JP2007128430A - Vehicular alarm system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve safety by issuing alarms at accurate timing depending on various statuses. <P>SOLUTION: An alarm control ECU 30 determines an inattentive direction in which a driver is considered to be inattentive from results such as operation information about a car navigation system 24, operation information about an audio system 26, call information about a cellular telephone call detection system 28 and a detection result of the driver's face orientation by a driver monitoring camera 34; and also determines an inattentive direction in which the driver is considered to be inattentive from a detection result by a vehicle state detection sensor 22, a guidance direction provided by the car navigation system 24, a forward road shape provided by the car navigation system 24 or a CCD cameras 20 and the like. The alarm control ECU 30 then computes a risk from a predicted possibility of crash and other emergencies inputted from a precrash control ECU 14, and issues alarms at the alarm timing of an alarm system 32 determined according to the determined inattentive direction and the computed risk. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular alarm device, and more particularly to a vehicular alarm device that warns a driver or another vehicle when an obstacle or a pedestrian is present at a dangerous position with respect to the progress of the vehicle. .

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a vehicle alarm device that prevents an accident in advance by giving an alarm to a driver when an obstacle, a pedestrian, or the like is present at a dangerous position with respect to the progress of the vehicle.

For example, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, in the vehicular driver assistance system in which a collision warning is given to the driver when the possibility of collision of the vehicle against an obstacle ahead of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined level, When the driver's looking aside is detected, the predetermined level is corrected to be small, and even when the driver's looking aside is not detected, it is determined that there is a high possibility that the driver will look aside. When the driver is looking aside, the safety level is improved by correcting the predetermined level to be small.
JP 2004-145725 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the vehicle alarm device is controlled only in consideration of the driver's side-view, but other situations (for example, the driving state and the driving state of the driver) ) Is not considered, there is room for improvement.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object thereof is to improve safety by giving an alarm at an appropriate timing according to various situations.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a risk level calculating means for calculating a risk level around the host vehicle, a driving state detecting means for detecting the driving state of the driver, and a running state of the host vehicle. Determination means for determining an inattentive direction in which it is estimated that the driver is careless based on the detection result of at least one of the traveling state detection means for detecting the vehicle, the calculation result of the risk degree calculation means, and the determination means And a warning means for performing a warning based on the determination result.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the risk degree calculation means calculates the risk degree around the host vehicle. The risk level calculation means can calculate the risk level by applying a so-called pre-crash technique.For example, the risk level calculation means calculates the reach distance and time to the front object, and may lead to an emergency state such as a collision. Calculated as a risk level.

  The driving state detection means detects the driving state of the driver, and the traveling state detection means detects the traveling state of the host vehicle. For example, as a driving state, a driver's side look is detected, and as a running state, a vehicle speed is detected.

  The determination means determines an inattentive direction in which it is estimated that the driver is careless based on the detection result of at least one of the driving state detection means and the traveling state detection means. For example, it is possible to detect the driver's sideways direction by the driving state detection means and determine the direction that the driver is not looking at as the careless direction. Further, as in the invention described in claim 11, when the traveling state detecting unit detects the vehicle speed and the determining unit detects a vehicle speed lower than the predetermined vehicle speed by the traveling state detecting unit, the careless direction is You may make it determine with not.

  In the alarm unit, an alarm is issued based on the calculation result of the risk degree calculation unit and the determination result of the determination unit. For example, the alarm means issues an alarm to at least one of the driver and the surroundings of the host vehicle (for example, a pedestrian or another vehicle) as in the invention described in claim 2.

  In this way, the driver's careless direction is determined, and an alarm is issued based on the risk level of the host vehicle and the driver's careless direction. Alarms can be given at the timing, and safety can be improved. Therefore, it is possible to improve safety by issuing an alarm at an appropriate timing according to various situations.

  Note that, as in the invention described in claim 3, the alarm means issues an alarm based on a predetermined threshold corresponding to the calculation result of the risk calculation means, and sets the threshold based on the determination result of the determination means. You may make it change alarm timing by changing. By changing the threshold value for warning in this way, warning can be given to at least one of the driver and the surroundings of the vehicle at an appropriate timing with respect to danger in a direction that the driver is not aware of. , Can improve safety.

  Further, as in the invention described in claim 4, the alarm means recognizes the danger around the host vehicle at an appropriate timing by advancing the alarm timing with respect to the risk of the careless direction determined by the determination means. Thus, an avoidance operation or the like can be performed. Moreover, danger can be alert | reported with an exact timing also to another vehicle, and avoidance operation etc. can be performed.

  Further, as in the invention described in claim 5, the alarm means issues an alarm according to a threshold value for each direction of risk determined in advance according to the determination result of the determination means or the detection result of the traveling state detection means. By doing so, it is possible to warn the driver and the surroundings of the vehicle at an accurate timing, and to improve safety.

  On the other hand, the driving state detecting means includes face orientation detecting means for detecting the orientation of the driver's face as in the invention described in claim 6, and the judging means detects the driver's face detected by the face orientation detecting means. A direction other than the direction of the face may be determined as an inadvertent direction, and as in the invention according to claim 7, including an operation detection means for detecting a switch operation of a device mounted on the vehicle, The determination means may determine that all directions are inadvertent directions when the switch detection of the device mounted on the vehicle is detected by the operation detection means, or as in the invention according to claim 8. In addition, it may include an incoming call detection means for detecting an incoming call of a mobile phone, and the determination means may determine all directions as the careless direction when an incoming call is detected by the incoming call detection means. As in the invention according to item 9 It may include shape detection means for detecting the road shape in the vehicle traveling direction, and the determination means may determine a direction other than the vehicle traveling direction along the road shape detected by the shape detection means as an inadvertent direction. As in the invention of claim 10, including a right / left turn detecting means for detecting the right / left turn direction of the vehicle, the judging means carelessly determines directions other than the right / left turn direction of the vehicle detected by the right / left turn detecting means. You may make it determine with a direction. In any case, it is possible to determine a careless direction that the driver is not aware of.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the careless direction is determined based on the driving state and the traveling state, and the alarm is issued based on the risk level and the careless direction of the own vehicle. There is an effect that the safety can be improved by giving an alarm at an appropriate timing.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a vehicle control system 10 mounted on a vehicle and having a function as a vehicle alarm device according to the present invention. The vehicle control system 10 includes a bus 50 to which a plurality of electronic control units (control units configured to include a computer, hereinafter referred to as ECU) that perform different controls are connected.

  The vehicle state detection sensor 22 is connected to the bus 50, and the detection result of the vehicle state detection sensor 22 is output to each ECU connected to the bus 50 in response to a request from each ECU. Note that the vehicle state detection sensor 22 detects, for example, a vehicle speed sensor that detects the vehicle body speed to the ground, a yaw rate sensor that detects yaw generated in the vehicle, an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration generated in the vehicle, and a steering operation angle. It consists of various sensors such as a rudder angle sensor.

  Further, the vehicle control system 10 includes a pre-crash control ECU 14, and a radar device 16 is connected to the pre-crash control ECU 14, and two CCD cameras 20 are connected via an image processing device 18. Yes. The pre-crash control ECU 14, the radar device 16, the image processing device 18, and the two CCD cameras 20 constitute a pre-crash control device 12.

  In the present embodiment, an FM-CW radar device using a transmission signal in which millimeter waves are detected waves and frequency modulation (FM) is performed on continuous waves (CW) is used as the radar device 16. The radar device 16 is mounted on the host vehicle, such as a vehicle or road sign that exists in front of the host vehicle (for example, the angle range of the vehicle left-right direction is 10 ° to 20 ° and the farthest detection distance is about 200 m). A front entity is detected, and the relative positional relationship, relative speed, and direction between the front entity and the host vehicle can be acquired simultaneously. The radar apparatus 16 uses an adaptive array antenna filter, forms an antenna beam by digital beam forming (DBF) technique, and scans, and detects a front object as point information. The detection principle of the FM-CW radar device, the DBF technology, etc. are described in detail in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-130945, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-220220, etc. previously filed by the applicant of the present application, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. . Needless to say, other radar device technologies can also be applied.

  The radar device 16 includes a processing unit that includes a microprocessor or the like and processes a detection result of a front entity that is performed at a constant cycle (for example, several tens of milliseconds). The detection result of the front entity is stored in the processing device. Entered. Based on the most recent detection results, the processing device excludes noise and roadside objects such as guardrails from the monitoring target based on the relative positional relationship, relative speed change, direction, etc., and exists on the preceding vehicle or on the road A process of following and monitoring a specific front entity such as a stopped vehicle as a monitoring target is performed. Information such as a relative positional relationship with each monitoring object, a relative speed, and a direction is sent to the image processing device 18 and is output to the pre-crash control ECU 14 in response to a request from the pre-crash control ECU 14.

  Further, the two CCD cameras 20 are arranged at positions separated in the vehicle width direction such as a pair of door mirrors and both ends of the front grill so as to be able to image the front of the own vehicle. Images obtained by the two CCD cameras 20 imaging the front of the host vehicle are input. The image processing device 18 is configured to detect individual monitoring targets among images input from the CCD camera 20 based on information such as relative positional relationship, relative speed, and direction with respect to individual monitoring targets input from the radar device 16. An image portion corresponding to an object is recognized. Then, based on the overall position of the recognized image portion on the image and the position of the end portion along the left-right direction of the vehicle, the center position and width dimension of each monitoring object are detected by the principle of triangulation. The image processing device 18 repeats the above processing at a constant cycle (for example, several tens of msec), thereby tracking and monitoring a specific front entity in the same manner as the radar device 16 and the center position and width dimension of each monitoring target object. The detection result is output to the pre-crash control ECU 14 in response to a request from the pre-crash control ECU 14.

  Both of the two CCD cameras 20 are cameras capable of capturing a color image, and the image processing device 18 can also recognize a monitoring object or a color of a part of the monitoring object. In this case, the lighting state of indicator lights such as a brake lamp, a hazard lamp, and a direction indicator lamp of the vehicle can be recognized. In the present embodiment, when the image processing apparatus 18 detects that the brake lamp of the preceding vehicle is turned on when the monitored object is a preceding vehicle traveling in the same direction in front of the host vehicle, the brake lamp is turned on. Information indicating this is also transmitted to the pre-crash control ECU 14.

  On the other hand, the pre-crash control ECU 14 determines the center position of each monitoring object input from the image processing device 18, such as the relative positional relationship, relative speed, and direction with each monitoring object input from the radar device 16. Based on information such as the width direction and the like, a collision or the like is calculated by calculating the arrival distance and the arrival time to the front entity while grasping the relative positional relationship between the front entity existing in front of the host vehicle and the host vehicle. The possibility of reaching an emergency state is predicted and determined, and the prediction result is output to the alarm control ECU 30.

  The vehicle control system 10 also includes a car navigation device 24. The car navigation device 24 collates the current position of the host vehicle measured by receiving a signal from the satellite with map information stored in a storage medium such as a DVD or a hard disk, thereby accurately determining the current position of the host vehicle. Detect and display the current position of the host vehicle on the map displayed on the display device, or acquire information (for example, information on various facilities) around the current position of the host vehicle from a storage medium in accordance with an instruction from the occupant, A function of displaying on a display device is provided. In addition, the car navigation device 24 according to the present embodiment makes a proposal to a preset destination based on the detected current position of the host vehicle and the map information, and this guidance direction and the front of the host vehicle traveling. Is obtained from the map information, and is output to the alarm control ECU 30 in response to a request from the alarm control ECU 30. Furthermore, the car navigation device 24 detects the operation of the car navigation device 24 by an occupant and outputs operation information indicating that the car navigation device 24 is being operated to the alarm control ECU 30.

  The vehicle control system 10 also includes an audio device 26, a mobile phone incoming call detection device 28, and the like. The audio device 26 reproduces music information stored in advance in various media (DVD, CD, MD, memory card, etc.). Also, the audio device 26 outputs operation information indicating that the audio device 26 is being operated to the alarm control ECU 30 when the audio device 26 is operated by a passenger. In addition, the mobile phone incoming call detection device 28 detects that a mobile phone call is being made in the host vehicle, and outputs incoming call information indicating that the mobile phone call is being made to the alarm control ECU 30.

  The vehicle control system 10 includes a driver monitoring camera 34. The driver monitoring camera 34 is connected to the bus 50 via the image processing device 36, and the orientation of the driver's face is detected by the image processing device 36 from an image obtained by imaging of the driver monitoring camera 34, and the detection result is alerted. It outputs to control ECU30.

  The vehicle control system 10 includes an alarm control ECU 30, and an alarm device 32 is connected to the alarm control ECU 30. The warning device 32 issues a warning to vehicles and pedestrians existing around the host vehicle and also issues a warning to the driver. As the alarm device 32, for example, a horn control device that controls the operation of the horn, a passing control device that automatically performs passing (high beam blinking of the headlamp), a hazard lamp control device that controls the operation of the hazard lamp, an instrument panel, etc. A warning lamp control device for controlling a warning lamp provided in the sound generator, a sound generator for prompting an alarm by a buzzer, a message, or the like is used.

  The alarm control ECU 30 is based on the results of the operation information of the car navigation device 24, the operation information of the audio device 26, the incoming information of the mobile phone incoming call detection device 28, the detection result of the driver's face direction by the driver monitoring camera 34, and the like. The driver determines the careless direction that is considered careless. In addition, the driver is considered careless from the detection result of the vehicle state detection sensor 22, the forward guidance direction obtained from the car navigation device 24, the forward road shape obtained from the car navigation device 24 or the CCD camera 20, and the like. Determine careless direction.

  Further, the alarm control ECU 30 calculates the degree of risk from the prediction result (for example, the arrival time until the front object collision) that is likely to reach an emergency state such as a collision input from the pre-crash control ECU 14. And alarm control ECU30 determines the alarm timing by the alarm device 32 based on the determined careless direction and the calculated risk, and issues an alarm. The alarm control ECU 30 stores, for example, a map in which the degree of danger for each arrival time (= distance to the object / relative speed) to the front presence object is predetermined for each braking performance of the vehicle, and the like. The degree of danger is calculated by reading out the degree of danger corresponding to the arrival time to the object ahead. For example, a map in which the degree of risk of the time until the collision as shown in FIG.

  Further, the alarm control ECU 30 calculates the above-described risk levels for the front left and right sides, and controls the alarm timing by setting a threshold value for performing a warning based on the risk level for each direction and the careless direction. Specifically, the thresholds (r1, l1, f1) for the degree of danger for each direction (r is the right direction, l is the left direction, and f is the forward direction) when the direction is determined to be careless direction, It has thresholds (r0, l0, f0) for the risk in each direction when it is not determined to be an attention direction, and the threshold is set according to the determination result of the driver's careless direction, the vehicle speed, etc. The alarm device 32 is activated when the calculated risk exceeds a threshold value.

  In addition, the threshold value for warning is set for each direction based on the driver's face direction, the operation status of switches such as the audio device 26 and the car navigation device 24, and the detection result by the vehicle state detection sensor 22. The risk determination level may be varied according to the level. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the driver is facing forward, it is an alarm threshold when facing the front indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3, and when the driver is facing right, The alarm threshold value for the right direction indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 3 is used, and the alarm threshold value for the high speed driving indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 3 when the driver is facing forward when driving at high speed. The alarm control ECU 30 may issue an alarm using each threshold value. FIG. 3 shows that the degree of danger increases as the distance from the origin increases, and the outside of each threshold value (solid line, alternate long and short dash line, dotted line) is the alarm range.

  Then, the effect | action of the vehicle control system comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.

  In the vehicle control system 10 according to the present embodiment, the alarm control ECU 30 performs an alarm process for alarming that an emergency state such as a collision is likely to occur, but the direction in which the driver is considered careless in the alarm process. Inadvertent direction determination processing is performed in order to issue an alarm early.

  First, the careless direction determination performed by the alarm control ECU 30 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the careless direction determination process performed by the alarm control ECU 30 of the vehicle control system 10 having the function as the vehicle alarm device according to the present invention.

  First, in step 100, the careless flag in each direction is set to 1. That is, the right carelessness flag = 1, the left carelessness flag = 1, the front carelessness flag = 1, and the rear carelessness flag = 1.

  Next, in step 102, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle state detection sensor 22 is smaller than a predetermined value in advance. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 104. If the determination is negative, step 102 is performed. 106.

  In step 104, the carelessness flag in all directions is set to 0, the carelessness determination process is terminated, and the process from step 100 described above or other processes are performed. In other words, when driving at low speed, the warning process described below is performed with no careless direction, so that the driver or his / her own vehicle surroundings (pedestrians, other vehicles, etc.) are not alarmed frequently. The user and the surrounding area of the vehicle.

  In step 106, it is determined whether or not the switch of the audio device 26, the car navigation device 24, or the like is being operated. The determination is performed by determining whether or not the operation information is input from the audio device 26 or the car navigation device 24. If the determination is affirmative, the careless direction determination process is terminated as it is, and the above-described steps are performed. Processing from 100 or other processing is performed. In other words, it is assumed that there is no careless direction when traveling at a low speed. In other words, when the switch is being operated, it is possible to warn the driver with a precise timing with respect to the driver's side by performing an alarm process described later with all directions as careless directions.

  If the determination in step 106 is negative, the process proceeds to step 108 to determine whether or not the mobile phone is being used. The determination is performed by determining whether or not incoming call information is input from the mobile phone incoming call detection device 28. If the determination is affirmative, the careless direction determination process is terminated and the above-described step 100 is started. Or other processing is performed. In other words, it is assumed that there is no careless direction when traveling at a low speed. In other words, even when the mobile phone is being used, the alarm processing described later is performed with all directions as careless directions, so that an alarm can be issued at an appropriate timing when the driver's concentration is reduced.

  If the determination in step 108 is negative, the process proceeds to step 110 to determine whether the driver is facing right. The determination is performed by detecting the driver's face orientation with the image processing device 36 from the image captured by the driver monitoring camera 34 and acquiring the detected result by the alarm control ECU 30, and the driver is facing right. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 112. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 114.

  In step 112, since the driver is facing right and the right side is not careless direction, the right careless flag is set to 0, the careless direction determination process is terminated, and the process from step 100 described above or others Perform the process. That is, it is possible to warn the driver looking aside at an appropriate timing by performing the alarm processing described later with the direction other than the right side inadvertently.

  In step 114, it is determined whether the driver is facing left. The determination is made by detecting the driver's face orientation with the image processing device 36 from the image captured by the driver monitoring camera 34 and acquiring the detection result by the alarm control ECU 30, and the driver is facing left. In this case, the determination is affirmed and the process proceeds to step 116. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 118.

  In step 116, since the driver is facing left and the left side is not careless direction, the left careless flag is set to 0, the careless direction determination processing is terminated, and the processing from step 100 described above or others Perform the process. That is, it is possible to warn the driver with a precise timing with respect to the driver's side-by-side by performing the alarm processing described later with the direction other than the left side being careless.

  In step 118, it is determined whether the driver is facing backward. The determination is performed by detecting the driver's face orientation with the image processing device 36 from the image captured by the driver monitoring camera 34 and acquiring the detected result by the alarm control ECU 30, and the driver is looking backward. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 120. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 122.

  In step 120, since the driver is looking backward and the rear side is not careless direction, the rear careless flag is set to 0, the careless direction determination process is terminated, and the process from step 100 described above or Do other processing. That is, it is possible to warn the driver looking aside at an appropriate timing by performing the alarm processing described later with the other side as the careless direction.

  In step 122, it is determined whether or not the driver is facing forward. The determination is performed by detecting the driver's face orientation with the image processing device 36 from the image captured by the driver monitoring camera 34 and the alarm control ECU 30 acquires the detection result, and the driver is facing the front. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 124. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 126.

  In step 124, since the driver is facing the front and the front side is not careless direction, the front careless flag is set to 0, the careless direction determination processing is terminated, and the processing from step 100 described above or others is performed. Perform the process. That is, the alarm processing described later is performed with the direction other than the front side inadvertently.

  In step 126, it is determined whether or not the guidance direction of the car navigation device 24 is the right direction. The determination is made by determining whether the right direction is the guide direction from the forward guide direction obtained from the car navigation device 24. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 128, and if the determination is negative, Goes to step 130.

  In step 128, since the guidance direction of the car navigation device 24 is the right direction, the right side is not a careless direction, so the right careless flag is set to 0, the careless direction determination process is terminated, and the above steps are performed. Processing from 100 or other processing is performed. In other words, by performing the alarm processing described later with the direction other than the right side inadvertently, the direction other than the right direction is inadvertent in the case of a right turn or a right curve, etc. An alarm can be made.

  In step 130, it is determined whether or not the guidance direction of the car navigation device 24 is the left direction. The determination is performed by determining whether the left direction is the guide direction from the front guide direction obtained from the car navigation device 24. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 132. If the determination is negative, the determination is made. Goes to step 134.

  In step 132, since the guidance direction of the car navigation device 24 is the left direction, the left side is not a careless direction. Therefore, the left careless flag is set to 0, the careless direction determination process is terminated, and the above steps are performed. Processing from 100 or other processing is performed. In other words, by performing the alarm processing described later with the direction other than the left side inadvertently, the direction other than the left direction is inadvertent in the case of a left turn or a left curve, etc. An alarm can be made.

  In step 134, it is determined whether or not the front is a right curve. The determination is performed by determining whether the vehicle is a right curve from the road shape ahead obtained from the car navigation device 24 or the CCD camera 20. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 128 described above. Processes other than the right side as careless directions. If the result is negative, the process proceeds to step 136.

  In step 136, it is determined whether or not the front is a left curve. The determination is performed by determining whether or not the vehicle is a left curve from the road shape in front obtained from the car navigation device 24 or the CCD camera 20. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 132 described above. Processes other than the left side as careless directions. If the result is negative, the careless direction determination process is terminated, and the process from step 100 described above or other processes are performed.

  The careless direction determination process corresponds to the determination unit of the present invention. In addition, the careless direction determination process described above may capture only a part and correspond to the determination unit of the present invention.

  When the careless direction determination process is performed as described above, the alarm control ECU 30 performs an alarm process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of alarm processing performed by the alarm control ECU 30 of the vehicle control system 10 having a function as a vehicle alarm device according to the present invention.

  In step 200, it is determined whether the right direction is careless. That is, it is determined whether or not the right direction is the careless direction from the careless direction determined by the careless direction determination process. The determination is made by determining whether or not the right careless flag is 1 from the result of the carelessness determination process. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 202. If the determination is negative, the determination is made. Goes to step 204.

  In step 202, the right alarm threshold value Wr = r1 is set, and in step 204, the right alarm threshold value Wr = r0 is set. That is, when the right direction is a careless direction, as shown in FIG. 2, the setting is made so that an alarm is given with a threshold value having a lower risk level than that when the right direction is not careless.

  When the threshold value in the right direction is set in step 202 or step 204, the process proceeds to step 206 to determine whether or not the left direction is a careless direction. That is, it is determined whether or not the left direction is a careless direction from the careless direction determined by the careless direction determination process. The determination is made by determining whether or not the left careless flag is 1 from the result of the carelessness determination process. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 208, and if the determination is negative Proceeds to step 210.

  In step 208, the left alarm threshold value Wl = l1 is set, and in step 210, the left alarm threshold value Wl = l0 is set. That is, when the left direction is the careless direction, as shown in FIG. 2, the setting is performed so that the alarm is given with a threshold value that is lower than that of the case where the left direction is not careless.

  When the left threshold value is set in step 208 or 210, the process proceeds to step 212 to determine whether or not the front direction is a careless direction. That is, it is determined whether or not the front direction is a careless direction from the careless direction determined by the careless direction determination process. The determination is made by determining whether or not the front (front) direction careless flag is 1 from the result of the carelessness determination process. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 214 and denied. If YES, go to step 216.

  In step 214, the front alarm threshold value Wf = f1 is set. In step 216, the front alarm threshold value Wf = f0 is set. That is, when the front direction is an inattentive direction, as shown in FIG. 2, the setting is made so that an alarm is given with a threshold value that is lower in risk than in the case where the front direction is not inadvertent.

  When the threshold value in the front direction is set in step 214 or step 216, the process proceeds to step 218, and the degree of urgency (Er, El, Ef) in each direction is calculated. That is, the degree of danger is calculated by reading the degree of danger with respect to the arrival time to the object existence (= distance to the object / relative speed) from a predetermined map for each vehicle braking performance or the like.

  Next, in step 220, it is determined whether or not the calculated right-side risk Er is equal to or greater than the set threshold value Wr. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 222. If the determination is negative, step 220 is performed. 224.

  In step 222, the right alarm is turned on to warn the driver that the right direction is careless by lighting a warning lamp, a buzzer, a message, etc., and the horn, passing, hazard lamp, etc. are activated. Thus, an alarm is given to another vehicle and the process proceeds to step 226. In step 224, the alarm in the right direction is turned off and the process proceeds to step 226.

  In step 226, it is determined whether or not the calculated leftward degree of danger El is equal to or greater than the set threshold value Wl. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 228. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 230. Transition.

  In step 228, the left alarm is turned on to warn the driver that the left direction is inadvertent due to lighting of a warning lamp, buzzer, message, etc., and horn, passing, hazard lamp, etc. are activated. Thus, an alarm is given to another vehicle and the process proceeds to step 232. In step 230, the alarm in the right direction is turned off and the process proceeds to step 232.

  In step 232, it is determined whether or not the calculated frontal direction risk Ef is equal to or greater than the set threshold value Wf. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 234. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 236. Transition.

  In step 236, the warning in the front direction is turned on to warn the driver that the left direction is inadvertent due to lighting of a warning lamp, a buzzer, a message, etc., and the horn, passing, hazard lamp, etc. are activated. Thus, an alarm is given to another vehicle, the alarm process is terminated, and the process from step 200 described above or other processes are performed. In step 236, the alarm in the front direction is turned off and the process from step 200 described above is performed. Do other processing.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the driver's careless direction is determined, and control is performed so that the warning timing of the careless direction in which the driver is not careful is earlier than the direction in which the driver is careful. In this way, an alarm can be given to the driver and the surroundings of the host vehicle at an appropriate timing with respect to a danger in a direction that is not conscious of the driver, so that safety can be improved.

  In addition, since warnings are issued earlier for dangers in a direction that is less careful than the direction in which the driver is paying attention, the danger can be avoided by the driver's risk avoidance operation, and other vehicles can also be avoided. The operation can be performed.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the warning timing is changed by changing the threshold value for warning by determining the driver's careless direction has been described as an example, but the control is performed by the pre-crash technique. The threshold values of various devices (for example, ABS device, intervention brake device, webbing take-up device, airbag device, etc.) may be changed and controlled according to the driver's careless direction as described above.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle control system that is mounted on a vehicle and has a function as a vehicle alarm device according to the present invention. FIG. It is a graph showing an example of the map which predetermined the risk with respect to the time to collision. It is a figure showing the threshold value of each direction at the time of having a warning threshold value for each direction and making the risk determination level variable according to the level. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the carelessness determination process performed by alarm control ECU of the vehicle control system which has the function as a vehicle alarm device which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the alarm process performed by alarm control ECU of the vehicle control system which has the function as a vehicle alarm device which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle control system 12 Pre-crash control apparatus 14 Pre-crash control ECU
Reference Signs List 16 Radar device 18 Image processing device 20 CCD camera 22 Vehicle state detection sensor 24 Car navigation device 26 Audio device 28 Mobile phone incoming call detection device 30 Alarm control ECU
32 Alarm device 34 Driver monitoring camera 36 Image processing device

Claims (11)

A risk calculating means for calculating the risk around the vehicle,
Based on the detection result of at least one of the driving state detecting means for detecting the driving state of the driver and the driving state detecting means for detecting the driving state of the host vehicle, an inattentive direction in which the driver is inadvertent is estimated. Determination means for determining;
Based on the calculation result of the degree-of-risk calculation means and the determination result of the determination means, alarm means for performing an alarm;
A vehicle alarm device comprising:   The vehicle alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the alarm unit issues an alarm to at least one of a driver and the surroundings of the host vehicle.   The warning means issues a warning based on a predetermined threshold value corresponding to the calculation result of the risk level calculation means, and changes the warning timing by changing the threshold value based on the determination result of the determination means. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein   4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the warning unit advances the warning timing with respect to the degree of danger in the careless direction determined by the determination unit. 5. Alarm device.   2. The alarm unit according to claim 1, wherein the alarm unit issues an alarm according to a threshold value for each direction of the degree of risk determined in advance according to a determination result of the determination unit or a detection result of the traveling state detection unit. Item 5. The vehicle alarm device according to any one of Items4.   The driving state detection unit includes a face direction detection unit that detects a driver's face direction, and the determination unit determines a direction other than the driver's face direction detected by the face direction detection unit. The vehicular alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the warning direction is determined.   The driving state detecting means includes an operation detecting means for detecting a switch operation of a device mounted on a vehicle, and when the determining means detects the switch operation by the operation detecting means, the driving state detecting means The vehicular alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein it is determined as a careless direction.   The driving state detection means includes an incoming call detection means for detecting an incoming call of a mobile phone, and the determination means determines all directions as the careless direction when an incoming call is detected by the incoming call detection means. The vehicle alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein   The driving state detection means includes shape detection means for detecting a road shape in the vehicle traveling direction, and the determination means carelessly determines a direction other than the vehicle traveling direction along the road shape detected by the shape detection means. The vehicle warning device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the vehicle warning device is determined as a direction.   The driving state detection means includes right / left turn detection means for detecting a right / left turn direction of the vehicle, and the determination means sets a direction other than the right / left turn direction of the vehicle detected by the right / left turn detection means as the careless direction. The vehicle alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the alarm device is determined.   The traveling state detecting means detects the speed of a vehicle, and the determining means determines that there is no careless direction when a vehicle speed smaller than a predetermined vehicle speed is detected by the traveling state detecting means. The vehicle alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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