JP4905829B2 - Driving support device and driving support method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving support device and a driving support method that support avoidance driving of a host vehicle according to the behavior of a preceding vehicle.

  Conventionally, there is known a driving support device that controls the distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle according to the distance between the preceding vehicle and the host vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle, and the deceleration of the preceding vehicle ( For example, see Patent Document 1). In the driving support device described in Patent Document 1, when the preceding vehicle decelerates, the vehicle speed of the own vehicle is reduced to maintain the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the preceding vehicle at the safe inter-vehicle distance.

  However, if there is an obstacle in the area where the driver's front view is obstructed by the vehicle ahead, see how the vehicle ahead avoids obstacles by changing the course. Only then will the driver of the vehicle recognize that there is an obstacle ahead of the vehicle. Moreover, it may be difficult to determine whether the behavior of the preceding vehicle is an avoidance operation for avoiding an obstacle only by the visual observation of the driver. In this way, when the driver of the vehicle sees the avoidance behavior of the preceding vehicle and recognizes that there is an obstacle ahead of the own vehicle, if the driver's recognition of the avoidance behavior of the preceding vehicle is delayed, Avoiding your vehicle may be difficult.

JP-A-9-272363

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object thereof is to provide a driving support device and a driving support method for supporting avoidance driving of a host vehicle that avoids an obstacle from behavior information of a preceding vehicle. To do.

(1) A driving support device for achieving the above object includes behavior information acquisition means for acquiring the behavior of a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle, and behavior information of the preceding vehicle acquired by the behavior information acquisition means. Behavior determining means for determining whether the preceding vehicle is changing around and avoiding obstacles ; inter-vehicle distance acquiring means for acquiring an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle; When the behavior determination means determines that the vehicle speed acquisition means for acquiring the vehicle speed and the preceding vehicle is performing an avoidance operation that changes the course and avoids the obstacle, the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle The avoidance determination means for determining whether the driver of the host vehicle can change the route of the host vehicle to avoid the obstacle based on the vehicle speed of the vehicle; If you are driving avoiding objects, It provided the means to determine the avoidance assist means for assisting the avoidance operation of the vehicle, a.

Before SL avoidance assistance means, said when the avoidance determination means that the vehicle driver can avoid the obstacle by changing the path of the vehicle is determined, the vehicle by a guide device of the vehicle When the avoidance determining means determines that the driver of the vehicle cannot avoid the obstacle by changing the route of the vehicle, the vehicle control device for the vehicle the vehicle is Ru is help avoid operation to avoid collision with the obstacle.

If the vehicle ahead is changing the course and avoiding obstacles, avoiding obstacles is supported, so it is difficult to avoid collision with obstacles in normal driving conditions. Even in this case, the collision between the vehicle and the obstacle can be avoided by the assistance of the avoidance support means.
Avoiding obstacles by changing the course Depending on the avoidance driving of the vehicle ahead, if the driver of the own car can change the course of the own car and avoid the obstacle, the driver of the own car will avoid By guiding the driving, it is possible to quickly recognize that there is an obstacle ahead of the host vehicle. As a result, the driver of the own vehicle can quickly start avoiding driving by changing the course of the own vehicle to avoid an obstacle. Therefore, even when it is difficult to avoid a collision with an obstacle in a normal driving state, the driver of the own vehicle can avoid a collision between the own vehicle and the obstacle.

  On the other hand, if the driver of the vehicle cannot change the route of the vehicle and avoid the obstacle according to the avoidance driving of the front vehicle that changes the route and avoids the obstacle, the vehicle control of the vehicle Let the device support avoidance driving to avoid collision of the vehicle with obstacles. Therefore, even when it is difficult to avoid a collision with an obstacle in a normal driving state, the collision with the obstacle can be avoided with the assistance of the vehicle control device.

Or vehicle-to-vehicle distance is too close to the front side wheel and the vehicle, in the case if the normal vehicle speed to change the course also be a vehicle-to-vehicle distance to avoid operation in time to avoid the obstacle vehicle speed of the vehicle is too fast In some cases, avoidance driving to avoid obstacles by changing the course of the own vehicle may not be in time for the driver alone. Therefore, by determining whether the driver of the vehicle can change the course and avoid the obstacle from the distance between the vehicle ahead and the vehicle speed and the vehicle speed of the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle When the avoidance operation is not in time, the collision between the host vehicle and the obstacle can be avoided with the assistance of the vehicle control device.

( 2 ) The avoidance determining means is configured to drive the host vehicle when the driver of the host vehicle changes the course of the host vehicle and the other vehicle is traveling on the course of the avoidance driving to avoid the obstacle. It may be determined that the person cannot change the course of the own vehicle to avoid the obstacle.
As a result, the driver of the own vehicle changes the route of the own vehicle and avoids obstacles. Collisions with objects can be avoided.

( 3 ) The behavior information acquisition means acquires lighting information of the direction indicator light of the preceding vehicle, and the behavior determination means changes the course of the forward vehicle when the direction indicator light of the preceding vehicle is lit. Then, it may be determined that the avoidance driving that avoids the obstacle is not performed.
If the direction indicator light of the vehicle ahead is lit, the behavior of the vehicle ahead may be overtaking or lane change, and in this case, it is not necessary for the vehicle to change its course according to the vehicle ahead. . Moreover, if the direction indicator lamp is lit, it can be determined that the preceding vehicle avoids the obstacle with a margin even if the preceding vehicle changes the course to avoid the obstacle. Therefore, you may determine with the front vehicle not performing the behavior which needs to support the avoidance driving of the own vehicle.

( 4 ) The behavior determination means analyzes the forward image data of the own vehicle acquired by the behavior information acquisition means from an imaging device mounted on the own vehicle, so that the forward vehicle changes the course and the It may be determined whether the avoidance driving is performed to avoid the obstacle. In this way, by analyzing the image data ahead of the vehicle, the actual behavior of the vehicle ahead can be determined with high accuracy.

( 5 ) The behavior determining means may change the course of the forward vehicle from the driving information of the forward vehicle acquired by the behavior information acquisition means from a communication device in which the vehicle communicates with the forward vehicle. It may be determined whether an avoidance operation that avoids the obstacle is performed. Since the avoidance behavior of the preceding vehicle is detected by inter-vehicle communication, the avoidance behavior of the preceding vehicle can be detected instantaneously and reliably.

( 6 ) The driving support method for achieving the above object is a driving support method by a driving support device that supports driving of the host vehicle according to the behavior of the preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle.
A behavior information acquisition step of acquiring the behavior of the preceding vehicle, the behavior information of the preceding vehicle, and determines the behavior decision step whether the preceding vehicle is the avoidance operation to avoid an obstacle by changing course, the An inter-vehicle distance acquisition step of acquiring an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle, a vehicle speed acquisition step of acquiring the vehicle speed of the host vehicle, and the behavior determination step, wherein the front vehicle changes the course and If it is determined that the avoidance driving is avoided, the driver of the host vehicle may change the course of the host vehicle to avoid the obstacle based on the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. An avoidance determination step for determining whether it is possible, and an avoidance support for assisting the avoidance operation of the own vehicle when it is determined in the behavior determination step that the preceding vehicle is performing an avoidance operation by changing a course to avoid the obstacle Stages.
In the avoidance support step, when it is determined in the avoidance determination step that the driver of the own vehicle can change the course of the own vehicle and avoid the obstacle, If the driver guides avoidance driving and the driver of the host vehicle determines that the obstacle cannot be avoided by changing the route of the host vehicle, the vehicle control device of the host vehicle The host vehicle assists avoidance driving to avoid collision with the obstacle.
By such a method, the same effect as that of the driving support device described in (1) is obtained.

  The functions of the plurality of means provided in the present invention are realized by hardware resources whose functions are specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose functions are specified by a program, or a combination thereof. The functions of the plurality of means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other. In addition, the order of each operation of the method described in the claims is not limited to the order of description unless there is a technical impediment, and may be executed in any order, and may be executed simultaneously. Also good.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Hardware configuration)
FIG. 1 shows a navigation device 1 including a driving support device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the control device of the navigation device 1 also serves as the driving support device 10. Note that a driving support device configured independently of the navigation device 1 may be assembled to the navigation device 1. The navigation device 1 is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile or a motorcycle, and searches for a recommended route to a destination point, or guides the driver to the searched route or the travel point of the host vehicle 100 (see FIG. 2). .

  The driving support device 10 includes a navigation ECU (Electronic Control Unit), a communication ECU, a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, and the like. The driving support device 10 controls each part of the navigation device 1 by executing a control program stored in a flash memory or the like. The control program can also be stored in the flash memory of the driving support device 10 by downloading from a predetermined server via a network, reading from a computer-readable storage medium such as a removable memory (not shown), and the like. The driving support device 10 functions as behavior information acquisition means, behavior determination means, avoidance determination means, avoidance support means, inter-vehicle distance acquisition means, and vehicle speed acquisition means.

  The navigation DB (Database) 20 stores a map DB as map information. The map DB is a database composed of information that digitally represents a map, and is used for detection of the current position of the vehicle 100 on the road network, route search, and the like. In the map DB, intersections, junctions, turning points, dead ends, and the like are nodes, and roads are defined as links that connect nodes. For each link, lane information such as traffic direction, distance, number of lanes, road type (general road, expressway, automobile road, mountain road, etc.), link ID, start and end nodes, right turn lane and left turn lane Etc. are defined as attributes.

The vehicle information detection part 22 is comprised with the various sensors mounted in the own vehicle 100, and detects the driving | running state of the own vehicle 100, such as a vehicle speed.
The front camera 24, which is a behavior detection device and an imaging device, is configured by a digital camera that captures an image of the front of the host vehicle 100 at predetermined time intervals and generates moving image series data representing a moving image ahead. The driving assistance apparatus 10 acquires and analyzes image data ahead of the host vehicle 100 from the front camera 24. When there is a forward vehicle 110 traveling in front of the host vehicle 100, the driving assistance device 10 has changed the course of the forward vehicle 110 in a state where the direction indicator light of the forward vehicle 110 is not lit. It is determined that the forward vehicle 110 is performing an avoidance operation to avoid an obstacle. The driving assistance device 10 determines from the image data that the preceding vehicle 110 is performing an avoidance operation that changes the course and avoids an obstacle, for example, when the preceding vehicle 110 performs the following avoidance behavior.
-The position of the forward vehicle 110 has changed in the horizontal direction.
The shape of the forward vehicle 110 has been deformed on the image data, that is, the direction of the forward vehicle 110 has changed.
-The degree to which the front car 110 shields the white line on either side of the front car 110 has increased.

When the driving assistance device 10 determines that the preceding vehicle 110 is performing an avoidance operation that changes the course and avoids the obstacle, the driving vehicle 100 or the driver of the own vehicle 100 provides assistance to avoid the obstacle. Support for avoidance driving by the driving support device 10 will be described later.
In addition to analyzing the image data in front of the host vehicle 100 captured by the front camera 24, the radar 100 or the sonar mounted on the host vehicle 100 scans the front of the host vehicle 100 to obtain front information of the host vehicle 100. You may get it. The driving support device 10 can determine whether the forward vehicle 110 is driving avoiding an obstacle by analyzing the situation ahead of the host vehicle 100 based on the forward scanning data of the radar or sonar.

  In addition, when vehicle-to-vehicle communication is possible, driving information of the forward vehicle 110 is acquired from the forward vehicle 110 via the communication device 26 as the forward information of the host vehicle 100, and the forward vehicle 110 is acquired based on the driving information. It may be determined whether or not the vehicle is avoiding the obstacle by changing the course. The driving information acquired from the forward vehicle 110 by inter-vehicle communication includes the lateral acceleration of the forward vehicle 110, the steering operation speed of the forward vehicle 110, and the like. If the acceleration in the lateral direction of the forward vehicle 110 is larger than the acceleration at the time of normal lane change compared with the absolute value, for example, in the range of ± 0.4G to 0.5G, avoidance driving in either the left or right direction It is determined that you are doing. Also, if the value of the steering operation speed of the forward vehicle 110 is larger than the operation speed at the time of normal lane change compared with the absolute value, for example, within the range of ± 40 to 50 ° / sec, either the left or right It is determined that avoidance driving is performed in the direction.

  Further, the front camera 24, radar, sonar, and inter-vehicle communication are combined to acquire the forward information of the host vehicle 100, and it is determined whether the forward vehicle 110 is changing the course and avoiding the obstacle 120. Also good. In particular, when the front of the host vehicle is dark at night or the like and analysis using image data is difficult, it is desirable to acquire behavior information of the forward vehicle 110 by radar, sonar, and inter-vehicle communication.

  The communication device 26 is used for receiving various types of traffic information such as traffic jam information and traffic regulation information transmitted from the information center to each vehicle by FM multiplex broadcasting, optical beacons, infrared beacons and the like. The current position of the host vehicle 100 can also be transmitted to the information center via the communication device 26. Further, the communication device 26 is configured to be capable of inter-vehicle communication with any vehicle that exists within a predetermined distance from the host vehicle 100 and performs wireless communication according to a specific communication protocol. Note that the communication partner may be other than the vehicle as long as wireless communication is possible according to the communication protocol. The driving support device 10 can know the driving information of the other vehicle such as the position of the other vehicle, the acceleration, and the steering operation angle through the inter-vehicle communication.

  The display 28 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) used for displaying a map, displaying an image captured by the front camera 24, and displaying various other information. The image captured by the front camera 24 may be displayed on a display different from the display used for displaying the map, for example, HUD (Head Up Display). The display 28 may be used as a guidance device that guides the avoidance driving to the host vehicle 100.

The warning device 30 as a guide device is a device that prompts the driver of the vehicle 100 by generating a warning sound, lighting a warning light, vibrating a seat, or the like.
The vehicle control device 40 adjusts the ratio of the steering operation angle to the steering angle of the front wheels, that is, the steering gear ratio, or controls the hydraulic pressure to adjust the braking force of the brake.

(Driving support processing)
Next, a driving support process when the preceding vehicle 110 is performing an avoidance operation by changing the course to avoid an obstacle will be described.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which a forward vehicle 110 traveling in front of the host vehicle 100 in the same direction as the host vehicle 100 is performing an avoidance operation by changing the course and avoiding the obstacle 120. In FIG. 2, the parked vehicle parked in front of the forward vehicle 110 is the obstacle 120 that is the target of avoidance driving. 5 to 7 are examples in which a fallen object, a bicycle, and a pedestrian are obstacles 120, respectively. 2 and 5 to 7, the forward vehicle 110 performs an avoidance operation by changing the course in order to avoid the obstacle 120. Immediately after the preceding vehicle 110 starts the avoidance driving to change the course, the driver's view 102 of the host vehicle 100 is obstructed by the preceding vehicle 110, so that the driver of the host vehicle 100 cannot see the obstacle 120. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a driving support processing routine. The driving support processing routine shown in FIG. 8 is stored in the flash memory of the driving support device 10, and is executed when a timer interrupt occurs at a preset time interval.

In S300, the driving assistance apparatus 10 acquires image data ahead of the host vehicle 100 captured by the front camera 24. As described above, in addition to the front camera 24, when the radar or sonar, or the forward vehicle 110 is present, the forward information of the host vehicle 100 may be acquired by inter-vehicle communication with the forward vehicle 110. .
In S300, the driving support device 10 acquires the presence or absence of the forward vehicle 110 and the shape, size, and the like of the forward vehicle 110 as the forward information when the forward vehicle 110 is present. Further, when the front camera 24 is composed of a pair of left and right optical systems, the driving support device 10 is based on the image data of the front camera 24, the front scan data of the radar or sonar, or the navigation device 1. The inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 100 and the preceding vehicle 110 is calculated from the position of the host vehicle 100 obtained from the GPS unit (not shown) and the navigation DB 20 and the position of the preceding vehicle 110 acquired by inter-vehicle communication, and acquired as forward information. To do.

  In S <b> 302, the driving assistance device 10 determines whether or not the forward vehicle 110 exists within a predetermined distance (m) from the host vehicle 100. If the forward vehicle 110 does not exist within a predetermined distance, that is, if the forward vehicle 110 is far away from the own vehicle 100, or if no vehicle exists in front of the own vehicle 100, this routine is terminated. If the forward vehicle 110 is very small compared to the host vehicle 100, the driver of the host vehicle 100 is likely to be able to see the obstacle 120 even if the front vehicle 110 blocks a part of the front view. In S302, the driving assistance apparatus 10 may determine that the preceding vehicle 110 does not exist within a predetermined distance (m) from the own vehicle 100, and may end this routine.

The predetermined distance serving as the determination criterion in S302 may be a fixed value, or may be variably set by the driving assistance device 10 according to the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100. When the predetermined distance is variably set according to the vehicle speed, the predetermined distance becomes longer as the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100 increases. This is because as the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100 increases, the distance between the host vehicle 100 and the forward vehicle 110 required for the host vehicle 100 to safely perform avoidance driving increases. In addition, the predetermined distance serving as the determination criterion in S302 may be changed depending on the road shape. For example, if the road shape in front of the host vehicle 100 is a curve, the predetermined distance is longer than when the road shape is a straight line.
When the forward vehicle 110 exists within a predetermined distance (m) from the host vehicle 100, for example, within 100 (m), the driving support device 10 analyzes, for example, image data acquired from the front camera 24 in S304.

  In S306, the driving support device 10 analyzes the digital image data acquired from the front camera 24. As a result, when the forward vehicle 110 performs the avoidance behavior described above, the forward vehicle 110 changes the course to avoid the obstacle 120. It is determined that an avoidance operation is being performed. If the forward vehicle 110 is not performing avoidance driving, this routine is terminated.

  If it is determined in S306 that the forward vehicle 110 is changing the course and performing avoidance driving, the driving support device 10 determines in S308 whether the driver of the host vehicle 100 can perform avoidance driving that avoids the obstacle 120. . This determination may be made based on, for example, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle 100 and the forward vehicle 110 and the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100. If the vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100 is too high with respect to the inter-vehicle distance, the driving support device 10 determines that the driver of the host vehicle 100 cannot safely perform the avoidance driving.

  Moreover, you may determine whether a driver | operator can avoid driving | running | working by analyzing the driving | running state of the driver | operator of the own vehicle 100 with the monitor camera in a vehicle. When the driver closes his eyes, that is, when he is dozing, or the driver is driving aside, the driving support device 10 determines that the driver of the vehicle 100 cannot perform avoidance driving. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, also when the oncoming vehicle 130 that is another vehicle is traveling on the path on which the own vehicle 100 performs the avoidance driving, the driving support device 10 determines that the driver of the own vehicle 100 in S308 Determines that it is impossible to avoid driving by changing the course. The driving support device 10 detects that the oncoming vehicle 130 is traveling on the route on which the host vehicle 100 is to perform avoidance driving by image data from the front camera 24 or inter-vehicle communication with the oncoming vehicle 130. To do. The driving support device 10 also avoids driving by changing the course of the driver of the host vehicle 100 in S308 even when the following vehicle is traveling on the path where the host vehicle 100 performs avoiding driving. Judge that you can not. The driving assistance device 10 acquires driving information of the following vehicle by a rear camera or inter-vehicle communication.

  In S308, when it is determined that the driver of the own vehicle 100 can change the course and the avoidance driving can be performed, the driving support device 10 guides the avoidance driving to the driver of the own vehicle 100 in S310. For example, the driving assistance device 10 may activate the warning device 30 to warn the driver of the vehicle 100 of avoidance driving by generating a warning sound, lighting a warning light, vibrating a driver's seat, or the like. Even if the driver of the host vehicle 100 is not able to see the obstacle 120 in front of the front vehicle 110 because the field of view of the front vehicle 110 is obstructed, the driver of the host vehicle 100 may It is possible to know that there is an obstacle 120 in the vehicle and the forward vehicle 110 is performing an avoidance operation. Therefore, the driver of the own vehicle 100 can quickly perform the avoidance operation on the own vehicle 100 and avoid the obstacle 120. In addition to the warning device 30, as shown in FIG. 3, an avoidance guideline 104 on which the vehicle 100 performs an avoidance operation may be displayed on the display 28 to guide the avoidance operation.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S308 that the driver of the own vehicle 100 cannot change the course and the avoidance driving cannot be performed, the driving support device 10 sends an assist signal to the vehicle control device 40 in S312 to avoid the avoidance driving to the own vehicle 100 itself. To help.
For example, when the vehicle control device 40 receives a support signal from the driving support device 10, the vehicle control device 40 changes the gear ratio so that the steering angle of the front wheels is larger than the steering operation angle than during normal driving. As a result, when the driver of the host vehicle 100 operates the steering to perform avoidance driving, the course of the host vehicle 100 changes more greatly than during normal driving for the same steering operation angle, so it is easy to avoid the obstacle 120. Become. In addition, when the driving support device 10 determines that the driver of the host vehicle 100 cannot change the course and cannot perform the avoidance driving, the steering assist device 10 performs steering only in the avoiding direction of the host vehicle 100 instead of changing the steering gear ratio in S312. The vehicle control device 40 may control the vehicle to rotate, or the vehicle control device 40 may cause the vehicle 100 itself to perform an avoidance operation by automatically operating the steering.

  Alternatively, when it is determined in S308 that the driver of the host vehicle 100 cannot change the course and cannot perform the avoidance driving, the driving support device 10 notifies the vehicle control device 40 of the support signal even when the driver does not depress the brake pedal. The vehicle speed of the host vehicle 100 may be reduced by operating the brake by hydraulic control. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, even when the oncoming vehicle 130 is traveling on the course where the host vehicle 100 performs avoidance driving, the driving support device 10 sends a support signal to the vehicle control device 40 to perform hydraulic control. A brake may be operated and the vehicle speed of the own vehicle 100 may be decelerated.

In S <b> 312, the driving support device 10 may send a support signal to the vehicle control device 40 and activate the warning device 30 to warn the driver of the host vehicle 100 of avoidance driving.
As described above, in the present embodiment, the avoidance operation for avoiding the obstacle 120 by changing the course of the forward vehicle 110 based on the behavior of the forward vehicle 110 detected by the front camera 24 instead of the visual observation of the driver of the host vehicle 100 is performed. Therefore, it is possible to cause the driver of the own vehicle 100 or the own vehicle 100 itself to perform the avoidance driving promptly.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it is applicable to various embodiment.

The block diagram of the navigation apparatus containing a driving assistance device. Explanatory drawing which shows the avoidance driving | operation of the front vehicle which avoids an obstruction. Explanatory drawing which shows the avoidance standard line of the own vehicle. Explanatory drawing which shows the avoidance driving when there is an oncoming vehicle. Explanatory drawing which shows the avoidance driving | operation of the front vehicle which avoids the obstruction different from FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the avoidance driving | operation of the front vehicle which avoids the obstruction different from FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows the avoidance driving | operation of the front vehicle which avoids the obstruction different from FIG. The flowchart which shows a driving assistance process.

Explanation of symbols

1: navigation device, 10: driving support device, 20: navigation DB, 24: front camera (behavior detection device, imaging device), 26: communication device (behavior detection device), 28: display (guidance device), 30: warning Device (guide device), 40: vehicle control device, 100: own vehicle, 110: forward vehicle, 120: obstacle, 130: oncoming vehicle (other vehicle)

Claims (6)

Behavior information acquisition means for acquiring the behavior of a preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle;
Behavior determination means for determining whether the preceding vehicle is performing an avoidance operation to change the course and avoid obstacles from the behavior information of the preceding vehicle acquired by the behavior information acquisition means;
An inter-vehicle distance acquisition means for acquiring an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle;
Vehicle speed acquisition means for acquiring the vehicle speed of the host vehicle;
When the behavior determining means determines that the preceding vehicle is changing the course and avoiding the obstacle, the driving of the host vehicle is determined from the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle and the speed of the host vehicle. Avoidance judging means for judging whether the person can change the course of the own vehicle and avoid the obstacle;
When the behavior determining means determines that the preceding vehicle is changing around and avoiding the obstacle, the avoidance support means for supporting the avoidance driving of the host vehicle;
Equipped with a,
When the avoidance determination means determines that the driver can change the course of the own vehicle and avoid the obstacle, the avoidance support means determines the position of the own vehicle by the guidance device of the own vehicle. When the avoidance determination means determines that the driver cannot guide the obstacle by avoiding the obstacle by changing the route of the own vehicle, the vehicle control device of the own vehicle is instructed. A driving assistance device for assisting avoidance driving in which the host vehicle avoids a collision with the obstacle . The avoidance determining means is configured such that when the driver of the own vehicle changes the route of the own vehicle and another vehicle is traveling on the avoidance driving route to avoid the obstacle, the driver of the own vehicle The driving support device according to claim 1 , wherein it is determined that the obstacle cannot be avoided by changing a course of the own vehicle. The behavior information acquisition means acquires lighting information of the direction indicator light of the preceding vehicle, and the behavior determination means changes the course of the forward vehicle when the direction indicator light of the preceding vehicle is lit. driving support apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 is determined not to be an avoidance operation to avoid obstacles. The behavior determination means analyzes the front image data of the own vehicle acquired by the behavior information acquisition means from an imaging device mounted on the own vehicle, so that the front vehicle changes the course and the obstacle is changed. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein it is determined whether to avoid avoiding driving. The behavior determination means is configured to change the course of the front vehicle from the driving information of the front vehicle acquired by the behavior information acquisition means from a communication device in which the own vehicle performs inter-vehicle communication with the preceding vehicle. The driving support device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein it is determined whether the avoidance driving is performed so as to avoid the vehicle. In the driving support method by the driving support device that supports the driving of the host vehicle according to the behavior of the forward vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle,
A behavior information acquisition step for acquiring the behavior of the preceding vehicle;
From the behavior information of the preceding vehicle, a behavior determination step for determining whether the preceding vehicle is performing an avoidance operation that changes the course and avoids an obstacle,
An inter-vehicle distance acquisition step of acquiring an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle;
A vehicle speed acquisition step of acquiring the vehicle speed of the host vehicle;
If it is determined in the behavior determination step that the preceding vehicle is performing an avoidance operation that changes the course and avoids the obstacle, the driving of the own vehicle is determined from the inter-vehicle distance from the preceding vehicle and the vehicle speed of the own vehicle. An avoidance determination step for determining whether the person can change the course of the vehicle and avoid the obstacle;
If it is determined in the behavior determination step that the preceding vehicle is performing an avoidance operation that changes the course and avoids the obstacle, an avoidance support step that supports the avoidance operation of the host vehicle;
Including
In the avoidance support step, when it is determined in the avoidance determination step that the driver of the own vehicle can change the course of the own vehicle and avoid the obstacle, If the driver guides avoidance driving and the driver of the host vehicle determines that the obstacle cannot be avoided by changing the route of the host vehicle, the vehicle control device of the host vehicle A driving support method for supporting avoidance driving in which the host vehicle avoids a collision with the obstacle .

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