JP2017058761A - Driving assistance device and driving assistance program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving assistance device, etc., with which it is possible to estimate the intent of a driver and notify the execution of a lane change to those around before vehicle movement is started by a steering operation.SOLUTION: A direction indicator lighting device 100 that is a driving assistance device, mounted in a vehicle A together with a notification device 34, comprises a traveling environment determination unit 61, a driver characteristic determination unit 64, and a device control unit 67. The traveling environment determination unit 61 determines whether or not the vehicle A is in a specific scene in which a lane change is performed. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 determines the execution of a lane change by a driver on the basis of a learning profile LP. A characteristic preliminary operation before the line change is started is learned in the learning profile LP. The device control unit 67 notifies the execution of a lane change to those around by the notification device 34 when it is determined that the vehicle A is in the specific scene and that there is an intent to execute the lane change.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device and a driving support program that control the operation of a notification device that notifies surroundings of the execution of a lane change.

  Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a driving support device that detects a steering operation performed by a driver and determines a driver's intention to change a lane to an adjacent lane based on the steering operation. When it is determined that the driver intends to change lanes, this driving support device turns on the blinker as a warning means for the following vehicle or the like.

JP 2011-133965 A

  Now, in the driving assistance device of Patent Document 1, the intention of the driver to change the lane is determined from the steering operation. Therefore, the notification to the periphery of the lane change execution by turning on the blinker or the like is after the vehicle starts to move in the lateral direction by the steering operation, and the timing of notification to the following vehicle is late.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and its purpose is to estimate the driver's intention before the start of the movement of the vehicle by the steering operation, and to perform the lane change around. It is to provide a technology that can be notified.

  In order to achieve the above object, one disclosed invention is a driving support device that is mounted on a vehicle (A) together with a notification device (34) that notifies the surroundings of the execution of a lane change and that can control the operation of the notification device. The driving environment determination unit (61, 261) that determines whether or not the vehicle is in a specific scene set as a scene where the lane change is performed, and before the steering operation for the lane change is started Based on a learning profile (LP) obtained by learning characteristic preliminary movements for each driver, a vehicle is identified by a driver characteristic determination unit (64, 264) that determines whether or not the driver intends to change lanes, and a traveling environment determination unit. When it is determined that the vehicle is in the scene and the driver characteristic determination unit determines that the lane change is intended to be performed, the control of the notification device controls the lane change. A device controller to notify (67,267), the driving support device comprising a.

  In the learning profile according to the present invention, information related to a characteristic preliminary operation performed by the driver before starting the steering operation for changing the lane is accumulated for each driver. Based on such a learning profile, the driver characteristic determination unit can estimate the intention to perform the lane change in each driver with high accuracy.

  In addition, a scene with a high probability of changing lanes can be specified in advance. Therefore, the device control unit performs notification when it is determined that the scene has a high lane change execution probability and it is estimated that the lane change execution intention is based on the learning profile. According to the above, the driving support device can estimate the driver's intention and notify the surroundings of the lane change before the movement of the vehicle is started by the steering operation.

  Another disclosed invention is a driving support program capable of controlling the operation of the notification device (34) for notifying the surroundings of the execution of the lane change, in which the vehicle (A) is changed. A driving environment determination step (S131, S132) for determining whether or not a specific scene set as a scene and a characteristic preliminary operation before starting a steering operation for changing lanes are learned for each driver. Based on the learning profile (LP), the driver characteristic determination step (S133, S134) for determining whether or not the driver intends to perform the lane change and the driving environment determination step determine that the vehicle is in the specific scene, and the driver characteristic. If it is determined in the decision step that there is an intention to change the lane, the lane change is controlled by the notification device. And notification to device control step (S135, S139), and the driving support program to be executed at least one processor (50a).

  Even when the above driving support program is executed, it is possible to estimate the driver's intention and notify the surroundings of the lane change before the movement of the vehicle is started by the steering operation.

  Note that the reference numbers in the parentheses are merely examples of correspondences with specific configurations in the embodiments to be described later in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and limit the scope of the present invention. It is not a thing.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole image of the direction indicator lighting device mounted in the vehicle, other vehicle equipment, etc. It is a figure which shows an example of a specific scene. It is a figure which shows an example of a specific scene. It is a figure which shows an example of a specific scene. It is a figure which shows an example of a specific scene. It is a flowchart which shows the learning process implemented in a control circuit. It is a flowchart which shows the operation control process implemented in a control circuit. It is a block diagram which shows the whole image of the direction indicator lighting device by 2nd embodiment, another vehicle-mounted apparatus, etc.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the overlapping description may be abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol to the corresponding component in each embodiment. When only a part of the configuration is described in each embodiment, the configuration of the other embodiment described above can be applied to the other part of the configuration. Moreover, not only the combination of the configurations explicitly described in the description of each embodiment, but also the configuration of a plurality of embodiments can be partially combined even if they are not explicitly described, as long as there is no problem in the combination. And the combination where the structure described in several embodiment and the modification is not specified shall also be disclosed by the following description.

(First embodiment)
A direction indicator lighting device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle A together with a direction indicator 35, a communication device 36, etc., and the operation of the direction indicator 35 and the communication device 36 is performed. It can be controlled. The direction indicator 35 and the communication device 36 function as a notification device 34 that notifies the surroundings of the execution of the lane change scheduled for the vehicle A. The direction indicator lighting device 100 can estimate whether or not the driver of the vehicle A intends to perform the lane change, and can automatically start notification of the possibility of the lane change by the notification device 34 instead of the driver.

  First, each component connected to the direction indicator lighting device 100 will be described. The direction indicator lighting device 100 is connected to a large number of in-vehicle devices and acquires information from each in-vehicle device. In-vehicle devices include sensors, input switches, ECUs (Electronic Control Units), and combinations of these. Specifically, the direction indicator lighting device 100 is connected to the radar sensor 11, the periphery monitoring camera 12, the map database 13, the GNSS receiver 14, and the like. Further, the direction indicator lighting device 100 is connected to a vehicle speed sensor 21, a steering sensor 22, a direction indicator switch 23, a brake sensor 24, an accelerator sensor 25, an in-vehicle camera 26, a line-of-sight detection device 27, and the like.

  The radar sensor 11 and the periphery monitoring camera 12 are included in the periphery monitoring system mounted on the vehicle A. The radar sensor 11 is installed at the front part of the vehicle A, for example. The radar sensor 11 emits millimeter waves from the transmission unit toward the traveling direction of the vehicle A. The radar sensor 11 receives millimeter waves reflected by a moving object and a stationary object in the traveling direction by a receiving unit. The peripheral monitoring camera 12 has a plurality of imaging units installed in the vehicle A, for example. Each imaging unit is fixed with the imaging surface facing the traveling direction of the vehicle A, the rear, the left and right sides, etc., and sequentially generates images of the surroundings of the vehicle A. The radar sensor 11 and the surrounding monitoring camera 12 are pedestrians, non-human animals, moving objects such as bicycles, motorcycles, and other vehicles, as well as falling objects on the road, traffic signals, guardrails, curbs, road signs, road markings. Stationary objects such as lane markings and trees can be detected. The radar sensor 11 and the periphery monitoring camera 12 can acquire the positional relationship, form, relative speed, and the like of other vehicles that travel around the vehicle A.

  The map database 13 and the GNSS receiver 14 are included in a navigation device mounted on the vehicle A. The navigation device creates route information to a destination input by a driver or the like, and performs guidance for the driver according to the route information. The map database 13 stores map data including road shape information composed of node data and link data. A GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver 14 acquires position information indicating the current position of the vehicle A by receiving positioning signals transmitted from a plurality of positioning satellites. The navigation device creates route information to an input destination such as a driver.

  The vehicle speed sensor 21 detects the traveling speed of the vehicle A by measuring the rotational speed of the output shaft or the axle of the transmission. The steering sensor 22 detects the steering angle of the steering wheel operated by the driver. The direction indicator switch 23 is a lever-type switch provided on the steering column. An input for operating the direction indicator 35 is input to the direction indicator switch 23 by the driver. The brake sensor 24 detects the depression force of the brake pedal by the driver. The accelerator sensor 25 detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal by the driver.

  The in-vehicle camera 26 is a near infrared camera combined with a near infrared light source, for example. The in-vehicle camera 26 is installed in the room of the vehicle A, and mainly captures the driver's face with light emitted from a near-infrared light source. The line-of-sight detection device 27 acquires an image captured by the in-vehicle camera 26. The gaze detection device 27 detects the gaze direction of both eyes of the driver by analyzing the image of the driver's face. In addition, the line-of-sight detection device 27 can identify the current driver from the driver's face image.

  The direction indicator lighting device 100 is connected to the display 32 and the speaker 33 in addition to the direction indicator 35 and the communication device 36 described above. The direction indicator lighting device 100 can control not only the direction indicator 35 and the communication device 36 but also the operation of the display 32 and the speaker 33.

  The direction indicator 35 is a structure which shows the moving direction of the vehicle A to the periphery at the time of right / left turn and lane change. When the direction indicator 35 is turned on by the operation of the direction indicator switch 23, the vehicle A intended by the driver moves laterally and rearward by blinking the left and right lighting sections. Notify directions to the surroundings. The lighting parts of the direction indicator 35 are provided in a pair of left and right on each of the front part, rear part, and side part of the vehicle A.

  The communication device 36 is mounted on the vehicle A and can communicate wirelessly with communication devices mounted on the other vehicles A1 to A3 around the vehicle. The communication device 36 can exchange information with each communication device of the other vehicles A1 to A3 by inter-vehicle communication. One of the information transmitted to the other vehicles A1 to A3 by the communication device 36 is information for notifying the possibility of lane change.

  The display 32 and the speaker 33 are mounted on the vehicle A and function as a notification device 31 that notifies the driver of information. The display 32 can form various images on the display surface. The display 32 notifies information to a driver or the like by an image displayed on the display surface. The speaker 33 can reproduce various sounds in the vehicle interior based on the input electric signal. The speaker 33 notifies information to the driver or the like by the reproduced sound.

  Next, the configuration of the direction indicator lighting device 100 will be described. The direction indicator lighting device 100 includes a control circuit 50. The control circuit 50 is mainly configured by a microcomputer having a processor 50a, a RAM, and a flash memory. The control circuit 50 is provided with an input / output interface connected to each in-vehicle device, the notification device 31, the notification device 34, and the operation stop switch 40.

  The control circuit 50 uses the information related to the driving scene analysis from the environmental viewpoint and the information related to the driving characteristics from the driver viewpoint to estimate the intention to change the lane before reaching the steering operation for changing the lane and automatically Start notification to. In order to realize such a function, the control circuit 50 executes a predetermined driving support program by the processor 50a, whereby the driving environment determination unit 61, the driver characteristic determination unit 64, the device control unit 67, and the operation control unit 69 are performed. Is constructed as a functional block.

  The traveling environment determination unit 61 is based not only on the situation of the host vehicle A, but also on the positional relationship, form, and relative speed of the other vehicles A1 to A3 traveling around, and information on the shape of the traveling road. Carry out driving scene analysis from an environmental perspective. The traveling environment determination unit 61 can acquire the positional relationship, form, and relative speed of the other vehicles A <b> 1 to A <b> 3 from the outputs of the radar sensor 11 and the surrounding monitoring camera 12. The traveling environment determination unit 61 can acquire surrounding road shape information, route information, and the like from the output of the navigation device.

  The driving environment determination unit 61 estimates a driving scene based on the acquired information. Specifically, the traveling environment determination unit 61 determines whether or not the vehicle A is in a specific scene set as a scene where a lane change is performed. Several scenes with a high possibility of changing lanes from the speed and positional relationship of surrounding vehicles can be assumed. Therefore, a plurality of types of specific scenes, which will be described later, are set in advance in the traveling environment determination unit 61 (see FIGS. 2 to 5).

  The traveling environment determination unit 61 outputs information indicating the current scene to the driver characteristic determination unit 64 when it is determined that the vehicle A is in the specific scene based on the outputs of the in-vehicle devices (11 to 14). Further, the traveling environment determination unit 61 monitors the relative position of the section line with respect to the vehicle A based on the outputs of the radar sensor 11 and the surrounding monitoring camera 12. The travel environment determination unit 61 determines whether or not a lane change has been performed based on a change in the relative position of the lane markings, and outputs a determination result to the driver characteristic determination unit 64.

  The driver characteristic determination unit 64 estimates the intention of the lane change based on the analysis of the driving characteristic from the viewpoint of the driver, using the extracted driver operation and the information accumulated in the learning profile LP. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 is connected to a profile database 68 that can store a large number of learning profiles LP. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 can refer to each learning profile LP in the profile database 68 and can update each learning profile LP.

  The profile database 68 is a storage area secured in the flash memory. The profile database 68 stores a plurality of learning profiles LP generated for each driver. Each learning profile LP has learned a characteristic preliminary movement by the driver before the steering operation for changing the lane is started. Such preliminary movements related to lane changes include a driver's confirmation operation for confirming the rear side, acceleration / deceleration operation for adjusting the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the driver's unintentionally staggering. . In addition, each learning profile LP records information such as at what timing the direction indicator switch 23 is operated to turn on the direction indicator 35 with respect to the timing at which the steering operation is started.

  Here, the preliminary operation will be further described. Most drivers perform an operation to check the rear side when changing lanes. The confirmation method also differs depending on the driver, whether to look backwards or just look at the side mirror. Similarly, when changing lanes, the tendency of decelerating or accelerating is different for each driver so as not to overlap a parallel vehicle traveling in the destination lane. There are also drivers who tend to wander slightly before changing lanes. By analyzing the characteristics of the preliminary motion as described above, driver behavior and vehicle behavior that are highly relevant to lane change are accumulated in the learning profile LP.

  The driver characteristic determination unit 64 has a function of generating a learning profile LP and a function of performing determination based on the learning profile LP. As a function of generating the learning profile LP, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 continues to detect the driver's preliminary movement related to the lane change. Specifically, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 converts the driver behavior estimated from the outputs of the in-vehicle camera 26 and the line-of-sight detection device 27 and the vehicle behavior calculated from the outputs of the sensors 21, 22, 24, and 25. Based on this, the driving characteristics of each driver are analyzed on a daily basis. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 accumulates information about each driver obtained by the analysis in the learning profile LP. As a result, it is possible to generate a learning profile that learns the characteristics of the preliminary operation unique to each driver.

  In addition, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 can acquire information indicating the type of the specific scene from the traveling environment determination unit 61. When detecting the preliminary motion related to the lane change, the traveling environment determination unit 61 can store the feature of the preliminary motion of the driver in the learning profile LP in association with the information indicating the type of the specific scene.

  The driver characteristic determination unit 64 determines whether or not the driver intends to perform lane change based on the learning profile LP. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 of the first embodiment starts determining the intention to perform the lane change based on the learning profile LP based on the determination that the vehicle A is in the specific scene by the traveling environment determination unit 61. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 analyzes the outputs of the in-vehicle camera 26 and the line-of-sight detection device 27 and the vehicle behavior calculated from the sensors 21, 22, 24, and 25, and performs preliminary operations such as confirmation operation, acceleration / deceleration operation, and wobbling. Extract behavior. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 determines whether or not the driver intends to perform the lane change based on the learning profile LP based on the characteristics of the preliminary motion. For example, when the driver confirms the side mirror while accelerating the vehicle A, the traveling environment determination unit 61 estimates that there is an intention to change lanes, assuming that a lane change sign is detected based on the learning profile LP. When the driver characteristic determination unit 64 determines that the driver has an intention to change the lane, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 outputs information indicating that the driver has the intention to execute to the device control unit 67.

  The device control unit 67 controls the direction indicator 35 and the communication device 36 to notify the other vehicles A1 to A3 traveling around that there is a possibility of lane change. When the driving environment determination unit 61 determines that the vehicle A is in a specific scene and the driver characteristic determination unit 64 determines that the intention to perform lane change is intended, the device control unit 67 controls the notification device 34. Notify the surroundings of the lane change. The driver characteristic determination unit 64 of the first embodiment starts notification to the surroundings based on the fact that information indicating that there is an intention to perform is acquired from the driver characteristic determination unit 64.

  The device control unit 67 sets a waiting time for waiting for the driver to operate the direction indicator 35 before starting notification by the direction indicator 35. The length of the waiting time is adjusted based on the lighting timing of the direction indicator 35 of the driver learned by the learning profile LP. The device control unit 67 can refer to the learning profile LP in the profile database 68 via the driver characteristic determination unit 64. When it is determined that the vehicle A is in a specific scene and it is determined that there is an intention to change lanes, a lane change notification is given by the direction indicator 35 after the standby time set by the device control unit 67 has elapsed. Automatically started.

  On the other hand, the device control unit 67 notifies the surrounding vehicles A1 to A3 of the possibility of lane change by wireless communication using the communication device 36 before the operation of the direction indicator 35 without waiting for the elapse of the waiting time. Is possible. In addition, when notifying the lane change by the direction indicator 35, the device control unit 67 notifies the driver of the notification by the display 32 and the sound output of the speaker 33.

  The operation control unit 69 is connected to the operation stop switch 40. The operation control unit 69 can stop the control of the notification device 34 by the device control unit 67 based on an input to the operation stop switch 40 by a driver or the like. As a result, the automatic lighting function of the direction indicator 35 by the control circuit 50 can be switched on and off so as not to bother the driver.

  Next, specific examples of the specific scene set in the traveling environment determination unit 61 will be described with reference to FIGS. The vehicles A1 to A3 may be conventional manual driving vehicles operated by the driver, or may be automatic driving vehicles in which the system performs all or part of the steering.

  The specific scene shown in FIG. 2 is a situation in which another vehicle A2 slower than the own vehicle A appears in front of the own vehicle A. The traveling environment determination unit 61 can grasp the relative speed of the other surrounding vehicles A1 to A3 with respect to the host vehicle A based on information acquired by the radar sensor 11 and the surrounding monitoring camera 12. The driver of the host vehicle A changes the lane so as to interrupt between the two other vehicles A1 and A3 traveling in the traveling lane in order to avoid clogging with the other vehicle A2.

  In such a scene, if the left turn indicator 35 is not turned on by the driver of the own vehicle A, there is a possibility that the other vehicle A1 may be delayed in the action of avoiding the own vehicle A. However, if the direction indicator lighting device 100 automatically lights the direction indicator 35 before the own vehicle A starts lateral movement toward the traveling lane, the driver of the other vehicle A1 can Recognizing the container 35, actions such as deceleration for avoiding the host vehicle A can be quickly started.

  The specific scene shown in FIG. 3 is a situation in which the route information generated by the navigation device indicates movement to a branch road ahead of the adjacent lane. The driver of the host vehicle A tries to travel according to route guidance by the navigation device. As a result, the own vehicle A changes the lane to the branch road so as to cross between two other vehicles A1 and A3 traveling in the traveling lane. In such a scene, even if the driver forgets to turn on the direction indicator 35, if the direction indicator 35 is automatically turned on, the driver of the other vehicle A1 notices the direction indicator 35 and avoids the own vehicle A. Can be started without delay.

  The specific scene shown in FIG. 4 is a situation in which another vehicle A2 that travels at a higher speed than the host vehicle A approaches from the rear of the host vehicle A. The driver of the host vehicle A gives way to the other vehicle A2, and changes lanes between the two other vehicles A1 and A3 traveling in the traveling lane in order to avoid the following vehicle A2. In such a scene, even if the driver forgets to turn on the direction indicator 35, if the direction indicator 35 is automatically turned on, the driver of the other vehicle A1 notices the direction indicator 35 and avoids the own vehicle A. Can immediately start actions such as deceleration.

  The specific scene shown in FIG. 5 is a situation in which another large vehicle A2 such as a bus or a truck appears in front of the host vehicle A. The traveling environment determination unit 61 can also grasp the shapes of other surrounding vehicles A1 to A3 based on information acquired by the radar sensor 11 and the periphery monitoring camera 12. The driver of the host vehicle A dislikes the positional relationship behind the large vehicle, and changes the lane so as to interrupt between the two other vehicles A1 and A3 traveling in the traveling lane. In such a scene, even if the driver forgets to turn on the direction indicator 35, if the direction indicator 35 is automatically turned on, the driver of the other vehicle A1 notices the direction indicator 35 and avoids the own vehicle A. Can quickly start actions such as deceleration. As described above, the estimation accuracy of the possibility of lane change is further improved by classifying large vehicles, motorcycles, and emergency vehicles in consideration of the shapes of other vehicles A1 to A3 in the analysis of the driving scene. Can do.

  Details of the driving support program for realizing the functions of the direction indicator lighting device 100 as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. First, based on FIG. 6, a learning process for generating a learning profile LP will be described with reference to FIG. In this learning process, a driver is identified, and a learning profile LP corresponding to the identified driver is constructed in the profile database 68. The learning process shown in FIG. 6 is started mainly by the driver characteristic determination unit 64 when the power source of the vehicle A is turned on and the direction indicator lighting device 100 is activated. The learning process is repeatedly started until the vehicle A is turned off.

  In S101, based on the information provided by the traveling environment determination unit 61, it is determined whether or not a lane change has been performed. If it is determined in S101 that there is no lane change, the learning process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in S101 that the lane change has been performed, the process proceeds to S102.

  In S102, the information which shows the kind of driving scene in which the lane change was performed is acquired from the driving environment determination part 61, and it progresses to S103. In the processing after S103, information indicating the driver behavior and the vehicle behavior detected by each in-vehicle device (21 to 27) before the execution of the lane change is used. In S103, it is determined whether the driver has used the direction indicator 35 or not. If it is determined in S103 that the driver is not using the direction indicator 35, the process proceeds to S105. On the other hand, if it is determined in S103 that the driver has used the direction indicator 35, the process proceeds to S104.

  In S104, the lighting timing of the direction indicator 35 is determined, and the process proceeds to S105. In S105, the characteristics of the preliminary operation such as the presence / absence of use of the direction indicator 35 determined in S103 and the lighting timing determined in S104 are associated with the driving scene information acquired in S102 in the learning profile LP. The data is updated, and the process proceeds to S106.

  In S106, it is determined whether or not the driver has performed a rear side confirmation operation. If it is determined in S106 that the driver has not confirmed the rear side, the process proceeds to S108. On the other hand, if it is determined in S106 that the driver has confirmed the rear side, the process proceeds to S107. In S107, the specific content of the confirmation operation is determined, and the process proceeds to S108. For example, it is determined in S107 whether the visual confirmation operation has been performed or whether the line of sight is merely directed at the side mirror. In S108, the learning profile LP data is obtained by associating the characteristics of the preliminary operation such as the presence or absence of the confirmation operation determined in S106 and the content of the confirmation operation determined in S107 with the information of the driving scene acquired in S102. Update and proceed to S109.

  In S109, it is determined whether or not there is a characteristic vehicle behavior such as acceleration / deceleration operation and wobbling. If it is determined in S109 that there is no characteristic vehicle behavior, the process proceeds to S111. On the other hand, if it is determined in S109 that there is a characteristic vehicle behavior, the process proceeds to S110. In S110, the details of the vehicle behavior are analyzed, and the process proceeds to S111. For example, the magnitude of acceleration that causes the driver to accelerate and decelerate the vehicle A, the manner of wobbling, and the like are acquired by the analysis of S110. In S111, the learning profile LP is obtained by associating the characteristics of the preliminary motion such as the presence or absence of the characteristic vehicle behavior determined in S109 and the details of the vehicle behavior analyzed in S110 with the information of the driving scene acquired in S102. The data is updated, and the learning process is temporarily terminated.

  Next, details of the operation control process shown in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG. In this operation control process, the learning profile LP corresponding to each driver is read from the profile database 68 and used for intent estimation of lane change. In the direction indicator lighting device 100, a driver is identified based on, for example, face recognition by analysis of the in-vehicle camera 26. Similar to the learning process (see FIG. 6), the operation control process is started when the direction indicator lighting device 100 is activated, and is repeatedly started until the vehicle A is turned off.

  In S131, the travel environment determination unit 61 analyzes the travel environment around the vehicle A, and the process proceeds to S132. In S132, it is determined whether or not the vehicle A is in a specific scene based on the analysis in S131. If it is determined in S132 that the vehicle A is not in the specific scene, the operation control process is temporarily ended. On the other hand, if it is determined in S132 that the vehicle A is in the specific scene, the process proceeds to S133.

  In S133, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 analyzes the operation of the driver, and proceeds to S134. In S134, based on the analysis result of S133 and the learning profile LP corresponding to the current driver, it is determined whether or not the vehicle change is intended to be performed. If it is determined in S134 that there is no intention to change the lane, the operation control process is temporarily ended. On the other hand, if it is estimated in S134 that there is an intention to change lanes, the process proceeds to S135.

  In S135, the apparatus control unit 67 controls the communication device 36 to notify other vehicles A1 to A3 (see FIG. 2 and the like) traveling around that there is a possibility of lane change, and the process proceeds to S136. In S136, the standby time is set in the timer based on the learning profile LP, and the process proceeds to S137. By such setting of the standby time, the device controller 67 waits for the operation of the direction indicator switch 23 by the driver.

  In S137, it is determined whether the lane change by the driver is completed before the lapse of the standby time. When the driver changes the lane after turning on the direction indicator 35, the operation control process is temporarily terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in S137 that the lane change has not been completed, the process proceeds to S138. In S138, it is determined whether or not a time-out state has occurred due to the elapse of the standby time set in S136. If it is determined in S138 that the timeout has not occurred, the process of S137 and S138 is repeated to wait for the standby time to elapse. And it progresses to S139 by progress of standby time.

  In S139, the device control unit 67 turns on the direction indicator 35 to notify other vehicles A1 to A3 (see FIG. 2 and the like) traveling around that there is a possibility of lane change. In addition, in S139, the lighting duration time until the direction indicator 35 is turned off is set in the timer, and the process proceeds to S140. In S140, the driver is notified that the direction indicator 35 has been automatically turned on, and the process proceeds to S141.

  In S141, it is determined whether the lane change by the driver is completed before the lighting duration time elapses. If the driver has completed the lane change, the process proceeds to S144. On the other hand, when it is determined in S141 that the lane change is not completed, the process proceeds to S142. In S142, it is determined whether or not a time-out state has occurred due to the elapse of the lighting duration set in S139. If it is determined in S142 that the timeout has not occurred, the process of S141 and S142 is repeated to wait for the lighting duration time to elapse. And it progresses to S143 by progress of lighting continuation time.

  In S143, it is assumed that the lane change has not been performed, and the device controller 67 controls the communication device 36 to notify the other vehicles A1 to A3 (see FIG. 2 and the like) traveling around the vehicle to cancel the lane change. Then, the process proceeds to S144. In S144, the direction indicator 35 turned on in S139 is turned off, and the operation control process is temporarily ended.

  In the learning profile LP of the first embodiment described so far, information related to the characteristic preliminary movement performed by the driver before starting the steering operation for changing the lane is accumulated for each driver. Based on such a learning profile LP, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 can estimate the intention to change the lane in each driver with high accuracy.

  In addition, a scene with a high probability of changing lanes can be specified in advance. Therefore, the device control unit 67 performs notification when it is determined that the specific scene has a high lane change execution probability and it is estimated that the lane change execution intention is based on the learning profile LP. As a result, the direction indicator lighting device 100 can accurately estimate the driver's intention and notify the surroundings of the execution of the lane change before the movement of the vehicle is started by the steering operation.

  In the first embodiment, the direction indicator 35 is automatically turned on based on the estimation of the intention to perform the lane change. Therefore, not only a driver whose timing using the direction indicator 35 is not appropriate but also a driver who is not willing to use the direction indicator 35 is urged to act to operate the direction indicator 35 at an appropriate timing. It becomes possible.

  Furthermore, the direction indicator lighting device 100 of the first embodiment operates the direction indicator 35 based on the estimation of the intention to perform the lane change and the scene determination based on the analysis of the traveling environment. Therefore, even if the route information is not acquired from the navigation device, the direction indicator lighting device 100 can automatically operate the direction indicator 35 and the communication device 36.

  In addition, in the first embodiment, the determination as to whether or not the scene is a specific scene is performed in preference to the determination as to whether or not the lane change is intended to be performed. Then, based on the determination that the vehicle A is in the specific scene, the presence / absence determination of the intention to perform the lane change is started. With the above processing order, the two determination processes do not have to be processed in parallel, so that the processing load on the processor 50a can be reduced.

  Furthermore, depending on the driver, it can be considered that the driving operation other than the lane change exhibits a behavior similar to the preliminary operation. Therefore, if priority is given to the determination of a specific scene, in a situation where the lane change is not performed, another driving operation not related to the lane change is erroneously detected as a preliminary operation related to the lane change. Things can be prevented. As described above, the process that prioritizes the determination of the specific scene is effective in reducing erroneous determination of the intention to perform the lane change.

  Moreover, the direction indicator lighting device 100 of the first embodiment generates a learning profile LP in which features of the driver's preliminary motion are learned by continuously detecting the driver's preliminary motion related to the lane change. Based on the learning profile LP generated from such individual driver observation, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 can determine whether or not the driver intends to perform lane change with higher accuracy.

  Further, in the learning profile LP of the first embodiment, the feature data of the preliminary motion is associated with data indicating the type of the specific scene. Therefore, the characteristics of the preliminary operation of the driver that is different for each specific scene can be accumulated in the learning profile LP. Therefore, even if one driver has a characteristic of performing a different preliminary operation for each specific scene, the driver characteristic determination unit 64 can determine with high accuracy whether or not the lane change is intended to be performed.

  In addition, in the first embodiment, a confirmation operation for confirming the rear side is included as a preliminary operation of the driver. In such an operation for confirming the rear side, a feature for each driver such as whether to visually observe or see a mirror is likely to appear. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of the determination by using the feature of the operation for confirming the rear side to the intention estimation of the lane change.

  In the first embodiment, an acceleration / deceleration operation is included as a preliminary operation of the driver. Such acceleration / deceleration operations tend to show the characteristics of each driver. Therefore, the accuracy of the determination can be further improved by using the characteristics of the acceleration / deceleration operation for estimating the intention of changing the lane.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment, a standby time for waiting for the driver to turn on the direction indicator 35 is set. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the system first activates the direction indicator 35 by leaving the operation of the direction indicator switch 23 by the driver. According to the above, the direction indicator lighting device 100 can appropriately operate the direction indicator 35 at a timing that does not make the driver feel bothersome.

  In addition, the timing for turning on the direction indicator 35 may be different for each driver. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the standby time is set based on the learning profile LP. Therefore, the device controller 67 automatically turns on the direction indicator 35 only when the driver forgets to operate the direction indicator switch 23. Therefore, the operation support of the direction indicator 35 by the direction indicator lighting device 100 is less likely to be bothered by the driver.

  Moreover, in a future traffic environment, a mixture of conventional manual driving vehicles and autonomous driving vehicles can be assumed. In such a traffic environment, by using wireless communication by the communication device 36, the direction indicator lighting device 100 can promptly notify the surrounding autonomous driving vehicle system of the possibility of lane change. As a result, the automatic driving system of the other vehicle A1 (see FIG. 2 and the like) can generate a travel plan based on the lane change of the vehicle A at an early stage. Therefore, the driver of the vehicle A can smoothly move the host vehicle A to the adjacent lane on which the autonomous driving vehicle A1 travels. On the other hand, the automatic driving vehicle A1 can utilize the notification from the direction indicator lighting device 100 as reference information for performing traveling control with a margin.

  Further, in the first embodiment, when the scheduled lane change is notified to the surroundings, this notification is notified to the driver by the display 32 and the speaker 33. According to such notification from the notification device 31, the driver can be aware of the delay or forgetting to turn on the direction indicator 35. As a result, the driver is corrected, and in the subsequent lane change, he / she tries to operate the direction indicator 35 at the correct timing.

  In the first embodiment, the direction indicator lighting device 100 corresponds to a “driving support device”. In the operation control process, S131 and S132 correspond to the “running environment determination step”, S133 and S134 correspond to the “driver characteristic determination step”, and S135 and S139 correspond to the “device control step”.

(Second embodiment)
The second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 8 is a modification of the first embodiment. In the direction indicator lighting device 200 according to the second embodiment, some of the processes performed by the traveling environment determination unit 261, the driver characteristic determination unit 264, and the device control unit 267 are different from those in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the difference with respect to 1st embodiment of the process implemented in each functional block of 2nd embodiment is demonstrated in order.

  When the traveling environment determination unit 261 determines that the vehicle A is in the specific scene based on the outputs of the in-vehicle devices (11 to 14), the travel environment determination unit 261 provides information indicating that the vehicle A is in the specific scene to the device control unit 267. Output toward. The driving environment determination unit 261 outputs the execution of the lane change to the driver characteristic determination unit 264, but does not output information indicating the current scene to the driver characteristic determination unit 264.

  The driver characteristic determination unit 264 does not acquire information indicating the driving scene from the traveling environment determination unit 261. Therefore, the driver characteristic determination unit 264 detects the preliminary operation related to the lane change from each output of each in-vehicle device (21, 22, 24 to 27), and does not associate with the information indicating the type of the specific scene. Features in the preliminary operation are accumulated in the learning profile LP. In addition, the driver characteristic determination unit 264 analyzes the driving characteristic from the viewpoint of the driver in parallel with the driving scene analysis from the viewpoint of the environment in the traveling environment determination unit 261. When the driver characteristic determination unit 264 determines from the analysis of the driver's operation that the driver has an intention to change the lane, the driver characteristic determination unit 264 outputs information indicating that the driver has the intention to execute to the device control unit 267.

  The device control unit 267 can directly acquire information indicating that the vehicle A is in the specific scene and information indicating that the lane change is intended to be performed from each of the driving environment determination unit 261 and the driver characteristic determination unit 264. It is. The device control unit 267 controls the notification device 34 when the information indicating that the vehicle A is in the specific scene and the information indicating that the intention to perform the lane change is obtained together, and determines the possibility of the lane change. Notify other vehicles A1 to A3.

  Next, a change in the learning process and the operation control process in the second embodiment with respect to the first embodiment will be described.

  In the learning process, the step of acquiring the driving scene information in S102 (see FIG. 6) is omitted. In addition, in S105, S108, and S111 (see FIG. 6) in which the learning profile LP is updated, the feature information of the preliminary movement related to the lane change is accumulated in the learning profile LP corresponding to the driver without being associated with the scene information. The On the other hand, in the operation control process, the determination step of the specific scene in S132 (see FIG. 7) and the determination step of the intention to perform the lane change in S134 (see FIG. 7) acquire information from the respective determination units 261 and 264. This is implemented by the control unit 267.

  Even in the second embodiment described so far, the sign of changing the lane can be detected with high accuracy based on the analysis of the driving environment and the learning profile LP generated from the analysis of the driver operation. Therefore, the direction indicator lighting device 200 can also notify the surroundings of the possibility of a lane change before the lateral movement of the vehicle is started by the steering operation.

(Other embodiments)
Although a plurality of embodiments according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not construed as being limited to the above embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments and combinations without departing from the gist of the present invention. can do.

  The driver characteristic determination unit of the above embodiment can continue the feature learning of the preliminary operation unique to the driver without limitation. However, the driver characteristic determination unit can end the learning of the driver's eyelids in the preliminary operation when the accumulated learning time reaches a preset completion time. The learning profile LP may not be generated by machine learning as in the above embodiment. For example, the setting value input by the driver may be used as the learning profile LP for lane change intention estimation.

  In the embodiment described above, characteristic vehicle behaviors such as the rear side confirmation operation, acceleration / deceleration operation, and wobbling are extracted as the preliminary operation related to the lane change. However, the preliminary operation related to the lane change is not limited to that in the above embodiment. Various operations of the driver that can be detected by each of the sensors 21, 22, 24, 25, the in-vehicle camera 26, and the line-of-sight detection device 27 can be used for estimating the intention to perform the lane change as a preliminary operation related to the lane change. it can.

  In the above embodiment, the standby time for waiting for the operation of the direction indicator switch by the driver is set. However, such a waiting time may not be set. Further, the length of the standby time may not be adjusted based on the learning profile LP, and may be a certain time.

  In the above embodiment, the direction indicator and the communication device function as the notification device. However, the notification device is not limited to these configurations. Furthermore, only one of the direction indicator and the communication device may be controlled by the direction indicator lighting device as the notification device.

  In the above embodiment, the display and the speaker function as a notification device. However, the notification device is not limited to these configurations. Furthermore, only one of the display and the speaker may be controlled by the turn indicator lighting device as a notification device. Further, the notification to the driver by the notification device may not be performed.

  In the above embodiment, each function related to the learning process and the operation control process provided by the processor 50a of the control circuit 50 may be realized by, for example, a dedicated integrated circuit. Alternatively, a plurality of processors may cooperate to perform each step of the learning process and the operation control process. Furthermore, each function may be provided by hardware and software different from those described above, or a combination thereof.

31 notification device, 34 notification device, 35 direction indicator, 36 communicator, 50a processor, 61, 261 driving environment determination unit, 64, 264 driver characteristic determination unit, 67, 267 device control unit, 100, 200 direction indicator lighting Device (driving support device), LP learning profile, A (own) vehicle, A1 to A3 other vehicles

Claims (11)

A driving support device mounted on the vehicle (A) together with the notification device (34) for notifying the surroundings of the execution of the lane change, and capable of controlling the operation of the notification device,
A traveling environment determination unit (61, 261) for determining whether or not the vehicle is in a specific scene set as a scene where a lane change is performed;
A driver characteristic determination unit (64) that determines whether or not the driver intends to perform lane change based on a learning profile (LP) obtained by learning for each driver the characteristic preliminary movement before the steering operation for lane change is started. , 264),
When the driving environment determination unit determines that the vehicle is in the specific scene and the driver characteristic determination unit determines that the lane change is intended to be performed, the lane change is performed by the control of the notification device. A device control unit (67, 267) for notifying the surroundings,
A driving support apparatus comprising:   The said driver characteristic determination part starts determination of the implementation intention of the lane change based on the said learning profile based on having determined that the said vehicle exists in the said specific scene by the said driving environment determination part. Driving assistance device.   The said driver characteristic determination part produces | generates the said learning profile which learned the characteristic of the said preliminary operation peculiar to each driver by continuing detecting the said preliminary operation of the driver concerning a lane change. The driving support apparatus according to 2. In the driving environment determination unit, a plurality of types of the specific scenes are set in advance,
The driver characteristic determination unit
Information indicating the type of the specific scene can be acquired from the traveling environment determination unit,
The driving support device according to claim 3, wherein when the preliminary movement related to a lane change is detected, a feature of the preliminary movement of a driver is accumulated in the learning profile in association with information indicating the type of the specific scene.   The driver characteristic determination unit detects a confirmation operation for confirming a rear side by the driver as the preliminary operation related to the lane change, and determines whether or not the intention of performing the lane change is based on the learning profile from the feature of the confirmation operation. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the driving support device is determined.   The driver characteristic determination unit detects an operation of accelerating / decelerating the vehicle before starting a steering operation as the preliminary operation related to the lane change, and changes the lane based on the learning profile from the characteristics of the acceleration / deceleration operation. The driving assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the presence or absence of an intention to implement the vehicle is determined. The notification device includes a direction indicator (35) mounted on the vehicle,
The apparatus control unit sets a waiting time for waiting for the driver to operate the direction indicator when it is determined that the vehicle is in the specific scene and it is determined that the lane change is intended to be performed. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein notification of a lane change by the direction indicator is started after the waiting time has elapsed.   The driving support device according to claim 7, wherein the device control unit sets the standby time based on the learning profile. The notification device includes a communication device (36) mounted on the vehicle and capable of wireless communication with other vehicles (A1) around the vehicle,
The said apparatus control part is a driving assistance apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-8 which notifies implementation of the said lane change to the said other vehicle by radio | wireless communication using the said communication apparatus. The vehicle is equipped with a notification device (31) for notifying the driver of information,
The said apparatus control part notifies the implementation of this notification to the said driver by the said notification apparatus, when notifying the circumference of implementation of a lane change by the said notification apparatus. Driving assistance device. A driving support program capable of controlling the operation of a notification device (34) for notifying the surroundings of execution of a lane change,
A traveling environment determination step (S131, S132) for determining whether or not the vehicle (A) is in a specific scene set as a scene where a lane change is performed;
Driver characteristic determination step for determining whether or not the driver intends to perform lane change based on a learning profile (LP) obtained by learning for each driver the characteristic preliminary movement before the steering operation for lane change is started (S133) , S134),
When it is determined in the driving environment determination step that the vehicle is in the specific scene, and the driver characteristic determination step determines that there is an intention to change lanes, the lane change is performed by control of the notification device. Device control step (S135, S139) for notifying the surroundings,
Is a driving support program that causes at least one processor (50a) to execute.

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