JP4769884B2 - Directional horn control device - Google Patents

Description

    The present invention relates to a directivity horn control device that is mounted on a vehicle and can emit a warning sound having directivity.

    Usually, when driving a vehicle, there is a case where it is desired to call attention to an interrupting vehicle or a pedestrian to call attention. However, in such a case, the horn warning sound also reaches other vehicles and other pedestrians, which may make the other party uncomfortable or surprised.

    Therefore, as shown in Patent Document 1, a horn target (for example, a vehicle, a pedestrian, etc. existing within a predetermined distance in front of the vehicle) is specified using a driver's depression of a horn switch as a trigger, and the target exists in a direction in which the target exists. What controls the directivity of a horn is known.

JP2008-114613

    However, since the distance to the horn target vehicle is usually short, for example, in a scene where the horn is sounded, the method of identifying the horn target after pressing the horn switch is the target of the horn (the horn target vehicle). ) Takes a long time to specify, and there is a possibility that the horn will not be sounded before the collision with the vehicle.

    In addition, since the distance between the vehicle and the target of the horn is short, the target moves after the target of the horn is identified and before the horn is actually sounded, and the directionality of the sounded horn There is also a possibility that the direction will deviate from the position of the horn target.

  Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to sound a horn having directivity with respect to the object of horn in a short time after the depression of the horn switch, and to appropriately cope with movement of the object of horn. The object is to provide a control device.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the directional horn (13), which is mounted on the vehicle (1) and can control the directional direction (θ) and the directional spread angle (Δθ) of the horn, In the directional horn control device (5) that can be squeezed by operation,
A target sensor (2, 3, 12) for detecting a target (15, 16) existing in front of the vehicle;
A horn target extraction area setting means (10) for setting a horn target extraction area (AR) in the traveling direction of the vehicle;
Of the targets detected by the target sensor, the targets included in the horn target extraction region are extracted at predetermined time intervals irrespective of the horn sounding operation, and the position and observation time are stored in memory. A horn target extraction unit (10) to be stored in
A horn switch operation detecting means for detecting that the horn switch is operated;
When it is detected that the horn switch is operated, the first target that reads the position and observation time of the target to be horned from the memory and estimates the position of the target at the observation time State estimation means (11) is provided,
A first error range setting means (11) for calculating and setting a prediction error range (ER1) for the position (A1) of the target at the observation time (k);
A second target state estimating means (11) for calculating and estimating the position (A3) of the target at a predetermined time (k + 1) after the observation time;
A second error range setting means (11) for calculating and setting a prediction error range (ER3) for the position of the target after the predetermined time (k + 1);
The position (A2) of the target at the time (k + Δt) at which the horn is sounded is estimated based on the position of the target at the observation time and the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time. Third target state estimating means (11) is provided,
A third error range in which the prediction error range (ER2) is calculated and set based on the prediction error range at the observation time and the prediction error range after the predetermined time for the position of the target at the time when the horn is sounded. Setting means (11) is provided;
Based on the position of the target and the prediction error range at the time of ringing the calculated horn, the directional direction (θ) and the directional spread angle (Δθ) of the directional horn are calculated and determined. A horn control device for ringing the directional horn with the directed direction (θ) and the spread angle of the directivity (Δθ),
Configured.

    The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the first error range setting means obtains the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix (for example, Equation (3)) at the observation time. Configured as

    According to a third aspect of the present invention, the second error range setting means obtains the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix (for example, Equation (5)) after a predetermined time from the previous observation time. , Which is configured as a feature.

In the invention of claim 4, the first error range setting means obtains the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix at the observation time,
The second error range setting means calculates the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix after a predetermined time from the previous observation time,
The third error range setting means obtains the prediction error range by calculating based on a prediction error variance covariance matrix at the observation time and a prediction error variance covariance matrix after the predetermined time. Composed.

により演算することを特徴として構成される。 In the invention of claim 5, the first target state estimating means determines the position of the target at the observation time,

The calculation is performed by the following.

により演算することを特徴として構成される。 In the invention of claim 6, the second target state estimating means determines the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time,

The calculation is performed by the following.

により演算し、
第２の物標状態推定手段は、前記観測時刻より所定時間後における前記物標の位置を、

により演算し、
第３の物標状態推定手段は、クラクションを鳴動させる時刻における前記物標の位置を、

により演算することを特徴として構成される。 In the invention of claim 7, the first target state estimating means is configured to determine the position of the target at the observation time.

Is calculated by
The second target state estimating means determines the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time,

Is calculated by
The third target state estimating means determines the position of the target at the time when the horn is sounded,

The calculation is performed by the following.

    According to the invention of claim 1, the horn object extraction unit (10) extracts the target included in the horn object extraction area at a predetermined time interval irrespective of the horn sounding operation. When the horn switch is detected, the target position (A1, A3) and the prediction error range (ER1, ER3) are estimated at the observation time (k) when the target is observed and after a predetermined time (k + 1). Further, from the position (A1, A3) and the prediction error range (ER1, ER3), the prediction error range (ER2) is obtained for the position of the target at the time (k + Δt) when the horn is sounded. Based on the position of the target at the time when the calculated horn is ringed and the prediction error range, the directional direction (θ) and the directional divergence angle (Δθ) of the directional horn are calculated, and the calculated directional direction is determined. Since the directional horn is sounded at (θ) and the divergence angle (Δθ) of the directivity, it is possible to sound the horn with directivity to the horn object in a short time after the horn switch is pressed. Appropriate handling of the movement of the object is also possible.

    According to the invention of claim 2, the prediction error range (ER1) can be appropriately calculated for the position (A1) of the target at the observation time (k) by calculating the prediction error variance covariance matrix. .

    According to the invention of claim 3, by calculating the prediction error variance covariance matrix, the prediction error range (ER3) can be appropriately calculated for the target position (A1) after a predetermined time (k + 1). I can do it.

    According to the invention of claim 4, the prediction error range (ER2) when the horn is ringing is appropriately calculated from the prediction error range (from ER1 and ER3) at the observation time (k) and after a predetermined time (k + 1). I can do it.

    According to invention of Claim 5 and 6, the position of the said target after predetermined time from observation time and observation time can be calculated | required appropriately.

    According to the invention of claim 7, the position of the target at the time when the horn is sounded can be appropriately obtained from the observation time and the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time.

    Note that the numbers in parentheses are for the sake of convenience indicating the corresponding elements in the drawings, and therefore the present description is not limited to the descriptions on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a directional horn control device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a positional relationship between the own vehicle and a horn object.

    Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

    As shown in FIG. 1, an electromagnetic wave for detecting a target for a region in front of the vehicle is transmitted to the front portion of the vehicle body 1a of the vehicle 1, that is, an upper portion in the figure, and a reflected wave of the target can be captured freely. A known radar antenna 2 is provided, and a radar control device 3 is connected to the radar antenna 2. The radar control device 3 constitutes a part of the directional horn control device 5 according to the present invention, and the directional horn control device 5 has a main control unit 6. The main control unit 6 includes a horn control unit 9, a horn target extraction unit 10, the aforementioned radar control device 3, a horn target position estimation unit 11, a target detection unit 12, and a horn target storage memory 17 via a bus line 7. Connected. The horn control device 9 is connected to a known directional horn 13 that can freely set the directional direction of the horn. The directional horn 13 can be sounded through the horn control device 9 by pressing a horn switch incorporated in a steering wheel (not shown) of the vehicle 1. The radar antenna 2, the radar control device 3, and the target detection unit 12 function as a target sensor that detects a target in front of the vehicle 1.

    In the directional horn control device 5 shown in FIG. 1, in practice, a computer reads and executes a predetermined control program stored in a memory (not shown) so that a CPU and a memory (not shown) are operated by multitasking. It operates in a divided manner and executes the functions shown in each block shown in FIG. However, the horn control device 5 can be configured by hardware corresponding to each block, and can be configured to be controlled by CPUs or MPUs provided in each block in a distributed manner. It is.

    Since the directional horn control device 5 has the above-described configuration, when the vehicle 1 is driven, the main control unit 6 performs radar via the radar control device 3 regardless of the sounding operation of the directional horn 13 by the driver. The target detection operation by the antenna 2 is performed. That is, an electromagnetic wave (not shown) is emitted from the radar antenna 2 in the form of a fan in front of the vehicle 1, and the radar antenna 2 captures the reflected wave reflected from the irradiated electromagnetic wave as a target and serves as the signal SG1, and the radar control device 3 Is output. The radar control device 3 outputs a signal SG1 to the target detection unit 12, and the target detection unit 12 appropriately processes the signal SG1 by a known method to detect a target existing ahead of the vehicle, for example, FIG. The pedestrian 15 and the vehicle 16 shown in FIG. Since a method for detecting a target by a radar is a known technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

    When the target is detected by the target detection unit 12, the detection result is output to the horn target extraction unit 10 according to a command from the main control unit 6. In the horn target extraction unit 10, the host vehicle is centered on a predetermined horn target extraction region, for example, the radar antenna 2, included in the target detection range by the radar antenna 2 from the target detected by the target detection unit 12. Included in fan-shaped horn target extraction area AR with a distance of L (for example, L = 10 meters) at an angle ± α / 2 (for example, α / 2 = 30 °) on both sides of the vehicle traveling direction TD in front of 1 Target to be extracted as a horn target. At this time, if the horn target is extracted in consideration of the moving speed and moving direction of each target calculated by the target detection unit 12, a fixed object such as a sign may be erroneously extracted. Convenient because it disappears.

    This horn target extraction area AR is based on a control program stored in a memory (not shown) of the directional horn control device 5 when the engine of the vehicle 1 is started, or in a relatively narrow and near area in front of the vehicle 1. The horn control device 5 is set in advance in the horn target extraction unit 10 when the horn control device 5 is manufactured, and is an area in which danger such as contact and collision is likely to occur when the vehicle 1 is in a normal driving state. The size of the horn target extraction area AR is configured such that the horn target extraction unit 10 is variably set according to the traveling state of the vehicle 1, that is, the moving speed and moving direction of the vehicle 1. You can also.

    This horn target extraction operation is not related to the ringing operation of the directional horn 13 by the driver, and the vehicle 1 is moving or the engine of the vehicle 1 is operating (hereinafter, the vehicle 1 is moving, or the vehicle The state in which the engine 1 is in operation is referred to as the driving state of the vehicle) at regular intervals. The target extracted by the horn target extraction unit 10, in particular, a target determined to be moving, such as the pedestrian 15 or the vehicle 16, the position and moving speed calculated by the target detection unit 12, It is stored in the horn target storage memory 17 together with data such as the moving direction and the observation time by the target sensor. The stored data is updated each time the horn target extraction unit 10 performs the above extraction operation.

    When a driver (not shown) presses a horn switch of a steering wheel (not shown) while the vehicle 1 is in a driving state, the main control unit 6 detects that the horn switch has been operated by a signal from the horn switch. Next, the main control unit 6 instructs the horn control device 9 to immediately perform the ringing operation of the directional horn 13. In response to this, the horn control device 9 searches the horn target memory 17 to determine whether or not the horn target extracted in the extraction area AR exists, and what the horn target is in the horn target memory 17. If not stored, it is determined that there is no target to be horned in the extraction area AR, and the directional horn 13 is caused to ring omnidirectionally. Since the contents of the horn target memory 17 are always updated at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 0.1 second), when the target data to be horned is not stored in the horn target memory 17 In the extraction area AR in front of the actual vehicle 16, there is no target to be horned. Therefore, the depression of the horn switch by the driver is determined not to presume ringing with respect to a specific horn object, and it is an appropriate process to ring the directional horn 13 in a non-directional manner.

    Further, when data of a target to be horned is stored in the horn target memory 17, the main control unit 6 estimates the current position of the target to be horned to the horn target position estimating unit 11. To do. That is, when a target to be horned exists in the extraction area AR, or when the target is moving, the time when the target is detected by the radar antenna 2 and the target detection unit 12 Therefore, there is a possibility that the target to be horned is moving during the time difference Δt from when the driver presses the horn switch until the actual directional horn 13 is sounded. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the target detection unit 12 detects a target to be horned (time k), it points to the target position A1 stored in the horn target memory 17. Even if the directivity of the directional horn 13 is controlled, at the time when the horn is sounded (time k + Δt), the target to be horned moves from the detected position A1 to the position A2, and the directional horn 13 There is a disadvantage that the directivity cannot be accurately set at the target position to be horned.

    In addition, the horn target position estimation unit 11 reads out data related to the target having the closest distance to the own vehicle when a plurality of target data to be horned are stored in the horn target storage memory 17. The target is regarded as a target to be honked. For example, in the case shown in FIG. 1, the pedestrian 15 is determined as a target to be horned. Note that the target to be horned may be determined in consideration of the moving speed and moving direction of the target in addition to the distance from the host vehicle.

    When the target to be a horn target is specified, the horn target position estimation unit 11 reads the position of the target to be a horn target stored in the horn target storage memory 17 as shown in FIG. The position of the target to be horned is expressed by the following equation (1) as the observation position at the time when the target sensor composed of the radar antenna 2, the radar control device 3 and the target detection unit 12 observes the target, for example, at the observation time k. Shown in This corresponds to position A1 in FIG.

なお、［・］^Ｔは転置行列を示す。以下の式に置いても同様。

[•] ^T indicates a transposed matrix. The same applies to the following formula.

    The horn target position estimation unit 11 calculates the state of the target to be horned at the observation time k based on the observation position of the horn target, that is, the estimated position and the estimated speed of the target using equation (2). To do.

    Next, the horn target position estimation unit 11 takes into account the estimation uncertainty with respect to the estimated position and estimated speed of the target to be horned as predicted by Equation (2), and predicts the error at time k. The variance-covariance matrix is calculated using equation (3). Thereby, as shown in FIG. 2, the prediction error range ER1 for the target position A1 observed at the time k calculated by the equation (1) is set.

    Next, the horn target position estimation unit 11 determines the predicted state of the target to be horned at the time k + 1 (corresponding to the position A3 in FIG. 2) after a predetermined time from the observation time k, that is, the estimated position and the estimated speed. Is estimated by equation (4).

    Further, the horn target position estimation unit 11 calculates the prediction error variance covariance matrix at time k + 1 in accordance with Equation (5) in consideration of the uncertainty of the state predicted in Equation (4). Thereby, as shown in FIG. 2, the prediction error range ER3 for the target position A3 predicted at the time k + 1 calculated by the equation (4) is set.

    When driving the directional horn 13 after Δt seconds from the observation time point (time k) at which the target is detected by the radar antenna 2 and the target detection unit 12 or the like, the time k + Δt (corresponding to the position A2 in FIG. The predicted state at k + Δt <time k + 1), that is, the predicted position and the predicted speed of the target are calculated by equation (6).

なお、（６）式のＴは、レーダアンテナ２、レーダ制御装置３及び物標検出部１２からなる物標センサの応答時間である。即ち、時刻ｋ＋Δｔのクラクション対象となる物標は、物標センサの応答時間Ｔを考慮して演算決定されている。

Note that T in the equation (6) is a response time of the target sensor including the radar antenna 2, the radar control device 3, and the target detection unit 12. In other words, the target to be honed at the time k + Δt is determined in consideration of the response time T of the target sensor.

    Further, the horn target position estimation unit 11 considers the uncertainty of the prediction state of the target to be the horn target predicted by Expression (6), and calculates the prediction error variance covariance matrix at time k + Δt as Expression (7). Calculate with. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 2, the prediction error range ER2 for the target position A2 at the time k + Δt calculated by the equation (6) is set.

    Thereby, the position A2 of the target to be horned and the prediction error range ER2 at the time k + Δt when the directional horn 13 is sounded are determined by the horn target position estimating unit 11 as shown in FIG. Next, the position (x ′, y ′) of the target to be horned at time k + Δt and its prediction error range ER2 are output to the horn control device 9.

    The horn control device 9 further makes a ringing angle θ (directivity) shown in FIG. 2 when ringing the directional horn 13 based on the position A2 of the target to be horned at the time k + Δt and its prediction error range ER2. (Direction) and spread (directivity spread) Δθ, that is, directivity is calculated using equations (8) and (9).

ただし、（９）式において、ｃは設計変数であり、ｃ＝１とすると、予測誤差範囲ＥＲ２の６６．７パーセントがカバーされ、ｃ＝３とすると、９９．７パーセントがカバーされる。

In equation (9), c is a design variable. If c = 1, 66.7% of the prediction error range ER2 is covered, and if c = 3, 99.7% is covered.

    When the directivity when ringing the directivity horn 13, that is, the ringing angle θ (directivity direction) and the spread angle (directivity spread angle) Δθ shown in FIG. 2 are calculated, the horn control device 9 at time k + Δt. As shown in FIG. 2, the directional horn 13 is driven with a ringing angle θ (directivity direction) and a spread (directivity spread) Δθ. Then, since the target to be horned is likely to exist in the prediction error range ER2 around the position A2 in FIG. 2 at the time k + Δt, such a prediction error range ER2 is included in the ringing range of the directional horn 13. By including, the horn reaches the target to be horned at a high rate.

    In the above-described embodiment, a radar device including the radar antenna 2, the radar control device 3, and the target detection unit 12 is used as a target sensor that detects a target to be horned. In addition to the apparatus, it is also possible to configure an image processing apparatus that captures an image of the front (traveling direction) of the vehicle 1 and extracts the target to be horned by processing the image.

1 …… Vehicle 2 …… Radar antenna (target sensor)
3. Radar control device (target sensor)
5 ... Directional horn control device 9 ... horn control device 10 ... horn target extraction unit (horn target area setting means)
11 ... horn target position estimation unit (target state estimation means, error range setting means)
12 …… Target detection unit (target sensor)
13 …… Directional horns 15 and 16 …… Targets A1, A2, A3 …… Position AR …… Extraction region ER1, ER2, ER3 …… Prediction error range k …… Observation time k + 1 …… Predetermined from observation time After time k + Δt …… Time when the horn is sounded θ …… Direction direction Δθ …… Diverging angle

Claims (7)

In a directional horn control device that is mounted on a vehicle and can ring a directional horn that can control the directional direction of the horn and the spread angle of the directional, by operating a horn switch,
A target sensor for detecting a target existing in front of the vehicle;
A horn target extraction area setting means for setting a horn target extraction area in the traveling direction of the vehicle;
Out of the targets detected by the target sensor, the targets included in the horn target extraction region are extracted at predetermined time intervals irrespective of the horn sounding operation, and the positions and observation times are stored in memory. The horn target extraction unit to be stored in
A horn switch operation detecting means for detecting that the horn switch is operated;
When it is detected that the horn switch is operated, the first target that reads the position and observation time of the target to be horned from the memory and estimates the position of the target at the observation time Provide state estimation means,
A first error range setting means for calculating and setting a prediction error range for the position of the target at the observation time;
Providing a second target state estimating means for calculating and estimating the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time;
A second error range setting means for calculating and setting a prediction error range for the position of the target after the predetermined time;
A third target state for estimating the position of the target at the time of ringing the horn based on the position of the target at the observation time and the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time Establishing means,
Third error range setting means for calculating and setting a prediction error range based on a prediction error range at the observation time and a prediction error range after the predetermined time for the position of the target at the time when the horn is sounded. Provided,
Based on the position of the target and the prediction error range at the time of ringing the calculated horn, the directional horn direction and directional spread angle are calculated and determined, and the determined directional direction and directivity are determined. A horn control device for ringing the directional horn with a spread angle of
A directional horn control device characterized by being configured. The directivity horn control device according to claim 1, wherein the first error range setting means calculates the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix at the observation time. 3. The directivity according to claim 1, wherein the second error range setting means obtains the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix after a predetermined time from the previous observation time. Horn control device. The first error range setting means calculates the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix at the observation time,
The second error range setting means calculates the prediction error range by calculating a prediction error variance covariance matrix after a predetermined time from the previous observation time,
The third error range setting means obtains the prediction error range by calculating based on a prediction error variance covariance matrix at the observation time and a prediction error variance covariance matrix after the predetermined time. The directional horn control device according to claim 1 configured. The first target state estimating means determines the position of the target at the observation time,

The directional horn control device according to claim 1, wherein the directional horn control device is configured to perform calculation according to claim 1. The second target state estimating means determines the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time,

The directional horn control device according to claim 1, wherein the directional horn control device is configured to perform calculation according to claim 1. The first target state estimating means determines the position of the target at the observation time,

Is calculated by
The second target state estimating means determines the position of the target after a predetermined time from the observation time,

Is calculated by
The third target state estimating means determines the position of the target at the time when the horn is sounded,

The directional horn control device according to claim 1, wherein the directional horn control device is configured to perform calculation according to claim 1.

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