JP2014189089A - Periphery monitoring device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prompt attention to the periphery of a vehicle when the vehicle is started at an appropriate timing not only for a driver who makes a sudden start after getting in the vehicle, but also for a driver who starts a vehicle some time after getting in the vehicle without causing the drivers to feel excessive troublesomeness.SOLUTION: A periphery monitoring device for a vehicle includes: a first control part 51 that starts first control to notify a driver of a detection of an obstacle when the obstacle is detected by vehicle periphery monitoring means 11, 12, and 21-28 when preliminary operation detection means 41 detects a preliminary operation to start a vehicle; and a second control part 52 that starts second control to notify the driver of a detection of an obstacle when the obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means 11, 12, and 21-28 when a preceding operation is detected. The first control part ends the first control when a set time elapses after the start of the first control or when the second control is started. The second control part ends the second control when the vehicle speed reaches a set vehicle speed after the start of the vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device that monitors the periphery of a vehicle and informs a driver if there is an obstacle around the vehicle to call attention.

Conventionally, various techniques have been developed to monitor the periphery of a vehicle and notify the driver if there is an obstacle around the vehicle to call attention.
For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a vehicle periphery monitoring device that can notify the driver of a vehicle immediately before starting the vehicle of the presence of an object in the vicinity of the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver's seat.

  In this device, a vehicle-mounted camera is attached to the side of the vehicle opposite to the driver's seat, and a blind spot area around the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver's seat is photographed. A motion sensor for detecting an object moving in the blind spot area and a shift switch for detecting that the vehicle is about to start are provided, and it is detected that the vehicle is about to start, and at the same time, it moves in the blind spot area. When the object is detected, an image of the blind spot area by the in-vehicle camera is displayed on the display means. Thereby, it is supposed that the driver of the vehicle immediately before starting can be informed that there is a moving object around the side of the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver's seat.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a vehicle periphery monitoring device that enables a driver to be alerted in advance of a vehicle periphery condition even if the vehicle does not have a condition to start moving.
In this apparatus, when it is detected by the first detection means that the occupant is about to get on the vehicle, the periphery monitoring means is activated to start monitoring the periphery of the vehicle, and the occupant gets on the vehicle by the second detection means. Is detected, the notifying means notifies the passenger of the monitoring result of the periphery monitoring means.

  Thus, since the timing of starting the periphery monitoring means and the timing of notification to the occupant by the notification means are set, even if the conditions such as IG on, shift position movement, etc., the vehicle does not start, It is said that the driver can be notified in advance of the situation around the vehicle and can be alerted.

JP 2007-182117 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-115853

By the way, in the configuration of informing the driver that there is a moving object when a moving object is detected immediately before the vehicle starts, as in the technique of Patent Document 1, when the driver suddenly starts, There is a risk that the alert will not be in time.
In this regard, as in the technology of Patent Document 2, if the periphery monitoring unit is activated immediately before the occupant gets on the vehicle and the monitoring result of the periphery monitoring unit is notified to the occupant by the notification unit from the time when the occupant gets on the vehicle. In addition, it is possible to urge the driver who wants to start suddenly to call attention before starting.

  However, the driver does not always start the vehicle immediately after getting on, and some drivers may start after getting on after setting the car navigation, audio, air conditioning, etc. . As in the technique of Patent Document 2, if a driver who does not start immediately is alerted if he / she keeps alerting the situation of the surroundings monitoring from the time when the occupant gets on the vehicle, the surroundings monitoring system Even if it is necessary to call attention at the time of the start, it is assumed that this is not done.

  The present invention was devised in view of such a problem, and makes a driver who starts abruptly after getting on the vehicle feel excessively bothered by a driver who starts after a while after getting on the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle periphery monitoring device that can prompt attention to the periphery of a vehicle at the time of starting at an appropriate timing.

  (1) In order to achieve the above object, the vehicle periphery monitoring device according to the present invention provides a vehicle periphery monitoring means for monitoring a surrounding area of the vehicle and a driver when an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means. Notification means capable of reporting, operation control means for controlling the operation of the vehicle periphery monitoring means or the notification means, and preliminary operation detection means for detecting that a driver has performed a preliminary operation for starting the vehicle; And an immediately preceding operation detecting means for detecting that the driver has performed the immediately preceding operation for starting the vehicle through the preliminary operation, and the operation control means is configured such that the preliminary operation detecting means performs the preliminary operation. If an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means when detected, a first control unit that starts the first control that activates the notification means to notify the driver, and the immediately preceding operation detection means includes the direct control. A second control unit that starts a second control that activates the notification unit to notify a driver when an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring unit when an operation is detected; The first control unit ends the first control in at least one of a case where a set time has elapsed since the start of the first control and a case where the second control is started, The second control unit ends the second control when the vehicle speed reaches a set vehicle speed after the vehicle starts.

  When the driver gets into the vehicle and starts off, usually, for example, the operation of inputting a start switch for starting the drive system of the vehicle, such as turning on the ignition key, is performed, and if it is an automatic transmission, the range selector of the transmission Is switched to the traveling range, and if it is a manual transmission, the clutch pedal is depressed to change the shift to the traveling stage, and then the accelerator pedal is depressed to start. Thus, before starting the vehicle, in many cases, a plurality of operations are performed before the accelerator pedal is depressed. Therefore, pay attention to the operation (preliminary operation) before the previous operation such as the operation to input the start switch as well as the operation immediately before the accelerator pedal is depressed (immediate operation) such as switching the range selector to the travel range or depressing the clutch pedal. Then, when an obstacle in the surrounding area of the vehicle is detected at the stage where the preliminary operation for starting the vehicle is performed, the first control for notifying the driver of the presence of the obstacle is performed, and then the vehicle is started. When an obstacle in the surrounding area of the vehicle is detected at the stage where the immediately preceding operation has been performed, the second control for notifying the driver of the presence of the obstacle is performed.

(2) Preferably, the preliminary operation is an activation operation of the vehicle, and the preliminary operation detection means detects that the preliminary operation has been performed from an input signal of the activation operation.
(3) The immediately preceding operation is an operation of switching a range selector of the transmission of the vehicle to a travel range or an operation of depressing a clutch pedal, and the immediately preceding operation detecting means is a signal of switching the range selector or depressing the clutch pedal. It is preferable to detect that the previous operation has been performed from a signal.

(4) It is preferable that the vehicle periphery monitoring means is at least one of a camera that captures the surrounding area and a reflection sensor that searches for an object in the surrounding area.
(5) It is preferable that the obstacle detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means is a moving body.
(6) It is preferable that a changing means for changing the set time is provided.

  (7) The vehicle controller further includes stop command means for commanding stop of the vehicle periphery monitoring device, and the first control unit ends the first control when the stop command is commanded by the stop command means, The second control unit preferably ends the second control when a new stop command is issued by the stop command means.

  (1) According to the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention, the first control is performed to notify the driver when an obstacle in the peripheral region of the vehicle is detected at the stage where the preliminary operation for starting the vehicle is performed, and thereafter Since the second control is performed to notify the driver when an obstacle in the peripheral area of the vehicle is detected at the stage where the immediately preceding operation for starting the vehicle is performed, the presence of the obstacle from a relatively early stage of the series of starting operations. Can be notified to the driver, and the driver can be alerted to the driver who starts suddenly after boarding. In addition, for a driver who takes a time after the preliminary operation and then performs a previous operation, the notification by the first control may be troublesome, but the notification by the first control is limited within the set time. Therefore, bothering is avoided or suppressed. In addition, after starting the vehicle, the effect of notifying the detection of obstacles in the surrounding area of the vehicle decreases, and the notification becomes annoying, but the notification by the second control is performed until the vehicle speed reaches the set vehicle speed. Since it is limited in between, such annoyance is also avoided or suppressed.

(2) If the starting operation of the vehicle is a preliminary operation, it can be reliably detected that the preliminary operation has been performed.
(3) If the operation for switching the range selector of the transmission of the vehicle to the travel range is the previous operation, it can be reliably detected that the previous operation has been performed. Further, even if the operation of depressing the clutch pedal is set as the immediately preceding operation, it can be reliably detected that the immediately preceding operation has been performed.

(4) If a camera that captures the surrounding area or a reflection sensor that searches for an object in the surrounding area is used as the vehicle surrounding monitoring means, the surrounding area of the vehicle can be accurately monitored.
(5) If the obstacle detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means is a moving object, the presence of a moving object such as a person can be notified to the driver, which is effective in avoiding danger. Further, if the obstacle is specified as the moving body, the notification is limited to the obstacle with a high degree of danger, so the notification frequency can be suppressed and it is difficult for the driver to be bothered.

(6) If the set time for limiting the first control can be changed, the set time suitable for the driver can be given to balance the alerting by the first control and the troublesomeness avoidance.
(7) If a stop command means for commanding the stop of the device itself is provided, the driver can also stop the notification by the first control or the second control by the stop command means. This can be avoided or suppressed.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the monitoring area | region of the vehicle periphery by the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: (a) shows the area | region in the side view of a vehicle, (b) shows the area | region in planar view of a vehicle. (C) shows the area | region in the front view of a vehicle, (d) shows the area | region in the rear view of a vehicle. 1 is a schematic plan view of a vehicle including a vehicle periphery monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the display display used as alerting | reporting by the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention, (a) shows the alerting | reporting example of the obstruction ahead of a vehicle, (b) is the obstruction behind a vehicle An example of notification of an object is shown. It is a flowchart explaining 1st control by the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining 2nd control by the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, an automobile (engine vehicle) equipped with an engine (internal combustion engine) as a travel drive source for the vehicle will be described as an example. However, the present invention describes a motor (motor drive) as a travel drive source for the vehicle. Various electric vehicles equipped with a motor (motor generator) as a traveling drive source of a vehicle and a hybrid electric vehicle equipped with an engine (internal combustion engine) as a traveling drive source or a drive source of a generator. It can be applied to other vehicles. Further, the transmission of the present vehicle is an automatic transmission that switches the shift range by a selector lever (range selector), but the present invention can also be applied to a manual transmission.
This vehicle periphery monitoring device monitors the surrounding area of the vehicle that becomes a blind spot from the driver's seat, and if an obstacle is found in this surrounding area when starting the vehicle, this is notified to the driver to call attention. Device.

〔Device configuration〕
As shown in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (d), the driver sitting on the driver's seat of the vehicle 1 can visually recognize the outside through the window glass formed on the front, rear, and both sides. The area is limited. For example, since the visibility of the visual recognition area A1 in front of the vehicle 1 is also restricted by the lower engine hood, a blind area (dead angle) B1 that cannot be visually recognized below the visual recognition area A1 occurs. In addition, since the window glass is away from the driver's seat in the viewing area A2 behind the vehicle 1, a blind area (dead angle) B2 that cannot be seen below the viewing area A2 is generated.

The driver does not notice that there is an obstacle in the front blind area B1, starts the vehicle 1 forward, does not notice that there is an obstacle in the rear blind area B2, and moves the vehicle 1 backward. If you start, you may hit an obstacle. Moreover, there is a possibility that a child or the like is hidden in such blind areas B1 and B2.
In this case, the blind areas are specified as the front blind area B1 and the rear blind area B2. However, when the vehicle is started, the blind area is usually moved substantially straight forward or backward. This is because I thought. If it is assumed that when the vehicle starts, it is assumed that the transmission is made while turning at a steering angle, the blind area may be set also on the left and right sides of the vehicle 1.
Further, the blind areas B1 and B2 are asymmetric left and right due to the arrangement of the driver's seat, but this point is not considered in FIG.

Next, the vehicle periphery monitoring device will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus includes vehicle-mounted cameras 11 and 12 and reflection sensors 21 to 28 as vehicle periphery monitoring means, a monitor 31 and a speaker 32 as notification means, and preliminary operation detection. An ignition switch (IGSW) 41 as a means, a shift sensor 42 as a previous operation detecting means, an alarm release switch 43 as a stop command means for instructing to stop the apparatus, a vehicle speed sensor 44, a timer 45, and an operation control It has ECU50 as a means.

  As shown in FIG. 3, at the front end of the vehicle 1, the in-vehicle camera 11 that is equipped forward and the reflection sensors 21 to 24 that are equipped side by side so as to complement the search area with each other forward. In the rear end portion of the vehicle 1, an in-vehicle camera 12 equipped rearward and reflection sensors 25 to 28 equipped side by side so as to complement each other in the search area are provided. . In FIG. 3, the front of the vehicle 1 is indicated by F and the rear is indicated by R.

The vehicle-mounted camera 11 and the reflection sensors 21 to 24 at the front end of the vehicle 1 monitor the surrounding area of the vehicle that becomes a blind spot when the front of the vehicle 1 is visually recognized from the driver's seat. The camera 12 and the reflection sensors 25 to 28 monitor a peripheral area of the vehicle that becomes a blind spot when the rear of the vehicle 1 is visually recognized from the driver's seat.
As the in-vehicle cameras 11 and 12, wide-angle cameras are employed so that the front blind area B1 and the rear blind area B2 can be photographed as much as possible.

In addition, in FIG. 3, the imaging | photography range of the vehicle-mounted cameras 11 and 12 and the search range of the reflection sensors 21-28 are each typically shown with the dashed-two dotted line.
The reflection sensors 21 to 28 are sensors that detect an approaching object in a non-contact manner. For example, if an infrared reflection sensor that uses infrared rays as a detection probe is applied, the effect of preventing malfunction due to visible disturbance light or the like is enhanced. ing. As a sensor for detecting an approaching object in a non-contact manner, for example, there is a capacitance type proximity sensor or the like. 28 can be applied instead.

A general-purpose display equipped in many vehicles can be applied to the monitor 31 serving as the notification means, and a general-purpose speaker equipped in many vehicles can also be applied to the speaker 32 serving as the notification means. The monitor 31 and the speaker 32 include an image control device and a sound control device (both not shown) for controlling them.
In starting the vehicle, first, the vehicle is started. Therefore, this vehicle starting operation is defined as a preliminary operation that the driver performs to start the vehicle. Specifically, when starting the vehicle, the ignition switch (IGSW) 41 is first turned on (input). Therefore, the ignition switch 41 is turned on in order to allow the driver to start the vehicle. It prescribes. In addition, the ignition switch (IGSW) 41 generates an ON signal when receiving an ON operation, and thus functions as a preliminary operation detecting unit that detects that the preliminary operation has been performed.

  The starting operation of the vehicle is not limited to the ON operation of the ignition switch 41, and may be other starting operations. Moreover, those arbitrary combinations may be sufficient. In this case, it is possible to detect that the other operation is a preliminary operation, and that the preliminary operation has been performed from the ON signal (input signal) generated by the other operation, so the activation operation member that generates the ON signal detects the preliminary operation. Functions as a means. For example, in the case of an electric vehicle or a hybrid electric vehicle, a power switch is provided in place of the ignition switch 41. Therefore, an operation for starting the vehicle drive system by the power switch corresponds to an on operation of the ignition switch 41. Therefore, a preliminary operation detecting means can be provided as an internal function of the EV ECU or the like that receives the activation signal from the power switch.

  When the driver starts, after the ignition switch 41 is turned on, the driver selects a shift selector such as a shift lever from the stop range (P range) or the neutral range (N range) if it is an automatic transmission. Switch to (D range), reverse range (R range), etc., and then depress the accelerator pedal to start. Therefore, switching to the travel range of the shift selector is defined as an operation immediately before the driver performs immediately before starting in order to start the vehicle. Since the selection range of the shift selector is detected by the shift sensor 42, the shift sensor 42 functions as an immediately preceding operation detecting means for detecting that the immediately preceding operation has been performed.

In the case of a manual transmission, since the power transmission clutch is disengaged by depressing the clutch pedal in advance during the shift operation, the depression of the clutch pedal can be defined as the immediately preceding operation. Therefore, a clutch pedal sensor that detects the depression of the clutch pedal can be used as the immediately preceding operation detecting means for detecting that the immediately preceding operation has been performed.
The alarm release switch 43 is a stop command means for stopping the alarm when an alarm (alarm) is activated. Note that a main switch of the device for selecting whether to activate the device may be provided. However, in the present embodiment, notification (alarm) by the device is basically performed when a condition is met, and an alarm release switch 43 is used exclusively for stopping an ongoing notification (alarm) on the way.

The vehicle speed sensor 44 is a sensor that detects the vehicle speed from the rotational speed of the output shaft of an automatic transmission (not shown), and can use the one installed in the vehicle.
The timer 45 may be built in the ECU 50, but is provided separately from the ECU 50 here.
Although not shown in detail, the ECU 50 is a known type of control unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), an input / output port, and the like.

The ECU 50 is provided with a first control unit 51 that performs the first control and a second control unit 52 that performs the second control as functional elements.
When the ignition switch 41 is turned on, that is, when a preliminary operation for starting the vehicle is detected, the first control unit 51 causes the vehicle periphery monitoring means such as the in-vehicle cameras 11 and 12 and the reflection sensors 21 to 28 to fail. When an object is detected, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are operated in real time to start the first control for notifying the driver of the presence of an obstacle. Further, the first control unit 51 detects an obstacle in at least one of the case where the set time has elapsed since the start of the first control and the case where the second control described later is started. Even if it is detected, the first control is terminated. However, if the release operation is performed by the alarm release switch 43 before the set time elapses or before the second control is started, the first control is ended.

  When the second control unit 52 detects an immediately preceding operation for starting the vehicle and detects an obstacle by the vehicle periphery monitoring means such as the in-vehicle cameras 11 and 12 and the reflection sensors 21 to 28, the second control unit 52 Second control is performed in which the speaker 32 is operated to notify the driver of the presence of an obstacle. In addition, when the vehicle starts and the vehicle speed V reaches a preset vehicle speed V1, the second control unit 52 ends the second control even if an obstacle is detected. However, if the release operation is performed by the alarm release switch 43 before the vehicle speed V reaches the set vehicle speed V1, the second control is ended.

Therefore, when the immediately preceding operation is detected during the first control while the obstacle is continuously detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means, the control is switched to the second control. In this case, the driver is notified of the presence of the obstacle. Continue continuously.
The reason why the second control is terminated when the vehicle speed V reaches the set vehicle speed V1 is that the presence of an obstacle is notified to the driver at the time of starting, and the vehicle speed V reaches the set vehicle speed V1. Until the start. Therefore, the set vehicle speed V1 is set to a very low speed (for example, about 10 km / h or less). Thus, the reason why the control by this apparatus is specified at the start is as follows.

  That is, the control of monitoring the surroundings of the vehicle and notifying the driver when the presence of an obstacle is detected is effective not only when starting but also when traveling. However, the surrounding area of the vehicle to be monitored when starting, that is, when the vehicle is stopped, is different from the surrounding area of the vehicle to be monitored when traveling. Therefore, the control at the time of starting and the control at the time of traveling are separated.

  In other words, since the driver cannot visually recognize the blind area immediately adjacent to the stopped vehicle, it is extremely effective to notify the driver of the presence of an obstacle in the blind area immediately adjacent to the vehicle. However, when traveling, the blind area at a certain point in time is visually recognized immediately before, so the driver always confirms the blind area at that point immediately before. Therefore, when traveling, it is basically not necessary to notify the presence of an obstacle in the blind area closest to the vehicle. Rather, it is more effective to notify the presence of an obstacle that is far from the vehicle and difficult to see. is there. Therefore, the object of the obstacle to be monitored is set separately at the time of starting and at the time of running, and the control is also separated.

In this embodiment, the alarm release switch 43 is enabled even during the execution of the second control. However, since it is considered that the alarm does not start with the warning alarm from the second control flowing, During implementation, the alarm release switch 43 may be disabled.
For example, if there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle, the driver is notified that there is an obstacle adjacent to the front part of the vehicle schematically displayed as shown in FIG. 4A. Then, the message “Obstacle in front” can be displayed together. Also, if there is an obstacle behind the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 4B, a picture indicating that there is an obstacle adjacent to the rear part of the vehicle schematically displayed is displayed. "Can be displayed and displayed together.

In addition, notification using the speaker 32 is also performed, but the notification using the speaker 32 may be a simple alarm or a voice message.
Although only one of the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 may be used to notify the driver, when only the speaker 32 is used, an “obstacle in front” or an “obstruction in the rear” It is preferable to specifically notify the position of the obstacle.

  In the second control, the information of the shift sensor 42 can be used to determine whether the vehicle starts forward (forward) or backwards (reverse). In this case, the vehicle is operated only when there is an obstacle in the start direction. It is also conceivable to notify the person. In addition, when there is a shift sensor in the manual transmission, after starting the second control based on the depression signal of the clutch pedal, if the start direction is grasped from the information of the shift sensor and there is an obstacle in the start direction It is also conceivable to notify the driver in a limited manner.

[Action and effect]
Since the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, for example, the first control is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The second control can be performed. Note that the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 and 6 are activated in response to the ride of the driver. A driver's boarding can be judged using the signal of the door opening / closing sensor or the signal of the seating sensor of the driver's seat.

  5 and 6 may be activated in response to the detection of the preliminary operation (that is, the ignition switch 41 being operated from OFF to ON). In this case, the flowchart of FIG. 5 starts from step S20 with step S10 omitted. In the flowchart of FIG. 6, the operation may be started in response to the detection of the operation immediately before the start operation (that is, the automatic transmission is switched from the stop range or the neutral range to the travel range). In this case, the flowchart of FIG. 6 starts from step S120 with step S110 omitted.

  Furthermore, in the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 and 6, when the process proceeds to return, the process from the start is performed again after a preset control cycle, and the process is terminated when the process proceeds to the end. 5 and 6 is a flag related to the second control by the second control unit 52. This flag F is set to 1 when the execution condition of the second control is satisfied, and the second control If the implementation condition is not established, it is set to 0.

  First, regarding the first control, as shown in FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the ignition switch 41 is operated from OFF to ON (step S10), and when the ignition switch 41 is operated to ON, 12 or the reflection sensors 21 to 28 is used to determine whether or not an obstacle has been detected (step S20). If an obstacle is detected, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are operated in real time. The driver is notified of the presence of the obstacle by the image display and the warning alarm (step S30).

  Thereafter, the timer is started or counted (step S40), and it is determined whether or not the timer count value T has reached a set value T1 corresponding to a preset set time (step S50). When Steps S10 to S40 are repeatedly performed in each control cycle and the timer count value T reaches the set time T1, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are stopped to release the image display and the alarm alarm (Step S80). Then, the first control is terminated.

  If the timer count value T does not reach the set time T1, it is determined whether or not an alarm cancel command has been issued (the alarm cancel switch 43 has been cancelled) (step S60). Here, when the alarm release switch 43 is operated and an alarm release command is issued before the timer count value T reaches the set time T1, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are stopped to release the image display and the alarm alarm. (Step S80), the first control is terminated.

  If there is no alarm release command, it is determined whether or not the flag F is 1 (step S70). The flag F is switched by the second control described later shown in FIG. Here, there is no alarm cancel command before the timer count value T reaches the set time T1, but when the flag F becomes 1, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are stopped to cancel the image display and the alarm alarm. (Step S80), the first control is terminated.

Therefore, when the timer count value T is less than the set time T1, there is no alarm release command, and the execution condition for the second control is not satisfied, the first control is continued.
Next, regarding the second control, as shown in FIG. 6, first, whether or not there has been an operation immediately before the start operation, in the case of this embodiment, the automatic transmission (AT or CVT) is in the stop range (P range). Alternatively, it is determined whether or not the neutral range (N range) has been switched to the drive range (D range), reverse range (R range), or the like, which is the travel range (step S110). In the case of a manual transmission, it can be determined whether or not there has been an operation immediately before the start operation, for example, depending on whether or not the clutch is on (the clutch pedal is depressed).

  If there is an operation immediately before the start operation, it is determined whether an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means such as the in-vehicle cameras 11 and 12 and the reflection sensors 21 to 28 (step S120). If an obstacle is detected, The flag F is set to 1 (step S130), the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are operated in real time, and the presence of an obstacle is notified to the driver by an image display and a warning alarm (step S140).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the detected vehicle speed V has reached a preset set vehicle speed V1 (step S150). When the vehicle speed V reaches the set vehicle speed V1, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are stopped to release the image display and the alarm alarm (step S170), the flag F is set to 0 (step S180), and the second End control.
On the other hand, if the vehicle speed V does not reach the set vehicle speed V1, it is determined whether or not an alarm cancel command has been issued (the alarm cancel switch 43 has been cancelled) (step S160).

If there is an alarm release command, the monitor 31 and the speaker 32 are stopped to release the image display and the alarm alarm (step S170), the flag F is set to 1 (step S180), and the second control is terminated. To do.
Therefore, when the vehicle speed V is less than the set vehicle speed V1 and there is no alarm release command, the second control is continued.

  As described above, according to the vehicle periphery monitoring device, when an obstacle in the peripheral region of the vehicle 1 is detected at the stage where the preliminary operation for starting the vehicle 1 is performed, the driver is notified of the presence of the obstacle. When the obstacle is detected in the peripheral area of the vehicle 1 at the stage where the control is performed and then the immediately preceding operation for starting the vehicle 1 is performed, the second control for notifying the driver of the presence of the obstacle is performed. The presence of an obstacle can be notified to the driver from a relatively early stage of the starting operation. For this reason, it can be in time for alerting the driver who starts suddenly after boarding.

In addition, for the driver who starts after a preliminary operation, the notification by the first control may be bothersome, but the notification by the first control is limited within the set time, and the driver Since the notification can be stopped by the stop command means, the troublesomeness is avoided or suppressed.
Further, since the operation for inputting the activation switch for activating the drive system of the vehicle 1 is a preliminary operation, it is possible to reliably detect that the preliminary operation has been performed. Moreover, since the input of the start switch is closer to the start timing of the vehicle than the timing at which the driver gets into the vehicle, it is effective as a timing to notify the driver. For example, when the driver gets into the vehicle, the vehicle often does not start immediately, and an unnecessary alarm is issued. Compared with this, there is a higher possibility that the vehicle will start immediately after the start switch is input. Therefore, an alarm is easily issued effectively.

Furthermore, since the operation for switching the range selector of the transmission of the vehicle 1 to the travel range is the previous operation, it is possible to reliably detect that the previous operation has been performed. Further, even if the operation of depressing the clutch pedal is set as the immediately preceding operation, it can be reliably detected that the immediately preceding operation has been performed.
Since the cameras 11 and 12 for photographing the side areas and the reflection sensors 21 to 28 for searching for objects in the peripheral area are used as the vehicle periphery monitoring means, the vehicle periphery can be accurately monitored.

[Others]
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this embodiment, It can implement by deform | transforming said embodiment suitably or employ | adopting a part.
For example, the preliminary operation and the immediately preceding operation are not limited to the above embodiment.
The preliminary operation is not limited to the driving operation of the drive system of the vehicle, but there is also a seat belt mounting operation. A configuration in which the preliminary operation is performed when either the operation or the seat belt mounting operation is performed is also conceivable.

  Also, with regard to the immediately preceding operation, since the normal brake pedal depression operation is performed immediately before the operation of switching the range selector to the traveling range, the brake pedal depression operation is referred to as the immediately preceding operation instead of the switching operation to the traveling range. In addition to the operation to switch to the travel range, a configuration in which the operation immediately before the operation of either or both of these operations is performed using the operation of depressing the brake pedal as the immediately preceding operation is also conceivable.

In addition, if the obstacle detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means is specified as a moving body, the notification is limited to the obstacle with a high degree of danger, so the notification frequency can be suppressed and the driver is bothered. It becomes difficult to give. In particular, if the detection target is a moving body, the presence of a moving object such as a person can be notified to the driver, which is more effective in avoiding danger.
In addition, if a change means (such as a time selection switch) that allows the driver or the like to change the set time for limiting the first control is prepared, the set time suitable for the driver is given to alert the first control. And the avoidance of annoyance can be balanced.

  Further, in this embodiment, an alarm release switch 43 is provided as a stop command means for commanding the stop of the apparatus, and the notification can be stopped if the driver feels annoying the notification of the obstacle. The stop command means is not essential to the apparatus and can be omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 11, 12 Car-mounted camera as vehicle periphery monitoring means 21-28 Reflection sensor as vehicle periphery monitoring means 31 Monitor as notification means 32 Speaker as notification means 41 Ignition switch (IGSW) as preliminary operation detection means
42 Shift sensor as the immediately preceding operation detection means 43 Alarm release switch as the stop command means 44 Vehicle speed sensor 45 Timer 50 ECU as the operation control means
51 1st control part 52 2nd control part A1, A2 visual recognition area B1, B2 Blind area (dead angle)

Claims (7)

Vehicle periphery monitoring means for monitoring the surrounding area of the vehicle;
Informing means capable of notifying a driver when an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means;
Operation control means for controlling the operation of the vehicle periphery monitoring means or the notification means;
Preliminary operation detecting means for detecting that a driver has performed a preliminary operation for starting the vehicle;
Immediately before operation detecting means for detecting that a driver has performed an immediately preceding operation for starting the vehicle through the preliminary operation;
With
The operation control means includes
When the preliminary operation detecting means detects the preliminary operation, if an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring means, a first control unit that starts the first control that activates the notification means to notify the driver When,
A second control unit that starts a second control that activates the notification unit and notifies the driver when an obstacle is detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring unit when the previous operation detection unit detects the previous operation. And having
The first control unit ends the first control in at least one of a case where a set time has elapsed since the start of the first control and a case where the second control is started. And
The vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the second control unit ends the second control when the vehicle speed reaches a set vehicle speed after the vehicle starts. The preliminary operation is a start operation of the vehicle,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the preliminary operation detection unit detects that the preliminary operation is performed from an input signal of the activation operation. The immediately preceding operation is an operation of switching a range selector of the transmission of the vehicle to a traveling range or an operation of depressing a clutch pedal,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the immediately preceding operation detecting unit detects that the immediately preceding operation has been performed from a switching signal of the range selector or a depression signal of a clutch pedal. The vehicle periphery monitoring means is at least one of a camera that captures the surrounding area and a reflection sensor that searches for an object in the surrounding area. Vehicle periphery monitoring device. The vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detected by the vehicle periphery monitoring unit is a moving body. The vehicle periphery monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising a changing unit that changes the set time. Further comprising stop command means for commanding stop of the vehicle periphery monitoring device;
The first control unit ends the first control when a stop command is given by the stop command means,
The vehicle periphery according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the second control unit ends the second control when a new stop command is issued by the stop command means. Monitoring device.

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