JP6381864B2 - Notification sound output control device and notification sound output control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for predicting generation of inertial force applied to a passenger of a vehicle and notifying the passenger.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various information is provided to a driver by sound for the purpose of driving support of a vehicle. And adjusting conventionally according to the information which provides the position of a sound image is also performed.

  For example, the navigation device of Patent Document 1 guides a route to a destination by voice guidance. When performing guidance “about 700 m ahead, right direction”, the navigation apparatus corresponds to direction information “right direction”. The sound image is moved to the right side of the passenger so that the guidance flows from the right side of the passenger (paragraph 0030 of Patent Document 1). Thereby, the passenger can experience the direction information “right direction”.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a sound processing device that adjusts a sound image position according to an inertial force received by a passenger. The voice processing device of Patent Document 2 decreases the volume from the speaker installed in the direction in which the occupant tilts due to the inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle, and increases the volume of the speaker on the opposite side, thereby tilting the occupant. The sound image is moved in the direction opposite to the direction (paragraphs 0019 to 0021 of Patent Document 2). This prevents the passengers from getting motion sickness (paragraph 0049 of Patent Document 2).

JP 2001-289660 A JP 2010-105643 A

  The navigation device of Patent Literature 1 is intended to direct the passenger's attention in the direction of the sound image of the voice guidance, and is based on the premise that the passenger's consciousness is concentrated on driving. However, passengers are not always focused on driving. In addition, when a person hears a sound unexpectedly, he / she is surprised and reflexively tilts his body to the opposite side of the sound image. For this reason, if a passenger in a state of low alertness suddenly hears the voice guidance “Please turn right at the next intersection” from the right side, the passenger may lean to the left side. When the vehicle turns to the right, an inertial force is applied to the occupant from the right side, and there is a problem that the occupant loses his posture to the left side in combination with the effect of the guidance.

  The sound processing device of Patent Document 2 also has a problem that the passenger is liable to lose his / her posture as in Patent Document 1 because the sound image is set on the side opposite to the direction in which the passenger tilts due to inertial force. .

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for maintaining a passenger's posture by outputting sound against an inertial force generated by a behavior of a vehicle.

  The notification sound output control device according to the present invention includes an inertial force prediction unit that predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, and a notification sound for notifying the vehicle occupant of the occurrence of inertial force. A notification sound generation unit to be generated and a notification sound output control unit that drives a speaker mounted on the vehicle and controls the output of the notification sound so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger And comprising.

  The notification sound output control method according to the present invention predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, creates a notification sound for notifying the vehicle occupant of the generation of inertial force, and The mounted speaker is driven, and notification sound output control is performed so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger.

  The notification sound output control device according to the present invention includes an inertial force prediction unit that predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, and a notification sound for notifying the vehicle occupant of the occurrence of inertial force. A notification sound generation unit to be generated and a notification sound output control unit that drives a speaker mounted on the vehicle and controls the output of the notification sound so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger And comprising. Therefore, when the passenger hears the notification sound and performs the operation of tilting the posture to the side opposite to the position of the sound image of the notification sound, the posture collapse due to the inertial force is suppressed.

  The notification sound output control method according to the present invention predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, creates a notification sound for notifying the vehicle occupant of the generation of inertial force, and The mounted speaker is driven, and the output of the notification sound is controlled so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned on the side opposite to the direction of the inertial force with respect to the passenger. Therefore, when the passenger hears the notification sound and performs the operation of tilting the posture to the side opposite to the position of the sound image of the notification sound, the posture collapse due to the inertial force is suppressed.

  Objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the notification sound output control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1, and its peripheral device. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an inertia force and the sound image position of a notification sound. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification sound output control apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the notification sound output control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2, and its peripheral device. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the automatic driving | operation control apparatus and notification sound output control apparatus which concern on Embodiment 2. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an output necessity determination unit 5 according to the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the direction of an inertia force, and the position of a sound image. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the direction of an inertia force, and the position of a sound image. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the direction of an inertia force, and the position of a sound image. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the direction of an inertia force, and the position of a sound image. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the notification sound output control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3, and its peripheral device. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the notification sound output control apparatus according to the third embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the alerting | reporting sound output control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 by a vehicle-mounted apparatus and a server. It is a hardware block diagram of a notification sound output control apparatus. It is a hardware block diagram of a notification sound output control apparatus.

<A. Embodiment 1>
<A-1. Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a notification sound output control device 101 and its peripheral devices according to the first embodiment. The notification sound output control device 101 controls the notification sound output from the speaker 4 mounted on the vehicle with the intention of weakening the collapse of the posture of the passenger due to the inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle.

  Hereinafter, in this specification, a vehicle equipped with the speaker 4 on which the notification sound output control apparatus 101 performs output control is simply referred to as a vehicle. The notification sound may be a sound other than a beep sound.

  The notification sound output control device 101 is configured as a device mounted on a vehicle, for example. The notification sound output control device 101 includes an inertial force prediction unit 1, a notification sound creation unit 2, and a notification sound output control unit 3.

  The inertial force prediction unit 1 predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, that is, the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger. FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the sound image position of the notification sound by the notification sound output control apparatus 101 and the inertial force. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the handle 51 rotates to the right and the vehicle turns to the right, an inertial force G is applied to the passenger 52 from right to left. That is, at this time, the direction of the inertial force G is the left direction. Therefore, the inertial force predicting unit 1 can predict the direction of the inertial force in the simplest direction opposite to the rotation direction of the handle.

  The notification sound creation unit 2 creates a notification sound using a speech synthesis technique or the like.

The notification sound output control unit 3 drives the speaker 4 to control the output of the notification sound. Here, the notification sound output control unit 3 performs output control of the notification sound so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the inertial force G is if the left, setting the sound image I _A of alarm signals A to the left of the occupant. Such position control of the sound image can be performed, for example, by adjusting the volume or delay time of each speaker 4 mounted on the vehicle.

<A-2. Operation>
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification sound output control apparatus 101. Hereinafter, the operation of the notification sound output control apparatus 101 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the inertial force prediction unit 1 predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the next behavior of the vehicle (step S11). Here, the behavior of the vehicle that is the target of inertial force prediction is the following behavior, but it may be any future behavior of the vehicle.

  Next, the notification sound creation unit 2 creates a notification sound (step S12).

  Next, the notification sound output control unit 3 drives the speaker 4 to perform output control of the notification sound (step S13).

  Thus, the processing of the notification sound output control device 101 is finished, but the notification sound output control device 101 repeats this flow as needed, such as a fixed period.

When the notification sound output control device 101 performs the above operation, when the inertial force G in the left direction is applied to the occupant 52 as shown in FIG. 2, the notification sound A notifying the generation of the inertial force G is output from the speaker 4. Is done. Since the sound image I _A of the notification sound A is located on the left side of the rider 52, when tilting the body to the right rider 52 is surprised notification sound A, this operation, the body to the left by the inertial force G in the left direction Is offset. Therefore, the posture collapse due to the inertial force G is eased, and the passenger can maintain the posture.

<A-3. Effect>
The notification sound output control apparatus 101 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention includes an inertial force prediction unit 1 that predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, and the generation of inertial force to the vehicle occupant. The notification sound generator 2 for generating a notification sound for notification and the speaker 4 mounted on the vehicle are driven so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of the inertial force with respect to the passenger. And a notification sound output control unit 3 that performs output control. The notification sound has an effect of tilting the occupant's body to the side opposite to the position of the sound image. Therefore, when the passenger who hears the notification sound performs an operation of tilting his / her posture to the side opposite to the position of the sound image of the notification sound, the collapse of the posture due to the inertial force is suppressed.

  The notification sound output control method according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention predicts the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time, and generates a notification sound for notifying the passenger of the vehicle of the arrival of inertial force. The speaker 4 that is created and mounted on the vehicle is driven, and the output of the notification sound is controlled so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of the inertial force with respect to the passenger. The notification sound has an effect of tilting the occupant's body to the side opposite to the position of the sound image. Therefore, when the passenger who hears the notification sound performs an operation of tilting his / her posture to the side opposite to the position of the sound image of the notification sound, the collapse of the posture due to the inertial force is suppressed.

<B. Second Embodiment>
In recent years, automation technology for vehicle control has been put into practical use and further advanced. In the automatic driving of the vehicle, one or more of the actuator control of the steering wheel, the brake, and the accelerator is performed by the vehicle side, that is, the automatic driving control device mounted on the vehicle. In general, the following definitions exist for the level of vehicle control automation.

  Level 0: All control is performed by the driver.

  Level 1: The vehicle side controls one or more actuators. However, the vehicle side does not perform cooperative control between actuators. The driver is responsible for driving. ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) with a constant speed travel device and inter-vehicle distance control corresponds to this level.

  Level 2: The vehicle side controls two or more actuators and performs coordinated control of these actuators. The driver is responsible for driving. ACC with inter-vehicle distance control having a lane keeping function corresponds to this.

  Level 3: Under certain conditions, the vehicle controls all the steering wheel, brake, and accelerator actuators. The vehicle side must inform the driver with a margin before actuator control becomes impossible and must take measures to smoothly shift the operation control to the driver. The driver is responsible for automatic driving.

  Level 4: The passenger only indicates the destination, and all control is performed by the vehicle. Responsibility during automatic driving rests with the vehicle.

  In automatic driving at level 2 and below, passengers are obliged to change their driving instantly in the event of inconvenience in driving. is necessary. However, in automatic driving at level 3 or higher, the passenger is not required to grasp the situation around the vehicle and is freed from concentrating on driving, so his attention to driving is reduced. In such a situation, when the vehicle side performs a driving operation that changes the speed, the posture of the occupant tilts in the direction in which the inertial force is applied. For example, when the vehicle travels on a right curve, an inertial force is applied in the left direction, and the occupant's posture is tilted in the left direction.

  Accordingly, in the second embodiment, for a vehicle capable of automatic driving, output control of the notification sound for the passenger of the vehicle is performed, thereby suppressing the collapse of the posture of the passenger due to inertial force.

<B-1. Configuration>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification sound output control device 102 and its peripheral devices according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  The notification sound output control device 102 includes an output necessity determination unit 5 and a driving concentration degree measurement unit 6 in addition to the configuration of the notification sound output control device 101 according to the first embodiment.

  The vehicle on which the speaker 4 is mounted is subjected to automatic driving control by the automatic driving control device 201. The inertial force prediction unit 1 of the notification sound output control device 102 acquires the future behavior of the vehicle, for example, the steering angle, from the automatic driving control device 201 and predicts the inertial force based on the behavior. The automatic driving control device 201 is a device that performs automatic driving control of the vehicle, and includes a traveling state acquisition unit 202 and a behavior calculation unit 203.

  The traveling state acquisition unit 202 acquires the traveling state of the vehicle from various sensors mounted on the vehicle. The various sensors include a steering angle sensor 301 that acquires the steering angle of the vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor 302 that acquires the traveling speed of the vehicle, a radar 303 that detects an object around the vehicle such as a preceding vehicle, and a camera 304 that captures an image around the vehicle. , A gyroscope 305 that measures the angular velocity or acceleration of the vehicle, and a GPS receiver 306 that receives a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal. The traveling state acquisition unit 202 acquires information about a person or an object around the vehicle from a captured image of the camera 304. In addition, the traveling state acquisition unit 202 acquires the position information of the vehicle by combining the measurement data of the gyroscope 305, the GPS signal, and the map data 307. That is, the traveling state of the vehicle acquired by the traveling state acquisition unit 202 includes the steering angle of the vehicle, the traveling speed, the current position, and information on persons or objects around the vehicle.

  The behavior calculation unit 203 calculates the future behavior of the vehicle based on the vehicle driving state acquired by the driving state acquisition unit 202. Here, the behavior of the vehicle includes at least the steering angle of the vehicle, and may further include speed, acceleration, and deceleration. The behavior of the vehicle calculated by the behavior calculation unit 203 is sent to various ECUs (Electronic Control Units), and various ECUs control various actuators of the vehicle. For example, the steering angle is sent to the steering ECU 308, and the steering ECU 308 controls the steering wheel based on the steering angle. Further, the acceleration is sent to the acceleration ECU 309, and the acceleration ECU 309 controls the accelerator based on the acceleration. The deceleration is sent to the brake ECU 310, and the brake ECU 310 controls the brake based on the deceleration.

  The inertial force predicting unit 1 acquires the future behavior of the vehicle, such as the steering angle, the traveling speed, the acceleration, and the deceleration, from the behavior calculating unit 203, and predicts the inertial force applied to the vehicle occupant by the behavior. For example, when the vehicle travels at a constant speed, the curvature radius of the travel locus of the vehicle can be obtained from the steering angle, and the inertial force applied to the vehicle can be obtained from the curvature radius and the travel speed. The direction of inertial force at this time is a direction from the center of the circle for which the radius of curvature is obtained toward the vehicle, and is perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle. When the vehicle accelerates or decelerates, the magnitude and direction of the inertial force applied to the vehicle are obtained by vector synthesis of the inertial force obtained above and the inertial force generated by the acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle. I can do it.

  The driving concentration measuring unit 6 measures the driving concentration, which is an index indicating how much the passenger is concentrated in driving. Specifically, the driving concentration degree measuring unit 6 measures the driving concentration degree from the biological information of the passenger such as the heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature in addition to the opening degree of the eyes or the number of blinks. Information for measuring the degree of driving concentration can be acquired from, for example, an electrode attached to a steering wheel of a vehicle or a camera.

  The output necessity determination unit 5 determines whether the notification sound needs to be output based on the magnitude of the inertial force, the driving concentration, the automation level, and the like. The notification sound output control device 102 is intended to suppress the collapse of the posture of the passenger due to the inertial force. Therefore, when there is no possibility that the passenger loses his / her posture even if the inertial force is received, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the output of the notification sound is unnecessary. Details of the output necessity determination will be described later.

  The notification sound creation unit 2 creates a notification sound when the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the notification sound needs to be output.

  The notification sound output control unit 3 controls the notification sound generated by the notification sound generation unit 2 so that the sound image is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger, and outputs the notification sound from the speaker 4.

<B-2. Overall operation>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing operations of the automatic operation control device 201 and the notification sound output control device 102.

  The automatic driving control device 201 acquires the traveling state of the vehicle from various sensors mounted on the vehicle (step S21). Here, the automatic driving control device 201, for example, the steering angle of the vehicle from the steering angle sensor 301, the traveling speed of the vehicle from the vehicle speed sensor 302, the information of the preceding vehicle from the radar 303, and the image around the vehicle from the camera 304, respectively. Acquired as the running state of the vehicle. The automatic driving control device 201 acquires the angular velocity and angular acceleration of the vehicle from the gyroscope 305 and the GPS signal from the GPS receiver 306, and based on these information and the map data 307, determines the current position of the vehicle. Acquired as the running state.

  Next, the behavior calculation unit 203 calculates the next behavior of the vehicle based on the vehicle driving state acquired by the driving state acquisition unit 202 in step S21 (step S22). The calculation result of the behavior calculation unit 203 is sent to the inertial force prediction unit 1 of the notification sound output control device 102.

  The inertial force predicting unit 1 predicts the magnitude and direction of the inertial force generated in the vehicle by the next behavior of the vehicle (step S23).

  Next, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines whether the notification sound needs to be output (step S24). A method for determining whether output is necessary will be described later.

  When the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the notification sound is not required to be output, the notification sound output control apparatus 102 ends the process. On the other hand, when the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the notification sound is required to be output, the notification sound creation unit 2 creates the notification sound (step S25). And a notification sound output control part performs output control of a notification sound (step S26). The output control timing of the notification sound by the notification sound output control unit 3 is preferably immediately before the inertia force predicted in step S23 is generated. In this case, the passenger can prepare for the inertial force by tilting his / her body in the direction opposite to the direction of the inertial force before the inertial force is generated.

<B-3. Output necessity judgment>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an output necessity judgment operation by the output necessity judgment unit 5, and shows details of step S24 in FIG. First, the output necessity determination part 5 acquires the automation level of the vehicle from the automatic driving control apparatus 201, and determines whether or not the automation level is level 3 or higher (step S241). Here, level 3 is an example of an automation level threshold. If the automation level is less than level 3, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the output of the notification sound is unnecessary (step S246). In this way, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the passenger is concentrated on driving if the automation level is lower than the threshold value, and that there is no risk of losing posture even when subjected to inertial force. Judge that output is unnecessary. On the other hand, if the automation level is level 3 or higher, the process proceeds to step S242.

  In step S242, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines whether the inertial force due to the next behavior of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The output necessity determination unit 5 sets a threshold value of the inertial force in advance, and determines that the output of the notification sound is unnecessary when the inertial force is less than the threshold value (step S246). Thus, if the inertia force is small, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that there is no possibility that the passenger will lose his posture, and determines that the output of the notification sound is unnecessary.

  The threshold value of the inertia force may be set to a different value depending on the direction of the inertia force. For example, it is considered that the occupant is strong against the inertial force in the rear direction because it is supported by the seat, is strong to some extent in the forward direction and is weakest to the inertial force in the left-right direction because it is supported by the seat belt. Therefore, the threshold value of the inertial force in the forward direction may be the largest and the inertial force in the left-right direction may be the smallest.

  If the inertial force is greater than or equal to the threshold value in step S242, the process proceeds to step S243. In step S243, the driving concentration measuring unit 6 measures the driving concentration of the passenger.

  Thereafter, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines whether or not the driver's driving concentration degree measured in step S243 is equal to or less than a threshold (step S244). The output necessity determination unit 5 sets a threshold value of the driving concentration degree in advance, and determines that the output of the notification sound is unnecessary when the driving concentration level of the passenger is larger than the threshold value (step S246). On the other hand, when the driver's concentration of driving is below the threshold value, it is determined that the notification sound needs to be output (step S245).

  Here, a different value may be used as the threshold of the driving concentration depending on the magnitude or direction of the inertial force. For example, the greater the inertial force, the higher the need for notification to the passenger, so the threshold for driving concentration may be increased. Further, regarding the inertial force in the left-right direction, the threshold for the driving concentration degree may be increased because it is considered that there is a higher need for notification to the passenger than the inertial force in the front-rear direction.

  On the contrary, the threshold value of the inertial force in step S242 may be changed according to the driving concentration degree.

  In the above description, the output necessity determination unit 5 determines whether the notification sound needs to be output based on the three elements of the automatic driving level, the inertial force, and the driving concentration. However, the output necessity determination unit 5 may determine whether the output is necessary based on any one of these three elements, or may determine whether the output is necessary based on a combination of two arbitrary elements. Also good.

<B-4. Notification sound output control>
The notification sound output control unit 3 controls the output of the notification sound created by the notification sound creation unit 2 by driving the speaker 4 so that the sound image thereof is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger. In Figure 2, the left direction of the inertial force G, the direction of the inertial force sound image I _A of alarm signals A to the passenger, i.e. an example has been described disposed on the left side.

In Figure 2, it has been a fixed position of the sound image I _A, may be moved. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the left direction of the inertial force G, the sound image I _A, may be moved so as to approach a straight line relative to the passenger from the initial position. Thus, the rider to the right, i.e. the effect is increased to tilt the orientation on the opposite side of the sound image I _A.

Further, instead of the straight line a sound image I _A, may be moved in a zigzag as shown in FIG. As a result, the passenger hears the notification sound A oscillating.

However, no attempt is made to move the sound image I _A to the opposite side beyond the passenger. As shown in FIG. 9, the left direction of the inertial force G, the sound image I _A to the left of the occupant at the initial position is moved to the right of the rider, the rider side opposite to the sound image I _A, i.e. This is because the effect of tilting the body in a direction that cancels out the inertial force G does not occur because the body is tilted to the left.

In addition, there may be a plurality of notification sounds instead of only one. FIG. 10 shows a state in which two types of notification sounds A and B are output. Both the sound image I _{A of} the notification sound _A and the sound image I _B of the notification sound B are located to the left of the passenger with respect to the inertia force G in the left direction. However, while the sound image I _A is fixed, the sound image I _B is moved in the front-rear direction at the left side of the occupant.

  Thus, when outputting a plurality of types of notification sounds, information having different inertial forces for each notification sound can be transmitted to the passenger. In the example of FIG. 10, the cause of the inertial force can be transmitted by the volume of the notification sound A. For example, when an inertial force is generated due to a change in the behavior of the own vehicle due to the other vehicle interrupting in front of the own vehicle, the volume of the notification sound A is increased. On the other hand, when the inertial force is generated due to the behavior of the host vehicle overtaking another vehicle, the volume of the notification sound A is reduced. Thus, the volume of the notification sound A can be adjusted depending on whether the cause of the inertial force is caused by the own vehicle or the other vehicle. Further, the greater the inertial force, the greater the inertial force can be transmitted by increasing the vibration width of the notification sound B.

  It is possible to transmit information on inertial force to the passenger by adjusting not only the volume and vibration width of the notification sound but also the timbre, sound pressure, generation timing, sound image size, and the like.

<B-5. Effect>
The notification sound output control apparatus 102 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention performs output control of the notification sound in a vehicle that is automatically operated and controlled by the automatic operation control apparatus 201, and the inertial force prediction unit 1 performs automatic operation. The direction of the inertial force is predicted based on the steering angle of the vehicle at a future time determined by the control device 201. In the case of automatic driving, the passenger often does not concentrate on driving, so there is a high need for assisting with a notification sound so as not to break his posture due to inertial force.

  The notification sound output control unit 3 performs control so that the notification sound is output before a future time when the inertial force prediction unit 1 predicts the generation of the inertial force. As a result, the passenger receives inertial force after listening to the notification sound, so that the posture collapse can be reduced.

  Further, the notification sound output control device 102 includes an output necessity determination unit 5 that determines whether the notification sound needs to be output, and only when the output necessity determination unit 5 determines that the output is necessary, the notification sound output control unit 3. Performs output control of notification sound. Therefore, the notification sound output control device 102 does not always output the notification sound when inertial force is generated, but can output the notification sound only when it is considered that the passenger is likely to lose his / her posture. .

  In the notification sound output control device 102, the inertia force prediction unit 1 predicts the magnitude of the inertia force based on the traveling speed of the vehicle at a future time, and the output necessity determination unit 5 determines the magnitude of the inertia force. Based on this, it is determined whether the notification sound needs to be output. Therefore, when the inertial force is small and the possibility that the occupant loses his / her posture is low, the output of the notification sound can be suppressed.

  Moreover, in the notification sound output control apparatus 102, the output necessity determination part 5 can determine the necessity of output of a notification sound based on the vehicle automation level. As the vehicle automation level increases, the driver's concentration of driving decreases, so for example, it is necessary to output a notification sound when the vehicle automation level is high, and by determining that the notification sound output is unnecessary when the vehicle automation level is low The notification sound can be output at any time.

  Further, the notification sound output control device 102 includes a driving concentration level measuring unit 6 that measures the driving concentration level of the passenger, and the output necessity determination unit 5 determines whether the notification sound needs to be output based on the driving concentration level of the passenger. Judging. Passengers are more likely to unexpectedly lose their posture due to inertial force as the driving concentration is lower.For example, it is necessary to output a notification sound when the driving concentration is low, and it is not necessary to output a notification sound when the driving concentration is high. By determining, it is possible to output a notification sound when necessary.

<C. Embodiment 3>
In the third embodiment, output control of notification sound in a manually operated vehicle will be described. Even in a manually operated vehicle, it is possible that the passenger does not concentrate on driving, so there is an actual advantage in outputting a notification sound and suppressing the posture collapse caused by the inertial force.

<C-1. Configuration>
FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the notification sound output control device 103 and its peripheral devices according to the third embodiment. The notification sound output control device 103 is configured, for example, as a device mounted on a vehicle, and has the same configuration as the notification sound output control device 101 according to the first embodiment. A vehicle on which the notification sound output control device 103 is mounted is a manually operated vehicle, and a car navigation device 220 is mounted on the vehicle. The notification sound output control device 103 acquires vehicle route information and position information from the car navigation device 220, and drives the speaker 4 mounted on the vehicle based on these information to control output of the notification sound.

  The car navigation device 220 includes a position detection unit 221 that detects vehicle position information and a route search unit 222 that searches for a travel route of the vehicle. For example, when a passenger inputs a destination to the car navigation device 220, the route search unit 222 searches for a travel route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination.

  Note that the notification sound output control device 103 may include the output necessity determination unit 5 and the driving concentration degree measurement unit 6 similarly to the notification sound output control device 102 according to the second embodiment.

<C-2. Operation>
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification sound output control device 103. This flow is repeated at any time such as a fixed period.

  The inertial force prediction unit 1 acquires the travel route information of the vehicle searched by the route search unit 222 from the car navigation device 220 (step S31), and acquires the position information of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit 221 (step S32). ).

  Next, the inertial force prediction unit 1 determines whether or not the vehicle has approached within 10 m from the left turn point or the right turn point on the travel route from the vehicle position information and the travel route information (step S33). If the vehicle is not approaching within 10 m from the left turn point or the right turn point on the travel route, the process returns to step S <b> 32, and the inertial force prediction unit 1 acquires the vehicle position information from the car navigation device 220 again.

  When the vehicle approaches within 10 m from the left turn point or right turn point on the travel route, the inertial force prediction unit 1 predicts the direction of the inertial force according to the left turn or the right turn (step S34). That is, if the point on the travel route is a left turn point, the inertial force direction is predicted as the right direction, and if the point is a right turn point, the inertial force direction is predicted as the left direction. As described above, the inertial force prediction unit 1 cannot accurately predict the future behavior of the vehicle with a manually operated vehicle. However, when the travel route is fixed, the inertial force prediction unit 1 determines that the vehicle travels according to the travel route. As a premise, it is possible to predict the direction of the inertial force generated at a point where the course of the intersection changes greatly. In the above description, 10 m is an example.

  Next, the notification sound creation unit 2 creates a notification sound (step S35). And the notification sound output control part 3 performs output control of a notification sound (step S36).

<C-3. Effect>
In notification sound output control apparatus 103 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, inertial force prediction unit 1 predicts the direction of inertial force from the future travel route of the vehicle. As described above, by predicting the direction of the inertial force from the travel route of the vehicle, it is possible to perform output control of the notification sound for suppressing the collapse of the posture of the passenger due to the inertial force even in the manually operated vehicle.

<D. Hardware configuration>
In the above description, the notification sound output control devices 101, 102, and 103 according to Embodiments 1 to 3 are in-vehicle devices. However, the notification sound output control devices 101, 102, and 103 are in-vehicle devices, PDAs (Portable Navigation Devices), communication terminals (for example, mobile terminals such as mobile phones, smartphones, and tablets), and functions of applications installed on these devices. And a system constructed by appropriately combining servers and the like. In this case, each function or each component of the notification sound output control device 101, 102, 103 described above may be distributed and arranged in each device constituting the system, or concentrated on any device. May be arranged. As an example thereof, as shown in FIG. 13, the notification sound output control device 101 includes an inertial force prediction unit 1 and a notification sound creation unit 2 configured as a server, and the notification sound output control unit 3 includes a speaker 4 as an in-vehicle device. May be.

  In the notification sound output control devices 101, 102, 103, the inertial force prediction unit 1, the notification sound creation unit 2, the notification sound output control unit 3, the output necessity determination unit 5, and the driving concentration degree measurement unit 6 are shown in FIG. The processing circuit 401 shown in FIG. That is, the processing circuit 401 includes an inertial force prediction unit 1, a notification sound creation unit 2, a notification sound output control unit 3, an output necessity determination unit 5, and a driving concentration degree measurement unit 6. Dedicated hardware may be applied to the processing circuit 401, or a processor that executes a program stored in the memory may be applied. The processor is, for example, a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or the like.

  When the processing circuit 401 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 401 includes, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and an FPGA (Field-Programmable). Gate Array) or a combination of these. Each function of each unit such as the inertial force prediction unit 1 may be realized by a plurality of processing circuits 401, or the function of each unit may be realized by a single processing circuit.

  When the processing circuit 401 is a processor, the functions of the inertial force prediction unit 1 and the like are realized by a combination of software and the like (software, firmware or software and firmware). Software or the like is described as a program and stored in a memory. As illustrated in FIG. 15, the processor 402 applied to the processing circuit 401 implements the functions of the respective units by reading and executing a program stored in the memory 403. That is, the notification sound output control devices 101, 102, and 103 predict the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time and execute generation of inertial force when executed by the processing circuit 401. A notification sound for informing the vehicle and driving a speaker mounted on the vehicle to control the output of the notification sound so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of inertial force with respect to the passenger And a memory 403 for storing a program to be executed as a result. In other words, it can be said that this program causes a computer to execute the procedure and method of the inertial force prediction unit 1 and the like. Here, the memory 403 is non-volatile such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Electrically Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), etc. Alternatively, at least one of a volatile semiconductor memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and its drive device is included.

  The configuration in which each function of the inertial force prediction unit 1 and the like has been realized by either hardware or software has been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration in which a part of the inertial force prediction unit 1 or the like is realized by dedicated hardware and another part is realized by software or the like. For example, the inertial force prediction unit 1 realizes its function by a processing circuit as dedicated hardware, and otherwise the processing circuit 401 as the processor 402 reads and executes a program stored in the memory 403. The function can be realized.

  As described above, the processing circuit can realize the functions described above by hardware, software, or the like, or a combination thereof.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be freely combined with each other within the scope of the invention, and each embodiment can be appropriately modified or omitted.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail, the above description is illustrative in all aspects, and the present invention is not limited thereto. It is understood that countless variations that are not illustrated can be envisaged without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inertial force prediction part, 2 Notification sound preparation part, 3 Notification sound output control part, 4 Speaker, 5 Output necessity judgment part, 6 Driving concentration measurement part, 51 Steering wheel, 52 Passenger, 101, 102, 103 Notification sound Output control device, 201 Automatic operation control device, 202 Driving state acquisition unit, 203 Behavior calculation unit, 220 Car navigation device, 221 Position detection unit, 222 Route search unit, 301 Steering angle sensor, 302 Vehicle speed sensor, 303 Radar, 304 Camera 305, gyroscope, 306 GPS receiver, 307 map data, 308 steering ECU, 309 acceleration ECU, 310 braking ECU, 401 processing circuit, 402 processor, 403 memory.

Claims (9)

An inertial force prediction unit that predicts the direction of the inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time;
A notification sound creating unit for creating a notification sound for notifying a passenger of the vehicle of the generation of the inertial force;
A notification sound output control unit that drives a speaker mounted on the vehicle and performs output control of the notification sound so that the sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of the inertial force with respect to the occupant; Prepare
Notification sound output control device. The vehicle is automatically driven and controlled by an automatic driving control device,
The inertial force prediction unit predicts a direction of the inertial force based on a steering angle of the vehicle at the future time determined by the automatic driving control device;
The notification sound output control device according to claim 1. The inertia force prediction unit predicts a direction of the inertia force from a travel route of the vehicle;
The notification sound output control device according to claim 1. The notification sound output control unit controls the notification sound to be output before the future time.
The notification sound output control device according to claim 1. An output necessity determining unit for determining whether the notification sound is output;
The notification sound output control unit performs output control of the notification sound only when the output necessity determination unit determines that the output is necessary.
The notification sound output control device according to claim 1. The inertial force prediction unit predicts a magnitude of the inertial force based on a traveling speed of the vehicle at the future time;
The output necessity determination unit determines whether the notification sound needs to be output based on the magnitude of the inertia force.
The notification sound output control device according to claim 5. The output necessity determination unit determines whether the notification sound needs to be output based on an automation level of the vehicle.
The notification sound output control device according to claim 5. A driving concentration measuring unit that measures the driving concentration of the passenger;
The output necessity determination unit determines whether the notification sound needs to be output based on the driving concentration of the passenger.
The notification sound output control device according to claim 5. Predict the direction of inertial force generated by the behavior of the vehicle at a future time,
Creating a notification sound for notifying a passenger of the vehicle of the generation of the inertial force;
Driving a speaker mounted on the vehicle, and performing output control of the notification sound so that a sound image of the notification sound is positioned in the direction of the inertial force with respect to the occupant;
Notification sound output control method.

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