JP2007069628A - Drive supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drive supporting device which contributes to safe driving and prevents a driver from misinterpreting an alarming operation or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The drive supporting device conducts prescribed drive supporting operations when a vehicle approaches a temporary stop position where the vehicle should stop. In addition, the device is provided with; a permitted-intersection number determination means that determines the number of intersections which exist on routes up to the temporary stop position where the vehicle temporarily stops and to which the prescribed driving operations are permitted; and a reference distance setting means which sets a reference distance for conducting the prescribed driving operations with a value as an upper limit value based on the product of a prescribed distance which is preliminarily determined, and the number of the intersections which is determined by the permitted-intersection number determination means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a driving support device that performs a predetermined driving support operation in accordance with the approach of a temporary stop position at which a vehicle should be stopped.

Conventionally, as this type of driving support device, when the presence of a stop line or the like on the road is detected, a braking position calculated according to the distance from the host vehicle to the stop line or the like is reached. A device that performs an operation such as an alarm is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this device, braking is performed in the deceleration distance obtained based on the distance from the own vehicle to the stop line, the vehicle speed, etc., the reaction distance caused by the driver's reaction speed (so-called idle running distance), and nose dive avoidance control. When the sum of the distance required for mitigation exceeds the distance from the host vehicle to the planned stop position, a warning is given to the driver or automatic braking is performed.
JP 2002-120702 A

  However, the conventional driving support apparatus does not take into consideration the influence of an intersection or the like existing on a route from the host vehicle to a stop line or the like. It is desirable that the warning and automatic braking be performed at an earlier timing from the viewpoint of safe driving. However, if the timing is too early, there is a high possibility that there are many intersections on the route from the vehicle to the temporary stop position. The driver may misunderstand that the driving support operation may have been performed at an intermediate intersection.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve such problems, and a main object thereof is to provide a driving support device that contributes to safe driving and takes into consideration that a driver does not misidentify an operation such as an alarm.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a driving support device that performs a predetermined driving support operation in response to the approach of a temporary stop position at which the vehicle should be temporarily stopped. An intersection number determination means for determining the number of intersections existing on the route to which the predetermined driving support operation is permitted, a predetermined distance determined in advance, and the number of permitted intersections And a reference distance setting means for setting a reference distance for performing a predetermined driving support operation, with a value based on the product of the above as an upper limit value. Here, the predetermined distance is, for example, a distance between average intersections in an urban area.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, when the temporary stop position at which the vehicle is to be paused approaches and is within the reference distance, for example, a driving support operation is performed to notify the approach of the temporary stop position by voice, for example. However, the number of intersections where driving support operation is allowed even if present on the route between the vehicle and the temporary stop position is determined, and the distance based on the product of the number of intersections and the predetermined distance is set as an upper limit, The reference distance is determined. Here, the number of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted is, for example, based on the driving state of the vehicle, misunderstanding that the driving support operation may have been performed at an intersection before the temporary stop position. The number can be determined so as not to cause a driver. If the predetermined distance is the distance between the average intersections in the urban area, the product of the number of intersections and the predetermined distance is the distance including the number of intersections in which the driving support operation is permitted in the urban area. Therefore, by setting this distance as the upper limit, it is possible to suppress the predetermined driving support operation from being performed in a state where there are more than the number of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted on the route. Thereby, it can suppress that a driver | operator produces the misperception that the driving assistance operation | movement may be made with respect to the intersection before the temporary stop position.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, the reference distance setting means adds a value obtained by adding an additional distance set based on the driving state of the vehicle to the product of the predetermined distance and the number of allowed intersections described above. It may be a means for setting a reference distance as an upper limit value. Thereby, the reference distance can be corrected according to the driving state of the vehicle.

  A second aspect of the present invention is a driving support device that performs a predetermined driving support operation in response to the approach of a temporary stop position at which the vehicle should be temporarily stopped, and is present on a route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position. An intersection number detecting means for detecting the number of intersections to be performed, and a reference distance setting means for setting a reference distance for performing a predetermined driving support operation, and a predetermined number based on the number of intersections detected by the intersection number detecting means. The driving support operation is limited. For example, when the number of intersections detected by the intersection number detection unit exceeds a predetermined number, the predetermined driving support operation is not performed.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, when the temporary stop position at which the vehicle should be temporarily stopped approaches and is within the reference distance, for example, a driving support operation is performed to notify the approach of the temporary stop position by voice, for example. It is. However, the predetermined driving support operation is limited based on the number of intersections existing on the route between the vehicle and the temporary stop position. For example, when the number of intersections existing on the route exceeds a predetermined number, the driving support operation is not performed. Thereby, it can suppress that a driver | operator produces the misperception that the driving assistance operation | movement may be made with respect to the intersection before the temporary stop position.

  Further, in the second aspect of the present invention, the number of permitted intersection number determining means for determining the number of intersections existing on the route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position and for which a predetermined driving support operation is permitted. And the predetermined number may be the number of allowed intersections. Here, the number of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted is, for example, based on the driving state of the vehicle, misunderstanding that the driving support operation may have been performed at an intersection before the temporary stop position. The number can be determined so as not to cause a driver. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately suppress the driver from misidentifying by not performing the predetermined driving support operation when the number of intersections exceeding this is detected.

  In the first or second aspect of the present invention, vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed is provided, and the permitted intersection number determination means has a tendency to increase as the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means increases. It can also be a means for determining the number of allowed intersections. In this way, when the vehicle speed is high, it is possible to contribute to safe driving by performing the driving support operation from a distance from the temporary stop position.

  Further, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the vehicle further comprises other vehicle detection means for detecting the presence of another vehicle on the route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position, and the permitted intersection number determination means includes: In the case where the presence of another vehicle is detected by the other vehicle detection means, it may be a means for determining the number of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted to be less. In this case, there is a possibility that the front temporary stop position cannot be visually recognized due to the presence of another vehicle, but the driver's misidentification can be suppressed by performing the driving support operation after approaching closer.

  In the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is provided curve detection means for detecting the presence of a curve existing on the route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position, and the permitted intersection number determination means includes the curve detection means. When the presence of a curve is detected by the above, it may be a means for determining the number of intersections at which more driving support operations are permitted. In this way, since there is a relatively low possibility of an intersection in the middle of the curve, it is possible to contribute to safe driving by performing a driving support operation from a further distance from the temporary stop position.

  Furthermore, in any aspect of the present invention, the reference distance setting means may further be means for setting the reference distance with a predetermined value as a lower limit value. In this way, it is possible to prevent the start of the driving support operation from becoming too late.

  In any aspect of the present invention, vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed may be provided, and the reference distance setting means may be means for setting the reference distance so as to increase as the vehicle speed increases. it can.

  Further, in any aspect of the present invention, the predetermined driving support operation is at least one of, for example, an operation that issues a warning to the occupant by voice, an operation that displays a warning to the occupant, or an operation that performs braking control on the vehicle. It is.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a driving support device that contributes to safe driving and is designed so that the driver does not misidentify an alarm or the like.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a driving support apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The driving support apparatus 10 includes, for example, a camera 20, a navigation system 30, a vehicle speed calculation sensor 40 that detects a value used for calculating the vehicle speed, an azimuth sensor 50 that detects the direction of the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the entire apparatus. And a main electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as a main ECU (Electric Control Unit)) 60 to be controlled.

  The camera 20 is disposed on a bumper or grill at the front of the vehicle body, an outer view mirror stay at the front of the vehicle interior, etc., and has an optical axis directed obliquely downward at the front of the vehicle. Take a picture. The camera 20 has, for example, a lens 22, an image sensor 24 such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as a camera) having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like. ECU) 26). The camera ECU 26 adjusts the depression angle, focal length, and the like of the lens 22 according to an instruction from the main ECU 60, and transmits the captured image from the image sensor 24 to the main ECU 60 as an image signal.

  The navigation system 30 displays, for example, a GPS antenna 32 that receives a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, a storage medium 34 that stores map information, information on the vehicle, and an instruction by a passenger A touch panel display 36 that enables input, a speaker 37 used for voice guidance, and a control unit 38 that controls the entire navigation system 30 are provided. When the target position of the vehicle is designated by an input operation to the display 36, the navigation system 30 specifies the route that the vehicle should travel to the target position along the road on the map information stored in the storage medium 34. Then, route display on the display 36 and voice guidance by the speaker 37 are performed. If the control unit 38 communicates with the main ECU 60 and can receive GPS signals, the control unit 38 identifies the current position of the vehicle based on the received GPS signals and map information, and is difficult to receive due to radio wave conditions and the like. In this case, the current position is specified with reference to the map information while supplementing the vehicle speed and the vehicle traveling direction data input from the main ECU 60 and the most recently received GPS signal. In addition, the control unit 38 transmits data such as a temporary stop line and an intersection existing in the current position and the traveling direction to the main ECU 60 as needed.

  As the vehicle speed calculation sensor 40, for example, a crank angle sensor attached to a crankshaft provided in an engine of a vehicle on which the driving support device 10 is mounted, a wheel speed sensor attached to a wheel, or the like can be used. A signal from the vehicle speed calculation sensor 40 is input to the main ECU 60 by communication and used to calculate the vehicle speed. The azimuth sensor 50 is a sensor that detects a directional angle when the reference direction is true north, that is, an azimuth angle. A signal from the direction sensor 50 is also input to the main ECU 60 by communication. In the present embodiment, the GPS signal is difficult to receive in the navigation system 30 and is used to obtain the traveling direction of the vehicle that is necessary when the current position is complemented and specified.

  The main ECU 60 includes, for example, a CPU 62 that executes various programs, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 64 that stores programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 66 that temporarily stores data, and the like. The main ECU 60 receives an image signal from the camera 20, a current position of the vehicle from the navigation system 30, and the like, and determines whether or not to perform a driving support operation described later based on these. The main ECU 60 calculates the vehicle speed based on the signal from the vehicle speed calculation sensor 40, calculates the traveling direction of the vehicle based on the signal from the direction sensor 50, and transmits these to the navigation system 30.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows functional blocks of the main ECU 60 included in the driving support device 10 of the first embodiment. The main ECU 60 includes a permitted intersection number determination unit 72 that determines the number n of intersections that exist between the vehicle and the temporary stop position and that are permitted to support driving, and the vehicle and the temporary stop position (temporary stop line). And a reference distance setting unit 74 that sets a reference distance D that serves as a reference for determining whether or not to perform the driving support operation in comparison with the distance K. The driving support device 10 of the first embodiment basically displays an approach on the display 36 and alerts the speaker 37 when the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position is equal to or less than the reference distance D. Performs driving support operations that emit voice. If the timing of this driving support operation is too early, there is a high possibility that there are many intersections on the route from the vehicle to the temporary stop position, and the driving support operation was performed at the intersection in front of the temporary stop position. The driver may misunderstand that this may be the case. Therefore, in order to suppress such misperception, the permitted intersection number determination unit 72 determines the number n of intersections that are present between the vehicle and the temporary stop position and are permitted to support driving, The reference distance setting unit 74 sets the reference distance D with a value equal to or less than the upper limit distance Dh calculated using the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted.

  Next, the operation of the driving support device 10 of the first embodiment will be specifically described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a driving support processing flow 1 that is repeatedly executed while the vehicle is traveling forward by the CPU 62 of the main ECU 60 provided in the driving support device 10.

  First, the CPU 62 instructs the navigation system 30 to specify the current position of the vehicle (S100). As described above, since the current position is specified while the navigation system 30 is functioning based on GPS signals from GPS satellites, map information, and the like, this step is actually performed in the navigation system 30. This is what is started when is not working.

  Subsequently, a value 2 is set as an initial value of the number n of intersections that exist between the vehicle and the temporary stop position and that allow driving support operations (S102). Here, the value 2 is set when it is notified that the vehicle is approaching the temporary stop position when the vehicle is positioned three or more intersections before the temporary stop position. There is a relatively high possibility that the driver will misunderstand that a driving support operation may have been performed at an intersection in the vehicle, and the vehicle is located within two intersections before the temporary stop position. If this is the case, the possibility that the temporary stop position can be visually recognized by the driver is high.

  Then, the navigation system 30 is instructed to determine whether or not the temporary stop position exists within the predetermined distance R in the traveling direction of the vehicle (S104). Here, the predetermined distance R is set to a value sufficiently larger than the reference distance D and the upper limit distance Dh. The target to be detected as the temporary stop position can be arbitrarily set, for example, a temporary stop line or an intersection with a signal that is set to always stop. If there is no temporary stop position (NO in S104), no processing is performed and one routine of this flow is terminated.

If there is a temporary stop position (YES in S104), it is determined from the image data from the camera 20 whether there is another vehicle between the vehicle and the temporary stop position (S106). If it exists (YES in S106), the value 1 is subtracted from the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted (S108), and the process from S110 is executed. This is because there is a possibility that the front temporary stop position cannot be visually recognized due to the presence of another vehicle, and the driver's misidentification can be more accurately suppressed by performing the driving support operation after approaching the temporary stop position. Here, in the image data input from the camera 20, the determination is made based on whether or not the vehicle is recognized in the range on the image corresponding to the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position. As for the method for converting the distance on the road into the distance on the image, an on-image distance setting map corresponding to the depression angle θ1 of the lens 22 and the focal length f is stored in the ROM 64 in advance, and the distance K and the depression angle of the lens 22 are stored. When θ1 and the focal length f are given, it is assumed that a distance Yk in the Y-axis direction (vehicle traveling direction or road longitudinal direction) on the image is obtained (formula (1)). FIG. 4 shows an example of the on-image distance setting map when a certain θ1 and f are given. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the presence of the vehicle is determined by setting a range on the image. It should be noted that in order to actually determine the presence of a vehicle, techniques such as edge point extraction and pattern matching using an SOBEL filter are required, but detailed description thereof is omitted because it does not form the core of the present invention. If there is no other vehicle (NO in S106), no processing is performed and the processing from S110 onward is executed.
Yk = F (K, θ1, f) (1)
Next, the navigation system 30 is instructed to determine whether or not there is a curve having an angle θ2 or more between the vehicle and the temporary stop position (S110). Here, the angle θ2 is set to a value (for example, 10 to 40 degrees, preferably 15 to 30 degrees, etc.) that makes it difficult to visually recognize the temporary stop position. When a curve having an angle θ2 or more exists between the vehicle and the temporary stop position (YES in S110), a value 1 is added to the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted, and the setting is reset (S114). The processing from S116 onward is executed. This is because, since the possibility that an intersection exists in the middle of the curve is relatively low, it is preferable from the viewpoint of safe driving to perform the driving support operation from a further distance to the temporary stop position where the visual recognition is difficult due to the curve.

  If there is no curve having an angle θ2 or more between the vehicle and the temporary stop position (NO in S110), whether or not the vehicle speed V calculated based on the input signal from the vehicle speed calculation sensor 40 exceeds the threshold value V1. (S112), and if the vehicle speed V exceeds the threshold value V1 (YES in S112), a value 1 is added to the number n of intersections where the driving assistance operation is permitted (S114), and S116 and thereafter are reset. Execute the process. This is because, when the vehicle speed is sufficiently high, even if the driving support operation is started from a point far from the temporary stop position, it is considered that the driver is not mistaken and that it is preferable from the viewpoint of safe driving. If there is no curve having an angle θ2 or more between the vehicle and the temporary stop position (NO in S110) and the vehicle speed V does not exceed the threshold value V1 (NO in S112), no processing is performed. The processing from S116 onward is executed.

  When the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted is set, an additional distance Dα used for calculating the upper limit distance Dh is set (S116). The additional distance Dα can be arbitrarily set based on various factors such as vehicle performance and road surface conditions (for example, a value of 0 to 10 m, preferably a value of 0 to 5 m, etc.).

  When the number of permitted intersections n and the additional distance Dα are set in this way, the upper limit distance Dh is obtained by multiplying the standard distance Ds set as the average distance between intersections in the city by the number of permitted intersections n and adding the additional distance Dα. Is calculated (S118). The standard distance Ds is set in advance to a distance between standard intersections in an urban area (for example, 30 m to 120 m, preferably 50 m to 100 m, etc.), and the one stored in the ROM 64 is read and used. Next, a lower limit distance Dl is set (S120). The lower limit distance Dl is for preventing the start of the driving support operation from becoming too late. The lower limit distance Dl can be set to an arbitrary value (for example, 5 to 30 m) based on various factors such as the performance of the vehicle and the road surface condition.

Then, the reference distance D is set by Equation (2) as a value proportional to the vehicle speed V limited by the upper limit distance Dh and the lower limit distance Dl (S122). In formula (2), t is an arbitrary proportionality constant. When the reference distance D is set, it is determined whether or not the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position is equal to or less than the reference distance D (S124). If the distance K is equal to or less than the reference distance D, the driving support operation is performed. (S126) If the distance K exceeds the reference distance D, no processing is performed and one routine of this flow is terminated.
D = Max (Min (t · V, Dh), Dl) (2)
Thus, since the upper limit distance Dh that is the upper limit of the reference distance D is set by increasing or decreasing the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted based on the driving state such as the vehicle speed V, it contributes to safe driving. At the same time, it is possible to suppress the driver from misidentifying that the driving support operation may have been performed at the intersection in front of the temporary stop position. In addition, by setting the lower limit distance Dl, it is possible to prevent the start of the driving support operation from becoming too late.

Of the processes of the flowcharts described above, the processes of S102 and S106 to 114 are performed by the permitted intersection number determination unit 72 in the functional block, and the processes of S116 to 122 are performed by the reference distance setting unit 74.
(Second embodiment)
Next, the driving support device 12 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the driving support device 12 of the second embodiment is common in configuration with the driving support device 10 of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are used and description of the configuration is omitted.

FIG. 6 schematically shows functional blocks of the navigation system 30 and the main ECU 60 provided in the driving support device 12 of the second embodiment. The navigation system 30 includes an intersection number detection unit 82 that detects the number r of intersections that actually exist on the route until the vehicle reaches the pause position, and the main ECU 60 exists between the vehicle and the pause position. In the comparison with the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position (temporary stop line, etc.) A reference distance setting unit 86 that sets a reference distance D that is a reference for determining whether or not to perform the determination. The driving support device 10 of the second embodiment basically displays an approach on the display 36 provided in the navigation system 30 and the speaker when the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position is equal to or less than the reference distance D. A driving support operation is performed in which a sound of approaching attention is emitted by 37. If the timing of this driving support operation is too early, there is a high possibility that there are many intersections on the route from the vehicle to the temporary stop position, and the driving support operation was performed at the intersection in front of the temporary stop position. The driver may misunderstand that this may be the case. Therefore, in order to suppress such misidentification, the number of permitted intersections is determined before determining whether or not the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position is less than or equal to the reference distance D set in the reference distance setting unit 86. When the determination unit 84 determines the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted, and the number r of intersections detected by the intersection number detection unit 82 exceeds the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted. Does not perform driving support operations.
Next, the operation of the driving support device 12 of the second embodiment will be specifically described. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a driving support processing flow 2 that is repeatedly executed while the vehicle is traveling forward by the CPU 62 of the main ECU 60 provided in the driving support device 12. Since the processing from S200 to S214 in this flow is exactly the same as the processing from S100 to S114 in the driving support processing flow 1 of the driving support device 10 of the first embodiment, description thereof will be omitted.

  When the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted in the processes from S200 to S214 is obtained, the navigation system 30 is configured to detect the number r of intersections existing between the current position of the vehicle and the temporary stop position. An instruction is given (S216). The navigation system 30 detects the number of intersections existing on the route from the vehicle to the temporary stop position, and transmits the detected number to the main ECU 60. Then, it is determined whether or not the number of detected intersections r exceeds the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted (S218). (YES in S218), no processing is performed, and one routine of this flow is terminated.

  When the detected number r of intersections is equal to or less than the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted (NO in S218), the lower limit distance Dl is set (S220). This process has the same purpose as S200 of the first embodiment.

When the lower limit distance Dl is set, the reference distance D is set by the expression (3) by limiting the value proportional to the vehicle speed V with the lower limit distance Dl (S222). In formula (3), t is an arbitrary proportionality constant.
D = Max (t · V, Dl) (3)
When the reference distance D is set, it is determined whether or not the distance K between the vehicle and the temporary stop position is equal to or less than the reference distance D (S224). If the distance K is equal to or less than the reference distance D, the driving support operation is performed. (S226), if the distance K exceeds the reference distance D, no processing is performed and one routine of this flow is terminated.

  As described above, when the number r of intersections existing between the current position and the temporary stop position of the vehicle detected by the navigation system 30 is equal to or greater than the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted, Since the support operation is not performed, it contributes to safe driving, and it is possible to suppress the driver from misidentifying that the drive support operation may have been performed at the intersection in front of the temporary stop position. . In addition, by setting the lower limit distance Dl, it is possible to prevent the start of the driving support operation from becoming too late.

Of the processes in the flowchart described above, the processes in S202 and S206 to 214 are performed by the permitted intersection number determining unit 84 in the functional block, and the process in S216 is performed by the intersection number detecting unit 82. The processing of S220 to 222 is performed by the reference distance setting unit 86.
(Modification)
The best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above using the first and second embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the gist of the present invention is described. Various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope.

  For example, in the driving support device 10 of the first embodiment and the driving support device 12 of the second embodiment (hereinafter the same), the initial value of the number n of intersections where the driving support operation is permitted, the vehicle speed, etc. Adjustment can be performed by various methods. For example, the initial value of the number of permitted intersections n may be changed to the value 1 or 3, and when the vehicle speed V exceeds the threshold value V1, a value 2 or the like may be added to the number of permitted intersections n. In addition, among the elements (S106, 110, 112, 206, 210, 212 in the processing flow) of the existence of another vehicle, the existence of a curve, and the vehicle speed for determining whether to increase or decrease the number of permitted intersections Some of them may be omitted, or some new determination element may be added. Specifically, road gradients and weather are considered.

  The reference distance D is not necessarily set to a value proportional to the vehicle speed V. For example, an exponential function value based on the vehicle speed V may be used. In the first embodiment, the upper limit distance Dh and the lower limit distance are used. An intermediate value with Dl, a proportional distribution value, or the like may be used.

  In addition, the pause position is detected by the navigation system 30, but the pause position may be detected by image data from the camera 20, and a device for detecting a magnetic marker on the road is provided, thereby temporarily The stop position may be detected. Furthermore, it is good also as what detects a temporary stop position by several methods among these, and detects more correctly.

  Further, although the CPU 62 of the main ECU 60 executes the driving support processing flows 1 and 2, it may be executed by the control unit 38 of the navigation system 30.

  In addition, the driving support operation is illustrated as being displayed on the display 36 and producing sound from the speaker 37. However, either one of them may be used, and the brake actuator is instructed to perform automatic braking simultaneously or independently. It is good.

  In addition, although the direction sensor 50 is provided and the traveling direction of the vehicle is obtained from the detected value, the traveling direction of the vehicle is obtained by any one of the gyro sensor, the G sensor, and the yaw rate sensor, or a combination thereof. It may be a thing.

  Further, in the driving support device 12 of the second embodiment, the permitted number of intersections determination unit 84 is not provided, and the driving support operation is performed by comparing the predetermined number determined in advance with the number r of intersections detected by the intersection number detection unit. It may be limited.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in a driving support device that detects at least a temporary stop position where a vehicle should stop and performs a driving support operation based on the detected position. The appearance, weight, size, running performance, etc. of the vehicle to be mounted are not limited.

It is a figure showing the whole structure of the driving assistance device 10 which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which represented typically the functional block of main ECU60 with which the driving assistance apparatus 10 which concerns on 1st Example of this invention is provided. It is a figure which shows an example of the driving assistance process flow 1 performed by CPU62 of the driving assistance apparatus 10 which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the on-image distance setting map memorize | stored in ROM64 of the driving assistance apparatus 10 which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows a mode that the range on an image is set and the presence of a vehicle is determined in the driving assistance processing flow 1 of the driving assistance device 10 which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which represented typically the functional block of the navigation system 30 with which the driving assistance device 12 which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention is provided, and main ECU60. It is a figure which shows an example of the driving assistance process flow 2 performed by CPU62 of the driving assistance apparatus 12 which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10, 12 Driving support device 20 Camera 22 Lens 24 Image sensor 26 Camera ECU
30 Navigation system 32 GPS antenna 34 Storage medium 36 Display 37 Speaker 38 Control unit 40 Vehicle speed calculation sensor 50 Direction sensor 60 Main ECU
62 CPU
64 ROM
66 RAM
72, 84 Permissible intersection number determination unit 74, 86 Reference distance setting unit 82 Intersection number detection unit

Claims (12)

A driving support device that performs a predetermined driving support operation in response to the approach of a temporary stop position where the vehicle should be temporarily stopped,
Allowed intersection number determining means for determining the number of intersections that exist on the route leading to the temporary stop position of the vehicle and that allow the predetermined driving support operation; and
A reference distance setting means for setting a reference distance for performing the predetermined driving support operation, with an upper limit value based on a product of a predetermined distance determined in advance and the number of allowed intersections;
A driving support apparatus comprising:   The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined distance is a distance between average intersections in an urban area.   The reference distance setting means is a means for setting a reference distance with an upper limit value obtained by adding an additional distance set based on a driving state of the vehicle to a product of the predetermined distance and the number of allowed intersections. The driving support device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein A driving support device that performs a predetermined driving support operation in response to the approach of a temporary stop position where the vehicle should be temporarily stopped,
An intersection number detecting means for detecting the number of intersections existing on a route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position;
A reference distance setting means for setting a reference distance for performing the predetermined driving support operation,
The driving support apparatus, wherein the predetermined driving support operation is limited based on the number of intersections detected by the intersection number detecting means.   5. The driving assistance apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined driving assistance operation is not performed when the number of intersections detected by the intersection number detecting means exceeds a predetermined number. An allowed intersection number determining means for determining the number of intersections existing on a route leading to the temporary stop position of the vehicle and permitting the predetermined driving support operation;
The driving support device according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined number is the number of allowed intersections. Vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed,
7. The permitted intersection number determination means is a means for determining the number of permitted intersections with a tendency to increase in accordance with an increase in the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means. The driving assistance device according to claim 1. Other vehicle detection means for detecting the presence of another vehicle present on the route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position,
7. The permitted intersection number determination means is means for determining the number of permitted intersections less when the presence of another vehicle is detected by the other vehicle detection means. Or the driving assistance apparatus in any one of 7. A curve detecting means for detecting the presence of a curve existing on a route until the vehicle reaches the temporary stop position;
9. The permitted intersection number determining means is means for determining a larger number of permitted intersections when the presence of a curve is detected by the curve detecting means. The driving support device according to any one of the above.   The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the reference distance setting unit is a unit that sets the reference distance with a predetermined value as a lower limit value. Vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed,
The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the reference distance setting means is a means for setting the reference distance so as to increase as the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means increases.   The predetermined driving support operation is at least one of an operation for issuing a warning to the occupant by voice, an operation for displaying a warning to the occupant, and an operation for performing braking control on the vehicle. The driving assistance apparatus as described.

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