JP2017199172A - Peripheral situation presentation system for vehicle, unmanned flying body, and peripheral situation presentation method for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a peripheral situation presentation system for a vehicle, an unmanned flying body, and a peripheral situation presentation method for a vehicle that can present a peripheral situation around a vehicle to a driver with the use of a small amount of processing and resources during parking.SOLUTION: A peripheral situation presentation system for a vehicle includes an unmanned flying body and a receiver. The unmanned flying body includes: a driving unit for flying the unmanned flying body; a camera for photographing a vehicle to be parked and its periphery; and a control unit for controlling a relative position and direction of the unmanned flying body to the vehicle by the driving unit, and controlling photographing by the camera; and a first communication unit for transmitting an image photographed by the camera to the receiver by radio. The receiver receives the image transmitted by the first communication unit by radio, passes the received image to a display device, and makes the display device present it to a driver of the vehicle.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle surrounding state presentation device (parking assist system) that assists a driver when a vehicle is parked, an unmanned air vehicle, and a vehicle surrounding state presentation method.

  Conventionally, the surroundings of a vehicle are photographed by a plurality of cameras installed around the vehicle, the plurality of photographed images are combined, and an image as if looking down at the vehicle from directly above the vehicle is presented to the driver. Has been performed (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-3-99952

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to adjust a shooting angle by mounting a plurality of cameras for shooting all the surroundings of each vehicle on each vehicle. Moreover, a dedicated harness for connecting each camera was also necessary. In addition, it is necessary to perform a process of combining a plurality of peripheral images.

  As described above, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires a lot of processing and resources in order to present the surrounding situation of the vehicle to the driver during parking.

  In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle surrounding situation presentation system, an unmanned air vehicle, and a vehicle surrounding situation presentation method capable of presenting the surrounding situation of the vehicle to the driver with less processing and resources during parking. There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle surrounding state presentation system according to an aspect of the present invention includes an unmanned air vehicle and a receiver, and the unmanned air vehicle parks with a drive unit that causes the unmanned air vehicle to fly. A camera that captures the vehicle and its surroundings, a control unit that controls the relative position and direction of the unmanned air vehicle with respect to the vehicle by the drive unit, and controls imaging by the camera, and an image captured by the camera And a first communication unit that wirelessly transmits to the receiver, the receiver receives the image wirelessly transmitted from the first communication unit, passes the received image to a display device, and Have the vehicle driver present it. Therefore, the surrounding situation of the vehicle can be presented to the driver with less processing and resources when parking.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle surroundings state presentation system according to an aspect of the present invention is mounted on the vehicle and detects a position and a direction of the vehicle, respectively. A second communication unit that communicates a position and a direction to the unmanned air vehicle, and the control unit uses the information from the position detection unit and the direction detection unit to relative the unmanned air vehicle to the vehicle. It may be configured to control various positions and directions.

  In order to achieve the above object, an unmanned air vehicle according to one aspect of the present invention includes a drive unit for flying the aircraft, a camera for capturing a vehicle to be parked and its surroundings, and a relative position of the aircraft with respect to the vehicle. And a control unit that controls the direction by the driving unit and controls photographing by the camera, and a communication unit that wirelessly transmits an image photographed by the camera to a receiver.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the vehicle surrounding state presentation method according to one aspect of the present invention, the driver of the unmanned air vehicle causes the unmanned air vehicle to fly, and the unmanned air vehicle camera parks the vehicle. The surroundings are photographed, and the control unit of the unmanned air vehicle controls the relative position and direction of the unmanned air vehicle with respect to the vehicle by the driving unit, controls the photographing by the camera, A communication unit wirelessly transmits an image captured by the camera to a receiver, and the receiver receives the image wirelessly transmitted from the communication unit, and passes the received image to a display device to the vehicle. Present to the driver.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the surrounding situation of the vehicle can be presented to the driver with less processing and resources during parking.

It is a figure which shows a mode that the camera 11 mounted in the drone 10 image | photographs the vehicle 20 and its surroundings, when a driver parks the vehicle 20 in a parking space. It is the figure which looked at range SA which image | photographs what kind of position the vehicle 20 is with respect to parking space PS from the sky. It is a figure which shows the receiver 30 which receives the image which the drone 10 image | photographed, and the display apparatus 40 which displays the received image. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the positioning of the drone 10. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the positioning of the drone 10. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the surrounding condition presentation system 1 for vehicles. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the flow of the process in the surrounding condition presentation system 1 for vehicles.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overview]
First, an outline will be described. FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 are diagrams showing an outline of a vehicle surrounding situation presentation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which a camera 11 mounted on a drone (unmanned aerial vehicle) 10 captures a vehicle 20 and surrounding conditions when a driver parks the vehicle 20 in a parking space.

  FIG. 2 is a view of the range SA in which the vehicle 20 is located with respect to the parking space PS as viewed from above.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a receiver 30 that receives an image captured by the drone 10 and a display device 40 that displays the received image. The display device 40 displays the relative positions of the parking space PS and the vehicle 20.

  As shown in these drawings, in the vehicular surroundings state presentation system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, the drone 10 is made to fly over the vehicle 20 to be parked, and is suspended in a predetermined position and direction. The receiver 30 receives the vehicle 20 and surrounding conditions photographed by the above and displays them on the display device 40.

  The driver of the vehicle 20 can park the vehicle 20 at an appropriate position by grasping the relative position of the vehicle 20 and a graphic such as a white line indicating the parking space PS displayed on the display device 40. .

  In the vehicular ambient situation presentation system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle can be photographed with the same size within the photographing range regardless of the size of the vehicle body by adjusting the flight altitude. It is not necessary to adjust the shooting range.

  Further, since the camera is separated from the vehicle body, a dedicated harness for connecting the camera and the display device is not necessary.

  Further, since one camera is sufficient, processing for combining images taken by a plurality of cameras is not necessary.

  In addition, the vehicle surrounding state presentation system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention does not need to be incorporated into the vehicle 20 and can be easily retrofitted, so even if the vehicle 20 is not equipped with a parking assist system when the vehicle 20 is manufactured. It can be installed without any special modification.

  Of course, the vehicle ambient state presentation system 1 or a part thereof may be incorporated into the vehicle 20 when the vehicle 20 is manufactured.

  Note that the above-described display device 40 does not have to be dedicated to the vehicle surroundings state presentation system 1, and for example, a display device for a car navigation system already provided in the vehicle 20 is used. May be.

  The drone 10 is preferably automatically piloted, but the position and direction may be operated by an instruction from the driver.

  The overview has been described above.

[Drone positioning]
Next, an example of a method for positioning the drone 10 flying over the vehicle 20 will be described. 4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining the positioning of the drone 10. FIG.

  The drone 10 may obtain position information from a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 12 in order to stay at a predetermined relative position above the vehicle 20. Moreover, you may obtain the information regarding the direction of the body from the geomagnetic sensor 13. Further, information on the height (altitude) may be obtained from the barometer 14. Moreover, in order to avoid contact with an obstacle, the proximity sensor 15 may be provided.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the vehicular ambient situation presentation system 1 includes a dedicated beacon 50 in the vehicle 20 in order to make the drone 10 stay in a predetermined position relative to the vehicle 20. It is preferable for the positioning of the drone 10 that the dedicated beacon 50 is installed at the center of the vehicle 20 in the interior of the vehicle 20 or the ceiling of the vehicle 20 in the horizontal plane.

  In addition, the signal emitted from the dedicated beacon 50 for positioning the drone 10 may be transmitted by radio waves as long as the relative position between the dedicated beacon 50 and the drone 10 is required, or light such as infrared rays. It may be conveyed by. Of course, in the case of using light, a light receiving unit is required on the drone 10 side.

  When the vehicle 20 is equipped with a car navigation system and is equipped with a GPS sensor or a geomagnetic sensor, the drone 10 sends information on the position and direction of the vehicle 20 from the car navigation system via the dedicated beacon 50. You may obtain and control the relative position and orientation of the aircraft.

  The drone 10 may perform image recognition processing on the image captured by the camera 11 to control the body position.

  By performing image recognition processing on the captured image, as shown in FIG. 5, the size (the length and width of the vehicle) and the direction of the vehicle 20 coincide with the predetermined size and direction within the imaging range SA. As described above, based on information from the GPS sensor 12, the geomagnetic sensor 13, and the barometer 14, the position and direction of the aircraft can be controlled.

  In the image recognition, for example, the front-rear direction of the vehicle 20 may be identified by recognizing the mounting position of the door mirror of the vehicle 20.

  As the vehicle 20 moves, the position of the vehicle 20 and the direction of the airframe (camera) are controlled to follow the vehicle 20 so that the position and size of the vehicle 20 photographed within the photographing range SA become constant. It may be.

  In addition, the positioning method of the drone 10 which flies over the vehicle 20 is not limited to the above-described method, and any method can be used as long as the drone 10 is allowed to stay at a predetermined relative position above the vehicle 20. It may be a method.

  In addition, the positioning method of the drone 10 is not limited to the above, and several modes are provided, and the driver switches the mode so that the viewpoint is fixed directly above the parking space PS, and the shooting range is expanded and reduced. May be possible.

  For example, when a vehicle 20 with a high vehicle height is put in a multilevel parking lot, or when a vehicle 20 with a low vehicle height is put in a parking lot with a step, the clearance in the height direction is easy to grasp. You may image | photograph from the horizontal direction of the vehicle 20. FIG.

  The example of the positioning method of the drone 10 flying over the vehicle 20 has been described above.

[Configuration example]
Next, a configuration example of the vehicle surrounding situation presentation system 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the vehicular ambient situation presentation system 1.

  The vehicular ambient situation presentation system 1 includes a drone 10, a receiver 30, a display device 40, and a dedicated beacon 50 (second communication unit).

  The drone 10 includes a camera 11, a GPS sensor 12 (position detection unit), a geomagnetic sensor 13 (direction detection unit), a barometer 14 (position detection unit), a control unit 15, a drive unit 16, and a communication unit 17 (first communication). Part).

  The drive unit 16 causes the drone 10 to fly.

  The control unit 15 of the drone 10 receives a signal from the dedicated beacon 50 provided in the parked vehicle 20 by the communication unit 17, and based on information from the GPS sensor 12, the geomagnetic sensor 13, and the barometer 14, the drone 10 The above-mentioned body is stopped in a state of staying at a predetermined position and direction relative to the vehicle 20 above the vehicle 20.

  The camera 11 images the vehicle 20 and its surroundings, and transmits the captured image to the receiver 30 via the communication unit 17.

  The receiver 30 sends the received image to the display device 40, and the display device 40 presents the vehicle 20 and surrounding images to the driver.

  Heretofore, the configuration example of the vehicle surrounding situation presentation system 1 has been described.

[Process flow]
Next, the flow of processing in the vehicle surroundings state presentation system 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing in the vehicular ambient situation presentation system 1.

  First, the control unit 15 of the drone 10 acquires the position and orientation of the vehicle 20 based on a signal from the dedicated beacon 50 mounted on the vehicle 20 (step S1).

  Next, the control unit 15 controls the position of the aircraft using the drive unit 16 so that the aircraft of the drone 10 is directly above the dedicated beacon 50 (step S2).

  Next, the control unit 15 controls the orientation of the aircraft so that the orientation of the camera 11 coincides with the orientation of the vehicle 20 determined in advance (step S3).

  Next, the control unit 15 controls the altitude of the aircraft so that the distance in the height direction from the dedicated beacon 50 is a preset distance (step S4). The dedicated beacon 50 is set in advance with the installation position of the dedicated beacon 50 and height information from the dedicated beacon 50 to the ceiling of the vehicle 20, and this height information is transmitted to the drone 10.

  Next, the control unit 15 determines whether or not there is an obstacle around the airframe when controlling the airframe position (step S5).

  If there is an obstacle (Y in step S5), the position and direction of the aircraft are controlled within a range where the aircraft does not contact the obstacle (step S6).

  The process in step S6 may be performed in parallel with the control of the aircraft from steps S2 to S4.

  Next, the controller 15 uses the camera 11 to photograph the situation of the vehicle 20 and its surroundings (step S7).

  Next, the control unit 15 sends the captured image to the receiver 30 via the communication unit 17 (step S8).

  Next, the receiver 30 receives an image from the drone 10 (step S9).

  Next, the display device 40 presents the image received by the receiver 30 to the driver (step S10).

  The flow of processing in the vehicle surrounding situation presentation system 1 has been described above.

[Additional notes]
The drone 10 may be provided in the vehicle 20 and start from the vehicle 20 at the time of use. Alternatively, the drone 10 may be provided at a parking lot and start from a waiting place in the parking lot at the time of use. A configuration may be adopted in which a standby place is provided in the vicinity and the vehicle flies to a parking lot that is required at the time of use.

  In addition, in order to recognize the vehicle where the drone 10 parks, an authentication process may be performed between the drone 10 and the receiver 30 or the dedicated beacon 50. By performing the authentication process, the drone 10 can appropriately recognize the vehicle 20 to be photographed even when there are a plurality of vehicles to be parked in a large-scale parking lot.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the above-mentioned embodiment, Of course, various changes can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle surrounding condition presentation system 10 ... Drone 11 ... Camera 12 ... GPS sensor (position detection part)
13 ... Geomagnetic sensor (direction detector)
14 ... Barometer (position detector)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Control part 16 ... Drive part 17 ... Communication part (1st communication part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 ... Vehicle 30 ... Receiver 40 ... Display apparatus 50 ... Dedicated beacon (2nd communication part)

Claims (4)

Including unmanned air vehicles and receivers,
The unmanned air vehicle is
A drive unit for flying the unmanned air vehicle,
A camera for shooting the vehicle to be parked and its surroundings;
A control unit that controls the relative position and direction of the unmanned air vehicle with respect to the vehicle by the drive unit, and controls photographing by the camera;
A first communication unit that wirelessly transmits an image captured by the camera to the receiver;
The receiver
A vehicle surrounding state presentation system that receives the image wirelessly transmitted from the first communication unit, passes the received image to a display device, and presents the image to a driver of the vehicle. The vehicle surrounding state presentation system according to claim 1,
A position detector and a direction detector that are mounted on the vehicle and detect the position and direction of the vehicle, respectively;
A second communication unit for transmitting the position and direction of the vehicle to the unmanned air vehicle,
The controller is
A vehicle surrounding situation presentation system that controls the relative position and direction of the unmanned air vehicle with respect to the vehicle using information from the position detection unit and the direction detection unit. A drive unit for flying the aircraft,
A camera for shooting the vehicle to be parked and its surroundings;
A control unit that controls the relative position and direction of the aircraft with respect to the vehicle by the drive unit, and controls photographing by the camera;
An unmanned air vehicle comprising: a communication unit that wirelessly transmits an image captured by the camera to a receiver. The driver of the unmanned air vehicle causes the unmanned air vehicle to fly,
The unmanned air vehicle camera photographs the parked vehicle and its surroundings,
The control unit of the unmanned air vehicle controls the relative position and direction of the unmanned air vehicle with respect to the vehicle by the driving unit, and controls photographing by the camera,
The communication unit of the unmanned air vehicle wirelessly transmits an image captured by the camera to a receiver,
The vehicle surrounding state presentation method in which the receiver receives the image wirelessly transmitted from the communication unit, passes the received image to a display device, and presents the image to a driver of the vehicle.

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