JP2722865B2 - Right / left turn decision support device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a right / left turn determination support device for assisting in determining whether a right / left turn can be safely performed when making a right / left turn in front of a straight oncoming vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional right turn judgment support device, there is known a device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 57-117096. This device calculates the possibility of a collision with an oncoming vehicle when a right turn intention is indicated by a turn signal, and issues a warning when there is a possibility.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, even when there is no possibility of collision at the time of right turn and there is no doubt whether to make a right turn wait stop or execute a right turn,
When the direction indicator is operated, an alarm is issued after the calculation, so that there is a possibility that the user may feel troublesome.

The present invention provides a right / left turn determination support apparatus which considers such circumstances and determines the possibility of a collision with an oncoming vehicle only when the user is not sure of the right / left turn execution determination and assists the determination. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

As shown in FIG. 1, a right / left turn determination support apparatus according to the present invention comprises a first detection means for detecting a state quantity relating to the progress of a right / left turn vehicle which is about to make a right / left turn at an intersection. A second detection means 2 for detecting a state quantity relating to the progress of an oncoming vehicle approaching the intersection;
Means 3 for inferring the right / left turn execution level of the right / left turn vehicle based on the detection data of the right / left turn vehicle, and right when the right / left turn execution determination level inferred by the inference means 3 is within a predetermined range. First determining means 4 for determining that the driver of a left-turn vehicle is confused about right / left-turn execution determination. When the first determining means 4 determines that right / left-turn execution determination is confused, at least the first 1 based on the detection data of the detection means 1
A second determining means 5 that infers and determines whether or not the right / left turn vehicle stops waiting for a right / left turn. If the second determining means 5 determines by inference that the right / left turn does not stop waiting, the right / left turn vehicle and the oncoming vehicle And a collision possibility determining means 6 for calculating the possibility of collision and outputting a predetermined signal when the possibility is high.

Further, in the apparatus for assisting the determination of right or left turn of the present invention, a safety means for the vehicle which responds to the output signal of the possibility of collision determining means 6 is further added.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a right / left turn decision support device.
The right / left turn execution determination level inference means performs the inference using a predetermined membership function and a predetermined rule relating to the progress of an oncoming vehicle.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a right / left turn decision support device.
The first detecting means detects a speed, an acceleration of a right-left turning vehicle, and a state quantity of a vehicle operation signal for right-left turning, and the second detecting means detects a vehicle position, a speed and a vehicle position with respect to an oncoming vehicle intersection. It is characterized by detecting a state quantity of acceleration.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the first discriminating means determines a median between a maximum value and a minimum value of the right / left turn execution judgment level which is confused about the previous right / left turn judgment. The present invention is characterized in that a predetermined range of the determination level of right / left turn execution is changed.

[0010]

[Function] The judgment level of whether a right or left turning vehicle performs a right or left turning at an intersection can be inferred from state quantities (for example, the position and speed of the oncoming vehicle) relating to the progress of an oncoming vehicle as a result of a statistical investigation. It turned out to be. Therefore, it is possible to determine from the determination level whether the driver of the right / left turn vehicle is confused about the right / left turn execution. In other words, when the right / left turn execution determination level of the right / left turn vehicle is at the middle level, it is determined that the right / left turn can be made and the right / left turn cannot be made. It is determined that the user is not sure. If the determination level is within a certain range of the middle level, it is determined that the degree is somewhat lost.

In the apparatus of the present invention, the right / left turn execution determination level inference means 3 infers the right / left turn execution determination level based on the state quantity of the oncoming vehicle, and the first determination means 4 turns right / left according to this determination level. It is determined whether or not the execution is unclear. Only when it is not clear whether it is possible to make a right or left turn, and only when it is inferred from the situation of the own vehicle that it is unlikely that the vehicle will stop waiting for a right or left turn, the possibility of a collision with an oncoming vehicle is calculated and possible. If it is too big, it will give an alarm or apply braking.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the right / left turn decision support device of the embodiment. In this figure, 11 is an oncoming vehicle approaching an intersection, 12 is a sensor (first detecting means) for detecting the speed of a right-turning vehicle trying to make a right turn at an intersection, and 13 is a laser for measuring the distance to an oncoming vehicle. Radar (second detection means) and 14 are turn indicators. These signals are input to the arithmetic processing unit 15. The arithmetic processing unit 15 calculates the position, speed, and arrival time to the intersection of the oncoming vehicle, infers the driver's right turn execution determination level, determines hesitation, determines stop based on the speed and acceleration of the right turn vehicle, and determines the possibility of collision. And the like. Therefore, the arithmetic processing unit 1
Reference numeral 5 in this embodiment constitutes a right / left turn execution determination level inference means 3, a first determination means 4, a second determination means 5, and a collision possibility determination means 6. Reference numeral 16 denotes an alarm as a safety means. Here, the devices from the sensor 12 to the alarm 16 are all mounted on a right-turn vehicle.

Next, the processing operation of the right turn judgment support device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when the process is started, in a first step 100, it is determined whether or not the right-turning vehicle has performed a turn signal operation for indicating a right turn intention. If the blinker operation is not performed, continue monitoring.

When the right turn signal is operated, the position and speed of the oncoming vehicle are measured in step 101, and the oncoming vehicle is moved 100m (safety distance) from the own vehicle in step 102.
It is determined whether or not they are separated by more than one. If the vehicle is more than 100 m away, the process is terminated because the right turn can be made without hesitation.

If the oncoming vehicle is less than 100 m, the routine proceeds to step 103, where fuzzy inference is executed using the position and speed of the oncoming vehicle as input variables, and the level of right turn execution determination is calculated. The right turn determination is performed in a situation where the determination that the right turn is possible and the determination that the right turn is not possible are opposed. Then, the degree of suitability of the right / left turn determination calculated by the inference operation is defined as a right / turn execution determination level.

The simulation result of the right turn execution determination is
FIG. 4 shows the result of the judgment with the actual vehicle. The horizontal axis represents the speed of the oncoming vehicle, and the vertical axis represents the position of the oncoming vehicle, and indicates the relationship between the state of the oncoming vehicle and the right turn execution determination result. The diamonds indicate the simulation result of the decision branch point when the determination that the right turn is possible and the determination that the right turn is not possible are made in a fifty-fifth.
The black circles indicate that it is determined that a right turn is possible with an actual vehicle, and the squares with a lattice pattern indicate those that are determined that a right turn is impossible with an actual vehicle. The portion indicated by hatching (the portion where the right turn is allowed and the right turn is not possible is mixed) is the portion where the determination is lost, and this portion differs depending on the driver.

In the fuzzy inference operation in step 103, 44 fuzzy rules shown in FIG. 5 are used.
This fuzzy rule is determined based on the simulation results shown in FIG.
It is expressed in the f-then (if, if, then) format. Labels representing each fuzzy set are divided into eight stages from “BB (extremely large)” to “SS (extremely small)”. In addition, the label corresponding to the content of the judgment is that "GO" is "turn right without executing a right turn wait stop (right turn execution)
"STOP" indicates "stop right turn waiting".

These linguistic expressions are represented by membership functions, and the membership function of each input is shown in FIG.
(A), (b) and output (right turn execution judgment level)
(C) of FIG. In each of these figures, the vertical axis represents the variables on the horizontal axis, and these variables correspond to the language expressions (BB, B2, B1,
M2, M1, S2, S1, SS, GO, STOP) represent the degree of belonging to the fuzzy set (referred to as degree of belonging, grade, or membership value).

In step 103, the membership function shown in FIG. 6 and the fuzzy rule shown in FIG.
A right turn execution determination level is calculated by making full use of the x-min calculation and the center of gravity method. In this case, the membership function of the right turn execution determination level is normalized so that the sum of the suitability of the right turn execution determination (GO grade) and the suitability of the right turn wait stop determination (STOP grade) becomes 1. .

After the right-turn execution determination level is calculated, next, at step 104, the right-turn execution determination level is determined to be the maximum value Dma of the determination level when the user is unsure of the determination.
It is determined whether or not the determination is lost based on whether or not it is between x and the minimum value Dmin. In this discrimination range, the median value is initially set to 0.5, Dmax is set to 0.6, and Dmin is set to 0.4.

Thereafter, at steps 105 to 106, it is inferred from the speed and acceleration of the right-turning vehicle whether the right-turning vehicle will execute a right-turn or stop waiting for a right-turn. If it is determined that a right turn is to be executed, that is, if the determination in step 105 is “yes”, or if the determination in step 105 is “no” and the determination in step 106 is “no”, then steps 107 to 108 are performed. Proceed to these steps 107 to
At 108, the arrival time to the intersection of the oncoming vehicle is calculated from the position and speed of the oncoming vehicle measured in step 101,
It is determined whether it is possible to turn right with a margin. That is,
In step 108, it is determined whether there is a possibility that the vehicle can make a right turn.

If it is determined that it is impossible (that is, if the driver is trying to turn right across the front of the oncoming vehicle while hesitating to make a decision, and there is no room for the oncoming vehicle), an alarm is issued in step 109 and the processing is performed. Finish.

On the other hand, the arithmetic processing unit 15 of this embodiment changes the setting range of the judgment level for judging right turn execution judgment under certain conditions. This change is made by the learning function of the device. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, steps 110 to 113 correspond to this learning function (a range surrounded by a dotted line).

Hereinafter, the learning function will be described.

First, if the result of determination in step 104 is that there is no doubt about right turn execution determination, step 1
At 10, it is determined whether the vehicle has stopped. If it is determined in step 110 that the vehicle has not stopped, or if an alarm is issued, step 111
To determine whether or not the right turn execution determination level at that time is the minimum level up to now. If the vehicle has stopped without making a right turn, the process proceeds to step 112, and it is determined whether the right turn execution determination level at that time is the maximum level up to now. If any of them is satisfied (yes), in step 113,
The median value Dmid of the set range of the judgment level for judging right turn execution judgment is changed to a new minimum or maximum median value. Thereafter, the maximum value Dmax and the minimum value Dmin of the judgment level used in step 104 are calculated and changed by the following equation.

Dmax = Dmid + 0.1 Dmin = Dmid-0.1 As described above, the apparatus according to the above-described embodiment detects an uncertainty in the right turn execution determination, and issues an alarm only when an attempt is made to turn right while lost. . Therefore, when there is no hesitation,
No extra warnings.

The learning function is not necessarily provided, and may be omitted. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart in the case where the omission is omitted.

In the above embodiment, only the warning is issued when the possibility of collision is large. However, after it is determined that there is a possibility of a right turn collision and an alarm is issued, the state quantity of the right-turn vehicle is further monitored. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not to stop again, and if it is determined that the vehicle does not stop, emergency emergency braking may be applied. FIG. 8 shows a flowchart in this case. After the alarm is issued in step 109, step 12
If it is 0, it is determined whether or not to stop according to the vehicle speed. Since the vehicle does not stop when the vehicle speed is still high, step 1
Apply emergency automatic braking at 21.

In the above embodiment, step 1
Although the fuzzy inference is used for the inference of the right turn execution determination level in 03, another reasoning method, for example, a neural network method, may be used for inference. When the neural network method is adopted, the learning function is performed simultaneously when the neural network is formed. In the above-described embodiment, the case where the vehicle crosses the oncoming lane when turning right is described. However, the case where the vehicle crosses the oncoming lane when turning left can be similarly applied. When it is determined that the possibility of collision is high, an automatic brake or the like may be operated instead of the alarm or together with the alarm. In any case, the car is moved to the safe side. In the above-described embodiment, the right turn decision is assisted assuming left-hand traffic as in Japan, but in right-hand countries such as the United States, the left and right of the above-described embodiment are reversed. Needless to say, the same function and effect can be exerted.

[0032]

As described above, according to the right / left turn judgment support device of the present invention, when the driver is wondering whether or not he / she can turn right / left, the right / left turn wait stop is performed based on the situation of the own vehicle. Only when it is inferred that it is unlikely, the possibility of collision with the oncoming vehicle is calculated, and if there is a possibility, an alarm is issued or braking is applied. Therefore, there is no possibility of collision, and the trouble of being warned when turning right or left without hesitation is eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a calculation processing procedure of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a result of an investigation when a right turn execution determination and a right turn wait stop determination are performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a fuzzy rule used for inferring a right turn execution determination level.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a membership function of the inference rule.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of another calculation processing procedure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of still another calculation processing procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st detection means 2 2nd detection means 3 right turn execution determination level inference means 4 1st determination means 5 2nd determination means 6 collision possibility determination means 11 oncoming vehicle 12 right turn vehicle speed sensor (1st Detection means) 13 laser radar (second detection means) 14 turn signal 15 arithmetic processing unit 16 alarm (safety means)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first detecting means for detecting a state quantity relating to a progress state of a vehicle turning right or left at an intersection,
Second detecting means for detecting a state quantity relating to the progress of an oncoming vehicle approaching the intersection, and means for inferring a judgment level of execution of a right / left turning vehicle based on data detected by the second detecting means. A first discriminating means for discriminating that the driver of the right / left turn vehicle is in doubt about right / left turn execution judgment when the right / left turn execution judgment level inferred by the inference means is within a predetermined range; When the determination means determines that the right / left turn execution determination is uncertain, a second determination is performed based on at least the detection data of the first detection means to infer whether or not the right / left turn vehicle stops right / left turn waiting. Means for calculating a possibility of a collision between a right-turn vehicle and an oncoming vehicle when the second determination means determines that the vehicle does not stop waiting for a right-left turn, and outputs a predetermined signal when the possibility is high. Right and left Decision support system. 2. The right / left turn determination support device according to claim 1, further comprising a vehicle safety means responsive to an output signal of the collision possibility determination means. 3. The right / left turn determination support device according to claim 1, wherein the right / left turn execution determination level inference means uses a predetermined membership function and a predetermined rule relating to the progress of an oncoming vehicle. A right / left turn determination support device. 4. The right / left turn judgment support device according to claim 1, wherein the first detection means detects a speed and an acceleration of the right / left turn vehicle and a state quantity of a vehicle operation signal for the right / left turn. In addition, the second detecting means detects a state quantity of a vehicle position, a speed, and an acceleration with respect to an intersection of an oncoming vehicle, and determines whether the vehicle is turning right or left. 5. The right turn determination support device according to claim 1, wherein the first determination means is a median between a maximum value and a minimum value of a right / left turn execution determination level that is confused about a previous right / left turn determination. A right / left turn determination support device, wherein a predetermined range of a determination level for right / left turn execution is changed.