JP2009018625A - Running control unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a running control unit for controlling running with safety even when a driver does not ensure the safety. <P>SOLUTION: A driver attention level set section 106 sets the degree of attention to be paid by the driver according to environment and a running condition. A driver attention level detection section 108 detects the degree of attention paid by the driver to the environment and the running condition. When the degree of attention being paid by the driver and detected by the driver attention level detection section 108 is lower than the degree of attention to be paid by the driver, being set by the driver attention level set section 106, an actuator control section 120 operates each actuator to warn the driver, or decelerate the car, etc. Thus, when the driver is not paying required attention according to the environment and the running condition of the car, the vehicle is decelerated for safety. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a travel control device, and more particularly to a travel control device that automatically controls the travel of an automobile in order to assist the driver in driving the automobile.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a driving support device that automatically controls driving of a car has been developed to support the driving of the car by a driver. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an estimation of a target vehicle speed from a target speed setter that is a target for a driver to drive the host vehicle in a steady state, a vehicle speed of the host vehicle from a vehicle speed sensor, and a preceding vehicle that travels ahead. Based on the safe inter-vehicle distance determined according to the vehicle speed or the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and the estimated vehicle speed of the preceding vehicle at that time, the target acceleration or target deceleration of the host vehicle is generated by the target acceleration / deceleration generation means. A travel control device is proposed that causes the host vehicle to travel following the preceding vehicle by operating the travel speed adjustment mechanism of the host vehicle so that the acceleration or deceleration of the host vehicle matches the target acceleration and target deceleration. ing.
JP-A-5-262164

  By the way, the travel control device as described above is only for assisting the driving of the vehicle by the driver, and the device does not automatically perform all of the driving of the vehicle. Judgment and responsibility are left to the driver. However, as in the case of the above technology, when the driver fails to confirm the safety simply by performing the travel control based on the vehicle speed and the inter-vehicle distance of the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, the emergency situation cannot be handled. There is. In particular, when a person with a physical disability drives a car by eye-gaze input, etc., the safety of driving a car is easily affected by the degree of caution given by the driver, etc. There is a demand for a travel control device that can safely perform travel control even when the driver is a driver.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a travel control device capable of performing travel control ensuring safety even when the driver has failed to confirm safety. It is in.

  The present invention includes an ambient condition acquisition unit that acquires an ambient condition of an automobile, a travel condition acquisition unit that acquires a travel condition of the automobile, and an automobile acquired by the ambient condition and the travel condition acquisition unit acquired by the ambient condition acquisition unit. The driver attention level setting means for setting the degree of attention that the driver of the vehicle should pay according to the driving state of the vehicle, and the driving for detecting the degree of attention that the driver pays to the surrounding situation and the driving state of the vehicle When the driver's attention level detecting means and the driver's attention level detected by the driver's attention level detecting means are lower than the driver's attention level set by the driver's attention level setting means, A driving system that responds to at least one of alerting the driver, decelerating the automobile, prohibiting acceleration of the automobile, changing the driving direction of the automobile, and canceling the lane change of the automobile. It means a travel control apparatus having a.

  According to this configuration, the driver attention level setting unit is configured to take care of the driver of the vehicle to pay according to the surrounding state of the vehicle acquired by the surrounding state acquisition unit and the traveling state of the vehicle acquired by the traveling state acquisition unit. The driver's attention level detection means detects the degree of attention that the driver is paying for the surrounding situation and the driving state of the vehicle, and the driving control means is the driver detected by the driver's attention level detection means. When the degree of attention paid by the driver is lower than the degree of attention to be paid by the driver set by the driver attention level setting means, the driver is alerted, the vehicle is decelerated, the acceleration of the vehicle is prohibited, the vehicle In order to respond at least one of changing the driving direction of the car and canceling the lane change of the car, the driver does not pay attention to the situation surrounding the car and the driving situation It can may take the safety measures deceleration of an automobile, even if the driver had neglected to confirm safety, it is possible to perform traveling control in ensuring safety.

  In this case, it is preferable that the driver attention level acquisition unit detects the degree of attention given by the driver based on the driver's line-of-sight direction.

  According to this configuration, the driver attention level acquisition means detects the degree of attention the driver is paying based on the driver's line-of-sight direction, and therefore directly determines where the driver pays attention to the line of sight. By detecting, the degree of driver's attention can be detected with high accuracy.

  In this case, the driver attention level acquisition means detects whether the driver is checking safety by directing his gaze at a preset place as the degree of attention paid by the driver, and the driver attention level The setting means should confirm the safety according to the degree of caution that the driver should pay in accordance with the vehicle surroundings acquired by the surroundings acquisition unit and the driving conditions acquired by the driving state acquisition unit. A safety confirmation cycle is set, and the driving control means, for each safety confirmation period set by the driver attention level setting means, when the driver attention level acquisition means does not detect a safety confirmation by the driver, It is preferable to perform at least one of alerting, deceleration of the automobile, change of the traveling direction of the automobile, and cancellation of the lane change of the automobile.

  According to this configuration, the driver attention level acquisition unit detects, as the degree of attention paid by the driver, whether the driver is confirming safety by directing his gaze at a preset location, and driving The driver's attention level setting means, as the degree of attention that the driver should pay, the driver confirms the safety according to the surrounding conditions of the vehicle acquired by the surrounding condition acquisition means and the driving conditions of the vehicle acquired by the driving condition acquisition means. When the driver's attention level acquisition means does not detect the safety confirmation by the driver for each safety confirmation period set by the driver's attention level setting unit, In order to take measures to ensure safety, such as vehicle deceleration, the driver should be consciously checked for safety, and if it is not possible to detect that the safety has been confirmed, take measures to ensure safety. Accordingly, even when not paying attention should pay the driver according to the ambient conditions and running conditions of the motor vehicle, it can be secured more reliably secure.

  On the other hand, it further comprises a brain active state detecting means for detecting an active state of the driver's brain, and the driver attention level setting means is configured so that the driver is based on the active state of the driver's brain detected by the brain active state detecting means. It is preferable to set the degree of attention to be paid.

  According to this configuration, the driver attention level setting means sets the degree of attention to be paid by the driver based on the driver's brain activation state detected by the brain activation state detection means. By performing the corresponding traveling control, it is possible to improve safety during traveling control.

  In this case, when the brain activity state acquisition unit detects that the activity level of the region related to the language-related processing in the driver's brain is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the driver attention level setting unit The degree of attention that the driver should pay may be set higher than when the state acquisition means detects that the activity level of the area related to language-related processing in the driver's brain is less than the first threshold. Is preferred.

  According to this configuration, when the brain activity state acquisition unit detects that the activity level of the area related to language-related processing in the driver's brain is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the driver can Attention to driver's attention level setting means should be paid to the driver's attention level compared to when it is not. It is possible to increase the safety at the time of traveling control by setting the degree of.

  Alternatively, the brain active state acquisition means does not detect that the activity level of the region related to the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain is equal to or higher than the second threshold and equal to or lower than the third threshold higher than the second threshold. When the driver attention level setting means detects that the activity level of the brain is greater than or equal to the second threshold and less than or equal to the third threshold, the brain active state acquisition means is within the driver's brain. It is preferable to set the degree of attention that the driver should pay higher than when the driver does.

  According to this configuration, when the activity level of the region related to the spatial recognition processing in the driver's brain is less than the second threshold and excessively low, the driver can perform normal spatial recognition. Therefore, the driver attention level setting means sets the degree of attention that the driver should pay higher than when it is not so that the safety during driving control is improved. It becomes possible to raise. In addition, when the activity level of the region related to the process of spatial recognition in the driver's brain exceeds the third threshold by the brain active state acquisition means and is excessively high, the driver reaches the limit of the spatial recognition ability. Since the driver attention level setting means sets the degree of attention that the driver should pay higher than when it is not, the driver's attention level setting means can improve safety at the time of traveling control. .

  According to the travel control device of the present invention, it is possible to perform travel control that ensures safety even when the driver has failed to confirm safety.

  Hereinafter, a travel control device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a travel control device according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the travel control device 10 of this embodiment includes a radar 11, a camera 12, a vehicle speed sensor 13, a yaw rate sensor 14, a gaze detection device 15, a brain blood flow measurement device 16, an in-vehicle voice microphone 17, an accelerator. An actuator 21, a brake actuator 22, a steering actuator 23, and an alarm actuator 24 are connected to the automatic operation control ECU 100. The travel control device 10 according to the present embodiment is configured to be able to control each part of the automobile by sending a line of sight to a line of sight detection device 15 by a person with a disability in the limbs. In addition, the travel control device 10 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to perform travel control that ensures safety in accordance with the surrounding conditions of the automobile, the travel state, and the state of the driver who has difficulty with limbs. .

  As the radar 11, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar, or the like can be applied. The radar 11 emits an electromagnetic wave toward an object such as another vehicle, a pedestrian, or a roadside object, and measures the reflected wave to thereby determine the distance and shape to the object. It is for detecting. As the camera 12, a monocular camera, a stereo camera, an infrared camera, or the like can be applied. The camera 12 is for acquiring a situation around the automobile by imaging an object such as another vehicle, a pedestrian, or a roadside object.

  The vehicle speed sensor 13 is for detecting the vehicle speed of the automobile from the rotational speed of the axle of the automobile. The yaw rate sensor 14 is for detecting a yaw rate in which the direction of the vehicle body is expressed by an angular velocity by using the Coriolis force, and any of a tuning fork type, a triangular prism type, a cylindrical type and the like can be applied.

  The line-of-sight detection device 15 is for detecting the direction of the driver's line of sight, and is composed of a camera installed in the vicinity of the steering wheel of the automobile and an image recognition processing device that processes the camera image. Instead of the line-of-sight detection device 15, a sensor for detecting the driver's blink, respiration, neck movement, and the like may be provided.

  The intracerebral blood flow measurement device 16 is for detecting the active state of the brain by measuring the blood flow in the brain of the driver. The intracerebral blood flow measurement device 16 irradiates near infrared rays to the head from a measuring tool attached to the driver's head, whereby the wavelengths of light absorbed by oxyhemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin in the blood differ from each other. Can be used to measure blood flow in each part of the brain.

  The in-car voice microphone 17 is for detecting voice in a car, conversation, radio, etc.

  The vehicle driving control ECU 100 includes an ambient condition acquisition unit 102, a driving state acquisition unit 104, a driver attention level setting unit 106, a driver attention level detection unit 108, a brain active state detection unit 110, a safety margin setting unit 112, and an actuator control unit. 120.

  Based on information from the radar 11 and the camera 12, the ambient situation acquisition unit 102 is for acquiring the ambient situation of the automobile such as the distance to the preceding vehicle, the pedestrian, the roadside object, the relative speed, and the like. The ambient status acquisition unit 102 functions as ambient status acquisition means described in the claims.

  The traveling state acquisition unit 104 is for acquiring the traveling state of the vehicle such as the vehicle speed and the yaw rate based on information from the vehicle speed sensor 13 and the yaw rate sensor 14. The traveling state acquisition unit 104 functions as a traveling state acquisition unit described in the claims.

  The driver attention level setting unit 106 determines whether the driver of the vehicle is in accordance with the surrounding situation acquired by the surrounding state acquisition unit 102 and the driving state acquired by the driving state acquisition unit 104 or the safety margin set by the safety margin setting unit 112. This is for setting the degree of attention that should be paid. The degree of attention to be paid by the driver set by the driver attention level setting unit 106 is, for example, a cycle in which the driver should check the safety by turning his / her eyes on the preceding vehicle, pedestrian, roadside object, etc. Etc. The driver attention level setting unit 106 functions as a driver attention level setting unit described in the claims.

  The driver attention level detection unit 108 is for detecting the degree of attention given by the driver based on the driver's line-of-sight direction detected by the line-of-sight detection device 15. The degree of attention paid by the driver detected by the driver attention level detection unit 108 is, for example, that the driver confirms safety with a gaze at the preceding vehicle, pedestrian, roadside object, etc. This is the number of times, the interval at which safety was confirmed, etc. The driver attention level detection unit 108 functions as a driver attention level detection unit described in the claims.

  The intracerebral active state detection unit 110 detects the activity of the driver's brain based on information from the intracerebral blood flow measurement device 16 and the in-vehicle voice microphone 17. Specifically, in the brain active state detection unit 110, the blood flow in the brain of the driver's left brain related to language-related processing is equal to or higher than a predetermined first threshold, and the in-vehicle voice microphone 17 is used for conversation, telephone, When voice such as radio is acquired, it can be detected that the activity of the area related to the language-related processing in the driver's brain is excessively high. The brain active state detection unit 110 also performs spatial recognition processing in the driver's brain when the blood flow in the brain of the driver's right brain related to the spatial recognition processing is less than a predetermined second threshold. It can be detected that the activity of the region related to is too low. On the other hand, when the intracerebral blood flow in the driver's right brain exceeds a predetermined third threshold value, the intracerebral active state detection unit 110 activates an area related to spatial recognition processing in the driver's brain. It can be detected that the degree is excessively high. The brain active state detecting unit 110 functions as a brain active state detecting unit described in the claims.

  The safety margin setting unit 112 sets a safety margin used by the driver attention level setting unit 106 to set the degree to which the driver should pay attention based on information from the brain active state detection unit 110. Is. The safety margin setting unit 112 detects when the intracerebral active state detection unit 110 detects that the blood flow in the left brain of the driver is greater than or equal to the first threshold and the in-vehicle voice microphone 17 has acquired voice, and the driver When the cerebral blood flow in the right brain is less than the second threshold value or exceeds the third threshold value, the safety margin is set to be larger than in the case where the blood flow is not.

  The actuator control unit 120 receives the gaze input of the driver with a limb handicap detected by the gaze detection device 15, the glide status acquired by the gaze status acquisition unit 102, the travel status acquired by the travel status acquisition unit 104, and the gaze detection device 15. Based on this, various actuators are operated to accelerate the vehicle by the accelerator actuator 21, decelerate the vehicle by the brake actuator 22, and steer the vehicle by the steering actuator 23.

  In addition, the actuator control unit 120 determines that the degree of attention paid by the driver detected by the driver attention level detection unit 108 is higher than the degree of attention that the driver should pay, which is set by the driver attention level setting unit 106. When low, actuate various actuators, alert the driver with the alarm actuator 24, decelerate the vehicle with the brake actuator 22, prohibit the acceleration of the vehicle with the accelerator actuator 21, change the driving direction of the vehicle with the steering actuator 23, and At least one of the cancellation of the lane change of the automobile is performed. The actuator control unit 120 functions as travel control means described in the claims.

  The accelerator, brake, and steering wheel are provided with sensors that detect the amount of operation by the driver, and the amount of operation detected by each sensor is sent to the actuator control unit 120 and used for automatic operation control.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the travel control device of the present embodiment will be described.

(Processing procedure 1—Ensuring safety)
Hereinafter, the operation | movement for ensuring safety | security in the traveling control apparatus of this embodiment is demonstrated. 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing operations based on the line-of-sight input of the travel control device according to the embodiment. Note that the following processing is continuously performed at a cycle of 10 to 100 ms from when the automobile engine is started to when it is stopped.

  When it is detected by the sensors installed on the accelerator, the brake, and the handle that the accelerator operation and the handle operation are normally performed (S101), the actuator control unit 120 determines that the driver is a healthy person. Therefore, the normal traveling is performed, and the following processing is not performed (S102).

  The actuator control unit 120 needs to check the line of sight when the vehicle is in a stopped state (S103) and needs to continue to stop (in the case of a preceding vehicle stop or a red signal, etc.) (S104). Therefore, the stop is maintained regardless of the line-of-sight input, and the following processing is not performed (S105).

  In any case, if the gaze detection device 15 detects that the driver is gazing at the abnormal stop display on the operation panel in the vehicle (S106), emergency stop measures such as deceleration and shoulder stop are implemented. (S107).

In the case of following traveling (including following the start of the preceding vehicle from the stop), the following processing is performed (S108, S109). From the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle acquired from the surrounding state acquisition unit 102 and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle acquired from the traveling state acquisition unit 104, the driver attention level setting unit 106 calculates the inter-vehicle holding cycle as follows. To do. A method for obtaining the safety margin will be described later.
Inter-vehicle retention cycle (seconds) = distance between vehicles / vehicle speed-safety margin (seconds)

Further, the driver attention level setting unit 106 calculates the rear-end collision prevention period as follows from the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle acquired from the surrounding state acquisition unit 102 and the relative vehicle speed.
Rear-end collision prevention period (seconds) = distance between vehicles / relative vehicle speed-safety margin (seconds)

  The driver attention level setting unit 106 sets the safety confirmation cycle by adopting the shorter cycle from the inter-vehicle holding cycle and the rear-end collision prevention cycle obtained as described above.

  For each safety confirmation period set by the safety attention level setting unit 106, when the driver's attention level detection unit 108 does not detect the line of sight of the front confirmation, or the driver's attention level detection unit 108 detects the line of sight of the front confirmation. If there is no safety confirmation operation (continuous blinking, breathing, neck movement, etc.) even in the case (S110), the actuator control unit 120 operates the alarm actuator to warn the driver and brake The actuator 22 and the steering actuator 23 are operated to reduce the speed and stop the shoulder (S111). If a forward line of sight is confirmed, follow-up traveling is performed again.

  When a lane change (lane change) is performed (S112), the following processing is performed. If the driver's attention level detection unit 108 does not detect the line-of-sight and safety confirmation operation for the side mirror on the lane change side periodically (for example, 200 ms or more per second) (S113), the actuator control unit 120 Operates the alarm actuator to warn the driver and stops the lane change (S115).

  When the driver's attention level detection unit 108 does not detect the gaze and safety confirmation operation for the side and the front side of the lane change periodically (for example, 200 ms or more per second) (S114), actuator control The unit 120 operates the alarm actuator to warn the driver and stops the lane change (S115).

  When the driver's attention level detection unit 108 periodically detects the gaze and safety confirmation operation for the side mirror on the side where the lane is changed, the side and the front, the actuator control unit 120 performs the gaze and safety confirmation. A travel plan for correcting the travel trajectory in the broken direction and performing a lane change is generated (S116). In this case, for example, if there are many confirmations of the side mirror, a travel plan for performing a lane change toward the rear accompanied by a relatively slowdown is generated.

  When the gaze detection device 15 detects gaze more than a preset threshold time or a preset number of threshold times in the same direction in the gaze input by the driver (S117), the direction is a dangerous location or Since there is a high possibility of being an avoidance area, detection and recognition processing of sensors of vehicles such as the radar 11 and the camera 12 are focused on the direction (S118).

(Processing procedure 2-Safety margin setting)
Hereinafter, an operation for setting a safety margin in the travel control device of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation based on the brain activation state of the travel control device according to the embodiment.

  When the driver does not install the intracerebral blood flow measurement device 16 on the head (S201), the actuator control unit 120 performs normal adaptive automatic driving and does not perform the following processing (S202). .

  When the driver installs the intracerebral blood flow measuring device 16 on the head (S201), the safety margin setting unit 112 sets the safety margin in the normal state (for example, the safety margin for the rear-end collision prevention period is 2). Second) is set (S203).

  The brain active state detection unit 110 detects a result of detecting that the blood flow in the left brain or the language area, which is an area activated in response to language-related processing in the driver's brain, is greater than or equal to the first threshold value. When it is acquired from the flow measurement device 16 (S204) and the in-vehicle sound is acquired from the in-vehicle sound microphone 17 (S205), the safety margin setting unit 112 concentrates the driver on the telephone, in-car conversation, radio program, etc. The safety margin is set to be wider than the safety margin in the normal state (for example, the safety margin for the above-mentioned collision prevention period is set to 4 seconds) because it is determined that the degree is increasing and the peripheral monitoring ability and response ability are reduced. (S206).

  The brain activity state detection unit 110 detects the blood flow in the right brain, which is an area activated in accordance with the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain, exceeding the third threshold value, and detects the result of intracerebral blood When acquired from the flow measurement device 16 (S207), the safety margin setting unit 112 determines that the limit of the driver's space recognition capability has been reached, and the safety margin is wider than the safety margin in the normal state (for example, A safety margin for the rear-end collision prevention period is set to 4 seconds) (S209).

  In addition, the brain active state detection unit 110 detects a result of detecting that the blood flow in the right brain, which is an area activated in accordance with the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain, is less than the second threshold value and excessively low. When acquired from the internal blood flow measurement device 16 (S208), the safety margin setting unit 112 determines that the driver is not in a physical condition that can perform normal space recognition, and the safety margin is wider than the safety margin in the normal state ( For example, the safety margin for the rear-end collision prevention period is set to 4 seconds) (S209).

  According to the present embodiment, the driver attention level setting unit 106 determines the degree of attention that the driver should pay according to the surrounding state acquired by the surrounding state acquisition unit 102 and the driving state acquired by the driving state acquisition unit 104. The driver attention level detection unit 108 detects the degree of attention that the driver pays to the surrounding situation and the running state, and the actuator control unit 120 detects the driver detected by the driver attention level detection unit 108. When the degree of attention being paid is lower than the degree of attention that should be paid by the driver set by the driver attention level setting unit 106, each actuator is operated to alert the driver, to reduce the speed of the vehicle, etc. Therefore, when the driver is not paying attention according to the surroundings and driving conditions of the car, safety measures such as deceleration of the car can be taken, and the driver is safe Even if you had neglected sure, it is possible to perform traveling control in ensuring safety. As a result, a wider range of travel is possible even for persons with disabilities.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the driver attention level acquisition unit 108 detects the degree of attention being paid by the driver based on the driver's line-of-sight direction, so where the driver pays attention to the line of sight. By detecting directly, it is possible to detect the degree of driver's attention with high accuracy.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the driver attention level acquisition unit 108 detects whether the driver performs safety confirmation by turning his eyes to a preset place as the degree of attention paid by the driver. The driver attention level setting unit 106 determines whether the driver is safe according to the surrounding situation acquired by the surrounding state acquisition unit 102 and the driving state acquired by the driving state acquisition unit 104 as the degree of attention that the driver should pay. The safety confirmation cycle to be confirmed is set, and the actuator control unit 120 detects that the driver's attention level acquisition unit 108 has detected the safety confirmation by the driver for each safety confirmation cycle set by the driver attention level setting unit 106. When there is not, when measures to ensure safety such as deceleration of the car are taken, the driver is consciously checked for safety and when it is not possible to detect that the safety has been confirmed securely By performing the procedure to ensure safety, even when not paying attention should pay the driver according to the ambient conditions and running conditions of the motor vehicle, it can be secured more reliably secure.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the driver attention level setting unit 106 sets the degree of attention that the driver should pay based on the driver's brain activation state detected by the brain activation state detection unit 110. By performing the traveling control according to the active state, it is possible to improve the safety during the traveling control.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, when the brain active state acquisition unit 110 detects that the activity level of the region related to the language-related processing in the driver's brain is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the driver Attention is focused on in-car conversations, radio programs, etc., and there is a high possibility that the ability to monitor and respond to the surrounding area has declined. Therefore, the safety margin setting unit 112 sets the safety margin wider than usual so that driving is possible. The driver attention level setting unit 106 can increase the safety at the time of traveling control by setting the degree of attention that the driver should pay higher than the normal time.

  In the present embodiment, when the activity level of the region related to the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain is less than the second threshold and excessively low, the driver is normal Since there is a high possibility that it is not a physical condition capable of performing space recognition, the safety margin setting unit 112 sets the safety margin wider than the normal time, and the driver attention level setting unit 106 is paid by the driver compared to the normal time. By setting the degree of attention to be high, it is possible to improve the safety during traveling control. In addition, when the activity level of the area related to the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain exceeds the third threshold by the brain active state acquisition unit 110 and is excessively high, the driver falls to the limit of the spatial recognition ability. Therefore, the safety margin setting unit 112 sets the safety margin wider than the normal time, and the driver attention level setting unit 106 sets the degree of attention that the driver should pay higher than the normal time. By doing so, it becomes possible to improve the safety at the time of traveling control.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, the description has been made centering on the aspect of performing automatic traveling control when a person with a handicapped person is a driver, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a healthy person can drive. The present invention can also be applied to a person who is a person.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the traveling control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement based on the eyes | visual_axis input of the traveling control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement based on the eyes | visual_axis input of the traveling control apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement based on the brain active state of the traveling control apparatus which concerns on embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Traveling control apparatus, 11 ... Radar, 12 ... Camera, 13 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 14 ... Yaw rate sensor, 15 ... Gaze detection device, 16 ... Brain blood flow measuring device, 17 ... In-vehicle voice microphone, 21 ... Accelerator actuator, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 22 ... Brake actuator, 23 ... Steering actuator, 24 ... Alarm actuator, 100 ... Automatic driving control ECU, 102 ... Ambient condition acquisition part, 104 ... Driving state acquisition part, 106 ... Driver attention level setting part, 108 ... Driver attention Level detection unit, 110... Brain active state detection unit, 112... Safety margin setting unit, 120.

Claims (6)

Ambient condition acquisition means for acquiring the ambient condition of the vehicle;
Driving state acquisition means for acquiring the driving state of the vehicle;
A driver attention level that sets a degree of attention that the driver of the vehicle should pay according to the surrounding state of the vehicle acquired by the surrounding state acquisition unit and the driving state of the vehicle acquired by the driving state acquisition unit. Setting means;
Driver attention level detection means for detecting the degree of attention that the driver is paying attention to the surroundings and driving state of the vehicle;
When the degree of attention paid by the driver detected by the driver attention level detection means is lower than the degree of attention to be paid by the driver set by the driver attention level setting means, the driver Driving control means for performing at least one of the following: alerting to, deceleration of the automobile, prohibition of acceleration of the automobile, change of the driving direction of the automobile, and cancellation of lane change of the automobile;
A travel control device comprising:   The travel control device according to claim 1, wherein the driver attention level acquisition unit detects a degree of attention given by the driver based on the driver's line-of-sight direction. The driver attention level acquisition means detects whether the driver is making a safety check by turning his eyes to a preset place as the degree of attention the driver is paying,
The driver attention level setting means, according to the degree of attention to be paid by the driver, according to the surrounding state of the automobile acquired by the surrounding state acquisition means and the traveling state of the automobile acquired by the traveling state acquisition means And setting a safety check cycle for the driver to perform the safety check,
The travel control means, when the driver attention level acquisition means has not detected a safety confirmation by the driver for each safety confirmation period set by the driver attention level setting means, The travel control device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of arousing, deceleration of the automobile, change of a traveling direction of the automobile, and cancellation of a lane change of the automobile are performed. Further comprising a brain active state detecting means for detecting an active state of the driver's brain,
The driver's attention level setting means sets the degree of attention that the driver should pay based on the active state of the brain of the driver detected by the brain active state detection means. The travel control device according to item 1. When the brain activity state acquisition means detects that the activity level of the region related to language-related processing in the driver's brain is equal to or higher than a first threshold value,
Compared to when the driver attention level setting means detects that the activity level of the region related to language-related processing in the driver's brain is less than the first threshold, The travel control device according to claim 4, wherein the degree of attention that the driver should pay is set high. The brain active state acquisition means detects that the activity level of the region related to the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain is equal to or higher than a second threshold and equal to or lower than a third threshold higher than the second threshold. When not
The driver attention level setting means is such that the activity level of the area related to the spatial recognition process in the driver's brain is not less than a second threshold and not more than the third threshold. The travel control device according to claim 4, wherein the degree of attention that the driver should pay is set higher than when it is detected.

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