JP2007003286A - Detection system of own vehicle position, navigation system, reduction control system, and detection method of own vehicle position - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly decide whether one's own vehicle has entered a branch road at a branch point and properly correct the present position of one's own vehicle recognized by a navigation system. <P>SOLUTION: The line type of road white lines on the right and left sides is decided on the basis of photographed information by a monocular camera 4. When a branch point leading to an interchange exit is detected ahead of the one's own vehicle on the basis of road map information ahead of the one's own vehicle from the navigation system 2, either one of the road white lines on the right and left sides is detected to be a thick broken line characteristic of a boundary of the branch point(steps S21, S25), and thereafter the other road white line is detected to be a thick broken line (steps S22, S26), it is decided that the one's own vehicle has traveled across the boundary, that is, it has entered the branch road off the main road (steps S23, S27). When detected that it has traveled across the boundary, a position correction is requested from the navigation system 2, which corrects the present position of the one's own vehicle to a position in the vicinity of the boundary of the branch point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a host vehicle position detection device that detects the position of the host vehicle in the vicinity of a branch path of the host vehicle, a navigation device and a deceleration control device using the same, and a host vehicle position detection method.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a navigation device that detects the current position of a host vehicle by GPS positioning or the like and displays the current position of the host vehicle on a road map based on road map data stored in advance in a storage medium. Proposed.
When the road map data includes lane number information, the actual lane number is detected by a camera mounted on the host vehicle, and the detected lane number is compared with the lane number information included in the road map data. By determining that the vehicle is on a road with the same number of lanes, for example, when there is a ground road and an elevated road on the road, there are multiple roads at the same latitude and light point. Even in such a case, by comparing the number of lanes of these roads with the number of detected lanes, it is possible to accurately determine which road the vehicle is on, and the current position of the vehicle on the road map. There has also been proposed a vehicle position detection device that corrects a position detection error due to GPS positioning or the like by correcting (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-300494

  As described above, when the lane number position of the host vehicle is corrected based on the lane number information, for example, at a branch point such as an exit from the main road of the expressway, the main line is two lanes and the branch road is one lane. In a road environment where the number of lanes after branching is different, whether the vehicle is traveling on the main line from the number of lanes detected by the camera and the lane number information stored as road map data. It is effective because it can accurately determine whether the road has been reached.

However, if the number of lanes on the main line and the number of lanes on the branch road are the same, it is difficult to determine from the number of lanes whether the host vehicle is traveling on the main line or the branch road. There is a problem that the current position cannot be corrected.
Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to the above-mentioned conventional unsolved problems, and accurately detects whether or not the own vehicle has advanced to the branch road when there is a branch road on the running road. It is an object of the present invention to provide an own vehicle position detection device, a navigation device and a deceleration control device using the same, and an own vehicle position detection method.

  In order to achieve the above object, an own vehicle position detection device according to the present invention detects a left and right road white line based on a captured image captured by an imaging means, and the host vehicle is located in a predetermined region on the left and right including the road white line. It is detected whether there is a feature point provided near the branch point of the front branch road, the branch detection means detects that the branch road is in front of the host vehicle, and any one of the left and right road white lines After the feature point is detected only on one road white line side and then the feature point is detected only on the other road white line side, it is determined that the host vehicle has entered the branch road. When it is determined that the host vehicle has entered the branch road, the host vehicle is determined to be located at the boundary position to the branch path, and the current position of the host vehicle is detected based on the known position information of the branch point. .

  The host vehicle position detection device according to the present invention is configured such that when it is determined that the host vehicle has entered the branch road on the basis of a captured image obtained by imaging a road that is running, the host vehicle is positioned at a boundary position to the branch road. Since the current position of the host vehicle is detected based on the known position information of the branching point, the current position of the host vehicle can be easily and accurately detected and determined based on the actual captured image. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect whether or not the vehicle has entered a branch point.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
First, a first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a vehicle equipped with a navigation device to which the present invention is applied.
In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a navigation device for detecting the road shape ahead of the host vehicle, which includes a positioning unit 2a for measuring the current position of the host vehicle by performing GPS positioning, a storage unit 2b storing road map information, Based on the display processing unit 2c that displays road map information around the current position of the host vehicle on the display means and the current position of the host vehicle on the map, and a position correction request flag Fr from the controller 10 described later. And a position correction unit 2d for correcting the current position of the vehicle. The display processing unit 2c stores node information (Xn, Yn, Ln) of each node in a predetermined predetermined section ahead of the host vehicle corresponding to the current position of the host vehicle measured by the positioning unit 2a. Obtained from the road map information stored in. The node information includes node position information (Xn, Yn), a distance Ln from the host vehicle to the node, and link information. The link information includes information indicating connection between nodes, a link to a lamp or a junction, and the like. “N” is an identifier for identifying each node.

The position correction unit 2d receives a position correction request flag Fr from the controller 10, and corrects the current position of the host vehicle when the position correction request flag Fr is "1".
In the figure, reference numeral 4 denotes a monocular camera as imaging means, and imaging information of the monocular camera 4 is input to the camera controller 5. The camera controller 5 detects the road white line ahead of the host vehicle and predetermined road marking information based on the imaging information, extracts the line type of the road white line and the feature points of the road marking information, Output to the controller 10.

Here, the case where the monocular camera 4 mounted on the front part of the host vehicle is applied as the imaging means has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a rear view camera can be applied. Can be applied as long as it is a means capable of detecting a road white line and road marking information in front of the host vehicle.
In FIG. 1, 1FL and 1FR are left and right front wheels, 1RL and 1RR are left and right rear wheels, and 21 is a steering wheel.

  In the controller 10, based on the current position information of the own vehicle from the navigation device 2 and road map information ahead of the own vehicle, the line type of the road white line from the camera controller 5 and the feature points of the road marking information, the branch road approach The detection process is executed, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle traveling on the expressway has proceeded to the branch road at the branch point to the interchange exit, and the position correction request flag Fr is set according to the determination result. Output to the navigation device 2.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the branch path entry detection process executed by the controller 10. This branch path entry detection process is executed by an interrupt process every predetermined period.
The controller 10 first reads various data from the navigation device 2 and the camera controller 5 in the process of step S1.
Specifically, the navigation device 2 reads the current position (X0, Y0) of the host vehicle and road node information (Xn, Yn, Ln) within a predetermined range ahead of the host vehicle. In addition, link information including information indicating connection between nodes and a link to a lamp or a junction is read.

  And based on these information, the branch flag Fdiv showing whether the branch point to the interchange exit of a highway is ahead of the own vehicle is set. That is, when there is a branch point to the interchange exit, the branch flag Fdiv is set to “1”. This branch flag Fdiv is set so that Fdiv = 1 while the host vehicle exists between a point La [m] before the branch point on the main line and a point on the branch road that has advanced Lb [m] from the branch point. It is configured to be settable. That is, when there is a branch point, the own vehicle is only a distance Lb from the branch point on the branch road from a point just before the distance La from the branch point based on the position information of the branch point and the current position information of the own vehicle. It is determined whether or not the vehicle is in the section up to the advanced point. If the vehicle does not exist in the section, the branch flag Fdiv is set to “0” regardless of the presence or absence of the branch point and exists in the section. Only in this case, the branch flag Fdiv is set according to the presence / absence of a branch point.

The distance La [m] before the branch point is normally set to a value corresponding to this taxiway setting section because a taxiway is set near the branch point to the expressway and the interchange exit. Further, the distance Lb [m] on the branch road side is a value set in consideration of an error due to GPS positioning and an error in the road map information of the vehicle due to map accuracy.
In addition, the search for the interchange exit may be made based on, for example, the link type of the road map information, and a ramp link, a junction, or the like may be searched and the presence or absence of a branch point to the interchange exit may be set based on this search. Further, for example, the presence or absence of a branch point to the interchange exit may be associated with the node information as road map information, and the determination may be made based on the node information.

The branch flag Fdiv is not limited to the case where the branch path exists on the right side or the left side, but is set to “1” when there is a branch point, and “ Set to 0 ”.
The controller 10 further reads from the camera controller 5 the determination result of the left white line type and the determination result of the right white line type of the road on which the vehicle is traveling. The camera controller 5 detects, as the type of white line, a solid line, a broken line, and a thick broken line representing the boundary line L between the main road of the expressway and the branch road to the interchange exit as shown in FIG.
Next, the process proceeds to step S2, where an exit determination process described later is performed. When there is a branch point to the interchange exit of the expressway ahead of the host vehicle, the host vehicle is moved to the branch road side using the line type discrimination result of the road white line. Determine if you have advanced.

Next, the process proceeds to step S3, and if it is determined that the host vehicle has advanced to the branch road as a result of the exit determination process in step S2, the position correction request flag Fr is set to “1” for the navigation device 2. Output as. The navigation device 2 also outputs information that can identify the branch road on which the host vehicle has traveled. At this time, when the branch road is, for example, a road with a plurality of lanes, it may be determined which lane the host vehicle has entered from the imaging information, and this information may also be notified. Then, the branch path entry detection process in FIG. 2 is terminated.
On the other hand, if it is not determined that the host vehicle has advanced to the branch road as a result of the exit determination process in step S2, the position correction request flag Fr is output as “0”. Then, the branch path entry detection process in FIG. 2 is terminated.

  4 and 5 are flowcharts showing an example of the processing procedure of the exit determination processing in step S2. In this exit determination process, after performing a boundary line detection process for determining whether or not a boundary line at a branch point has been detected in the process procedure shown in FIG. 4, the host vehicle moves on the boundary line in the process procedure shown in FIG. A passage determination process is performed to determine whether or not the vehicle has passed, that is, whether or not the host vehicle has taken a branch road.

  In the boundary line detection process of FIG. 4, first, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the branch flag Fdiv is set to “1”. When the branch flag Fdiv is not “1”, that is, when there is no branch point to the interchange exit ahead of the host vehicle, the process proceeds to step S12, and the boundary detection flag Flin is set to “0”. Then, the process ends. The boundary detection flag Flin is a flag that takes three states of “0”, “1”, and “2”.

On the other hand, when the branch flag Fdiv is “1” in step S11, that is, when it is determined that there is a branch point to the interchange exit ahead of the host vehicle, the process proceeds to step S13, and the boundary detection flag Flin is “0”. It is determined whether or not. Then, when the boundary line detection flag Flin is not “0”, the process is ended as it is. When the boundary line detection flag Flin is “0”, the process proceeds to step S14.
In this step S14, the line type result of the left white line detected by the camera controller 5 is a thick broken line, that is, as shown in FIG. 3, the boundary line between the main road of the highway and the branch road to the interchange exit side. It is determined whether or not it is a thick broken line that means L.

  When it is determined that the left white line is a thick broken line, it is determined that the host vehicle has reached the branch point, the process proceeds to step S15, and the boundary detection flag Flin is set to “1”. When it is not determined that the left white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S16, and then it is determined whether the right white line is determined to be a thick broken line. When it is determined that the right white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S17, and the boundary detection flag Flin is set to “2”. Then, the process ends. On the other hand, when it is determined that the right-hand white line is not a thick broken line, the processing is terminated as it is.

  That is, in this boundary line detection process, when there is no branch point to the interchange exit ahead of the host vehicle, the boundary line detection flag Flin is set to “0”, the branch point exists ahead of the host vehicle, and the white line on the left side is a thick broken line When it is determined that there is a branch road to the interchange exit on the left side of the host vehicle, the boundary detection flag Flin is “1”, the white line on the right side is a thick broken line, and the branch path to the interchange exit is on the right side of the host vehicle. When it is determined that there is, the boundary detection flag Flin is set to “2”.

If the boundary detection flag Flin is set in this way, the passage determination process of FIG. 5 is executed.
First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the boundary line detection flag Flin is “1”, that is, whether or not the left road white line is a thick broken line. When the left road white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S22 to determine whether the right road white line is a thick broken line. If the right road white line is not a thick broken line, the processing is terminated as it is. If the right road white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S23, the boundary line passing flag Fcros is set to “1”, and step S24 is performed. After the boundary line detection flag Flin is set to “0”, the processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the boundary detection flag Flin is not “1” in the processing of step S21, that is, when the left road white line is not a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S25, and whether or not the boundary detection flag Flin is “2”. That is, it is determined whether the right road white line is a thick broken line. If the right road white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S26 to determine whether the left road white line is a thick broken line. If the left road white line is not a thick broken line, the process ends. If the left road white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds to step S27, where the boundary line passing flag Fcros is set to “1”, and step S28 is performed. Then, the boundary line detection flag Flin is set to “0”, and the processing ends.

When the boundary detection flag Flin is not “2” in step S25, that is, the boundary detection flag Flin is not “1” or “2”, and the road white lines on the right side and the left side of the own vehicle are both thick. If it is not a broken line, the process proceeds to step S29, and the boundary line passing flag Fcros is set to “0”.
That is, in the processing from step S21 to step S23, after the left road white line becomes a thick broken line, it is determined whether the right road white line becomes a thick broken line. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle straddles the thick broken line as the boundary line L representing the boundary marked on the road at the branch point to the interchange exit from the right side to the left side. Therefore, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has advanced to a branch road that branches from the main line to the left.

  Similarly, in the processing from step S25 to step S27, after the right road white line becomes a thick broken line, it is determined whether the left road white line becomes a thick broken line. This is equivalent to judging whether the vehicle straddles the thick broken line on the road at the branch point to the interchange exit from the left side to the right side. Judgment is made as to whether or not the road has branched off.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.
In the host vehicle running on the expressway, the navigation device 2 detects the current position of the host vehicle, extracts road map information of a predetermined area ahead of the host vehicle, and displays the current position of the host vehicle on the road map. The route guidance is given to the driver, and the current position of the host vehicle and the road map information around it are output to the controller 10. Further, the camera controller 5 processes the imaging information of the monocular camera 4, detects the left and right road white lines, determines the type, and outputs the determination result to the controller 10.

  The controller 10 reads various data from the navigation device 2 and the camera controller 5, and sets the branch flag Fdiv to “0” when it is determined from the road map information that there is no branch point to the interchange exit ahead of the host vehicle. To do. Therefore, the process proceeds from step S11 in FIG. 4 to step S12, and the boundary detection flag Flin is set to “0”. Therefore, in the passage determination process in FIG. 5, the process proceeds from step S21 to step S25 to step S29. The boundary line passage flag Fcros is set to “0”. Since the boundary passage flag Fcros is “0”, the position correction request flag Fr is output to the navigation device 2 as “0”. The position correction unit 2d of the navigation device 2 does not correct the position of the host vehicle because the position correction request flag Fr is set to “0” and no correction request is made.

  From this state, when the branch point to the interchange exit is detected in front of the host vehicle and the host vehicle reaches a point of La [m] before the branch point, the branch flag is processed in step S1 of FIG. Fdiv is set to “1”. For this reason, the process proceeds from step S11 in FIG. 4 to step S14 through step S13, but the own vehicle has not reached the branch point to the interchange exit, and any of the left and right road white lines detected by the camera controller 5 If it is not a thick broken line, the process is terminated from step S16, and the branch flag Fdiv continues to be “0”.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3, when the own vehicle reaches the vicinity of the branch point to the interchange exit where the left side branches, and the camera controller 5 detects the thick broken line (boundary line L) on the left side of the road, The process proceeds from step S13 to step S15 through step S14, and the boundary line detection flag Flin is set to “1”. Therefore, the process proceeds from step S21 in FIG. 5 to step S22, but when the host vehicle does not pass over the thick broken line, the white road on the right side becomes a solid line or a thin broken line corresponding to the lane line. From this, the boundary line passing flag Fcros maintains “0”, and when the host vehicle changes its direction in the direction of the branch road in order to proceed to the branch road, the imaging range of the monocular camera 4 changes accordingly, and the right road white line As a result, a thick broken line marked on the left side of the main line is detected. Therefore, since it is detected that the right road white line is a thick broken line, the process proceeds from step S22 in FIG. 5 to step S23, the boundary line passing flag Fcros is set to “1”, and the boundary line detection flag Flin is set in step S24. Is set to “0”.

Therefore, the position correction request flag Fr is output to the navigation device 2 as “1” in the process of step S3 of FIG.
The correction unit 2d of the navigation device 2 corrects the current position of the host vehicle because the position correction request flag Fr is “1”. Here, when the position correction request flag Fr becomes “1”, that is, when the own vehicle passes across the boundary line to the interchange exit, that is, the thick broken line, the position correction request flag Fr is “ When the vehicle is switched to 1 ″, the host vehicle is positioned in the vicinity of the boundary line of the branch point. Therefore, the current position of the host vehicle held by the navigation device 2 is corrected to a point near the boundary line of the branch point to the interchange exit.

  In this way, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has traveled on the branch road by determining whether or not the host vehicle has crossed the boundary line of the branch point based on the actual imaging information captured by the monocular camera 4. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a highly reliable judgment result and to correct the current position of the host vehicle held by the navigation device 2 at the timing when it is detected that the boundary line of this branching point has been crossed. Thus, the current position of the host vehicle can be accurately corrected.

In particular, since the position of a known boundary line, that is, whether or not the vehicle has passed a branch point, is determined, the current position can be further improved by correcting the position of the host vehicle at the timing when it is determined that the vehicle has passed the boundary line. While being able to correct | amend correctly, the display position of the own vehicle on a road map can also be set as the display content according to actually.
In the first embodiment, the case has been described in which it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has advanced to the branch road side by determining whether or not the thick broken line is straddled. However, the present invention is not limited to this. .

  For example, since the zebra zone Z is normally marked at the branch point to the interchange exit as shown in FIG. 3, the zebra zone Z is defined as a feature point representing the characteristics of the branch point. Is detected from the imaging information, and when the zebra zone Z is switched from a state where the zebra zone Z is detected on one side of the host vehicle to a state where the zebra zone Z is detected on the other side, the host vehicle You may make it judge that it advanced to. In short, it is a feature point provided near the branch point, and when the host vehicle advances to the branch path, the feature point from the host vehicle is switched from one side to the other side. Any feature point that can be determined that the vehicle has advanced to the branch road at the branch point can be applied.

Moreover, in the above embodiment, the case where it is determined whether or not the vehicle has proceeded to the branch road at the branch point to the interchange exit of the highway has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a service area, a parking area, etc. The present invention can be applied to a thick broken line indicating a boundary line with a branch road such as a branch point to or a branch point where a zebra zone is marked.
In addition, not only on expressways, but also feature points provided near the branching point, when the host vehicle advances to the branching path, the feature point from the host vehicle is viewed from one side to the other side. This is a feature point that switches to the side, and can be applied to any branch point where a feature point that can be determined that the vehicle has advanced to the branch road at the branch point is marked.

  In the first embodiment, it is determined whether the line type of both the left road white line and the right road white line is a thick broken line in the processes of steps S14 and S16 in FIG. However, for example, as node information from the navigation device 2, information on whether there is a branch road in the right or left direction of the main line is also acquired, and only for the road white line on the side where the branch road exists It may be determined whether the line type is a thick broken line.

Here, in the first embodiment, the monocular camera 4 corresponds to the imaging unit, the process of setting the branch flag Fdiv in the process of step S1 of FIG. 2 corresponds to the branch detection unit, and step S2 of FIG. The processing for determining whether or not the line type of the left and right road white lines is a thick broken line in the boundary line detection processing in FIG. 4 and the passage determination processing in FIG. 5 corresponds to the feature point detection means. Steps S21 and S22, and steps S25 and S26 of the passage determination process correspond to the branch path entry detection means.
Further, the positioning unit 2a of the navigation device 2 corresponds to the own vehicle position measuring unit, the storage unit 2b and the display processing unit 2c correspond to the information providing unit, and the position correcting unit 2d corresponds to the correcting unit.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the second embodiment, the basic configuration shown in FIG. 1 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and a detailed description of the same part is omitted.
In the second embodiment, the camera controller 5 detects left and right road white lines in the same procedure as in the first embodiment, determines the white line type, and as shown in FIG. The lateral distance Xr from the right white line to the center of the host vehicle and the lateral distance Xl from the left white line to the center of the host vehicle are detected, and the detection results are output to the controller 10. Here, the road width W is set to a road design value (about 3.3 [m]). Further, the lateral distances Xr and Xl are values that take positive values when the host vehicle is running on the right side with respect to the white line. For example, in the case of FIG. 6, Xr <0 and Xl> 0.

The basic flow of the branch path entry detection process executed by the controller 10 is the same as the process of FIG. 2 in the first embodiment. That is, first, various data are input from the navigation device 2 and the camera controller 5 and the branch flag Fdiv is set (step S1). Subsequently, the exit determination is performed (step S2), and then the exit determination process is performed according to the processing result. The position correction request flag Fr is output to the navigation device 2 (step S3).
In the second embodiment, the controller 10 inputs the white line type of the left and right road white lines from the camera controller 5 and further calculates the distances Xr and Xl from the left and right road white lines to the center of the host vehicle. input.

Moreover, in this 2nd Embodiment, an exit determination process is performed in the process sequence shown in FIG.
First, in step S31, it is determined whether or not the branch flag Fdiv is set to “1”. When the branch flag Fdiv is “1” and there is a branch point to the interchange exit ahead of the host vehicle, the process proceeds to step S32, and the host vehicle is located on the leftmost side based on the travel lane information from the camera controller 5. It is determined whether the vehicle is traveling in the left lane, that is, the leftmost lane. This determination is performed based on, for example, the white line type of the left and right road white lines.For example, when the left white line is a solid line and the right white line is a broken line, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the left lane, and conversely the left white line is a broken line. When the right white line is a solid line, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in the rightmost lane.

  When the host vehicle is traveling in the leftmost lane, the process proceeds to step S33, and it is determined whether or not the lateral distance Xr from the right white line to the center of the host vehicle is smaller than the road width “−W” (Xr <−W). To do. When Xr <−W is satisfied, the vehicle center of the host vehicle is located at a point separated from the right-hand white line by the travel lane width “W” or more, and the host vehicle protrudes more than half from the left end lane. In other words, this is a state beyond the boundary line of the branch point, and it is determined that it is possible to consider that the vehicle has proceeded to the left branch road from the main line, the process proceeds to step S34, and the boundary line passage flag Fcros is set to “1”. Set to "". Then, the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the lateral distance Xr from the right white line to the vehicle center is equal to or larger than the road width “−W” in the process of step S33, the vehicle center of the vehicle is a point within the travel lane width “W” from the right white line. That is, it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling in the leftmost lane, and the process proceeds to step S35 to set the boundary line passing flag Fcros to “0”. Then, the process ends.

  If it is not determined in step S32 that the host vehicle is traveling in the leftmost lane, the process proceeds to step S36, and this time, whether the host vehicle is traveling in the rightmost lane, that is, the rightmost lane. Judging. If it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling in the rightmost lane, the process proceeds to step S37. This time, the lateral distance Xl from the left white line to the vehicle center of the host vehicle is greater than the road width “W”. It is determined whether it is large (Xl> W). When Xl> W is satisfied, the vehicle center of the host vehicle is located at a point that is more than the driving lane width “W” from the left white line, and the host vehicle protrudes more than half from the right end lane. It is judged that it is possible to consider that the vehicle has crossed the boundary line of the point and has proceeded from the main line to the right branch road, and the process proceeds to step S38, where the boundary line passage flag Fcros is set to “1”. Then, the process ends.

  On the other hand, when the lateral distance Xl from the left white line to the own vehicle center is equal to or less than the road width “W” in the process of step S37, the vehicle center of the own vehicle is at a point within the travel lane width “W” from the right white line. In other words, it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling in the rightmost lane, the process proceeds to step S35, and the boundary passage flag Fcros is set to “0”. Then, the process ends.

  In step S36, when the host vehicle is not traveling in the rightmost lane, that is, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling in any lane between the lanes at both ends, that is, neither the leftmost lane nor the rightmost lane is traveling. When it is determined that the vehicle driver is not willing to proceed to the branch road, the process proceeds to step S39, and the boundary line passing flag Fcros is set to “0”. When the branch flag Fdiv is “0” in step S31, there is no branch point in front of the host vehicle, so the process proceeds to step S39 and the boundary passage flag Fcros is set to “0”. finish.

  If the exit determination is made in this way (step S2), the position correction request flag Fr is set according to the boundary line passage flag Fcros (step S3). That is, if the boundary line passage flag Fcros is “1”, the position correction request flag Fr is set to “1” to instruct the navigation device 2 to perform position correction, and if the boundary line passage flag Fcros is “0”. For example, the position correction request flag Fr is set to “0”, and the navigation apparatus 2 is not instructed to correct the position.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, when the vehicle is traveling in the right end lane or the left end lane, it is determined which position in the right end lane or the left end lane the host vehicle is traveling. When the center of the vehicle is traveling in the rightmost lane, the distance from the white line on the left side to the center of the vehicle exceeding the road width “W” when traveling in the leftmost lane In addition, it is judged that the vehicle has crossed the boundary line of the branch point and has advanced to the branch road. Therefore, in this case as well, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the own vehicle has entered the branch path at the branch point, and can easily determine from the position information. Also in this case, based on the actual vehicle position obtained from the imaging information, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has proceeded to the branch road. Since the position correction request is made to the navigation device 2, the navigation device 2 indicates the current position of the host vehicle held by the navigation device 2 when the position correction request is made. By correcting to the vicinity, the position display of the host vehicle on the road map can be accurately corrected according to the actual travel position.

Further, as described above, since it is determined whether or not the host vehicle has traveled on the branch road based on the travel position of the host vehicle with respect to the road white line, a thick broken line is used at the branch point as in the first embodiment. Even if no branch point feature points such as a boundary line or a zebra zone are laid, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle has proceeded to the branch path.
Here, in the second embodiment, the monocular camera 4 corresponds to the imaging means, and the process of calculating the distances Xr and Xl from the left and right road white lines to the center of the host vehicle by the camera controller 5 is the road white line detection means. In the exit determination process of FIG. 7, the process of setting the branch flag Fdiv in the process of step S1 of FIG. 2 corresponds to the branch detection unit, and is executed in step S2 of FIG. This process corresponds to the travel lane detection means, and the processes in steps S33 and S37 correspond to the branch road entry detection means.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the third embodiment, in the second embodiment, for some reason, the camera controller 5 cannot capture the road white line and the lateral distances Xr and Xl cannot be obtained. Even so, it is possible to detect whether or not the vehicle has advanced to a branch road.
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a vehicle equipped with the navigation device in the third embodiment. In the configuration diagram of FIG. 1 in the first embodiment, the yaw rate sensor 8 and the vehicle speed sensor 9 are shown. It is added. Detection signals from the yaw rate sensor 8 and the vehicle speed sensor 9 are input to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 performs data correction such as drift correction and noise removal on the detection signal of the yaw rate sensor 8, and then performs processing based on the corrected yaw rate detection value.

  The navigation 2 is configured in the same manner as in each of the above embodiments, and the camera controller 5 detects the left and right road white lines on the basis of the imaging information of the monocular camera 4 and, as shown in FIG. Similarly to the embodiment, the lateral distance Xr from the white line on the right side to the vehicle center and the lateral distance Xl from the left lane to the vehicle center of the host vehicle are calculated, and the yaw angle Θ of the host vehicle with respect to the travel lane is calculated. calculate. Further, when the road white line cannot be captured, the capture impossible flag Fcam is output as “1”.

The controller 10 executes the branch path entry detection process shown in FIG. 10 at a predetermined cycle. The basic flow of this branch path entry detection process is the same as the branch path entry detection process of FIG. 2 in the first embodiment, but in this third embodiment, the navigation device 2 and the camera controller 5 Then, after inputting various data from the yaw rate sensor 8 and the vehicle speed sensor 9 and setting the branching fluff Fdiv (step S1a), the process proceeds to step S1b to execute a lateral distance estimation process. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2a, where an exit determination is made, and a position correction request flag Fr is output to the navigation device 2 according to the result of the exit determination (step S3).
Specifically, the controller 10 inputs the white line type of the left and right road white lines from the camera controller 5, and further, distances Xr and Xl from the left and right white lines to the center of the own vehicle, the travel lane information of the own vehicle, the yaw The angle Θ and the capture impossible flag Fcam are input (step S1a).

Next, the process proceeds to step S1b, and lateral distance estimation processing is performed in the procedure shown in FIG.
First, in step S41, the capture impossible flag Fcam is referred to, and it is determined whether or not it is set to “1”. If the capture impossible flag Fcam is set to “0” and the camera controller 5 is in a state in which the left and right road white lines can be satisfactorily detected based on the imaging information of the monocular camera 4, the process proceeds to step S42. Then, the yaw angle Θ detected by the camera controller 5 is set as the current value θ of the yaw angle, and is set as the previous value θz of the yaw angle. Further, the yaw rate detection value φ from the yaw rate sensor 8 is set as the previous yaw rate value φ0. Further, the left and right lateral distances Xr and Xl from the camera controller 5 are set as the previous values xrz and xlz of the lateral distance estimated values xr and xl. Then, the process proceeds to step S45.

In this step S45, the X-axis direction component Vx of the vehicle speed V when the traveling lane direction is the X-axis and the current lateral distance estimated values xr and xl are calculated according to the following equation (1), and the X-axis of the vehicle speed is calculated. The previous value Vxz of the direction component Vx is assumed.
Vx = V × sin θ × Δt
xr = xrz + [(Vxz + Vx) / 2] × Δt
xl = xlz + [(Vxz + Vx) / 2] × Δt
Vxz = Vx (1)
In the equation (1), Δt is a sampling time.
When various variables are calculated in this way, the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the capture impossible flag Fcam is “1” in step S41 and the camera controller 5 cannot detect the left and right road white lines of the driving lane for some reason, the process proceeds from step S41 to step S43. Then, the lateral distance estimated values xr and xl at the present time are set as the previous values xrz and xlz of the estimated lateral distance, and the yaw angle is calculated from the following equation (2) using the yaw rate detected value φ and the previous yaw rate value φ0. This time the value θ is calculated.
θ = θz + (φ−φ0) × Δt (2)
Then, the process proceeds to step S45, where various variables are calculated, and the process ends.
In this way, if the lateral distance estimation process is performed in step S1b, the process proceeds to step S2a to determine the exit.

  This exit determination is performed in accordance with the processing procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12. First, in step S51, it is determined whether or not the branch flag Fdiv is “1”. It is determined that there is a branch point to the exit, and the process proceeds to step S52. In this step S52, it is determined whether or not the capture impossible flag Fcam is “1”. If it is set to “0”, it is determined that the left and right road white lines can be detected satisfactorily. Thereafter, the same processing as the processing from step S32 to step S38 in FIG. 7 of the third embodiment is performed, and the host vehicle is traveling in the leftmost lane (step S53) and the host vehicle If the lateral distance Xr from the center white road white line is smaller than the road width “−W” (step S54), it is determined that the host vehicle has traveled on the left branch road, and the host vehicle travels in the right end lane. If the lateral distance Xl from the left road white line at the vehicle center of the host vehicle is smaller than the road width “W” (step S58), it is determined that the host vehicle has traveled to the right branch road. Then, the boundary line passage flag Fcros is set to “1” (steps S55 and S59). Otherwise, it is determined that the vehicle has not advanced to the branch path, and the boundary line passage flag Fcros is set to “0” (step S56). ).

  If the exit presence / absence flag Fout is “0” in step S51 and there is no interchange exit in front of the host vehicle, the process proceeds to step S60 as it is, and the boundary passage flag Fcros is set to “0”. If it is determined in step S57 that the host vehicle is not traveling in the rightmost lane, it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling in the driving lane from the center, the process proceeds to step S60, and the boundary pass flag Fcros is set to “0”. Set to "".

  On the other hand, if the capture impossible flag Fcam is set to “1” in step S52 and the camera controller 5 cannot capture the road white line for some reason, the process proceeds to step S53a. The processing from step S53a to step S60a is performed in the same procedure as the processing from step S53 to step S60. In this case, the capture impossible flag Fcam is set to “1”, and the road white line cannot be captured. That is, since the lateral distances Xr and Xl cannot be obtained from the camera controller 5, the process is performed using the lateral distance estimation values xr and xl estimated in the lateral distance estimation process in the step S1b. Then, the process ends.

In this way, if the boundary line passing flag Fcros is set based on the lateral distance Xr, Xl or the lateral distance estimated values xr, xl in the process of step S2a, the step is performed based on the boundary line passing flag Fcros. In step S3, the position correction request flag Fr is set and output to the navigation device 2.
Thus, in the third embodiment, the estimated lateral distances xr and xl of the host vehicle are calculated based on the detected yaw rate value and the yaw angle, and the lateral distances Xr and Xl from the camera controller 5 are calculated. When the camera controller 5 cannot be input, the estimated values xr and xl are used to determine whether or not the vehicle has proceeded to the branch road. Even when Xr and Xl cannot be detected, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the vehicle has proceeded to the branch path.

  Further, when the estimated lateral distance values xr and xl are calculated, the lateral distances Xr and Xl from the camera controller 5 are held as previous values as shown in step S42 in FIG. When the capture is impossible, the estimated lateral distances xr and xl are calculated from the camera controller 5 based on the lateral distances Xr and Xl before the capture is impossible. When the lateral distances Xr and Xl are switched to the estimated lateral distance values xr and xl after the capture becomes impossible, the lateral distances can be smoothly switched without being discontinuous.

  In the second and third embodiments, the case where it is determined whether or not the vehicle has entered the branch road at the branch point to the interchange exit of the highway has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. However, the present invention can be applied even at a branch point to a service area or a parking area. Further, the present invention is not limited to a highway, and any branch point where position information can be acquired can be applied.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where the controller 10 is provided separately from the navigation device 2 has been described. However, the controller 10 is provided in the navigation device 2 and the navigation device 2 is provided. It may be possible to detect whether or not the vehicle has advanced to a branch path in 2.
Here, in the third embodiment, the lateral distance estimation process of FIG. 11 executed in the process of step S1b of FIG. 10 corresponds to the vehicle behavior estimation means and the road white line distance estimation means.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 13 is a schematic vehicle configuration diagram illustrating an example of a deceleration control device including a navigation device to which the present invention is applied.
This vehicle is a rear-wheel drive vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission and a conventional differential gear, and the braking device can control the braking force of the left and right wheels independently of the front and rear wheels.

  Reference numeral 101 in FIG. 13 is a brake pedal, 102 is a booster, 103 is a master cylinder, and 104 is a reservoir. Usually, the brake fluid pressure increased by the master cylinder 103 in accordance with the amount of depression of the brake pedal 101 by the driver. Is supplied to the wheel cylinders 106FL to 6RR of the wheels 105FL to 105RR. A braking fluid pressure control circuit 107 is interposed between the master cylinder 103 and the wheel cylinders 106FL to 106RR. In the brake fluid pressure control circuit 107, the brake fluid pressures of the wheel cylinders 106FL to 106RR can be individually controlled.

  The brake fluid pressure control circuit 107 is applied with, for example, a brake fluid pressure control circuit used for anti-skid control and traction control. In this embodiment, the brake fluid pressure of each wheel cylinder 106FL to 106RR is independently set. For example, a proportional solenoid valve is used to control the brake fluid pressure to an arbitrary level. The brake fluid pressure control circuit 107 controls the brake fluid pressure of each wheel cylinder 106FL to 106RR in accordance with a brake fluid pressure command value from the control unit 108 described later.

In addition, the driving torque to the rear wheels 105RL and 105RR, which are drive wheels, is controlled by controlling the operating state of the engine 109, the selected gear ratio of the automatic transmission 110, and the throttle opening of the throttle valve 111. A drive torque control unit 112 for controlling is provided.
The operating state control of the engine 109 can be controlled, for example, by controlling the fuel injection amount and the ignition timing, and can also be controlled by controlling the throttle opening at the same time.
The drive torque control unit 112 can independently control the drive torque of the rear wheels 105RL and 105RR that are drive wheels. However, a drive torque command value is input from the control unit 108 described above. Sometimes, the drive wheel torque is controlled while referring to the drive torque command value.

  Further, the vehicle includes an acceleration sensor 115 that detects longitudinal acceleration Xg and lateral acceleration Yg generated in the host vehicle, a yaw rate sensor 116 that detects yaw rate φ generated in the host vehicle, an output pressure of the master cylinder 103, a so-called master. A master cylinder pressure sensor 117 that detects the cylinder pressure Pm, an accelerator pedal depression amount, that is, an accelerator opening sensor 118 that detects the accelerator opening Acc, a steering angle sensor 119 that detects the steering angle θ of the steering wheel 121, and each wheel 105FL Are provided with wheel speed sensors 122FL to 122RR that detect a rotation speed of ˜105RR, that is, a so-called wheel speed Vwi (i = FL to RR), and these detection signals are output to the control unit 108. Further, the driving torque Tw on the wheel shaft controlled by the driving torque control unit 112 is also output to the control unit 108.

If the detected vehicle traveling state data has left and right directionality, the left direction is the positive direction and the right direction is the negative direction. That is, the yaw rate φ, the lateral acceleration Yg, and the steering angle θ are positive values when turning left and negative values when turning right.
In addition, the vehicle is provided with an alarm device 123 for warning the driver when there is a curve in front of the host vehicle so that the control unit 108 operates deceleration control described later. The alarm device 123 includes a speaker and a monitor for generating a sound and a buzzer sound, and issues a warning based on display information and sound information to notify the driver that deceleration occurs. ing.

  The vehicle is equipped with the navigation device 2, the monocular camera 4, and the camera controller 5 described in the first embodiment, and detection signals from the navigation device 2 and the camera controller 5 are input to the control unit 108. Then, the navigation apparatus 2 inputs the position correction request flag Fr from the control unit 108, and corrects the current position of the host vehicle accordingly.

  Based on the detection signals from these various sensors, the control unit 108 determines whether or not the host vehicle crosses the boundary line at the branch point to the interchange exit, as in the first embodiment. Then, a position correction request is made to the navigation device 2 according to the determination result. Further, it is determined whether or not there is a curved road ahead of the host vehicle based on the road map information from the navigation device 2. If there is a curved road, the speed of the host vehicle can travel safely on the curved road. Deceleration control is performed to achieve speed.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of arithmetic processing executed by the control unit 108. The control unit 108 executes this calculation process at a predetermined cycle set in advance.
First, in step S101, predetermined data is read from various sensors, the navigation device 2, and the camera controller 5, and the process proceeds to step S102 to perform branch path entry detection processing. This branch path entry detection process is performed in the same procedure as in the first embodiment. When there is an interchange exit in front of the host vehicle, it is determined whether the host vehicle has traveled to the branch path side. When proceeding to the road side, a position correction request is made to the navigation device 2. In response to this, the navigation device 2 corrects the current position of the host vehicle held by the navigation device 2 to a position near the boundary of the branch point.

  In step S102, the branch road entry detection process is executed, and if the position correction request flag Fr is transmitted to the navigation device 2, the process proceeds to step S103, and the vehicle speed V is calculated. For example, during normal travel, an average value is calculated based on the wheel speeds of the front left and right wheels among the detection signals of the wheel speed sensors 122FL to 122RR, and this is used as the vehicle speed V. Further, when the ABS control or the like is operating, the estimated vehicle speed estimated in the ABS control is used as the vehicle speed V.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S104, and a turning radius is calculated for each node point ahead of the host vehicle. Specifically, the turning radius Rn of each node point is calculated from the coordinates of each node point ahead of the host vehicle based on the road map information ahead of the host vehicle from the navigation device 2 input in step S101. There are several methods for calculating the turning radius. Here, for example, from three consecutive node coordinates (Xn-1, Yn-1), (Xn, Yn), (Xn + 1, Yn + 1), The turning radius Rn is calculated. The turning radius Rn represents a left turn as a negative value and a right turn as a positive value.

  Here, the method of calculating the turning radius Rn from the three node coordinates is used, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a method of calculating by using an angle formed by a straight line connecting the preceding and following node points, etc. The turning radius at each node point is stored as node information as the road map information of the navigation device 2, and the turning at the node point is searched by searching for the turning radius included in the node information. The radius Rn may be detected.

  Here, in the fourth embodiment, a safe vehicle speed at which the vehicle can safely travel on the curved road is set according to the actual turning radius of the curved road, and the vehicle is driven at a speed higher than the set safe vehicle speed. It is intended to prevent passing through curved roads. For this reason, control is performed with the point of the latest curve having the smallest turning radius as the control target. Accordingly, the first node point in front of the host vehicle where the turning radius Rn is the minimum value is set as the target node point, the turning radius Rn of the target node point is set as the target point turning radius Rmin, and the target node point from the current point of the host vehicle. Is the target point distance Lmin.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S105, where an allowable lateral acceleration Yglim that is an allowable value of the lateral acceleration generated in the host vehicle when passing through a curved road is set. Here, a value obtained by multiplying the road surface friction coefficient μ by the coefficient Ks is defined as an allowable lateral acceleration Yglim. The coefficient Ks is an allowable lateral acceleration calculation coefficient, and is a fixed value of about “0.5”, for example. The road surface friction coefficient μ may be a road surface discrimination sensor mounted on the road surface, and the detected value may be used. Alternatively, a road that performs road-to-vehicle communication between the infrastructure equipment disposed on the road and the host vehicle. It is also possible to install vehicle-to-vehicle communication means and perform road-to-vehicle communication between the infrastructure equipment and the host vehicle by the road-to-vehicle communication means to obtain road surface friction coefficient μ information on the roads owned by the infrastructure equipment. Any road surface friction coefficient detection means capable of detecting the road surface friction coefficient μ can be applied.

Next, the process proceeds to step S106, and a target vehicle speed Vr when the host vehicle travels on a curved road is calculated. Here, it calculates from following Formula (3) based on the turning radius Rmin and the allowable lateral acceleration Yglim of the target node point.
Vr = (Yglim × | Rmin |) ^1/2 (3)
Next, the process proceeds to step S107, and a target deceleration Xgs is calculated so that the vehicle speed when the host vehicle travels on a curved road can be the target vehicle speed Vr. Here, it is calculated from the following equation (4) according to the target vehicle speed Vr, the vehicle speed V, and the distance Lmin from the current position of the host vehicle to the target node point. Note that the target deceleration Xgs represents a value on the deceleration side as a positive value.
Xgs = (V ² −Vr ² ) / (2 × Lmin) (4)

Next, the process proceeds to step S108, where an alarm activation start determination is performed. Specifically, it is determined whether or not an alarm is to be activated according to the target deceleration Xgs calculated in step S107, and the alarm activation flag Fw is set to “OFF” when the flag indicating the alarm activation state is set to the alarm activation flag Fw. When "is", when the following equation (5) is satisfied, the alarm activation flag Fw is set to "ON". When the alarm activation flag Fw is “ON”, the alarm activation flag Fw is set to “ON” when the following equation (6) is satisfied. When both of the following expressions (5) and (6) are not satisfied, the alarm activation flag Fw is set to “OFF”.
Xgs ≧ Xgsw (5)
Xgs ≧ Xgsw−Khw (6)
Xgsw in the equations (5) and (6) is an alarm activation determination threshold value for determining the alarm activation start timing. Khw is a hysteresis for preventing the on / off hunting of the alarm, and is set to a fixed value of about 0.03 [g], for example.

If the alarm activation start determination is thus performed, the process proceeds to step S109, and then the control activation start determination is performed. Specifically, when the control operation flag Fb is “OFF” when the control operation flag Fb is set as a control operation flag Fb according to the target deceleration Xgs calculated in step S107, the following equation (7 ), The control operation flag Fb is set to “ON”, and when the control operation flag Fb is “ON”, the control operation flag Fb is set to “ON” when the following equation (8) is satisfied. To maintain. When neither of the following expressions (7) and (8) is satisfied, the control operation flag Fb is set to “OFF”.
Xgs ≧ Xgsb (7)
Xgs ≧ Xgsb−Kh (8)
Xgsw in the equations (7) and (8) is a control operation determination threshold value for setting the operation start timing of the deceleration control. Kh is a hysteresis for preventing on / off hunting of the control, and is set to a fixed value of about 0.05 [g], for example.

Note that the alarm and control operation start determination in step S108 and step S109 is set in conjunction with each other, and therefore always starts with an alarm and the control continues. That is, the alarm activation determination threshold value Xgsw and the control activation determination threshold value Xgsb are set so as to satisfy Xgsb> Xgsw.
When the control operation start determination is made in this way, the process proceeds to step S110, and the target braking fluid pressure Pc is calculated. This target braking fluid pressure Pc is obtained from the following equation (9) according to the target deceleration Xgs calculated in step S107 when the control operation flag Fb is “ON” and the control start determination is made. calculate.
Pc = Kb × Xgs (9)
Note that Kb in the equation (9) is a conversion coefficient for converting the target deceleration Xgs into the braking fluid pressure, and is a constant determined by the vehicle specifications including the brake specifications.

Next, considering the master cylinder pressure Pm corresponding to the braking operation by the driver, the front wheel target braking fluid pressure PsF and the rear wheel target braking fluid pressure PsR are calculated from the following equation (10) based on the control target braking fluid pressure Pc. To do.
PsF = max (Pm, Pc)
PsR = h (PsF) (10)
Note that the function max () in the equation (10) indicates that the larger one of () is selected. The function h is a function for calculating the braking fluid pressure of the rear wheel from the braking fluid pressure of the front wheel so that the optimal front / rear braking force distribution is obtained.
Then, based on the front wheel target brake fluid pressure PsF and the rear wheel target brake fluid pressure PsR calculated in this way, the target brake fluid pressure Psi (i = FL˜) to the wheel cylinders 106FL to 106RR from the following equation (11). RR) is calculated.
Psfl = Psfr = PsF
Psrl = Psrr = PsR (11)

  When the target brake fluid pressure Psi (i = FL to RR) for each of the wheel cylinders 106FL to 106RR is thus calculated, the process proceeds to step S111, and the target drive torque Trq for the drive wheel is calculated. Specifically, the case is divided according to whether the deceleration control is being operated, that is, whether the braking fluid pressure is being controlled by the deceleration control. When the deceleration control is not operating, the accelerator is A drive torque corresponding to the opening degree Acc is set as a target drive torque Trq (Trq = f (Acc)).

On the other hand, when the deceleration control is in operation, even if the accelerator pedal operation is performed by the driver, the engine output is throttled to prevent acceleration. That is, during the deceleration control operation, the target drive torque Trq is calculated from the following equation (12).
Trq = f (Acc) -g (Pc) (12)
Note that g (Pc) in the equation (12) is a function for calculating a braking torque predicted to be generated by the braking fluid pressure by the deceleration control. As can be seen from the equation (12), during the deceleration control operation, the driving torque is generated by subtracting the braking torque generated by the deceleration control.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S112, a control signal is output to the brake fluid pressure control circuit 107 so as to generate the target brake fluid pressure Psi of each wheel calculated in step S110, and the target calculated in step S111. A control signal is output to the drive torque control unit 112 so as to generate the drive torque Trq. Further, when the alarm activation flag Fw is “ON” and it is determined that the alarm is started, the alarm device 123 is activated to accelerate the deceleration in preparation for entering the curved road, and the deceleration is activated by the operation of the deceleration control. Generate an alarm to notify that it will occur.

Next, the operation of the fourth embodiment will be described.
In the control unit 108, when node information in a predetermined section ahead of the host vehicle is sequentially input from the navigation device 2, the branch path entry detection process is executed in the same procedure as in the first embodiment, and the host vehicle It is determined whether or not the vehicle has proceeded to the branch path at the branch point to the exit, and a position correction request is made to the navigation device 2 at the timing when it is detected that the vehicle has proceeded to the branch path.
In the navigation device 2, when a position correction request is made from the control unit 108, the host vehicle position is corrected at this timing (step S102).

  The control unit 108 also calculates a turning radius at each node in a predetermined section ahead of the host vehicle, and based on this, sets a node at which the turning radius first becomes a minimum value as a target node point when viewed from the host vehicle. (Step S104), the allowable lateral acceleration Yglim is calculated in accordance with the road surface friction coefficient μ of the target node point (Step S105), and the target vehicle speed Vr for realizing the allowable lateral acceleration Yglim is calculated (Step S106). A target deceleration Xgs necessary for setting the vehicle speed to the target vehicle speed Vr is calculated (step S107).

  When the target deceleration Xgs to be achieved is equal to or greater than the alarm activation determination threshold value Xgsw, an alarm is activated to prompt the driver to perform a deceleration operation (step S108). When the threshold value Xgsb or more is reached, the target braking fluid pressure Psi and the target driving torque Trq for achieving the target deceleration Xgs are calculated, and are generated toward the braking fluid pressure control circuit 107 so as to generate them. While outputting a control signal, a control signal is output toward the drive torque control unit 112 (step S109-step S112).

  As a result, the drive torque control unit 112 and the brake fluid pressure control circuit 107 operate to generate the designated target drive torque Trq and the target brake fluid pressure Psi, and a deceleration corresponding to the target deceleration Xgs is generated in the vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle speed of the host vehicle when passing the target node point is reduced to the target vehicle speed Vr, and the lateral acceleration Yg of the host vehicle when passing the curve road is the road surface friction of the curve road. Stable running can be realized by being within the allowable lateral acceleration set value Yglim set according to the coefficient μ.

In this way, when the host vehicle is about to enter the forward curve at an overspeed, an alarm is generated in advance and deceleration control is performed, so that the host vehicle is decelerated and the overspeed The entry to the curve at will be suppressed.
Here, for example, when the host vehicle is traveling on a highway and the vehicle proceeds to a branch road at the branch point to the interchange exit, as described above, the current position of the host vehicle on the road map based on the GPS positioning. When the vehicle is captured, the vehicle may be misrecognized as traveling on the main line due to a position detection error even when the vehicle travels on a branch road at a branch point.

  However, in the process of step S102, it is determined based on the imaging information of the monocular camera 4 whether the host vehicle has crossed the boundary line of the branch point at the branch point to the interchange exit, and has detected that the vehicle has crossed the boundary line. In other words, at the timing when it is detected that the host vehicle has entered the branch road, the navigation device 2 corrects the current position of the host vehicle. Therefore, the navigation device 2 can recognize whether or not the host vehicle has traveled on the branch road when the host vehicle actually crosses the boundary line, and the host vehicle determines the road map information output to the control unit 108. When entering the branch road, it is possible to quickly switch to the road map information ahead of the branch road.

  Here, if the judgment that the vehicle has proceeded to the branch road is delayed, the vehicle has actually misrecognized that it is traveling on the main road even though it has entered the branch road. The road map information ahead of the vehicle is supplied to the control unit 108, and the control unit 108 makes a curve road determination based on the road map information ahead of the main line, and generates an alarm or performs a deceleration operation. . For this reason, when the vehicle is actually traveling on a branch road, a curve road determination is made based on road map information ahead of the main line until it is determined that the vehicle has entered the branch road. Even when there is a steep curve ahead in the fork road, even if the host vehicle needs to decelerate, it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on the fork road without warning or deceleration control. Deceleration control is started at the time, and in some cases, a relatively large deceleration is generated in the vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a branch road, which may give the driver a sense of incongruity. .

  In particular, as in the prior art, when it is determined whether the host vehicle is traveling on the main line or the branch road based on the number of lanes, the main road and the branch road run in parallel with each other after the branch. If this is the case, it will be difficult to determine which road the vehicle is traveling on, and the timing for determining that the vehicle is traveling on a branch road will be delayed accordingly, and the start timing of deceleration control for a curved road will be delayed. become.

  However, in the branch road entry detection process in step S102, the navigation device 2 corrects the current position of the host vehicle when it is detected that the host vehicle has crossed the boundary line of the branch point and has advanced to the branch road. When the host vehicle crosses the boundary line at the branch point, the navigation device 2 can recognize that the host vehicle has advanced to the branch road, and output road map information ahead of the branch road to the control unit 108. Become.

  Therefore, the curve road is judged based on the road map information on the branch road side at the timing of passing the branch point, and the alarm is generated and the deceleration control is performed accordingly. It is possible to avoid the occurrence of the occurrence and the deceleration operation. If there is a relatively steep curve ahead of the branch road, the deceleration control start timing is delayed as the vehicle recognizes that the vehicle is traveling on the branch road and the navigation device 2 is late. However, as described above, it is possible to make corrections at the timing when the host vehicle crosses the boundary of the branch point. Control can be started, and it can be avoided that the driver feels uncomfortable due to a large deceleration, and the safety of the vehicle can be further improved. It can be carried out.

Here, in the fourth embodiment, the navigation device 2 corresponds to the information acquisition means, the processing in step S104 in FIG. 14 corresponds to the curve road detection means, and the processing from step S105 to step S112 is the running state control. Corresponding to the means, the process of step S108 corresponds to the warning means, and the process of step S109 corresponds to the deceleration control means.
In the fourth embodiment, the case where the branch path entry detection process in the first embodiment is applied as the branch path entry detection process is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to apply the branch path entry detection processing in the embodiment or the third embodiment.
In the fourth embodiment, the case where the navigation device according to the present invention is applied to the deceleration control device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and road map information ahead of the host vehicle is obtained from the navigation device. The present invention can also be applied to a control device that performs traveling control or the like based on this.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a navigation apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can also be applied to an own vehicle position detection apparatus that simply detects the current position of the own vehicle. . In this case, for example, provided with a branch point information acquisition means for detecting the position information of the branch point to the interchange exit ahead of the host vehicle, based on the position information of the branch point detected by this branch point information acquisition means, In the same manner as described above, when the approach to the branch road is determined and the entry to the branch road is detected, the vehicle position may be detected from the known position information of the branch point (position detection means).
Further, as described above, since it is possible to accurately detect whether or not the vehicle has advanced to the branch road side at the branch point, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has advanced to the branch road side at the branch point, and processing is performed based on this. It is also possible to apply to the control device etc. which were made.

It is an example of the vehicle block diagram carrying the navigation apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the predetermined procedure of the branch path approach detection process performed with the controller of FIG. It is an example of the road marking of the branch point to the interchange exit. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the boundary line detection process performed by the exit determination process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the passage determination process performed by the exit determination process of FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the lateral distance detected with a camera controller. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the exit determination process in 2nd Embodiment. It is an example of the vehicle block diagram carrying the navigation apparatus in 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the lateral distance and yaw angle which are detected by the camera controller in 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the branch path approach detection process in 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the lateral distance estimation process of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the exit determination process of FIG. It is an example of the vehicle block diagram carrying the navigation apparatus in 4th Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the arithmetic processing performed with the control unit of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2 navigation device 4 monocular camera 5 camera controller 8 yaw rate sensor 9 vehicle speed sensor 10 controller 107 braking fluid pressure control circuit 108 control unit 111 throttle valve 112 drive torque control unit 115 acceleration sensor 116 yaw rate sensor 117 master cylinder pressure sensor 118 accelerator opening sensor 119 Steering angle sensors 122FL to 122RR Wheel speed sensor 123 Alarm device

Claims (10)

Branch detection means for detecting whether there is a branch road ahead of the host vehicle;
Imaging means for imaging the road on which the vehicle is traveling;
The left and right road white lines are detected based on the captured image of the imaging means, and whether there is a feature point provided in the vicinity of the branch point of the branch road in the left and right predetermined areas of the captured image including the road white line. Feature point detection means for detecting;
A branch road entry detecting means for detecting whether or not the own vehicle has entered the branch road when the branch detection means determines that the branch road is in front of the own vehicle;
A position detecting means for detecting a current position of the host vehicle based on known position information of the branch point when the branch path entry detecting means detects an approach of the host vehicle to the branch path;
The branch road entry detection means detects that the branch road is in front of the host vehicle by the branch detection means, and the feature point detection means detects one of the left and right road white lines. After detecting the feature point only, when the feature point is detected only on the other road white line side, it is determined that the host vehicle has entered the branch road. apparatus. The road on which the vehicle is traveling is a highway,
The feature point detecting means detects whether or not a line type of the left and right road white lines is the thick broken line, using a thick broken line marked as a boundary line between a main line and the branch road as the feature point. The own vehicle position detection device according to claim 1. The road on which the vehicle is traveling is a highway,
The feature point detection means uses a zebra zone marked near the boundary between a main line and the branch road as the feature point, and detects whether the zebra zone exists in the left and right predetermined areas. The own vehicle position detection device according to claim 1 or 2. Branch detection means for detecting whether there is a branch road ahead of the host vehicle;
Imaging means for imaging the road on which the vehicle is traveling;
A driving lane detecting means for detecting left and right road white lines based on a captured image of the imaging means and detecting whether the host vehicle is traveling in the left end lane or the right end lane;
When the travel lane detection means detects that the vehicle is traveling in the left lane or the right lane, based on the captured image, of the left and right road white lines, between the road white line inside the road and the travel position of the host vehicle. A road white line distance detecting means for detecting a distance;
A branch road entry detecting means for detecting whether or not the own vehicle has entered the branch road when the branch road detecting means determines that the branch road is in front of the own vehicle;
Position detecting means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle based on the known position information of the branch point when the branch road entry detecting means detects entry into the branch road;
The branch road entry detecting means detects that the branch road is in front of the own vehicle with the branch detecting means, and that the own vehicle is traveling in the left end lane or the right end lane with the travel lane detecting means. In the detected state, when the distance to the road white line detected by the road white line distance detection means is equal to or greater than a threshold value set according to the width of the road being traveled, It is determined that the vehicle has entered the vehicle position detecting device. Vehicle behavior estimation means for estimating the vehicle behavior of the host vehicle;
Road white line distance estimating means for estimating the distance between the road white line inside the road and the traveling position of the host vehicle based on the vehicle behavior estimated by the vehicle behavior estimating means;
With
The branch road approach detection means uses the white road distance estimated by the white road distance estimation means when the white road distance detection means cannot detect the white road distance using the white road distance estimation means. 5. The own vehicle position detecting device according to claim 4, wherein whether or not the vehicle has entered the road is determined.   The road white line distance estimation means estimates the road white line distance with an initial value of the road white line distance immediately before the road white line distance detection by the road white line distance detection means becomes impossible. The own vehicle position detection device according to claim 5. Own vehicle position measuring means for measuring the current position of the own vehicle;
In a navigation device comprising information providing means for providing road map information around the vehicle position measured by the vehicle position measuring means,
The own vehicle position detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
A navigation apparatus comprising: a correction unit that corrects the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detection unit according to the vehicle position detected by the vehicle position detection unit. Information acquisition means for acquiring road map information around the current position of the vehicle;
A curved road detection means for detecting the presence of a curved road ahead of the host vehicle based on the road map information acquired by the information acquisition means;
A traveling state control means for controlling the traveling state of the vehicle so that the own vehicle can stably travel on the curved road when the curved road detecting means detects that the curved road exists ahead of the own vehicle; The traveling state control means includes at least one of a deceleration control means for generating a deceleration in the vehicle and an alarm means for issuing an alarm.
A deceleration control device comprising the navigation device according to claim 7 as the information acquisition means. The running state control means includes both the deceleration control means and the warning means,
9. The deceleration control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the deceleration control unit is activated after the alarm unit is activated. Comprising imaging means for imaging the road on which the host vehicle is traveling;
When there is a branch road ahead of the host vehicle, it is monitored whether there is a feature point provided in the vicinity of the branch point of the branch road in the left and right predetermined areas including the left and right road white lines based on the captured image of the imaging means. ,
When the feature point is detected only on one of the left and right road white lines and then the same feature point is detected on the other road white line, the vehicle enters the branch road. And determining that the host vehicle is present at the branch point.

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