JP2010134851A - Driving support device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high-reliability driving support device, allowing rapid passing in a control section, based on the lighting color state of a traffic signal. <P>SOLUTION: The driving support device for acquiring the state of the traffic signal 201, where an own vehicle 100 waits for the traffic light to change and also acquiring the positional relation of own vehicle 100 and a preceding vehicle 402 by image recognition processing of an image obtained by a front camera or by road-vehicle communication, and for supporting the start of the own vehicle 100, based on the acquired information, advances the timing for the support of the start compared with a case other than that when allowance time for which own vehicle passes through a subject section (for example, intersection 200) is expected to be shorter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device that is mounted on a vehicle and supports a driver's driving operation, and more particularly, to a driving support device that supports a driver's start based on a light color state of a traffic light.

Various driving support devices are known that support the operation by notifying the driver of operation timing such as starting and turning left and right. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is one of such driving support devices, where the front traffic light changes from red to blue, and the preceding vehicle performs an accelerator operation so that the host vehicle can start. In addition, a startable guidance message is notified.
JP 2004-310280 A

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, start support is performed based only on a change in signal and the start state of a preceding vehicle. However, even if these conditions are the same, it takes time for the driver to perform the driving operation according to the instructions and pass the section regulated by the traffic light.・ Passing may be difficult. As described above, when the vehicle cannot pass even though the start support is followed, the reliability of the driver for the drive support is impaired.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the driving assistance apparatus with high reliability which enabled quick passage of a control area based on the light color state of a traffic light.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the driving support device according to the present invention includes a means for acquiring a light color state of a traffic light on a course, a means for acquiring a positional relationship between a preceding vehicle and the host vehicle, and the acquired light color state. In the driving support device including support means for supporting the start of the host vehicle with respect to the driver based on the positional relationship with the preceding vehicle, the support means includes a margin time for the host vehicle to pass through the target traffic section of the traffic light. In the case of a short period, the support timing is advanced compared to other cases.

  A means for determining the course of the host vehicle is further provided, and the support means may advance the support timing earlier than the other cases when the traveling direction is the right turn direction.

  The lamp color state acquired by the means for acquiring the lamp color state includes the remaining time information of the green light. When the remaining time is short, the support means that the support timing is advanced compared to the case where the remaining time is long. Good.

  Means for determining the course of the host vehicle, and the lamp color state acquired by the means for acquiring the lamp color state includes the presence / absence of an arrow lamp signal and its state; If there is no arrow lamp device corresponding to the route direction, not the main direction of the restriction direction of the traffic signal, the support timing may be advanced compared to the other cases.

  The lamp color state acquired by the means for acquiring the lamp color state includes the presence / absence of the arrow lamp signal and the status thereof, and the support means, if the acquired lamp color state is lit, or otherwise The support timing should be advanced compared to.

  The vehicle further comprises means for determining the course of the host vehicle and means for determining the course direction of the preceding vehicle, and the support means is configured such that the course of the preceding vehicle is a right turn or a left turn and the course of the host vehicle is a straight ahead. The support timing should be advanced compared to other cases.

  According to the driving support device according to the present invention, the support timing is advanced in the predetermined time when the margin time for the host vehicle to pass through the target traffic section (regulation section) of the traffic light is short compared to the other cases. This makes it easier to pass the vehicle and allows quick passage, so that the reliability of the driver's assistance device is also improved.

  If the type of restriction signal, the remaining time of the signal, and the route of the host vehicle or the preceding vehicle are the above-mentioned conditions, the margin time is short, so it is possible to pass through the target section by advancing the support timing in these cases This improves the reliability of the driver's assistance device.

  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 guiding the route 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 apparatus 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.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 100 waits for a signal on the lane L ₁ connected to the intersection 200 where the traffic signal 201 is located (hereinafter referred to as a target intersection), and then the lane L ₅ As an example, the case where the vehicle enters is described. The operation of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 is repeatedly performed while the driving support device is operating.

  First, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle 100 stops at the trafficked intersection 200 (step S1). When the host vehicle is running or is not waiting for a signal at an intersection, it is out of the target of the actual driving support, and thus the subsequent processing is skipped and the process ends. On the other hand, if the host vehicle 100 stops at the trafficked intersection 200 (for example, as shown in FIG. 2), the process further proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the traveling direction of the host vehicle 100 is determined. This determination may be made based on the setting information of the blinker switch 17. Alternatively, the determination may be made based on the route information to the destination set in the navigation device 13, the lane position of the host vehicle 100, and the like. When the traveling direction is right, the process proceeds to step S5 to advance the timing of the start delay notification described later, and the process proceeds to step S7. If the traveling direction is straight or left, step S5 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, the start delay of the host vehicle 100 is determined. Specifically, when the host vehicle 100 is the leading vehicle waiting for a signal, the host vehicle 100 has not started even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the traffic light 201 in the right turn direction turns blue. What is necessary is just to determine with a start delay, and when it is not a head vehicle, it is sufficient to determine with the start time that the inter-vehicle distance with the previous vehicle (vehicle 402 in FIG. 2) has opened to a predetermined value or more. It waits by continuing the process of step S7 until it is determined that either the start delay or the host vehicle starts before the start delay is determined.

  When the host vehicle 100 starts without a delay in starting, there is no need for support, so the subsequent processing is skipped and the processing ends. If it is determined that the vehicle is delayed, the process proceeds to step S9, the driver is prompted to start by voice from the speaker 16 or display on the display 15, and the driver completes the process by performing a start operation. To do. In the case where the vehicle stops again before turning right at the intersection, the process of shifting to step S1 is performed, and thus a start delay notification may be performed a plurality of times while passing the intersection.

  According to this embodiment, it is possible to make a quick right turn by advancing the notification timing of the start delay at the time of right turn, which is expected to require time to pass the intersection, from the notification timing of the start delay at the time of left turn or straight ahead, The reliability of the driving support device is also increased.

  When an arrow lamp dedicated to turning left and right is installed in the traffic light 201, control according to the arrow lamp may be performed. Since the lighting time of the arrow lamp is often shorter than the normal lighting time of the blue light, the start delay notification timing should be advanced. Control for advancing the start delay notification timing may be performed either when the direction of the arrow lamp matches the traveling direction of the host vehicle or when the traveling direction of the host vehicle is unknown. In the case where the remaining lighting time of the arrow lamp is short, it may be limited to the case where the direction of the arrow lamp matches the traveling direction of the host vehicle.

  When the traveling direction of the host vehicle is not the priority direction and there is no arrow lamp in that direction (for example, the traveling direction of the host vehicle is the right turn direction, there is an arrow lamp device in the left turn direction, but there is an arrow lamp in the right turn direction) When there is no device, it is better to make the notification timing earlier than when there is an arrow lamp device. The control for advancing the notification timing may be limited to a case where the traffic volume of the oncoming lane during a right turn is large.

  Further, the traveling direction of the preceding vehicle may be determined, and control may be performed based on the determination result. This traveling direction determination may be performed by acquiring the state of the direction indicator of the preceding vehicle with the front camera and determining by image recognition, or by acquiring the course information by inter-vehicle communication. When the preceding vehicle turns right or left and the host vehicle goes straight, the start delay notification timing may be delayed. In this case, it is expected that it will take more time than the preceding vehicle to go straight before the host vehicle can go straight and pass through the intersection.

  Further, control may be performed in consideration of the remaining lighting time of the signal. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of control in consideration of signal stiffness time. In step S11, it is determined whether or not the host vehicle 100 has stopped at the traffic lighted intersection as in step S1 described above. When the host vehicle is running or is not waiting for a signal at an intersection, it is out of the target of the actual driving support, and thus the subsequent processing is skipped and the process ends. On the other hand, when the host vehicle 100 stops at an intersection with a traffic light (for example, as shown in FIG. 2), the process further proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, the state of the pedestrian traffic light in the same direction as the travel lane of the host vehicle is grasped. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a pedestrian traffic light in a direction crossing the traveling lanes L ₅ and L ₆ is applicable. Here, when the state of the pedestrian traffic light cannot be detected because it is hidden behind the shadow of the preceding vehicle, the process proceeds to step S21. If it can be grasped, the process proceeds to step S15, and it is determined whether or not the state of the pedestrian traffic light is blue. If it is in the blue lighting state, the process proceeds to step S21. If not, it is further determined in step S17 whether it is in the blue blinking state. In the case of the blue blinking state, the process proceeds to step S19, the start delay notification timing is advanced, and the process proceeds to step S21. On the other hand, if it is not in the blue blinking state, that is, if it is in the red lighting state, it is expected that the traffic light 201 that regulates the vehicle side will soon switch to the red lighting state, so the subsequent processing is skipped. It is not necessary to perform driving assistance.

  In steps S21 and S23, the same processing as in steps S7 and S9 described above is performed, and if it is determined that the vehicle is delayed, the driver is prompted to start. Thus, by adjusting the start delay notification timing based on the state of the pedestrian signal, the possibility of passing through the intersection is improved.

  Here, an example in which the start delay notification timing is adjusted based on the signal state of the signal for the pedestrian has been described, but the remaining time of the signal is acquired by inter-vehicle communication, or the cycle information of the signal is acquired from the navigation information Thus, the start delay notification timing may be advanced when the remaining time is expected to be short.

  The notification method is not limited to the method described above, and may be a method of vibrating the seat or vibrating the brake pedal. Moreover, you may start not only a notification but following a preceding vehicle.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the passage allowance time of the section regulated by the traffic light is short, the start delay notification timing is shortened compared to the case where it is not so, it is possible to start quickly. And passability is improved. On the other hand, when the passage allowance time is sufficient, since the start delay notification timing is not shortened, the driver does not feel stress with respect to the start delay notification, and the reliability of the system is improved.

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 apparatus of FIG. 1 operate | moves. It is a flowchart explaining the driving | operation assistance operation | movement by the apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining another driving assistance operation | movement by the apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Road-to-vehicle communication machine, 11 ... Antenna, 13 ... Navigation apparatus, 12 ... Driving assistance ECU, 14 ... Input means, 15 ... Display, 16 ... Speaker, 17 ... Winker switch, 18 ... Steering angle sensor, 20 ... Roadside communication 21 ... Antenna, 22 ... Control system, 100 ... Own vehicle, 200 ... Intersection, 201 ... Traffic light, 301-306, 401-404 ... Vehicle.

Claims (6)

The means for acquiring the light color state of the traffic light on the route, the means for acquiring the positional relationship between the preceding vehicle and the own vehicle, and the driver based on the acquired light color state and the positional relationship with the preceding vehicle. In a driving support device provided with support means for supporting start of a vehicle,
The said support means is the driving assistance device which advances a support timing earlier compared with the case where the margin time for the own vehicle to pass through the target traffic section of the traffic light is short.   The driving support apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for determining a course of the host vehicle, wherein the support means advances the support timing when compared with the other cases when the traveling direction is a right turn direction.   The lamp color state acquired by the means for acquiring the lamp color state includes remaining time information of a green light, and the support means advances the support timing when the remaining time is short compared to when the remaining time is long. The driving support apparatus according to claim 1.   Means for determining the course of the host vehicle, and the lamp color state acquired by the means for acquiring the lamp color state includes the presence or absence of an arrow lamp signal and the state thereof; The driving assistance device according to claim 1, wherein when the direction is not the priority direction of the traffic signal and there is no arrow lamp corresponding to the course direction, the assistance timing is advanced as compared with other cases.   The lamp color state acquired by the means for acquiring the lamp color state includes the presence / absence of an arrow lamp signal and the state thereof, and the support means, when the acquired lamp color state is lighting the arrow lamp device, otherwise The driving support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support timing is advanced as compared with the case of.   The vehicle further comprises means for determining the course of the own vehicle and means for judging the course direction of the preceding vehicle, and the support means is provided when the course of the preceding vehicle is a right turn or a left turn and the course of the own vehicle is a straight ahead. The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the support timing is advanced as compared with other cases.

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