JP3894430B2 - Communication device and obstacle detection device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication device in which a plurality of slave devices are connected to a master device via a communication line or a part thereof, and more particularly to a communication device suitable for an obstacle detection device for a vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional example of this type, an ultrasonic sensor (slave) is provided on each of the vehicle bumper, for example, left, front, right, etc., and the controller (master) is located at a position based on the reflected wave detection signal of each ultrasonic sensor. An obstacle detection device that detects whether there is an obstacle and gives an alarm is known. In this obstacle detection device, as shown in FIG. 6, before installing the vehicle in the vehicle, the controller 40 previously corresponds to the individual positions of the plurality of sensors 41, 42, 43 (bumper left, front, right, etc.). Each ID is set, and the ID is set for each sensor 41, 42, 43. And when installing in a vehicle, each sensor 41, 42, 43 is bus-connected with the controller 40 via the communication line 14, the power source line 15, and the GND line 16 in each position. Then, the controller 40 collects information from each of the sensors 41, 42, and 43 in which individual IDs are set in advance by a polling / selecting method or the like.
[0003]
When the sensors 41, 42, and 43 are ultrasonic sensors with a calculation function, the ultrasonic sensors 41, 42, and 43 calculate the distance to the obstacle and send it to the controller 40. Based on this, it is configured to issue an alarm. Similarly, in this apparatus, the sensor ID is set in the controller 40 and the individual sensors 41, 42, and 43 before being installed in the vehicle. Then, the controller 40 collects information from each of the sensors 41, 42, and 43 in which individual IDs are set in advance by a polling / selecting method or the like.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional example, if the slaves (sensors) 41, 42, and 43 in which individual IDs have already been set are erroneously connected and installed at positions different from the original positions, in the case of an obstacle detection device, the controller 40 will fail. There is a problem that an alarm cannot be given at a position where an object is present and an alarm is given at a position where there is no obstacle.
[0005]
In the present invention, in view of the problems of the above-described conventional example, communication that allows an operator to normally set an ID for each slave (sensor) without being aware of the individual installation positions of the plurality of slaves (sensors). An object is to provide a device and an obstacle detection device.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the obstacle detection device of the present invention instructs the ID setter to give an ID setting trigger from the outside to the sensor at the position where ID setting is performed, and the position transmits the ID setting command including the ID of the plurality of sensors, the plurality of sensors may determine whether the given ID setting trigger self an ID in a given sensor ID set command ID setting trigger It is characterized by setting to.
[0008]
In order to achieve the above object, the obstacle detection device of the present invention instructs the ID setting person to give an ID setting trigger and ID from the outside to the sensor at the position where ID setting is performed. The plurality of sensors determine whether or not an ID setting trigger and an ID are given, and the ID setting trigger and the sensor given the ID set the ID to itself.
According to the above configuration, since the ID is set after installing a plurality of slaves (sensors), the ID is assigned to each slave (sensor) without being aware of the individual installation positions of the plurality of slaves (sensors). It can be set normally.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<First embodiment (part 1)>
1 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device for a vehicle as a first embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a slave of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is for the vehicle of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows ID setting communication sequence of an obstacle detection apparatus.
[0010]
A master 10 in FIG. 1 is a control device that constitutes a vehicle obstacle detection device as an example, and IDs corresponding to the left, front, and right of a vehicle bumper are set in advance in a non-volatile memory (not shown). The slaves 11, 12, and 13 are ultrasonic sensors that constitute the vehicle obstacle detection device, and are installed on the left, front, and right of the bumper of the vehicle sequentially from the order close to the master 10. The IDs are not set in advance for the slaves 11, 12, and 13 before installation in the vehicle.
[0011]
A communication line 14-1, a power supply line 15, and a GND line 16 are drawn from the master 10, and the communication line 14-1 is connected to the slave 11 closest to the master 10. On the slave 11 side, as shown in FIG. 2, the communication line 14-1 is connected to one end of the controller 11a and the bidirectional buffer 11c. The bidirectional buffer 11c is turned on and off under the control of the controller 11a, and is off in the initial state. The other end of the bidirectional buffer 11c and the transceiver 11b provided on the downstream side of the controller 11a are connected to the next slave 12 via the downstream communication line 14-2. The slaves 12 and 13 are connected to the communication line 14 in the same manner as the slave 11. The power supply line 15 and the GND line 16 are directly connected to the controllers 11 a to 11 of the slaves 11, 12, and 13.
[0012]
Next, the ID setting operation will be described with reference to FIG. Here, each of the bidirectional buffers 11 c to 11 of the slaves 11, 12, and 13 is turned off, so that only the controller 11 a (hereinafter simply referred to as the slave 11) of the slave 11 can communicate with the master 10.
1: First, when the ignition switch IG of the vehicle is turned on and power is supplied from the in-vehicle battery, the master 10 sends an ID1 setting message including the ID1 and ID setting command closest to the master 10 to the communication line 14- 1 and this ID1 setting message is received only by the slave 11.
2: The slave 11 stores ID1 in the received ID1 setting message.
3: Next, the slave 11 transmits an ID1 setting completion message to the upstream communication line 14-1. As a result, the ID1 setting completion message is received by the master 10. Next, the slave 11 turns on the bidirectional buffer 11c.
[0013]
4: The slave 11 also changes ID1 set from the master 10 to ID2 at the next position according to a predetermined rule, and sends an ID2 setting message including the changed ID2 and ID setting command to the downstream communication line 14-2. Send to. This ID2 setting message is received by the master 10 and the slave 12 on the downstream side.
5: The slave 12 stores ID2 in the received ID2 setting message.
6: Next, the slave 12 transmits an ID2 setting completion message to the upstream communication line 14-2. As a result, the ID2 setting completion message is received by the master 10 (and the slave 11). Next, the slave 12 turns on the bidirectional buffer 12c.
[0014]
7: The slave 12 also changes the set ID2 to the ID2 of the next position according to a predetermined rule, and transmits an ID3 setting message including the changed ID3 and ID change command to the downstream communication line 14-3. . This ID3 setting message is received by the master 10 and the slave 13 on the downstream side.
8: The slave 13 stores ID3 in the received ID3 setting message.
9: The slave 13 then transmits an ID3 setting completion message to the upstream communication line 14-3. Thereby, the ID3 setting completion message is received by the master 10 (and the slaves 11 and 12). Next, the slave 13 turns on the bidirectional buffer 13c.
[0015]
<First embodiment (part 2)>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a communication apparatus according to a modification of the first embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the slave in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a communication line 34-1, a power supply line 35, and a GND line 36 are drawn from the master 30, and the communication line 34-1 is connected to the slave 31 closest to the master 30. On the slave 31 side, as shown in FIG. 5, the communication line 34-1 is connected to the receiver R of the controller 31a, and the transceiver T of the controller 31a is connected to the next-stage slave 32 via the downstream communication line 34-2. Is done. The slave 33 at the final stage is connected to the master 30 via the downstream communication line 34-4, and therefore the master 30 and the slaves 31 to 33 are connected via the ring-shaped communication line 34.
[0016]
Since the ID setting operation in this case can also be performed in the same sequence as in FIG. 3, the ID is normal for the individual slaves 31 to 33 without the operator being aware of the individual installation positions of the plurality of slaves 31 to 33. Can be set to
[0017]
<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the above-described conventional example, and also shows the overall configuration of the ultrasonic obstacle detection device as the second embodiment. FIG. 7 shows in detail the ultrasonic sensor according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 shows the ID setting operation. The sensors 41, 42, and 43 are installed on the left, front, and right of the bumper, and the controller 40 is bus-connected to the sensors 41, 42, and 43 via the communication line 14, the power supply line 15, and the GND line 16. Here, the ID setting is fully automatic in the first embodiment, but semi-automatically in the second embodiment. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7, an external microphone MIC is installed so that an ultrasonic wave is emitted to the microphone (transducer having a transmission / reception function) 11d of the sensor 41 that performs ID setting, and the ultrasonic wave of the external microphone MIC is transmitted. Used as an ID assignment trigger.
[0018]
Next, the ID setting operation will be described with reference to FIGS. First, when the ignition switch IG of the vehicle is turned on and power is supplied from the in-vehicle battery, the controller 40 performs “ID1 setting display” on the display 40a and communicates an ID1 setting message including ID1 at the nearest position. Transmit to line 14, ie, all sensors 41, 42, 43. At this time, the operator looks at the “ID1 setting display” on the display 40a and installs the external microphone MIC on the sensor 41 where ID1 is to be set.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 7, in the sensors 41, 42, and 43, when the LAN control circuit 11b receives this ID1 setting message via the communication D / R 11a, the operation proceeds to the ID setting operation. In this ID setting operation, ultrasonic reception processing is performed without transmitting ultrasonic waves by the microphone 11d. At this time, ultrasonic waves are emitted from the external microphone MIC only to the microphone 11d of the sensor 41 that performs ID setting.
[0020]
The ultrasonic signal received by the microphone 11d is applied to the comparator 11h after its gain is adjusted by the gain adjustment circuit 11g. The comparator 11h compares the output of the gain adjustment circuit 11g with the value adjusted by the threshold adjustment circuit 11f of the ID setting threshold output from the LAN control circuit 11b. Here, the gain adjustment circuit 11g and the threshold adjustment circuit 11f adjust each input signal to a gain and an adjustment value stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 11k or the LAN control circuit 11b according to the ultrasonic level of the external microphone MIC. To do. When the ultrasonic signal is greater than the threshold for setting ID by the comparator 11h, the LAN control circuit 11b stores ID1 in the ID1 setting message, and then transmits an ID1 setting completion message to the communication line 14. As a result, the ID1 setting completion message is received by the controller 40.
[0021]
Upon receiving the ID1 setting completion message, the controller 40 performs “ID2 setting display” on the display 40a and transmits an ID2 setting message including ID2 of the next position to the communication line 14, that is, all the sensors 41, 42, and 43. To do. At this time, the operator looks at the “ID2 setting display” on the display 40a and installs the external microphone MIC on the sensor 42 where ID2 is to be set. In the same manner, the unique ID1, ID2, and ID3 are installed in the sensors 41, 42, and 43.
[0022]
Next, the obstacle detection process after setting the ID will be described. The controller 40 includes IDs and ultrasonic transmission commands of the sensors 41, 42, and 43 when the vehicle shift position is any of R, D, 2, and L and the vehicle speed is, for example, 10 km / h or less. Send poll frames.
[0023]
In each sensor 41, 42, 43, this polling frame is received and decoded by the LAN control circuit 11b via the communication D / R 11a. If the polling frame includes the self ID, the LAN control circuit 11b measures the previous time. The stored distance information is returned to the controller 40. Next, the LAN control circuit 11b transmits an ultrasonic transmission command to the transmission circuit 11c, and the transmission circuit 11c oscillates an ultrasonic burst wave having a resonance frequency stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 11k, the LAN control circuit 11b, etc. Thereby, an ultrasonic burst wave is radiated from the microphone 11d to the detection area.
[0024]
If the emitted ultrasonic wave is reflected by an obstacle in the detection area, the reflected wave is received by the microphone 11d. The received signal is applied to the comparator 11h after the gain is adjusted by the gain adjustment circuit 11g. The comparator 11h uses the output of the gain adjustment circuit 11g and the obstacle determination output from the LAN control circuit 11b. The threshold value is compared with the value adjusted by the threshold adjustment circuit 11f. Here, the gain adjustment circuit 11g and the threshold adjustment circuit 11f adjust each input signal to a gain and an adjustment value stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 11k or the LAN control circuit 11b.
[0025]
Then, the received signal (obstacle detection signal) is sent to the distance calculation circuit 11e when the reflected wave reception signal> the obstacle determination threshold value. The distance calculation circuit 11e converts the time from the start of ultrasonic oscillation to the obstacle detection signal into a distance, and the LAN control circuit 11b stores this until the next polling frame. When the controller 40 receives the distance information transmitted from each sensor 41, 42, 43, the controller 40 updates the previous distance information with the distance information and outputs it to the display 40a.
[0026]
In the above embodiment, the ultrasonic wave of the external microphone MIC is used as the ID giving trigger. However, vibration generated by hitting the surface of the microphone 11d may be used instead. In this case, the gain and adjustment values for the gain adjustment circuit 11g and the threshold adjustment circuit 11f are previously stored in the nonvolatile memory 11k or the LAN control circuit 11b according to the vibration level generated by hitting the surface of the microphone 11d. Remember.
[0027]
Alternatively, the disconnection state may be used by causing the sensor 41, 42, 43 to be disconnected by touching the surface of the microphone 11d instead as an ID provision trigger. Here, in the ultrasonic sensors 41, 42, and 43, generally, the reverberation time is shorter than usual using the reverberation of the ultrasonic wave, and it is determined that the wire is disconnected. Further, when the surface of the microphone 11d is touched, the reverberation time becomes shorter than usual. Therefore, reverberation time measurement can be used as an ID provision trigger instead of disconnection judgment at the time of initialization in advance.
[0028]
Alternatively, as an ID assignment trigger, some obstacle may be installed at a predetermined distance from the microphone 11d instead. In this case, the gain and adjustment values for the gain adjustment circuit 11g and the threshold adjustment circuit 11f are stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 11k or the LAN control circuit 11b according to the distance from the obstacle.
[0029]
<Third Embodiment>
In the second embodiment, the IDs for the sensors 41, 42, and 43 are set from the controller 40. However, an operator may set the IDs. That is, as the ID assignment trigger and the setting ID, a code corresponding to the setting ID is included in the ultrasonic wave generated by the external microphone MIC, and this code is changed according to the position of each sensor 41, 42, 43. Then, each sensor 41, 42, 43 may decode the code in the ultrasonic wave and store the setting ID.
[0030]
In addition, instead of the ID giving trigger, the number of hits on the surface of the microphone 11d is associated with the set ID, and the number of hits is changed according to the position of each sensor 41, 42, 43. However, the number of times may be decoded to store the setting ID.
[0031]
In addition, as an ID grant trigger, the number of disconnection states described above is associated with the set ID instead, and the number of disconnection states is changed according to the position of each sensor 41, 42, 43. The set ID may be stored by decoding this number of times.
[0032]
Further, instead of the ID giving trigger, the number of obstacle detections described above is associated with the set ID, the number of obstacle detections is changed according to the position of each sensor 41, 42, 43, and each sensor 41, 42, 43 may decode the number of times and store the setting ID.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an obstacle detection device for a vehicle as a first embodiment of a communication device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a slave in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an ID setting communication sequence of the vehicle obstacle detection device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a communication apparatus according to a modification of the first embodiment.
5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a slave in FIG. 4. FIG.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an ultrasonic obstacle detection device as a second embodiment and a conventional obstacle detection device.
7 is a block diagram showing in detail the ultrasonic sensor of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an ID setting communication sequence according to the second embodiment;
[Explanation of symbols]
10, 30 Master 11 to 13, 31 to 33 Slave 14, 14-1 to 14-4, 34-1 to 34-4 Communication line 40 Controller 41 to 43 Sensor MIC External microphone

Claims (10)

A plurality of sensors attached to each predetermined obstacle detection position of the vehicle transmits an ultrasonic wave based on an ultrasonic transmission instruction including an individual ID from the control unit, and an obstacle caused by an ultrasonic wave reflected by the obstacle In the obstacle detection device that digitally calculates the distance to the obstacle based on the object detection signal and transmits the distance information to the control unit, and the control unit issues an alarm based on the distance information.
The control unit instructs the ID setter to give an ID setting trigger from the outside to the sensor at the position where ID setting is performed, and transmits an ID setting command including the ID of the position to the plurality of sensors. ,
Wherein the plurality of sensors determines whether given the ID setting trigger, ID obstacle detection, characterized in that to set the self of the ID sensor given a setting trigger in the ID setting command apparatus. The ID setting trigger is an external ultrasonic oscillation source, and it is determined that a sensor that has received ultrasonic waves from the external ultrasonic oscillation source has been given the ID setting trigger, and sets the ID in the ID setting command to self The obstacle detection device according to claim 1 , wherein: The ID setting trigger is a vibration generated by tapping the surface of the ultrasonic oscillation microphone of the sensor. The sensor that detects the vibration determines that the ID setting trigger is given and determines the ID in the ID setting command. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the obstacle detection device is set to self. The ID setting trigger is a disconnection state caused by tapping the surface of the ultrasonic oscillation microphone of the sensor, and it is determined that the sensor that has detected the disconnection state by the reverberation time corresponding to the disconnection state has been given the ID setting trigger. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the ID in the ID setting command is set to self. The ID setting trigger is an obstacle detected by the sensor, and the sensor that detects the obstacle determines that the ID setting trigger is given and sets the ID in the ID setting command to self. The obstacle detection device according to claim 1 . A plurality of sensors attached to each predetermined obstacle detection position of the vehicle transmits an ultrasonic wave based on an ultrasonic transmission instruction including an individual ID from the control unit, and an obstacle caused by an ultrasonic wave reflected by the obstacle In the obstacle detection device that digitally calculates the distance to the obstacle based on the object detection signal and transmits the distance information to the control unit, and the control unit issues an alarm based on the distance information.
The control unit instructs an ID setter to give an ID setting trigger and ID from the outside to a sensor at a position where ID setting is performed,
Wherein the plurality of sensors determines whether given the ID setting trigger and ID, the ID setting trigger and ID obstacle detecting device sensor given and sets the ID to self the . The ID setting trigger is the external ultrasonic oscillation source, and the ID is a code embedded in the external ultrasonic wave, and a sensor that receives an ultrasonic wave from the external ultrasonic oscillation source is embedded in the external ultrasonic wave. 7. The obstacle detection apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the code is decoded and the ID is set to self. The ID setting trigger is vibration generated by tapping the surface of the ultrasonic oscillation microphone of the sensor, and the ID is the number of hits, and the sensor detecting the vibration decodes the number of hits and determines the ID. The obstacle detection device according to claim 6 , wherein the obstacle detection device is set to self. The ID setting trigger is a disconnection state generated by tapping the surface of the ultrasonic oscillation microphone of the sensor, and the ID is the number of times of the disconnection state, and the disconnection state is detected by a reverberation time corresponding to the disconnection state. The obstacle detection device according to claim 6 , wherein the sensor decodes the number of times of the disconnection state and sets its ID to self. The ID setting trigger is an obstacle detected by the sensor, and the ID is the number of times the obstacle has been detected, and the sensor that has detected the obstacle decodes the number of times the obstacle has been detected and sets the ID to itself. The obstacle detection device according to claim 6 , wherein the obstacle detection device is set.

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