JP2023039069A - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a wrong-way driving notification device capable of speedily calling an appropriate action to a driver in the case of wrong-way driving of an automobile.SOLUTION: When a wrong-way driving state is detected in an express highway, a driver is guided to a safe place on the express highway, and the driver is notified for evacuating to the outside of an automobile. In the case of wrong-way driving on the express highway, the driver can stop the automobile in the safe place and further can speedily evacuate to the outside of the automobile.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle control system, and more particularly to a vehicle control system having a function of notifying reverse driving of a vehicle on an expressway.

Driving in the wrong direction on an expressway has a high risk of colliding head-on with an oncoming vehicle. For this reason, if you drive in the wrong direction on an expressway, stop in an emergency parking zone or the shoulder of the road to avoid a collision, evacuate to a safe place such as the outside of the guardrail, and report to the police or road administrator. It is necessary to do so quickly and reliably.

However, there is a problem that it is difficult to take appropriate measures depending on the driver's mental and physical conditions. For example, there are problems such as the inability to promptly evacuate to a safe place, the inability to quickly determine whether to evacuate to the outside of the vehicle, and the inability to determine the order of priority of emergency call destinations.

Regarding emergency calls, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-162284 (Patent Document 1) discloses a vehicle station that detects the position of the vehicle and communicates information about the vehicle position, and a two-way communication with the vehicle station. An emergency notification system is shown that includes a mayday center that communicates and monitors the status of this two-way communication.

Then, when an emergency call is required for the vehicle station, the Mayday center determines priorities for a plurality of different emergency call destinations based on the positions of the vehicle stations, and makes an emergency call according to the determined priorities. It is shown.

JP-A-10-162284

Patent Literature 1 shows that an emergency report when an emergency situation occurs is sent to a prompt and appropriate reporting agency. However, Patent Document 1 does not assume or take into consideration such events as reverse driving on an expressway.

Driving in the wrong direction on a highway has a high risk of colliding head-on with an oncoming vehicle as described above. After that, it is required to evacuate outside the vehicle and to report to the relevant authorities.

For this reason, if you drive in the wrong direction on an expressway, stop in an emergency parking zone or the shoulder of the road to avoid a collision, evacuate to a safe place such as the outside of the guardrail, and report to the police or road administrator. There is a demand for the development of a system that can prompt the driver quickly and reliably.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle control apparatus having a reverse driving notification function that can quickly prompt the driver to take appropriate actions when the vehicle is driving in the reverse direction.

A feature of the present invention resides in that, when reverse driving is detected on an expressway, the driver is notified to guide the vehicle to a safe place on the expressway.

According to the present invention, the driver is guided to stop the car at a safe place when driving in the wrong direction on the expressway, so that the driver can quickly and reliably avoid danger.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a reverse driving notification device provided in the vehicle control device; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing notification processing for guiding the vehicle to an emergency parking zone when driving in the reverse direction; FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the notification processing of the evacuation from the vehicle and the driver's notification at the time of reverse driving. It is a flowchart which shows the notification processing of the road control station notification at the time of reverse driving. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a reverse driving state on an expressway; It is explanatory drawing which shows the stopping action to an emergency parking zone and a road shoulder. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a driver's evacuation action to the outside of the guardrail; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing behavior of a driver to report to related organizations;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made within the technical concept of the present invention. is also included in the scope.

A vehicle control device to which the present invention is applied is configured centering on a control ECU. The control ECU is mainly composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., which are connected to each other via a bus line. Note that the control ECU may be configured using a plurality of microcomputers instead of one microcomputer.

A map database is connected to the control ECU, and map data is stored in this map database. The map data contains the same information as usual, such as coordinate information of nodes corresponding to road junctions (intersections), coordinate information of each node corresponding to junctions/branch points of expressways, and connecting adjacent nodes. It contains various road information such as link information to

In addition, the road information includes the number of lanes of each link and the presence or absence of a median strip, the width information of the road corresponding to each link, the road type such as national road, prefectural road, expressway etc. corresponding to each link, each Link traffic regulation information, speed limit for each link, emergency parking zone, stop line, no parking zone, presence of traffic light, presence of railroad crossing, no overtaking section, one-way street, school zone, no U-turns, information on high-accident spots etc.

Vehicle position detection means is connected to the control ECU, and a GPS antenna is connected to the vehicle position detection means. The position of the vehicle is measured and calculated by a GPS receiver based on GPS signals output from GPS satellites via a GPS antenna. As the positioning method, single positioning, relative positioning (including interferometric positioning), etc. can be used. At this time, the vehicle position is corrected based on the outputs of various sensors such as a vehicle speed sensor and a gyro sensor, and various information received via a beacon receiver and an FM multiplex receiver.

The position of the vehicle is appropriately corrected irregularly or periodically using the map data in the map database by a known map matching technique. The vehicle position information derived in this manner is supplied to the control ECU in each calculation cycle.

The control ECU is provided with navigation means for calculating a travel route corresponding to the position of the vehicle and the set destination. In addition to the destination set before driving, this navigation means also has the function of searching for a retreat position (emergency parking zone or road shoulder) in the reverse driving notification device described later and automatically setting it as the destination. there is Therefore, if the vehicle detects that the vehicle is running in the wrong direction, it can search for a nearby evacuation position (emergency parking zone or road shoulder) in response to this detection, set it as the destination, and calculate the driving route based on this. .

A display device is connected to the control ECU, and the display device is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display. placed in a convenient location. The display device is generally arranged on the upper part or the front of the instrument panel.

In addition to map display, the display device may output images of media such as TV, or may display operation screens of various in-vehicle devices. The display state of the display device is controlled by the control ECU.

Driving guidance means is connected to the control ECU, and the driving guidance means includes an electric steering control means that controls a steering device that changes the direction of the vehicle, and a driving device that generates driving force for the vehicle (for example, an engine, and a braking force control means for controlling a braking device for generating braking force of the vehicle. The travel guidance means can execute travel guidance control of the vehicle in accordance with a command from the control ECU.

The control ECU is provided with a reverse-running notification means according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the reverse driving notification means includes an emergency parking guidance control unit 40, an evacuation notification control unit 50, a road control station notification control unit 60, and a reverse driving determination control unit 70 as main functional units. The emergency parking guidance control unit 40, the evacuation notification control unit 50, and the road traffic control station notification control unit 60 constitute notification means, and execute their respective functions based on the reverse driving determination information from the reverse driving determination control unit 70. is configured as

Note that this reverse travel notification means is configured to be able to cooperate with the above-described navigation means and travel guidance means. Therefore, when reverse driving of the own vehicle is detected, the own vehicle can be guided to a safe place by the navigation means or the travel guidance means so as to avoid the danger of reverse driving.

In addition, information from the external world recognition device 10 consisting of a camera or the like, the GPS device 20, and the map database unit 30 is input to the reverse driving determination control unit 70, and based on these information, the driving state of the own vehicle, In other words, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is running in the reverse direction.

The reverse driving determination control unit 70 can determine the reverse driving state by recognizing the driving environment around the own vehicle using the external world recognition device 10, for example. Expressways are equipped with a median strip, so in Japan, the median strip exists on the right side when driving normally, and on the left side when driving in the wrong direction. become.

Therefore, by analyzing an image captured by the external world recognition device 10 such as a camera and determining the relative positions of the own vehicle and the median strip, it is possible to detect the reverse running state. A monocular camera, a stereo camera, or a radar sensor may be used as the external world recognition device 10 as long as it can determine the reverse running state. In addition to the median strip, reverse driving can also be detected by image analysis of road signs indicating the direction of travel.

In addition, the reverse driving determination control unit 70 detects the driving lane of the vehicle based on the vehicle position information including the traveling direction from the GPS device 20 and the road information obtained from the map database unit 30, and detects the vehicle in the reverse direction. can judge. That is, it is possible to detect the wrong-way driving state by determining in which lane position the vehicle is located on the expressway based on the lane information (driving direction) of the expressway.

Furthermore, the reverse running state can be determined based on the relative speed between the host vehicle and surrounding vehicles. Compared to the relative speed with the surrounding traveling vehicle when not traveling in the reverse direction, the relative speed with the surrounding traveling vehicle is larger, so this relative speed is set to a predetermined threshold (speed). Reverse running can be determined by comparing with . In addition, reverse driving can be determined by image analysis of brake lamps and headlamps. If the vehicle is not running in the reverse direction, the brake lights should be checked, and if the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, the headlights should be checked. Therefore, if the headlamp is confirmed, it is possible to determine that the vehicle is running in the wrong direction.

When the emergency parking guidance control unit 40 acquires the reverse driving state of the vehicle from the reverse driving determination control unit 70, the emergency parking guidance control unit 40 instructs the vehicle to move to a safe stop in the emergency parking zone. , immediately pull over to the emergency stop zone and stop." is notified to the driver. This message can be reported by video using a display device, or by sound using a speaker.

In addition, in order to make the surrounding vehicles aware that the vehicle is moving to the emergency parking zone, it is possible to notify that the vehicle is in evacuation action by turning on the turn signals and headlamps. .

Furthermore, in cooperation with the travel guidance means mounted on the control ECU, the vehicle is controlled to autonomously move and stop the own vehicle along the travel route toward the emergency stop zone retrieved by the navigation means. It can be performed. Further, in this vehicle control, automatic brake control, brake assist control, fuel injection amount control, etc. are executed so that the vehicle speed does not increase in reverse running, for example.

In addition, when the traveling guidance means recognizes the traveling state of the oncoming vehicle traveling toward the own vehicle by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, camera, radar, etc., the own vehicle moves toward the emergency parking zone so as to avoid the oncoming vehicle. Thus, the steering timing and steering amount are controlled.

In this way, by searching for an emergency parking zone using navigation means and travel guidance means, and executing route calculation/guidance control for this, the own vehicle can autonomously enter the emergency parking zone instead of the driver. You can move and park. If the driver himself/herself intends to stop the vehicle in the emergency parking zone, it is possible not to shift to the guidance control. In the above description, the vehicle is moved toward the emergency stop zone, but the vehicle can also be moved to the shoulder of the road and stopped.

When the vehicle stops in the emergency stop zone after acquiring the reverse driving state of the vehicle from the reverse driving determination control unit 70, the evacuation notification unit 50 instructs the driver to "Get out of the vehicle and evacuate to a safe place. Next, please report to the relevant organizations (for example, the road administration office and the police) that you have reversed your driving." is notified to the driver. This message can be reported by video using a display device, or by sound using a speaker. In this way, a notification is issued to urge people to evacuate to a safe place such as the outside of the guardrail, and to report to relevant organizations from a safe place.

As a notification method, either or both of visual guidance display by a display device such as a display and voice guidance by a speaker can be used. When the voice guidance by the speaker is not used, it is possible to combine the sound of a buzzer or the like and the guidance display by the display. By notifying the driver in a manner suitable for the own vehicle from such multiple notification means, the driver is urged to evacuate to a safe place, and the notification to prompt the related organizations from the safe place to report is quickly performed. be able to.

After acquiring the reverse driving state of the own vehicle from the reverse driving determination control unit 70, the road control station notification control unit 60 notifies the road control station 80 of the reverse driving state on behalf of the driver. The information to be provided is vehicle information by which the vehicle can be specified, such as location information of the own vehicle, vehicle type, and body color. Also, by constantly transmitting the position information and the running/stopped state of the own vehicle, it becomes easier for the road control station 80 to grasp the details of the wrong-way vehicle.

Next, the notification process executed by the emergency parking zone guidance control unit 40 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. It should be noted that this flowchart is executed at predetermined time intervals.

<<Step S10>>
In step S10, it is determined whether the host vehicle is running in the reverse direction. The determination of the reverse running state is as described above, but in this embodiment, determination is made from the vehicle position information including the traveling direction obtained by the GPS sensor and the lane information of the expressway. Since the set traveling direction can be determined from the lane information, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle is running in the opposite direction from the current vehicle position information and the lane information. If it is determined that the vehicle is not running in the reverse direction, the process proceeds to step S11, and if it is determined that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, the process proceeds to step S12.

<<Step S11>>
Since it is determined in step S10 that the vehicle is not running in the reverse direction, in step S11, the emergency parking guidance notification process is not executed, and the system exits to the end and waits for the next activation timing. When the next activation timing arrives, the process of step S10 is executed again.

<<Step S12>>
Since it is determined in step S10 that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, it is determined in step S12 whether or not the actual speed of the host vehicle is equal to or greater than the threshold. Here, if the actual speed of the own vehicle is equal to or less than the threshold, it is assumed that the driver has noticed the reverse running and is decelerating the own vehicle, and the process proceeds to step S11. The processing of step S11 is as described above. On the other hand, if the actual speed of the own vehicle exceeds the threshold, it is assumed that the driving vehicle has not noticed the reverse running, and the process proceeds to step S13.

<<Step S13>>
In step S13, emergency parking guidance information processing is executed. In this embodiment, as described above, the driver is notified to move the own vehicle to a place where the vehicle can be stopped safely, such as an emergency parking zone. This notification is made by video using a display device, or by sound using a speaker. In addition, in order to make the surrounding vehicles aware that the vehicle is moving to the emergency parking zone, optical means such as blinkers and headlamps are turned on to indicate that the vehicle is in evacuation behavior. inform.

Furthermore, vehicle control is executed to move the own vehicle toward the emergency stop zone and stop the vehicle. This vehicle control executes automatic brake control, brake assist control, fuel injection amount control, etc. so that the vehicle speed does not increase in the reverse running state, for example. In addition, when the vehicle-to-vehicle communication, camera, radar, etc. recognize the driving conditions of oncoming vehicles that are traveling toward the vehicle, the vehicle can be directed to the emergency parking zone along the driving route determined by the navigation means. Also, the steering timing and steering amount are controlled.

When the emergency parking guidance information processing is executed, it exits to the end and waits for the next activation timing.

Next, notification processing executed by the evacuation notification control unit 50 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart is also executed at predetermined time intervals.

<<Step S20>>
In step S20, the reverse running state of the host vehicle is determined as in the case of FIG. In the present embodiment, the determination of the reverse running state is made based on the vehicle position information including the direction of travel obtained by the GPS sensor and the lane information of the expressway, as described above. Since the set traveling direction can be determined from the lane information, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle is running in the opposite direction from the current vehicle position information and lane information. If it is determined that the vehicle is not running in the reverse direction, the process proceeds to step S21, and if it is determined that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, the process proceeds to step S22.

<<Step S21>>
Since it is determined in step S20 that the vehicle is not running in the reverse direction, in step S21, the evacuation notification process is not executed, the end is reached, and the next activation timing is awaited. When the next activation timing arrives, the process of step S20 is executed again.

<<Step S22>>
Since it is determined in step S20 that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, it is determined in step S22 whether or not the vehicle is stopped. Here, if the own vehicle has not stopped, the same judgment is continued again. On the other hand, if the own vehicle is stopped, it is assumed that the vehicle is stopped at a safe place, and the process proceeds to step S23.

<<Step S23>>
In step S23, evacuation notification processing is executed. In this embodiment, as described above, the driver is urged to evacuate to a safe place such as outside the guardrail, and the driver is notified to report to related organizations from the safe place. This notification is made by video using a display device, or by sound using a speaker. When the evacuation notification process is executed, it exits to the end and waits for the next activation timing.

In the evacuation notification process, it is effective to execute the processing steps after step S22 following step S13 of the emergency parking guidance notification process shown in FIG.

By executing such flow processing, when reverse driving is detected, the driver is notified to evacuate to the emergency parking zone. Encourage people to evacuate to a safe place such as outside the guardrail, and notify them to report to relevant organizations from a safe place. As a result, the driver can quickly and reliably evacuate to a safe place, and can also report to related organizations.

Next, the notification processing executed by the road control station notification processing section 60 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart is also executed at predetermined time intervals.

<<Step S30>>
In step S30, the reverse running state of the host vehicle is determined as in the case of FIG. In the present embodiment, the determination of the reverse running state is made based on the vehicle position information including the direction of travel obtained by the GPS sensor and the lane information of the expressway, as described above. Since the set traveling direction can be determined from the lane information, it is possible to determine whether or not the vehicle is running in the opposite direction from the current vehicle position information and lane information. If it is determined that the vehicle is not running in the reverse direction, the process proceeds to step S33, and if it is determined that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, the process proceeds to step S31.

<<Step S31>>
Since it is determined in step S30 that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, in step S31 the vehicle autonomously notifies the road control station instead of the driver that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction. When the Road Control Bureau receives this report, it contacts the relevant departments and takes necessary measures. When the road control station is notified of the reverse running state, the process proceeds to step S32.

<<Step S32>>
Since it is determined in step S30 that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction, it is determined in step S32 whether or not the vehicle is stopped. Here, if the own vehicle has not stopped, the same judgment is continued again. On the other hand, if the own vehicle is stopped, it is assumed that the vehicle is stopped at a safe place, and the process proceeds to step S33. Note that the road control station report processing is continued until the vehicle stops.

<<Step S33>>
At step S33, it is assumed that the vehicle is stopped at a safe place, and the road control station reporting process is terminated. This road control station notification processing is executed in parallel with the emergency parking guidance notification processing and the evacuation notification processing described above. In other words, the road control station reporting process, the emergency parking guidance reporting process, and the evacuation reporting process are executed by the multithread method.

In this way, in the road control station reporting process, when the own vehicle is running in the wrong direction, the own vehicle reports to the road control station instead of the driver. Always notify the road control station of the information. As a result, the road control station can acquire continuous position information from the reverse driving start point to the stop point.

In addition, when the vehicle stops at a safe place, the driver is evacuated from the vehicle and the related organizations are notified. Therefore, when the own vehicle stops, the report to the road control station ends.

In this way, when the vehicle is running in the wrong direction, the vehicle provides vehicle information including position information to the road control station instead of the driver, so that the road control station can quickly take measures against the vehicle running in the wrong direction. be able to do it.

Next, the behavior of the own vehicle and the driver corresponding to the processing flow described above will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8. FIG.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the own vehicle (V) is running in the reverse direction. Here, when the own vehicle detects reverse driving, the road control station reporting process shown in FIG. 4 is executed, and the position information of the own vehicle (V), the vehicle type, the vehicle appearance information such as the body color are reported. At this time, an emergency parking zone guidance notification process is executed in parallel.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the emergency parking zone guidance notification process is being executed. The host vehicle (V) is moved toward the emergency stop zone by the driver or the travel guidance means. At this time, the road control station reporting process is continuously executed.

7 and 8 show the state in which the vehicle evacuation/driver notification processing is being executed. The driver exits the stopped own vehicle (V), evacuates to a safe place outside the guardrail, and reports to related organizations. At this time, the road control station reporting process has ended.

As described above, the present invention is configured to notify the driver to guide the driver to a safe place on the expressway when reverse driving is detected on the expressway. According to the present invention, the driver is guided to stop the car at a safe place when driving in the wrong direction on the expressway, so that the driver can quickly and reliably avoid danger.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications. The above embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the described configurations. Moreover, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Other configurations can be added, deleted, or replaced with respect to the configuration of each embodiment.

10 External recognition device 20 GPS device 30 Map database unit 40 Emergency parking zone guidance control unit 50 Vehicle evacuation notification control unit 60 Road control station notification control unit 70 Reverse driving determination control unit , 80 ... Road control station.

Claims (9)

own vehicle position detection means for detecting the own vehicle position of the own vehicle;
a road information acquisition means for acquiring road information of an expressway;
Based on the road information acquired by the road information acquiring means and the own vehicle position detected by the own vehicle position detecting means, the own vehicle travels on the expressway in the opposite direction to the normal traveling direction. reverse running determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle is in a reverse running state;
a notification means for notifying a driver of the own vehicle to at least be guided to a safe place on the expressway when the reverse driving determination means determines that the vehicle is in a reverse driving state. A vehicle control device characterized by: In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The road information acquisition means is imaging means for capturing an image of the surroundings where the vehicle is traveling,
The vehicle control device, wherein the reverse-running determination means determines that the own vehicle is running in the reverse direction from a photographed image. In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The vehicle position detection means is a GPS receiver,
the road information acquisition means is a map database;
The reverse-running determination means determines whether the vehicle is running in the reverse direction based on the lane information of the expressway read from the map database and the vehicle position from the GPS receiver. vehicle control device. In the vehicle control device according to claim 1,
The notification means comprises emergency parking guidance means for performing notification to prompt the vehicle to move to an emergency parking zone on the expressway or to a place on the shoulder where the vehicle can safely stop when reverse driving is determined. A vehicle control device characterized by: In the vehicle control device according to claim 4,
The vehicle control device, wherein the emergency parking guidance means uses optical means to inform surrounding vehicles that the own vehicle is moving. In the vehicle control device according to claim 4,
When the own vehicle stops in the emergency parking zone or the road shoulder where the vehicle can be stopped safely, the notification means performs notification to prompt the vehicle to leave the vehicle to ensure safety and to report to related organizations. A vehicle control device comprising an evacuation notification means. In the vehicle control device according to claim 4,
Further, a navigation means is provided, and the navigation means searches the emergency parking zone or the shoulder of the road when the reverse driving is determined by the reverse driving determination means, and further obtains a driving route to there. vehicle control device. In the vehicle control device according to claim 7,
Further, the vehicle control device further comprises travel guidance means for autonomously traveling the own vehicle along the travel route toward the emergency parking zone or the shoulder of the road. In the vehicle control device according to claim 4,
The vehicle control device, wherein the notification means notifies the vehicle information including position information of the vehicle to a road control station on behalf of the driver when it is determined that the vehicle is running in the reverse direction.

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