JP6558120B2 - Direction indicator control device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a direction indicator control device that controls the output state of a direction indication warning indicating the traveling direction of a vehicle to the outside.

  In order to reduce the possibility of an accident occurring when the driver changes lanes without issuing a direction warning, the direction warning is automatically issued when it is determined that the driver has intentionally changed the lane. Is known. Patent Document 1 discloses a driving support device that automatically outputs a direction instruction warning when it is detected that a steering wheel operation has been performed.

JP 2011-133965 A

  If a direction instruction warning is output simply by detecting that the steering wheel has been operated as in the conventional case, a direction instruction warning may be output even though the driver does not intend to change lanes. For example, when the driver is dozing driving and a direction indication warning is output, the driver of the subsequent vehicle is driving the driver of the vehicle ahead of which the direction indication warning is output. This is difficult to notice and raises safety issues. In addition, a right-handed direction warning and a left-pointing warning are frequently output from a vehicle that is driving a nap, resulting in a safety problem in that the driver of the following vehicle is confused. . Therefore, it has been required to improve the accuracy of determining whether or not the driver intends to change lanes.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the accuracy of determining whether or not the driver intends to change lanes, and to increase the safety during traveling of the vehicle. .

  The direction indicator control device of the present invention includes a detection unit that detects a steering operation amount in a vehicle, a first determination unit that determines whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the steering operation amount, Acquisition means for acquiring a photographed image of a road on which the vehicle is traveling, second determination means for judging whether or not the vehicle has deviated from a lane based on the photographed image, and the first determination means, An output means for outputting a direction indication warning indicating a moving direction when it is determined that the driver has intentionally steered and the second determination means determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane; It is characterized by having.

  In this way, the direction indicator control device improves the accuracy of determining whether the driver intends to change lanes, and automatically gives direction instructions when the driver intentionally deviates from the lane. Since a warning can be output, safety when the vehicle is running is improved.

The first determination means determines that the driver has intentionally steered when the steering operation amount reaches a predetermined amount in a state where the steering angular velocity, which is the steering operation amount per unit time, is larger than a predetermined threshold. It is characterized by doing.
By doing in this way, the direction indicator control device can improve the determination accuracy of the state where the driver is intentionally performing the steering operation.

The first determination unit determines that the driver has intentionally steered when the steering operation amount equal to or greater than a predetermined amount continues for a predetermined time.
By doing in this way, the direction indicator control device can prevent the direction indication warning from being output when the driver decides not to change the lane.

The second determination means determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane when the distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary line is smaller than a predetermined value.
By doing in this way, the direction indicator control apparatus can relieve the influence of processing delay and measurement error, and can detect the state where the vehicle has deviated from the lane with high accuracy.

The second determination means deviates from the lane when the distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary line is within a predetermined range determined based on a lane width or a road curvature of the road on which the vehicle is traveling. It is characterized by determining that it has been.
By doing so, the direction indicator control device outputs a direction indication warning when the lane width is small or the lane curvature is large even though the driver has not changed the lane. Can be prevented.

  Detection means for detecting a moving speed in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the vehicle travels, first determination means for determining whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the moving speed, and the vehicle traveling An acquisition unit that acquires a captured image of a road in the interior, a second determination unit that determines whether or not the vehicle has deviated from the lane based on the captured image, and the first determination unit, Output means for outputting a direction indication warning indicating a moving direction when it is determined that the vehicle is intentionally steered and the second determination unit determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane. Features.

  In this way, the direction indicator control device improves the accuracy of determining whether the driver intends to change lanes, and automatically gives direction instructions when the driver intentionally deviates from the lane. Since a warning can be output, safety when the vehicle is running is improved.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, there exists an effect that the precision which determines whether a driver | operator has the intention of a lane change can be improved, and the safety | security at the time of driving | running | working of a vehicle can be improved.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the direction indicator control apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the detection position of the lane departure set based on a lane width. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in the direction indicator control apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the direction indicator control apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the lateral speed in a vehicle.

<First Embodiment>
[Configuration of Direction Indicator Control Device 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a direction indicator control device 1 mounted on a vehicle 10 according to the first embodiment. The direction indicator control device 1 is a device that is mounted on a vehicle 10 such as a truck and a bus, and controls the output state of a direction indication warning of a direction indicator (hereinafter referred to as “winker”) provided on the body. is there. The turn signal control device 1 automatically blinks the blinker when the driver of the vehicle 10 deviates to an adjacent lane by performing a steering operation for intentionally changing the lane. In this way, even if the driver needs to change lanes abruptly to avoid obstacles ahead and there is no room to operate the blinker, the vehicle behind Can communicate their intention to change lanes.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the direction indicator control device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The vehicle 10 includes a direction indicator control device 1, a handle 2, a photographing unit 3, a winker operation unit 4, a winker control unit 5, and a winker 6.

  The direction indicator control device 1 is connected to the handle 2, the imaging unit 3, and the winker control unit 5. The direction indicator control device 1 determines whether or not the driver intends to change lanes based on the information regarding the steering operation amount acquired from the steering wheel 2. In addition, the direction indicator control device 1 determines whether or not the vehicle 10 has deviated from the traveling lane based on the captured image acquired from the imaging unit 3. The direction indicator control device 1 outputs a control signal to the winker control unit 5 when the driver intends to change the lane and the vehicle 10 departs from the traveling lane, thereby causing the winker 6 Causes the direction indication warning to be output. Details of the direction indicator control device 1 will be described later.

  The steering wheel 2 is a steering wheel for the driver to operate the traveling direction of the vehicle 10. The handle 2 is provided in the vehicle 10 so as to be rotatable around the steering axis, and receives a steering operation by the driver.

  The photographing unit 3 includes, for example, a CCD camera. The photographing unit 3 is mounted on the front part of the body of the vehicle 10 and photographs a lane where the vehicle 10 is traveling and a lane boundary line (for example, a white line) that is a boundary line between the lane and the adjacent lane. Generate image data. The imaging unit 3 outputs the captured image data to the direction indicator control device 1.

  The winker operation unit 4 has an operation lever for the driver to operate the winker 6, and performs an operation for changing the winker 6 to any one of the right direction instruction state, the left direction instruction state, and the off state. Accept. The winker operation unit 4 notifies the winker control unit 5 of an operation signal indicating the operation content of the driver.

  The blinker control unit 5 blinks the lamp on the side specified by the control signal or the operation signal in accordance with the control signal input from the direction indicator control device 1 or the operation signal input from the winker operation unit 4. , Output a direction indication warning.

  Next, the configuration of the direction indicator control device 1 will be described in detail. The direction indicator control device 1 includes a detection unit 11, an acquisition unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a control unit 14.

  The detection unit 11 detects the steering operation amount of the handle 2 by the driver. The steering operation amount is represented by, for example, a steering angle. The detection unit 11 includes, for example, a steering angle sensor that detects a steering angle. The detection unit 11 outputs the detected steering angle to the control unit 14. The detection unit 11 may calculate a steering angular velocity indicating the magnitude of the steering angle per unit time based on the steering angle, and output the calculated steering angular velocity to the control unit 14.

  The acquisition unit 12 acquires the captured image data input from the imaging unit 3. The acquisition unit 12 outputs the captured image data to the control unit 14. The acquisition unit 12 may store the acquired captured image data in the storage unit 13.

  The storage unit 13 includes, for example, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, and the like. The storage unit 13 stores various programs for causing the direction indicator control device 1 to function. Further, the storage unit 13 stores captured image data acquired by the acquisition unit 12 from the imaging unit 3.

  The control part 14 is comprised by CPU, for example. The control unit 14 controls functions related to the direction indicator control device 1 by executing various programs stored in the storage unit 13. The control unit 14 operates as a first determination unit 141, a second determination unit 142, and an output unit 143.

  The first determination unit 141 determines whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the steering operation amount acquired through the detection unit 11. The first determination unit 141 notifies the output unit 143 of a determination result indicating whether or not the steering operation on the steering wheel 2 is intentional.

  Specifically, the first determination unit 141 deliberately instructs the driver when the steering operation amount reaches a predetermined amount in a state where the steering angular velocity, which is the steering operation amount per unit time, is larger than a predetermined threshold. It is determined that the vehicle is steered. More specifically, when the driver performs a steering operation on the steering wheel 2 to reach a predetermined steering angle at a steering angular velocity greater than a predetermined threshold, the driver intentionally It is determined that the steering operation has been performed. The first determination unit 141 performs steering operation on the handle 2 when the driver performs a steering operation at a steering angular velocity equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and when the driver performs a steering operation within a range equal to or less than the predetermined steering angle. It is determined that it is not a driver's intentional operation.

  In addition, the first determination unit 141 determines that a steering operation amount equal to or greater than a predetermined amount is obtained after the steering operation amount has reached a predetermined amount in a state where the steering angular velocity, which is a steering operation amount per unit time, is greater than a predetermined threshold. You may determine with the driver | operator having steered intentionally when continuing longer than time. By doing in this way, the 1st determination part 141 can determine with the driver | operator having lost the intention of a lane change, when a driver stops a lane change on the way.

  The second determination unit 142 determines whether or not the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane based on the captured image data input from the acquisition unit 12. For example, the second determination unit 142 compares the reference image data captured when a part of the vehicle 10 (for example, a tire) reaches the lane boundary with the captured image data input from the acquisition unit 12. Thus, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane. Second determination unit 142 outputs a determination result indicating whether vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane to output unit 143.

  The second determination unit 142 measures the distance between the vehicle 10 and the lane boundary line of the lane in which the vehicle 10 is traveling based on the captured image data, and whether or not the vehicle has deviated from the lane based on the measured distance. May be determined. In this case, for example, when the distance between the vehicle 10 and the lane boundary line is smaller than a predetermined value, the second determination unit 142 determines that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane. In this way, the second determination unit 142 can determine that the vehicle has deviated immediately before the vehicle 10 deviates from the lane, so the direction indicator control device 1 operates the winker 6 without delay. Can be made.

  In addition, the 2nd determination part 142 can use the value defined based on the moving speed of the horizontal direction orthogonal to the advancing direction of a vehicle as a predetermined value. For example, the second determination unit 142 increases the predetermined value as the lateral movement speed increases, so that the vehicle 10 deviates from the lane at an appropriate timing regardless of the lateral movement speed. Can be detected.

  In addition, the second determination unit 142 deviates from the lane when the distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary line is within a predetermined range determined based on the lane width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling or the curvature of the road. May be determined. For example, when the lane width of the running lane is smaller than a predetermined width, the second determination unit 142 determines the position in the captured image data at a position that is a predetermined distance away from the lane boundary line to the adjacent lane side. A virtual boundary line to be used (hereinafter referred to as “determination boundary line”) is set.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the determination boundary line M set based on the lane width. In the example shown in FIG. 2, a determination boundary line M is set on the lane B side with respect to a lane boundary line L between a lane A in which the vehicle 10 is traveling and a lane B that is an adjacent lane of the lane A. It has been shown that The second determination unit 142 calculates the distance between the vehicle 10 and the determination boundary line M based on the captured image data. The second determination unit 142 determines that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the traveling lane when the calculated distance is smaller than the predetermined value.

  For example, the second determination unit 142 sets the determination boundary line such that the distance between the determination boundary line and the lane boundary line becomes larger as the lane width of the lane in which the vehicle 10 travels is smaller. Further, the second determination unit 142 sets the determination boundary line such that the distance between the determination boundary line and the lane boundary line increases as the curvature of the lane in which the vehicle 10 travels increases.

  By doing in this way, the 2nd determination part 142 can adjust the range in the picked-up image data determined to have deviated from the lane according to the lane width and the curvature of the lane. As a result, even if the lane width is small or the curvature of the lane is large, the driver is performing normal steering operation without intending to change the lane, and the driver has not intentionally changed the lane. When the vehicle 10 straddles the lane boundary line, it is possible to prevent the direction instruction warning from being output.

  The output unit 143 determines the winker control unit 5 when the first determination unit 141 determines that the driver has intentionally steered and the second determination unit 142 determines that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane. In response to this, a control signal for operating the winker 6 is output. For example, when the first determination unit 141 determines that the driver is intentionally steering at the timing when the second determination unit 142 determines that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane, the output unit 143 One of the left and right winkers 6 to be operated is specified. The output unit 143 specifies the winker 6 to be operated based on the steering direction specified from the steering operation amount input via the first determination unit 141. Subsequently, the output unit 143 transmits a control signal including information for specifying the winker 6 to be operated to the winker control unit 5.

  Further, the output unit 143 is, for example, an alarm device provided in advance in the vehicle 10 when it is determined that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane and unintentional steering with respect to the steering wheel 2 is performed. An alarm signal may be output for (not shown). The alarm signal is a control signal for sounding an alarm for the driver. When an alarm signal is input from the output unit 143, the alarm device outputs an alarm sound for the driver. By doing in this way, direction indicator control device 1 can output an alarm sound to a driver, when unintentional steering by a driver is detected. Thereby, the direction indicator control device 1 can promote the suppression of the driver's casual driving and dozing driving, and can improve the safety of the vehicle during traveling.

[Procedure for Processing in Direction Indicator Control Device 1]
Then, the procedure of the process which concerns on the direction indicator control apparatus 1 is demonstrated. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure according to the direction indicator control device 1 according to the first embodiment.

First, the detection unit 11 detects the amount of steering operation on the steering wheel 2 (S11).
Subsequently, the first determination unit 141 determines whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the steering operation amount acquired via the detection unit 11 (S12).

  The acquisition unit 12 acquires captured image data from the imaging unit 3 (S13). Subsequently, the second determination unit 142 determines whether or not the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane based on the acquired captured image data (S14).

  In the present embodiment, step S11 for detecting the steering operation amount, step S12 for determining the steering intention, step S13 for acquiring captured image data, and step S14 for determining lane departure are performed in parallel. However, it is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 14 may execute steps S11 and S12 after executing steps S11 and S12 and determining that the driver has intentionally steered.

  Subsequently, the output unit 143 determines whether or not to automatically operate the direction indicator based on the determination results sent from the first determination unit 141 and the second determination unit 142 (S15). The output unit 143 outputs a control signal for operating the direction indicator when it is determined that the driver has intentionally steered the steering wheel 2 and the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane. 5 (Yes in S15). The winker control unit 5 operates the winker 6 based on the control signal from the output unit 143 (S16).

  On the other hand, when the direction indicator is not automatically operated (No in S15), the output unit 143 determines whether or not to issue a warning to the driver (S17). When it is determined that the driver is not intentionally steering the steering wheel 2 and it is determined that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane (Yes in S17), the output unit 143 outputs a control signal for alarm activation. Output. When the alarm device acquires the control signal for alarm operation, the alarm device outputs an alarm to the driver (S18).

[Effect in the first embodiment]
As described above, the direction indicator control device 1 according to the first embodiment determines whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the steering operation amount in the vehicle 10, and the vehicle 10 is traveling. It is determined whether or not the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane based on the captured image of the road. Then, the direction indicator control device 1 outputs a direction indication warning indicating the moving direction of the vehicle 10 when it is determined that the driver has intentionally steered and the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane. . In this way, the direction indicator control device improves the accuracy of determining whether the driver intends to change lanes, and automatically gives direction instructions when the driver intentionally deviates from the lane. A warning can be output. In addition, it is possible to prevent the winker 6 from being operated when a steering operation unintentionally performed by the driver, such as a casual driving or a drowsy driving, is performed and there is a lane departure. As a result, the safety of vehicles around the vehicle 10 is improved.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, the second embodiment will be described. The direction indicator control device 1 according to the first embodiment determines whether or not the driver has intentionally steered based on the steering operation amount in the vehicle 10 acquired by the detection unit 11. On the other hand, the direction indicator control device 1 according to the second embodiment replaces the detection unit 11 in the first embodiment with a lateral speed indicating a moving speed in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the vehicle 10 travels. Is provided with a lateral velocity detecting unit 15 for detecting. The first determination unit 141 according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it determines whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the lateral speed detected by the lateral speed detection unit 15. Different.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the direction indicator control device 1 according to the second embodiment. The acquisition unit 12 in the second embodiment outputs the captured image data acquired from the imaging unit 3 to each of the control unit 14 and the lateral speed detection unit 15.

  The lateral speed detection unit 15 detects the lateral speed in the vehicle 10 based on the captured image data input from the acquisition unit 12. For example, the lateral velocity detection unit 15 is based on the difference between the positions of the same image included in the plurality of captured images at different times and the difference in time when each captured image was captured, acquired by the acquisition unit 12. The lateral speed of the vehicle 10 is detected. The lateral speed detection unit 15 may calculate the lateral speed based on a change in the distance between the vehicle 10 and the lane boundary line in a plurality of captured images at different times acquired by the acquisition unit 12.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the lateral speed in the vehicle 10. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle speed v1 and the lateral speed v2 of the vehicle 10 detected by the lateral speed detecting unit 15 are shown. The lateral speed detection unit 15 notifies the first lateral determination unit 141 of the detected lateral speed v2.

  The first determination unit 141 determines whether the driver is intentionally steering based on the lateral speed notified from the lateral speed detection unit 15. For example, the first determination unit 141 determines that the driver is intentionally steering when the lateral speed notified from the lateral speed detection unit 15 is greater than a predetermined value.

  The first determination unit 141 determines that a steering operation that is not intended by the driver is being performed, for example, when a state in which the lateral speed is smaller than a predetermined value continues for a longer period than a predetermined period. Thereby, the first determination unit 141 can detect, for example, a steering operation that is performed while the hand is attached to the handle 2 and is not intended by the driver. When the first determination unit 141 determines that a steering operation not intended by the driver has been performed and the second determination unit 142 determines that the vehicle 10 has deviated from the lane, the output unit 143 An alarm output signal may be output to an alarm device (not shown) provided.

  In the above example, the case where the lateral speed detection unit 15 detects the lateral speed in the vehicle 10 has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The first determination unit 141 in the first embodiment may determine that the lateral speed is greater than a predetermined value when it is determined that a steering operation amount equal to or greater than a predetermined amount has continued longer than a predetermined time.

[Effects of Second Embodiment]
As described above, the direction indicator control device 1 according to the second embodiment determines whether or not the driver is intentionally steering based on the lateral speed of the vehicle. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the driver intends to change lanes regardless of the steering operation of the steering wheel, and the winker 6 is operated so as to output a direction indication warning indicating an appropriate direction. Can be made. In addition, it is possible to prevent the blinker 6 from operating when a steering operation unintentionally performed by the driver, such as a dull driving or a drowsy driving, is performed and there is a lane departure.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the second embodiment, the example in which the lateral velocity detection unit 15 is provided instead of the detection unit 11 in the first embodiment has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the direction indicator control device 1 may be configured to include the detection unit 11 and the lateral speed detection unit 15. In this way, the first determination unit 141 can steer the driver based on the steering angular velocity at the steering wheel 2 detected by the detection unit 11 and the magnitude of the lateral velocity detected by the lateral velocity detection unit 15. It can be determined whether the operation is intentional. Thereby, since the precision which determines whether a driver | operator has the intention of a lane change can be improved, the safety | security at the time of driving | running | working of a vehicle improves.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Direction indicator control apparatus 2 ... Handle 3 ... Image pick-up part 4 ... Winker operation part 5 ... Winker control part 6 ... Winker 10 ... Vehicle 11 ... Detection part DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Acquisition part 13 ... Memory | storage part 14 ... Control part 141 ... 1st determination part 142 ... 2nd determination part 143 ... Output part 15 ... Lateral speed detection part

Claims (5)

Detecting means for detecting a steering operation amount in the vehicle;
First determination means for determining whether the driver steered intentionally based on the steering operation amount;
Obtaining means for obtaining a photographed image of a road on which the vehicle is traveling;
Second determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle has deviated from the lane based on a distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary indicated by the captured image;
When the first determination means determines that the driver has intentionally steered, and the second determination means determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane, a direction indication warning indicating a moving direction Output means for outputting,
Detecting means for detecting a moving speed in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the vehicle travels;
Have
The direction indicator characterized in that the second determination means increases the distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary, which becomes a threshold value for determining that the vehicle has deviated from the lane, as the moving speed increases. Controller. The first determination means determines that the driver has intentionally steered when the steering operation amount reaches a predetermined amount in a state where the steering angular velocity, which is the steering operation amount per unit time, is larger than a predetermined threshold. It is characterized by
The direction indicator control device according to claim 1. The first determination means determines that the driver has intentionally steered when the steering operation amount equal to or greater than a predetermined amount continues longer than a predetermined time.
The direction indicator control device according to claim 2. The second determining means determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane when a distance between the vehicle and a lane boundary line is smaller than a predetermined value.
The direction indicator control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Detecting means for detecting a moving speed in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the vehicle travels;
First determination means for determining whether the driver has intentionally steered based on the moving speed;
Obtaining means for obtaining a photographed image of a road on which the vehicle is traveling;
Second determination means for determining whether or not the vehicle has deviated from the lane based on a distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary indicated by the captured image;
When the first determination means determines that the driver has intentionally steered, and the second determination means determines that the vehicle has deviated from the lane, a direction indication warning indicating a moving direction Output means for outputting,
Have
The direction indicator characterized in that the second determination means increases the distance between the vehicle and the lane boundary, which becomes a threshold value for determining that the vehicle has deviated from the lane, as the moving speed increases. Controller.

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