JP2022039334A - Control device and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To properly and efficiently transmit a situation in the periphery of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A control device includes a control part for controlling light emission spots of light-emitting parts provided on a vehicle, on the basis of information related to an object detected in the periphery of the vehicle. The control part sets a range in which the light-emitting parts emit light according to a distance to the object, and executes control so that a prescribed visual element is moved at a speed corresponding to a relative speed with respect to an object approaching the vehicle within the range. The visual element is a partial region that has become distinguishable according to the light emission control. For example, when a movement range is lighted off, whereas a section being the visual element is caused to emit light, the visual element located in the movement range is made distinguishable. Further, also when a movement range is caused to emit light and a section being the visual element is lighted off, the visual element located in the movement range can be made distinguishable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a control device and a control method.

As a background technique, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-16289 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, "[Problem] an appropriate light emitting unit is made to emit light in order to inform an occupant of the moving direction of an object approaching a vehicle. [Solution] In a vehicle lighting device, an approaching object approaching a vehicle is used. Sensors 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d for detection, a light emitting unit 5 attached to the vehicle, and a control device 2 for controlling the light emitting unit 5 when the sensors 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d detect an approaching object. The control device 2 controls the light emitting unit 5 so that the light emitting portion of the light emitting unit 5 moves along the direction corresponding to the moving direction of the approaching object. "

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-16289

In Patent Document 1, the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed can be indicated by the moving speed of the light emitting portion. For example, when indicating the inter-vehicle distance, the light emitting portion is controlled so that the light emitting portion moves faster as the inter-vehicle distance becomes shorter, and the light emitting portion moves slower as the inter-vehicle distance becomes longer. When indicating the relative speed, the light emitting portion is controlled so that the light emitting portion moves faster as the relative speed (approaching speed) increases, and the light emitting portion moves slower as the relative speed decreases. However, it has been difficult to present both the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed in Patent Document 1. This is because the two light emitting points move at speeds indicating the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed, respectively, and it becomes difficult to distinguish and recognize the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a control device capable of accurately and efficiently transmitting the situation around the vehicle by controlling the light emitting unit more appropriately.

The control device according to the present invention includes a control unit that controls a light emitting portion of a light emitting unit provided in the vehicle based on information about an object detected in the vicinity of the vehicle, and the control unit is a distance from the object. The range in which the light emitting unit emits light is set in accordance with the above, and the predetermined visual element is controlled to move at a speed corresponding to the relative speed with the object approaching the vehicle within the range.

According to the present invention, the situation around the vehicle can be accurately and efficiently transmitted.

It is explanatory drawing of the in-vehicle information processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the in-vehicle information processing system which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing about the arrangement of the interior light in a vehicle. It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure of an in-vehicle information processing system. It is explanatory drawing about the specific example of light emission control (the 1). It is explanatory drawing about the specific example of light emission control (the 2). It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure in the case of performing up to the alarm output.

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

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an in-vehicle information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The in-vehicle information processing system according to the embodiment is mounted on the vehicle C1 of FIG. 1, and images the right rear and the left rear of the vehicle C1 with a camera. The in-vehicle information processing system detects another vehicle located behind the vehicle C1 by image recognition for the image pickup result.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which another vehicle C2R is traveling on the right rear side of the vehicle C1 and another vehicle C2L is traveling on the left rear side of the vehicle C1. Further, the inter-vehicle distance from the own vehicle C1 to the other vehicle C2R is larger than the inter-vehicle distance from the own vehicle C1 to the other vehicle C2L. Further, the relative speed between the own vehicle C1 and the other vehicle C2R is larger than the relative speed from the own vehicle C1 to the other vehicle C2L.

The vehicle C1 is provided with an interior light 12 as a light emitting unit inside the left and right doors. The interior light 12 is, for example, indirect lighting and is an ambient light used for producing an environment inside a vehicle. In FIG. 1, the driver's seat is arranged on the right side, and the interior light 12R is provided on the right door. The passenger seat is arranged on the left side, and the interior light 12L is provided on the left door.

The in-vehicle information processing system transmits the detection result of another vehicle located behind the vehicle C1 to the occupant by the light emission of the interior light 12. First, the in-vehicle information processing system controls the interior light 12R of the right door based on the information regarding the other vehicle C2R on the right rear side. Similarly, the vehicle-mounted information processing system controls the interior light 12L of the left door based on the information regarding the other vehicle C2L on the right rear side. Therefore, the occupant can obtain information on the following vehicle on the corresponding side from the lighting state of the left and right interior lights 12.

Specifically, the in-vehicle information processing system indicates the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle by a static element, and indicates the relative speed with the other vehicle by a dynamic element. In this way, the in-vehicle information processing system can simultaneously output the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed in an easy-to-identify manner, and can accurately and efficiently convey the situation around the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 1, the static element indicating the inter-vehicle distance from another vehicle is the movement range of the visual element. The dynamic element indicating the relative speed with other vehicles is the moving speed of the visual element. The visual element refers to a partial region that can be identified by controlling light emission. For example, by turning off the moving range and causing the portion to be the visual element to emit light, it is possible to identify the visual element located in the moving range. Further, the visual element located in the moving range can be identified by making the moving range emit light and turning off the portion to be the visual element. It is also possible to form a visual element by the difference in the color and brightness of the emitted light. In this embodiment, light emission is performed by controlling the lighting state of a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) included in the interior light 12. That is, since the light emitting part is the place where the LED is turned on, the light emitting part is hereinafter referred to as the lighting place.

In the example of FIG. 1, the moving range dR of the lighting portion in the interior light 12R of the right door indicates the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle C2R on the right rear side. The speed vR of the lighting portion of the interior light 12R of the right door indicates the relative speed with the other vehicle C2R on the right rear side. Similarly, the moving range dL of the lighting portion of the interior light 12L of the left door indicates the inter-vehicle distance from the other vehicle C2L behind the left. The speed vL of the lighting portion of the interior light 12L of the left door indicates the relative speed with the other vehicle C2L on the left rear side.

Here, when the distance between the vehicle C1 and the other vehicle C2 decreases, the moving range of the lighting portion is reduced, and when the distance between the vehicle C1 and the other vehicle C2 increases, the moving range of the lighting portion is increased. I do. That is, the moving range of the lit portion statically displays the inter-vehicle distance at that time, and does not prevent the moving range of the lit portion from being changed according to the change in the inter-vehicle distance. When the distance between the vehicle C1 and the other vehicle C2 is reduced in this way, the moving range of the lit portion becomes smaller, and the number of times the lit portion moves within the range increases as compared with the case where the moving range of the lit portion is wide. As a result, when the distance between the vehicle C1 and the other vehicle C2 is narrow, it is possible to draw more attention to the occupants.

Further, the in-vehicle information processing system matches the traveling direction of the other vehicle C2 with the moving direction of the lighting portion. Since the longitudinal direction of the interior light 12 coincides with the vehicle length direction and the relative speed with the following vehicle is the speed in the vehicle length direction, the relative speed of the following vehicle is a positive value, that is, the following vehicle is from the own vehicle. If the speed is high, the lighting location will be controlled to move from the rear to the front of the own vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an in-vehicle information processing system according to the present embodiment. The in-vehicle information processing system 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes a detection unit, a display unit, an operation unit, a speaker, and a control device 20.

The detection unit is a unit that detects the situation around the vehicle. In the present embodiment, a camera (camera 11R for right rear and camera 11L for left rear) is exemplified as a detection unit, but any sensor or the like can be used in addition to this. The camera 11 is provided on a door mirror, for example, and includes the rear of the own vehicle in the imaging range.

The display unit is a unit that makes a display visible to the occupants of the vehicle, and can be used as a light emitting unit within the scope of claims. In the present embodiment, the interior light 12 (the interior light 12R of the right door and the interior light 12L of the left door) is exemplified as a display unit, but in addition to this, a liquid crystal display, a head-up display, a transmissive display, or the like can be used. Further, the display unit may be a display unit that can recognize the left and right sides, may be provided in the driver's seat or the passenger seat in addition to the door, or may be a display installed from the driver's seat to the passenger seat. ..

The operation unit is a unit that accepts the operation of the vehicle by the occupant, particularly the operation that should consider the location of surrounding objects. In this embodiment, the winker lever 13 and the door operation unit 14 are exemplified as operation units.

The speaker 15 outputs audio to the occupants of the vehicle. Although the details will be described later, this voice output can be used to output an alarm to the occupant.

The control device 20 has a control unit 30 and a storage unit 40. The storage unit 40 is, for example, a flash memory or the like, and stores a control program 41 or the like. The control unit 30 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, and controls the display unit based on an object around the vehicle by reading and executing the control program 41. The detection unit, display unit, operation unit, speaker, and the like are not limited to being used only by the control device 20, but can be shared with other devices and systems.

By executing the control program 41, the control unit 30 realizes the functions of the vehicle detection unit 31, the vehicle state determination unit 32, the light emission control unit 33, and the alarm processing unit 34.

The vehicle detection unit 31 detects vehicles located behind the left and right of the own vehicle from the output of the detection unit. Specifically, the vehicle detection unit 31 performs image recognition on the image pickup result by the camera 11R, and detects another vehicle located to the right rear of the own vehicle. Similarly, the vehicle detection unit 31 performs image recognition on the image pickup result by the camera 11L, and detects another vehicle located behind the left rear of the own vehicle.

The vehicle state determination unit 32 performs a process of determining the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle detected by the vehicle detection unit 31 and the relative speed. The inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed are determined, for example, by using an image captured by the camera 11. Further, if the detection unit includes another sensor or the like, the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed may be determined using the output of the sensor.

The light emission control unit 33 controls the light emission of the display unit based on the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed determined by the vehicle state determination unit 32. Specifically, the light emission control unit 33 sets a range in which the interior light 12R emits light according to the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle on the right rear, and moves the visual element at a speed corresponding to the relative speed within the set range. Control to let. Similarly, the light emission control unit 33 sets a range in which the interior light 12L emits light according to the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle behind the left rear, and moves the visual element within the set range at a speed corresponding to the relative speed. Control.

The alarm processing unit 34 receives a predetermined operation by the occupant of the vehicle, and outputs an alarm to the occupant when another vehicle is detected behind the side corresponding to the operation. For example, if the turn signal lever 13 accepts an operation of blinking the right turn signal, it is suggested to turn right or change lanes to the right lane. At this time, if another vehicle is detected in the rear right, the alarm processing unit 34 outputs an alarm to the occupant using the voice output from the speaker 15. Similarly, if an operation such as unlocking the door on the right side is accepted and another vehicle is detected behind the right side, the alarm processing unit 34 issues an alarm. Even if the vehicle is behind the side corresponding to the operation, the alarm output conditions are set appropriately, such as not outputting the alarm if the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or greater than the predetermined value and the relative speed is less than the predetermined value. It is possible.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of the interior light 12 in the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 3, the interior lights 12 are provided on the right side and the left side of the vehicle interior of the vehicle, respectively, and the longitudinal direction of the interior light 12 is the vehicle length direction. Specifically, the interior light 12R and the interior light 12L are provided inside the door of the driver's seat and inside the door of the passenger seat.

With such an arrangement, the distance between the vehicle and the following vehicle can be made to correspond to the moving range of the visual element in the interior light 12, and the traveling direction of the following vehicle can be made to match the moving direction of the visual element in the interior light 12. Therefore, the occupant of the vehicle can intuitively and simultaneously grasp the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed with the following vehicle.

Further, when the occupant of the vehicle, for example, confirms the rear of the right side, the door mirror on the right side and the direct visual inspection of the rear right side are used. At this time, the interior light 12R on the right side comes into view. Similarly, when the occupant confirms the rear of the left side, the interior light 12L on the left side comes into view. Therefore, by using the left and right interior lights 12 to notify the vehicle located on the corresponding side, it is possible to improve the effect of safety confirmation by the occupant without requiring a special operation or the like.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the in-vehicle information processing system 10. The in-vehicle information processing system 10 repeatedly executes the following steps S101 to S107 regardless of whether the vehicle is running or not, for example, while the power is on.
Step S101
The camera 11 acquires a rear image and outputs it to the control device 20. After that, the process proceeds to step S102.
Step S102
The vehicle detection unit 31 of the control device 20 detects the vehicle by performing image recognition on the image acquired by the camera 11. After that, the process proceeds to step S103.
Step S103
The vehicle state determination unit 32 determines whether or not the vehicle has been detected by the vehicle detection unit 31. If the vehicle is not detected (step S103; No), the process returns to step S101. If the vehicle is detected (step S103; Yes), the process proceeds to step S104.

Step S104
The vehicle state determination unit 32 calculates the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed between the own vehicle and the following vehicle. After that, the process proceeds to step S105.
Step S105
The light emission control unit 33 sets the movement (lighting range) of the lighting portion of the interior light 12 according to the inter-vehicle distance. After that, the process proceeds to step S106.
Step S106
The vehicle state determination unit 32 determines whether or not the following vehicle is approaching. For example, whether or not the following vehicle is approaching based on whether or not the distance between the following vehicle and the following vehicle at a certain time T1 and the distance between the following vehicle and the following vehicle at a time T2 after a certain time are smaller than a predetermined value. Is determined. As a result of the determination by the vehicle state determination unit 33, the light emission control unit 33 returns to step S101 if the following vehicle is not approaching (step S106; No). If the following vehicle is approaching (step S106; Yes), the process proceeds to step S107.
Step S107
The light emission control unit 33 moves the visual element according to the relative speed. After that, the process proceeds to step S101.

5 and 6 are explanatory views of a specific example of light emission control. In the figure, it is assumed that one interior light 12 has nine LEDs, and each LED is shown in a circle. The white circle indicates the LED in the off state. The black circle indicates an LED that lights up as a visual element, that is, a lighting point. The arrow on the underside of the black circle indicates the direction of movement of the lit part. The right side of the paper is the front side of the vehicle, and the left side is the rear side of the vehicle.

5 and 6 show that the moving range of the lighting portion is changed in response to the change in the inter-vehicle distance. Specifically, when the inter-vehicle distance at the time T2, which is a time after the time T1, is larger than the inter-vehicle distance at the time T1, the moving range of the lighting portion is widened. When the inter-vehicle distance at time T2 is smaller than the inter-vehicle distance at time T1, the moving range of the lighting location is narrowed.

For example, in FIG. 5, when the inter-vehicle distance is 5 m, the moving range of the lighting portion is set to three LEDs. When the inter-vehicle distance is 25 m, the moving range of the lighting location is set to five LEDs. When the inter-vehicle distance is 45 m, the moving range of the lighting portion is set to nine LEDs. In FIG. 5, the movement range is arranged so as to be based on the center of the interior light 12.

Further, when the following vehicle is slow and the relative speed is a negative value, the light emission control unit 33 moves the lighting portion from the front side to the rear side. The moving speed corresponds to the relative speed. In addition, the movement is repeated in the same direction within the set range. On the other hand, when the following vehicle is fast and approaches the own vehicle, the light emission control unit 33 moves the lighting portion from the rear side to the front side. The moving speed corresponds to the relative speed. In addition, the movement is repeated in the same direction within the set range.

When the relative speed is near 0, for example, the LED is turned on within the range set as the moving range, but the lighting point is not moved. At this time, if the lighting range and the rest are set to different brightness or different colors, the lighting range becomes clearer.

In FIG. 6, the moving range is arranged so as to be based on the end of the interior light 12. If the standard of the movement range is set at the end corresponding to the front of the vehicle, it becomes easy for the occupant to recognize that the inter-vehicle distance is narrow.
Compared with FIG. 5, the example shown in FIG. 6 is different in that the moving range is set from the front side of the interior light 12. That is, the number of LEDs included in the moving range and the change thereof according to the inter-vehicle distance are the same as those of the specific example shown in FIG.

Further, the movement control of the lighting portion when the relative speed is a positive or negative value is the same as in FIG. However, when the relative speed is near 0, the LED on the rearmost side of the moving range is controlled to be lit. Since one end of the range is the frontmost LED, if the LED at the other end is fixed and lit, the occupant can be made to recognize that the range indicating the inter-vehicle distance and the assumed distance are around 0.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the case of performing alarm output. The in-vehicle information processing system 10 repeatedly executes the following steps S201 to S210 regardless of whether the vehicle is running or not, for example, while the power is on. Since steps S201 to 206 are the same as steps S101 to S106 shown in FIG. 4, the description thereof will be omitted, and the description will be given from step S207.

Step S207
The light emission control unit 33 moves the visual element according to the relative speed. After that, the process proceeds to step S208.
Step S208
The alarm processing unit 34 acquires the operation received by the operation unit. After that, the process proceeds to step S209.
Step S209
The alarm processing unit 34 determines whether or not an operation related to the approaching side of the vehicle, that is, the corresponding direction has been accepted. For example, the right turn signal when the vehicle is approaching from the right rear, the unlocking of the right door, and the like are operations related to the corresponding direction. If the operation related to the corresponding direction is not accepted (step S209; No), the process returns to step S201. If the operation related to the corresponding direction is accepted (step S209; Yes), the process proceeds to step S210.
Step S210
The alarm processing unit 34 outputs an alarm to the occupant using the voice output from the speaker 15. After that, the process proceeds to step S201.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the control device 20 controls the light emitting point of the interior light 12, which is a light emitting unit provided in the vehicle, based on the information about the object detected around the vehicle. A control unit 30 is provided, and the control unit 30 sets a range in which the light emitting unit emits light according to the distance from the object, and a predetermined visual element at a speed corresponding to the relative speed with the object approaching the vehicle within the range. Is controlled to move. By controlling the light emitting unit appropriately, the control device 20 can accurately and efficiently transmit the situation around the vehicle.

For example, the control unit 30 can intuitively indicate the relative speed by setting the light emitting point as a visual element and repeatedly moving the range. Alternatively, the extinguished part may be a visual element, and the range other than the extinguished part may be a light emitting part.

Further, the control unit 30 detects another vehicle located on the right rear side of the vehicle and another vehicle located on the left rear side of the vehicle as objects. The light emitting portions are provided on the right side and the left side of the vehicle interior of the vehicle, respectively, and the longitudinal direction of the light emitting unit is the vehicle length direction of the vehicle. The control unit 30 controls the light emitting unit on the right side based on the detection result of the other vehicle on the right rear side, and controls the light emitting unit on the left side based on the detection result of the other vehicle on the left rear side. Further, the control unit 30 matches the traveling direction of the other vehicle with the moving direction of the light emitting portion. With these configurations and operations, the occupants of the vehicle can simultaneously and intuitively grasp the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed with other vehicles.

Further, the control unit 30 can accept a predetermined operation by the occupant of the vehicle and output an alarm to the occupant when another vehicle is detected behind the side corresponding to the operation.
Further, the control device 20 may include a camera including the rear of the vehicle in the image pickup range as its own configuration, and may detect an object from the image pickup result of the camera.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the configuration and operation can be appropriately modified. For example, in this embodiment, a configuration in which another vehicle is detected as an object is illustrated, but it is also possible to detect a two-wheeled vehicle, a bicycle, a pedestrian, or the like.

In addition, the light emitting range and visual elements can be appropriately modified. For example, the visual element may be a lighting location, the range in which the visual element is moved is basically turned off, and light emission may be performed in a range other than the moving range. Further, the number of LEDs that emit light may change (the size of the visual element changes) as the visual element moves. Further, the light emitting range, the other range, and the visual element may be indicated by the difference in color or the difference in brightness.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the range in which the LED is moved is set to be smaller as the distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is reduced. The range in which the LED is moved may be set larger as it decreases. By doing so, the number of LEDs that emit light increases as the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle decreases, and the occupants can be alerted.

Further, as for the display unit, any kind of display device provided at any place can be used as long as the positional relationship with the vehicle is clear.

10 ... In-vehicle information processing system, 11 ... Camera, 12 ... Interior light, 13 ... Winker lever, 14 ... Door operation unit, 15 ... Speaker, 20 ... Control device, 30 ... Control unit, 31 ... Vehicle detection unit, 32 ... Vehicle status determination unit, 33 ... Light emission control unit, 34 ... Alarm processing unit, 40 ... Storage unit, 41 ... Control program

Claims (8)

A control unit for controlling a light emitting part of a light emitting unit provided in the vehicle based on information about an object detected in the vicinity of the vehicle is provided.
The control unit sets a range in which the light emitting unit emits light according to the distance to the object, and moves a predetermined visual element at a speed corresponding to the relative speed with the object approaching the vehicle within the range. A control device characterized in that it is controlled to be operated. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit has the light emitting point as the visual element and repeatedly moves the range. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit has the extinguished portion as the visual element and the range other than the extinguished portion as the light emitting portion. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit detects another vehicle located on the right rear side of the vehicle and another vehicle located on the left rear side of the vehicle as the object. The light emitting unit is provided on the right side and the left side of the vehicle interior of the vehicle, respectively, and the longitudinal direction of the light emitting unit is the vehicle length direction of the vehicle.
The control unit is characterized in that it controls the light emitting unit on the right side based on the detection result of the other vehicle on the right rear side, and controls the light emitting unit on the left side based on the detection result of the other vehicle on the left rear side. The control device according to claim 4. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit matches the traveling direction of the other vehicle with the moving direction of the visual element. The control unit receives a predetermined operation by the occupant of the vehicle, and outputs an alarm to the occupant when the other vehicle is detected behind the side corresponding to the operation. The control device according to claim 4. The control device mounted on the vehicle
A detection step for detecting an object around the vehicle, and
A step of setting a range in which the light emitting unit provided in the vehicle emits light corresponding to the distance to the object detected by the detection step, and a step of setting the light emitting range.
A control method comprising: a step of controlling a predetermined visual element to move at a speed corresponding to a relative speed with respect to an object approaching the vehicle within the range.

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