JP3223700B2 - Vehicle obstacle warning 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 method for generating a warning based on the positional relationship between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle or other obstacles or the approaching state, for example, when it is expected that a rear-end collision may occur. The present invention relates to a vehicle obstacle warning device for preventing accidents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a laser beam or a radio wave is irradiated, a distance between vehicles is detected based on a time until reflected light or a reflected wave returns from a preceding vehicle, and a danger of rear-end collision is expected. There is known an alarm device that issues an alarm.

[0003] An alarm is required when the vehicle is approaching a stationary object, such as when approaching a vehicle that is stopped in front of the own lane, when the vehicle in front of the own lane decelerates, or when the vehicle approaches. There are two cases: for a moving object such as when a low-speed vehicle interrupts the own lane.
Hereinafter, such alarms will be referred to as a stop object alarm and a moving object alarm as necessary.

As described above, the case where a warning is necessary in the moving object warning is considered when a vehicle ahead of the own lane decelerates and approaches, and when a vehicle slower than the own vehicle enters the own lane. Can be Then, (1) for the vehicle ahead of the own lane, a warning may be issued for a vehicle that is in front of the own lane as shown in FIG. 10 (a), and from the own lane as shown in FIG. 10 (b). There is no need to be warned for those going out to another lane because they do not collide. (2) For an interrupting vehicle, an alarm may be issued for a vehicle that is interrupted immediately before the own vehicle as shown in FIG. 10C, and is interrupted from a distance from the own vehicle as shown in FIG. 10D. There is no need to immediately warn about things.

As described above, there is a characteristic of an alarm for an obstacle. To realize such an alarm, it is necessary to know the position of an obstacle including a preceding vehicle, its relative speed, and the like. As a method of estimating the position and the relative speed, there are Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 5-180933 and 5-180934. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 5-180934 discloses that a moving direction and a moving amount are calculated based on previous data and current data of position data of an obstacle detected by a distance measuring unit, and a relative speed calculated from the moving amount is calculated. And a method for calculating the relative speed thereof are disclosed.
No. 180933 discloses a method of estimating the position of an obstacle after a predetermined time based on the relative speed and a relative speed vector determined from the relative speed and the moving direction.

[0006]

However, if the relative position and the relative speed of the obstacle are simply known, it is not possible to make an accurate determination when the system is used for an obstacle warning to avoid a collision. In particular, when the vehicle is turning, it is difficult to determine whether or not there is a danger of collision. For example, in a case where both the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle are traveling straight, if the relative position and relative speed of the obstacle are known, the relative distance between the straight vehicles can be used as a reference, or the relative distance as disclosed in JP-A-5-180933 can be used. If the position of the obstacle after a predetermined time is estimated based on the speed and the relative speed vector, since the obstacle is located in front of the own vehicle, even if it is determined whether there is a danger of a rear-end collision, it is reasonable. The effect could be.

On the other hand, for example, when the vehicle is traveling on a curved road, even if the relative position of the obstacle is simply determined, it cannot be accurately determined based on the distance between straight vehicles. In particular,
On a road with multiple lanes, even if it is relatively close in a straight line distance, it will not collide with a vehicle traveling in the next lane, and if there is a stopped vehicle on the same lane even if it is relatively far, That leaves a high probability of collision. Accordingly, even if the position of the obstacle after a predetermined time is simply estimated as in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-180933, it cannot be determined whether the estimated position is on the traveling line of the vehicle.

For this reason, an erroneous alarm is inevitably generated, that is, an alarm is issued when it is not necessary. Therefore, the present invention sets an alarm area in consideration of the relative movement state between the obstacle and the host vehicle based on the relative position data of the obstacle, so that it is possible to surely issue an alarm in a truly necessary situation and to reduce an unnecessary situation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an obstacle warning device for a vehicle in which the number of warnings is reduced as much as possible and the warning effect in a truly necessary situation is further improved.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for scanning and irradiating a transmission wave or a laser beam in a predetermined angle range in a vehicle width direction and reflecting the beam from an obstacle. A distance measuring means capable of detecting a distance (L) between the host vehicle and the obstacle based on the wave or the reflected light in accordance with the scan angle (θ); and a distance (L) detected by the distance measuring means; Based on the corresponding scan angle (θ),
A relative position calculating means for calculating the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle as XY coordinate data with the vehicle width direction being the X axis, the longitudinal direction of the vehicle being the Y axis, and the vehicle position being the origin; , The relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle calculated by the relative position calculation means, the origin (0, 0), and the predetermined position (0, Yq) on the Y axis. Alarm area setting means for setting a triangular alarm area (WA); and a predetermined alarm if the same obstacle exists in the alarm area (WA) for a predetermined time after the alarm area (WA) is set. And a warning processing means for performing processing.

[0010] The obstacles include a vehicle running ahead, a stopped vehicle, a guardrail on a roadside, a utility pole, and the like, which are obstacles at the traveling destination of the vehicle. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect, the Y for setting an alarm area (WA) in the alarm area setting means is provided.
The predetermined position (0, Yq) on the axis is variably set based on the Y coordinate data of the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp).

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect, when the warning area (WA) is set by the warning area setting means, the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp) is set. ) Is a predetermined value (X
m) or more, a part of the warning area (WA) belonging to the area not less than the predetermined value (Xm) is deleted.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect, when the warning area (WA) is set by the warning area setting means, the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp) is set. ) Is a predetermined value (X
In the case of n) or less, a new warning area (WAa) is added to the warning area (WA) within a range belonging to the area of the predetermined value (Xn) or less.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the fourth aspect, the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position of the obstacle (Xp, Yp) is a predetermined value (Xn).
In the following case, X whose absolute value is the predetermined value (Xn)
By setting a triangular alarm area (WAn) surrounded by two points {(Xn, 0), (−Xn, 0)} on the axis and the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle. , Characterized in that the new alarm area (WAa) is substantially added.

[0014]

According to the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect of the present invention, the distance measuring means transmits the transmission wave or the laser light (hereinafter referred to as "laser light or the like") in a predetermined angle range in the vehicle width direction. Is scanned and illuminated, and based on reflected waves or reflected light from an obstacle (hereinafter referred to as “reflected light, etc.”),
The distance (L) between the host vehicle and the obstacle is detected in accordance with the scan angle (θ), and the relative position calculating means calculates the distance (L) based on the detected distance (L) and the corresponding scan angle (θ).
The relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle is calculated as XY coordinate data having the vehicle width direction as the X axis, the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as the Y axis, and the vehicle position as the origin.

Then, the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle calculated by the relative position calculating means and the origin (0,
0) and a predetermined area (0, Yq) on the Y-axis, a warning area (WA) having a triangular shape is set by the warning area setting means, and after setting the warning area (WA), If the same obstacle exists in the alarm area (WA) for a predetermined time, the alarm processing means performs a predetermined alarm process. For example, when sampling the relative position of the preceding vehicle at a predetermined interval, as shown in FIG. 11A, an alarm area (WA) is set at the first relative position, and the second to fifth points are set thereafter. If three or more points are within the warning area (WA), a predetermined warning process may be performed.

The distance measuring means of the present invention can detect the distance (L) between the host vehicle and the obstacle in a predetermined angle range in the vehicle width direction in accordance with the scan angle (θ). By adopting the scanning method in this way, it is possible to capture a wide range of objects, and the loss of sight at the curve is reduced,
Since the lateral movement of the object can be grasped, false alarms can be reduced in combination with the alarm processing described below, and the alarm performance can be improved.

Particularly, an appropriate alarm can be given even on a curve because of the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle, the origin (0, 0), and the predetermined position (0, Yq) on the Y axis. This is because a triangular warning area (WA) surrounded by points is set, and a predetermined warning process is performed when an obstacle exists in the warning area (WA) for a predetermined time.

In particular, on a road having a plurality of lanes, even if the vehicle is relatively close, the vehicle does not collide with a vehicle running in the adjacent lane. In this case, the possibility of collision is high. However, if the judgment is made based only on the straight-line distance or the estimated moving position of the obstacle after a predetermined time as in the related art, it is indistinguishable. Therefore, in consideration of safety, the worst condition must be set within a conceivable range so that a warning is always issued in the case of a dangerous condition. Will be executed. This has the potential to diminish the alerting effect in truly necessary situations.

On the other hand, as described above, in the case of the present invention, the warning area (WA) is set based on the relative estimated running area of the own vehicle when considered based on the obstacle. Further, if the alarm process is performed only for a moment in the alarm area (WA), the number of alarms in an originally unnecessary situation increases. Therefore, the alarm process is performed only when the alarm is present for a predetermined time. In addition to being able to reliably issue alarms in situations where it is really necessary, it is also possible to reduce the number of alarms in situations where it is not necessary.

For example, FIG. 11 (b) shows the behaviors c, d, e, and f of a vehicle traveling on the adjacent lane. Has no danger of collision. As can be seen from FIG. 11A, in the case of c, after the setting of the alarm area (WA),
Since the relative position of the vehicle no longer exists in the warning area (WA), no warning processing is performed. Similarly, it is not necessary to immediately issue a warning when the vehicle is interrupted far away from the own vehicle as shown in f. In this case, however, after the setting of the warning area (WA), the relative position of the vehicle is changed to the warning area ( WA), no alarm processing is performed. On the other hand,
In the case of the behaviors d and e, an alarm is required, but after the alarm area (WA) is set, the vehicle relative position is changed to the alarm area (WA).
An alarm will be issued as it continues to exist within.

Further, whether or not the vehicle is turning can be detected by a steering sensor or a yaw rate sensor. However, according to the present invention, since the steering sensor and the yaw rate sensor are not required, the configuration is simple. In addition, a low-cost system can be constructed.

It is to be noted that the setting of the warning auxiliary area (WA) is performed so as not to give a false alarm to a traveling vehicle in another lane. The predetermined position (0, Yq) on the axis may be variably set based on the Y coordinate data of the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp). For example, the value of Yq at a predetermined position (0, Yq) on the Y axis is determined by the relative position of obstacle (Xp, Y
This is like setting to about half of the value of Yp in p). It is also preferable to provide the value of Yq for this Yp as map data. Also, for example, Yp = 1
In the case of about 00 m, half of Yq = about 50 m may be used, but in the case of about Yp = 30 m, if Yq = about 15 m, the alarm issuance may be delayed. Therefore, it is also preferable to set Yq = Yp when Yp = about 30 m or less.

Further, in the case of a highway, the lane width is relatively wide and the curve is gentle relative to a general road (the sharpest curve is set to a radius of approximately 300 m).
Since the legal speed is also higher than that of a general road, for example, it may be divided into an expressway and a general road, or a general road may be further divided according to the situation.

On the other hand, in the obstacle alarm device according to the third aspect, when the alarm area (WA) is set by the alarm area setting means, the absolute value of the X coordinate of the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp) is set to a predetermined value (Xp, Yp). Xm) or more, a part of the alarm area (WA) belonging to the area not less than the predetermined value (Xm) is deleted. This is because there is a high risk of collision in a region close to the own vehicle in the X-axis direction. Therefore, it is preferable to set a wider warning region (WA), but far from the own vehicle in the X-axis direction. In the area, if it is set too wide, there will be many types of false alarms, in which the subsequent behavior will perform an alarm process even though there is no danger of collision. The purpose is to reduce false alarms.

For example, in the case shown in FIG. 12A, the side closer to the own vehicle when viewed in the Y-axis direction is deleted from the warning area (WA) belonging to the area equal to or larger than the predetermined value (Xm). I have. Note that the method of deletion is not limited to the method shown in FIG. Further, the obstacle warning device according to claim 4 is
When the alarm area (WA) is set by the alarm area setting means,
When the absolute value of the X coordinate of the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp) is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value (Xn), the alarm area (WA) falls within a range belonging to the area equal to or smaller than the predetermined value (Xn). A new alarm area (WAa) is added.

If the relative position (X, Y) of the obstacle is too close to the own vehicle in the X-axis direction,
In the setting of the warning area (WA) based on points, only a very narrow range of the warning area (WA) is set, so that an obstacle that has a relative behavior that is actually likely to collide is accurately processed. Therefore, a new alarm area (WAa) is added to perform an appropriate alarm process.

When adding the new alarm area (WAa), for example, the method described in claim 5 can be considered. This is because the absolute value of the X coordinate of the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp) is a predetermined value (X
n), two points {(Xn, 0), (−Xn, 0)} on the X-axis whose absolute value is the predetermined value (Xn);
By setting a triangular warning area (WAN) surrounded by the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle, a new warning area (WAa) is substantially added. FIG. 12B shows how to add an alarm area.
Are not limited.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, a vehicle obstacle warning device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This obstacle alarm device 1
This device is mounted on an automobile, detects an object in front of the automobile, and outputs an alarm to notify the driver when an obstacle exists in a predetermined area in an area to be alarmed.

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram.
The obstacle alarm device 1 is mainly configured with a controller 3. The controller 3 mainly includes a microcomputer and includes an input / output interface (I / O) and various drive circuits and detection circuits. Since these hardware configurations are general, detailed description will be omitted.

The controller 3 receives predetermined detection data from the scanning distance measuring device 5, the vehicle speed sensor 7, the brake switch 9, and the throttle opening sensor 11, respectively. Further, the controller 3 outputs a predetermined drive signal to the alarm sound generator 13, the distance display 15, the sensor abnormality display 17, the brake driver 19, the throttle driver 21, and the automatic transmission controller 23.

The controller 3 further includes an alarm sensitivity setting unit 25 and an alarm volume setting unit 27, and reflects the settings in the alarm volume and processing described later. The controller 3 includes a power switch 29, and starts a predetermined process when the power switch 29 is turned “ON”. Here, the scanning distance measuring device 5 includes a transmission / reception unit 31 and a distance / angle calculation unit 33.
From a predetermined range, a laser beam is scanned forward in a predetermined angle range and the laser beam is output and the reflected light is detected. Is a device that detects the distance of Since such a device is already well known, a detailed description is omitted. In addition to the laser beam, a radio wave such as a microwave or an ultrasonic wave may be used.

The controller 3 having such a configuration has a function of issuing an alarm when an obstacle is present in a predetermined alarm area to be described later for a predetermined time. The obstacle includes a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the own vehicle, a preceding vehicle that is stopped, or an object (a guardrail, a support, or the like) on the roadside.

Although the brake driver 19, the throttle driver 21 and the automatic transmission controller 23 shown in FIG. 1 may not be provided, in the present embodiment, they are provided and the vehicle speed is adjusted according to the situation of the preceding vehicle. Control, so-called cruise control, is also performed at the same time. FIG. 2 shows a control block diagram of the controller 3. Distance / angle calculator 3 of scanning range finder 5
The data of the distance L and the scan angle θ output from 3 are used to determine the origin of the own vehicle (0, 0) by the coordinate conversion block 41.
Are converted to XY orthogonal coordinates. If the value of the conversion result indicates an abnormal range by the sensor abnormality detection block 43, a display to that effect is made on the sensor abnormality indicator 17.

The XY rectangular coordinates are stored in the object recognition block 45.
, The recognition type, the object width W, and the center position coordinates of the object (Xp, Y
p) is required. The recognition type is for recognizing whether the object is a stationary object or a moving object. An object that affects travel is selected by the distance display object selection block 47 based on the center position of the object, and the distance is displayed by the distance display 15.

The vehicle speed (own vehicle speed) V output from the vehicle speed calculation block 49 based on the value detected by the vehicle speed sensor 7.
The relative speed calculation block 51 calculates the relative speed Vr of an obstacle such as a preceding vehicle based on the own vehicle position based on the above and the center position of the object. Further, based on the vehicle speed and the center position of the object, the front vehicle acceleration calculation block 53 calculates the acceleration of the front vehicle based on the own vehicle position.

The alarm determination and cruise determination block 55 determines whether the vehicle speed, the relative speed of the preceding vehicle, the acceleration of the preceding vehicle, the object center position, the object width, the recognition type, the output of the brake switch 9, the output from the throttle opening sensor 11. Based on the opening and the sensitivity set value by the alarm sensitivity setting unit 25, it is determined whether or not an alarm is issued if an alarm is determined, and the content of vehicle speed control is determined if a cruise is determined. Based on the result, if an alarm is required, an alarm generation signal is output to the alarm sound generator 13 via the volume adjustment block 57. Note that the sound volume adjustment block 57 is based on the setting value of the alarm sound volume setting device 27, and
3 controls the output volume. If a cruise determination is made, a control signal is output to the automatic transmission controller 23, the brake driver 19, and the throttle driver 21 to perform necessary control.

Next, a description will be given of the alarm judgment and alarm in the alarm judgment and cruise judgment block 55 with reference to flowcharts. Since the cruise determination is not directly related to the present invention, the description is omitted. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the alarm process. This process is the power switch 2
This is a process that is repeatedly performed when 9 is turned on. First, object recognition is performed and the result is determined (step 100; steps are simply referred to as S hereinafter). In this object recognition, it is determined whether the object in front is a moving object or a stationary object based on the result of scanning.

Specifically, based on the vehicle speed and the relative speed, they are determined in the object recognition block 45. Then, based on this result, if the object is a moving object, the process proceeds to a moving object alarm process (S200), and if the object is a stationary object, the process proceeds to a stationary object alarm process (S300). First, the moving object warning process (S
200) will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. First, a moving object warning distance calculation (S210) is performed. This moving object warning distance will be supplemented.

It is generally desirable that the moving object warning distance be given with a margin enough to stop the moving object, but the moving object warning distance is limited by the sensor detection capability and collision judgment. Even if the object warning distance is lengthened uniformly, it may not be practically useful. Therefore, in a low-speed traveling area (for example, 60 km / h or less), a distance at which a normal brake can be stopped is set as a moving object warning distance. Object warning distance is set.

The moving object warning distance is obtained by adding the reaction time when the driver of the own vehicle applies the brake and the strength when the driver of the own vehicle applies the brake,
The decision is made in consideration of the following four items: the inter-vehicle distance at which the driver feels uneasy, and the strength at which the driver of the preceding vehicle applies the brakes (perceived by the driver of the own vehicle).

As for the driver, it takes a predetermined reaction time from when the driver intends to apply the brake until the driver actually presses the brake, and the idle running distance during this time depends on the reaction time and the own vehicle speed. is there. Further, the distance traveled from when the driver applies the brake to when the driver actually stops depends on the strength at which the driver applies the brake and the vehicle speed. In addition, the reason is that the driver feels anxiety when the inter-vehicle distance is shortened due to the interruption and tries to adjust the inter-vehicle distance by a brake operation, and this distance substantially depends on the vehicle speed. Also, while following, the driver applies the brake immediately after the preceding vehicle decelerates, but even if the preceding vehicle starts to decelerate, it takes some time until a speed difference occurs, The reason is that the timing of the alarm is delayed when only the speed difference is viewed.

It should be noted that there is an individual difference in the stopping distance depending on the driver. In order to consider such a danger sensation peculiar to the driver, the driver himself / herself can set the sensitivity via the alarm sensitivity setting device 25 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) at which distance the alarm should be issued. I have.

Subsequently, the distance between the host vehicle and the obstacle (inter-vehicle distance) is compared with the moving object warning distance calculated in S210 (S220). If the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or less than the moving object warning distance, collision determination is performed (S230). Here, the collision determination processing will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in S231, an alarm area is set.
The warning area WA is a relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle.
, Origin (0, 0), and predetermined position (0, Yq) on the Y axis
(See FIG. 6 (a))
Set as In this embodiment, a predetermined position (0, Y) on the Y axis for setting the alarm area (WA) is set.
q) is variably set based on the Y coordinate data of the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yp). The setting is performed with reference to map data that stores the value of Yq for Yp as shown in FIG.

To supplement this map data, when Yp is 100 m or more, Yq = 50 m, and when 80m ≦ Yp ≦ 100 m, Yq is just half of Yp. Further, when 40m ≦ Yp ≦ 80m, Yq is set to 3/4 of Yp, and 30m ≦ Yp
When p ≦ 40 m, Yq = 30 m is constant. When Yp ≦ 30 m, Yq = Yp.

It should be noted that the map data shown in FIG. 6B is set with a relatively wide expressway having a radius of about 300 m and a lane width of about 3.5 m even with the steepest curve. It is. On a highway,
The lane width is wide and the curve is gentle relative to the general road,
The legal speed is also higher than on ordinary roads. For this reason, the map data is divided into, for example, expressways and general roads,
Even for general roads, if further divided according to the situation, more accurate warning processing can be performed.

When the warning area WA is set in S231,
Subsequently, the degree of separation of the recognition object from the center of the vehicle in the lateral direction is determined (S232). In other words, the X coordinates are compared with each other for determination. In this embodiment, when the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object is equal to or larger than a predetermined value “5 (unit is m)”. Determines that the vehicle is far from the center of the vehicle, and proceeds to S233. As shown in FIG. 7A, deletes a part of the warning area WA belonging to the area having the predetermined value “5” or more, and then proceeds to S235. I do. This is X
Since there is a high risk of collision in the area close to the axial direction, it is preferable to set the warning area WA wider, but in the area farther from the host vehicle in the X-axis direction, if it is set too wide, This behavior increases the number of types of false alarms in which alarm processing is performed even though there is no danger of collision. Therefore, in a far region, the range is narrowed to reduce false alarms.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7A, the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognized object, the origin (0, 0),
Within a triangle surrounded by three points (0, 0.4Yq), X
Regions whose coordinates are -5 or less are deleted. On the other hand, S232
When the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object is equal to or larger than the predetermined value “1 (unit: m)”, it is determined that the vehicle is near the center of the own vehicle, and the process proceeds to S234. 7
As shown in (b), a new alarm area (WAa) is added to the alarm area (WA) within a range belonging to the area equal to or less than the predetermined value “1”, and the process proceeds to S235. This is because if the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object is too close to the own vehicle in the X-axis direction,
In the normal warning area WA setting based on points, only a very narrow range of the warning area WA is set.
This is because accurate alarm processing cannot be performed, and thus a new alarm area WAa is added to perform appropriate alarm processing.

An additional specific example of the new alarm area WAa will be described. In the case shown in FIG. 7B, two points ｛(1, 0), (−1, 2) on the X-axis whose absolute value is the predetermined value “1”
0) A new warning area WAa is substantially added by setting a triangular warning area (WAn) surrounded by｝ and the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the obstacle. It is. Note that the way of addition is not limited to that shown in FIG.

In cases other than the above two cases, that is, when the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object is larger than 1 and smaller than 5, the alarm area is not deleted or added. S23 with the warning area WA unchanged
Go to 5. In S235, the center of the object, that is, the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognized object is set in S231 to S231.
It is determined whether or not there is a certain ratio or more in the alarm area WA set in S234. If there is a certain ratio or more, it is determined that a collision occurs (S236). Otherwise, it is determined that no collision occurs. (S237), this process ends. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the relative position of the preceding vehicle is sampled at intervals corresponding to the relative speed with respect to the preceding vehicle. )
Is set, and 3 or more of the second to fifth points are set in the alarm area W
If it exists in A, it is determined that a collision occurs in S236.

In this way, it is determined whether or not a collision occurs. Returning to FIG. 4, if it is determined based on the determination result that a collision occurs, the false alarm countermeasure 1 in S240 is executed.
When it is determined that no collision occurs, the second false alarm measure of S260 is executed. First, the false alarm measure 1 process will be described with reference to FIG.

This process is performed to reduce false alarms by limiting the operating conditions of the alarms.
According to each determination result of S241 to S244, an alarm is established (S245), an alarm is suspended (S246), and a determination is suspended (S2).
47) The three judgments are made. It is determined that the alarm is established (S245) is a moving object approaching the recognized object in S241 (or a stationary object during a stationary object alarm process described later), and if the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the alarm permitted vehicle speed in S242. It is determined that it is determined that the vehicle is not braking in S243, and that it is continued in S244 for a predetermined time or more. Further, the determination up to S243 is the same, but if it is determined in S244 that it does not continue for a certain period of time, the alarm is suspended in S246. In other cases, the determination in S247 is suspended.

The meaning of these determinations will be described. If it is determined in S241 that the vehicle does not approach, it means that the distance from the own vehicle does not change or goes away. Judgment is suspended. The alarm permission speed in S242 is, for example, 20 km.
/ H. For example, in a parking lot, the direction is frequently changed, so that if no guard is applied, other vehicles, walls, and pillars that are parked will be warned. Therefore, in order to avoid those false alarms, for example, 20 km
At low speeds equal to or lower than / h, the determination is suspended and no alarm is issued. In addition, once it becomes 20 km / h, it is preferable to give an alarm until it becomes less than 15 km / h.

In S243, it is considered that the driver is trying to decelerate while the brake is being depressed, so that no alarm is issued in this case. The fixed time in the determination of S244 is set to a relatively short time, for example, 0.3 seconds. This is to prevent a false alarm due to noise or the like. In a state where a true alarm is required, the alarm continues for, for example, 0.3 seconds or more. There is no mistake in the judgment.

The alarm established by such processing (S2
45), alarm suspension (S246), judgment suspension (S247)
Returning to FIG. 4, according to the three determinations, if the alarm is established, the alarm is started in S250, if the alarm is suspended, the process is immediately terminated without any operation, and if the determination is suspended, the erroneous alarm countermeasure in S260 is performed. The process moves to the process of No. 2.

Next, the false alarm countermeasure 2 process will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. This process, as shown in FIG.
If the inter-vehicle distance is larger than the moving object warning distance in S220,
When it is determined that no collision occurs in the collision determination in S230,
This is performed when the determination is suspended in S240, the continuation state is determined in S261 as shown in FIG. 9, and an alarm is not established only when the continuation is continued for a predetermined time (S26).
2) In other cases, the alarm is suspended (S263).
Returning to FIG. 4, if the alarm is not established, the alarm is stopped (S270), and if the alarm is suspended, the process is terminated.

In other words, even if the condition does not need to be alarmed, the alarm is not stopped for a moment and the alarm is stopped. To stop. The above is the contents of the stop object warning process of S200 in FIG. Subsequently, the stop object warning process in S300 will be described. This processing is substantially the same as the moving object warning processing described with reference to FIG. 4 and the like, and the calculation of the warning distance in S210 in FIG. 4 is for a stationary object, and accordingly, the comparison with the following distance in S220 is performed. The only difference is that the target is the stop object warning distance. Therefore, only the differences will be described.

First, the stop object warning distance calculated in S210 and used in the comparison in S220 is based on the inter-vehicle distance at which the driver feels uneasy among the four considerations in the above-mentioned moving object warning distance (the driver of the own vehicle). It does not take into account the strength of the driver of the front car when applying the brake, and the two items of the reaction time when the driver of the car applies the brake and the strength when the driver of the car applies the brake Is determined in consideration of The other processes are the same, and the description is omitted.

As described above, according to the vehicle obstacle warning device of the present embodiment, the warning area (WA) is based on the relative estimated traveling area of the own vehicle when considered based on the obstacle. Is set, and if the alarm processing is performed only for a moment in the alarm area (WA),
Since the number of warnings in situations that are not originally needed increases,
By performing the alarm process only when there is a predetermined period of time, it is possible to surely issue an alarm in a truly necessary situation and to reduce the number of alarms in an unnecessary situation as much as possible. Since a steering sensor or a yaw rate sensor is not required to determine whether or not the own vehicle is turning, a system with a simple configuration and low cost can be constructed.

Further, the predetermined position (0, Yq) on the Y axis for setting the alarm area WA is set to the obstacle relative position (Xp, Yq).
Since the setting is variably set based on the Y coordinate data of p), more accurate alarm processing can be performed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the alarm area WA is set, if the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object is equal to or more than a predetermined value “5”, the predetermined value is set. A part of the warning area WA belonging to the area “5” or more is deleted (S2 in FIG. 5).
33). Since there is a high risk of collision in an area close to the own vehicle in the X-axis direction, it is preferable to set the warning area WA to be wider. If set, there will be many types of false alarms in which subsequent actions will perform alarm processing even though there is no danger of collision.Therefore, in areas far away, narrow the range to reduce false alarms Can be done.

The relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object
If the absolute value of the X-coordinate is equal to or greater than the predetermined value “1”,
As shown in (b), a new alarm area WAa is added to the alarm area WA within a range belonging to the area equal to or less than the predetermined value “1” (see S234 in FIG. 5). If the relative position (Xp, Yp) of the recognition object is too close to the own vehicle in the X-axis direction, the normal warning area WA based on the above three points is used.
In the setting, only a very narrow range of the warning area WA is set, and in practice, it is not possible to accurately perform a warning process for an obstacle having a relative behavior with a high possibility of collision. Therefore, an appropriate alarm process can be performed by adding a new alarm area WAa.

[0062]

According to the obstacle warning device for a vehicle of the present invention, a warning can be reliably issued in a truly necessary situation, and a warning in an unnecessary situation can be reduced as much as possible. In addition, the predetermined position (0, Yq) on the Y-axis for setting the alarm area WA is set to the obstacle relative position (Xp, Y).
If it is set variably based on the Y coordinate data of p), more accurate alarm processing can be performed.

In a region far from the host vehicle in the X-axis direction, if the setting is made too wide, the subsequent operation will perform a warning process even though there is no danger of collision. As described in claim 3, when the recognition object is far from the vehicle in the X-axis direction, a part of the warning area WA is deleted, whereby false alarms can be reduced.

On the other hand, when the object to be recognized is close to the vehicle, the normal setting of the warning area WA based on the above three points only sets the warning area WA in a very narrow range. Since it is impossible to accurately perform an alarm process for an obstacle having a high relative behavior, an accurate alarm process is performed by adding a new alarm area WAa as described in claims 4 and 5. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an obstacle alarm device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a controller in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an alarm process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a moving object warning process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a collision determination process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an alarm area setting.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of deletion and addition of an alarm area.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a false alarm measure 1 process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a false alarm countermeasure 2 process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where an alarm is required in a moving object alarm.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of an alarm area setting according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of area deletion and addition at the time of setting an alarm area according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Obstacle alarm device 3 ... Controller 5 ...
Scanning ranging device, 7: vehicle speed sensor, 13: alarm sound generator, 25: alarm sensitivity setting device, 27: alarm volume setting device, 31: transmission / reception unit, 33: distance / angle calculation unit, 41: coordinate conversion block, 43: sensor abnormality detection block, 45: object recognition block, 47
... Distance display object selection block, 49 ... vehicle speed calculation block, 51 ... relative speed calculation block, 53 ... front vehicle acceleration calculation block, 55 ... alarm judgment and cruise judgment block, 57 ... volume adjustment block, WA ... alarm area, WAa ... New alarm area

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-16846 (JP, A) JP-A-5-180933 (JP, A) JP-A-5-2405952 (JP, A) JP-A-5-205 273341 (JP, A) JP-A-7-65294 (JP, A) JP-A-7-262499 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01S ^7/ 00-17 / 88

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A scan wave or a laser beam is applied to a predetermined angle range in the vehicle width direction to scan and irradiate a distance between the vehicle and the obstacle based on a reflected wave or reflected light from the obstacle. Based on the distance detected by the distance measuring means and the corresponding scan angle, the X-axis in the vehicle width direction, the Y-axis in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and the origin as the origin of the vehicle. As XY coordinate data, relative position calculating means for calculating the relative position of the obstacle, relative position of the obstacle calculated by the relative position calculating means, the origin, and a predetermined position on the Y axis. Alarm area setting means for setting a triangular alarm area surrounded by the following three points: after the alarm area is set, if the same obstacle exists in the alarm area for a predetermined time, a predetermined alarm process is performed. Alarm processing means And an obstacle warning device for a vehicle. 2. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined position on the Y axis for setting an alarm area by the alarm area setting means is defined by Y coordinate data of the relative position of the obstacle. An obstacle warning device for a vehicle, wherein the obstacle warning device is set variably. 3. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein when the warning area is set by the warning area setting means, the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position of the obstacle is equal to or larger than a predetermined value. A part of the alarm area belonging to an area equal to or larger than the predetermined value is deleted. 4. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, when the warning area is set by the warning area setting means, an absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position of the obstacle is smaller than a predetermined value. An obstacle warning device for a vehicle, wherein a new warning region is added to the warning region within a range belonging to a region equal to or less than the predetermined value. 5. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 4, wherein, when the absolute value of the X coordinate of the relative position of the obstacle is smaller than a predetermined value, the absolute value becomes the predetermined value on the X axis. A new warning area is substantially added by setting a triangular warning area surrounded by the following two points and the relative position of the obstacle. .