JP3734553B2 - Vehicle recognition device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle recognition device that monitors a traveling state of a front vehicle, and more particularly, to a vehicle recognition device that can handle an interrupted vehicle from an adjacent lane.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a current vehicle control, many cruise devices that keep the vehicle speed constant are applied to automobiles. This cruise device is equipped with an inter-vehicle distance control function to detect the inter-vehicle distance and relative speed with the preceding vehicle using a millimeter wave radar device, etc., and keep the inter-vehicle distance constant. Has been.
[0003]
6A and 6B are diagrams showing control modes of the inter-vehicle distance control device, where FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a deceleration mode region, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an acceleration mode region.
On a congested road, the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicle speed are extremely reduced, which is very troublesome for the driver. As a method that can prevent rear-end collisions and reduce the burden on the driver even in such a state, the relative distance (inter-vehicle distance) between the vehicle nearest to the own vehicle lane (hereinafter referred to as the preceding vehicle) and the own vehicle in advance. The area where the relative speed is in the map relationship as shown in FIG. 6 (a) (the area indicated by hatching) is set as the deceleration mode area, and in this area, the throttle valve is automatically closed, and in some cases the brake is applied. It was slowing down by operating automatically. Further, an area (hatched area) having a map relationship as shown in FIG. 6B is set as an acceleration mode area, and in this area, the throttle valve is opened to accelerate.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Normally, assuming that a vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane (hereinafter referred to as an adjacent preceding vehicle) does not change lanes, the radar device targets only the previous vehicle traveling in its own vehicle lane. The detection range of the preceding vehicle is set narrow. In the above-described method, a desired function can be exhibited when the preceding vehicle is in the own vehicle lane, but an adjacent preceding vehicle often interrupts the own vehicle lane on a congested road. In such a case, no necessary vehicle speed control is performed until the vehicle that has interrupted is detected by the radar device of the own vehicle.
[0005]
Therefore, even when the host vehicle is not in the deceleration mode region, if there is an interrupting vehicle from an adjacent lane during traveling, there is a problem that a sudden brake is applied immediately after the radar device detects the interrupting vehicle. Further, when the host vehicle is in the acceleration mode region, there is a problem that sudden braking is applied because of an interrupting vehicle as soon as the vehicle is accelerated. In either case, the passenger feels uncomfortable and the risk of rear-end collision increases.
[0006]
The present invention provides a vehicle recognition device capable of inferring a trend of an adjacent preceding vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane as well as the own vehicle lane and quickly recognizing that the adjacent preceding vehicle interrupts the own vehicle lane. For the purpose.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an image capturing device that is installed in a host vehicle and captures a road situation ahead of the host vehicle, and the host vehicle travels based on an image situation captured by the image capturing device. The vehicle is traveling in the adjacent lane based on the boundary state detection means for detecting the boundary line between the own vehicle lane and the adjacent lane adjacent to the own vehicle lane, and the image situation photographed by the photographing means. Based on the detection results of the vehicle detection means that recognizes the adjacent preceding vehicle and detects the traveling form of the adjacent preceding vehicle, and the boundary line detection means and the vehicle detection means, the advance of the adjacent preceding vehicle with respect to the boundary line An inclination angle detecting means for detecting an inclination angle of the direction, and an interrupting vehicle in which the adjacent preceding vehicle is about to interrupt the own vehicle lane based on the magnitude of the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle detecting means An interruption car that determines whether or not It is characterized in that it comprises a cross section.
[0008]
And a vehicle speed control means for controlling the speed of the host vehicle to be accelerated or decelerated based on an inter-vehicle distance and a relative speed between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle traveling in the host vehicle lane, When the judging means judges that the adjacent preceding vehicle is the interrupting vehicle based on the magnitude of the tilt angle detected by the tilt angle detecting means, the speed of the host vehicle is determined with respect to the vehicle speed control means. This is characterized in that deceleration control is performed to reduce the.
[0009]
And a vehicle speed control means for controlling the speed of the host vehicle to be accelerated or decelerated based on an inter-vehicle distance and a relative speed between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle traveling in the host vehicle lane, When the judging means judges that the adjacent preceding vehicle is the interrupting vehicle based on the magnitude of the tilt angle detected by the tilt angle detecting means, the speed of the host vehicle is determined with respect to the vehicle speed control means. The acceleration prohibiting control is performed without increasing the acceleration.
[0010]
Further, the boundary line detecting means is a white line detecting means for detecting a white line separating the own vehicle lane and the adjacent lane.
Further, the boundary line detecting means is a traveling direction detecting means for detecting a line parallel to the traveling direction of the own vehicle.
Further, the boundary line detection means is a traveling direction prediction means for predicting a line parallel to the traveling direction of the host vehicle based on a steering angle of the steering of the host vehicle.
[0011]
Further, when the inclination angle detection means detects that the inclination angle exceeds a predetermined value, the adjacent vehicle is an interruption vehicle that is about to interrupt the own vehicle lane. It is characterized by being judged.
[0012]
【Example】
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a vehicle recognition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This will be described below with reference to the drawings.
11 is a millimeter wave radar device using the Doppler effect installed in front of the own vehicle, which detects the reflected wave of the beam irradiated toward the front and outputs it to the rear stage. Only the vehicle in front of the own vehicle lane The detection range is adjusted so that can be detected. Reference numeral 12 denotes a CCD camera that is installed at the top of the vehicle and photographs the situation in front of the vehicle. A vehicle speed sensor 13 measures the speed V1 of the own vehicle. A steering angle sensor 14 detects the steering angle of the steering. 21 is an alarm device such as a buzzer that is activated when the vehicle approaches the front vehicle too much or when a vehicle in an adjacent lane is about to interrupt the own vehicle lane. Reference numeral 22 denotes a braking device (brake) that operates when the vehicle approaches the front vehicle too much or when a vehicle in an adjacent lane is about to interrupt the own vehicle lane. A cruise ECU 23a controls the speed by adjusting the throttle actuator 23b according to an instruction from the millimeter wave radar signal processing ECU 3. 3 performs signal processing of the reflected wave detected by the radar device 11, measures the inter-vehicle distance D and the relative speed (V2 -V1) to the front vehicle, recognizes the front vehicle based on this, performs inter-vehicle distance control, Furthermore, it is a millimeter wave radar signal processing ECU configured by a microcomputer 31 that calculates the direction of the adjacent preceding vehicle based on the image output of the camera 12 and the like, and a memory such as a ROM 32 and a RAM 33 that store various data.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a photographed image example by the camera of the vehicle recognition apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the microcomputer of the vehicle recognition apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention. This will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In step S1, an image taken with a camera is input. That is, the situation ahead of the vehicle photographed by the camera 12 is input to the microcomputer 31. In step S2, it is determined whether or not there is a white line in the image. If there is a white line, the process proceeds to step S3, and if there is no white line, the process proceeds to step S4 or step S8. That is, in order to determine the boundary line between the own vehicle lane and the adjacent lane, it is determined whether or not there is a white line that partitions the adjacent lane in the image. As a method for recognizing a white line, there is known a method of detecting an edge generated at the boundary between an asphalt portion and a white line portion in an image taken by the camera 12. The image is scanned in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the locus of the point where the luminance changes rapidly is recognized as a white line (line B in FIG. 2).
[0014]
In step S3, the vehicle lane is recognized and the process proceeds to step S5. That is, the range surrounded by the white line is regarded as the own vehicle lane, and the outside (both sides) is set as the adjacent lane. In step S5, the edge shape of the image-recognized object is compared with the unique edge shape of the vehicle stored in the ROM in advance, and the vehicle on the adjacent lane is recognized based on the coincidence state, and the process proceeds to step S6. That is, the adjacent preceding vehicle is extracted from the camera image. Then, in the image, the edge of the vehicle on the adjacent lane and the background is recognized as in the case of the white line, and the traveling form of the vehicle is detected. A plurality of edges corresponding to the contour of the vehicle are linearly approximated to be a vehicle direction. That is, a line constituting the lower part of the side surface of the vehicle (usually, this line is a substantially straight line regardless of the vehicle type) corresponds to this (line A in FIG. 2). The recognition of this line can be obtained from an extension traced left or right from the horizontal edge at the rear of the interrupting vehicle.
[0015]
In step S6, it is determined whether or not the inclination of the vehicle exceeds 30 °. If it exceeds 30 °, the process proceeds to step S7, and if it does not exceed 30 °, the process ends. In other words, the adjacent traveling vehicle should normally travel parallel to the white line separating the traveling lanes. The fact that it takes a large inclination angle (angle φ formed by line A and line B in FIG. 2) with respect to the white line is considered to be entering the vehicle lane. This inclination angle φ is not an angle on the image photographed by the camera of FIG. 2 but an angle formed with the white line of the vehicle placed on the plane. Since the position of the camera (height from the road surface, depression angle) is determined, the angle on the image and the angle on the plane can be easily converted. When the inclination of the vehicle with respect to the boundary line (for example, the white line) is small, it can be assumed that there is no intention to interrupt, so normal vehicle-to-vehicle distance based on the speed of the vehicle and the distance between the vehicle running on the vehicle lane Distance control (acceleration and deceleration) may be performed.
[0016]
In step S7, the flag is set to 1 and the process ends. That is, since there is a vehicle that is about to interrupt from an adjacent lane, the flag is set to 1 and processing according to the deceleration / acceleration processing flowchart of FIG. 4 or 5 is performed.
In step S4, the own vehicle lane is set as an area where the vehicle width is extended in the direction of the vehicle, and the process proceeds to step S5. That is, when a white line is not drawn for each traveling lane, a line in which the vehicle width (or vehicle sub-width + α) of the own vehicle is extended in the traveling direction is assumed as a boundary line between the own vehicle lane and the adjacent lane. This line is determined by the set angle of the camera 12 with respect to the vehicle (own vehicle). For example, if the camera is set so as to photograph the front of the vehicle, the line is parallel to the left and right center lines on the image.
[0017]
In step S8, the steering angle is detected and the process proceeds to step S9. That is, the output of the steering angle sensor 14 is detected. In step S9, the host vehicle lane is set as an area where the vehicle width is extended in the direction corresponding to the steering angle, and the process proceeds to step S5. That is, no white line is drawn for each lane, and the vehicle width (or vehicle sub-width + α) of the vehicle corresponds to the steering angle as the boundary line between the vehicle lane corresponding to the curved road and the adjacent lane. Assume a line extending in the direction of travel of the car.
[0018]
In this flowchart, whether to select step S4 or step S8 is determined by whether or not the steering angle sensor 14 is set in the host vehicle. That is, if the steering angle sensor 14 is set, step S8 that can cope with a curved road is selected, and if the steering angle sensor 14 is not set, step S4 is selected.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a deceleration process performed by the microcomputer of the vehicle recognition apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an acceleration process performed by the microcomputer of the vehicle recognition apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0019]
First, the deceleration process will be described with reference to FIG. In step S11, it is determined whether the mode is the deceleration mode. If the mode is the deceleration mode, the process proceeds to step S13. If the mode is not the deceleration mode, the process proceeds to step S12. That is, the radar apparatus 11 calculates the relative distance to the nearest vehicle in the own vehicle lane and the own vehicle speed, and whether or not the relationship is in the deceleration mode region (the range indicated by the oblique lines) in FIG. Determine whether.
[0020]
In step S12, it is determined whether or not the flag is 1. If the flag is 1, the process proceeds to step S13. If the flag is not 1, the process ends. That is, as shown in the process flowchart of FIG. 3, it is determined whether there is an interrupting vehicle from an adjacent lane. If there is a car that is about to be interrupted (flag is 1), the vehicle in front of the vehicle lane is sufficiently far away, and even if it is not necessary to decelerate, the vehicle decelerates in response to the interrupting vehicle.
[0021]
In step S13, deceleration control is performed and the process ends. That is, the vehicle is too close to the vehicle in front of the host vehicle lane, or the vehicle in the adjacent lane is about to interrupt, so it is necessary to decelerate in advance, so deceleration control is performed. The alarm device 21 is operated, and the radar signal processing ECU 3 determines the throttle valve opening and the gear ratio to decelerate from the current vehicle speed according to the inter-vehicle distance and relative speed with respect to the cruise ECU 23a, and outputs this control amount. Then, an instruction is given to perform inter-vehicle distance control (in some cases, the braking device 22 is operated). If the information on the interrupting vehicle cannot be obtained from the millimeter wave signal processing ECU 3, the inter-vehicle distance and the relative speed may be obtained from the position of the interrupting vehicle obtained from the image input. Further, the deceleration control amount described above is small at the time of interruption, and if it is gradually increased thereafter, the deceleration becomes smoother.
[0022]
Next, acceleration processing will be described with reference to FIG. In step S21, it is determined whether or not the acceleration mode is set. If the acceleration mode is set, the process proceeds to step S22. If the acceleration mode is not set, the process ends. That is, the radar apparatus 11 calculates the relative distance to the nearest vehicle in the own vehicle lane and the own vehicle speed, and whether or not the relationship is in the acceleration mode region (the range indicated by the oblique lines) in FIG. Determine whether. In order to prevent frequent switching between acceleration control and deceleration control and smooth running is possible, a dead zone that does not correspond to any of them is provided between the acceleration mode region and the deceleration mode region.
[0023]
In step S22, it is determined whether or not the flag is 1. If the flag is 1, the process proceeds to step S24, and if the flag is not 1, the process proceeds to step S23. That is, as shown in the process flowchart of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not there is an interrupting vehicle from an adjacent lane. If there is a car that is about to be interrupted (flag is 1), the vehicle will not accelerate even if there is no vehicle ahead of the vehicle lane, and the control amount will be set so that the throttle valve opening is returned to the state before the acceleration mode. Output to the cruise ECU 23a to cancel acceleration (step S24).
[0024]
In step S23, acceleration control is performed and the process ends. That is, there is a sufficient inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle in front of the host vehicle lane, and acceleration control is performed because there is no vehicle trying to interrupt from the adjacent lane. The radar signal processing ECU 3 instructs the cruise ECU 23a to perform inter-vehicle distance control according to the inter-vehicle distance and relative speed.
As described above, in this embodiment, not only is it prevented from colliding with the front vehicle running on the own vehicle lane, but also necessary control can be performed before the adjacent traveling vehicle interrupts the own vehicle lane. Smooth operation is possible without the need for operation.
[0025]
In this example, the interrupting vehicle is determined at an inclination angle of 30 °. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an unstable inclination angle is removed by filtering the inclination angle signal, or the own vehicle speed or the change speed of the inclination angle is determined. The determination accuracy may be improved by changing the determination inclination angle according to the above.
[0026]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, not only the own vehicle lane, but also the trend of vehicles traveling in the adjacent lane can be inferred, and the necessary control can be performed before interrupting the own vehicle lane. Smooth operation is possible without the need for It is also possible to control an interrupting vehicle in which the blinker is not blinking.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a vehicle recognition device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an example of an image captured by a camera of the vehicle recognition apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a microcomputer of the vehicle recognition device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a deceleration process performed by the microcomputer of the vehicle recognition apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an acceleration process performed by the microcomputer of the vehicle recognition apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
6A and 6B are diagrams showing a control mode of the inter-vehicle distance control device, where FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a deceleration mode region, and FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an acceleration mode region.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Radar device 21 ... Alarm device 12 ... Camera 22 ... Braking device 13 ... Vehicle speed sensor 23a ... Cruise ECU
14 ... Steering angle sensor 23b ... Throttle valve 3 ... Millimeter wave radar signal processing ECU

Claims (7)

It is installed in the vehicle, based on the image ahead of circumstances taken by that shooting unit to shoot a road condition of the free-wheel, said adjacent vehicle lane and the free-wheel lane the vehicle is traveling Boundary detection means for detecting the boundary with the adjacent lane;
Based on prior Kiga image situation, recognize neighboring preceding vehicle traveling the adjacent lane, a vehicle detection means for detecting a progress form of the adjacent preceding vehicle,
Inclination angle detection means for detecting an inclination angle in the traveling direction of the adjacent preceding vehicle with respect to the boundary line based on detection results of the boundary line detection means and the vehicle detection means;
Based on the magnitude of the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle detection means, the adjacent vehicle determines whether or not the adjacent preceding vehicle is an interruption vehicle that is about to interrupt the own vehicle lane. A vehicle recognition apparatus comprising: Vehicle speed control means for controlling to accelerate or decelerate the speed of the own vehicle based on the inter-vehicle distance and relative speed between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle traveling in the own vehicle lane;
The interrupting vehicle determining means determines that the adjacent preceding vehicle is the interrupting vehicle based on the magnitude of the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle detecting means. The vehicle recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein deceleration control for reducing the speed of the host vehicle is performed. Vehicle speed control means for controlling to accelerate or decelerate the speed of the own vehicle based on the inter-vehicle distance and relative speed between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle traveling in the own vehicle lane;
The interrupting vehicle determining means determines that the adjacent preceding vehicle is the interrupting vehicle based on the magnitude of the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle detecting means. The vehicle recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein acceleration prohibition control is performed so as not to increase the speed of the host vehicle.   2. The vehicle recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the boundary line detection means is a white line detection means for detecting a white line separating the own vehicle lane and the adjacent lane.   2. The vehicle recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the boundary line detection means is a travel direction detection means for detecting a line parallel to the travel direction of the host vehicle.   2. The vehicle recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the boundary line detection means is a traveling direction prediction means that predicts a line parallel to the traveling direction of the host vehicle based on a steering angle of the steering of the host vehicle. .   The interrupting vehicle determining means detects that the inclination angle detected by the inclination angle detecting means exceeds a predetermined value, and the adjacent preceding vehicle is an interruption vehicle that is about to interrupt the own vehicle lane. The vehicle recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle recognition apparatus is determined to be present.

Images