JP2008013022A - Drive assisting device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To indicate a picture allowing a driver to easily grasp the information on surroundings by selectively indicating a bird's-eye view image and an image of a wide-angle camera in a monitor according to the state of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The drive assisting device for the vehicle comprises a camera 24 shooting an image in a backward traveling direction, a memory 260 storing the image shot by the camera 24, a bird's-eye view converting circuit 250 converting the image shot by the camera into the bird's-eye view image, a memory 260 storing the bird's-eye image converted by the bird's-eye view converting circuit 250, an indicator 23 indicating an image, a vehicle speed sensor 26 detecting the speed of a vehicle, a distance measuring sensor measuring a distance to an obstacle, and a processing portion 22 controlling to switch the image added to the indicator 23 from the shot image or the bird's eye image. The processing portion 22 gives the image of the bird's-eye view image to the indicator 23 according to output from the vehicle speed sensor 26 when the distance to the obstacle becomes not more than a fixed distance in case that the vehicle speed is not more than predetermined speed, and gives the shot image to the indicator when the distance to the obstacle exceeds the fixed distance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device that supports a driver of a vehicle based on an image obtained by imaging the outside of the vehicle.

  In-vehicle cameras, which are mainly used for rear cameras, are used as a drive assist function for drivers to compensate for external blind spots. The drive assist function captures the rear of the vehicle with the rear camera, and displays the image captured from the rear camera in real time on the monitor attached to the dashboard, improving convenience when trying to park in the back Is. The in-vehicle camera used for the drive assist function uses a wide-angle lens to compensate for the blind spot with a small number of cameras, ensuring a large field of view.

In addition, in order to be able to easily determine the positional relationship between the vehicle and the outside, and to easily recognize the distance to the obstacle if it is a short distance, as seen from the camera installed directly above, There has been proposed a vehicle obstacle monitoring device that converts an image captured by a camera into a plan view (bird's-eye view image) viewed from above, and displays the converted bird's-eye view together with the position of the vehicle (for example, Patent Documents). 1).
JP 2002-120675 A

  In the bird's-eye calculation processing image that converts the image captured by the rear camera into a bird's-eye view image, the image that has been subjected to the bird's-eye calculation processing is a display from the upper part at a short distance from the obstacle. Although there is an advantage that it is easy to grasp the positional relationship and sense of distance, there is also a drawback that the image of the blind spot information of the distant part that is compatible with wide angle is partially excluded and the ability of the wide angle lens cannot be fully utilized. is there.

  On the other hand, in the normal display that does not perform the bird's-eye calculation processing display, there is an advantage that a distant blind spot can be secured as compared with the bird's-eye calculation processing display. However, it is difficult to grasp the positional relationship between the outside and the own vehicle, and at a short distance, the sense of distance is not as easy to grasp as the bird's-eye calculation processing display.

  In order to take advantage of the respective advantages of the bird's-eye view image and the image from the wide-angle camera, the driver can select the display by using a changeover switch between the bird's-eye view image display and the normal wide-angle camera image display. However, in order for the driver to switch the display using the change-over switch, it takes time and effort to operate the switch and the like, and the operation is troublesome, and attention to the operation may be distracted, and there is a possibility that the attention to driving is distracted. is there.

  In view of this, the present invention provides a vehicle driving support device that selects a bird's-eye view image and a wide-angle camera image and displays them on a monitor according to the situation of the vehicle so that the driver can easily understand surrounding information. The purpose is to do.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus according to the present invention includes a photographing means for photographing an image in the backward direction of the vehicle, a storage means for storing an image picked up by the photographing means, and an image picked up by the photographing means as a bird's-eye view image. The bird's-eye image conversion means for conversion, the storage means for storing the bird's-eye image converted by the bird's-eye image conversion means, the display means for displaying the image, the speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, and the display means Control means for switching and controlling the image to a captured image or a bird's-eye view image, wherein the control means is based on an output from the speed detection means and the captured image or bird's-eye view when the vehicle speed is a predetermined speed or less. One of the images is given to the display means, and when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined speed, the captured image is given to the display means.

  Furthermore, a distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the obstacle is provided, and when the distance to the obstacle becomes below a certain value, an image of a bird's-eye view image is given to the display means, and when the distance to the obstacle exceeds a certain distance The displayed image can be provided to the display means.

  In addition to the above features, the camera further includes a snake angle detection means for detecting a snake angle. When the snake angle is below a certain value, a bird's-eye view image is given to the display means, and the snake angle is picked up when the snake angle exceeds a certain angle. An image can be provided to the display means.

  In addition, the present invention further includes an imaging unit that captures an image of the vehicle in the forward direction and a determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is moving forward or backward, and the control unit moves forward with the determination unit. When the direction is determined, the forward direction image is provided to the display unit, and when the reverse direction is determined by the determination unit, the reverse direction image is provided to the display unit.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the control means is configured to detect the forward direction when the determination means determines the forward direction and the vehicle speed is slower than the first speed based on the output from the speed detection means. The image is given to the display means. When the speed is faster than the first speed and slower than the second speed, the bird's-eye view image is given to the display means. When the speed is faster than the second speed, the forward direction is imaged. The displayed image can be provided to the display means.

  Further, if the captured image is a wide-angle camera image, it is advantageous from the viewpoint of securing a blind spot.

  According to the present invention, a bird's-eye view image and a wide-angle camera image can be selected according to the situation of the vehicle. The positional relationship of is very easy to understand, and the operability is greatly improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated in order to avoid duplication of description.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle driving support apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle driving support apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle driving support device includes a distance measurement sensor 21, a rear camera 24, a processing unit 22, a monitor display 23, and a squeezing angle sensor 25 that outputs information related to a user's steering operation. The vehicle speed sensor 26 for detecting the speed of the host vehicle is provided. Furthermore, an operation unit 27 for turning on / off the apparatus and other settings for the processing unit 22 and a sensor for detecting a shift position (not shown in FIG. 1) are provided.

  The distance measurement sensor 21 is, for example, an ultrasonic sensor disposed on the rear side of the vehicle, and the ultrasonic sensor transmits ultrasonic waves to measure the distance to an obstacle behind the vehicle. It is comprised from the transmission part and the ultrasonic wave reception part which receives the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave reflected by the obstacle around the own vehicle.

  The camera 24 is, for example, a digital camera or the like disposed at the rear of the vehicle and is mounted with a wide-angle lens and controlled by the processing unit 22 to photograph the rear of the vehicle.

  The processing unit 22 includes a storage unit such as a CPU and a memory, and the CPU performs various arithmetic processes for image display. The memory stores various data, computer programs, and the like.

  The monitor indicator 23 is a liquid crystal display or the like, and a display screen is arranged on the instrument panel in the vehicle interior toward the rear of the vehicle. The monitor indicator 23 is controlled by the processing unit 22 and is connected to the rear camera. An image from the wide-angle camera 24 or a bird's-eye view around the subject vehicle that has been subjected to bird's-eye calculation processing is displayed.

  The snake angle sensor 25 detects the amount of angular displacement of the steering shaft, and gives the detected snake angle to the processing unit 22.

  The vehicle speed sensor 26 detects the speed of the host vehicle 10 and gives the detected speed to the processing unit 22.

  Next, the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention will be further described with reference to FIG.

  An image photographed with a camera 24 (hereinafter referred to as a rear camera 24) that is an image input means is provided to a distortion correction circuit 240. The distortion correction circuit 240 corrects the distortion caused by the wide-angle lens, and the corrected image is a bird's eye view. The data is supplied to the conversion circuit 250 and the buffer memory 260. The bird's-eye conversion circuit 250 performs bird's-eye calculation processing on the image from the distortion correction circuit 240, converts the image into a bird's-eye image, and this image is stored in the buffer memory 260. The buffer memory 260 is controlled by the processing unit 22, outputs a bird's-eye image from the bird's-eye conversion circuit 250 or a distortion-corrected wide-angle lens-captured image, and stores it in the memory 221 in the processing unit 22 from the input unit 222. Is done.

  The processing unit 22 that performs control processing includes a CPU 220 that controls the control processing, a memory 221 that stores various data and computer programs, an input unit 222 that receives various data, and an output unit 223 that outputs data and the like. Is provided. The processing unit 22 is expressed by a plurality of processing blocks for convenience, but can be configured by a microcomputer and a memory.

  A display image memory that stores a display image obtained by combining the image data such as the vehicle position and the input bird's-eye view image or a wide-angle lens-corrected captured image with the CPU 220 executing predetermined arithmetic processing 230. The monitor display 23 reads and displays the image stored in the display image memory 230.

  The snake angle signal from the snake angle sensor 25, the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 26, and the distance from the distance measuring sensor 21 to the obstacle are input to the processing unit 22, respectively.

  Further, the processing unit 22 is supplied with a detection output from a shift position detection sensor 28 that detects which position the shift position is, that is, the forward D range or the reverse R range.

  Further, an operation signal from the operation unit 27 for giving instructions such as on / off of the monitor display 23 and other settings is given to the processing unit 22. The processing unit 22 selects on / off control of the monitor display 23 and an image to be displayed on the display 23 based on an instruction signal given from the operation unit 27. For example, a car navigation image can be displayed, a video of a driving assistance device can be displayed, or the display thereof can be switched. As will be described later, when an image of the driving support device is selected, a bird's-eye view image and a wide-angle camera image are automatically selected and displayed on the monitor display 23 in accordance with the state of the vehicle.

  Note that the distortion correction circuit 240, the bird's eye conversion circuit 250, the buffer memory 260, the processing unit 22, and the display image memory 230 may be configured as a single LSI by integrating all or some of them. Further, for the distortion correction circuit 240 and the bird's eye conversion circuit 250, instead of providing a dedicated image processing circuit, an image captured by the camera 24 is input to the processing unit 22, and this is subjected to software distortion correction by arithmetic processing. In addition, it can be realized by a technique of converting into a bird's-eye view image.

  An image to be displayed on the monitor display 23 after being subjected to predetermined arithmetic processing by the processing unit 22 is stored in the display image memory 230. The monitor display 23 is disposed at a position that is easy to see from the driver's seat (for example, at the center of the dashboard), and can also be used as a display of a car navigation device.

  Next, the contents of the control process executed by the vehicle driving support apparatus of this embodiment will be described. Here, what kind of processing is performed on the image behind the vehicle photographed by the rear camera 24 and what kind of image is displayed on the monitor display 23 will be described.

  The image captured by the rear camera 24 is subjected to distortion correction by the distortion correction circuit 240, and is subjected to image processing by the bird's-eye conversion circuit 250 to be converted into a bird's-eye image viewed from above.

  The bird's-eye view conversion is executed as follows. As a precondition, the rear camera 24 has an autofocus function. Accordingly, the image taken by the rear camera 24 has a focal length that matches the center of the image. This focal length can be acquired as numerical information representing the distance based on information on how much the lens has been moved from the origin position based on the autofocus function. Further, the rear camera 24 has a known mounting height and mounting angle in advance. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, it is a precondition for calculation that the ground is a plane. Based on these information and conditions, it is possible to calculate the distance to each pixel and the position in the width direction with the rear end of the vehicle as a reference line when an image captured by the rear camera 24 is decomposed into pixels. When the position coordinates after bird's eye conversion of each pixel can be calculated in this way, the pixels are rearranged according to the position coordinates. Thereby, bird's-eye view conversion of the image image | photographed with the back camera 24 can be carried out to the plane image seen from the sky.

  The bird's-eye view image obtained in this way is stored in the buffer memory 260 together with the distortion-corrected wide-angle camera image taken by the rear camera 24. On the other hand, the CPU 220 of the processing unit 22 receives the steering angle signal input from the snake angle sensor 25, the vehicle speed signal input from the vehicle speed sensor 26, the ultrasonic sensor signal input from the distance measurement sensor 21, and the shift position detection sensor 28. The movement of the vehicle is calculated based on the shift position signal.

  Then, the CPU 220 selects an image to be read from the buffer memory 260 based on the movement of the vehicle, synthesizes it with the vehicle position information, and outputs it to the display image memory 230.

  The memory 221 stores threshold setting information for determining whether to select a bird's-eye view image or a distortion-corrected wide-angle camera image. That is, the vehicle speed, the snake angle, and the distance to the obstacle are stored as threshold information, and image switching is controlled based on these thresholds.

  For example, when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined speed, safety can be confirmed with a wider field of view, so a wide-angle camera image is selected and displayed on the monitor display 23. In this embodiment, this threshold speed is set to 10 km / h. When the vehicle speed is 10 km / h or less, the display image is selected based on the distance to the obstacle and the snake angle.

  When the distance to the obstacle is short, it is easy to grasp the positional relationship with the outside and the sense of distance, so a bird's-eye view image is selected in principle. Since the rotation of the car increases when the steering is increased, the safety can be confirmed by reducing the blind spot with a wide field of view. Therefore, the bird's-eye view image and the wide-angle image are controlled according to the snake angle. In this embodiment, a case where the distance to the obstacle is 10 m or less is determined as a short distance, and a bird's-eye view image is displayed in principle, but the display is switched depending on the snake angle. The snake angle threshold is set to 20 degrees in this embodiment.

  In this embodiment, when the distance to the obstacle is more than 10 m and less than 20 m, the wide-angle camera image is selected so that the obstacle can be easily confirmed and the surrounding situation can be easily grasped regardless of the snake angle. It is configured as follows. Furthermore, when the distance to the obstacle exceeds 20 m, the risk of contact with the obstacle is reduced, so if the snake angle is small, that is, within 20 degrees, a bird's-eye view image is displayed and the snake angle becomes large. In order to reduce the blind spot, a wide-angle image is selected.

  For this control, the memory 221 stores set values of 10 m and 20 m as distance thresholds. Further, the snake angle is stored in the memory 221 with a threshold of 20 degrees.

  Note that each of the above threshold values is an example, and may be determined as necessary.

  Next, main control processing executed by the processing unit 22 in this embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, it is determined whether or not the monitor display 23 is on (S1). If it is on, it is determined whether or not the shift position is in the R range (S2). In this support device, the camera system is configured to operate when the driver sets a shift in the R range.

  Whether or not the shift range is the R range can be easily determined by using an input signal from the shift position detection sensor 28. If it is determined in step S2 that the shift range is the R range, it is further determined whether or not it is immediately after switching from the D range to the R range (S3). If it is immediately after switching from the D range to the R range, the buffer memory 260 is reset (S4). If it is determined in step S2 that the shift range is not the R range, it is further determined whether or not it is immediately after switching from the R range to the D range (S5). If it is immediately after switching from the R range to the D range, the buffer memory 260 is reset (S6).

  Next, the rear camera 24 is operated (S7), and an image photographed by the rear camera 24 is input (S8). Subsequently, distortion of the wide-angle image is corrected by the distortion correction circuit 240, and the corrected wide-angle image is stored in the buffer memory 260 and given to the bird's eye conversion circuit 250 (S10). Then, the bird's-eye conversion circuit 250 converts the wide-angle image into a bird's-eye image by performing bird's-eye calculation processing, and stores the bird's-eye image in the buffer memory 260.

  Subsequently, a vehicle speed signal detected by the vehicle speed sensor 25 is input (S11), and it is determined whether this value is 10 km / h or less (S12). If it is determined that the vehicle speed exceeds 10 km / h, the wide-angle camera image is read from the buffer memory 260 to reduce the blind spot, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the wide-angle camera is stored in the display image storage memory 230. The image is stored (S13). Then, the wide-angle camera image is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S14), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle speed is 10 km / h or less, the detection output from the distance measuring sensor 26 is input, and the distance to the obstacle is calculated (S15). As a signal of the distance measuring sensor 26, in a vehicle having a back sonar using ultrasonic waves, detection data by the back sonar can be used. Subsequently, a steering angle signal is input from the angle sensor 25 (S16).

  When the necessary information has been input in this way, the process proceeds to the flow shown in FIG. Then, it is determined whether or not the distance to the obstacle calculated by the output from the distance measuring sensor 26 input in step S15 exceeds 20 m (S17). When the distance to the obstacle is within 20 m, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG.

  If the distance to the obstacle exceeds 20 m, it is subsequently determined whether or not the snake angle calculated by the output of the snake angle sensor 25 input in step S16 exceeds 20 degrees (S19). When it is determined that the snake angle exceeds 20 degrees, in order to reduce the blind spot, the wide-angle camera image is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the wide-angle camera image is stored in the display image storage memory 230. The camera image is stored (S19). Then, the wide-angle camera image is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S20), and the process returns to the initial step.

  If the snake angle is 20 degrees or less, in step S10, the bird's-eye view image subjected to the bird's-eye view process is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the own vehicle is synthesized, and the bird's-eye view image is stored in the display image storage memory 230. (S21). Then, the bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S22), and the process returns to the initial step.

  If it is determined in step S17 that the distance to the obstacle is 20 m or less, the flow proceeds to the flow of FIG. 5 to determine whether or not the distance to the obstacle is 20 m or less and exceeds 10 m (S23). If the distance to the obstacle is outside the range of 20 m or less and exceeding 10 m, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG.

  If it is determined in step S23 that the distance to the obstacle is within the range of 20 m or less and over 10 m, the wide-angle camera image is read from the buffer memory 260 to reduce the blind spot, and the position of the vehicle is determined. The wide-angle camera image is stored in the display image storage memory 230 (S24). Then, the wide-angle camera image is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S25), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S23 that the distance to the obstacle is not within the range of 20 m or less and exceeding 10 m, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. 6 and whether or not the distance to the obstacle is 10 m or less. Determination is made (S26). If the distance to the obstacle is not 10 m or less, the process returns to the initial step, and if the distance to the obstacle is determined to be 10 m or less, the snake angle calculated from the output of the snake angle sensor 25 input in step S16 is 20 degrees. Is determined as follows (S27). When the snake angle is 20 degrees or less, in step S10, the bird's-eye view image subjected to the bird's-eye view process is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the bird's-eye view image is stored in the display image storage memory 230 ( S28). Then, the bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S29), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the snake angle exceeds 20 degrees, the wide-angle camera image is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the display image storage memory 230 in order to reduce the blind spot. The wide-angle camera image is stored in (S30). Then, the wide-angle camera image is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S31), and the process returns to the initial step.

  As a result of executing the processing as described above, the monitor display 23 automatically selects and displays a bird's-eye view image and an image from a wide-angle camera in accordance with the state of the vehicle, and displays a preferable video for the driver. be able to. Table 1 shows the relationship between the mode displayed on the monitor display 23 in this embodiment and the vehicle speed, the snake angle, and the distance to the obstacle.

  By configuring as described above, it becomes very easy for the driver to easily understand the positional relationship between the vehicle and the obstacles or the parking frame when the vehicle is parked in the back, and the operability is greatly improved. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the switching control between the bird's-eye image and the wide-angle camera is performed using the vehicle speed, the snake angle, and the distance to the obstacle, but without using all these conditions. It can be configured to perform switching control. For example, only the distance to the obstacle is subject to switching control. For example, when the distance to the obstacle is 10 m or less, a bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor display 23, and when it exceeds 10 m, the image is switched to a wide-angle camera image. Control. As described above, when the control is performed, the control becomes easy, but the securing of the visual field is worse than that in the above-described embodiment.

  Further, only the vehicle speed is a target of switching control. For example, when the vehicle speed becomes 10 km / h or less, a bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor display 23, and when it exceeds 10 km / h, control is performed to switch to a wide-angle camera image. As described above, when the control is performed, the control becomes easy, but the securing of the visual field is worse than that in the above-described embodiment.

  Further, only the snake angle is set as the object of switching control. For example, when the snake angle becomes 20 degrees or less, the bird's-eye view image is displayed on the monitor display 23, and when it exceeds 20 degrees, the image is switched to the image of the wide angle camera. As described above, when the control is performed, the control becomes easy, but the securing of the visual field is worse than that in the above-described embodiment.

  Furthermore, it is also possible to switch images using the vehicle speed and the distance to the obstacle, the vehicle speed and the snake angle, and the distance to the obstacle and the snake angle.

  By the way, in garage entry or the like, there are cases where forward and backward are repeated as well as a reverse operation as well as simply backing. In such a case, it is more convenient for the driver to enable display in front of the car. In particular, in the case of a right-steering vehicle, it is difficult to grasp the left front situation. Moreover, when trying to park the vehicle forward, it is actually difficult to grasp the tip of the vehicle. Therefore, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the front camera and the rear camera are provided, and the images of the front camera and the rear camera are switched according to the shift position. Is to switch.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle driving support apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle driving support apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. In addition, about the same structure as 1st Embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and the description is omitted here in order to avoid duplication of description.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the vehicle driving support device stores information on the distance measurement sensor 21, the front camera 24 a, the rear camera 24, the processing unit 22, the display 23, and the user's steering operation. A snake angle sensor 25 for outputting and a vehicle speed sensor 26 for detecting the speed of the own vehicle are provided. Furthermore, an operation unit 27 for turning on / off the apparatus and other settings for the processing unit 22 and a sensor for detecting a shift position (not shown in FIG. 1) are provided. In the second embodiment, a front camera 24a is further provided in the first embodiment.

  Like the rear camera 24, the front camera 24a is also composed of a wide-angle camera equipped with a wide-angle lens.

  In the second embodiment, images taken by the rear camera 24 and the front camera 24a, which are image input means, are given to the distortion correction circuits 240 and 240a, respectively. Is corrected, and the corrected images are supplied to the bird's eye conversion circuits 250 and 250a and the buffer memories 260 and 260a, respectively. The bird's-eye conversion circuits 250 and 250a perform bird's-eye calculation processing on the images from the distortion correction circuits 240 and 240a, respectively, and convert them into bird's-eye images, which are stored in the buffer memories 260 and 260a. The buffer memory 260 and the buffer memory 260 are controlled by the processing unit 22. When the vehicle is moving forward, the image from the front camera 24a is selected, and when the vehicle is moving backward, the image from the rear camera 24 is selected and displayed. The image is given to the image storage memory 230 and an image corresponding to the monitor display 23 is displayed.

  The switching control between the bird's-eye view image and the wide-angle image in the case of reverse travel is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above. The switching control between the bird's-eye view image and the wide-angle image in the case of forward movement is configured to perform the switching control according to the vehicle speed. The switching control is performed so that a wide-angle image is selected from the viewpoint of securing a blind spot at an intersection when the vehicle is about to stop at a low speed. Then, when traveling at a certain low speed, a bird's-eye view image is selected for confirming the vehicle position. At a higher vehicle speed, a wide-angle image is selected from the viewpoint of safety, and when the vehicle speed is higher than that, control is performed to turn off the screen display of the monitor display 23 from the viewpoint of safety.

  A bird's-eye view image from the conversion circuit 250 or a distortion-corrected captured image of the wide-angle lens whose distortion has been corrected is output and stored in the memory 221 in the processing unit 22 from the input unit 222.

  Note that each of the above threshold values is an example, and may be determined as necessary.

  Next, main control processing executed by the processing unit 22 in the second embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 to 14.

  First, it is determined whether or not the monitor display 23 is on (S41). If it is on, it is determined whether or not the shift position is the R range or the D range (S42). In the support device according to the second embodiment, when the driver sets the shift to the R range or the D range, either the rear camera 24 or the front camera 24a is configured to operate.

  Whether or not the shift range is the R range can be easily determined by using an input signal from the shift position detection sensor 28. If it is determined in step S42 that the shift range is the R range, it is further determined whether or not it is immediately after switching from the D range to the R range (S43). If it is immediately after switching from the D range to the R range, the buffer memory 260 is reset (S44). When it is determined in step S42 that the shift range is not the R range, that is, the D range, it is further determined whether or not it is immediately after switching from the R range to the D range (S45). If it is immediately after switching from the R range to the D range, the buffer memory 260a is reset (S46), and then the system operation of the front camera 24a is performed. The system operation of the front camera 24a will be described later.

  First, the case where the shift range is the R range and the driver performs the back operation in step S42 will be described.

  In step S44, after resetting the buffer memory 260, the rear camera 24 is operated (S47), and an image photographed by the rear camera 24 is input (S48). Subsequently, distortion of the wide-angle image is corrected by the distortion correction circuit 240, and the corrected wide-angle image is stored in the buffer memory 260 and given to the bird's eye conversion circuit 250 (S50). Then, the bird's-eye conversion circuit 250 converts the wide-angle image into a bird's-eye image by performing bird's-eye calculation processing, and stores the bird's-eye image in the buffer memory 260.

  Subsequently, the vehicle speed signal detected by the vehicle speed sensor 25 is input (S61), and the flow proceeds to the flow of FIG. 10 to determine whether the value of the reverse speed calculated by the vehicle speed sensor is 10 km / h or less (S62). If it is determined that the vehicle speed exceeds 10 km / h, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera 24 is read from the buffer memory 260 and the position of the vehicle is synthesized to reduce the blind spot, and the display image storage memory The wide-angle camera image is stored in 230 (S63). Then, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S64), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, if the reverse vehicle speed is 10 km / h or less, the detection output from the distance measurement sensor 26 is input, and the distance to the obstacle is calculated (S65). Subsequently, a steering angle signal is input from the angle sensor 25 (S66).

  When the necessary information has been input in this way, it is determined whether or not the distance to the obstacle calculated by the output from the distance measuring sensor 26 input in step S65 exceeds 20 m (step S67). When the distance to the obstacle is within 20 m, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG.

  When the distance to the obstacle exceeds 20 m, it is subsequently determined whether or not the snake angle calculated by the output of the snake angle sensor 25 input in step S66 exceeds 20 degrees (S68). When it is determined that the snake angle exceeds 20 degrees, in order to reduce the blind spot, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera 24 is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the display image is stored. The wide-angle camera image is stored in the memory 230 (S69). Then, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S70), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, when the snake angle is 20 degrees or less, in step S50, the bird's-eye view image subjected to the bird's-eye view process is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the own vehicle is synthesized, and the rear camera 24 is stored in the display image storage memory 230. Based on the bird's-eye view image is stored (S71). Then, a bird's-eye view image based on the rear camera 24 is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S72), and the process returns to the initial step.

  If it is determined in step S67 that the distance to the obstacle is 20 m or less, the flow proceeds to the flow of FIG. 11 to determine whether the distance to the obstacle is 20 m or less and exceeds 10 m (S73). If the distance to the obstacle is outside the range of 20 m or less and exceeding 10 m, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG.

  If it is determined in step S73 that the distance to the obstacle is within the range of 20 m or less and exceeding 10 m, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera 24 is read from the buffer memory 260 to reduce the blind spot, and the vehicle is And the wide-angle camera image is stored in the display image storage memory 230 (S74). Then, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera 24 is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S75), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S73 that the distance to the obstacle is not within the range of 20 m or less and exceeding 10 m, the process proceeds to the flow of FIG. 12 and whether or not the distance to the obstacle is 10 m or less. Determination is made (S76). If the distance to the obstacle is not 10 m or less, the process returns to the initial step, and if the distance to the obstacle is determined to be 10 m or less, the snake angle calculated by the output of the snake angle sensor 25 input in step S66 is 20 degrees. Is determined as follows (S77). If the snake angle is 20 degrees or less, in step S50, a bird's-eye view image obtained by performing bird's-eye processing on the image of the rear camera 24 is read from the buffer memory 260, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the rear image display memory 230 is A bird's-eye view image based on the camera 24 is stored (S78). Then, a bird's-eye view image based on the rear camera 24 is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S79), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the snake angle exceeds 20 degrees, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera 24 is read from the buffer memory 260 in order to reduce the blind spot, and the position of the vehicle is synthesized and displayed. The wide-angle camera image is stored in the image storage memory 230 (S80). Then, the wide-angle camera image of the rear camera 24 is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S81), and the process returns to the initial step.

  Next, a case where the shift range is the D range and the driver performs a forward operation in step S42 will be described.

  In step S46, after resetting the buffer memory 260a, the front camera 24a is operated (S82), and an image photographed by the front camera 24a is input (S83). Subsequently, distortion of the wide-angle image is corrected by the distortion correction circuit 240a, and the corrected wide-angle image is stored in the buffer memory 260a and given to the bird's eye conversion circuit 250a (S85). The bird's-eye conversion circuit 250a converts the wide-angle image into a bird's-eye image by performing bird's-eye calculation processing, and stores the bird's-eye image in the buffer memory 260a.

  Subsequently, the vehicle speed signal detected by the vehicle speed sensor 25 is input (S86), and the flow proceeds to the flow of FIG. 13 to determine whether or not the forward speed value calculated by the vehicle speed sensor exceeds 20 km / h (S87). When it is determined that the vehicle speed exceeds 10 km / h, control is performed to turn off the screen display of the monitor display 23 from the viewpoint of safety (S88), and the process returns to the initial step.

  In step S87, when the value of the forward speed is 20 km / h or less, it is determined whether or not the forward speed is in a range exceeding 20 km / h and exceeding 10 km / h (S89). When the forward speed is in the range of 20 km / h or less and exceeding 10 km / h, in order to reduce the blind spot, the wide-angle camera image of the front camera 24a is read from the buffer memory 260a, and the position of the vehicle is synthesized and displayed. The wide-angle camera image of the front camera 24a is stored in the image storage memory 230 (S90). Then, the wide-angle camera image of the front camera 24a is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S91), and the process returns to the initial step.

  On the other hand, when the forward speed is not within the range of 20 km / h or less and exceeding 10 km / h, the flow proceeds to the flow of FIG. Then, it is determined whether or not the forward speed is in a range not exceeding 10 km / h and exceeding 5 km / h (S92). When the forward speed is in the range of 10 km / h or less and exceeding 5 km / h, a bird's-eye view image obtained by performing bird's-eye processing on the image of the front camera 24a is read from the buffer memory 260a and the position of the own vehicle is synthesized. Then, the bird's-eye view image based on the front camera 24a is stored in the display image storage memory 230 (S93). Then, a bird's-eye view image based on the front camera 24a is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S94), and the process returns to the initial step.

  In step S92, if the forward speed is not within the range of 10 km / h or less and exceeding 5 km / h, it is determined whether or not the forward speed is 5 km / h or less in order to determine whether or not it is just before stopping at low speed. Judgment is made (S95). If it is not less than 5 km / h, the process returns to the initial step. When the vehicle speed is 5 km / h or less, in order to secure the blind spot, the wide-angle camera image of the front camera 24 a is read from the buffer memory 260 a, the position of the vehicle is synthesized, and the front camera 24 a is stored in the display image storage memory 230. A wide-angle camera image is stored (S96). Then, the wide-angle camera image of the front camera 24a is displayed on the monitor display 23 (S97), and the process returns to the initial step.

  As a result of executing the processing as described above, the monitor display 23 automatically selects and displays a bird's-eye view image and a wide-angle camera image according to the state of the vehicle traveling forward and backward. A preferable image can be displayed. Since the reverse mode displayed on the monitor display 23 in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, Table 2 shows the relationship of the vehicle speed during forward movement.

  In the second embodiment, in the garage, etc., not only simply backing but also forward and backward may be repeated as in the case of a turn-back operation. However, according to the present embodiment, the shift range Since the buffer memory is reset once at the time of switching, when the driver switches the shift range from the D range to the R range, there is no image history when moving forward until then, The problem of giving incorrect information to the driver can be solved. Similarly, even in the case of moving forward again by switching, the buffer memory is once reset at the timing when switching from the R range to the D range, so when the driver switches the shift range from the R range to the D range, There is no image history when the vehicle is moving backward until then, and this can also solve the problem of giving wrong information to the driver.

  In the above-described embodiment, both the front camera 24a and the rear camera 24 are configured as a single camera. However, a plurality of the front camera 24a and the rear camera 24 are installed with their positions shifted in the width direction of the vehicle. It doesn't matter if you do. However, when a plurality of cameras are installed in the front and / or rear, images whose shooting ranges are shifted for each camera are adjusted during image processing for realizing the system of this embodiment. Since it is necessary to determine the front image and the rear image, the field of view becomes wider and more information can be obtained, but the arithmetic processing circuit and the program for image processing become complicated.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description of the embodiments but by the scope of claims for patent, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the scope of claims for patent and all modifications within the scope.

  The present invention can be applied to a vehicle driving support device, a vehicle periphery display device, a parking support device, and the like.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle driving support apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle driving support apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of main control processing executed by a processing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of main control processing executed by a processing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of main control processing executed by a processing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of main control processing executed by a processing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the driving assistance device of the vehicle concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the driving assistance device of the vehicle concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the main control processing which a process part performs in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the main control processing which a process part performs in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the main control processing which a process part performs in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the main control processing which a process part performs in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the main control processing which a process part performs in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of main control processing executed by a processing unit in the first embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 own vehicle, 21 distance measurement sensor, 22 processing unit, 23 monitor display, 24 rear camera, 25 snake angle sensor, 26 vehicle speed sensor.

Claims (6)

Image capturing means for capturing an image in the reverse direction of the vehicle, storage means for storing an image captured by the image capturing means, a bird's eye image converting means for converting an image captured by the image capturing means into a bird's eye image, and the bird's eye view Storage means for storing the bird's-eye image converted by the image conversion means, display means for displaying the image, speed detection means for detecting the speed of the vehicle, and an image given to the display means to the captured image or bird's-eye image Control means for switching control, and the control means displays either the captured image or the bird's-eye image based on the output from the speed detection means when the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than the predetermined speed. The vehicle driving support apparatus is characterized in that when the vehicle speed exceeds a predetermined speed, the captured image is provided to the display means. A distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the obstacle is further provided. When the distance to the obstacle is below a certain value, an image of a bird's eye view is given to the display means, and the image is picked up when the distance to the obstacle exceeds a certain distance. The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the displayed image is given to the display means. A snake angle detecting means for detecting a snake angle is further provided. When the snake angle is below a certain value, an image of a bird's-eye view is given to the display means, and when the snake angle exceeds a certain angle, a captured image is given to the display means. The vehicle driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle driving support device is a vehicle driving support device. An image capturing unit that captures an image of a forward direction of the vehicle; and a determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is moving forward or backward. When the control unit determines the forward direction using the determination unit, 4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein an image in a forward direction is given to the display means, and an image in the reverse direction is given to the display means when the reverse direction is judged by the judging means. Driving assistance device. The control means determines the forward direction by the determination means, and gives an image of the forward direction to the display means when the vehicle speed is slower than the first speed based on the output from the speed detection means. When the speed is faster than the first speed and slower than the second speed, the bird's-eye view image is given to the display means, and when the speed is faster than the second speed, the forward direction image is given to the display means. The driving support apparatus for a vehicle according to claim 4. 6. The vehicle driving support apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the captured image is a wide-angle camera image.

Images