JP4088288B2 - Vehicle periphery monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle periphery monitoring device that monitors the periphery of a vehicle by capturing and displaying an image in the left-right direction of the vehicle.

  Conventionally, a driver installed in the front of the vehicle captures an image in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and displays the image on a display device installed in the vehicle so that the driver can monitor the surroundings of the vehicle. Vehicle periphery monitoring devices have been developed. According to this device, even when a vehicle with a long bonnet portion enters an intersection with poor visibility, the driver can check whether there is an approaching vehicle or the like at an early timing.

  By the way, depending on the road intersecting with the road on which the host vehicle is traveling, it is desirable to enlarge and display an image of a relatively distant vehicle approaching at high speed, or a nearby image including a low-speed moving body such as a pedestrian May be desired to be displayed in a wide range.

  In order to cope with such a request, in Patent Document 1, when the priority of a road that intersects with the road on which the vehicle travels is higher, an image obtained from the imaging unit based on the intersection angle of the intersecting road with respect to the traveling road. It is possible to easily detect the presence or absence of an approaching vehicle from a distance by deciding whether or not the target road can be photographed even if it is enlarged and displaying the enlarged image on the display means when it is judged that the subject can be photographed. It can be confirmed. In addition, when the priority of the road on which the vehicle is traveling is high and the vehicle turns right or left with respect to the crossing road, only the image in the direction instructed by the turn signal is displayed on the display means. The situation can be confirmed.

  In Patent Document 2, based on the intersection angle of a road that intersects the road on which the host vehicle travels, it is determined whether or not the imaging of the intersection road is possible by the imaging unit, and an image in a direction in which imaging can be performed is displayed. The image in the impossible direction is not displayed. In addition, when the width of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is equal to or greater than the predetermined width or the number of lanes on the road on which the host vehicle is traveling is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, the image is not displayed to prevent unnecessary display. ing.

JP-A-9-35196 JP 2003-276506 A

  In this case, in Patent Document 1, when the priority of the intersecting road is high, the image is only displayed in an enlarged manner, and the left and right images are not selected. Even if there is a separation zone and only the vehicle entering from the right side is important, the left and right images are displayed, and thus there is a possibility that the necessary images cannot be displayed in a desired state.

  In the case of Patent Document 2, only images that can be captured or necessary images are displayed and other images are not displayed, and the display range of the left and right images is set according to the situation of the intersecting road. Since it cannot be adjusted, for example, a desired image cannot be displayed and confirmed in a wide range.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and displays an image in the left-right direction of an intersecting road intersecting a road on which a vehicle is traveling at an appropriate ratio according to the road attribute of the intersecting road. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle periphery monitoring device capable of appropriately confirming road conditions based on a display image.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention determines whether or not the vehicle is approaching the intersection by the intersection approach determining means, and when it is determined that the vehicle is approaching the intersection, the road attribute of the intersection road passing through the intersection is determined. Information is detected by road attribute information detection means, and based on the detected road attribute information, the display ratio by the display means of the left-right image captured by the imaging means is determined, and each image is determined by the image processing means according to the display ratio. Is processed and displayed on the display means.

  In this case, the intersection approach judging means judges whether or not the vehicle is approaching the intersection based on the traveling position of the vehicle detected by the traveling position detecting means and the position information of the intersection stored in the map information storage means. The road attribute information detecting means can detect the road attribute information of the intersection road passing through the intersection stored in the map information storage means.

  The display ratio determining means is a road width of a predetermined width or more when the road attribute information of the detected crossing road is information having a median strip, information indicating one-way traffic, information indicating two lanes or more, If it is information indicating that there is no pedestrian road or if it is information indicating that it does not have a pedestrian road, it is sufficient to be able to recognize a vehicle approaching the lane near the own vehicle on the crossing road from one direction. On the other hand, it is determined to set a display ratio for mainly displaying the image in one direction.

Further, the display ratio determining means has information indicating that the detected road attribute information of the intersecting road is one lane or less, information indicating a road width less than a predetermined width, or has a pedestrian road. In the case of information indicating that, it is necessary to recognize a vehicle approaching from both directions of the crossing road or a pedestrian or the like, so a determination to set a display ratio for displaying a bidirectional image on the display means is made. Do.
If it is determined that there is a pedestrian road, the display ratio of the left and right images is set equal and displayed on the display means.

  Furthermore, when the traveling speed of the host vehicle is detected by the speed detecting means and it is determined that the host vehicle is approaching the intersection at a predetermined speed or less, it can be determined that the driver has an intention to turn the vehicle left or right. Therefore, display based on the determination result by the display ratio determination means is performed.

In the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present invention, the right and left images of the intersection road intersecting the road on which the vehicle is traveling are displayed at an appropriate ratio according to the road attributes of the intersection road. The situation can be confirmed appropriately. In particular, when there is a pedestrian road on the crossing road, it is possible to avoid an oversight of the pedestrian by setting the display ratio of the left and right images to be equal.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a vehicle periphery monitoring device 10 of the present embodiment.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device 10 is particularly effective for a vehicle in which a bonnet protrudes forward, and is mounted on both front sides of the vehicle, for example, left and right ends of a front bumper. A left-direction monitoring camera 12 and a right-direction monitoring camera 14 (imaging means) such as a CCD camera to be acquired, and a GPS receiver 18 (traveling position detection means) that detects the traveling position of the vehicle based on a signal received by the GPS antenna 16. ), A vehicle speed sensor 20 (speed detection means) for detecting the vehicle speed, a function for guiding information relating to the travel position of the vehicle to the passenger according to the map information, and the acquired left-right image according to the road condition And a navigation device 22 having a function of processing and displaying.

  The navigation device 22 includes an arithmetic circuit 28 (intersection approach judgment means, road attribute information detection means) to which the GPS receiver 18, the vehicle speed sensor 20, the map information storage unit 24 (map information storage unit), and the display ratio information storage unit 26 are connected. Display ratio determination means) and a display control section 36 (image processing means) to which the left image storage section 30, right image storage section 32, and display section 34 (display means) are connected.

  The map information storage unit 24 is a map including road location information such as intersection position information, road priority, number of lanes, road width, one-way traffic, presence / absence of a median, presence / absence of pedestrian roads, etc. Store information. The priority of the road is set higher, for example, when the road is wider, higher than the prefectural road, and higher in the number of lanes. The display ratio information storage unit 26 stores the display ratio when each image captured by the left monitoring camera 12 and the right monitoring camera 14 is displayed on the display unit 34 in association with the road attribute information.

  The arithmetic circuit 28 reads out map information corresponding to the travel position of the vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 18 from the map information storage section 24 and outputs it to the display control section 36 or passes through an intersection approaching the travel position. The road attribute information of the intersection road is read from the map information storage unit 24, and the display ratio corresponding to the road attribute information is read from the display ratio information storage unit 26 and output to the display control unit 36.

  The display control unit 36 displays the map information supplied from the arithmetic circuit 28 on the display unit 34, or stores the leftward image of the vehicle stored in the left image storage unit 30 and the right image storage unit 32. The image of the vehicle in the right direction is combined according to the display ratio supplied from the arithmetic circuit 28 and displayed on the display unit 34.

  The vehicle periphery monitoring device 10 of the present embodiment is basically configured as described above. Next, the operation of the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2 and the example of the vehicle traveling situation shown in FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the vehicle travels on the left-hand traffic.

  First, while the host vehicle 38 is traveling on the travel path 40, the GPS receiver 18 detects the travel position of the host vehicle 38 based on the signal received by the GPS antenna 16 (step S1). Information about the detected travel position is supplied to the arithmetic circuit 28 of the navigation device 22. The arithmetic circuit 28 acquires map information including road attribute information of surrounding roads centered on the travel position of the host vehicle 38 from the map information storage unit 24 (step S2).

  The arithmetic circuit 28 compares the vehicle speed Vs of the host vehicle 38 supplied from the vehicle speed sensor 20 with a predetermined determination value Th1 (step S3). If Vs ≦ Th1, that is, the host vehicle 38 is determined from the determination value Th1. If the vehicle is traveling at a high speed, it is determined that the driver does not intend to make a right or left turn. Therefore, the arithmetic circuit 28 transmits the map information of the surrounding road centered on the travel position of the host vehicle 38 acquired in step S <b> 2 to the display control unit 36. The display control unit 36 displays the transmitted map information on the display unit 34 as a navigation image (step S4).

  If it is determined in step S3 that Vs ≦ Th1, the arithmetic circuit 28 compares the position information of the intersection included in the map information with the traveling position of the own vehicle 38, and the intersection is located near the traveling direction of the own vehicle 38. It is determined whether or not there is (step S5). When there is no intersection, the display of the navigation image on the display unit 34 is continued (step S4).

  In step S5, when it is determined that there is an intersection in the vicinity of the travel position of the host vehicle 38, the intersection road 42 into which the host vehicle 38 enters is determined from the travel path 40 based on the road attribute information acquired from the map information storage unit 24. It is also determined whether the road has a high priority (step S6).

  For example, when the road width of the intersection road 42 is narrower than the road width of the traveling path 40 of the own vehicle 38, the intersection road 42 is a prefectural road, whereas the traveling road 40 of the own vehicle 38 is a national road, or When the number of lanes of the travel path 40 of the host vehicle 38 is greater than the number of lanes 42, the priority of the travel path 40 of the host vehicle 38 is higher than that of the intersection road 42, and is higher than that of other vehicles 44 traveling on the intersection road 42. It can be determined that the vehicle 38 can be prioritized and can enter the intersection road 42. Therefore, the navigation image is displayed on the display unit 34 as it is (step S4).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that the priority of the intersection road 42 is higher than that of the travel road 40, the host vehicle 38 needs to enter the intersection road 42 after sufficiently confirming the left and right.

  Therefore, the navigation device 22 acquires a left image and a right image of the host vehicle 38 taken by the left direction monitoring camera 12 and the right direction monitoring camera 14 (step S7), and stores each image in the left image storage unit 30 and the right image storage. Store in the unit 32.

  Next, the arithmetic circuit 28 determines whether or not the number X of lanes of the intersection road 42 that is the road attribute information acquired from the map information storage unit 24 is X ≧ 2 (step S8). In the case of X ≧ 2 (see FIG. 3), it is considered that there is almost no possibility that the own vehicle 38 comes into contact with the other vehicle 44 approaching from the left side of the own vehicle 38. If X ≧ 2, it is determined from the road attribute information whether there is a pedestrian road 46 on the intersection road 42 (step S9). When there is no pedestrian road 46, it is considered that there is almost no need to confirm a pedestrian in traffic.

  Therefore, when the lane number X is two lanes or more on one side and the vehicle enters the high-priority intersection road 42 without the pedestrian road 46, the driver of the own vehicle 38 mainly moves the other vehicle 44 approaching from the right side. It only needs to be recognized in advance.

  Therefore, the arithmetic circuit 28 acquires the display ratio data k for setting the display ratio of the right image to be larger than the display ratio of the left image from the display ratio information storage unit 26, and supplies the display ratio data k to the display control unit 36 (step S10). ). As shown in FIG. 4, the display control unit 36 performs ratios ((10−k): k, k> (10−k)) according to the display ratio data k from the left image storage unit 30 and the right image storage unit 32. The left image 48 and the right image 50 are read and combined, and the combined image 52 is displayed on the display unit 34 instead of the navigation image (step S11).

  In this case, the driver may enter the intersection road 42 after confirming in advance the other vehicle 44 approaching from the right side using the composite image 52 in which the right image 50 is displayed in a wider range than the left image 48. it can. Note that the lane of the other vehicle 44 approaching from the left side of the intersection road 42 is farther away from the own vehicle 38 than the lane of the other vehicle 44 approaching from the right side, so that it can be confirmed directly visually. Therefore, there is no problem even if the display range of the left image 48 is set small. In this case, only the right image 50 may be displayed on the display unit 34 with the display ratio data k = 10.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S9 that the pedestrian road 46 is present, it is necessary to confirm in advance the pedestrians approaching from the left side. In this case, the arithmetic circuit 28 reads the display ratio data k that sets the display ratio of the left image 48 and the right image 50 to 5: 5 from the display ratio information storage unit 26 and supplies it to the display control unit 36 (step S12). Based on the display ratio data k, the display control unit 36 displays the composite image 52 having the same display ratio of the left image 48 and the right image 50 on the display unit 34 as shown in FIG. 5 (step S11).

  In this case, the driver confirms in advance the other vehicles 44 and pedestrians approaching from the right side by the displayed right image 50, and approaches from the left side by the left image 48 displayed at the same ratio as the right image 50. After confirming a pedestrian or the like in advance, the user can enter the cross road 42.

  When it is determined in step S8 that the lane number X of the intersecting road 42 is X <2, the road width W of the intersecting road 42, which is the road attribute information acquired from the map information storage unit 24, is compared with a predetermined determination value Th2. (Step S13). In the case of W ≧ Th2, since the road width W of the intersection road 42 is sufficient, it is considered that there is almost no possibility that the own vehicle 38 comes into contact with the other vehicle 44 approaching from the left side of the own vehicle 38.

  Therefore, the presence / absence of the pedestrian road 46 is confirmed (step S9). If there is no pedestrian road 46, the display ratio of the right image 50 is set larger than the display ratio of the left image 48 (step S10). 4, the composite image 52 is displayed on the display unit 34 (step S11). When there is a pedestrian road 46, the display ratios of the left image 48 and the right image 50 are set equal (step S12), and the composite image 52 is displayed on the display unit 34 as shown in FIG. 5 (step S12). S11).

  When it is determined in step S13 that the road width W of the intersection road 42 is W <Th2, the intersection road 42, which is road attribute information acquired from the map information storage unit 24, is one-way from the right to the left as viewed from the host vehicle 38. Or a road having the median strip 54 (step S14). When the intersection road 42 has a one-way from the right to the left or the median strip 54, since there is no other vehicle 44 approaching from the left, the presence / absence of the pedestrian road 46 is determined (step S9). When there is no pedestrian road 46, as shown in FIG. 4, a composite image 52 in which the display ratio of the right image 50 is set larger than that of the left image 48 is displayed (steps S10 and S11), and the pedestrian road 46 is present. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the composite image 52 in which the display ratios of the left image 48 and the right image 50 are set to be equal is displayed (steps S12 and S11).

  If it is determined in step S14 that there is no median strip 54, it is further determined whether or not there is one-way traffic, and if it is one-way traffic, it is determined whether or not it is one-way traffic from left to right (step S15). . When the vehicle is not one-way, the road width W is narrow and the other vehicle 44 may approach from both the left and right directions. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the composite in which the display ratios of the left image 48 and the right image 50 are set to be equal. The image 52 is displayed (steps S12 and S11).

  If it is determined in step S15 that the crossing road 42 is one-way from left to right, the presence / absence of the pedestrian road 46 is determined (step S16). As shown, a composite image 52 in which the display ratios of the left image 48 and the right image 50 are set to be equal is displayed (steps S12 and S11). When there is no pedestrian road 46, as shown in FIG. 6, the display ratio of the left image 48 is set larger than that of the right image 50 (step S17), and the composite image 52 is displayed on the display unit 34 ( Step S11). In this case, only the left image 48 may be displayed on the display unit 34 with the display ratio data k = 10.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle travels on the left-hand traffic, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where the vehicle travels on the right-hand traffic. That is, in the case of right-hand traffic, the display ratio of the left image 48 may be set larger than that of the right image 50 in step S10.

  Further, instead of using the two imaging means of the left direction monitoring camera 12 and the right direction monitoring camera 14, one imaging means is arranged at the center of the front end portion of the vehicle, and left and right images are obtained using a prism or the like. It is also possible to switch the images at high speed, or to pick up and display the left and right images at the same time with a single image pickup means, and then to determine and display the display ratio of these images.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, in step S6, it is determined whether or not the intersection road 42 into which the host vehicle 38 enters is a road having a higher priority than the traveling road 40. It goes without saying that the processing after step S7 may be performed without performing the determination.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the image is cut out from the central portion of the left image 48 and the right image 50 based on the ratio according to the display ratio data k, and displayed as the composite image 52 on the display unit 34. As shown in FIG. 7, the aspect ratio of the left image 48 and the right image 50 may be changed and displayed on the display unit 34 based on the ratio according to the display ratio data k.

  For example, the entire left image 48 read from the left image storage unit 30 is compressed by (10−k) / 10 in the horizontal direction, while the entire right image 50 read from the right image storage unit 32 is compressed in the horizontal direction by k / The compressed images can be compressed by 10 and these compressed images can be combined and displayed as the combined image 52 on the display unit 34. Note that the image may be compressed both in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction according to the display ratio data k.

  In addition, when the ratio of the left image 48 and the right image 50 is increased, the resolution of the image having the smaller display range may be reduced, or the object in the image may not be clearly visible. Therefore, a lower limit value is set in the change range of the aspect ratio with respect to the ratio of the image, and the change in the aspect ratio corresponds to the lower limit value, and the left image 48 and the right image 50 as shown in FIG. By deleting a part of the image, it is possible to display the composite image 52 in which the resolution and the visibility are ensured on the display unit 34.

It is a block diagram of the configuration of the vehicle periphery monitoring device of the present embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the periphery monitoring apparatus for vehicles of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the road condition where the vehicle carrying the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this embodiment drive | works. It is explanatory drawing of the display image in the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the display image in the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the display image in the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of the display image in the vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus of other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle periphery monitoring apparatus 12 ... Left direction monitoring camera 14 ... Right direction monitoring camera 18 ... GPS receiver 20 ... Vehicle speed sensor 22 ... Navigation device 24 ... Map information storage part 26 ... Display ratio information storage part 28 ... Arithmetic circuit 30 ... Left image storage unit 32 ... Right image storage unit 34 ... Display unit 36 ... Display control unit 38 ... Own vehicle 40 ... Running road 42 ... Intersection road 44 ... Other vehicle 46 ... Pedestrian road 48 ... Left image 50 ... Right image 52 ... Composite image 54 ... Median strip

Claims (7)

An imaging means disposed in the vehicle for capturing an image in the left-right direction of the vehicle;
Display means capable of displaying left and right images taken by the imaging means;
An intersection approach judging means for judging whether or not the vehicle is approaching an intersection;
Road attribute information detecting means for detecting road attribute information of an intersecting road intersecting a road on which the vehicle is traveling;
Based on the road attribute information of the intersection road passing through the intersection detected by the road attribute information detecting means when the vehicle is determined to be approaching the intersection by the intersection approach determining means, the imaging means Display ratio determination means for determining a display ratio of the captured left-right image with respect to the display means;
Image processing means for performing a process of causing the display means to display a left-right image captured by the imaging means at the display ratio determined by the display ratio determining means;
Equipped with a,
The road attribute information includes at least information related to the presence or absence of a pedestrian road,
The display ratio determining means, when it is determined that at least the pedestrian road there by the road attribute information detection means and equal to Rukoto the display ratio in the lateral direction of the image captured by the image pickup means Vehicle periphery monitoring device. The apparatus of claim 1.
Traveling position detecting means for detecting the traveling position of the vehicle;
Map information storage means for storing map information including position information of an intersection and the road attribute information of the intersection road passing through the intersection;
With
The intersection approach determining means is configured to determine whether the vehicle approaches the intersection based on the traveling position of the vehicle detected by the traveling position detecting means and the position information of the intersection stored in the map information storage means. Determine whether or not
The road attribute information detection means detects from the map information storage means the road attribute information of the intersection road passing through the intersection determined by the intersection approach determination means as being approached by the vehicle. Perimeter monitoring device. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the road attribute information is information relating to the presence or absence of a median strip. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the road attribute information is information relating to whether or not the vehicle is one-way. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the road attribute information is information relating to the number of lanes. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The vehicle periphery monitoring device, wherein the road attribute information is information relating to a road width. In the apparatus of any one of Claims 1-6 ,
Comprising a speed detecting means for detecting the traveling speed of the vehicle;
The display means determines that the intersection approach determining means determines that the vehicle is approaching an intersection, and the speed detecting means detects that the traveling speed of the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined speed. A vehicle periphery monitoring device, characterized in that a left-right image captured by an imaging unit is displayed at the display ratio determined by the display ratio determining unit.

Images