JP2008268754A - Driving simulator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving simulator capable of reducing the sense of incongruity during driving operation, by correcting the vehicle speed at making a right or a left turn. <P>SOLUTION: On the basis of the driving operation inputted to a driving operation section 2, whether the vehicle is making a right or left turn is decided (S14); when it is decided that the vehicle is making a right or left turn, speed calculation is performed (S16), by reducing the speed of the vehicle as compared with the vehicle speed Vd calculated on the basis of the driving operation inputted to the driving operation section 2. Thus, the vehicle is prevented from making a wide turn at right or left turning. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving simulator for performing simulated driving of a vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a driving simulator, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-186287, one that steers and accelerates or decelerates a vehicle according to a driving operation of an operator is known. Such a driving simulator is also known that includes a monitor or a screen that displays a road around the vehicle according to the driving operation of the vehicle.
JP 2003-186287 A

  However, in such a driving simulator, when the vehicle turns right or left, there is a problem that the vehicle turns a lot and simulation driving cannot be appropriately performed. For example, when driving a driving simulator, the feeling of speed due to vehicle running is different from that when driving a real vehicle, and therefore the vehicle is often not sufficiently decelerated when turning right or left. For this reason, when turning the vehicle left and right, it becomes a large turn, and if the image is displayed as it is, it becomes uncomfortable.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a driving simulator capable of reducing a sense of incongruity during driving operation.

  That is, the driving simulator according to the present invention includes a driving operation unit for performing a driving operation, a determination unit that determines whether the vehicle is turning left or right based on the driving operation input to the driving operation unit, When the determination means determines that the vehicle is turning left or right, the speed of the vehicle is decelerated compared with the speed of the vehicle calculated based on the driving operation input to the driving operation unit. Speed calculating means for performing the above.

  According to this invention, when the vehicle turns right or left, it is possible to suppress the vehicle from making a large turn when turning right or left by reducing the speed of the vehicle. For this reason, the uncomfortable feeling of the vehicle driving at the time of driving simulation can be reduced.

  The driving simulator according to the present invention preferably further comprises display means for displaying the surroundings of the vehicle according to the speed of the vehicle calculated by the speed calculation means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce a sense of incongruity during a driving operation by setting the vehicle speed to a deceleration state when the vehicle turns right or left.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a driving simulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the driving simulator 1 according to the present embodiment is a device for performing a simulated operation, and includes a driving operation unit 2 in which an operator performs a simulated operation.

  The driving operation unit 2 detects the driving operation state of the simulated driving performed by the operator, and includes at least a steering wheel, an accelerator, and a brake, and can detect the steering operation state, acceleration and deceleration operation state of the vehicle. It is done. Moreover, what provided other things, such as a shift lever and a blinker, may be used. It is preferable to use the driving operation unit 2 configured in a normal vehicle shape. In this case, it is possible to give a feeling of being in a real vehicle.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the drive operation part 2 moves and inclines according to a drive operation state. In this case, the presence of driving operation can be enhanced. For example, the driving operation unit 2 is provided on the turntable 3, and the driving operation unit 2 can be tilted by tilting the turntable 3. Further, the operation unit 2 can be moved by moving the turntable 3. Furthermore, it is preferable that the driving operation unit 2 can be rotated by rotating the turntable 3.

  The turntable 3 is a disk-like floor portion that is rotatably provided, and is configured to be rotatable around a central position, for example. The turntable 3 is supported by an actuator 4 and can be tilted by the operation of the actuator 4. As the actuator 4, for example, a hexapot composed of a plurality of extendable cylinders is used. By activating the actuator 4 according to the driving operation state and tilting the driving operation unit 2 together with the turntable 3, it is possible to give the operator a sensation close to the actual vehicle driving situation and enhance the realistic feeling of the driving operation be able to.

  A dome 7 that covers the entire circumference of the driving operation unit 2 is installed on the top of the turntable 3. As the dome 7, for example, one having a cylindrical wall portion 71 and an arc-shaped ceiling portion 72 is used. As long as the dome 7 has a shape that covers the entire circumference of the driving operation unit 2, a semicircular shape, a polygonal shape, or a rectangular shape may be used.

  A projection device 73 is provided on the ceiling portion 72 of the dome 7. A screen 74 is provided inside the wall portion 71 of the dome 7. The projection device 73 projects an image simulating the scenery around the driving operation unit 3 toward the screen 74. The projection device 73 and the screen 74 function as display means for displaying the scenery around the vehicle in accordance with the driving operation. In addition, as the display unit, a device other than the projection device 73 and the screen 74 such as a liquid crystal monitor may be used as long as it can display a scenery around the vehicle according to a driving operation.

  The driving simulator 1 includes an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 8. The ECU 8 controls the entire apparatus of the driving simulator 1, and is configured mainly by a computer including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, for example. The ECU 8 is connected to the driving operation unit 2 and inputs a driving operation signal output from the driving operation unit 2. In that case, ECU8 functions as a judgment means which judges whether the vehicle is turning right or left based on a driving operation signal.

  Further, the ECU 8 functions as speed calculation means for calculating the vehicle speed by decelerating the vehicle speed compared to the vehicle speed calculated based on the driving operation signal when it is determined that the vehicle is turning right or left. The ECU 8 stores map data and can recognize where the vehicle is on the map data. The ECU 8 is set with display images or video signals such as roads and scenery around the vehicle according to the position of the vehicle.

  The ECU 8 is connected to the projection device 73 and outputs a video signal to the projection device 73. This video signal represents roads and scenery around the vehicle according to the driving operation. The projection device 73 projects an image corresponding to the image signal onto the screen 74. As a result, an image corresponding to the driving operation is displayed on the screen 74. The projection device 73 is constituted by a plurality of projectors, for example.

  Further, the ECU 8 is connected to the actuator 4 and outputs a drive signal to the actuator 4. This drive signal is a signal generated to tilt the driving operation unit 2 in accordance with the driving operation. The actuator 4 operates according to the drive signal, and tilts the turntable 3 and the driving operation unit 2.

  Next, the operation of the driving simulator 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the driving simulator 1 according to the present embodiment. The control process of the flowchart of FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle by the ECU 8, for example.

  In FIG. 1, the driving operation unit 2 detects the driving operation state of the operator, and the driving operation signal is input to the ECU 8. The ECU 8 recognizes the acceleration / deceleration state, the steering state, and the like of the vehicle based on the driving operation signal, and generates a video signal and a driving signal according to the driving operation signal.

  The generation of the video signal corresponding to the driving operation signal is performed according to the flowchart of FIG. First, as shown in S10 of FIG. 2, the vehicle position reading process and the front intersection position reading process are performed.

  The own vehicle position reading process is a process of reading the position of the own vehicle on a virtual map. For example, the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the speed of the host vehicle are recognized based on the driving operation signal, and the current position of the host vehicle is read. The process of reading the front intersection position is a process of reading the position of the intersection in front of the host vehicle. For example, the position of an intersection ahead of the position of the vehicle is calculated based on the map data, and the position of the intersection is read.

Then, the flow shifts to S12, the distance square values D ² obtained by squaring the distance D to the preceding intersection position from the vehicle position whether the difference is less than a predetermined distance value A is determined. The distance value A is a set value set in advance in the ECU 8. Distance square values D ² at the S12 is the case not smaller than the predetermined distance value A, it is determined that the vehicle is not approaching forward intersection, the process proceeds to S18. On the other hand, if the distance squared value D ² is smaller than the predetermined distance value A at the S12, it is determined that the vehicle is approaching the front intersection, whether right or left turn of the vehicle is being performed is determined (S14).

  The determination as to whether or not the vehicle makes a right / left turn is made based on the driving operation signal. For example, when the winker operation is performed in the driving operation signal, the absolute value of the steering angular velocity is greater than or equal to a preset steering angular velocity value, and the absolute value of the steering angle is greater than or equal to a preset steering angle value. It is determined that the vehicle turns right or left.

  If it is determined in S14 that the vehicle is not making a right or left turn, the process proceeds to S18. On the other hand, if it is determined in S14 that the vehicle is making a right or left turn, a deceleration process is performed (S16). The deceleration process is a process for setting the speed of the host vehicle by decelerating from the driving operation. For example, a predetermined deceleration value V1 is subtracted from the vehicle speed Vd calculated according to the driving operation, and the vehicle speed V used for calculating the vehicle motion is calculated. A video signal to be displayed is generated according to the vehicle speed V, and a driving signal for tilting or moving the driving operation unit 2 is generated.

  The deceleration value V is preferably set so that the deceleration gradually increases from when it is recognized that a right / left turn is to be made. For example, it is calculated using the equation V = Vd−A · T. Here, A is a predetermined deceleration, and T is an elapsed time since the right / left turn recognition.

  And it transfers to S18 and a display process is performed. The display process is a process of generating a video signal of a video displayed on the screen 74 and outputting the video signal to the projection device 73. When the deceleration process of S16 is not performed, a video signal is generated based on the vehicle speed corresponding to the driving operation in this display process. On the other hand, when the deceleration process of S16 is performed, a video signal is generated based on the vehicle speed value obtained by reducing the vehicle speed according to the driving operation.

  This video signal is output from the ECU 8 and input to the projection device 73. Then, an image is projected from the projection device 73 onto the screen 74, and roads and scenery around the vehicle are displayed on the screen 74. Then, when the process of S18 is finished, a series of control processes are finished.

  As described above, according to the driving simulator 1 according to the present embodiment, when the vehicle turns right or left, it is possible to suppress the vehicle from making a large turn when turning right or left by reducing the speed of the vehicle. For this reason, the uncomfortable feeling of the vehicle driving at the time of driving simulation can be reduced.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the own vehicle 91 turns left at an intersection 92, the vehicle speed V of the own vehicle 91 is assumed to be decelerated from the vehicle speed Vd calculated in accordance with the driving operation. For this reason, even in a situation where the own vehicle 91 turns around due to insufficient deceleration of the operator when turning left, an appropriate video can be displayed on the screen 74, and a simulated driving with less discomfort can be performed.

  In addition, this embodiment mentioned above shows an example of the driving simulator which concerns on this invention. For this reason, the driving simulator according to the present invention is not limited to this, and the driving simulator according to the embodiment is modified or applied to other things without changing the gist described in each claim. It may be what you did.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a driving simulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the driving simulator of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the vehicle speed state at the time of the left turn in the driving simulator of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Driving simulator, 2 ... Driving operation part, 3 ... Turntable, 4 ... Actuator, 7 ... Dome, 8 ... ECU, 73 ... Projection apparatus, 74 ... Screen.

Claims (2)

A driving operation unit for performing driving operation;
Determining means for determining whether the vehicle is turning left or right based on the driving operation input to the driving operation unit;
When the determination means determines that the vehicle is turning left or right, the speed of the vehicle is decelerated compared with the speed of the vehicle calculated based on the driving operation input to the driving operation unit. Speed calculating means for performing
Driving simulator equipped with.   The driving simulator according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the surroundings of the vehicle according to the speed of the vehicle calculated by the speed calculation means.

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