JP4997778B2 - Crew protection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an occupant protection device for protecting an occupant during a vehicle collision.

As an apparatus for protecting an occupant at the time of a vehicle collision, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. In this device, a vehicle approaching an intersection is detected, a collision is predicted, and when it is determined that there is a possibility of a collision, the vehicle is decelerated or stopped.
JP 2002-140799 A

  However, for example, if the vehicle decelerates when another vehicle is likely to collide with the rear portion of the vehicle, it may be possible that the vehicle will collide with the center of the vehicle. Thus, if only the possibility of a collision is determined and the collision avoidance operation is performed by decelerating the vehicle, appropriate protection of the occupant is not necessarily achieved.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an occupant protection device capable of appropriately protecting an occupant during a collision.

An occupant protection device according to the present invention includes a deceleration control unit that controls deceleration of a host vehicle, a traveling state detection unit that detects a traveling state of the host vehicle, another vehicle information detection unit that detects information related to another vehicle, A collision part estimation means for estimating a collision part of the other vehicle with respect to the side surface of the host vehicle based on the traveling state of the vehicle and information relating to the other vehicle, and the deceleration control means includes the collision part estimated by the collision part estimation means Is a vehicle rear side, the deceleration of the host vehicle is prohibited.

  In this occupant protection device, the host vehicle can be decelerated and controlled according to the collision site, so that damage due to the collision can be reduced and appropriate protection of the occupant can be achieved.

In other words, it is possible to prevent the other vehicle from colliding with the cabin at the center of the side surface of the vehicle due to the deceleration, and on the contrary, to increase the damage.

  When it is estimated that the collision part is ahead of the vehicle side central part including this, it is preferable that the deceleration control means performs deceleration control. In this way, damage can be reduced by shifting the collision position.

  The deceleration control means preferably performs deceleration control so as to avoid at least a collision with the vehicle side surface center. In this way, damage to the cabin can be greatly reduced by preventing collision with the cabin.

  It is preferable that the traveling state detection means detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle and at least one of the steering angle and the yaw rate.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately protect an occupant during a collision.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of an occupant protection device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, an occupant protection device 10 includes a control ECU 12 that controls the entire device, a distance measurement sensor (other vehicle information detection means) 14, a steering angle sensor (running state detection means) 16, and a vehicle speed sensor. (Traveling state detection means) 18, brake ECU (deceleration control means) 20, airbag actuator 22, and seat belt actuator 24 are provided.

  Various sensors such as a distance measuring sensor 14, a steering angle sensor 16, and a vehicle speed sensor 18 are connected to the control ECU 12. The control ECU 12 includes a collision estimation unit (collision site estimation means) 26. The collision estimation unit 26 estimates a portion where another vehicle collides with the host vehicle based on data detected by the distance measuring sensor 14, the steering angle sensor 16, and the vehicle speed sensor 18. Details thereof will be described later.

  The distance measuring sensor 14 is, for example, a millimeter wave radar provided at the front center of the host vehicle or the front left and right sides, and detects the position (direction and distance) and relative speed of the other vehicle as information related to the other vehicle. The steering angle sensor 16 detects the steering angle of the host vehicle, and the vehicle speed sensor 18 detects the vehicle speed of the host vehicle.

  The control ECU 12 is connected to a brake ECU 20, an airbag actuator 22, and a seat belt actuator 24.

  The brake ECU 20 sends a target hydraulic pressure signal to a brake actuator that adjusts the hydraulic pressure of the wheel cylinder, and controls the brake actuator to adjust the hydraulic pressure of the wheel cylinder, thereby performing deceleration control of the host vehicle.

  The airbag actuator 22 operates the inflator and deploys the side airbag. The seat belt actuator 24 operates a seat belt winding device to wind and tension the seat belt.

と表せる。 Here, a collision estimation procedure in the collision estimation unit 26 of the control ECU 12 will be described. First, the position and relative speed of the other vehicle N are detected by the millimeter wave radar 14. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, when an xy coordinate system having the origin at the center of the front surface of the host vehicle M is set, the coordinates of the other vehicle (also referred to as the target 1) N are the current coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ), when the update period of other vehicle information acquisition is T, and i = 0 to n (n is a natural number),

It can be expressed.

  Using this, an approximate straight line is obtained from a total of n + 1 points of the past locus n points of the target 1 and the current one point. At this time, y = ax + b (a and b are constants) is modified, and each linear approximation is performed as x = y / ab−a = a′y + b ′. This is because the characteristics of the millimeter wave radar take into consideration that the blur in the x direction is larger than that in the y direction. In addition, a and b are 1) what was calculated | required by two points of the present point and the past 1 point, 2) what was calculated | required by the least square method, 3) what was calculated | required by robust estimation, 4) RANSAC (random sample consensus) ) Consider what you have found in

  Thus, y = ax + b obtained,

When _x ≧ 0, x = 0.5L x extension straight right side of the vehicle

とし、これをミリ波レーダ１４により得る。これより、物標１の絶対速度ｖ_１は、

となる。このとき、ｖ_０は自車両Ｍの車速ｖ_０＝（０，ｖ_０）で表されるように、自車両Ｍのｙ方向の車速である。 When x <0, x = −0.5L _x Let the intersection P with the extended straight line on the left side of the host vehicle be (x _p , y _p ). The x in the relative velocity _{v r} of the target 1, the y-component

This is obtained by the millimeter wave radar 14. From this, the absolute velocity v ₁ of the target ₁ is

It becomes. At this time, v ₀ is the vehicle speed of the host vehicle M in the y direction as represented by the vehicle speed v ₀ = (0, v ₀ ) of the host vehicle M.

と変換すればよい。なお、ＯＦ_ｘＦＬ及びＯＦ_ｙＦＬは、図３（ｂ）に示すように、それぞれｘ方向及びｙ方向のオフセット量である。θは、レーダの傾きである。 In addition, when the information about the other vehicle N is acquired by the radar 14 at the front center of the host vehicle M, the data as it is may be used, but as shown in FIG. When information is acquired, it is necessary to perform coordinate conversion that is attached to the front center. Assume that the mounting position of the millimeter wave radar 14 is the position shown in FIG. In order to replace the coordinates of the target 1 acquired by the radar 14 on the left side of the front part with the coordinates with the central part at the front of the host vehicle as the origin, the x and y positions may be offset after rotating by θ. Therefore,

And convert. _{Incidentally, OF XFL} and _{OF YFL,} as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the offset amount of the x and y directions, respectively. θ is the slope of the radar.

となる。また、前述した交点Ｐ（ｘ_ｐ，ｙ_ｐ）は、

と求められる。このとき、図４に示すように、自車両Ｍの前から何ｍの位置に当たるかを表す値ｙ_ｃは、

で求められる。自車両Ｍの長さをＬ_ｙとすると、０≦ｙ_ｃ≦Ｌ_ｙならば、自車両Ｍの左側面に他車両Ｎが衝突することになる。ここで、図２に示すように、他車両Ｎの幅のｘ，ｙ成分をそれぞれ（Ｌ_１ｘ，Ｌ_１ｙ）とする。ミリ波レーダ１４は、他車両Ｎの右端手前を捕っていると仮定すると、この場合はＬ_１ｙを考慮する必要があるため、

と拡張され、このときに自車両左側面に他車両Ｎが衝突することになる。 The specific estimation of the collision part is as follows. First, when x <0, when it hits the left side of the host vehicle M, the collision time TTC _LS is

It becomes. The intersection point P (x _p , y _p ) described above is

Is required. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, a value y _c indicating how many m the position from the front of the host vehicle M is,

Is required. When the length of the vehicle M and L _y, if 0 ≦ _{y c} ≦ L y, so that the left side of the own vehicle M other vehicles N collide. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the x and y components of the width of the other vehicle N are (L _1x , L _1y ), respectively. Assuming that the millimeter wave radar 14 captures the right end of the other vehicle N, in this case, L _1y needs to be considered.

At this time, the other vehicle N collides with the left side surface of the host vehicle.

で求められる。このとき、自車両前面の中央から何ｍの位置に当たるかを表す値ｘ_ｃは、

となる。よって、−０．５Ｌ_ｘ≦ｘ_ｃ≦０．５Ｌ_ｘならば、自車両Ｍの前面に衝突することになる。更に、他車両Ｎのｘ方向の幅を考慮して拡張すると、

と書き直される。以上により、左前方から他車両Ｎが迫ってくるとき、上記（１）式及び（２）式が共に成立しない場合は衝突が無く、片方の式だけが成立する場合はその衝突が起きる。また、両方が成立する場合は、ＴＴＣ_ＬＳとＴＴＣ_Ｆを比較して、小さい方の場合の衝突が起きる。なお、右前方から他車両Ｎが迫ってくるときも同様にして衝突部位を推定することができる。 Next, the collision time TTC _F when colliding with the front surface of the host vehicle M is

Is required. At this time, a value x _c representing how many m from the center of the front surface of the host vehicle is,

It becomes. Therefore, if _{-0.5L x ≦ x c ≦ 0.5L x} , will collide with the front of the vehicle M. Furthermore, when considering the width of the other vehicle N in the x direction,

Rewritten. As described above, when the other vehicle N approaches from the left front, there is no collision if both of the expressions (1) and (2) are not satisfied, and the collision occurs when only one of the expressions is satisfied. In addition, when both are established, the TTC _LS and the TTC _F are compared, and a collision occurs in the smaller case. In addition, when the other vehicle N approaches from the right front, the collision site can be estimated in the same manner.

Thus, by using the values x _c and the value y _c as described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the collision site vehicle front (F), the vehicle side front (FS), the vehicle side central portion (CS), And the rear side (BS) of the vehicle, or a more precise collision position can be estimated.

  Next, operation | movement of the passenger | crew protection apparatus 10 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the position and relative speed of the other vehicle N are detected by the millimeter wave radar 14 as a distance measuring sensor. The steering angle sensor 16 and the vehicle speed sensor 18 detect the steering angle and the vehicle speed as the traveling state of the host vehicle M. These data are sent to the control ECU 12, and the collision estimation unit 26 estimates the collision of the other vehicle N with the host vehicle M (step S1). The procedure for collision estimation is as described above.

  Next, in step S2, the control ECU 12 determines whether or not there is a collision, and if it is determined that there is no collision with another vehicle N, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that there is a collision, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the control ECU 12 determines whether or not the collision site is the side surface of the host vehicle M, and when it is determined that the collision site is not the side surface of the host vehicle M, that is, the collision site is the front surface of the host vehicle M. In step S4, collision mitigation control such as PCS (pre-crash safety) is performed. Here, the control ECU 12 instructs the brake ECU 20 to perform maximum deceleration. Thus, the control ECU 12 constitutes a part of the deceleration control means. In addition, you may perform an alarm activation and steering assistance as collision mitigation control. In step S9, the control ECU 12 controls the seat belt actuator 24 to wind up and tension the seat belt, and then the process ends.

  On the other hand, when it determines with a collision site | part being the side surface of the own vehicle M in step S3, it progresses to step S5. In step S5, the control ECU 12 determines whether or not the collision site is ahead of the vehicle side central portion, and is determined not to be ahead of the vehicle side central portion, that is, when the collision site is the vehicle side rear portion. Proceeds to step S6 and prohibits deceleration control. Next, in step S8, the control ECU 12 controls the airbag actuator 22 to deploy the side airbag. In step S9, the control ECU 12 controls the seat belt actuator 24 to wind up and tension the seat belt, and then the process ends.

If it is determined in step S5 that the collision site is ahead of the center of the vehicle side surface, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, the control ECU 12 controls the brake ECU 20 to perform deceleration control of the host vehicle M. In the deceleration control, the control start timing is determined based on the following equation (3).

  Here, ΔS is the moving distance (m) of the collision position, G is the target deceleration (m / s / s), and T is the deceleration required time (S). In equation (3), the required deceleration time T is obtained by substituting the movement distance ΔS and the target deceleration G. The control is started T + 500 ms before the collision in consideration of the deceleration instruction and the hydraulic pressure rising delay (for example, 500 ms) at the required deceleration time T thus obtained.

The deceleration control is performed so as to avoid a collision with at least the center of the side surface. Therefore, the movement distance ΔS of the collision position is determined as follows. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the collision site is the vehicle side front portion FS, there is no possibility of a collision with the side surface center CS, so the collision position is set at a predetermined distance (for example, 1 to 2 m). Deceleration control may be performed so as to shift, and a distance y that avoids a side collision or a collision itself is calculated each time by using a value y _c that represents how many meters from the front of the host vehicle M, and the distance Deceleration control may be performed so as to shift the collision position only.

On the other hand, when the collision site is the vehicle side surface central portion CS, deceleration control is performed so that the collision position is shifted by a predetermined distance (at least the length of the side surface central portion CS) so as to avoid a collision with the side surface central portion CS. _{Alternatively} , using the value y _c representing how many meters from the front of the host vehicle M, a distance that avoids a collision with the side central part CS is calculated each time, and the collision position corresponding to that distance is calculated. Deceleration control may be performed so as to shift.

  After performing the deceleration control as described above in step S7, the process proceeds to step S8, where the control ECU 12 controls the airbag actuator 22 to deploy the side airbag. In step S9, the control ECU 12 controls the seat belt actuator 24 to wind up and tension the seat belt, and then the process ends.

  Thus, in the occupant protection device 10 according to the present embodiment, the host vehicle M can be decelerated and controlled according to the collision site, so that damage due to the collision can be reduced and appropriate occupant protection can be achieved. Become. In particular, since the deceleration is prohibited when it is estimated that the collision site is the rear side of the vehicle side surface, it is possible to prevent the other vehicle N from colliding with the cabin at the center of the vehicle side surface due to the deceleration and thereby expanding the damage. .

  Further, since the deceleration control is performed when it is estimated that the collision site is ahead of the vehicle side central portion including this, damage can be reduced by shifting the collision position. In particular, since deceleration control is performed so as to avoid a collision with at least a vehicle side central portion, a collision with a cabin can be prevented and damage can be greatly reduced.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, when it is estimated that a collision will occur, deceleration control is performed according to the collision site. Not limited to this, when it is estimated that a collision will occur, deceleration control may be performed according to the collision angle α.

That is, the collision angle α of the other vehicle N with respect to the host vehicle M can be obtained by the following equation as shown in FIG.

When the collision angle α obtained by this equation is close to 0 degrees, for example, when the threshold value is less than 10 degrees, as shown in FIG. 6, the possibility of a front collision with the front of the vehicle is high. _Reduce the maximum speed with _MAX . On the other hand, when the collision angle α is close to 90 degrees, for example, when the threshold value is 70 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less, there is a high possibility of a side collision that collides with the side of the vehicle. Try. When the collision angle α is not less than 10 degrees and less than 70 degrees, as the collision angle α increases, the deceleration G _{MAX is} decreased to zero, and the vehicle is decelerated at the deceleration. The collision estimation unit 26 has the map determined in this way in advance.

  If it does in this way, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, a collision will be estimated by step S1 similarly to above-mentioned embodiment, and when it determines with not colliding by step S2, a process will be complete | finished. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that there is a collision, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the collision estimation unit 26 calculates the collision angle α, and further proceeds to step S4 to use the map shown in FIG. 6 to instruct the brake ECU 20 to perform deceleration control according to the collision angle α. To do. In step S9, the control ECU 12 controls the seat belt actuator 24 to wind up and tension the seat belt, and then the process ends. When the collision angle α is, for example, 70 degrees or more and 90 degrees or less and close to 90 degrees, it is preferable that the control ECU 12 controls the airbag actuator 22 to deploy the side airbag.

Even in this case, it is possible to reduce the damage caused by the collision and to appropriately protect the occupant. In particular, since deceleration control is performed using a collision angle α that can be easily calculated, the load of calculation processing can be reduced compared to when deceleration control is performed according to a collision site that requires high accuracy. Further, since the collision angle α can be easily calculated if the absolute speed v ₁ of the other vehicle is obtained from the relative speed v _r of the other vehicle and the vehicle speed v _{0 of the} own vehicle, the collision in step S1 and step S2 is performed. The determination is performed by another simple method, and when it is determined that there is a collision, by performing deceleration control according to the collision angle α, it is possible to significantly reduce the processing load.

  Further, when the control ECU 12 instructs the brake ECU 20 to perform deceleration control according to the collision angle α, it is preferable to change the control start timing according to the estimated collision angle α as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 8, when the collision angle α is close to 0 degrees and the possibility of a frontal collision is high, the control is started so that the control is started 0.6 seconds before the time when the collision is assumed to be a reference. Start braking to reduce collision damage. Further, when the collision angle α is about 0 to 45 degrees, the control start timing is delayed. When the collision angle α is larger than 45 degrees, the brake is made as much as possible without starting the braking until the last collision. Thus, if the control start timing is changed in accordance with the collision angle α, collision damage can be effectively reduced.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle speed and the steering angle are detected as the traveling state of the host vehicle M, but a yaw rate sensor is further provided to detect the vehicle speed, the steering angle, and the yaw rate as the traveling state of the host vehicle M. May be. This improves the detection accuracy of the traveling state of the host vehicle. Alternatively, a yaw rate sensor may be provided instead of the steering angle sensor 16 and the vehicle speed and yaw rate may be detected as the traveling state of the host vehicle M.

It is a block block diagram of the passenger | crew protection apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a collision. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of a ranging sensor. It is a figure which shows a collision site | part. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the passenger | crew protection apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a collision angle and deceleration. It is a flowchart which shows the modification of operation | movement of the passenger | crew protection apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a collision angle and control start timing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Passenger protection device, 12 ... Control ECU, 14 ... Ranging sensor, 16 ... Steering angle sensor, 18 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 20 ... Brake ECU, 22 ... Airbag actuator, 24 ... Seat belt actuator, 26 ... Collision estimation part , M ... own vehicle, N ... other vehicle, α ... collision angle.

Claims (4)

Deceleration control means for controlling deceleration of the host vehicle;
Traveling state detecting means for detecting the traveling state of the host vehicle;
Other vehicle information detection means for detecting information related to other vehicles;
A collision site estimation means for estimating a collision site of the other vehicle against the side surface of the host vehicle based on the traveling state of the host vehicle and the information on the other vehicle;
The said deceleration control means prohibits the deceleration of the said own vehicle, when the collision site | part estimated by the said collision site | part estimation means is a vehicle side rear part, The passenger | crew protection apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned .   2. The occupant protection device according to claim 1, wherein the deceleration control unit performs deceleration control when the collision portion is estimated to be ahead of the vehicle side central portion.   The occupant protection device according to claim 2, wherein the deceleration control means performs deceleration control so as to avoid a collision with at least a center portion of the vehicle side surface.   The occupant protection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the traveling state detection means detects a vehicle speed of the host vehicle and at least one of a steering angle and a yaw rate.

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