JP2008302711A - Start support device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a start support device for enabling a driver to safely start a vehicle from a parking block by making it easier for the driver to recognize peripheral circumstances than a conventional manner. <P>SOLUTION: This start support device is provided with a parking orbit acquisition means for acquiring a parking orbit from a parking preparation position to a parking block; a parking time peripheral information acquisition means for acquiring the information of the periphery of a vehicle as parking time vehicle periphery information while the vehicle is moving along the parking orbit; an automatic start control means for controlling start from the parking block by making the vehicle automatically travel along the reverse orbit of the parking orbit based on the parking orbit information; a start time peripheral information acquisition means for acquiring the information of the periphery of the vehicle as the start time vehicle peripheral information under the automatic start of the vehicle along the reverse orbit or its preparation for the automatic start; and an automatic start control suppression output means for, when it is decided that the automatic start control following the reserve orbit is not executable or continuable based on the comparison of the parking time vehicle peripheral information and the start time vehicle peripheral information, performing output for suppressing the automatic start control. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a start support device that supports a start operation when a vehicle starts from a parking section.

  If you park in the parking area by parallel parking or parallel parking, when you start from this parking area, the driver checks the safety of the surroundings because other vehicles are parked close to the front or back of the own vehicle or to the left and right. However, it is necessary to perform the start operation carefully. At this time, the situation of the side and rear of the vehicle that cannot be seen directly by visual inspection is grasped by the indirect visual field of the mirror system such as the side mirror or the rearview mirror, but the limit is limited to the field of view in the indirect visual field of the mirror system. It is difficult to reduce the blind spot sufficiently.

  By the way, when starting from the parking section, the area to be noted around the vehicle differs depending on the parking type. In other words, when parking is performed by parallel parking, the driver should pay attention mainly to cars and people traveling across the front passage, and when parking is performed by parallel parking, the driver will start. What is necessary is to pay attention to cars and people approaching from the left and right rear depending on the direction.

  Therefore, when starting from the parking area, in order to make it easy for the driver to recognize the surrounding situation, when starting from the parking area, the imaging means is predetermined based on the parking type stored by the parking type storage means. A start assisting device has been devised in which the surrounding situation of a vehicle is imaged as image information, and this image information is displayed on a display (see Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in order to realize excellent operability or excellent safety in driving operation when the vehicle is parked or started, by reducing the upper limit of the opening of the throttle valve, the sudden start of the vehicle is prevented. A parking operation support device for a vehicle has been devised that can improve the safety of the vehicle by avoiding a collision with an obstacle of the vehicle at the time of parking or starting (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2003-306105 A JP 2000-136738 A

  In the examples of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, only an operation instruction or a driver's operation more than necessary is performed, and the actual operation must be performed by the driver. For new drivers, the problem remains unsatisfactory.

  Against the background of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a start support device that allows a driver to easily recognize the surrounding situation more than before and can start a vehicle safely from a parking area. is there.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

  A start assist device for solving the above-described problems includes a parking locus acquisition means for acquiring a parking locus from the parking preparation position to the parking space when the vehicle is parked from the parking preparation position to the parking space, and a parking locus. While the vehicle is moving along the vehicle, the vehicle periphery information acquisition means for acquiring the information around the vehicle as the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking, and the vehicle automatically travels by following the reverse locus of the parking locus based on the parking locus information. Thus, information on the surroundings of the vehicle is acquired as vehicle surrounding information at the time of starting during automatic starting of the vehicle along the reverse trajectory or during preparation for automatic starting. Judgment means for determining whether automatic start control of the vehicle along the reverse trajectory can be executed or continued based on the vehicle periphery information acquisition means at the start and a comparison between the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking and the vehicle periphery information at the start And the case where the automatic starting control is determined to be executed or non continuously, characterized in that it comprises an automatic start control suppressing output means for outputting to suppress the automatic start control.

  With the above configuration, for example, in parallel parking, when starting, the distance to the vehicle in the front-rear direction is shorter than when parking, and a part of the vehicle in the front-rear direction is included in the range of the reverse locus of the parking locus, Since the suppression output of the automatic start control is performed, the driver can recognize that the vehicle cannot automatically travel on the travel locus at the time of parking, and can take necessary measures.

  In addition, the start support device of the present invention includes a parking vehicle periphery information storage unit that stores the parking vehicle periphery information and the acquisition position information of the parking vehicle periphery information on the parking locus in association with each other, and a determination unit Can also be configured to make a determination based on a comparison between the parking vehicle surrounding information and the starting vehicle surrounding information acquired at acquisition positions corresponding to each other in the parking locus and the reverse locus.

  With the above configuration, the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking and the acquired position information can be compared at the same place, so that changes in the situation around the vehicle at the time of parking and at the time of starting can be accurately grasped.

  Further, the automatic start control suppression output means in the start support device of the present invention may include a warning information output means for outputting warning information indicating that automatic start control cannot be executed or continued.

  With the above configuration, the driver can be surely notified that the automatic start control cannot be executed or continued.

  In addition, the automatic start control suppression output means in the start support device of the present invention can also be configured to include an automatic start control stop command output means for outputting a stop command for automatic start control.

  With the above configuration, when the automatic start control cannot be executed or continued, it is possible to prevent the automatic start control from being continued forcibly.

  The start assisting device of the present invention further includes position specifying means for specifying the position of the vehicle on the parking locus, and the vehicle surrounding information acquiring means for parking and the vehicle surrounding information acquiring means for starting have predetermined vehicle positions. The vehicle surrounding information at the time of parking and the vehicle surrounding information at the time of starting can also be obtained when the point is reached.

  With the above configuration, for example, the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking and the vehicle periphery information at the time of start are acquired at a point where the vehicle has changed direction, a point where the vehicle has stopped, or a point where the vehicle has traveled for a predetermined distance or time. If it does, each vehicle periphery information required for the start from a parking area can be acquired.

  In addition, the parking-time vehicle periphery information acquisition unit and the start-time vehicle periphery information acquisition unit in the start support device of the present invention can also be configured to include an imaging unit that captures an image around the vehicle.

  Imaging means such as a camera is widely used by being optimized for in-vehicle use, such as a well-known lane keeping system. With the above configuration, it is possible to acquire the vehicle surrounding information at the time of parking and the vehicle surrounding information at the time of starting with an inexpensive and simple configuration.

  The start assist device of the present invention further includes position detection means for detecting the current position of the vehicle and steering angle detection means for detecting the steering angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle. It can also be configured so as to be determined as the current position of the vehicle when a predetermined steering angle threshold is exceeded.

  For example, in the case of parallel parking or garage parking, after the vehicle is stopped, the steering wheel is often turned to the right or near the left for full turn. With the above configuration, an appropriate parking preparation position can be determined.

  In addition, the start support device of the present invention includes vehicle speed detection means for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle, and the parking preparation position is determined as the current position of the vehicle when the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined vehicle speed threshold. You can also

  For example, in the case of parallel parking or garage parking, an operation for parking is often performed after the vehicle is stopped. An appropriate parking preparation position can be determined also by the above configuration.

  In addition, the start support device of the present invention includes a shift position detection unit that detects a shift position of the vehicle, and the parking preparation position is determined as the current position of the vehicle when the shift position transitions to a predetermined position. It can also be configured.

  For example, when parallel parking or garage parking is performed backward, the shift position of the vehicle changes from the forward position to the reverse position. An appropriate parking preparation position can be determined also by the above configuration.

  Further, the automatic start control means in the start support device of the present invention can be configured to perform automatic start control based on a user operation input.

  With the above configuration, the user can determine whether to execute or continue the automatic start control.

  The start support device of the present invention can also be configured to include automatic start control canceling means for canceling automatic start control based on a user's operation input.

  With the above configuration, when the user determines that it is not appropriate to perform the automatic start control, the execution or continuation of the automatic start control can be canceled.

  Hereinafter, the driving support device of the present invention applied to a vehicle navigation device will be described as an example with reference to the drawings. Of course, you may comprise a driving assistance apparatus as an independent vehicle-mounted apparatus different from the navigation apparatus for vehicles.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle navigation device (hereinafter abbreviated as a navigation device) 100. The navigation device 100 includes a position detector 1, a map data input device 6, an operation switch group 7, a remote control (hereinafter referred to as remote control) sensor 11, a voice synthesis circuit 24 for performing voice guidance, a speaker 15, a memory 9, and a display. 10, a transceiver 13, a hard disk device (HDD) 21, a LAN (Local Area Network) I / F (interface) 26, a control circuit 8 connected thereto, a remote control terminal 12, and the like.

  The position detector 1 includes a known geomagnetic sensor 2, a gyroscope 3 for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle 101 (see FIG. 2), a distance sensor 4 for detecting the travel distance of the vehicle 101, and a radio wave from a satellite. A GPS receiver 5 for detecting the position 101 is included. Since these sensors 2, 3, 4, and 5 have errors of different properties, they are configured to be used while being complemented by a plurality of sensors. Depending on the accuracy, some of the above-described sensors may be used, and further, a steering rotation sensor such as a steering angle sensor 36 or a wheel sensor for each rolling wheel such as a vehicle speed sensor 23 may be used. . The position detector 1 corresponds to the position detection means of the present invention.

  As the operation switch group 7, for example, a known touch panel 22 integrated with the display 10 or a mechanical switch is used. In addition to the mechanical switch, a pointing device such as a mouse or a cursor may be used.

  It is also possible to input various instructions using the microphone 31 and the voice recognition unit 30. In this method, a voice signal input from the microphone 31 is processed by a voice recognition technique such as a well-known hidden Markov model in the voice recognition unit 30, and converted into an operation command corresponding to the result. Various instructions can be input through the operation switch group 7, the remote control terminal 12, the touch panel 22, and the microphone 31.

  The transceiver 13 is, for example, a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System: registered trademark) center 14 by an optical beacon or a radio beacon output from a transmitter (not shown) provided along the road. It is a device for receiving road traffic information from or receiving FM multiplex broadcasting. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which can be connected to external networks, such as the internet, using the transmitter / receiver 13. FIG.

  The control circuit 8 includes a well-known CPU 81, ROM 82, RAM 83, I / O 84 which is an input / output circuit, A / D conversion unit 86, drawing unit 87, clock IC 88, image processing unit 89, and a bus line connecting these components. 85 is provided. The CPU 81 controls the navigation program 21p and data stored in the HDD 21. The CPU 81 controls the reading / writing of data to / from the HDD 21. In addition, a program for performing a minimum necessary operation as the navigation device 100 may be stored in the ROM 82 in a case where the data read / write control from the CPU 81 to the HDD 21 becomes impossible. The control circuit 8 corresponds to the automatic start control suppression output means, automatic start control stop command output means, determination means, position specifying means, parking locus acquisition means, and automatic start control release means of the present invention.

  The A / D conversion unit 86 includes a well-known A / D (analog / digital) conversion circuit, and converts analog data input from the position detector 1 or the like to the control circuit 8 into digital data that can be calculated by the CPU 81, for example. It is.

  The drawing unit 87 generates display screen data to be displayed on the display 10 from road map data 21m (described later), display data, and display color data stored in the HDD 21 or the like.

  The clock IC 88 is also called a real-time clock IC, and sends or sets clock / calendar data in response to a request from the CPU 81. The CPU 81 acquires date / time information from the clock IC 88. Further, date and time information included in the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 5 may be used. The date information may be generated based on a real-time counter included in the CPU 81.

  The image processing unit 89 includes an image processing circuit that analyzes an image photographed by the in-vehicle camera group 32 (described later) by a known technique such as pattern recognition. In the image processing unit 89, for example, a general binarization process is performed on the video signal captured by the in-vehicle camera group 32, thereby converting into digital multi-value image data for each pixel. Then, a desired image portion is extracted from the obtained multi-value image data using a general image processing method.

  In addition to the navigation program 21p, the HDD 21 stores so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position detection and road map data 21m, which is a map database including road data representing road connections. The road map data 21m stores predetermined map image information for display and road network information including link information and node information. The link information is predetermined section information constituting each road, and includes position coordinates, distance, required time, road width, number of lanes, speed limit, and the like. The node information is information defining an intersection (branch road) or the like, and is composed of position coordinates, the number of right / left turn lanes, a connection destination road link, and the like. In addition, data indicating whether or not traffic is possible is set in the inter-link connection information.

  In addition, in the HDD 21, auxiliary information for route guidance, entertainment information, and other data can be written independently by the user and stored as user data 21u. Data and various information necessary for the operation of the navigation device 100 are also stored as the database 21d. The database 21d corresponds to the vehicle periphery information storage means at the time of parking according to the present invention.

  The navigation program 21p, road map data 21m, user data 21u, and database 21d can be added / updated from the storage medium 20 via the map data input device 6. The storage medium 20 is generally a CD-ROM or DVD based on the amount of data, but may be another medium such as a memory card. Moreover, you may use the structure which downloads data via an external network.

  The memory 9 is composed of a rewritable device such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable & Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, and stores information and data necessary for the operation of the navigation apparatus 100. Has been. The memory 9 holds the stored contents even when the navigation device 100 is turned off. Further, necessary information and data may be stored separately in the memory 9 and the HDD 21 according to the function or operation of the navigation device 100.

  The display 10 is composed of a known color liquid crystal display, and includes a dot matrix LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a driver circuit (not shown) for performing LCD display control. The driver circuit uses, for example, an active matrix driving method in which a transistor is attached to each pixel so that the target pixel can be reliably turned on and off, and a display command sent from the control circuit 8 (drawing unit 87) and Display is performed based on the display screen data. Further, an organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) display or a plasma display may be used as the display 10.

  The speaker 15 is connected to a well-known voice synthesis circuit 24, and the digital voice data stored in the memory 9 or the HDD 21 in accordance with a command from the navigation program 21p is converted into analog voice by the voice synthesis circuit 24 and sent out. Note that speech synthesis methods include a recording / editing method in which speech waveforms are stored as they are or after being encoded and connected as necessary, and a text synthesis method in which corresponding speech is synthesized from character input information. The speaker 15 corresponds to the automatic start control suppression output means and warning information output means of the present invention.

  The vehicle speed sensor 23 includes a rotation detection unit such as a known rotary encoder. For example, the vehicle speed sensor 23 is installed in the vicinity of the wheel mounting unit to detect the rotation of the wheel and send it to the control circuit 8 as a pulse signal. In addition to converting the number of rotations of the wheels into the speed of the vehicle 101, the control circuit 8 calculates an estimated arrival time from the current position of the vehicle 101 to a predetermined place, and calculates an average vehicle speed for each travel section of the vehicle 101. calculate. The vehicle speed sensor 23 corresponds to the vehicle speed detection means of the present invention.

  The LAN I / F 26 is an interface circuit for exchanging data with other in-vehicle devices and sensors via the in-vehicle LAN 27. Further, data may be taken from the vehicle speed sensor 23 or the like via the LAN I / F 26.

  With this configuration, the navigation device 100 allows the user to operate the operation switch group 7, the touch panel 22, the remote control terminal 12, or from the microphone 31 when the navigation program 21 p is activated by the CPU 81 of the control circuit 8. When a route guidance process for displaying a destination route on the display 10 is selected from a menu (not shown) displayed on the display 10 by voice input, the following process is performed.

  That is, when the user searches for the destination and the destination is set, the current position of the vehicle 101 is obtained by the position detector 1 and the optimum guidance route to the destination is obtained using the current position as the departure point. Is done. Then, the guidance route is displayed on the road map on the display 10 so as to guide the user to the appropriate route. As a method for automatically setting an optimum guide route, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known. In addition, at least one of the display 10 and the speaker 15 performs notification of a message according to an operation guidance or an operation state.

  The in-vehicle camera group 32 captures the surroundings of the vehicle 101, and captures a road image in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle 101 with a plurality of cameras having continuous fields of view along the periphery of the vehicle 101. FIG. 2 shows an example of the mounting, in which eight cameras 32 a to 32 h are provided on the vehicle body of the vehicle 101. The front right camera 32a, front left camera 32b, rear right camera 32c, rear left camera 32d, right front camera 32e, right rear camera 32f, left front camera 32g, left rear camera 32h, respectively. It is called. The in-vehicle camera group 32 corresponds to the vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when parked, the vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when starting, and the photographing means of the present invention.

  For example, the right front camera 32e is arranged so as to photograph the vehicle 101 on the right side front of the vehicle 101 as a field of view Va, and an image including an object such as another vehicle on the right front including a part of the vehicle body of the vehicle 101. Can be taken as. Similarly, the right rear camera 32f is arranged so that the right rear is photographed with the field of view Vb, and an object such as another vehicle on the right rear is photographed as an image including a part of the vehicle body of the vehicle 101. Can do. In addition, the remaining camera can also photograph an object such as another vehicle on the front or left side as an image. Of course, it is possible to reduce the number of in-vehicle camera groups from the above (for example, four units on the front, rear, left, and right).

  Returning to FIG. 1, the radar group 34 detects an object existing around the vehicle 101 using a laser, a millimeter wave, and an ultrasonic wave, and is provided in association with the cameras 32 a to 32 d of FIG. 2 described above. The distance or speed to the measurement object is measured in each of the front right side, front left side, rear right side, and rear left side. The radar group 34 corresponds to the vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when parked and the vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when starting.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the field of view Q of the in-vehicle camera group 32 and the scan area V by the radar group 34. In the example of FIG. 3, an object existing before and after the vehicle 101 is detected by the in-vehicle camera group 32, and an object existing on the left and right sides of the vehicle 101 is detected by the radar group 34. Further, the visual field range Q or the scan area V may be the entire periphery of the vehicle 101 or may be as shown in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the steering angle sensor 36 detects a steering angle of a steering handle (not shown), and is configured using an element or circuit that converts a rotation angle of a known resolver or the like into an electrical signal. The control circuit 8 calculates the steering angle based on the electric signal. The steering angle sensor 36 corresponds to the steering angle detection means of the present invention.

  The accelerator sensor 37 detects the amount of depression of an accelerator pedal (not shown), and includes a known potentiometer. When the accelerator pedal is depressed, the resistance value of the potentiometer changes depending on the position of the accelerator pedal, and a voltage value generated according to the resistance value is sent to the control circuit 8. The control circuit 8 calculates the accelerator pedal depression amount based on the voltage value.

  The brake sensor 38 detects the amount of depression of a brake pedal (not shown), and includes a known potentiometer. When the brake pedal is depressed, the resistance value of the potentiometer changes depending on the position of the brake pedal, and a voltage value generated according to the resistance value is sent to the control circuit 8. The control circuit 8 calculates the brake pedal depression amount based on the voltage value.

  The shift position sensor 39 detects the position of a shift lever (not shown) or a transmission gear (not shown). A switch is provided for each position of the shift lever or gear, and the state of the switch changes according to the position of the shift lever or gear of the vehicle. In the case of a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the current shift position is lit on the vehicle driver's seat near the instrument panel or the shift lever. Therefore, the lit position is detected and determined as the current shift position. You may use the method to do. The shift position sensor 39 corresponds to the shift position detecting means of the present invention.

  In the brake device 200, hydraulic pressure generated in the master cylinder according to the amount of depression of the brake pedal is supplied to the wheel cylinder of each wheel to generate a braking force, which is well known by, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-32995. Therefore, the detailed explanation is omitted.

  The steering device 300 controls the rotation of the electric motor in accordance with the steering torque of the steering handle, thereby giving an assisting force to the turning operation of the steering handle, the steering handle and the tire. Is not mechanically connected, a steer-by-wire device that transmits an instruction from the steering wheel to the tire with an electrical signal, or transmission that changes the transmission ratio between the steering angle of the steering wheel and the turning angle of the steered wheels It is comprised as a variable ratio mechanism (Variable Gear Ratio Steering = VGRS). The configurations of the electric power steering control device and the transmission ratio variable mechanism are well known by, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-233762, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The A / T control device 400 is for performing shift control of a known automatic transmission (automatic transmission: not shown). Since the control of the automatic transmission is well known, a description thereof is omitted here. In addition, since the configuration in which the A / T control device controls the automatic transmission based on the command of the navigation device is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-229173, description thereof is omitted here. .

  The outline of the processing of the navigation program 21p will be described with reference to FIG. When an accessory switch (not shown) is turned on and the navigation device 100 is activated, first, the entire device is initialized (S11). Subsequently, self-diagnosis of the device and sensor is performed (S12). As a result of the self-diagnosis, if the device and the sensor are normal (S13: Yes), the main process for performing each operation of the navigation device 100 is executed (S14). On the other hand, if the device, sensor, etc. are not normal (S13: No), the abnormality of the corresponding part is warned and the process is terminated (S15).

  With reference to FIG. 5, a description will be given of sensor data capturing processing such as the radar group 34, the steering angle sensor 36, and the shift position sensor 40, which is a part of the main processing in step S14 of FIG. This process is executed, for example, in a timer interrupt process. First, the value of each sensor data is reset (initialized) (S31). Next, vehicle speed data is acquired from the vehicle speed sensor 23, and when the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined threshold (vehicle speed threshold) (S32: Yes), the data of each sensor is captured (S33). The acquired sensor data is stored in, for example, the RAM 83 (S34).

  At the time of parking and starting, the vehicle travels only at about 10 km / h. Therefore, by capturing sensor data only at a vehicle speed lower than this, it is possible to reduce the processing load for capturing sensor data.

  On the other hand, when the vehicle speed exceeds the vehicle speed threshold value (S32: No), the process returns to step S31, resets the value of each sensor data, and waits until the vehicle speed falls below the vehicle speed threshold value.

  With reference to FIG. 6, a description will be given of the vehicle surrounding information acquisition process at the time of parking, which is a part of the main process in step S14 of FIG. This process is a process executed when the vehicle 101 moves from the parking preparation position where the vehicle 101 is currently stopped to the parking area and performs parallel parking in FIG. The route along which the vehicle 101 has moved becomes the parking route (parking locus).

  First, for example, sensor information such as the vehicle speed sensor 23, the radar group 34, the steering angle sensor 36, and the shift position sensor 40 stored in the RAM 83 is acquired (S51). Next, the steering angle exceeds a predetermined threshold (steering angle threshold) (S52: Yes), the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined threshold (vehicle speed threshold, 0 km / h in FIG. 6) (S53: Yes), and When the shift position transitions to the reverse position (“R”) (S54: Yes), the current position information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the position detector 1 (S55). This current position corresponds to a parking preparation position.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle 101 stops to park in the parking area surrounded by the broken line (vehicle speed = 0 km / h), the shift position is set to the reverse position, and the steering handle 35 is rotated to the right, for example. The current position of the vehicle 101 becomes the parking preparation position.

  Subsequently, the in-vehicle camera group 32 captures an image around the vehicle 101, and the radar group 34 detects an object (such as the vehicle 102 in FIG. 3) around the vehicle 101 (S56). Then, the current position of the vehicle 101 at this time (that is, the acquisition position information of the surrounding vehicle information on the parking locus), the direction of the vehicle 101 detected by the gyroscope 3, the information of each sensor, the captured image, the object detection Information is memorize | stored in the database 21d as vehicle periphery information at the time of parking (S57). FIG. 7 shows a storage example of the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking. The vehicle periphery information at the time of parking is stored in association with the current position of the vehicle 101.

  Thereafter, when the vehicle surrounding information acquisition condition at the time of parking is satisfied (S58: Yes), the current position of the vehicle 101, the direction of the vehicle 101 detected by the gyroscope 3, the information of each sensor, and the captured image are the same as above. The object detection information is stored in the database 21d as the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking (S59 to S62).

One or more of the following is used as the vehicle periphery information acquisition condition during parking.
・ When a predetermined time has elapsed since the acquisition of the vehicle periphery information at the previous parking.
・ When driving a predetermined distance from the previous acquisition of vehicle periphery information at the time of parking.
When the amount of change in the direction of the vehicle 101 exceeds a predetermined value.
・ When the amount of change in steering angle exceeds a predetermined value.

And when the vehicle 101 stops in a parking area (S63: Yes), the vehicle periphery information acquisition process at the time of parking is complete | finished. One or more of the following is used as a method for determining whether or not the vehicle 101 has stopped in the parking section.
It is determined that the vehicle 101 has stopped in the parking area when an ignition switch (not shown) transitions from the on state to the off state.
When the shift position changes from “R” to parking “P”, it is determined that the vehicle 101 has stopped in the parking area.
It is determined that the vehicle 101 has stopped in the parking area when the vehicle speed is 0 km / h (stopped state) continues for a predetermined time such as 10 seconds, for example.
When the state where the steering angle is a value indicating the neutral position of the steering wheel (stopped state) continues beyond a predetermined time, for example, 10 seconds, it is determined that the vehicle 101 has stopped in the parking area. .
When the state where the direction of the vehicle 101 does not change continues for a predetermined time such as 10 seconds, for example, it is determined that the vehicle 101 has stopped in the parking section.

  Moreover, when the vehicle periphery information acquisition condition at the time of parking is not satisfied (S58: No), or when the parking operation is interrupted during execution of this process, that is, when the conditions of steps S52 to S54 are not satisfied, this process is performed. When the vehicle is parked, the information stored in the vicinity of the vehicle is deleted.

  The automatic start control process, which is a part of the main process in step S14 of FIG. 4, will be described with reference to FIGS. This process is a process executed when the vehicle 101 moves from the parking section to the parking preparation position in FIG. At this time, the vehicle 101 moves along an escape route which is a reverse locus of a parking locus (denoted as a parking route in FIG. 3) at the time of parking.

  First, for example, sensor information such as the brake sensor 38, the vehicle speed sensor 23, and the shift position sensor 40 stored in the RAM 83 is acquired (S71). Next, when the brake pedal is depressed (brake = ON), the vehicle speed is 0 km / h, and the shift position is in the forward position such as “D” (S72: Yes → S73: Yes → S74: Yes), the remote control terminal 12 , The switch operation information of the touch panel 22, the operation switch group 7, etc. is acquired (S75).

  If the switch operation information includes information indicating that the escape activation switch is in the ON state (S76: Yes), based on the current position information detected by the position detector 1, the own vehicle (vehicle 101) and the escape position from the parking section (see FIG. 3) are also displayed based on the parking vehicle surrounding information stored in the database 21d (S77).

  FIG. 10 shows a display example on the display 10. The current position of the host vehicle is indicated, and the position after the automatic start control (the parking preparation position at the time of parking, expressed as “escape position” in FIG. 8) is indicated by a broken line. A path (escape path, reverse trajectory) from the current position of the host vehicle to a position after the end of automatic start control is indicated by a solid line. In addition, other vehicles parked in front of and behind the host vehicle are also displayed.

  Returning to FIG. 8, a chime sound indicating the start of automatic start control is output from the speaker 15, and a voice message such as “Perform automatic start control now. Release your foot from the accelerator pedal and loosen the brake pedal” is displayed. It is sent out (S78). Then, a steering command is sent to the steering device 300 so as to trace the escape route, and a command is sent to the A / T control device 400 to perform a creep operation in the “D” range (S79). Also, a timer for determining the time limit for automatic start control is started (S80).

  The subsequent processing will be described with reference to FIG. During execution of the automatic start control, information on sensors necessary for the automatic start control is acquired (S81). If any one of these sensors is broken (S82: Yes), the automatic start control is terminated from the speaker 15. Is output, and a voice message such as “Canceling automatic start control. Check for abnormalities in the sensor” is transmitted (S98).

  When the sensor is normal (S82: No), the current position information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the position detector 1 (S83), and the vehicle 101 is the vehicle surrounding information acquisition position at the start, that is, the previous vehicle surrounding information acquisition position when parked. (S84: Yes), the attitude (orientation) of the vehicle 101 is calculated based on the data acquired from the gyroscope 3 (S85). Subsequently, an image around the vehicle 101 is taken by the in-vehicle camera group 32, and an object around the vehicle 101 is detected by the radar group 34 (S86).

  These captured images or detection results (starting vehicle surrounding information) are compared with parking vehicle surrounding information at the same position (S87). For example, when comparing captured images, the similarity between both images is checked, and if there is an object that has not been captured at the time of parking, it is determined whether or not the object is an obstacle. It is also checked whether or not the object photographed during parking has moved.

  As a result of comparison, if the vehicle periphery information at the time of departure is different from the vehicle periphery information at the time of parking and an object (that is, an obstacle) exists on the escape route (S88: Yes), “There is an obstacle on the escape route. Is displayed on the display 10 or sent from the speaker 15, and the brake device 200 is actuated to stop the vehicle 101 and send a command to start the stop chime (S95). If there is no object on the escape route (S88: No), if the state where the vehicle 101 is stopped in S95 continues (S100: Yes), a command is issued to process stop cancellation and stop chime termination. (S101).

  On the other hand, when there is no obstacle on the escape route (S88: No) and when the vehicle 101 is not stopped (S100: No), the switch operation information and the sensor information are acquired, and whether or not the automatic start control is canceled Check out. If there is an operation for stopping the automatic start control (S89: Yes), a command is sent to the brake device 200 to operate the brake to stop the vehicle 101, and a chime sound indicating the end of the automatic start control is sent from the speaker 15. Is output and a voice message such as "Automatic start control is stopped" is transmitted (S97).

Any of the following may be used for the automatic start control stop operation.
• When the accelerator pedal is depressed.
・ When the steering wheel is operated.
• When a switch operation is issued to instruct to stop automatic start control.

  In the display example on the display 10 of FIG. 10, a “stop” button is displayed on the touch panel. When this “Cancel” button is pressed, the automatic start control is canceled.

  In addition, when there is no operation for canceling the automatic start control (S89: No), the timer value is updated and the value is checked. For example, when the value exceeds a predetermined value such as 5 minutes (S90: Yes), automatic When it is determined that the start control time is over, a command is issued to stop the vehicle 101 by operating the brake to the brake device 200, and a chime sound indicating the end of the automatic start control is output from the speaker 15. Therefore, a voice message such as "Automatic start control is terminated" is sent (S96).

  When it is not determined that the time is over (S90: No), the current position information of the vehicle 101 is acquired from the position detector 1 (S91), and a steering command is sent to the steering device 300 so as to trace the escape route and displayed. The display position of the vehicle 101 of the vessel 10 is updated (S92).

  When the current position of the vehicle 101 reaches the position after the automatic start control (parking preparation position, escape position) (S93: Yes), a chime sound indicating the end of the automatic start control is output from the speaker 15, and the "automatic start" A voice message such as “Control completed” is sent (S94). At this time, a command may be sent to the brake device 200 to operate the brake and stop the vehicle 101.

  On the other hand, when the current position of the vehicle 101 does not reach the position after the completion of the automatic start control (S93: No), the process returns to step S81 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  In this process, a voice message is sent from the speaker 15 in each state, but a similar message may be displayed on the display 10 in addition to that.

  With reference to FIG. 11, automatic start control in the case where the situation around the vehicle 101 (vehicle peripheral information) is the same at the time of parking and at the time of start will be described. The parking preparation position is indicated by A, and the parking position is indicated by N. The travel trajectory of the vehicle at the time of parking from the parking preparation position A to the parking position N (that is, the parking trajectory) is not simply stored as a change in the current position coordinates of the vehicle 101 but is determined based on the dimensions and orientation of the vehicle. Stored as a running envelope. In the automatic start control process, the vehicle 101 is automatically driven by following the reverse locus of the parking locus. In FIG. 11, the left side portion of the vehicle 101 is indicated as E in the traveling envelope. Since the parked other vehicle 105 is located outside the envelope E, automatic start control is possible.

  The automatic start control when the situation around the vehicle 101 is different between when parking and when starting will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12, the vehicle 105 moves in the direction of the vehicle 101 after the vehicle 101 is parked, or the vehicle 105 starts after the vehicle 101 is parked, and then another vehicle is parked. The distance is different and shorter than when parked. At this time, the parked other vehicle 105 is positioned inside the parking locus, that is, the envelope E, and is determined to be an object on the escape route, and therefore, automatic start control cannot be performed.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the knowledge of those skilled in the art can be used without departing from the spirit of the claims. Various modifications based on this are possible.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus for vehicles. The figure which shows the example of mounting of a vehicle-mounted camera group and a radar group. The figure which shows the visual field range of a vehicle-mounted camera group, the scanning area by a radar group, etc. The flowchart explaining the outline | summary of a process of a navigation program. The flowchart explaining a sensor data acquisition process. The flowchart explaining the vehicle periphery information acquisition process at the time of parking. The figure which shows the example of a memory | storage of vehicle periphery information at the time of parking. The flowchart explaining an automatic start control process. The flowchart explaining the automatic start control process following FIG. The figure which shows the example of a display in the indicator at the time of automatic start control. The figure explaining automatic start control when the condition of the circumference of vehicles is the same at the time of parking and starting. The figure explaining automatic start control in case the situation around vehicles differs at the time of parking and at the time of start.

Explanation of symbols

1 Position detector (position detection means)
7 Operation switch group 8 Control circuit (automatic start control suppression output means, automatic start control stop command output means, determination means, position specifying means, parking locus acquisition means, automatic start control release means)
15 Speaker (automatic start control suppression output means, warning information output means)
21 Hard disk drive (HDD)
21d database (vehicle surrounding information storage means when parked)
21m Road map data 23 Vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection means)
32 On-vehicle camera group (vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when parked, vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when starting, photographing means)
34 Radar group (vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when parked, vehicle surrounding information acquisition means when starting)
36 Steering angle sensor (steering angle detection means)
37 Acceleration sensor 38 Brake sensor 39 Shift position sensor (shift position detection means)
89 Image processing unit 100 Vehicle navigation device 101 Vehicle (own vehicle)
200 Brake device 300 Steering device 400 A / T control device

Claims (11)

When the vehicle parks from the parking preparation position to the parking area, a parking locus acquisition means for acquiring a parking locus from the parking preparation position to the parking area;
While moving the vehicle along the parking locus, the vehicle surrounding information acquisition means at the time of acquiring information around the vehicle as vehicle surrounding information at the time of parking,
Based on the parking locus information, automatic start control means for performing start control from the parking section by automatically driving the vehicle by following a reverse locus of the parking locus;
Vehicle start time vehicle periphery information acquisition means for acquiring information about the vehicle periphery as vehicle start time vehicle periphery information during automatic start of the vehicle along the reverse trajectory or during preparation for automatic start;
Based on a comparison between the vehicle surrounding information at the time of parking and the vehicle surrounding information at the time of starting, a determination unit that determines whether automatic start control of the vehicle along the reverse trajectory can be executed or continued;
When it is determined that the automatic start control cannot be executed or continued, automatic start control suppression output means for performing output for suppressing the automatic start control;
A start support apparatus comprising:   The parking vehicle periphery information and a parking vehicle periphery information storage means for storing the parking position information of the parking vehicle periphery information on the parking locus in association with each other, and the determination unit includes the parking locus and the parking locus The start assistance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination is performed based on a comparison between the parked vehicle periphery information and the start vehicle periphery information acquired at acquisition positions corresponding to each other with a reverse locus.   The start support apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the automatic start control suppression output means includes warning information output means for outputting warning information indicating that the automatic start control cannot be executed or continued.   The start support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the automatic start control suppression output means includes an automatic start control stop command output means for outputting a stop command for the automatic start control. A position specifying means for specifying the position of the vehicle on the parking locus;
The parking vehicle surrounding information acquisition unit and the starting vehicle surrounding information acquisition unit acquire the parking vehicle surrounding information and the starting vehicle surrounding information when the position of the vehicle reaches a predetermined point. The start support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The start assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the parking vehicle periphery information acquisition unit and the start vehicle periphery information acquisition unit include an imaging unit that captures an image of the periphery of the vehicle. . Position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle;
Steering angle detection means for detecting the steering angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle,
The start assisting device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the parking preparation position is determined as a current position of the vehicle when the steering angle exceeds a predetermined steering angle threshold value. Vehicle speed detecting means for detecting the vehicle speed of the vehicle,
The start assisting device according to claim 7, wherein the parking preparation position is determined as a current position of the vehicle when the vehicle speed falls below a predetermined vehicle speed threshold. Shift position detecting means for detecting the shift position of the vehicle,
The start assistance device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the parking preparation position is determined as a current position of the vehicle when the shift position transitions to a predetermined position.   The start support device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the automatic start control means performs the automatic start control based on a user operation input.   The start support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising an automatic start control canceling unit that cancels the automatic start control based on a user operation input.

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