JP6302205B2 - OBE - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle-mounted device.

  For example, a drive recorder is used as the vehicle-mounted device. The drive recorder has a function of recording and saving image data captured by the in-vehicle camera at all times or before and after the occurrence of abnormality.

  Some in-vehicle devices have a function for assisting safe driving. For example, an in-vehicle device having a function of detecting an overhang (lane departure) of a host vehicle from a traveling lane on a road and outputting an alarm by recognizing an image taken by an in-vehicle camera is known.

  Further, Patent Document 1 below discloses a drive recorder that stores an image taken by an in-vehicle camera after detecting the lane departure when a lane departure is detected.

JP 2012-22610 A

  According to these conventional vehicle-mounted devices, it is possible to output an alarm or record image data when a lane departure is detected.

  On the other hand, in recent years, further realization of safe driving support has been demanded.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and it aims at providing the vehicle equipment which can implement | achieve further safe driving | operation assistance.

The object of the present invention is achieved by an on-vehicle device having the following configuration.
(1) An on-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle,
An image accepting unit that accepts a photographed image from a photographing unit that photographs the front of the vehicle;
A speed receiving unit for receiving information for calculating the current traveling speed of the vehicle;
A control unit connected to the image receiving unit and the speed receiving unit;
With
When the control unit detects a change in the course of the vehicle based on a vanishing point position in the captured image ,
When it is identified that the vehicle is not changing lanes based on the position of the own vehicle and the position of the lane boundary line in the captured image, and when it is identified that the traveling speed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined threshold, At least one of recording and alarm output is executed as a predetermined operation, and when it is identified that the vehicle is changing lanes, the predetermined operation is not performed.
( 2 ) The vehicle-mounted device of (1 ) above,
The control unit determines the threshold value based on at least one of a displacement amount of the vanishing point position from a reference position, a traveling speed of the vehicle, and an acceleration of the vehicle.
( 3 ) The vehicle-mounted device according to (1) or (2 ) above,
The predetermined operation is recording of the image data;
The image data is based on the captured image.

As described above, according to the conventional vehicle-mounted device, it is possible to output an alarm or record image data when a lane departure is detected. However, it is not possible to deal with a dangerous situation other than lane departure.
For example, when a road that is running is curved forward, if the vehicle enters the curve at an excessive travel speed, the vehicle may deviate from the travel lane without being able to turn the curve. In such a case, the conventional vehicle-mounted device does not output an alarm or record image data until the vehicle actually deviates from the lane. In other words, even if it is a dangerous situation when the vehicle enters the road curve, it is not possible to warn in advance, or important image data acquired in the time zone when such a dangerous situation has occurred. It cannot be saved.
On the other hand, according to the vehicle-mounted device of the above (1), this is detected when a dangerous situation occurs when the vehicle tries to enter a curved portion of the road while maintaining an excessive traveling speed. Image data recording or alarming can be output. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a situation in which the vehicle deviates from the driving lane without completely turning the curve, or it is possible to save important image data acquired in a time zone in which such a dangerous situation occurs. . Therefore, according to the vehicle-mounted device of the above (1), a vehicle-mounted device that can realize further safe driving support can be provided.
The vanishing point (FOE: Focus of Expansion) used for detecting the course change in the vehicle-mounted device (1) is a point where straight lines extending the optical flow (motion vector) in the photographed image intersect. This corresponds to an infinite point ahead of the road as viewed from the imaging unit. By using the position of the vanishing point as a reference, it is possible to detect a change in the course of the vehicle based on the captured image.
In addition, according to the vehicle-mounted device of ( 1 ) above, it is avoided that the movement of the vanishing point position in the captured image generated when the vehicle changes the lane is mistaken as the movement of the vanishing point position while entering the curve. it can. That is, it is possible to distinguish between a course change due to a lane change and a course change due to entering a curve, and a predetermined operation can be executed only when entering the curve.
In addition, according to the vehicle-mounted device of ( 2 ) above, since the threshold value of the traveling speed is set to a value corresponding to the situation of the vehicle, a predetermined operation can be executed with appropriate sensitivity.
In addition, according to the on-vehicle device of ( 3 ), it is possible to detect a change in the course of the vehicle based on the captured image captured by the capturing unit and generate image data to be stored. Therefore, for example, when applied to a vehicle-mounted device that originally uses a vehicle-mounted camera such as a drive recorder, it is not necessary to add a new vehicle-mounted camera or an image processing circuit. Can be added.

  According to the vehicle-mounted device of the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle-mounted device that can realize further safe driving support.

  The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through a mode for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the vehicle-mounted device. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a captured image. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of a positional relationship between a driving lane and a vehicle on a road. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the relationship between the change in the driving lane in the photographed image and the FOE. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of the positional relationship between the driving lane and the vehicle when the lane is changed. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the main control contents of the vehicle-mounted device in the embodiment.

  Specific embodiments relating to the vehicle-mounted device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Overview>
The vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the present embodiment has both a drive recorder function and a safe driving support function. That is, the vehicle-mounted device 10 can be regarded as a drive recorder provided with a safe driving support function. As will be described later, the vehicle-mounted device 10 can be configured as a vehicle-mounted device specialized in the safe driving support function, excluding the drive recorder function, or separately from the drive recorder function or the function. In addition, it can also be configured as an on-vehicle device having other functions such as a digital tachograph function for sequentially recording the state of the vehicle.

  As a drive recorder function, the vehicle-mounted device 10 acquires image data captured by the vehicle-mounted camera almost continuously, records it on a recording medium such as a memory card, and stores it. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted device 10 outputs a warning as a safe driving support function by recognizing a dangerous situation, in particular, a situation of entering a road curve at an excessive traveling speed, based on data of an image taken by a vehicle-mounted camera. To do.

<Description of configuration>
An example of the hardware configuration of the vehicle-mounted device 10 is shown in FIG.
1 includes a control unit (microcomputer, CPU: Central Processing Unit) 11, a work data memory 12, a nonvolatile memory 13, a data processing unit 14, a card interface (I / F) 15, a speed interface. 16, a serial interface 17, a power interface 18, a GPS interface 19, a speaker 20, an acceleration (G) sensor 21, an image processing unit 22, and a backup data storage unit (FROM) 23.

  The control unit 11 is, for example, a microcomputer, and performs various processes necessary for realizing the functions of the vehicle-mounted device 10 by executing a program prepared in advance. For example, a drive recorder function and a safe driving support function are realized by processing of the control unit 11.

  The work data memory 12 is a memory (DDR SDRAM: Double-Data-Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) that can be freely read and written by accessing the control unit 11, and the work data, that is, the control unit 11 is processing. It is used to temporarily store data generated and input data.

  The nonvolatile memory 13 is constituted by a read only memory (ROM), and holds in advance fixed data such as a program to be executed by the control unit 11 and constants referred to during processing.

  The data processing unit 14 can execute various predetermined data processing on a large amount of data such as images at high speed. For example, the data processing unit 14 can perform compression processing to reduce the amount of data.

  The card interface 15 has a card slot into which a predetermined memory card 32 can be inserted. The memory card 32 is composed of a flash memory having a relatively large storage capacity, and can be used to store a large amount of data such as images to be recorded by the drive recorder function. The control unit 11 can write data to the memory card 32 via the data processing unit 14 and the card interface 15.

  The speed interface 16 can input and shape a speed pulse signal output from the vehicle side, and can input the speed pulse after shaping to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 can measure the moving speed and the moving amount of the vehicle based on the input speed pulse period and the number of pulses. That is, the speed interface 16 functions as a speed receiving unit that receives information for calculating the current traveling speed of the vehicle.

  For example, an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) vehicle-mounted device is connected to the serial interface 17.

  The power supply interface 18 inputs power supply power supplied from the in-vehicle battery (BATT) to supply power to each part in the in-vehicle device 10, inputs an ignition signal (IGN), or resets the operation of the control unit 11. A reset signal can be generated.

  The GPS interface 19 is used to connect a predetermined GPS receiver to the vehicle-mounted device 10. Such a GPS receiver can calculate the current position of the vehicle and the moving speed based on radio wave signals respectively received from a plurality of GPS satellites. Therefore, the control unit 11 can acquire data on the current position and moving speed from the connected GPS receiver. That is, the control unit 11 can use the GPS interface 19 as a speed receiving unit instead of the speed interface 16.

  Under the control of the control unit 11, the speaker 20 can output, for example, a warning sound or a message such as various warnings or guidance using a synthesized pseudo audio signal as sound. That is, the speaker 20 is an audio output unit that outputs audio, and functions as an alarm output unit for outputting an alarm in the present embodiment.

  The acceleration sensor 21 can output a signal indicating the magnitude of the acceleration applied to the vehicle for each of three axes orthogonal to each other. The signal output from the acceleration sensor 21 can be used to identify whether or not an abnormal state such as a traffic accident has occurred. The numerical value of acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 21 can be recorded on the memory card 32 together with an image by a drive recorder function.

  The image processing unit 22 receives a video signal output from the in-vehicle camera 31 (shooting unit), generates data representing brightness and color for each of a number of pixels constituting the frame for each frame of the video, and A set of pixels can be output to the control unit 11 as image data. That is, the image processing unit 22 has a function as an image receiving unit that receives a photographed image obtained by photographing the front of the vehicle. Based on the image data output by the image processing unit 22, the control unit 11 analyzes an image captured by the in-vehicle camera 31 to detect an optical flow, and detects an intersection where the extension lines of the optical flow intersect as a vanishing point FOE. .

  The backup data storage unit 23 is composed of a flash memory, and is used to hold various data backups.

<Specific examples of captured images>
A specific example of an image obtained by photographing with the in-vehicle camera 31 is shown in FIG.

  The in-vehicle camera 31 used in the drive recorder is installed inside the front windshield of the vehicle, and is fixed in a direction that allows photographing the front in the traveling direction of the vehicle. Therefore, for example, a captured image 40 as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained from the output of the in-vehicle camera 31.

  Then, the image data of the photographed image 40 as shown in FIG. 2 can be recorded on the memory card 32 as a drive recorder function. There are two types of drive recorders: a type that always records image data, and a type that records only when a predetermined trigger event occurs in a dangerous situation. The present invention can be applied to both types.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the captured image 40, a part of the body of the host vehicle 41 (such as a bonnet) and a landscape on the road ahead are reflected. On a general paved road, a traveling lane 42 on which the vehicle should travel is defined. In addition, a solid line or a dotted white line representing the boundary between the traveling lane 42 and another region is marked on the left and right ends as a lane left end boundary line 43 and a lane right end boundary line 44, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the road is straight, the infinity point 45 on the traveling lane 42 viewed from the host vehicle 41 has an extension line extending in the direction along the left lane boundary line 43 on the left side and the right side. It can be specified as an intersection with an extended line extending in the direction along the right edge boundary line 44 of the lane.

  When the host vehicle 41 travels along the travel lane 42, it is observed that each part moves as the host vehicle 41 travels. However, no movement occurs at the infinity point 45 even when the host vehicle 41 moves. Such an infinite point 45 is specified as FOE (Focus of Expansion).

<Example of curve on road>
FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the positional relationship between the driving lanes on the road and the vehicles on the plane looking down on the road. Further, FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the change of the driving lane in the image and the FOE.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the host vehicle 41 is traveling on a linearly extending road, the position of the vanishing point FOE in the captured image 40 hardly changes. However, for example, when traveling on a road that curves to the left or right as shown in FIG. 3, the position of the vanishing point FOE moves in the left-right direction as shown in FIG.

  That is, in the example shown in FIG. 3, a virtual extension line 43 </ b> A that extends a straight line along the lane left end boundary line 43 and a virtual extension line 44 </ b> A that extends a straight line along the lane right end boundary line 44 are It changes to the left according to the curve. Accordingly, the position of the vanishing point FOE obtained as the intersection of the two virtual extension lines 43A and 44A is the position P0 in FIG. 4 that is close to the center of the screen when the road is a straight line, but is close to the curve of FIG. Becomes a position P1 moved to the left of P0. Further, when the road ahead is a right curve, the vanishing point FOE moves to the right position P2.

<Specific examples of cases where FOE changes other than road curves>
A specific example of the positional relationship between the driving lane and the vehicle on the road is shown in FIG.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, it is assumed that the host vehicle 41 travels on a two-lane road including two adjacent traveling lanes 42A and 42B. In this example, the host vehicle 41 is traveling on the left traveling lane 42A. And since the preceding vehicle 47 exists ahead of the own vehicle 41, in order to pass the preceding vehicle 47, it is necessary for the own vehicle 41 to change the lane from the traveling lane 42A to the traveling lane 42B as shown in FIG. .

  In such a lane change, the traveling direction of the host vehicle 41 is temporarily inclined by an angle θ with respect to the road direction. At this time, the scenery outside the vehicle viewed from the host vehicle 41 moves to the left relative to the vehicle body by an angle θ. Therefore, also in the captured image 40 as shown in FIG. 2, the scenery other than the vehicle body of the host vehicle 41 moves to the left, and the vanishing point FOE detected accordingly moves to the left.

  That is, even when the host vehicle 41 is traveling on a straight road as shown in FIG. 5, movement occurs at the position of the vanishing point FOE when the lane is changed. Therefore, when identifying whether or not the road on which the host vehicle 41 is traveling is curved ahead, it may not be possible to correctly determine only by changing the position of the vanishing point FOE.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 5, when the own vehicle 41 moves so as to change the lane from the traveling lane 42 </ b> A to the traveling lane 42 </ b> B, the own vehicle 41 crosses the lane right end boundary line 44 on the way. At this time, in the image in the captured image 40 output from the in-vehicle camera 31, a change appears in the relative positional relationship between a part of the body of the host vehicle 41 and the lane right end boundary line 44.

  That is, when the lane is not changed, the own vehicle 41 does not straddle the lane right end boundary line 44. Therefore, as shown in FIG. And the right edge boundary line 44 of the lane. On the other hand, since the host vehicle 41 straddles the lane right end boundary line 44 when the lane is changed, the position in the left-right direction of the lane right end boundary line 44 in the captured image matches the range of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 41. Appears at the position to be. Therefore, by recognizing the relative positional relationship between the host vehicle 41 and the lane left end boundary line 43 and the lane right end boundary line 44 in the captured image, it is possible to identify whether or not the host vehicle 41 has changed lanes.

<Vehicle behavior on a curve on the road>
Although not shown, when the vehicle travels on a curved portion on the road, centrifugal force in a direction toward the outside of the curve is applied to the vehicle body. And if the traveling speed when entering the curve is excessive, the curve will not be able to bend as usual due to the influence of centrifugal force, it will protrude into the adjacent outer lane, jump out of the road, There is a possibility that a dangerous situation such as collision with a vehicle may occur.

  Therefore, in order to bend a curve in a safe state, it is necessary to sufficiently reduce the traveling speed by applying a brake before the vehicle enters the curve. As described later, the vehicle-mounted device 10 of the present embodiment outputs an alarm when the traveling speed of the vehicle when entering the curve is too fast. The on-vehicle device 10 records important image data acquired in a time zone in which such a dangerous situation occurs as image data.

<Details of control>
The content of main control of the onboard equipment 10 in this embodiment is shown in FIG. That is, the control unit 11 sequentially executes the processing procedure shown in FIG. 6, thereby realizing characteristic control related to the drive recorder function and the safe driving support function.

  In step S11, the control unit 11 acquires the latest image data obtained by photographing with the in-vehicle camera 31 from the image processing unit 22, and recognizes white lines at the left and right ends of the travel lane 42 by executing predetermined image processing. . For example, the lane left end boundary line 43 and the lane right end boundary line 44 shown in FIG. 2 are recognized as white lines. The process of step S11 is repeatedly executed periodically, and a white line appearing in the latest image data is always recognized.

  In step S12, the control unit 11 identifies whether or not a white line has been detected. If so, the process proceeds to step S13. If not detected, the process returns to step S11.

  In step S13, the control unit 11 detects an intersection point on the extension line of the left and right white lines recognized in step S11 as a vanishing point FOE. For example, the position of the vanishing point FOE is calculated based on the extending direction of the lane left end boundary line 43 and the lane right end boundary line 44 in the captured image 40 shown in FIG. The process of step S13 is repeatedly executed periodically, and the position of the vanishing point FOE is calculated based on the direction of the white line that always appears in the latest image data.

  In step S14, the control unit 11 identifies whether or not the vanishing point FOE has been detected. If detected, the process proceeds to step S15. If not detected, the process returns to step S11. .

In step S <b> 15, the control unit 11 calculates a positional deviation amount ΔDfoe with the following equation for the latest vanishing point FOE position.
ΔDfoe = Px−P0
Px: coordinate in the horizontal axis direction of the latest vanishing point FOE detected P0: reference position of the vanishing point FOE determined in advance (coordinates in the horizontal axis direction)

  In step S <b> 16, the control unit 11 refers to the nonvolatile memory 13 and acquires a predetermined threshold value Dfmax related to the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe.

  In step S17, the control unit 11 compares the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe with the threshold value Dfmax. If the condition “| ΔDfoe |> Dfmax” is satisfied, the control unit 11 proceeds to step S18. If “| ΔDfoe | ≦ Dfmax”, the control unit 11 returns to step S15 and repeats the process.

  In step S <b> 18, the control unit 11 detects the left and right white lines and the position of the own vehicle in the horizontal axis (left and right) direction from the latest image data acquired from the image processing unit 22. For example, the positions of the lane left end boundary line 43, the lane right end boundary line, and the host vehicle 41 in the captured image 40 shown in FIG.

  In step S19, the control unit 11 identifies whether or not the own vehicle 41 in the image straddles any white line based on the left and right white lines detected in step S18 and the position of the own vehicle in the horizontal axis direction. To do. If the white line is straddled, the process returns to step S15, and if not, the process proceeds to step S20.

  That is, when the own vehicle 41 changes lanes, as shown in FIG. 5, the own vehicle 41 straddles the lane right end boundary line 44, and this state appears in the captured image 40. In the captured image 40, by comparing the position of the vehicle body of the host vehicle 41 with the position of the lane right end boundary line 44 or the like, it can be identified whether or not the host vehicle 41 straddles the lane right end boundary line 44. When the host vehicle 41 straddles a white line such as the right edge boundary line 44 of the lane, it can be regarded that the lane is being changed, and if it is not straddled, it can be regarded that the lane is not being changed. Actually, in step S19, it is determined whether or not a state of straddling the white line has occurred for a certain time (for example, 2 seconds) after proceeding to steps S18 and S19, and whether or not the lane is being changed is recognized. It is assumed that In FIG. 5, the right lane right end boundary line is indicated by reference numeral 46.

  In step S20, the control unit 11 acquires the current vehicle speed Vc of the host vehicle 41 and a predetermined threshold value Vmax of the speed. Regarding the speed threshold value, a plurality of constants are registered in the threshold value table on the nonvolatile memory 13 in association with various magnitudes of the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe. Accordingly, in step S20, one constant corresponding to the magnitude of the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe detected in step S16 is extracted from the threshold table and set as a speed threshold Vmax.

  In step S21, the control unit 11 compares the current vehicle speed Vc with a predetermined speed threshold value Vmax. If the condition of “vehicle speed Vc> Vmax” is satisfied, the process proceeds to the next step S22, and if “vehicle speed Vc ≦ Vmax”, the process returns to step S15.

  In step S22, the control unit 11 outputs a predetermined curve approach warning. For example, an alarm sound indicating danger is output from the speaker 20. Alternatively, an announcement such as “Dangerous, please reduce speed” is output from the speaker 20 using the pseudo audio output. At the same time, for example, an alarm can be output by light emission from a light emitting diode (LED) or the like, and a signal indicating danger to an external device can be output.

  In step S <b> 23, the control unit 11 generates a trigger event indicating a curve approach speed abnormality. If the drive recorder function of the vehicle-mounted device 10 is a trigger recording type, it detects that a trigger event has occurred and starts recording image data or the like on the memory card 32. When the drive recorder function of the vehicle-mounted device 10 is a constant recording type, special information indicating the curve approach speed abnormality is recorded in the memory card 32 together with the image data at the timing when the trigger event occurs.

<Description of operation>
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the road is curved in the left direction in front of the host vehicle 41, based on the recognized lane left end boundary line 43 and lane right end boundary line 44, the virtual extension line 43 </ b> A, The direction of 44 </ b> A changes to the left with respect to the traveling direction of the host vehicle 41. For this reason, the vanishing point FOE moves to a position shifted to the left side as in a position P1 shown in FIG.

  When the radius of the curve is relatively small, the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe calculated in step S15 in FIG. 6 increases and exceeds the threshold value Dfmax. In that case, the process proceeds to step S18. However, there is a possibility that the road is not actually curved even when the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe of the vanishing point FOE is large. That is, when the own vehicle 41 changes lanes, the moving direction changes to a direction inclined with respect to the direction of the road as shown in FIG. 5, and therefore the position of the vanishing point FOE even when the road is not curved. The shift amount ΔDfoe increases.

  Accordingly, whether or not the lane is being changed is identified based on the content of the captured image 40 in steps S18 and S19. That is, it is detected whether or not the own vehicle 41 straddles the white line on the road, and whether or not the lane is being changed is identified.

  Therefore, in the situation where the process proceeds to step S20 in FIG. 6, it is highly likely that a curve actually exists ahead in the road on which the host vehicle 41 is traveling. Further, the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe of the vanishing point FOE changes according to the state of the curve, and an appropriate speed threshold value Vmax is selected in step S20 based on the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe.

  And when the traveling speed of the own vehicle 41 is too high compared with the road curve situation, the process proceeds to S22, and a curve approach warning is output. Moreover, since the process of step S23 is executed, image data and the like when the curve approach alarm is generated can be recorded using the drive recorder function.

<Specific Example of Method for Determining Threshold Value>
When the value of the threshold value Vmax of the speed to be compared in step S21 in FIG. 6 is not appropriate, a curve approach warning is output at a curve portion where deceleration of the host vehicle 41 is unnecessary, or conversely, deceleration of the host vehicle 41 is necessary. There is a possibility that the curve approach warning will not be output at the place of a difficult curve. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately determine the value of the speed threshold value Vmax so as to coincide with the actual situation. As a specific example, the speed threshold value Vmax can be appropriately determined by adopting the method described below.

  In the drive recorder function of the vehicle-mounted device 10, in various driving situations of the host vehicle, “information indicating the detection of the curve”, “position shift amount ΔDfoe of the vanishing point FOE”, “traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the host vehicle”, Information such as “the acceleration value detected by the acceleration sensor 21” can be recorded on the memory card 32 in a state of being associated with each other.

  Therefore, by taking out the memory card 32 in which various information as described above is recorded from the vehicle-mounted device 10 and reading the data with a predetermined analysis device (for example, a personal computer), data in various situations can be accumulated, Various data analysis can be performed.

  By this data analysis, for example, only data representing a dangerous situation in which the acceleration value exceeds a specified value is extracted. Based on the extracted data, a database is created by associating the traveling speed when the vehicle enters the corresponding curve and the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe of the vanishing point FOE. Further, based on the contents of the created database, a threshold table is created in which each of a number of traveling speeds is associated with ΔDfoe. This threshold value table can be written in the nonvolatile memory 13 on the vehicle-mounted device 10 using, for example, the memory card 32 and used in the vehicle-mounted device 10. That is, in the vehicle-mounted device 10, the control unit 11 determines the speed threshold value Vmax to be compared in step S21 of FIG. 6 based on the positional deviation amount ΔDfoe of the vanishing point FOE, the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the acceleration of the vehicle. The acceleration information of the vehicle is acquired by the acceleration sensor 21. As described above, in the vehicle-mounted device 10, the threshold value Vmax is set to a value corresponding to the vehicle situation, so that a curve approach alarm can be output with appropriate sensitivity.

<Action and effect>
According to the vehicle-mounted device 10 according to the embodiment, when a dangerous situation occurs when the vehicle tries to enter a curved part of the road while maintaining an excessive traveling speed, this is detected and image data is recorded. And alarm output can be executed. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a situation in which the vehicle deviates from the traveling lane without completely turning the curve, and it is possible to save important image data acquired in a time zone in which such a dangerous situation occurs. Therefore, according to the vehicle-mounted device 10, support for safe driving can be realized.

  Further, according to the vehicle-mounted device 10, it is possible to avoid misidentifying the movement of the vanishing point FOE in the captured image that occurs when the vehicle changes lanes as the movement of the vanishing point FOE while entering the curve. That is, it is possible to distinguish between a course change due to a lane change and a course change at the time of entering a curve, and a curve entry warning can be output only at the time of entering a curve.

  Further, according to the vehicle-mounted device 10, it is possible to detect a change in the course of the vehicle based on a captured image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 31, and to generate image data to be stored. The vehicle-mounted device 10 originally has a drive recorder function, and it is not necessary to newly add a vehicle-mounted camera, an image processing circuit, or the like. Therefore, a new function can be added without significantly increasing the cost.

<Possibility of deformation>
The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The above-described embodiments can be accompanied by various modifications and improvements within the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, when identifying whether or not the host vehicle is changing lanes, the content of the captured image 40 is recognized to identify whether or not the host vehicle straddles the white line on the road. And refer to the result. However, other methods can be used or used in combination with other directions. For example, it is possible to identify whether or not the host vehicle is changing lanes by identifying whether or not the direction indicator lamp is blinking.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, while detecting the course change of a vehicle based on the picked-up image acquired from the vehicle-mounted camera 31, the said picked-up image is recorded by the drive recorder function, However, The picked-up image for detecting a course change is detected. It is good also as a structure provided with the camera (photographing part) which acquires image, and the camera (imaging part) which acquires the image for recording by a drive recorder function.

<Summary>
Below, the characteristic of the onboard equipment 10 which concerns on embodiment is summarized and listed.
(1) The onboard equipment (10) which concerns on embodiment is mounted in a vehicle. The vehicle-mounted device (10) includes an image receiving unit (22) that receives the captured image (40) from the imaging unit (31) that captures the front of the vehicle, and a speed that receives information for calculating the current traveling speed of the vehicle. A receiving unit (16); and a control unit (11) connected to the image receiving unit (22) and the speed receiving unit (16). When the control unit (11) detects a course change of the vehicle based on a vanishing point position in the captured image (40) and identifies that the traveling speed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined threshold value. Then, at least one of recording of image data and alarm output is executed as a predetermined operation.
(2) In the vehicle-mounted device (10) according to the embodiment, when the route change is detected, the control unit (11) further identifies whether or not the vehicle is changing lanes, and results of the identification If it is identified that the lane is not being changed and it is identified that the traveling speed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined threshold, the predetermined operation is executed.
(3) In the vehicle-mounted device (10) according to the embodiment, the control unit (11) includes a displacement amount (ΔDfoe) of the vanishing point position from a reference position, a travel speed (Vc) of the vehicle, The threshold value (Vmax) is determined based on at least one of acceleration.
(4) In the vehicle-mounted device (10) according to the embodiment, the predetermined operation is recording of the image data, and the image data is based on the captured image (40).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Onboard equipment 11 Control part 12 Memory for work data 13 Non-volatile memory 14 Data processing part 15 Card interface 16 Speed interface (speed reception part)
17 Serial Interface 18 Power Interface 19 GPS Interface 20 Speaker 21 Acceleration Sensor 22 Image Processing Unit (Image Accepting Unit)
23 Backup data storage unit 31 In-vehicle camera (shooting unit)
32 Memory card 40 Photographed image 41 Own vehicle 42, 42A, 42B Travel lane 43 Lane left edge boundary line 43A, 44A Virtual extension line 44 Lane right edge boundary line 45 Infinity point 46 Right lane right edge boundary line 47 Predecessor vehicle FOE Vanishing point θ Road Tilt to direction along

Claims (3)

An in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle,
An image accepting unit that accepts a photographed image from a photographing unit that photographs the front of the vehicle;
A speed receiving unit for receiving information for calculating the current traveling speed of the vehicle;
A control unit connected to the image receiving unit and the speed receiving unit;
With
When the control unit detects a change in the course of the vehicle based on a vanishing point position in the captured image ,
When it is identified that the vehicle is not changing lanes based on the position of the own vehicle and the position of the lane boundary line in the captured image, and when it is identified that the traveling speed of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined threshold, When at least one of recording and alarm output is executed as a predetermined operation and the vehicle is identified as being in a lane change, the predetermined operation is not performed.
In-vehicle device characterized by that. The control unit determines the threshold based on at least one of a displacement amount of the vanishing point position from a reference position, a traveling speed of the vehicle, and an acceleration of the vehicle.
The on-vehicle device according to claim 1 . The predetermined operation is recording of the image data;
The image data is based on the captured image.
The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein

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