JP3932854B2 - Vehicle control system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle control system that performs vehicle control suitable for an individual driver according to the driving history of the driver.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for automatically controlling a vehicle according to a driver's driving skill, driving violation history, driving preference, or the like in order to ensure driver safety and satisfy driver feeling is well known. Absent.
[0003]
Under such circumstances, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-353598, driver information such as a driver's driving skill and driving preference is stored in a portable IC card or the like, and this information is read by a reading device on the vehicle side during driving. Thus, a technique has been proposed in which an alarm is issued at an appropriate timing suitable for the driver when another moving body is detected.
[0004]
According to such a technique, for example, when a vehicle is inadvertently turning right or left even when an oncoming vehicle is approaching, it is at an appropriate timing according to the driving skill of the driver, vehicle performance, or the surrounding environment such as weather. An alarm is issued. For this reason, it is less likely that the driver is confused by the timing of the alarm. In addition, since the driving preference of the driver is taken into account, the feeling is not bothered without much deviating from the feeling.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a technique, driver information such as driving skill and driving preference of the driver is only used for vehicle alarm control. For this reason, for example, from the viewpoint of inter-vehicle control (ACC), even if only the alarm matches the driver's preference in this way, as long as the control of the vehicle acceleration, deceleration, inter-vehicle distance, etc. does not match the driver's preference. The driver will feel uncomfortable. Moreover, even if an alarm is issued at an appropriate timing, since it is left to manual driving by the driver, safe driving cannot always be expected.
[0006]
Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle control system that performs vehicle control suitable for the driving skill and driving preference of the driver according to the driving history of the driver.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In view of the above problems, in the vehicle control system according to claim 1, in order to perform vehicle travel control preset according to the driver information, the storage means sets a plurality of presets for each of the plurality of driver information. Each type of vehicle control information is stored in association with each other.
[0008]
“Driver information” here means information held by the driver in order to realize vehicle driving control suitable for the driver. For example, the driver's driving history (date of driver's license acquisition), age, This includes sex, residential area, driving skill (traffic law violation history, traffic accident history), or driving preferences. The specific method of obtaining this information will be described in detail later. For example, for driving history, age, gender, residential area, etc., the information on the driver's license can be read by some means, or the driver's license. It can be obtained from the police database that manages the data. Further, the driving skill can be obtained by acquiring data such as a traffic law violation record and a traffic accident record from a police database. Further, the driving preference can be acquired by recording the driving history of the driver and grasping the tendency.
[0009]
“Vehicle control information” refers to control information used when actually driving a vehicle based on such driver information. For example, the “vehicle control information” corresponds to various driving environments such as road type, driving area, and weather. Control information such as traveling speed, acceleration, and deceleration is applicable. For this reason, the vehicle control information has different set values depending on the driver information.
[0010]
That is, this system assumes a case where a plurality of drivers can drive a vehicle, and even if the same vehicle is used, different driving controls can be performed according to different drivers. The vehicle control information corresponding to each of the driver information owned by each of the plurality of drivers is stored. Each driver has a portable recording medium in which at least his / her identification information is recorded in advance in order to use this system.
[0011]
  When the vehicle is controlled, the reading unit first reads the identification information of the driver (owner of the recording medium). Then, the extracting means extracts the corresponding vehicle control information from the storage means based on the driver information corresponding to the identification information, and the control means performs vehicle travel control based on the vehicle control information extracted at this time. .
In particular, in the present invention, when at least one of the traffic law violation information and traffic accident information of the driver can be recorded as driver information on the recording medium, and the traffic law violation information or traffic accident information is read by the reading means. In addition, the extraction means is configured to extract vehicle control information whose safety level is higher than that of the standard control from each vehicle control information. Here, “the degree of safety is higher than the standard control” means that a certain degree of restriction is applied to the standard travel control that is normally performed, and various control amounts are set on the safe side. For example, for inter-vehicle control, this means that the inter-vehicle distance is set larger than usual, the acceleration is set to be moderate, the start of deceleration is set to be strong, or the upper limit vehicle speed is set within the limit vehicle speed. .
[0012]
  According to this configuration, since the mode of vehicle travel control can be changed for each individual driver specified by the identification information, it is possible to automatically perform travel control suitable for each individual driver.In addition, it can meet social demands to prevent traffic accidents.
  Specific examples of the vehicle travel control include various travel controls such as normal travel control and inter-vehicle control (ACC). In the case of the former driving control, for example, when the driver has a history of traffic law violations and traffic accidents, the driving control is particularly effective when the driver wants to drive safely. Specifically, for example, based on the traffic law violation history as driver information, the upper limit speed of the vehicle is forcibly set for drivers with a lot of speed violation history, and even if the driver steps on the accelerator, the vehicle accelerates beyond a certain speed By making it impossible, legal speed violations by the driver can be suppressed. The legal speed of the road in this case can be acquired by searching for the legal speed of the currently traveling road by, for example, specifying the vehicle travel position by the navigation device.
[0013]
In addition, the present system functions particularly effectively when the vehicle is automatically travel controlled as in the latter distance control.
For example, in the vehicle control system according to claim 2, the control means includes an inter-vehicle distance control means for executing an inter-vehicle distance control based on a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle based on the vehicle control information. The inter-vehicle distance control means performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the inter-vehicle distance control parameter as the vehicle control information extracted by the extracting means.
[0014]
In this case, if the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, deceleration, alarm time, etc. that match the driver's preference are set as the inter-vehicle control parameters, the vehicle can be driven at the inter-vehicle distance that matches the driver's feeling. In addition, the driver is less likely to feel uncomfortable due to acceleration, deceleration or the length of the alarm during inter-vehicle control.
[0015]
If the driver information indicates that the driver's driving history is short, the traffic law violation history is large, or the traffic accident history is large, for example, the inter-vehicle distance may be set larger than usual according to the driver's driving skill. It is also possible to prevent traffic accidents by setting the acceleration moderately, setting the deceleration to a strong start, or setting the upper limit vehicle speed within the limit vehicle speed and performing the inter-vehicle control process. .
[0016]
By the way, the problem is how to manage the driver information. For example, only the identification information of the owner is recorded on the recording medium, and the identification information of the owner is stored in a predetermined storage device on the vehicle side. The other driver information corresponding to the above, that is, the driving skill and driving preference of the driver can be stored. In this case, on the vehicle side, the corresponding other driver information is acquired from the storage device based on the identification information read from the recording medium.
[0017]
Such an aspect is convenient when the driver of the vehicle is limited to a certain range such as being limited to the family. This is because it is possible to easily acquire driver information by storing in advance a driver's detailed data corresponding to the identification information in the storage device of the vehicle and reading only this identification information from the recording medium. Because. In addition, since the amount of data read from the recording medium is small, the reading time can be shortened and the system can be operated quickly.
[0018]
However, when there is a possibility that an unspecified number of drivers may use the vehicle, for example, when the vehicle is a shared vehicle of a company, the information on all these drivers is stored in the storage device on the vehicle side. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a large-capacity memory, which increases costs.
[0019]
Therefore, as described in claim 3, all of the corresponding driver information including the identification information may be recorded on the recording medium, and the reading unit may read the driver information.
According to this configuration, since all the driver information of the specific driver is recorded on the recording medium side, it is not necessary to prepare a particularly large capacity memory on the vehicle side. Further, since only the information of a specific driver is recorded on the recording medium side, it is not necessary to provide a particularly large memory on the recording medium. Then, when the reading unit sequentially reads the driver information from the recording medium, the traveling control process similar to the above can be performed. In addition, since all of the individual driver information is recorded on the recording medium side, the vehicle provided with each means of this system can be used in any vehicle by bringing the driver's own recording medium and presenting it. Can also use this system. As a result, it is particularly convenient when there are many drivers and vehicles.
[0020]
Such a recording medium is conveniently an IC card that also serves as a driver's license, as described in claim 4, for example.
That is, since the driver is required to carry a driver's license, this IC card is always carried when driving the vehicle. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the driver from forgetting the IC card when driving the vehicle. Moreover, since this IC card is also used as a driver's license, problems such as troublesome portability do not occur.
[0021]
In addition, as described in claim 5, for example, the learning means records the driving history of the driver during manual driving, and the driver's driving preference is calculated from the driving history. And by including the driving preference information in the driver information.
[0022]
However, since the driving preference of the driver changes as the driving skill is improved, as described in claim 6, when the driving preference of the driver learned by the learning means changes, It is preferable that the updating unit updates driving preference information as driver information.
[0023]
  With this configuration, it is possible to realize vehicle driving control that flexibly responds to changes in driver driving skills and changes in driving preferences..
[0026]
  by the way,If information such as traffic law violation information and traffic accident information cannot be obtained until the renewal of the driver's license, etc., it is considered that the functions of this system in terms of traffic safety cannot be fully demonstrated. For this reason, it is preferable that the information can be acquired in real time.
[0027]
  Therefore, assuming that a management center (such as a police traffic management system) that manages traffic violation information and traffic accident information of drivers is connected to a wide area network such as the Internet,Claim 7It is conceivable to construct the vehicle control system described in (1).
[0028]
That is, in the vehicle control system, the management center is accessed via the wide area network, and the transmission means transmits the personal information included in the driver information. This “personal information” means information that can identify an individual driver such as a driver's license number. Then, since the corresponding traffic law violation information and traffic accident information are transmitted from the management center that has received this personal information, the receiving means receives these information as driver information. When the receiving means receives at least one of traffic law violation information and traffic accident information, the extracting means is vehicle control information whose safety level is higher than the standard control from among the vehicle control information, that is, for safe driving. Vehicle control information to which a certain restriction such as a speed restriction is added is extracted.
[0029]
  According to this configuration, every time the vehicle is driven, the management center is accessed, and the driver's current traffic law violation information and traffic accident information are acquired in real time. Control can be performed.
  However, since there are various degrees of driving violations,Claim 8As described in the above, the determining means determines the safe driving degree of the driver based on each information received by the receiving means, and when the safe driving degree determined at this time is lower than a predetermined reference value, the extracting means However, you may comprise so that vehicle control information whose safety degree is higher than standard control from each vehicle control information may be extracted.
[0030]
The "safe driving degree" here can be evaluated, for example, by the number of violations of traffic laws or traffic accidents within a certain period, the content of violations, etc. It is set as appropriate when constructing this system.
[0031]
The “standard control” here means control in the case where traffic law violation information and traffic accident information are not considered at all. For example, the inter-vehicle control corresponds to a case where the inter-vehicle control parameters such as the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, and deceleration are set to standard set values.
[0033]
  Claim 9As described in the above, the second determination means records the driving history during manual driving of the driver and determines the safe driving degree of the driver from the driving history, and the safe driving degree is a predetermined reference value. If lower, the extraction means may extract the vehicle control information whose safety level is higher than that of the standard control from each vehicle control information.
[0034]
The “safe driving degree” in this case can be evaluated by, for example, the number of sudden braking, acceleration, deceleration, etc. of the driver extracted from the driving history during manual driving. The types and number of the evaluation parameters and the reference values are appropriately set when the system is constructed. The “standard control” here means control in the case where the safe driving degree of the driver is not considered at all. For example, the inter-vehicle control corresponds to a case where the inter-vehicle control parameters such as the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, and deceleration are set to standard set values.
[0035]
According to such a configuration, it is possible to more realistically determine whether or not the driver is driving safely, and it is possible to ensure not only the driver but also the surrounding safety by controlling the vehicle accordingly. it can.
By the way, when the driver's safe driving level is improved and the safety is ensured, it is no longer necessary to restrict the vehicle driving control. Rather, this is canceled and driving that matches the driving preference of the driver is eliminated. It is preferable to switch to control.
[0036]
  Therefore,Claim 10As described in the above, when the determination means or the second determination means determines that the safe driving degree is higher than a predetermined standard value, the second update means updates the driver information to the standard control. Alternatively, the vehicle control information corresponding to the control that matches the driving preference of the driver may be updated.
[0037]
  With this configuration, the driver can drive the vehicle in a form adapted to his / her feeling on the condition that safe driving is ensured.
  In this case,Claim 11As described in the above, when the writing means writes the driver information updated by the second updating means to the recording medium, the fact that the safe driving degree of the driver is improved in the traveling control of other vehicles. It can be reflected.
[0038]
  If the recording medium is written when the recording medium is removed from the vehicle at that time, the number of accesses to the recording medium can be reduced to reduce the processing load, thereby enabling vehicle control to be executed at high speed.
  furtherClaim 12As described in the above, the authenticating means authenticates that the driver is a predetermined driving authorized person or a new driving authorized person, and permits the start of the engine of the vehicle only when authenticated by the authenticating means. Such a configuration is also preferable.
[0039]
According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from being stolen by a third party. Further, since the engine does not start unless it is authenticated, it is possible to prevent the driver from driving without a license.
Further, from the viewpoint of satisfying the driving preference of the driver, it is also preferable to automatically control the driving environment in the vehicle such as the cabin temperature, the seat position, or the mirror position.
[0040]
  Therefore,As claimed in claim 13,Reading means reads this driving environment information from a portable recording medium in which driving environment information that matches the driver's preference is recorded in advance,Adjustment meansHowever, adjustment control of the driving environment of the vehicle is performed based on the driving environment information read by the reading means.You may do.
[0041]
  In other words, since the driver's preferred vehicle interior temperature, seat position, mirror position, etc. are recorded on this recording medium, the reading means reads this when the recording medium is presented,Adjustment meansAdjust immediately. For this reason, a comfortable driving environment is automatically provided to the driver unconsciously.
[0042]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First embodiment]
A present Example represents an example of the vehicle control system of this invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the outline of the various control circuits which comprise the vehicle-mounted apparatus to which the said vehicle control system was applied.
[0043]
As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle device 10 includes a laser radar sensor 8, an inter-vehicle control electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “inter-vehicle control ECU”) 11, and an engine control electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “engine control ECU”) 21. , A brake control electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “brake control ECU”) 31, a navigation electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “navigation ECU”) 41, a body control electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “body ECU”). 51), an air conditioner control electronic control device (hereinafter referred to as “air conditioner ECU”) 61, a reading / writing device 71 for reading driver information from the IC card 72, or writing a change in driver information to the IC card, and the like Is provided. These ECUs and devices 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 are connected to each other via an in-vehicle LAN (LOCAL AREA NETWORK) 9 so that information can be transmitted.
[0044]
The inter-vehicle control ECU 11 is an electronic circuit mainly composed of a microcomputer, a cruise main switch 12 for the driver to spontaneously start the inter-vehicle control ECU 11, and a cruise control switch for the driver to set a so-called target inter-vehicle time. 13 and a communication device 14 for performing predetermined wireless communication with the outside are connected.
[0045]
The inter-vehicle control ECU 11 receives a current vehicle speed signal, a throttle opening signal, a control state signal such as an idle control state and a transmission shift position, and the like from the engine control ECU 21, and receives a steering angle signal, a yaw rate signal, and the like from the brake control ECU 31. To do. Then, the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 11 estimates the curve curvature radius R based on the received data, or performs an inter-vehicle distance control calculation according to a preset inter-vehicle distance control program.
[0046]
The laser radar sensor 8 is an electronic circuit mainly composed of a laser scanning distance measuring device and a microcomputer. The angle and relative speed of the preceding vehicle detected by the scanning distance measuring device and the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 11 Based on the received current vehicle speed signal, curve curvature radius, etc., the own lane probability of the preceding vehicle is calculated as a part of the inter-vehicle control device, and transmitted to the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 as preceding vehicle information including information such as relative speed. To do. Further, a diagnosis signal of the laser radar sensor 8 itself is also transmitted to the inter-vehicle control ECU 11.
[0047]
Then, the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 determines the preceding vehicle to be subjected to the inter-vehicle distance control based on the own lane probability included in the preceding vehicle information received from the laser radar sensor 8 as described above, and appropriately determines the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle. A target acceleration signal, a fuel cut request signal, and the like are transmitted to the engine control ECU 21 as a control command value for adjusting to the brake control ECU 31, and a brake request signal is transmitted to the brake control ECU 31. In addition, an alarm request signal and a diagnosis signal at the time of determining the occurrence of an alarm are transmitted to the body ECU 51 and displayed on a display device 54 such as an LCD provided in the dashboard.
[0048]
The brake control ECU 31 is an electronic circuit configured around a microcomputer, and includes a steering sensor 32 that detects the steering angle of the vehicle, a yaw rate sensor 33 that detects the yaw rate, and a wheel speed sensor 34 that detects the speed of each wheel. The steering angle and yaw rate are obtained from the engine, and these data are transmitted to the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 and the engine control ECU 21, and the pressure increase control valve / pressure reduction control valve provided in the brake hydraulic circuit for controlling the braking force is opened / closed. The brake actuator 35 that controls the duty is controlled. Further, the brake control ECU 31 sounds the alarm buzzer 36 in response to the alarm request signal from the inter-vehicle control ECU 11.
[0049]
The engine control ECU 21 is an electronic circuit mainly composed of a microcomputer, and includes a throttle opening sensor 22 that detects the throttle opening, a vehicle speed sensor 23 that detects the vehicle speed, and a brake switch 24 that detects whether the brake is depressed. , And detection signals from other sensors and switches, and further receives a target acceleration signal, a fuel cut request signal, and the like from the inter-vehicle control ECU 11.
[0050]
Then, the engine control ECU 21 adjusts the throttle opening of an internal combustion engine (in this case, a gasoline engine) as drive means in accordance with the operating state determined from the received signal, a throttle actuator 25, a transmission 26, an injector 27, etc. The drive command is output to With these actuators, it is possible to control the output, braking force or shift shift of the internal combustion engine. In addition, the engine control ECU 21 transmits necessary display information to the body ECU 51 and causes the display device 54 such as an LCD provided in the dashboard to display the display information.
[0051]
The navigation device 40 includes a navigation ECU 41, a position detection device 42, a map data input device 43, an operation switch group 44, and a display device 45.
The position detection device 42 includes a vehicle speed sensor 23, a gyroscope 46, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 47, and detects the current position of the vehicle. The GPS receiver 47 receives transmission radio waves from a GPS artificial satellite via a GPS antenna. Since these sensors 23, 46, and 47 have errors of different properties, a plurality of sensors complement each other to increase the position detection accuracy. Depending on the required position detection accuracy, only a part of these sensors 23, 46, 47 may be configured. In addition to these sensors 23, 46, 47, the rotation of the left and right steering wheels A sensor for obtaining a direction by accumulating the steering angle of the vehicle obtained from the difference, a geomagnetic sensor, or the like may be used.
[0052]
The map data input unit 43 inputs map data stored in a recording medium. The map data includes data representing road connections, map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, and the like. As a recording medium for storing the map data, a CD-ROM is generally used because of the data amount, but other recording media such as a DVD or a memory card may be used.
[0053]
The operation switch group 44 includes various switches for operating the navigation device 40. Specifically, a switch for switching display contents to be displayed on the display device 45 and a route (guide route) to the destination by the driver. ) Includes a switch for setting. In addition, as various switches which comprise the operation switch group 44, the touch switch comprised integrally with the display apparatus 45 may be used, and a general mechanical switch may be used. The display device 45 displays the current position of the vehicle on a map.
[0054]
The navigation ECU 41 is an electronic circuit configured around a microcomputer, and based on signals input from the position detection device 42, the map data input device 43, and the operation switch group 44, the navigation ECU 41 reaches the destination set by the driver. Is selected using a known technique such as the Dijkstra method, and the route and the current position of the host vehicle are displayed on the display device 45. In addition, the navigation ECU 41 displays each signal input from the position detection device 42 and the map data input device 43, a signal indicating preceding vehicle information input from the laser radar sensor 8, and an operating state of the winker (not shown). Based on the signal to represent, each control signal for target acceleration regulation control is produced | generated so that it may mention later, and each control signal is output to inter-vehicle distance control ECU11.
[0055]
The body ECU 51 is an electronic circuit configured around a microcomputer, and adjusts the rotational speed sensor of a drive motor (not shown), a switch for adjusting the front and rear position and height of the seat, and the position and angle of the mirror. Sensors and switches such as a switch for connecting are connected, and various actuators such as a sheet actuator 52 and a mirror actuator 53 for adjusting the position of these are connected. These various actuators can be adjusted and controlled by an external signal via the in-vehicle LAN 9.
[0056]
The air conditioner ECU 61 is an electronic circuit mainly composed of a microcomputer, and is connected to sensors and switches such as an outside air temperature sensor, an inside air temperature sensor, and an air conditioner switch operated by a driver, which are not shown. Various actuators 62 for air conditioner control, such as a blower motor and an air mix damper for switching air distribution, are connected. Then, arithmetic processing is performed based on data representing the state quantity, vehicle speed, engine speed, water temperature, etc. input from each sensor, and each actuator is driven and controlled. These various actuators 62 can be adjusted and controlled by an external signal via the in-vehicle LAN 9.
[0057]
The reading / writing device 71 reads driver information from the IC card 72 owned by the driver and makes the driver information stored in the in-vehicle LAN 9 in order to make this system function, as will be described in detail in the vehicle control processing described later. To the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 11 or the like. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the reading / writing device 71 is installed in the vehicle interior. Then, after the predetermined vehicle control process is completed, a change in driver information is written to the IC card 72 as necessary.
[0058]
The IC card 72 also serves as a driver's license and includes a predetermined capacity of memory. In this memory, the driver's license number, driving history (date of driving license acquisition), age, gender, residential area, driver's driving skill (traffic law violation history) for driver control , Traffic accident history) and driving preferences are stored.
[0059]
In this embodiment, the personal information such as the driver's license number, driving history, age, gender, and residential area is extracted from the police database that manages the driver's license data, and the driver's license (that is, the IC card 72). It is assumed that it is recorded in advance at the time of issuance or update. As for the driving skill, it is also assumed that data such as traffic law violation records and traffic accident records stored in the police database are recorded when the driver's license is updated. Furthermore, regarding the driving preference, the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 determines the vehicle traveling speed, acceleration, deceleration, inter-vehicle distance, etc. by the manual operation of the driver that changes according to various traveling environments such as the type of road, traveling area, or weather. The driving history is recorded to learn the tendency, and when the IC card 72 is extracted from the reading / writing device 71, the information is written to the IC card 72.
[0060]
On the other hand, the vehicle control information for performing vehicle control corresponding to the driver information is stored in the memory on the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 side. The vehicle control information is control information for performing vehicle control corresponding to various traveling environments based on personal information and driving skill included in the driver information. For example, for driver information where the driver's driving skill is determined to be immature due to driving history, driving skill, etc., set the inter-vehicle distance larger than usual, set the acceleration slower, or set the start of deceleration stronger Or the inter-vehicle distance control information for setting the upper limit vehicle speed within the limit vehicle speed is stored as the vehicle control information. That is, the vehicle control information has a different set value depending on the driver information.
[0061]
When the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 receives the driver information from the reading / writing device 71, the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 extracts the vehicle control information corresponding to the driver information from the memory, and executes the inter-vehicle control process according to the vehicle control information.
Next, the vehicle control processing of the present embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4 and the explanatory diagram of FIG. 3 is a process executed by the reading / writing device 71, and FIG. 4 is a process executed by the inter-vehicle control ECU 11.
[0062]
First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the driver loads his / her IC card 72 into the reading / writing device 71 and detects this on the reading / writing device 71 side (S110: YES), the reading / writing device 71 is loaded. Reads the driver information from the IC card 72 and transmits it to the inter-vehicle distance control ECU 11 (S120).
[0063]
Shifting to FIG. 4, when the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 receives the driver information transmitted from the reading / writing device 71 (S210: YES), the current inter-vehicle control (ACC) mode is operated by operating the cruise main switch 12 by the driver. It is determined whether or not (S220).
[0064]
At this time, if it is determined that the inter-vehicle distance control mode is set (S220: YES), the corresponding vehicle control information is extracted by referring to the memory based on the contents of the driver information (S230). For example, if the driver information is information indicating that the driver's driving skill is immature due to driving history, driving skill, etc., the inter-vehicle distance is made larger than usual, the acceleration is loosened, the rise of deceleration is strengthened, The inter-vehicle control information is set in which the upper limit vehicle speed is set within the limit vehicle speed and the warning sound generation timing is further advanced.
[0065]
For example, the setting for advancing the alarm sound timing is shown in FIG. In this case, if a standard vehicle (standard vehicle) is set to generate an alarm sound from the alarm buzzer 36 at a timing 3 seconds before the collision with the preceding vehicle, a driving accident is reported as driving skill information. For a vehicle (accident vehicle) driven by a driver with a long history, vehicle control information that generates an alarm sound from the alarm buzzer 36 at a timing 4 seconds before the collision with the preceding vehicle with a little margin is extracted. Is done. For this reason, the safety | security of the driver with a low driving skill can be aimed at. Information indicating the correspondence between the driver information and the inter-vehicle control information is stored in advance in the memory of the inter-vehicle control ECU 11.
[0066]
Then, based on the information such as the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, deceleration, and upper limit speed extracted at this time, information received from the laser radar sensor 8, etc., the inter-vehicle control calculation according to a preset inter-vehicle control program is performed. (S240). And based on this calculation result, various control signals mentioned above are transmitted to engine control ECU21, brake control ECU31, etc., and the target distance control is performed (S250).
[0067]
On the other hand, if it is determined in S220 that the vehicle distance control mode is not set, that is, the driver is in a manual driving state (S220: NO), then, in order to grasp the driving preference of the driver, the driving state for each road type is determined. To create a data map such as the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, and deceleration (S260).
[0068]
In this data map, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B for an ordinary road (one lane) in an urban area, the speed and the acceleration at that time (or deceleration: a negative value indicates deceleration). The average distance between the vehicles is recorded. Then, the inter-vehicle control along the information on the speed, acceleration and inter-vehicle distance appearing in this data map becomes the inter-vehicle control suitable for the driver's preference, and the information is stored as the vehicle control information. Similarly, data maps are created for other roads such as ordinary roads with two or more lanes or highways. The road type at this time is acquired from the vehicle road information received from the navigation ECU 41 via the in-vehicle LAN 9. If the data map created at this time is different from the content of the data map created up to the previous time, the vehicle control information is rewritten and updated to the content of the current data map as necessary.
[0069]
Then, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is stopped and the driving is ended (S270). If it is determined that the driving is not ended (S270: NO), the process returns to S220. On the other hand, when it is determined that the driving is finished (S270: YES), the vehicle control information stored in the memory is transmitted to the reading / writing device 71 (S280).
[0070]
Returning to FIG. 3, when the vehicle control information is received on the reading / writing device 71 side (S130: YES), it is determined whether or not the vehicle control information has been updated from the previous time (S140). If it is determined (S140: YES), this update information is written into the IC card 72 at the timing when the driver presses a predetermined button for extracting the IC card 72 from the reading / writing device 71 (S150). .
On the other hand, if it is determined that it has not been updated (S140: NO), the process ends.
[0071]
Note that the vehicle control information represented in the data map created in S260 of FIG. 4 is reflected in the subsequent vehicle control as representing the driving preference of the driver. That is, in the process of S230 in the next inter-vehicle distance control, since the driving preference is extracted as the vehicle control information, the inter-vehicle control that matches the driving preference is performed as long as there is no problem in the driving skill of the driver. Accordingly, vehicle travel control that matches the feeling of the driver is performed.
[0072]
As described above, according to the vehicle control system of the present embodiment, vehicle control information corresponding to the driver information is extracted and vehicle control based on this is performed. Travel control is performed on the safe side, and traffic accidents due to immature driving can be prevented in advance. In addition, for a driver with high driving skill, traveling control that matches the driving preference of the driver is performed, and the feeling of the driver can be satisfied. That is, the vehicle control system of the present embodiment can realize vehicle travel control suitable for each driver.
[0073]
In addition, since all the driver information of a specific driver is recorded on the IC card 72, the driver can bring the IC card 72 into the vehicle so that the vehicle can be used in any vehicle provided with the reading / writing device 71. The system can be used. As a result, it is particularly convenient when a plurality of vehicles to which the present system is applied are shared by a plurality of drivers. Furthermore, since the IC card 72 also serves as a driver's license, the driver does not feel that the carrying is particularly troublesome.
[0074]
In the present embodiment, the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 corresponds to a storage unit, an extraction unit, a learning unit, and an update unit, and the reading / writing device 71 corresponds to a reading unit and a writing unit. The inter-vehicle control ECU 11, the engine control ECU 21, and the brake control ECU 31 correspond to a control unit and an inter-vehicle control unit.
[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, information such as traffic law violation history and traffic accident history as driver information related to driving skill is updated at the same time when the driver's license is renewed. It is desirable that it can be acquired in real time from the viewpoint of safety and satisfying the driving preference of the driver.
[0075]
Therefore, in the present embodiment, an example will be described in which information such as traffic law violation information and traffic accident information is acquired in real time via the Internet so that the functions of the system can be more effectively exhibited. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the vehicle control system of the present embodiment. Since the configuration of the control circuit and the like of the vehicle control system of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description of the same components is omitted.
[0076]
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that a management center (police traffic management system) 4 for managing traffic violation information and traffic accident information of a driver is connected to the Internet 2 as a wide area network.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the vehicle control system of the present embodiment, an in-vehicle device 10 similar to that of the first embodiment is mounted on the vehicle side. This system is compatible with so-called IPv6, which has been studied for introduction in recent years, and the in-vehicle device 10 is set with an IP address for identifying the vehicle. For this reason, by using this IP address, the communication device 14 of the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 is configured to be communicably connected to the manager terminal 5 on the management center 4 side via the Internet 2.
[0077]
Next, vehicle control processing executed in this system will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Note that the processing executed by the reading / writing device 71 in this embodiment is the same as the processing in FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment, so that the description thereof is omitted and only the processing of the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 is performed. I will explain.
[0078]
As shown in FIG. 7, when the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 receives the driver information transmitted from the reading / writing device 71 (S310: YES), the inter-vehicle control (ACC) mode is operated by operating the cruise main switch 12 by the driver. It is determined whether or not (S320).
[0079]
At this time, if it is determined that the inter-vehicle control mode is not set, that is, the driver is in the manual driving state (S320: NO), then, in order to grasp the driver's driving preference, the inter-vehicle distance is determined from the driving state for each road type. A data map of distance, acceleration, deceleration, etc. is created (S330). Since this content is the same as the processing in S260 of FIG. 4, the description thereof is omitted.
[0080]
On the other hand, when it is determined in S320 that the vehicle distance control mode is set (S320: YES), the corresponding vehicle control information is extracted by referring to the memory based on the contents of the driver information (S340). .
At the same time, the driver's license number is extracted from the driver information, and the driver's license number is transmitted as personal information from the communication device 14 to the management center 4. Requests transmission of driving skill information such as information. This personal information or the like is sent to the manager terminal 5 via the Internet 2.
[0081]
Then, since the management center 4 that has received this personal information transmits traffic law violation information and traffic accident information of the corresponding driver, the communication device 14 receives these information as driver information (S350). .
Then, it is determined whether or not there is no problem in the safe driving degree of the driver from the traffic law violation information and traffic accident information of the driver received at this time and the driving history information read from the IC card 72 (S360).
[0082]
The degree of safe driving can be evaluated based on the number of violations of traffic laws and traffic accidents within a certain period, the content of violations, and the like. Further, for example, the evaluation can be made based on the number of times the driver suddenly brakes, acceleration, deceleration, and the like extracted from the driving history information stored during manual driving. The type and number of evaluation parameters and their reference values at this time are appropriately set when the system is constructed.
[0083]
At this time, if it is determined that there is a problem with the safe driving degree of the driver, that is, the safe driving degree is lower than a predetermined reference value (S360: YES), the safety degree is standard among the vehicle control information. Vehicle control information higher than control is extracted. Here, the standard control means general vehicle control that does not consider the driver's safe driving degree at all. Therefore, as vehicle control information with a safety level higher than that of the standard control, the inter-vehicle distance is made larger than usual, the acceleration is slowed, the start of deceleration is strengthened, the upper limit vehicle speed is set within the limit vehicle speed, and the alarm sound generation timing is set. The inter-vehicle control information for which advancement or the like is set is extracted.
[0084]
Then, based on the information such as the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, deceleration, and upper limit speed extracted at this time, information received from the laser radar sensor 8, etc., the inter-vehicle control calculation process according to a preset inter-vehicle control program is performed. (S370). And based on this calculation result, various control signals mentioned above are transmitted to engine control ECU21, brake control ECU31, etc., and target inter-vehicle distance control is performed (S380). This inter-vehicle distance control is continued until the inter-vehicle control mode is turned off by the operation of the cruise main switch 12 by the driver (S390).
[0085]
On the other hand, if it is determined in S360 that there is no problem in the safe driving degree of the driver (S360: NO), the inter-vehicle control information set to the standard control is extracted. At this time, if the driver information includes information indicating the driving preference, the inter-vehicle control information that matches the driving preference is extracted.
[0086]
Then, based on the information such as the inter-vehicle distance, acceleration, deceleration, and upper limit speed extracted at this time, information received from the laser radar sensor 8, etc., the inter-vehicle control calculation process according to a preset inter-vehicle control program is performed. (S400). And based on this calculation result, various control signals mentioned above are transmitted to engine control ECU21, brake control ECU31, etc., and the target distance control is performed (S410). This inter-vehicle distance control is continued until the inter-vehicle control mode is turned off by the operation of the cruise main switch 12 by the driver (S420).
[0087]
Then, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is stopped and the driving is ended (S430). If it is determined that the driving is not ended (S430: NO), the process returns to S320. On the other hand, when it is determined that the driving is finished (S430: YES), the safe driving degree is evaluated (S440).
[0088]
This evaluation of safe driving is an evaluation of whether or not the driver's safety has improved compared to the previous safe driving. The types and number of evaluation parameters and the reference values for evaluation are as follows. , S360 may be the same or different. It is set as appropriate when constructing this system.
[0089]
If it is evaluated that the degree of safe driving is improved (S450: YES), the driver information is rewritten and updated so that vehicle control information that matches the driving preference of the driver can be selected from the next time (S460). Then, the updated driver information is transmitted to the reading / writing device 71 (S470). On the other hand, when it is evaluated in S450 that the degree of safe driving is not improved or decreased (S450: NO), driver information indicating that is transmitted to the reading / writing device 71 (S470).
That is, when information such as traffic law violations or traffic accidents has been increased by the communication device 14, the fact is added to the driver information and transmitted to the reading / writing device 71.
[0090]
As described above, according to the inter-vehicle distance control system of the present embodiment, information representing the driving skill of the driver is acquired in real time via the Internet 2 during vehicle control. Can be grasped more realistically. And by performing vehicle control according to it, not only the driver but also the surrounding safety can be ensured.
[0091]
In this embodiment, the communication device 14 further corresponds to a transmission unit and a reception unit, and the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 corresponds to a determination unit, a second determination unit, and a second update unit.
[Third embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the driver information about the driving skill and driving preference is recorded on the IC card 72 also used as a driver's license, and based on this, the vehicle running control adapted to the driver is shown. Along with this, it is possible to construct a structure for preventing theft of the vehicle by the IC card 72 also used as the driver's license.
[0092]
Therefore, in this embodiment, an example of a vehicle control system configured to start the engine only for an appropriate driver based on the driver information recorded on the IC card 72 will be described. Since the configuration of the control circuit and the like of the vehicle control system of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description of the same components is omitted.
[0093]
In the memory of the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 of the present embodiment, an identification code for determining whether the driver's license is not a forgery license, that is, whether it is a regular driver's license, is stored in advance. If this identification code is not recorded on the card 72 or if the recorded identification code does not match, it is determined that the card 72 is a forgery license and the engine is controlled so that it cannot be started.
[0094]
In addition, the memory stores information on a list of permitted drivers who are permitted to drive the vehicle, and only when the driver is a permitted driver with reference to the driver information read from the IC card 72. The vehicle engine is controlled to be startable. This driver-permitted list can be managed, for example, by recording a part of the driver's license data (driver's license code) in a memory in the presence of the purchaser at the vehicle dealer when purchasing the vehicle.
[0095]
Hereinafter, based on the flowchart of FIG. 8, the vehicle control process executed by the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 of the present embodiment will be described.
First, when the driver loads his / her IC card 72 into the reading / writing device 71 and the reading / writing device 71 detects this, the reading / writing device 71 reads the driver information from the IC card 72. It transmits to inter-vehicle control ECU11.
[0096]
Then, as shown in FIG. 8, when the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 receives the driver information transmitted from the reading / writing device 71 (S510: YES), it is first determined whether or not the driver's license is genuine. Is determined (S520). That is, it is determined whether or not the identification code stored in the memory in advance as described above matches the identification code extracted from the driver information. If the identification code does not match, it is determined that the license is a forged license (S520). : NO), a control signal for generating an alarm sound is output to the brake control ECU 31 via the alarm buzzer 36 (S530).
[0097]
On the other hand, if the identification code matches in S520 and it is determined that the driver's license is a legitimate driver's license (S520: YES), then it is extracted from the driver permit list and driver information stored in the memory in advance. The personal information is collated, and it is determined whether or not the driver is a person permitted to drive the vehicle (S540). If it is determined that the person is a driving permitter (S540: YES), a signal for permitting engine start is output to the engine control ECU 21 (S600). Thereafter, the vehicle control process described in the first embodiment or the second embodiment is executed.
[0098]
On the other hand, if it is determined in S540 that the driver is not permitted to drive the vehicle (S540: NO), a signal for prompting new user registration is subsequently transmitted to the navigation ECU 41. . At this time, a predetermined new user registration setting screen is displayed on the display device 45 of the navigation device 40, and an input for confirming the intention of new user registration is prompted (S550).
[0099]
At this time, if a predetermined input for requesting a new user registration is not made by the driver via the operation switch group 44 (S560: NO), it is determined that the driver is not an authorized person, and the alarm buzzer 36 is used. Then, a control signal for generating an alarm sound is output to the brake control ECU 31 (S530).
[0100]
On the other hand, in S560, when the intention of new registration by the driver's input is confirmed (S560: YES), the user is prompted to input the password acquired from the vehicle owner (S570). In other words, in the present embodiment, a vehicle use authorized person can be added by inputting a specific password held by the vehicle owner.
[0101]
If the password input by the driver matches the password of the owner stored in advance in the memory (S580: YES), the driver information of the driver is registered in the operation authorized person list of the memory (S590). Then, a signal for permitting start of the engine is output to the engine control ECU 21 (S600). Thereafter, the vehicle control process described in the first embodiment or the second embodiment is executed.
[0102]
On the other hand, if the password entered by the driver does not match the owner's password stored in the memory in advance in S580 (S580: NO), it is determined that the driver is not an authorized person, and an alarm is issued via the alarm buzzer 36. A control signal for generating sound is output to the brake control ECU 31 (S530).
[0103]
As described above, according to the inter-vehicle control system of the present embodiment, based on the driver information recorded on the IC card 72, it is authenticated whether or not the driver is permitted to drive the vehicle. Since the start of the vehicle engine is permitted only when this authentication is performed, theft of the vehicle by the third party IC card 72 can be prevented in advance. Furthermore, since the engine does not start unless the recording medium is presented, it is possible to prevent the driver from driving without a license.
[0104]
In this embodiment, the inter-vehicle control ECU 11 further corresponds to the authentication unit. As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that embodiment of this invention can take various forms, as long as it belongs to the technical scope of this invention, without being limited to the said Example at all. Nor.
[0105]
For example, from the viewpoint of satisfying the driving preference of the driver, it is also preferable to automatically control the driving environment in the vehicle such as the passenger compartment temperature, the seat position, or the mirror position. Accordingly, driving environment information such as the driver's preferred vehicle interior temperature, seat position or mirror position is recorded in advance on the IC card 72 as driver information, and the reading / writing device is used during driving by the driver. When 71 reads this driver information, a control signal for realizing the content may be transmitted to the body ECU 51 immediately.
[0106]
According to such a configuration, adjustment control of the driver's preferred vehicle interior temperature, seat position, mirror position, etc. is immediately performed. For this reason, a comfortable driving environment is automatically provided to the driver unconsciously.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which a reading / writing device and an IC card of the vehicle control system according to the first embodiment are installed in a vehicle interior.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a vehicle control process according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a vehicle control process according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a vehicle control process according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a vehicle control process according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a vehicle control process according to a third embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 ... Internet, 4 ... Management Center, 5 ... Administrator Terminal,
8 ... Laser radar sensor, 10 ... In-vehicle device, 14 ... Communication device,
71 ... Read / write device, 72 ... IC card,
11: Inter-vehicle distance control ECU, 21: Engine control ECU,
31 ... Brake control ECU, 41 ... Navigation ECU,
51 ... Body ECU, 61 ... Air-conditioner ECU

Claims (13)

Storage means for storing a plurality of preset vehicle control information in association with each other for each of a plurality of driver information, in order to perform driving control of the vehicle set in advance according to the driver information,
Reading means for reading the driver information including the identification information from a portable recording medium in which the identification information of the driver included in at least the driver information is recorded in advance;
Extraction means for extracting vehicle control information corresponding to the driver information from the storage means based on driver information corresponding to the identification information read by the reading means;
Control means for controlling the running of the vehicle based on the vehicle control information extracted by the extracting means;
With
The recording medium is configured to record at least one of a driver's traffic law violation information and traffic accident information as the driver information,
When the traffic information violation information or traffic accident information is read by the reading means, the extracting means extracts vehicle control information having a safety level higher than that of standard control from the vehicle control information. A vehicle control system. The control means includes an inter-vehicle distance control means that executes inter-vehicle distance control based on a preceding vehicle that travels ahead of the host vehicle based on the vehicle control information.
2. The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the inter-vehicle distance control means performs inter-vehicle distance control based on the inter-vehicle distance control parameter extracted by the extracting means as the vehicle control information. On the recording medium, all corresponding driver information including the identification information is recorded,
The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit reads the driver information.   The vehicle control system according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is an IC card that also serves as a driver's license. The vehicle control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a learning means for recording a driving history at the time of manual driving of the driver and learning a driving preference of the driver from the driving history,
The vehicle control system, wherein the driver information includes driving preference information learned by the learning means. The vehicle control system according to claim 5, further comprising:
A vehicle control system, comprising: an updating unit that updates the driving preference information with the changed content when the driving preference of the driver learned by the learning unit changes . The vehicle control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , further comprising:
A transmission means for accessing the management center that manages at least one of the traffic law violation information and traffic accident information of the driver via a wide area network and transmitting personal information included in the driver information;
Receiving means for receiving, as the driver information, at least one of the corresponding traffic law violation information and traffic accident information transmitted from the management center that has received the personal information via the wide area network;
With
The extraction means, when the receiving means receives at least one of the traffic law violation information and traffic accident information, extracts vehicle control information having a safety level higher than that of the standard control from the vehicle control information. A vehicle control system. The vehicle control system according to claim 7 , further comprising:
Based on each information received by the receiving means, comprising a determining means for determining a safe driving degree of the driver,
The extraction means extracts vehicle control information having a safety level higher than that of the standard control from the vehicle control information when the safe driving level determined by the determination means is lower than a predetermined reference value. Vehicle control system. The vehicle control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , further comprising: a second determination unit that records a driving history during manual driving of the driver and determines a safe driving degree of the driver from the driving history. Prepared,
The extraction means extracts vehicle control information having a safety level higher than that of the standard control from the vehicle control information when the safe driving level determined by the second determination means is lower than a predetermined reference value. A vehicle control system. The vehicle control system according to claim 8 or 9 , further comprising:
When the determination means or the second determination means determines that the degree of safe driving is higher than the predetermined reference value, the driver information is changed to the standard control or the control that matches the driving preference of the driver. A vehicle control system comprising second update means for updating corresponding vehicle control information to information for selecting. The vehicle control system according to claim 10 , further comprising:
A vehicle control system comprising writing means for writing the driver information updated by the second updating means to the recording medium. The vehicle control system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
An authentication means for authenticating that the driver is a predetermined operation permitter or a new operation permitter,
The vehicle control system is characterized by permitting the start of the engine of the vehicle only when it is authenticated by the authentication means.   The vehicle control system according to claim 1, further comprising:
  In the recording medium, driving environment information that matches the driver's preference is recorded,
  The reading means is configured to read the driving environment information,
  Adjusting means for performing adjustment control of the driving environment of the vehicle based on the driving environment information read by the reading means;
  A vehicle control system comprising:

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