JP2012177997A - Headlight flashing content determination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a headlight flashing content determination device capable of determining the meaning of headlight flashing by information obtained from a present vehicle.SOLUTION: The headlight flashing content determination device includes: image acquisition means 20 for acquiring a photographed image of a present vehicle periphery; image recognition means 22 for recognizing information of another vehicle from the photographed image acquired by the image acquisition means 20; present vehicle information acquisition means 24 for acquiring the information of the present vehicle; and determination means 25 for determining presence/absence of headlight flashing from another vehicle on the basis of the information of the image recognition means 22. When the image recognition means 22 recognizes the headlight flashing from another vehicle, the determination means 25 determines the contents of the headlight flashing from another vehicle on the basis of the information of the present vehicle acquired by the present vehicle information acquisition means 24.

Description

  The present invention relates to a passing content determination apparatus using headlights exchanged between vehicles using an in-vehicle camera.

  Conventionally, when the driver of the following vehicle is dissatisfied with the driving of the host vehicle, the passing vehicle may pass. In the conventional system, various guidance methods such as guiding the contents of passing by a communication function have been proposed in order to avoid the trouble at the time of passing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 5).

JP 2002-279598 A JP 2006-205773 A JP 2006-293531 A JP-A-2005-215753 JP 2006-106955 A

  However, in Patent Documents 1 to 3, although the passing of the following vehicle is guided, it has not been possible to determine why the vehicle is passing. Moreover, in patent document 4, there existed a problem that the vehicle to pass must be equipped with the same communication system. Moreover, in patent document 5, when an oncoming vehicle passes at the time of a right turn, there exists a possibility of being misunderstood in the meaning to give way. For example, when the oncoming vehicle passes, the driver of the oncoming vehicle may give the meaning of the inquiry about the state of the headlight of the own vehicle or the meaning of not giving way to the passing. In particular, beginner drivers often did not know what their opponents were complaining about by passing from the opponent's vehicle, and there was anxiety about driving. Furthermore, since the other party's intention by passing is not known, it is difficult to convey the intention of the other party to the other party by passing.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a passing content determination apparatus that can determine the meaning of passing by information obtained from the own vehicle.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, when the image recognition means recognizes passing from another vehicle, the information of the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition means and the contents of passing recorded in advance in the recording means. On the basis of the data table associated with, the determination means determines the contents of passing from another vehicle.

  According to the present invention, the driver of the host vehicle can understand the meaning of passing performed from surrounding vehicles, and can eliminate anxiety during driving.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the passing content determination apparatus in embodiment of this invention. The figure explaining the data table which matched the own vehicle information memorize | stored in the memory | storage means which is the principal part of the same FIG. 1, and the content of passing. The flowchart figure explaining operation | movement of the passing content determination apparatus in embodiment of this invention. The flowchart figure explaining operation | movement of the image processing of step S11 of the same FIG. The flowchart figure explaining operation | movement of the recognition process of step S12 of the same FIG. The flowchart figure explaining operation | movement of the determination process of step S14 of the same FIG.

  Hereinafter, a passing content determination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a passing content determination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the passing content determination device 1 is configured by an ECU (Electric Control Unit). The passing content determination apparatus 1 includes a front photographing means 2 for photographing the front of the host vehicle, a rear photographing means 3 for photographing the rear of the own vehicle, a notifying means 4 for notifying the driver, and a host vehicle provided on the own vehicle. It connects with the own vehicle information detection means 5 which detects this information.

  The passing content determination device 1 starts its operation when the engine is turned on, determines whether or not it has been passed by a photographed image of the front photographing means 2 or the rear photographing means 3, and if the passing is performed, the own vehicle information detecting means The meaning of passing is determined based on the information of the own vehicle acquired from 5 and the result is output to the notification means 4.

  The front photographing means 2 is constituted by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera or the like. The front photographing means 2 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The front photographing means 2 is attached at a position in front of the vehicle body and photographs the front of the host vehicle. The resolution of the front photographing means 2 may be such that the headlight and turn signal of the vehicle 20 m ahead can be photographed. The front photographing means 2 outputs a photographed image in front of the host vehicle to the passing content determination device 1.

  The rear photographing means 3 is constituted by a CCD camera or the like. The rear photographing means 3 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The rear photographing means 3 is attached at a position behind the vehicle body and photographs the rear of the host vehicle. The rear photographing means 3 only needs to have the headlight and turn signal of the rear vehicle within the photographing range even if the back guide camera is used instead. The rear photographing means 3 outputs a photographed image behind the host vehicle to the passing content determination device 1.

  The notification means 4 is provided at least in the vehicle and notifies the driver of the host vehicle. The notification means 4 may notify any of visual, auditory and tactile perception. For example, the notification unit 4 includes at least one of a sound output device such as a speaker, a display device such as a display, a device that pushes back an accelerator pedal, a device that vibrates a seat, and a device that switches a headlight switch. The notification means 4 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. When the notification unit 4 acquires the notification command from the passing content determination device 1, the notification unit 4 issues a warning to the driver by any method such as voice guidance or screen display. Moreover, the alerting | reporting means 4 may be provided also outside a vehicle and alert | report to the driver | operator of another vehicle.

  The own vehicle information detection means 5 is provided in the own vehicle and detects information of the own vehicle. The own vehicle information detection means 5 includes shift gear switch means 6, headlight switch means 7, navigation means 8, turn signal switch means 9, and vehicle speed detection means 10.

  The shift gear switch means 6 is composed of a switch indicating the position of the shift gear of the host vehicle. The shift gear switch means 6 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The shift gear switch means 6 outputs the current shift gear position information to the passing content determination apparatus 1.

  The headlamp switch means 7 is constituted by a vehicle headlamp switch. The headlamp switch means 7 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The headlamp switch means 7 outputs the current headlamp switch position information to the passing content determination apparatus 1.

  The navigation means 8 includes car navigation map data and a location function. The navigation means 8 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The navigation means 8 acquires a road condition within a predetermined range ahead of the host vehicle, and outputs this road condition to the passing content determination device 1.

  The turn signal switch means 9 is composed of a switch indicating the position of the turn signal switch of the vehicle. The blinker switch means 9 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The blinker switch means 9 outputs the current position information of the blinker switch to the passing content determination apparatus 1.

  The vehicle speed detection means 10 includes a vehicle speed meter. The vehicle speed detection means 10 is connected to the passing content determination device 1. The vehicle speed detection means 10 outputs the speed information of the own vehicle to the passing content determination device 1.

  Next, the internal configuration of the passing content determination apparatus 1 will be described in detail.

  The passing content determination apparatus 1 includes an image acquisition unit 20, an image processing unit 21, an image recognition unit 22, a storage unit 23, a host vehicle information acquisition unit 24, a determination unit 25, and a notification output unit 26. .

  The image acquisition means 20 is composed of a connector. The image acquisition means 20 is connected to the front photographing means 2, the rear photographing means 3, and the image processing means 21. The image acquisition unit 20 outputs the captured video acquired from the front imaging unit 2 and the rear imaging unit 3 to the image processing unit 21.

  The image processing means 21 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory element, and a nonvolatile memory element. The image processing means 21 is connected to the image acquisition means 20 and the image recognition means 22. An image processing program and data are recorded in the nonvolatile memory element of the image processing means 21. The image processing means 21 starts processing when the engine is turned on. The image processing unit 21 performs noise removal processing on each of the captured images before and after the host vehicle acquired from the image acquisition unit 20 by filter processing and edge processing. Then, the image processing means 21 performs a high luminance detection process in which a portion having a higher luminance than the average luminance in the processed image is detected from the processed image. Further, contour enhancement processing is performed in order to extract the vehicle shape from the image detected with high luminance, the image before high luminance detection, and the image after high luminance detection. Here, different threshold values are set depending on the image when extracting the shape by the contour enhancement process. The image processing means 21 outputs the captured images before and after the subject vehicle subjected to the noise removal processing and the information on the high luminance part detected by the high luminance detection processing to the image recognition means 22.

The image recognition means 22 includes a CPU, a memory element, and a nonvolatile memory element. The image recognition unit 22 is connected to the image processing unit 21 and the determination unit 25. An image recognition program and data are recorded in the nonvolatile memory element of the image recognition means 22. The image recognition means 22
The processing is started by inputting captured images before and after the host vehicle and information on a high-luminance portion in the captured image from the image processing means 21. The image recognizing means 22 recognizes whether or not the high-luminance portion is present at the same position as the headlight in the captured images before and after the host vehicle, and whether or not the shape of the vehicle is obtained by contour enhancement processing. Here, different threshold values are set for day and night when recognizing the shape by the contour enhancement process. Further, when passing, the shape of the vehicle is hardly recognized by the light of the headlamp. Therefore, the image recognition means 22 recognizes the shape of the vehicle using the contour data recognized from the captured images at timings before and after passing. And the image recognition means 22 recognizes the presence or absence of passing from another vehicle from this recognition result. In addition, the image recognition means 22 recognizes the blinker that lights the orange part blinking in a certain time in the captured images before and after the own vehicle, and binarizes a crosswalk sign on the road, the lane, the traveling of the own vehicle Recognizes the lane position and recognizes day and night from the overall average brightness. The image recognition unit 22 outputs these recognition results to the determination unit 25.

  The storage means 23 is composed of a non-volatile memory and is connected to the determination means 25. The memory | storage means 23 memorize | stores the data table which matched own vehicle information and the content of passing. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a data table in which the own vehicle information stored in the storage unit 23 is associated with the contents of passing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the data table for passing determination, input information is set on the horizontal axis, and determination contents are set on the vertical axis. This data table is expanded in the horizontal direction when input information increases. And the search range of the determination information is expanded. Further, this data table is expanded in the vertical direction when the number of types of determination increases. And the search range of the determination information is expanded.

  The own vehicle information acquisition means 24 is configured by a connector. The own vehicle information acquisition unit 24 is connected to the shift gear switch unit 6, the headlamp switch unit 7, the navigation unit 8, the winker switch unit 9, the vehicle speed detection unit 10, and the determination unit 25. The own vehicle information acquisition unit 24 outputs the switch information of the shift gear switch unit 6, the headlamp switch unit 7, and the blinker switch unit 9 to the determination unit 25. In addition, the area information and map information acquired by the navigation unit 8 are output to the determination unit 25. Further, the vehicle speed information of the vehicle speed detection means 10 is output to the determination means 25.

  The determination means 25 is composed of a CPU, a memory element, and a nonvolatile memory element. The determination unit 25 is connected to the image recognition unit 22, the storage unit 23, the own vehicle information acquisition unit 24, and the notification output unit 26. A determination processing program and data are recorded in the nonvolatile memory element of the determination means 25. The determination unit 25 starts input processing from the host vehicle information acquisition unit 24 when the engine is turned on, and starts determination processing when a recognition result is input from the image recognition unit 22. The determination unit 25 determines the meaning of passing from a parameter with a high priority using the information on various types of own vehicle input from the host vehicle information acquisition unit 24 and the parameter table read from the storage unit 23 related to this parameter. Do. The information is output to the notification output means 26 based on the meaning of passing derived by the determination means 25.

  The notification output means 26 is constituted by a connector. The notification output unit 26 is connected to the notification unit 4 and the determination unit 25. The notification output unit 26 outputs the notification command output from the determination unit 25 to the notification unit 4.

  Note that the CPU, volatile memory, and nonvolatile memory of each processing means may be provided, or processing may be performed by a single CPU, volatile memory, and nonvolatile memory.

  Next, the operation of the passing content determination apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the passing content determination apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in step S <b> 10, the image acquisition unit 20 inputs an image of the front of the host vehicle captured by the front capturing unit 2 and an image of the rear of the host vehicle captured by the rear capturing unit 3. The own vehicle information acquisition means 24 includes the shift gear position information of the shift gear switch means 6, the position information of the headlight switch means 7, the road shape information ahead of the traveling direction of the navigation means 8, and the winker switch means 9 The turn signal switch position information and the vehicle speed information of the vehicle speed detection means 10 are acquired.

  Next, as shown in step S <b> 11, the image processing unit 21 performs image processing of the front captured image of the host vehicle acquired from the image acquiring unit 20 and the rear captured image of the host vehicle.

  Next, as shown in step S <b> 12, the image recognition unit 22 performs recognition processing of the front captured image of the host vehicle and the rear captured image of the host vehicle input from the image processing unit 21.

  Next, as shown in step S <b> 13, the determination unit 25 determines the presence or absence of passing from another vehicle based on the image recognition result input from the image recognition unit 22. When the determination means 25 determines that there is no passing from another vehicle (NO in step S13), the process of step S10 is repeated. When the determination means 25 determines that there is passing from another vehicle (YES in step S13), the determination means 25 reads the data table from the storage means 23 as shown in step S14. And the determination means 25 compares the own vehicle information input from the own vehicle information acquisition means 24 with the read data table, and determines the content of the passing from the other vehicle corresponding to the input own vehicle information.

  And as shown to step S15, the determination means 25 performs the alerting | reporting command according to the content of passing to the alerting | reporting means 4 via the alerting | reporting output means 26. FIG. The notification unit 4 notifies the driver of the host vehicle in accordance with a command from the determination unit 25. Moreover, the alerting | reporting means 4 may alert | report the exterior including the driver | operator of this other vehicle with respect to passing from another vehicle. Finally, the process returns to step S10 and is repeated.

  Next, the image processing in step S11 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the image processing in step S11 of FIG.

  As shown in step S <b> 20, the image processing unit 21 removes noise from the captured image in front of the host vehicle acquired from the image acquisition unit 20 and calculates an average luminance.

  Next, as shown in step S21, the image processing means 21 performs binarization processing on the processed image processed in step S20, and emphasizes white lines such as pedestrian crossings and travel lanes.

  Next, as shown in step S22, the image processing means 21 extracts a luminance region that is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold from the processed image that has been subjected to noise removal processing in step S20. The image processing means 21 calculates and sets the predetermined threshold value from the average luminance calculated in step S20. This extracted luminance region means a candidate for passing of another vehicle.

  Next, as shown in step S23, the image processing means 21 performs an edge enhancement process on the image obtained by gradation conversion from the processed image processed in step S22, thereby enhancing the outline of the object. The process of step S23 is performed in order for the image recognition means 22 to recognize another vehicle.

  Next, as shown in step S24, the image processing means 21 performs an orange extraction process. The process of step S23 is performed in order for the image recognition means 22 to detect turn-on of the blinker.

  Next, the recognition process in step S12 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the recognition processing in step S12 of FIG.

  As shown in step S30, the image recognizing means 22 performs a recognition process based on the result of the process in step S24 to determine whether there is another orange vehicle that periodically flashes and emits light.

  If YES in step S30, the image recognition means 22 sets a blinker detection state flag. Then, the image recognition means 22 recognizes the shape of the other vehicle whose outline is emphasized based on the processing result of step S23 and the turn signal in the left or right direction. On the other hand, in the case of NO at step S30, the image recognition means 22 executes the process at step S32.

  As shown in step S32, the image recognizing means 22 includes an image of the region whose outline is emphasized in step S23 and an image of the luminance region extracted in step S22 among the photographed image in front of the host vehicle and the photographed image behind the host vehicle. Are superimposed on each other. The image recognizing means 22 recognizes that the other vehicle has passed when the luminance region in the superimposed image exists in the other vehicle extracted by the contour enhancement for a predetermined time, and then disappears for a predetermined time for a predetermined time. To do. If NO in step S32, the process ends. On the other hand, if YES in step S32, as shown in step S33, the image recognition means 22 is any of an oncoming vehicle, a succeeding vehicle, a right approaching vehicle, and a left approaching vehicle from the position of the captured image in the area where the passing is recognized. Recognize.

  Next, as shown in step S34, the image recognition means 22 recognizes the presence of a pedestrian crossing mark in front of the host vehicle based on the processing result of step S21.

  Next, as shown in step S35, the image recognition means 22 recognizes the right lane from the front of the host vehicle based on the processing result of step S21. And the image recognition means 22 recognizes the lane which is further on the right side of this white line, and recognizes whether there is a lane on the right side based on the width between both lanes. When the recognized lane width is equal to or less than the specified value, the image recognizing unit 22 recognizes the currently traveling lane as the right lane.

  Next, the table processing in step S14 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the table processing in step S14 of FIG.

  As shown in step S40, the determination unit 25 sets the search item range of the data table for passing determination shown in FIG. 2 as a whole (C0 to C10 in FIG. 2).

As shown in step S41, the determination means 25 determines whether or not the search item set in step S40 matches the input information of various own vehicles. For example, based on the data table, the determination unit 25 checks whether there is information on the input host vehicle in order from the left side of the search item (from C0 to C10). The determination means 25 advances confirmation from the left end of the search item of the data table toward the right side. Then, the determination unit 25 gradually narrows the determination range, and determines the determination content of the row where the determination conditions all match as the meaning of passing. If the condition does not apply, the determination unit 25 determines that the data table cannot be determined. In view of the possibility that the meaning of passing differs depending on the region, a writing means (not shown) for the storage means 23 may be further provided so that the data table can be customized.

  If YES in step S41, as shown in step S42, the determination unit 25 searches the search range for a column that matches the corresponding determination information for each search item in the data table, and whether there is a corresponding item. judge. In the case of YES at step S42, the determination means 25 narrows the range of search items one item at a time as shown at step S43. For example, when the determination unit 25 searches for C0 in FIG. 2 and searches for “opposite vehicle”, the determination result row in which the item of the partner vehicle of C0 is “opposite vehicle” is set as the search range from the next time onward. , Move one search item to C1 on the right side. And as shown to step S43, the determination means 25 sets C1-C10 of FIG. 2 to a search range. And the determination means 25 performs step S41 again.

  On the other hand, in the case of NO in step S41, the determination unit 25 determines whether the item that matches the determination information from the search result is one item as shown in step S44. In the case of YES in step S44, as shown in step S45, the determination unit 25 specifies the search result of the remaining one item as the meaning of passing. For example, when the headlight of the host vehicle is a high beam due to passing from an “opposite vehicle”, the determination unit 25 determines the determination result that the item of C0 is “oncoming vehicle” and the item of C1 is “high” (high beam). Rows are extracted from the data table shown in FIG. At this time, the determination means 25 indicates that “determination is not necessary” after C2 in the data table, and that there is no line where the determination information matches the items of C0 and C1 in other rows of the data table. It is determined that the “headlight high beam” means passing.

  In the case of NO in step S42 and in the case of NO in step S43, as shown in step S46, the determination means 25 does not correspond to the meaning shown in this data table for other reasons. To end the process.

  In the present embodiment, the storage means 23 stores the data table shown in FIG. 2, and the determination means 25 is based on the information on the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition means 24 and this data table. The content of the passing from the vehicle is determined, but the content of the passing may be determined only by the information on the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquiring unit 24. That is, the determination unit 25 may determine the contents of passing by performing a condition determination for each type of information of the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition unit 24. However, the use of the data table is easier to update when the meaning of passing changes, etc., so that the maintainability is better and the increase / decrease in the determination information is also easier.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the image recognition means 22 recognizes the passing from another vehicle, the contents of the passing from the other vehicle are determined based on the information on the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition means 24. The determination means 25 determines. For this reason, the passing content determination apparatus 1 can analyze the state of passing, estimate the most likely cause, and inform the driver of the own vehicle or another vehicle of the meaning of passing via the notification means 4. . As a result, the driver's anxiety about driving can be reduced, and the driver can concentrate on safe driving without hesitation. Furthermore, traffic can be smoothed.

  The passing content determination device of the present invention is useful when specifying the meaning of passing when passing from another vehicle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Passing content determination apparatus 2 Front imaging | photography means 3 Back imaging | photography means 4 Notification means 5 Own vehicle information detection means 20 Image acquisition means 21 Image processing means 22 Image recognition means 23 Storage means 24 Own vehicle information acquisition means 25 Determination means

Claims (5)

Image acquisition means for acquiring captured images around the host vehicle;
Image recognition means for recognizing the presence or absence of passing from another vehicle from the captured image acquired by the image acquisition means;
Own vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring information of the own vehicle;
When the image recognition unit recognizes passing from the other vehicle, the image recognition unit includes a determination unit that determines the content of the passing from the other vehicle based on the information on the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle information acquisition unit. A passing content determination device. Headlamp switch means for obtaining the position of the headlamp switch;
Road condition acquisition means for acquiring the road condition in the traveling direction;
Turn signal switch means for obtaining the position of the turn signal switch of the own vehicle;
A vehicle speed detection unit configured to obtain a vehicle speed of the vehicle,
2. The passing content determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the own vehicle information detection unit inputs information of the detected own vehicle to the own vehicle information acquisition unit. The host vehicle information detection means further comprises shift gear switch means for detecting the position of the shift gear,
3. The passing content determination apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining means determines the content of passing from the other vehicle in front of or behind the host vehicle.   4. The passing content according to claim 3, further comprising photographing means for photographing the periphery of the host vehicle and inputting the photographed image to the image acquiring means, and the photographing means captures at least the front or the rear of the own vehicle. Judgment device.   The passing content determination apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising notification means for notifying the outside when the determination means determines passing from the other vehicle.