JP2009151484A - Driving support device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving support device performing proper driving support according to a course. <P>SOLUTION: A driving support ECU 12 acquires information related to traffic of a crossing in a one'own vehicle course direction by a roadside communication device 20 and a road-vehicle communication device 10. When a branch point is present ahead of the course decided from the course of one's own vehicle decided from the information, and output or the like of a turn signal lever 17 or a steering angle sensor 18, the driving support ECU 12 suppresses the driving support based on traffic information of the crossing present ahead of the branch point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device that is mounted on a vehicle and supports a driving operation of a driver, and more particularly, to a driving support device that performs support based on route information.

2. Description of the Related Art A driving support device that obtains surrounding traffic status information by road-to-vehicle communication or the like and performs driving support based on the information is known. The technique described in Patent Document 1 is an example of such a technique, and discloses a driving support apparatus including a notification unit that prompts the driver to stop when he / she is about to enter a red light intersection.
JP 2004-252718 A

  The technique of this patent document 1 is limited to assistance at the time of approaching an intersection, and the supportable range is limited. On the other hand, when driving assistance is performed using information other than the previous intersection, if the route is not specified, it is not possible to accurately determine which route information should be provided, and appropriate information Cannot be provided.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the driving assistance apparatus which enabled the appropriate driving assistance according to a course to be performed.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a driving support device according to the present invention acquires information related to traffic at an intersection in the direction of the host vehicle and determines the host vehicle route in the driving support device that performs driving support based on the information. Provided with means, and when a branch point exists ahead of the determined route, driving support based on traffic information of an intersection existing ahead of the branch point is suppressed.

  However, when danger information is acquired for a road ahead of a branch point, it is preferable to provide support for notifying the danger.

  The driver feels annoying because he / she does not provide information on roads that may not proceed by determining the course of his / her vehicle and providing driving assistance using only the traffic information of the determined course. Therefore, it is possible to provide appropriate driving assistance according to the course.

  When the danger information is acquired for the road ahead of the branch point, it becomes valuable information for the driver to select a course, so that appropriate driving support can be provided by alerting this.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components in the drawings as much as possible, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the driving support apparatus according to the present invention. This driving support device is mounted on a vehicle and provides driving support to the driver in cooperation with a road traffic information system that is maintained as an infrastructure. The infrastructure equipment includes a roadside communication device 20 arranged on the roadside and the like, a transmission / reception antenna 21 connected thereto, and a control system 22 for controlling each roadside communication device 20.

  On the other hand, the driving support device mounted on the vehicle includes a road-to-vehicle communication device 10 that performs mutual communication with the roadside communication device 20, a transmission / reception antenna 11 connected thereto, a driving support ECU 12 that controls the support device, and a navigation. The navigation device 13 is connected with an input means 14, a display 15, and a speaker 16. The driving assistance ECU 12 is connected with a roadside communication device 20, a navigation device 13, and a winker switch. 17 and the output of the rudder angle sensor 18 are input.

  The driving assistance ECU 12 is configured by a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and may be realized by dedicated hardware. However, the driving assistance ECU 12 shares part or all of the hardware with the ECU of another vehicle, and is software-like. It may be realized. Moreover, you may share a part or all of the navigation apparatus 13 and its hardware. The navigation device 13 is a device that grasps the current position of the vehicle using a GPS (Global Positioning System) or an inertial navigation device, and further has a function of performing route guidance of the vehicle using map information. It is preferable.

  The display 15 and the speaker 16 do not need to be dedicated to the navigation system, and may be shared with the AV system, for example. The input means 14 may be shared by using a touch panel display as the display 15 in addition to an input means such as a dedicated keyboard or a cross key.

  Next, the operation of driving assistance by this driving assistance device will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a traffic situation to which driving assistance by the driving assistance apparatus of FIG. 1 is applied, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing operation of driving assistance. 4 to 6 are examples of navigation screens displayed on the display 15, respectively.

  The operation of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing from when the driver's assistance operation is permitted until it is prohibited. First, the road-to-vehicle communication device 10 receives the road traffic information transmitted from the roadside communication device 20 (step S1). This road traffic information is delivered from the control system 22 through each roadside communication device 20, and includes traffic signal status, traffic control information due to construction, accidents, time restrictions, etc., traffic jam information, and the like.

  Next, the number of target intersections is examined (step S3). This target intersection is an intersection that exists in the direction of the vehicle's route. The number of intersections and position information may be received by road-to-vehicle communication, or may be grasped by comparing the information received by road-to-vehicle communication with the position information and map information of the own vehicle grasped by the navigation device. Good. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, for vehicles 100 to 102, a plurality of intersections including intersections where signals 301 and 302 are located and intersections where sign 303 is located are target intersections. The target intersection is an intersection located within a predetermined distance from the current position of the vehicle or an intersection where the target arrival time at the intersection is within a predetermined time. The predetermined distance and arrival time may vary depending on the type of road and the area.

  When there are a plurality of target intersections as described above, it is further determined whether the direction in which the target intersection exists is the same or different (step S5). For example, taking the vehicle 100 shown in FIG. 2 as an example, the intersection where the signal 302 is located among the target intersections and the intersection where the signal 301 and the sign 303 are located exist in different directions, and in different directions. It is determined that it exists.

  If it is determined that the target intersection exists in a different direction, it is further determined whether or not the course at the branching intersection can be specified (step S7). For example, in the vehicle 100 shown in FIG. 2, it is unclear whether the vehicle will turn right at the front Y-shaped intersection and proceed to the road 210 or turn left and proceed to the road 202 and cannot be specified. In this case, the process proceeds to step S11 described later. On the other hand, since the vehicle 101 and the vehicle 102 are located on the left turn lane and the right turn lane, respectively, the vehicle 101 and the vehicle 102 can be specified when traveling in the directions of the roads 220 and 210, respectively. Here, the course may be specified based on the direction instruction by the driver's operation of the blinker switch 17 and the steering operation detected by the steering angle sensor 18 in addition to the method of determining by the lane.

  Even if the road is branched in a different direction due to the branch road, if the course can be identified, the process proceeds to step S9, and information on the target intersection on the identified course is provided. For example, the information of the signal 301 is provided to the vehicle 101 in the format shown in FIG. 4 from the information received by road-to-vehicle communication. Similarly, the information of the signal 302 is provided to the vehicle 102 as shown in FIG.

  If it is determined in step S7 that the course cannot be specified, information beyond the branch destination is not provided. However, if there is information that needs to be alerted to the driver beyond the branch destination, this information will be provided. For example, traffic restrictions due to construction and accidents, traffic jam information, and the like.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the target intersection is in the same direction, the process proceeds to step S13, and a service for providing information to the nearest object is performed. In the example shown in FIG. 2, when the vehicle 103 is located on the road 202 in front of the signal 301 (on the road 200 side), the traffic signal information as shown in FIG. If it is located between the signs 303, only the information of the signs 303 is provided as shown in FIG.

  In Step S3, when it is determined that there is only one target intersection, only the information on the target intersection is provided. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the information of the sign 303 is provided to the vehicle 103 in the form shown in FIG.

  As described above, by providing information, road information that may not progress is not provided, and the driver does not feel bothered. And since the suitable assistance information according to a course can be provided, the reliability with respect to driving assistance improves.

  In addition, even information on roads that may not proceed is provided with information that is useful for the driver's course selection, such as danger information and obstacle information, etc., so that the driver can travel the appropriate course. Useful and improved convenience.

  The operation of the driving support apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the operation described above, and various modifications are possible. For example, the determination order may be changed, or a plurality of determinations may be performed in parallel. In addition, acquisition of road traffic information is not limited to road-to-vehicle communication, but information is transmitted to the vehicle from the infrastructure (infrastructure 30 shown in FIG. 2) installed on the roadside and received by the vehicle side. May be used, or a system for acquiring the information from the information center through a telephone line or wireless may be used.

  The present invention can be applied to a driving support device mounted on a vehicle and a vehicle including the same.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the driving assistance device which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the traffic condition where the driving assistance by the driving assistance device of FIG. 1 is applied. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the driving assistance by the driving assistance apparatus of FIG. It is an example of the navigation screen by the driving assistance device of FIG. It is another example of the navigation screen by the driving assistance device of FIG. It is another example of the navigation screen by the driving assistance device of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Road-to-vehicle communication machine, 11 ... Antenna, 12 ... Driving assistance ECU, 13 ... Navigation apparatus, 14 ... Input means, 15 ... Display, 16 ... Speaker, 17 ... Winker switch, 18 ... Steering angle sensor, 20 ... Roadside communication 21 ... Antenna, 22 ... Control system, 30 ... Infrastructure, 100-103 ... Vehicle, 200-220 ... Road, 301, 302 ... Signal, 303 ... Sign.

Claims (2)

In a driving support device that acquires information related to intersection traffic in the direction of the host vehicle and performs driving support based on the information,
The vehicle is provided with a means for determining the course of the host vehicle, and when a branch point exists ahead of the determined route, driving support based on traffic information of an intersection existing before the branch point is suppressed. Driving assistance device.   The driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when danger information is acquired for a road ahead of the branch point, assistance for notifying the danger is performed.

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