JP6439652B2 - In-vehicle device and in-vehicle system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle device and an in-vehicle system for detecting a succeeding vehicle performing automatic driving.

  Conventionally, automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration has been known, including inter-vehicle distance control for automatically controlling the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle to be kept at an appropriate distance and constant-speed traveling control for automatically controlling the vehicle so as to maintain the target vehicle speed. It has been. Since it is considered that an occupant of a surrounding vehicle may feel uneasy with respect to a vehicle that is automatically driving (hereinafter referred to as an automatically driving vehicle), the surrounding vehicle is notified to the surrounding vehicle. It is being considered. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic driving system that notifies the outside of a vehicle that the host vehicle is performing automatic driving by emitting light from an LED, outputting sound from a speaker, or the like.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-162005

  However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not notify the outside of the vehicle that automatic driving is being executed unless it is an automatic driving vehicle equipped with an automatic driving system. There was a problem that it was not possible to detect that the autonomous driving vehicle was operating automatically.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle device and an in-vehicle system that can easily detect that a subsequent vehicle of the own vehicle is performing automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration. There is to do.

  The above object is achieved by a combination of the features described in the independent claims, and the subclaims define further advantageous embodiments of the invention. Reference numerals in parentheses described in the claims indicate a correspondence relationship with specific means described in the embodiments described later as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention. .

In order to achieve the above object, an in-vehicle device of the present invention includes a sensor (20) of a host vehicle used to determine a travel state of at least one of a distance between the host vehicle and a following vehicle and a speed of the following vehicle. Using the state determination unit (11, 19) that sequentially determines the driving state of the following vehicle and the driving state that is sequentially determined by the state determination unit, it is detected that the subsequent vehicle is performing automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration. And a driving state detection unit (17, 17a), and the state determination unit (11) sequentially determines an inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the following vehicle, and a speed acquisition unit (sequentially acquiring the speed of the host vehicle ( 13), a change detection unit (14) that detects a speed change in which the speed of the host vehicle has changed more than a specified value from the speed of the host vehicle that is sequentially acquired by the speed acquisition unit, and a case in which the speed change is detected by the change detection unit. First, detect the speed change and then detect the speed change. A time measuring unit (15) for measuring a follow-up time until an opening between the inter-vehicle distance determined by the state determining unit and the speed determined by the state determining unit after the speed change is detected is less than a predetermined value; provided, operation detecting unit, detect that based on the monotony of the follow-up time of the plurality of times that sequentially measured by the time measuring unit, the automatic operation regarding acceleration or deceleration following vehicle is doing.

  In order to achieve the above object, the in-vehicle system according to the present invention has at least one of the above-described in-vehicle device (10, 10a), the distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle, and the speed of the following vehicle. And a vehicle sensor (20) used for determination.

  In the automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration, compared to the manual driving, traveling that keeps the target inter-vehicle distance and the target speed faithfully should be performed. Therefore, it is possible to detect whether or not automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration is being performed in the following vehicle by using the traveling state of at least one of the distance between the following vehicles and the speed of the following vehicle with respect to the own vehicle that is sequentially detected. become. In addition, since the travel state is determined by the distance determination unit using the sensor of the own vehicle, it is determined whether or not automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration is performed in the following vehicle without relying on a device other than the own vehicle. It can be easily detected.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an automatic driving detection system 1. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection principle of the automatic driving | operation in a 1st automatic driving | operation detection process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the 1st automatic driving | operation detection process in monitoring ECU10. It is a figure for demonstrating the detection principle of the automatic driving | operation in a 2nd automatic driving | operation detection process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the 2nd automatic driving | operation detection process in monitoring ECU10. It is a figure which shows an example of a schematic structure of the automatic driving | operation detection system 1a. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the 3rd automatic driving | operation detection process in monitoring ECU10a.

  A plurality of embodiments and modifications for disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For convenience of explanation, among the plurality of embodiments and modifications, portions having the same functions as those shown in the drawings used in the previous description are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. There is a case. For the portions with the same reference numerals, the description in other embodiments and modifications can be referred to.

(Embodiment 1)
<Schematic configuration of automatic driving detection system 1>
Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. An automatic driving detection system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle and includes a monitoring ECU 10 and a rear monitoring sensor 20. This automatic driving detection system 1 corresponds to the in-vehicle system in the claims. A vehicle equipped with the automatic driving detection system 1 is hereinafter referred to as a host vehicle.

  The rear monitoring sensor 20 is a sensor such as a camera that images a predetermined range behind the host vehicle, a sonar or a radar that transmits an exploration wave to the predetermined range behind the host vehicle. The camera may be configured to use a stereo camera or a monocular camera. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which uses multiple types of sensors as the back monitoring sensor 20. FIG. The rear monitoring sensor 20 corresponds to a sensor in claims.

  The monitoring ECU 10 includes a CPU, a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, an I / O, and a bus for connecting them, and executes various processes by executing a control program stored in the ROM. This monitoring ECU 10 corresponds to the in-vehicle device in the claims.

  For example, the monitoring ECU 10 determines the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle using the rear monitoring sensor 20. The monitoring ECU 10 executes a first automatic driving detection process for detecting automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle based on the constant distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle. The monitoring ECU 10 detects the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle based on the monotony of the time (hereinafter referred to as the follow-up time) estimated to have elapsed until the succeeding vehicle returns to the target inter-vehicle distance when the speed of the host vehicle changes. (2) The automatic driving detection process is executed. The monitoring ECU 10 executes notification processing that causes the notification device 3 to perform notification based on the detection results of the first automatic driving detection processing and the second automatic driving detection processing.

  The automatic driving detected by the monitoring ECU 10 is automatic driving including at least inter-vehicle distance control for automatically controlling the inter-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle to be kept at an appropriate distance. The automatic driving detected by the monitoring ECU 10 may be a fully automatic driving in which acceleration, steering, and braking are all autonomously performed by the vehicle, or a semi-automatic driving in which a part of acceleration, steering, and braking is autonomously performed by the vehicle.

  Note that some or all of the functions executed by the monitoring ECU 10 may be configured in hardware by one or a plurality of ICs.

  Further, the monitoring ECU 10 is connected to the wheel speed sensor 2 and the notification device 3 of the own vehicle. The wheel speed sensor 2 outputs a pulse signal corresponding to the rotation speed of the rolling wheel of the host vehicle, and the monitoring ECU 10 acquires the pulse signal. The notification device 3 is a display device, a sound output device, or the like for performing notification to the passenger of the own vehicle. The display device may be configured to use a display that displays text and images, or may be configured to use an indicator. The audio output device may be configured to use a speaker. The wheel speed sensor 2 and the notification device 3 may be directly connected to the monitoring ECU 10 or may be connected via an in-vehicle LAN.

<Schematic configuration of monitoring ECU 10>
Next, a schematic configuration of the monitoring ECU 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the monitoring ECU 10 includes an inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11, a constantity determining unit 12, a host vehicle speed monitoring unit 13, a speed change detecting unit 14, a follow-up time measuring unit 15, a monotonicity determining unit 16, and automatic driving. A detection unit 17 and a notification processing unit 18 are provided.

  The inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 sequentially determines the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle using information sequentially output from the rear monitoring sensor 20. As an example, the inter-vehicle distance is determined at a constant cycle such as every 100 msec. This inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 corresponds to a state determination unit in claims. When sonar or radar is used as the rear monitoring sensor 20, the inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 determines from the time from when the rear monitoring sensor 20 transmits the exploration wave to when the reflected wave is received to the object existing behind the host vehicle. And the determined distance may be determined as the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle.

  When a camera is used as the rear monitoring sensor 20, a subsequent vehicle may be detected by a known image recognition process such as template matching. And when using a monocular camera, what is necessary is just to determine the distance between the own vehicle and a succeeding vehicle from the installation position of a camera with respect to the own vehicle, the direction of an optical axis, and the position of the subsequent vehicle in a captured image. Moreover, when using a stereo camera, what is necessary is just to determine the distance between the own vehicle and a succeeding vehicle based on the parallax amount of a pair of camera.

  The uniformity determination unit 12 determines whether the inter-vehicle distance sequentially determined by the inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 is constant for a predetermined period. In other words, the monotonicity of the inter-vehicle distance is determined. The predetermined period here is a period in which it is estimated that there is a high possibility of a change in the inter-vehicle distance in the case of manual driving, and is a period that can be arbitrarily set. The period may be measured, for example, using a counter.

  The own vehicle speed monitor unit 13 sequentially acquires the speed of the own vehicle using the pulse signals sequentially output from the wheel speed sensor 2. The own vehicle speed monitor unit 13 corresponds to a speed acquisition unit in the claims.

  The speed change detection unit 14 detects a speed change in which the speed of the host vehicle has changed by a predetermined value or more from the speed of the host vehicle sequentially acquired by the host vehicle speed monitor unit 13. The speed change detection unit 14 corresponds to a change detection unit in claims.

  The follow-up time measuring unit 15 measures the time until the opening of the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the following vehicle becomes less than the set distance before and after the speed change detected by the speed change detecting unit 14 as the follow-up time. This follow-up time measuring unit 15 corresponds to a time measuring unit in claims.

  The monotonicity determination unit 16 determines whether or not the fluctuations in the tracking time for the past multiple times measured by the tracking time measurement unit 15 are below a threshold value. In other words, the monotonousness of the tracking times for the past multiple times measured by the tracking time measuring unit 15 is determined.

  The automatic driving detection unit 17 detects that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control from the determination result of the uniformity determination unit 12 and the measurement result of the tracking time measurement unit 15. This automatic driving | running | working detection part 17 is equivalent to the driving | running detection part of a claim. Since automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control always involves acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle, it can also be called automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration.

  When the automatic operation detection unit 17 detects that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control, the notification processing unit 18 provides notification indicating that the subsequent vehicle is performing automatic driving. To the passengers of the vehicle.

<First automatic driving detection process>
Next, the first automatic driving detection process in the monitoring ECU 10 will be described. In the first automatic driving detection process, as described above, the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle is detected based on the constant distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle.

  Here, it will be described with reference to FIG. 2 that automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle can be detected based on the constantness of the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle. FIG. 2A shows the host vehicle, and FIG. 2B shows the following vehicle that is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control. In FIG. 2, it is assumed that the host vehicle is traveling at a constant speed. The constant speed running referred to here may include, for example, a speed variation of about several km / h.

  In general, a following vehicle that performs automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control travels so that the inter-vehicle distance from the host vehicle is maintained at the target inter-vehicle distance corresponding to the speed. Therefore, when the host vehicle is traveling at a constant speed, the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the following vehicle should be kept constant. In the first automatic driving detection process, this point is used to detect the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle based on the constant distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle. Note that the term “constant” as used herein does not necessarily mean that the distance between the vehicles is exactly the same, but also includes variations in speed when the vehicle is traveling at a constant speed and deviations in error when determining the distance between vehicles. There may be.

  Next, an example of the flow of the first automatic driving detection process in the monitoring ECU 10 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 3 may be configured to start when the accessory power supply switch of the host vehicle is turned on, for example.

  First, in step S <b> 1, the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 determines the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle using the latest information output from the rear monitoring sensor 20. As an example, the determined inter-vehicle distance may be sequentially recorded in, for example, a nonvolatile memory.

  In step S2, if it is the end timing of the first automatic driving detection process (YES in S2), the first automatic driving detection process is ended. On the other hand, if it is not the end timing of the first automatic driving detection process (NO in S2), the process proceeds to step S3. An example of the end timing of the first automatic driving detection process is that the accessory power supply switch of the vehicle is turned off.

  In step S3, the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 determines the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle in the same manner as in the process of S1. In step S <b> 4, the uniformity determination unit 12 calculates the difference between the previous inter-vehicle distance determined by the inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 and the current inter-vehicle distance. As an opening between the previous inter-vehicle distance and the current inter-vehicle distance, an absolute value of a difference between the previous inter-vehicle distance and the current inter-vehicle distance may be used.

  In step S5, the constantness determination unit 12 determines whether or not the opening of the inter-vehicle distance calculated in S4 is less than the first set distance. The first set distance here is a value that can be arbitrarily set. For example, the first set distance depends on variations in speed at the time of traveling at a constant speed of the own vehicle or an error in determining the inter-vehicle distance by the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11. What is necessary is just to set it as the value about the deviation | shift of the distance between vehicles.

  The own vehicle may be operated semi-automatically, fully automatically, or manually. Here, the first set distance is determined based on the speed control of the host vehicle in consideration of the difference in speed variation during the constant speed driving between the automatic driving including the speed control of the own vehicle and the manual driving. A different value may be set for automatic operation and manual operation. When the host vehicle is configured to be able to switch between automatic driving and manual driving, it may be configured to switch to a first set distance that is different between automatic driving including speed control of the host vehicle and manual driving. According to this, it is possible to set the first set distance suitable for each of the automatic operation including the speed control of the own vehicle and the manual operation, and to detect the automatic operation of the succeeding vehicle with higher accuracy.

  If it is determined in S5 that the distance between the vehicles is less than the first set distance (YES in S5), the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, when it is determined that the opening of the inter-vehicle distance is not less than the first set distance (NO in S5), the process proceeds to step S7. In step S6, the constancy determination unit 12 adds one counter value, and proceeds to step S8. On the other hand, in step S7, the constantity determination unit 12 sets the counter value to 0, returns to S2, and repeats the process.

  In step S8, the constantness determination unit 12 determines whether or not the value of the counter exceeds a threshold value. Here, the threshold value is an arbitrary value corresponding to the above-described predetermined period, and is a value corresponding to a period in which it is estimated that a change in the inter-vehicle distance is likely to occur in manual operation. is there.

  If it is determined that the counter value exceeds the threshold (YES in S8), the process proceeds to step S9. On the other hand, when it is determined that the value of the counter does not exceed the threshold value (NO in S8), the process returns to S2 and is repeated. In step S9, the automatic driving detection unit 17 detects that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control, and returns to S2 to repeat the processing.

  In addition, although the structure which starts the 1st automatic driving | running | working detection process on condition that the accessory switch of the own vehicle was turned on here was shown, it does not necessarily restrict to this. For example, in order to prevent erroneous detection of a stationary object behind the host vehicle as a succeeding vehicle performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control, the condition that the first automatic driving detection process is also started is that the host vehicle is running It is good. The monitoring ECU 10 may determine that the host vehicle is traveling from the speed of the host vehicle acquired by the host vehicle speed monitor unit 13.

<Second automatic driving detection process>
Next, the second automatic driving detection process in the monitoring ECU 10 will be described. In the second automatic driving detection process, as described above, the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle is detected based on the monotony of the follow-up time estimated to have elapsed until the succeeding vehicle returns to the target inter-vehicle distance when the speed of the own vehicle changes. To do.

  Here, it will be described with reference to FIG. 4 that the automatic driving of the following vehicle can be detected based on the monotony of the tracking time. FIG. 4A shows the host vehicle, and FIG. 4B shows a succeeding vehicle performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control. In FIG. 4, it is assumed that the host vehicle accelerates. Here, acceleration refers to an increase in speed that exceeds the range of the above-mentioned constant speed running.

  In general, a following vehicle that performs automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control travels so that the inter-vehicle distance from the host vehicle is maintained at the target inter-vehicle distance corresponding to the speed. Therefore, when the host vehicle accelerates, the distance between the host vehicle and the host vehicle is temporarily increased, but the target vehicle distance should be quickly adjusted. In addition, the time until the inter-vehicle distance that is once opened matches the target inter-vehicle distance is less likely to vary each time in a vehicle that performs automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control compared to a vehicle that performs manual driving. In the second automatic driving detection process, this point is used to automatically drive the following vehicle based on the monotony of the follow-up time estimated to have elapsed until the following vehicle returns to the target inter-vehicle distance when the speed of the host vehicle changes. Is detected.

  Next, an example of the flow of the second automatic driving detection process in the monitoring ECU 10 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 5 may be configured to start when, for example, the accessory power supply switch of the own vehicle is turned on.

  First, in step S21, the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 determines the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the following vehicle in the same manner as in the process of S1. In step S <b> 22, the speed change detection unit 14 detects a speed change in which the speed of the host vehicle has changed by a predetermined value or more from the speed of the host vehicle sequentially acquired by the host vehicle speed monitor unit 13. The specified value here may be a value corresponding to a speed change exceeding the above-described constant speed traveling range, and is a value that can be arbitrarily set.

  In step S23, the follow-up time measuring unit 15 turns on a timer that measures the elapsed time. A timer circuit provided in the monitoring ECU 10 may be used as the timer. In step S24, the inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 determines the inter-vehicle distance between the host vehicle and the following vehicle in the same manner as in the process of S1.

  In step S25, the follow-up time measuring unit 15 determines the inter-vehicle distance determined by the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 immediately before detecting the speed change in the latest processing of S22, and the latest processing of S24 after detecting this speed change. Calculate the difference with the distance between vehicles. As an opening of the inter-vehicle distance, an absolute value of the difference in inter-vehicle distance may be used.

  In step S26, it is determined whether or not the opening of the inter-vehicle distance calculated in the process of S25 is less than the second set distance. The second set distance may be about a value corresponding to an opening between the inter-vehicle distance before the speed change detected in the latest processing of S22 and the target inter-vehicle distance for the subsequent vehicle after the speed change. This second set distance corresponds to a specified value in the claims.

  In order to simplify the processing, the second set distance may be a fixed value. However, in order to further improve the detection accuracy of the automatic driving detection unit 17, the speed change detected in the latest processing of S22 is possible. It is preferable that the second set distance is corrected to be larger as the value becomes larger. This is because it is considered that the change in the target inter-vehicle distance for the following vehicle that performs inter-vehicle distance control increases as the speed change increases.

  If it is determined in S26 that the distance between the vehicles is less than the second set distance (YES in S26), the process proceeds to step S28. On the other hand, when it is determined that the opening of the inter-vehicle distance is not less than the second set distance (NO in S26), the process proceeds to step S27.

  In step S27, if it is the end timing of the second automatic driving detection process (YES in S27), the second automatic driving detection process is ended. On the other hand, if it is not the end timing of the second automatic driving detection process (NO in S27), the process returns to S24 and the process is repeated. An example of the end timing of the second automatic driving detection process is that the accessory power supply switch of the vehicle is turned off.

  In step S28, the follow-up time measuring unit 15 turns off the timer. In step S <b> 29, the follow-up time measuring unit 15 stores a timer value indicating an elapsed time from when the timer is turned on to when it is turned off in the nonvolatile memory of the monitoring ECU 10.

  In step S30, when the follow-up time measuring unit 15 stores the timer value in the nonvolatile memory N times or more (YES in S30), the process proceeds to step S31. On the other hand, when the timer value stored in the nonvolatile memory is less than N times (NO in S30), the process proceeds to step S33. The N times may be a plurality of times and is a number that can be arbitrarily set.

  In step S31, the monotonicity determination unit 16 determines whether or not the variation of the timer value for the past N times stored in the nonvolatile memory is less than the threshold value. The threshold value referred to here may be a variation that has as little variation as to be a variation during automatic driving, and is a value that can be arbitrarily set. Any variation may be adopted as long as it is an index indicating variation in the timer value. As an example, the standard deviation of timer values for the past N times may be used.

  In step S32, the automatic driving detection unit 17 detects that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control. In step S33, if it is the end timing of the second automatic driving detection process (YES in S33), the second automatic driving detection process is ended. On the other hand, if it is not the end timing of the second automatic driving detection process (NO in S33), the process returns to S21 and is repeated.

<Notification process>
The notification processing unit 18 causes the notification device 3 to perform notification based on the detection results of the first automatic driving detection process and the second automatic driving detection process. As an example, when the notification processing unit 18 detects that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control in either the first automatic driving detection process or the second automatic driving detection process, The notification device 3 is notified that the car is performing automatic driving.

  As an example of notification, if the display device displays an icon or text indicating that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving, or if an indicator for indicating that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving is lit Good. In addition, sound or electronic sound indicating that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving may be output from a speaker.

  If the driver of the vehicle that received the notification indicating that the following vehicle is driving automatically can feel uneasy, for example, the driver can pass the following vehicle that is driving automatically by parking on the shoulder of the road. .

<Summary of Embodiment 1>
In the automatic driving including the inter-vehicle distance control, traveling that maintains the target inter-vehicle distance faithfully should be performed as compared with the manual driving. Therefore, when the succeeding vehicle performs automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control, the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the succeeding vehicle should be kept constant. Further, in automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control, the time required to return to the target inter-vehicle distance after the inter-vehicle distance changes should be monotonous compared to manual driving.

  On the other hand, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, when the constancy of the inter-vehicle distance is determined by the constancy determination unit 12, it is detected that the succeeding vehicle is performing the automatic driving including the inter-vehicle distance control. The part 17 detects. In addition, when the monotonicity determination unit 16 determines the monotonicity of the follow-up time estimated to have elapsed until the subsequent vehicle returns to the target inter-vehicle distance when the speed of the host vehicle changes, the automatic operation including the inter-vehicle distance control is performed. The automatic driving detection unit 17 detects that driving is in progress. Therefore, according to the configuration of the first embodiment, it is possible to detect that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control.

  Further, the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle is determined by the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 using the rear monitoring sensor 20 of the own vehicle, and the speed of the subsequent vehicle is determined using the rear monitoring sensor 20 of the own vehicle. 14 to detect. Therefore, it is possible to easily detect that automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control is performed in the succeeding vehicle without relying on a device provided in the following vehicle.

(Modifications 1 and 2)
In the first embodiment, the configuration in which the monitoring ECU 10 can execute both the first automatic driving detection process and the second automatic driving detection process is shown, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the monitoring ECU 10 may execute only the first automatic driving detection process of the first automatic driving detection process and the second automatic driving detection process (hereinafter, modified example 1), or the second automatic driving detection process. It is good also as a structure (henceforth modification 2) which monitoring ECU10 can perform only a detection process.

(Modification 3)
In the first embodiment and the first modification, in order to prevent the first automatic driving detection process from being executed at a timing at which it is difficult to detect automatic driving with high accuracy due to the constant distance between the vehicles, the vehicle is limited to running at a constant speed. Then, the first automatic driving detection process may be executed.

  The monitoring ECU 10 may determine that the host vehicle is traveling at a constant speed from the speed of the host vehicle sequentially acquired by the host vehicle speed monitor unit 13. In this case, the automatic driving detection unit 17 determines that the inter-vehicle distance sequentially determined by the inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 is constant within the above-described predetermined period of the period in which it is determined that the host vehicle is traveling at a constant speed. Based on this, it is detected that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control.

  According to this, since the execution of the first automatic driving detection process at a timing at which it is difficult to detect the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle with high accuracy due to the constant inter-vehicle distance, the processing load is reduced by reducing unnecessary processing in the monitoring ECU 10. Can be reduced.

(Modification 4)
In the automatic driving including the inter-vehicle distance control, the minimum inter-vehicle distance should be set because the vehicles are not too close to each other. Therefore, in the second automatic driving detection, when the distance between the vehicles is less than the minimum distance, it may be configured not to detect that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving. According to this, erroneous detection can be suppressed and automatic driving of the following vehicle can be detected with higher accuracy.

(Modification 5)
In addition, in automatic driving including inter-vehicle distance control, a limit should be set for acceleration / deceleration during traveling so as not to make the passengers uneasy. Therefore, in the second automatic driving detection, when the acceleration / deceleration exceeds this limit, it may be configured not to detect that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving. According to this, erroneous detection can be suppressed and automatic driving of the following vehicle can be detected with higher accuracy.

(Embodiment 2)
In Embodiment 1, although the structure which detects that the following vehicle is performing the automatic driving | operation including inter-vehicle distance control was shown, it does not necessarily restrict to this. For example, it may be configured to detect that the following vehicle is performing automatic driving including constant speed traveling control based on the constant speed of the following vehicle (hereinafter, Embodiment 2).

<Schematic configuration of automatic driving detection system 1a and monitoring ECU 10a>
The automatic driving detection system 1a of the second embodiment is the same as the automatic driving detection system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the monitoring ECU 10a is included instead of the monitoring ECU 10. Instead of the first automatic driving detection process and the second automatic driving detection process, the monitoring ECU 10a performs a third automatic driving detection process for detecting the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle based on the uniformity of the speed of the succeeding vehicle of the own vehicle. Run.

  The automatic driving detected by the monitoring ECU 10a is an automatic driving including at least constant speed traveling control for automatically controlling the host vehicle to travel at a constant speed at a set vehicle speed. The automatic operation detected by the monitoring ECU 10a may be the above-described fully automatic operation or semi-automatic operation.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the monitoring ECU 10 a includes a continuity determination unit 12 a, a host vehicle speed monitoring unit 13, an automatic driving detection unit 17 a, a notification processing unit 18 a, and a subsequent speed determination unit 19.

  The subsequent speed determining unit 19 determines the relative speed of the subsequent vehicle with respect to the host vehicle from information sequentially output from the rear monitoring sensor 20. Further, the speed of the following vehicle is sequentially determined using the relative speed and the speed of the own vehicle sequentially acquired by the own vehicle speed monitor unit 13. As an example, the speed of the following vehicle is determined at a constant cycle such as every 100 msec. The subsequent speed determining unit 19 also corresponds to the state determining unit in the claims.

  When sonar or radar is used as the rear monitoring sensor 20, the subsequent speed determination unit 19 may determine the relative speed of the subsequent vehicle with respect to the own vehicle by a known method based on the Doppler shift between the exploration wave and the reflected wave. . From the time from when the rear monitoring sensor 20 transmits the exploration wave to when the reflected wave is received, the distance to the object existing behind the own vehicle is obtained, and the obtained distance is calculated as the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle. Just decide.

  Further, by providing the monitoring ECU 10a with the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11 similar to that of the first embodiment, the subsequent speed determining unit 19 determines from the rate of change of the inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle that is sequentially determined by the inter-vehicle distance determining unit 11. It is good also as a structure which determines the relative speed of the following vehicle with respect to the own vehicle. This configuration can also be applied when a camera is used as the rear monitoring sensor 20.

  The uniformity determination unit 12a determines whether or not the speed of the subsequent vehicle sequentially determined by the inter-vehicle distance determination unit 11 is constant for a predetermined period. In other words, the monotonicity of the speed of the following vehicle is determined. The predetermined period here is a period that is estimated to have a high possibility of a change in speed in manual operation, and is a period that can be arbitrarily set. The period may be measured, for example, using a counter.

  The automatic driving detection unit 17a detects that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving including constant speed traveling control from the determination result of the constantity determination unit 12a. This automatic driving | operation detection part 17a is equivalent to the driving | operation detection part of a claim. The automatic operation including the constant speed traveling control always involves the acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle when the speed is kept constant.

  When the automatic operation detection unit 17a detects that the subsequent vehicle is performing automatic driving including constant speed traveling control, the notification processing unit 18a provides a notification indicating that the subsequent vehicle is performing automatic driving. From 3 to the passengers of the car.

<Third automatic driving detection process>
Next, an example of the flow of the third automatic driving detection process in the monitoring ECU 10a will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart in FIG. 7 may be configured to start when, for example, the accessory power supply switch of the vehicle is turned on.

  First, in step S41, the subsequent speed determination unit 19 determines the speed of the subsequent vehicle of the own vehicle using the information output from the rear monitoring sensor 20 and the speed of the own vehicle acquired by the own vehicle speed monitor unit 13. . As an example, the determined speed of the succeeding vehicle may be sequentially recorded in, for example, a nonvolatile memory.

  In step S42, when it is the end timing of the third automatic driving detection process (YES in S42), the third automatic driving detection process is ended. On the other hand, if it is not the end timing of the third automatic driving detection process (NO in S42), the process proceeds to step S43. An example of the end timing of the third automatic driving detection process is that the accessory power supply switch of the vehicle is turned off.

  In step S43, the subsequent speed determining unit 19 determines the speed of the subsequent vehicle in the same manner as in the process of S41. In step S <b> 44, the uniformity determination unit 12 a calculates the difference between the previous speed of the subsequent vehicle determined by the subsequent speed determination unit 19 and the current speed. As an opening between the previous speed and the current speed, an absolute value of the difference in speed may be used.

  In step S45, the uniformity determination unit 12a determines whether or not the speed opening calculated in S44 is less than a set value. The set value here is a value that can be arbitrarily set. For example, when determining the speed variation of the vehicle in the general constant speed traveling control or determining the speed of the succeeding vehicle by the subsequent speed determining unit 19. It may be set to a value of the degree of deviation due to the error.

  If it is determined in S45 that the speed opening is less than the set value (YES in S45), the process proceeds to step S46. On the other hand, when it is determined that the speed opening is not less than the set value (NO in S45), the process proceeds to step S47. In step S46, the constantness determination unit 12a adds one to the counter value, and proceeds to step S48. On the other hand, in step S47, the constantness determination unit 12a sets the counter value to 0, and returns to S42 to repeat the processing.

  In step S48, the constancy determination unit 12a determines whether or not the value of the counter exceeds a threshold value. Here, the threshold value is an arbitrary value, and is a value corresponding to a period in which it is estimated that there is a high possibility of a change in speed in manual operation.

  If it is determined that the counter value exceeds the threshold (YES in S48), the process proceeds to step S49. On the other hand, if it is determined that the counter value has not exceeded the threshold (NO in S48), the process returns to S42 and the process is repeated. In step S49, the automatic driving detection unit 17a detects that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving including constant speed traveling control, and returns to S42 to repeat the processing.

  In the third automatic driving detection process, when the speed determined by the subsequent speed determination unit 19 is a value that cannot be said to be traveling, it is not determined that the subsequent vehicle is performing automatic driving including constant speed driving control. do it. Here, the value that cannot be said to be traveling can be arbitrarily set, and may be set to 5 km / h or less, for example. According to this, it becomes possible to prevent erroneously detecting an installation object behind the own vehicle or a stopped vehicle as a subsequent vehicle that is performing automatic driving including constant speed traveling control.

(Modification 6)
The second embodiment may be combined with a part or all of the first embodiment, the first modification, and the second modification. When these are combined, if the automatic driving of the succeeding vehicle is detected in any of the first automatic driving detection processing, the second automatic driving detection processing, and the third automatic driving detection processing, the subsequent vehicle performs automatic driving. What is necessary is just to set it as the structure which makes the alerting | reporting apparatus 3 perform the notification which shows this.

(Modification 7)
The configuration other than that described above may be adopted as long as automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration of the succeeding vehicle is detected based on the maintenance or change of the running state of the following vehicle unique to the automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration. For example, it is good also as a structure which detects the automatic driving | operation regarding the acceleration / deceleration of a subsequent vehicle from the monotone of the speed change of a subsequent vehicle. In addition, it is good also as a structure which detects the automatic driving | operation regarding the acceleration / deceleration of a succeeding vehicle from the monotone of the response of the speed variation of the following vehicle with respect to the speed change of the own vehicle.

  An example of the monotonousness of the response of the speed change of the succeeding vehicle to the speed change of the own vehicle is that the time variation until the speed of the succeeding vehicle changes in response to the speed change of the own vehicle is less than a threshold. It is done.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1a Automatic driving | running | working detection system (vehicle-mounted system), 2 wheel speed sensor, 3 alerting | reporting apparatus 10,10a monitoring ECU (vehicle-mounted apparatus), 11 inter-vehicle distance determination part (state determination part), 12, 12a constantity determination part, 13 Vehicle speed monitor unit (speed acquisition unit), 14 Speed change detection unit (change detection unit), 15 Tracking time measurement unit (time measurement unit), 16 Monotonicity determination unit, 17, 17a Automatic driving detection unit (driving detection) Part), 18, 18a Notification processing part, 19 Subsequent speed determination part (state determination part), 20 Rear monitoring sensor (sensor)

Claims (6)

The traveling state of the succeeding vehicle is sequentially determined using a sensor (20) of the own vehicle used to determine the traveling state of at least one of the distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle and the speed of the succeeding vehicle. A state determination unit (11, 19);
A driving detection unit (17, 17a) for detecting that the subsequent vehicle is performing automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration using the traveling state sequentially determined by the state determining unit ;
The state determination unit (11) sequentially determines an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle.
A speed acquisition unit (13) for sequentially acquiring the speed of the own vehicle;
A change detecting unit (14) for detecting a speed change in which the speed of the host vehicle has changed by a predetermined value or more from the speed of the host vehicle sequentially acquired by the speed acquiring unit;
When the change detection unit detects the speed change, after detecting the speed change, immediately after detecting the inter-vehicle distance and the speed change determined by the state determination unit immediately before detecting the speed change, A time measuring unit (15) for measuring a follow-up time until an opening with the inter-vehicle distance determined by the state determining unit becomes less than a specified value;
The operation detecting unit, the monotony of the plurality of times of tracking time based on which sequentially measured by the time measuring unit, the vehicle-mounted device automatic operation you detecting that the trailing vehicle is performing regarding acceleration and deceleration. In claim 1,
The state determination unit (11) sequentially determines an inter-vehicle distance between the own vehicle and the following vehicle.
The driving detecting unit (17) detects that the following vehicle is performing an automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration based on the fact that the inter-vehicle distance sequentially determined by the state determining unit is constant for a predetermined period. . In claim 1 or 2 ,
A vehicle-mounted device that increases the specified value as the speed change detected by the change detection unit increases. In any one of claims 1 to 3
The state determination unit (19) sequentially determines the speed of the subsequent vehicle,
The driving detection unit (17a) detects that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration based on the fact that the speed of the succeeding vehicle sequentially determined by the state determining unit is constant for a predetermined period. In-vehicle device. In any one of Claims 1-4 ,
When the driving detection unit detects that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving related to acceleration / deceleration, a notification indicating that the succeeding vehicle is performing automatic driving is given to a passenger of the own vehicle. An in-vehicle device further provided with a processing unit (18, 18a). The in-vehicle device (10, 10a) according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
An in-vehicle system including an own vehicle sensor (20) used to determine a traveling state of at least one of a distance between the own vehicle and a following vehicle and a speed of the following vehicle.

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