JP3235330B2 - 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) as for the vehicle ahead of the own lane, as shown in FIG. 20 (a), it is only necessary to issue an alarm to those who remain in front of the own lane, and from the own lane as shown in FIG. There is no need to be warned for those going out to another lane because they do not collide. (2) As for the interrupting vehicle, an alarm may be issued for an interrupting vehicle immediately before the own vehicle as shown in FIG. 20C, and an interrupting vehicle is distant from the own vehicle as shown in FIG. 20D. 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; A relative position calculating means for calculating a relative position (X, Y) of the obstacle with respect to the own vehicle based on the corresponding scan angle (θ); and at least one of the same obstacles calculated by the relative position calculating means. Based on the relative position data (X, Y) of the two points, the relative estimated traveling curve radius (Re) of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle.
, A warning area setting means for setting a predetermined warning area (WA1) based on the radius (Re) calculated by the radius calculation means and the vehicle width data of the own vehicle, and the warning area (WA1) An alarm processing device for a vehicle, comprising: alarm processing means for performing predetermined alarm processing when the obstacle exists for a predetermined time.

The obstacles include a vehicle running ahead, a stopped vehicle, a guardrail on the roadside,
An object, such as a telephone pole, which becomes an obstacle at the travel destination of the vehicle corresponds to the object. According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect, the radius calculating means outputs three or more relative position data (X, Y) of the same obstacle. For example, based on the two points corrected by the least square method or the like, the relative radius (Re) of the estimated travel curve of the host vehicle is calculated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect, at least two points of relative position data (X, If the obstacle is present in a predetermined front area of the own vehicle based on Y) and the relative movement amount of the obstacle in the vehicle width direction of the own vehicle is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, the vehicle goes straight. Straight-state simulation means for simulating a state;
When the straight traveling state simulation means simulates that the vehicle is in the straight traveling state, the radius calculating means estimates the radius (Re) to be infinite without performing a normal radius calculating process, and the alarm area setting means: A predetermined warning area (WA1) based on the estimated infinite radius (Re) and the vehicle width data of the own vehicle.
Is set.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the first aspect, a part of the obstacle moves out of a predetermined angle range scanable by the distance measuring means. In the case of relative movement, before moving out of the predetermined angle range, the relative position (X, Y) of the obstacle in the relative position calculation means is set to an end of the obstacle on the side closer to the own vehicle. The position data is calculated as position data corresponding to the part.

[0013] The invention described in claim 5 is the obstacle warning system for a vehicle according to the first aspect, and the vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a traveling speed of the vehicle (V), by the relative position calculating unit Based on the calculated relative position data,
A relative speed calculating means for calculating a relative speed (Vr) of the obstacle with respect to the own vehicle; and a moving state of the obstacle based on the running speed (V) of the own vehicle and the relative speed (Vr) of the obstacle. And a predetermined alarm process by the alarm processing unit based on the alarm area (WA1) when the obstacle is determined to be in a moving state. Even if it is not performed, a second alarm process that performs a predetermined alarm process when the same obstacle exists within a predetermined alarm auxiliary area (WA2) set based on the own vehicle for a predetermined time. Means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the vehicle obstacle warning device according to the fifth aspect , the predetermined warning auxiliary area is assumed based on the road shape of the vehicle in addition to the reference of the own vehicle. It is variably set based on the standard vehicle speed.

[0015]

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 calculation means calculates the distance (L) based on the detected distance (L) and the corresponding scan angle (θ). The relative position (X, Y) of the obstacle with respect to the own vehicle is calculated.

On the basis of the relative position data (X, Y) of at least two points for the same obstacle calculated by the relative position calculating means, the radius calculating means determines the relative position of the vehicle with respect to the obstacle. (Re) of the typical estimated traveling curve, and the warning area setting means sets a predetermined warning area (WA1) based on the radius (Re) calculated by the radius calculating means and the vehicle width data of the own vehicle. I do. Then, when an obstacle exists in the alarm area (WA1) for a predetermined time, the alarm processing means performs a predetermined alarm process.

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.

In particular, an appropriate warning can be given even on a curve because the relative radius (Re) of the estimated traveling curve of the own vehicle based on the obstacle is calculated, and the radius (Re) and the vehicle of the own vehicle are calculated. Predetermined warning area (WA1) based on width data
Is set, and a predetermined alarm process is performed when an obstacle exists in the alarm area (WA1) for a predetermined time.

The calculated radius (Re) is, for example, the radius of the estimated traveling curve of the own vehicle when the obstacle is a stationary object, and is calculated when the obstacle is a moving object.
This is a relative estimated traveling curve radius of the own vehicle when considered based on the moving obstacle. Therefore, even when the host vehicle is traveling straight, for example, if the low-speed preceding vehicle running in the adjacent lane interrupts the host vehicle, the above-described estimated running curve occurs.

Here, the calculation of the radius (Re) will be described taking the case where the obstacle is a stationary object as an example. In a curve, a stationary object approaches the vehicle along a circular locus. Since the stationary object itself does not move, the estimated traveling curve radius (Re) of the own vehicle can be obtained from only the relative position with respect to the own vehicle.
FIG. 21 (a) shows the vehicle width direction as X with the vehicle position as the origin.
The relative position of the stationary object is shown on the X and Y coordinates with the axis and the front-back direction as the Y axis. Since points A and B, which are relative positions of the stationary object, are on a concentric circle with the curve radius (Re), and the curve center point C is on the X axis, the triangle ABC has AC =
It becomes an isosceles triangle that becomes BC. Therefore, two points A and B
The curve radius (Re) can be determined from the point data.

The alarm area (WA1) has a radius (R
e) is set based on the vehicle width data of the own vehicle, and it is necessary to set an area having a width at least equal to the vehicle width. However, if it is equal to the vehicle width, it may actually contact, so it is desirable to set it with a predetermined margin.
In the case of straight traveling, the same applies if the radius (Re) is infinite. FIG. 21B shows a case of a roadside body that does not collide, and FIG. 21C shows a case of a stopped vehicle that collide. In the case of FIG. 21B, since the roadside body is outside the warning area (WA1), no warning processing is performed assuming that no collision occurs. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 21 (c), since the stopped vehicle is within the warning area (WA1), it is determined that the vehicle has collided and the warning processing is performed.

In addition, even when the obstacle is a moving object, the curve radius calculation method applied to the above-mentioned stationary object can be applied as it is. The meaning of the curve radius (Re) in this case is the radius of the estimated traveling curve of the own vehicle relative to the obstacle when considered. FIG. 22A shows the behaviors a and b of the vehicle ahead of the own lane, and FIG. 22B shows the estimated curve in that case. Similarly, FIG.
Indicates the behaviors c, d, e, and f of the interrupted vehicle, and (d)
Indicates an estimated curve in that case. As described above, even when the obstacle is a moving object, the radius of the curve is estimated, the warning area (WA1) is calculated, and the obstacle is present in the warning area (WA1) for a predetermined time, as in the case of the stationary object. By judging whether or not to do so, it is possible to appropriately judge whether or not there is a danger of collision with the obstacle.

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 traveling in an 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 (WA1) is set based on the relative estimated running area of the own vehicle when considered based on obstacles. Further, if the alarm process is performed only momentarily in the alarm area (WA1), the number of alarms in situations that are not originally required increases. Therefore, the alarm process is performed only when there is 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.

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

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the radius calculating means calculates the relative position data (X, Y) of three or more points of the same obstacle based on two points corrected by the least square method or the like. The radius (R
If e) is calculated, the radius can be calculated more accurately with less error.

The calculation of the curve radius (Re) can be estimated in principle based on two relative positions of the obstacle. However, for example, the relative position calculated due to a change in reflection from an obstacle such that the reflector at the rear of the preceding vehicle can be seen on both the left and right sides or only one side may include an error and may vary. . Therefore, by correcting the relative position data of three or more points by the method of least squares or the like, the above variation is absorbed and a more accurate radius (Re) is obtained.
The calculation, that is, a more appropriate alarm area (WA1) can be set.

On the other hand, the obstacle warning device according to the third aspect simulates that the vehicle is going straight ahead in a certain predetermined situation, so that it does not warn in spite of a situation in which a warning should be performed. It is characterized in that fatal misjudgment is prevented from the aspect. That is, the straight-running state simulating means calculates the relative position data (X, Y) of at least two points for the same obstacle calculated by the relative position calculating means.
If the obstacle is present in a predetermined front area of the own vehicle and the relative movement amount of the obstacle in the vehicle width direction of the own vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value based on the . Then, when it is assumed that the vehicle is in the straight traveling state, the radius calculating means performs the radius (Re) without performing the normal radius calculating process.
Is set to infinity, and the warning area setting means sets a predetermined warning area (WA1) based on the estimated infinity radius (Re) and the vehicle width data of the own vehicle.

An example of the above described situation where "alarm is not performed even though there is a situation to be alerted" will be specifically described with reference to FIG. The distance measuring means scans and irradiates a laser beam or the like in a vehicle width direction, and determines a distance (L) between the own vehicle and the obstacle based on a reflected light from the obstacle or the like and a scan angle (θ).
And the relative position (X, Y) of the obstacle based on them is calculated. An error occurs due to the resolution in the vehicle width direction.

For example, in FIG. 23A, four lines indicated by broken lines are the beam boundaries of the laser light (beam), and the solid line at the center of each is the position after the beam is quantized.
Then, even if there was a stationary object that approached the vehicle almost linearly and collided as it was, it was detected as the next post-beam quantization position because it crossed the beam boundary only slightly. As a result, when estimated from the relative position data, there is a possibility that the curve does not collide with the own vehicle. To solve this problem, it is conceivable to make the resolution very high.However, in addition to the complicated structure and high cost, there are many cases where accurate alarms can be issued without requiring such a high resolution. , The calculation becomes complicated, and the determination itself is delayed.

Therefore, as a countermeasure, as shown in FIG. 23B, when an obstacle exists in a predetermined front area of the host vehicle and the relative movement amount in the vehicle width direction is small. Assumed that the vehicle was going straight without calculating the radius of the curve. By doing so, it is possible to avoid a fatal erroneous determination in terms of safety in that no alarm is issued despite the situation where an alarm should be issued. It should be noted that the determination as to whether or not the vehicle is present in a predetermined front area of the own vehicle is made, for example, in FIG.
If it is within the area of a predetermined front step (three steps in this case) of the scanned laser beam or the like, it may be determined to be the front area.

In addition, the obstacle alarm device according to the fourth aspect eliminates errors caused by the scanning area of the distance measuring means, and erroneously issues an alarm mainly to an obstacle that does not originally collide. It is intended to eliminate this. That is, when a part of the obstacle relatively moves from within the predetermined angle range that can be scanned by the distance measuring unit to the outside, the obstacle in the relative position calculation unit may be moved before moving out of the predetermined angle range. Is calculated as position data corresponding to the end of the obstacle on the side closer to the own vehicle.

In order to more specifically understand the problem caused by the error caused by the scanning area and its countermeasure,
The following description proceeds with reference to FIG. For example, when a preceding vehicle is detected as an obstacle, it often relies on reflected light from a reflector disposed at the rear of the preceding vehicle.

When the preceding vehicle goes out of the scanning area SR, such as when passing a stopped vehicle or a slow vehicle, the state changes from a state in which the left and right reflectors are visible to a state in which only one reflector is visible. Therefore, FIG.
As shown in (a), the actual center of the preceding vehicle moves in parallel with the own vehicle as shown by a black circle (●) in the figure, but the center detected by the distance measuring means is shown in FIG. As shown by a white circle (○), a curve erroneously presumed to be a curve heading toward the own vehicle. If an alarm area is set based on the data, it is determined that the vehicle collides with a preceding vehicle which is an obstacle, and a false alarm is generated. It will do.

However, when the preceding vehicle, which is an obstacle, goes out of the scanning area SR, the inner reflector (the reflector closer to the own vehicle) is used until all the vehicles are outside the scanning area SR.
Is still visible. Therefore, as a countermeasure, in order to keep looking at the inner reflector (as shown in FIG. 24 (b), based on the relative position data of the end closer to the host vehicle rather than the center of the object, ie, the inner edge portion, This makes it possible to prevent incorrect estimation of the curve radius and prevent false alarms.

[0036]

[0037]

On the other hand, according to the obstacle alarm device according to claim 5, the vehicle speed detecting means detects the traveling speed of the vehicle (V), the relative speed calculating means is calculated by the relative position calculating unit The relative speed (Vr) of the obstacle to the own vehicle is calculated based on the relative position data. Then, the movement determining means determines whether or not the obstacle is moving based on the traveling speed (V) of the own vehicle and the relative speed (Vr) of the obstacle, and determines that the obstacle is moving. In this case, even if the second alarm processing means does not perform the predetermined alarm processing based on the alarm area (WA1), the predetermined alarm processing based on the own vehicle is performed. When the same obstacle exists in the alarm auxiliary area (WA2) for a predetermined time, a predetermined alarm process is performed.

It has been stated in claim 1 that the same alarm processing can be applied to a stationary object and a moving object. However, in the case of a moving object, for example, as shown in FIG. 20C, there is a case where the vehicle is interrupted immediately before the own vehicle, and in that case, it is necessary to quickly perform an alarm process.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-180933 shown in the related art, the position of an obstacle after a predetermined time is estimated based on a relative speed and a relative speed vector of the obstacle based on a plurality of position data. It takes time to calculate the relative speed and the relative speed vector. Then, the collision determination may be delayed, and the collision may not be avoided.

On the other hand, in the case of the fifth aspect , even if the alarm processing based on the alarm area (WA1) set through the calculation of the curve radius described in the first aspect is not performed, If the same obstacle is present for a predetermined time in a predetermined alarm auxiliary area (WA2) set on the basis of the host vehicle, a predetermined alarm process is performed. As described above, it is not necessary to perform a complicated operation such as calculation of a direction vector relating to the change of the relative position data and to set an alarm area each time based on the data, and the same as the alarm auxiliary area (WA2) set in advance. Since it is only necessary to determine whether or not an obstacle exists for a predetermined time, quick alarm processing can be performed, and collision avoidance can be more reliably performed.

[0041] Note that the setting of the alarm auxiliary area (WA2) so as not to false alarm with respect to vehicles other lanes, as described in claim 6, which is assumed taking into account the road shape standard It may be variably set based on the vehicle speed. The road shape is, for example, a lane width or a curve radius of a road. Specifically, in the case of an expressway, 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). And general roads, or general roads according to the situation. In other words, the standard speed assumed in consideration of the road shape is generally high on expressways and low on steep curves on general roads. This makes it possible to set a more appropriate alarm auxiliary area without giving a false alarm to the traveling vehicle.

Even when the warning auxiliary area is changed according to the standard speed assumed in consideration of the road shape as described above, for example, if a numerical value for setting an area for each standard speed is stored, these are stored. Area setting can be performed simply by reading.

[0043]

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 block diagram of the system.
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.

With this configuration, the controller 3 has a function of issuing an alarm when an obstacle is present in a predetermined alarm area 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, these are provided to adjust the vehicle speed 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.
, Recognition type, object width W, center position coordinates of object (X, Y)
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.

Then, the warning judgment and cruise judgment block 55 determines the own vehicle speed, the front vehicle relative speed, the front vehicle acceleration, the object center position, the object width, the recognition type, the output of the brake switch 9, and 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 based on a flowchart with a focus on the alarm judgment / alarm of the alarm judgment / cruise judgment block 55. 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 1000; steps are simply referred to as S hereinafter). In this object recognition, it is determined whether the object in front is a stationary object or a moving 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 the result, if the object is a stationary object, the process proceeds to a stationary object alarm process (S2000), and if the object is a moving object, the process proceeds to a moving object alarm process (S3000). First, the stop object warning process (S2000) will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. First, stop object warning distance calculation (S2100)
Is made. This stop object warning distance will be supplemented.

It is basically desirable to give a warning to a stationary object with a margin enough to stop the stationary object. However, since there is a limit to the detection capability of the sensor and the judgment of collision, the stopping object alarm distance is limited. Even if the object warning distance is lengthened uniformly, it may not be practically useful. Therefore, in a low-speed running range (for example, 60 km / h or less), the distance at which the brake can be stopped normally is set as a stop object warning distance, and at a high speed warning range higher than 60 km / h, the distance at which the brake can be stopped more strongly is stopped. Object warning distance is set.

The stop object warning distance is determined in consideration of two items, 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. This is because 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. 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.

It should be noted that there are individual differences among the drivers in the stopping distance. 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 stop object warning distance calculated in S2100 (S2200). If the inter-vehicle distance is equal to or shorter than the stop object warning distance, collision determination is performed (S230).
0). Here, the collision determination processing will be described with reference to FIG. First, a curve radius is estimated (S2310), and an alarm area is set based on the curve radius (S2330).
A collision determination is made (2350), and this process ends.
Depending on the result of this determination, that is, “collision” or “non-collision”, the false alarm countermeasure 1 of S2400 in FIG.
The process proceeds to the false alarm measure 2 of 2600.

First, the details of the curve radius estimation processing in S2310 of the collision determination processing in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In this curve radius estimation processing, three types of error countermeasures are taken based on data on the position of the recognition object in the lateral direction (corresponding to the vehicle width direction → X coordinate).

The first countermeasure against the error is to deal with the error caused by the lateral resolution of the sensor. The problem is the relative position data including the error as described with reference to FIG. According to the estimation, there is a possibility that even if there is a stationary object that approaches the own vehicle almost linearly and collides as it is, the curve may not collide with the own vehicle. . As a countermeasure to compensate for this, as shown in FIG. 23 (b), when an obstacle is present in a predetermined front area of the host vehicle and the relative movement amount in the vehicle width direction is small, a curve Instead of calculating the radius, it is assumed that the vehicle is going straight.

More specifically, if the start point of the calculated position data is within 3 steps of the beam in front of the laser beam to be scanned and the movement amount from the start point to the end point is within 1 step of the beam, the flow advances to S2321. Go straight without estimating curve radius (ie infinite curve radius)
This processing is terminated.

The second countermeasure against errors is to deal with errors caused by variations in reflection. The problem is, for example, as described in the above-mentioned “action”, the reflector at the rear of the preceding vehicle can be seen on both the left and right sides. The calculated relative position may include an error due to a change in the reflection such that only one side is visible. As a countermeasure, in the present embodiment, in S2315, the relative position data of the five points is linearly approximated by the least squares method, and the two start and end points of the five points are corrected. The position change between the five points can be estimated by a straight line approximation. This correction is
This is executed when the data of the lateral position of the recognition object is near the center of the own vehicle in S2313.

The horizontal position of the correction point by the correction in S2315 is as shown in the following equation, and FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the equation.

[0063]

(Equation 1)

Next, the third error countermeasure is for an error caused by the scanning area, and the problem has been described with reference to FIG. That is, when the front vehicle goes out of the scanning region SR, for example, when passing a stopped vehicle or a slow vehicle, the state changes from a state in which the left and right reflectors are visible to a state in which only one reflector is visible. Although the actual center moves parallel to the host vehicle, the center detected by the scanning distance measuring device 5 is erroneously estimated to be a curve heading toward the host vehicle.

As a countermeasure, in this embodiment, S2319
In, horizontal direction correction is performed using the inside edge of the object. Note that this correction is performed when the data of the horizontal position of the recognition object is far from the center of the own vehicle in S2313, for example, the center of the object is ± 2 in both the start and end points of the five relative positions in the horizontal direction.
When the distance is not less than m, the data of the five inside edges is used. Also in this case, the curve radius calculation in S2317 is performed using the two starting and ending points of the five points obtained by linearly approximating the relative position data of the five inside edges by the least square method. Here, the curve radius calculation in S2317 will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the corrected starting point A (Xe1, Y1) and the ending point B (Xe5, Y5) and the curve radius Re. In addition, in FIG. 13, We is a margin between the own vehicle and the obstacle. The distance from the curve center C to the start point A and the end point B is equal (Re + We). And X between points AC
The axial distance is (Re-Xe1), and the X-axis distance between the points BC is (Re-Xe5). Therefore, the following relational expression is established from Pythagorean theorem.

[0066]

(Equation 2)

When the curve radius Re is calculated from these two equations, the following equation is obtained.

[0068]

(Equation 3)

In this way, S2315, S2319
Is performed, the curve radius calculation in S2317 is performed. In the case of S2321, as described above,
Go straight without calculating the curve radius (infinite curve radius)
This processing is ended respectively, and S in FIG.
The process proceeds to a warning area setting process of 2330.

Here, the alarm area setting in S2330 will be described with reference to FIG. An alarm area WA1 corresponding to approximately the vehicle width is set centering on the curve of the curve radius Re estimated by the processing of FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, from the point on the curve where the position in the front-rear direction is equal to the correction points (Xe1, Y1) and (Xe5, Y5), the vehicle width ± 1 m is taken in the lateral direction.
The parallelogram that is obtained by linearly approximating the interval is connected to the alarm area W
A1. The calculation of the coordinates of the vertices of the parallelogram forming the warning area WA1 was set by the following equation by parabolic approximation in order to suppress the amount of calculation.

[0071]

(Equation 4)

When the alarm area is set in S2330,
Subsequently, a collision determination is made (S2350). This collision determination processing will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 15.
In 2351, it is determined whether or not a part of the object width exists in the warning area WA1 for a certain period of time. If the object width exists in the warning area WA1 for a certain period of time as shown in FIG. 15, it is determined that a collision occurs (S2353). Otherwise, it is determined that no collision occurs (S2355), and the process ends.

In this manner, 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 S2400 is executed, and it is determined that no collision occurs. In this case, the false alarm measure 2 in S2600 is executed. First, the false alarm measure 1 process will be described with reference to FIG.

This processing is performed to reduce false alarms by limiting the operating conditions of the alarms.
According to the respective determination results in S2410 to S2440, three determinations are made: alarm establishment (S2450), alarm suspension (S2460), and determination suspension (S2470).

The alarm is established (S2450) at S2
At 410, it is determined that the recognized object is a moving object or a stationary object approaching. At S2420, it is determined that the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the alarm permitting vehicle speed. At S2430, it is determined that the vehicle is not being braked. Only when continued above. Also, the determination up to S2430 is the same, but if it is determined in S2440 that it does not continue for a certain period of time, the alarm is suspended in S2460. In other cases, the determination in S2470 is suspended.

The meaning of these determinations will be described. If it is determined in step S2410 that the vehicle is not approaching, it means that the distance from the own vehicle does not change or the vehicle moves away. Judgment is suspended. The alarm permission speed in S2420 is, for example, 20K.
About m / h is conceivable. 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 S2430, 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 in S2440 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, for example, it continues for 0.3 seconds or more, so that a false determination due to noise can be suitably avoided.
There is no mistake in making decisions when necessary.

The alarm established by such processing (S2
450), alarm suspension (S2460), determination suspension (S24)
According to the three determinations of 70), returning to FIG. 4, if the alarm is established, the alarm is started in S2500. If the alarm is suspended, the process is immediately terminated without any operation.
The processing shifts to the false alarm measure 2 of 2600.

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.
This is performed when the inter-vehicle distance is larger than the stop object warning distance in S2200, when it is determined that no collision occurs in the collision determination in S2300, and when the determination is suspended in S2400, and as shown in FIG. The continuation state is determined, and the alarm is not established only when the continuation is continued for a predetermined time (S2620), and otherwise, the alarm is held (S2620).
2630). Returning to FIG. 4, if the alarm is not established, the alarm is stopped (S2700), and if the alarm is suspended, the process is terminated.

That is, even if it is not necessary to perform the alarm, 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 S2000 in FIG. Subsequently, the moving object warning process in S300 will be described. This process is basically similar to the stationary object alarm process of FIG. 4 as shown in FIG. 10, and the calculation of the alarm distance in S3100 of FIG. 10 is performed for a moving object. The only difference is that the object to be compared is the moving object warning distance, and the collision assist determination process in S3600 is performed when it is determined in the collision determination in S3300 that no collision occurs. Therefore, the differences will be described in detail, but the similar processing will be described only briefly.

First, the operation is performed in S3100, and in S3200
For the moving object warning distance used in the comparison, there are two items, 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 braking, in the above-mentioned stationary object alarm distance. In addition, the distance is determined in consideration of 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).

The additional considerations are made in consideration of the fact 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 the brake operation. Dependent. 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.

Next, the collision assist determination processing in S3600 will be described with reference to FIG. This process
This is executed when it is determined that no collision occurs in the collision determination processing in S3300, and when it is determined in this collision assistance determination that a collision has occurred, S is executed in the same manner as when it is determined in the collision determination processing in S3300 that a collision occurs.
Move to 3400.

As described in the above-mentioned "action", the reason why such an auxiliary judgment is made is that, in the case of a moving object, it is interrupted immediately before the own vehicle as shown in FIG. This is because, in some cases, the alarm process needs to be performed quickly in that case. Therefore, instead of performing the process of estimating the curve radius, which is relatively long as in the collision determination shown in FIG. 5, a simple process such as the process of FIG. 11 described below is executed. Therefore, quick response processing is performed with a quick response, so that collision avoidance is more reliable.

As a specific process, as shown in FIG. 11, first, an alarm auxiliary area (WA2) is set, and if a part of the object width is within the alarm auxiliary area WA2 for a predetermined time or more, a collision occurs (S3630). ), And otherwise, it is determined that no collision occurs (S3630). And S
Since the setting of the alarm auxiliary area (WA2) in 3610 is simple, the processing time is shortened as a result.

The setting of the alarm auxiliary area (WA2) will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
(A) shows an example of the warning auxiliary area WA2 on a highway. This area is a pentagonal area having a width of 2 m around the own vehicle, a center of 30 m in the front-rear direction, and ends of 20 m each. In setting this area, the curve radius is 300 m or more, and the lane width is 3.5.
m and the legal speed of 100km / h
In consideration of this point, it is set so that a collision can be avoided even at that speed and that a vehicle in another lane is not erroneously warned. Here, the reason why the pentagonal shape is set is briefly described. As shown in FIG. 16B, the pentagonal shape can be shared by the right curve RC and the left curve LC, and the area is set as long as possible in the center. It is because that was considered.

In the case of an expressway, the processing of S3610 is completed only by setting the above-mentioned predetermined area without performing complicated calculations for setting the alarm auxiliary area WA2 each time. Collision judgment can be done quickly. FIG. 16 (a) shows a warning auxiliary area for a highway. However, a general road has a steeper curve, and if this warning auxiliary area is used as it is, erroneous determinations increase. Therefore, it is desirable to set a warning auxiliary area for a general road. Since the general road has a narrower lane width than the expressway and travels at a low speed, it is easy to travel near the road shoulder. Therefore, the assumed curve radius and the assumed lane width are set as shown in FIGS. 17 (a) and (b). To change. Then, the warning auxiliary area WA2 is set in FIG.
Set as shown in (c).

As described above, the warning auxiliary area W depends on the vehicle speed.
Even when A2 is changed, the map can be easily set only by storing a map as shown in FIG. 17C and reading out the area center distance and the area end distance in accordance with the vehicle speed. As described above, according to the vehicle obstacle warning device of the present embodiment, the warning area (W) is determined based on the relative estimated travel region of the own vehicle when considered based on the obstacle.
A1) is set, and if the alarm processing is performed only for a moment when the alarm area (WA1) is present, the number of alarms in situations that are not originally required will increase. By performing alert processing, you can be sure to alert in situations that are truly necessary,
Warnings in unnecessary situations can be reduced 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.

As shown in FIG. 6, when estimating the curve radius, errors caused by sensor lateral resolution, errors caused by reflection variations, and errors caused by the scanning area are also preferably eliminated. And an appropriate alarm area WA1 can be set. This contributes to eliminating false alarms as a result and ensuring that alarms can be issued in a truly necessary situation.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, limiting the operating conditions of the alarm also contributes to the reduction of false alarms. On the other hand, if the obstacle is a moving object, for example, a vehicle running in the next lane may be interrupted immediately before the own vehicle. In such a case, it is necessary to perform an alarm process quickly. In this case, in the present embodiment, instead of performing the process of estimating the curve radius, which is a relatively long calculation time as in the collision determination shown in FIG. 5, the simple process shown in FIG. 11 is used. In this case, quick warning processing is performed, and collision avoidance becomes more reliable.

Although the countermeasure processing for the three errors has been described with reference to FIG. 6, another embodiment of the error countermeasures will be described with reference to FIGS. This is a countermeasure against an error caused by reflector contamination, and if applied in the above embodiment, the processing in FIG. 18 is performed instead of S2315 in FIG. Supplementing the error caused by the reflector dirt, there is a situation where the reflector of the front vehicle is dirty and only one side of the reflectors on both the left and right sides can be seen, and in such a case, the false estimation of the curve radius is erroneously alarmed. There is fear. As a countermeasure, a method of estimating a curve radius without using data when only one side of the reflector is visible and a method of estimating a curve radius from an edge of an object can be considered.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 18, among the widths of the five relative position data of the recognized object, there is a width equivalent to the vehicle width (for example, 1 m or more) and a width equivalent to one side of the reflector (for example, 0.6 m). It is determined whether there is any of the following (S4010), and if so, the curve estimation method is changed according to the number of data corresponding to one side width of the reflector (S4).
020). If the data corresponding to the width of one side of the reflector is small (one point or less), the data is excluded and the horizontal position is corrected by the data of the center of the object (S4030).
In this correction, similar to the processing in S2315 in FIG. 6, the relative position data of three or more points is linearly approximated by the least squares method to correct the two points of the start point and the end point. FIG. 19A illustrates this case.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4020 that there is a large amount of data corresponding to the width of one side of the reflector (two or more points), the edge of the object is calculated (S4040). The amount of change (sum of absolute values) is compared (S
4050), the horizontal position is corrected using the edge data having the smaller change amount (S4060, S407).
0). Also in this case, straight line approximation by the least squares method is performed. FIG. 19B illustrates this case.

If it is determined in S4010 that it is other than the above, the flow shifts to S4080 to correct the horizontal position using the data of the center of the object. This processing is performed according to FIG.
The processing is exactly the same as the processing in S2315 described above.

[0095]

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. Further, as shown in Claim 2-4, when the curve radius of the estimation errors due to the sensor lateral resolution, error due to reflection variations, even with the erroneous difference resulting from scanning zone,
Each of them can be appropriately resolved, and an appropriate alarm area WA1 can be set. This contributes to eliminating false alarms as a result and ensuring that alarms can be issued in a truly necessary situation.

Further, when the obstacle is a moving object, for example, a vehicle running in the adjacent lane may be interrupted immediately before the own vehicle, and in that case, it is necessary to perform an alarm process quickly. However, according to the fifth aspect , it is not necessary to perform a complicated operation such as calculation of a direction vector or the like relating to a change in relative position data or to set an alarm area each time based on the data. Auxiliary area (WA
In 2), it is only necessary to determine whether or not the same obstacle exists for a predetermined time, so that a quick warning process can be performed, and collision avoidance can be more reliably performed.

[0097] Further, as the one shown in claim 6, if variably set based on the standard speed which is assumed in consideration of the road shape, for example while corresponding to the difference of such highway and a general road, other There is no false alarm for vehicles traveling in the lane.
This makes it possible to set a more appropriate alarm auxiliary area.
In this case, for example, if a numerical value for setting an area for each standard speed is stored, the area can be set simply by reading them out.

[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 stationary object warning process according to the embodiment.

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

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a curve radius estimation process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a collision determination process according to the embodiment.

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 a flowchart illustrating a moving object warning process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a collision assist determination process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram relating to correction in S2315 in FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram related to curve radius calculation in S2317 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram relating to an alarm area setting in S2330 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram relating to collision determination in S2350 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a warning auxiliary area on an expressway according to the setting of a warning auxiliary area in S3610 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram relating to an alarm auxiliary area setting when applied to a general road.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an error countermeasure process due to reflector contamination.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram for helping understanding of an error countermeasure process caused by reflector contamination.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a warning is required in a moving object warning.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of a radius calculation and a warning area which are basic in a warning according to the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of an estimated curve when an obstacle is a moving object.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which “alarm is not given despite a situation to be alerted”;

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a problem due to an error caused by a scanning area and a countermeasure thereof.

[Description of Signs] 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, Re ... curve radius, WA1 ... Warning area, WA2: Warning auxiliary area

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-16846 (JP, A) JP-A-5-172946 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G08G 1/16 B60R 21/00 620 G01S 17/93

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A scan wave or a laser beam is irradiated to a predetermined angle range in a vehicle width direction by scanning, and a distance between an own vehicle and an obstacle corresponds to a scan angle based on a reflected wave or reflected light from the obstacle. And a relative position calculating means for calculating a relative position of the obstacle with respect to the own vehicle based on the distance detected by the distance measuring means and a corresponding scan angle; and a relative position calculating means. Radius calculating means for calculating a radius of an estimated traveling curve of the own vehicle relative to the obstacle based on the relative position data of at least two points with respect to the same obstacle calculated by the radius calculating means; Alarm area setting means for setting a predetermined alarm area based on the radius calculated by the radius and the vehicle width data of the own vehicle, and when the obstacle exists in the alarm area for a predetermined time,
And a warning processing means for performing predetermined warning processing. 2. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the radius calculating means calculates the radius of the own vehicle based on two points corrected from three or more relative position data of the same obstacle. An obstacle warning device for a vehicle, wherein a radius of a relative estimated traveling curve is calculated. 3. The vehicle obstacle warning device according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle is determined based on at least two pieces of relative position data of the same obstacle calculated by the relative position calculation means. Straight-state simulation means for simulating a straight-ahead state when the obstacle is present in a predetermined front area and a relative movement amount of the obstacle in the vehicle width direction of the own vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value; When it is simulated that the vehicle is in the straight running state by the state simulation means, the radius calculation means estimates the radius to be infinity without performing a normal radius calculation process, and the alarm area setting means performs the estimated infinity. A predetermined warning area is set based on a radius of the vehicle and vehicle width data of the own vehicle. 4. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a part of the obstacle relatively moves from within a predetermined angle range scanable by the distance measuring means to outside the range. Is characterized in that before moving out of the predetermined angle range, the relative position of the obstacle in the relative position calculation means is calculated as position data corresponding to an end of the obstacle closer to the own vehicle. Obstacle warning device for vehicles. 5. An obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a running speed of the own vehicle; and relative position data calculated by said relative position calculating means. Relative speed calculating means for calculating a relative speed of the obstacle with respect to the own vehicle; movement determining means for determining whether or not the obstacle is in a moving state based on the running speed of the own vehicle and the relative speed of the obstacle When the movement determining means determines that the obstacle is in a moving state, even if the predetermined warning processing by the warning processing means based on the warning area is not performed, A second alarm processing means for performing a predetermined alarm process when the same obstacle is present for a predetermined time in a predetermined alarm auxiliary area set as a reference; Dress . 6. The obstacle warning device for a vehicle according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined warning auxiliary area is based on the own vehicle and based on a standard vehicle speed assumed in consideration of a road shape.
An obstacle warning device for a vehicle, which is variably set.