JP2008077354A - Operation supporting apparatus for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an operation supporting apparatus for vehicle allowing a driver to quickly grasp a status of a driving path. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus comprises imaging means for imaging scenery outside the vehicle to be a dead angle from a driver caused by existence of a front pillar of the vehicle, displaying means provided at the front pillar inner the vehicle and for displaying an image in the scenery outside of the vehicle which is imaged by the imaging means, determining means for determining whether or not the vehicle is driving in a curved path, and display control means for making the display means display at least one of an enhanced display image of the scenery outside the vehicle which emphasizes a distant portion of the curved path included in the image of the scenery outside the vehicle or a periphery portion of the curved path when the vehicle is determined as driving in the curved path by the determining means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle driving support device that supports driving of a driver.

  While the front pillar of the vehicle is necessary to ensure the rigidity of the vehicle body, it is a factor that narrows the driver's field of view. In particular, when traveling on a curved road, the traveling direction of the vehicle tends to be a blind spot due to the presence of the front pillar. . Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for photographing a scenery outside the vehicle with a camera and displaying an image of the scenery outside the vehicle, which becomes a blind spot of the driver, on an image display provided inside the front pillar. According to this configuration, the driver can visually recognize the scenery outside the vehicle that becomes a blind spot due to the presence of the front pillar through the image display.

JP 2004-64131 A

  Here, when the vehicle approaches a curved road and the driver's line of sight moves from the front window to the front pillar, the outside scenery (actual scenery) seen through the front window and the outside scenery seen from the image display provided on the front pillar ( Image) is difficult to accurately continue, and there is also a difference between an actual landscape and an electronic image. For this reason, it is difficult for the driver to instantly grasp the condition of the travel path simply by displaying an image of the scenery outside the vehicle that becomes a blind spot due to the presence of the front pillar.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle driving support device that allows a driver to grasp the condition of a traveling path more quickly.

  The present invention is based on the idea that the driver is often looking at the far part of the curved road (the exit side of the curved road) or the periphery of the curved road during traveling on the curved road. For example, photographing means for photographing a scenery outside the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver due to the presence of the front pillar of the vehicle, and display means provided on the front pillar inside the vehicle for displaying an image of the scenery outside the vehicle photographed by the photographing means A determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, and a remote portion of the curved road included in the image of the outside scenery when the determination means determines that the vehicle is traveling on the curved road Or display control means for causing the display means to display a highlighted image of the scenery outside the vehicle, highlighting at least one of the periphery of the curved road. Vehicle driving support device is provided, wherein the door.

  According to this configuration, since at least one of the far part of the curved road or the peripheral edge of the curved road included in the image of the outside scenery is emphasized, the driver recognizes the direction to proceed at a glance. it can. Therefore, the driver can grasp the condition of the traveling path more quickly.

  In the present invention, a gaze direction detecting means for detecting a gaze direction of the driver, and a front for determining whether or not the front pillar exists in the gaze direction of the driver detected by the gaze direction detecting means. Pillar display means, and the display control means displays the highlighted image on the display means when the front pillar determination means determines that the front pillar is present in the line-of-sight direction of the driver. The structure to be made can be adopted.

  According to this configuration, the highlighted image is displayed when the driver is looking at the scenery outside the vehicle hidden by the front pillar. For example, when the line of sight is directed to the front window, the highlighted image is not displayed. For this reason, the driver's attention is not unnecessarily directed to the display means.

  In the present invention, the highlighted image may be an image obtained by changing the display color of at least one of the distant portion or the periphery of the curved road, or an image obtained by changing the brightness. Can do.

  According to this configuration, the driver's attention is directed toward the far portion or the periphery of the curved road, so that the driver can grasp the situation of the traveling road more quickly.

  In the present invention, the display control means can cause the display means to display caution information that prompts the driver to pay attention on driving the vehicle, and the display means displays an image of the scenery outside the vehicle. In the case where the vehicle is present, a configuration in which the caution information is displayed on the image of the scenery outside the vehicle can be employed.

  According to this configuration, the warning information can be preferentially displayed, so that the driver can be more surely cautioned about driving the vehicle.

  Further, according to the present invention, when the display control unit displays the caution information on the display unit, the display control unit displays the image of the scenery outside the vehicle without emphasizing the distant portion and the periphery of the curved road. The structure displayed on the means can be adopted.

  According to this configuration, the driver can be more surely cautioned about vehicle travel.

  Further, according to the present invention, the display control means can adopt a configuration in which the display means displays the driving status information indicating the driving status of the vehicle.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to notify the driver of the traveling state of the vehicle.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle driving support device that allows a driver to more quickly grasp the condition of a traveling road.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle 1 equipped with a vehicle driving support apparatus A according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle 1 is a right-hand drive passenger car (four-door sedan car), which includes left and right front pillars (so-called A pillars) 2a and 2b, a front window 3 whose left and right are defined by the front pillars 2a and 2b, a driver's seat 4, It has.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus A includes cameras 10a and 10b that capture a scene outside the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver due to the presence of the front pillars 2a and 2b of the vehicle 1. The cameras 10a and 10b are, for example, CCD sensors. In this embodiment, the camera 10a is fixed to the front pillar 2a, and the camera 10b is fixed to the front pillar 2b.

  The shooting range of the cameras 10a and 10b is set to a range that is estimated to be a blind spot from the driver due to the presence of the front pillars 2a and 2b, and in this embodiment, a driver with a general physique is in a normal sitting posture. Is set to certain ranges S1 and S2 centered on virtual horizontal lines L1 and L2 passing through the front pillars 2a and 2b from the vicinity of the center of the headrest of the seat of the driver's seat 4.

  In the present embodiment, the shooting ranges of the cameras 10a and 10b are fixed as described above. However, a configuration in which the shooting ranges of the cameras 10a and 10b are made variable by detecting the line of sight of the driver may be used. Alternatively, a landscape image around the vehicle 1 may be photographed, and a range where a blind spot is extracted from the driver from the photographed image may be extracted.

  Next, the vehicle driving support device A includes displays 11a and 11b that are provided on the front pillars 2a and 2b, respectively, on the inner side of the vehicle, and display images of scenery outside the vehicle photographed by the cameras 10a and 10b. FIG. 2 is a view of the front pillar 2a as viewed from the driver's seat side, and shows an arrangement of the display 11a. The displays 11a and 11b are, for example, liquid crystal displays. The display 11a displays an image captured by the camera 10a, and the display 11b displays an image captured by the camera 10b.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus A includes an eye point camera 12 used to detect the direction of the driver's line of sight. The eye point camera 12 is a CCD sensor, for example, and is disposed on the ceiling above the driver's seat 4 in this embodiment. The eye point camera 12 has a shooting range set so that the face of the driver can be shot. The face of the driver can be detected by photographing the face of the driver with the eye point camera 12 and specifying the orientation of the face and the position of the eyeball by a known image analysis method.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus A includes a GPS (global positioning system) sensor 13. The GPS sensor 13 is a position detection sensor that receives a radio wave transmitted from an artificial satellite and detects the current position of the vehicle 1.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus A includes a raindrop sensor 14. The raindrop sensor 14 is disposed on the inner side of the vehicle at the upper edge of the front window 3 and detects whether or not the weather is raining by detecting whether or not raindrops are attached to the front window 3.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus A includes an obstacle sensor 15. The obstacle sensor 15 is, for example, a radar transmitter / receiver, an ultrasonic transmitter / receiver, and the like, and is disposed at the front end of the vehicle 1 in this embodiment. The obstacle sensor 15 detects a person, a vehicle, and a structure (such as a card rail) existing in front of the vehicle 1.

  The vehicle driving support apparatus A includes a vehicle speed sensor 16. The vehicle speed sensor 16 is a sensor that measures the traveling speed of the vehicle 1. For example, the speed of the engine is detected and converted into a vehicle speed.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the vehicle driving support apparatus A. The CPU 20 is a processor that controls the entire vehicle driving support apparatus A, and executes display control processing described later. An EEPROM 21, a RAM 22, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 24 are connected to the CPU 20. The EEPROM 21 stores fixed data and programs. The RAM 22 has a work area for programs executed by the CPU 20 and stores variable data and the like. The HDD 24 stores map information and the like. The map information includes information such as road coordinates and shapes. These EEPROM 21, RAM 22, and HDD 24 may be other types of storage means.

  A communication device 23 is connected to the CPU 20. The communication device 23 is used for receiving traffic information and the like. Further, the above-described cameras 10a and 10b, displays 11a and 11b, an eye point camera 12, a GPS sensor 13, a raindrop sensor 14, an obstacle sensor 15 and a vehicle speed sensor 16 are connected to the CPU 20.

  Next, an example of display control processing executed by the CPU 20 for displaying the scenery images outside the vehicle photographed by the cameras 10a and 10b on the displays 11a and 11b will be described. In the present embodiment, an example is described in which scenery images outside the vehicle photographed by the cameras 10a and 10b are constantly displayed on the displays 11a and 11b. However, scenery images outside the vehicle may be displayed only when the driver selects them. Further, a landscape image outside the vehicle may be displayed only when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved road or when the driver's line of sight is facing the front pillar 2a or 2b.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of display control processing executed by the CPU 20. The CPU 20 repeatedly executes this display control process. In the example shown in the figure, a case where a scenery image taken outside the vehicle photographed by the camera 10a is displayed on the display 11a, but a case where a scenery image taken outside the vehicle photographed by the camera 10b is displayed on the display 11b is also the same. .

  In S1, a scene outside the vehicle is photographed by the camera 10a. In S2, the traveling path on which the vehicle 1 is currently traveling is determined. In this determination, first, the detection result of the GPS sensor 13 is acquired to identify the current position of the vehicle 1. Subsequently, the map information is read out from the HDD 24 and collated with the current position of the vehicle 1 to specify the travel path of the vehicle 1.

  In S3, it is determined from the map information whether or not the traveling road determined in S2 is a curved road. If yes, go to S5, otherwise go to S4. Whether or not the road is a curved road can be determined, for example, based on whether or not R (curvature radius) of the traveling road is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. Instead of this, for example, a sensor that detects the steering amount of the steering wheel of the vehicle 1 may be provided, and if the steering amount is equal to or greater than a certain value, it may be determined that the traveling road is a curved road. In S4, the scenery image outside the vehicle photographed in S1 is displayed on the display 11a, and one unit of processing is completed.

  In S5, the line-of-sight direction of the driver is detected. In the detection of the line-of-sight direction, the driver's face is first photographed by the eye point camera 12. Subsequently, as described above, the direction of the driver's line of sight is detected by specifying the orientation of the face and the position of the eyeball by a known image analysis method. In S6, it is determined whether or not the front pillar 2a is present in the line-of-sight direction of the driver detected in S5.

  In this determination, for example, information indicating the relationship between the shooting direction of the eye point camera 12 and the position of the front pillar 2a is stored in advance in the EEPROM 21 or the like, and the line-of-sight direction of the driver detected in S5 and the above information are stored. This can be done by collating.

  In S6, if not applicable, the process proceeds to S4, and the scenery image taken outside in S1 is displayed on the display 11a. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a display example of the display 11a when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved road. A curved road can be seen as an actual scene through the front window 3, and a curved road following the curved road seen through the front window 3 is displayed as an electronic image on the display 11a.

  If applicable, the process proceeds to S7. In S7, processing for determining whether or not to output attention information is performed. The caution information is information that prompts the driver to pay attention when traveling the vehicle. The caution information is output when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Hereinafter, the contents of the caution information and the output conditions will be exemplified.

  For example, when the traveling speed of the vehicle 1 detected by the vehicle speed sensor 16 exceeds a predetermined speed (for example, a legal speed derived from map information), a message that prompts deceleration is output as caution information. Further, when an oncoming vehicle, a pedestrian, or the like is detected by the obstacle sensor 15, the fact that an oncoming vehicle or the like is present is output as caution information. Further, when the raindrop sensor 14 detects that the weather is rain, it outputs that the road surface is slippery as caution information. When the traffic information acquired by the communication device 23 indicates that the traveling road is frozen, the fact that the road surface is slippery is output as the caution information.

  In S8, it is determined whether or not attention information is output. If the output condition is satisfied in the determination process of S7, the process proceeds to S9, and if not satisfied, the process proceeds to S11. In S9, an image is generated by superimposing attention information on the scenery image taken outside the vehicle photographed in S1. The attention information is stored in advance in the HDD 24 as an image according to the type of the attention information. In S10, the image generated in S9 is displayed on the display 11a. Thereafter, one unit of processing is terminated.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display 11a when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved road, and illustrates an example in which the caution information 100 is displayed superimposed on a landscape image outside the vehicle. FIG. 6A is an enlarged view of the display 11a. In the example of the figure, “Decelerate !!” is displayed as the attention information 100, and the driver is prompted to decelerate the vehicle 1. FIG. 6B shows another display example of the display 11a. In the example shown in the figure, “oncoming vehicle approaching !!” is displayed as the attention information 101, and the driver is prompted to recognize the presence of the oncoming vehicle 200 (part of the landscape image).

  Returning to FIG. 4, in S11, a highlight display image of the outside scenery is generated in which at least one of the far part of the curved road or the periphery of the curved road included in the scenery image taken outside in S1 is emphasized. . In this process, first, an image of a curved road included in the scenery image outside the vehicle photographed in S1 is extracted by a known image analysis method. When emphasizing a far part of a curved road, an area in a certain range from the farthest end as viewed from the vehicle 1 is emphasized in the extracted curved road image. The farthest end of the curved road image is the upper right end of the curved road image if it is a right curved curved road, and the upper left edge of the curved road image if it is a left curved curve road.

  When emphasizing the peripheral edge of the curved road, at least one of the inner peripheral edge and the outer peripheral edge is emphasized in the range of the extracted curved road image as an image. Note that it is easier for the driver to emphasize the inner peripheral edge. Examples of the emphasis method include changing the display color to be different from that of the original image and changing the brightness of the image to be different from that of the original image. By emphasizing in this way, the driver's attention is directed toward the far part of the curve or the periphery of the curved road, so that the driver can grasp the situation of the traveling road more quickly.

  In S12, an image in which the driving situation information is superimposed on the highlighted image generated in S11 is generated. The travel status information is information indicating the travel status of the vehicle 1, and includes information on the travel path, the traveling direction of the vehicle 1, the predicted course of the vehicle 1, and the like. The traveling state information can be stored in advance in the HDD 24 as an image according to the type, or can be generated each time the map information is read from the HDD 24.

  In S13, the image generated in S12 is displayed on the display 11a. Thereafter, one unit of processing is terminated. FIGS. 5C and 5D are diagrams showing a display example of the display 11a when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved road, and shows an example in which the traveling state information 110 is displayed superimposed on the highlighted image. . FIG. 7A is an enlarged view of the display on the display 11a in the case of FIG. 5C, and FIG. 7B is an enlarged view of the display on the display 11a in the case of FIG. 5D.

  In the example of FIG. 5C and FIG. 7A, the distant portion 300 of the curved road is highlighted as the highlighted image. Further, as the traveling state information, an icon 110a of the vehicle 1 and a schematic diagram 110b of the traveling road (curved road) are displayed as a bird's eye view, and the curvature radius of the curved road is indicated as R60.

  In the example of FIGS. 5D and 7B, the inner peripheral edge 301 of the curved road is highlighted as the highlighted image. Further, as the traveling state information, an icon 111a of the vehicle 1 and a schematic diagram 111b of the traveling road (curved road) are displayed as a bird's eye view, and the curvature radius of the curved road is indicated as R80. Furthermore, a predicted route of the vehicle 1 when the driver's operation on the vehicle 1 continues in the current state is displayed by a broken line 111c.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the vehicle 1 is traveling on a curved road, at least one of the far part of the curved road or the peripheral edge of the curved road included in the image of the scenery outside the vehicle is emphasized ( S13). The present embodiment is based on the idea that the driver is often looking at the far part of the curved road (the exit side of the curved road) or the periphery of the curved road during traveling on the curved road. This was also the case with the experiments that were conducted. Thus, by emphasizing at least one of the far part of the curved road included in the image of the scenery outside the vehicle or the peripheral edge of the curved road as in this embodiment, the direction in which the driver should travel at a glance. Can be recognized. Therefore, the driver can grasp the condition of the traveling path more quickly.

  Here, if a part of the image of the scenery outside the vehicle is highlighted and displayed, the driver's attention can be easily drawn. In this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the front pillar 2a is present in the driver's line-of-sight direction (S5, S6). If it is determined that the front pillar 2a is present in the driver's line-of-sight direction, emphasis is given. A display image is displayed (S13). According to this configuration, the highlighted image is displayed only when the driver is looking at the scenery outside the vehicle hidden by the front pillar 2a. For example, when the line of sight is directed to the front window 3, the highlighted image is not displayed. For this reason, the driver's attention is not unnecessarily directed toward the display 11a.

  In the present embodiment, the caution information 100 and 101 is displayed so as to be superimposed on the image of the scenery outside the vehicle (S9, S10). By displaying the warning information preferentially, the driver can be more surely cautioned about driving the vehicle.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the caution information 100 and 101 is displayed (S7 to S10), the scenery outside the vehicle is not shown without emphasizing the far part of the curved road and the periphery of the curved road without going through the processing of S11. The image is displayed on the display 11a. By not performing highlighting, the driver's attention can easily be directed to the attention information, and the driver can be more surely alerted to the vehicle's attention.

  In the present embodiment, traveling state information 110 and 111 indicating the traveling state of the vehicle is displayed on the display 11a. According to this configuration, the driving situation of the vehicle can be notified to the driver, and the driving support effect can be enhanced.

1 is a plan view of a vehicle 1 equipped with a vehicle driving support apparatus A according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which looked at the front pillar 2a from the driver's seat side. 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle driving support apparatus A. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the display control process which CPU20 performs. (A) thru | or (d) is a figure which shows the example of an image display of the display 11a. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the example of an image display of the display 11a. (A) And (b) is a figure which shows the example of an image display of the display 11a.

Explanation of symbols

A Vehicle driving support device 1 Vehicle 2a, 2b Front pillar 10a, 10b, 12 Camera 11a, 11b Display 20 CPU

Claims (6)

Photographing means for photographing the scenery outside the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver due to the presence of the front pillar of the vehicle,
Display means provided on the front pillar inside the vehicle, for displaying an image of a scenery outside the vehicle photographed by the photographing means;
Determining means for determining whether the vehicle is traveling on a curved road;
When it is determined by the determination means that the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, at least one of the far part of the curved road or the peripheral edge of the curved road included in the image of the outside scenery is emphasized. Display control means for causing the display means to display a highlighted image of the scenery outside the vehicle;
A vehicle driving support apparatus comprising: Furthermore,
Gaze direction detection means for detecting the gaze direction of the driver;
Front pillar determination means for determining whether or not the front pillar exists in the line-of-sight direction of the driver detected by the line-of-sight direction detection means;
With
The display control means causes the display means to display the highlighted image when the front pillar determining means determines that the front pillar is present in the line-of-sight direction of the driver. The vehicle driving support device according to 1.   The said highlight display image is an image which changed the display color of at least any one of the said far part or the periphery of the said curve road, or the image which changed the brightness, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Driving support system for vehicles. The display control means includes
It is possible to display on the display means caution information that prompts the driver to pay attention on vehicle travel. When the display means displays an image of the scenery outside the vehicle, the caution information is displayed on the image of the scenery outside the vehicle. The vehicle driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the driving support device is displayed in an overlapping manner. The display control means includes
5. When displaying the caution information on the display means, the image of the outside scenery is displayed on the display means without emphasizing the distant portion and the periphery of the curved road. Driving support system for vehicles. The display control means includes
The vehicle driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein traveling state information indicating a traveling state of the vehicle is displayed on the display means.

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