JP2018169807A - Driving support apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a driving support apparatus which can properly execute driving support for assignment of right to select automatic driving or manual driving, in accordance with a state recognition level of a driver.SOLUTION: A driving support apparatus includes: state recognition level determination means 3 which calculates a state recognition level of a driver, on the basis of driver information detected by driver state detection means 1; right-transfer probability determination means 4 which calculates right-assignment probability, on the basis of surroundings information provided from surroundings information providing means 2; and driving support control means 5 which operates information notification means 6, a vehicle mechanism and equipment, in accordance with the calculated state recognition level and right-assignment probability, to perform driving support for improving the state recognition level of the driver.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device for appropriately performing right delegation for switching the driving of a vehicle from automatic driving to manual driving by a driver.

  In an autonomous driving vehicle using an automatic driving system, switching between automatic driving and manual driving, that is, a right of driving may be transferred between a vehicle control system and a driver. For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-185088) discloses a conventional technology related to the right transfer in such an automatic driving. An invention is disclosed in which it is determined whether a necessary safety confirmation action (visual recognition action) is taken and switching to manual driving is not performed without situational recognition. Further, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2016-38768) describes whether or not the vehicle control device can switch from the driving operation state of the driver to the automatic driving to the manual driving. An invention for performing control such as a decrease in vehicle speed, automatic stopping on a road shoulder, and the like is disclosed.

JP2015-185088 JP2016-38768

  As described above, even in the prior art, there is a technique in which switching to manual driving (right transfer) is not performed when the driver does not recognize the driving environment. However, there are various levels of recognition of the driver's situation in the driving environment, and there has been no technology that provides driving support for appropriate right transfer according to such a level of situation recognition.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and its purpose is to appropriately perform driving support for delegating the right to switch between automatic driving and manual driving according to the situation recognition level of the driver. It is to provide a driving support device.

  In order to achieve the above object, the following solution is adopted in the present invention. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the driving support device, the driver state detection means for detecting the state of the driver of the vehicle, and the driver situation recognition level based on the driver state detected by the driver state detection means. A situation recognition level determination means for calculating a right transfer probability estimation means for estimating a right transfer probability based on environmental information of the vehicle, a situation recognition level calculated by the situation recognition level determination means and the right transfer probability Driving assistance control means for performing driving assistance control for improving the situation recognition level according to the right transfer probability estimated by the estimation means.

  According to the above solution, the situation recognition level of the driver can be improved to an appropriate level according to the right transfer probability (the magnitude of the possibility of switching from automatic driving to manual driving). And secure rights transfer.

  Preferred embodiments based on the above solution are as described in claims 2 and below in the claims. That is, when the situation recognition level is equal to or lower than a predetermined low level, the driving support control means does not delegate the right to the driver and stops the vehicle on the road shoulder by automatic driving (corresponding to claim 2). In this case, if the situation recognition level is low enough that there is no room for improvement, the vehicle can be forcibly stopped to ensure safety.

  The driving support control device improves the situation recognition level when it is determined that the situation recognition level is higher than a predetermined low level but does not reach a level sufficient for the high right transfer probability. The driving assistance is executed (corresponding to claim 3). In this case, the situational awareness level is appropriately improved to a level high enough for delegation.

  The driving support for improving the situation recognition level is a process of generating sound in the passenger compartment (corresponding to claim 4). In this case, the driver is alerted by listening to sound (for example, environmental sound), and the situation recognition level is improved.

  The driving support for improving the situation recognition level is a process of changing the vehicle response gain (corresponding to claim 5). In this case, the driver is alerted by a change in the response to the driving operation, and the situation recognition level is improved.

The driving support control means does not particularly perform driving support for improving the situation recognition level when it is determined that the situation recognition level has reached a sufficient level with respect to a high right transfer probability (claims). 6 correspondence). In this case, by not performing unnecessary driving support, unnecessary troublesomeness can be prevented from being given to the driver.
The driving support control means, when it is determined that the situation recognition level has reached a sufficient level with respect to the high right transfer probability, and the time-series fluctuation of the situation recognition level is sufficiently stable Provides driving assistance to notify the driver that the surrounding environment is safe (corresponding to claim 7). In this case, it is possible to give the driver a sense of security and recognize the advantages of automatic driving.

  According to the present invention, the situation recognition level of the driver is appropriately improved according to the right delegation probability, so that smooth and safe right delegation can be performed.

The block block diagram which shows an example of the control system of this invention. The graph which shows the experimental result about the relationship between a driver | operator's situation recognition level and the number of times of rear view mirror visibility. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a driver | operator's condition recognition level and a driver | operator's visual recognition range, and is a figure which shows the experimental result in case a driver | operator's condition recognition level is small. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a driver's situation recognition level and a driver's visual recognition range, and is a figure showing an experimental result in case a driver's situation recognition level is large. The graph which shows the relationship between the precision of a preceding vehicle detection sensor, and the right transfer probability. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of an example of the driving assistance control of this invention. The determination table which shows the driving assistance content in case a right transfer probability is a low mode. The determination table which shows the driving assistance content in case a right transfer probability is a high mode. The figure which shows the state by which the vehicle-mounted speaker is arrange | positioned in a vehicle interior as an information alerting | reporting means. The graph which shows the relationship between the accelerator pedal opening degree and throttle opening in the situation recognition level improvement assistance by the response gain change with respect to an accelerator pedal operation.

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

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a vehicle (for example, automobile) control system provided with the driving support apparatus of the present invention. As shown, the control system includes a controller (control unit) U configured using a microcomputer. Signals from the driver state detection means 1 and the surrounding environment information provision means 2 are input to the controller U.

  Here, the driver state detection means 1 is a device that detects the state of the driver of the vehicle (for example, the movement of the driver's line of sight), and is configured from, for example, an in-vehicle camera capable of photographing the driver. The surrounding environment information providing means 2 is a device that provides information about the surrounding environment of the vehicle (for example, the situation of the surrounding vehicle, the situation of the road). For example, a camera that captures the situation around the vehicle, a road situation ( It consists of a navigation device that can provide (map information).

  The controller U includes a situation recognition level determination unit 3, a right transfer probability determination unit 3, and a driving support control unit 4.

  The situation recognition level setting means 2 is a situation recognition level of the driver (a level indicating how much the driver can recognize the situation around the vehicle) based on the detection data about the driver state from the driver condition detection means 1. For example, a process for determining the situation recognition level based on the movement of the driver's line of sight (how often the driver is confirming the surrounding situation and the range) Repeat with. In the present embodiment, the situation recognition level is determined in four stages from level 1 to level 4 in order from the state with the lowest situation recognition.

  FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 show experimental results that provide a basis for determining the situation recognition level based on the movement of the driver's line of sight (specifically, the number of times the room mirror is viewed). FIG. 2 is a graph showing experimental results regarding the relationship between the driver's situation recognition level and the number of times the room mirror is viewed. As can be seen from the graph in FIG. 2, the higher the situation recognition level is (the greater the situation recognition level is), the greater the number of times the room mirror is viewed during driving for 5 minutes. This means that the higher the situation recognition level, the greater the driver's margin, so that the driver can look away from the front. As a result, the driver's view range is widened, and the rearview mirror located at a position away from the front of the driver It is thought that the number of times of viewing increases.

  FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show experimental results on the relationship between the driver's situation recognition level and the extension of the viewing range. In each figure, the visual recognition position data by the driver is indicated by dots, and the visual recognition range of the driver is indicated by a broken line as a range in which the visual recognition position data is distributed. As shown in FIG. 3, when the driver's situation recognition level is small, the driver's visual recognition range A1 remains in a small range in front of the driver, and the room mirror 10 is not visually recognized (visible on the room mirror 10). There is no dot indicating the position). On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the situation recognition level of the driver is large, the driver's visual recognition range A2 extends to a position off the front of the driver including the visual recognition position on the room mirror 10, It can be seen that the number of times the room mirror 10 is viewed (indicated by dots on the room mirror 10) is increasing.

  The right delegation probability judging means 3 is based on the surrounding environment of the vehicle provided by the surrounding environment information providing means 2 (the situation of the surrounding vehicle, the situation of the road on which the vehicle is traveling) and the right delegation probability (from automatic driving to manual driving). This is a means for calculating (the magnitude of the possibility of switching). In the present embodiment, different driving assistance is performed in the low mode S1 in which the right transfer probability is less than a predetermined specified value and in the high mode S2 in which the right transfer probability is equal to or higher than the specified value.

  As a specific example of calculating the right transfer probability based on the surrounding environment information, for example, the state of the means for obtaining the surrounding environment information necessary for automatic driving is used as the surrounding environment information. It is conceivable to calculate the right transfer probability based on the state. Specifically, for example, the accuracy of a preceding vehicle detection sensor (such as a camera that images the front of the vehicle) is detected, and as the accuracy of the preceding vehicle detection sensor decreases as shown in the graph of FIG. 5, the right transfer probability increases. Next, the right transfer probability is calculated. That is, when the accuracy of the preceding vehicle detection sensor is reduced, such as during heavy rain or when the front surface of the sensor is dirty, it is difficult to continue the automatic driving, so the right transfer probability is calculated to be high. In addition to the preceding vehicle detection sensor, a rear side vehicle detection sensor, an in-lane vehicle position detection sensor, and the like are conceivable as means for acquiring the surrounding environment information used for calculating the right transfer probability.

  The driving support control device 4 drives driving for right transfer according to the situation recognition level (current and previous levels in this embodiment) and right transfer probability (low mode S1 or high mode S2 in this embodiment). Execute. Specifically, the information notifying means 6 (for example, a speaker, an image display device, etc.), a vehicle mechanism and equipment 7 (for example, a steering mechanism, a power window, an air conditioner, etc.) are operated to improve the situation recognition level of the driver. Execute the process.

  Next, the operation control procedure will be described in detail according to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the driving support control, first, the situation recognition level is determined in step S1, and the right transfer probability is calculated in the subsequent step S2.

  In the subsequent step S3, it is determined whether or not the right transfer probability is equal to or higher than a specified value. If it is not higher than the specified value (in the case of the low mode S1), the process proceeds to step S4, and the determination table T1 shown in FIG. Accordingly, driving support in the case of the low mode S1 is performed, and one cycle of processing is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S3 that the right transfer probability is equal to or higher than the predetermined value (high mode S1), the process proceeds to step 5 and the operation in the high mode S1 is performed according to the determination table T2 shown in FIG. Support is performed and one cycle of processing is completed.

  FIG. 7 shows details of the driving support process in the case where the right transfer probability is less than the specified value (low mode S1). In driving support in low mode S1 (when the possibility of delegation of rights is small), when the current situation recognition level is level 1 (the lowest level with no room for improvement), regardless of the previous situation recognition level, The vehicle is parked on the shoulder with automatic driving. Thereby, when there is no room for improvement in the situation recognition level, the safety of the vehicle is ensured.

  When the current situation recognition level is level 2 (insufficient level), driving assistance (recognition level improvement assistance) for improving the situation recognition level of the driver is executed. Specifically, the driver's situational recognition is promoted by letting the driver hear an environmental sound (for example, engine sound) or increasing the vehicle response gain using a speaker.

  In this case, the strength of driving support is changed depending on which level the previous situation recognition level was. Specifically, if the previous situation recognition level is level 3 or level 4 (when the situation recognition level is sufficiently high), the driver is insufficiently aware of the situation temporarily or accidentally this time. Since there is a possibility that it shows only such behavior, the strength of driving assistance is assumed to be small. On the other hand, if the previous situation recognition level is level 2, the strength of the driving assistance is set to medium (for example, the environmental sound to be heard by the driver is increased or the vehicle response gain is particularly increased). . In this way, appropriate driving support is provided according to the driver's situation recognition level, and the driver's situation recognition level is improved, so that smooth and safe right transfer can be performed.

  When the current situation recognition level is level 3 or 4 (a sufficiently high level), driving assistance for improving the situation recognition level of the driver is not particularly performed. In this way, when the state recognition level is sufficiently high, driving assistance is not performed, so that the driver does not feel unnecessary annoyance.

  Furthermore, when the previous and current situation recognition levels are stable at level 4 or level 3 (no change), driving assistance that actively informs the driver that the surrounding environment is safe using the information notification means 6 ( Execute "Safe support" at the table. As a result, it is possible to give the driver a sense of security and recognize the advantages of automatic driving.

  FIG. 8 shows details of the driving support process when the right transfer probability is equal to or higher than a specified value (high mode S1). Even in driving support in high mode S2 (when there is a high possibility of delegation of rights), if the current situation recognition level is level 1 (the lowest level with no room for improvement), regardless of the previous situation recognition level The vehicle is parked on the shoulder by automatic driving. Thereby, when there is no room for improvement in the situation recognition level, the safety of the vehicle is ensured.

  When the current situation recognition level is level 2 (insufficient level), driving assistance for improving the situation recognition level of the driver is executed. The strength of the driving assistance executed in this case is higher than the driving assistance in the low mode S2. Specifically, when the previous situation recognition level is level 3, the strength of the situation recognition level improvement support is moderate, and the previous and current situation recognition levels are level 2 (situation recognition level). The situation awareness level), and the situation recognition level that was previously at level 4 has dropped to level 2 this time (when the situation awareness level has dropped significantly). Increase the strength of improvement support. As a result, the situation recognition level can be quickly increased to a level suitable for situations where there is a large possibility of rights transfer.

  As specific processing executed as situation recognition level improvement support, as in the case of the low mode S2, the speaker is used to let the driver hear an environmental sound (for example, engine sound) or the vehicle response gain is increased. As a result, a process for prompting the driver to recognize the situation can be executed. In addition, as a stronger support, the information notifying means 6 is used to provide position information and surrounding vehicle information to the driver, a process for generating an alarm sound from a speaker, a power window is activated, and a wind is given to the driver. A process that makes it easy to recognize the surrounding environment and a process that extremely changes the temperature of the air blown from the air conditioner can be executed.

  If the current situation recognition level is level 3 (slightly lower than the highest level), if the previous situation recognition level was level 3 or level 4, support for improving the situation recognition level with a low intensity is provided. . As a result, a high level of situation recognition level suitable for situations where rights are easily delegated (high mode) is ensured. Note that when the situation recognition level has improved from the previous level 2 to the current level 3, it is considered that the driver is moving to a state with a higher situation recognition level, and thus driving assistance is not particularly performed.

  If the current situation recognition level is level 4, it is considered that there is a sufficient level of situation recognition for delegation of rights, so driving assistance will not be provided and the driver will not feel unnecessary annoyance. To.

  In FIG. 9, an example of the information alerting | reporting means 6 provided in the driver's seat of the vehicle is shown. As shown in the figure, a dashboard 11 in front of the driver's seat of the vehicle is provided with an in-vehicle speaker 12 and a display device 13 as information notification means 6. For example, in the situation recognition level improvement support using the environmental sound, a sound imitating the engine sound is generated from the in-vehicle speaker 12 as the environmental sound.

  FIG. 10 shows a specific example of situation recognition level improvement support by changing the vehicle response gain. In this specific example, the response gain with respect to the accelerator pedal operation is changed. As shown in the graph of FIG. 10, the response of the throttle opening to the accelerator pedal opening is represented by a standard state (linear By changing from (Relation), the response gain for the accelerator pedal operation is changed. Specifically, when increasing the response gain, the response of the throttle opening to the accelerator pedal opening is changed to a convex characteristic above the standard state, as shown by the broken curve in the figure. On the other hand, when the response gain is reduced, the response of the throttle opening to the accelerator pedal opening is changed to a concave characteristic below the standard state as shown by the solid curve in the figure.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range described in the claim, an appropriate change is possible. For example, the determination tables shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are examples, and the control contents can be changed as appropriate.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used to perform appropriate right transfer (switching from an automatic driving mode to a manual driving mode) in an autonomous driving vehicle.

U controller 1 driver state detecting means 2 surrounding environment information providing means 3 situation recognition level judging means 4 right delegation probability judging means 5 driving support control means 6 information notifying means 7 vehicle mechanism and equipment A1 visibility range A2 when the situation recognition level is small Viewing range when situation recognition level is large 10 Room mirror 11 Dashboard 12 Car-mounted speaker 13 Display device

Claims (7)

Driver state detection means for detecting the state of the driver of the vehicle;
Situation recognition level determination means for calculating the situation recognition level of the driver based on the driver status detected by the driver status detection means;
A right transfer probability estimating means for estimating a right transfer probability based on the environmental information of the vehicle;
Driving assistance control means for performing driving assistance control for improving the situation recognition level according to the situation recognition level calculated by the situation recognition level determination means and the right transfer probability estimated by the right transfer probability estimation means. Driving assistance device. In the driving support device according to claim 1,
When the situation recognition level is equal to or lower than a predetermined low level, the driving support control means is a driving support device that does not delegate the right to the driver and stops the vehicle on the road shoulder by automatic driving.   The driving support control device improves the situation recognition level when it is determined that the situation recognition level is higher than a predetermined low level but does not reach a level sufficient for the high right transfer probability. A driving support device that performs driving support. In the driving assistance device according to claim 3,
Driving assistance for improving the situation recognition level is a driving assistance device that is a process of generating sound in the passenger compartment.   The driving support for improving the situation recognition level is a driving support device that is a process of changing a vehicle response gain. In the driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The driving support control means does not particularly provide driving support for improving the situation recognition level when it is determined that the situation recognition level has reached a sufficient level with respect to the high right transfer probability. . The driving support device according to claim 6,
The driving support control means, when it is determined that the situation recognition level has reached a sufficient level with respect to the high right transfer probability, and the time-series fluctuation of the situation recognition level is sufficiently stable A driving support device that performs driving support that notifies the driver that the surrounding environment is safe.

Images