JP3972750B2 - Driving assistance device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a driving support device that supports a driver by providing support information to the driver according to a position based on information obtained from outside the vehicle and information stored and stored.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The position of the host vehicle is grasped by GPS, a gyro device, etc., and a route to the destination is guided using images and sounds based on map information stored and stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk. A vehicle-mounted navigation device is known. The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-50765 is an example of such a technique, and when it is determined that the map data is old, the map data can be obtained and updated from the information center via communication means. Is.
[0003]
Apart from these navigation devices, ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) is being developed, and in order to support safe driving, information such as the driving environment is provided in real time by road-to-vehicle communication. At the same time, development of AHS (Advanced Cruise-assist Highway Systems) that provides warnings and operation support as necessary is underway.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the road conditions change from moment to moment. AHS, which provides information from the road side, can respond to changes in road conditions in real time on roads with a system in place, but it does not function on roads that do not have a system in place and does not depend on the driving location. It is not always possible to provide accurate information. When data is accumulated on the vehicle side like in-vehicle navigation devices, it is necessary to update the data according to the road conditions, but if the discrepancy between old data and road conditions is large, incorrect information is provided As a result, the reliability of the driver's system is reduced.
[0005]
Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the driving assistance apparatus which can suppress the driving assistance based on misinformation.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a driving support apparatus according to the present invention includes a position specifying unit that specifies a current position of a vehicle, an information receiving unit that receives predetermined information from an information center outside the vehicle, and a driving support associated with the position information. The storage means for accumulating and storing information, the information providing means for providing the driver with predetermined support information by predetermined voice or image, and updating the information stored in the storage means based on the predetermined information And a control unit that determines the support information to be notified to the driver by the information providing means based on the position of the vehicle, the driving support information is information on the vehicle behavior, and the driving support information is And providing information on a support level corresponding to the level of driving support information .
[0007]
For example, the level of support information is set to a high level of information that has just been updated by the information communication means, and the level is lowered as time passes. And since the high level is set about the information with high possibility of being accurate, high level driving assistance, such as outputting an alarm, is performed. On the other hand, a low level is set for old information. However, since such information may be inaccurate, only low-level driving assistance, for example, information provision is provided. As a result, the driver can also recognize the accuracy of information at the time of driving assistance, so the reliability of the system is improved and effective driving assistance can be performed.
[0008]
It is preferable to change the level of the assistance information based on the driving operation of the driver with respect to the assistance information. When the driver performs the driving operation according to the support information, the support information is highly likely to be accurate, and the level of the support information may be raised. On the other hand, if the driver ignores the support information and performs a driving operation contrary to this, the support information is likely to be inaccurate, and even if it is accurate, it is likely to be troublesome support for the driver. Therefore, it is considered that the level of the support information may be lowered. Thus, by changing the support information level according to the driving operation of the driver with respect to the support information, the possibility of providing erroneous support information or troublesome support information is reduced, and thus reliability is improved.
[0009]
It is preferable to further include transmission means for transmitting information related to the support information whose level has been changed to the information center. According to this, the information center can update the database based on information obtained from a plurality of vehicles, and can always provide highly accurate information, thereby further improving the reliability of the system.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate the understanding of the description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components in the drawings as much as possible, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a driving support system including a driving support device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of the driving support device.
[0012]
The driving support device 2 according to the present invention is mounted on the vehicle 1, receives a signal from the GPS satellite 4 by the GPS antenna 201, and identifies the current position and orientation of the vehicle with reference to the outputs of the gyro device 202 and the G sensor 203. Position specifying means 20, communication means (including both information receiving means and information transmitting means according to the present invention) 21 for exchanging information with the information center 5 via the transceiver 210, map information (information on the road 3) Storage means 22 that stores and stores driving support information as a database associated therewith, information providing means 23 that has a speaker 231 and a display 232 and provides predetermined information to the driver using voice and images; The control ECU 24 controls the entire driving support device 2. In addition to this, various signals indicating the driver's operation state (brake, accelerator, blinker, etc.) and vehicle state (vehicle speed, acceleration, engine speed, etc.) are input to the control ECU 24.
[0013]
A server 50 is disposed in the information center 5 and includes storage means 51 that stores predetermined driving support information as a database associated with map information. The server 50 is further connected to the transceiver 30 of the base station via the communication means 52.
[0014]
The storage means 22 and 51 are a combination of a read / write storage medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM and a read / write storage medium in addition to a read / write storage medium such as a hard disk or a magneto-optical disk. Also good. For the transceivers 30 and 210, a mobile phone, a wireless device, or the like can be used. When an existing mobile phone network is used, the base station is a base station managed by a mobile phone company, and the communication means 52 of the information center 5 may use a normal telephone line.
[0015]
The driving support information includes information such as a curve shape, a road gradient, a temporary stop position, a speed limit section, an overtaking prohibition section, and a school zone. An evaluation value (evaluation level) is set for each piece of support information, more specifically, for each piece of support information associated with a road position. The driving support device according to the present invention is characterized in that the support operation is switched according to the evaluation level.
[0016]
Details of this support operation will be described below. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the main process of the support operation, FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts for explaining the driving support process and the information updating process, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the data transmission / reception process. . These processes are mainly executed by the control ECU 24, and the processes of FIGS. 3 and 6 are repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing. Note that the processing in FIG. 3 (including the processing in FIGS. 4 and 5) and the processing in FIG. 6 may be executed in parallel, or may be executed after one is completed and the other is executed.
[0017]
First, the processing of FIG. 3 will be described. In step S <b> 1, the position specifying unit 20 specifies the current position and direction of the vehicle 1 based on the satellite information received by the GPS antenna 201, the output of the gyro device 202, the G sensor 203, and the like. Subsequently, support information corresponding to the current position and orientation identified from the database stored in the storage means 22 is read (step S2). In step S3, the presence / absence of support information is determined.
[0018]
If there is no corresponding support information, it is not necessary to perform driving support, so the subsequent processing is skipped and the process ends. If there is corresponding support information, the process proceeds to the driving support process in step S4. In this driving support process (see FIG. 4), first, in step S11, the information level of the driving support information is determined. As shown in FIG. 7, this information level is set to an initial value N of a high level that exceeds the threshold value a when being input / updated in the storage means 22, and the level value is lowered as time elapses from the update. However, after the level value reaches a predetermined value c below the threshold value b, the level value is fixed at c in principle.
[0019]
When the level value is a or more, that is, when the information is relatively new, the process proceeds to step S12 and the support level is set to “alarm”. If the level value is greater than or equal to b and less than a, that is, if the information has passed a certain amount of time since the update, the process proceeds to step S13 and the support level is set to “information provision”. When the level value is less than b (c or more), the support level is set to “do nothing”.
[0020]
After setting the support level, the process proceeds to step S15 to determine whether the support start condition is ON. The support start condition is a determination condition that is turned on when the difference between the vehicle behavior predicted from the support information and the current vehicle behavior is large. For example, when the support information is information indicating a temporary stop position, In the current driving conditions, it is set to ON when it is determined that there is a high possibility that the vehicle will not stop at the temporary stop position, and when the support information is curve shape information, the speed is appropriate when approaching the curve. It is set to ON when it is determined not to decelerate.
[0021]
When the support start condition is set to ON, the process proceeds to step S16, and support according to the support level set in steps S12 to S14 is performed. Specifically, when the level value is a or more, the information providing unit 23 instructs the driver to perform an appropriate operation by voice and image via the speaker 231 and the display 232. For example, when approaching the temporary stop position, an alarm is issued by voice such as “This is the temporary stop position. Please stop.” When the level value is not less than b and less than a, the information providing unit 23 only provides support information. For example, when the vehicle is approaching the temporary stop position, the driver is alerted by outputting a sound such as “Now approaching the temporary stop position”. When the level value is less than b, the information providing unit 23 does not provide information.
[0022]
As a result, by switching the support operation according to the level value of the information, if the support information is new and high in accuracy, an alarm is issued, and if the support information is old and there is a possibility that the accuracy is low, the information is only provided. As a result, appropriate driving assistance can be performed, and reliability is improved.
[0023]
If the support start condition is OFF, the process of step S16 is skipped. In subsequent step S17, it is determined whether or not the support end condition is turned ON. For example, if the support information is temporary stop position information, the support end condition is turned on when passing the temporary stop position. If the support information is a curve, the support end condition is turned on when the intermediate position of the curve is passed. It is a judgment condition. If the support end condition is not ON, the process returns to step S15 to continue the support process. On the other hand, when the support end condition is turned ON, the process is ended.
[0024]
After completion of the driving support process in step S4, the information update process (see FIG. 5) in step S5 is performed. First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the driver's vehicle operation during the support process matches the expected behavior. Specifically, if the support information is temporary stop position information, it is whether or not the vehicle is temporarily stopped near the temporary stop position, and if the support information is a curve shape, whether or not the vehicle is decelerated to the initial low speed or less.
[0025]
If the expected behavior matches the driver's operation, it is determined that the accuracy of the support information is high, and the process proceeds to step S22 to increase the information level value. However, if it exceeds the initial value N at the time of update due to the increase, it is set to the initial value N. On the other hand, if the behavior does not match the described behavior, it is determined that the accuracy of the support information is low or the driver does not place importance on providing the support information, and the process proceeds to step S23 to decrease the information level value. Let However, when it falls below the predetermined value c due to the decrease, it is set to the predetermined value c. In the next step S24, transmission data to be transmitted to the information center 5 is created and the process ends.
[0026]
In this way, by changing the evaluation value based on the vehicle behavior by the driver's operation, the provision of erroneous support information and frequent information that the driver feels annoying are suppressed, and only highly accurate information is provided This improves the reliability of the driver's system.
[0027]
Next, data transmission / reception processing will be described. First, in step S31, it is determined whether or not the transceiver 210 of the vehicle 1 and the transceiver 30 of the base station are in a state where transmission and reception are possible. If it is determined that transmission / reception is not possible, for example, if the user is outside the transmission / reception area, the subsequent processing is skipped and the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that transmission / reception is possible, the process proceeds to step S32 to perform data communication. At this time, information that can identify the support information whose evaluation value has been changed in steps S22 and S23 and change information of the evaluation value are sent from the vehicle 1 side to the information center 5. On the other hand, the information center 5 transmits update support information in the vicinity of the vehicle 1 stored in the storage unit 51 to the vehicle 1. In step S33, it is checked whether there is update information newer than the storage information in the storage means 22 in the received data. If there is no update information, the subsequent processing is skipped and the process ends. If there is update information, the process proceeds to step S34, where the information in the storage means 22 is replaced or added with the update information, and the information level of the update information is updated to N. If the support level already exists but the information level is low, only the information level may be updated based on the information from the information center 5.
[0028]
Thereby, the latest information can always be acquired from the information center 5. On the other hand, the server 50 of the information center 5 changes the information level of the support information in the storage means 51 based on the update information received from a plurality of vehicles. Thereby, the latest data can be collected automatically, and the reliability of the system can be further improved.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the support information is leveled according to its accuracy and the driving assistance is performed according to the level, the driver can also recognize the accuracy of the information at the time of driving assistance. This improves driving performance and enables effective driving support.
[0030]
Furthermore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the information by changing the level of the support information according to the match / mismatch of the behavior caused by the driver's operation and the expected behavior from the support information. To improve the reliability of the system.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a driving support system including a driving support device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of the driving support device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a main process of driving support of the driving support apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a driving support process in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining information update processing 1 in FIG. 3;
6 is a flowchart illustrating transmission / reception data processing with the information center of the driving support apparatus in FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 7 is a graph showing temporal changes in the level of support information.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2 ... Driving assistance apparatus, 3 ... Road, 4 ... GPS satellite, 5 ... Information center, 20 ... Position specification means, 21, 52 ... Communication means, 22 ... Memory | storage means, 23 ... Information provision means, 24 ... Control ECU 30, 210 ... Transceiver, 50 ... Server, 51 ... Database, 201 ... GPS antenna, 202 ... Gyro device, 203 ... G sensor, 231 ... Speaker, 232 ... Display.

Claims (4)

Position specifying means for specifying the current position of the vehicle, information receiving means for receiving predetermined information from an information center outside the vehicle, storage means for accumulating and storing driving support information associated with the position information, and predetermined voice to the driver Alternatively, information providing means for providing predetermined support information by an image, and updating the information stored in the storage means based on the predetermined information and the information providing means based on the information and the position of the vehicle In a driving support device comprising a control unit for determining support information to be notified to the driver,
The driving support information is information related to vehicle behavior,
The driving support device is characterized by leveling the driving support information for each information and providing information of a support level according to a level of the driving support information .   The driving support device according to claim 1, wherein the level of the update information is set high, and the level is lowered with time.   The driving support device according to claim 2, wherein the level of the support information is changed based on the driving operation of the driver with respect to the support information.   The driving support device according to claim 3, further comprising information transmission means for transmitting information related to the support information whose level has been changed to the information center.

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