JP2019217791A - Graphic display device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a graphic display device for a vehicle which corrects display position in accordance with inclination of a vehicle body relative to road surface.SOLUTION: A control part 10 of a graphic display device (HUD) 100 for the vehicle calculates an amount of change of inclination of longitudinal direction and/or cross direction of the vehicle body relative to the road surface from vehicle information 50 which is acquired from a device installed on the vehicle. In particular, the amount of change of inclination of the vehicle body before a driver gets on and after he/she got on is calculated. Then, the inclination of the graphic display device 100 for the vehicle mounted on the vehicle is corrected from an HUD rotation part 32 so that the variation may not be caused in virtual display state which is displayed for the driver.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a video display device for a vehicle that is mounted on a vehicle or the like and is suitable for displaying various video information.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a vehicle image display device (a so-called head-up display (hereinafter, HUD)) for displaying various information on a windshield of a vehicle has been put to practical use as one of the technologies for displaying images superimposed on a real space. For example, by providing information for a driver as video information (display content) to be displayed, the driving operation of the vehicle can be supported.

  The basic configuration of the HUD is that an optically generated image is projected on a windshield (windshield), the reflected image light is incident on the driver's eyes, and the driver visually recognizes the virtual image in front of the windshield. It is. At that time, the driver visually recognizes the displayed virtual image by superimposing the virtual image on the outside scene (the background of the outside world) visible in front of the windshield. However, the driver may project the virtual image so that the positional relationship between the outside scene and the virtual image is appropriate. desirable.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses at least one of vehicle angle information relating to at least one of a posture and an orientation of a vehicle and external angle information relating to an angle of a background object at a position of a target of a display object in a background of an external environment of the vehicle. There is disclosed a technique for acquiring an image of a display object and projecting the image including the display object based on at least one of the acquired vehicle angle information and the acquired external angle information.

JP 2010-156608 A

  Since the vehicle image display device (HUD) is fixed and installed inside the vehicle, in a running vehicle, the projection direction and display position of the HUD change integrally with the attitude of the vehicle. According to the technique of Patent Document 1, the posture of a running vehicle (for example, a front-back inclination, a left-right inclination, etc.) and the shape of a road ahead of the vehicle (for example, up-down, left-right inclination, etc.) are determined. It is stated that in the case of a shift, the shift of the display is corrected.

  However, Patent Literature 1 does not specifically consider the parallelism between the vehicle (vehicle body) and the road surface, that is, the inclination of the vehicle body with respect to the road surface on which the vehicle travels. That is, in a normal HUD installation, the vehicle body is positioned so as to be displayed at a predetermined position as being parallel to the road surface. However, when the driver or the like gets on the vehicle and loads a load, the vehicle body tilts in the left-right direction and / or the front-back direction with respect to the road surface. As a result, the display position of the HUD is tilted or shifted, so that the correction is also required.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular image display device that corrects a display position according to the inclination of a vehicle body with respect to a road surface.

  In order to solve the above problems, a vehicular image display device according to the present invention displays a virtual image in front of a vehicle to a driver by projecting an image on a windshield of the vehicle, and is installed in the vehicle. A vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including the inclination of the vehicle body in the left-right direction and the front-back direction, and a control unit that controls a display state of a virtual image based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit. A video display device that generates a video based on an instruction from the control unit. The control unit calculates, based on the vehicle information, a change amount of the inclination of the vehicle body in the left-right direction and / or the front-back direction with respect to a road surface on which the vehicle travels, and based on the calculated change amount, a change occurs in a virtual image display state for the driver. The display state is corrected so as not to exist.

  Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, even if a driver or the like gets into a vehicle and the body tilts, a display image of a virtual image for the driver does not change and a vehicle image displayed at a position easy to see on a road surface A display device can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of a head-up display (HUD) mounted on a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a HUD control system according to the first embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the hardware structure regarding acquisition of vehicle information. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an image display operation by the HUD. The figure explaining the relationship between the boarding position (there is no boarding) of a vehicle, and vehicle body inclination. The figure explaining the relationship between the boarding position (at the time of boarding) of a vehicle, and the body inclination. The figure explaining the relationship between the boarding position (at the time of boarding) of a vehicle, and the body inclination. The figure explaining the relationship between the boarding position (at the time of boarding) of a vehicle, and the body inclination. The figure explaining the detection method of a vehicle body inclination. The figure which shows an example of a structure of a HUD rotation part. 9 is a flowchart showing HUD correction (when a sensor is used) before running the vehicle. 9 is a flowchart showing HUD correction (when a camera is used) before running the vehicle. 9 is a flowchart illustrating HUD addition correction (when a sensor is used) during vehicle running. 9 is a flowchart illustrating HUD addition correction (other than a sensor) during running of the vehicle. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display state by HUD inclination correction (reference display state). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display state by HUD inclination correction (when an inclination occurs). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display state by HUD tilt correction (after HUD rotation). FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a HUD according to a second embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating HUD correction according to the second embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the HUD display state after content position correction.

  An embodiment of a vehicle image display device (head-up display (hereinafter, HUD)) according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the first embodiment, a case will be described in which the attitude of the HUD is adjusted in order to correct the displacement of the display position of the HUD due to the inclination of the vehicle body.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an outline of a HUD mounted on a vehicle. The HUD 100 mounted on the vehicle 1 projects an image generated by the image display device 2 onto a windshield (hereinafter, referred to as a windshield 7) of the vehicle 1 via the mirror 3. The image reflected by the windshield 7 enters the driver's eyes, and the driver visually recognizes the image from the HUD. The video to be displayed includes information related to driving (display content such as driving guidance) and supports driving operation. Inside the HUD 100, a vehicle information acquisition unit 5 that acquires various vehicle information 50, a control unit 10 that generates video information to be displayed based on the vehicle information acquisition unit 5, a mirror driving unit 4 that drives the mirror 3, and a posture of the HUD 100 And a speaker 6 for outputting voice information to the driver. The vehicle information 50 includes, in addition to speed information and gear information indicating a driving state, vehicle body tilt information used for HUD attitude adjustment, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the HUD 100 in the present embodiment. Various vehicle information 50 is input to the vehicle information acquisition unit 5 and sent to the control unit 10. An electronic control unit (ECU, Electronic Control Unit) 11 in the control unit 10 generates a video signal (display content) displayed by the HUD 100 based on the input vehicle information 50. In addition, based on the vehicle information 50, a control signal for the attitude of the HUD 100 and the mirror 3 and an audio signal for the speaker 6 (shown in FIG. 1) are generated. The image display device 2 includes a light source 21 such as an LED or a laser, an illumination optical system (not shown), and a display element 23 such as a liquid crystal element, and emits image light generated by the display element 23 toward the mirror 3. .

  The control unit 10 includes a nonvolatile memory 13 for storing a program executed by the ECU 11, a memory 14 for storing video information and control information, a light source adjustment unit 15 for controlling the light source 21 of the video display device 2, and a video signal to be displayed. And a display element driving section 17 for driving the display element 23 based on the corrected video signal. Further, a drive signal is sent to a mirror adjustment unit 18 that outputs a drive signal to the mirror drive unit 4 to adjust the mirror 3 and a HUD rotation unit (display device rotation unit) 32 to adjust the attitude of the HUD 100. HUD tilt adjustment unit (display device tilt adjustment unit) 31 that outputs The HUD tilt adjustment unit 31 generates a drive signal based on the vehicle body tilt information detected by the tilt detection unit 30.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration related to acquisition of the vehicle information 50. The acquisition of the vehicle information 50 is performed by an information acquisition device such as various sensors installed in the vehicle 1 under the control of an electronic control unit (ECU) 11 in the control unit 10, for example. Each device exists outside the HUD 100, but HUD-related sensors (such as the HUD display On / Off sensor 121 and the HUD mirror adjustment sensor 122) may be provided inside the HUD. Hereinafter, the function of each device will be described. Note that it is not necessary to include all of these devices in order to execute the operation of the present embodiment, and other types of devices may be added as appropriate.

  The vehicle speed sensor 101 acquires speed information of the vehicle 1. The shift position sensor 102 acquires the current gear information of the vehicle 1. The steering wheel angle sensor 103 acquires steering angle information. The headlight sensor 104 acquires lamp lighting information related to On / Off of the headlight. The illuminance sensor 105 and the chromaticity sensor 106 acquire external light information. The distance measurement sensor 107 acquires distance information between the vehicle 1 and an external object. The infrared sensor 108 acquires infrared information on the presence or absence of an object at a short distance from the vehicle 1 and the distance. The engine start sensor 109 detects On / Off information of the engine.

  The acceleration sensor 110 and the gyro sensor 111 acquire acceleration gyro information including acceleration and angular velocity as information on the attitude and behavior of the vehicle 1. The temperature sensor 112 acquires temperature information inside and outside the vehicle. The road-to-vehicle communication wireless receiver 113 and the vehicle-to-vehicle communication wireless receiver 114 respectively receive road-to-vehicle communication information received by road-to-vehicle communication between the vehicle 1 and a road, a sign, a signal, and the like. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication information received by the vehicle-to-vehicle communication with another vehicle is acquired.

  The camera (inside the car) 115 and the camera (outside the car) 116 capture images of the inside and outside of the car, respectively, to acquire images as camera video information (inside / outside the car). The camera (in the vehicle) 115 captures, for example, the driver's posture, eye position, movement, and the like. By analyzing the obtained image, for example, it is possible to acquire information such as the fatigue state of the driver and the height of the eyes (line of sight). Further, the camera (outside the vehicle) 116 captures an image of a situation around the vehicle 1 such as in front and behind. By analyzing the obtained image, for example, it is possible to grasp the presence or absence of moving objects such as other vehicles and pedestrians in the vicinity, buildings and terrain, road surface conditions (rain, snow, freezing, irregularities, etc.) It is.

  A GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 117 and a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) (registered trademark (hereinafter the same)) receiver 118 receive and obtain GPS signals, respectively. GPS information and VICS signal obtained by receiving the VICS signal. It may be implemented as a part of a car navigation system that acquires and uses such information.

  The load sensor 119 and the position sensor 120 detect the load and posture of the driver or the occupant. The HUD display On / Off sensor 121 detects whether the power supply of the HUD is On or Off. The HUD mirror adjustment sensor 122 detects an adjustment signal of the HUD mirror and acquires information as to whether or not to perform a mirror adjustment process.

  The tilt sensor 123 detects the tilt of the vehicle body with respect to the direction of gravity. The vehicle height sensor 124 detects the height of the vehicle body with respect to the road surface, and can be attached to a plurality of locations on the vehicle body to determine the inclination of the vehicle body with respect to the road surface.

  In this embodiment, the inclination sensor 123 and the vehicle height sensor 124 are used according to the purpose in order to determine the inclination of the vehicle body. That is, the inclination sensor 123 and the vehicle height sensor 124 are used as the inclination detecting unit 30 in FIG. Further, as another method, the inclination of the vehicle body can be estimated by using the load sensor 119 and the camera 116 outside the vehicle.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an image display operation by the HUD. An image for display is emitted from the image display device 2 installed below the dashboard of the vehicle 1. The video is reflected by a first mirror 3b and a second mirror 3a (for example, a concave mirror, a free-form mirror, a mirror having an asymmetrical optical axis, etc.), and is projected toward the windshield 7. The first mirror 3b is fixed, and the second mirror 3a is rotatable by the mirror driving unit 4. In the following description, the rotatable second mirror 3a will be simply referred to as "mirror 3".

  The image converged and projected from the mirror 3 is reflected by the windshield 7, enters the driver's eye 8 and forms an image on the retina, so that the image can be visually recognized. At that time, the driver is looking at the virtual image 9 existing in front of the windshield 7, and the position of the virtual image 9 will be referred to as "display position" for convenience. Reference numeral 70 denotes a reflection position of an image on the windshield 7.

  Here, the mirror drive unit 4 adjusts the display position of the virtual image 9 according to the height of the driver's eyes. In other words, the position of the virtual image 9 is moved in the vertical direction by rotating the mirror 3 by the mirror driving unit 4 as indicated by the arrow, and the virtual image 9 can be visually recognized at a position where the virtual image 9 can be easily viewed.

Next, correction of the display position with respect to the inclination of the vehicle body in the present embodiment will be described.
5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining the relationship between the riding position of the vehicle and the inclination of the vehicle body, and are shown in a plan view as viewed from above, a rear view as viewed from behind, and a left side view as viewed from the left side. I have.

  FIG. 5A shows a case without a ride, which is set as a reference posture of the vehicle body. For simplicity, the vehicle is depicted as being parallel to the road surface in the reference position. In the reference posture, the HUD 100 is installed such that its display position becomes the reference position. That is, the center position of the displayed virtual image 9 is adjusted so as to coincide with the line of sight 8a of the driver (eye 8), and the horizontal line 9a of the virtual image 9 is adjusted to be parallel to the road surface 99.

  FIG. 5B shows a case where the driver 81 gets on the driver seat only. Since the position of the driver's seat of the vehicle is lowered due to the weight of the driver 81, the vehicle is inclined with respect to the road surface 99 in the left-right direction and the front-back direction. That is, when viewed from the seated driver, the horizontal line 9a of the virtual image 9 rotates clockwise by α1, and the center position of the virtual image 9 rotates by β1 below the line of sight 8a (moves by Δz1 downward). Do). Therefore, to correct for this, the HUD 100 may be rotated counterclockwise by −α1 and upward by −β1.

  FIG. 5C shows a case where the driver 81 is on the driver's seat and the occupant 82 is on the passenger seat. Although the inclination of the vehicle in the front-rear direction increases due to the weight of the driver 81 and the occupant 82, if the weight difference between the two 81 and 82 is small, the vehicle is balanced in the left-right direction and no inclination occurs (or is small). From the viewpoint of the driver, the horizontal line 9a of the virtual image 9 does not rotate, and the center position of the virtual image 9 rotates by β2 below the line-of-sight direction 8a (moves downward by Δz2). Therefore, to correct for this, HUD 100 may be rotated upward by -β2.

  In addition, when the difference in weight between the driver 81 and the occupant 82 is large, a tilt in the left-right direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) occurs, so the correction corresponding to α1 in FIG. 5B may be added. The same applies to the case where luggage or animals such as dogs and cats are placed in the passenger seat instead of the occupant 82. Since the inclination in the left and right direction is expected to occur due to the weight difference, the correction in the left and right direction is added. .

  FIG. 5D shows a case where the driver 81 rides on the driver's seat and the occupant 83 rides on the right rear seat. The inclination of the vehicle body in the left-right direction increases due to the weight of the driver 81 and the occupant 83. However, if the weight difference between the two 81 and 83 is small, the vehicle is balanced in the front-rear direction and the inclination does not occur (or is small). As viewed from the driver, the horizontal line 9a of the virtual image 9 rotates clockwise by α2, but the center position of the virtual image 9 matches the line-of-sight direction 8a. Therefore, to correct for this, HUD 100 may be rotated counterclockwise by -α2. Note that if the difference in weight between the driver 81 and the occupant 83 is large, a tilt in the front-rear direction (upward or downward) occurs, so that correction corresponding to β1 in FIG. 5B may be added.

  There are various riding states in addition to FIGS. 5B to 5D described above. When the driver 81 is in the driver's seat and an occupant is in the left rear seat, or when the driver is in the driver's seat, the passenger's seat, and all the rear seats, the weight is balanced in the left and right direction and the front and rear direction, and the inclination is small. There is expected. However, when the weight difference at each riding position is large, or when two or more passengers get on the rear seats, a tilt in the left-right direction or the front-rear direction may occur, and these are corrected.

  Here, the relationship between the occupant's riding position and the inclination of the vehicle body has been described. However, even when luggage is loaded, the vehicle body tilts according to the loading position, and accordingly, the HUD 100 is rotated in the left-right direction or the front-rear direction. What is necessary is just to correct.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the inclination of the vehicle body. Here, a specific configuration example when a sensor is used for the tilt detection unit 30 in FIG. 2 is shown.

  (A) is a case where one sensor is used, and the inclination sensor 123 is attached near the installation position of the HUD. The inclination sensor 123 measures the gravitational acceleration of the earth, and detects the inclination of the horizontal reference plane of the vehicle body with respect to the direction of gravity in two axial directions (left-right direction and front-back direction). Since the inclination sensor 123 detects that the road surface has an inclination, the inclination sensor 123 is suitable for obtaining a relative change amount of the vehicle body inclination.

  (B) shows a case where a plurality of sensors are used, and a vehicle height sensor 124 is attached to the front and rear positions of the vehicle body. The vehicle height sensor 124 measures the height of the vehicle body lower surface from the road surface, and a laser distance meter, an ultrasonic distance meter, or the like is used. By comparing the measurement values of the plurality of vehicle height sensors 124, the inclination of the vehicle body with respect to the road surface is calculated.

  (C) shows a case where a plurality of sensors are used, and the load sensor 119 is attached to each seat position in the vehicle. The load sensor 119 detects the presence or absence of seating in each seat, and the approximate inclination of the vehicle body can be estimated from the seating distribution. Instead of the load sensor 119, a seat belt wearing sensor may be used.

(D) is a case where a plurality of sensors are used, and the load sensor 119 is attached to each seat position in the vehicle or a trunk room. The weight of each position is measured by the load sensor 119, and the inclination of the vehicle body is calculated from the weight distribution with respect to the vehicle body. This method has higher detection accuracy than the method (c).
Furthermore, it is also possible to use a camera 116 outside the vehicle as the inclination detecting unit 30.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the HUD rotating unit (display device rotating unit) 32. (A) is a plan view, (b) is a front view, (c) is a left side view, x axis is a vehicle width direction, y axis is a vehicle traveling direction, and z axis is a HUD projection direction.

  The configuration of the HUD rotating unit 32 is such that the HUD 100 is supported by a frame-shaped holder 71, and the holder 71 is supported by an arm mechanism 72. The arm mechanism 72 is mounted on a reference surface of the vehicle body. A pair of rotation motors 73 are attached to the holder 71 so that the HUD 100 can rotate around the y-axis. Thereby, the inclination of the virtual image viewed from the driver in the left-right direction (x direction) is changed by α. Further, a pair of rotation motors 74 are attached to the arm mechanism 72, and the holder 71 is rotatable around the x-axis. Thus, the HUD 100 is tilted in the front-rear direction, and the vertical tilt of the virtual image viewed from the driver is changed by β. Note that the vertical inclination of the virtual image is adjusted not by tilting the HUD 100 but by moving other rotary motors 75 and 76 provided on the arm mechanism 72 to move the position of the HUD 100 in the height direction (z direction). This is also possible.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, in order to correct the display position of the HUD, a mechanism for rotating the attitude of the HUD by the HUD rotating unit 32 is employed. Therefore, accurate video information can be provided to the driver without changing the content of the virtual image displayed by the HUD at all.

  Next, the flow of the HUD correction process for the vehicle body tilt will be described. First, the correction before the vehicle travels will be described separately for a case where a sensor is used for detecting a tilt of the vehicle body and a case where a camera is used.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart illustrating HUD correction (when a sensor is used) before the vehicle travels.
S200: When the engine of the vehicle is started, the engine start sensor 109 detects the start, and starts the following processing.

  S201: The vehicle information obtaining unit 5 obtains the vehicle body inclination before riding (and before loading luggage) with a sensor attached to the vehicle, and sets this as an initial value S0. The sensor used here is any one of the inclination sensor 123, the vehicle height sensor 124, and the load sensor 119 shown in FIG. 6, and the values acquired from the sensors are the values of angle, distance, and weight. Since the vehicle is not yet on board, the vehicle body is in a reference posture parallel to the road surface, and the display position of the HUD 100 is expected to be a reference position that is most visible to the driver (FIG. 5A). If the display position before boarding deviates from the reference position, the HUD may be separately adjusted so that the display position is easy to see. The detected value S0 of the vehicle body inclination before boarding is influenced by the inclination of the road surface depending on the type of the sensor. The inclination sensor 123 detects the inclination of the road surface, but the other vehicle height sensor 124 and the load sensor 119 do not affect the inclination of the road surface.

S202: The driver / occupant gets on the vehicle and loads the luggage.
S203: The vehicle body inclination after getting on (after loading) is acquired by the sensor, and this is defined as S1. See FIGS. 5B-5D.

  S204: The HUD inclination adjusting unit 31 calculates a change amount ΔS = S1−S0 from the difference between the initial value S0 of the vehicle body inclination acquired by the sensor and the riding time S1. Since the change amount ΔS of the vehicle body inclination is obtained in this manner, the influence of the road surface inclination when the inclination sensor 123 is used is canceled.

  S205: The HUD inclination adjusting unit 31 calculates the HUD correction amounts α and β according to the change amount ΔS of the vehicle body inclination. As shown in FIGS. 5B to 5D, the HUD correction amount α that recovers when the vehicle body leans left and right, and the HUD correction amount that recovers this when the vehicle body leans forward and backward. Calculate β. If the sensor is the tilt sensor 123, the correction amounts α and β can be directly obtained from the change in the tilt angle in the two axial directions. When the sensors are the vehicle height sensor 124 and the load sensor 119, the correction amounts α and β are calculated by converting distance and weight changes at a plurality of installation positions into changes in inclination in two axial directions.

S206: The HUD rotation unit 32 adjusts the rotation of the HUD 100 according to the correction amounts α and β calculated by the HUD inclination adjustment unit 31. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the HUD 100 is rotated around the y-axis by an angle α and around the x-axis by an angle β. Thus, the adjustment of the inclination of the HUD before traveling is completed.
S207: The HUD display operation is started, and the operation shifts to the operation operation.

  As described above, in the HUD correction before traveling, the HUD correction amount is determined according to the change amount of the inclination of the vehicle body before and after the boarding, so that the correction process is performed without being affected even if the road surface is inclined. be able to. Thus, even if the driver or the like gets on the vehicle and the body tilts, a virtual image can be displayed in a posture and position that are easy for the driver to see on the road surface.

  In addition, in the acquisition of the vehicle body inclination S0 before boarding in S201, if there is vehicle body information at the time of vehicle manufacture, it can be acquired and used as the initial value S0. For example, if the vehicle height data at the time of manufacture is owned as vehicle body information, it may be used. In particular, if the vehicle height data at the time of manufacture indicates that the vehicle body is parallel to the road surface, the initial value S0 = 0 (no inclination), and the vehicle body inclination acquisition step before riding in S201 can be omitted. .

FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing HUD correction (when using a camera) before the vehicle travels.
S210: When the engine of the vehicle is started, the following processing is started.

S211: The vehicle information acquisition unit 5 acquires an image (foreground image) in front of the vehicle before riding (and before loading luggage) with the external camera 116 attached to the vehicle, and sets this as an initial value M0.
S212: The driver / occupant gets on the vehicle and loads the luggage.
S213: The foreground image after boarding (after loading) is acquired by the camera 116 outside the vehicle, and this is set as M1. If the vehicle body tilts after getting on (after loading), the foreground image M1 rotates or shifts from the initial value M0.

S214: The HUD inclination adjustment unit 31 calculates a change amount ΔM = M1−M0 from the difference between the initial value M0 of the foreground image acquired by the camera 116 outside the vehicle and the on-board M1. For example, the change amount ΔM is a motion vector amount between images.
S215: The HUD inclination adjusting unit 31 converts the change amount ΔM of the foreground image into a change amount ΔS of the vehicle body inclination. That is, when the change amount (motion vector) ΔM of the image is separated into a rotation component and a vertical movement component of the image, the rotation component corresponds to the inclination of the vehicle body in the left-right direction, and the vertical movement component corresponds to the inclination of the vehicle body in the front-rear direction.

S216: The HUD inclination adjusting unit 31 calculates the HUD correction amounts α and β according to the change amount ΔS of the vehicle body inclination.
S217: The HUD rotation unit 32 adjusts the rotation of the HUD 100 according to the correction amounts α and β calculated by the HUD inclination adjustment unit 31.
S218: The HUD display operation is started, and the operation shifts to the operation operation.
As described above, the HUD correction before traveling can be performed using the camera.

  Next, the HUD addition correction for the vehicle body tilt during the running of the vehicle will be described. During the running of the vehicle, the dynamic balance of the vehicle body may change, and may further change from the static vehicle body tilt state before running. For example, (1) lateral vibration (inclination) due to centrifugal force generated when traveling on a curve, (2) longitudinal vibration (inclination) generated during acceleration / deceleration, and (3) longitudinal vibration (inclination) generated when traveling on a slope. is there. Here, additional correction of the HUD is performed for the dynamic vehicle body inclination accompanying such traveling. The detection of the vehicle body inclination will be described separately for a case where a sensor is used and a case other than a sensor.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart showing the HUD addition correction (when using the sensor) during running of the vehicle. Here, the sensor used for detecting the inclination before traveling is continuously used.
S300: The following correction processing is started in response to a driver's instruction (or automatically when the vehicle is running).

  S301: The vehicle information obtaining unit 5 obtains the vehicle body inclination during traveling by using a sensor attached to the vehicle, and sets this as S2. The sensor used here detects inclination with respect to the road surface, and the vehicle height sensor 124 shown in FIG. 6 is suitable. Further, even with the high-sensitivity load sensor 119, measurement can be performed by changing (decreasing) the load received by the sensor due to the centrifugal force acting on the occupant or the load. The inclination sensor 123 is not suitable because it is affected by the inclination of the road surface during traveling.

S302: The HUD inclination adjustment unit 31 calculates a change amount ΔS ′ = S2−S1 from the difference between the vehicle body inclination S1 before traveling and the vehicle body inclination S2 during traveling acquired by the sensor. Here, the slope S1 before traveling is the value acquired in S203 of FIG. 8A.
S303: The HUD inclination adjustment unit 31 calculates the HUD additional correction amounts α ′ and β ′ according to the change amount ΔS ′ of the vehicle body inclination. This additional correction amount corrects a dynamic vehicle body inclination accompanying the traveling of the vehicle by α ′ in the left-right direction and β ′ in the front-rear direction.
S304: The HUD rotation unit 32 adjusts the rotation of the HUD 100 according to the additional correction amounts α ′ and β ′ calculated by the HUD inclination adjustment unit 31.

S305: It is determined whether to continue the HUD addition correction. For example, if the vehicle is running, the operation is continued, and if the vehicle is stopped, the operation is stopped.
S306: When continuing, the process waits for a certain time and returns to S301 to repeat the above correction. This is to prevent the driver from feeling uncomfortable by making frequent corrections.
S307: The HUD addition correction process during traveling ends.

  As described above, even when the vehicle is traveling, the vehicle body inclination with respect to the road surface is detected and the HUD addition correction is performed, so that even if a dynamic vehicle body inclination occurs during traveling, a virtual image is displayed at a position that is easy to see on the road surface. Can be.

FIG. 9B is a flowchart showing the HUD addition correction (other than the sensor) during the running of the vehicle. Since the foreground image obtained by the camera used in FIG. 8B cannot be used for detecting the inclination of the vehicle body during traveling, the attitude control information indicating the driving operation and the traveling state is used here.
S310: The following correction processing is started according to the driver's instruction (or automatically).

  S311: The vehicle information acquisition unit 5 acquires the posture control information using each sensor attached to the vehicle. The attitude control information is information indicating a driving operation or a running state that affects the dynamic attitude of the vehicle body during traveling, and includes the vehicle speed sensor 101, the steering wheel steering angle sensor 103, the acceleration sensor 110, the gyro sensor shown in FIG. It is information detected by 111 or the like.

S312: A change amount ΔS ′ of the vehicle body inclination due to running is calculated from the posture control information. Therefore, the relationship between the traveling speed, acceleration, steering angle, yaw angle, and the like and the dynamic inclination ΔS ′ of the vehicle body is obtained in advance and stored in the nonvolatile memory 13.
S313: The HUD inclination adjusting section 31 calculates the HUD additional correction amounts α ′ and β ′ according to the change amount ΔS ′ of the vehicle body inclination.
S314: The HUD rotation unit 32 rotates and adjusts the HUD 100 according to the additional correction amounts α ′ and β ′ calculated by the HUD inclination adjustment unit 31.

S315: It is determined whether or not to continue the HUD addition correction.
S316: If continuing, the process waits for a certain time and returns to S311 to repeat the above correction.
S317: The additional correction process during traveling ends.

  As described above, it is also possible to calculate the dynamic vehicle body inclination generated during traveling from the posture control information indicating the driving operation and the traveling state, and perform the additional correction of the HUD.

  10A to 10C are diagrams illustrating examples of display states by HUD tilt correction. 10A shows a reference display state in which the vehicle body does not tilt, FIG. 10B shows a state in which the vehicle body tilt has occurred, and FIG. 10C shows a state after the tilt correction.

  In the reference display state of FIG. 10A, there is no occupant or luggage, and no body tilt occurs. In this state, the HUD 100 is mounted on the vehicle such that the display position of the HUD 100 becomes the reference position. Note that the HUD rotating unit 32 shown in FIG. 7 is used for the mounting mechanism of the HUD 100. The virtual image display area 90 seen in front of the vehicle is displayed in a posture parallel to the horizon (road surface) 99 of the outside world. This area 90 will be referred to as a “reference display area”. The content (for example, the straight arrow 95) shown in the virtual image is displayed in an easily viewable manner along the traveling direction of the road.

  FIG. 10B shows a state in which the vehicle body is tilted to the right (clockwise) as shown in FIG. In this state, the HUD 100 is also tilted to the right, so that the display area 91 is tilted to the right. Accordingly, the straight arrow 95 in the virtual image is also displayed to be inclined rightward by α, and deviates from the traveling direction of the road, giving the driver 81 an uncomfortable feeling.

  FIG. 10C shows a state in which tilt correction has been performed by HUD rotation. The HUD 100 is rotated by −α in a direction opposite to the vehicle body tilt (counterclockwise) by a rotation motor 73 provided in the holder 71. As a result, the display area 92 returns to the posture of the reference display area 90 parallel to the horizon 99, and the straight arrow 95 in the virtual image is displayed along the traveling direction of the road.

  Here, the correction for the vehicle body tilt in the left-right direction has been described. However, in the case of the vehicle body tilt in the front-back direction, the display area appears to be shifted vertically with respect to the reference display area 90. For this purpose, the display area may be moved in the vertical direction by rotating the HUD 100 in the front-back direction by the rotation motor 74 in FIG. The same applies to the case where a dynamic vehicle body tilt occurs during traveling.

  According to the first embodiment, when the driver or the like gets into the vehicle and the vehicle body tilts, or when the vehicle body runs and the vehicle body dynamically tilts, the display state of the virtual image to the driver changes. By correcting the posture of the HUD so that the virtual image does not occur, a virtual image can be displayed in a posture and position that are easy to see with respect to the road surface. At this time, since the contents of the virtual image displayed by the HUD do not change at all, accurate video information can be provided to the driver.

  In the second embodiment, in order to correct the displacement of the display position of the HUD due to the inclination of the vehicle body, the position of the HUD is fixed and the content display position in the virtual image to be displayed is corrected.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control system of the HUD 100 according to the present embodiment. The points different from the configuration of the first embodiment (FIG. 2) will be described. In the control unit 10, a content correction amount calculation unit 33 is newly provided and connected to the distortion correction unit 16, and the HUD tilt adjustment unit 31 and the HUD rotation unit 32 (FIG. 7) in FIG. 2 are eliminated.

  The content correction amount calculation unit 33 calculates a display position of the display content (for example, a progress arrow or a speed value) included in the video signal on the display element 23 and outputs the display position to the distortion correction unit 16. That is, the content correction amount calculation unit 33 determines the correction amount of the display position of the content based on the vehicle body tilt information detected by the tilt detection unit 30. For example, when the vehicle body inclination α in the left-right direction exists, the content is rotated by −α in the direction opposite to the vehicle body inclination, and when the vehicle body inclination β in the front-rear direction exists, the content is rotated in the opposite direction (vertical direction) to the vehicle body inclination. Move by Δz. The movement amount Δz is an amount determined from the projection distance of the HUD and the body inclination β. In addition, since the center position of the content may be shifted in the left-right direction (x direction) with the rotation of the content, the position of the content in the left-right direction is adjusted (Δx) as necessary.

  The distortion correction unit 16 corrects the display position of the content according to the correction amount from the content correction amount calculation unit 33, further corrects the distortion of the video signal to be displayed, and sends the corrected video signal to the display element driving unit 17. . As a result, the tilt and position of the content included in the video are changed while the displayed video area remains unchanged.

  As described above, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the rotation mechanism of the HUD is unnecessary, and the correction of the vehicle body inclination is performed by the video signal processing in the control unit 10. Therefore, in the correction by the video signal processing as compared with the rotation mechanism of the HUD, it is possible to perform the correction in a quick response to a high-speed change in the body inclination such as the vibration of the body during traveling.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the HUD correction in the present embodiment. Here, a case will be described in which the sensor detects the vehicle body inclination before the vehicle travels. This corresponds to the flowchart in FIG. 8A of the first embodiment, and steps common to FIG. 8A will be briefly described.
S400: When the engine of the vehicle is started, the following processing is started.

S401: The vehicle information acquisition unit 5 acquires the vehicle body inclination before riding (and before loading luggage) with a sensor attached to the vehicle, and sets this as an initial value S0.
S402: The driver / occupant gets on the vehicle and loads the luggage.
S403: The body inclination after getting on (after loading) is acquired by the sensor, and this is set as S1.
S404: The content correction amount calculation unit 33 calculates the change amount ΔS = S1−S0 from the difference between the initial value S0 of the vehicle body inclination acquired by the sensor and the riding time S1.

  S405: The content correction amount calculation unit 33 calculates the content correction amounts α and Δz according to the change amount ΔS of the vehicle body inclination. Here, the correction amount α is the rotation angle of the content with respect to the tilt of the vehicle body in the left-right direction, and the correction amount Δz is the vertical movement amount of the content with respect to the tilt of the vehicle body in the front-rear direction. Note that the correction amount Δz is converted into a coordinate value on the display element 23 and includes a moving amount in the left-right direction as necessary.

S406: The distortion correction unit 16 corrects the position of each content in the video signal according to the correction amounts α and Δz calculated by the content correction amount calculation unit 33. That is, each content is rotated by the angle α and moved in the vertical direction by Δz. The display element driving unit 17 drives the display element 23 based on the corrected video signal. This completes the HUD correction (content position correction) before traveling.
S407: The display operation of the HUD is started, and the operation shifts to the operation operation.

  As the content position correction by another method, when the camera body inclination is detected by a camera, the above-described steps S405 and S406 are replaced with the steps S405 and S406 based on the above-described FIGS. 9A and 9B. Just execute it.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the HUD display state after the content position correction. Since the display state before the content position correction is the same as that in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the drawing is omitted.

  The display area 91 is inclined rightward (clockwise) as shown in FIG. 10B due to the vehicle body inclination. In the correction for this, the display area 93 is set as the tilted area 91, and the content included in the virtual image is rotated by -α in the direction opposite to the body tilt (counterclockwise). For example, the straight arrow 95 is rotated to the position indicated by reference numeral 96, and the speed indicator 97 is similarly rotated. As a result, the content (the straight arrow 96 and the speed display 97) in the virtual image is corrected to a display that is easy to see along the traveling direction of the road.

  Here, the correction of the vehicle body tilt in the left-right direction has been described. However, in the case of the vehicle body tilt in the front-back direction, the display area appears to be shifted by Δz in the vertical direction with respect to the reference display area 90. In order to cope with this, the content included in the virtual image may be moved by -Δz in the direction (vertical direction) opposite to the vehicle body inclination.

  Also in the second embodiment, when the driver or the like gets into the vehicle and the body tilts, or when the vehicle dynamically tilts while the vehicle is running, the display state of the content to the driver changes. By correcting the display position of the content so as not to occur, the content can be displayed in a posture and position that are easy to see with respect to the road surface. At this time, since the video signal processing can promptly respond to a change in the tilt of the vehicle body, it is particularly suitable for correction during traveling in which vehicle body vibration or the like occurs.

The present invention is not limited to each of the above-described embodiments, and the following various embodiments are possible.
(1) In the operation of each embodiment, the display state is automatically corrected by automatically detecting the inclination of the vehicle body. However, it is needless to say that the driver manually adjusts the display state while watching the virtual image display state. It is also possible to add functions.
(2) The HUD rotation method according to the first embodiment and the content position correction method according to the second embodiment can be appropriately selected or combined according to the magnitude of the amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle body and the speed of the change. . For example, if the change amount is large, the HUD rotation method is selected, and if the change is fast, the content position correction method is selected.
(3) It has been described that the change in the inclination of the vehicle body in the front-rear direction is corrected by inclining the HUD in the front-rear direction. A configuration in which correction is performed by rotating and moving is also possible.

  The present invention is not limited to the windshield projection type HUD described in the embodiment, but is also applicable to a combiner type HUD in which a combiner that allows a virtual image to be superimposed on a scene in front is integrated.

1: vehicle,
2: video display device,
3: Mirror,
4: mirror driving unit,
5: vehicle information acquisition unit,
6: speaker,
7: Windshield,
8: Driver's eyes,
9: virtual image,
10: control unit,
11: electronic control unit (ECU),
16: distortion correction unit,
17: display element driving unit,
18: Mirror adjustment unit,
21: light source,
23: display element,
30: inclination detector,
31: HUD tilt adjustment unit (display device tilt adjustment unit)
32: HUD rotating unit (display device rotating unit)
33: Content correction amount calculation unit
50: vehicle information,
71: Holder,
72: arm mechanism,
73-76: rotary motor,
81: Driver,
90 to 93: display area,
95-97: display content,
100: vehicle image display device (head-up display, HUD),
116: Outside camera,
119: load sensor,
123: tilt sensor,
124: vehicle height sensor.

Claims (8)

A vehicle image display device mounted on a vehicle and displaying a virtual image in front of the vehicle by projecting an image on a windshield of the vehicle,
A device installed in the vehicle, a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including a tilt of the vehicle body in the left-right direction and the front-back direction,
A control unit that controls a display state of the virtual image based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit;
An image display device that generates the image based on an instruction from the control unit,
The control unit calculates, based on the vehicle information, a change amount of a tilt of the vehicle body in a left-right direction and / or a front-rear direction with respect to a road surface on which the vehicle runs, and based on the calculated change amount, the virtual image for the driver. A video display apparatus for a vehicle, wherein the display state is corrected so that the display state does not change. The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 1,
The control unit determines the amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle body as a change amount of the vehicle body in a state where the driver and the occupant do not get on the vehicle and do not load luggage. An image display device for a vehicle, wherein the amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle is calculated. The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 1,
The control unit may calculate, as the change amount of the inclination of the vehicle body, a change amount of the inclination of the vehicle body with respect to a road surface on which the vehicle travels, before the vehicle travels and while the vehicle is traveling. Video display device for vehicles. The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 1,
The device is one of an inclination sensor that detects an inclination of the vehicle body with respect to the direction of gravity, a vehicle height sensor that detects a height of the vehicle body with respect to the road surface, and a load sensor that detects a load applied to a seat in the vehicle. An image display device for a vehicle, comprising: The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 2,
The device is a camera for photographing the foreground of the vehicle,
The image display device for a vehicle, wherein the control unit calculates an amount of change in the inclination of the vehicle body from an amount of change in an image captured by the camera. The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 3,
The vehicle information includes attitude control information indicating a driving operation and a running state of the vehicle,
The image display device for a vehicle, wherein the control unit calculates a change amount of a tilt of the vehicle body with respect to the road surface on which the vehicle is traveling, from the acquired attitude control information. The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 1,
A display device rotating unit that adjusts the attitude of the vehicle image display device mounted on the vehicle,
The control unit corrects the inclination of the image display device for the vehicle in the left-right direction and / or the front-rear direction with respect to the vehicle by the display device rotation unit according to the calculated change amount of the inclination of the vehicle body. Image display device for vehicles. The image display device for a vehicle according to claim 1,
The control unit includes a content correction amount calculation unit that calculates a correction amount of a display position of display content in the virtual image,
The content correction amount calculation unit calculates a correction amount of the display position of the display content according to the calculated change amount of the inclination of the vehicle body,
The image display device for a vehicle, wherein the control unit corrects the image by rotating and / or moving the display content by the calculated correction amount.

Images