JP2007249757A - Warning device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a warning device which achieves safe travel by determining whether or not a driver of the other vehicle has noticed a driver. <P>SOLUTION: The warning device comprises: an imaging means 101 for imaging the driver; a line-of-sight detection means 102 for detecting the line-of-sight direction of the driver; a line-of-sight range determining means 103 for determining one of a plurality of divided ranges to which the line-of-sight direction belongs; a vehicle information acquisition means 104 for acquiring the vehicle information of a vehicle; a transmission means 105 for transmitting the information of the determined divided range and the vehicle information of the vehicle; a reception means 106 for receiving the information of the divided range of the line-of-sight direction in the driver of the other vehicle and the vehicle information of the other vehicle; a direction calculation means 107 for calculating the direction of the other vehicle relative to the vehicle on the basis of the vehicle information of the vehicle and the vehicle information of the other vehicle; a determination means 108 for determining whether or not the direction is within the divided range of the line-of-sight direction in the driver of the other vehicle; and a warning means 109 for warning the driver of the vehicle on the basis of the determination result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an alarm device that provides information so that a driver who drives a vehicle can drive safely.

The driver who drives the vehicle drives the vehicle paying attention to the surroundings so as not to collide with other vehicles or pedestrians. However, even if the driver intends to drive with sufficient caution, the human field of view (view) is limited to some extent, so other vehicles and pedestrians do not enter the driver's field of view. Sometimes. This may cause a collision accident. A technique for preventing such a collision accident is described in Patent Document 1 below. This technology issues a warning when there is another vehicle or pedestrian that is not in the field of view, based on the line of sight that the driver is facing.
JP 2005-284473 A (paragraph 0006, abstract)

  However, even if the technique described in Patent Document 1 is used, other vehicles and pedestrians are uneasy about whether the driver of the other vehicle is really aware of himself / herself. If the driver of the partner vehicle is not aware of himself / herself, the partner vehicle may move unexpectedly, and a collision with the partner vehicle may not be avoided.

  The present invention is intended to solve the above problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an alarm device that can travel safely by determining whether or not the driver of the other vehicle is aware of itself. .

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an imaging means for imaging a driver driving a vehicle, and the driver's line-of-sight direction using the image information of the driver imaged by the imaging means. Eye-gaze detecting means for detecting, eye-gaze range determining means for deciding to which one of a plurality of preset ranges the detected eye-gaze direction belongs, position information and direction information of the vehicle Vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle information including: transmission information for transmitting the determined information of the classification range and the acquired vehicle information of the vehicle to surrounding vehicles; the imaging means of the vehicle; A view of a driver of the other vehicle transmitted from another vehicle equipped with the same means as the line-of-sight detection means, the line-of-sight range acquisition means, the vehicle information acquisition means, and the transmission means. Receiving means for receiving the information of the division range of the direction and the vehicle information of the other vehicle, vehicle information of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle information acquiring means, and the other vehicle received by the receiving means Direction calculation means for calculating a direction in which the other vehicle is positioned with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle based on the vehicle information of the vehicle, and a direction in which the other vehicle is positioned with respect to the calculated predetermined direction of the vehicle. Determining means for determining whether or not the driver of the other vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction based on the direction information of the vehicle and the other vehicle; and There is provided an alarm device comprising alarm means for alarming a driver of the vehicle based on a determination result. With this configuration, it is possible to travel safely by determining whether or not the driver of the opponent vehicle is aware of itself. Note that the gaze direction segmentation range for the driver corresponds to a gaze range described later. The direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is also referred to as a relative direction hereinafter. The direction information refers to information on the direction indicated by the longitudinal direction of the corresponding vehicle, for example.

  In the alarm device of the present invention, the alarm means may determine that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. It is a preferred aspect of the present invention to issue an alarm when it is determined that there is. By this structure, it can grasp | ascertain that the driver | operator of another vehicle has noticed his own vehicle.

  In the alarm device of the present invention, the alarm means may determine that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. It is a preferable aspect of the present invention to issue an alarm when it is determined that there is no. With this configuration, it is possible to grasp that the driver of another vehicle is not aware of his / her own vehicle.

  Further, in the alarm device according to the present invention, the transmission means may determine that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. When it is determined that the vehicle is not present, it is a preferable aspect of the present invention that the presence information for notifying the driver of the other vehicle of the presence of the vehicle is transmitted to the other vehicle. With this configuration, the driver of another vehicle can be notified of the presence of the own vehicle.

  In the alarm device of the present invention, the alarm means may determine that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. The determination is that the direction in which the other vehicle is positioned with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is not within the segmentation range determined by the line-of-sight range determination unit based on the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle. It is a preferred aspect of the present invention to issue an alarm when judged by means. With this configuration, since an alarm is issued only when the two are not aware of each other, it is possible to suppress an excessive alarm.

  In the alarm device of the present invention, the alarm means may determine that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. The determination is that the direction in which the other vehicle is positioned with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the segmented range determined by the line-of-sight range determination means based on the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle It is a preferred aspect of the present invention to issue an alarm when judged by means. With this configuration, it is possible to confirm that they are aware of each other and to drive with confidence.

  The alarm device according to the present invention further includes a receiving unit that receives a confirmation request instruction for checking whether or not a driver of the other vehicle is aware of the vehicle, wherein the determining unit is configured via the receiving unit. Whether the vehicle exists within the classification range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle existing within the classification range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle based on the confirmation request instruction received Determining whether or not is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. With this configuration, it is possible to check whether or not the surrounding vehicle is aware of its own vehicle only when the driver needs it.

  Further, in the alarm device of the present invention, the alarm means issues an alarm when the determination means determines that the vehicle exists within the classification range in the line-of-sight direction for the driver of the other vehicle. This is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. With this configuration, it is possible to confirm whether or not the driver of another vehicle is aware of his / her own vehicle.

  Further, in the alarm device of the present invention, the alarm means issues an alarm when the determination means determines that the vehicle does not exist within the classification range in the line-of-sight direction for the driver of the other vehicle. This is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. With this configuration, it is possible to confirm whether or not the driver of another vehicle is aware of his / her own vehicle.

  The alarm device of the present invention has the above-described configuration, and can travel safely by determining whether or not the driver of the partner vehicle is aware of itself.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, an alarm device and an information providing method according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a flow for determining a range in which the driver is gazing in the alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a plurality of preset line-of-sight ranges in the alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a gaze direction accumulation table in the alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a processing flow in the alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, an example of the configuration of the alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the alarm device includes a driver imaging unit 101, a line-of-sight detection unit 102, a gaze range determination unit 103, a vehicle information acquisition unit 104, a transmission unit 105, a reception unit 106, a relative direction calculation unit 107, and a determination unit 108. , Alarm means 109 and storage means 110. The driver imaging means 101 images a driver driving a vehicle, particularly the driver's face, and is, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera. The driver imaging means 101 is disposed at a position where the driver can be properly imaged, for example, on the rearview mirror.

  The line-of-sight detection unit 102 detects the line-of-sight direction using the image data of the driver imaged by the driver imaging unit 101. As a specific detection method, for example, an eye part or a nose part is extracted from a captured driver's face image, and a gaze direction is estimated based on the extracted eye (pupil) or nose positional relationship. A way to do this is conceivable. However, the method of detecting the line-of-sight direction is not limited to this (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2004-255074, 2005-278898, and 2005-81101). In addition, when the driver confirms obliquely rearward or backward, confirmation is performed through a so-called door mirror, fender mirror, rearview mirror, etc., but the line-of-sight detection means 102 also detects that the line of sight is directed to these mirrors. From this detection result, it can be determined that the driver's line-of-sight direction is, for example, diagonally left rear. Further, as a method for detecting the line-of-sight direction of the driver behind the vehicle, the face rotation direction is detected in addition to the above-described detection of the line-of-sight direction to each mirror, and the detected face rotation direction is detected. The line-of-sight direction may be detected based on the above. For example, when the face is rotated 120 degrees in the right direction, depending on the position where the driver imaging unit 101 is installed, the driver imaging unit 101 cannot capture the face in front of the driver and the gaze direction cannot be detected. It is also possible to calculate and estimate the gaze direction from the calculated rotation angle of the face.

  The gaze range determination unit 103 determines a range in which the driver is gazing based on the driver's gaze direction detected by the gaze detection unit 102. An example of a flow for determining the range in which the driver is gazing will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the line-of-sight direction is first detected by the line-of-sight detection means 102 (step S201). It is determined (classified) which of the line-of-sight ranges (g1 to g8 in FIG. 3) the detected line-of-sight directions belong to is set in advance (step S202). Then, in the line-of-sight direction accumulation table as shown in FIG. 4, 1 is stored in the area corresponding to the determined line-of-sight range, and 0 is stored in the other line-of-sight range areas (step S203). The line-of-sight direction accumulation table will be described later.

  The processing from step S201 to step S203 is performed for a predetermined time, for example, t seconds. Then, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (step S204). If it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, the sum of the numerical values stored for each line-of-sight range is obtained (step S205). It is determined whether the sum of the numerical values is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (step S206). If it is determined that the value is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, the corresponding line-of-sight range is determined as the gaze range (step S207). If it is determined in step S204 that the predetermined time has not elapsed, or if there is no line-of-sight range of the predetermined threshold information in step S207, the process returns to step S201.

  Here, an example of the line-of-sight direction accumulation table will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the line-of-sight direction accumulation table includes, for example, a line-of-sight range divided into eight and time. For example, when the predetermined time is t seconds, it is assumed that the line-of-sight direction in step S201 is detected every t / 100 obtained by dividing the time t by 100. When the gaze direction is detected as g1 at time t / 100, 1 is stored in the corresponding g1 area at t / 100, and 0 is stored in the other gaze range areas. Next, when the line-of-sight direction is detected as g2 at time 2 × (t / 100) (denoted as 2t / 100 in FIG. 4), 1 is stored in the corresponding g2 region at 2 × (t / 100). 0 is stored in the other line-of-sight range areas. Thereafter, the same processing is performed until time t. When processing is performed until time t, the sum of the numerical values stored for each line-of-sight range is calculated, and when the total is a predetermined threshold, for example, 30 or more, the line-of-sight range is the driver's gaze range. It is judged. In the example of FIG. 4, the line-of-sight ranges g1 and g2 are determined as the gaze range.

  The vehicle information acquisition means 104 acquires the position information of the vehicle itself and the direction information indicating which direction the vehicle is facing, for example, the current vehicle position information using a GPS (Global Positioning System) function. To get. Further, for example, vehicle orientation information is acquired from a history of position information. The transmission unit 105 transmits (communications) information on the gaze range determined by the gaze range determination unit 103 and vehicle information of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 104 to surrounding vehicles. For example, inter-vehicle communication. The transmission timing at this time may be regular or irregular.

  In addition, when communicating information with the surrounding vehicle, it is not performed between vehicles but road-to-vehicle communication may be sufficient. Road-to-vehicle communication refers to communication between a vehicle and a road, in which information is exchanged between the vehicle and the road. In this case, information transmitted from the vehicle is transmitted to other vehicles via a server installed on the road. In addition, the transmitting unit 105 transmits the current vehicle position information, but may transmit the predicted position information instead of the current vehicle position information. In this case, the predicted position information is calculated based on the current position information of the vehicle, the speed of the vehicle, the steering angle of the steering wheel, and the like. A separate calculation means may be provided for this calculation.

  The receiving means 106 is transmitted from other vehicles equipped with the same means as the driver imaging means 101, the line-of-sight detection means 102, the gaze range determination means 103, the vehicle information acquisition means 104, and the transmission means 105 described above. Information on the gaze range of the driver of the vehicle and vehicle information of other vehicles are received. The relative direction calculation means 107 calculates a relative distance from the position information of the host vehicle and the position information of another vehicle, and determines whether it is within a predetermined threshold. The vehicle to be compared is, for example, the vehicle closest to the own vehicle, but is not limited to this, and a predetermined number of vehicles may be compared. A vehicle to be compared may be selected based on the lane information. Further, a vehicle to be compared may be selected from the relationship of the direction of each vehicle. When the calculated relative distance is within a predetermined threshold, the relative direction calculation unit 107 includes the vehicle information of the own vehicle acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 104 and the vehicle information of other vehicles received by the reception unit 106. Based on the above, a direction (also referred to as a relative direction) in which another vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the host vehicle is calculated. Here, the predetermined direction of the host vehicle refers to, for example, the longitudinal direction of the host vehicle, but is not limited thereto, and may be a short direction or other directions.

  The determination unit 108 determines whether the relative direction calculated by the relative direction calculation unit 107 is within the gaze range of the driver of the other vehicle received by the reception unit 106 based on the azimuth information of the vehicle and the other vehicle. It is to judge whether or not. When the determination unit 108 determines that the relative direction is within the gaze range of the driver of the other vehicle, the alarm unit 109 recognizes that the driver of the other vehicle is aware of the host vehicle. An alarm is given to inform you. This alarm is, for example, informing that the user has noticed through a speaker or by vibrating a handle or a seat. Note that when the determination unit 108 determines that the relative direction is not within the gaze range of the driver of another vehicle, the alarm unit 109 is aware of the driver of the other vehicle by the driver of the own vehicle. An alarm may be given to notify the absence.

  Further, when the determination unit 108 determines that the relative direction is not within the gaze range of the driver of another vehicle, the alarm unit 109 sounds a horn to notify the driver of the other vehicle that the vehicle is present. Or flashing lights. At that time, the alarm unit 109 may transmit a signal for informing the existence of the own vehicle to the other vehicle via the transmission unit 105. Thereby, the driver of another vehicle can be made aware of the existence of the own vehicle. The storage means 110 stores information necessary for processing by the alarm device, for example, a control program for controlling the operation and information generated during the processing.

  Next, an example of a processing flow in the alarm device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, first, vehicle information of surrounding vehicles and gaze range information of the driver of the vehicles are received by the receiving means 106 (step S501). The vehicle information acquisition unit 104 acquires vehicle information including position information and direction information of the host vehicle (step S502). The relative direction calculation means 107 calculates the relative distance from the position information of the own vehicle and the position information of other vehicles based on the position information of the own vehicle and the received position information of the surrounding vehicles, and is closest to the own vehicle. A vehicle (hereinafter referred to as another vehicle) is selected (step S503), and it is determined whether or not the relative distance between the other vehicle and the host vehicle is within a predetermined threshold (step S504). If the calculated relative distance is within a predetermined threshold, the relative direction calculation means 107 calculates the relative direction of the other vehicle with respect to the own vehicle (step S505).

  The determination unit 108 determines whether the relative direction calculated by the relative direction calculation unit 107 is within the gaze range of the driver of the other vehicle received by the reception unit 106 based on the azimuth information of the vehicle and the other vehicle. It is determined whether or not (step S506). When the determination unit 108 determines that the relative direction is within the gaze range of the driver of the other vehicle, the alarm unit 109 recognizes that the driver of the other vehicle is aware of the host vehicle. An alarm is issued to notify (step S507). Note that various warning methods can be selected as described above. If it is determined that the relative distance calculated in step S504 is not within the predetermined threshold, or if it is determined in step S506 that the relative direction is not within the gaze range of another driver, the process proceeds to step S501. Return.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The configuration of the alarm device according to the second embodiment is basically the same as the components of the alarm device according to the first embodiment, so that the description thereof will be omitted, and the alarm device according to the second embodiment will be omitted. The reference numerals used for the components of the alarm device will be described using the same reference numerals as the components of the alarm device according to the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, information provision (alarm) in the vehicle A in the situation shown in FIG. 6 will be considered. For the vehicle A, the vehicle B is present in the gaze range of the driver of the vehicle A, so the driver of the vehicle A is aware of the vehicle B. On the other hand, for the vehicle A, the vehicle C does not exist within the gaze range of the driver of the vehicle A. Further, for the vehicle C, the vehicle A does not exist within the gaze range of the driver of the vehicle C. In this way, the second embodiment is such that an alarm is issued when each vehicle does not exist within the gaze range of the driver of both vehicles (vehicle A and vehicle C).

  Here, an example of a processing flow in the alarm device according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, first, the receiving means 106 receives the vehicle information of the surrounding vehicles and the gaze range information of the driver of the vehicles (step S701). The vehicle information acquisition unit 104 acquires vehicle information including position information and direction information of the host vehicle (step S702). The line-of-sight detection unit 102 detects the driver's line-of-sight direction imaged by the driver imaging unit 101 (step S703). The gaze range determining unit 103 determines the gaze range of the driver based on the detected driver's gaze direction, for example, by the method described above (step S704). The relative direction calculation means 107 calculates the relative direction between the vehicles from the vehicle information of the host vehicle and the vehicle information of the surrounding vehicles (step S705). The judging means 108 judges whether or not there is another vehicle that is outside the determined driver's gaze range and that the own vehicle is outside the gaze range of the driver of the surrounding vehicle (step S706).

  If it is determined that there is another vehicle that is outside the determined range of the driver's gaze and the vehicle is not within the gaze range of the driver of the surrounding vehicle, the determination means 108 determines the position information of the own vehicle and other information. The relative distance is calculated from the position information of the vehicle, the vehicle closest to the host vehicle is selected from the other corresponding vehicles (step S707), and it is determined whether the relative distance is within a predetermined threshold (step S707). Step S708). When the calculated relative distance is within a predetermined threshold, the warning means 109 issues a warning to inform the driver of the own vehicle that another vehicle is present (step S709).

  Note that various warning methods can be selected as described in the first embodiment. In addition, when it is determined that there is no other vehicle outside the driver's gaze range determined in step S706 and the vehicle is outside the gaze range of the driver of the surrounding vehicle, and calculation is performed in step S708. If it is determined that the relative distance is not within the predetermined threshold, the process returns to step S701. With the above processing, it is not necessary to issue many alarms because the alarm is performed only when the two are not aware of each other.

  In step S706, the determination unit 108 determines whether there is another vehicle that is within the determined driver's gaze range and that the own vehicle is within the gaze range of the driver of the surrounding vehicle. If it is determined that such a vehicle exists, that is, if both drivers are aware of each other's presence, the processing of steps S707 and S708 is performed, and in step S709, the driver of the host vehicle An alarm may be issued to notify that there is a vehicle.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment is configured so that it can be confirmed whether or not the driver of another vehicle that the driver of the host vehicle is aware of is own vehicle. An example of the configuration of an alarm device according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the alarm device includes a driver imaging unit 801, a gaze detection unit 802, a gaze range determination unit 803, a vehicle information acquisition unit 804, a transmission unit 805, a reception unit 806, an input unit 807, a determination unit 808, an alarm. It comprises means 809 and storage means 810. The constituent elements other than the input unit 807 are basically the same as the constituent elements of the alarm device according to the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  The input means 807 inputs an instruction for confirming whether or not a driver of another vehicle that the driver is watching is aware of the own vehicle. For example, when there is a vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle, the driver identifies the vehicle traveling ahead in order to check whether the driver of the vehicle traveling in front is aware of the presence of the host vehicle. For example, a number dynamically assigned to a vehicle traveling around is input via the input means 807 during traveling. In addition, it is also possible to make all the vehicles which drive | work the periphery without specifying a vehicle especially be object of confirmation. In this case, the input unit 807 may be a simple button or the like for executing confirmation.

  Next, an example of a processing flow in the alarm device according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, first, it is determined whether or not a confirmation execution instruction has been issued from the user via the input means 807 (step S901). Here, the case where all the vehicles which drive | work around are considered. If it is determined that an execution instruction has been issued, the latest vehicle information and gaze range information of the host vehicle, vehicle information of surrounding vehicles, and gaze range information of drivers of the surrounding vehicles are acquired (step S902). The position information of the surrounding vehicles and the driver's gaze range information are received in advance from the surrounding vehicles during traveling, and the received information is stored in the storage unit 810. In addition, you may make it receive each time, without storing beforehand.

  The determination unit 808 selects a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as another vehicle) that is within the gaze range of the acquired driver of the own vehicle from the surrounding vehicles, and sets the own vehicle among the selected other vehicles. The nearest vehicle is selected (step S903). As described above, when a vehicle to be confirmed is specified in advance, the process in step S903 may not be performed. Then, the determination unit 808 determines whether or not the own vehicle exists within the gaze range of the driver of the selected vehicle (step S904). If it is determined that the vehicle exists, the warning unit 809 issues a warning to the driver of the host vehicle, for example, via a speaker (not shown), such as “The vehicle is looking at you” (step S905). On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle does not exist, the warning means 809 issues a warning to the driver of the host vehicle, for example, via a speaker (not shown) that “the vehicle is not looking at you” (step S906). ). By doing so, the driver of the own vehicle can drive with care.

  The alarm device according to the present invention can travel safely by determining whether or not the driver of the other vehicle is aware of itself, so that the driver who drives the vehicle can drive safely. This is useful for alarm devices that provide information.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the alarm device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the flow which determines the range which the driver | operator has watched in the alarm device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the line-of-sight range divided into plurality preset in the alarm device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the gaze direction accumulation | storage table in the alarm device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the processing flow in the alarm device which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the condition where the alarm device based on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is utilized. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the processing flow in the alarm device which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the alarm device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the processing flow in the alarm device which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101, 801 Driver imaging means (imaging means)
102, 802 Gaze detection means 103, 803 Gaze range determination means (line of sight range determination means)
104, 804 Vehicle information acquisition means 105, 805 Transmission means 106, 806 Reception means 107 Relative direction calculation means (direction calculation means)
108, 808 Judgment means 109, 809 Alarm means 110, 810 Storage means 807 Input means (reception means)

Claims (9)

Imaging means for imaging a driver driving the vehicle;
Gaze detection means for detecting the driver's gaze direction using the image information of the driver imaged by the imaging means;
A line-of-sight range determining means for determining which of the plurality of predetermined divided ranges the detected line-of-sight direction belongs to;
Vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring vehicle information including position information and direction information of the vehicle;
Transmitting means for transmitting the determined range information and the acquired vehicle information of the vehicle to surrounding vehicles;
The driver of the other vehicle transmitted from another vehicle equipped with the same means as the imaging means, the line-of-sight detection means, the line-of-sight range acquisition means, the vehicle information acquisition means, and the transmission means of the vehicle Receiving means for receiving the information of the classification range of the line-of-sight direction and the vehicle information of the other vehicle;
Based on the vehicle information of the vehicle acquired by the vehicle information acquisition means and the vehicle information of the other vehicle received by the receiving means, the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle Direction calculating means for calculating
The calculated direction of the other vehicle relative to the predetermined direction of the vehicle is based on the azimuth information of the vehicle and the other vehicle, and the received line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle is received. A judging means for judging whether or not it is within the classification range;
Warning means for warning the driver of the vehicle based on a determination result by the determination means;
Alarm device with.   The warning means issues an alarm when the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. The alarm device according to claim 1 to be performed.   The warning means issues an alarm when the direction in which the other vehicle is positioned with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is not within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. The alarm device according to claim 1 to be performed.   The transmission means is configured to determine that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is not within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means. The alarm device according to claim 1 or 3, wherein presence information for notifying a driver of another vehicle of presence of the vehicle is transmitted to the other vehicle.   The warning means determines that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is not within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means, and An alarm is issued when it is determined by the determination means that the direction in which the other vehicle is positioned with respect to a predetermined direction is not within the segmentation range determined by the line-of-sight range determination means based on the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle. The alarm device according to claim 1 to be performed.   The warning means determines that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction of the vehicle is within the division range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle by the determination means, and the vehicle An alarm is issued when the determination means determines that the direction in which the other vehicle is located with respect to a predetermined direction is within the segmentation range determined by the line-of-sight range determination means based on the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle. The alarm device according to claim 1 to be performed. Receiving means for receiving a confirmation request instruction for confirming whether the driver of the other vehicle is aware of the vehicle;
The determination unit is configured to determine the classification of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the other vehicle existing in the classification range of the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle based on the confirmation request instruction received via the reception unit. The alarm device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the vehicle exists within a range.   The alarm device according to claim 7, wherein the warning unit issues a warning when it is determined by the determination unit that the vehicle exists within the classification range in the line-of-sight direction of a driver of the other vehicle. The alarm device according to claim 7, wherein the alarm unit issues an alarm when the determination unit determines that the vehicle does not exist within the division range in the line-of-sight direction of a driver of the other vehicle.

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