JP2013095174A - Direction indicator control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a direction indicator control device capable of preventing a driver having difficulty in hearing from forgetting to return a direction indicator.SOLUTION: The direction indicator control device 100, which controls an operation sound of a direction indicator 14 that indicates the traveling direction of a vehicle, includes: an operation member 16, which receives an actuation operation that actuates the direction indicator; an operation sound output means 17, which outputs the operation sound while the direction indicator is actuated; a hearing determination means, which determines the hearing of the driver; and a sound volume control means 13, which, when the driver's hearing is determined less than the standard based on the sound volume level of audio equipment, increases the sound volume of the operation sound more than when the driver's hearing is determined more than standard.

Description

  The present invention relates to a direction indicator control device that controls an operation sound of a direction indicator that indicates a traveling direction of a vehicle.

  A driver who operates the vehicle operates a control unit in the vehicle at a timing determined by law or the like before a right or left turn to blink a direction indicator (also referred to as a turn signal lamp or a blinker lamp). A driver of another vehicle can predict an advancing direction of the vehicle by looking at the vehicle whose direction indicator is blinking, and can perform an appropriate vehicle operation.

  When a driver operates a steering wheel to end a left / right turn or a course change, the direction indicator often includes a mechanism that terminates blinking in conjunction with the steering wheel operation. However, this mechanism may not work when the steering wheel operation is shallow. For this reason, during the operation of the direction indicator, an operation sound (for example, a relay sound) sounds in conjunction with the flashing in the vehicle, thereby suppressing forgetting to return the operation unit.

  However, the operation sound of the direction indicator is not so loud, and in the case of a driver who has difficulty in hearing (for example, an elderly driver), the direction indicator may not blink. In this regard, a technique for suppressing forgetting to return the direction indicator has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for determining that forgetting to return has occurred after a certain period of time has elapsed after the direction indicator is operated, and generating a warning sound or increasing the operating sound. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for increasing the operating sound of the direction indicator while the audio is operating.

JP 2007-50865 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-270737

  However, in Patent Document 1, even if the left / right turn or course change has been completed, the operation sound continues to sound until a certain time has elapsed after the direction indicator has been activated. There is a problem that can not be. Further, in Patent Document 2, if the audio is not in operation, the volume of the operation sound does not increase. Therefore, if the audio is not in operation, forgetting to return the direction indicator cannot be prevented. In addition, since it does not discriminate between a healthy person and a driver who has a hearing loss, if the person is healthy, the volume of the direction indicator's operating sound can be increased because the audio is in operation, and forgetting to return can be suppressed. However, there is a problem that it is not always possible to suppress forgetting to return to a driver who has trouble with hearing.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a direction indicator control device that can suppress forgetting to return a direction indicator to a driver who has difficulty in hearing.

  The present invention is a direction indicator control device that controls an operation sound of a direction indicator that indicates a traveling direction of a vehicle, and an operation member that receives an operation operation for operating the direction indicator, and a direction indicator is operated. The operation sound output means for outputting the operation sound, the hearing determination means for determining the hearing of the driver, and if the driver's hearing determined based on the volume level of the audio device is less than the standard, the driver's hearing is Volume control means for increasing the volume of the operating sound as compared with a case where it is determined to be above the standard.

  It is possible to provide a direction indicator control device that can suppress forgetting to return a direction indicator to a driver who has a hearing problem.

It is an example of the figure explaining the general | schematic characteristic of a direction indicator control apparatus. It is an example of the block diagram of the vehicle-mounted apparatus containing a direction indicator control apparatus. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the operation | movement procedure of a direction indicator control apparatus. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure of the setting process of the normal audio volume high flag for setting a hearing loss temporary determination flag. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure of the setting process of a hearing loss temporary flag.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an example of a diagram illustrating the schematic features of the direction indicator control device.
(1) The driver operates the audio device to output music or the like from the speaker while traveling.
(2) The direction indicator control device estimates the driver's hearing from the volume level set in the audio device.
(3) When the driver whose hearing ability is determined to be less than the standard operates the direction indicator, the direction indicator control device increases the volume of the operation sound of the direction indicator.

  If the driver's hearing is less than normal, the operating noise will increase, so the driver will notice that the direction indicator is in operation before forgetting to return the operation part of the direction indicator. Can be stopped.

[Configuration example]
FIG. 2 is an example of a block diagram of an in-vehicle device including the direction indicator control device 100. An audio device 11, a control ECU 13, a meter ECU 18, and an image processing ECU 19 are connected via an in-vehicle LAN 23. The in-vehicle LAN 23 may be anything such as CAN, FlexRay, LIN, for example.

  The audio device 11 is, for example, a CD player, a DVD player, a Blu-ray player, a radio receiver, a television receiver, or the like. The audio device 11 often has one or more of these functions. Further, it may be integrated with the navigation device. A speaker 12 is connected to the audio device 11, and music and voice are output from the speaker 12. When integrated with the navigation device, route guidance and warning messages are also output by sound from the speaker 12, so that these volumes can also be used for hearing determination. The audio device 11 transmits the set volume level to the control ECU 13 via the in-vehicle LAN 23 periodically or in response to a request from the control ECU 13.

  The control ECU 13 is a control unit that controls the overall operation of the direction indicator control device 100. The control ECU 13 is called a microcomputer or a computer, and has a CPU, ROM, RAM, input / output interface, flash memory, and the like. The control ECU 13 estimates the driver's hearing based on the volume level received from the audio device 11. For example, if the volume level of the audio device is higher than the standard value in the previous trip, it is determined that the hearing level is reduced once the volume level is lowered and the driver increases the volume level in this trip. To do.

  One trip is from IG-ON to IG-OFF in the case of a vehicle powered by an engine, or from main system ON to main system OFF in the case of a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle.

  A direction indicator (left and right, front and rear turn signal lamps, etc.) 14 and an ASSY 15 are connected to the control ECU 13. ASSY 15 is a direction indicator SW 16 and a direction indicator speaker 17. The direction indicator SW16 is, for example, a lever-like operation unit extending from the right side of the steering column. The direction indicator SW16 outputs a left ON signal to the control ECU 13, for example, when the driver swings momentarily upward. The control ECU 13 blinks the direction indicator 14 on the left side surface of the vehicle. Similarly, when the driver swings momentarily downward, for example, the direction indicator SW16 outputs a right ON signal to the control ECU 13. The control ECU 13 blinks the direction indicator 14 on the right side surface of the vehicle. As a method of blinking, there are a method of operating a relay that repeats on / off at regular intervals, and a method of using an IC that blinks the direction indicator 14 at regular intervals.

  The control ECU 13 outputs the operation sound of the direction indicator 14 from the direction indicator speaker 17 while the direction indicator SW 16 outputs the left ON signal or the right ON signal. The operating sound of the direction indicator 14 may be interlocked with the blinking of the direction indicator 14, or may be a sound that informs the driver that the direction indicator 14 is blinking regardless of the blinking. The control ECU 13 can control the volume of the operating sound of the direction indicator 14.

  Further, the control ECU 13 detects forgetting to return the direction indicator 14 and instructs the meter ECU 18 to display a warning. A method of detecting forgotten return will be described later.

  The meter ECU 18 controls a display device 21 such as a meter panel. Many meters and warning lamps including an LCD (liquid crystal display) are arranged on the meter panel. The meter ECU 18 turns on a warning lamp according to a warning display instruction received from the control ECU 13. Further, a message notifying that the user has forgotten to return may be displayed on the LCD.

  The image processing ECU 19 controls the in-vehicle camera 22 and processes image data captured by the in-vehicle camera 22. The vehicle interior camera 22 is installed, for example, so that the driver's face is within the shooting range. As such a camera, a camera that detects that the driver tends to fall asleep from the closed eye time can be used. The image processing ECU 19 replaces the skeleton, wrinkles, sagging, and the like from the image data in which the driver's face is photographed with a feature vector, and sex and age groups (for example, less than 20, 20 to 39, 40 to 59, 60 or more). For example). Thereby, gender and age can be estimated from the face image. In this embodiment, since it is only necessary to determine that the person is an elderly person, for example, it may be determined only whether the person is 60 to 70 years old or older. The image processing ECU 19 transmits an age determination result indicating whether or not an age group or an elderly person to the control ECU 13.

[Operation procedure]
FIG. 3 is an example of a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the direction indicator control device 100. The operation procedure of FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed every predetermined cycle time (for example, 100 milliseconds) in a state where the vehicle can travel (IG-ON or main system ON).

  The control ECU 13 determines whether or not the direction indicator 14 is operating based on whether or not a left ON signal or a right ON signal is notified from the direction indicator SW16 (S10). When the direction indicator 14 is not operating (No in S10), the process ends because there is no need to control the volume of the operating sound.

  When the direction indicator 14 is operating (Yes in S10), it is determined whether or not a certain time has passed since the direction indicator 14 was operated (S20). When the direction indicator 14 is operated, the control ECU 13 sounds the operation sound of the direction indicator 14 at the volume set last.

  If the predetermined time has not elapsed (No in S20), the process proceeds to step S90. Note that the fixed time does not have to be a certain time until the right / left turn or the course change is completed, and is a time to a certain extent that the right / left turn or the course change is completed in the shortest time or a shorter time. By doing so, the operating sound can be increased before the driver forgets to return the direction indicator SW16 (before the right / left turn or the course change is completed). Even if the fixed time is a certain time for turning right or left or changing the course, once the hearing loss temporary flag, which will be described later, is turned ON, the next time the direction indicator 14 is operated, the direction indicator 14 The operation sound can be generated at a high volume immediately after the start of the operation.

  When the predetermined time has elapsed (Yes in S20), the control ECU 13 determines whether or not the person is an elderly person based on the age determination result acquired from the image processing ECU 19 (S30). For example, when the control ECU 13 is 65 years or older, the control ECU 13 determines that the person is an elderly person.

  Note that the determination of whether or not an elderly person is not necessarily required, and the process of FIG. 3 can be performed regardless of whether or not the person is an elderly person (that is, assuming that step S20 is not present).

  If it is determined that the person is an elderly person (Yes in S30), the control ECU 13 processes whether or not the hearing loss provisional determination flag is ON (S40).

  When the hearing loss provisional determination flag is ON (Yes in S40), as will be described later, the driver's hearing is estimated to be less than the standard, so the control ECU 13 increases the volume of the operating sound of the direction indicator 14 by one level ( S50). Note that the volume of the operating sound returns to the volume (initial value) at the time of shipment of the vehicle by IG-OFF or the like. The initial value is set so that a driver whose hearing ability is above normal can be heard sufficiently.

  Next, the control ECU 13 determines whether or not the operating sound of the direction indicator 14 has reached the maximum value (S60). When it is not the maximum value (No in S60), the control ECU 13 determines whether or not there is a forgetting to return the direction indicator SW16 (S70). That is, if a left ON signal or a right ON signal is output from the direction indicator SW16 even after a certain time has elapsed, it is determined that the direction indicator SW16 has been forgotten to be returned.

  If there is a forgetting to return the direction indicator SW16 (Yes in S70), the process returns to step S40, so that the control ECU 13 again increases the volume of the operating sound of the direction indicator 14 by one level (S50). By the processes in steps S50 to S70, the operating sound can be increased until the direction indicator SW16 is not forgotten to be returned. Since the set value of the volume of the operation sound of the direction indicator 14 is stored in the RAM or the like, it is effective at the next operation of the direction indicator 14. Therefore, at the next operation of the direction indicator 14, the operation sound becomes loud immediately after the operation of the direction indicator 14, and it is possible to prevent forgetting to return.

  When the operating sound of the direction indicator 14 reaches the maximum value (Yes in S60), the forgetting to return cannot be resolved by increasing the volume of the operating sound. The meter ECU 18 is instructed (S80). That is, when the operating sound of the direction indicator 14 is maximum and there is a forgetting to return, a warning is displayed on the LCD or the like, so that the driver who has decreased hearing ability can be visually warned of the forgetting to return.

  When it is determined in step S70 that there is no forgetting to return the direction indicator SW16 (No in S70), the process proceeds to step S90.

  When it is determined in step S20 that a certain period of time has not passed (No in S20), it is determined in step S30 that the person is not an elderly person (No in S30), or when it is determined in step S40 that the temporary hearing decline flag is not ON ( The control ECU 13 determines whether or not the audio volume level is almost the maximum value (S90). The “substantially maximum value” includes not only the maximum value but also 80 to 90% or more of the maximum value.

  When the volume level of the audio is almost the maximum value (Yes in S90), the volume of the audio is not affected even if the driver is not an elderly person or the hearing loss provisional flag is not ON even before a certain time has elapsed. Since the level is high, the driver may not be able to hear the operating sound. Therefore, the control ECU 13 temporarily sets the operating sound of the direction indicator 14 to the maximum value (S100). Even if S100 is processed through step S70, the direction indicator SW16 is already OFF, so that no operation sound is generated. Further, the volume of the operation sound of the primary direction indicator 14 is not reflected in the next operation sound of the direction indicator.

  With the above processing, the direction indicator control device 100 can prevent the forgetting to return the direction indicator SW in advance by increasing the operation sound of the direction indicator when the driver's hearing is hindered. Become.

<Determination processing of hearing loss provisional determination flag>
FIG. 4 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure for setting a normal audio volume high flag for setting the hearing loss provisional determination flag. The procedure of FIG. 4 is executed in units of one trip immediately after the battery is connected to the control ECU 13 or the like. During one trip, it is determined periodically, for example, at 100 millisecond intervals. The normal audio volume high flag is newly generated every trip and the initial value is OFF.

  The control ECU 13 acquires the current volume level from the audio device 11 (S401).

  The control ECU 13 determines whether or not the current volume level of the audio device 11 is greater than the standard value (S402). This standard value can be set as appropriate, for example, an average volume level set by a driver with general hearing ability, a volume level at which the output from the speaker 12 is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and a half of the maximum volume level.

  When the current audio volume is larger than the standard value (Yes in S402), the control ECU 13 determines that the driver's hearing may be less than the standard, and sets the normal audio volume high flag to ON (S403).

  According to the procedure of FIG. 4, the normal audio volume high flag is turned ON if the answer is Yes in step S402 even once during one trip.

  When one trip ends, the normal audio volume high flag is stored in the last state, and held in a RAM or the like to which power is supplied from the battery. The normal audio volume high flag is a temporary flag indicating whether or not the driver's hearing loss determination is performed in the process of FIG.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a flowchart showing a procedure for setting the hearing loss temporary flag. The procedure of FIG. 5 is executed in units of trips from the second trip when the battery is connected to the control ECU 13 or the like. During one trip, it is determined periodically, for example, at 100 millisecond intervals. Since this is the second trip, the normal audio volume high flag is set to ON or OFF.

  In addition, the process of FIG. 4 is performed in parallel with the process of FIG. The normal audio volume high flag is operated also in the process of FIG. 4, but the normal audio volume high flag being operated in the process of FIG. 4 is not used in FIG. 5 which is processed in parallel. That is, the normal audio volume high flag in FIG. 4 is always used only on the next trip.

  The control ECU 13 acquires the current volume level from the audio device 11 (S411).

  The control ECU 13 determines whether or not the current audio volume is larger than the standard value (S412). The standard values are the same as those in FIG. If the current audio volume is not higher than the standard value (No in S412), the process in FIG. 5 ends.

  When the current audio volume is larger than the standard value (Yes in S412), the control ECU 13 determines whether or not the normal audio volume high flag is ON and the hearing loss temporary flag is OFF (S413). The reason why it is determined whether or not the hearing loss temporary flag is OFF is to prevent the hearing loss determination from being performed again within one trip when the hearing loss temporary flag is ON.

  When the normal audio volume high flag is ON and the hearing loss provisional flag is not OFF (No in S413), nothing is done because the current audio volume is not higher than the standard value after two trips. However, the normal audio volume high flag is set to ON by the processing of FIG. 4 being processed in parallel.

  When the normal audio volume high flag is ON and the hearing loss provisional flag is OFF (Yes in S413), the control ECU 13 determines the driver's hearing loss. That is, when the normal audio volume high flag is ON, it is determined that the volume level is higher than the standard value for two consecutive trips, which may reduce hearing.

  In order to determine the hearing loss of the driver, the control ECU 13 reduces the audio volume to a standard value (S414).

  Then, the control ECU 13 determines whether or not the driver (or any one of the passengers) has set the volume level of the audio higher than the standard value (S415). When the driver increases the volume level again with respect to the standard volume level, the control ECU 13 determines that the driver's hearing is decreasing.

  For this reason, when the driver increases the volume level of the audio device 11 from the standard value (Yes in S415), the control ECU 13 sets the hearing loss temporary flag to ON (S416). The hearing loss temporary flag is a flag that is turned on when it is determined that the driver's hearing is lowered, and does not specify actual hearing.

  Note that if the driver does not make the audio volume level higher than the standard value (No in S415), the control ECU 13 determines that the normal audio volume high flag referred to in the current trip (that is, the previous trip in FIG. 4). The normal audio volume high flag set to ON by processing is set to OFF (S417). As a result, even if the current audio volume becomes larger than the standard value again during the current trip, it is prevented that the hearing loss is judged, and the driver feels uncomfortable that the volume level automatically decreases. Can prevent feeling.

  As described with reference to FIG. 3, when the hearing loss temporary flag is ON, the operation sound of the direction indicator 14 gradually increases, so it is determined that the driver's hearing is reduced from the volume level of the audio device. In this case, forgetting to return the direction indicator SW16 can be suppressed. In addition, since the operation sound can be increased immediately after the operation of the direction indicator 14 after the next operation of the direction indicator 14, it is possible to prevent forgetting to return before the return forgetting occurs.

11 Audio equipment 12 Speaker 13 Control ECU
14 Direction indicator 15 ASSY
16 Direction indicator SW
17 Direction indicator speaker 18 Meter ECU
19 Image processing ECU
21 Display 22 Car interior camera 100 Direction indicator control device

Claims (1)

A direction indicator control device for controlling an operation sound of a direction indicator that indicates a traveling direction of a vehicle,
An operation member for receiving an operation for operating the direction indicator;
An operation sound output means for outputting an operation sound while the direction indicator is operating;
Hearing determination means for determining the hearing of the driver;
When the driver's hearing determined based on the volume level of the audio device is less than the standard, the volume control means for increasing the volume of the operating sound than when the driver's hearing is determined to be higher than the standard,
A direction indicator control device.

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