JP2007168697A - Occupant protection device and occupant protection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To activate an occupant protection function as early as possible, by preventing interference between crash evasion operation of a driver and crash evasion control as much as possible. <P>SOLUTION: A crash possibility recognizing means determines a crash possibility on the basis of a detection result of a ranging sensor 2. When it is determined that there is a crash possibility, the occupant crash protection function is activated earlier by a first predetermined time on the basis of detection of no evasion operation of an evasion operation detecting means. On the basis of detection of evasion operation of the evasion operation detecting means, the occupant crash protection function is activated earlier by a second predetermined time shorter than the first predetermined time, and interference of the crash evasion operation of the driver and the crash evasion control is prevented as much as possible. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device and an occupant protection method for protecting an occupant of a host vehicle from a collision between the host vehicle and a target ahead based on a detection result of a distance measuring sensor mounted on the host vehicle.

  Conventionally, in a vehicle equipped with this type of passenger protection device, a vehicle such as a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle is measured by a distance measuring sensor such as a laser radar, a millimeter wave radar, or an ultrasonic sensor mounted on the vehicle. Detects a target that may become a driving obstacle and monitors the distance between the vehicle and the target (distance between vehicles), etc., and this distance is the relative speed of the vehicle to the target (or the relative speed opposite to it) ), The possibility of collision is determined from a collision margin time (TTC) obtained by division.

  For example, when it is determined that there is a possibility of collision due to shortening of the TTC, the passenger is warned of the possibility of collision by sound (voice), screen display, weak pulling of the seat belt, etc., and TTC is further set. When the physical avoidance limit time is shortened and collision is unavoidable, the driver's driver's protection function is activated and the driver of the own vehicle is activated by applying the automatic brake or winding the seat belt to restrain the passenger. It is designed to reduce the collision damage of passengers including.

  By the way, from the viewpoint of improving the safety when the driver's collision avoidance operation is delayed or not performed due to a side look driving, the timing at which the occupant protection function is activated (operation timing) is as early as possible. It is desirable to change (accelerate).

Conventionally, it has been proposed to accelerate the timing at which the occupant protection function is activated when the TTC becomes lower than a threshold value and the possibility of a collision increases (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-2005-31967 (abstract, [0012]-[0013], [0079]-[0106], FIG. 1, FIGS. 12 to 16 etc.)

  As in the conventional case, when the TTC falls below the threshold value and the possibility of collision becomes high, the driver of the vehicle himself or herself or the alarm Despite recognizing that there is a possibility of a collision, the occupant protection function automatically activates before and after the collision avoidance operation of the driver. There is a problem of interference with avoidance control.

  Then, the interference may cause the driver to panic, prevent the driver from avoiding operation, or cause the driver to erroneously operate.

  An object of the present invention is to prevent the collision between the driver's collision avoidance operation and the collision avoidance control as much as possible, and to make the timing at which the passenger protection function operates as early as possible.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the occupant protection device of the present invention determines the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and a target ahead based on the detection result of a distance measuring sensor mounted on the own vehicle. An occupant protection device that activates the occupant protection function of the host vehicle at a set operation timing when there is a possibility, the collision possibility recognition means for judging the collision possibility based on a detection result of the distance measuring sensor When the collision possibility recognizing means determines that the collision possibility exists, the avoidance operation detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of the avoidance operation of the own vehicle, and the detection of the avoidance operation by the avoidance operation detecting means The operation timing of the occupant protection function is advanced by a first predetermined time earlier, and the operation timing of the occupant protection function is set to a second predetermined time shorter than the first predetermined time by detection of the avoidance operation by the avoidance operation detecting means. Advance time It is characterized in that a hydraulic timing control means for earlier stage (claim 1).

  The occupant protection device of the present invention is characterized in that the operation timing control means has a function of further accelerating the operation timing of the occupant protection function as the possibility of collision increases (Claim 2). The occupant protection function is provided based on the detection of the avoidance operation detection means after the notification by the notification means. It is also characterized in that the operation timing of is advanced.

  Further, in the occupant protection device according to the present invention, the avoidance operation detecting means has a function of detecting the avoidance operation amount, and the operation timing control means is a degree of early advancement of the avoidance operation amount detected by the avoidance operation detection means. The operation timing of the occupant protection function is advanced by increasing / decreasing the number of passengers (Claim 4).

  In the occupant protection device according to the present invention, the collision possibility recognizing means has a recognition function of the possibility of collision, and the collision possibility recognizing means reaches the recognition state with the highest possibility of collision. When the avoidance operation detection means detects the presence of the avoidance operation, the detection timing is invalidated and the operation timing control means accelerates the operation timing of the occupant protection function. ).

  Next, the occupant protection method of the present invention determines the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the target ahead based on the detection result of the distance measuring sensor mounted on the own vehicle, and when there is the possibility of the collision, An occupant protection method for activating an occupant protection function at a set operation timing, wherein the collision possibility is determined based on a detection result of the distance measuring sensor, and is automatically determined when the collision possibility is determined. The presence / absence of an avoidance operation is detected, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is accelerated by a first predetermined time by detecting the absence of the avoidance operation, and the operation timing of the occupant protection function is determined by detecting the presence of the avoidance operation. The second predetermined time shorter than the first predetermined time is advanced earlier (Claim 6).

  According to the first and sixth aspects of the invention, when it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision, if the driver of the vehicle does not perform a collision avoiding operation due to looking aside, falling asleep, depressed, etc., the detection of no avoiding operation is detected. Accordingly, the operation timing of the passenger protection function is advanced as early as possible by advancing the first predetermined time.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a possibility of collision and the driver of the own vehicle performs the collision avoidance operation, the operation timing of the passenger protection function is shorter than the first predetermined time based on the detection of the presence of the avoidance operation. It is accelerated by a predetermined time. In other words, when it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision, if the driver of the own vehicle performs a collision avoidance operation without looking aside, the operation timing of the passenger protection function has priority over the driver collision avoidance operation. Thus, in order to prevent interference between the avoidance operation and the avoidance control, it is delayed from the time when the collision avoidance operation is not performed, but is advanced to the extent that an insufficient avoidance operation can be compensated.

  Therefore, while avoiding the interference between the collision avoidance operation of the driver and the collision avoidance control as much as possible, the timing at which the occupant protection function is activated can be accelerated as much as possible to reduce collision damage or avoid collision. Safety is improved.

  According to the invention of claim 2, as the driver of the own vehicle does not perform the collision avoidance operation and the possibility of collision increases with time, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is further advanced, and collision is possible. It is possible to further improve the safety against a collision by operating the occupant protection function at an appropriate operation timing according to the characteristics.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the operation timing of the occupant protection function is advanced after confirming the presence or absence of the avoidance operation of the driver by the notification means notifying that there is a possibility of collision, the notification When the driver who has noticed the vehicle performs the collision avoidance operation, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is advanced earlier by the second predetermined time based on the detection of the presence of the avoidance operation, and the driver collision is more reliably performed. There is an advantage that interference between the avoidance operation and the avoidance control can be prevented by giving priority to the avoidance operation.

  According to the invention of claim 4, if the amount of collision avoidance operation by the driver is large, the degree of advancement of the operation timing of the passenger protection function can be reduced, and if it is less, the degree of advancement can be increased. The operation timing of the occupant protection function can be advanced as much as possible according to the avoidance operation amount while giving priority to the avoidance operation of the collision and preventing interference between the avoidance operation and the avoidance control.

  According to the invention of claim 5, when the driver performs the collision avoidance operation for the first time after reaching the recognition state having the highest possibility of collision, and when it is highly likely that the collision cannot be avoided by the avoidance operation, the avoidance operation is performed. Since the operation timing of the occupant protection function can be advanced as much as possible by advancing the first predetermined time as if it were not, the safety against the collision is further improved.

Next, in order to describe the present invention in more detail, an embodiment thereof will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
(One embodiment)
First, an embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main part configuration of the own vehicle 1, FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining its operation, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between alarm and early acceleration, and FIGS. It is explanatory drawing of this relationship.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a distance measuring sensor 2 is mounted on the own vehicle 1, and the distance measuring sensor 2 includes a well-known scanning laser radar, a millimeter wave radar, and the like. ), A microcomputer that controls the entire vehicle 1 with the latest search result data such as the distance (vehicle distance) between the vehicle 1 and a target such as a preceding vehicle ahead. It sends to control ECU3 of composition.

  This control ECU 3 is not only data of the search result of the distance measuring sensor 2, but also detection data of various sensors of the vehicle 1 such as the vehicle speed sensor 4, the rudder angle sensor 5, the yaw rate sensor 6, etc. By executing an occupant protection program that is input and set while the vehicle 1 is traveling, a collision possibility recognition means, avoidance operation detection means, operation timing control means, notification means, etc., which will be described later, are formed. While referring to each detection data, the possibility of collision between the vehicle 1 and a target ahead is judged based on the detection result of the distance measuring sensor 2, and when there is a possibility of collision, The passenger protection function of the car 1 is activated.

  The collision possibility recognizing means is a means for determining the possibility of collision based on the detection result of the distance measuring sensor 2. When the possibility of collision is determined from the collision margin time (TTC), the distance measuring sensor 2 The latest distance (inter-vehicle distance) between the host vehicle 1 and the target ahead of the host vehicle obtained from the exploration result data is the relative speed obtained from the time variation of the distance and the host vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor 4. By dividing by, TTC is calculated every moment.

  Further, whether or not there is a possibility of collision is determined based on whether or not the calculated TTC is equal to or less than a set threshold value (for example, about several seconds [s]). In the case of this embodiment, the TTC The degree of collision possibility is also judged from the size.

  By the way, in this embodiment, in order to notify the driver of the own vehicle 1 of the possibility of a collision before the TTC is shortened to the time of the physical avoidance limit of 0.6 [s], as shown in FIG. A primary alarm for sound (voice) or screen display is generated at TTC = ta, a seat belt alarm for pulling in the seat belt is generated at TTC = tb (tb <ta), and a sound (at TTC = tc (tc <tb)) Voice) or secondary alarm on the screen display.

  Note that td in FIG. 3 is a physical avoidance limit time (timing) of TTC = 0.6 [s], te is a collision timing of TTC = 0 [s], and ta to te are all te (= 0). [S]) and ta> tb> tc> td> te. The primary alarm and the secondary alarm are performed by a part or all of the buzzer sound, the voice message, and the screen display message of the alarm unit 7 in FIG. In the present embodiment, the physical avoidance limit is set to TTC = 0.6 [s], but is arbitrarily set depending on vehicle performance and the like.

  And the detection timing with possibility of a collision is before the generation | occurrence | production timing of the primary alarm of TTC = ta. In addition, the time regions Tab, Tbc, and Tcd of ta to tb, tb to tc, and tc to td in FIG. 3 are time points of the physical avoidance limit (timing) td in order of increasing possibility of collision. It is an area of a collision possibility stage, and the time area Tcd is an area of a stage (degree) with the highest possibility of collision.

  Next, the avoidance operation detection means is means for detecting the presence / absence of an avoidance operation of the host vehicle 1 when the collision possibility recognition means is in a collision possibility determination state. In the case of the present embodiment, the avoidance operation is an operation to apply a brake and a steering operation to change the course. The operation of applying the brake is, for example, that the accelerator opening (throttle opening) of a throttle actuator (hereinafter referred to as ACT) 8 decreases with a change gradient greater than a set value, or the accelerator opening is 0, and In other words, the master cylinder pressure of the brake ACT9 increases with a change gradient greater than the set value. The steering operation for changing the course is, for example, that the change amount (absolute value) of the detected steering angle of the steering angle sensor 5 is equal to or greater than a set value.

  Next, the operation timing control means detects the absence of the avoidance operation by the avoidance operation detection means using the physical avoidance limit time td (TTC = 0.6 [s]) as the initial operation timing of the passenger protection function. The operation timing of the occupant protection function is advanced earlier by the first predetermined time A, and the operation timing of the occupant protection function is set to a second predetermined time B shorter than the first predetermined time A by detecting the avoidance operation by the avoidance operation detecting means. This is a means for speeding up the operation timing of the occupant protection function by changing the speed of the operation timing of the occupant protection function to small or large depending on whether the avoidance operation is detected by the avoidance operation detection means. The predetermined times A and B are set by experiments or the like, and in particular, the predetermined time B is set so as not to interfere with the driver's avoidance operation.

  In the simplest case, when the collision possibility recognizing means determines that there is a possibility of collision, the avoidance operation detecting means has an avoidance operation until TTC is shortened to td (0.6 [s]) + A. Is detected, the operation timing is advanced to the timing of td + B so that the above-described interference is prevented and the passenger protection function is activated as soon as possible. Further, if the avoidance operation detection means does not detect the presence of the avoidance operation even if TTC is shortened to td (0.6 [s]) + A, it is considered that the driver is performing a look-aside operation or the like. The operation timing is advanced to the timing of td + A.

  Even in this case, the occupant protection function can be activated earlier than the conventional activation timing td by preventing interference with the driver's avoidance operation. A function for the timing control means to further advance the operation timing of the occupant protection function as the possibility of a collision increases, and a function to advance the operation timing of the occupant protection function based on detection of the avoidance operation detection means after notification by the notification means Is provided.

  Then, if the collision possibility recognizing means determines that the collision possibility is present, until the avoidance operation detecting means detects the presence of the avoidance operation ta, the primary alarm is generated ta, the seat belt alarm is generated tb, The operation timing of the passenger protection function is further advanced by a predetermined time A with a delay in the confirmation waiting time τx set from each tc at which the secondary alarm is generated, and as the possibility of collision increases, in other words, as TTC becomes shorter The operation timing of the occupant protection function is advanced by a relatively large predetermined time A.

  When the avoidance operation detecting means detects the presence of the avoidance operation when the collision possibility recognition means determines that the collision possibility exists, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is further advanced at a predetermined time B at the time of detection, and thereafter If the detection state with the avoidance operation continues and TTC is further shortened, the avoidance operation is considered to be insufficient. Therefore, the operation timing of the passenger protection function is determined as the driver's avoidance operation every time an alarm is generated. The time is further advanced by a predetermined time B so as not to interfere.

  That is, the operation timing control means operates as shown in steps S1 to S4 in FIG. 2 when the collision possibility recognition means is in a collision possibility determination state, and operates as a primary alarm, a seat belt alarm, and a secondary alarm. Each time the occurrence of the vehicle is detected, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S2. At this time, if the avoidance operation detecting means does not detect the driver's avoidance operation, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S3 and the operation timing of the passenger protection function is If the driver repeats the avoidance operation during the predetermined time A and the avoidance operation detecting means detects the avoidance operation during that time, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S4, and the operation timing of the occupant protection function is set to the predetermined time B. Be early.

  Therefore, even if the collision possibility recognizing means determines that there is a collision possibility, the driver of the vehicle 1 does not perform the collision avoidance operation due to looking aside, falling asleep or depressed, as shown in FIG. In addition, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is set earlier by a predetermined time A from the initial setting timing td with a delay of the waiting time τx from the generation timing of the alarms ta, tb, tc.

  Also, the collision possibility recognizing means determines that there is a possibility of collision. For example, the driver starts an avoidance operation based on the primary alarm, but the avoidance operation is insufficient and the collision possibility recognition means determines that there is a possibility of collision. As shown in FIG. 5, when the alarms ta, tb, and tc are generated, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is set earlier by a predetermined time B from the initial setting timing td. In this case, since the confirmation of the avoidance operation is unnecessary for the alarms tb and tc generated during the avoidance operation, the waiting time τx is omitted, and the warning is performed.

  By doing so, the operation timing of the occupant protection function is determined at an early stage within the hatched area in FIG.

  Then, when the set operation timing is reached, the control of the passenger protection function of the control ECU 3 is executed. For example, the throttle ACT7 and the brake ACT9 in FIG. 1 are controlled to be automatically braked, and the seat belt ACT10 is controlled to control the seat. The occupant is restrained by entraining the belt, and avoidance control for damage reduction is performed.

  When performing collision avoidance avoidance control, the electric power steering ACT11 is also controlled by the control of the occupant protection function, and the traveling direction of the host vehicle 1 is changed.

  And, while preventing the collision between the collision avoidance operation of the driver and the collision avoidance control as much as possible, the timing at which the passenger protection function is activated is made as early as possible, thereby causing the driver to panic or hinder the driver's avoidance operation. Or if the driver does not perform any collision avoidance operation due to looking aside, falling asleep, depressed, etc., or if the avoidance operation is insufficient This can significantly improve the performance of the vehicle and ensure the safety of passengers.

(Other embodiments)
Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this embodiment, the difference from the one embodiment is that, in order to further improve the safety, the collision possibility recognizing means has reached the recognition state with the highest possibility of collision, that is, TTC is as shown in FIG. When the avoidance operation detecting means detects that there is an avoidance operation for the first time after the time region Tcd of the stage (about) with the highest possibility of collision is detected, this detection is invalidated and the operation timing control means is shown in FIG. As shown, the operation timing of the passenger protection function is configured to be advanced by a predetermined time A.

  In this way, for example, when the driver performs the collision avoidance operation after reaching the recognition state with the highest possibility of collision due to a side-view driving or the like, and the collision operation is unlikely to be avoided by the avoidance operation, the avoidance operation is performed. As a result, the operation timing of the occupant protection function can be accelerated as much as possible, and the safety against collision is further improved.

  Specifically, in the normal recognition state where the possibility of collision is the highest, there is a high possibility that collision avoidance will no longer be possible even if there is a driver's avoidance operation. In such a state, safety is improved by advancing the predetermined time A as described above.

  If a sudden interruption occurs, the TTC will become extremely short. Therefore, avoidance control will be performed at the normal operation timing (td) as before, without giving an alarm. There is no sense of incongruity.

  Incidentally, when the collision possibility recognition means of the control ECU 3 continues to detect the presence of the driver's avoidance operation even when the TTC is shortened to the time region Tcd having the highest possibility of collision, as shown in FIG. It is preferable that the conversion time is a predetermined time A.

  By doing in this way, when the possibility of a collision becomes very high, even if the driver performs an avoidance operation, it is possible to further improve the safety by further speeding up the avoidance control of the device There is.

  The present invention is not limited to both of the above-described embodiments, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit thereof. For example, the avoidance operation detection of the control ECU 3 can be performed. The means is provided with a function for detecting the avoidance operation amount, and the operation timing control means is configured to advance the operation timing of the occupant protection function by increasing / decreasing the degree of advancement contrary to the avoidance operation amount detected by the avoidance operation detection means. In this case, the degree of advancement of the operation timing of the occupant protection function decreases and increases according to the amount of the collision avoidance operation by the driver, and the avoidance operation and the avoidance control are given priority to the driver's collision avoidance operation. The operation timing of the occupant protection function can be accelerated as much as possible according to the avoidance operation amount while preventing interference with the vehicle.

  The control ECU 3 may use any control processing method, and the occupant protection function may be different from the occupant restraint function based on automatic braking and seat belt winding.

  Further, the number and type of alarms, the generation timing, etc. may be whatever, and the possibility of collision may be recognized by other than TTC.

  For example, when the avoidance operation is not performed after the primary warning, the occupant protection function is activated earlier and the warning sound is increased or the seat belt is pulled in more strongly. May be.

It is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart for operation | movement description of one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the relationship between an alarm and early. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the relationship between collision avoidance operation and the amount of earlyization. It is explanatory drawing of the other example of the relationship between the avoidance operation of a collision, and the early stage amount. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the relationship between the avoidance operation of the collision of other embodiment of this invention, and the early stage amount. It is explanatory drawing of the further another example of the relationship between collision avoidance operation and the amount of earlyization.

Explanation of symbols

1 Own vehicle 2 Ranging sensor 3 Control ECU
7 Alarm unit 8 Throttle ACT
9 Brake ACT
10 Seat belt ACT
11 Electric power steering ACT

Claims (6)

Based on the detection result of the distance measuring sensor mounted on the vehicle, the possibility of collision between the vehicle and a target in front is judged, and when there is a possibility of the collision, the passenger is protected at the set operation timing. An occupant protection device that activates a function,
A collision possibility recognition means for judging the collision possibility based on a detection result of the distance measuring sensor;
Avoidance operation detection means for detecting presence or absence of an avoidance operation of the own vehicle when the collision possibility recognition means determines that there is a possibility of collision;
The operation timing of the occupant protection function is accelerated by a first predetermined time by detecting the absence of the evasion operation by the avoidance operation detection means, and the operation timing of the occupant protection function is determined by detecting the presence of the avoidance operation by the avoidance operation detection means. An occupant protection device comprising: an operation timing control means that accelerates a second predetermined time that is shorter than the first predetermined time. The occupant protection device according to claim 1.
The occupant protection device, wherein the operation timing control means has a function of further accelerating the operation timing of the occupant protection function as the possibility of collision increases. The occupant protection device according to claim 1 or 2,
Informing means for informing the judgment of the possibility of collision of the collision possibility recognition means,
The occupant protection device, wherein the operation timing control means advances the operation timing of the occupant protection function based on detection of the avoidance operation detection means after notification by the notification means. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The avoidance operation detecting means has a function of detecting the avoidance operation amount;
The occupant protection characterized in that the operation timing control means advances the operation timing of the occupant protection function by increasing / decreasing the degree of advancement contrary to the avoidance operation amount detected by the avoidance operation detection means. apparatus. The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The collision possibility recognizing means has a recognition function of the collision possibility level;
When the avoidance operation detection means detects the presence of the avoidance operation for the first time after the collision possibility recognition means reaches the recognition state with the highest possibility of collision, the operation timing control means disables the detection and the operation timing control means An occupant protection device characterized in that the operation timing of the protection function is advanced. Based on the detection result of the ranging sensor mounted on the vehicle, the possibility of collision between the vehicle and the target ahead is judged, and when there is the possibility of collision, the passenger protection function is activated at the set operation timing. An occupant protection method,
Judging the possibility of collision based on the detection result of the distance measuring sensor,
Detecting the presence or absence of the avoidance operation of the vehicle when judging that there is a possibility of collision,
The operation timing of the occupant protection function is accelerated by a first predetermined time by detecting the absence of the avoidance operation, and the operation timing of the occupant protection function is shorter than the first predetermined time by the detection of the presence of the avoidance operation. An occupant protection method characterized in that the predetermined time is advanced earlier.

Images