JP2008102813A - Annunciator arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To communicate the occurrence of various events to a driver in detail without averting the driver's line of sight and interrupting interior conversations. <P>SOLUTION: An annunciator arrangement comprises one or more vibration parts disposed on operating pedals for instructing an engine control part for controlling the drive of an engine to increase or decrease the moving speed of the mobile vehicle that is equipped with the engine, a reception means for receiving vehicle information representing the fuel or battery level of the vehicle or the moving speed from the engine control part, and a control means for, when detecting that the moving speed represented by the vehicle information exceeds a predetermined speed limit or that the fuel or battery level represented by the vehicle information is below a predetermined threshold, vibrating the one or more vibration parts in a predetermined vibration pattern depending on the detected event to inform of the event occurrence. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for notifying a vehicle driver of the occurrence of various events.

A warning sound and instrument panel (hereinafter referred to as the “instrument panel”) indicate that the driver of a vehicle that is equipped with an engine runs too fast or that the remaining amount of fuel or battery is low. A technique for informing by blinking of a provided light emitting unit is generally used.
In addition, the operator may be able to detect engine malfunction or the like from the engine sound that is heard at the driver's seat without an explicit notification such as a warning sound or blinking of the instrument panel.

As described above, conventionally, various notifications have been performed in a manner appealing to the driver's vision or hearing, but in such a manner, the following problems may occur.
For example, in the case of warning sound alerts, there is a problem that when a musical sound is played back by car audio etc., the warning sound is covered by the musical sound and difficult to hear, and the problem that the warning sound hinders conversation in the car. is there. In the first place, there is a problem that the notification by sound does not make any sense when the driver is a hearing impaired person.
On the other hand, in an aspect that appeals visually, such as blinking of the light emitting part provided in the instrument panel, for example, although it is possible to report whether or not the speed is exceeded excessively, it is possible to finely notify the degree of excess Can not. In addition, in the notification that appeals to the driver's vision, there is a problem that the driver may shift the line of sight to the notification location, which may cause an unnecessary driving.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a technology capable of finely transmitting the occurrence of various events to the driver without diverting the driver's line of sight or disturbing the conversation in the vehicle. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention is provided in an operation pedal for instructing a drive control unit that controls driving of the engine or electric motor to increase or decrease the traveling speed of a vehicle that is mounted with the engine or electric motor and that runs on its own. One or a plurality of vibration units, receiving means for receiving vehicle information representing the fuel or battery remaining amount of the vehicle or the travel speed from the drive control unit, and the travel speed represented by the vehicle information has a predetermined speed limit. When it is detected that the fuel or the battery remaining amount indicated by the vehicle information is below a predetermined threshold, the vibration pattern determined in advance for the detected event is detected. And a control means for notifying the occurrence of the event by vibrating one or a plurality of vibration units.

  In a more preferred aspect, the notification device includes a position specifying unit that specifies a traveling position of the vehicle, and the control unit is configured such that the traveling speed represented by the vehicle information is determined according to the position specified by the position specifying unit. When it is detected that the speed limit exceeds the predetermined speed, the vibration section is vibrated with a predetermined vibration pattern.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an operation pedal for instructing a drive control unit that controls driving of the engine or electric motor to increase or decrease the traveling speed of a vehicle that is mounted with the engine or electric motor and that is self-running. One or a plurality of vibration units provided, receiving means for receiving data indicating the detection result from a sensor for detecting whether there is a pedestrian or another vehicle around the vehicle, and data received by the receiving means Control means for vibrating the one or more vibration parts in a predetermined vibration pattern and notifying that when there is a pedestrian or another vehicle around the vehicle, Provided is a notification device characterized by comprising:

Since the notification device according to the present invention performs various notifications in a manner that appeals to the driver's tactile sensation such as the vibration of the operation pedal, it does not distract the driver's line of sight or disturb the conversation in the vehicle. In addition, if various vibration patterns are prepared in advance, the occurrence of various events can be finely transmitted to the driver.
That is, according to the present invention, the occurrence of various events can be finely transmitted to the driver without diverting the driver's line of sight or disturbing the conversation in the vehicle.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(A: Configuration)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a notification device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The notification device 10 is mounted on a self-propelled vehicle having a gasoline engine (for example, an automobile, not shown in FIG. 1), and notifies the driver of the vehicle of the occurrence of various events. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the notification device 10 includes vibration units 110A and 110B, a storage unit 120, a control unit 130 that performs vibration control of the vibration units 110A and 110B, and an interface unit 140. Occurrence of the event is notified by vibrating the parts 110A and 110B with different vibration patterns for each event. In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the vibration units 110 </ b> A and 110 </ b> B, they are simply referred to as “vibration unit 110”.

  The vibration unit 110 includes a vibrator and an actuator as a mechanism for vibrating the vibration unit 110 (both are not shown in FIG. 1), and as shown in FIG. 2, an operation pedal such as an accelerator pedal or a brake pedal. It is buried in. Here, the vibrator is a vibration mechanism for finely vibrating the vibration unit 110 in various directions as shown in FIG. 3 in the normal direction of the pedal surface of the operation pedal, and the actuator is embedded in the vibration unit 110. This is a vibration mechanism that causes a plurality of vibration units 110 to vibrate in a coordinated manner as if the pedal surface being touched. In addition, as a specific configuration of the vibration unit 110, an electric massage machine that can reproduce a plurality of types of acupressure operations (such as “finger operation”, “striking operation”, “pressing operation”) by a combination of an actuator and a vibrator. What is necessary is just to employ | adopt a structure.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of an accelerator pedal provided with the vibration unit 110A, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of a brake pedal provided with the vibration unit 110B. Here, the accelerator pedal is an operation pedal for instructing the ECU (Engine Control Unit) to increase the traveling speed by depressing the accelerator pedal, and the brake pedal is the traveling speed by depressing the brake pedal. Is an operation pedal for instructing the ECU to decrease
In each of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, the vibrating portions 110 are embedded only in the portion where the driver's feet touch. Here, in each of the operation pedals, the reason why the vibration unit 110 is embedded only in a portion where the driver's foot touches is that if the vibration unit 110 is embedded over the entire pedal surface of the operation pedal, vibration is generated. This is because the entire operation pedal vibrates due to the vibration of the section 110, which may hinder the driving operation. In addition, although this embodiment demonstrates the case where four vibration parts 110 are embed | buried under each operation pedal, the number of the vibration parts embed | buried under each operation pedal may be 3 or less, It may be 5 or more. In short, any mode may be used as long as one or a plurality of vibration parts are embedded in each operation pedal.

The storage unit 120 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory, for example, and the pattern table shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the storage unit 120. As shown in FIG. 4, the pattern table includes event identifiers representing events such as the traveling speed exceeding the speed limit and the remaining amount of fuel (gasoline in the present embodiment) being very small. Correspondingly, vibration pattern data representing a unique vibration pattern (vibration waveform) is stored.
Specifically, in the present embodiment, the event identifier “010” indicating overspeed limit is associated with vibration pattern data a indicating that the vibrator 110 is vibrated finely by driving only the vibrator, The event identifier “020” indicating that the remaining fuel is scarce is associated with vibration pattern data b indicating that only the actuator is driven and the vibration unit 110 is vibrated so as to sway each operation pedal surface. The event identifier “030” indicating insufficient is associated with vibration pattern data c indicating that both the actuator and the vibrator are driven to vibrate the vibration unit 110.
The pattern table shown in FIG. 4 is obtained by causing the vibration unit 110 to vibrate when any of the events identified by the event identifiers occurs during operation of the vehicle on which the notification device 10 is mounted. This is used when causing the control unit 130 to specify a vibration pattern to be used when notifying the driver of the occurrence of this.

The interface unit 140 is, for example, a CAN (Controller
An external device connection interface conforming to a predetermined standard such as an area network (LIN), a local interconnect network (LIN), or a universal serial bus (USB), and connected external devices (as shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, It serves as a data receiving means that receives various data from the car navigation device, ECU, and inter-vehicle distance sensor, and delivers them to the control unit 130.

The car navigation device includes, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver and a road map database. The car navigation device communicates with a GPS satellite orbiting the satellite orbit, and the current position of the vehicle on which the car navigation device is mounted and A road speed limit (legal speed) corresponding to the current position is specified, and data indicating the speed limit is output.
In the present embodiment, the case where the car navigation device is used to specify the speed limit according to the position of the vehicle has been described. However, for example, when the speed limit is always 60 km / h regardless of the position of the vehicle. Needless to say, when the fixed speed limit is compared with the traveling speed of the vehicle, the car navigation device need not be provided.

The ECU is a drive control unit that performs drive control of an engine of a vehicle in which the ECU is mounted, detects the traveling speed of the vehicle and the remaining amount of fuel, and outputs data indicating the detection result as vehicle information.
In the present embodiment, the case where data representing the traveling speed of the vehicle and the remaining amount of fuel is used as the vehicle information has been described. However, the data representing the accelerator opening and the remaining battery amount representing the depression amount of the accelerator pedal are used as the vehicle information. Of course, it may be included in the information, and instead of the data indicating the traveling speed and the remaining amount of fuel, the data indicating the accelerator opening and the battery remaining amount indicating the depression amount of the accelerator pedal are used as the vehicle information. But of course.

The inter-vehicle distance sensor includes, for example, a microwave transmitter and the receiver, and is directed toward a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a preceding vehicle) traveling in the same direction in front of a vehicle on which the notification device 10 is mounted. The distance from the preceding vehicle is calculated from the time required until the microwave is transmitted from the microwave transmitter and the reflected wave is received by the receiver, and data indicating the calculation result is output. .
In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which the inter-vehicle distance sensor measures the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle and transmits the measurement result to the control unit 130. However, the rear of the vehicle on which the notification device 10 is mounted is the same. The inter-vehicle distance with the following vehicle traveling in the direction may be measured by the inter-vehicle distance sensor, and the measurement result may be transmitted to the control unit 130. In addition, an image sensor for detecting whether or not there is a pedestrian around the vehicle equipped with the notification device 10 is provided together with the inter-vehicle distance sensor or in place of the inter-vehicle distance sensor, and the detection result is indicated by the control unit 130. You may make it transmit to.

The control unit 130 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example, and stores a control program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory: not shown) in a RAM (Random
The processing characteristic of the notification device according to the present invention is executed by reading and executing the access memory (not shown). Specifically, the control unit 130 analyzes the data received from the car navigation device, the ECU, and the inter-vehicle distance sensor, thereby causing an event (limited speed (legal speed) overrun, low fuel remaining, and When the occurrence of an insufficient inter-vehicle distance) is detected, the vibration unit 110 is vibrated with a vibration pattern corresponding to the detection result, thereby executing a process for transmitting the occurrence of these events to the driver. When the occurrence of each event is detected by analyzing the data delivered from each external device, the control unit 130 writes an event identifier indicating the event in a predetermined area of the RAM, and the vibration unit 110. Is written in a predetermined storage area of the RAM.
The above is the configuration example of the notification device 10.

(B: Operation)
Next, operations performed by the notification device 10 will be described with reference to the drawings.
Note that at the start of the operation described below, it is assumed that none of the events indicated by the three event identifiers shown in FIG. 4 has occurred and the vibration unit 110 is not vibrating. Correspondingly, an initial value (for example, 0x00) is set in a predetermined area in the RAM for storing the event identifier of the event detected by the control unit 130, and the same status flag is set. It is assumed that an initial value (“0” in the present embodiment) is also set in the storage area. And in the operation example demonstrated below, the driver | operator of the vehicle by which the alerting | reporting apparatus 10 is mounted shall experience and grasp the vibration pattern corresponding to each of said three types of event in advance.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of notification processing executed by the control unit 130 operating according to the control program. As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 130 receives data output from the external devices of the car navigation device, the ECU, and the inter-vehicle distance sensor via the interface unit 140 (step SA100), and operates based on the data. It is determined whether an event to be notified to the person has occurred (step SA110).
More specifically, in step SA110, the control unit 130 determines whether or not the occurrence of the speed limit overrun, the remaining fuel scarce amount, and the insufficient inter-vehicle distance occurs in this order, and when the occurrence is detected, An event identifier indicating the event that has occurred is written to a predetermined area in the RAM, and the subsequent steps are immediately executed.

  For example, when the traveling speed represented by the vehicle information delivered from the ECU exceeds the speed limit represented by the data delivered from the car navigation device, the control unit 130 determines that the speed limit is over and indicates that fact. The event identifier (010) is written to a predetermined area in the RAM, and the process of step SA110 is terminated. On the other hand, when the traveling speed represented by the vehicle information delivered from the ECU is equal to or lower than the speed limit represented by the data delivered from the car navigation device, the control unit 130 indicates the remaining fuel amount indicated by the vehicle information delivered from the ECU. When the former falls below the latter by comparing the predetermined first threshold value, it is determined that the remaining fuel is scarce, and an event identifier (020) indicating that is written in a predetermined area in the RAM. On the other hand, when the remaining amount of fuel indicated by the vehicle information delivered from the ECU is equal to or more than the first threshold, the control unit 130 determines the predetermined distance between the vehicle distance indicated by the data received from the vehicle distance sensor. By comparing with the threshold value of 2, it is determined whether the inter-vehicle distance is insufficient.

When the determination result of step SA110 is “Yes” (that is, when an event identifier indicating any of overspeed limit, low remaining fuel, and insufficient inter-vehicle distance is stored in a predetermined storage area in the RAM) The control unit 130 reads out waveform data indicating a vibration pattern corresponding to the event detected in step SA110 from the pattern table, vibrates the vibration unit 110 according to the waveform data (step SA120), and sets the status flag. Then, a value (“1” in the present embodiment) indicating that the vibration unit 110 is vibrating is set.
Conversely, when the determination result in step SA110 is “No”, the control unit 130 performs control to stop the vibration of the vibration unit 110 (step SA130). Needless to say, if the vibration unit 110 is not vibrating at the stage of executing step SA130, it is not necessary to execute step SA130. Specifically, the control unit 130 executes the process of step SA130 only when the value of the state flag is “1”, and resets the value of the state flag to the initial value.

  In step SA140 executed subsequent to step SA120 or step SA130, control unit 130 analyzes the driving information delivered from the ECU, and determines whether or not the engine that is the object of driving control by the ECU is stopped. . Then, when the determination result is “No”, the control unit 130 repeatedly executes the processes after step SA100, and conversely, when the determination result is “Yes”, the notification process. Exit.

For example, when it is detected in step SA110 that the traveling speed of the vehicle exceeds the speed limit at the traveling position, in step SA120, the vibration unit 110 is vibrated in small increments (only the vibrator is driven). The vibration control is executed. Similarly, when it is detected in step SA110 that the remaining amount of fuel has fallen below the first threshold value, the vibration unit 110 is vibrated so that the pedal surface is swung in step SA120 (only the actuator is driven). If it is detected in step SA110 that the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle is below the second threshold value, vibration is performed by both the actuator and the vibrator in step SA120. Vibration control to vibrate the unit 110 is executed.
On the other hand, when the driver puts his or her foot on the operation pedal during driving of the vehicle, which of the above-mentioned events has occurred due to a difference in vibration patterns transmitted from the operation pedal to the toes. I can grasp it.

As described above, according to the notification device 10 according to the present embodiment, the occurrence of various events is caused by causing the vibration unit 110 embedded in the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal to vibrate with vibration patterns according to various events. Because it is transmitted to the driver, it is possible to reliably transmit the occurrence of various events even if the driver is a hearing impaired person, as well as various events reliably even when music etc. are played in the car Can be transmitted to the driver, and it does not interfere with conversations made in the car.
In addition, according to the notification device 10 according to the present embodiment, unlike a notification mode that appeals visually such as blinking of a light emitting unit provided in the instrument panel, there is no possibility that the driver will be diverted.

(C: deformation)
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it is needless to say that the embodiment may be modified as described below.
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the alarm device according to the present invention is mounted on a gasoline engine vehicle has been described. However, the alarm device according to the present invention may be mounted on a diesel engine vehicle, or a so-called hybrid vehicle. Of course, the notification device according to the present invention may be mounted on a vehicle, an electric vehicle, or a fuel cell vehicle. Even if the vehicle is not a gasoline engine vehicle, the above-mentioned various problems will not occur with the auditory notification or the visual notification, and the driving parts of these vehicles (for example, diesel engines, This is because the electric vehicle has a drive control unit that performs drive control of the electric motor) and an operation pedal that instructs the drive control to increase or decrease the traveling speed.

(2) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the vibrating unit 110 is vibrated with a vibrator has been described as being vibrated at a constant period, as shown in FIGS. However, in order to more clearly convey the distinction of each event to the driver, for example, a vibration pattern (so-called frequency modulation: figure) in which two types of vibrations having different periods are combined in different combination patterns for each event, such as Morse code. 6 (a), (b) and (c)), the occurrence of these events may be transmitted to the user.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, when the occurrence of the event is transmitted to the driver by the vibration of the vibration pattern corresponding to each event, the vibration unit 110A embedded in the accelerator pedal and the vibration unit embedded in the brake pedal Although the case where 110B is vibrated with the same vibration pattern has been described, the vibration pattern may be different between the vibration unit 110A and the vibration unit 110B. Further, when notifying that the speed limit is exceeded, only the vibration unit 110A may be vibrated, and when notifying that the inter-vehicle distance is insufficient, only the vibration unit 110B may be vibrated, or an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal may be used. Of course, the vibration unit 110 may be embedded only in one of these.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the vibration pattern of the vibration unit is changed for each detected event and transmitted to the driver has been described. However, the degree of the event that has occurred may be transmitted to the driver by changing the amplitude of the vibration. Specifically, the amplitude is increased as the excess of the traveling speed with respect to the speed limit is increased, or the amplitude is increased as the remaining amount of fuel or battery is decreased. Similarly, the amplitude may be increased as the number of pedestrians around the vehicle increases and as the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle decreases. Further, as a mode of transmitting the degree of the event that has occurred, in addition to changing the amplitude according to the degree, the degree may be transmitted by changing the period of vibration.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the vibration pattern of the vibration unit is changed for each detected event and transmitted to the driver has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 6D, if the effect of the notification does not appear even after a predetermined time has passed since the notification was started (for example, the traveling speed remains exceeding the speed limit even after the supplementary notification). In the case where the distance between the vehicles is not increased or the distance between the vehicles is not widened), the notification may be continued while gradually increasing the amplitude until the effect of the notification appears.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, the case where each vibration unit 110 embedded in the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal is vibrated at a constant period has been described. However, the initial phase of vibration is different for each vibration unit 110. Of course, it is also possible to vibrate each vibration part independently, such as a massage machine. If each vibration part is vibrated independently, various vibration patterns can be reproduced, and various events can be reported in detail.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the vibration mechanism for vibrating the vibration unit 110 is configured by both the vibrator and the actuator has been described. However, the vibration mechanism may be configured by either the vibrator or the actuator. In that case, it is only necessary to appropriately determine which of the vibrator and the actuator is used according to the constituent material and form of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal.
(7) In the above-described embodiment, the notification when a certain event occurs has been described, but a plurality of events may be notified at the same time. In that case, a plurality of locations may be vibrated simultaneously, or a plurality of vibration patterns may be sequentially switched and vibrated.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the alerting | reporting apparatus 10 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the accelerator pedal and brake pedal with which the vibration part 110A and the vibration part 110B are embed | buried. It is a figure which shows the vibration pattern which the vibration pattern data memorize | stored in the pattern table represent. It is a figure which shows an example of the pattern table memorize | stored in the memory | storage part. It is a figure which shows the flow of the alerting | reporting process which the control part performs. It is a figure which shows the vibration pattern which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Notification apparatus, 110A, 110B ... Vibration part, 120 ... Memory | storage part, 130 ... Control part, 140 ... Interface part.

Claims (3)

One or a plurality of vibration units provided in an operation pedal for instructing a drive control unit that performs drive control of the engine or electric motor to increase / decrease a traveling speed of a vehicle that is mounted with an engine or an electric motor, and
Receiving means for receiving vehicle information representing the fuel or battery remaining amount of the vehicle or the traveling speed from the drive control unit;
The detection is performed when it is detected that the traveling speed represented by the vehicle information exceeds a predetermined speed limit, or that the fuel or battery remaining amount represented by the vehicle information is below a predetermined threshold. Control means for notifying the occurrence of the event by vibrating the one or more vibration parts in a predetermined vibration pattern with respect to the event,
An informing device comprising: A position specifying means for specifying the traveling position of the vehicle;
The control means includes
The vibration unit is vibrated in a predetermined vibration pattern when it is detected that the traveling speed represented by the vehicle information exceeds a speed limit determined according to the position specified by the position specifying means. The notification device according to claim 1. One or a plurality of vibration units provided in an operation pedal for instructing a drive control unit that performs drive control of the engine or electric motor to increase / decrease a traveling speed of a vehicle that is mounted with an engine or an electric motor, and
Receiving means for receiving data indicating a detection result from a sensor for detecting whether there is a pedestrian or another vehicle around the vehicle;
When the data received by the receiving means indicates that there are pedestrians or other vehicles around the vehicle, the one or more vibration parts are vibrated in a predetermined vibration pattern, and this is indicated. Control means for informing;
A notification device comprising:

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