JP5018651B2 - Target detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a target object detection device that detects a surrounding target object based on a current position of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art A target detection device that detects and notifies a microwave transmitted from a vehicle speed measurement device is known. This target detection device recognizes the reception of microwaves from the vehicle speed measurement device even when it receives microwaves sent from a malfunction source such as an automatic door of a convenience store using the same frequency as the speed measurement device. As a result, there is a problem that an unnecessary alarm is issued. In view of such circumstances, recent target detection devices store position information of malfunction sources, recognize the position of the vehicle by GPS, and detect the microwave when the vehicle is positioned at the malfunction source. Also, it is possible to prevent unnecessary alarms from being issued by controlling so as not to generate alarms.

  Further, the device for measuring the speed of the vehicle is not limited to the one using the above-mentioned microwave. For example, a vehicle traveling on the road is detected by two loop coils embedded and installed under the road. Some vehicles measure based on a time difference between detection signals output from two loop coils. This type of vehicle speed measurement device cannot be detected by the target detection device using the above-described microwave detection because microwaves are not output.

  Therefore, the target object detection device that stores and holds the position information of the detection object and issues an alarm when the position of the vehicle detected by the GPS and the position of the detection object are in a predetermined relationship. (For example, Patent Document 1).

  In the case of the target detection apparatus described in Patent Document 1 above, for example, when the detection target and the current position of the vehicle reach a set distance (for example, 1 km, 500 m, etc.), “500 m ahead, XX. (XX indicates that an alarm by voice such as information (loop coil or the like) for specifying a target is output, or the information on the display is output and displayed as text.

These target detection devices, for example, inform the driver of the approach to the vehicle speed measurement device, thereby contributing to preventing the driver from unintentionally overspeeding. In particular, since the vehicle speed measuring device is generally installed in a place where the speed is likely to be exceeded, it is possible to alert the driver to the overspeed in a dangerous place. . Thus, such a vehicle alarm device contributes to safe driving. Therefore, such a vehicle alarm device contributes to safe driving.
Utility model registration No. 3070388

  By the way, in this kind of target object detection apparatus of recent years, in addition to what displays the text indicating that the current position of the detection object and the vehicle has been set as described above as information to be displayed on the display, Alternatively, there is one that adopts the remaining distance to the target instead. This is because the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the target is calculated sequentially in order to issue an alarm at the set distance as described above, and the distance to the target, which is the calculation result, is displayed on the display. This can be done by adding a display function. This makes it possible to know that the vehicle is gradually approaching the target and the specific distance to the target, and thus can provide more useful information for safe driving.

  However, in the above-described function for displaying the distance to the target, only the distance to the target is added as one of information to be displayed on the existing display. It was a fixed area such as the edge of the. Therefore, the mark indicating the target displayed on the display and the display position of the distance to the target are separated, and it is difficult for the driver to recognize the target position (including direction) and the distance at the same time. There is.

  In addition, there are often multiple targets around the vehicle. In such cases, it is difficult to understand at a glance which target the distance to the displayed target is. There is a case.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and even when there are a plurality of targets around the own vehicle, the positional relationship between the target and the own vehicle and the target are also included. An object of the present invention is to provide a target detection device that can easily recognize the distance of the target.

In order to achieve the above-described object, a target detection apparatus according to the present invention includes (1) a position detection unit that detects the position of the host vehicle, a database that stores position information of the target, and the position detection unit. Extraction means for extracting a display target object existing around the current position of the own vehicle based on the detected current position information of the own vehicle and the position information of the target object stored in the database, and the extraction A display unit for displaying a target icon indicating the position of the target object extracted by the means and a host vehicle position icon indicating the current position of the host vehicle, the display unit displaying the display extracted by the extraction unit A direction indicating line consisting of a straight line connecting the target icon and the vehicle position icon for one target having a condition among the target targets, and the determination in proximity to the direction indicating line Assuming that it comprises a distance display means for horizontally displaying one of the remaining distance to the target based on the horizontal axis of the display screen of the display unit, the distance display means, the display position of the distance, the A first on the coordinate plane in which an extension line of the direction indicating line is a vertical axis (Y axis) and a line passing through the vehicle position icon and perpendicular to the vertical axis (Y axis) is a horizontal axis (X axis). Fixed to the quadrant. The distance display unit is realized by the control unit 4 in the embodiment. In this way, since the displayed position / quadrant is fixed, the user can easily specify the relationship between the distance and the target.
(2) Under the above premise, the extension line of the direction indicating line is the vertical axis (Y axis), and the line passing through the vehicle position icon and perpendicular to the vertical axis (Y axis) is the horizontal axis. Display distance setting means for setting by the user whether to display the distance in the first quadrant on the coordinate plane (X axis) or to display the distance in the second quadrant on the coordinate plane; The display means may fix the display position of the distance to the quadrant set by the display position setting means. In this way, the user can set whether the distance is displayed in the first quadrant or the second quadrant. For example, a right-hand drive car is set to the first quadrant, and a left-hand drive car is set to the second quadrant, so that a distance display that is easy to see can be performed in any type of vehicle.

  In this way, the icon indicating the specific target object and the icon indicating the host vehicle are connected by a straight direction indicator line, so that the driver who viewed the direction indicator line has the target in either direction. Intuitively understand if there is. Moreover, since the remaining distance to the target is displayed close to the direction indicating line, the direction indicating line and the remaining distance can be confirmed at the same time, and the distance to the target can be easily and instantly known. be able to.

  (2) The distance display means may display the distance at an intermediate point of the direction indication line. In this way, easy-to-see display can be performed. In addition, the user can sensuously grasp the sense of distance between the vehicle position and the target position simply by looking at the distance display.

(3) The distance displayed by the distance display means is composed of a combination of a numerical value and a unit, and the distance display means displays the distance in the first quadrant when the upper digit side of the numerical value is It may be displayed at a position close to the direction indicating line. In this way, the user can intuitively understand that there is a relationship between the direction indication line and the distance display, and when multiple targets are displayed, which of the distance displays It can be easily grasped whether it corresponds to the target one.

(6) The selected one target may be a speed measuring device. Of course, other types of targets may be included, but the speed measurement device is the most urgent of the warnings based on the position information, so the direction indicator line + remaining distance is displayed by focusing on the speed measurement device By doing so, useful information can be appropriately (necessarily sufficient) notified.

  In the present invention, regardless of whether there are a plurality of targets around the vehicle, the positional relationship between the target and the vehicle (the direction of the target) and the distance to the target are easily recognized. Can be made.

  FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a GPS receiver 1, a microwave receiver 2, and a wireless receiver 3 are provided as receivers that receive various radio waves and the like. The GPS receiver 1 receives a GPS signal, obtains a current position from the received GPS signal, and sends position information (longitude, latitude) of the obtained current position to the control unit 4.

  The microwave receiver 2 receives microwaves in a predetermined frequency band, and detects the signal level of the received microwaves when receiving microwaves in the set frequency band. Specifically, the RSSI voltage corresponding to the signal level and the electric field strength is used. The predetermined frequency band is, for example, a frequency band including a microwave frequency emitted from the vehicle speed measuring device. The wireless receiver 3 receives incoming radio waves in a predetermined frequency band. For example, the predetermined frequency may be a radio frequency band used when the emergency vehicle notifies the base station of the vehicle position.

  The control unit 4 executes predetermined processing based on information input from the various receivers described above, and outputs predetermined alarms and messages using output devices (display unit 6, alarm lamp 7, speaker 8, etc.). Output. The predetermined process for determining the alarm content based on the information input from the receiver can use the same basic process as in the conventional technique. That is, when a signal having a certain condition is received / acquired, a corresponding alarm is output. Note that alarms using the speaker 8 include a buzzer and a voice.

  The alarm based on the positional information detected by the GPS receiver 1 related to the present invention will be further described. The database 5 stores information such as the type and position information (longitude: latitude) of the target to be detected. Further, the database 5 has a table structure in which the type of the target object, the degree of urgency, and the monitoring direction (if any) are associated in addition to the position information of the target object. Information regarding this target is registered for a certain target at the time of shipment. This data can be updated by various known methods. The database 5 can be realized by a nonvolatile memory (for example, EEPROM) in the microcomputer of the control unit 4 or externally attached to the microcomputer.

  When the control unit 4 obtains the current position of the host vehicle given from the GPS receiver 1, the control unit 4 accesses the database 5, extracts a target existing around the current position (for example, a radius of 2 km), and extracts the target. The type of alarm is determined from the type of target, and an alarm instruction is output to the output device for the determined alarm.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a display mode displayed on the display unit 6. In the present embodiment, the display unit 6 is realized using, for example, an organic EL display or a liquid crystal display. As shown in the figure, the display unit 6 includes a display area (main display area) for mainly indicating the positional relationship between the target (target) and the vehicle. Although not shown, another auxiliary display area may be provided around the display area. For example, a message display area for displaying a message such as a name for specifying a predetermined target type or an image (still image / animation) can be provided on the lower end side of the main display area. The message display area can also be displayed over the display area. In addition, on the top side of the main display area, icons indicating the operating status such as an icon indicating the remaining battery level, an icon indicating that the GPS is being received, an icon indicating that the microwave is being received, and parking around the current position are prohibited. An area for displaying an icon (mark) for notifying the surrounding state / information, such as a parking prohibition icon indicating an area, may be provided. Of course, these auxiliary display areas may be omitted.

  In the main display area, when there are a plurality of targets in the display area, the plurality of targets can be displayed simultaneously. Both the vehicle and the target are indicated by icons. The own vehicle is indicated by an own vehicle position icon I0 formed in a substantially triangular shape. A target (target) existing within a circle consisting of a predetermined radius (switchable) centered on the own vehicle position icon I0 is displayed as a target icon at the existing position.

  As shown in the figure, in the present embodiment, the main display area is horizontally long and a part of the circle is actually displayed. As the area, the position information of the target icon existing in the area of the circle is given and can be displayed. The display screen in the main display area is displayed with the traveling direction of the host vehicle viewed upward. This is because the control unit 4 obtains the traveling direction of the own vehicle based on the history of the position information of the own vehicle given from the GPS receiver 1, and obtains the position of each target in the state where the traveling direction is upward. This can be dealt with by displaying what exists in the circular display area at the corresponding position. Therefore, by setting the virtual area as described above and storing the position of the target icon, even if the traveling direction of the vehicle changes, the circle area is rotated around the own vehicle position, and the main display The target icon can be displayed smoothly by displaying the area of the circle located within the area.

  Furthermore, the target is indicated by a round or hexagonal target icon Tn. At this time, one of the target icons having the condition is set as the focus icon F, and is drawn in a display mode (hexagon) different from the other circular target icons. The focus icon F is an icon representing a focused target (focus target) and blinks. Blinking may be performed by blinking the icon itself. However, if the icon itself is left displayed and the peripheral portion of the icon is blinked, it is particularly preferable because the target can be easily confirmed.

  First, the target icon will be described. In this embodiment, as described above, the type of the target is also stored as the target information stored in the database 5. And according to the kind of target object, each urgency level is linked | related. In the present embodiment, the urgency level is divided into three types of “large”, “medium”, and “small”. As an example of the type of the corresponding target, there is a vehicle speed measuring device such as a loop coil as a target with a high degree of urgency. An example of a medium urgency target is a police station. As a target with a small degree of urgency, for example, a service area on a highway, a place related to traffic such as a road station installed beside a general road, or a monitoring device other than a vehicle speed measuring device such as an N system Etc.

The target icon is changed in color according to the type of the target (urgent level (importance)). As an example of color coding,
There are three types of urgency level: red urgency level medium: yellow urgency level low: green. As a result, even if there is a round target icon of the same diameter, if the color is red, it can be seen that important things such as a speed measuring device exist, and in the case of a yellow or green target icon Can recognize that there is something about roads and traffic.

  Further, in the target icon Tn, there are an alarm target icon indicating a target that is an alarm target and a non-alarm target icon indicating a target that is not an alarm target because of the positional relationship with the host vehicle. Here, the alarm target is a target that is in front of the traveling direction of the host vehicle (± 90 ° from the traveling direction) and has a warning angle such as a speed measuring device that emits microwaves. The condition within the angle (target alarm angle ± 40 °) is provided. Of the target icons, the non-alarm icon has a gray icon color regardless of the level of urgency. In addition, an alarm target icon, which is an icon representing a target (target) that is an alarm target, is displayed in a color-coded manner according to the urgency level (importance level) described above.

  When there is a target with a high degree of urgency among targets to be alarmed in the display area, one of them is set as the focus target, and the icon indicating the position is displayed as the focus icon F. The mode was changed. When there is one target with a high degree of urgency, the target is the focus target, and when there are multiple targets, the one closest to the vehicle is the focus target. Of course, if there is one target with a high degree of urgency, that target becomes the focus target, and the focus icon F is displayed at the corresponding position.

  Here, in the present embodiment, when the focus icon F is displayed, the host vehicle position icon I0 indicating the host vehicle and the direction indicating line S that is a straight line connecting the focus icon F are displayed and close to the direction indicating line S. Then, the remaining distance K to the target (focus target) is displayed. This remaining distance k is arranged and displayed at a position near the center of the direction indicating line S in the axial direction and not overlapping the direction indicating line S.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the remaining distance k is, as shown in FIG. 3, the extension line of the direction indicating line S as the vertical axis (Y axis) and passing through the vehicle position icon I0 with respect to the vertical axis (Y axis). In addition, the remaining distance k is displayed in the first quadrant on the orthogonal coordinate plane with the horizontal axis as the horizontal axis (X axis), and the horizontal distance (horizontal writing) is displayed for easy reading. Here, horizontal means that the display screen is arranged in parallel with respect to the left-right direction (direction orthogonal to the traveling direction: horizontal axis). Further, by arranging in this way, the remaining distance k is arranged on the right side of the direction indicating line S except when the direction indicating line L is horizontal (0 °, 180 °).

  As described above, when the remaining distance k is arranged in the first quadrant (on the right side of the direction indicating line S) in the orthogonal coordinate system, the direction indicating line S is clearly shown in FIGS. A “numerical value” indicating the remaining distance is located immediately next to the distance, and a unit (m) of the distance is located thereafter. Therefore, since the direction indication line S and the numerical value are simultaneously entered in the visual sense of the user such as a driver, the direction of the target (speed measuring device) relative to the traveling direction of the vehicle and the remaining distance can be recognized simultaneously. It is more preferable. On the other hand, when the remaining distance is positioned in the second quadrant (left side of the direction indicating line S) of the direction indicating line S in the orthogonal coordinate system, the unit of the remaining distance (m ) Is located and the numerical values are separated, so that it is difficult to check the remaining distance when the direction indicating line S is in the non-horizontal state as compared with the one arranged on the right side. However, even in this case, by displaying close to the direction indicating line S, there is an advantage that it is possible to intuitively understand to which target the remaining distance is displayed.

  Of the numerical values and units that are the constituent elements of the remaining distance k, the numerical value only needs to be close to the direction indicating line S. For example, as shown in FIGS. In this case, the remaining distance k may be above or below the direction indicating line S. Therefore, when the direction indicating line S is as shown in FIG. 3A, the remaining distance k may be displayed on the direction indicating line S, contrary to the illustration.

  As described above, the control unit 4 displays the remaining distance k horizontally (horizontal writing) near the middle point on the right side of the direction indicating line S, so that the display position of the remaining distance k is obtained based on the algorithm shown in FIG. The remaining distance k consisting of a predetermined font is displayed at the obtained display position.

  That is, if the position of the host vehicle is A (x1, y1) and the position of the focus target is B (x2, y2), the line AB becomes the direction indicating line S. The center point E (x5, y5) of the distance display area R for displaying the remaining distance k passes through the intermediate point C (x3, y3) of the line AB and is a perpendicular to the line AB, and is in the first quadrant side. The distance display area R is set so that the upper left point or the lower left point D (x4, y4) of the distance display area R is on the line AB on the extended line segment, and within the set distance display area R The remaining distance k is displayed in a size that fits within the range. (Xn, yn) is a coordinate value on the display screen.

Specifically, the angle α of the line AB (direction indicating line S), the angle β of the line DE, the length L of the line AB, and the length R of the line DE are obtained by the following equations, respectively.

Since a substantially semicircular area on the front side with the vehicle position as the center is displayed, the angle α takes a range from 0 ° to 180 °. Therefore, when 0 ° ≦ α ≦ 90 °, the upper left of the distance display region R comes into contact with the line AB. Therefore, the coordinate values x5 and y5 of the point E (x5, y5) can be obtained by the following equation. Can do.

Similarly, when 90 ° <α ≦ 180 °, the lower left of the distance display region R comes into contact with the line AB, and therefore, the coordinate values x5 and y5 of the point E (x5, y5) are obtained by the following equation. be able to.

  It should be noted that a and b that define the size of the distance display area R are set in advance as coefficients from the font size, the number of characters, and the like.

  In the above-described embodiment, the remaining distance k is displayed on the first quadrant side of the direction indicating line S. However, the remaining distance may be displayed on the second quadrant side. Furthermore, a mode for displaying the distance in the first quadrant on the coordinate plane and a mode for displaying the distance in the second quadrant on the coordinate plane are prepared, and the display position setting is set by the user as to which mode is displayed. It is good to provide a means and to display in the mode designated by the display position setting means.

  The display position setting means in this case can be realized by a function of displaying a menu in a predetermined display area of the display unit and selecting from the menu by using a switch, a remote controller, a touch panel provided on the display unit, or the like.

It is a figure which shows suitable one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display mode of a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the display mode of a display part. It is a figure explaining the algorithm which calculates | requires the display position of a distance display area.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 GPS receiver 2 Microwave receiver 3 Wireless receiver 4 Control part 5 Database 6 Display part 7 Lamp 8 Speaker

Claims (5)

Position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle;
A database for storing position information of the target;
Extraction for extracting a target object to be displayed existing around the current position of the own vehicle based on the current position information of the own vehicle detected by the position detecting means and the position information of the target object stored in the database Means,
A display unit for displaying a target icon indicating the position of the target object extracted by the extraction means and a vehicle position icon indicating the current position of the vehicle;
A direction indication line composed of a straight line connecting the target icon for one target having a condition among the targets to be displayed extracted by the extracting unit and the vehicle position icon on the display unit. A distance display means for displaying the remaining distance to the determined target in the vicinity of the direction indicating line horizontally with reference to the horizontal axis of the display screen of the display unit;
The distance display means sets the display position of the distance to a line perpendicular to the vertical axis (Y axis) passing through the vehicle position icon, with an extension line of the direction indicating line as a vertical axis (Y axis). A target detection apparatus characterized by being fixed in a first quadrant on a coordinate plane having a horizontal axis (X axis) . Position detecting means for detecting the position of the own vehicle;
A database for storing position information of the target;
Extraction for extracting a target object to be displayed existing around the current position of the own vehicle based on the current position information of the own vehicle detected by the position detecting means and the position information of the target object stored in the database Means,
A display unit for displaying a target icon indicating the position of the target object extracted by the extraction means and a vehicle position icon indicating the current position of the vehicle;
A direction indication line composed of a straight line connecting the target icon for one target having a condition among the targets to be displayed extracted by the extracting unit and the vehicle position icon on the display unit. A distance display means for displaying the remaining distance to the determined target in the vicinity of the direction indicating line horizontally with reference to the horizontal axis of the display screen of the display unit;
An extension line of the direction indication line is a vertical axis (Y axis), and a line perpendicular to the vertical axis (Y axis) passing through the vehicle position icon is a horizontal axis (X axis). Display position setting means for setting by the user whether to display the distance in one quadrant or to display the distance in the second quadrant on the coordinate plane;
The distance display means fixes the display position of the distance to a quadrant set by the display position setting means .   The target detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance display unit displays the distance at an intermediate point of the direction indication line. The distance displayed by the distance display means is composed of a combination of a numerical value and a unit. When the distance display means displays the distance in the first quadrant, the upper digit side of the numerical value is the direction indicator line. The target object detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target object detection apparatus is displayed at a position close to the object.   5. The target detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selected target is a speed measurement device. 6.

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