JP2021059220A - Outside-vehicle warning device and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an outside-vehicle warning device and a computer program capable of reliably transmitting a warning sound only to a person to be warned.SOLUTION: The outside-vehicle warning device is configured to: detect a warning target person who is a person to be warned and positioned in the vicinity of a vehicle, using an outside-vehicle camera 19 installed in the vehicle; identify a relative direction φ and a relative distance L1 of a warning target person 51 with respect to the vehicle, using a distance measuring sensor 20; output an ultrasonic wave for transmitting a warning sound toward the identified relative direction using an ultrasonic speaker 21 installed in the vehicle; receive an input of a reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave, using an ultrasonic microphone 22 also installed in the vehicle; calculate a reflection distance L2 which is a distance from the vehicle to a position where the reflected wave is reflected, on the basis of the input reflected wave; and determine whether or not the warning sound is transmitted to the warning target person on the basis of a comparison result of the relative distance L1 and the reflection distance L2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an out-of-vehicle warning device and a computer program that warn people around the vehicle.

When a vehicle travels on a public road or a parking lot, it is extremely important for safety to make pedestrians and bicycles located in the vicinity aware of the existence of the vehicle. In recent years, due to technological advances in engines and the spread of electric vehicles, the sounds emitted by vehicles (for example, engine sounds, motor sounds, etc.) have become smaller than in the past, and pedestrians and bicycles located around the vehicle are now vehicles. There are cases where it is delayed to notice the existence of. Therefore, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-237831, when there is a pedestrian to be warned, ultrasonic waves are output from an output device installed in the vehicle toward a road surface or a wall near the pedestrian, and the ultrasonic waves are output. A technique has been proposed in which a pedestrian is made to hear a warning sound by reflecting ultrasonic waves on the road surface to recognize the existence of a vehicle.

JP-A-2007-237831 (Page 5-7, FIG. 4)

Here, hearing the warning sound has the advantage that the pedestrian can recognize the existence of the vehicle, but it is also an annoying event. Therefore, it is desirable to let only the necessary pedestrians hear the warning sound. In the technique of Patent Document 1, a virtual sound source is formed at a reflected position by reflecting ultrasonic waves on a road surface or a wall. As a result, it is possible to transmit the warning sound only to pedestrians located around the virtual sound source, but if the warning sound is output by a speaker with such extremely sharp directivity, the warning sound will be transmitted. There is a problem that the pedestrian cannot hear the warning sound when there is even a slight displacement between the output direction and the pedestrian.

Further, in Patent Document 1, there is no means for confirming whether or not the warning sound is transmitted to the pedestrian, and there is a possibility that the warning sound is not transmitted to the pedestrian.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an outside warning device and a computer program capable of reliably transmitting a warning sound only to a person to be warned. The purpose.

In order to achieve the above object, the external warning device according to the present invention includes a warning target detecting means for detecting a person to be a warning target located in the vicinity of the vehicle by using a peripheral detecting device installed in the vehicle, and the peripheral detecting device. A position specifying means for specifying the relative orientation and the relative distance of the person with respect to the vehicle, and an ultrasonic wave for transmitting a warning sound toward the specified relative orientation using an ultrasonic speaker installed in the vehicle. By the ultrasonic output means for outputting, the ultrasonic input means for inputting the reflected wave reflected by the ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic output means using the ultrasonic microphone installed in the vehicle, and the ultrasonic input means. Based on the reflected distance calculating means for calculating the reflected distance, which is the distance from the vehicle to the position where the reflected wave is reflected based on the input reflected wave, and the comparison result of the relative distance and the reflected distance, the said It has a transmission determination means for determining whether or not a warning sound is transmitted to a person.
The number of "people to be warned" may be singular or plural (group unit). Further, it may be a pedestrian or a occupant riding a vehicle such as a bicycle.
Further, the "peripheral detection device" includes sensors such as an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, and an optical sensor, in addition to a camera that images the periphery of the vehicle.

Further, the computer program according to the present invention is a program for giving a warning to a person located in the vicinity of the vehicle. Specifically, the computer is used with a warning target detecting means for detecting a person to be a warning target located in the vicinity of the vehicle by using a peripheral detection device installed in the vehicle, and the peripheral detection device is used to detect the vehicle. Positioning means for specifying the relative orientation and relative distance of a person, and ultrasonic output means for outputting ultrasonic waves for transmitting a warning sound toward the specified relative orientation using an ultrasonic speaker installed in the vehicle. And the ultrasonic input means for inputting the reflected wave reflected by the ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic wave output means using the ultrasonic microphone installed in the vehicle, and the reflected wave input by the ultrasonic wave input means. A warning sound is transmitted to the person based on the reflection distance calculation means for calculating the reflection distance, which is the distance from the vehicle to the position where the reflected wave is reflected, and the comparison result between the relative distance and the reflection distance. It functions as a transmission determination means for determining whether or not the sound is present.

According to the vehicle exterior warning device and the computer program according to the present invention having the above configuration, an ultrasonic speaker having a sharp directivity installed in the vehicle is used to transmit a warning sound to a person to be warned. By outputting the sound wave, it is possible to transmit the warning sound only to the person to be warned. On the other hand, by inputting the reflected wave of ultrasonic waves, it is possible to compare the position where the ultrasonic waves are reflected with the position of the person to be warned, and whether or not the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned. It becomes possible to confirm whether or not.

It is a block diagram which showed the navigation device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which showed various cameras and sensors installed in a vehicle. It is a figure which showed the ultrasonic speaker installed in the vehicle. It is a flowchart of the vehicle outside warning processing program which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which showed the output direction of the ultrasonic wave set in the ultrasonic speaker. It is a figure which showed an example of the threshold value which becomes the determination condition of a step 10.

Hereinafter, the vehicle exterior warning device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings using an embodiment embodied in the navigation device. First, the schematic configuration of the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a current position detection unit 11 that detects the current position of a vehicle on which the navigation device 1 is mounted, a data recording unit 12 in which various data are recorded, and a data recording unit 12. A navigation ECU 13 that performs various arithmetic processes based on the input information, an operation unit 14 that receives operations from the user, a liquid crystal display 15 that displays a map image around the vehicle and a guidance image related to route guidance, and route guidance. A communication module that communicates between a speaker 16 that outputs voice guidance regarding information, a DVD drive 17 that reads a DVD as a storage medium, and an information center such as a probe center or a VICS (registered trademark: Vehicle Information and Communication System) center. It has 18. Further, the navigation device 1 includes an external camera 19, a distance measuring sensor 20, an ultrasonic speaker 21, an ultrasonic microphone 22, and others installed on the vehicle on which the navigation device 1 is mounted via an in-vehicle network such as CAN. Various sensors are connected.

Hereinafter, each component of the navigation device 1 will be described in order.
The current position detection unit 11 includes a GPS 23, a vehicle speed sensor 24, a steering sensor 25, a gyro sensor 26, and the like, and can detect the current position and direction of the vehicle, the traveling speed of the vehicle, the current time, and the like. .. Here, in particular, the vehicle speed sensor 24 is a sensor for detecting the moving distance and the vehicle speed of the vehicle, generates a pulse according to the rotation of the driving wheel of the vehicle, and outputs the pulse signal to the navigation ECU 13. Then, the navigation ECU 13 calculates the rotation speed and the moving distance of the drive wheels by counting the generated pulses. It is not necessary for the navigation device 1 to include all of the above four types of sensors, and the navigation device 1 may include only one or a plurality of of these sensors.

Further, the data recording unit 12 is a driver for reading a hard disk (not shown) as an external storage device and a recording medium, a map information DB 31 recorded on the hard disk, a predetermined program, and the like, and writing predetermined data on the hard disk. It is equipped with a recording head (not shown). The data recording unit 12 may be configured by a flash memory, a memory card, or an optical disk such as a CD or DVD instead of the hard disk. Further, the map information DB 31 may be stored in an external server and acquired by the navigation device 1 by communication.

Here, the map information DB 31 is, for example, link data related to a road (link), node data related to a node point, point data related to a point such as a facility, branch point data related to a branch point, map display data for displaying a map, and a route. It is a storage means in which search data for searching for a location, search data for searching for a point, and the like are stored.

Here, as the link data, for example, a link ID that identifies the link, end node information that identifies a node located at the end of the link, a road type of a road that the link constitutes, and the like are stored. Further, as the node data, a node ID that identifies the node, position coordinates of the node, connection destination node information that identifies the connection destination node to which the node is connected via a link, and the like are stored. Further, as the point data, various information regarding the facility to be set to the destination is stored. For example, an ID that identifies the facility, a facility name, position coordinates, a genre, an address, and the like are stored.

On the other hand, the navigation ECU (electronic control unit) 13 is an electronic control unit that controls the entire navigation device 1, and is a computing device, a CPU 41 as a control device, and a working memory when the CPU 41 performs various arithmetic processes. In addition to the RAM 42 that stores the route data when the route is searched, the control program, and the outside warning processing program (FIG. 4) described later are recorded from the ROM 43 and ROM 43. It is provided with an internal storage device such as a flash memory 44 for storing a program. The navigation ECU 13 has various means as a processing algorithm. For example, the warning target detecting means detects a person to be a warning target located in the vicinity of the vehicle by using a peripheral detection device such as a camera or a sensor installed in the vehicle. The position specifying means also uses a peripheral detection device to identify the relative orientation and relative distance of a person with respect to the vehicle. The ultrasonic output means uses an ultrasonic speaker 21 installed in the vehicle to output ultrasonic waves for transmitting a warning sound toward a specified relative direction. The ultrasonic input means inputs the reflected wave reflected by the ultrasonic waves output by the ultrasonic output means using the ultrasonic microphone 22 installed in the vehicle. The reflection distance calculation means calculates the reflection distance, which is the distance from the vehicle to the position where the reflected wave is reflected, based on the reflected wave input by the ultrasonic input means. The transmission determining means determines whether or not a warning sound is transmitted to a person based on the comparison result of the relative distance and the reflection distance.

The operation unit 14 is operated when inputting a starting point as a traveling start point and a destination as a traveling end point, and has a plurality of operation switches (not shown) such as various keys and buttons. Then, the navigation ECU 13 controls to execute various corresponding operations based on the switch signals output by pressing each switch or the like. The operation unit 14 may have a touch panel provided on the front surface of the liquid crystal display 15. Further, the configuration may include a microphone and a voice recognition device.

Further, on the liquid crystal display 15, map images including roads, traffic information, operation guidance, operation menus, key guidance, guidance routes from the departure point to the destination, guidance information along the guidance routes, news, weather forecasts, etc. The time, mail, TV program, etc. are displayed.

Further, the speaker 16 outputs voice guidance for guiding the traveling along the guidance route and traffic information guidance based on the instruction from the navigation ECU 13.

The DVD drive 17 is a drive capable of reading data recorded on a recording medium such as a DVD or a CD. Then, based on the read data, music and video are reproduced, the map information DB 31 is updated, and the like. A card slot for reading and writing a memory card may be provided instead of the DVD drive 17.

Further, the communication module 18 is a communication device for receiving traffic information including various information such as traffic jam information, regulation information, and traffic accident information transmitted from a traffic information center, for example, a VICS center or a probe center. For example, mobile phones and DCM.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the external camera 19 is attached to, for example, the back side of the rear-view mirror of the vehicle 50, and the optical axis direction is set so that the surrounding environment in front of the vehicle in the traveling direction can be imaged. The number of external cameras 19 may be singular or plural. Further, when a plurality of external cameras 19 are provided, they may be provided so that they can take images not only in the front of the vehicle in the traveling direction but also in the side and the rear. Then, the navigation ECU 13 can detect a person to be a warning target located in the vicinity of the own vehicle as shown in FIG. 2 by performing image recognition processing on the captured image captured by the external camera 19. Is. The number of people subject to warning (hereinafter referred to as warning target person 51) may be singular or plural. Further, the warning target person 51 may be a pedestrian or a occupant riding a vehicle such as a bicycle.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the distance measuring sensor 20 is attached to, for example, the back side of the rear-view mirror of the vehicle 50, like the camera outside the vehicle 19, and is set so that the surrounding environment in front of the vehicle in the traveling direction is the detection range. To. As the distance measuring sensor 20, for example, various devices such as a depth camera, a stereo camera, and a TOF camera that can detect the distance and the direction to the imaged object are used. An infrared sensor or an ultrasonic sensor may be used. Then, in the present embodiment, the navigation ECU 13 acquires the relative direction and the relative distance of the warning target person 51 with respect to the vehicle based on the detection result of the distance measuring sensor 20.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic speaker 21 and the ultrasonic microphone 22 are installed in pairs near the front nozzle in front of the vehicle 50. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic speaker 21 and the ultrasonic microphone 22 are provided separately, but the ultrasonic speaker 21 and the ultrasonic microphone 22 may be an integrated device. Then, ultrasonic waves are radiated from the ultrasonic speaker 21 toward the front of the vehicle 50 in the form of pulse waves, and the reflected waves reflected by the object (warning target person 51 in the example shown in FIG. 2) are emitted from the ultrasonic microphone 22. Receive with. As a result, it is possible to calculate the distance from the vehicle 50 to the warning target person 51 based on the time from the emission of ultrasonic waves to the reception of the reflected wave.

Further, the ultrasonic speaker 21 is a speaker having extremely sharp directivity such as a parametric speaker, and outputs ultrasonic waves in a very limited direction (the distribution has a fan shape) as shown in FIG. Is possible. The sound pressure is strong and the sound can be heard well by the person who is within the output range of the ultrasonic wave, while the sound pressure is extremely weak and almost inaudible to the person who is outside the output range. As a result, even when another person 52 is present near the warning target person 51 as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to make only the warning target person 51 hear the sound. Further, the ultrasonic speaker 21 can control the output direction of ultrasonic waves, for example, controlling the vibration of an element (ultrasonic vibrator), or physically setting the installation angle of the ultrasonic speaker 21 with respect to the vehicle 50. By changing to, the output direction of ultrasonic waves can be controlled. In the output direction control, it is possible to control the range (width) of ultrasonic wave output in addition to changing the direction of ultrasonic wave output. Further, the ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic speaker 21 is composed of a warning sound for notifying the approach of the vehicle 50. Therefore, it is possible to make the warning target person 51 included in the output direction of the ultrasonic wave hear a warning sound and recognize the existence of the vehicle.

Subsequently, an outside warning processing program executed by the navigation ECU 13 in the navigation device 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an outside warning processing program according to the present embodiment. Here, the outside warning processing program is executed after the ACC power supply (accessory power supply) of the vehicle is turned on, and when a person to be warned is detected in the vicinity of the vehicle, the existence of the own vehicle is notified to the person. It is a program that outputs a warning sound for recognition. The program shown in the flowchart in FIG. 4 below is stored in the RAM 42 or ROM 43 included in the navigation device 1 and is executed by the CPU 41.

First, in the vehicle exterior warning processing program, in step 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1, the CPU 41 performs image processing on the captured image captured by the vehicle exterior camera 19 to obtain a warning target person included in the captured image. To detect. The "warning target person" is a person who is a warning target located in the vicinity of the own vehicle, and is, for example, a person who exists in the area in the traveling direction of the vehicle. However, if the future movement locus of the person can be predicted, the person may be a person whose movement trace overlaps with or approaches the future movement trace of the own vehicle. Further, if the field of view of a person can be obtained, a person whose vehicle is located outside the field of view may be a warning target person. In addition, the number of "warning target persons" may be singular or plural (group unit). Further, it may be a pedestrian or a occupant riding a vehicle such as a bicycle. Further, for the detection of the warning target person by the captured image, for example, a known template matching process, feature point detection process, or the like is used. As a method of detecting the warning target person, in addition to detecting from the image captured by the external camera 19, other sensors installed in the vehicle may be used for detection. Furthermore, machine learning may be used to identify the person to be warned.

Next, in S2, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the warning target person has been detected as a result of image processing on the captured image captured by the vehicle exterior camera 19 in S1.

Then, when it is determined that the warning target person is detected as a result of image processing on the captured image captured by the vehicle exterior camera 19 of S1 (S2: YES), the process proceeds to S3. On the other hand, when it is determined that the warning target person is not detected (S2: NO), the out-of-vehicle warning processing program is terminated.

Subsequently, in S3, the CPU 41 targets the warning target person detected in S1 and uses the distance measuring sensor 20 to determine the relative distance L1 from the position of the own vehicle to the warning target person and the warning target person for the own vehicle. The relative azimuth φ is detected respectively. If the camera has a function of calculating the distance and the direction to the object captured by the outside camera 19, even if the relative distance L1 and the relative direction φ are detected from the image captured by the outside camera 19. good. In that case, the distance measuring sensor 20 becomes unnecessary. Further, the process of S3 and the subsequent processes of S4 to S9 may be performed in parallel.

Next, in S4, the CPU 41 uses the sound source device to generate an audio signal that serves as a warning sound to be heard by the warning target person. The content of the voice signal may be a voice (line) that specifically informs the approach of the vehicle, or may be an electronic sound.

Subsequently, in S5, the CPU 41 modulates the audio signal generated in S4 by using the signal processing device. Further, the control of the output direction in which the ultrasonic wave is output by the ultrasonic speaker 21 is also performed. In the present embodiment, the output direction is basically controlled by controlling the vibration of the element (ultrasonic oscillator), but the output direction is controlled by physically changing the installation angle of the ultrasonic speaker 21 with respect to the vehicle. Is also possible. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the output direction is a direction including the relative direction φ from the own vehicle detected in S3 to the warning target person 51 in the substantially center. Further, the output range for outputting ultrasonic waves (θ in FIG. 5) is determined based on the relative distance L1 from the own vehicle detected in S3 to the warning target person 51. Specifically, the farther the distance to the warning target person 51 is, the narrower the output range is set. Further, it is desirable to set the output range as narrow as possible in the output range in which the warning target person 51 is included so that other people are not included.

Next, in S6, the CPU 41 amplifies the audio signal modulated in S5 by using the signal amplification device.

After that, in S7, the CPU 41 outputs ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic speaker 21 using the audio signal amplified in S6. The ultrasonic waves are output in the output direction controlled by S5.

Next, in S8, the CPU 41 inputs the reflected wave reflected by the ultrasonic wave output in S7 using the ultrasonic microphone 22.

After that, in S9, the CPU 41 takes the distance from the own vehicle to the position where the reflected wave is reflected based on the time T from the output of the ultrasonic wave from the ultrasonic speaker 21 to the input of the ultrasonic wave by the ultrasonic microphone 22. A certain reflection distance L2 is calculated. Specifically, it is calculated by the following formula (1).
L2 [mm] = 0.17 × T [μsec] ... (1)

Subsequently, in S10, the CPU 41 compares the relative distance L1 from the own vehicle detected in S3 to the warning target person and the reflection distance L2 from the own vehicle calculated in S9 to the reflection position where the ultrasonic waves are reflected. , Determine if the difference is less than the threshold.

Here, the threshold value is a value in consideration of the detection error and can be set as appropriate. It may be a fixed value (for example, 20 cm), but it is desirable to set it based on the running state of the own vehicle and the moving state of the warning target person. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, it is estimated that the error in distance measurement is larger when the own vehicle is running than when the vehicle is stopped, so a larger value is set as the threshold value. (That is, the determination condition of S10 is relaxed). Further, since it is estimated that the error of the distance measurement becomes larger when the warning target person is moving than when the person is stopped, a larger value is set as the threshold value (that is, the determination condition of S10 is relaxed). .. For example, X1 = 10 cm, X2 = 30 cm, X3 = 40 cm, X4 = 60 cm. In addition, in the state where the own vehicle is stopped and the warning target person is moving, and the state where the own vehicle is running and the warning target person is stopped, it is better that the own vehicle with a higher speed is moving. It is estimated that the error will be large, and X2 <X3.

Then, when it is determined that the difference between the relative distance L1 and the reflection distance L2 is less than the threshold value (S10: YES), the process proceeds to S11. On the other hand, when it is determined that the difference between the relative distance L1 and the reflection distance L2 is equal to or greater than the threshold value (S10: NO), the process proceeds to S13.

In S11, the CPU 41 has the same distance (including an error) between the distance to the warning target person detected by the distance measuring sensor 20 and the position where the ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic speaker 21 is reflected. Is reflected by the warning target person, that is, it is determined that the warning sound is transmitted to the warning target person. Therefore, the current state is maintained and the transition to S12 is performed without performing feedback control of the ultrasonic speaker 21 in particular. The ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic speaker 21 may be continued until the warning target person who is currently the target of the warning deviates from the condition of the warning target person, or is output only for a predetermined time (for example, 5 sec). You may end it.

In S12, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the input trigger has been turned off. For example, this is the case when the power of the system is turned off.

Then, when it is determined that the input trigger is turned off (S12: YES), the vehicle outside warning processing program is terminated. On the other hand, when it is determined that the input trigger is turned off (S12: YES), the out-of-vehicle warning processing program is terminated.

On the other hand, in S13, the CPU 41 does not have the same distance (including an error) between the distance to the warning target person detected by the distance measuring sensor 20 and the position where the ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic speaker 21 is reflected. It is determined that the ultrasonic wave is reflected by something other than the warning target person (person, car, obstacle, etc.), that is, the warning sound is not transmitted to the warning target person.

Therefore, in S14, the CPU 41 performs feedback control on the ultrasonic speaker 21 to correct the output direction of the ultrasonic waves. In the present embodiment, the output direction is basically corrected by controlling the vibration of the element (ultrasonic oscillator), but the output direction is corrected by physically changing the installation angle of the ultrasonic speaker 21 with respect to the vehicle. Is also possible. The correction direction is determined based on, for example, an image captured by the external camera 19 and a detection result of the distance measuring sensor 20. Instead of correcting the output direction of the ultrasonic wave, the output range of the ultrasonic wave (θ in FIG. 5) may be corrected. For example, the output range may be expanded. After that, the process returns to S3, the relative distance L1 and the reflection distance L2 are calculated again, and the differences are compared.

After that, by repeating the feedback control until it is determined that the warning sound is transmitted to the warning target person (S10: YES), the warning sound can be reliably transmitted to the warning target person.

As described in detail above, in the navigation device 1 and the computer program executed by the navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, a person who is a warning target located in the vicinity of the vehicle is used by the outside camera 19 installed in the vehicle. A certain warning target person is detected (S1), the relative orientation φ and the relative distance L1 of the warning target person 51 with respect to the vehicle are specified using the distance measuring sensor 20 (S3), and the ultrasonic speaker 21 installed in the vehicle is used. An ultrasonic wave for transmitting a warning sound is output toward the specified relative direction (S7), and a reflected wave reflected by the ultrasonic wave is input using the ultrasonic microphone 22 also installed in the vehicle (S8). , The reflection distance L2, which is the distance from the vehicle to the position where the reflected wave is reflected, is calculated based on the input reflected wave (S9), and based on the comparison result of the relative distance L1 and the reflected distance L2, the warning target person is notified. Since it is determined whether or not the warning sound is transmitted (S11, S13), it is possible to transmit the warning sound only to the person to be warned. On the other hand, by inputting the reflected wave of ultrasonic waves, it is possible to compare the position where the ultrasonic waves are reflected with the position of the person to be warned, and whether or not the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned. It becomes possible to confirm whether or not.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, it is basically assumed that there is one warning target person, but it can be applied even when there are a plurality of warning target people (groups). In that case, it is desirable to control the ultrasonic output range so that all members of the group are included.

Further, in the present embodiment, when it is determined that the warning sound is not transmitted to the warning target person (S10: NO), the feedback control is performed on the ultrasonic speaker 21 (S14), but the feedback control is the same. You may not do it. Further, when it is determined that the warning sound has not been transmitted to the warning target person (S10: NO), the driver of the vehicle may be informed that the warning sound has not been transmitted to the warning target person. good.

Further, in the present embodiment, the vehicle exterior warning processing program (FIG. 4) is executed by the navigation device 1, but it may be configured to be executed by an in-vehicle device other than the navigation device. For example, it may be configured to be executed by a vehicle control ECU or other on-board unit. Further, the on-board unit may not perform all the processing, but a part of the processing may be performed by the external server.

Further, although the embodiment in which the vehicle exterior warning device according to the present invention is embodied has been described above, the vehicle exterior warning device can also have the following configuration, and in that case, the following effects are obtained.

For example, the first configuration is as follows.
The warning target detecting means (41) for detecting the warning target person (51) located in the vicinity of the vehicle using the peripheral detection devices (19, 20) installed in the vehicle (50), and the peripheral detecting device. A warning sound is transmitted toward the specified relative orientation by using a position specifying means (41) for specifying the relative orientation and the relative distance of the person with respect to the vehicle and an ultrasonic speaker (21) installed in the vehicle. Using an ultrasonic output means (41) that outputs ultrasonic waves for this purpose and an ultrasonic microphone (22) installed in the vehicle, an ultrasonic wave that is reflected by the ultrasonic waves output by the ultrasonic output means is input. The reflection distance calculation means (41) that calculates the reflection distance, which is the distance from the vehicle to the position where the reflected wave is reflected, based on the ultrasonic input means (41) and the reflected wave input by the ultrasonic input means. And a transmission determination means (41) for determining whether or not a warning sound is transmitted to the person based on the comparison result of the relative distance and the reflection distance.
According to the external warning device having the above configuration, an ultrasonic speaker having a sharp directivity installed in the vehicle is used to output ultrasonic waves for transmitting a warning sound to a person to be warned. It is possible to convey the warning sound only to the person to be warned. On the other hand, by inputting the reflected wave of ultrasonic waves, it is possible to compare the position where the ultrasonic waves are reflected with the position of the person to be warned, and whether or not the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned. It becomes possible to confirm whether or not.

The second configuration is as follows.
If the difference between the relative distance and the reflection distance is less than the threshold value, the transmission determination means (41) determines that the warning sound is transmitted to the person, and the difference between the relative distance and the reflection distance is the threshold value. If it is the above, it is determined that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person.
According to the vehicle exterior warning device having the above configuration, the distance to the person to be warned detected by the peripheral detection device and the distance to the position where the ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic speaker is reflected are the same distance (error). Including), it can be determined that the ultrasonic wave is reflected by the person to be warned, that is, the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned. On the other hand, if the distance to the warning target person detected using the peripheral detection device and the distance to the position where the ultrasonic waves output by the ultrasonic speaker are reflected are not the same distance (including errors), It is possible to determine that the ultrasonic wave is reflected by something other than the person to be warned (person, car, obstacle, etc.), that is, the warning sound is not transmitted to the person to be warned.

The third configuration is as follows.
The threshold value is set to a larger value when the vehicle (50) is running than when the vehicle is stopped, and is larger when the person (51) is moving than when the vehicle (51) is stopped. Set the value.
According to the vehicle exterior warning device having the above configuration, especially in a situation where an error is likely to occur between the relative distance and the reflection distance, the judgment condition is relaxed in consideration of the error, so that it is possible to prevent erroneous judgment as much as possible. It becomes.

The fourth configuration is as follows.
Direction correction means (41) for correcting the output direction of ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic wave output means (41) when it is determined by the transmission determination means (41) that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person (51). Has.
According to the external warning device having the above configuration, when it is determined that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person to be warned, the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned by correcting the output direction of the ultrasonic wave. It becomes possible to control as such.

The fifth configuration is as follows.
The orientation correction means (41) corrects the output orientation of ultrasonic waves by controlling the vibration of the element included in the ultrasonic speaker (21).
According to the external warning device having the above configuration, when it is determined that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person to be warned, the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned by correcting the output direction of the ultrasonic wave. It becomes possible to control as such.

The sixth configuration is as follows.
The orientation correction means (41) corrects the output orientation of ultrasonic waves by changing the installation angle of the ultrasonic speaker (21) with respect to the vehicle (50).
According to the external warning device having the above configuration, when it is determined that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person to be warned, the warning sound is transmitted to the person to be warned by correcting the output direction of the ultrasonic wave. It becomes possible to control as such.

1 Navigation device 13 Navigation ECU
19 Outside camera 20 Distance measurement sensor 21 Ultrasonic speaker 22 Ultrasonic microphone 41 CPU
42 RAM
43 ROM
44 Flash memory 50 Vehicle 51 Warning target person 51 Captured image

Claims (7)

Warning target detecting means for detecting a person to be warned located in the vicinity of the vehicle using a peripheral detection device installed in the vehicle,
Positioning means for specifying the relative orientation and relative distance of the person with respect to the vehicle using the peripheral detection device, and
An ultrasonic output means for outputting an ultrasonic wave for transmitting a warning sound toward the specified relative direction using an ultrasonic speaker installed in a vehicle, and an ultrasonic output means.
An ultrasonic input means for inputting a reflected wave reflected by an ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic output means using an ultrasonic microphone installed in a vehicle, and an ultrasonic input means.
A reflection distance calculation means for calculating a reflection distance, which is a distance from a vehicle to a position where the reflected wave is reflected, based on the reflected wave input by the ultrasonic input means.
An outside warning device including a transmission determination means for determining whether or not a warning sound is transmitted to the person based on a comparison result of the relative distance and the reflection distance. The transmission determination means
If the difference between the relative distance and the reflection distance is less than the threshold value, it is determined that the warning sound is transmitted to the person.
The vehicle exterior warning device according to claim 1, wherein if the difference between the relative distance and the reflection distance is equal to or greater than a threshold value, it is determined that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person. The threshold is
Set a larger value when the vehicle is running than when it is stopped,
The out-of-vehicle warning device according to claim 2, wherein a larger value is set when the person is moving than when the person is stopped. Any one of claims 1 to 3, which has an orientation correction means for correcting the output direction of ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic wave output means when it is determined by the transmission determination means that the warning sound is not transmitted to the person. Out-of-vehicle warning device described in. The vehicle exterior warning device according to claim 4, wherein the direction correction means corrects the output direction of ultrasonic waves by controlling the vibration of an element included in the ultrasonic speaker. The vehicle exterior warning device according to claim 4, wherein the direction correction means corrects the output direction of ultrasonic waves by changing the installation angle of the ultrasonic speaker with respect to the vehicle. Computer,
Warning target detecting means for detecting a person to be warned located in the vicinity of the vehicle using a peripheral detection device installed in the vehicle,
Positioning means for specifying the relative orientation and relative distance of the person with respect to the vehicle using the peripheral detection device, and
An ultrasonic output means for outputting an ultrasonic wave for transmitting a warning sound toward the specified relative direction using an ultrasonic speaker installed in a vehicle, and an ultrasonic output means.
An ultrasonic input means for inputting a reflected wave reflected by an ultrasonic wave output by the ultrasonic output means using an ultrasonic microphone installed in a vehicle, and an ultrasonic input means.
A reflection distance calculation means for calculating a reflection distance, which is a distance from a vehicle to a position where the reflected wave is reflected, based on the reflected wave input by the ultrasonic input means.
A transmission determination means for determining whether or not a warning sound is transmitted to the person based on the comparison result of the relative distance and the reflection distance.
A computer program to make it work.

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