JP2019197375A - Collision avoidance support system - Google Patents

Abstract

To implement proper collision avoidance support control for an animal.SOLUTION: A collision avoidance support system (200) can implement collision avoidance support control for avoiding collision between a vehicle (10) and an obstacle (50) existent around the vehicle. The collision avoidance support system includes determination means (210) that determines whether the obstacle is an animal, prediction means (220) that, when the object is determined to be an animal, predicts a future position at which the animal exists in a predetermined time, acquisition means (230) that acquires first risk information signifying a risk degree arising when the collision avoidance support control is implemented with the animal regarded as an object, and second risk information signifying a risk degree arising when the collision avoidance support control regarding the animal as an object is not implemented, and determination means (240) that determines based on the first risk information and second risk information whether the collision avoidance support control regarding the animal as an object should be implemented.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field of a collision avoidance assistance device that executes control for avoiding a collision of a vehicle.

  As this type of device, a device that performs control (for example, automatic brake control) for avoiding a collision between a vehicle and an animal is known. For example, in Patent Document 1, even if there is a small animal in front of the vehicle, if the rear vehicle is in an approaching state (that is, a state where there is a high risk of a rear-end collision when sudden braking is performed), brake control is executed. A technique for avoiding this is disclosed.

Japanese Patent No. 4171883

  Animals existing in the vicinity of the host vehicle are predicted to escape when the vehicle approaches (that is, take an avoidance action to avoid the vehicle). However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1 described above, no consideration is given to the avoidance behavior of animals. For this reason, there is a possibility that appropriate collision avoidance assistance control cannot be executed when there is a possibility of collision with an animal.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, for example, and an object thereof is to provide a collision avoidance support device capable of executing appropriate collision avoidance support control for an animal.

  In one aspect of the collision avoidance assistance device according to the present invention, there is provided a collision avoidance assistance device capable of executing collision avoidance assistance control for avoiding a collision between a vehicle and an obstacle existing around the vehicle, Determining means for determining whether the obstacle is an animal; prediction means for predicting a future position where the animal exists after a predetermined time when the obstacle is determined to be the animal; Based on the position, first risk information indicating a risk level when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is performed, and a risk level when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is not performed. A determination unit that determines whether to execute the collision avoidance support control for the animal based on the acquisition unit that acquires the second risk information to be displayed, and the first risk information and the second risk information And a stage.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement of the collision avoidance assistance apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a top view which shows the collision avoidance action probability distribution by the side of an animal, and the collision avoidance action possible area | region by the side of a vehicle. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the weight of an animal, and a collision probability. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the weight of an animal, and a collision damage degree. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the weight of an animal, and a collision damage expectation value.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a collision avoidance assistance device will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Device configuration>
First, the overall configuration of a vehicle on which the collision avoidance assistance device according to this embodiment is mounted will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 10 according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle speed sensor 110, an acceleration sensor 120, a front sensor 130, a rear / rear side sensor 140, an accelerator pedal sensor 150, a brake pedal sensor 160, and a collision avoidance support device. 200, a brake control unit 310, and a steering control unit 320.

  The vehicle speed sensor 110 detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle 10. The acceleration sensor 120 detects the acceleration of the vehicle 10. The front sensor 130 and the rear / rear side sensor 140 are configured to include, for example, a camera, a radar, a rider, and the like, and detect obstacles positioned in front, rear, and rear sides of the vehicle 10, respectively. The accelerator pedal sensor 150 detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal by the driver of the vehicle. The brake pedal sensor 160 detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal by the driver of the vehicle. Information detected by each of the vehicle speed sensor 110, the acceleration sensor 120, the front sensor 130, the rear / rear side sensor 140, the accelerator pedal sensor 150, and the brake pedal sensor 160 is output to the collision avoidance assistance device 200. It has become.

  The collision avoidance assistance device 200 is a controller unit (for example, ECU: Electric Control Unit) that can control the operation of each part of the vehicle 10, and in the present embodiment, in particular, control for avoiding a collision between the vehicle 10 and an obstacle. (Hereinafter, referred to as “collision avoidance support control” as appropriate). Specifically, the collision avoidance assistance device 200 can execute AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) by controlling the brake control unit 310, and can control the AES (automatic emergency braking) by controlling the steering control unit 320. Autonomous Emergency Steering) can be performed. The collision avoidance assistance device 200 includes an obstacle determination unit 210, a first calculation unit 220, a second calculation unit 230, and a control determination unit 240 as a processing block or a physical processing circuit for realizing the function. Yes.

  The obstacle determination unit 210 is configured to be able to determine whether an obstacle exists around the vehicle 10 from information input from the front sensor 130 and the rear / rear side sensor 140. The obstacle determination unit 210 is further configured to be able to determine whether or not the obstacle is an animal from information input from the front sensor 130 or the rear / rear side sensor 140. In addition, about the specific method for determining whether an obstruction is an animal, since the existing technique can be employ | adopted suitably, detailed description here is abbreviate | omitted. The obstacle determination unit 210 is a specific example of “determination means” in an appendix to be described later.

  When the obstacle determination unit 210 determines that the obstacle is an animal, the first calculation unit 220 is configured to be able to calculate a future position where the animal exists after a predetermined time. In other words, the first calculation unit 220 is configured to be able to predict a range in which an animal can move in a predetermined time (for example, several seconds). The first calculation unit 220 estimates the future position of the animal based on the weight (volume) of the animal that can be estimated from the front sensor 130 and the rear / rear side sensor 140. The first calculation unit 220 is a specific example of “prediction means” in an appendix to be described later.

  Based on the future position of the animal calculated by the first calculation unit 220, the second calculation unit 230 does not execute the collision damage expected value when the collision avoidance support control is performed on the animal and the collision avoidance support control is not performed. It is possible to calculate the expected collision damage value. Note that the “expected value of collision damage” here refers to the risk of collision with an animal that is the target of collision avoidance support control, and other obstacles (for example, subsequent vehicles, adjacent vehicles) by executing the collision avoidance support control. This is a parameter that comprehensively indicates the risk of collision with an oncoming vehicle or the like. Note that, when the collision avoidance assistance device 200 can execute a plurality of types of collision avoidance assistance control (that is, AEB or AES) as in the present embodiment, the expected collision damage value when each control is executed is different. Calculated. A specific method for calculating the collision damage expectation value will be described in detail later. The second calculation unit 230 is a specific example of “acquiring means” in an appendix to be described later.

  The control determination unit 240 is configured to be able to determine whether or not to perform the collision avoidance support control based on the expected collision damage value calculated by the second calculation unit. Further, when the collision avoidance support control is to be executed, the control determination unit 240 determines what kind of collision avoidance support control should be executed (that is, which control of AEB or AES should be executed). It is configured to be possible. The determination logic of the collision avoidance support control by the collision determination unit 240 will be described in detail later. The control determining unit 240 is a specific example of “determining means” in an appendix to be described later.

<Description of operation>
An operation flow of the collision avoidance assistance device 200 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the collision avoidance assistance device according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, during the operation of the collision avoidance assistance device 200 according to the present embodiment, the obstacle determination unit 210 first determines whether there is an obstacle around the vehicle 10 (step S101). . When it is determined that there is no obstacle around the vehicle 10 (step S101: NO), the subsequent processing is omitted, and a series of operations ends. In this case, the collision avoidance assistance device 200 may start the process again from step S101 after a predetermined period.

  When it is determined that there is an obstacle around the vehicle 10 (step S101: YES), the obstacle determination unit 210 further determines whether the obstacle is an animal (step S102). When it is determined that the obstacle is not an animal (step S102: NO), the subsequent processing is omitted, and the series of operations ends. Also in this case, the collision avoidance assistance device 200 may start the process again from step S101 after a predetermined period.

  When it is determined that the obstacle is an animal (step S102: YES), the first calculation unit 220 estimates the animal weight Mobj (step S103). Thereafter, the first calculation unit 220 further calculates the collision probability between the vehicle 10 and the animal 50 or another obstacle using the animal weight Mobj.

  Here, a method for calculating the collision probability will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the collision avoidance action probability distribution on the animal side and the collision avoidance action possible area on the vehicle side. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between animal weight and collision probability.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is known, the future position of the animal 50 can be predicted therefrom. That is, it is possible to predict how far the animal 50 that has noticed the approach of the vehicle 10 can move by the avoidance action. The future position is predicted as a position corresponding to the region indicated by the collision avoidance action probability distribution of FIG. 3 using the characteristic that the agility becomes higher as the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is smaller. For example, when the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is estimated as a relatively small value (that is, in the case of a small animal), the future position of the animal 50 can be estimated as a relatively wide area. When the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is estimated as a medium value (that is, in the case of a medium-sized animal), the future position of the animal can be estimated as a medium area. When the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is estimated as a relatively large value (that is, in the case of a large animal), the future position of the animal 50 can be estimated as a relatively narrow area.

  In addition, when the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is extremely small, the range in which the animal 50 can move is limited even if the agility is high, so the future position of the animal 50 may be estimated as a relatively narrow region. In addition, when the type of the animal 50 can be discriminated, the future position may be predicted in consideration of the habit of the animal.

  If the future position of the animal 50 is known, the collision probability of the vehicle 10 can be calculated therefrom. The collision probability can be estimated using, for example, the collision avoidance action probability distribution of the animal 50 and the current relative vector (position, differential value, and twice differential value) of the vehicle 10 and the animal 50.

As shown in FIG. 4, the collision probability is calculated when the collision avoidance support control is not executed (see FIG. 4A), when the AEB is executed as the collision avoidance support control (see FIG. 4B), It is estimated separately when AES is executed as avoidance support control (see FIG. 4C). In addition, about the collision probability in the case of performing AES, the collision probability is estimated in consideration of the range in which the vehicle 10 can move by AES (that is, the collision avoidance possible area shown in FIG. 3).

  When the collision avoidance support control is not executed and when the AEB is executed, the larger the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is, the more the movement of the animal 50 becomes and it becomes impossible to avoid, so the collision probability increases. Note that the collision probability in the case of executing AEB is a value obtained by adding the following vehicle collision to the collision probability of the collision avoidance support control and subtracting the avoidance by AEB. On the other hand, when AES is executed, the greater the weight Mobj of the animal 50, the smaller the movement of the animal 50 and the easier it is to avoid, so the collision probability decreases. However, since the collision probability when AES is executed takes into account the collision probability with the oncoming vehicle and the adjacent vehicle, it does not become zero even if the weight Mobj of the animal 50 increases.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the second calculation unit 230 calculates the collision damage degree using the collision probability calculated by the first calculation unit 220 (step S <b> 105). The “collision damage level” here is a parameter indicating the magnitude of damage that occurs when a collision occurs.

  Here, a method of calculating the collision damage expectation will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the weight of an animal and the degree of collision damage.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the collision damage degree is the same as the collision probability when the collision avoidance support control is not executed (see FIG. 5A) and when the AEB is executed as the collision avoidance support control (FIG. 5 ( b)) and when AES is executed as the collision avoidance support control (see FIG. 5C), it is estimated separately. The collision damage degree is estimated as a value that increases as the weight Mobj of the animal 50 increases. That is, the collision damage degree is calculated as a value having a positive correlation with the weight Mobj of the animal 50). In addition, the collision damage degree when the collision avoidance support control is executed is a component proportional to the weight Mobj of the animal 50, a component related to secondary damage (that is, a component related to a subsequent vehicle collision when AEB is executed, or AES is executed). The components related to the oncoming vehicle and the adjacent vehicle collision in this case are added together.

  Returning to FIG. 2 again, the second calculation unit 230 further calculates a collision damage expectation value indicating the degree of overall risk related to the collision (step S105). Like the collision probability and the degree of collision damage, the expected collision damage value is determined when the collision avoidance support control is not executed, when the AEB is executed as the collision avoidance support control, and when the AES is executed as the collision avoidance support control. Estimated separately. The expected collision damage value can be calculated using the collision probability and the collision damage degree. Specifically, the expected collision damage value is calculated as the collision probability is higher or the collision damage degree is larger.

  Subsequently, the control determination unit 240 determines whether or not to perform the collision avoidance support control based on the expected collision damage value (step S107). When it is determined that the collision avoidance assistance control should not be executed (step S107: NO), the collision avoidance assistance control is not executed, and the series of operations ends.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the collision avoidance support control should be executed (step S107: YES), the control determination unit 240 determines whether or not AEB should be executed based on the collision damage expected value (step S107). S108). When it is determined that AEB should be executed (step S108: YES), the control determination unit 240 controls the brake control unit 310 to execute AEB (step S109). On the other hand, when it is determined that AEB should not be executed (step S108: NO), the control determination unit 240 controls the steering control unit 320 to execute AES (step S110).

  Here, the determination method of collision avoidance assistance control is demonstrated concretely with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the weight of the animal and the expected collision damage value.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the collision avoidance support control is determined so that the expected collision damage value is minimized. Specifically, when the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is relatively small, the collision damage expected value when nothing is performed (that is, when the collision avoidance support control is not executed) is minimized. Decide not to execute collision avoidance assistance control. When the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is medium, the expected collision damage value when executing the AEB is minimized, so the control determination unit 240 determines to execute the AEB as the collision avoidance support control. When the weight Mobj of the animal 50 is relatively large, the collision damage expectation value when executing AES is minimized, so the control determination unit 240 determines to execute AES as collision avoidance support control.

<Technical effect>
Next, technical effects obtained by the above-described collision avoidance assistance device 200 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, according to the collision avoidance assistance device 200 according to the present embodiment, whether or not the collision avoidance assistance control can be executed based on the expected collision damage value calculated from the weight Mobj of the animal 50 or the like. Alternatively, it is determined whether AEB is executed as collision avoidance assistance control or AES is executed. In this way, in consideration of the movement of the animal 50, an operation capable of minimizing the risk of collision is selected. Therefore, since the collision avoidance support control has been executed, it is possible to avoid a situation in which damage due to the collision is increased.

  In the present embodiment, the collision avoidance support device 200 has been described with an example capable of executing AEB or AES. However, when the collision avoidance support device 200 can execute only one of AEB or AES, or AEB or AES In addition to or instead of the above, even when another collision avoidance support control can be executed, the same technical effect can be obtained.

<Appendix>
Various aspects of the invention derived from the embodiments described above will be described below.

(Appendix 1)
The collision avoidance assistance device according to attachment 1 is a collision avoidance assistance device capable of executing collision avoidance assistance control for avoiding a collision between a vehicle and an obstacle existing around the vehicle, wherein the obstacle Determination means for determining whether or not the animal is an animal, prediction means for predicting a future position where the animal exists after a predetermined time when the obstacle is determined to be the animal, and Based on the first risk information indicating the risk level when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is performed, and the risk level when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is not performed. 2 acquisition means for acquiring risk information, and determination means for determining whether to execute the collision avoidance support control for the animal based on the first risk information and the second risk information. Obtain.

  According to the collision avoidance assistance device according to attachment 1, when the obstacle present around the vehicle is an animal, information indicating the degree of risk is acquired using the future position of the animal. Specifically, the first risk information indicating the degree of risk when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is executed, and the second risk indicating the degree of risk when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is not executed. Information is acquired. The “risk degree” here is not only the risk of collision between the vehicle and the animal, but also a comprehensive risk that considers the risk of collision between the vehicle and an obstacle other than the animal (for example, a rear vehicle). This parameter indicates the degree of risk.

  If the first risk information and the second risk information described above are used, whether or not the collision avoidance support control for the animal should be executed (for example, the collision with the animal can be suitably avoided by executing the collision avoidance control, or By executing the collision avoidance control, it is possible to accurately determine whether there is a possibility that the collision possibility with other obstacles may increase. Therefore, the collision avoidance support control can be executed more appropriately by determining whether or not the collision avoidance support control can be executed based on the first risk information and the second risk information.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit or idea of the invention that can be read from the claims and the entire specification. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle 50 Animal 110 Vehicle speed sensor 120 Acceleration sensor 130 Front sensor 140 Rear / rear side sensor 150 Accelerator pedal sensor 160 Brake pedal sensor 200 Collision avoidance support device 210 Obstacle determination unit 220 First calculation unit 230 Second calculation unit 240 Control Determination unit 310 Brake control unit 320 Steering control unit

Claims (1)

A collision avoidance assistance device capable of executing collision avoidance assistance control for avoiding a collision between a vehicle and an obstacle existing around the vehicle,
Determining means for determining whether the obstacle is an animal;
A predicting means for predicting a future position where the animal exists after a predetermined time when it is determined that the obstacle is the animal;
Based on the future position, first risk information indicating a degree of risk when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is executed, and a risk when the collision avoidance support control for the animal is not executed Acquisition means for acquiring second risk information indicating the degree;
A collision avoidance support apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines whether to execute the collision avoidance support control for the animal based on the first risk information and the second risk information.

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