size as a conventional alarm device.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example in which this vehicle obstacle detection device is installed in a vehicle, but the number of wirings is larger than that when a conventional vehicle obstacle detection device is installed in a vehicle (see FIG. 5). Since it is less, cost can be reduced. Further, since there is no need to provide a casing for the ECU, the cost can be reduced correspondingly, and the number of parts to be installed in the vehicle can be reduced, so that it can be easily installed in the vehicle.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the obstacle detection apparatus for vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the alarm device 1 with a built-in ECU of FIG. 1, and a sensor with a calculation function. It is the figure which showed an example which installed the obstacle detection apparatus for vehicles of FIG. 1 in the vehicle. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the conventional vehicle obstacle detection apparatus. It is the figure which showed an example which installed the obstacle detection apparatus for vehicles of FIG. 4 in the vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

1 ECU built-in alarm 2 Display unit 3 Warning sound output unit 4 ECU
6 Communication line 7-14 Sensor with calculation function

Claims (1)

A sensor with a plurality of calculation functions installed at each predetermined position of the vehicle, each transmitting a transmission wave based on an obstacle detection instruction signal and calculating a distance from the obstacle based on the reflected wave;
A communication line on which the plurality of sensors with arithmetic functions are connected by bus;
An informing unit for informing that there is an obstacle in the vicinity of the vehicle based on the informing information;
The obstacle detection instruction signal is transmitted to the plurality of sensors with a calculation function via the communication line connected to one end of the communication line, and the calculated distance from the sensor with the calculation function In the vehicle obstacle detection device comprising: a control unit that transmits the notification information to the notification unit when the distance to the obstacle satisfies a reference value for notification;
The vehicle obstacle detection device, wherein the notification unit and the control unit are integrated in the same casing.

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