JP2020091520A - Notification control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique for enabling a driver to easily sense a notification when notifying of occurrence of an event to call attention of a driver.SOLUTION: An event determination section determines whether an event requiring calling attention of a driver driving a vehicle has occurred in S400. An environment acquisition section acquires an in-vehicle environment in S410-S414. When the event determination section determines that an event has occurred, a device selection section selects a notification device for enabling a driver to easily sense a notification when occurrence of an event is notified from at least one of multiple notification devices, i.e., when occurrence of an event is notified from one of the multiple notification devices based on an in-vehicle environment to be acquired by the environment acquisition section in S402-S414. An event notification section notifies a driver of occurrence of an event by a notification device selected by the device selection section in S416.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle-mounted notification control device that notifies that an event has occurred.

2. Description of the Related Art When an event occurs that calls attention to a driver such as another vehicle approaching the own vehicle, a technique is known that notifies the driver of the occurrence of the event.
For example, in Patent Document 1, when an event that requires the driver's attention occurs, the degree of urgency that requires a vehicle operation for the event, the degree of concentration of the driver in driving, and the individual of the driver such as age and driving skill. A technique for controlling an output for warning a driver by an image or a sound according to information and alarm information such as is described. For example, in the case of an image, the size and color of the image displayed on the screen, the volume of the image in the case of voice, etc. are controlled by the alarm information.

Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the urgency is set according to the road surface condition such as dryness, wetness, snowfall, and freezing.

JP, 2003-317197, A

In the technique described in Patent Document 1, the output for warning the driver is controlled according to the urgency of the event set according to the road surface state and the like, and warning information such as information about the driver.

However, as a result of a detailed study by the inventor, it has been found that the technique described in Patent Document 1 may make it difficult for the driver to perceive an alarm depending on the in-vehicle environment.
It is desirable for one aspect of the present disclosure to provide a technique that makes it easier for a driver to perceive a notification when notifying the driver of an event that requires attention.

The notification control device (40) according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes an event determination unit (42, S400), an environment acquisition unit (46, S410 to S414), a device selection unit (44, S402 to S414), and an event. And a notification unit (48, S416).

The event determination unit determines whether or not an event that requires attention to a driver driving a vehicle has occurred. The environment acquisition unit acquires the environment inside the vehicle. When the event determination unit determines that the event has occurred, the device selection unit, when notifying that the event has occurred from at least one of the plurality of notification devices, based on the in-vehicle environment acquired by the environment acquisition unit, When notifying that an event has occurred from any of a plurality of notification devices, the driver selects a notification device that makes it easy for the driver to perceive the notification. The event notification unit notifies the driver that an event has occurred, using the notification device selected by the device selection unit.

According to such a configuration, the driver can easily know that the event requiring attention has occurred by the notification from the notification device that is easily perceived by the driver selected based on the in-vehicle environment.

The block diagram which shows the event notification system by this embodiment. The flowchart which shows an event notification process.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. Constitution]
The event notification system 2 shown in FIG. 1 is installed in a vehicle, and includes a millimeter wave radar 10, an exterior camera 12, an interior camera 14, a vibration sensor 16, a microphone 18, an illuminance sensor 20, and a display. The device 30, the sound generating device 32, the vibrating device 34, and the notification control device 40 are provided.

The millimeter wave radar 10 irradiates a millimeter wave as a search wave to the front, rear, left and right of the vehicle in order to detect an object existing around the vehicle. The vehicle exterior camera 12 images the surroundings of the vehicle in order to detect an object existing around the vehicle. The in-vehicle camera 14 images the driver's facial expression. The vibration sensor 16 detects the vibration inside the vehicle. The microphone 18 detects the sound inside the vehicle. The illuminance sensor 20 detects the illuminance inside the vehicle.

The display device 30 notifies the driver of the occurrence of an event that requires attention by displaying it on a display or the like with images, characters, symbols, or the like. The sound generation device 32 notifies the occurrence of an event from a speaker, a buzzer, or the like by voice or a warning sound. The vibration device 34 notifies the occurrence of an event by vibration with a vibrator or the like. The vibrating device 34 is installed on, for example, a driver's seat.

The notification control device 40 uses at least one of the display device 30, the sound generation device 32, and the vibration device 34 to notify that an event that requires the driver's attention has occurred. The notification control device 40 is mainly composed of a computer including a CPU, a semiconductor memory such as a RAM, a ROM and a flash memory, and an input/output interface.

The notification control device 40 includes an event determination unit 42, a device selection unit 44, an environment acquisition unit 46, and an event notification unit 48 as a configuration of functions realized by the notification control device 40.
[2. Event notification processing]
The event notification process executed by the notification control device 40 will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 2 is constantly executed at predetermined time intervals.

In S400 of FIG. 2, the event determination unit 42 determines whether or not an event calling the driver's attention has occurred. For example, the event determination unit 42 determines whether or not there is an object approaching the host vehicle based on the detection information around the host vehicle detected by the millimeter wave radar 10 and the vehicle exterior camera 12. Then, if there is an object approaching the host vehicle, it is determined that an event has occurred.

If the determination in S400 is No, that is, if no event has occurred, this process ends.
If the determination in S400 is Yes, that is, if an event has occurred, in S402, the device selection unit 44 determines that the driver is to receive an event according to the driving state of the driver and the degree of concentration of the driving operation as the driving state of the driver. The timing for notifying that the event has occurred is determined, and which notification device should be selected to notify the event is determined.

For example, the device selection unit 44 may acquire the driving technique set in advance by the driver itself in the notification control device 40, or based on the history of the driver's past driving operations, the notification control device 40 or other devices. The driving technique determined and stored by the device may be acquired.

In addition, the device selection unit 44 determines the degree of concentration of the driver with respect to the driving operation, based on the facial expression of the driver captured by the in-vehicle camera 14.
For example, the device selection unit 44 evaluates the driving skill of the driver and the degree of concentration of the driver's driving operation on a scale of 5 with 5 points being the highest point and 1 point being the lowest point.

Then, in the case of a driver with a low total score, the device selection unit 44 determines that the response to the event will be further delayed if the notification is late, and the timing at which the event occurs is notified earlier than the driver with a medium total score. To do. On the other hand, in the case of a driver with a high total score, the device selection unit 44 determines that the event can be quickly responded to even if the notification is late, and the driver with a medium total score determines the timing at which the event has occurred. Slower than.

In addition, the device selection unit 44 sets the total score of the five-level evaluation of the driver's driving skill and the degree of concentration of the driver's driving operation to 8 to 10 as high, 5 to 7 as medium, and 2 to 4 as low. Classify into three stages.

In the case of a driver with a high total score of 8 to 10 points, the device selection unit 44 determines in S402 that the driver notices the notification even if he visually notifies and notifies that an event has occurred. In this case, in S404, the device selection unit 44 selects the display device 30 as the notification device.

In the case of a driver with a total score of 5 to 7 points, if the device selection unit 44 visually notifies and notifies of the occurrence of an event in S402, the driver is less likely to notice the notification, but if it is hard to hear, the driver notifies. It is determined that you notice. In this case, in S406, the device selection unit 44 selects the sound generation device 32 as the notification device.

In the case of a driver with a low total score of 2 to 4, the device selection unit 44 does not notice the notification when the device selection unit 44 works visually or auditorily to notify that the event has occurred in S402, but if it works hard to the tactile sense, the driver does not notice it. Decides to notice the notification. In this case, in S408, the device selection unit 44 selects the vibration device 34 as the notification device.

When the display device 30 is selected in S404, the environment acquisition unit 46 acquires the illuminance in the vehicle from the illuminance sensor 20 in S410. Then, in the same step S404, the device selection unit 44 determines whether or not the driver cannot easily see the display of the display device 30 notifying that the event has occurred because the illuminance inside the vehicle is high.

If the determination in S410 is No, that is, if the illuminance inside the vehicle is low and the driver can easily see the display of the display device 30 that notifies that an event has occurred, the device selection unit 44 selects the display device 30 as the notification device. , And the process proceeds to S416.

If the determination in S410 is Yes, that is, if the illuminance inside the vehicle is high and it is difficult for the driver to see the display of the display device 30 that notifies that an event has occurred, the process proceeds to S406.
When the sound generation device 32 is selected in S406, the environment acquisition unit 46 acquires the loudness of the sound inside the vehicle from the microphone 18 in S412. Then, in the same S406, the device selection unit 44 determines whether or not the driver is hard to hear the sound of the sound generation device 32 notifying that an event has occurred because the sound inside the vehicle is loud.

If the determination in S412 is No, that is, if the driver easily hears the sound of the sound generation device 32 that notifies that an event has occurred because the sound inside the vehicle is low, the device selection unit 44 uses the sound generation device 32 as a notification device. Is selected, and the process proceeds to S416.

If the determination in S412 is Yes, that is, if the driver is hard to hear the sound of the sound generation device 32 that notifies that an event has occurred because the sound inside the vehicle is loud, the process proceeds to S408.

When the vibration device 34 is selected in S408, the environment acquisition unit 46 acquires the magnitude of the vibration in the vehicle from the vibration sensor 16 in S414. Then, in the same step S408, the device selection unit 44 determines whether or not the driver hardly feels the vibration by the vibration device 34 that notifies that an event has occurred because the vibration inside the vehicle is large.

If the determination in S414 is No, that is, the vibration in the vehicle is small, and the driver easily feels the vibration by the vibration device 34 that notifies that an event has occurred, the device selection unit 44 sets the vibration device 34 as the notification device. If selected, the process proceeds to S416.

If the determination in S414 is Yes, that is, if the vibration of the vibration device 34 that notifies that an event has occurred is difficult for the driver to feel because the vibration inside the vehicle is large, the process proceeds to S404.

In S416, the event notification unit 48 notifies the driver that an event has occurred by the notification device selected by the device selection unit 44.
[3. effect]
According to this embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Since the notification device that notifies the driver that an event has occurred is selected based on the illuminance, the sound, and the vibration that represent the in-vehicle environment, the notification device that allows the driver to easily perceive the notification can be selected.

(2) Since the notification device that notifies the driver that an event has occurred is selected based on the driver's driving skill and the driver's concentration on the driver's driving operation, the driver's driving skill and the driver's degree of concentration on the driving operation are selected. A suitable notification device can be selected according to the requirement.

In the above embodiment, S400 corresponds to the process of the event determination unit, S402 to S414 correspond to the process of the device selection unit, S410 to S414 correspond to the process of the environment acquisition unit, and S416 corresponds to the process of the event notification unit. Correspond.

[4. Other Embodiments]
Although the embodiments for implementing the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be implemented.

(1) In the above embodiment, any one of the display device 30, the sound generating device 32, and the vibrating device 34 is used as a notification device in order to notify the driver that an event has occurred. On the other hand, it is determined that it is difficult to call the driver's attention based on the in-vehicle environment, and an event occurs using two or more notification devices of the display device 30, the sound generation device 32, and the vibration device 34. May be notified to the driver.

(2) In the above embodiment, the driving technique of the driver and the degree of concentration on the driving operation are adopted as the driving state of the driver. Besides this, the age of the driver may be adopted as the driving state of the driver.

(3) As the display device 30, a warning light may be used instead of the display, and the warning light may be turned on to notify that an event has occurred.
(4) The notification control device 40 and the method thereof according to the present disclosure are provided by configuring a processor and a memory programmed to execute one or a plurality of functions embodied by a computer program. It may be realized by a dedicated computer. Alternatively, the notification control device 40 and the method thereof according to the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer provided by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the notification control device 40 and the method thereof according to the present disclosure include a processor and a memory programmed to execute one or a plurality of functions, and a processor configured by one or more hardware logic circuits. It may be realized by one or more dedicated computers configured by combination. Further, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transition tangible recording medium as an instruction executed by a computer. The method for realizing the function of each unit included in the notification control device 40 does not necessarily need to include software, and all the functions may be realized by using one or a plurality of hardware.
(5) A plurality of functions of one constituent element in the above embodiment may be realized by a plurality of constituent elements, or one function of one constituent element may be realized by a plurality of constituent elements. . Further, a plurality of functions of a plurality of constituent elements may be realized by one constituent element, or one function realized by a plurality of constituent elements may be realized by one constituent element. Further, a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. Further, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added or replaced with respect to the configuration of the other above embodiment.

(6) In addition to the notification control device described above, a system having the notification control device as a component, a program for causing a computer to function as the notification control device, and a non-transitional physical recording such as a semiconductor memory recording the program The present disclosure can be implemented in various forms such as a medium and an event notification method.

40: notification control device, 30: display device (notification device) 32: sound generation device (notification device), 34: vibration device (notification device), 42: event determination unit, 44: device selection unit, 46: environment acquisition unit , 48: Event notification section

Claims (4)

An event determination unit (42, S400) configured to determine whether or not an event that requires attention to the driver driving the vehicle has occurred,
An environment acquisition unit (46, S410 to S414) configured to acquire the in-vehicle environment,
When the event determination unit determines that the event has occurred, when notifying from the at least one of the plurality of notification devices that the event has occurred, based on the in-vehicle environment acquired by the environment acquisition unit, A device selection unit (44, S402 to S414) configured to select the notification device that allows the driver to easily perceive the notification;
An event notification unit (48, S416) configured to notify the driver that the event has occurred by the notification device selected by the device selection unit;
A notification control device (40) provided with. The notification control device according to claim 1, wherein
The device selection unit (S410 to S414) is configured to detect the difficulty of the notification device calling the driver's attention based on the in-vehicle environment, and select the notification device based on the difficulty. Is
Notification controller. The notification control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The device selection unit (S402) is further configured to select the notification device based on the driving state of the driver.
Notification controller. The notification control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The event notification unit is configured to notify the driver that the event has occurred by at least one of an image, a sound, and a vibration by the notification device.
Notification controller.

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