JP4421410B2 - Driving support information providing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing driving assistance information, and in particular, when a vehicle approaches an intersection, the presence of an oncoming vehicle from the front or a pedestrian on a pedestrian crossing on an approach road is displayed on a display to the driver. It is suitable for use in a device designed to give a warning.

Conventionally, when a vehicle enters an intersection, a technique has been proposed in which a pedestrian at a pedestrian crossing is detected and pedestrian information is displayed on the screen as an image (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique described in Patent Document 1, a captured image by a CCD camera is processed to obtain crossing pedestrian information, and a radio signal from an AHS (driving support road system) provided along the road is processed to cross the road. Pedestrian information is obtained, and crossing pedestrian information outside the detection range of the CCD camera is selectively displayed on the screen.
JP 2003-327065 A

In addition, a technique has been proposed in which the position, traveling direction, and speed of surrounding vehicles are displayed on the screen using inter-vehicle communication when the vehicle approaches an unsightly area such as an intersection or a corner ( For example, see Patent Document 2). In the technique described in Patent Document 2, the display priority of each surrounding vehicle is determined based on the degree to which the driver should be careful, and the display of the surrounding vehicle is controlled based on the priority (lightness control, display / non-display). Control).
JP 2004-77281 A

  The technologies described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 provide only one of the pedestrian information and the surrounding vehicle information to the driver, but both of these two types of information are provided to the driver. There are some situations where this is preferable. For example, when the vehicle is going to turn right at an intersection, it is preferable to provide two types of information: an oncoming vehicle from the front and information on a pedestrian walking on a pedestrian crossing on the approach road. This is because when the vehicle is stopped at the intersection, attention should be paid mainly to the oncoming vehicle, and attention should be paid to the pedestrian crossing pedestrian after the oncoming vehicle disappears and starts moving.

  Here, the optimal map scale of the information providing screen for providing information on the oncoming vehicle is different from the optimal map scale of the information providing screen for providing information on pedestrians. That is, the optimum scale of the oncoming vehicle display screen is about 50 m, and it is preferable to display the oncoming road ahead from the intersection in a range of about 100 m. On the other hand, the optimal scale of the pedestrian display screen is about 10 m scale, and it is preferable to display a range of about 20 m including the intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle.

  Since the optimal map scales are different in this way, the oncoming vehicle display screen and the pedestrian display screen must be switched appropriately and provided. For example, when your vehicle is stopped at an intersection, you need to pay attention to the oncoming vehicle, so provide an oncoming vehicle display screen, and watch out for pedestrians on the pedestrian crossing after the oncoming vehicle disappears and starts moving. Provide a pedestrian display screen.

  However, when two types of screens are switched and displayed as described above, the following problems occur. A vehicle often repeats stopping and advancing finely within an intersection according to surrounding traffic conditions. In this case, the display screen is frequently switched according to the detailed stop and progress. If the display screen is switched many times in a short time in this way, the driver is confused on the contrary.

  In addition, when switching from the oncoming vehicle display screen to the pedestrian display screen, the driver must recognize all the information in the new display screen and recognize the content. The recognition takes about 0.5 to 2 seconds. It is not preferable to require such a long recognition time in an intersection where traffic conditions frequently change.

  One method for solving these problems is to divide the display screen into two and display the oncoming vehicle display screen and the pedestrian display screen simultaneously. However, this method makes each image half smaller. When the image becomes smaller, it becomes difficult to read the display content, which causes a problem that it takes extra time for the driver to read.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and minimizes confusion to the driver when providing an oncoming vehicle display screen and a pedestrian display screen, and the display screen. The purpose is to allow the driver to recognize the contents of the vehicle in as short a time as possible.

In order to solve the above-described problem, in the present invention , a first information providing image that is an image that provides information on an oncoming vehicle from the front of the host vehicle and an image that provides pedestrian information on an approach road are provided . The two information providing images are simultaneously displayed on the entire screen, and the density of both images is changed depending on whether the vehicle is stopped or moving. For example, when the vehicle is stopped, the first information providing image is darker than the second information providing image, and when the vehicle is traveling, the second information providing image is displayed from the first information providing image. Also darken and display.

In addition, when an arrow graphic indicating the direction in which the vehicle should travel is displayed superimposed on the front image obtained by the camera, if there is an obstacle such as a vehicle in front of the vehicle, the obstacle There is a technique in which the transmittance of an arrow graphic is changed according to the degree of shielding at a guidance target branch point (for example, see Patent Document 3). However, the technique described in Patent Document 3 does not change the density of the display image in accordance with the stop / advance of the vehicle.
JP-A-10-281794

  According to the present invention configured as described above, both the first information providing image and the second information providing image are displayed on the full screen. Therefore, when the display screen is divided into two and each image is displayed on a half screen. The display becomes larger than the above, and the display contents can be easily read. Further, for example, even when the first information providing image is displayed dark, the second information providing image is displayed lightly, so that it is possible to obtain a leading clue of the image after switching. Thereby, even when the second information providing image is switched so as to be displayed darkly, the contents can be recognized more easily than when the second information providing image is switched from a state where there is no display of the second information providing image. . Therefore, even if the vehicle repeatedly stops and advances in detail at the intersection according to the surrounding traffic conditions, the disruption to the driver is minimized and the driver recognizes the contents of the display screen in the shortest possible time. Will be able to.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the driving support information providing apparatus 100 and its peripheral devices according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a map data buffer memory, which temporarily stores map data read from the recording medium 101. The map data read out here is data necessary for map display, intersection display, and the like. As the recording medium 101, for example, a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, a hard disk or the like is used.

  A map image drawing unit 12 generates map image data necessary for displaying a map on the display device 107 based on the map data stored in the map data buffer memory 11. The map image data generated here generates an oncoming vehicle display image (corresponding to the first information providing image according to the present invention) for providing information such as an oncoming vehicle coming from the front of the host vehicle. It is data.

  An oncoming vehicle display image combining unit 13 combines the map image data generated by the map image drawing unit 12 with icon image data representing an oncoming vehicle recognized using the front monitoring camera 102 and the front radar 103. Thus, an oncoming vehicle display image as shown in FIG. 2 is generated. In FIG. 2, 51 is an icon image of the own vehicle, and 52 is an icon image of an oncoming vehicle.

  Here, the front monitoring camera 102 is a camera that captures the front of the vehicle. The front radar 103 emits radio waves such as infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, and millimeter waves in front of the vehicle, receives the radio waves that are reflected back, and detects an object ahead. By using the front radar 103, it is possible to detect the direction and distance from the own vehicle of an object (such as an oncoming vehicle) in front of the vehicle.

  The oncoming vehicle display image composition unit 13 processes the image data captured by the front monitoring camera 102 to recognize the vehicle type of the oncoming vehicle, and acquires icon image data suitable for the vehicle type. The icon image data is stored in advance in a recording medium such as a ROM. The oncoming vehicle display image combining unit 13 generates an oncoming vehicle display image by combining the acquired icon image data with a position on the map corresponding to the direction and distance detected by the forward radar 103.

  In the present embodiment, the oncoming vehicle is recognized using the front monitoring camera 102 and the front radar 103, and the icon image 52 of the oncoming vehicle is synthesized and displayed at the recognized position. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, by acquiring information from other vehicles using inter-vehicle communication, other vehicles other than the oncoming vehicle are also recognized, and icon images 53 of other vehicles other than the oncoming vehicle are combined and displayed on the map. May be.

  Next, 14 is an intersection drawing unit, which generates intersection image data necessary for the intersection display on the display device 107 based on the map data stored in the map data buffer memory 11. The intersection image data generated here is a pedestrian display image (in the second information providing image according to the present invention) for providing information on pedestrians existing on the pedestrian crossing of the road where the vehicle at the intersection is about to enter. Equivalent).

  Reference numeral 15 denotes a pedestrian display image composition unit, which recognizes the intersection image data generated by the intersection drawing unit 14 and the image data photographed by the top view camera 104 and the right side monitoring camera 105 and walks the vehicle or walking. By combining the icon image data of the person, a pedestrian display image as shown in FIG. 3, that is, a top view image of an intersection including a pedestrian in a pedestrian crossing in addition to the own vehicle and other vehicles is generated.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 61 denotes an icon image of the host vehicle. Based on the host vehicle image data stored in a recording medium such as a ROM, a predetermined position of the top view image (for example, approximately the center near the left end of the top view image). ) Displayed from the upper virtual viewpoint. 62 is an icon image of another vehicle, 63 is an icon image of a pedestrian, and represents another vehicle or a pedestrian recognized based on images taken by the top view camera 104 and the right side monitoring camera 105.

  Here, the top view camera 104 is composed of a plurality of cameras, for example, and photographs the surroundings of the host vehicle. Further, the right side monitoring camera 105 supplementarily captures a range that cannot be completely captured by the top view camera 104. In order to generate a pedestrian display image provided when the host vehicle turns right at an intersection, the right side monitoring camera 105 is installed on the right side of the vehicle and photographs the right side.

  The pedestrian display image synthesizing unit 15 processes image data captured by the top view camera 104 and the right side monitoring camera 105 to recognize the type and position of another vehicle, and also recognizes the position of the pedestrian on the pedestrian crossing. . And on the intersection image data produced | generated by the intersection drawing part 14, while combining the icon image 61 of the own vehicle to a predetermined position, it combines with the position which recognized the icon image 62 of the other vehicle according to the recognized vehicle type. . Further, the pedestrian icon image 63 is synthesized at the recognized position. Thereby, a pedestrian display image is generated. The icon images 62 and 63 of other vehicles and pedestrians are also stored in advance in a recording medium such as a ROM.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a vehicle position / orientation calculation unit that calculates an absolute own vehicle position (estimated vehicle position) and vehicle direction based on the relative position and direction data of the own vehicle output from the self-contained navigation sensor 106. To do. Here, the self-contained navigation sensor 106 is for measuring the current position of the vehicle, and outputs a single pulse for each predetermined travel distance to detect the travel distance of the vehicle (vehicle speed sensor); And an angular velocity sensor (relative azimuth sensor) such as a vibrating gyroscope that detects a rotation angle (moving direction) of the vehicle. The self-contained navigation sensor 106 detects the relative position and direction of the vehicle using these distance sensors and angular velocity sensors, and outputs the information to the vehicle position / orientation calculation unit 16.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a main display image determination unit, which executes the following processing. First, based on the vehicle position information obtained by the vehicle position / orientation calculation unit 16, it is detected whether the host vehicle is stopped at the intersection or traveling. Secondly, either the oncoming vehicle display image generated by the oncoming vehicle display image combining unit 13 or the pedestrian display image generated by the pedestrian display image combining unit 15 depending on the detection result of the stop / progress. Decide whether to display as the main image. As described above, the main display image determination unit 17 constitutes the stop / progress detection means and the main display image determination means of the present invention.

  An image composition unit 18 superimposes the oncoming vehicle display image generated by the oncoming vehicle display image composition unit 13 and the pedestrian display image generated by the pedestrian display image composition unit 15 to perform image composition, and displays the display device. It outputs to 107. As a result, both the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image are simultaneously displayed on the entire screen of the display device 107. At the time of this display, the image composition unit 18 controls to change the density of the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image according to the determination result of the main display image by the main display image determination unit 17. This image composition unit 18 constitutes the display control means of the present invention.

  Specifically, the image composition unit 18 performs control so that the display density of the other image is lower than that of the main display image determined by the main display image determination unit 17. Here, the main display image determination unit 17 determines the oncoming vehicle display image as the main display image when determining that the host vehicle is stopped, and displays the pedestrian when determining that the host vehicle is moving. The image is determined as the main display image. Thereby, when the host vehicle is stopped, the oncoming vehicle display image is displayed at a normal density and the pedestrian display image is displayed at a lower density. On the other hand, when the host vehicle is in progress, the pedestrian display image is displayed at a normal density and the oncoming vehicle display image is displayed at a lower density.

  For example, consider the situation as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the signal turns blue and proceeds to the center of the intersection (Situation A), where after stopping temporarily to confirm the oncoming vehicle (Situation B), the oncoming vehicle disappears and begins to proceed (Situation C). It shows a series of states. First, since the host vehicle is moving in the situation A, the main display image is a pedestrian display image, the pedestrian display image is displayed in full screen at a normal density, and the oncoming vehicle display image is a pedestrian display image. Is displayed at full screen at a lower density. That is, an image as shown in FIG. 5B is displayed on the display device 107.

  Next, since the host vehicle is stopped in the situation B, the main display image becomes an oncoming vehicle display image, the oncoming vehicle display image is displayed in full screen at a normal density, and a pedestrian display image is displayed on the oncoming vehicle Displayed at full screen at a lower density than the image. That is, an image as shown in FIG. 5A is displayed on the display device 107. Thereafter, when the host vehicle starts to advance in the situation C, an image as shown in FIG. 5B is displayed again on the display device 107.

  Next, the operation of the driving support information providing apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the driving support information providing method according to the present embodiment. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is executed when the host vehicle approaches the intersection.

  In FIG. 6, first, the oncoming vehicle display image composition unit 13 converts the map image data generated by the map image drawing unit 12, the image data captured by the front monitoring camera 102, and the information acquired from the front radar 103. Based on this, an oncoming vehicle display image as shown in FIG. 2 is synthesized (step S1).

  Further, the pedestrian display image synthesis unit 15 is based on the intersection image data generated by the intersection drawing unit 14 and the image data photographed by the top view camera 104 and the right side monitoring camera 105 as shown in FIG. A pedestrian display image is synthesized (step S2). Note that the order of step S1 and step S2 may be reversed or may be performed simultaneously.

  Next, the main display image determination unit 17 detects whether the host vehicle is stopped or traveling based on the vehicle position information obtained by the vehicle position / orientation calculation unit 16, and according to the detection result, It is determined which of the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image is the main display image (step S3).

The image composition unit 18 inputs an oncoming vehicle display image from the oncoming vehicle display image composition unit 13 and inputs a pedestrian display image from the pedestrian display image composition unit 15. Further, the image composition unit 18 inputs information indicating which of the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image is the main display image from the main display image determination unit 17. Then, the display density of the image that is not the main display image is lightly adjusted (step S4). For example, when the brightness of a main display image displayed at a normal density is L and the brightness of an image displayed at a low density is L ′,
L ′ = L + (maximum number of gradations−L × 0.8)
By increasing the brightness by this calculation, the density of the image that is not the main display image is reduced.

  Then, the image composition unit 18 synthesizes the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image (one of the images whose density has been adjusted in step S4) by translucent processing and outputs it to the display device 107 (step S5). The synthesis ratio here is 1: 1. Finally, the controller (not shown) determines whether or not the host vehicle has crossed the pedestrian crossing of the approach road based on the vehicle position information obtained by the vehicle position / orientation calculation unit 16 (step S6). Ends the process of this flowchart.

  On the other hand, if the pedestrian crossing of the approach road has not been crossed, the process returns to step S1 to continue the process of this flowchart. In this case, the contents of the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image generated in step S1 and step S2 are updated in accordance with changes in road conditions. Further, the main display image determined in step S3 is appropriately changed according to the change in the stop / progress status of the host vehicle, and the display image is also switched as shown in FIG.

  As described above in detail, in the present embodiment, both the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image are displayed on the entire screen at the same time, and depending on whether the vehicle is stopped or traveling at the time of the display. The density of both images is changed. Thereby, compared with the case where the display screen is divided into two and the oncoming vehicle display image and the pedestrian display image are displayed in half screens, the display of each image becomes larger and the display contents can be easily read. Even when the image is switched according to the stop / progress of the host vehicle, the image after the switching is displayed lightly before the switching, so that the display content can be recognized using this as a leading clue. Therefore, it is possible to make it easier to recognize the content than when switching from a state where there is no image display after switching. From the above, even if the host vehicle repeatedly stops and advances repeatedly according to the surrounding traffic conditions within the intersection, the disruption to the driver is minimized and the content of the display screen is as short as possible for the driver. Can be recognized.

  In the above-described embodiment, the density of the other image is adjusted to be lower with the density of the main display image as a reference. Conversely, the density of the image that is not the main display image is used as the reference. You may adjust so that the density of an image may become deep.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which switches suitably two images, the synthesized image shown to Fig.5 (a), and the synthesized image shown to FIG.5 (b), from the synthesized image shown to Fig.5 (a). It is also possible to switch to the composite image shown in FIG. 5B or from the composite image shown in FIG. 5B to the composite image shown in FIG. 5A while gradually changing the density.

  In the above embodiment, the main display image is first determined according to the stop / advance of the host vehicle, and the density of either the oncoming vehicle display image or the pedestrian display image is adjusted based on the determination result. Although an example has been described, it is not limited to this example. For example, a composite image as shown in FIG. 5A (corresponding to the first display image according to the present invention) in which the display density of the pedestrian display image is made lower than the oncoming vehicle display image and both images are simultaneously displayed on the entire screen. ) And a composite image as shown in FIG. 5B (in the second display image according to the present invention) in which both the images are simultaneously displayed on the entire screen by lowering the display density of the oncoming vehicle display image than the pedestrian display image. In the image composition unit 18 in advance. Then, the image composition unit 18 may detect stop / advance of the host vehicle and selectively output any composite image to the display device 107 according to the detection result.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the display density is adjusted by the brightness of the image has been described. However, the density may be adjusted by a method other than the brightness.

  In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of actualization in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof.

  The present invention relates to a driving assistance information providing device, for example, a navigation device, having a function of displaying on the display the presence of an oncoming vehicle from the front or a pedestrian on the pedestrian crossing of an approach road when the vehicle approaches an intersection. Useful.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the driving assistance information provision apparatus by this embodiment, and its peripheral device. It is a figure which shows the example of the oncoming vehicle display image by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the pedestrian display image by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the model running example of the own vehicle in an intersection. It is a figure which shows the example of a change of the display screen by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the driving assistance information provision method by this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Map data buffer memory 12 Map image drawing part 13 Oncoming vehicle display image composition part 14 Intersection drawing part 15 Pedestrian display image composition part 16 Vehicle position and direction calculation part 17 Main display image determination part 18 Image composition part 100 Driving assistance information provision Device 102 Front monitoring camera 103 Forward radar 104 Top view camera 105 Right side monitoring camera 106 Self-contained navigation sensor 107 Display device

Claims (6)

Stop / progress detection means for detecting whether the vehicle is stopped or moving;
According to the detection result by the stop / progress detection means , a first information providing image which is an image providing information on an oncoming vehicle from the front of the host vehicle and an image providing pedestrian information on the approach road. Main display image determination means for determining which of the second information providing images is to be displayed as the main image;
Both the first information providing image and the second information providing image are simultaneously displayed on the entire screen, and at the time of display, the first information providing image is displayed according to the determination result by the main display image determining means. A driving support information providing apparatus, comprising: a display control unit configured to control the image and the second information providing image to be displayed with different densities. The driving support according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit performs control so that the display density of the other image is lower than that of the main display image determined by the main display image determination unit. Information providing device. The main display image determination means determines the first information providing image as a main display image when the stop / progress detection means determines that the vehicle is stopped, and the stop / progress detection means determines the vehicle. 3. The driving support information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second information providing image is determined as a main display image when it is determined that the vehicle is in progress. A first step of generating a first information providing image, which is an image providing information on an oncoming vehicle from the front of the host vehicle ;
A second step of generating a second information providing image which is an image providing information of a pedestrian on the approach road ;
A third step of detecting whether the vehicle is stopped or moving;
A fourth step of determining which of the first information providing image and the second information providing image is to be displayed as a main image in accordance with the detection result in the third step;
The first information providing image and the second information providing image are displayed simultaneously on the entire screen, and the first information providing image is displayed according to the determination result in the fourth step. And a fifth step of controlling to change the density of the second information providing image for display . 5. The driving support according to claim 4, wherein the fifth step performs control so that the display density of the other image is lower than that of the main display image determined in the fourth step. Information provision method. In the fourth step, when it is determined in the third step that the vehicle is stopped, the first information providing image is determined as a main display image, and the vehicle advances in the third step. 6. The method of providing driving assistance information according to claim 4, wherein the second information providing image is determined as a main display image when it is determined that the second information providing image is present.

Images