JP4788388B2 - Vehicle information providing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular information providing apparatus, and more particularly to a vehicular information providing apparatus that provides information related to a stop position where a vehicle should stop.

Conventionally, as this type of vehicle information providing apparatus, an apparatus that alerts a driver under a predetermined condition when a distance to a position where the vehicle should stop is equal to or less than a predetermined distance is known. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In this device, the driver is alerted based on the result of determining whether or not a predetermined condition regarding on / off of the accelerator pedal operation, presence / absence of the brake operation, vehicle speed change, and the like is satisfied.
JP 2005-165423 A

  By the way, it is considered that the driver's intention to stop the vehicle appears prominently in the accelerator pedal operation. However, in the above-mentioned conventional device, although the accelerator pedal operation is determined on / off, the accelerator operation Since the determination about the change in the amount (accelerator opening) is not performed, the driver is alerted despite the intention of stopping the vehicle, and the driver may feel annoyed. For example, it corresponds to the case where the accelerator opening is gradually reduced toward the position where the vehicle is to be stopped and braking is performed by engine braking.

  The present invention is for solving such a problem, and provides a vehicle information providing device capable of providing appropriate information regarding a stop position where the vehicle should stop based on a change in accelerator opening. The main purpose is to do.

  One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is an information providing device for a vehicle that provides information on a stop position where the vehicle should stop, an information providing means for providing information to a driver, and an accelerator opening degree. Accelerator opening degree detecting means for detecting a position relationship detecting means for detecting a positional relationship between the stop position and the own vehicle, a positional relationship between the stop position detected by the positional relation detecting means and the own vehicle, and an accelerator opening degree detecting means And a control means for controlling the information providing means so as to provide information to the driver based on the change in the accelerator opening detected by.

  According to this aspect of the present invention, since the information providing means is controlled so as to provide information to the driver based on the change of the accelerator opening, the vehicle stops based on the change of the accelerator opening. Appropriate information regarding the stop position should be provided.

  In one aspect of the present invention, the control means preferably includes accelerator opening storage means for storing the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening detection means, and the accelerator opening stored in the accelerator opening storage means is stored. It is means for controlling the information providing means to provide information to the driver based on the degree history. In this case, the control means more preferably provides the first timing information when the positional relationship detection means detects that the stop position is within the first predetermined distance in front of the vehicle. When the positional relationship detecting means detects that the stop position is within a second predetermined distance shorter than the first predetermined distance in front of the vehicle by controlling the information providing means, the accelerator opening storage means Based on the stored history of the accelerator opening from the point where the information of the first content was provided, the information providing means is controlled to provide the information at the second timing.

  Furthermore, in the aspect of providing information on the first timing and the second timing of the present invention, the control means detects, for example, that the stop position is within the second predetermined distance by the positional relationship detection means. The reference value obtained by dividing the amount of decrease in the accelerator opening from the point at which the first timing information is provided by the elapsed time from the time at which the first timing information is provided is less than the determination threshold. In this case, the information providing means is controlled so as to provide the information at the second timing. In this case, the determination threshold value is preferably updated based on a change mode of the accelerator opening learned every time the stop position is approached.

  Moreover, the aspect which provides the information of 2nd timing based on the result of having compared the determination reference value with the determination threshold value of this invention, Preferably, it is provided with the driver | operator identification means which identifies a driver | operator, and a determination threshold value is It is set for each driver specified by the driver specifying means.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the accelerator opening may be replaced with a throttle valve opening.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information provision apparatus for vehicles which can perform suitable information provision regarding the stop position which a vehicle should stop based on the change of an accelerator opening can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a vehicle information providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a vehicle information providing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle information providing apparatus 1 includes an accelerator opening sensor 10, a communication device 20, a driver specifying device 30, and a navigation device 40 as main components. In the following description, communication between devices in the vehicle is performed using an appropriate communication protocol such as CAN (Controller Area Network).

  The accelerator opening sensor 10 is attached to an accelerator pedal, for example, and takes out the gradient of the magnetic field according to the accelerator opening (operation amount) Ac as an output voltage linearly using a Hall element. The accelerator opening sensor 10 transmits an electrical signal corresponding to the accelerator opening (operation amount) Ac thus detected to the navigation device 40.

  The communication device 20 is a device for performing road-to-vehicle communication, and includes, for example, a beacon receiver and / or an FM multiplex broadcast receiver. The communication device 20 receives information on the position of a stop position (for example, a temporary stop line, a pedestrian crossing, a traffic light fixed to red flashing) from the road side infrastructure, and sends the information to the navigation device 40. Send.

  The driver identification device 30 includes a smart key 32 owned by each user (driver) registered on the vehicle side and a detection device 34 that detects a personal ID stored in the smart key 32. The smart key 32 emits a weak radio wave (response signal) in response to a request signal sent from the detection device 34 on the vehicle side. When the smart key 32 is attached to the user and approaches the vehicle, the detection device 34 receives the response signal of the smart key 32, and the response signal (including the personal ID unique to the smart key 32) is received in the navigation device 40. It is input after being decrypted. That is, it is possible to detect the personal ID unique to the registered user from the smart key 32. The detection device 34 includes, for example, a vehicle transmitter / receiver 36 and a vehicle interior transmitter / receiver 38. The vehicle transmitter / receiver 36 transmits a request signal and receives a response signal during a period from when the door is locked to unlocked from the outside of the vehicle, that is, when parked. When all the doors are closed after the door is unlocked, a request signal is transmitted and a response signal is received.

  The personal ID of the driver specified by the driver specifying device 30 in this way is used for selection and update of the determination threshold value α described later.

  The navigation device 40 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 42 for detecting the current position of the host vehicle, a map database 44 that holds map data on a storage medium such as a hard disk, DVD, CD-ROM, and navigation. A navigation device electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as navigation device ECU) 50 for controlling the entire device 40, and outputs a map display and a route guidance display by a display unit 46 such as a liquid crystal display, and also by a speaker 48. Route guidance etc. are performed by voice. The map database 44 stores information related to the stop position.

  The navigation device ECU 50 is, for example, a computer centered on a CPU, and includes a readable / writable memory 52 and a communication port (not shown). The navigation device ECU 50 refers to the information related to the stop position input from the communication device 20, the position of the host vehicle from the GPS receiver 42, and the information related to the stop position stored in the map database 44. Or the distance between the own vehicle and the stop position when it exists. Further, the memory 52 stores an accelerator opening degree Ac input from the accelerator opening degree sensor 10.

  The navigation device ECU 50 further detects when the stop position grasped as described above is within a first predetermined distance (for example, several tens [m] to several hundred [m], etc.) in front of the host vehicle. The presence of the stop position is notified to the driver by the speaker 48 (hereinafter referred to as information provision of the first timing; for example, by a phrase such as “There is a stop position ahead”). The first timing information stored in the memory 52 is provided when the stop position is within a second predetermined distance shorter than the first predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle. The history of the accelerator opening Ac from the point to the present is referred to, and when a predetermined condition is satisfied, the driver is notified by the speaker 48 to alert that the stop position is approaching (hereinafter referred to as the first). This is referred to as the provision of information at the timing of 2; for example, by the words “stop position is approaching”). This predetermined condition is based on the history of the accelerator opening Ac from the point where the first information was provided in the past to the point where the stop position reached the second predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle. It is determined for each driver specified by the driver specifying device 30.

  As described above, the predetermined condition is based on the history of the accelerator opening degree Ac from the point where the information is provided at the first timing to the point where the stop position reaches the second predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle. If it is established, the second timing information is provided, so that it is possible to appropriately reflect the driver's intention to stop and determine whether or not to perform the second timing. Details will be described in the following description of the flowchart.

  Hereinafter, the operation when the vehicle information providing apparatus 1 provides information to the driver according to the approach of the stop position will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of characteristic processing executed by the navigation device ECU 50.

  First, the navigation device ECU 50 determines whether or not the stop position is within a first predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle. If the stop position is not within the first predetermined distance, the navigation apparatus ECU 50 waits for this. Processing is performed (S100).

  When the stop position is within the first predetermined distance, information on the first timing is provided to notify the presence of the stop position, and the driver's personal ID is obtained from the driver specifying device 30. Input (S110).

  Subsequently, the accelerator opening Aca and the time Ta at the time when the first information is provided are stored in the memory 52 (S120).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the stop position is within a second predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle (S130).

  If it is determined in S130 that the stop position has not reached the second predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle, has a predetermined time t (for example, 0 comma number [sec] to several [min]) elapsed from time Ta? It is determined whether or not (S140), and if the predetermined time t has not elapsed, the process returns to the determination of S130. On the other hand, if the predetermined time t has elapsed, no processing is performed and one routine of this flow is terminated. This is because, when a predetermined time t has elapsed since the stop position is within the first predetermined distance, the host vehicle has advanced to a side road before the stop position is within the second predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle, or Based on the presumption that the vehicle is parked.

  If it is determined in S130 that the stop position is within the second predetermined distance in front of the host vehicle, the determination reference value ΔAc is obtained by the following equation (1) using the accelerator opening Acb and the time Tb at this time. Is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the calculated determination reference value ΔAc is less than a determination threshold value α associated with the driver's personal ID (S150).

  ΔAc = (Aca−Acb) / (Tb−Ta) (1)

  If the determination reference value ΔAc is less than the determination threshold α, the driver has not fully released the accelerator pedal, and therefore determines that the stop position is not recognized, and alerts the driver about the approach of the stop position. Therefore, the second timing information is provided (S160), and one routine of this flow is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the determination reference value ΔAc is greater than or equal to the determination threshold α, it is determined that the driver has fully returned the accelerator pedal, so that the stop position is recognized, and the information on the second timing is provided. Without performing this, the threshold value α associated with the driver's personal ID is updated in consideration of the current criterion value ΔAc (S170), and one routine of this flow is terminated.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of changes in the accelerator opening Ac when information is provided at the first and second timings and changes in the accelerator opening Ac when information is provided only at the first timing. FIG. As shown in the figure, in the example shown in FIG. 3A, the accelerator opening Ac decreases so much between the point at which the information is provided at the first timing and the point at which the stop position reaches the second predetermined distance. Not shown (indicated by Aca-Acb in the figure), and as a result, the determination reference value ΔAc is less than the determination threshold α. Therefore, the information provision at the second timing is performed to alert the approach of the stop position.

  On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 3 (B), the accelerator opening Ac decreases sufficiently between the point where the information is provided at the first timing and the point where the stop position reaches the second predetermined distance. As a result, the determination reference value ΔAc is equal to or greater than the determination threshold value α. Therefore, although the information provision at the second timing is not performed, it is determined that the current driving operation is performed by recognizing the stop position, and is reflected in the determination threshold value α.

  Note that the threshold value α associated with the driver's personal ID is a value slightly larger than the simple average of the determination reference values ΔAc calculated in the past as a result of the driving operation of the driver (for example, the simple average). To a predetermined value (for example, a value obtained by multiplying a comma number [times] to a number [times], etc.) or a standard deviation and a value obtained by adding two standard deviations to an average value). Alternatively, instead of the simple average, a value (same as above) slightly larger than the weighted average value weighted so as to increase the influence of the latest value may be used.

  Thus, since the determination threshold value α associated with the driver's personal ID is updated based on the determination reference value ΔAc calculated in the past as a result of the driving operation of the driver, the determination threshold value α is appropriate. Can be. Further, based on this, it is determined whether or not the driver has sufficiently returned the accelerator pedal, that is, whether or not to provide information at the second timing because the driver's intention to stop is determined. Can do.

  According to the vehicle information providing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the accelerator opening degree Ac is decreased from the provision of the first timing information to the point where the stop position reaches the second predetermined distance. Information on the second timing is provided based on the result of comparing the determination reference value ΔAc obtained by dividing the quantity (Aca−Acb) by the elapsed time (Tb−Ta) with the determination threshold value α. Accordingly, it is possible to provide appropriate information regarding the stop position based on the change in the accelerator opening degree Ac that reflects the driver's intention to stop.

  The determination threshold value α is updated based on a determination reference value ΔAc calculated in the past as a result of the driving operation of the driver. As a result, the determination threshold value α is adapted to the driving operation of each driver. Based on this, since each driver's intention to stop is determined, whether or not to perform the second timing can be more appropriately determined according to the driver.

  As mentioned above, although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described using one embodiment, the present invention is not limited to such one embodiment, and within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention, Various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiment.

  For example, instead of the accelerator opening Ac detected by the accelerator opening sensor 10, the throttle opening detected by the throttle opening sensor may be used to determine whether or not to provide the second timing information. Good.

  Further, the method for determining whether or not to provide information at the second timing is not limited to the one exemplified in the embodiment, and any method may be used as long as the determination is made based on the change mode of the accelerator opening degree Ac. A technique may be used. For example, the decrease amount (Aca-Acb) of the accelerator opening degree Ac may be compared with a threshold value without considering the elapsed time (Tb-Ta). Moreover, the method of calculating the differential value in the micro time of accelerator opening degree Ac several times and comparing each with a threshold value may be sufficient.

  Moreover, about the aspect of the driver | operator identification apparatus 30, it is not restricted to what was illustrated in the Example, You may identify a driver | operator using what kind of apparatus. For example, the driver may be input to an input unit (such as a touch panel) of the navigation device 40.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for an apparatus that provides a driver with information on at least a stop position. The appearance, weight, size, running performance, etc. of the vehicle to be mounted are not limited.

It is a figure which shows an example of the whole structure of the information provision apparatus 1 for vehicles which concerns on one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the characteristic process which ECU50 for navigation apparatuses performs. It is a figure which shows an example of the change of accelerator opening degree Ac when information provision is performed at the 1st and 2nd timing, and the change of accelerator opening degree Ac when information provision is performed only at the 1st timing. .

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle information provision apparatus 10 Accelerator opening degree sensor 20 Communication apparatus 30 Driver | operator identification apparatus 32 Smart key 34 Detection apparatus 36 Out-of-vehicle transmitter / receiver 38 In-vehicle transmitter / receiver 40 Navigation apparatus 42 GPS receiver 44 Map database 46 Display apparatus 48 Speaker 50 Electronic control unit 52 for navigation device Memory

Claims (4)

An information providing device for a vehicle that provides information on a stop position where a vehicle should stop,
Information providing means for providing information to the driver;
An accelerator opening detecting means for detecting the accelerator opening;
Positional relationship detection means for detecting the positional relationship between the stop position and the host vehicle;
Accelerator opening storage means for storing the accelerator opening detected by the accelerator opening detection means;
The information is provided so as to provide information to the driver based on the positional relationship between the stop position detected by the positional relationship detection means and the host vehicle and the history of the accelerator opening stored in the accelerator opening storage means. Control means for controlling the providing means,
The control means includes
Controlling the information providing means to provide information at a first timing when the positional relationship detecting means detects that the stop position is within a first predetermined distance in front of the vehicle;
When the positional relationship detecting means detects that the stop position is within a second predetermined distance shorter than the first predetermined distance in front of the vehicle, information on the first timing is provided. When the determination reference value obtained by dividing the amount of decrease in the accelerator opening from the point by the elapsed time from the time when the information is provided at the first timing is less than the determination threshold, the information at the second timing is provided. Controlling the information providing means to perform,
An information providing device for a vehicle, characterized in that. The vehicle information providing device according to claim 1,
The determination threshold is updated based on a change mode of the accelerator opening that is learned each time the stop position is approached.
An information providing device for a vehicle, characterized in that. The vehicle information providing device according to claim 1 or 2,
A driver identification means for identifying the driver is provided,
The determination threshold is set for each driver specified by the driver specifying means.
An information providing device for a vehicle, characterized in that.   The vehicle information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the accelerator opening is replaced with a throttle valve opening.

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