JP2009025908A - Warning device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a warning device for a vehicle for making proper a warning output timing. <P>SOLUTION: This warning device for a vehicle, mounted on a vehicle and for outputting warning to an own vehicle driver according to the collision possibility of the own vehicle and an own vehicle peripheral object, is provided with: a decision means for detecting the own vehicle peripheral object and for deciding the collision possibility of the own vehicle and the detected own vehicle peripheral object; an output means for outputting warning to the own vehicle driver based on the collision probability decided by the decision means; an image pickup means for picking up the image of the face of the own vehicle driver; and a detection means for detecting the radiating direction of sunlight based on the face image of the own vehicle driver picked up by the image pickup means. The output means is configured to change the output timing of the warning according to the radiating direction of sunlight detected by the detection means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention generally relates to a vehicle alarm device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm to the driver of the host vehicle according to the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an object around the host vehicle. The present invention relates to a vehicular alarm device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle alarm device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm to a driver of the host vehicle according to the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an object surrounding the host vehicle is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1 states that “when the vehicle is exposed to the morning sun or the western day, the warning sound is output earlier than the normal time so that the driver is approaching the vehicle ahead. “Recognizing vehicle” is disclosed (see paragraph 0093).
JP 2004-164187 A

  In Patent Document 1, “detection of“ Asahi or Nishino hit as a running environment ”... Is performed based on image data taken by the camera device 7, for example, referring to brightness of a captured image, etc. "The camera device 7 captures an image of the traveling environment of the vehicle and is mounted, for example, at the front of the vehicle" (see paragraphs 0022 and 0025).

  However, according to such a process, the illuminance (brightness) of the entire atmosphere in the surrounding space of the vehicle where the image is captured is only detected, and the direction in which the sun is located cannot be detected.

  In other words, even though sunlight is not inserted into the face of the driver of the vehicle, the warning sound output timing is advanced more frequently than necessary just because it is daytime and clear. There is a risk that.

  If the alarm output timing is advanced more frequently than necessary, the possibility that an alarm sound will be output unnecessarily increases accordingly. If the warning sound is output unnecessarily, it is highly likely that the user feels troublesome, and the driving operation by the driver may be affected.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has as its main object to provide a vehicular alarm device with appropriate alarm output timing.

  One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a vehicle alarm device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm to a driver of the host vehicle according to the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an object around the host vehicle. Determining means for detecting a surrounding object of the own vehicle and determining a possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the detected surrounding object of the own vehicle, and determining to the own vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the determining means. Output means for outputting a warning for the vehicle, imaging means for imaging the face of the driver of the own vehicle, and detection means for detecting the direction of irradiation of the sun based on the face image of the driver of the own vehicle taken by the imaging means; And the output means is a vehicle alarm device configured to change the output timing of the alarm in accordance with the sunlight irradiation direction detected by the detection means.

  In the one aspect, for example, the detection unit performs image analysis processing on the face image, and detects the irradiating direction from the difference in contrast on the face image.

  More specifically, the detection means, for example, performs image analysis processing on the face image to calculate the right half and left half contrast values of the driver's face on the face image. If the contrast value is higher than the contrast value of the left half by a predetermined amount or more, the sunlight irradiation direction is determined to be the right front side of the vehicle, and if the left half contrast value is higher than the right half contrast value by the predetermined amount or more, The sun irradiating direction is determined to be the front left side of the vehicle. In addition, when the difference between the contrast value of the right half and the contrast value of the left half is less than the predetermined amount and the illuminance (brightness) of the entire face image exceeds the predetermined value, the sunlight irradiation direction is set in front of the host vehicle. Judge.

  Further, in the above aspect, the output means may radiate the sunlight based on an insight that the driver of the vehicle will take more time to recognize the surrounding object of the vehicle visually than in the case of not being backlit. The output timing of the alarm is changed so that the alarm for the object around the own vehicle existing in the irradiation direction is output at a timing earlier than the alarm for the other objects around the own vehicle.

  More specifically, for example, the determination unit a) detects an object around the host vehicle that is present on the right front side of the host vehicle, and determines the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the detected object around the host vehicle. A first determination unit; b) a second determination unit that detects an object around the host vehicle present in front of the host vehicle and determines the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the detected object around the host vehicle; c ) It is configured to include a third determination unit that detects an object around the own vehicle existing on the left front side of the own vehicle and determines the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the detected object around the own vehicle, The detection means is configured to determine whether the detected sunlight irradiation direction belongs to any one of the own vehicle right front side region, the own vehicle front region, and the own vehicle left front side region, The output means is as follows: 1) The irradiating direction of the sunlight is detected by the detecting means. When it is determined that the vehicle belongs to the right front side area, when the warning is output to the host vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the first determination unit, the second determination unit Alternatively, the timing for outputting the alarm is made earlier than when the alarm is output to the host vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the third determination unit. When it is determined that the sunlight irradiation direction belongs to the front area of the host vehicle, the warning is output to the host vehicle driver based on the collision possibility determined by the second determination unit. The timing for outputting the alarm is earlier than when the alarm is output to the driver of the vehicle based on the possibility of collision determined by one determination unit or the third determination unit. 3) detection If it is determined by the stage that the sunlight irradiation direction belongs to the left front side area of the host vehicle, the warning is output to the host vehicle driver based on the collision possibility determined by the third determination unit. The timing for outputting the warning is higher than when the warning is output to the vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the first determination unit or the second determination unit. It is configured to speed up.

  According to the above aspect, the surrounding environment of the host vehicle is obtained by imaging the face of the driver of the host vehicle and determining from which direction the sunlight is inserted into the face of the driver of the host vehicle based on how the sun hits the face. Compared to estimating the direction in which the sun is located based on the illuminance of the sun, it is possible to detect the irradiation direction with more accuracy, so the alarm output timing is not advanced more frequently than necessary. It is possible to greatly reduce the occurrence of a situation where a sound is output more quickly than necessary, and a situation where an alarm sound is unnecessarily output.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the alarm device for vehicles which made the alarm output timing appropriate can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The basic concept of the device / system itself that outputs an alarm to the driver of the vehicle according to the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the object surrounding the host vehicle, main hardware configuration, operating principle, basic control method, etc. Since this is known to those skilled in the art, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle alarm device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle alarm device 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The vehicle alarm device 100 includes a right front side radar 101 that detects an object existing in a right front side region of the host vehicle, a front radar 102 that detects an object present in a front region of the host vehicle, and a left front side of the host vehicle. And a left front side radar 103 for detecting an object existing in the front area.

  In the present embodiment, the radars 101 to 103 may be any type of radar, such as a laser radar or a millimeter wave radar.

  When an object is detected, the radars 101 to 103 detect a relative distance, a relative speed, and a presence direction between the host vehicle and the detected object. Such a detection method is known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail. In this embodiment, any method can be adopted.

  The vehicle alarm device 100 further includes a face imaging camera 104 that images the face of an occupant (driver) seated in the driver's seat of the host vehicle.

  The facial imaging camera 104 is typically a camera mounted in a vehicle interior, and is, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera, a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) camera, or the like.

  The vehicle alarm device 100 further includes an alarm output unit 105 that outputs an alarm to the vehicle occupant (especially a driver). As the alarm output by the alarm output unit 105, any of known methods can be adopted. Typically, the alarm output unit 105 includes a speaker disposed in the vehicle interior and outputs an alarm sound.

  The vehicle alarm device 100 further determines the possibility of collision between the detected object and the host vehicle based on the detection of the surrounding objects of the host vehicle by the radars 101 to 103, and outputs an alarm according to the determined collision possibility. It has a collision determination ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 106 that instructs the unit 105 to output an alarm.

  The collision determination ECU 106 calculates, for example, a time to collision (TTC) from a change in the relative distance between the object detected by the radars 101 to 103 and the host vehicle, and the TTC is equal to or less than a predetermined value. When this happens, the alarm output unit 105 outputs an alarm.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2, the alarm output timing change process by the vehicle alarm device 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, a facial image of the driver is captured by the facial imaging camera 104 (S201).

  Next, the collision determination ECU 106 performs image analysis processing on the captured driver's face image, calculates the contrast value of the right half area of the face and the contrast value of the left half area on the face image, and these values. Are compared (S202).

  First, it is determined whether or not the right half area of the driver's face is brighter than the left half area (S203).

  If it is determined that the right half of the driver's face is brighter, more specifically, for example, the contrast value in the right half area is greater than the contrast value in the left half area by a predetermined amount or more. In this case ("YES" in S203), the collision determination ECU 106 is shining into the face of the driver of the host vehicle from the right front side of the host vehicle, and the right front side direction of the host vehicle driver is backlit. The vehicle driver determines that it will take a relatively long time to visually recognize the object existing in the right front side direction, and is detected by the object present in the right front side region of the vehicle, that is, the right front side radar 101. The timing for instructing the alarm output unit 105 to output an alarm for the object is advanced, and a time margin from when the alarm is output until the driver recognizes the object visually is increased. Unisuru (S206).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the right half of the driver's face is not brighter, more specifically, for example, the contrast value of the right half area is the contrast value of the left half area. If it is not larger than the predetermined amount (“NO” in S203), the collision determination ECU 106 then determines whether the left half area of the driver's face is brighter than the right half area (S204). .

  If it is determined that the left half of the driver's face is brighter, more specifically, for example, the contrast value in the left half area is greater than the contrast value in the right half area by a predetermined amount or more. In the case ("YES" in S204), the collision determination ECU 106 inserts sunlight into the face of the driver of the host vehicle from the left front side of the host vehicle, and the left front side direction is backlit for the host vehicle driver. The own vehicle driver determines that it will take a relatively long time to visually recognize an object present in the left front side direction, and is detected by an object present in the left front side region of the own vehicle, that is, the left front side radar 103. The timing for instructing the alarm output unit 105 to output an alarm for the object is advanced, and a time margin from when the alarm is output until the driver recognizes the object visually is increased. Unisuru (S209).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the left half of the driver's face is not brighter, more specifically, for example, the contrast value of the left half region is the contrast value of the right half region. If it is not greater than the predetermined amount (“NO” in S204), the collision determination ECU 106 then determines whether or not the illuminance (brightness) of the entire face image is greater than a predetermined threshold value. It is determined whether or not sunlight is inserted into the face of the driver of the vehicle from the front (S205).

  When it is determined that the illuminance of the face image is greater than the predetermined threshold (“YES” in S205), the collision determination ECU 106 is injecting sunlight into the face of the driver of the host vehicle from the front of the host vehicle. Since the forward direction is backlit for the driver, the driver of the vehicle determines that it will take a relatively long time to visually recognize an object that exists in the forward direction. The timing at which the alarm output unit 105 is instructed to output an alarm for the object detected by the control unit 102 is advanced so that a time margin from when the alarm is output until the host vehicle driver visually recognizes the object is increased. S208).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the illuminance of the entire facial image is equal to or less than the predetermined threshold (“NO” in S205), the collision determination ECU 106 inserts sunlight into the face of the driver of the vehicle from any direction. Therefore, the control for advancing the alarm output timing is not performed (not changed), and the normal (default), that is, the alarm output timing for the situation where the sunlight is not inserted is applied (S207).

  As described above, in the step of advancing the output timing in S206, S208, and S209, there is a longer allowance time until contact between the host vehicle and the detected object compared to the default output timing employed in S207. The alarm output timing is adjusted so that an alarm sound is output at each stage, but the specific details such as how fast and / or how to accelerate by changing the control details are individual vehicle / It can be determined appropriately and arbitrarily according to the driver / running situation.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, by imaging the face of the driver of the host vehicle, by determining from which direction the sunlight is inserted into the face of the driver of the vehicle from how the sun hits the face, Compared with the case where the direction in which the sun is located is estimated based on the illuminance of the surrounding environment of the host vehicle, it is possible to detect the irradiating direction more accurately.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the alarm output timing is not advanced more frequently than necessary, so that the alarm sound is output more quickly than necessary, and thus the alarm sound is output unnecessarily. The occurrence of such a situation can be greatly reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the alarm output timing change as shown in FIG. 2 is based on the insight that sunlight is inserted into the driver's face and the backlight is in the daytime and only in fine weather. The processing may be performed only in the daytime and in fine weather.

  As a modification of the above-described embodiment, the navigation system and the current time are used to calculate the approximate directional relationship between the traveling direction of the host vehicle and the sun position. The alarm output timing change processing as shown in Fig. 6 may not be performed, or the alarm output timing change processing may be performed in consideration of map information such as entering the shadow of a building or entering / exiting a tunnel. You may make it judge implementation.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to a vehicle alarm device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm to the driver of the host vehicle in accordance with the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an object around the host vehicle. The power source type, fuel type, appearance design, weight, size, running performance, etc. of the vehicle to be mounted are all unquestioned.

It is a schematic block diagram of the alarm device for vehicles which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the alarm output timing change process by the alarm device for vehicles which concerns on one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Vehicle warning device 101 Right front side radar 102 Front radar 103 Left front side radar 104 Face imaging camera 105 Alarm output part 106 Collision judgment ECU

Claims (6)

A vehicle alarm device that is mounted on a vehicle and outputs an alarm to a driver of the host vehicle according to the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and an object around the host vehicle,
Determining means for detecting an object around the own vehicle and determining the possibility of collision between the own vehicle and the detected object around the own vehicle;
Output means for outputting a warning to the vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the determination means;
Imaging means for imaging the face of the driver of the vehicle;
Detection means for detecting the direction of irradiation with sunlight based on the face image of the driver of the host vehicle imaged by the imaging means;
The vehicle alarm device, wherein the output means is configured to change an output timing of the alarm in accordance with the irradiating direction detected by the detecting means. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 1,
The vehicle alarm device, wherein the detection means performs image analysis processing on the face image and detects the irradiating direction from a difference in contrast on the face image. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 2,
The detection means includes
The face image is subjected to image analysis processing, and the contrast values of the right half and the left half of the face of the host vehicle driver on the face image are calculated,
If the right half contrast value is higher than the left half contrast value by a predetermined amount or more, the sunlight irradiation direction is determined to be the front right side of the vehicle,
The vehicle warning device, wherein if the left half contrast value is higher than the right half contrast value by the predetermined amount or more, the sunlight irradiation direction is determined to be the front left side of the host vehicle. The vehicle alarm device according to claim 3,
When the difference between the contrast value of the right half and the contrast value of the left half is less than the predetermined amount and the illuminance of the entire facial image exceeds a predetermined value, the detection means sets the sunlight irradiation direction to the front of the host vehicle. A vehicular alarm device, characterized by: determining. The vehicle alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The output means sets the output timing of the warning so that the warning about the object around the own vehicle existing in the sunlight irradiation direction is outputted at a timing earlier than the warning about the other objects around the own vehicle. A vehicular alarm device, characterized by being changed. The vehicle alarm device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The determination means includes
A first determination unit that detects an object surrounding the host vehicle right front side and determines the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the detected object surrounding the host vehicle;
A second determination unit that detects an object around the host vehicle present in front of the host vehicle and determines the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the detected object near the host vehicle;
A third determination unit that detects an object surrounding the host vehicle existing on the left front side of the host vehicle, and determines the possibility of collision between the host vehicle and the detected object surrounding the host vehicle,
The detection means determines whether the detected sunlight irradiation direction belongs to one of a vehicle right front side region, a host vehicle front region, and a host vehicle left front side region;
The output means includes
When it is determined by the detecting means that the sunlight irradiation direction belongs to the right front side area of the host vehicle, the warning is given to the host vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the first determination unit. Is output when the warning is output to the driver of the vehicle based on the possibility of collision determined by the second determination unit or the third determination unit. Advance the timing,
When the detection means determines that the sunlight irradiation direction belongs to the front area of the host vehicle, the warning is output to the host vehicle driver based on the collision possibility determined by the second determination unit. The timing for outputting the warning is higher than when the warning is output to the host vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the first determination unit or the third determination unit. Early
When it is determined by the detection means that the sunlight irradiation direction belongs to the left front side area of the host vehicle, the warning is given to the host vehicle driver based on the possibility of collision determined by the third determination unit. When outputting the warning, the warning is output rather than when the warning is output to the vehicle driver based on the collision possibility determined by the first determination unit or the second determination unit. An alarm device for a vehicle characterized by advancing timing.

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