JP3092802B1 - Driving support device for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a driving support device for a vehicle that can sufficiently exhibit the function of preventing lane departure even at a middle vehicle speed and does not make the alarm bothersome. A control device determines lane departure based on a lane position detected from an image from a set of cameras and a position of a host vehicle, and issues an alarm when the vehicle departs to the right or left side. This warning is issued only by the alarm lamp 7 when the vehicle speed is in the middle vehicle speed, and is issued by the alarm lamp 7 and the alarm buzzer 8 when the vehicle speed V is in the high vehicle speed range.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a driving support system for a vehicle which generates an appropriate warning and assists a driver when his / her vehicle is likely to depart from a lane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to improve the safety of vehicles,
2. Description of the Related Art A comprehensive driving assistance system (ADA; Active Drive Assist system) has been developed that actively supports the driving operation of a driver. This ADA system estimates various possibilities such as collision with a preceding vehicle, contact with an object, lane departure, etc. from the traveling environment information of the vehicle and the traveling state of the own vehicle, and it is predicted that safety cannot be maintained. In addition, a notification and other controls are performed for the driver.

As a device for obtaining the traveling environment information of a vehicle, a laser radar device and the like have been known in the related art. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-26547 by the present applicant discloses a plurality of cameras mounted on a vehicle. It has been proposed to process image information of a scene or an object in front of a vehicle captured by the method, and to recognize a road and a traffic environment three-dimensionally with sufficient accuracy and time for practical use.

The lane departure prevention, which is one of the functions of the above-mentioned ADA system, is to alert the driver by an alarm or the like when the vehicle approaches or departs extremely from the lane, and to prevent the driver from blurring, falling asleep or looking away. It is intended to prevent traffic accidents caused by caution, and various proposals have been made for this lane departure prevention function.

[0005]

Such a lane departure prevention function is particularly effective when the driver is vague or drowsy at high vehicle speeds, but is also sufficient when driving at medium vehicle speeds. It is hoped that it will function. However, if the warning is issued even at the middle vehicle speed, in the case of the middle vehicle speed traveling, for example, a driver who avoids a stopped vehicle in a city area often runs deliberately out of the lane. There is a possibility that the alarm will be issued and the alarm will be perceived as annoying.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can sufficiently exhibit the function of preventing lane departure not only when traveling at a high vehicle speed but also when traveling at a medium vehicle speed. An object of the present invention is to provide an easy-to-use driving assistance device for a vehicle that does not cause the driver to feel annoying the alarm.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle driving support apparatus for determining a possibility of a lane departure ahead of a traveling road of a host vehicle. A vehicle driving assistance device comprising: an alarm control unit that activates an alarm generation unit when the own vehicle determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle departs from the lane. The alarm generating means is formed by a first alarm means and a second alarm means, and the alarm control means activates at least one of the first alarm means and the second alarm means according to the vehicle speed. It is characterized by.

[0008] In the first aspect of the present invention, the lane departure judging means judges the possibility of a lane departure ahead of the traveling path of the vehicle. Further, the vehicle speed detecting means detects a vehicle speed. The warning control means controls at least one of the first warning means and the second warning means in accordance with the vehicle speed to control a warning generated when the own vehicle determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle departs from the lane. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle driving support apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the first alarm means is an alarm display and the second alarm means is an alarm. As a sound, the warning control means may warn with the warning display for a lane departure in a middle vehicle speed range, and warn with the warning display and the warning sound for a lane departure in a high vehicle speed region. It is characterized by. For this reason, in the middle vehicle speed range, since only an alarm is displayed, the function of preventing lane departure can be sufficiently exhibited, and the alarm is easy to use without causing the driver to feel troublesome.

[0010]

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

1 to 6 show an embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle driving assistance device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of data detected in front, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of lane departure determination, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a combination meter, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of setting, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of lane departure prevention control.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a vehicle such as an automobile (own vehicle). When the vehicle 1 extremely approaches or departs from the lane, the driver is notified of the fact by an alarm or the like, and the driver is notified. A vehicular driving support device (ADA device) 2 having a so-called lane departure prevention function as one function is installed to prevent a traffic accident caused by carelessness such as falling asleep or looking away. Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the present invention, only the lane departure prevention function of the ADA device 2 will be described, and the description of the other functions will be omitted.

The ADA device 2 has a set of (left and right) CCD cameras 3 using a solid-state image pickup device such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) as a stereo optical system. Each of them is mounted at a fixed interval in front of the ceiling in the vehicle interior, and stereoscopic images of objects outside the vehicle are taken from different viewpoints.

Further, the vehicle 1 is provided with a vehicle speed sensor 4 for detecting a vehicle speed V as vehicle speed detecting means.

An image of the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 taken by the set of CCD cameras 3 and the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 4 are input to a control device 5.

The control device 5 receives an image of the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 and the vehicle speed V, determines the possibility of the vehicle 1 deviating from the lane ahead of the traveling path, and determines whether the vehicle 1 has departed from the lane. When it is determined that there is a possibility, the alarm lamp 7 (alarm display) and the alarm buzzer 8 (alarm sound) of the combination meter 6 are operated as described later.

That is, the control device 5 is formed of a multi-microprocessor system having an image processor, and calculates a position of a stereo image pair captured by the CCD camera 3 from a corresponding position shift amount. Performing a process of obtaining distance information over the entire image based on the principle of triangulation, generating a distance image representing a three-dimensional distance distribution, processing this distance image and extracting necessary information,
Based on this information, it has a function as lane departure determining means for determining the possibility of lane departure ahead of the traveling road of the vehicle 1.

Specifically, lanes, vehicles, objects other than vehicles, and the like are separated and detected from the distance image to obtain image data of roads and objects. According to this image data, for example, in the case of a two-lane road, as shown in FIG. 2, the positions of white lines H1 to H3 at the left, right, and center in front of the vehicle in XY coordinates based on the position and orientation of the vehicle 1. And the coordinates of the shape, the preceding vehicle M1 in the traveling lane (own lane) of the own vehicle 1, the parking vehicle M2,
Data on the position coordinates and speed vector of the oncoming vehicle M3, traversing vehicle M4, pedestrian S1, pedestrian S2, and others S3 in the oncoming lane is obtained.

Then, the positions of the left and right white lines H1 and H2 of the own vehicle lane with the position of the own vehicle 1 as a reference (coordinates (0, 0)) are compared. The possibility is determined. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the width of the host vehicle 1 is T and the white line H1 is not outside (left side) of T / 2 about 10 m ahead, it is determined that there is a possibility of lane departure on the left side. . Similarly, about 10
If the white line H2 is not outside (right side) of T / 2 m
Judge that there is a possibility of lane departure on the right side.

Based on the judgment result of the possibility of the lane departure, the control device 5 issues an alarm lamp 7 of the combination meter 6 in accordance with the lane departure prevention control flowchart in accordance with the flow chart of the alarm flag setting described later and the flow chart of the lane departure prevention control. Only a warning and a warning by both the warning lamp 7 and the warning buzzer 8 are performed, and have a function as a warning control means. Specifically, the vehicle speed V is 40 km
In the middle vehicle speed range from / h to 50km / h, only the warning lamp 7 gives warning, and in the high vehicle speed range where the vehicle speed V is 50km / h or more, the warning is given by both the warning lamp 7 and the warning buzzer 8. Controlled.

ADA device 2 mounted on the vehicle 1
Has an inter-vehicle distance warning function for preventing a collision with a preceding vehicle, an automatic cruise function for enabling safe following of the preceding vehicle, and the like, in addition to the above-described lane departure prevention function.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the combination meter 6 of the host vehicle 1 has a speedometer 11 and a tachometer 12 arranged side by side, and is provided between the speedometer 11 and the tachometer 12. Is provided with an AT position indicator 13 indicating a shift select position.

Above the AT position indicator 13, a half-door monitor 14 is provided. Above the half-door monitor 14, a cruise set and preceding vehicle catching indicator light 15, an inter-vehicle distance warning light 16, and a preceding vehicle catching flashing light are provided. A of light 17
The indications related to the DA device 2 are arranged in order.

A fuel meter 18 is provided on the left side of the speedometer 11, and an air bag warning 1 is provided on the fuel meter 18.
9, an anti-lock warning 20, a VDC warning 21, a VDC stop indicator 22, and a VDC operation indicator 23 of a VDC device for controlling vehicle behavior by automatic braking.

On the upper left side of each of these indicators and warnings, a left lane departure warning 7L which constitutes the above-mentioned alarm lamp 7 and is lit when the vehicle deviates to the left lane is provided.

A water thermometer 24 is provided on the right side of the tachometer 12.
A steering warning 25, a charge warning 26, an oil pressure indicator 27, and a check engine indicator 28 are provided. These indicators and warnings are provided together with an ADA device OFF indicator 29 and an ADA device failure warning 30 ADA.
A display related to the device 2 is provided.

On the upper right side of each of these indicators and warnings, a right lane departure warning 7R which constitutes the above-mentioned alarm lamp 7 and is lit when the vehicle deviates to the right lane is provided.

The speedometer 11 is provided with an od trip meter 31 for displaying a running distance obtained by integrating signals from a vehicle speed sensor on a liquid crystal display, and the tachometer 12 is provided with an ADA device 2 related to the ADA device 2. A camera recognition / inter-vehicle distance indicator light 32 by liquid crystal display is provided.

Next, the function of lane departure prevention performed by the above configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart of setting an alarm flag shown in FIG. 5 and a flowchart of lane departure prevention control shown in FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 5 shows a lamp alarm flag FL set when an alarm is issued by the alarm lamp 7.
A shows a routine for determining a buzzer alarm flag FBZ set when an alarm is issued by the alarm buzzer 8.

First, step (hereinafter abbreviated as “S”) 1
At 01, the vehicle speed V detected by the vehicle speed sensor 4 is read, and at S1
Proceeding to 02, it is determined whether the vehicle speed V is 40 km / h or more.

As a result of the determination in S102, the vehicle speed V becomes 40 km / h.
If so (V ≧ 40 km / h), the routine proceeds to S103, where a lamp warning flag FLA is set (FLA ← 1). vice versa,
If the vehicle speed V does not reach 40 km / h in a low vehicle speed range (V <4
0 km / h), and proceeds to S104 to clear the lamp alarm flag FLA (FLA ← 0).

After the setting of the lamp warning flag FLA in S103 or S104, the process proceeds to S105, in which it is determined whether the vehicle speed V is 50 km / h or more.

If the result of determination in S105 is that the vehicle speed V is 50 km / h or more (V ≧ 50 km / h), the flow proceeds to S106, where a buzzer alarm flag FBZ is set (FBZ ← 1),
Exit the routine. Conversely, if the vehicle speed V does not reach 50 km / h (V <50 km / h), the flow proceeds to S107, the buzzer alarm flag FBZ is cleared (FBZ ← 0), and the routine exits.

That is, in the warning flag setting routine, FLA ← 1, FBZ ← 0 are set in the middle vehicle speed range of 50 km / h> V ≧ 40 km / h, and the vehicle speed V becomes V ≧ V
In the high vehicle speed range of 50 km / h, FLA ← 1 and FBZ ← 1 are set, and in the low vehicle speed range of V <40 km / h, FLA
← 0, FBZ ← 0.

It should be noted that the numerical values of 50 km / h and 40 km / h are merely examples for specifically defining the low speed region, the medium speed region, and the high speed region, and may be other numerical values.

The necessary warning is executed by referring to the lamp warning flag FLA and the buzzer warning flag FBZ determined according to the vehicle speed V in the following lane departure prevention control routine.

First, in S201, a lane departure judgment is performed, and according to the departure judgment, a result is obtained that there is a possibility of departure to the left or a deviation to the right without departure. In step S202, the lamp warning flag FLA and the buzzer warning flag FBZ are read.

Thereafter, the flow proceeds to S203, in which it is determined whether or not the departure determination in S201 is a result indicating that there is a possibility of departure to the left. If there is a possibility of departure to the left, the flow proceeds to S204.

In S204, it is determined whether or not the lamp warning flag FLA is set.
If is not set (FLA ← 0), alarm lamp 7
It is determined that there is no need for an alarm due to, and the routine exits.

As a result of the determination in S204, if the lamp alarm flag FLA is set (FLA ← 1),
Proceeding to S205, the left lane departure warning 7L of the warning lamp 7 is turned on.

Thereafter, the program proceeds to S206, in which it is determined whether or not the buzzer warning flag FBZ is set. If the buzzer warning flag FBZ is not set (FBZ ← 0), it is determined that the warning by the warning buzzer 8 is not necessary. Exit the routine.

If the buzzer alarm flag FBZ is set (FBZ ← 1) as a result of the determination in S206,
Proceeding to S207, the alarm buzzer 8 is activated to generate a buzzer sound, and the routine exits.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S203 that there is no possibility of the vehicle deviating to the left, the process proceeds to step S208, and the process proceeds to step S201.
It is determined whether or not the departure determination in the above is a result that there is a possibility of deviating to the right side.If it is determined that there is no possibility of departure to the right side, it is a case without departure, so no warning is issued. , And exit the routine.

If it is determined in step S208 that there is a possibility that the vehicle may deviate to the right, the process proceeds to step S209.

In S209, it is determined whether or not the lamp warning flag FLA is set.
If is not set (FLA ← 0), alarm lamp 7
It is determined that there is no need for an alarm due to, and the routine exits.

As a result of the judgment in S209, if the lamp alarm flag FLA is set (FLA ← 1),
Proceeding to S210, the right lane departure warning 7R of the warning lamp 7 is turned on.

Thereafter, the flow advances to S211 to determine whether or not the buzzer warning flag FBZ is set. If the buzzer warning flag FBZ is not set (FBZ ← 0), it is determined that the warning by the warning buzzer 8 is unnecessary. Exit the routine.

If the buzzer alarm flag FBZ is set (FBZ ← 1) as a result of the determination in S211 above,
Proceeding to S212, the alarm buzzer 8 is activated to generate a buzzer sound, and the routine exits.

Thus, when the vehicle speed V is 50 km / h> V ≧ 4
In the middle vehicle speed range of 0 km / h, FLA ← 1 and FBZ ← 0 are set.
When the vehicle speed V is in the range of V ≧ 50 km / h, FLA ← 1, FBZ ←
Because it is set to 1, the alarm lamp 7 and the alarm buzzer 8
Is issued.

For this reason, when the vehicle is running at the middle vehicle speed, the warning lamp surely warns the driver of the lane departure, actively supports the driver's driving, and frequently drives the driver's intentionally departure from the lane. Even so, there is no hassle caused by the buzzer sound. In addition, when the vehicle is running at a high vehicle speed, the warning lamp and the warning buzzer can alert the driver positively, assist driving, and improve safety.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the lane departure is determined based on the position of the lane detected from a set of camera images and the position of the own vehicle. However, the lane departure is determined by another method. It may be something.

Further, instead of the alarm buzzer, a notifying means using a sound such as a sound generating device or a chime, or a notifying means using a vibration medium such as a steering vibration generating device may be employed.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, the function of preventing lane departure can be sufficiently exhibited not only when traveling at a high vehicle speed but also when traveling at a medium vehicle speed.
In addition, there is an excellent effect that the alarm does not cause the driver to feel troublesome and is easy to use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle driving assistance device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of data detected ahead.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of lane departure determination;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a combination meter.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for setting an alarm flag.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of lane departure prevention control;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 self-vehicle 2 vehicle driving support device 3 CCD camera 4 vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detecting means) 5 control device (lane departure judging means, alarm control means) 7 alarm lamp (first alarm means) 7L left lane departure warning 7R right side Lane departure warning 8 warning buzzer (second warning means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G08G 1/00-1/16 B60R 21/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A lane departure judging means for judging a possibility of a lane departure ahead of a traveling road of an own vehicle, and an alarm for activating an alarm generating means when the own vehicle judges that there is a possibility of the lane departure. A driving assistance device provided with a control means; a vehicle speed detection means for detecting a vehicle speed; and the alarm generation means formed by a first alarm means and a second alarm means. A vehicle driving assistance device, wherein at least one of the first alarm means and the second alarm means is activated according to a vehicle speed. 2. The alarm control means according to claim 1, wherein said first alarm means is an alarm display and said second alarm means is an alarm sound.
2. The lane departure in the middle vehicle speed range is warned by the warning display, and the lane departure in the high vehicle speed range is warned by the warning display and the warning sound. Driving support device for vehicles.