JP5664445B2 - Control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device that controls turning off of an emergency flashing lamp.

  An emergency flashing lamp (hazard lamp) provided on a vehicle such as an automobile may be lit to alert the following vehicle when entering a traffic jam on an expressway or the like. With respect to the use of such an emergency flashing lamp, a device for controlling lighting and extinguishing of the emergency flashing lamp is conventionally known. For example, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the traveling state of the preceding vehicle and the traveling state of the following vehicle are acquired, and the lighting and extinguishing of the hazard of the own vehicle are controlled based on the state of the surrounding vehicle.

JP 2005-145385 A

  By the way, the lighting of the emergency flashing lamp at the end of the traffic jam is effective in accelerating the speed reduction of the following vehicle and avoiding a collision accident or the like, but may induce excessive deceleration and worsen the traffic jam. In particular, when the traffic jam is being resolved and the speed is recovering, the deceleration of the following vehicle by the emergency flashing light can cause a new traffic jam. In order to further improve the traffic flow at the end of the traffic jam, further improvements regarding the extinction of the emergency flashing light are required.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control device that can appropriately control the extinction of an emergency flashing lamp and can improve traffic flow.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a control device according to the present invention is a control device that controls the turning-off of an emergency flashing light, and a preceding vehicle that travels ahead of the host vehicle when the emergency flashing light is on. A preceding vehicle information acquiring unit that acquires preceding vehicle information regarding the state of the vehicle, a speed predicting unit that predicts a change in the speed of the host vehicle based on the preceding vehicle information acquired by the preceding vehicle information acquiring unit, and a speed predicting unit And a turn-off determining means for determining the timing of turning off the emergency flashing lamp based on the predicted change in the speed of the host vehicle.

  In this control device, a change in the speed of the own vehicle is predicted based on the preceding vehicle information indicating the state of the preceding vehicle, and a timing for turning off the emergency flashing lamp is determined based on the predicted change in the speed of the own vehicle. ing. Thus, since the speed of the own vehicle is predicted from the preceding vehicle information of the preceding vehicle, when the speed is recovered in the preceding vehicle, a change in the speed of the own vehicle is also predicted accordingly. Therefore, since the emergency flashing light can be turned off at an appropriate timing at which the speed of the host vehicle recovers, unnecessary deceleration of the following vehicle can be suppressed. As a result, traffic flow can be improved.

  Preferably, the turn-off determining means determines that the emergency flashing light is turned off when it is determined that the host vehicle speed is shifted to a predetermined running state based on a change in the host vehicle speed. In this way, by setting the time when the vehicle has entered a predetermined traveling state where the traveling of the vehicle is stable as the turn-off timing, the turn-off timing of the emergency flashing lamp can be made more appropriate.

  Subsequent vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring subsequent vehicle information relating to the state of the subsequent vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle is further provided, and the extinction determination means is emergency flashing based on the subsequent vehicle information acquired by the subsequent vehicle information acquisition means It is preferable to determine whether it is necessary to turn off the lamp. For example, when there is no following vehicle, it is not necessary to turn off the lighting because the lighting / extinguishing of the emergency flashing lamp has little influence on the traffic flow. Therefore, it is possible to reduce unnecessary processing by determining whether or not to turn off the lights based on the following vehicle information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately control the extinction of the emergency flashing lamp, and to improve the traffic flow.

It is a block diagram which shows the control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the speed propagation prediction calculation process in ITSECU. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a control apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A control device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile (hereinafter referred to as a host vehicle), and controls the turning off of the hazard lamp 50 based on the traffic flow of the host vehicle M (see FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 1 includes an ITSECU (Intelligent Transport Systems Electronic Control Unit) 2. An ITS information receiver 3, a rear radar 4, a hazard lamp control unit 5, and an information providing device 6 are connected to the ITS ECU 2. A hazard lamp (emergency flashing lamp) 50 is connected to the hazard lamp control unit 5. The ITSECU 2 is an electronic control unit including a CPU [Central Processing Unit], a ROM [Read Only Memory], a RAM [Random Access Memory], and the like.

  The ITS information receiver 3 is a vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the host vehicle M and other nearby vehicles, and / or a vehicle-to-vehicle path between the host vehicle M and a communication device (for example, a beacon) installed on a surrounding road. It is a communication device that performs communication.

  The ITS information receiver 3 includes a preceding vehicle information acquisition unit (preceding vehicle information acquisition means) 30. The preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 30 acquires the preceding vehicle information related to the state of the preceding vehicle from the preceding vehicle traveling in front of the host vehicle M (for example, about 200 m). The preceding vehicle information includes at least position information indicating the position of the preceding vehicle and speed information indicating the speed of the preceding vehicle. Further, the preceding vehicle information may include information related to a temporal change in the relative speed and relative acceleration with the preceding vehicle and the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle. The preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 30 outputs the acquired preceding vehicle information to the ITSECU 2.

  The rear radar 4 is a laser radar device that acquires information related to a vehicle following the host vehicle M by irradiating the rear of the host vehicle M with laser light and detecting the reflected light. The rear radar 4 includes a subsequent vehicle information acquisition unit (subsequent vehicle information acquisition means) 40 that acquires subsequent vehicle information regarding the state of the subsequent vehicle of the host vehicle M.

  The following vehicle information acquisition part 40 acquires the information regarding the relative relationship with a following vehicle by analyzing the detected reflected light. The information on the relative relationship with the following vehicle is, for example, information on the vehicle speed and acceleration of the following vehicle, the relative speed and relative acceleration with the following vehicle, the relative distance with the following vehicle, the time change of the inter-vehicle distance with the following vehicle, and the like. is there. The subsequent vehicle information acquisition unit 40 outputs the acquired subsequent vehicle information to the ITSECU 2.

  The ITSECU 2 includes a speed prediction unit (speed prediction unit) 20 and a light extinction determination unit (light extinction determination unit) 21. The speed prediction unit 20 predicts a change in the traveling speed of the host vehicle M based on the preceding vehicle information acquired by the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 30. Specifically, when receiving the preceding vehicle information output from the ITS information receiver 3, the speed prediction unit 20 performs a speed propagation prediction calculation process based on the preceding vehicle information. The velocity propagation prediction calculation process will be described with reference to FIG.

The speed propagation prediction calculation process predicts speed propagation from the behavior of the preceding vehicle (for example, the vehicle F1) of the own vehicle M to the behavior of the subsequent vehicle (for example, the vehicle F2) immediately after the vehicle F1. Based on the prediction result for the vehicle F3 located immediately before the vehicle M, for example, the behavior of the host vehicle M located immediately after the vehicle F3 (for example, start or stop following the behavior predicted for the vehicle F3, This is a process for performing calculations for determining reverse, acceleration, deceleration, etc. More specifically, the speed propagation is a phenomenon in which behavior propagates to the driver of the vehicle F2 that recognizes the behavior change of the vehicle F1 with a slight delay in time, and the propagation speed. This phenomenon of velocity propagation is conventionally expressed by the following mathematical formula.

  Here, the above formula shows that the following vehicle acceleration at time t + T is proportional to the relative speed at time t, where t is the current time. T and α are parameters determined from the relationship with the immediately preceding vehicle. The speed prediction unit 20 predicts a speed change of the host vehicle M according to the number of vehicles predicted to exist between the vehicle F1 and the host vehicle M by the speed propagation prediction calculation process. The speed prediction unit 20 outputs speed information regarding the speed to the extinction determination unit 21.

  The turn-off determination unit 21 determines the timing of turning off the hazard lamp 50 based on the traveling speed of the host vehicle M predicted by the speed prediction unit 20. When the turn-off determination unit 21 receives the speed information output from the speed prediction unit 20, based on this speed information, whether or not the host vehicle M will soon shift to a predetermined driving state, that is, a driving at a stable speed. Judging. Specifically, the turn-off determination unit 21 determines, for example, whether or not the host vehicle M exits a traffic jam state based on the speed information.

  The traffic congestion state mentioned here is a situation in which acceleration / deceleration at, for example, about 35 km / h continues periodically. The traffic conditions vary depending on the type of road. For example, on highways, when a 1 km train is extended for 15 minutes or more at 40 km / h or less, or when the speed is 20 km / h to 30 km / h or less. In general roads, it is defined as approximately 20 km / h or less, and is appropriately set according to the situation.

  The turn-off determination unit 21 receives the following vehicle information output from the rear radar 4 when it is determined that the host vehicle M is about to shift to a state where the traffic jam is to be escaped, that is, the host vehicle M is traveling at a constant speed. . “Soon” as used herein is an arbitrarily set time, but is preferably about 5 seconds, for example. In this case, it is effective for improving traffic flow.

  When it is determined that the host vehicle M is about to shift to a stable speed, the turn-off determination unit 21 determines whether the hazard lamp 50 needs to be turned off based on the subsequent vehicle information. More specifically, when there is a subsequent vehicle R4, the turn-off determining unit 21 can check whether the hazard lamp 50 of the own vehicle M is turned on / off based on the relative relationship with the subsequent vehicle R4. It is determined whether or not the vehicle exists within a predetermined distance that can follow the vehicle. In other words, it is determined whether or not the following vehicle R4 is within a distance that can be followed without sudden braking.

  When the turn-off determining unit 21 determines from the relative relationship that the following vehicle R4 can confirm whether the hazard lamp 50 of the host vehicle M is turned on or off and is within a distance that can be safely followed, the hazard lamp 50 is turned off. It is determined that it is necessary (it may be turned off), and a turn-off signal instructing turning off of the hazard lamp 50 is output to the hazard lamp control unit 5 and the information providing device 6. The turn-off determination unit 21 determines that it is not necessary to turn off the hazard lamp 50 when the following vehicle information is not output from the rear radar 4, that is, when there is no following vehicle.

  The hazard lamp control unit 5 is an ECU that controls turning on / off of the hazard lamp 50. When the hazard lamp control unit 5 receives the extinguishing signal output from the ITSECU 2, the hazard lamp 50 is extinguished. The hazard lamp control unit 5 is connected to a hazard lamp switch (not shown), and controls turning on / off of the hazard lamp 50 in accordance with the operation of the hazard lamp switch.

  The information providing device 6 is a device that notifies the driver that the hazard lamp 50 is extinguished. When the information providing device 6 receives the extinguishing signal output from the extinguishing determination unit 21, the information providing device 6 notifies the driver that the hazard lamp 50 is extinguished. The information providing device 6 may display information indicating that the hazard lamp 50 is turned off on a monitor or meter display such as a navigation system, or notify that the hazard lamp 50 is turned off by sound from a speaker or a buzzer. It may be.

  Next, the operation of the control device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the host vehicle M enters a traffic jam, the hazard lamp switch is operated and the hazard lamp 50 is turned on (step S1). When the hazard lamp 50 is turned on, for example, the preceding vehicle information of the preceding vehicle F1 is acquired by the preceding vehicle information acquisition unit 30 of the ITS information receiver 3 (step S2).

  Subsequently, a speed change of the host vehicle M is predicted based on the preceding vehicle information by the speed prediction unit 20 of the ITSECU 2. Specifically, speed propagation from the behavior of the vehicle F1 that is the preceding vehicle of the host vehicle M to the behavior of the vehicle F2 that is immediately following the vehicle F1 is predicted by the speed propagation prediction calculation process of the speed prediction unit 20. Then, based on the prediction result for the vehicle F2, the behavior of the vehicle F3 located immediately after the vehicle F2 is determined. Similarly, from the determined behavior of the vehicle F3, the behavior of the host vehicle M, which is the subsequent vehicle immediately after the vehicle F3, that is, the speed change is predicted.

  Based on this speed change, the turn-off determination unit 21 of the ITSECU 2 determines whether or not the host vehicle M shifts to traveling at a stable speed (step S3). If it is determined that the host vehicle M shifts to a stable speed, the process proceeds to step S4. On the other hand, when it is not determined that the host vehicle M shifts to a stable speed, the process ends.

  In step S <b> 4, subsequent vehicle information information indicating a relative relationship with the subsequent vehicle is acquired by the subsequent vehicle information acquisition unit 40 of the rear radar 4. Then, the turn-off determination unit 21 of the ITSECU 2 can confirm whether the following vehicle R4 is on or off of the hazard lamp 50 of the host vehicle M based on the following vehicle information, and whether or not it exists within a distance that can be safely followed. Determination is made (step S5). If it is determined that the vehicle is within a distance that can be safely followed, the hazard lamp controller 5 turns off the hazard lamp 50 (step S6). On the other hand, if it is not determined that the vehicle is within a distance that can be safely followed, the process ends. That is, the hazard lamp 50 is not turned off.

  As described above, the control device 1 predicts a change in the speed of the host vehicle M based on the preceding vehicle information, shifts to the host vehicle M traveling at a stable speed, and based on a relative relationship with the subsequent vehicle. Thus, the hazard lamp 50 is turned off when it is determined that the following vehicle is within a predetermined distance where the hazard lamp 50 of the host vehicle M can be turned on and off and can safely follow the vehicle. Thus, since the speed of the own vehicle M is predicted from the preceding vehicle information of the preceding vehicle, when the speed is recovered in the preceding vehicle, a change in the speed of the own vehicle M is also predicted accordingly. Therefore, since the hazard lamp 50 can be turned off at an appropriate timing at which the speed of the host vehicle M recovers, unnecessary deceleration of the following vehicle can be suppressed. As a result, traffic flow can be improved.

  Further, the control device 1 determines whether or not the hazard lamp 50 needs to be turned off. That is, when the following vehicle does not exist, when the following vehicle exists at a close distance, or when the following vehicle exists at a distance where the hazard lamp 50 of the host vehicle M cannot be confirmed, the emergency flashing lamp is turned on. It will not turn off because it has little effect on traffic flow. Therefore, it is possible to reduce unnecessary processing by determining whether or not to turn off the lights based on the following vehicle information.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the embodiment described above, the subsequent vehicle information acquisition unit 40 of the rear radar 4 acquires the subsequent vehicle information, but the subsequent vehicle information acquisition unit 40 may be included in the ITS information receiver 3. That is, subsequent vehicle information may be acquired by inter-vehicle communication.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the speed prediction part 20 and the light extinction judgment part 21 are functionally divided into two in ITSECU2, the speed prediction part 20 and the light extinction judgment part 21 are provided as a system control part. Also good.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the control apparatus 1 is set as the structure provided with the information provision apparatus 6, the information provision apparatus 6 does not need to be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control apparatus, 2 ... ITS ECU, 3 ... ITS information receiver, 4 ... Back radar, 20 ... Speed prediction part (speed prediction means), 21 ... Light extinction judgment part (light extinction judgment means), 30 ... Prior vehicle information acquisition part (Preceding vehicle information acquisition means), 40 ... subsequent vehicle information acquisition part (subsequent vehicle information acquisition means), M ... own vehicle.

Claims (3)

A control device for controlling the turning off of the emergency flashing light,
Preceding vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring preceding vehicle information relating to a state of a preceding vehicle traveling ahead of the host vehicle when the emergency flashing light is lit;
Based on the preceding vehicle information acquired by the preceding vehicle information acquiring means, speed prediction means for predicting a change in the speed of the host vehicle;
A light extinction judging means for judging the extinguishing timing of the emergency flashing light based on a change in the speed of the host vehicle predicted by the speed predicting means;
A control device comprising:   The said extinguishing judgment means judges that the said emergency flashing light is extinguished when it judges that it shifts to the predetermined | prescribed driving state where the speed of the said own vehicle was stabilized based on the change of the speed of the said own vehicle. Control device. Subsequent vehicle information acquisition means for acquiring subsequent vehicle information relating to the state of the subsequent vehicle traveling behind the host vehicle,
The control device according to claim 1, wherein the extinguishing determination unit determines whether or not the emergency blinking lamp needs to be extinguished based on the subsequent vehicle information acquired by the subsequent vehicle information acquisition unit.

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