JP2024047112A - Driving assistance device, driving assistance method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program capable of issuing an overtaking notification to a vehicle ahead when the vehicle is overtaking the vehicle ahead. [Solution] The driving assistance device according to the present disclosure is a driving assistance device that assists driving during an overtaking maneuver of a vehicle, and includes an acquisition unit that acquires the driving conditions of the vehicle ahead, a detection unit that detects overtaking behavior from the movement of the driver and the vehicle, a generation unit that generates notification information whose contents correspond to the driving conditions of the vehicle ahead and the overtaking stage of the vehicle ahead, and a notification unit that notifies the notification information, and the detection unit detects at least one of the start of an overtaking maneuver, interruption of an overtaking maneuver, and completion of an overtaking maneuver as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors. [Selected Figure] Figure 2

Description

This disclosure relates to a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program.

When a vehicle is attempting to overtake a vehicle traveling in the same lane as the vehicle in front, the vehicle in front may suddenly speed up without noticing the vehicle's overtaking motion, which may lead to dangerous driving or an accident.

For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses an overtaking assistance system that notifies the driver that the vehicle can overtake the vehicle ahead when the vehicle is traveling in a driving lane. The overtaking assistance system in the following Patent Document 1 determines whether or not the vehicle can overtake on the assumption that the vehicles around the vehicle are traveling at a constant speed.

However, vehicles actually traveling on roads may not travel at a constant speed, or may suddenly increase their speed. In this case, when the vehicle has started an overtaking operation in accordance with the overtaking assistance system described in Patent Document 1 below, it may be necessary to suddenly interrupt the overtaking operation, which may lead to dangerous driving or an accident. For this reason, it is desirable to be able to notify the vehicle ahead that the vehicle is about to overtake that the vehicle will make an overtaking operation, thereby preventing unexpected movements such as a sudden increase in speed, and enabling a smooth overtaking operation.

International Publication No. 2014/203333

In view of the above problems, the present disclosure aims to provide a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program that can appropriately notify a vehicle ahead when the vehicle ahead passes the vehicle ahead.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objective, the driving assistance device according to the present disclosure is a driving assistance device that assists driving during an overtaking operation of a vehicle, and includes an acquisition unit that acquires the driving conditions of the vehicle, a detection unit that detects overtaking behavior from the movement of the driver and the vehicle, a generation unit that generates notification information whose contents correspond to the driving conditions of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle, and a notification unit that notifies the notification information, and the detection unit detects at least one of the start of an overtaking operation, the interruption of an overtaking operation, and the completion of an overtaking operation as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objective, the driving assistance method disclosed herein is a driving assistance method that assists driving during an overtaking maneuver of a vehicle, and includes the steps of acquiring the driving conditions of the vehicle, detecting the overtaking behavior from the movements of the driver and the vehicle, generating notification information whose contents correspond to the driving conditions of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle, and notifying the notification information, and in the detection step, at least one of the start of an overtaking maneuver, interruption of an overtaking maneuver, and completion of an overtaking maneuver is detected as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objective, the program disclosed herein is a program that assists driving during an overtaking maneuver of a vehicle, and includes the steps of acquiring the driving conditions of the vehicle, detecting the overtaking behavior from the movement of the driver and the vehicle, generating notification information whose contents correspond to the driving conditions of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle, and notifying the notification information, and in the detection step, at least one of the start of an overtaking maneuver, interruption of an overtaking maneuver, and completion of an overtaking maneuver is detected as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.

The present disclosure provides a driving assistance device, a driving assistance method, and a program that can appropriately notify a vehicle ahead when the vehicle is about to overtake the vehicle ahead.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overview of the processing of a driving assistance system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a driving assistance system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a driving assistance device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection criterion for detecting an overtaking motion by the detector according to the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display mode of notification information on a display unit of a vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a first mode of display mode of notification information on the display unit of a forward vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a second mode of displaying notification information on the display unit of a forward vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a third mode of displaying notification information on the display unit of a forward vehicle according to the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a mobile terminal according to the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the driving assistance method according to the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described below.

(Configuration of driving assistance system)
First, the outline of the process and the configuration of the driving assistance system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of the process of the driving assistance system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the driving assistance system according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the driving assistance system 1 according to the present disclosure includes a driving assistance device 100 (100A, 100B) and a mobile terminal 200 (200A, 200B). In the driving assistance system 1 according to the present disclosure, the driving assistance device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other. In addition, the mobile terminal 200 (200A, 200B) is connected to the mobile terminal 200A and the mobile terminal 200B so as to be able to communicate with each other. That is, the driving assistance device 100A is connected to the driving assistance device 100B so as to be able to communicate with each other via the mobile terminal 200 (200A, 200B). Below, the configurations of these will be described in order, and then the outline of the process of the driving assistance system 1 will be described.

The driving assistance device 100 is an information processing device that is mounted on a vehicle and supports the driving of the vehicle driver. The driving assistance device 100 may be, for example, an information processing device integrated with a rear-mirror type display device, an in-vehicle infotainment system equipped with a car navigation system, or an in-vehicle infotainment system equipped with a drive recorder.

The mobile device 200 is a communication terminal that can be carried by a user. The mobile device 200 has a function of being connected to the driving assistance device 100 so that they can communicate with each other. The mobile device 200 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a mobile terminal, etc.

Next, an overview of the processing of the driving assistance system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. First, the driving assistance device 100 detects an overtaking operation (step S1). Next, the driving assistance device 100 transmits an overtaking notification and the distance to the vehicle ahead to the mobile device 200A (step S2). Next, the mobile device 200A transmits the overtaking notification to the mobile device 200B that is within the distance range to the vehicle ahead (step S3). Next, the mobile device 200B transmits the overtaking notification to the driving assistance device 100B (step S4). Next, the driving assistance device 100B displays the overtaking notification on the display unit 130B, and outputs the overtaking notification as sound (step S5).

As a result, when the host vehicle attempts to overtake a vehicle ahead, an overtaking notification can be sent to the vehicle ahead, indicating that the host vehicle is going to overtake the vehicle ahead. Therefore, it is possible to provide a driving assistance device 100 that can send an overtaking notification to the vehicle ahead when the host vehicle is going to overtake the vehicle ahead.

(Configuration of driving assistance device)
Next, the configuration of the driving support device 100 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the driving support device according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 3, the driving support device 100 according to the present disclosure includes a communication unit 110, an imaging unit 120, a display unit 130, a storage unit 140, a control unit 150, a sensor unit 160, and an audio output unit 170.

The communication unit 110 connects the inside of the driving assistance device 100 and the inside and outside of the driving assistance device 100 so that they can communicate with each other, and transmits and receives information between the inside and outside of the driving assistance device 100. The communication unit 110 may be realized, for example, by an in-vehicle network adapter, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) module, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) module, an antenna, etc.

The imaging unit 120 captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle. The imaging unit 120 may be an imaging device mounted on the vehicle and capturing at least an image in front of the vehicle as information about the surroundings of the vehicle. The imaging unit 120 may be, for example, a camera, and may be a combination of multiple cameras such as a stereo camera, or a 360-degree all-around camera that captures images in all directions. In this case, the camera includes an optical element and an imaging element, and the optical element is an element that constitutes an optical system, such as a lens, a mirror, a prism, or a filter. The imaging element is an element that converts light incident through the optical element into an image signal, which is an electrical signal. In addition, the imaging element is, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor.

The display unit 130 displays various information to the driver of the vehicle. The display unit 130 displays various information according to the control command of the display control unit 156, which will be described later. Specific examples of information that the display unit 130 displays according to the control command of the display control unit 156 will be described in the description of the display control unit 156. The display unit 130 may be a rearview mirror type display device or, for example, a display device of an in-vehicle infotainment system. The display unit 130 may be realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, a micro LED (Light Emitting Diode) display, or the like. The location where the display unit 130 is provided is not limited to the dashboard or the center cluster, and may be provided on the back of the front seats or the rear window.

The memory unit 140 is a storage device that stores various types of information. The memory unit 140 includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device. The main storage device may be realized by a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device may be realized by a hard disk, a SSD (Solid State Drive), a memory card, or the like.

The control unit 150 is a controller that manages and controls the driving assistance device 100. The control unit 150 is realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) executing various programs stored in the storage unit 140 using a RAM (not shown) as a working area. The control unit 150 may also be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 150 includes an acquisition unit 151, a detection unit 152, a generation unit 153, a notification unit 154, an evaluation unit 155, and a display control unit 156. The control unit 150 realizes the acquisition unit 151, the detection unit 152, the generation unit 153, the notification unit 154, the evaluation unit 155, and the display control unit 156 by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 140, and executes these processes. In addition, each component of the control unit 150 may be realized by combining dedicated hardware, etc. Note that the control unit 150 may execute these processes using one CPU, or may include multiple CPUs and execute these processes in parallel using the multiple CPUs. Below, these configurations will be explained in order.

The acquisition unit 151 acquires the driving status of the vehicle. Here, the driving status of the vehicle refers to the state, condition, and state of the vehicle, and includes, for example, the speed and acceleration of the vehicle, and the operating status of each part of the vehicle. For example, the acquisition unit 151 acquires speed information of the vehicle as the driving status of the vehicle. Specifically, the acquisition unit 151 may acquire the speed information of the vehicle by acquiring a vehicle speed signal from an in-vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit) via the communication unit 110 through in-vehicle network communication such as CAN (Controller Area Network) communication. In addition, the acquisition unit 151 acquires the operation status of a turn signal as the driving status of the vehicle. For example, the acquisition unit 151 may acquire the operation status of a turn signal by acquiring a control signal from a control circuit of the turn signal. In addition, the acquisition unit 151 acquires the acceleration of the vehicle as the driving status of the vehicle. For example, if the sensor unit 160 is an acceleration sensor, the acquisition unit 151 acquires the acceleration measured by the acceleration sensor.

The acquisition unit 151 acquires the driving state of the surrounding vehicle. Here, the driving state of the surrounding vehicle refers to the state, situation, mode, and appearance of the driving of the surrounding vehicle, and includes, for example, the state of change in the driving speed and the state of change in the driving direction of the surrounding vehicle. For example, the acquisition unit 151 may acquire the driving state of the surrounding vehicle of the own vehicle by performing image recognition processing from the image of the surroundings of the own vehicle captured by the imaging unit 120. For example, the acquisition unit 151 may classify the driving state of the surrounding vehicle by inputting the driving state of the surrounding vehicle into a learned model that has been learned by classifying it into multiple classes. In this case, the classification of the driving state of the surrounding vehicle may be, for example, "no change in speed and driving direction", "speed change", "change in driving direction", "change in speed and driving direction", etc. The acquisition unit 151 may also acquire the distance to the front vehicle by performing image analysis processing from the image captured by the imaging unit 120. One method for obtaining the distance to the vehicle ahead through image analysis processing is to use a stereo camera as the imaging unit 120 and calculate the distance from the stereo camera images using triangulation.

The detection unit 152 detects overtaking behavior based on the movement of the driver or the vehicle. As overtaking behavior, for example, the detection unit 152 detects the start of an overtaking operation, the interruption of an overtaking operation, and the completion of overtaking as overtaking stages in a series of overtaking behaviors. Here, the start of an overtaking operation refers to the start of an operation of the host vehicle to overtake a vehicle ahead. The interruption of an overtaking operation refers to the interruption of an operation of the host vehicle to overtake a vehicle ahead. The completion of overtaking refers to the completion of an operation of the host vehicle to overtake a vehicle ahead. The detection criteria for these will be described later. In this disclosure, the detection unit 152 detects at least one of the start of an overtaking operation, the interruption of an overtaking operation, and the completion of overtaking as overtaking stages in a series of overtaking behaviors. In this case, the overtaking behavior may include overtaking, which means that the vehicle gets in front of the vehicle ahead without changing its course, and the overtaking stages may be further subdivided and detected.

Furthermore, the detection unit 152 may obtain the intention to overtake while the vehicle is traveling by any method, and detect the overtaking behavior based on the obtained information on the intention to overtake. For example, the driver may input in advance by operating a switch (not shown) that the driver is about to begin the overtaking operation, and the intention to overtake may be confirmed. In addition, various information obtained from the autonomous driving function and driving assistance function provided in the vehicle may be obtained via any interface, and based on the obtained information, an overtaking message such as "Do you want to switch to overtaking driving mode?" or "It looks like you should overtake. Do you want to overtake?" may be displayed on the display unit 130 with a confirmation such as "Yes" or "No" for the driver of the vehicle. If the driver selects "Yes", it may be determined that there is an intention to overtake, and the detection unit 152 may detect the behavior such as the start of overtaking.

In this disclosure, the detection unit 152 detects overtaking behavior based on the driving conditions of the vehicle acquired by the acquisition unit 151.

For example, the detection unit 152 may detect a series of stages of "start of overtaking action", "interruption of overtaking action", and "completion of overtaking action" in the overtaking behavior based on the detection criteria shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the detection criteria of the overtaking action of the detection unit according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the detection unit 152 may detect "start of overtaking action" when the "distance from the center line" is approaching, the "flashing of the blinker" is flashing, and there is no change in the "acceleration". The detection unit 152 may also detect "interruption of overtaking action" when the "distance from the center line" is farther away, the "flashing of the blinker" is off, and there is no change in the "acceleration". The detection unit 152 may also detect "completion of overtaking action" when the "distance from the center line" is farther away, the "flashing of the blinker" is off, and the "acceleration" is increasing. Here, getting closer to the center line corresponds to, for example, when the vehicle is traveling on a two-lane road, moving to the driving lane closer to the center line that is reserved for overtaking. Also, when the vehicle is traveling on a one-lane road, it includes the case of overtaking a vehicle in front while straddling the center line into the oncoming lane. Moving away from the center line corresponds to the opposite movement to the above, and corresponds to the vehicle returning to the original driving path after completing or interrupting overtaking. Furthermore, as for the detection criteria, the blinking of the turn signal may be the target of the blinking of the turn signal on the center line side, i.e., the driving path side for overtaking, in the detection of "overtaking operation start", and the detection criteria may also include the blinking of the turn signal to move away from the center line, i.e., on the original driving path side, in the detection of "overtaking operation interruption" and "overtaking operation completion".

Figure 4 is an example, and the detection unit 152 may detect overtaking behavior based on the driving state of the surrounding vehicle acquired by the acquisition unit 151. For example, by taking into consideration the fact that there is little change in the driving speed or driving direction of the surrounding vehicle driving ahead of the host vehicle and that the distance between the host vehicle and the surrounding vehicle is decreasing, it becomes possible to detect overtaking behavior more accurately.

The generating unit 153 generates notification information whose contents correspond to the driving status of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle. The notification information here refers to information to be notified to the driver of the vehicle or the driver of the vehicle ahead. For example, if the overtaking stage of the vehicle ahead is detected as "overtaking operation start", the generating unit 153 generates notification information including a message "Do you want to overtake the vehicle ahead?" for the driver of the vehicle ahead. If the overtaking stage of the vehicle ahead is detected as "overtaking operation start", the generating unit 153 also generates notification information including a message "The vehicle behind is about to overtake. Please be careful" for the driver of the vehicle ahead. If the overtaking stage of the vehicle ahead is detected as "overtaking operation interrupted", the generating unit 153 generates notification information including a message "The vehicle behind has interrupted overtaking" for the driver of the vehicle ahead. Furthermore, if the generation unit 153 detects that the overtaking stage of the vehicle is "overtaking operation completed," it generates notification information including a message "Overtaking has been completed" for the driver of the vehicle ahead. The notification information generated by the generation unit 153 includes the distance to the vehicle ahead acquired by the acquisition unit 151.

The generating unit 153 generates the notification information after determining the notification contents including whether or not to output the notification information according to the evaluation result of the evaluating unit 155. The evaluating unit 155 will be described later. For example, if the evaluating unit 155 evaluates the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the vehicle as "appropriate", the generating unit 153 generates notification information including a message for the driver of the vehicle saying "This is an appropriate overtaking operation. Next time, please pay attention to the safety of your surroundings and drive appropriately." Also, for example, if the evaluating unit 155 evaluates the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the vehicle as "neutral", the generating unit 153 generates notification information including a message for the driver of the vehicle saying "This is an overtaking operation that includes some inappropriate driving operations. Next time, please pay more attention to the safety of your surroundings and drive appropriately." Also, for example, if the evaluation unit 155 evaluates the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the own vehicle as "inappropriate", the generation unit 153 generates notification information including a message for the driver of the own vehicle saying, "This is a very dangerous overtaking operation. Please be mindful of the law and the safety of your surroundings and drive appropriately." For example, messages for the driver of the own vehicle that have been evaluated as "neutral" and "inappropriate" may be generated as messages to be emphasized, and messages that have been evaluated as "appropriate" may not be generated and need not be output. Furthermore, the generation unit 153 may determine the notification content of a message for the driver of the forward vehicle according to the evaluation result of the evaluation unit 155. For example, if the appropriateness is evaluated as "neutral" when the overtaking stage of the own vehicle is "overtaking operation completed", notification information including an apology such as "Overtaking is completed. I'm sorry for the aggressive overtaking" or gratitude such as "Thank you" may be generated.

The notification unit 154 notifies the notification information. For example, the notification unit 154 notifies the notification information to the mobile terminal 200 that is communicatively connected to the driving assistance device 100. As will be described in the description of the mobile terminal 200, the mobile terminal 200 that has been notified of the notification information notifies another mobile terminal 200 that is communicatively connected to the mobile terminal 200 of the notification information, and the mobile terminal 200 notifies another driving assistance device 100 that is communicatively connected to the mobile terminal 200 of the notification information. Note that the communication connection between the driving assistance device 100 and the mobile terminal 200 may be realized by Bluetooth communication or Wi-Fi Direct (registered trademark) communication.

The notification unit 154 notifies the notification information when the driver selects to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information before notification. For example, when the display control unit 156 causes the display unit 130 to display a message regarding whether or not to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information, such as a message "Do you want to notify surrounding vehicles of overtaking?", the notification unit 154 notifies the notification information if the driver selects "Yes". Also, for example, when the display unit 130 displays a message such as the one described above, if the driver selects "No", the notification information is not notified. The driver's selection may be made by key input operation (not shown), operation via the display surface if the display unit 130 is equipped with a touch panel, or operation by the driver's voice input using a publicly known voice recognition technology via a voice input unit (not shown).

In the present disclosure, the notification unit 154 notifies notification information with contents corresponding to at least two stages among the start of an overtaking operation, interruption of an overtaking operation, and completion of overtaking.

The evaluation unit 155 evaluates the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the vehicle. For example, the evaluation unit 155 evaluates the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the vehicle based on the image of the surroundings of the vehicle captured by the imaging unit 120. The evaluation unit 155 may evaluate the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the vehicle by inputting the image data into a trained model that has learned the relationship between the image data and the three-level classes "appropriate", "neutral", and "inappropriate" that indicate the appropriateness of the overtaking process. In this case, the learning data may be labeled as "inappropriate" for image data that shows the vehicle overtaking a vehicle ahead by crossing a center line, such as a solid yellow center line, that is prohibited from going beyond for the purpose of overtaking, or the vehicle overtaking a vehicle ahead in a road section where overtaking is prohibited, and may be labeled as "appropriate" for image data that shows the vehicle overtaking a vehicle ahead while complying with laws and regulations and maintaining a sufficient distance from surrounding vehicles. Additionally, video data that shows a vehicle overtaking a vehicle ahead after closing the distance between the vehicle and the surrounding vehicle excessively may be labeled as "neutral."

The evaluation unit 155 may evaluate the suitability of the driving of the vehicle from the viewpoint of whether the vehicle made an abrupt turn, applied the brakes suddenly, or accelerated suddenly during the overtaking process of the vehicle, and may evaluate the driving as "neutral" if the vehicle made an abrupt driving operation during the overtaking process. The evaluation unit 155 may also evaluate the suitability of the vehicle during the overtaking process by taking into consideration changes in the state of the surrounding vehicles during the overtaking process. For example, the evaluation unit 155 may evaluate the suitability of the vehicle during the overtaking process as high, for example, "suitable", if the preceding vehicle smoothly gives way during the overtaking process. For example, the evaluation unit 155 may lower the suitability of the vehicle during the overtaking process under conditions such as abrupt deceleration of the surrounding vehicles, abruptly cutting in front of the surrounding vehicles, or a situation where the vehicle nearly hits an oncoming vehicle by accident, and may evaluate the suitability as "neutral" or "inappropriate" if multiple conditions are included.

The display control unit 156 issues a command for the information to be displayed on the display unit 130. For example, the display control unit 156 issues a command to cause the display unit 130 to display the notification information generated by the generation unit 153 for the driver of the vehicle itself, or the notification information generated by the generation unit 153 for the driver of the vehicle ahead. Below, the display mode of the notification information that the display control unit 156 causes the display unit 130 to display will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 8.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the display mode of the notification information of the display unit of the host vehicle according to the present disclosure. In FIG. 5, it is shown that the display unit 130 is provided in the center cluster of the instrument panel of the host vehicle. As shown in FIG. 5, the display control unit 156 issues a command to the display unit 130 of the host vehicle according to the present disclosure to display the message "Do you want to overtake the vehicle ahead?" and the messages "Yes" and "No" as notification information. Note that the message of the notification information in this case is a selection made through a dialogue between the driving assistance device 100 and the driver of the host vehicle, and can therefore be called an "overtaking dialogue." After checking the message displayed on the display unit 130, the driver of the host vehicle selects "Yes" if the vehicle is to be overtaken, or selects "No" if the vehicle is not to be overtaken.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a first display mode of the notification information of the display unit of the forward vehicle according to the present disclosure. In FIG. 6, it is shown that the display unit 130 is provided in the center cluster of the instrument panel of the forward vehicle. As shown in FIG. 6, the display control unit 156 issues a command to the display unit 130 of the forward vehicle according to the present disclosure to display a message, "A rear vehicle is about to overtake. Please be careful," as notification information. Note that the message of the notification information in this case notifies the forward vehicle that the vehicle traveling behind will be in front of the forward vehicle, and therefore can be called an "overtaking notification." By checking the message displayed on the display unit 130, the driver of the forward vehicle can know that the rear vehicle is about to overtake.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a second display mode of the notification information of the display unit of the forward vehicle according to the present disclosure. In FIG. 7, it is shown that the display unit 130 is provided in the center cluster of the instrument panel of the forward vehicle. As shown in FIG. 7, the display control unit 156 issues a command to the display unit 130 of the forward vehicle according to the present disclosure to display a message saying "The rear vehicle has stopped overtaking" as notification information. Note that the message of the notification information in this case notifies the forward vehicle that the vehicle traveling behind has stopped overtaking, and therefore can be called an "overtaking interruption notification." By checking the message displayed on the display unit 130, the driver of the forward vehicle can know that the rear vehicle has stopped overtaking.

8 is a diagram showing a third display mode of the notification information of the display unit of the forward vehicle according to the present disclosure. In FIG. 8, it is shown that the display unit 130 is provided in the center cluster of the instrument panel of the forward vehicle. In the present disclosure, when the overtaking is completed, the positional relationship between the vehicle that has overtaken and the vehicle ahead that has been overtaken is switched, and the vehicle ahead is positioned behind, but for the sake of simplicity, the vehicle to be overtaken is always represented as the vehicle ahead. As shown in FIG. 8, the display control unit 156 issues a command to the display unit 130 of the forward vehicle according to the present disclosure to display a message saying "Overtaking has been completed" as notification information. Note that the message of the notification information in this case notifies the driver that the vehicle ahead that has been traveling behind has completed overtaking the vehicle ahead, and therefore can be called an "overtaking completion notification". By checking the message displayed on the display unit 130, the driver of the forward vehicle can understand that the vehicle behind has completed overtaking.

The display control unit 156 also issues a command to have the display unit 130 display a message regarding whether or not to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information. For example, the display control unit 156 issues a command to display the message "Do you want to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information?" as well as the messages "Yes" and "No" as messages regarding whether or not to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information. After checking the message displayed on the display unit 130, the driver of the vehicle selects "Yes" if it is OK to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information, and selects "No" if it is not OK to notify surrounding vehicles of the notification information.

The sensor unit 160 measures various types of sensor information. The sensor unit 160 may be, for example, an acceleration sensor. The acceleration sensor measures the acceleration of the vehicle in which the driving assistance device 100 is mounted. The acceleration sensor may be, for example, a capacitance-type acceleration sensor that creates a movable electrode and a fixed electrode using MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) and measures acceleration using the relationship between the change in capacitance caused by the movement of the movable electrode and the acceleration.

The audio output unit 170 outputs audio to the driver of the vehicle. For example, the audio output unit 170 outputs a message to be displayed on the display unit 130 as audio. Specifically, in the case of displaying a message such as "Do you want to overtake the vehicle ahead?" on the display unit 130, the message "Do you want to overtake the vehicle ahead?" is displayed on the display unit 130 and at the same time, the audio output unit 170 outputs the message "Do you want to overtake the vehicle ahead?" as audio. The audio output unit 170 may be, for example, a speaker, and may output audio via the speaker.

(Mobile terminal configuration)
Next, the configuration of the mobile terminal 200 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the mobile terminal according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 9, the mobile terminal 200 according to the present disclosure includes a communication unit 210, an input unit 220, an output unit 230, a control unit 240, and a storage unit 250. Below, these configurations will be described in order.

The communication unit 210 connects the inside and outside of the mobile terminal 200 so that they can communicate with each other, and transmits and receives information between the inside and outside of the mobile terminal 200. The communication unit 210 may be realized by, for example, a Bluetooth module, a Wi-Fi module, an antenna, etc.

The input unit 220 receives various types of operation information from the user of the mobile terminal 200. For example, the input unit 220 may receive various operations from the user via a display surface (e.g., the output unit 230) using a touch panel.

The output unit 230 is a display screen realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and is a display device for displaying various information. When the input unit 220 of the mobile terminal 200 accepts various operations from a user via a touch panel, the display screen of the output unit 230 accepts the input from the user and also outputs the input to the user.

The control unit 240 is a controller that manages and controls the mobile terminal 200. The control unit 240 is realized by a CPU, an MPU, or the like, executing various programs stored in the storage unit 250 using a RAM (not shown) as a working area. The control unit 240 may also be realized by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA.

As shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 240 includes a reception unit 241, a search unit 242, and a notification unit 243. The control unit 240 realizes the reception unit 241, the search unit 242, and the notification unit 243 by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 250, and executes these processes. Note that the control unit 240 may execute these processes using one CPU, or may include multiple CPUs and execute these processes in parallel using the multiple CPUs. Each of these configurations will be described below in order.

The reception unit 241 receives the overtaking notification transmitted from the driving assistance device 100. For example, the reception unit 241 receives the notification information transmitted from the driving assistance device 100 by receiving it via the communication unit 210. When the reception unit 241 receives the notification information, it stores the received notification information in the memory unit 250.

The search unit 242 searches for the mobile terminal 200B that is within the range of distance to the vehicle ahead that is included in the notification information. For example, the search unit 242 of the mobile terminal 200A may search for the mobile terminal 200B that is within the range of distance to the vehicle ahead that is included in the notification information by transmitting a connection request using radio waves of Bluetooth communication via the communication unit 210. The search unit 242 may also search for the mobile terminal 200B that is within the range of distance to the vehicle ahead that is included in the notification information by transmitting a connection request using radio waves of wireless LAN communication defined in Wi-Fi Direct via the communication unit 210. Here, the range of distance does not need to be strict, and the search unit 242 of the mobile terminal 200A may detect the radio wave strength and radio wave direction of the response signal of the mobile terminal 200B to the connection request using a known method, and may specify the mobile terminal 200B from which a response signal with good radio wave strength is obtained as the mobile terminal 200B to be searched for that is within the range of distance to the vehicle ahead.

The notification unit 243 transmits notification information to the mobile terminal 200B that has been searched for and identified by the search unit 242. For example, the notification unit 243 may transmit the notification information to the mobile terminal 200B using Bluetooth communication, or may transmit the notification information using wireless LAN communication defined in Wi-Fi Direct. The notification information may be transmitted to multiple mobile terminals 200B using a communication method such as broadcast communication.

The memory unit 250 is a storage device that stores various types of information. The memory unit 250 includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device. The main storage device may be realized by a semiconductor memory element such as a RAM, a ROM, or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device may be realized by a hard disk, an SSD, a memory card, or the like.

(About driving assistance methods)
Next, the driving assistance method according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the driving assistance method according to the present disclosure.

First, the driving support device 100 detects that the vehicle is about to overtake the vehicle ahead (step S110). Next, the driving support device 100 displays an overtaking dialogue on the display unit 130 asking whether to overtake the vehicle ahead (step S120). Next, the driving support device 100 determines whether the driver selected "Yes" or "No" in the overtaking dialogue (step S130). If the driver presses "Yes" (step S130: Yes), the driving support device 100 determines whether or not an overtaking operation of the vehicle ahead has been detected (step S140). If an overtaking operation of the vehicle ahead has been detected (step S140: Yes), the driving support device 100 transmits an overtaking notification from the vehicle ahead to the vehicle ahead (step S150). Next, the driving support device 100 determines whether or not the vehicle ahead has stopped the overtaking operation (step S160). If the vehicle stops the overtaking operation (step S160: Yes), the driving assistance device 100 transmits an overtaking interruption notification from the vehicle to the vehicle ahead (step S170).

If the driver presses "No" in step S130 (step S130: No), the driving assistance device 100 erases the overtaking dialogue displayed on the display unit 130 (step S131). Then, the driving assistance device 100 ends the process.

Also, if an overtaking operation of the vehicle is not detected in step S140 (step S140: No), the driving assistance device 100 ends the process.

If the host vehicle does not interrupt the overtaking operation in step S160 (step S160: No), the driving assistance device 100 determines whether the overtaking of the host vehicle is completed (step S161). If the host vehicle has completed the overtaking (step S161: Yes), the driving assistance device 100 transmits an overtaking completion notification from the host vehicle to the overtaken vehicle (step S180). Note that if the host vehicle has not completed the overtaking in step S161 (step S161: No), the driving assistance device 100 returns to step S160 and executes the subsequent processing.

The driving assistance method described above may be executed using the driving assistance device 100, or may be executed by any other means. The driving assistance method described above may also be executed by a program that causes a computer provided in the control unit 150 of the driving assistance device 100 to execute processing.

According to this configuration, when the host vehicle is about to overtake the vehicle ahead, an overtaking notification can be sent to the vehicle ahead. This can prevent the vehicle ahead from suddenly increasing its speed without noticing the host vehicle's overtaking action, which can lead to an accident such as a collision with the host vehicle that is trying to overtake. It is also possible to provide a driving assistance method that can send an overtaking notification to the vehicle ahead when the host vehicle is about to overtake.

(Composition and Effects)
The driving assistance device 100 according to the present disclosure is a driving assistance device 100 that assists driving during an overtaking operation of the vehicle, and includes an acquisition unit 151 that acquires the driving conditions of the vehicle, a detection unit 152 that detects overtaking behavior from the movement of the driver and the vehicle, a generation unit 153 that generates notification information whose content corresponds to the driving conditions of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle, and a notification unit 154 that notifies the notification information, and the detection unit 152 detects at least one of the start of an overtaking operation, the interruption of an overtaking operation, and the completion of overtaking as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.

According to this configuration, when the host vehicle is about to overtake the vehicle ahead, an overtaking notification can be sent to the vehicle ahead. This can prevent the vehicle ahead from suddenly increasing its speed without noticing the host vehicle's overtaking action, which can lead to an accident such as a collision with the host vehicle that is trying to overtake. It is also possible to provide a driving assistance device that can send an overtaking notification to the vehicle ahead when the host vehicle is about to overtake.

In addition, with this configuration, it is possible to notify the vehicle ahead of the vehicle of notification information whose contents correspond to at least two stages among the start of an overtaking operation, interruption of an overtaking operation, and completion of overtaking. It is possible to notify the vehicle ahead of the vehicle of notification by changing the notification information according to the change in the overtaking stage of the vehicle itself. When the vehicle itself overtakes the vehicle ahead of the vehicle, it is possible to appropriately notify the vehicle ahead of the overtaking.

The driving assistance device 100 according to the present disclosure further includes an evaluation unit 155 that evaluates the suitability of the vehicle's overtaking process, the generation unit 153 determines the notification content, including whether or not to output the notification information, according to the evaluation result of the evaluation unit 155, and then generates the notification information, the acquisition unit 151 acquires the driving state of the surrounding vehicles, and the evaluation unit 155 evaluates the suitability of the vehicle's overtaking process while taking into account changes in the state of the surrounding vehicles during the overtaking process.

This configuration makes it possible to evaluate the appropriateness of the vehicle's overtaking process. This makes it possible to encourage the driver of the vehicle to drive safely. It also makes it possible to build a relationship of trust with the driver of the vehicle ahead that is being overtaken.

The notification unit 154 of the driving assistance device 100 according to the present disclosure notifies the nearby vehicles of the notification information when the driver selects to notify the nearby vehicles of the notification information before the notification.

According to this configuration, the overtaking notification can be notified to the surrounding vehicles only when the driver of the vehicle selects to notify the surrounding vehicles of the overtaking notification. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver of the vehicle from unintentionally notifying the surrounding vehicles of the overtaking notification, thereby preventing unnecessary notification of notification information and preventing trouble with the drivers of the surrounding vehicles.

The driving assistance method according to the present disclosure is a driving assistance method that assists driving during an overtaking maneuver of a vehicle, and includes a step of acquiring the driving conditions of the vehicle, a step of detecting overtaking behavior from the movement of the driver and the vehicle, a step of generating notification information whose contents correspond to the driving conditions of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle, and a step of notifying the notification information. In the detection step, at least one of the start of an overtaking maneuver, interruption of an overtaking maneuver, and completion of an overtaking maneuver is detected as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.

According to this configuration, when the host vehicle overtakes the vehicle ahead, an overtaking notification can be sent to the vehicle ahead. This can prevent the vehicle ahead from suddenly increasing its speed without noticing the overtaking action of the host vehicle, which can lead to an accident such as a collision with the host vehicle that is trying to overtake. It is also possible to provide a driving assistance method that can send an overtaking notification to the vehicle ahead when the host vehicle overtakes the vehicle ahead.

The program disclosed herein is a program that assists driving during an overtaking maneuver of a vehicle, and includes a step of acquiring the driving conditions of the vehicle, a step of detecting overtaking behavior from the movement of the driver and the vehicle, a step of generating notification information whose content corresponds to the driving conditions of the vehicle and the overtaking stage of the vehicle, and a step of notifying the notification information. In the detection step, the program causes the computer to detect at least one of the start of an overtaking maneuver, interruption of an overtaking maneuver, and completion of an overtaking maneuver as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.

According to this configuration, when the own vehicle is about to overtake the vehicle ahead, an overtaking notification can be sent to the vehicle ahead. This can prevent the vehicle ahead from suddenly increasing its speed without noticing the overtaking action of the own vehicle, which can lead to an accident such as a collision with the own vehicle that is trying to overtake. In addition, a program can be provided that can send an overtaking notification to the vehicle ahead when the own vehicle is about to overtake.

Although the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the embodiment is not limited to the contents of this embodiment. The above-mentioned components include those that a person skilled in the art can easily imagine, those that are substantially the same, and those that are within the so-called equivalent range. Furthermore, the above-mentioned components can be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the components can be made without departing from the spirit of the above-mentioned embodiment.

For example, in the present disclosure, notification information has been described for the driver of the vehicle and the vehicle ahead that was the target of overtaking, but notification information including an apology or gratitude for the aggressive overtaking action of the vehicle may be generated and notified to the surrounding vehicles in front, behind, left and right during the overtaking process, or to all vehicles. In addition, in the present disclosure, various notification information is notified by peer-to-peer communication via the mobile terminal 200 owned by the user, but if the mobile terminal 200 has a configuration for connecting to a mobile communication network such as a smartphone, notification may be realized via the mobile communication network, or the driving support device 100 mounted on the vehicle may have a mobile communication module or the like, and communication between the driving support devices 100 may be realized via an arbitrary communication relay server or the like provided on the mobile communication network.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Driving assistance system 100 Driving assistance device 110 Communication unit 120 Imaging unit 130 Display unit 140 Storage unit 150 Control unit 151 Acquisition unit 152 Detection unit 153 Generation unit 154 Notification unit 155 Evaluation unit 156 Display control unit 160 Sensor unit 170 Audio output unit 200 Mobile terminal 210 Communication unit 220 Input unit 230 Output unit 240 Control unit 241 Reception unit 242 Search unit 243 Notification unit 250 Storage unit

Claims (5)

A driving assistance device that assists driving during an overtaking operation of a vehicle,
An acquisition unit that acquires a driving status of the host vehicle;
A detection unit that detects overtaking behavior based on the movement of a driver or a vehicle;
a generating unit that generates notification information having contents corresponding to a traveling state of the host vehicle and an overtaking stage of the host vehicle;
a notification unit that notifies the notification information,
The detection unit detects at least one of a start of an overtaking operation, an interruption of an overtaking operation, and a completion of overtaking as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.
Driving assistance device. An evaluation unit that evaluates the appropriateness of an overtaking process of the host vehicle is further provided,
The generation unit determines notification content including whether or not the notification information needs to be output in accordance with the evaluation result of the evaluation unit, and then generates the notification information;
The acquisition unit acquires a traveling state of a nearby vehicle,
the evaluation unit evaluates the appropriateness of the overtaking process of the host vehicle while taking into consideration changes in the running state of the surrounding vehicle during the overtaking process.
The driving assistance device according to claim 1 . The notification unit notifies the notification information when a driver selects to notify a nearby vehicle of the notification information before the notification.
A driving assistance device according to claim 1 or 2. A driving assistance method for assisting driving during an overtaking operation of a vehicle, comprising:
acquiring a driving status of the host vehicle;
Detecting an overtaking behavior based on a driver or vehicle movement;
generating notification information having contents corresponding to a traveling state of the host vehicle and an overtaking stage of the host vehicle;
notifying the notification information,
In the detecting step, at least one of a start of an overtaking operation, an interruption of an overtaking operation, and a completion of overtaking is detected as an overtaking stage in a series of overtaking behaviors.
Driving assistance methods. A program for assisting driving during an overtaking operation of a vehicle, comprising:
acquiring a driving status of the host vehicle;
Detecting an overtaking behavior based on a driver or vehicle movement;
generating notification information having contents corresponding to a traveling state of the host vehicle and an overtaking stage of the host vehicle;
notifying the notification information,
In the detecting step, detecting at least one of a start of an overtaking operation, an interruption of an overtaking operation, and a completion of overtaking as an overtaking stage in the series of overtaking behaviors;
A program that causes a computer to execute the following.

Images